"An Outlawed Romance" has just been completed, so here you go!

Originally, "Days of Wine and Roses" and "With a Song in My Heart", now combined. This is the epilogue of this tale of escapism, love, family, healing and moving on. :') I appreciate the love this has received, which comes once in a while.

There is a song in here that was inspired by "We Know the Way" (the ancestors' song from "Moana"). Epic and so amazing you can NEVER get enough; someone on YouTube said that a movie with so much water has such a fire soundtrack. :D

Chapter Eighteen

Day of Songs, Sake and Roses

Casualties were small, but the seriously injured would make a recovery in no time at all.

The same could not be said for any mental and emotional scars remaining.

The dead were going to be honored, but thinking about them made Itachi dwell on certain reanimated who were reported to take the lives of ones - coincidentally - who shared similarities to them as they had in life. For example, according to Ino Yamanaka and her boys, they saw their revived sensei kill a man who had a wife and young child waiting for him, having seen a photograph that fell out of the victim's pocket and caught into flames, and you could see the remorse and quiet anger in Asuma Sarutobi's eyes.

Something along those lines would have happened if Sasuke hadn't gotten himself out.

He could only say that Kurenai and Konohamaru were spared the devastation of seeing someone they'd loved in this state. Though, he was positive that the boy was in tears at seeing zombies of people he'd looked up to. Everyone was going to need each other to get past this disgrace.

He even gave Kabuto a chance to see the errors of his ways, but even after he ended the genjutsu, it was all in vain...and Itachi had no choice but to personally give him what would prevent him from doing this to anyone else. And then he gave the corpse to Kakashi to place in a scroll so that it would be presented as proof that their village was safe again - for now.

And from then on, no one was going to touch this horrible jutsu again if he had anything to say about it. They had everything Kabuto had in his hideouts, but from his body, they might be able to find out so much more and see to it that it would never fall into enemy hands, though Itachi Uchiha doubted it would be forever, because nothing lasted that way.

Nothing was forever, except one thing, and that was the form of his wife and their daughter who were in Naruto's arms, and the Hokage gladly took them both into his. Sakura was too exhausted to walk; he suspected that she summoned what little she could of her chakra - or at least, her backup reserves - and got away from Hidan before Naruto arrived with Sai, Gai and Lee. They told him the immortal was sealed away before he could make all of them his sacrifices, and it would have been useless to tear him apart again like Shikamaru Nara had done the first time.

He was not going to sleep well tonight after what happened today, which had to butcher a special occasion for the village as well as for him and friends of his wife and himself. The festival of the cherry blossoms had begun as jovial only to be intruded with tragedy and old wounds reopened.

But after the mourning days, we can finish the event with some attempts to smile and honor again. We'll all be fine; we've been there before, but it is still unforgiveable what Kabuto has done.

Several Shinobi - man and woman alike - bowed their heads at the sight of him, and scowled as well as gasped at the sight of Kabuto's corpse when Kakashi bestowed it and announced that the one responsible for all of this would no longer do this, and what happened today would never repeat again on their watches.

However, that also meant a word with Koharu and Homura as well as the council in the event of time regarding Kabuto's escape and his actions. The Reanimation Jutsu was declared forbidden, so its information had to be exterminated; that was the only solution. He was more than happy to oblige to that choice, no matter that some people had a brief, touching reunion - Sasuke was the perfect example, but it cut his heart into pieces.

Sakura looked tired and about to fall asleep; she leaned her head against his shoulder, exhaling and unable to speak, but she managed to look down at the little girl in her arms. Itachi found himself doing the same, smiling softly as he assessed nothing abnormally wrong with Sarada. She was breathing on her own, but when she and her mother were back with the others at what was left of the hospital, protocol required "better safe than sorry". Kabuto saved the child, but not from the kindness of his heart, though Itachi was grateful in a small way.

If things had been different, he could have seen redemption in the form of helping others because he genuinely cared.

"Oh, damn it, thank God those two are all right," Tsunade fussed when he approached the woman himself, giving mother and child over, laying them both down on a cot which was prepared. Sakura yawned and smiled feebly up at him, accepting the kiss he gave her on the brow - and Itachi gave one on the little forehead of their daughter who grunted a little, keeping her eyes closed. My girls are safe.

To call them HIS girls felt like a blessing, even more so knowing that Sasuke was happy to know that his aniki kept his promise and so much more, with no sense of betrayal.

He found himself alone with Naruto while everything was being rebuilt; the damages to the hospital weren't going to be an issue to reconstruct, same with a few other structures. There was a dark smokiness in the Uzumaki's eyes, and he understood why it was there. While he was happy to see his best friend again, even only for a moment, it destroyed his heart to see him being used as a puppet, before being spared the pain and humiliation of fighting him that way.

Itachi felt the same way...as well as a weariness that he never realized he had until now.

After the rebuilding was over - these parts of the village, the old Uchiha district and even the new community center - he was considering getting this one ready to have his seat.

His eyes began to throb, too, and needed to speak to Tsunade instead of letting it get back to Sakura.

~o~

In the weeks that passed, some wounds were starting to heal, and others were still taking their time while attempting to move forward, since the Hanami Festival was still ongoing, and it was as good as any time for everyone to try and enjoy what was left of it while it lasted.

She needed distraction and worked tirelessly with Lady Tsunade, Shizune and the others after the attack of the reanimated on the village. And at the end of the day, she was so tired she wanted to sleep, heading back home with her father and husband - but when she did sleep, she ended up waking so late and sobbing in Sai's arms until she passed out again. He patiently held onto her, though struggled himself to return to stupor.

The brother he lost when he was just a boy he'd been forced to face. He was feeling the same thing as her, and even Inoichi had run into former friends he lost on the field. She would be happy to know that this jutsu could be destroyed forever - the information, at least.

What comforted her was that a lot of people didn't get killed, and that her best friend and her daughter were safely brought back, and it touched Ino's heart to see the Hokage give his family that kind of love he did - but she also noticed something off about him. Something he just had to ask Tsunade's help over.

She had to just assume it had to do with his Sharingan if he used it. The Uchiha kept a lot of it a secret, but it was nothing new. Still, she just hoped it didn't threaten his life...

...or his eyesight.

If her guess was right, the eyesight could be going bad.

Sakura never mentioned anything about this, except that the Mangekyo Sharingan could be used a limited number of times, so this could be it. She just prayed Tsunade could work her miracles, since the oculars were extremely delicate as everything else in the body. I just hope he doesn't go all the way blind, or permanently...

The Uchiha and their secrets, she swore to the gods.

On a lighter note, it was great to know that Sakura and her daughter were both doing well, and little Sarada got to be out and about in the final days of the early weeks of spring; she had the rest of her life to really enjoy these blossoms - though it seemed she started to, if her hysterical giggles at the falling pink petals flying past her face were anything to come by, and her managing to catch one or two in her newborn hold.

It was also a magical moment to see the Hokage with his family, just as it was amusing to see him wearing PINK - and it turned out that shirt was something Sakura got him on their honeymoon, having been saved for this occasion, and Billboard Brow had been right about one thing: a real man can wear that color and OWN it.

That wasn't all there was to it; Ino had begun not feeling well since the attack on the village, and it was then that she finally did the math by the time the cherry blossom festival came to an end, the pink sweetness being replaced by lustrous blue-purple wisteria in bloom. She did go to Shizune, but she also figured it out herself without even needing a home test; this was based on the fact she had missed her period.

It meant one thing and one thing only: she and Sai were finally going to have their first child.

"Oh, beautiful, this is the most wonderful moment ever!" Sai told her, sweeping her off her feet and spinning her around, just as her dad was coming in, and he had heard nearly every word, for he roared with laughter because he was finally going to be a grandpa and took them both into his embrace -

- but there was one person who wouldn't be here to share it, though Ino took the comfort to heart in knowing her mom was with them in spirit, and that altar with the crystalline roses - courtesy of Sakura's suggestion - was more than enough to solidify.

That meant she and her best friend were in perfect timing, though it also got her and their friends wondering when Naruto and Hinata were gonna get serious and hitch for real. Also means Shikamaru and Temari if they cross paths again; Choji and I gotta get together and do something with them.

Poor Choji had difficulty coping after their reanimated sensei was sealed away, but he wasn't going to get through this by himself; Shikamaru even puffed up, so to speak, and was more than happy to start getting closure by participating in the destruction of the intel on the Reanimation Jutsu, on orders of the Fifth Hokage himself. That way, no one would EVER use it against them or anyone else again. The dead were best left to rest in peace...unless there could be another way. But no one would worry until that time happened.

Ino remembered the tired sadness in her rose-haired friend's eyes when Sakura told her about seeing Sasuke, but he never even got to hold his newborn daughter because of that monster who killed Asuma-sensei. He never would have anyway because of the one controlling him, which was also why this jutsu would be destroyed forever.

And now that all was getting well again, Sakura and Sarada both went back home with Itachi, the mother now put on leave until her chakra levels were back to full percentage. And that also meant Ino was going to enjoy spoiling that little girl - just like the doting grandparents Mebuki and Kizashi - while preparing the birth of her and Sai's new miracle.

Their son, Inojin, was born a month earlier than planned, in the middle of December - in the warm comfort of home during a snowstorm.

~o~

Eleven years later

"Well, here you go then, Sarada!" Aunt Ino told her as she blushed madly and handed her the flowers that Papa had asked her to retrieve before Mama came home today; until the evening drew to a close, he could keep them in the fridge until he surprised her himself. This made the young girl wrinkle her nose. She did NOT want to think about certain things between adults.

This she could handle: the simple gesture of flowers in the form of velvety, dark red roses and delicate white daisies. "Your dad really knows how to make the end of your mom's day better than it began," Ino told her, still smiling. "What about you? Going to head out and have some fun with your friends - oh, and I look forward to Inojin's masterpiece when all of you make Genin together!"

She was referring to her son's personally written song which he mastered all on his own, but with help, too - and it happened to be something all of them made together. Sarada wasn't a musician, but she did have instincts. It would have to be something that required heart and hard work from their efforts, and that did include that idiot Boruto joining in. But he can't even sing proper high notes, so the least he could do is be soft and move his mouth along with the words, but that's grand scale cheating.

Sarada walked home without trouble, but in doing so, she spotted Chou Akimichi - pleasantly plump, fair-skinned with warm chocolate eyes and bright red hair - who was the daughter of Choji Akimichi and Yoshiko who was an honest working girl and shared his love of food. Apparently the new generations were gonna be gluttons, but she didn't mean that in an offense.

And there was that Boruto with Shikadai and Inojin, their three-man games in hand, making her snort and shake her head. If only she could just enjoy herself, but with finals coming up, things had to be taken seriously - especially with her.

Looking down at the flowers in her arms, she thought about her own family. The story was that her mother had been a few months pregnant when she was a bride, having announced her engagement shortly after the death of her previous fiancé - none other than Uncle Sasuke. Ended up being comforted by his brother, the retired Fifth Hokage...only for them both to tell me what really happened, a few months ago.

Her mom and dad who raised her and loved her, taught her right and wrong, thought she was old enough to understand now, and it was so much to take in. Everything she'd known hadn't been what she thought it was: her father, Itachi Uchiha, was really her uncle.

That meant Sasuke Uchiha, the one who died before she was even born, was her real father.

She had never felt so betrayed; she'd been lied to all her life, and she ended up running to the Yamanaka household, needing comfort from Aunt Ino and Uncle Sai who also knew the truth - she could have gone to Boruto's dad, Lord Sixth, since he had been best friends with her parents, and because both her grandparents died two years ago if months apart - and it was Ino who sat her down and told her that family didn't end in blood. What was more important was this strong connection called love, which came in many forms.

Just like Mom's best friend to be the badass she was. That was enough for her to head back home to her parents that same night, seeing Sakura crying in Itachi's arms; the latter had a firm expression which had been waiting for her so that he could give her a soft but stern lecture, but it never happened when Sarada forced herself to say that she was sorry for running out, and needed time to absorb this.

And that Boruto thought his life was hard just because his father was hardly in his life anymore, ever since he became Hokage himself. That guy was the best thing that ever happened to this village; then again, she could be one to talk since her own hadn't been home much, either. Now he is going to spend the rest of his days home more, because he's done so much to keep me, Mom and everyone safe. Idiot should be grateful he's getting this.

What did he think of Itachi Uchiha? Well, thought he was just "cool ass", but that opinion changed when Naruto Uzumaki ended up in that place, which was more than enough to earn rolling of the eyes.

Sarada had worshipped both her parents all her life, her father setting an example for how everything was today: her mom would have been shamed for having an unplanned pregnancy after the untimely death of Sasuke - who gave his life for his family and his village - but not only did his brother save her, she fell in love with him right back.

And they both loved HER, too.

Single mother shaming was no longer an issue, except with a few. And there was just so much more to Konoha that seemed to push back any unwanted ghosts of the past, which also included the old Uchiha district being torn down in favor of a civilian school for children who weren't going to be ninja.

Sarada could have chosen to be anything she wanted, but she was dead set on being a Shinobi, and one day Hokage. Be the second Uchiha as well as the first woman to have that seat.

In the present, as soon as she was home, there was the smell of chicken, rice, miso and tea. Her papa was cooking dinner, waiting for her, since his wife wasn't going to be back for a little while longer. When she walked into the kitchen, there he was at the stove, long black hair ever in a ponytail, and when he turned around upon hearing her footsteps, he kindly smiled at her - behind a pair of glasses slimmer than hers. Itachi's eyesight had become worse over the last decade, to her knowledge, and it had to do with an ocular ability within the Uchiha that was above the norm. Though he told her that if he had anything to say about it, he would prevent the same thing from happening to her.

Sarada wondered if anyone else in the Uchiha had to wear glasses like them, but he said her "Uncle Sasuke" never got to live long enough for him to. Her mother's family didn't have a history of bad eyesight, though.

Itachi's attention fell to the flowers in her hands. "Thank you for picking them up, angel," he told her, walking over and taking them to put them where he'd promised, in the refrigerator. "Think your mom will really love them?"

"I don't see why she wouldn't," Sarada answered, going over to sit at the table with the chairs elevated from the ground. He'd already set the table before she came back, which she usually helped him with.

He smiled at her then and gave her a tap on the forehead, which he gave her mother and late birth father, the latter when they'd been children. Warmth coursed through her forehead, remaining even after she put her fingers to that place and blushed. It intensified when she found herself thinking about the day that would come, which was when she and her friends would face off against Jounin to earn their headbands. She was doing it for herself as well as to make Mom and Dad proud.

This is the next step towards my dream of one day becoming Hokage. My papa was - he might be my uncle, but he's the one I've known all my life, because Aunt Ino is right - and so is the one I find it hard to believe is the father of that idiot.

~o~

It was thanks to Tsunade's method of a "telescope implant" which allowed healthy new cells to make their way into his entire retina, if leaving some of his vision blurry that he was required now to wear spectacles. However, it was better than nothing, and she saved his skin as well as a thrashing from Sakura for him not telling her.

Life went on as it was, and it turned out Sarada would also need glasses as she grew, which could hint that because of her half-Uchiha blood, her eyesight would have some issues. But that slight impairment didn't stop either of them.

To hear her call him "Daddy" was the best gift a man could ask for.

She was the best thing that ever happened to them, even if she cried and ran out on them that night, leaving them both worried, but came back when she assured them everything was fine the way it was. We just can't thank Ino enough for her help.

Also, Ino and Sai's son really was something, not just in his father's use of the brush and ninjutsu. Itachi was still replaying it over and over, and was far beyond impressed. The youth today worked so much better and easier than their predecessors; peace really was a wonderful thing to obtain. The other nations were doing the same.

Ā! Ā!

(Oh! Oh!)

Shōbu o uketetatsu

(Challenge accepted)

Ā! Ā!

(Oh! Oh!)

Korera no utsukushī tochi

(These beautiful lands)

Watashidachinouchi

(Our home)

Inojin really put his heart and soul into it, having known enough of the village's Shinobi history, his parents and his grandfather doing the brunt of it before he got into the Academy, and now his time in the classroom added.

Ā! Ā!

(Oh! Oh!)

Watashitachiha danketsu shi, dansei to joseidearimasu

(We are men and women united)

Watashitachi no chōrō no monogatari o denshō

(Pass down our elders' tales)

Tsugi no sedai e

(To the next generation)

Ā! Ā!

(Oh! Oh!)

Korera no utsukushī tochi

(These beautiful lands)

Watashidachinouchi

(Our home)

Itachi always had an affinity for songs that made differences, especially the oldest ones from before his time. Anyone who thought otherwise was a fool, and Inojin Yamanaka - one of his daughter's friends - could be counted as bringing old and new together. Just like when he put new, colorful spins on the Ink Scroll his father passed onto him.

Now that the day was over, he was overcome with immense pride when he saw the headband bearing the plate of the Konoha insignia around his daughter's forehead. And her mother was wiping her eyes of the tears of joy - but then Sarada had interesting story bits to share with them at the dinner table. With the still-fresh red roses and white daisies in the middle of their seating places; giving them to Sakura had resulted in his beloved smothering him with more than just lavish lip locking.

"Kakashi-sensei really was hard on Boruto the most out of all of us together - especially when he had him pinned down, challenging him to break his own arm to get out of it."

This made Itachi try not to choke on his tea, and Sakura showed the slightest amount of stunned surprise, before it softened and she laughed a little. "He was like that with me and the boys when we were assigned to him as Team Seven. He just likes to make it tough to help you see what you're going to be dealing with. Being a Shinobi isn't all fun and games, and it looks like Boruto is going to learn that the hard way." My thoughts exactly.

He had nothing against Boruto Uzumaki, but he had a lot in common with two people in his life - well, one while the other wasn't here. He inherited his need for attention and disrespect of authority from his father, but he was naturally talented...just like Sasuke. But hard work beat every ounce of talent there was.

He was considering going to Naruto himself and advising him to start talking to his son again, open up about more of his childhood so that the boy didn't resent him - or he could do that himself. Either way, he couldn't be sure Boruto would be any better than his father.

I'm not deaf in the sense I don't know what some think of the new generation: "they're softies compared to us". Well, every generation differs. Someday will those words be spoken again.

Sarada wanted to be Hokage someday, when there were just so many more opportunities than back then. But just like both sides of the family, she made her decision and would make it happen no matter what would get thrown at her. And given he'd not been there a lot for her while she was growing up, he had the rest of the time to make up for it.

Unspoken words: she understood much better about the Hokage than Boruto did.

Itachi never thought it would be this relieving to retire and return full-time to his family. Life really was worth living.

Now that one hard part was over, the evening was still young, and Sarada was heading back out with her friends because of the brand new movie at the theater that Boruto was hyped about - which was exactly what a lot of the kids enjoyed these days - and it was Kagemasa, played by a real retired Shinobi. He chuckled and told her to have fun but don't stay out too late, her mother agreeing with him...

...and they had the house all to themselves, which he'd been looking forward to all day, since it'd been a while.

"Should I get out the sake that we've been saving for a special occasion?" Sakura asked, turning to look up at him with batting eyelashes. He chuckled; how could he refuse that invitation which would lead to them taking it right to the bedroom?

How could fate have been so cruel to take away so much in my past, but in return, grant me this jewel of a woman and the girl who is my own, not in blood but in bond?

Itachi in pink which his wife got him on their honeymoon - it was so funny to think about the first time, but my best friend suggested it of all people, and he was right: a real man could wear the color and OWN it (while sakura blossoms are in season). XD

Choji does not end up with Karui in this version, but I thought about his dream in the Infinite Tsukuyomi, when he had that beautiful girl who cooked him up that feast while his father proudly watched. XD And seeing she didn't have a known name, here you go.

Add that Itachi never told Sakura about the Eternal Mangekyo, which results in blindness permanently gone. Given that there is no secret stash of Uchiha eyes anywhere, I had to think of a better, moralistic way than having him going blind for the rest of his life, never seeing Sarada as she grew up - and I was inspired by this AARP article, "Treating Blindness and Vision Loss - Restoring Eyesight".

I couldn't resist adding Boruto elements in here if not showing the real events themselves. Though, the English dubbed streaming is halted for some reason, for a while and for reasons I don't know. -_- I could watch subbed, but dubbed is my treasure. Hell, I always waited for each set of Shippuden every three months. :)

Think of this ending to this story I am so proud of as my pre-Christmas gift to all of you.

REVIEW IN LOVING DETAIL NOW THAT YOU HAVE REACHED THE END! :3