I actually had to rewrite this whole thing because all of my notes were accidentally deleted. So, this came out much later than expected. Sorry guys!

Epilogue

10 years later…

He ran through the streets, his heart pumping fast. His feet kept pounding the ground, jumping and sliding to avoid the other villagers walking by. He looked over his shoulder as quick as he could, getting a short glance. They were still right on his tail. But it didn't matter. He was almost there—he could almost see the training grounds.

"Shinachiku, you dolt! Come back here!" He heard a voice yell behind him. It was Kaori, his best friend.

He grinned, "No way! I told you I'd be able to beat you to the training grounds!" he yelled back. He was only a few feet away. Jumping into the air, he landed right in the middle of their school's training field.

"No fair," she huffed, "I told you I wouldn't win from the start!"

"Don't blame your failures on your laziness," he crossed his arms.

"Shinachiku, if you haven't noticed, the only reason I fail things are because I'm lazy."

"My my," both their heads turn towards the unexpected voice. "Shouldn't you be on your way home?"

Shinachiku's eyes widened, "Iruka-sensei," he bowed. His father seemed to always respect Iruka-sensei, even though he was only a retired instructor, so Shinachiku tried his best to treat him with respect too.

Iruka laughed, "You're much more polite than your father was when he was a kid."

"I wouldn't use polite," Kaori glared at Shinachiku.

"We're waiting for our parents still, Iruka-sensei, they said they'd meet us here to walk us home." Shinachiku told him, ignoring Kaori's comment.

Iruka nodded, "It's good to see kids running around the village. It's been too quiet lately," he said thoughtfully, leaning down and rubbing the little boy's hair. "Have a good day, you two," he smiled, walking away.

"That's our parents' old academy teacher, right?" Kaori asked.

Shinachiku nodded, "Yup. My dad really likes him, so I try my best to nice to him."

Just as they were about to sit down, they saw their mothers walking towards them.

"Wow, aren't you guys here early," Sakura laughed, looking at them with raised eyebrows.

"Especially for you Kaori," Ino agreed, giving her a sideways glance, "Should I be worried?"

"Shinachiku thought it'd be a good idea to race here," she sighed, "And now I'm tired."

Shinachiku frowned, "You're always tried, Kaori!"

"Yes, but now I'm even more tired."

"Aunt Ino, were you this lazy as a kid?" Shinachiku asked, ignoring his friend.

Ino groaned, "Nope. She gets that from her Dad."

"Lazy's just another word for 'calm.'" Kaori tried to justify herself.

"Alright then, oh calm-one, we need to get going. We've got dinner with the Uzumaki's tonight, remember?" She reminds her daughter.

Shinachiku lit up, "I almost forgot! Uncle Kakashi will be there too, right?"

"Yeah, he just got back from his mission," Sakura replied.

Kaori nodded with a smile, taking her mothers hand. "Okay, I'll see you at your house later, Shinachiku," she waved goodbye to her friend.

Sakura looked down to her son, "Your dad's in his office, so we're going to run by and pick him up," she said.

"Okay," he grinned up at her.

Sakura saw a lot of Naruto in her son. He was chipper like him, always trying to see the brighter side of things. But Naruto said that he saw more of Sakura in Shina-chan than himself in his son. He said that he had her green eyes, her "cute" nose, and sometimes her temper. He'd always laugh after he said the last part, and Sakura assumed it was so that he looked innocent. He was right, though. She did have a bit of a temper at times.

Watching her son walk in front of her, she could help but start thinking. 10 years ago, they woke up to this place. It took a while for her and Naruto to actually settle in and really start a family, so they were 3 years married before having their son, Shinachiku. He's almost 7 now.

It was a real shock for Sakura when Ino had her and Shikamaru's first child, Toshio. He was healthy, despite the dangers during her pregnacy, and watching the two of them become a family make Sakura realize that… what happened to them—what made them want to relive their lives, didn't matter anymore. The only way to "fix" what was wrong with this world was to try and create something. A little over 2 years later, Shinachiku was born.

In a matter of minutes, they were already walking into Naruto's office. They could hear voices bickering on the other side.

"Naruto—I swear! I was never this bad when I was in the Hokage chair," they could hear Shikamaru groan.

"Well then, be my guest! Try and figure this one out, smart-ass!" Naruto yelled in defense.

Sakura walked into the office, Shinachiku following her closely behind. "Is my husband giving you grief, Shikamaru?" she asked, playfully looking at Naruto.

"Aw, Sakura-chan, so mean," he mumbled, putting down the pen he was writing with.

Shikamaru sighed, "You're husband's just being himself: a baka."

"No fair, two against one? Shina-chan, help your dad out, huh?" Naruto faked a pout, looking to his son.

A frown formed onto his lips, one he instantly recognized as his wife's. "Dad, if you're being a baka, then I can't help you." he said plainly.

Suddenly everyone in the room was laughing, aside from a salty Naruto. Sakura gave him a pitied look, "Come on, Naruto, we're only joking."

He looked at her, deciding to smile. "I know." He nodded, as if reassuring himself. "Let's get going then, shall we?"

"Naruto you're still not done—" Shikamaru was cut off.

"I'll deal with it tomorrow, Shikamaru. The best I can do for now is sleep on it, right?" He asked, looking to his advisor.

Letting out a long sigh, Shikamaru nodded, "I guess."

"Then it's settled! Now let's get home," he grinned, standing up and walking over to his family and making his way out the door.

He turned around before closing the office door, "We'll see you later tonight for dinner, right, Shikamaru?"

The lazy ninja nodded. "Yeah," he smiled, "Later tonight."

The door closed and Shikamaru could hear the laughter that followed them out the door. As cheesy as it seemed, Naruto and his family brought a lot of light to this world. He glanced out the window that over-looked the village. There was hope in the Leaf Village once more. Maybe, with this light behind them, they could at last…

Restart.

Aaaaand we're done! (Finally) you can throw those rotten tomatoes you've been saving now. But whew, am I glad this is finally over. In all honesty, I hope you enjoyed it. And even though this chapter is short, hopefully it fulfilled your (probably very small) expectations.

Until next time,

LovelySheree