And So, I Wait

Epilogue: A Discovered Letter

oOo

The blond man carefully took the letter from his pocket, eyes slowing tracing the faded characters on the endlessly folded paper. In the increasingly common moments of calm, he found himself reading it from time to time, though he could have recited it in his sleep.

He lay it on his desk, smoothing it flat.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Naruto,

This letter will find you someday. I'm pretty sure about that. It's too important to me not to. I don't know when you'll get this, but if you're reading it I finally mailed it to you. I'm sorry it took so long, if it did.

Where should I start? I don't even know where I could. I can't fit my entire life story into one letter and there are some things I'm not ever going to tell anyone. I guess I should get my apology out of the way.

I'm sorry I lied to you. I'm sorry I decieved you. And most of all, I'm sorry I ran away like a scared little bitch instead of staying to face you and Pinky, now that you two know the truth. Speaking of Pinky, I still owe her for my legs. One day I'll pay her back. Somehow.

I also owe you. Before I met you, I really thought Orochimaru was the future. Before I met you, I believed in him and his dreams. But you, you showed me how wrong he was and how wrong I was for believing in him.

Wave Country. Sand Country... or I guess they're calling it Spring Country, now. All of them are places which you and your band of misfits have changed for the better. And with that thick head and open heart of yours, I'm sure there are going to be plenty more places for you to change for the better. Your life's been so insane already, and I'm sure it's only going to get crazier.

And that's why I'm avoiding you. You've got too much to do, still. When your life calms down a bit, I'll find you and apologize to you and Sakura face to face. If you can get good enough at Genjutsu to see through mine, you might find me first... but it's not fucking likely.

Hurry up and finish changing the world, Naruto. I'm waiting.

Saiyuna-neesan

P.S. I still can't believe you finished a member of Akatsuki. Good job. Same goes for Pinky and the Shadow prick. Do my a favour, though: Just stop wearing that fucking orange. You wouldn't believe how much attention you're calling to yourself.

___________________________________________________________________________________

A sharp knock on his door lifted his gaze, and Kotetsu stuck his head in the door.

"Naruto? There's a redheaded woman here to see you, she says you've been expecting her. She's got a real foul mouth on her, too," The older jounin stated, his eyes doubting,

"I have, Kotetsu," the Rokudaime replied with a broad grin, carefully folding the letter and putting it back in his pocket. "I have."

oOo

Author's Notes:

You could have imagined whatever you liked for the letter Tayuya slipped Naruto in Coda. Or, you can read the letter as I've envisioned it. That decision I leave to you, my dear readers.

For those complaining about the end, I'd like to point out that "And So, I Wait" as a title is not a sign of Warm and Fuzzy Feelings to come. Would you read a story titled "Naruto Dies Lonely in a Ditch" with a positive outlook? I stand by the romance tag: Tayuya clearly has some strong feelings for Naruto, and the implication that he's been searching for her for two years does tend to imply a small amount of reciprocation, yes?

You fuckers want WAFF, search for it. It's easy enough to find, and frankly, largely interchangeable. I generally only tolerate it when it's accompanied by a good story before and afterwards. Admittedly, I can do Warm and Fuzzy Feelings very well. Hell, I gave Lady Shinimegami a total fangirlasm via WAFF with LH&R when I was making her read that story, however subtlely I inserted it.

If you'd like to continue the discussion, I'll happily get much more verbose. PM me.

Cheers,

Gaming Ikari