Behind

Premise: Sasori was a puppeteer, a manipulator, that's why he could see right through her the moment he met her, "Sakura, join me and the Akatsuki. We can promise you something your teammates never could…to never be left behind."

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Epilogue: After

It had been a decade since that day. Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets as he closed the door behind him and left his office. His assistants knew where he was going; it had been the same routine for the past ten years. Everyone in the village knew where he was going, some of the village was even joining him.

The Rokudaime Hokage walked down the steps of the Hokage Tower and at the bottom was his most faithful shinobi, his best friend. "Morning teme," Naruto grinned with a slight tilt of his head.

"Good morning dobe," Sasuke grinned back as he tapped the bouquet of flowers that was sitting on his shoulders.

"Where's Kakashi?"

"Late?"

"Already at the cenotaph?"

"More than likely."

"Stupid old man always has to get there earliest," Naruto scoffed as Sasuke joined him in walking out the large doors. Naruto waved to the secretaries and they waved back at him with bright wide-eyed smiles on their faces.

"Can't believe your wife doesn't beat on you for all the women throwing themselves at your feet."

"You can't help the disadvantages of being the village hero."

"You can't help still being a fifteen year old brat."

"Ah, who's pointing that out?"

"The Hokage mountain has a picture of your fifteen year old face."

"I was seventeen teme," Naruto retorted as he waved at one of the shopkeepers. Seventeen had been the age in which they had fought the war against the Akatsuki and in which he had been elected as the new Hokage. The election had been in the light of Tsunade's death. Naruto blinked as he remembered. The Hokage hadn't technically died from grief, she had been too strong of a woman for that, but her inability to protect her apprentice had made her risk everything to protect her village. Tsunade had succeeded with her unprecedented power but had joined Jiraiya who had left them at the beginning of the war.

"You've fooled every visitor into the city."

"Ah, well they don't know anything."

"Dobe."

"Morning Hokage-sama!" Kiba shouted as he jumped in to take a spot on the other side of the Hokage. Akamaru barked merrily and nudged the back of Naruto's knees before the dog took its spot right beside his master.

"Inuzuka," Sasuke stated with a raised eyebrow.

"Uchiha," Kiba retorted back with a grin on his face, "What's up with the greeting?"

"Don't you always sleep in?"

"It's a special date today, ten years is usually one of the big markers isn't it?"

"Aburame told you he would kill you if you were late again didn't he?" Sasuke smirked.

Kiba chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, "Yah."

"I'm glad that you take my threats seriously," Shino muttered as he joined the trio from the shadows with a basket of flowers in his hands.

Naruto managed to let out a high-pitched scream when the bug user appeared, never in his life would he be able to get used to how that man worked, Hokage or not. He was still one of the most formidable people that Naruto had ever known. "So glad that there aren't any visitors today, imagine if they had seen Naruto screaming like a little girl," Kiba grinned.

"That is Hokage-sama to you dog breath," Naruto scoffed and knocked Kiba right over the head.

"Imagine if they had seen our oh so worthy Hokage-sama scream like a girl," Kiba amended before his face was planted harshly into the dirt.

"What was that about girls?" Tenten asked as she continued to use her palm to rub his face into the ground while balancing herself on the balls of her feet on the small of Kiba's back.

"Girls are crazy awesome," Kiba cried as Akamaru barked a greeting at Tenten. Tenten smiled, patted the dog on his head lovingly and jumped off of Kiba's back with a flip. She landed in the dirt with a small thump and suddenly Neji was by her side with all the colors of emotion on his face. Lots of things had changed in the ten years after.

"Pregnant!" the Hyuuga hissed, "You are still pregnant! You will be pregnant for a lot longer, stop that!"

"I'll live, he'll live, stop being such a worry wart," Tenten giggled as she latched onto Neji's arm, "Hyuuga Lee will be one hell of a little guy and something like that won't kill him." Neji only managed to hiss at her one more time before she giggled and stole the bouquet of flowers from his hands. "Your attitude is going to wilt the poor babies and remember our Lee likes his flowers youthful!"

"This is going to get really confusing later on isn't it?" Kiba muttered to Naruto. The Hokage nodded in agreeing although he understood perfectly well why Tenten had chosen to name their future son as they did.

"Where are the last three?" Sasuke murmured as he looked up and down the street.

Tenten went silent in her giggles for a little bit before she looked over her shoulder with a small sad smile, "Ino had another attack yesterday, they might be a little bit late."

"It's been ten years," Shino murmured, "The pain never does stop."

"At least now it's been narrowed down to a time span of one week around the date."

"Do you think it really is something physical that's wrong with her?"

"Not in the least… Kurenai always did say that taijutsu and ninjutsu could kill but that genjutsu destroyed. I finally understand what she means," Kiba sighed as he rubbed the back of his head.

Neji lowered his eyes to the ground as he shifted around Tenten so that he could put a hand on her stomach, "The pain never stops." Tenten put her hand on top of Neji's and smiled up at him. The baby had saved them both from what would have been a continuing downward spiral in a series of missions that would have eventually killed them both. Lee had always been the teammate that had watched out for them and they could only hope that the child that was growing in Tenten would be half the man that their third teammate had been.

"I don't think they'll go to the cenotaph," Sasuke stated as he tapped his bouquet of flowers again.

"Disrespect," Shino muttered darkly as his glasses flashed in the sun's light.

Naruto placed a hand gently on Shino's shoulder and squeezed, "Hinata wouldn't like you talking about Ino like that. You know that when Ino has one of her attacks she is barely in any condition to show respect even if she could go. Shikamaru is probably lugging her around if she is demanding to go anywhere at all."

Shino seemed to frown before he nodded and brushed Naruto's hand away. The village gave way to the trees and the trees soon gave way to a clearing. Before the large cenotaph Gai, Kurenai and Kakashi were already standing. When the Hokage arrived Gai had the due respect to stand up from his kneeling position and Kurenai bowed politely. "Hokage-sama," Kurenai greeted with a small smile on her lips.

"Hokage-sama!" the girl clinging to the woman's leg chirped happily.

Naruto grinned and kneeled down while spreading his arms. Kurenai's daughter cried out in joy as she looked up to her mom, who nodded. Sarutobi Hikari bolted at Naruto and giggled breathlessly as Naruto swung her up into the air and positioned her onto his arm. "Lonely without uncle Shikamaru?"

"Aunty Ino was feeling sick," Hikari stated factually as she leaned her head against Naruto's cheek, "Am I heavy?"

"Nah, if I can save a village I can lug an eleven year old around easily."

"Uncle Shikamaru says it's troublesome," Hikari muttered and pouted, she looked back at Naruto with a grin, "But I guess he's right. I'm a true kunoichi now, maybe I don't need to be carried around anymore." Hikari merrily tapped the hitae-ate that was wrapped around her waist. "I get to meet my instuctor tomorrow, Hokage-sama and my teammates are Shiranui Daiki and Matsumoto Jun!"

"I like kids so I'll always carry you around if you want and you're with Genma's kid huh… Wait isn't he a year or two younger than you… nevermind," Naruto grinned as Hikari smiled back at him broadly, "But I need to do some important things now Hikari-chan. Want to go back to your mom?"

Hikari pouted again and hopped off of Naruto's arm using his shoulder as leverage. Naruto stumbled slightly as the girl went on to hug Shino and Kiba before climbing onto Akamaru's back and riding him around the clearing while laughing merrily. Hikari didn't fully understand the significance of the cenotaph yet but Naruto was sure the dead didn't mind that people continued living their lives due to their sacrifices.

Naruto wondered how long she would be able to hold onto that innocence. Shino, Kiba, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji and Kurenai had done a wonderful job protecting her from the world but in earnest, most of them had been pretty innocent until their first missions too.

Neji and Tenten were the first to approach the cenotaph as was custom. The two whispered to each other and Gai joined them. The man smiled like he usually did, only the slight pull at the corner of his mouth signified the agony the man was feeling at the memory of the boy that he had lost all those years ago. Those that watched knew that the trio was talking to Lee about the baby and how they had decided to name the new life after the old one. Tenten started to cry half way through and Neji pulled her closer and tucked her head under his chin as if to protect her from the world, including death. If Neji had had the disposition to cry he would have too but Gai displayed his emotions enough for the both of them. There was no shame as they recounted their memories and experiences back to the boy who was eternally seventeen. Tenten set the bundle of flowers at the base of cenotaph with a promise that they would go visit his grave later on in the day. When the trio stepped away from the cenotaph Neji had rushed Tenten to sit under the shade. The girl didn't have the strength to complain about his naggy treatment of her and had leaned heavily on Neji the whole way. Gai had followed them with his happy temper and everyone could hear him declare how he would be the not yet born child's mentor.

The next two to approach the cenotaph were Shino and Kiba. Naruto knew that it would happen, but it was a shock every single year and nothing would ever prepare him. Sasuke could also feel the sentiment as Shino collapsed to his knees and cried loud sobs that tore at their hearts. Kurenai kneeled beside the strong man and rested her head on his shoulder in comfort. Kiba stood beside the two with his arms crossed and continuous sniffles vibrating from him as he tried to prevent the tears from falling.

The name that sat right under Rock Lee was Hyuuga Hinata. She had died in the final fight against Deidara in order to save her friends.

Akamaru trotted up beside Kiba with Hikari still holding onto his back. Kiba uncrossed his arms as he patted Akamaru on the head. Akamaru whined softly at the sight of his master's tears and remembered the kind girl that had used to give him treats. Nudging Kiba slightly, Akamaru continued to whine as Kiba buried his nose into Akamaru's soft fur.

Naruto knew now that Hinata had loved him. Naruto also knew now that Shino had loved her even more. He would have never known had Shino not completely broken down at Hinata's funeral ten years ago. Never in his life had Naruto seen a sight so heart wrenching.

Shino who had sworn to protect Hinata no matter her feelings had in her last moments seen her back as she had jumped in front of him with her remaining strength in order to save him from the blast. She had, in the time before, managed to chuck Chouji, Kiba and Akamaru far away from Deidara because of her proximity to them and their distance from the insane man. She had seen the clay with her eyes before Deidara had turned himself into the ultimate weapon. Shino had been the one that was just too far from her and just to close to the explosives master.

Kiba had the job of telling the stories as Shino was in no condition to speak. Kiba's words were muddled, muffled by a thick layer or fur and quick but in them was his love for his teammate and his feelings of missing her. By the end Kiba was also sobbing and was hugging Akamaru around the neck tightly.

Hikari was crying as well. She hadn't known Hyuuga Hinata but she could feel the sadness permeating the air. She was still mostly a child, and as children do, she cried when those around her cried. It had been the same for the past ten years.

Kurenai who had already had the experiences of losing those close to her, she touched Asuma's name before touching Hinata's while skimming other names along the way, was given the job of spreading the flowers in the basket over the cenotaph. The petals of the flowers flew into the air as a gust of wind thrust the petals across the clearing and decorated the grass in an array of color.

Kiba was dragged away by Akamaru while Kurenai and Shino supported each other. Shino's tears and sobs stopped the moment the man was turned away from the cenotaph but the darkness of sadness still clung to him as he collapsed against a tree far away and closed himself off.

Naruto swallowed hard as he approached the cenotaph along with his best friend. Sasuke quickly touched a space between two names, two names so worn out that the space in between should have belonged to his brother, a man that should have died twenty-six years ago. Sasuke knew that his brother in no way belonged on this sacred stone, but one could only wish as Sasuke blinked in hard concentration. He always wondered what it would have been like if Itachi had never left Konoha, had never done what he had done.

Naruto gently touched the names of his two comrades and whispered small words out of kind consideration and remembrance. He missed them, he loved them, but Naruto needed to move on.

Naruto knew that he hadn't given enough time to the cenotaph when he felt the dark eyes of those behind him piercing into his back, but he couldn't help it. Today was not a day where he was the Hokage. Today was a day in which he was Uzumaki Naruto, a man who had loved his friends more than anything else in the world. Naruto stepped away from the cenotaph, keeping his fingers to the stone until he was much too far away.

Sasuke grabbed Naruto's shoulder in reassurance as they walked away from the cenotaph with eyes still upon them. Naruto swallowed hard as he once again entered the line of trees where Kakashi was waiting for them. "You spent enough time," Kakashi murmured gently.

"I never feel like I spend enough time," Naruto coughed as the dark pressure continued to press on him.

Kakashi looked up to the sky sadly, "No… I guess we as the living never do."

Naruto looked back even though he knew that no one would follow. He sighed as he turned forward again. They had reached it, the official edge of Konoha. And right on the other side of the boundary was a bloomed cherry blossom tree with a small stone situated right below it.

Naruto saw three figures in front of the stone. Only one was sobbing while the other two were indifferent to everything but the girl who was breaking in front of the grave of her best friend. Even from behind Naruto knew what Ino looked like. The psychological attacks always left Ino in a state where her skin was pale if not slightly purple in color with bags under her eyes and lips as white as marble. The veins in her arms and legs could always be seen clearly and Naruto knew that the collapsed postion that the woman was in was not purely by choice.

Ino truly never had recovered from Sakura's betrayal and the nightmares of their last fight still haunted her to this day. Ino could still go on missions during every other week during the year, but the girl was indefinitely out of commission now. At the beginning it had been two whole years before even a spot of recovery, but the time had decreased and the woman seemed to still live. Shikamaru's endless, albeit troublesome, love and Chouji's boundless friendship had probably kept her from drowning.

Kakashi snapped a branch with his foot on purpose and within a second the three figures had disappeared back into the village borders with Ino resting on Shikamaru's back.

Naruto stifled in a sob as he took a couple large steps and bent toward the tombstone.

Haruno Sakura.

She hadn't been buried in the village, she hadn't had her name on the cenotaph and Naruto knew why but that didn't stop the pain. Tears dripped down his face as Sasuke knelt down beside him to set down the bouquet of flowers. "H-hello Sakura-chan," Naruto murmured as he leaned his forehead against the cold stone. "How have you been Sakura-chan?"

Sasuke stood up again with his hands in his pockets, "Is it lonely out here Sakura?"

"I come visit every so often," Kakashi piped in lightly.

"Would you lecture him Sakura-chan, for wasting away his life in the memory of the dead?" Naruto murmured, "We don't know Sakura-chan; you aren't here, so we don't know..."

"Naruto saved the village again," Sasuke grinned, "First was his fight against the Akatsuki, disbanding and killing all of them, and then the threat of a reincarnated man who tried to control all the bijuu and just the other day…"

"And I wouldn't have been able to do that one if you hadn't healed me from the inside. The kyuubi thought that your chakra was warm," Naruto laughed.

Sasuke rolled his eyes slightly, "…And the other day the dobe even more epically saved the village from a team who tried to destroy his favorite ramen stall."

"They knew it was my weakness!" Naruto bit out playfully and elbowed Sasuke in the knees. Naruto looked up at his best friend and saw the tears that were running down the man's face. Naruto looked away out of respect and leaned against the stone again. "Do you enjoy the cherry blossoms Sakura-chan? It's been my present to you Sakura-chan. I know it's your favorite flower, I used some of my chakra to keep it blooming, even in this season." Naruto sighed.

"We miss you Sakura," Kakashi stated openly, "We wish that you hadn't left us behind."

"Being left behind is painful," Sasuke murmured, "We're sorry."

Naruto's hand shook, "So… so sorry…"

After

It had been an hour since the trio had left Sakura's grave and the surroundings were turning pink from the cherry blossom petals dancing in the wind. From the shadows two men slowly looked at each other and nodded. The coast was clear. Deidara and Kisame appeared before the grave.

Deidara looked older and more ragged than he had ever been, but he had survived the ordeal ten years ago and more than that had survived the subsequent extermination of all the Akatsuki. He had a large scar on his chest where his ultimate weapon used to be, but it was the trade up of what he had done. Deidara had been able to kill one person in the last blast, less than what he had wanted but at least it had been the girl that had been able to touch him. His legs had never truly recovered but the comfort of her death was pleasing to him.

Kisame had left the fight with little qualm when Deidara's blast had gone off a little ways away. Kisame knew when he was losing and above all else he wanted his freedom and to have that freedom he required life. Kisame had lived his life well, unlike Deidara, Kisame didn't look like he had aged a day in the last decade.

Kisame sighed as he rolled his shoulders and grabbed the samehada that was strapped to his back. For the most part he didn't use the samehada anymore, it was mostly put into storage… the weapon was too much of an identifier of his legend as part of the Akatsuki and in this new world Hoshigaki Kisame would be hunted down like a guppy and he in no way wanted Sakura to be proven right. "Hello again bitch," Kisame grinned as he swung the samehada out in front of him, "missed us?"

Deidara scoffed, "Of course she missed us yeah." Deidara manipulated the small piece of clay in his hands as Kisame circled around the grave stone and toward the large blooming cherry blossom tree. On Kisame's hip and around his lower back was a new sword that he had taken from a white haired boy that he had killed on his travels; in the past he had known the man who had wielded it, Momochi Zabusa.

Deidara raised his eyebrows as wood splinters shot out everywhere as Kisame punched the large tree before stabbing the bark with the samehada. The effect was almost immediate. With the chakra consuming power of the samehada, the cherry blossom tree immediately began to wilt, the blossoms dropping to the ground in a hard shower. "You hate these bloody things," Kisame grinned as he clapped his hands to get rid of the debris, "I've learned that your pity is a prelude to hate… or I'd like to think… either way, you probably don't like this thing hanging over your head and whatnot." Leaving the samehada in its place so that the weapon could finish its job Kisame rounded back around the grave to stand beside Deidara.

Deidara completed his creation and grinned happily at the clay bird in his hands. "You think she'll like?"

"I can imagine that she would," Kisame murmured with a shrug, "you only ever change the color of the eyes."

"Wish you would give us a sign Sakura yeah," Deidara laughed as he placed the clay bird right on top of her tombstone.

"If you have a dream tonight about someone pounding on you, she's probably happy," Kisame shrugged.

"She showed her like for me in kinder ways yeah," Deidara retorted with a chuckle.

Kisame smirked, "Her reaction to me was much more genuine."

"Ah, I think that she's just always genuine," Deidara snorted.

"Hmm, probably," Kisame murmured as he the cherry blossoms fell around in him in a heavy rain. "Those idiots cry a lot."

"I didn't think that they would leave, yeah," Deidara muttered.

"Foolish idiots still don't know anything about her," Kisame laughed as he remembered the Hokage's statement. The sword weilder stepped on the bouquet of cherry blossom stems and ground the flowers into the dirt. When the man looked up again the tree was bare and essentially dead. Kisame grinned again as he stepped over the tombstone and wrenched the samehada from the bark of the bare tree. "My present to you Sakura-chan."

"Mine's better, yours never changes," Deidara snorted, "And gross, don't call her that."

"Yours is art?"

"Yeah."

"Not as fun without Sasori around is it?"

"No," Deidara laughed, "but they're together out there somewhere so whatever. I win."

"Ah, keep telling yourself that. I bet you Sasori is muttering about something like death being eternal and that the bitch is siding with him."

"Being dead is…"

"The bitch will side with him either way."

"You know, this is the reason that we don't see each other more often yeah."

Kisame smirked, "Can't live with you anyways."

"Having fun spreading your name?"

"Eh…"

"Not as fun with a fake name yeah?"

"It's like starting all over again," Kisame grinned, "Kind of fun but I kind of miss people running before they see me."

"Give it another five years and you'll have something else to tell Sakura, yeah," Deidara grinned and tilted his head, "A name without the shadow of the Akatsuki… that would be nice."

"You have any accomplishments?"

"I'm still free and expressing my art, yeah," Deidara stated simply, "It's a pretty awesome accomplishment."

"I guess."

"Never would have happened without you Sakura, yeah," Deidara chuckled as he patted the tombstone.

Kisame shrugged, "Blow her ego up, not like you haven't already done that a million times before."

"Just because I can express comradeship better than you can," Deidara grinned.

"Comradeship," Kisame muttered bluntly.

"Yes, comradeship yeah." Deidara grinned at Kisame's disbelieving stare, "And it's kind of fun picking on Sasori no danna even when he's dead."

"I knew it."

Deidara laughed before he leaned forward on the tombstone and kissed Sakura's name gently. Kisame rolled his eyes as both of them could only imagine how the duo would have reacted to Deidara's display of 'comradeship'.

Deidara stood up and backed away from the tombstone. "I think it's time to part, yeah."

"Agreed," Kisame murmured as he adjusted the samehada.

"I'll see you here next year then, yeah? Same time, same place?"

Kisame chuckled and smirked, "Yeah."

Deidara disappeared into the air upon a large clay bird as Kisame melted back into the shadows.

On Sakura's tombstone the small green eyes of the clay bird seemed to blink to life just as the two men departed and its wings stretch out. The bird took to the air and circled the dead cherry blossom tree a couple times before it flew into the hole in the trunk that Kisame had made with his fist.

Deidara grinned as he heard an explosion resound behind him.

The tomb was untouched by the explosion, Deidara's own special concoction that he only used once a year guaranteed the perfect results and as wanted, the cherry blossom tree was totally gone. Under the smoking mess of burning wood and right beside Sakura's tomb was another small stone. The roots of the cherry tree had previously covered the second small stone.

Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi had secretly honored Sakura's last wish and still continued to honor it with more than enough reluctance.

The second stone simply read 'Sasori'.

Deidara and Kisame both knew that the next day the cherry blossom tree would be replaced by the Hokage, with few questions asked.

After

Naruto sighed as he ignored the pressure that he felt on his senses. After the first year he had learned how to set up a barrier around Sakura's grave with his chakra so that the citizen's of Konoha didn't have to know more than they had to about his old friend. He had no idea what those people had against cherry blossom trees, Sakura had loved them, but those idiots probably didn't care that that tree was the only thing that was keeping the puppet master's grave from being defiled. Then again Naruto could understand, what had the Akatsuki understood about love and comradeship? Sakura had simply fallen in love with one of them and that man had used her to his very last. The puppet master should have been happy that he had gotten a proper burial just because Sakura had loved him.

But that didn't explain why Sakura's grave was always untouched year after year, but Naruto didn't want to even imagine, much less accept, the possibility of the Akatsuki being human. However, he had known for a long time now that, that was true. The Akatsuki was human… and he just wished the day would end so that he wouldn't have to ponder his choices and his heroism again until the next year. Sakura had died so that he would never be unsure of his choices.

Naruto would get Kakashi to plant another cherry blossom tomorrow when the old man went to visit Sakura-chan. Kakashi probably already knew without saying by now.

Sasuke had long split up from the Hokage to return to go visit one last grave and then back to his family for the night and Kakashi had returned to the cenotaph for another year of contemplation. The man spent more time with the dead now than with the living and Naruto seriously did wonder if what Kakashi suffered through was just as bad as what had happened to Ino.

Naruto sighed again as he walked toward his home, back to his wife. The smell of ramen wafted into the air and Naruto looked up to smile at his wife who was waiting for him at the door. "Ayame-chan," Naruto grinned as he opened his arms to envelope her into a tight hug.

"Are you okay?" Ayame asked gently as she patted Naruto on the cheek. Naruto nodded slightly and closed his eyes. He took in her touch like it was sunshine and despite other people calling out their age difference, he didn't care. She had been there for him all of his life and had been the most supportive person for him after they had come back from that faithful mission. She was also one of the people he was close to that was far removed from the tragedy of the shinobi world. She was his anchor to a world that didn't have to involve war and death.

"Daddy?" a small voice squeaked.

Naruto blinked as his daughter toddled out from behind his wife. "Hello sweetie," Naruto chuckled as he kneeled down and picked up his daughter and swung her in the air in a large arch before carrying her with his arms like he had done with Asuma's and Kurenai's daughter.

Her childish three-year-old laugh resonated within him as his wife pushed him inside the house and shut the door. Ayame smiled and squeezed her husband's arm before she hopped back into the kitchen. She could see that her husband was getting teary eyed by staring at their daughter's toothy grin.

"Why are you crying daddy?" his daughter chirped as she flung herself at his tears and swiped them away like a true shinobi.

Naruto grinned weakly as he brought his daughter as close to his body as possible and held her with all of his love. "Because daddy's happy Sakura-chan, because daddy is happy."

Secret's Corner

The END!

An extra speedy update for all you readers that I love. You've made this a wonderful experience in completing a long multi-chap story for the first time in like a gazillion years.

Omg... I can't believe this is over. I know that a couple of you wanted to have a Sasori/Sakura moment in this epilogue... but I'm sad to say that I just couldn't make it work, but I did give you all a hint of what Sakura and Sasori would probably be doing in their after life through the eyes of Kisame and Deidara who are indeed still very much alive!

On a side note... there will be a little spin off of this story in my one-shot "In Passage" which some of your might know about from my profile. It will probably give you more on what's happening on the Sasori/Sakura end of the scale though again, it IS just a spin off.

I'm already getting started on my next Sasori/Sakura which should (if inspiration keeps attacking me) be starting to get posted within the next six months... or if we're really lucky... in only one month.

Again love you all and thank you for finishing this wonderful ride with me!

Now notes on the epilogue... yes Naruto still misunderstands but he never should have been enlightened in the first place. Sakura simply dies... she never bestows any knowledge on him in her last moments and honestly I like this very human Naruto to the all knowing, level up Naruto, who understands everyone and everything, as he currently is in the manga. This however... doesn't take away that fact that Naruto did love Sakura and god even I kind miffed myself up at the last line.

If there are any glaringly huge loop holes in the story that you can find... tell me so that I don't make the same mistakes in the future. I hope to see you all again soon!

Somber Secrets