The real A/N is at the bottom of the chapter. Please hold all criticism until them.

The Final Chapters Part 1: The Final Setup

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

With every swing of the pendulum in the clock, Temari's eye brow twitched. The steady metronome of the grandfather clock slowly preyed upon her wits, and though she may have been one of the most unruly kunoichi in Suna, even she knew when to just grit her teeth and bear it. For one, she was on duty as Gaara's secretary, so she couldn't just get up and leave. Two, Gaara loved that clock, so if she even dared to put a scratch on it, she would have hell, and a lot of sand to pay. She sighed, feeling that things could've been worse. She was dead bored, and that was actually a blessing in of itself. Unlike her counterpart in Konoha, Shizune, she had nothing to do but file her nails, seeing as Gaara actually did his paper work instead of piling it on top of her, like Tsunade had been so unhesitating to do.

Tick. Tock.

She was inches away from pulling out her own hair. This was just plain torture. Out of all the decorations Gaara could have chosen for his lobby, it had to be the damn clock. And to make matters worse, she was freezing her ass off. Just because Suna was located in the desert didn't mean they had to have three air conditioners in one room. Running her hands across her arms while shivering, she struggled to stay awake, seeing as the cold usually put her to sleep.

Tick. Tock.

Now that she thought about it, maybe the clock wasn't so bad. Dead silence would have put her to sleep too, and if experience wasn't enough, then nothing could prepare her for what Gaara would do if he caught her asleep on the job. She had sand in her hair for the past two weeks. Actually, she could still pick a little sand out here or there. And Naruto hadn't let her live that down at all. Speaking of which.

Tick. Tock.

Okay, that clock was more annoying than it was worth. Ignoring it, she let her mind wander back to the blonde who had entered her home almost a whole month ago. Despite going on a one man rampage, being exiled from his home village, and almost executed, Naruto had been as happy as ever.

Honestly, as soon as they hit Wind Country, it seemed as if he had reverted back to his old self, cracking jokes with Kankurou and blatantly making a fool of himself at every chance he could get. He had even performed a rare, true happiness technique. The sexy no jutsu. Temari had been planning on shoving her fan so far up his ass, he'd have whiplash for the next few years, but Ino had already dealt out her own punishment. That girl had a strong grip. Naruto couldn't hear out of his left ear for a few hours once she was done with him. This made Temari chuckle.

Tick. Tock.

But that killed the mood. As if on cue of destroying Temari's boredom, the main door opened. Temari smirked as Ino walked forward, an unenthusiastic look on her face. Without a word, she plopped onto a chair in front of Temari's desk, sighing in resignation.

"Hm? What's up? You look a little down." Temari prodded, gaining a groan from Ino.

"What, is it that obvious?" Ino joked.

"Well, it's either that or it must be that time of month…"

Ino looked horrified at Temari, who just began to chuckle through her shivers at the look on Ino's face. She stopped however, as her teeth chattered for a bit and she continued to rub her arms to get some warmth into them. After a small while Ino just sighed and shook her head again.

"Let me guess. Boyfriend problems." Temari offered, seeing as this was usually the reason for her pissy moods.

"That must be obvious too."

"Hey, it could be the alternative. Try the ones with wings."

Temari settled for smirking as Ino shot her a glare. It was funny, seeing as Ino was one person who she thought that she would never actually be connected to outside of association. She had honestly thought that Ino was an Uchiha fan girl as well, and expected her to follow the bastard to the ends of the Earth, just as Sakura would have. After being in her company for a little while, she had found out that the girl was quite pleasant; Knowing when to talk nice, and when to just chill out. Even when to beat the shit out of Naruto, and even sometimes Kankurou if need be. Ino was a more level headed version of herself. But who needed level headedness when being reckless was so much more fun?

Temari offered her some rock candy that sat in a jar on her desk, in which Ino graciously declined. Temari took one for her self, finding the sweet crystals of sugar as appealing as dango was to Anko. Carefully eating the hard candy as to not cut the roof of her mouth, she spoke to Ino with half of it in her mouth.

"So, what'd he do this time?" Temari asked.

"Actually…nothing. He's been sweet to me, and pampering me more than I thought he would. He makes me feel like a princess and caters to my every whim, even when I ask him not to."

Temari rose an eyebrow, slightly chewing on the crystallized candy. "And this is a bad thing, how?"

"It's not."

"Then what's the problem. Hell, I'd give an arm and a leg to get Shikamaru to act like that. And knowing him, that'd probably be the only thing to get him to do that."

Ino groaned again, obtaining a confused look from Temari.

"If he's so perfect, then what's the problem?" Temari asked.

Ino looked Temari right in the eyes, didn't falter, didn't blink. Unhesitant in her track of mind, she spoke words that Temari sure in the hell wasn't expecting to hear.

"After all this time, I'm still a virgin."

Tick. Tock.

If there was anything Naruto could've found unexpected about going to a new village, especially to live, it was definitely not what he thought he had already knew.

Suna was hot.

Very hot.

He felt as if he were set on fire by a katon, and then tossed into red peppers just for the hell of it. Laying on top of a small mountain like formation, directly under the sun didn't help either. But for some reason, the residents of Suna loved to keep three air conditioners in one room, and Naruto would much rather sizzle like a sunny side up egg than turn into a Foxsicle. Besides, he found himself somewhat tolerant to the heat anyway. There were days in Konoha where it became so hot, the only thing he'd want to do was what many villagers had been telling him, which was to literally 'jump in a lake'. The only difference from that was that Suna felt like that every single day. Oh, and there was no lake.

Finally gaining enough resolve to sit up, he peeled his bare back from the rock formation, stinging like hell, and as red as Tsunade's cheeks on one of her drinking binges. He put his sleeveless shirt on, seeing as his father's clothes needed desperate washing, and it actually took an entire month to completely get the blood out of the clothing.

For the entire month, all Naruto's been doing was getting himself familiarized with the new village, getting to know people, and training here or there when time permitted. Upon meeting almost every residence in Suna, he instantly found out that all of them were blatant liars. It was obvious that most of them either didn't care about Gaara, or they despised him completely. Yet, everyone made it seem like they liked him. They may respect him, but even children know to respect their enemy, and to not underestimate them. It ticked Naruto off, because for the most part, he thought he was getting away from most of the hate. Whenever he tried to talk to Gaara about it, he either turned him away, or told him that he already knew the answer.

The answer.

It sucked. That's why he abandoned that himself. The answer was that Gaara was always going to protect Suna, no matter what the people of the village felt. He still had several people who he did care for, and on top of it all, it was Naruto who had made him that way. Naruto knew the village hated him at that time when Suna invaded Konoha, yet he still tried his hardest to fight back and protect those same people who didn't give a damn about him. He cursed those memories. Though he thought he severed his ties to Konoha, even on that last day, his friends proved to him that they'd do whatever it took for him. Hell, even Tsunade did what was best for him, not the village. It reminded him of his old sensei, Kakashi, who had told them that someone who disobeys the rules is trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. Ironic, seeing as he had willingly killed one of his comrades and had praised his girlfriend for killing the other. Another pang of guilt struck his heart, seeing as he didn't know whether Kakashi was dead or not.

"Hey Naruto." A voice called to him, snapping him from his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, hey Kankurou. What's going on? You up for a quick match?" Naruto asked with a small trace of hope, wanting his boredom to die.

"I've got a date, and I'm already late. That won't be happening." Kankurou said with a smirk.

"A date? Wow, who'd sink that low?" Naruto absently remarked, earning a swift knuckle to the back of the head.

"Moron, I'll have you know that I'm pretty good with the ladies here." Was Kankurou's prideful retort.

"Yeah, because there's not much of a selection."

Naruto froze when he felt a spike in ki. Turning to face Kankurou, he saw that he had somehow mastered Iruka's special big headed jutsu.

"You moron, there are plenty of guys to pick in Suna, we produce the most well built men in all of Wind Country, and you should know that I'm one of the best looking!" He yelled while stomping Naruto's head into the ground.

After a while, Kankurou composed himself while Naruto had two large lumps pulsing on his head.

"Anyway that's not what I wanted to tell you."

"Oh I get it. You're here to treat me to dinner for beating me up. Thanks, that's very generous of you!" Naruto spat sarcastically.

"Nope sorry, but you're busy. Gaara wants to see you immediately."

"What about?"

Kankurou only shrugged, sending Naruto on his way. It was rare for Gaara to call Naruto. After what had happened when he was going after Sasuke, Naruto could practically taste the tension between him and Gaara whenever they tried to speak to each other. Sometimes it wasn't so bad, but that was only two out of the six times Gaara had actually wanted to speak with him that month. Naruto knew Gaara was making an attempt to connect with him again, but it wasn't working. In all honesty, Naruto hoped that whatever Gaara wanted to speak about would make them close friends again.

He reached the Kazekage's Hall, realizing how small it was compared to the dome like building of the Hokage's tower. He sighed and strode in, looking just as unoptimistic as Ino had. Which reminded him, he hadn't been putting in much time with her. Whenever he did, he tried his hardest to make sure that she got everything she wanted, but then he'd go exploring the town, and even training in a hidden oasis that Kankurou had told him about. He felt bad for keeping that a secret from Ino, and for not spending as much time with her as he wanted, but starting over was something big for him. He couldn't contain his eagerness.

"Hey Naruto-san, you're right on time." Temari called from her desk. As he prepared to return her greeting, he caught sight of Ino. She looked disgruntled, and only glared at him. He gulped and just waved at them, faking a smile. Ino's glare followed him all the way until he reached the Kazekage's office.

"How long you plan on keeping up that act?" Temari asked, picking up her fourth rock candy stick.

"How much longer are you going to be eating rock candy?" Ino called back.

"Forever! I'm never giving these babies up."

"There you go." Ino remarked and grabbed the rock candy stick just as Temari was about to put it in her mouth.

Gaara sat at his desk, his hands crossed in front of his mouth and his elbows on his desk. He was thinking, Naruto inferred. It was usually how Gaara was, but he knew the stance, seeing as both the Third and Fifth Hokage took the same pose as they thought about something serious. This scared the living shit out of him too.

"Naruto…" Gaara finally spoke, his monotone sounding tired as usual.

"I have some good news for you." He said, trying his hardest to hide a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

Naruto tilted his head slightly. "What do you mean?"

"How long has it been since you've worn a hitai-ate?" Gaara practically yelled.

Naruto's eyes lit up. He knew what that meant. "Gaara…are you trying to tell me…I'm a ninja again?!"

Gaara simply nodded, no longer hiding his smirk. He opened a dresser and pulled out a black hitai-ate with the Sunagakure symbol engraved on the front. Naruto could only stare at the piece of metal and fabric, heart racing. In the blink of an eye, he snatched it from Gaara's hand and tied it around his own forehead. The first thing he did was run to a mirror. The fabric was long, so the tied strings hung all the way down to his lower back. The metal was somewhat transparent, showing that it was a glass like metal.

"Thank you! Thank you so much! You don't know what this means to me!" Naruto called, seeming to bounce from every wall of the room in excitement.

"Yes I do. You never shut up about what being a ninja means to you. Now settle down, that's not the best part."

He sat down instantly. If becoming a legal ninja again wasn't the best part, he didn't have a clue what else Gaara had to say.

"As of today, you are officially a shinobi and residence of Sunagakure, the Village of Hidden Sand. You have also been registered as a certified Special Jounin, and are granted free access to any and all political and civilian libraries and may examine all documents that remain under ANBU and Kage clearance. Unless, you get permission from one of course."

Naruto didn't miss that hint. Gaara would let him check out anything he wanted, which was even sweeter. What more, he had just got a promotion. Not to chunin, but to special Jounin. He was waiting for Gaara to just laugh in his face and tell him that it all was a joke.

"In regards to national treaties law, since you are now a residence of Suna, and we had no knowledge of your previous status, you are no longer a Nuke-nin of Konohagakure, and by written consent of the Godaime Hokage herself, you are now permitted in the Village of Hidden Leaves, and any other village in Fire Country for that matter."

"Gaara! Kazekage-sama! THANK YOU!"

"We're not done yet." Gaara said smirking even more, though taking a note to scold Naruto for addressing him formally when he had told him not to…six times already.

"What? What more could there be!?" Naruto was gripping the sides of his chair in excitement so hard, the cushion on the sides began to rip.

"The final thing is that I've already got a mission for you."

"A mission? YES! NO MORE BORI- er…a mission! Sounds great!" He called, not as excited as he was at first.

"Yes, your first mission. Sorry to say, it's a diplomatic one however. You see, we're supposed to be discussing a way to strengthen our ties to another village."

"Aww, come on Gaara! A boring diplomatic mission? Isn't that your and Temari's jobs?"

"Yes, however, I can't leave the village. The villagers are all scared of a deranged red murderer who escaped from Konoha a month ago." Gaara called with a glare, making Naruto shut up instantly.

"Now listen. Your mission may as well be boring, but it's for the better of both Suna and the village you will be going to. You will be leaving tomorrow, and your escorts from the village will be coming to pick you up. Temari will be joining you, and Ino can too if she wants."

Naruto sighed, leaning back in the chair. "Can I at least know the name of the village?"

"Why of course. You will be going on a diplomatic mission to none other than Konohagakure of Fire Country."

Naruto flipped backwards out of the chair, trying to lean up too fast. His excitement had returned, but he didn't say anything. He felt stupid, seeing as all the hints Gaara had been giving him were as plain as day. He peered over the chair, seeing Gaara giving his same smirk.

"You suck." Naruto called.

Konohagakure, Three and a half weeks ago…

It had been hours now. Hours since several of the Hyuga Council members had taken her big sister into that forsaken room. She couldn't hear much, and the walls were sealed to prevent her from spying with her Byakugan. Hanabi sat frustrated, her ear pressed to the door of the chamber, trying her hardest to find out what had befallen her sister. The door was thick, however, and all she could hear were the muffled voices of people. Her curiosity rose to a new extent. She didn't know what her sister had done, but she was sure that she was being punished. It surprised her, because Hinata had never been punished by the Hyuga Council Elders before.

She was scared.

Ever since Hinata had become heir to the Hyuga clan again she had much more respect for her than ever before. There was still some doubt, seeing as Hinata was still much nicer than even their father approved of, but even his disapproval was dwarfed thanks to Hinata constantly studying and training.

So what in the hell did she do that would make the Hyuga Elders take her into the execution chamber? True, its name was an idiom now, but really bad things still happened in that room. She remembered when a side branch member had called her father a fool right to his face. They took him into the execution chamber and they were in there for two days. The next time she saw the man, he only had one arm.

"Hanabi. Remove yourself from this premise immediately."

Hanabi jumped and looked back. Neji stood with a very stern expression, though his eyes seemed soft. Neji was still a side branch member, but her father had made it clear that he receive the exact same respect that she'd give an older sibling of the main branch. Without question, she bowed with a quick 'hai' and scurried away. After making sure that his younger sibling was completely gone, he continued on into the chamber. A burgundy carpet laid beneath his feet, leading towards a throne like chair. However, several feet in front of him, four men in robes stood with their backs towards him.

Once they realized the door had been opened, they all faced him. They all wore what appeared to be black anbu mask, all of lion. They were the Hyuga elders.

"Neji, you have made it." One of them spoke in a low drawl.

"Yes, and for what reason am I to take part in this?" Neji narrowed his eyes at the man. Without answering, all four elders moved to the side. On her knees in front of them with her head down was Hinata. She was motionless except for her slow steady breaths. Her arms seemed to be bound behind her back. Neji held in a growl at the sight of his cousin, knowing that he shouldn't compromise himself just yet.

In particular, these four people resented him more than any other Main branch Hyuga. Just because he was a prodigy, he got the same treatment, sometimes even greater than those who were born to the Main branch. Even like now. Since Hiashi was off to speak with the Hokage, he had informed the Elders that Neji would be acting in his stead. With much opposition, Hiashi was able to get the permission. The reason being that the Elders were the only Hyuga who didn't know how close Neji and Hinata had gotten. As far as they were concerned, Neji would be unflinching in dishing out a punishment for the Hyuga heiress.

How wrong they were.

The only thing Neji was worried about was Hiashi's motives. He knew that Hiashi accepted, but wasn't thrilled about Hinata once again becoming the heir to the Hyuga clan. Hiashi would do nothing if there was no gain for it. The only logic that Neji saw in his decision this time was for his sake, thankfully. He didn't want Neji to be angered by letting the Hyuga elders, who despised Hinata just as much as Hiashi used to, beat the heiress with very little justifiable cause.

"Since you are here in place of Hiashi, it is only right for you to give Lady Hinata's punishment." One of them spoke again. Neji hid a smirk. The fools were as blind as humanly possible.

"Very well. Of what crime is the Heiress to be punished?" He asked, trying to speak with as much venom as his mirth would allow.

"Aiding a nuke-nins escape during an execution. The Hokage refused to deal a punishment, but Hiashi insisted." Another spoke with cheer in his voice. It pissed Neji off. The thought that this was part of Hiashi's brilliant scheme still made him wonder of his exact motifs.

"Leave us. I don't wish for an interruption." Neji glared daggers at the men. He could only imagine the twisted smiles and thoughts going through their heads. One day, he would enjoy watching someone send them to hell. The elders all nodded to each other and then exited the chamber. Once outside, Neji heard one of them call; "Hanabi, remove yourself from this premise immediately."

Once the door was shut, Neji let out a sigh. Then he smiled. Hinata looked up at him, smiling also, but her eyes were heavy with hours of no sleep. Neji walked over to her and undid her bonds.

"Thank you nii-san." She whispered.

"It is nothing, imouto." After stretching, she turned from Neji. "You do know how reckless that was of you."

"Hai…I panicked. I…I couldn't keep my cool. It was for Naruto-kun and I almost blew it." Her gaze caught the ground again, only to have Neji gently make her look up.

"Stop with your pity. The only one who was going to be hurt here was you."

Hinata nodded in understanding. Ino had told her of the risk. It was in her own power to avoid them. Because she had chosen to help Naruto, she couldn't complain about the consequences. Neji stood up and motioned for Hinata to do the same.

"What are you going to do after this?" He asked.

"I'm going to see if I can get permission from the Hokage to go to Suna."

"Don't. It's much too soon. You need to act on your best behavior, not only for the Hyuga elders, but for the villagers as well. Needless to say, you are not on their favorite list right now."

"Then so be it. This is nothing compared to what Naruto-kun went through…"

Neji nodded. Deciding the best course of action for their current situation, they began to spar. It was only to waste time. Afterwards, Neji conceited and prepared to leave the chamber.

"You know what to do." He called, glancing over his shoulder.

"Right. Henge!" Hinata performed a transformation, making it looked like she was still bound, and badly beaten. She laid back on the ground.

"How degrading…" She groaned.

"Tis the life of the Hyuga heiress." Neji joked, making Hinata stick her tongue out at him.

Hokage Tower. Same time…

"Hiashi Hyuga, what an…unexpected, surprise." Tsunade looked at the man lounging in front of her incredulously. Of all her years as Hokage, all three of them, Hiashi had only ever been to her office twice before. The first time was to denounce Hinata as heir of the Hyuga clan. The second was to reinstate her as heir to the Hyuga clan. So why what would be his reason this time.

"As to myself, it is rare for me to come to you."

"Yes. So if you plan on removing Hinata as heir of the Hyuga clan again, forget it. We already established that you can't do that twice." Tsunade smirked, as did Hiashi.

"Though the reason I am here does have something to do with my daughter, it is not on her future status within our clan." He paused, watching Tsunade's eyes for anything that would alert her to his…ideas.

"Go on." She replied.

"I have come to some personal prepositions."

"Personal must be your favorite word. Please, enlighten me."

"As I am well aware of your plan to deal with the Kyuubi container, and as my child has so heartily thrust herself into the conflict as well, I say that we work together." He saw her eyes narrow just a bit, and only for a split second.

"What are you talking about? Naruto has left the village. We can do nothing more-"

"A lie only goes so far Lord Hokage."

"Watch your tongue, Hyuga."

"Hai, forgive me. It's just, once one has compromised a situation, don't you think it only safe to go along as well?"

Tsunade glared at the man angrily. How could he have found out that she was planning on helping Naruto out so soon? It had only been four days since he had left the village. If this was some kind of trick to get the civilian council on her tail, she wouldn't fall for it.

"Theoretically, what would you be speaking of?" She asked cautiously.

"I see. Fine, theoretically, since the container of the Ichibi and the Kyuubi are undoubtedly close, I see many things going quite well for him in the future. Such things as a title. However, if things come to fruition, you will be willing to take me up on an offer I am willing to provide only once."

"An offer?"

"Yes. To make the Kyuubi container a residence of the Hidden Leaf Village once again."

Tsunade's eyes widened. She stood up, almost leaping over the desk at the man. She would almost settle for hugging him if he wasn't such a slimy bastard.

"How? Why?" She yelled.

"It seems you are interested." Hiashi said, smirk seeming more cynical than before. Tsunade blushed, and then flopped back into her seat with a huff.

"Very." She mumbled, hating to give Hiashi the benefit.

"How I will be doing this is through clan status of course. For who I am, it will be easy to sway your villagers to my ideas. For why, it is a little more thought out."

Tsunade didn't miss his play on the word your. It was blatant threat to her, seeing as he meant that he could make the villagers turn against her in a heartbeat.

"The reason I am willing to bring the boy back is because I am sure that he will come to his dream sooner or later of becoming Hokage." Hiashi never stopped smiling.

"Well! Hyuga, that actually sounds human of you! I'm impressed!" Tsunade gave him a fake applaud.

"It may seem. However, that is because as I no longer fathom any reason to deny Hinata my throne, I have no reason to deny who she weds either."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes again. Hiashi's horns were beginning to show.

"You want her to marry Naruto?"

"Of course not. But seeing as that is who she wishes to be bound to, I have no reason or right to deny her that."

"I see. You want her to become the Hokage's wife, is that it?"

Hiashi made a fake and sickening false gasp as if he were appalled by what she had just said.

"My dear Hokage, you accuse me of the worst! But now that I think about it, that does sound rather tempting! Thank you for the offer, I will inform Hinata as soon as possible!"

"So I'm guessing when this is all said and done, you'll be relieving the throne to Hinata then, am I right?"

"Theoretically of course." Hiashi's smirk was starting to play at her nerves. He was playing every corner and winning.

"What type of father uses his daughter in such a way?"

"I am no more using Hinata than you've been using Sakura-"

"Don't speak that name in this office!" Tsunade shouted, slamming her fist down on her desk. The small desk held firm surprisingly. For the first time, Hiashi dropped his smile.

"Forgive me once more. All I meant was that I am thinking of not only my clan, but Hinata as well. Is it wrong for me to want for her to be in love with the person that she chooses?"

"No, I suppose not…" She noticed the smirk of someone claiming victory make its way upon his face.

"However, what if I choose not to bring Naruto back to the village?" Tsunade asked.

"If you are more cold hearted than I initially thought, then there is no matter. As far as we know, Kazekage-sama could be planning on making Naruto the next in line for Leader of Suna as we speak. As well, it is in our rights as the largest clan in Konoha to politically discuss situations with other allied villages without having to refer to the Hokage."

There it was. Hiashi had forced Tsunade into a corner. He really did have her this time, and honestly, there was nothing she could do about it. Her luck was really something from hell.

"...You win Hiashi. What do you want to do?"

To be continued…

The truth behind this chapter is that it was written before the revision of Dark Destiny. So, this chapter is honestly older than the previous chapter of the story. I decided to put it in as a short arc instead of a single chapter epilogue because I felt bad for having a chapter that you all would not get to see. I know it contradicts my previous chapters author note, but I couldn't just let this chapter get deleted.

Also note that this chapter was made when the story was initially supposed to end as a HinaNaruIno pairing. However, seeing as the story has been labeled NaruIno specifically, I can't allow the three way pairing to happen, regardless of how much I love Hinata.

What I will do, however, is give free reigns to any readers who would like to write the alternate ending of this story in which Naruto does find a way to be with both girls. My first 'Challenge' if you will. You can wait until the story is completely finished, or you can do it from this chapter to make it more interesting. Just let me know if you will do it and when you do it.

Other than that, After 7 years, with a 3 year gap in between, I'm happy to finally be at the end this tale. Hope you all enjoyed it, regardless of how dated it is now, and enjoy the last few chapters as they come.