A/N: This chapter was hellish to write, mostly because I realized as I was trying to write it that the wind down for the story was dragging on, and on, and on… In the end, this chapter turned into a bit of a summary/denouement, and if it feels a bit dry in the middle, I apologize in advance, but it was the only way I could fit all that needed to be said without writing a bunch of dragged out chapters. Heck, this story was originally supposed to be just a 5000-10000 word one-shot! Goes to show that if I don't put my foot down, I get carried away…

Disclaimer: No, this really isn't mine- I'm just messing around in Kishimoto's sandbox a little bit.

Through the trees of the training ground, dim beams of light broke through to the ground. The warm, orange cast to its glow, thanks to the sunset, was perfect and picturesque. One would think such a tranquil moment would belong to a cheesy romance movie, or a cinema worthy nature shot.

Iruka couldn't care less.

Dispassionately, he stared through the trees, face blank and eyes unseeing. He couldn't force himself to feel much of anything besides bone deep exhaustion, much less drudge up an appreciation for the beautiful end to the lovely summer day. Iruka knew he had made the right choice- Naruto had always wanted to be Hokage, even before he came into her life. But…

Letting her go had still hurt more than anything he had ever experienced.

It's funny, Iruka thought to himself. He had been pushing Naruto away for so long- this shouldn't have been any different. But for a brief period of time, he had bought into to the wonderful fantasy that they could be together, that despite the many reasons they shouldn't be together, that they could beat the odds…

However, that was a fool's dream. So he had pushed her away again, for her own sake- the sake of the woman he could now admit he loved. But this time… It felt like he was slowly being crushed, ripped away piece by little pieced until only bones and pain remained. It was because this time, he had allowed that little piece of hope to consume him- which made the fall all the more greater.

So no, it wasn't really funny, but instead morbidly ironic that what Iruka had denied for years was now something he wanted more than anything, but could never have.

"Iruka!"

Oh Kami, he was even imagining the sound of her voice! How pathetic could he get?

Iruka scuffed a clump of grass with his shoe as he meandered farther into the training grounds. He had to get out of Konoha for a little bit, until he could get these… feelings under control. He had had practice burying his growing feelings over the years, but Iruka already knew that ahead of him waited an even greater challenge. This time it would be even more difficult to ignore what Naruto felt, what he felt… But somehow, he would find a way to persevere.

…Oh, who was he kidding? He just lost the love of his life, and it was his own damn fault. There was never going to be a happy ending for someone like him. Any dreams he had foolishly hoped would- had thought had- come true, were just hallucinations wrought of his own twisted desires. At least Naruto would get to be Hokage, and live out her greatest dream…

"IRUKA!" Iruka was unceremoniously tackled from behind to the ground, and barely had enough time to throw his arm in front to protect his face. The trembling form of a leanly muscled woman pressed against his back, her arms wrapped firmly around his torso.

Slowly, Iruka turned his head- and felt his breath catch painfully in his chest when his eyes met determined blue.

"You're an idiot." Naruto whispered. Her blonde hair was blown back and slightly tangled- probably from running at full force- while her arms, grounded on either side of his head, were scuffed and dirtied. Her face was resolute. Iruka's heart stuttered as she leaned even closer towards him.

"I'd rather be with you than be Hokage, because you are my greatest dream," she murmured. "But I don't want it to be a dream anymore- I want us to be real. Please, Iruka- stop running!"

Iruka was distantly aware that they had shifted so that Iruka was lying on his back, pinned in place by the woman hovering above him. He couldn't seem to focus on anything other than her blue, blue eyes, little chips of the sky that had broken through his rainy day.

"…But, you've always wanted to be Hokage- this is what you've worked for your entire life! Don't throw it away-"

"No." Naruto interrupted.

"…No?"

"No." Naruto whispered again. She leaned in close until their foreheads were just touching, breath mingling and gazes locked. "Everyone else can come up with a million reasons why we shouldn't be together. You can come up with a bunch of bullshit of why we can't love each other. But I have one thing to say to all that." Naruto scrunched up her nose, and bared her teeth. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I say screw it, dattebayo! Since when have I cared what other people think? They're all a bunch of hypocritical shipping crazed assholes anyways!" Naruto eyes crinkled with the force of her growing smile. "I love you. And I'm pretty sure you love me- it's as simple as that. Stop making this complicated, 'Ruka!"

For a moment, Iruka didn't respond, frozen in place as the beautiful woman he loved pressed in close. Finally he managed to whisper out a response. "…You might never be Hokage- can you honestly say you won't come to resent me for that?"

Naruto smiled, before lightly pressing her chapped lips to Iruka's. Despite the gentleness of the touch, which contained the barest of pressure, Iruka felt a spark ignite across his lips. Naruto pulled back, then rested her forehead against Iruka's own again. "I promise that you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and that I'll never resent you. And that's a promise of a lifetime- my ninja way!"

Iruka's thoughts raced, denial whipping through his mind. He knew what he had to do- the right thing would be to gently turn Naruto down once again, and end this terrible farce…

…But Iruka wasn't some goody two shoes chuunin. He was a prankster to his core, one who was ballsy enough to prank ANBU- and get away with it. Iruka could see it- the bland future he would face without Naruto. He would live day after day, quiet and alone. There would never be another woman in his life than could match the one before him. His friendship with Naruto would crumble away, the awkwardness and tragedy between them too much to bear…

…It was a nightmare. Iruka stared into Naruto's blue eyes, and looked into a different future.

Every day would be an adventure. The course of true love never did run smooth, and neither would theirs. And their love would be all the more perfect for it. Being able to see and experience Naruto's smile, Naruto's anger, Naruto's love, Naruto's everything- find joy together, start the family that the both of them had always craved… And eventually, grow old together, and be able to wake up to Naruto, wonderful, amazing Naruto, every day…

It was a dream. But if he took the next step, it could be a reality.

Naruto was a surprise bundled in mysteries he would have to spend the rest of his life unraveling. She was the most unpredictable shinobi, and for every good time, there would be bad times. For every accomplishment, there would be opposition. But through it all, they would face the future together.

There was nothing else he wished more to do.

With the truth of Naruto's feelings blindingly bright, and the final obstacle removed… Iruka could finally say he was done running from the best thing to ever happen to him.

Slowly, a smile overtook Iruka's mouth, his eyes crinkling at the corners with its force. With careful hands, he cradled Naruto's face. "You really are the most unpredictable kunoichi," he whispered. "I love you, Uzumaki Naruto." Gently, Iruka bridged the final distance, and kissed Naruto.

Time was meaningless to the two shinobi. They clung almost desperately to each other, movements between them tender and careful. Naruto's hands slowly drifted to clutch at Iruka's disorderly hair, while Iruka's fell to the curve of Naruto's waist. With each passing moment, the passion of their movements increased, each finding themselves eager to explore the body of the other, learning more about each other that over the course of their long friendship had been unknown till now.

Things might have shared a more marked resemblance to the first date between Hiro and Rei from Icha Icha Sensei Sensei if an inopportune shinobi hadn't stumbled upon them.

"…Can't be a nukenin, Kakashi-senpai would be hopelessly lost… Who would remind him to feed his dogs? Pakkun could die! I have a responsibility to stay, and-" Tenzo froze in his rant as he breached the clearing containing Naruto and Iruka in a rather… compromising position.

"…UHHHH…" he unintelligibly said in a loud voice. Iruka turned surprised eyes upon the mokuton user, and leapt to his feet, disentangling from Naruto as he blushed a deep red. Naruto grumpily lurched to her feet, shooting Tenzo a deadly look behind Iruka's back. She not so subtly dragged her right hand across her throat in a severe gesture.

Tenzo wasn't an idiot- he got the message.

"I was just making my way back to the village to make sure my apartment wasn't still on fire because of the shipping craze- so don't mind me! Just continue on with your, uh… 'Activities'. I was never here." Tenzo pivoted on his heel and speedily strode back in the direction of the village, but Iruka interrupted his hasty departure before he could escape.

"WHAT FIRE?!"

…Shit.

Xxx

After Iruka and Naruto returned from their… 'conversation', Konoha recouped in a surprisingly speedy fashion.

Headed by the singularly non-lazy Nara who personified darkness and fear, the shinobi of the village found a wealth of motivation to clean up the destruction of the day. They worked through the night, into the next day, and the day after that without sleep (anyone caught dawdling experienced the living nightmare that was Shikamaru).

Many shinobi would forever we petrified of said Nara, and the need for therapy would reach an all-time high in the coming years. Luckily, Shikamaru would be shipped off to Suna as the newest Konoha foreign diplomat. Not so luckily for Suna, though…

(Kankuro would forever be twitchy around the 'hellspawn' of his sister. The night light that he kept, despite frequent teasing about it from Gaara, however, would allow him to weather the worst of the storm that was the Nara he was now related to.)

After the initial frenzy, the hospital became an unspoken power-napping location- most of the shinobi housing apartments had been destroyed, and the hospital had a lot of beds… Common sense, really.

Sakura and Tsunade spear-headed the continued medical aid to the many injured shinobi and few unlucky civilians. Considering both of them had originally led a mob that promised victory for The Bet, it was somewhat surprising that no one had attempted to serve retribution for their unjust promises of victory. Then again, both kunoichi were capable of shattering mountains with a single punch, and were responsible for the main medical aid of Konoha.

…Nevermind. It made sense that no one had attacked them.

Takeshi continued to be a Minion of Tsunade, and led a revolution of the Minions against Anko. The snake summoner never saw it coming. The Minions, having valiantly fought for their freedom, promptly threw it away by becoming underlings to Tsunade.

They at least seemed happier…

Lee, having taken Kakashi's advice to heart, helped Sakura diligently in her work at the hospital. Instead of declaring his undying love, he constantly challenged the pink-haired medic to all out spars like the first one on the day of The Bet. Sakura, caught off guard by his lack of flowery confessions and the absence of his monstrous eyebrows, accepted his proposals, again and again.

…Probably because she was completely and utterly enamoured with him, though she kept that 'secret' close. There would not be another drunken confession from her lips for years to come.

Over the coming months, Lee would earn Sakura true respect (and more than a few bruises) during the course of their meetings. He would come to learn that Sakura was not perfect- and that he loved her all the more for it. Nearly half a year later, he would ask her out for the first time since the day of The Bet's completion. For the first time, Sakura would say yes.

Considering she had just been about to ask him out, it certainly worked out.

It would also help that Naruto had finally pressured Sakura into admitting, while sober, that she thought Lee was 'super hot in spandex'. Sakura would still deny her drunken confession from the summer before, but that wouldn't stop her from appreciating Lee's… 'Anatomy.' She was a med-nin, after all!.

Lee's eyebrows eventually grew back, but their enormity was offset was the smoothness of his scalp, and Sakura was finally willing to admit to all that she found the 'Green Beast' highly attractive.

Over the coming years, a gentle love (punctuated by less gentleness during their frequent spars) would grow between the two…

Kiba, finally reunited with Akamaru (the dog having wisely hid away during the events of the day), spent the next month after The Bet contemplating life in the remote mountains surrounding Kumo, his previous sanity shattered.

No one blamed him.

The vegetable market, other than the civilian housing sector, was the only relatively unharmed section of Konoha. Previous enemies, the GaaNaru and SasuNaru shippers, came together to ruthlessly fix the many stands. They now had common ground in their crippling fear of 'The Beast'…

After Shikamaru kicked everyone's asses in gear, and once rebuilding was underway, he snuck out of Konoha and spent an enjoyable week at the neighbouring town's hot springs. No one was ballsy enough to attempt to bring him back.

The shinobi apartments were reconstructed under the power of a somewhat disgruntled Hokage-to-be spamming shadow clones, and the aid of the many shinobi that had set fire to the apartment in the first place. Years later, random traps could still be stumbled upon. Oddly enough, it added to the allure of the apartments, because many shinobi liked the thought of the mysterious danger…

Shinobi, of course, are nuts.

While the reconstruction of said apartments was underway, Konohamaru and Nana were caught attempting to add their bets post-bet completion to the betting station at the hospital. Apparently, they had actually managed to deduce that Naruto loved Iruka from a single bet of Jiraiya's, but had been unable to place their bets in time due to capture via Aoba. They were promptly kicked out of the defunct betting station, and forced to personally be responsible for keeping Naruto on track with the rebuilding, which was a particularly hellish job- she kept trying to sneak away to meet up with Iruka…

Iruka supervised the de-trapping of the shopping district, and the restoration of the many stores. This was mostly to keep him a fair distance away from Naruto, because the shopping district was on the other side of Konoha from the shinobi housing apartments. No one wanted the two of them running off before restoration was complete. On top of that, seeing them together was like salt in the slowly healing wounds of the losers of The Bet.

Regardless, the two still managed to secretly rendezvous at the training grounds for some… 'sparring'. Later that week, they would have a pleasant second date in the wilds of fire country, away from any pesky observers…

Tenzo, much to his pleasure, was not responsible for much of the rebuilding, other than a few businesses that needed immediate restoration. Instead, he was in charge of forcing Kakashi to do his paperwork. The mokuton wielder was too busy nagging his senpai to worry about becoming a nuke-nin after that.

It helped that Kakashi, now over his crippling avoidance of the most recent Icha Icha releases, was raring to test out the newest books.

Sakura, the poor, poor girl, was a victim of the sight of the Hokage's desk being defiled when she came in to deliver reports on the reconstruction of the hospital. She would be scarred for the rest of her life, and would forever wonder how the hell she had ever thought Kakashi and Naruto should be together.

A permanent twitch reflex whenever she heard the word 'Senpai' was her resulting punishment…

Chouji, revenge against 'The Orange' satisfied, bought the nice dress he had originally been trying to buy for Karui and swore off ramen for life.

Hinata was indefinitely house bound, pending improved attitude in regards to Naruto's love life. The Hyuuga attempted to offer as much support as they could to their desolate clan leader, but they themselves weren't overly upset by The Bet's end result- most of them had originally been NejiNaru shippers after all, and were used to having their hopes crushed.

In the coming years, Hinata would gradually tone down her obsession with Naruto, and finally stop trying to assassinate Iruka. But even after she stopped actively trying to kill him, the merest mention of Iruka's name could send her into a violent rage. The shinobi of Konoha figured that was about as good as she was ever going to get.

While reconstruction was in progress, reports on the status of the other hidden villages arrived.

Suna was still under lockdown, but had apparently 'finished cleansing the Orange menace', whatever that meant.

Iwa was missing. How an entire hidden village could disappear, no one knew. The village wouldn't reappear for another month, upon which the Tsuchikage would claim that they had been following state protocol and bunkering out in the mountains until they were sure The Bet was complete. They were probably the smartest of all, to be honest.

Kiri was Kiri. No more needs to be said.

Kumo didn't respond to any outside contact for two weeks, and that connection was only finally reached via Kiba, who was taking an existential questioning field trip through the mountains. Upon meeting the village that had degenerated into a rapping hellhole, Kiba would realize that he at least wasn't the craziest shinobi, and feel remarkably better.

The Raikage promptly retired once he learned the outcome of The Bet, but not before passing one final law- rapping in Kumogakure was now punishable by death.

Killer Bee wisely decided to hang out in Takigakure for the foreseeable future.

Other than in those villages, chaos was limited to minor property damage everywhere else. A shaky peace soon returned to the elemental nations, though the mood was globally soured by the drastic losses to The Bet.

There were a few victors, though.

Ino and Shino reaped the benefits of their reward in very different ways. The Aburame decided to put all of his earnings into savings. The interest it would later generate would allow him to pamper his beloved for the rest of his life- she was rather high maintenance, after all. On the other hand, Ino was forced to cough up half of her substantial win to pay for damages. It was she who had accelerated The Bet, after all!

With her remaining winnings, Ino and Shino went on a deluxe road trip. No one would hear from them for the next three months. From then on, they develop a taste for travelling, and their excursions and discoveries would go down in history.

Unspoken was the truth that the duo only first started said excursions so that Ino could escape those still disgruntled about her jump starting 'The Day of Shipping Hell'. It all at least turned out for the best, though…

Sai would never realize that he had lost his could-be girlfriend to a scheming bug user, his emotional ineptitude failing him once again. Mitarashi Anko, now Minion less, would swoop in for the kill upon the oblivious artist. Unlike her previous Minions, he would never escape.

…That poor, poor bastard…

Teuchi and Ayame, who over the years had invested an enormous sum into The Bet, were now the richest people in the elemental nations. Later, they would buy out a sizeable sum of fire country's land and found their own daimyo dynasty. Teuchi kept Ichiraku's open in his palace, and was always ready to make a bowl of ramen for the frequently visiting Iruka and Naruto.

Jiraiya's earning would be pooled out through his resurfaced will. Naruto would receive a sizeable sum, though the rest would be anonymously donated to the many orphanages in the elemental nations and divested into a scholarship for promising writers.

Naruto would quietly tear up at the note that came with the willed earnings- 'Enjoy your future with that chuunin-sensei, brat. I'm proud of you. Name one of your kids after their old gramps, okay? Jiraiya's a pretty classy name. I wish you the best.' It would be the only time Jiraiya outright admitted that he considered Naruto his daughter, if through slightly indirect means, but the blonde would, regardless, cherish the letter for the rest of her life.

Gaara would drown his sorrows in money. And then use that same money to found and fund charitable institutions and orphanages across the elemental nations. He would go down in history as the next coming of the Rikudo Sennin, and though he would have no children himself, his legacy would continue through adopted family and his nieces and nephews. Though many argued that 'those soul sucking Nara couldn't possibly be related to the kind, benevolent Kazekage!'

The final mystery would be that of a no name civilian of mysterious background who had somehow managed to place the winning bet almost ten years ago. Once they collected their earnings, they would disappear, never to be seen again…

Uzumaki Naruto pulled off her greatest prank without a hitch.

Xxx

A month after The Bet was completed, Morino Ibiki had a problem.

The scarred man stared morosely down at his clasped hands. As T and I's greatest interrogator, it shamed him to find that he had been unable to deduce the true outcome of The Bet. On top of that, they never had managed to figure out who the hell Naruto's male friend could have been!

Which is why he had cornered the blonde in question in the Hokage's office.

"Uzumaki, I need to know- it stomps on my pride as a shinobi to not know the answer, and to finally move past this, I need the truth. Please- tell me who it was!"

Naruto lifted her head from her paperwork, and gave Ibiki an incredulous look. "What the hell are you going on about?" On the other side of the room, Kakashi snorted, ignoring the towering stack of paper on the desk in front of him in favour of the conversation between Naruto and Ibiki. Tenzo, who was standing next to Kakashi's desk, whacked him over the head with a stack of papers to reclaim his attention, and forced the grumbling Hokage back to work.

Ibiki pursed his lips. "T and I had deduced that you would have told a close male friend about your feelings- we thought that friend to be Kiba, because he was the one you spent the most time alone with, but that was clearly not the case." Ibiki's eyes went wide and watery. "Please, Naruto- I need to know who it was!"

Naruto cringed away. "Jeeze, put that face away- you're no Inuzuka. The puppy dog expression just looks creepy on ya." The Uzumaki's face shifted into a sly expression. "Do you really want to know?..."

"YES!"

"Okay, okay! Man Ibiki, calm your tits…" Naruto imperiously lifted her nose to the air. "The only one I could trust with such a secret, my best male friend… was Kurama!"

Ibiki, Kakashi, and Tenzo froze. Naruto continued to foxily grin.

"…You complained about your love life to the Kyuubi, the chakra manifestation of hatred, the strongest primordial being in the world?" Ibiki emotionlessly asked.

"Yep! He's a really good listener, dattebayo. He even helped me come up with some of the subtle hints to catch 'Ruka's attention!"

Ibiki stared blankly at Naruto, before unceremoniously turning and leaving the office. "I need a drink…" he mumbled.

As Ibiki made his defeated exit with his head lowered to the ground, he bumped into what must have been a chuunin messenger that was entering at the same time. Ibiki was about to growl out a threat, but froze once he raised his head and recognized the shinobi in question.

Iruka sheepishly smiled, and shifted the wrapped boxes he carried in his hands. "Sorry about that, Ibiki!" The Morino quickly flickered his eyes back to Naruto, who was beaming at Iruka. Ibiki snorted, and waved away the apology with a lazy hand. He wasn't suicidal enough to chew out the chuunin that the most powerful woman in the world was in love with, in front of her, no less.

As he left the office, he could hear the conversation between the resident lovebirds.

"Classes finally let out, and I know you get off when you're done all your work- would you like a little help with your paperwork? I know it's been a long week for you, and that way we can get that murder-mystery movie marathon of ours started sooner, and you can kick back and relax…"

"That sounds great, 'Ruka! You wouldn't believe how much Kakashi-sensei is dumping on me to practice for being Hokage- he's so lazy, without Yamato he'd probably never get anything done, and I think he's making me do all the work, cause…"

The blonde's words faded as Ibiki made his way farther from the office. An exasperated grin twisted his many scars. How the hell could we have ever thought Naruto would end up with someone other than Iruka?

In retrospect, it was obvious.