Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who read this story from prequel to beginning to end! I'm also thankful for your patience as I tried to get out new chapters as often as possible despite a hectice work and project schedule. This is the final chapter of this story, and it's just some closure with some NaruHina and SasuSaku fluff that finishes this story and preps for the next and last in the series: Chibi Legends. I hope you enjoy it, and thank you so much again for reading! Every single reader made this story worth all the time it's taken to write it, and I'm so glad I could share the fun of writing it with so many people!

All The Difference Final Chapter

"Uchiha Itachi will be confined in mountain penal facility."

Tsunade's voice was as strong and authoritative as ever, filling every corner of the Hokage office. The debriefing had been going on for about two hours, and the room was filled with all of the Konoha chuunin that had been sent on the mission to rescue Naruto, including Naruto himself.

"It's the proper detainment for an S-Class criminal, although he will not be placed in deep mountain confinement since the information he has disclosed to us about the Akatsuki have all proven to be true and accurate. We've been able to seriously cripple their network, operations, and resources as a result. Unfortunately, we've been unable to capture the head Akatsuki members themselves," Tsunade said, looking down and then closing her eyes as the gravity of the situation set in. Her eyes reopened with a piercing look that shot through all of them. "We will continue pursuing them, but I'm afraid this particular mission, the mission to take down the Akatsuki once and for all, will but a difficult one that will carry on for a long time to come."

The chuunin understood what Tsunade meant. As the next generation bearers of the torch of Konoha, they may have to be the ones to take down the Akatsuki and needed to prepare for it both mentally and physically.

"Dismissed."

The young nin filed out of the office and were spilling out onto the tan colored streets below. This was their first day back after returning the night before from their long journey from the Sunagakure and before that the mountain fortress of the Akatsuki. They had saved Naruto and the other jinchuriki, thwarted a major Akatsuki undertaking, and come back all accounted for. They felt relieved more than anything else, and the peace of the beautiful blue skies over a green and bustling Konoha was more precious to them than ever. Their friendly chatter filled the air with their hopeful youth and strong spirits, and soon they were beginning to break off into smaller groups to head off in separate directions.

Leave it to Naruto to change all of that.

"SASUKE!!! I CHALLENGE YOU!!!!"

Every eye turned to look at the number one surprising ninja of Konoha. Then they turned to look at Sasuke's response.

"No."

Sasuke put his hands in his pockets and turned to walk away, but Naruto wouldn't take no for an answer. He skidded to a stop in front of Sasuke, blocking his way.

"YES!"

"Aren't you tired of fighting Naruto? I mean, we just got back," he said with a infuriatingly nonchalant attitude topped with a shrug of the shoulders. Sakura couldn't help but smile as she remembered how upset Sasuke had been when they were younger, around their first Chuunin exams, and Naruto seemed to be getting stronger than him. She had literally almost killed herself to stop them fighting one time on a rooftop, but now she had no objections. Her two teammates were no longer petty, jealous little boys. They were now mature young men…well, almost.

"I've been waiting patiently the whole trip back and I can't wait anymore! I want to go against your Uchiha Clan Ougi!" Naruto's face was pressed into a forceful frown.

"It's nothing, Naruto," Sasuke said with another shrug of his shoulders. Naruto's frown grew fiercer. He was dying to see what this special clan ultimate attack was, and the truth was, so was everyone else. They tried not to show it on their faces, but inside, they were all willing to disregard their plans and errands for the entire day if it meant finding out, especially if it's through a battle between Naruto and Sasuke.

"Let's go! Out to the open field area!"

"The clan's ougi is really no big deal, Naruto. You're going to be disappointed."

"HOW CAN I BE DISAPPOINTED?!? You defeated an S-Class criminal with it! I mean, granted it was your own brother, but STILL! We were fighting like three or four against an Akatsuki member and were barely holding our own! And you beat one of them BY YOURSELF!" Naruto looked like he was near tearing his hair out. "You heard Tsunade Oba-chan! We have to prepare for them! AND if I'm going to be hokage, I have to be the strongest."

"I never wanted to be hokage," Sasuke shrugged his shoulders again, "so you don't have to worry about that."

"That's not the point! I have to be the strongest! Fight me! Sasuke!" Naruto put his dukes up.

"You're really making a big deal out of nothing."

"FIGHT ME!" He waved his fists some more.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you that it's nothing."

"Out in the field!" Naruto began to head that way already.

"No, there's no need to go out there if you want to see the Uchiha Ougi. We can do this right here."

"In front of the Hokage's office?" Sakura asked with a bit of trepidation. She knew her shishou's temper better than anyone.

"Yeah, it won't take much time or space."

Naruto's eyes went wide with even more interest. Sasuke saw the look on his face and rolled his eyes.

"I'm only doing this because I know you won't stop bugging me about it. You'll see, it's really no big deal."

"I'll be the judge of that," Naruto said as he raised his fists up again to begin, and when he looked up to meet Sasuke's face, he realized that his teammate's sharingan was already activated and spinning with intensity. And that's when the world around him began to melt away.

First, all color disappeared until everything was just blank white, as if he and his opponent, Sasuke, were surrounded by pristine white paper on all sides. Then, colored lines started to streak all around him. As Naruto looked closer at the colored lines, he realized they looked a lot like crayon marks, and discernable shapes began to form. There were some red and blue crayon drawn flowers in a row on green stems. A haphazardly colored blue sky appeared with a bright, swirling yellow sun with orange rays extending from it. Under that cheerful sky was drawn a little brown ramen hut, and at its service window was being drawn a young girl with short, blue hair and white pupil eyes. It was a crayon caricature Hinata, and in her hand was a large, steaming bowl of crayon drawn ramen complete with chasu pork and fish cakes. Then other caricatures of Naruto's friends began to form: Kakashi with his book, Ero Sennin with a pair of binoculars, Tsunade Oba-chan with a bottle of sake, Gaara with his gourd, Sasuke with a glum face, Sakura with a big fist, and so forth.

The crayon drawings began to move with life. The flowers and people started to dance as if they were little paper puppets, the ramen hut swayed in time, and the sun twirled as a friendly, happy tune played in the background as the soundtrack and the drawing of Hinata said, "Hot Ramen! All you can eat!"

At first, Naruto just looked around a little dumbfounded. After all, he had been getting ready for a serious battle against Sasuke. Now he was surrounded by all these happy crayola images, and, being easily amused, he was completely compelled to run around the Hinata ramen shack while laughing and yelling "Yayyyy! Yayyy!" The whole place was like Naruto's own little happy fun land.

Sasuke stood a ways away from him with a large sweat drop forming on his forehead. It was hard for him not to feel extremely embarrassed for his friend, and at the same time, this was exactly what he expected would happen when he used the Uchiha Clan Ougi on Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto suddenly noticed that Sasuke was standing there staring at him with a dry look plastered across his face, and he remembered that he was supposed to be engaged in a death-defying battle with his old number one rival. The joyful mood and look on his face slowly narrowed into a look of suspicion.

"Hey…what is this? Are you making fun of me?" Naruto said as a frown spread across his face.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, put a hand up to cover his eyes, and shook his head.

"No, Naruto, like I told you. The Uchiha Ougi is no big deal. At least not when it's used on someone like you."

"What do you mean someone like me?"

The fanciful little play land world faded away to reveal the real world, and once again, Naruto was standing in front of the Hokage office surrounded by his friends. They were staring at him a little dumbfounded.

"Uh, hey, Naruto, are you okay man?" Kiba asked with real concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"Cuz you were just running around in circles just now yelling 'Yayyy!'" Kiba raised his arms above his head and waved them around tentatively in imitation.

"We thought maybe you'd lost it, that Sasuke's ougi was too powerful and you'd gone insane," Ino added with wide eyes.

"Like I said, the Uchiha Ougi is no big deal, especially not against Uzumaki Naruto."

They all turned to look at Sasuke, silently asking for an explanation with their attentive eyes.

"It's a combination genjutsu and medical ninjitsu 'attack'. When it's used, the sharingan is activated full force using a large amount of chakra for one very difficult task--psychological healing."

"Psychological healing?" Sakura asked with wide eyes.

"Yes, that's the heart of the ougi. The ability to use the heightened analytical abilities of the sharingan to not just confuse the nervous system but to heal it in a fundamental way, sometimes beyond a state of health that it had ever been in."

A silence fell over the group as they tried to understand what Sasuke was saying to them.

"So desu ne (I see)!" Sakura suddenly exclaimed in understanding

"What?! What do you see?!" Naruto asked, for he was probably the farthest of them all from understanding.

"That's why it was so effective against your brother…" Sakura seemed to ponder to herself, ignoring Naruto for a moment before turning to him and explaining.

"You see, people who commit heinous atrocities have to have some sort of mental block that prevents them from fully feeling the impact of their actions. Sometimes it's just the way that they're born, with a deficiency in their neural structure, or the way they were raised, never learning how to feel compassion."

"I see," Hinata picked up from there, "so they can hurt other people and not feel the pain they're inflicting on others."

"Exactly," Sakura confirmed. "A fully aware person can't help be feel empathy. That's what makes it so hard for someone like that to hurt others, because they feel the pain they inflict on others. They really and deeply feel bad when they hurt other people."

"Then for a normal person who does feel empathy, they would have to make those mental blocks, or actually, tear down or block off those parts of the mind that feel remorse and compassion. The part that causes them to care for others gets shut down one way or another," Hinata speculated some more.

"And the Uchiha Ougi removes all those blocks, whether a person was born with them, raised with them, or forced themselves to become heartless and unfeeling for whatever reasons," Sasuke finished it off.

"There are few tortures greater than pure, unadulterated remorse," Neji said in a serious tone.

"So the Uchiha Ougi basically gives a person his humanity back and all the responsibility and pain that comes with it?" Rock Lee said.

Sasuke nodded.

"The greater the sin, the greater the remorse. And when you feel enough remorse and regret, you'll be overwhelmed and lose all will to live," Neji spoke knowingly.

"Oh wow, what a mind job," Kiba said running his fingers through his hair in emphasis.

"Exactly," Sasuke confirmed.

"Wait a minute," the thick-headed Naruto was finally coming around, "so you're saying the Uchiha Clan Ougi basically makes people feel bad about what they've done?"

"Basically," Sasuke answered.

"So…how come when you used it on me I saw all these crayon drawings of sunshine, flowers, friends, and ramen? What does that mean?"

Sasuke broke out into an uncharacteristic smile. He couldn't help but be amused by his hard-headed friend's naiveté.

"It means, Naruto, that you've lived your life with absolutely no regrets."

Naruto took a minute to put two and two together.

"And that is why the Uchiha Ougi has absolutely zero effectiveness on you. Except for the fact that you're easily distracted by even low-level genjutsu."

The air filled with the laughter of the young Konoha nin as Naruto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

The months passed quietly and missions came at went, and the strength of Konoha grew with the maturing abilities of its ripening generation of ninja as well as the flourishing of the up and coming generations below them. The activity level of the Akatsuki was near zero, but the young Konohans knew better than to let their guard down and luxuriate too much in the peaceful times. An ominous cloud still hung in the back of their minds as a reminder that their current peace was always threatened by dark and twisted plans of those without, and their love for their homeland and the deepening of their friendships fueled their determination to become better and stronger every day.

It was on a sunset of one of these many peaceful days that Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata sat on the edge of a small wharf in a modest sized lake surrounded by trees within the confines of Hidden Leaf. They were silently enjoying each other's company along with the lovely colors of the time of day when all things in the world glowed with a natural beauty in the light of a waning sun. The golden waters lapped gently around as a soothing zephyr lightly rustled branches and leaves. Naruto held Hinata's hand tenderly in his own.

"Ne, Naruto," Hinata broke the silence.

"Hm?" Naruto responded with a sort of relaxed sleepiness.

"Do you want to get married?"

That caught his attention.

"Huh?"

Hinata smiled at his mild confusion. She asked again.

"Do you want to get married?"

Since nobody had ever really explained to Naruto what marriage was, he was definitely not sure what the implications of this question really were. But he knew at least that being married meant spending your life with someone.

"Um, aren't we already married?" Naruto sputtered out, testing out his understanding. He had, after all, never planned to live without Hinata.

Hinata giggled.

"Well, I guess in a way we are, because we're together. But there's more to it."

"Oh?" Naruto said, scratching the back of his head with his free hand.

"If we marry officially, we'll make vows to each other in front of all the people we care about."

"But doesn't everyone already know that we're together?" Naruto said, still trying to understand how an official marriage would change things.

"Yes, but if we make it official, you and I can move in together and--"

"Move in together? You mean live together in the same place?" Naruto said, his ears and eyes suddenly perked with interest. The thought of coming home to Hinata every night and spending even more time together sounded swell to him.

"Yes…"

"Let's get married tonight then!" Naruto said exuberantly.

Hinata's face suddenly blushed crimson.

"Well, that might be a bit of a short notice for everyone…" Hinata said, resisting the urge to nervously twiddle her fingers.

"If we get married tonight," Naruto continued, a bit oblivious to Hinata's sudden shyness, "then you could move in with me tonight, and--" Then something clicked in Naruto's thick head, and he finally noticed Hinata's red face. "Oh, you can use my bed, and I'll sleep on my couch. Don't worry, it's really comfortable on the couch. Sometimes I sleep on it just for fun, and…"

"Um…Naruto…if we're married, then it's okay to…um…sleep in the same bed together," Hinata stuttered out.

At first Naruto looked at her to see if she were pulling some kind of prank on him, but since she only continued to stay red with embarrassment with intensely bashful eyes, he realized it was no joke. Redness spread over his face much the way a thermometer turns red in hot weather.

He could only scratch the back of his head in embarrassment as he laughed, "So desu ka (Is that so)? Ah ha ha ha ha ha…"

Hinata couldn't help but laugh with him, and their nervousness soon faded a bit as they both started genuinely laughing at their own sudden timidity with each other.

Naruto's hand tightened around Hinata's, and he turned to face her.

"I definitely want to marry you Hinata," he said with conviction, and then a goofy smile spread across his face, "but you're right, we should take this slowly."

Hinata giggled, and with red blush still on both of their faces, they leaned in towards each other and kissed tenderly as the sun set.

On the other side of Konoha, another couple was also enjoying the peaceful ends of the day sitting on some steps in a location overlooking the buildings of the village. It was the location where Team 7 had first introduced themselves to their teacher, where a young girl with pink hair and squealed over a her school girl's crush and a young boy had declared that he lived only to kill a certain man. The two sat there now, grown fully into a centeredness of being, no longer the flighty and confused children of long ago. Here and there on the buildings dotting the view of the village was the symbol of the Uchiha clan which was carried as a legacy by the local village police. The sight reminded the young Uchiha descendent of his plans for the future.

"Ne, Sakura, I was thinking."

"Yah, Wat?" Sakura was crunching down hungrily on a juicy red apple. Her chakra strength attacks required her to constantly nourish herself with highly nutritious foods. Sasuke smiled as her cheeks puffed out with the big bites she was taking out of her apple. She chewed loudly and specks of apple flesh dotted her face as they flew out of her mouth.

"I was wondering if you would help me rebuild the Uchiha clan?"

Sakura swallowed and took another noisy bite out of her apple.

"Ahnt whe ahmost dun fixhing it up?" Sakura responded, referring to their near completion of the rebuilding of the Uchiha clan neighborhood with the occasional help of friends.

"Well, yes, that's my point exactly. It's almost done, and there are no Uchiha clan members to live there."

Sakura finished her chewing and swallowed again.

"Hm, well I've heard from Shishou that your brother has been on very good behavior. They might let him out in the near future. Then maybe he can live in one of the places we've renovated."

She took another loud bite of her apple, reducing the thing to its core.

"Um, I was thinking that you could live there…with me…as my wife."

Sakura stopped chewing and gave him a suspicious look. When she was satisfied that he was totally serious, she finished chewing up her last bite of apple and swallowed again.

"Dame dame (Nope nope), that's no way to ask someone to marry you," she said with a disapproving wave of her apple core which she promptly tossed with excellent aim into a trash can a few yards away.

"So…ka…" Sasuke muttered.

"You make me sound like I'm sort of baby machine. Totally unromantic."

"So…desu…I…I suppose so…" Sasuke stuttered. "Then what's the right way to ask?"

Wiping the flecks of apple and juice off of her face gruffly with the back of her hand, she turned to him and emphatically held up her hand.

"It should go something like 'Sakura, you're everything to me. I can't live without you. Will you marry me?'" she said his parts with a mockingly low voice.

"Oh…" Sasuke could only respond stupidly.

"That's okay. You can try again later. You'll get the hang of it sooner or later," Sakura said giving him an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

She got up and turned to leave. When she passed the first of a row of columns, she began to say, "Let's get something to eat. I've been training all day and I'm starv--" but she was cut off by a hand that rested on her shoulder and pulled her so that her back was against the column. Then, Sasuke's fingers slide lightly under her chin, lifting her face to look up into his, the touch of his fingers to the underside of her chin sending shivers down her spine. He looked profoundly into her turquoise eyes and then stepped forward, and she found herself with back against the column, staring up helplessly into his deep dark eyes. His face was so close to hers that she could almost see the faint reds of the sharingan eyes hidden beneath his dark pupils.

"Sakura," he said, his deep voice that of a steady young man sure of his words, sure of what he wanted, "You're everything to me. I can't live without you."

He moved in even closer.

"Will you marry me?"

Without giving her a chance to answer him, he pressed his lips against hers in a warm and passionate kiss. As he pulled away, he searched her aquamarine eyes for an answer to his question.

First her beautiful eyes crossed, and then they rolled up into her closing eyelids as she fainted.

"Woah, Sakura, are you alright?" he said as he tried to hold up her body that had just gone weak in the knees. He allowed her to gently slide down the column to a sitting position and then gave her cheek a little light slapping to help her regain her consciousness. When she was awake and staring up at him with bewildered eyes, he pressed on.

"Well? How was that?"

"Pretty…pretty good," she said, holding a hand to her heart to steady its intense beating while trying to catch her breath.

"And?"

She looked up at him.

"What?"

"Will you marry me or not?"

"Oh…well, only if you promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Give a girl a little warning before you turn on your Sasuke-charms on full blast like that, okay? Jease, almost gave me a heart attack," she said and laughed while holding her hand to her heart with emphasis.

Sasuke laughed. He was glad that whatever charm he had had worked on her.

"No problem," he said, then leaned in close to her again, and they kissed tenderly to seal their agreement.

The Konoha sun set as these new unions were made with promise, but rest assured, it will always rise again on a new generation of ninja, finding their way on the convoluted path of life, where the simple choices made at every fork in the road will make all the difference in the end.

Author's Note: COMPLETE! Thank you thank you thank you everyone! Next up: Chibi Legends! Please look forward to it!