D: And here's the epilogue!

K: I'm so sad! I'm gonna miss you!

A: Me toooo!

D: Guys… we talk outside of the story, you know.

K&A:… Oh, yeah…

D: Well, I don't own anything. Enjoy!

Epilogue:

Four months later

Darcy's POV:

I woke up in my room in the Kazekage's building. I hadn't finished my medical training yet, but I had made progress, and I was here as an ambassador of sorts. It was mostly to make arrangements to have some medics from our village come and train willing shinobi to become medics themselves.

Today was my last day in the village, I had just a few more papers to sign, and then our work would be done.

I guess Lady Tsunade trusted me to do this because I was so close to Gaara, but she did give me a hell of a lecture on negotiating, and gave me a freaking book on what would benefit Konoha the most.

I sighed. At least this is almost over, I thought as I got dressed in a simple outfit of black pants, a black long sleeved shirt, and my chunin vest. I secured my headband on my forehead, and pulled my now mid-back length hair into a pony tail.

There was a knock at my door as I was adjusting my bangs over my headband, making sure they parted enough to reveal Konoha's symbol.

"Enter," I called out. Probably Baki, who had been my escort since I arrived in the village. Gaara had been too busy with Kazekage duties to have any personal time for me. Which was fine, his village should come before me.

I turned to see Baki's familiar face.

"Ready, ma'am?" He asked. Though I was technically a rank bellow him, he still felt he should hold such formalities with me because of my importance as an ambassador.

"Yeah, totally ready to be done with this," I said, following him out of my room. "But I'll miss the village… And Gaara."

"You'll see him again, I'm sure," he said.

"Yeah, at the chunin exams," I muttered. "Let's just get this over with. This work is so boring." God, I must have sounded just like Naruto.

Baki just laughed.

In a matter of minutes, we were in the meeting room. Gaara sat on one side of a long, rectangular table with Temari on his left, and Kankuro on his right. I took my place across from Gaara, with Baki standing at the door.

Here, Gaara was no longer my boyfriend, but the Kazekage, and we had official business to deal with.

"So I guess we just have papers to sing and we're done?" I asked.

"Basically," Gaara said. "We've agreed that you will send three medics to our village for a span of two years, and then send three new ones after the two years is up. This will continue for four cycles, making it a total of an eight year contract. Along with that, you will supply us with medical records if we need them for research, and our new medics will be able to go to your village and access your research labs when necessary, and to get extra training."

"Correct," I said. "And in return, you will send three of your jonin to train interested students in our village. Each trainer, for each village, is allowed a maximum of two students each."

"This is correct," he replied.

"And we are both in agreement?" I asked. He nodded. "Good, then let's sign this thing so we can be done." I signed my name on the scroll, and turned it to Gaara, who signed his own name.

"Negotiations over," I said. Then I looked up at him, "Right?"

He laughed. "Right. I think we all deserve a break," he said. Temari and Kankuro got up and left with Baki, but Gaara and I stayed seated, staring at each other.

"This is awfully… formal," I said, not wanting to use the word 'awkward'.

He smiled and stood up. He walked over to the balcony, and I didn't hesitate to follow him.

"I've been thinking," he said.

"Uh oh," I teased.

"Hey," he said, sounding serious, but he smiled when I looked up at him. "Darcy… Will you… will you marry me?"

"Will I… what?" I asked, not believing my ears.

"Marry me," he repeated. "I mean, at least consider it." He looked out across his village, but I continued to stare at him.

"I'll do more than consider it." I reached up to his face, turned his head, and captured his lips. "I'll accept," I said once we parted.

He smiled. "I love you," he said, holding me close. "So very much."

"But, I think the wedding will have to wait," I said.

He pulled back and looked at me.

"I mean, I have to return to Konoha and bring the scroll to Lady Tsunade, and then I have to plan the wedding, I said, along with doing all her dirty work."

"I understand," he said.

"Give me a year," I said. "Come to Konoha, and we'll have it."

"I'll keep you to your word," he said.

I kissed him. "I guess I should be returning home. The treaty will take immediate effect once I return. You will hear otherwise from Lady Tsunade, via messaging bird."

"Understood," he said.

He grabbed my arm as I was about to jump from the balcony to a roof below, turning me around and kissing me. "I'll miss you," were the last words I heard form him.

I smiled. "I'll miss you, too." And I jumped down from rooftop to rooftop until I reached the ground, and I sprinted from the village, scroll in hand.

I was only a few feet from the village when I realized I was being followed, I turned my head to the left and saw three sand shinobi behind me.

"We'll be your escorts back to Konoha, ma'am," a shinobi said.

I nodded. "Let's get a move on, then."

Three days later

"Darcy!" Kye and Akito cried, both of them hugging me the second I set foot in Konoha.

"Hey!" I cried out in surprise, but I hugged them back.

"How was the meeting?" Kye asked as we headed to Lady Tsunade's office.

"Fine," I said. "But I have good news."

"What?" Akito asked.

I looked at both of them, and then looked straight ahead. "Gaara asked me to marry him." I felt a smile spread across my face.

"No way!" Akito cried.

"Congrats!" Kye said, then after a pause, added, "Who's going to be your maid of honor."

"No clue," I said. "We're not getting married for a while, though. We both have a lot of work to do."

"Oh," Akito said.

"How long?" Kye asked.

"I told him to come back in one year," I said. We had just reached the Hokage's building. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a mission to finish." And I ran inside before they could follow me.

After the meeting with Lady Tsunade:

Lady Tsunade had congratulated me on my first solo mission, and the good news, and told me I could have a short break, but to come to her as soon as I was ready for another mission, which wouldn't be for another few days.

I exited the building to find Kye and Akito waiting for me.

"Hey, guys," I said.

We headed to the Nara compound, I was ready for a break.

"What have you guys been up to while I've been gone?" I asked.

"Well, I've been spending a lot of time with Naruto, but I've done a few solo missions," Akito said. "Simple ones, really. Things like guarding a scroll for a day while waiting for the real guards to come, and taking out some bandits in the mountain. Nothing as big as a deal between two villages." She laughed.

"Well, I actually just got back from a mission," Kye said. "It wasn't solo, though. I was on a recon mission with another chunin and a jonin."

"And?" I pressed for details.

"Well, we've found one of Orochimaru's old hideouts," she responded.

"What?" Akito and I asked, both stopping to stare at her.

"Yeah," she said, looking grave. "We found some documents. We're not sure if they were left there on purpose or not, but they had a bunch of information about Hinata on them. And, more importantly, about the byakugon."

"That can't be good," I said.

"You guys remember that one mission, right?" Kye asked. "Where we had to rescue Hinata from those scientists?"

"Yeah," Akito and I nodded.

"What if that's the stuff they got?" She asked. "That means they were working for Orochimaru."

We were silent, then she asked the dreaded question. "What if he has more information?"

D: Sorry to leave you guys hanging like that, but this is the end until next time. I'll try and work hard to get up the next story soon, but you'll hate me for a while. Promise.

A: I'm gonna miss you!

K: Meee tooo!

D: You know I love you guys! Please review. I thought I should get this chapter up now, because I start school up again tomorrow. But… FIVE MORE MONTHS AND I'M DONE WITH HIGH SCHOOL FOOOOORREEEEVEEERR!