Yay! Naruto lives again. I just realized that I killed Naruto twice in this story, that's amazing. Oh well, who cares about that now, he's alive. Hinata is happy again.

We are now at the final chapter of the story. After this, I will be on break from this series to work on my other stories. The sequel will probably be released in September, maybe sooner.

Until then, you'll have to be patient. Writing is an art.

Please enjoy.

All of Konoha gathered for at the main center of the village for this day. A Missing-nin of their village was caught and now to be executed. The villagers were surrounding a platform that had a wooden pole in the center. Sasuke Uchiha was bound to the pole from his ankles and his chest. In the crowd, many of his past friends were there to see it; Sakura, Shikamaru, Lee, Ino, and everyone else. All of them were there, except one. Tsunade was the only one who was also on the platform, for her role as the Hokage was needed for the execution.

"Uchiha, Sasuke, you are here to face the charges of your crime as the Missing-nin of our village of Konoha." Tsunade's voice was raised so that everyone could here. "Being in league with Orochimaru and the attempted death of shinobi during your time as a Missing-nin." She turned to Sasuke, who had his head down in defeat. "Do you deny these charges?"

"No." Sasuke boldly answered, "I confess to them."

Tsunade looked at him in pity. She knew that Naruto didn't want him dead, but his crimes were in need of punishment. "I'm truly sorry Sasuke." She whispered to him.

"Don't be." Sasuke responded, "I deserve this."

"Alright then." Tsunade turned back to the gathering mass, "Since you have confessed to these charges, the punishment is hereby, carried out. You are to be executed on the spot." Several ANBU stood on one side of the foot of the platform, having kunais ready.

Sakura knew she didn't want to see this, but she wanted to see Sasuke's face for one last time before he would be lifeless. Kakashi, being a Jounin and his past sensei, was forced to witness this execution. The ANBU prepared their kunai, taking their aim and waiting for the command to throw. Tsunade turned away and closed her eyes.

"Now." She regretably ordered.

Th ANBU threw their kunais, but what shocked everyone who was witnessing the exucution was that the kunais suddenly deflected off of other kunais that were thrown from a different direction. Naruto stood on one of the buildings near the scene and jumped to the platform. One ANBU got up on the platform with his sword drawn.

"Traitor!" The ANBU charged at Naruto.

Naruto ducked from a slice at his head and delivered a kick to the ANBU's head, but that wasn't enough. He took out a kunai and blocked the sword attacks, staying on the defensive for the entire time. When he found a good opening, he rammed himself at the ANBU and sent him off the platform and into the crowd. Naruto turned to Sasuke and cut the bonds with the kunai.

"Come on!" Naruto said.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, knowing fully well that this was insanity.

"Do you want to live?" Naruto asked, "Even if it was just for a little longer?"

"Naruto, this is my execution, I can't go against it."

"Well, I will!" Before he could say anymore, a fist came at his face. Naruto fell to the ground with a large thud.

"Naruto!" Sasuke pushed the ANBU off the platform and helped Naruto onto his feet. "If you plan to save me, you need to be awake for it."

Without answering, the two ran to the edge of the platform and jumped off. Sasuke landed at the base of the platform and ran, with Naruto following right behind.

"Stop them!" An ANBU ordered. One ANBU ran at the two, ready to stop them when they came up to him.

"Sasuke!" Naruto extended a hand to him. Sasuke took the hand and the two delivered a hard clothesline to the ANBU. The two continued to run from the ANBU behind them and clearing the way in front of them from any other ANBU.

As they came upon some more ANBU before them, Sasuke ran ahead of Naruto. He jumped up and landed a kick to the ANBU on his left and spun around to slam his heel at the ANBU on his right, before landing back down on the ground.

The two continued to run, getting closer to the gate. As they got closer, more ANBU appeared, standing between them and the gate. With their exit blocked, Naruto and Sasuke were trapped by them and the other shinobi. Tsunade arrived at the scene and approuched Naruto.

"I should have guessed that you would try to save him." Tsunade said, "You know that this is a crime."

"Of course I do." Naruto answered, "But I won't easy. If you want Sasuke, you're gonna have to get through me first."

"Naruto..." Tsunade was touched by this, but knew that she couldn't fall to his words. "Don't make this harder for me. Just because you're the son of the Fourth, it doesn't entitle you to break laws."

"Being Minato's son has nothing to do with this." Naruto talked back, "I grew up with everyone hating me. Even those I saw as kind and gentle, I could see that they secretly hid a small amount of hate, but they were too nice to show me that side. Sasuke was the first person I saw as someone who could possibly understand me. He became my best friend and the closest thing to a brother. If you are going to take that away from me, you can might as well send me back to my father." Naruto pulled out a kunai and placed the blade right by his throat.

Tsunade simply smiled at this, "You will never change will you? You're still that same little brat from when I first met you."

"So will you let Sasuke live?"

"Put the kunai away first, then we'll talk." Tsunade said.

(Three Months Later)

People of Konoha were all dressed in formal kimonos and gathering in a large banquet hall. The day had finally come that two would join together in martial bliss, those two were Neji and Tenten.

During the time between the day of Sasuke's canceled execution and tonight, Neji has been acting more strange than people often see him as. When Hinata was able to find a time to talk to Neji alone, he revealed that he had fallen in love with Tenten and wanted to propose, but admited that talking with a woman wasn't his best talents. With Hinata's help, he was able to understand to some extent on how he can treat Tenten with better respect. Lee, Naruto, and Kiba offered their opinions on how to propose to Tenten and make it one that she'll never forget. When the time came that he decided to finally ask the question, it was when Tenten achieved the rank of Jounin. Neji offered to take her to his place for the night, when they arrived, Tenten was shocked to find his entire apartment lit with candles. It was then, Neji proposed and she accepted. The moment would have been more enjoyable, if only Naruto didn't accidently fall out of the broom closet, along with Kiba and Lee coming out of their hiding places.

The engagement dinner was planned by Sakura and Ino, along with some help from Shizune.

"Naruto, we're gonna be late!" Sakura called out from outside Naruto's appartment.

The door opened and Naruto came out, standing in his kinomo robes. He wore a black robe that had an stitched design of a fox on the back in orange thread. His hakama(wide spread pants that look like skirts) was orange and wrapped with a black obi(Sash).

"How do I look?" Naruto asked.

"You look great." Sakura smiled, "Hinata's really gonna like it."

Naruto looked at Sakura, "You look great yourself." She wore a red kimono that had intricate designs of flowers in pink and green. Her hair was tied back into a bun for this formal occasion, which was something that she had never done regularly.

"Thanks." She blushed. "I was hoping that Sasuke might come, but I guess he still has time to commit."

When Tsunade agreed that Sasuke's execution wouldn't proceed and that he was free from the charges, he still had to be punished in some way. With the agreement of the elders and Naruto's regretable consent, Sasuke was to be imprisoned for a set amount of time.

"I'm sure he'd think the same way of you as I do." Naruto said. He knew that without Sasuke, she wouldn't have as much fun at this dinner, "Tell you what, when the time comes, I'll dance with you for a few songs."

"Really?" Sakura asked, "You don't have to, I mean, afterall, you have Hinata."

"She'll understand." Naruto smiled.

The dinner proceeded as any would; the guests arrived and were seated, the couple was intorduced and friends and family of the couple gave their best wishes to them. After the dinner was finished, it was the time for music and dancing.

Gaara and his siblings came to the engagement dinner to also give their best wishes to the happy couple, mainly because Temari wanted to enjoy a dinner with Shikamaru and thought that her brothers should join too.

Naruto had met with Hinata just outside of the banquet hall before going in. She wore a dark blue kimono that had white flowers on one sleeve and on the bottom of her skirt. Like Sakura, her hair was tied for this occasion. The table that Naruto and Hinata sat in was with Sakura, Ino, Kiba, and Shino. A table next to theirs had Shikamaru, Temari, Kankuro, Lee, Choji, and Sai. As a regulation, Gaara, being the Kazekage, was seated at a table with Tsunade, along with others.

"I still can't believe Neji and Tenten are engaged." Ino smiled, "I thought Neji would never pop the question."

"Well you should have seen him when he tried to propose." Naruto giggled, "You could see his legs shaking and face sweating. Kiba even said that he could smell the sweat."

Tenten and Neji later arrived at their table when the music came on and other people got up to dance.

"Hi guys." Tenten smiled.

"Hey." Sakura got up form her chair and hugged her, "Congrats, Tenten."

"Thanks. I never thought I'd get engaged to Neji so soon." Tenten said, "I thought he'd take forever, though I didn't really like how Naruto ruined the moment."

Naruto grumbled as he drank a cup of sake. "He wouldn't have known how to propose if it wasn't for me." As a waiter came by, Naruto lifted his cup, "Could I get another please?" The waiter took the cup and left.

"Naruto-kun, you shouldn't drink so much." Hinata said, worrying for him.

"Hey, don't worry Hinata." Naruto smiled. He put an arm over Hinata's shoulders, "I can hold my liquor pretty well. I've occasionally drank while I was gone for the past three years, and Ero-sennin often took me out to drink during training."

"Wouldn't you have been underaged?" Tenten asked.

"He told me that learning to hold one's liquor was a step into being a man." Naruto said. The waiter came by with another cup for Naruto, "Arigato."

"Hey Neji, let's dance." Tenten grabbed his arm.

"Alright." Neji smiled, "Care to join us?"

"I'll be there." Ino said, getting up from her seat, "Let me just get Sai." She went over to Sai's table to get him for a dance.

With many of them on the dance floor dancing to a soft slow music, Sakura was still at her table watching it all. Seeing them all dacing and smiled with someone made her sad, she just couldn't handle seeing it. She got up from her table and left the banquet hall, going outside to the balcony. Naruto noticed her leaving as he was about to go dance with Hinata.

"Naruto-kun, what's wrong?" Hinata asked.

"Oh, it's Sakura." Naruto said, looking back at Hinata, "She was hoping to see Sasuke here. I'm really sorry, but I need to see if she's alright."

"It's ok." Hinata said, "Go see her."

"Thanks." He gave her a small kiss and left to go to the balcony to join Sakura. "Sakura, are you alright?" Naruto asked.

"Not really." Sakura answered, wiping some tears off her eyes. "I didn't think I'd feel so empty."

"I really wish Sasuke was here too." Naruto said. He wrapped his arms around Sakura and hugged her, "I'm sure he would have wanted to be here too."

"Am I late for the party?"

"Huh?" Both Naruto and Sakura looked behind them and saw someone that they did not expect.

"Sasuke?" Naruto was indeed surprised to find that Sasuke was here.

Sasuke wore a black kimono with a blue hakama. Sakura stared at him open jawed and eyes widened.

"What are you doing here? I thought you had to serve time." Sakura said.

"Tsunade-sama managed to pull a few strings." Sasuke said. For the first time in a long time, Sasuke smiled. It wasn't a smirk or a grin, it was in fact a smile.

"Um..we should probably go back inside." Sakura said, "I'm sure Naruto would..." When she looked over to Naruto, he wasn't there anymore. When she looked back to Sasuke, he was now standing right in front of her. The closeness between the two made her blush brightly.

"I think I prefer this." Sasuke smiled.

"Sasuke..." Sakura turned away, trying to hide her smile and her red face. She brushed her hair off her face and leaned over on the railing of the balcony, resting her elbows on the rail. "You have no idea how long I've waited to be able to be with you like this."

"Actually, I do." Sasuke answered, leaning on one elbow which was on the rail. "Naruto filled me in on lots of things when I came back." He brought his hand to Sakura's face and gently brought her face towards him, "When we were a team, back when we were still Genin, I never really opened up to you, not because I wasn't interested, but I was afraid."

"Afraid? Of what?" Sakura asked.

"All I wanted was to kill my brother after what he did to our clan. That was the only thing in my mind and I thought that if I had someone in my life, someone I could care about, I was afraid of losing her because of my revenge. So I made it look like I wasn't interested and how I hated you." Sasuke answered. His smile faded away into a frown.

"Sasuke, you know you don't have to face this alone anymore." Sakura said, "People care about others so that they can help eachother. Naruto searched for you ever since you left because he wanted to help you. Maybe its time to try and have more people in your life."

Sasuke's frown slowly curled back up into a smile, "Maybe you're right." He leaned over to Sakura, and before she could recall what just happened, Sasuke's lips met with hers. The two closed their eyes and melted away into their moment. When they opened their eyes and parted their lips they were both blushing, "I'll start with you."

Inside the banquet hall, Naruto stood by the door and watched the two.

"Way to go Sasuke." Naruto smiled, speaking to himself. "It's about time."

Hinata noticed that Naruto was no longer at the table, but just outside the balcony. She walked over to him and when she was close to him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. "What are you doing out here?" She didn't need an answer, for it was in front of her. Sasuke and Sakura were in eachother's arms, kissing once more.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Naruto smiled.

"I'm so happy for her." Hinata smiled, "I haven't seen her smile that much in months."

Naruto reached over and held onto Hinata's hand, "What do you say, we go back inside for a dance?"

"Can you really dance?" Hinata asked.

"With you in my life, I feel like I can just glide through the air." Naruto said, "I'll let my feet fly."

Hinata simply smiled with a small blush as the two went back inside.

(A Few Days Later)

"You three be safe." Tsunade said.

Naruto and Sasuke stood in front of a large crowd, just outside the Konoha gates. Naruto carried the large sword that was once the weapon of Zabuza Momochi on his back. Jugo was with the two as they prepared to leave.

"Come on, you've got two of the greatest ninjas together." Naruto smiled, "Nothing can go wrong."

The crowd consisted of fellow shinobi who were wishing them good luck on their mission. This mission wasn't much of a big issue, it was more of a request by Naruto. Him and Sasuke were to bring the sword back to Zabuza's grave. Jugo was finally cured of his impules to kill, thanks to Tsunade. Now he was free to live life normally again.

"Remember to give your respects to him." Jiraiya said.

"And please give my respects to him and Haku." Kakashi said.

"I will." Naruto answered.

"We should hurry and get going." Sasuke said, "The sooner we leave, the sooner we can come back home."

"You two play it safe." Kiba grinned.

The crowd then scattered, knowing that there was nothing else to say until they returned. Only Sakura and Hinata were left.

"Please be safe Naruto-kun." Hinata said softly.

"I promise." Naruto smiled. He hugged Hinata as he pressed his lips onto hers. When the kiss stopped, he backed away and saw that Hinata's eyes had tears in them, "Hey, don't cry. I'll be alright."

"I'm just going to miss you." Hinata said, wiping the tears off her eyes.

"I'll miss you too." Naruto said, "I love you."

"I love you too, Naruto-kun."

"Those two are just adorable aren't they?" Sakura asked.

"They sure are." Sasuke answered. "Naruto's got a great power. One that'll be remembered by people."

Sakura smiled, this was a rare occasion that Sasuke would actually say something nice about Naruto. "You know, Naruto became a jounin. That makes you the only member in our age group that's still a genin."

"WHAT?!" Sasuke suddenly realized that this was true. He defected Konoha while he was still a genin and remained as one for these long years.

"Calm down, you can still have your chance." Sakura smiled, "Just wait for the next Chunin Exams." She leaned forward to Sasuke and kissed him. "First, deal with this."

"Alright." Sasuke smirked, "I'll see you in a few days."

"Ok." Sakura smiled, "I love you, Sasuke."

"I know you do." Sasuke smiled.

A small vein popped in Sakura's head. All she wanted from him was to say 'I love you'. We'll work on that someday.

Naruto walked up to the two. "Are we ready to go?"

"Yeah. Let's set off." Sasuke answered. The two walked off, leaving the leaving and on their way to The Land of Waves.

"Bye guys!" Sakura waved at the two as they slowly shrank away in the horizon.

"Bye Naruto-kun!" Hinata waved as well.

When the two figures disappeared in the distance, the two girls walked back into the village. Naruto, Sasuke, and Jugo made their way to the Wave country.

"So Jugo, what do you plan to do now?" Naruto asked, "Now that Baa-chan cured you, what's there for you?"

"I'm going to start a new life at the Wave country." Jugo answered, "Do something with myself that'll make me forget about my past."

"Sounds good to me." Sasuke said, "That place could sure use a nice guy like you."

Hinata and Sakura walked through the busy street of Konoha, making their way back home. But in this case, Hinata wasn't heading home, the direction she was walking was the opposite of where her home was.

"So, what are you doing now?" Sakura asked.

"I'm going to be moving my things to Naruto's apartment." Hinata answered, "I'm hoping to get it all there before he comes back."

"Why don't I help?" Sakura asked, "We could get it done faster. And if there's still time, we can clean the place up again."

"Ok." Hinata nodded and smiled, "That would be great."

"And when we're done, we can clean up Sasuke's place." Sakura said, "That place has been filthy for decades."

The two walked off through the crowd of villagers. This wasn't like any normal day, changes have been made around this village, people have changed. This must be a sign of a new world, a world that will be determined by this new generation. New dangers may come, but they will always fight together, as one, and conquer all evil.

For they are; Shinobi of the Hidden Village.

(Trumpet fanfare)

We are finished!!

I hope you enjoyed this. Like I said, I'm going to take a break to work on my other stories, but I'll have a little something for you to enjoy. I'll have a oneshot prepared that tells the story of Neji and Tenten before their engagement.

With Orochimaru gone for good, I'll now have Akatsuki be the main villian of the sequel.

Be prepared for some epic moments with the characters. You'll be surprised with what I have prepared.

Please review.