Children of Sorrowful Fate

AN: Naruto is not mine, though the second generation herein is. And here we are my loyal readers, the absolute last chapter of CoSF. I want to thank all of you who read this until the end, and that goes double for those of you who favorited, alerted, or reviewed my story.

Huggles to you all!

Book Four, Chapter Eight

"Hitori!" Taran cried out and summoned the sand, sighing in relief as he grabbed her ankle, "You idiot!"

"Let go!" she called back, "Taran! I've got the jubi, so let go!"

Let him save you, the voices came.

"You stay out of this," she muttered, and looked down to the lava, "Taran! Just drop me!"

He slowly, the sand wasn't quite responding as it used to, started to pull her up, "What was all that talk about not abandoning your friends you used to make, that you weren't going to make the same mistake that your mother did!"

"That was different!" she called back.

"How?! I didn't just come back from the dead just to watch you die, now let me save you before I end up killing you for being stupid!" she was almost up, and struggling the whole way, "You never learn!"

The others had come up the mountain behind him, and Gaara threw his sand down to help Taran's, causing Hitori to squawk as it wrapped around her waist.

"Taran..." she chewed her lip, "The Jubi..."

"You control it!" he snapped, "Not the other way around, I don't give a damn about that prophecy. And even if it were true, then screw the world. I'm not letting you die!"

Kurai started to sneak away, but Megami and Lian grabbed him.

"You're not getting off that easy lover boy," the Hyuuga heir smirked.

"Taran..." Hitori tried again.

"I swear to the gods I'll start telling everyone about that," he growled.

"You wouldn't dare!" she exclaimed mortified.

Aiko and Kiyomi tried their best to refrain from giggling at the two, though Choji and Jin were outright laughing.

"Then no more complaining about my saving your ass!" Taran snapped.

Shiro was looking down at the lava and the sand wrapped girl, trying to figure out how to send his beetles without their delicate bodies burning in the heat.

Kit, he does have a good point.

"Oh now you start wanting to live," she muttered to the Kyubbi, "When we heard that prophecy you were the one jumping all over the chance to find some eternal rest."

And you listened to him? Shukaku laughed, Kid, he's been suicidal for ages, ever since the Uchiha started controlling him!

The other eight voices agreed in unison, and Hitori sighed in defeat, "Alright Taran. I'm not going to jump off the volcano."

"And?" came his angry voice.

"And I'm sorry!"

He narrowed his emerald eyes down at her before he finished pulling her up, "Idiot."

She smiled as the sand released her, replaced by his arms, "You forgive me?"

"You'll never learn will you?" he sighed.

"Probably not," she said sheepishly, "But with you around..."

Gaara pulled Neji away as the Hyuuga was about to break the two up, "Let's get back to Konoha."

The others followed, and Shika stayed behind a moment, looking over the volcano. He took a step and kicked the kunai, and bent down.

Looking at the strange thing, he sighed and threw it back behind him into the lava, "No sense in keeping such a troublesome thing." he looked ahead at where Taran and Hitori were walking, and arguing, side by side, "Not a bit of damn sense at all."

The armies had retreated, not being controlled anymore, and they returned to Konoha without incident.

The Kages met one more time, to discuss the punishment of Uchiha Kurai; however, with the intervention of the Hyuuga heir, he was released into her custody on careful watch.

"Why'd you do that?" he demanded.

Megami shrugged, "Maybe it's because you were my first kiss, no matter how you were using me. Or it could be that someone taught me that forgiveness and friends were important," she sighed, "Whatever the reason, I didn't just want you executed."

He lowered his eyes, "Thanks," it was almost too low for her to hear, but she did, and she was considerably happier as they made their way back to the Hyuuga manor.

On the way they passed by Jin and Chozo who were speaking with Kiyomi.

"We're heading back to Suna in a bit," she said trying to look like she didn't care, "I suppose that I'll miss you guys."

"Don't take so long in visiting next time," Chozo grinned, "I'm just as good a cook as my father, so I'll make us all a great dinner. Besides Jin wants to discuss art with you," he playfully hit his friend's back, "Give her the picture."

The dark haired boy turned bright red, "N..no!"

Kiyomi stared at him, "Picture?"

"You've been working on it since we left," Chozo pointed out, "It has to be ready, just give it to her!"

Chakra strings brushed pass Jin and reached into his sketch pouch as they retrieved a rolled up parchment, "Is this it?" Kiyomi said as she unrolled it.

"No!" Jin called but Chozo held him.

Kiyomi smiled as a tear came to her eye, "This is really good..." she placed a kiss on Jin's forehead, "Thank you," she whispered.

The boy blushed again as Chozo looked over her shoulder at the drawing of Kiyomi and Kiyoshi talking and laughing together as they leaned against a wall.

"Hey it is really good," he grinned, "You got their personalities down and everything!" he saw Lian and Shiro and called them over, "Hey come on and look at what Jin drew for Kiyomi!"

"Such young love!" Lian exclaimed as he skipped over.

"You hate me," Jin sighed and Kiyomi chuckled as Lian and Shiro looked over the drawing.

"Maybe the next one you can do one of all of us," she said quietly, "I think Kiyoshi would have liked a group picture of our friends."

Jin looked at her with a small melancholy smile, "I'll have it ready the next time you visit."

Across town, Shika was lying on the grass as he stared at the clouds, "What do you want?"

Aiko smiled as she sat on the ground, and he placed his head in her lap, "Everything seems to have worked out," she looked down at his hazel eyes, "Do you remember what you promised me when we became jonin?"

"Troublesome," he sighed, "Only you would remember something little like that."

She giggled, "I don't know, it's not often you get such an indirect proposal like that. At least you admitted that we worked well together."

"Only because I didn't like you working with any of those other guys," he made a face, "Dad asked me to keep an eye on you."

"So you've been my best friend all these years because I'm Asuma's kid?" she flicked his forehead, "You and I both know that isn't true Shika. Besides, I'm two years older than you. I should be the one watching over you."

"You've been taking advice from my mother haven't you?" he grumbled, "Troublesome."

"I heard that she's going to stay behind when the Kazekage's entourage leaves," she looked a far ways off, "That since everything's back to peace, that our villages can go back to the treaties made after the war."

"Dad's not going to be happy giving up his bachelor pad," Shika didn't say what he really wanted to, and Aiko nodded, hearing it anyway.

"There's also the rumor that you're going to be a big brother," he sat up and covered her mouth.

"Stop talking about my parents like that!" he exclaimed, ignoring her blissful smile, "Do you have any idea how embarrassing that is?!"

"But they've always been so cute," she giggled when he removed his hand.

He groaned and stood up, pulling her to her feet, and both looked at the sky.

After a moment he sighed again, "Troublesome," he muttered as she giggled again.

At the village gates, the Kazekage's entourage was preparing to leave. Or rather, Gaara and Kankuro were preparing to leave.

"Where's Kiyomi?" the puppet master groaned, "That girl..."

She came running up then, shoving the drawing from Jin into her bag, "Here I am sensei, Kazekage-sama!"

"Let's go," Gaara said as he turned.

"We're not waiting on Taran?" Kankuro asked, "I mean I know Temari's staying but..."

The Kazekage didn't answer, simply quickened his pace and Kankuro and Kiyomi exchanged a look as they rushed to catch up with him, not noticing the small orb of sand that the red-head was controlling as he pressed a hand to his eye.

It flew through Konoha, searching for the specific chakra signatures, and passed through Neji's house first, then through some of the other spots that he had been shown on his few visits to the area.

Around sunset, when there wasn't much power left in the eye, he finally found what he was looking for on the top of the Hokage mountain.

Hitori leaned on her arms as she looked out over the village, "You're going to have to go."

"Not until you agree to come with me," Taran said as he played with the floating grains, one of the games he had been taught to control the sand.

"I've decided to be like Grandfather Jirayia and the Sage of legends and be a wanderer," she paused for a moment as the voices in her rallied their approval, "The Jubi shouldn't stay in one place for too long, and there's a lot of things that need to be done. So I can't come to Suna with you," she chewed her lip, "I'm sorry Taran."

"Then I'll go with you," he said, and the sand went to drift around her wrist, "You'll need me."

"I'm not..." she started to argue, and he cut her off by having the sand pull her to him.

"You do. I can't trust you to not be stupid about some things, so it'll just be easier on me and my heart if I come with you. Saves me the trouble of coming along and saving your stupid ass later," he buried his nose in her neck, "Tor... if I didn't catch you in time... I don't know what I would have done."

Her pale blue eyes softened, "Taran..." she sighed, "I would be too lonely if you didn't come," she admitted, "Thanks."

Behind them the sand eye dissolved, and miles away, Gaara smiled to himself as his entourage made camp.

Before long there was a new legend in the lands of the shinobi... One of a Wandering Sage and her companion that righted wrongs and brought peace where they could. In Konoha and in Suna, their exploits were received as well as those of their legendary parents that had fought in the Fourth Ninja War.

Long after their journeys had started, there was a new novel placed next to the Sannin Jiraiya's Legend of the Gutsy Ninja, one written by Sabaku no Taran, entitled Children of Sorrowful Fate. In it held the beginning of the journey he took with his childhood friend. It became a best seller almost overnight.

Their ending is yet to be seen. The sorrowful fate once ordained to them had long been defeated.