Alright, I know exactly how many chapters are left now. After this one, there will be two more chapters, then NotS will be over. So, if you have something you want to say, better start pressing that review button!

In this chapter Naruto wakes up and...well, I'll leave it as a surprise. We're tying everything off starting now. What happens to all these characters for now? Who is doing what? Is it really Rin? Who's going to know the truth about Naruto now? Continue reading these next 3 chapters to find out!

disclaimer-you know very well I don't own naruto, and I've listed it in every chapter. This disclaimer will stand for the rest of the story. :)

Oh, also, I want to specially recognize Disk 9, a new reader as of 1-21. Disk has been wonderfully helpful in correcting the chapters and leading me right to the grammar or spelling mistakes I've been making. So, thank-you Disk for all the help!

The first thing she was aware of a dull ache in her shoulder; that and the oddly soft forest floor, complete with sheets. Thinking on the last thought Naruto jerked up, fearing that she'd see the walls of the hospital and sighing in relief when she did not. It begged the question of where she was instead. It was still obviously a place for sick people. The beds around her were pretty similar. She had to wonder why she'd gotten such a nice bed for recovery. It even had a nice, soft quilt. Before should could get up and investigate, a familiar face stuck in through the doorway.

"Ah, good; you're awake," Amaru stated cheerfully. "Your friend, Sasuke I believe, said you'd prefer to wake up here as opposed to a hospital room. He says you're not fond of them." He laughed as she vigorously shook her head. "Well, it's a good thing that they brought you here then, isn't it?" The girl nodded, her relief evident. "Very well. Let's make sure you're comfortable then," he continued, moving over and beginning to give her a quick check over. "How's the shoulder? It was almost broken when you came in." She winced.

"It's alright. Pain's almost gone."

"Is it? Hmm. Guess that makes sense," he said. "A lot like Gaara then. Shouldn't surprise me." He continued his check-up with Naruto staring at him.

"You...you know about Gaara?"

"Hmm? Oh. I guess I did say that, didn't I?" He winced. "I've been spending most of my time alone the last few years. I'm not used to talking with people very much."

"But, how do you know about Gaara?" He hesitated.

"I..." He sighed. "I was his uncle, once, before an...unfortunate incident."

"What happened?" Amaru looked around slowly.

"I don't think I should really talk about it. Just being his uncle is, I'm sure, going to make you more uncomfortable than you already would have been. I believe you haven't exactly enjoyed your time with your sib...I mean, with my niece and nephews." Naruto stared at him.

"Wait...so, you knew, too?"

"...I was hoping you wouldn't catch that slip," he said quietly. "I'm not going to push you to believe that you are all related like they have, but-"

"What was mom like?" Amaru jerked in surprise.

"Just a moment; the last time I talked with Temari, she said you vehemently denied being her sister." Naruto chuckled nervously.

"Well, that's an...interesting story, but I guess we've got time to-oof!" Naruto suddenly had the life squeezed out of her in a bone crushing hug.

"Naruto! Oh my gosh, I was so worried about you!" Haku backed up a little, giving Naruto a chance to breathe. "Even from the arena I was able to see Gaara turning into the Shukaku, but you beat him!"

"H, Haku? What are you doing here? How did you know where I was?"

"Well, Haku has a talent for pressure points and acupuncture, so I offered her a part time job here. In addition, I have a spare room. I thought that, for someone with your best interests at heart, I could spare the room and the bed for her."

"That, and it's saving on rent," Haku added. "Amaru has been very good to me this last month," she said happily. "And he has a lot of good advice. You know how hard its been since...well, you know." Naruto dipped her head.

"Yeah, I do," she said quietly. "But, I'm glad you came with us."

"Me, too," Haku said with a smile, squeezing her friends hand.

"Oh, oh! Guess what? Amaru here? He's actually my uncle!" Haku's eyes widened before turning to slits as she turned her gaze to the man that had been helping her so much.

"What's that?" Amaru sighed.

"Yes, about that...I didn't want to say anything, but remember when I said that I lost my sister and niece a long time ago? Naruto is that niece."

"And you just happened to show up at the same time as Gaara and them, right?" Haku was fingering one of her hidden kunai before Naruto gripped her arm.

"Haku! He really is, I promise." The older girl turned around quickly.

"What? How can you say that? I thought you knew better than to just trust people-"

"HAKU!" She quieted at the powerful outburst, finally allowing Naruto to explain. "Haku, when I was fighting Gaara, it triggered a...jutsu that my dad made, I guess. Even though they all died the day I was born, they managed to leave a part of themselves so that I could still meet them later." Amaru looked at her in confusion.

"Wait, but your father-"

"Is not the same as Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara's. We're only...half siblings," she explained. "I'll fill you guys in on the details later, but it's a long story, and that's the important stuff." Haku pinched her nose.

"Still...it does make up for it."

"I know," Amaru said, "I know. But Naruto didn't want to be connected to them, so I decided it was better to just be a local physician, someone who could be a friend to her and her friends. I'm a healer, and it was better for Naruto to believe what she did than to force it on her." He leaned over heavily. "I didn't want to lie, but I've already hurt so many people I love I didn't want to be the cause of more pain, and now I've hurt someone again. I'm sorry, Haku, and I'll understand if you never want to see me again, but I'll always be here, just like before, for you and Naruto both, if you ever need help in anything." Haku bit her lip as she considered what Amaru had told her. It did make some sense, and he had never given her cause to doubt him. His advice had helped her adjust to being without Zabuza so much...

Amaru's eyes widened when Haku embraced him in a hug as Naruto smiled.

"I guess...shinobi deal with worse deception," she said, "and I haven't felt so...able, since I was with Zabuza-sama. Just...no more lies, please?" Smiling he wrapped one more arm around her, using the other to ruffle her hair. She smiled at the familiar gesture. Just like my master did...

"Fine, I can agree to that. I should say that my real name is Yashamaru, though. I can fill you in, both of you, on the rest later. For now, though, he said,standing up, "I think Naruto should get more rest. She took a lot of damage during all of yesterdays events." Haku looked at him.

"Wait, shouldn't we..." Yashamaru looked down gravely, considering. He knew exactly what Haku was referring to, and he had just promised to be more truthful with them both. He had wanted to guarantee that she got enough rest to heal properly and feared that she wouldn't rest well till the rest of her vistors came in a few hours. Still, she had a bijuu that would help her heal quicker than normal people, and perhaps it would be better for her to hear it now, when Haku, who had been through a very similar experiance, was around to offer immediate comfort. He nodded.

"You're right, of course." He turned to face Naruto, the air weighing down on all of them as he told her. "Naruto, I'm afraid...yesterday, during the invaision...the Hokage..."

A wail of despair blew through the whole village as Naruto heard the news. The most important person in her life, who had been watching out for her her whole life...was gone.

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The warm sun shining through the window did little to warm the cool dread that filled her. She had been hurt pretty bad during the invaision, and now she was being held. Granted it was in the hospital, but she was being held. There was no way they'd be letting her go. She was part of the invading army so of course she was now a prisoner, but even worse...he must see her as the enemy. She lowered her face into her hands, crying in despair. There was no way, no way they could be together. They were enemies now and nothing could change the way that he would look at her, and she wasn't sure that he would join her anyway.

"Hey, you have a visitor."

"O, okay," she said, carefully wiping the tears from her face. She'd been told not to get the bandages on her right arm wet. A short moment later and her visitor entered, smiling brightly.

"Kankuro-kun!" Despite the general pain in her body, Kin launched herself at the sand nin, hugging him tightly before remembering her inner conflict and punching him with her good arm.

"What the heck do you think you're doing? The last thing you say to me is, 'we did out best' and 'it's time to choose'! What was that about? And why don't they have you in chains?" Kankuro, nursing his now bruised are, waved a hand in front of him defensively.

"Hey hey, calm down!"

"Calm down? Calm down? I almost got beaten half to death and you helped invade my friends village!" Kankuro grinned weakly.

"Well, you'll have to trust me when I say it wasn't as bad as it could have been." Kin, now back to sitting on her bed, crossed her arms and tapped her foot in the air. Kankuro sighed.

"Look, Naruto's our sister, so-"

"Not."

"What?"

"Not-your-sister, remember? She told me she talked to the Hokage and he finally told her who her parents are. You're not siblings." Kankuro laughed.

"Actually, she kinda passed out before she could explain it, and Gaara's explanation didn't make much sense, but as it turns out, she's our half sibling." Kin stared. "I know, it was weird, but it would explain, sorta, why there was so much confusion surrounding it, and why everyone was so convinced that they were right."

"So...she is your sister? She said it?" Kankuro sweat dropped.

"Ummm, yeaaaaah...that's, kinda what I just said." She continued to stare.

"...wow. I honestly didn't see that coming." Her face hardened. "But it still doesn't excuse you."

"Well, maybe this will help explain things," he said, pulling out a small paper. "It's a 'pass', so to speak, witnessing our help in blunting the damage from the invasion. It's kind of a secret, and no one else from Suna knows about it, but our sensei and us, we can walk safely around Konoha as long as we have an escort (mine is waiting outside) and as long as we don't try to leave without permission. They're letting us and the rest of the POW's go after the third Hokage's funeral." Kin gasped.

"He, he's dead? But he, he was Naruto's grandfather." Kankuro nodded.

"Yeah. She's still unconcious last I knew, but after this I'm heading over to the clinic where she's healing."

"Wait, she's not in the hospital?"

"Nah, Sasuke said she doesn't like these places, and there's a 'guy' in town that she's friends with. I'll tell you more about him later."

"...I see. Still, I don't think they're going to let me go anywhere soon, and I really shouldn't be walking around yet, anyway-"

"I wouldn't say that," Kankuro muttered quietly as he rubbed his arm and remembered how she glomped him when he enter the room.

"So could you tell Naruto...tell her I hope she's okay, and that I'm here for her?" Kankuro nodded.

"Of course! Though granted, I didn't come by to play messenger."

"No, I suppose not," she replied, tapping her chin. "Why did you come here?" Kankuro blushed.

"Well, it's not like I can force you or anything, but, well, you know, since we, and mean, I, that is...well, I thought that, maybe now that you're going to be leaving Sound village...you might want to come to Suna when we all leave...with me..." He held up his hands as Kin dropped her jaw. "I mean, I know, that is, I understand if you don't want to, and I totally-"

Kin effectively shut him up at that point, launching herself at him again, blocking any more words with a kiss. It would be awhile before the puppet user rejoined his siblings.

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The door at the front of the clinic opened and Yashamaru could already feel two killing intents shooting at each other. Sure enough, when he looked up he saw Sasuke and Gaara staring at one another while Temari stood awkwardly to the side.

"Well, I suppose that we should separate you two for now. Since Naruto is up right now, and since she needs some comfort, I think Sasuke will be the first visitor, yes? Okay; please go in there before the two of you end up destroying my clinic." Gaara grunted as Sasuke strode quickly through the door to the room they had dropped Naruto off in yesterday after they made it back to the village. He was annoyed by Gaara, but he'd heard what Naruto told him. He had wanted to take care of her right when they fell, but he'd felt something holding him back and let her go to Gaara. It had hurt so much watching her drag herself, but it had, at least for them, cleared the air, and she hadn't had to kill him. Now, though, he could go to her. Opening the door and seeing her staring almost lifelessly at her hands in her lap he knew that she had heard the news.

"Naruto-chan..." She looked up.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun." She smiled. "It's good to see you."

"...you too." He walked over and sat on the edge of her bed. "How are you holding up?" She shrugged.

"Alright. It's...hard," she said, "hard to keep going right now. Jii-san was always there for me, and Konohamaru, too, but now he's gone." She leaned over and he held her up to him as she clutched his arm. "I, I really miss him, but I know that he died fighting for the village, and for us, so I know he's happy with how he died, and that he wouldn't want me to be sad for too long, but it, it's so hard," she sobbed. Sasuke sat there, rubbing her back and letting her cry it out.

"How...how do you make it stop hurting?" Sasuke blinked. "I, I know it must have hurt when, when you lost your family; how did you make it stop hurting?" Her boyfriend frowned.

"...I, I never did," he said. The blonde looked up at him.

"What?"

"I never did stop the hurt," he said slowly as he considered his feelings. "I suppose, I just used it to fuel my anger and rage at my brother."

"Huh? Why?" Sasuke took a calming breath.

"Itachi, my brother, he was the one that killed my clan, killing our family...our parents. It did hurt a lot then, but then I guess I promised I'd get revenge, and I used the hurt to fuel my rage till it drowned out the pain, and everthing else, too."

"But, to loose your pain for hate...Sasuke..." He shook his head.

"It doesn't matter now. I didn't even realize it, but ever since that first kiss, well...the pain went away on its own, mostly. I think it will always hurt, and that's how I'll remember that they were important to me, but..." He nodded. "Yeah, I think what made the pain go away, was I finally had something else...someone else, that was important to me, and that made me remember how to feel." He gave a rare smile. "It was being with you that made my pain go away," he said, making Naruto blush. She gave him a light punch.

"That's for embarrassing me," she explained to his confused face. "And this," she continued, putting a hand to his face, "is for helping me feel better." They kissed for a little while before Naruto decided she wanted to talk more.

"So, what about Itachi?" The Uchiha frowned again.

"Well, I still want to kill him, but it doesn't feel as urgent anymore, and I know Mom would have been happy, since she always told me to be friends with you."

"Really? Huh, I wonder..."

"Hm?" She shook her head.

"Nothing; don't worry about it now." She hugged him tightly. "Still, I'd hate to loose you because you died fighting him, so when you fight him, I'm gonna help." Sasuke pushed her back, pointing a finger in her face.

"Oooh no! No you don't! You are not getting invovled in this," he declard. "This is not about you, it's about the Uchiha, and-"

"And if we stay together, then guess what? I'm gonna be Mrs Uchiha, so this is about me too. Besides," she said, "I want to hear from him why he did it." Sasuke laughed bitterly.

"He already told me. He was 'testing his strength' he said." Naruto scrunched up her nose.

"Maybe, but still, I want to hear it from him. There's what we tell people, then there's what we really mean. Sensei talked about it at the test, remember? So, things aren't always what they seem. Why kill everyone but you? You were still a kid then."

"He said I had potential beyond the rest of the clan, the one person he could really test himself on."

"Sounds fishy to me," Naruto said, "but I never...well, I guess I did have a brother, but not in the same way."

"Naruto-"

"No," she said, holding up a hand. "I not objecting to killing him. I just want to hear from him again why he did it."

"...hn, whatever." Naruto laughed.

"Heh, been a while since you've done that. You look ugly like that, though."

"..."

Heheh, I bet I got you with that Kin and Kankuro scene, didn't I? I'll bet you thought that was 'Rin,' didn't you? Sorry, but that won't be till next chapter. *evil grin* Honestly though, I was going to do it this chapter, but when I organized all the things I had decided I was going to do in these last few chapters and how many chapters there would be, I ended up putting it into the next chapter. It's just the way things worked out. Sorry! Still, how did you like that scene? When I originally wrote it a year or so back I have intended on Kin not knowing about the sand sibs thinking Naruto was their sister and getting jealous over Naruto because she thinks that Kankuro likes her because of his talking about her and spending time with her. Obviously that changed, but it was funny. I was going to still add it in down here so ya'll could see it, but it's on my missing flash drive. Let me know if you want to see it, and when i recover it I'll make sure to send it to you.

In other news, Haku officially sees Yashamaru as a father figure. It was really hard to try and get it that way, but I did the best I could. Perhaps I can do stuff like that better after I've been a father. Still, I tried to keep Naruto in the situation to enforce the idea of adult-child relationship, and of course the way he ruffles her hair, so I thought it worked out. Remember, Haku likes someone else... :)

Just two chapters left! I hope you enjoy the concluding chapters of NotS. Take care everyone!