Author's note – Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto while Guyver is written by Yoshiki Takaya.
I make no claim to either, I am merely playing in their sandboxes.
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Chapter Seventy-Nine
Epilogue
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Naruto slowly opened his eyes and his gaze slowly focused on the wooden ceiling.
'My bedroom' He thought after almost quarter of an hour of staring at it.
Nothing seemed to intrude on the moment of timelessness and Naruto simply lay in his bed, his mind almost completely relaxed, then suddenly the memories returned and he shot up into a sitting position.
"Aaaaaaah!" He half-shouted. "Madara!"
The sound of several people running up the stairs dragged his attention to the door which burst open as Hinata, Ino and Shion burst through.
"Naruto-kun!" "Naruto-sama!" "Naruuuutoooo!"
Naruto was almost flattened as the three females virtually tackled him into his bed, then a chuckle sounded. Naruto managed to crane his head just enough to see Kin standing at the door.
"While you get Master Naruto ready for visitors, I'll go round them up." She said before vanishing.
Naruto stared at the empty door for another long moment, then returned his attention to the three females he loved, all of whom were hugging him as if they were afraid that he would vanish.
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Kin opened the front door to reveal Itachi in his formal robes. Naruto tried to rise from where he was sat, only for Hinata and Ino to use their flanking positions to hold him down while Shion, leaning on the back of the settee in such a way that his head was supported by her, simply pressed down on his shoulders to convince him to remain still.
"Hokage-sama." Kin said with a deep curtsey. "Welcome to the Uzumaki Mansion."
"Thank you." Itachi said, doffing his hat as he entered. "Naruto, welcome back to the land of the living. It's been almost three weeks."
As Naruto stared in shock at Itachi, faint cheering began outside, cheering which slowly increased in volume.
"Three… weeks?" He repeated as Itachi let Kin usher him to a seat.
"Well, two weeks and five days, if you want to be precise." Itachi confirmed. "Jonin Tsunade has been checking on you every day, she'll give you another exam after this meeting to check that you have indeed recovered."
"What happened… after…?" Naruto asked and Itachi gave a slight smile.
"After you blasted Madara into the sun? Most of us were waking up from that damned illusion by then, many of the shinobi are still receiving therapy… you may be interested to know that you are now the first Shinobi to ever have an SSSS-class ranking in every single Bingo Book. Even Minato was only an SS-rank while Madara was SSS."
Naruto gaped and Itachi accepted the cup of tea from Kin with a nod of thanks.
"We've all been rather busy over the last couple of weeks." He continued. "Fortunately, except for the areas that Orochimaru's forces struck, most of the damage was aimed at the areas with high concentrations of Shinobi. Most of the civilian areas escaped relatively unscathed. While you were dealing with Madara, the other members of your family wiped out all of the Zetsu that they could find. While there are still several hundred of them around, most are no more and the few that remain seem to have retreated to the north.
"Ame itself… has surrendered on condition that Jiraiya become the new Sandakage. Since the previous one was his one-time student Nagato, whom we all believed deceased, he accepted, although we're reallocating many of their shinobi through the Alliance to let us keep an eye on them.
"Several members of Akatsuki, including their most recent members, managed to escape. Although we're not certain, we think they're trying to get to the Land of Mystical Stones, although we don't know why.
"Other than that, things are calming down. Baki, the new Kazekage of Suna, which is starting to be rebuilt in the crater of the old one, sends his regards and has asked to be part of the Alliance. Iwa is suing for peace and has retreated to their own borders.
Itachi finished the cup of tea and put it on the side table.
"Your orders are simple. You are to recover fully. Until you do, you are barred from taking any missions and your fiancees are barred from anything higher than a C-rank."
"Understood, Hokage-sama…" Naruto managed and Itachi smiled as he rose.
"Excellent. Well, I have things to do, so I bid you good day… Jonins Uzumaki."
Naruto blinked for a moment, then he turned to look at Hinata.
"Did he just say…?"
"Yep." Shion chirped. "Ino and Hinata are both Jonin now. I'm a Chunin, but as I'm now on reserve status due to my duties at the Uzumaki Shrine, I'm sort-of not a ninja at the moment."
A knock on the door sounded and Ino laughed.
"Kin, your boyfriend is here!"
With a squeal of joy, Kin flung open the door, glomping Choji in the same move and Naruto's eyes widened at the sight of the ring on Kin's finger.
"Well, things should calm down now." Hinata sighed as she snuggled against Naruto.
Naruto nodded, then suddenly three figures popped into existance in front of them.
"Welcome back, son." Minato smiled as he hugged Kushina with one arm.
"We did good." Kurama added and everyone nodded in agreement. "Now, it's time for the really important things… can someone give me a belly rub?"
The joyful laughter echoed through the house.
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Well, that's it, this story is now finished.
It's been quite fun writing it, although several times I would have been tearing out my hair (assuming that I actually had any left…) at the sheer recalcitrance of my muse (especially for the last 5 chapters). Nevertheless, I (only just) made it to the finish line and now it is time for the end notes as well as the usual statement that if anyone wishes to try and write the sequel to this (difficult, I know…), then it's up for grabs to anyone who can come up with a decent plot and understands things like spelling and grammar. I have purposefully left several plot-lines unresolved for just that purpose.
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My thanks to KISHIMOTO MASASHI for creating the Naruto series which so many of us take great pleasure following and playing in, a series which has encompassed books, television and film. Kishimoto, your artistic skill and willingness to persevere is a great example to us all.
I would also like to thank TAKAYA YOSHIKI for creating the Guyver: The Biobooster Armour, a ground-breaking series that was absolutely vital to the construction of the story you have now finished reading.
To XING LI, the creator of , the website which provides us with a place to explore the what-ifs and may-have-beens, may I express my gratitude for the virtual playground that you provided to us and in which we enjoy playing (despite certain restrictions).
To the many unsung heroes who police, maintain and continue to develop the Internet on which we rely on so much, I present my deepest respect. You have a thankless job but the importance of your work is far greater than most people can possibly understand. Thank you.
And to you, the readers of this story. You have provided me with the feedback to help me hone this story, the audience to tell it to and the loyal following that left me speechless at how I could upload a chapter and have 40 people reading it within half as many seconds. I can only hope that I do not disappoint you in my future stories.
Thank you all. For everything.
Thank you.
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In the sewers under Nikko Shukabaka, a dark shadow seemed to intensify, then a pair of blank, yellow eyes slowly opened within it.
"…I still live…"