AN : Hey there! It's been… too long I know and trust me I really am sorry about that. I have no excuses really. It's just part of who I am. I tend to like a show too much and focus on it until I find another show I like too much and focus on. I do want to get my stories finished someday and if you can accept my rhythm (and I'll be forever grateful if you still have faith in me) then you might find some comfort knowing that I'm finishing this story today!

Of all my stories, this one has gotten the most attention from you so thank you so so much for all the amazing reviews sent my way! I have read them all, I swear, and take it personally to your heart that if you ever left a review on this story, it has made my day and that I really appreciate the time you've offered to let me know your thoughts on the story. Thank you to all of those who favorited the story and even followed it as well! And for those who've been there from the start and that will follow me into the end of the story – Thank you for your great support! It's the reason why, even if I'm late all the time, I'm still here, writing for you guys :-)

This is the conclusion of my story and I hope you like it!

Take care of yourselves and I'll definitely miss this but hey, this story has to be concluded someday! And that someday is now… Enjoy !

Xxxxx

The sun was bright on a beautiful sunny day. The sky was almost cloudless and it reflected on his cerulean orbs. He looked down and realized he was sitting in the grass. The herbs and flowers brushed against his skin and he could smell their perfume kiss his cheeks tenderly. A soft breeze blew into the trees and made the leaves dance in a magnificent fashion. He could also hear the melody of the birds chiming from their refuge through the branches.

Naruto smiled at the peace he felt inside. He turned back to what he was doing and realized he was having a picnic with his parents. His dad was telling a joke he could hear from afar and he saw the man's eyes lit up with happiness as his mouth turned into a giggling grin. He also heard a soft feminine laugh. They were right in front of him but it was as though he heard them from the other side of a window.

He could tell that he was probably dreaming but he still wanted to enjoy it all for a while longer. His father finally turned to him, his baby blues reminding Naruto of his own. The wind brushed his golden hair around his face and Naruto could only stare at the beauty of the scene. He was mesmerized by something that couldn't even be a memory because his parents died the day he was born.

He turned his head to see his mom. She was blurry because he didn't have a clear idea of what she was supposed to look like. Her hair was long and shinning in the sunlight and he could imagine that whatever she looked like, she must have been stunningly beautiful. She smiled at him with so much love and he could almost hear her giggle.

Naruto knew it wasn't real but he just wanted to enjoy this moment a little while longer. For the first time he felt peaceful and loved and he didn't want to let it go. But when the sun went down, he knew he had to wake up and return to his real life.

He felt the warm bed under him and the blankets covering him halfway to his chest. His jumpsuit had been replaced by a gown. He heard soft voices coming from around him but he wasn't aware of what they said. His eyes were still closed and he could still feel the remnants of fatigue that were starting to dissipate. His mouth felt dry and he tried to cough slightly.

The noise instantly brought motion around him and he felt eyes stare down on him even though he hadn't opened his own just yet. Softly, he stirred and let his lids open only to stop halfway through their exercise. A blinding light entered his vision and he was forced to blink away the painful stimulus. After a few seconds, his eyes adjusted and his vision went from blurry to clear.

That's when he saw Shizune and Kakashi leaning over the bed railing and waiting eagerly for him to react.

"Naruto, can you hear me?" Shizune started. The kid only nodded and smiled.

"Good" she congratulated with a warm smile. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

Naruto swallowed a couple of times. "I'm fine but I'm thirsty" he replied honestly. She nodded and handed him a glass of water. Naruto sat up in his bed and let the cool liquid roll down his sore throat. It did help and he felt a lot better. For the rest he wasn't in pain or anything. The Kyuubi's chakra had healed him nicely and he was feeling energized and healthy. Shizune left the room and let the student alone with his teacher.

"Are we in Konoha?" Naruto asked after seeing the familiar hospital. Kakashi nodded.

"Yes. After the Hokage treated you, we left the Land of Rice Patties and came back here" Kakashi explained. Naruto was listening carefully.

"How long?" he asked. Sensing the meaning of the question Kakashi frowned with his only visible eye.

"It's been three days" he sighed. Naruto's eyes rounded in horror. "I've been asleep for three days?" he breathed in disbelief.

"Your body was exhausted so we let you rest" Kakashi confirmed. Naruto wanted to shout but he held it in and took on a sad look instead.

"It was the nine-tails" he started. Kakashi was giving him all of his attention now. "He made me bleed for kicks" Naruto confessed softly. He looked down at his hands, trying to avoid the jounin's gaze.

"He what?" Kakashi asked with a puzzled look that resembled anger. The blonde sighed.

"When Sakura-Chan hit me, he just let me bleed. He thought it would be fun" Naruto explained, leaving out the part where the Kyuubi actually did this to get revenge on his team for being so mean to him. "But he didn't laugh so much when he realized that I could've died and that if I had I would've taken him with me" Naruto added with a haunted look.

"About that? How did you manage to survive?" the silver-haired ninja asked. He was remembering too well how Naruto had died and suddenly been revived by the red chakra. Naruto had a funny look that Kakashi couldn't decipher.

Naruto was debating with himself. Should he tell his sensei what he saw or would the man call him crazy? When he saw the insistence in his teacher's eye, he finally decided to confess.

"It was the Fourth… my father" he blurted out. Kakashi's only eye rounded like golf ball. "He says hi, by the way" Naruto nodded, his lips turning into a smile when he saw the shocked look his teacher was giving him.

At that very moment, the door opened and his two teammates walked in. Sasuke's wounds had been taken care of and he could finally walk and use his arm again. Sakura was looking down, almost scared of looking up. They dragged their feet to the bed.

"Hey Naruto, you finally decided to wake your lazy ass up! 'Bout time you did" Sasuke grunted. Naruto shot him an annoyed look but somehow he felt that something was different in the way Sasuke insulted him. It felt shallow as though his friend didn't really mean it but he enjoyed annoying him anyway.

"I couldn't wait to kick your ass" Naruto replied but instead of an angry look, he just grinned. Sasuke felt confused but he didn't push it. Sakura was still looking down and avoiding looking at Naruto.

"Sakura" Naruto started. She shrieked and slowly turned to him. He could see that she'd been crying. She waited for him to yell at her but he didn't. Instead, he just gave her an honest smile. "I'm happy to see you. Thank you for coming" he added simply.

She broke down and ran into his arms. "Naruto, I'm soooo sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you! Okay you were annoying as always but if I had known… God I'm so sorry! I could've killed you…" she bawled and hugged him. The blonde was taken aback but he didn't push her away, showing her that he understood. Then softly he slid his hand towards her bottom and went to lay his hand on it.

"Naruto you Baka! You never change don't you!" she raged as she hit her teammate on the head. Naruto grabbed his head with his hands with a look of hurt.

Instantly Sakura melted in apologies and every member of Team 7 could just laugh at the scene. "It's okay Sakura. You don't change either, do you?" Naruto teased. Sakura went to raise her fist but she turned it into a gentle pat on the shoulder and she pulled her tongue out at Naruto. "I'm just glad you're okay, dummy" she laughed.

Naruto noticed that there was one person missing in the scene. "Hey where's Tsunade?" he asked.

"It's Lady Hokage and she's here" the blonde Hokage replied as she walked into the room. She had regained her young looks but she still looked tired. "I had to rest to restore my chakra but I'm okay now, thanks for asking" she explained.

"Thanks for making everything okay" Sakura said with glimmering eyes.

"I was just doing my job" Tsunade replied. That got Sakura into thinking. She was always the one getting hurt or watching her friends get hurt but she never got to make herself useful. Maybe I could ask her to teach me how to be a medic ninja she thought. She then brushed the thought away from her mind.

Tsunade was looking Naruto from head to toe, only to make sure he was alright to go. "Well kid, you're healed" she announced with a smile.

"So that means we can leave on a mission?" he asked excited. The old lady started laughing.

"Come on, brat. Why don't you take it easy for the night? Ask your teacher to invite you to Ichiraku's" she proposed. Naruto was instantly bouncing of excitement and Kakashi shot a deathly glare at his Hokage for putting such a thought on the kid's mind. He thought of his hard gained savings and almost wanted to cry at the thought of spending it on Ramen.

Tsunade giggled and finally turned to Sasuke and Sakura. "I need to talk to Naruto now so why don't you kids take the night off as well. You deserve it" she said. Sasuke nodded and he was out of the room in seconds. Sakura looked back at the room one last time and left with her hearth feeling lighter than it had been in days.

The Hokage turned serious looks towards the two remaining occupants of the room. "What happened?" she asked seriously. Naruto gave her the details he'd given Kakashi and explained how the Fourth Hokage had undone the seal to allow him to heal before reforming it again.

"That's a strange story" she finally said. Naruto shrugged and Kakashi still looked puzzled.

"What about Orochimaru, what did he want?" she continued.

"He knew we'd want to rescue Naruto and tried to trap us so he could take Sasuke" Kakashi explained. Naruto hardly remembered his time in the snake's lair. "Apparently he wants to use Sasuke as his next vessel… it's how he manages to survive. This technique could make him immortal" Kakashi added with obvious worry in his voice.

"We'll watch Sasuke closely now that we have that information" Tsunade announced. "Especially since chances are that he is still alive and roaming somewhere, just waiting to take his revenge" she added. Kakashi nodded and assured the Hokage that he would watch the Uchiha closely.

Naruto zoned out for a second and his mind brought him back to his encounter with his father. He didn't know what it meant but somehow he felt like he needed to warn the Hokage.

"The Fourth said something when he came to me…" Naruto started. All eyes turned to him. "He said that the night Kyuubi attacked the village… something happened. The nine-tails didn't appear here on his own" he continued. He was now receiving looks full of shock.

"What do you mean by that? Someone would have made the Kyuubi appear in Konoha?" Tsunade asked. Naruto nodded. The Hokage and the jounin exchanged looks. "Did he tell you who?" she investigated. Naruto shook his head this time. "He only said that the guy was powerful beyond what he'd seen before" Naruto replied.

Again, the adults exchanged looks. "Considering that it happened fourteen years ago, there's no reason to believe that it could happen anytime soon or we would have had signs already" Tsunade rationalized. Naruto shrugged. He was just relating information after all. The Hokage said she would look into it and told Naruto that he could leave after he'd had a decent meal.

Later that night, Kakashi had to keep his word and he invited his team on a round of Ramen. Naruto was back to his normal babbling self and the teacher sighed. Was it wrong of him to think that at least for a couple of days he hadn't needed to put up with the kid's nerve-wrecking babble? But deep down, it was part of the number one hyperactive ninja's personality and he did miss it when the kid was sick. But that was really deep down.

The atmosphere wasn't too awkward either, even considering everything that had happened between the three teammates. Naruto was being bubbly as always and Sakura quickly quit beating herself up. She would think back to it from time to time but instead, she focused on seeing the good in Naruto. It was still hard but she managed. She just remembered Tomo's words from a time around the fire and decided that maybe – just maybe – Naruto really wanted his friends to acknowledge him and she had to admit that the kid had been somewhat impressive lately. I shouldn't be too hard on him, right? she kept telling herself – even when she felt like punching him.

And Sasuke remained the same. He was still cold and nonchalant. His goal was still to go after his brother. And of course, he still picked at Naruto all the time. But something slight changed. For someone who knew him well, it was obvious that Sasuke wasn't angry when he yelled at Naruto. Somehow, the Uchiha just wanted the blonde to be competition enough so he could have fun with him. And he would never admit that he'd been worried about Naruto. Even though he knew deep down that Naruto was very aware of it.

Something did change in Naruto too. He was more focused on his goals and worked harder to reach them. Only Kakashi would know what drove the kid. Deep down, he had a feeling that seeing his father lit a bright flame in the kid's heart. Or maybe it was a feeling for competition. Naruto wanted to prove that he could surpass his father, the greatest shinobi of all times. And the teacher felt a smile tug at his lips because he'd be expecting nothing less from Naruto and he truly believed that he would live to see that happen one day.

Naruto gulped down a fifth bowl of Ramen and called for a sixth. Kakashi's smile was lost to his face and he thought back to his precious savings. Great now I want to cry he thought.

And the night went on. Team 7 was just better now that it was whole again. All of them knew at that point that they could complain all they wanted; it wouldn't be the same if it were any different. And honestly, they were happy things were back to what they were.

Xxxxx

In a dark and humid cave, tall shadows gathered together. They were dressed in dark black robes that covered they bodies up to their noses. It was hard to tell in the dark but crimson red clouds were drawn across the black gowns.

"I have news from Konoha" one of them spoke. The others circled around him. "Kakashi Hatake and his team have been wounded during a battle against Orochimaru and his accomplice. The jinchuuriki almost died but he is fine now" the man continued.

"And what about the Uchiha" came another quiet voice.

"Your brother sustained shallow injuries but the old hag took care of it" the voice commented. Itachi Uchiha swallowed at the news but remained impassive.

"Do they suspect anything?" another voice came.

"I don't think so. And even if they start to protect the village against us, we won't be ready to attack before another couple of years" the man affirmed.

"We have to prepare ourselves" a masked man spoke. "We are not allowed any mistakes. When we are powerful enough, we will be able to take on all the jinchuuriki. And when we do have all of them, there won't be anything to stop us from putting our master plan into action" the man added. He giggled softly.

"Be patient, Uzumaki. When I'm ready, I'll come for you and destroy you just like I did with your father"

And with that the masked man laughed of shear excitement.

Not far from there, a snake regained consciousness. His body was bandaged up to his head. He staggered into a standing position and then looked at himself in the mirror. His yellow eyes were shining brightly against the contrast of the purple lines around his eyes. He heard a whistle come up from the bottom of his throat and smiled, jubilant. "You might have escaped this time, Sasuke, but you will come to me and you will be my vessel one day" he hissed.

And as Team 7 walked out of the Ramen restaurant, Kakashi crying over his empty wallet and the three genin laughing at good memories, little did they know what real danger awaited them in the darkness.

THE END

This is it. Sadly this story is over now. I want to thank you guys again for giving my story a chance and thank you for your exceptional support!

I hope you liked it and don't hesitate to drop me a last review! I swear they make me incredibly happy!

Sayonara my friends!

LaueHime