A/N: Final update, woohoo! Another story finished in under a year. Whew, I almost missed my quota, just barely. I want to thank all of you readers for staying with me and making this my biggest story yet! Over 100 favs, more than 120 alert; and WOW, This is the first time I passed the 300 reviews barrier. Thanks a ton for the support! Now enjoy your reading ^^

A/N2: This epilogue is divided by a series of short scenes that are loosely connected to each other. The chapter is quite long (27 pages) so if you want to take a break from reading and finish later then you'll be perfectly able to do so.

Disclaimer: Did everyone know that Kiba, Naruto and Ino are all blood type B? Funny piece of trivia there since all three of my favorite characters have that in common. Another thing they share is that none of them belong to me but I'm guessing everybody already knew that one.

"speech"

'thoughts'

Epilogue: The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki

Sakura Haruno was in bliss as she crossed the street from her apartment complex to Naruto's. Today she was officially moving out and so would no longer be Naruto's across-the-street neighbor. Sakura had packed all her things because she was now officially moving in with Suigetsu.

The pinkette didn't know if what she had with her boyfriend was something that would stay in the long run or if it was nothing more than a good time that won't last. And to be frank she could honestly care less for whatever the outcome may be.

A lot of time had already been lost with her worrying about every little detail and feeling accountable for everything. Sakura wanted to break away from that routine by being free and spontaneous for a change and allow herself to have some fun.

Medic school required enough seriousness already for her professional career so why not allow herself some loosening up in her personal life? Moving out was a spur-of-the-moment decision but it was one she was happy of making because it made her feel like she was finally liberated from the guilt that bounded her down. And dare she say it; she owed it all to Kiba magically appearing in their lives.

That was precisely the reason why Sakura had crossed the street. While leaving Suigetsu to finish up loading all her things into both their vehicles, Sakura left the scene wanting to pay one last surprise visit to Naruto and Kiba as their neighbor.

She was sure they would beg her to stay, and secretly she would savor that, but ultimately she'd have to explain to them that it is something she must do. Besides, Suigetsu didn't live that far away so she would still be able to visit as frequently as she use to, the only difference being that it was no longer a simple walking distance between them.

It was something she was certain they'd get accustomed too in no time so she had no worries about. Not to mention that Suigetsu's place was way closer to the Health Clinic so it definitely benefited her.

Yet as Sakura reached her destination something else captured her attention. It was a sound she was sure she was familiar with but for some reason that escaped her she couldn't exactly figure out what it was. All that she was able to pinpoint that it was coming from inside Naruto's apartment. Curious to what it was the pinkette leaned in and pressed her ear to Naruto's front door for further inspection.

*Unf, Thud, Unf, Thud, Unf, Hnnf, Unf, Thud, Unf*

Sakura quickly detached herself from the door looking more puzzled than ever. She was now more positive than ever that she had heard that sound before and it ticked her off that she still couldn't match it to anything. 'Are they moving furniture?' she asked herself. Whatever it was she would be sure to find out soon enough as she juggled Naruto's house keys and prepared to investigate. But just then she heard a crash hence she wasted no more time rushing in.

-_-_-_(Minutes Earlier)-_-_-_-

No cautioning came as Kiba gave a fierce thrust of his hips, hitting Naruto's prostate with piercing accuracy and inducing the loud moan that ripped from the blonde's lips. His body quaked with pleasure as Kiba slammed into him. Gripping tightly to the table Naruto was willing to feel more of that blissful feeling. Naruto loved the man he was with, and to Naruto there was nothing more euphorically gratifying than submitting his body to the ministration of the animal that was his lover. Bucking his hips against Kiba's, the brunet was able to bury his unbendable mast deeper into the blonde.

Naruto had never paid much attention to the intricacies of hardwood furniture before. The whorl of the tree's knots or the luster of the varnish had always seemed like something that belonged in a catalogue, not in the forefront of his mind. However as he currently felt the ridges and valleys in the dark maple wood support his sweat slicked back, and with Kiba thrusting into him so hard bright spots were erupting in front of his eyes, he couldn't help but be thankful for the grand table and its creator.

The blonde's fingers slipped and skidded as he tried to find purchase, guttural animalistic noises escaping from his throat, his eyes squeezed shut with pleasure. Kiba was breathing heavily, his breath fanning him from his stomach to his throat and ears as he moved up and over Naruto's shuddering body. The tantric pressure between them built up in stacked layers, Naruto's hips grinding faster and deeper, his pumps becoming more and more frenzied and wild.

They both let heady moans out freely, littering the air with curses and confessions as they hoped that the pleasure of their utterly savage fucking wouldn't make their brains implode. The table slammed repeatedly against the wall; pants and exclamations punctuated by its rhythmic thud. Naruto grabbed Kiba's shoulders holding on for dear life as the brunet did all he could to make his plunges come out of Naruto's mouth.

Kiba wrapped a shaky fevered hand tightly around Naruto's cock and squeezed and twisted and milked him for all his worth. Coarse moans and utterances spilled in from the mass of entangled, straining, pulsing limbs shifting on the table.

The walls shook and the table legs screamed as they moved across the floor, the legs closest to the wall hitting it with such a force it was a wonder the wall didn't just pack it in and shatter into a mess of ply-board brick and plaster. Thunderous booms sounded from above Naruto's head, though by now the two of them were so far gone a truck could have crashed into the side of their house and they would have just kept on ramming into each other.

With Kiba spearing his massive erection into Naruto's ass, the later was quickly becoming nothing more than a ball of nerves raw with sensation. The blue eyed male couldn't possibly keep a lid on his control any longer so he wrapped his arms around Kiba's neck and forcefully brought their mouths together as he shamelessly moaned into Kiba's oral cavity. Both of them were at the end of their ropes now, it was just a matter of seconds before that wonderful climax could be reached. Yet the way they crossed that finish line wasn't as they were expecting it to be.

Because of their completely disregard of anything that wasn't the person in front of them, they didn't notice that the teetering joints of the table could take no more. The legs closest to the wall splintered and collapsed, pitching the swearing Naruto backwards and forcefully shoving Kiba into him. Consequently the brunet impaled the blonde at an angle unachievable from any other position, hitting something so deep and carnal and goddamn sensational that both of them instinctively rocked into each other, erupting against and into one another.

A pulsing, throbbing and surging tidal wave of pleasure swarmed and flooded their brains until any coherent thought was no longer a viable possibility. Sliding gingerly off the table, still embedded in each other's skin and hair and entire being, Naruto tipped his head forward to meet Kiba's forehead, his quaking lips brushing against the flushed ones before him.

"That was..."

"Yeah." Kiba agreed.

"We need a new table." said Naruto smiling impishly. Right now they were pretty much too exhausted and in love to care anything. The blonde only wanted to bask in their afterglow. Kiba was about to say something back but then the front door suddenly slammed open.

"Guys are you okay in there?" asked a female voice and they could hear footsteps quickly coming their way.

Kiba and Naruto were too tangled up in each other to fix themselves up adequately on time and before they knew it Sakura's face popped out from the other side of the table. And a moment of awkward silence ensued until…

"Kyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Sakura covered her eyes and screeched like she never had before.

-_-_-_(Suna's Desert)-_-_-_-

One place where Sakura's scream didn't reach was cross the border in Suna; it's desert to be precise. There three lone travelers paced their way in what was supposed to be a family bonding experience. Too bad none of them counted on the toll the desert was going to put on their bodies. Yet in a way that may have been exactly what the Sabaku siblings needed.

Not having seen each other in a very long time neither of them knew what to say to each other and so their trip had been a very awkward and silent one. But after two hours traveling under the grueling Sun and still no trace of their destined oasis, Kankuro thought he found the perfect excuse to break the ice.

"Are we there yet?" he asked aloud from the back of the line.

"Don't you have eyes Kankuro?" shot Temari from her spot in the middle. She was walking in between her brothers. "Of course we are not! Do us a favor and use them more often, hmn."

"Why I oughta-" Kankuro mumbled before biting his tongue to drown the rest of it. So what if he failed to take into consideration Temari's snappy nature? Minor setback; he was just gonna have to try a different approach, that was all. "Boy, it is sure getting hot out here!"

Yet Temari's sharp mouth never skipped a chance to shut someone down. "Thank you for your contribution 'Mr. State the Obvious'. And here I was wondering why I didn't bring my winter coat to a desert" she retorted sarcastically.

Kankuro gritted his teeth at that one but refused to let her put down his efforts. "I meant that the temperature it's hotter than usual this time of day" he said enunciating every single word to see if his sister got the hint; but to no success.

"Well if someone hadn't covered himself up entirely in black then maybe that someone wouldn't feel it as much; and then just maybe he wouldn't be making stupid little comments ever so often. Now wouldn't that beat all?" replied Temari in a scolding manner.

"Grr, well at least I'm the one trying to make conversation here!" shot back Kankuro finally losing his temper.

"And I'm telling you to can it!" snapped back Temari. She turned her head to face her brother as she continued her onslaught. "Can't you see that by remaining silent I'm trying to get us used to each other?"

"Oh real smart sis!" Kankuro answered just as sarcastically as Temari had previously been. "Care to explain how are we going to do that if we don't speak to each other first?"

"Easy, but first tell me just how are we ever supposed to get used to each other when you keep running that annoying mouth of yours?"

Gaara, who was taking the lead at the front of their line, quietly shook his at his siblings' behavior. It was nice to see that they hadn't change that much but judging by their behavior it was hard to believe that they were actually older than him.

The redhead tried to tune out his siblings as checked his compass. Judging by time and the distance they traveled Gaara knew that they wouldn't make it to the Oasis any time soon. Therefore he proposed that they make camp and put up a tent until the Sun went down a little because the heat was also wearing him down.

Yet his siblings misinterpreted it as if Gaara had gotten into a bad mood and immediately they went to place the blame on one another. Consequently that started another bickering session on who was more at fault in tampering with their youngest brother's mood.

Gaara refrained from rolling his eyes at them and went on by himself to find a suitable ground to make his tent. He was able to find a peculiar spot where the floor was basically a cracked boulder and where the sand apparently went around of without invading its space. Peculiar indeed.

But whatever, Gaara didn't have time to ponder on it. He was busy trying to think of away to make his siblings stop arguing without sounding like he was threatening them or that he would rather bury them alive. Believe it or not that was actually a hard thing for Gaara to pull off whenever he spoke. Only Naruto seemed to be unaffected by it.

Exhausted with his thoughts Gaara dropped his gear to the floor and struck the ground with one of the poles from his tent. Surprisingly it went in deeper than it should had and when the redhead tried to pull it out a squirt of black liquid stained his left shoe. Gaara raised a nonexistent eyebrow at that but then all of the sudden a tremor hit the ground.

Temari and Kankuro instantly quieted down at the shake and wasted no time in rushing at Gaara's side. And just when they got there a mountain size gazer erupted from the ground causing all three of them to fall on their asses.

All three of the Sabaku siblings looked up as they registered the same thing.

"That's oil isn't it?" asked Kankuro as he stared in amazement.

"You know what that means don't you?" said Temari also lost wonder.

Gaara wiped the oil drop that fell on his cheek as he came to the same conclusion as the others. "We are rich."

-_-_-_(Konoha's Outskirts)-_-_-_-

"Kin Tsuchi here, reporting in from the outskirts of Konoha where a 6-hour police siege has and still is taking place. Apparently an ex-employee who goes by the name of Mizuki lost it when he got laid-off and has taken a sniper position on top of a local supermarket. The offender's weapon of choice is a semi-automatic rifle. Police forces are doing their best to apprehend the man but so far no progress had been made. It has now been confirmed that the…"

As Kin along with her team, Dosu the cameraman and Zaku who was in charge of the lights, continued the on-the-scene report they were famously known for, another shooting rampage interrupted the telecast as everyone had to duck for cover.

Yet none of them are who the story is about. In fact our main focus of attention happened to be among the curious bystanders that have crowded the perimeter around the area in hopes of getting a firsthand glimpse of how the scene ends. Ino Yamanaka was the name.

It had been a month since Ino started marketing herself under Shikamaru's tutelage and by now she had expected to be living the glamorous life. Except that wasn't the case. True to his word Shikamaru had presented Ino the chance to meet with hundreds of top liege directors and producers but sadly she wasn't able to spark any interest in them as none saw any potential in her to be in front of a camera.

Baffled by the continuous closed doors they stumbled on, Shikamaru concluded that maybe the road of an actress wasn't what was best for Ino at the moment so he suggested that she stayed in a low profile while he revised their strategy. So as of now Ino was reduced to a life of nothing more than a spectator.

Funny how life works when everything you do seems to lead you on to the right path only to stumble on a huge roadblock at the end. Ino's career was going nowhere fast and somehow the thought that it was some kind of divine retribution for all the mischief she'd done embedded itself to her brain.

Maybe it was all the time she used Sakura's car and debit card without permission, maybe it was the way she exploited Kiba for her own benefit, or maybe it was because of the virginity ring she wore because of a promise she made to her father that she hadn't quite kept. Whatever it was she was sure that it chose now to haunt her.

'Ooooooooo, Not fair!' she inwardly shouted. 'Okay so I may have taken advantage of them but come on! It's not like I killed a guy. What do I have to do to catch a break here?'

It was undeniable, Ino had hit rock bottom and was desperate for some kind of signal. She didn't want to end up a failure her whole life.

'I'll do anything! I'll be a better friend, I'll do charity work, I'll stay celibate- well maybe not that but I promise to stop lying to my parents. I'll even credit people in my acceptance speeches!'

Yet as fate would have it nothing happened and Ino deflated to the ground inconsolable and inattentive to the ruckus around her. 'Who am I kidding, none of that matters. It's not like it saves any lives or changes anything. I don't posses anything worth giving.'

The blonde female crossed her arms over her knees and covered her face in them completely unaware of the odd looks the people around her were giving her. Feeling utterly defeated she resigned herself to think of other things.

'I wonder how Whiskers is holding up. According to his landlord he was behind in paying for a few things and now he got another mouth to feed.' Ino sighed and muttered under her breath the rest of her thoughts. "If I made my first million I could give it to Naruto to help with his payments. Now wouldn't that be awfully nice of me for a change?"

Suddenly out of the blue everybody started screaming and running away as a stray bullet landed their way. Ino abruptly lifted her head in alarm and that's when she saw it. Kin Tsuchi stiffened and gradually fell over. Everyone gasped as Dosu dropped the camcorder and went to her aid.

Ino's legs trembled at the unexpected turn of events but her gaze stayed glued on the microphone that rolled on the floor. 'Maybe I went a little too far with my self-promises. A million is a lot now that I think about it.' But when Kin was suddenly starting to come into, the blonde had a quick change of heart. 'Scratch that! I mean of course a million! Heck I'll do whatever I can to make Whiskers life easier if I pull through!' And just like that Kin fell unconscious again.

Then, not knowing where she found the extraordinary courage to do so, Ino stepped under the police barricade into the danger zone, grabbed the mic and ordered Zaku to pick up the video camera. Zaku immediately did as he was told because he still had a job to do and because his sudden state of panic temporarily blinded his ability to reason.

Rushing over to Kin's body, Ino crouched down and continued the newscast. "This is Ino Yamanaka reporting live from the Food Shack for…" she squinted her eyes to see the name on Zaku's badge. "KLV News. One of our reporters has been shot in the shoulder and is receiving treatment as we speak. Follow me as we try to get a word out of one of the officers."

She was a natural.

-_-_-_(Airport)-_-_-_-

Tenten, Neji and Hinata were already waiting at the airport when Kiba and Naruto arrived. The reason? Rock Lee's plane was about to arrive and they wanted to give him a Hero's welcome before he had to do his press conference for the gold medal that he won.

Well at least that was what Naruto and Tenten planed on doing. Sakura too wanted to celebrate but she couldn't skip her job early so to make it up to Lee she was throwing a party at Suigetsu's place.

Neji, to a lesser degree, was also there to congratulate Lee but everyone doubted he would make it to the party. He was known for being stuck up like that. On a side note Hinata was just tagging along for a chance to be with Naruto again. Everyone expected her to attend.

All three of the before mentioned raised their eyebrows when they saw the tattooed male accompanying Naruto. Tenten remembered him as the guy who practically rampaged Neji's mansion. Consequently she quickly turned to watch her boyfriend's reaction. Neji morphed his mouth into a thin line but otherwise did nothing to suggest he was going to make a scene because of it. Tenten sighed in relief at that.

Hinata however was as static as she could be when she saw Kiba. She hadn't known that the brunet had returned. This was definitely a bonus. Wait until she tells Shino! Today was turning into an even better day than what she had hoped.

But before anyone could say their greetings the flight's gate opened and out of it came Lee sauntering with his gold medal hung securely from the ribbon around his neck. Lee, in all his bowl-cut and green spandex shirt glory, spotted his crowd and pumped his right fist as tears of joy cascaded from his eyes.

"Yosh, what is this I see? All my friends have brought their spirits together to welcome me home. You are all too kind!"

Neji instantly shielded his eyes from the sparkles that he swore came from Lee's dramatic entrance and approached said person with the rest of the group. Yet the moment Lee's gaze landed on an unfamiliar face he blew off his usual crowd in order to learn the newcomer's name. After all by the looks of his physic he could prove to be a worthy training buddy.

"And who might this impressive lad be. The flames of youth shine strong on you my friend. Please allow me the honor of knowing your name! I am Rock Lee and it would be my pleasure that you accept a challenge to compete against me." He finished such statement by doing his usual nice guy pose. Thumbs up, wink and everything.

Both Neji and Tenten groaned and muttered something about Lee being a muscle-head. Kiba on the other hand was left a little mesmerized/terrified and therefore mute by the display so Naruto took it upon himself to answer for him.

"This is Kiba, my roommate" said Naruto grinning as he made the introductions. "He has been living with me for almost the entire summer now. A lot has happened since you been away actually."

"Really? If what you say is true then I must now know how this came to be! Does Sakura know?" and that's when he gasped because he noticed that the pinkette was missing. Alarmed, Lee took Naruto's hand in his and bombarded him with questions. "Where is Sakura? Has some ill befallen my fair lady?"

"Relax Bushy-Brows" replied Naruto forcefully pulling his hand away. "Sakura is fine, she's just at work and you'll see her tonight." He explained without going too deep into it. After all he didn't want to be the one who break the news that she was already seeing someone else. "And as for Kiba well…"

Naruto scratched the underside of his chin as he tried to figure a way to explain their story in the simplest and subtlest way possible. Yet Kiba didn't notice this so he eagerly wrapped an arm around Naruto's shoulders and finished the blonde's sentence for him. "I'm his boyfriend!"

In the background Hinata, Neji and Tenten's jaws dropped while Naruto visibly flinched because this was certainly not how he planned to come out to his friends. Lee on the other hand looked at Naruto for confirmation. Seeing as the damage was already done, Naruto had no choice but to nervously nod to what Kiba had said.

Both Naruto and Kiba could swear that they saw a red sunset magically appearing behind Lee. "Yosh, what amazing news! I can already tell that your flames burn with so much passion! You must-"

As Lee kept showering them with metaphors only he could understand while insisting that they become his training partners for his next sports event, Hinata took the news in a whole different way.

Feeling suddenly dizzy she lifted a hand to her forehead. After wobbling in her spot some more she promptly fainted. Fortunately for her, Neji was behind her and caught her before she could hit the floor.

Likewise, Neji was also left perplexed by this unexpected confession yet he wanted to be there to witness the consequences said interesting admission would bring. But he had to be discreet about it since a Hyuuga never dingle dawdles. After careful consideration Neji knew there was only one course of action to take.

"Tenten do you have Haruno's phone number. It is of upmost importance that I contact her." He commanded with a sense of urgency.

The girl in question pulled out her phone and handed it to Neji but couldn't help giving him a weird look. "You're going to get Sakura to treat Hinata? Don't you think that's going a little overboard? She's still only an intern you know."

"As if, don't be ridiculous, why would I do that?" Neji questioned as if offended that Tenten misinterpreted his reasons. "Hinata will come off of it like she always does. All I want is her new address."

Oh yeah, there was no way he was going to miss this party now.

-_-_-_(Chief Commander's Office)-_-_-_-

The Police Department is responsible for coordinating public safety efforts in the city. Through investigations, patrols, detective work, and other efforts, the police deter and prevent crime within. The mission of Konoha's Police Department, famously recognizable by the Uchiha insignia, is to provide the highest quality of police service to its citizens and its visitors.

Ensuring public peace by detecting and arresting criminal offenders; protecting life, property and the rights of all individuals; regulating and controlling traffic; maintaining police records and communications; providing animal services; those were all the values Itachi Uchiha stood for. Precisely because of that he could no longer turn a blind eye to the actions of his younger brother, and so the reason why he had set up an impromptu meeting with said sibling.

Itachi looked up from his desk as Sasuke with perfect punctuality walked in and sat down in the chair in front of his brother's desk without saying so much as a hello. From Sasuke's face anyone could tell that he thought he had better things to do than being here.

'Good' thought Itachi as he let out a small smirk. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at that and not so politely told the older Uchiha to say whatever he wanted to say already so they could go back to doing what they do best. And by that he meant for him, Sasuke, to continue doing whatever he wanted and for Itachi to continue overlooking it.

Amused, Itachi with a simple hand gesture nonverbally asked Sasuke to come closer. The younger Uchiha rolled his eyes but leaned forward nonetheless only to be flicked on the forehead by Itachi. Sasuke reeled back and glared daggers at his brother but they had no effect whatsoever.

"Foolish little brother, don't delude yourself with ideas of having other places to go because as of today you no longer do. Right now there is nothing better for you to do than to listen to what I have to say."

"Oh yeah, and what makes you so sure of that?" Sasuke challenged.

"Because as we speak my forces are moving in to arrest every single member of your so called gang and everyone else you ever associated with." As Itachi said this he spread on his desk multiple folders holding the criminal record of each of Sasuke's goons. The message was clear, Itachi meant serious business.

"Pfff, you're bluffling" remarked Sasuke smugly as he leaned back on his chair. "You and I both know that my gang are top notch professionals and there is no way they are going to be taken down by any ordinary police officer."

"I know" said Itachi slightly enjoying how he was about to crush Sasuke's triumphant gleam. "That's why I deployed the Akatsuki for this task."

At that Sasuke turned his face away not wanting to give his brother the satisfaction of seeing him sneer. "Hn" was his only reply. The Akatsuki were a special force outside of the Police Department in which Itachi was also a part of. They were notoriously known for their ruthless methods and their zero-fail guarantee on their toughest missions. They were certainly a group not to be messed with.

Itachi also looked away even though he knew he had the upper hand since now came the part that hurt him the most. Up until now he had been fine with letting his little brother run amok doing what he wished. For some reason Itachi always believed that Sasuke would grow up and see the error of his ways. But by the recent complaint letter he got from a certain Inuzuka veterinarian and the 5 inch knife he confiscated from the hospital, it was clear that was not the case.

Now Itachi was left with no other choice than to send his little brother away. It was the last thing he was ever going to allow himself to do for his sibling.

With a deep sigh Itachi faced Sasuke again and said that he had less than 24 hours to leave the country and never come back. Otherwise Itachi will have no choice than to detain Sasuke and submit him to be trialed for his felonies under the due process of law. By tomorrow morning Sasuke would be declared a national criminal by every media in the entire fire country and all its allied nations. He would have no place to hide. Itachi was giving him a head start to escape but that was it, nothing more.

Sasuke said nothing for a real long time. He just stared at Itachi's desk with an aggravated scowl, probably organizing his thoughts and his next course of action, or so Itachi inferred.

Then just as apathetically as he had sat down Sasuke stood up, but did so while snatching away one of the folders. Itachi could tell it apart as Karin's criminal record. Sasuke probably needed her resources to facilitate his escape into another county. Plus she was an adept linguistic so it would probably benefit him to have her tagging along until he settled somewhere else.

Other than drug possession and other misdemeanors Karin didn't really have anything that amounted to considerable jail time so Itachi let it slide just this once. After all by tomorrow Itachi wouldn't be able to help out Sasuke any longer even if he had wanted to.

When Sasuke got to the door he turned his face to give his brother some parting words, or more accurately, a warning. "This doesn't change anything, Itachi. Nothing is over yet. I hate you, I curse you, and I will be back… with a vengeance."

-_-_-_(Inside Wedding Chapel)-_-_-_-

Juugo Tenpin was never one to have many friends, or more specifically it's always been hard to make any friends that would stay with him in the long run. It was mostly because no one could put up with him. 'And who could blame them?' he always thought. No one in their right mind would willingly want to be around someone who could go mental at any given time.

That was probably the main reason he was standing at the front of the altar with Kiba as his best man. Don't get him wrong, Juugo was happy to have his soon-to-be brother in law share this very important moment with him. But sometimes he couldn't keep himself from wondering.

In a room filled mostly with Hana's side of the family, some of Juugo's coworkers, Naruto and a few of Kiba's other friends; Juugo couldn't pinpoint the one person he undoubtedly wanted to be here. That's when he again realized he didn't have one. Today kinda felt like he crossed the finish line of some big race but had no one there to congratulate him for it. A weird sort of emptiness.

But then, looking at the fearless beauty beside him, Juugo couldn't help his smile. Hana was the first person ever to deal with him without putting some kind of invisible barrier between them to keep a distance. That's probably the reason he fell fast for her. And throughout his episodes she had always been there to work them out with him. She treated him like a human. It was no wonder he proposed to her within a year of having met her.

Today was supposed to be the happiest day of his life. It definitely should be! Yet why did he feel so unfulfilled? At first he mistook it as a simple case of cold-feet but he had been feeling this depression for so long that it couldn't be it. And that's when he figured it out; he was depressed, simple as that. Not even his pills seemed to have the same effect they usually did.

He was bound to get moody on his wedding day so maybe he should have taken an extra dosage of his medication after all. Whatever it was that was affecting him Hana seemed to sense it too and inconspicuously as possible encircled their arms together to ask Juugo if anything was wrong. Even though she didn't quite believe him when he said he was fine, Hana let it slide because she didn't want to let her worrying ruin her fairytale wedding.

Unfortunately right after their vows and "I do's" Juugo was hit by a splitting headache. He was able to disguise it enough so that everyone save Hana wouldn't notice it. Putting up a smiling front for her guests, the new bride quietly suggested to her husband that they veto the rest of their wedding proceedings so that they could safely get to their rented limousine as quickly as possible.

Yet as they made it to the exit of the chapel they couldn't really get away because they got surrounded as everyone wanted to take the mandatory wedding pictures.

Juugo gritted his teeth as he progressively got angrier and angrier at the people blocking his escape route. It was then that he noticed that his control was slipping. What scared him the most was that even though he was conscious of it he couldn't do anything to stop his impulses. So gripping to his last remnants of coherent-ness he pushed away from his wife before any damage could be dealt.

-_-_-_(Minutes Earlier)-_-_-_-

Kimimaro Kaguya was stationed outside the wedding chapel, leaning his back against a 4-wheeled vehicle large enough to fit 10 people. In other words he was just another simple employee working for a limousine business. An honest job without the recurring risk of suffering from cardiac arrest because of stress.

Lucky was a word Kimimaro didn't use often but nothing else described his situation best. At first when Itachi came to his doorstep and offered him immunity from the law in exchange for the addresses of everyone working under Sasuke, Kimimaro didn't know how to respond. However now, a month after everything was said and done, he knew he made the right choice by cooperating.

Kimimaro wasn't exactly what you'd call an example citizen but Itachi seeing the bigger picture was willing to overlook that in order to catch the more dangerous ones. That's not to say that Kimimaro wasn't equally as dangerous, or even more, but since for the most part all he did was drive people around, Itachi gave only him the chance to redeem all past indiscretions by helping enforce the law on others.

Presently Kimimaro was doing his best to stay clean and out of trouble. He understood that not many got second chances like he did and he certainly wasn't going to waste it. And besides, working for Sasuke wasn't good for his heart anyways so he was grateful for the change of pace.

Yep, nothing stressful about this or so he thought until he heard screaming coming from the crowd at the chapel's top entrance. That's where his charges were supposed to be!

Automatically he climbed the stone steps until he reached the source of the commotion. There, centerfold, was Juugo menacing to tear everyone apart if they didn't get out of his way.

"Move it or I'll kill you! I'll start with a woman, no, a man. Yeah that's it; I'll definitely kill a man first!"

Contemplating the situation Kimimaro thought it better to get in there and control the situation before things escalated. He wasn't Sasuke's guard for nothing after all. But when Juugo saw him coming he got ten times as mad.

"You, what are you looking at? I said get out of my way or I'll kill you!"

Without further warning Juugo swung his fist at Kimimaro but the later dodged it and taking advantage of his smaller height he swiftly got behind Juugo and caught him in a power lock. Juugo went berserk as he struggled around but Kimimaro held on strong and didn't let Juugo shake him off.

"Calm down" said Kimimaro sounding surprisingly calm for the situation he was in.

"I'm not normal, why aren't you scared of me?"

"Probably because I'm not that weak. Now calm yourself down."

Amazingly enough for all who witnessed it, Juugo did as he was told. The new groom felt his legs go limp and he fell down sitting on the floor. Seeing the faces of everyone around him Juugo couldn't help feeling ashamed of himself for ruining the wedding. But before he could get up to do anything, a teary Hana crouched down in front of him flung her arms around his neck."

"Baby are you alright? Why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling right?"

Juugo hugged her back as he apologized for ruining her day but Hana assured him that that didn't matter and what was important was that nobody got hurt. As they continued to hold each other Suigetsu couldn't help himself from adding his unwanted two cents in.

"If it wasn't so totally inappropriate I would tell you just how cool I thought this whole trip was!"

Thankfully he was silenced by a punch to the gut courtesy of Sakura before he could continue. Naruto threw in a "Serves you right" commentary in there and also found himself in the receiving end of Sakura's fist because, um, well for being Naruto.

Feeling the prying eyes on them, Hana pulled away from Juugo and started barking orders. "Alright everyone, the wedding is over, nothing to see here, we appreciate that you came but you can leave now. Naruto and friends help clear the place. Kiba, go fetch me Juugo's pills while I'll call his doctor and give him a piece of my mind. Everyone else, scatter!"

Everyone immediately fled the scene because no one wanted to make the new bride mad. That's when Juugo noticed that the guy who stopped him was still there and was currently moving away. Juugo anxiously reached an arm to his direction and called out to him.

"Wait, eh, what's your name?" he asked.

Kimimaro turned to him and gave a simple bow with his head. "The name is Kimimaro Kaguya, and from the looks of it I'll be your driver." And with that he left to stand next to the limousine as he waited for the new married couple to compose themselves.

Shutting off her phone after leaving a well-worded message on the doctor's voicemail, Hana turned to Juugo to make sure he was feeling fine. Yet Juugo was busy processing in his head that Kimimaro not only showed no fear toward him but also was able to calm him without the use of any medication.

Juugo looked at Kimimaro's way and nodded to his wife. "You know, somehow I think I am."

-_-_-_(Apartment)-_-_-_-

Like every other morning Naruto and Kiba were peacefully enjoying their breakfast on their new table. Both had a busy work day as Kiba was helping Tazuna build his bridge while Naruto was made Prof. Kakashi Hatake's new teacher assistant, a.k.a. his new porn-stasher/errand-boy.

Kakashi needed new places to hide his adult material from girlfriend Anko Mitarashi and in Naruto he saw infinite possibilities. Not exactly a privilege but hey at least Naruto got paid for it.

Then, just as they were finishing with their meals, someone knocked on the front door.

"Mind getting that?" asked Naruto between bites as he reached for the newspaper. "It's probably Sakura for our haircuts checking if we're decent." he ended in a joking manner. Kiba caught it and gave a knowing grin at the joke before taking one last sip from his cup and going to answer the door.

Ever since Sakura walked in on them when they were having sex she had learned to knock before coming in. The memory of Kiba ramming his cock into Naruto's ass will forever be engraved in her brain. It was a running joke between the three and they were never going to let her live it down.

Putting his dish aside Naruto eyed the headlines in the cover before turning the page to read the rest. But then something clicked in his head and Naruto turned back to read the front page. His jaw slackened.

"Well I be!" he exclaimed as he re-read the top news. It was about a new oil company being built in the Wind Country and there was even a big-ass picture with the three owners included. What was amazing about it was that standing in the middle was Gaara! How could Gaara make this huge billionaire discovery just out the gate when Naruto was still stuck in college? It was not fair!

The whiskered male could guess that the two standing beside the redhead were his brother and sister. But then when Naruto's eyes returned to Gaara's face and saw his content expression, Naruto forgot all ill will and smiled. Something about that picture told Naruto that Gaara achieved his goal and was able to successfully reconnect with his siblings. 'You made it my friend.'

"Ah, Naruto?" came Kiba's unsure voice interrupting him from his thoughts. "Can you come here and, what is it again, sign?"

The blond stood up, headed to the entrance and saw a postman (Idate Morino for does who care) standing with a pen and a clipboard while Kiba had a midsize delivery package currently under his arm.

"Oh, right" said Naruto as he grabbed the pen and gave his signature. "You know, considering how quick you usually pick up on things, maybe it's time we get someone to teach you to read and write. Wouldn't you like that?" he asked but then saw that Kiba had already gone back to the kitchen with the package in tow. "Hmm, maybe later."

After handing the pen back to the postman, the guy then gave Naruto a letter that allegedly came with the delivery. "Eh, thanks" said Naruto as he closed the door and opened the aforementioned letter which read:

-Dear Naruto, we hope you don't mind the extra company but we couldn't exactly take it with us on our honeymoon. Don't worry, Kiba already knows how to take care of it. Much love, Hana and Juugo.-

"It? What are they talking about?"

And that's when he heard it, barking coming from the kitchen. He instantly rushed to the room and saw a laughing Kiba holding up a mostly white puppy.

"Yahoo! Look who came to visit us Naruto. It's Akamaru!" the brunet exclaimed excitedly before giving it to Naruto for him to hold. "This is my boyfriend Naruto, Say hi Akamaru!"

The dog barked hello and wagged its tail as Naruto awkwardly held him up. And just when the blond was opening his mouth to say something, Akamaru peed on his shirt.

"…Great." answered Naruto sounding completely unthrilled.

-_-_-_( Two Year Skip)-_-_-_-

Once the New Oil Company started its operations the Suna strutted its way to becoming one of the riches nations in the Wind Country. Coincidentally it also meant that its tourists' economy boomed from almost nonexistent to half decent. Hey, Suna was still a desert so it was understandable that there was still some resistance to travel it. But at least it gained some improvement.

Yet it was among Suna's own citizens were the most progress was made as little by little they started opening their minds to Gaara now that they stopped seeing him as a cold-hearted murderer. Amazing how everybody changes their perspective of someone once that person makes the top ten world's wealthiest bachelors list. Simply astonishing.

But the fact that people liked Gaara more than they used to didn't at all mean that they weren't still at some level scared of him. Even today a clear example of this was being shown.

Presently the Sabaku siblings where in the middle of giving a joint tour around the company to a bunch of college level journalist students and now they had reach the point where they were supposed to separate into three groups. The reason being that the company had three main facilities, each being under one of the siblings, so to save time it was better if they split the load within the three.

This was the part that Gaara dreaded the most because it was almost becoming common practice that no one voluntarily chose to follow him. They always went with either Temari or Kankuro leaving Gaara to cut the tour short in order to lock himself back in his office. The sad part being that the redhead was always the most prepared out of the three to give the tour.

"Pst, Gaara, why don't you try to smile more. No one is going to pick you if you keep making that sour face." whispered Temari to his brother as Kankuro was busy stating the rules.

But her advice fell to deaf ears as Gaara pretended not to hear her. What Temari didn't know was that Gaara had once tried that but it only served to drive more people away. Something about a smile looking unnatural on him and almost psychotic. Certainly not one of Gaara's fondest memories.

And just as expected when the time came everyone moved under either Kankuro or Temari. The redhead closed his eyes as he repressed yet another disappointment and turned to leave only to unpredictably bump into someone.

Gaara opened his eyes and saw a girl with shoulder length brunette hair brushing his shoulders and apologizing to him. What was even more confusing was that she was even blushing for it. That was definitely the oddest reaction Gaara has ever gotten, the odd thing being that it was directed at him.

"What's your name?" Gaara asked to stop her from spouting out her repeated apologies.

The girl stepped back as if surprised to have him speaking to her but then stood firm and looked him directly in the eyes as she answered. "Ma-Matsuri, I mean my name is Matsuri!"

Too bad the nervousness in her voice betrayed her. Matsuri was inwardly kicking herself for that one. She almost shouted her name there but thankfully she managed to cover her mouth before she spouted something embarrassing along the lines of being his secret admirer and having the walls of her room filled with printed pictures of him like only some crazed teenage girls would. Now that would have been awkward.

Gaara looked around and saw the other groups were already set before turning back to the girl in front of him. Shock was written on his was even though no one could read it. Was Matsuri honestly choosing to go with him? Gaara didn't know but he was not about to waste an opportunity to give his well-rehearsed tour.

So offering an arm out for her to take, Gaara looked straight ahead and calmly said. "Shall we?"

Matsuri practically squealed as she took his arm and then turned her head to stick her tongue out at someone in Kankuro's group. "Take that Sari, I told you he wouldn't bite!"

"Not fair Matsuri! I liked him first!" the other girl shouted back as she hastily made her way to grab Gaara's other arm and looked at him with sparkles in her eyes. "Please Gaara give me the tour too, pretty please!"

As the girls continued to pull on his arms as they continued to fight for him, Gaara looked at his siblings for help but they were too busy trying to hold in their laughter. To them Gaara looked so out of place it was hilarious. 'Deserters' Gaara thought as the girls continued to haul him towards his facility.

Yep, things were definitely changing alright. Who would have thought that Gaara would one day have to face the growing specie publicly known as (dramatic pause)… fangirls!

-_-_-_(Television Recording Studio)-_-_-_-

-Welcome everyone to your favorite morning talk show "Husky & Slim" with your hosts Chouji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka-

"Hoho" laughed Chouji from his side of the couch. "Good morning everybody and thanks for welcoming us into your homes. I'm your host Chouji 'Husky' Akimichi and boy do we have a great show prepared for you, right Slim?"

"Sure do Husky" replied Ino from her side of the couch before looking at the camera. "Today we have special appearances from reality TV star couple Asuma and Kurenai; and a surprise music performance by guest singer Yugao Uzuki and the Anbu Black Ops!"

The crowd cheered.

Chouji nodded and held his hand up to silence the audience before continuing. "But first join us as we celebrate our 2 years anniversary since this show started! Wow two years" he said turning to Ino. "Can you believe it's been that long since this pilot aired on TV?"

"Amazing how time flies huh Husky? And we owe it all to our wonderful audience who have kept our ratings locked at number one for the 7th month straight!" rooted Ino as she faced the crowd and hollered "So give yourselves a round of applause!"

She clapped her hands and everyone in the room stood up and joined in on the applause.

"Whoa Slim, you sure know how to work the crowd!" commented Chouji while also clapping his hands a few times.

"Years of experience Husky, years of experience." she said before moving on with the scripted program. "But tell me because I just need to ask. Rumor has it that you're writing a new cookbook! How much of it is true?"

"Hoho Slim, I'm not only writing it, I finished it!" answered Chouji as he pulled out a copy of it to show it to the audience. "It's called 'Recipes for Your Barbeque' and it'll be out nationwide next week!"

"Mmm sounds delicious" said Ino as she rubbed her stomach, "Reserve a copy of that please!"

"Will do!" said Chouji as he set his book down on the table in an angle where the camera will be able to zoom in on it at random times. "But what about you Slim?" asked Chouji as he read from the teleprompter, "I'm sure you also have new projects you would like to share."

"As a matter of fact there is" replied Ino quickly agreeing. "Hey everyone, I finally got my first movie deal and starting next month I'll be launching my new perfume line! So I'm going to be busy busy!"

"Wow such an entrepreneur and you are not even 22 yet! I've been on show business since I could barely walk and it still amazes me how your career catapulted from relatively unknown to an overnight sensation. And to think it all started when you showed tremendous poise and bravery under pressure at a police siege. Shikamaru even calls you his finest discovery. Wouldn't you agree folks?" he asked the crowd and the room cheered.

Ino brought a hand to her face a pretended to blush. "Oh Husky, you sure know how to compliment a lady." That caused for Chouji to laugh in good humor and for the audience to coo and whistle. "But let's not forget my shot to stardom only happened at the cost of someone getting shot, literally." she reminded.

"Yeah tell us about that, how is Kin Tsuchi fairing as we speak?" asked Chouji and the room quieted down in order to hear what Ino had to say.

"Well I'm pleased to say that after the incident she made a quick recovery and is currently still doing on-field reports for Konoha's local news. I even send her a gift basket every Christmas to her thank for, as they say, letting me steal her thunder!" she joked and everybody laughed.

"A sense of humor, beauty, smarts, talent and a heart of gold. How does she do it!" asked Chouji to the audience.

Ino simply laughed and waved at the audience. Yeah, she was a natural and she had everyone at the palm of her hand. 'But my success did come with a prize and believe me I'm still paying for it. Right Whiskers?'

-_-_-_(Study Hall)-_-_-_-

Shino Abarume had always been best described as a man of little words and everyone could easily perceive a silent confidence about him. He was not one to blurt unintelligent things out of his mouth and certainly not what anyone could call the life of the party. He handled himself in a conservative way and always remained professional on whatever he did.

For all his defining characteristics it was understandable that one would make the incorrect assumption that he enjoyed the quiet. Mostly everyone thought that and let me be the first to tell you that mostly everyone were wrong with a capital W.

If anything Shino was fond of sounds and noises. Heck he even found that he concentrated better when there was some kind of ruckus around him. That was why he almost never surrounded himself with people that shared his same personality because then no one would speak unless absolutely necessary and it would end up driving Shino crazy.

Keeping that piece of trivia in mind, can you guess just how painful it was for him to sit in a room studying for grad school with Hinata doing nothing but mope in a corner for the last 3 hours? It was hell and it unnerved him!

Sure, some might argue that Hinata was a timid person to begin with, but there was a fine line between shyness and muteness and Hinata had crossed it without a return ticket in sight. It frustrated Shino not only because it kept him from fully concentrating on his studies, but because he found that the reason for it didn't merit it.

Alright so Hinata forever lost her chance with Naruto the moment she found out he preferred dicks over pussy. And to add salt to the injury she also found out that it was Kiba's dick no less. Yes it was kind of a shocker since even Shino didn't saw it coming. But come on that happened more than two years ago! It was high time she built a bridge and got over it. Everyone else already did so why couldn't her?

There were plenty of other fishes in the sea but she won't ever come around to catch any of them if she stayed drifting around in a sea of might-have-been. Hinata had done a hell of a job so far pretending to be okay and supportive around everyone else but when it was just her and Shino she reverted back to her current sulky self. She might as well be wallpaper for all the company she was.

Shino was not trying to be cruel yet at the same time he was never one to sugarcoat things. But one truth was for certain, he need to do something quick to get her out of her funk and he needed to do it now. No time like the present they say.

Marking the page he was on and closing the book temporarily, Shino sighed knowing precisely what he had to do. He just hoped it wouldn't bring any ill consequences. Yet even if it did, he decided that nothing could be worse than having a zombie for a friend.

He stood up and moved to stand in front of Hinata. Shino quietly waited there until Hinata noticed his presence before establishing conversation.

"You been idle again" he firmly stated his observation. Hinata looked away in embarrassment and was about to apologize for being bad company but before she could Shino cut her off by making another of his analysis known. "It's about Naruto again isn't it?"

Well no one could accuse Shino of being subtle with his straight to the point approaches, that's for sure. Hinata's eyes turned downcast at the mention of the blonde's name even though the trademark blush on her cheeks never failed to make an appearance.

"I c-can't help it. I still feel strongly about him" came Hinata's predictable response. That was all the convincing Shino needed to apply his remedy. He crouched down to be eye level with her and took off his sunglasses, an odd move that caught Hinata's attention.

"Listen Hinata, I'm about to do something that may stun you but believe me, it's with your best interests in mind." And with that he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips making her eyes widen in shock. Shino then pulled away and put his shades back on. "Now I'm going to put some classical music on while you stay here and let what happened simmer down a bit. I'll expect your response at the end of the day."

Hinata was too stunned to say anything so she just nodded, Naruto being the furthest thing from her mind right now. Shino on the meantime opened up iTunes on his laptop and returned to his book like nothing had happened with a swagger that was so undeniably his. Oh yeah, he still got it on!

-_-_-_(Tenpin-Inuzuka Household)-_-_-_-

Life had been going great for Juugo these past two years. After the disaster that was the wedding Juugo started requesting for Kimimaro every time he needed a driver. Needless to say he had made quite a strong impression on Juugo. Hana took fast notice of this and did everything in her power to find excuses to invite Kimimaro over.

To say that she was fervently pushing for a friendship to happen was an understatement. And she didn't let Juugo get shy about it either. The woman practically made it her mission to get her husband a buddy no matter the cost. She even went as far as to set them up on a mandate providing Juugo with flashcards of things to say and everything!

And when that awkward experience didn't work she tried offering Kimimaro a position as their personal chauffer with residence included. So what if she was being meddlesome? Her man deserved nothing but the best and she was just the woman to get it for him. Kimimaro respectfully declined said offer but nonetheless the seeds were already sown.

It didn't take all that long afterwards for Juugo and Kimimaro to hit it off and go from acquaintances to friends and now even best friends. Ever since then Juugo suffered from less bipolar episodes and had led a fairly decent life. He no longer felt like he had a reason to be depressed; and little did he know that his world was about to get a little brighter.

When Juugo got home after his racquetball match with Kimimaro he sensed that something was off. For one thing his wife's house-keys were at home even though she was supposed to be at a Vet convention. Secondly she wouldn't miss it for anything in the world when she had been so hyped up for it this past week. And lastly he could smell pot-roast in the air. His wife hated pot-roast!

'Something must have happened!' he thought, warning bells ringing. Absentmindedly he dropped everything at the door as he rushed to every room in the house while calling out her name.

He found her in the patio by herself and strangely enough she was indeed eating pot-roast. Juugo felt a little out of the loop as he took tentative steps toward Hana. She felt him coming and turned to wave him over.

Juugo kissed her on the cheek and took a sit next to her as he joined his wife in watching the scenery.

"You are home early" he commented after some time had passed.

The gentle breeze blew and Hana took her hair out of her usual low ponytail and closed her eyes so she could appreciate it better. "I know. Didn't feel like staying away from home today, that's all."

Juugo didn't know why but his wife seemed to have a certain glow about her that she didn't have previously. Then he glanced at her plate and couldn't help to voice the question in his mind. "You're eating pot-roast too."

"Weird huh? I usually hate the stuff but today I had an inexplicable craving for it and I just had to have some. There's more in the oven it you want any."

Her husband nodded and stared back at the scenery, "So I take it the convention wasn't that good huh?"

"Actually, I didn't go to it" she coyly admitted and when Juugo gave her a puzzled look she adverted eye contact and continued with her explanation. "I went to see the doctor instead."

"Why? Is there something wrong?" he said instantly feeling up her forehead, "Or is it about me?" he asked removing his hand with a sullen expression.

"No silly, it isn't anything like that!" she exclaimed while giving him a playful shove. "Well actually it has to do with you but it also has to do with me, with us both." she said as she stood up and took Juugo's hands to make him stand up too. Hana took a big breath before hitting her husband with it. "I'm pregnant!" she announced excitedly.

It took a few seconds for the news to sink in but when it did Juugo broke out into a happy dance by lifting wife by the waist and spinning around before placing her down to hug her. Hana hugged him back just as hard excited that her husband was as thrilled as she was.

"I'm a dad, a dad, I'm going to be a dad!"

Yep, even though they had a rocky start their marriage was leading up to one of the happiest endings ever had.

-_-_-_(The Closet)-_-_-_-

Sakura and Suigetsu were in a good stable relationship. I was kinda amazing that after two years they were still living together when neither of them really thought that what they had would last. Suigetsu was first in it for the trill while Sakura just wanted a change of pace. They were currently each other's longest lasting relationship and to be truthful it was kinda scary.

But even so they were both satisfied with what they had and neither of them wanted to change that. Why fix what wasn't broken, right? Yep, that was what Sakura though up until the day she found a jewelry box with an engagement ring on it in Suigetsu's closet.

'What could this mean? Is he holding it for someone? One of his friends maybe?' were Sakura's first thoughts. Suigetsu wasn't the serious type and he was definitely the furthest thing from the settling down type. There was simply no way that the ring could be his. But when she saw the receipt and saw that it was paid with his credit card Sakura's world just froze.

In the days that followed Sakura couldn't focus on anything else but the ring. She couldn't tell you the amount of times she paced her bedroom just thinking about it. The worst part was that she was even getting nervous around Suigetsu and would find the silliest excuses to get out of the house so she wouldn't have to spend too much time around him. She didn't know how she would react if she let Suigetsu have an opportunity to propose to her.

Her plan worked fine until Shizune had to open her mouth and expressed her worry about Sakura spending too much time in the hospital after work hours, all leading up to Tsunade imposing on Sakura a mandatory week off.

The pinkette was fuming but she guessed it was for the best. She couldn't keep running from her troubles. In the end she convinced herself that she wasn't prepared to for a serious relationship and decided that whenever Suigetsu popped the question she would politely reject him.

At least that was the plan, if only Suigetsu would had proposed that is. But as weeks passed without any movement from his part Sakura became more and more anxious and even started to get frustrated. I mean what was the hold up?

Sakura had provided him many openings and was even doing her best to set a romantic mood in most places they went when it was only just them two. And it couldn't be that he forgot because Sakura had been keeping taps on the number of times Suigetsu had gone to the closet exclusively to check on the box. It even had a new blue ribbon around it so she was positive that he was still thinking about it.

'Hmm, unless he… nah that couldn't be it' Sakura tossed and turned on their bed as she thought things over for the umpteenth time that night while Suigetsu slept like a log with his head buried in the pillows. 'But wait maybe it could' thought the pinkette as she turned to stare at the mop of light blue that was Suigetsu's hair. 'He couldn't have changed his mind about me could he?'

Needless to say that Sakura spent the rest of the night thinking about all the possible reasons for why Suigetsu wouldn't want to marry her anymore. She resolved that there was nothing of significance for him to change his mind. 'I'm the best woman he'll ever meet damn it! Only a fool would pass me up! Cha!'

It was then that she realized that Suigetsu was her perfect match too. They complemented each other so well that it was no wonder they stayed together for as long as they had. That was also the moment she realized that she did want to get hitch to him. In fact she wanted him to propose now!

Sakura was this close from taking her pillow and hitting Suigetsu with it until he woke up so that she could demand that he propose to her already but thought better of it and instead buried her head in her pillow as well and ended up screaming into it.

That engagement ring was slowly killing her sanity she knew it! But it was dead wrong if it thought that Sakura was going to give in. She would wait it out like the strong woman she knew she was and let things flow on their own until Suigetsu was finally ready to pop the big question on his own accord. She wouldn't force it out of him, no sire… 'Alright screw patience!'

Sakura turned on the night lamp, grabbed Suigetsu's pillow from under him and started bashing him with a purpose. To. Wake. Him. Up!

"Aaah, attack of the beach babes!" Suigetsu shouted as he protected his head with his arms.

"Wake up moron!" commanded Sakura as she kept pillow raging him until she was able to make him sit up. "When are you going to ask me to marry you, you big sloth!"

"Huh?" Suigetsu asked unintelligently as he robbed the sleep out of his eyes while wondering if the sun was even up at this hour.

Sakura threw Suigetsu's pillow back at him and scratched her nails on her scalp in annoyance. "Don't play dumb I already saw the ring so are you gonna propose to me or not, which is it!"

"Oh that, I knew I should had hiding it better" muttered Suigetsu looking anywhere but at Sakura while he rubbed the back of his neck uneasily. Talk about getting exposed. "I uh, do you want to get mar-"

"With the ring you idiot!" demanded Sakura as she kicked him out of the bed. "Go get it and do it properly this time."

Suigetsu ran off in a hurry not wanting to get his girlfriend anymore menstrual than she apparently was while Sakura was left huffing until she calmed down. Her eyes widen when she realized how she had completely lost it a minute ago but before she could berate herself for that she suddenly realized what was about to happen.

'He is going to propose!'

Without wasting time she quickly stood up and dashed to the mirror so she could fix her hair as much as possible before rushing to wait anxiously at the edge of their bed for her boyfriend's arrival. She couldn't believe that she was actually getting this nervous for something she already knew was going to come but she just couldn't stop running her fingers through her hair.

Suigetsu then walked in and stalled on the door to build up the tension. He wore nothing more than some pajama pants and necktie over his shirtless body as he tried to look as debonair as possible at 3:00am in the morning. An image only ruined by the juvenile grin plastered on his face.

He strode to Sakura and slowly descended on one knee before her as he took out the ring. "Sakura, ever since I met you I knew you were a pink mental case but you were my pink mental case and I wouldn't have it any other way. Will you make me the happiest man on the earth and possibly shorten my lifespan by marrying me?"

Who said Suigetsu wasn't suave with words?

"I don't know what to say" said Sakura genuinely caught in the moment that she let Suigetsu's charming speech slide. "I do, of course I do!" and so Suigetsu slid the ring on her finger.

Sakura passionately kissed her boyfriend and raised her hand to stare at her ring. She definitely had to call Ino in the morning to tell her all about it. After a minute of silence and nothing else happening, the thrill went down and Suigetsu finally decided to ask "So what are we suppose to do now?"

The pinkette thought it over and found that she honestly didn't know. "Sleep, I guess"

"What, no celebration sex?" Suigetsu asked jokingly but she ignored him in favor of lying down on her side of their bed. Suigetsu followed her example and Sakura tried to get her much needed shuteye but she couldn't because she felt eyes boring at her. Turning her head she gave her boyfriend a flat stare. "What?"

"Oh nothing much" answered Suigetsu. He was lying on his side with his face propped up with his elbow and was flashing her with his pearly whites in that broad grin of his. "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist my mojo." he said as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Sakura rolled her eyes and pushed his face away, "Go to sleep loser before I change my mind." she warned.

Suigetsu flopped down on his pillow and stared at the ceiling. Now he was the one not being able to fall to sleep because of how excited he was that his girlfriend said yes. He hadn't gotten the courage to ask her until now because somehow he thought that she would say no. Guess all that worrying was for nothing after all. This called for a song!

"Sakura and Suigetsu sitting on a tree, F-U-C-K-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marri- Ouch!" He got pinched by Sakura. "G'night babe."

They certainly weren't your everyday typical fairytale couple. But for them it worked and frankly that's really the only thing that mattered. And to think if Ino hadn't taken Kiba to Neji's party without permission this pairing would have never happened. I guess what they say was true; life did worked in funny ways.

-_-_-_(At a Mansion Overseas)-_-_-_-

For all the things Karin was good for, figures that the one thing she sucked at was cleaning. Sasuke wasn't much of a clean-freak to begin with and normally would be able to sit his pristine ass down on any surface without much problem. But when he found himself in need of allergy medicine to combat the accumulated dust it became blatantly obvious that it was a problem that needed to be dealt with fast.

And in the fine piece of real estate his mansion was on there was no way that he was doing the cleaning. Sasuke had more pressing matters to attend to, like how to get Karin to agree to artificial insemination and how to get revenge on Itachi from all the way across the other side of the ocean.

To cut to the chase he needed a maid, yet considering how utterly useless Sasuke thought women were, he wanted a male one. In short a domestic worker, which led us to our present predicament.

As of now Sasuke was finishing interviewing what he thought to be a suitable candidate. He was a slender, slightly effeminate but very good looking blonde man with ruby red eyes, pale complexion and great credentials. So great in fact that Sasuke felt the need to question them.

"So it says here that you worked in seven different countries, under seven different masters and you're only 29 you say? Are there any reasons for you moving around so much that I should know about? What guarantees me that you won't pack up and leave when I still need you here?"

The guy being interviewed smiled at the question and joined his hands over his lap before answering, "Oh you won't have to worry about that. I assure you that the only reason I left was because neither of them required my services anymore."

-What the guy failed to mention was that the only reason his previous patrons had no more use for him was because they had all passed away before their time-

"Hn" Sasuke smirked in amusement as he continued to read the résumé, "Well it obviously wasn't because the pay was bad, that's for sure."

"Excuse me?" asked the unnamed guy not knowing what Sasuke meant with that.

"Your nose" answered Sasuke appearing already uninterested in the subject, "I can tell from this distance that you had work done particularly on that area." Sasuke could also tell that blonde wasn't the guy's natural hair color but said nothing about it since he could use it as ammo for another occasion.

The guy immediately covered his nose and laughed abashedly, "Oh so you noticed"

Sasuke regarded the guy in question arrogantly before returning his gaze to the papers in front of him. "As you work here the one thing you will learn is that nothing escapes my eyes."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind Sir."

-But what Sasuke's eyes couldn't tell him was that the guy had undergone plastic surgery for way more than a simple nose job. All so he could look way younger than what he really was and be able to effectively lie about his age like his was doing right now-

"Hmm" muttered Sasuke as he finished reviewing the guy's credentials. It all seemed to fit but he'll make sure to do a background check later. "I guess that would be all for now. When can you start?"

"I could start today if it isn't too imposing" said the guy sounding hopeful.

"Fine then, but let me warn you. You better do a plausible job cleaning up my house because the moment I find myself unimpressed I will not hesitate to fire you. Is that clear?"

"Crystal!" answered the guy standing up to shake Sasuke's hand. But when Sasuke decline to offer his, the new guy retracted his hand and politely excused himself from the room.

Once outside the room the guy leaned his back against the door and hissed. 'Tsk, condescending little brat; it took all my will power to not wring your neck for that nose comment. My surgeon is top notch you hear, top notch!' But first impressions aside, the guy grinned sinisterly at achieving another successful infiltration. Now came the fun part. 'Oh don't worry my prissy lord, I'll be sure to clean you out alright and there will be no fingerprints to show for it. Bwahahaha haha hahahahaa!'

-Ironically, what law escapee Sasuke Uchiha failed to be aware off was that he had just invited under his roof one of the most wanted international criminals in the world. And to this day there has only been one known case to survive this scoundrel's vicious claws. A villain that could only be identified as The Kyuubi… Only time can tell which of the two would meet his demise but one thing was for certain, there would be blood to pay-

-_-_-_(Final Scene)-_-_-_-

"No Akamaru, don't chase after that lemming! Bad dog bad dog!" shouted Naruto as he continued to give chase after his dog.

He and Kiba where in the middle of their exploits when Kiba took a break to take a leak and all Naruto had to do was watch after Akamaru for five minutes or so. Except with him nothing could ever went smoothly and to prove it a collared lemming, otherwise known as the arctic rodent, out of nowhere jumped in and stole his compass. Naruto was going to let it slide since it wasn't working properly because of the strong magnetic pulse in the land but then Akamaru went chasing after it.

"Stop Akamaru!" yelled Naruto as he continued to pursue the beast DNA testing called a dog. Naruto wasn't so convinced though because there was no way a dog could grow as big as Akamaru did. It was like he ate a freaking horse! 'Damn it, this is precisely why I wanted to buy him a leach!'

Then all of the sudden Naruto tripped and face-planted on the snow. Lifting his head while spouting a long string of curses he spotted his compass dropped on the ground at arm's reach from him. Smiling he went to grab it but then a snow owl swooped in and took it before flying away with it. Naruto was left with his mouth agape.

For some time Naruto had been suspecting it, but now he was certain of it. Animals hated him. There was no other explanation. I mean why else would all these things happen to him? God forbids that it was because they were actually jealous of his whiskers.

"Need a hand?" said a voice from beside Naruto. The blond didn't have to look to know that Kiba was smiling a toothy grin at his expense. Taking the brunet's offered hand Naruto lifted himself up and began swiping his clothes.

"That dog of yours ran off again." He complained while at it.

Kiba laughed at how easily the other placed the burden on him and then whistled to the wind. At the sound of it Akamaru came running toward them. "Good job Akamaru!" Kiba said while scratching Akamaru behind the ears as the dog licked his face. "Who's a good boy, you're a good boy" stated the tattooed male as he continued praising his dog.

Naruto briefly pouted at the way Akamaru only seemed to listen to Kiba. But then he folded his arms behind his head and dismissed the thought. As if he wanted dog drool on his face anyways. "Get a room" Naruto remarked before walking away.

"Oh come on don't be like that" said Kiba following after Naruto with the dog in tow, "Akamaru is just being playful that's all."

The blond shrugged it off and changed the subject, "So any idea where we are?"

Kiba pulled out a map out of his backpack and started reading it. "I think we are about ten miles to the east from where we are supposed to be at."

"Ten miles?" repeated Naruto astonished before turning to Akamaru and pointing an accusing finger at him. "This is entirely your fault. If you hadn't chased after that rodent then we would had still been on track!"

Akamaru whimpered but then jumped on Naruto, effectively bringing him down with him, and started licking the blonde's face as his way to apologize. The act wasn't exactly received as it should have though.

"Ack, you're slobbering me!" whined Naruto as he struggled to push the 80.5kg dog off of him. 'Some exploit this was turning out to be.'

For those of you who don't know, apparently some anonymous person with a lot of cash had gotten interested in Naruto and was currently funding all of his expeditions. Someone who went by 'The Boar'. Naruto always found it funny because he never understood why anyone would ever want to name themselves after a pig.

He wasn't complaining though because it was only thanks to this charitable person that Naruto could afford his traveling fees. The blond just wished he knew who it was so that he could thank him/her properly. Little did he know that he had already met her on multiple occasions.

Kiba finally helped pull Akamaru off of Naruto. "Down boy, down" he commanded and the dog laid down with its head between his paws as he gave Naruto his big puppy eyes. "Aaah look he's sorry. Won't you forgive him?" asked Kiba teasing Naruto.

Naruto sat up against an ice wall and wiped his face with his coat before narrowing his eyes at the dog. Akamaru saw it as his cue to whimper some more which made Naruto roll his eyes at the clear manipulation the dog was trying to achieve. "Alright fine, I forgive you" he replied with a chuckle.

Akamaru wagged his tail and went to jump on Naruto again as to thank him. "No, wait!" Kiba called but it was too late. The moment Akamaru jumped on Naruto the ice wall behind him broke because of the added weight and both of them went sliding down a wide hole on the floor. "Naruto!" Kiba shouted.

*Thud, thud, arf, thud, thud, thud, Pang!*

"Oww…" Naruto grumbled as he finally hit a solid ground with Akamaru on top of him. The dog shook the snow out of his fur and walked away to do some exploring of his own. "Gee, thanks for your concern" Naruto whined to no one in particular.

Then he heard something else sliding down from where he came and immediately rolled away before Kiba could land on him.

"Naruto where are you?" came Kiba's concerned voce.

"Wait a sec" said Naruto removing his backpack so he could look for his flashlight. "Here it is" he said as he turned it on, "Can you see me now?" asked the blonde as he aimed the light all over the place. It looked like they were in some kind of ruins. "Wow, where are we?"

"Don't know. This definitely wasn't on the map" said Kiba as he sat behind Naruto and encircled his arms around the blonde's midriff. "But since we are already here with no one watching, how about a quickie before we look for an exit?" asked Kiba already nibbling on Naruto's ear.

"Are you crazy? We'll freeze to death" pointed out Naruto as he tried to pry Kiba's hand off of him. "And besides, Akamaru may be watching."

"It's not that cold down here and we don't have to do it completely bareback if you don't want to" defended Kiba while he rubbed his hardness on Naruto's backside and moved to suck on the skin under Naruto's ear. "As for Akamaru, let him. It's kinkier that way."

Naruto blushed red at the proposition but if asked he would say it was because of the cold temperate. Then all of the sudden Kiba started laughing as he separated himself from Naruto and stood up. "Haha, I can't believe you were considering it" laughed Kiba.

"Was not" lied Naruto as he also stood up.

"Was too!" replied Kiba enjoying his win. "That's payback for the prank you pulled on me this morning" said the brunet referring to how Naruto had woken him up by throwing ice cold water on him.

"Pft whatever, at least my face doesn't smell like dog breath all the time." retorted Naruto grinning as he remembered Kiba's foul language that morning. It was probably the first time Naruto had heard a cursed word come out of Kiba's mouth. Totally worth it, believe it.

The blond pointed his flashlight at the floor as he tried to figure out which way to go until he encountered a wall. It had a torch on it so Naruto pulled out a match from his traveling gear and light up the fire, the sound of something being triggered echoing throughout the cave. Then all of the sudden torches from all around the place started to light on their own until they could see the whole room clearly.

Barking was heard as Akamaru immediately made his way to hide behind Kiba afraid of the sudden change. Naruto looked around in amazement and saw nine giant statues. The first one was some kind of raccoon monster with one tail. The second one was a cat monster with two tails and so on until the last one which was a fox with nine tails. Naruto stirred away from that one for obvious reasons.

"Um Kiba?" said Naruto as he dropped the flashlight and searched his coat for a camera.

"Yeah Naruto?" asked Kiba as he tried to calm Akamaru down.

"I think I just made my first big discovery."

And so it was. This discovery went to be covered by every media on the planet. The statues were apparently very valuable relics of the past. So valuable that the elemental countries even placed sizable amount of cash for rights to have one or two statues featured at their national museums.

It even spun big blockbuster movies with exaggerated stories, sequels, books, videogames and merchandise of the many adventures of Naruto Uzumaki. It made him bigger than Indiana Jones! His partner in hand Kiba Inuzuka was also featured in many of these even though their relationship status was never divulged by the media. Akamaru even got his own comic series that rivaled the likes of Garfield.

But if you want to know more about them then you'll have to read their unauthorized biography 'The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki' , a tell-all best seller writing by yours truly,

XOXO,

Ino Yamanaka.

And frankly speaking, that was all the thanks she ever needed.

FIN

A/N: Done! Thank you everyone for sticking with until the very end! Special thanks to Haretikers and Kamikaze101 for helping me move the plot along every time I lost some steam. Also I credit Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999 film) for inspiring one of the scenes.

A/N2: If you thirst for more KibaNaru here in fanfiction then I recommend "Revealing A Kitsune" by Kanemoshi. Just like with me the only thing that's missing from her story is the epilogue. So if you haven't read it yet then what are you waiting for? Go read, it's good, shoo! LOL

A/N3: I'll probably do a spinoff one-shot of this fic in that future with SuiSaku being the main focus. Kinda like I did with the InoSai one-shot from my other KibaNaru fanfic "Damaged Goods". If anyone is interested then consider this the head's up. 'Til later! Sodapops out!