A/N: Sorry for such a late update – you really wouldn't want to know what happened…

I do not own Naruto…

He had hated his advanced sense of smell before, but never as much as at that very moment…

Less than half an hour ago, Kiba had literally rolled off his bed, purposefully landing right on top of his canine pet, Akamaru, before engaging it in a friendly man-dog wrestle. They had just returned from a mission to a neighboring village the night before and since his mother and sister were both away on separate missions, the young man was actually looking forward to an uninterrupted, stressed-free day with his dog.

"Let's go for a walk around town today, Akamaru," the Inuzuka said with a grin as he picked himself up and headed for the bathroom while his pet ran after him. "I know, we'll go get some beef jerky today. Then, we'll head to the forest, do some training and even catch some rabbits!" he continued as he reached for Akamaru, giving it a fierce, affectionate rub on its head. The dog responded with an excited bark.

Later, while brushing his teeth, something came to Kiba's mind - the Hokage wasn't in the village when he had returned from Azai the night before. He had been aware of that fact because when he had climbed up the Hokage tower at half past seven to hand in his report, he had noticed that not only was Naruto nowhere near his office, he actually couldn't even catch the Hokage's scent anywhere around the village. Where could he have gone to? The Inuzuka was more than curious as he quickly rinsed his mouth and washed his face before concentrating a little chakra to his nose, his keen sense of smell picking up and identifying the people within the village.

He knew he was being too nosy but he couldn't help wondering if he had been mistaken. Had he been wrong about Naruto's non-presence? Then, all of a sudden, he felt a jolt to his entire being as he detected a most familiar scent, a scent he had dearly missed for a long time. In utter disbelief, he reiterated his action, going through the scent again while his heartbeat returned, albeit in an unsteady, erratic pace. A few seconds passed before he finally allowed himself to conclude on what he had picked up – it was her scent… Hinata was back. Totally astounded, he didn't even realize that by then, he could actually hear his heartbeat in his ear.

When the shock finally settled, he found himself rummaging through his cupboard before quickly putting on a t-shirt and a pair of black pants. Then, without another thought, he ran out and sprinted towards the Hokage's house with Akamaru tailing close behind.

It had been difficult to contain the amount of excitement and anxiety he had been holding and the intensity of the anticipation came to a peak when he finally arrived at the gates to her house. For some reason, as he stood panting, the door opened before Hinata slowly walked out. Enthralled, he couldn't decide if it was Hinata or the rising sun that was bringing light and warmth to everything around it. It was almost trancelike to finally see her again and when she walked towards him with a smile and then, called his name, he had to struggle real hard to contain himself from actually moving past the gates and pulling her into a hug.

"Hinata…," he called as he came to his senses when his pet dog gave a friendly bark at the dark-haired lady. "You're home… I didn't know… when did…" he stammered unexpectedly before trailing off when his keen sense of smell involuntarily picked up the compelling scent of a certain blonde-haired Hokage.

With much unease, he looked away before blowing aloud. Somehow, in all his eagerness to see his teammate again, he had forgotten why he never came to her house in the morning – whether it was because of merely sharing the same bed with the Hokage or other more private exploit of intimacy, Hinata would smell of Naruto.

"Akamaru!" the Hokage's wife called out excitedly as she hastily pushed through the gates and bent over, her hands immediately reaching out for the dog, cuddling and stroking it with delight.

Kiba however, found himself standing helplessly at the side as he watched his dog frantically licked Hinata's face and hands.

It took the dark-haired lady some time to calm the excited canine before she straightened up and pulling a smile, she asked keenly, "How have you been, Kiba?"

"Fine," he answered a little too quickly as he struggled to ignore the scent she was carrying.

For a moment, his prevailing sense of smell had become his very own enemy. It became the double-edged sword he would normally disregard as he picked up Naruto's overpoweringly, unbearable scent on Hinata. He hated what it meant, what it implicated. Seconds passed before he managed to compose himself as he slowly focused his attention on his teammate.

"How was Oiru?" his words came out a little too quietly.

"Not too bad…" Hinata replied, keeping a hand on Akamaru's mane. "Actually, Shino was there a few days ago."

"Yeah, he said he would drop by."

"He should be back soon."

"Soon? He's not back yet? How did you manage to arrive earlier than him?" Kiba asked continuously as he tried to rationalize how Hinata could have arrived earlier than their other teammate. "…Naruto?"

"Kurama's chakra," Hinata said with a smile.

Taking in the information, the Inuzuka nodded slowly before emitting, "Sure… makes sense."

%%%

Hinata quietly ambled into the house and closed the door. Seconds later, she found herself being gently pulled into a hug as Naruto greeted her with a lingering kiss on her forehead. She could only smile as she wrapped her arms around him. It felt so good to be able to hold him so close, so good to be able to bask in his affection.

"I thought you were still asleep," she said shortly as she loosened her hold and looked into his eyes.

"You know…" the Hokage said, with a playful frown. "I don't want to sleep without you by my side."

With another smile, the dark-haired lady rested her head over her husband's shoulder, playfully adding, "You should have gotten used to it by now."

"We don't get used to such things…" Naruto stated as he gave another lingering kiss, this time on his wife's temple. "…do you?"

"I don't know… I still have to get back to Oiru next week."

The husband sighed as they came apart, "I've told you, you don't have to go…"

"But I only came back to attend the birthday celebration… that was the reason… and I still have a mission to continue…"

"I know, I only said that to pacify the people there… Those people were like… like leeches. They were so attached…"

"You mean, there's no birthday…?"

"No! There… I mean, off course there's a birthday celebration…" Naruto quickly offered as he rubbed the back of his head. "A big celebration, in fact. Ya…Yasasu-jiisan's ninety-ninth birthday, remember?"

"Yeah, but I've always thought he's much younger... something like ninety-one… or two?"

"Well…"

"And I thought people normally only does a big celebration when they turn a hundred…"

"Ah, things have changed. Just how many of your uncles or grand-uncles have you had that actually lived to a hundred?"

"Um…"

"See? And if Yasasu-jiisan lives for another year, I'm sure we can call for a bigger celebration then… right?"

Shrugging, Hinata giggled as she gave her husband a soft, reprimanding punch on his chest, her face bearing no sign of suspicion. "Are you hungry?" she asked afterwards as she leisurely turned towards the kitchen. "Want some ramen?"

"You bet I do!"

"Three bowls?"

"More! Make it six!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning like a little boy as he watched his wife ambled away.

He was aware that he had been deprived of Hinata's flavorsome ramen but when she vanished into the kitchen, the grin on Naruto's face faded almost immediately as he stood in the middle of the living room. Earlier, he had inadvertently heard Hinata and Kiba talking outside when he had sluggishly shuffled out of the bedroom. In a bizarre surge of panic, the Hokage had rushed to the door, all ready to dash out, before he came to a sudden stop just as he grabbed the doorknob. Perhaps he was being reasonable, or perhaps, he was more sensible than he gave himself credit for. 'What was he so flustered or even worried about?' he found himself silently asking. The two were teammates and Hinata would never deceive him; there was no doubt about that - even though he had been guilty of conjuring up images of her sharing a bowl of ramen with a certain Muro Kazuo before. But Kiba…?

Quietly, Naruto had found himself moving away from the door, towards the window. When he had come to stand in the shadow of the house, away from the light coming through the window, he had silently observed the two as they chatted outside. For a moment, he realized that he was actually prying – was he being suspicious? Was it even fair for him to be suspicious? He had never felt that way towards the two before, never felt like there was anything to worry about prior to that very moment. Yet he couldn't help staying in the dark, couldn't help standing in his own silhouette as he watched and listened to what seemed like casual conversations taking place outside. He couldn't clearly pick up the subject of discussion from his spot but somehow, he wasn't really flustered with what he couldn't hear. He had been more concerned with other things…

As it happened, Naruto started noticing slight differences about Kiba – he didn't seem like the impetuous, boisterous guy he had always known him to be. In fact, as he quietly observed, he realized that it seemed almost difficult for the Inuzuka to look straight into his wife's eyes as they conversed. Hinata's teammate was actually restless and he was shifting his gaze from side to side in an almost poignant manner and as unbelievable as it looked, he was actually talking in a quiet, if not refrained tone. All of a sudden, Naruto came to a startling recognition – as ignorant as he sometimes could be, at that very moment, it dawned on him that Kiba was as hopelessly in love with Hinata as he once thought he was, with Sakura…

%%%

"Won't you be late for work?" Hinata asked as she and Naruto meandered through the streets of Konoha.

"Eh! Don't worry, they'll be fine… I've sorted out most of the important things before I left… Plus, Yamato probably thinks I'm still in Oiru right now…"

"In Oiru? How long did he expect you to be there?"

"For like a week or so…" Naruto chuckled. "Let's just lay back for a few days and enjoy this uninterrupted time, okay?"

"Seriously?"

"Off course I'm serious! A Hokage's job is not a plaything, you know?"

Hinata smiled and shook her head at the same time. They were actually heading towards Ramen Ichiraku. As it turned out, there was really nothing in their kitchen that she could put together to make a bowl of noodles and she really didn't want to serve her husband instant ramen in a cup. So, after informing him about the unattainable task, she had suggested that they go for ramen in Teuchi's place instead, before hastily rushing towards the bathroom for a quick bath.

It took only seconds before Naruto had cheekily taken the opportunity to join her in the shower. And thence, her 'quick bath' had turned into another drawn out session of frenzied lovemaking, where the sound of water from the shower intermingled with sporadic whimpers and moans…

Presently, as the couple sauntered hand-in-hand through the streets, Hinata couldn't help the occasional blush that colored her cheeks. Naruto had been more than passionate ever since he showed up in Oiru and as she thought of what they had been doing from the time they got home, her face started to heat up in a mixture of bashfulness and exhilaration. Maybe, they were simply deprived, she thought – it really had been a long time since they've even kissed. Then again, it seemed like her husband was more eager and more loving than ever before and, she couldn't deny the fact that their intimate exploits had been more fanatical than they used to be.

Quietly, she turned to look at the man walking beside her. Naruto was holding her hand as they walked side by side, while talking in a most lively way, telling her about the things he had been doing the past many months. For a moment, it felt as if he was channeling chakra to her like what he did when they were travelling back from Oiru. But then, his strong and comforting hand wasn't transferring chakra this time. He was discharging a palpable kind of happiness into her, a blatant sort of interest… an undisguised manner of love. Undeniably, a spark of contentment bubbled into existence within her. Somehow, everything seemed to be moving in a way she had always visualized it to be. Life had never looked or felt more beautiful before…

Unfortunately though, that little bubble of contentment didn't last too long because, all of a sudden, among the village dwellers on the street, Hinata spotted a familiar hot pink coming from an opposite direction. For a passing second she could feel the bubble within her popped. Caught in the bliss of her sudden liberation from the many months of misery, she had forgotten that there was another person playing a part in her otherwise contented life. For a painful second, thoughts of Naruto still being in love with Sakura flashed through her mind as she dropped her head and came to a sudden stop. Almost immediately, a feeling of bitterness overtook her entire being before she slowly turned to look despondently towards her husband. She was once again brought back to the time when she had heard Naruto called his ex-teammate's name. The whole situation was poignant… more than poignant. It was as if life had passed yet, time had stood still at that very unbearable moment of heartbreak, while that little scene suddenly went on a miserable replay inside her mind.

Yet, she had been so sure that he had come to love her with all his heart just a day before. Standing on the street however, she realized that it would take much more to convince her hesitant mind, to mend her broken heart. All the time, she thought she would be understanding, even tolerant. She thought she would accept anything at all, including Naruto's uncertainty. Yet somehow, at that very moment, she felt like a defeated warrior who had been fighting a losing battle all these time. Feelings of insecurity descended upon her. Was it even possible for her to totally shove all her diffidence aside?

"Hinata?" Naruto asked as he tilted his head toward his wife, immediately sensing that something was seriously wrong when he saw her questioning eyes and downturned mouth. "What's wrong?" he inquired as Hinata slowly dropped her gaze to look down again, her heart still unprepared to face what was sauntering toward them.

Alarmed by her sudden action, the Hokage looked around before coming to an understanding when he spotted his ex-teammate. He could feel his heart going out to his wife as he tightened his grip on her hand before flaunting a cautious smile – she was clearly in anguish.

"Hey…," he started as he reached out to take Hinata's other hand too. "I've said I love you, remember?" he leaned down a little to catch her gaze. She wouldn't look up though. "You've got to trust me in this, okay? I can't do this alone. I need you to have faith in me… Hinata?"

Very slowly, she pulled her hands away before looking up into his piercing blue eyes as he continued with his attempt to convince her.

"Nobody will ever come between us again… ever. Trust me… please."

She swallowed hard and gave a sniff before forcing a nod, hopelessly wishing that she could be as trusting as she used to be. Yet somehow, she realized that the injury within her heart run deeper than it seemed and the scar that had formed looked set to stay...

"Hinata!" the predictable call came shortly after as the couple turned to face a thrilled, pink-haired Sakura. "When did you come back?"

"Sa… Sakura," Hinata muttered as Naruto once again took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"We came back last night," the Hokage responded casually.

"We? You brought her back?"

"Oh, come on, Sakura. Did you actually think I'll just let her stay away like that?" Naruto said as he grinned and pulled Hinata's hand toward his chest in a loving gesture.

For a spell, Sakura's attention fell on the hands, somewhat startled with how her blonde-haired ex-teammate was acting in such a fond, doting manner. Then, she quickly regained her composure and smiled before adding, "You're really something, huh? I didn't even know you left Konoha."

"Ah, you're just too busy."

"Well, there really are a lot to do in the hospital…"

"What hospital? I mean Sasuke! You're just too busy tending to him all the time!"

"Hey, I don't… tend to him."

"It's true..."

"Oh, come on…" Sakura defended, keeping down a blush by changing the subject. "So, where are you guys heading for? …Wait, wait, wait… don't tell me you're going for ramen?"

"We were, actually…" the Hokage said.

"Would you like to join us, Sakura?" Hinata finally uttered, causing Naruto to whirl his head toward her in surprise.

She didn't really know what to do at first, but she couldn't just refuse to talk to Sakura at all. Somehow, the pink-haired medic had been a good friend and Sakura seemed genuinely concerned about her wellbeing. However, in her state of distress, Hinata wasn't aware that her husband's attitude toward his teammate had changed. Naruto wasn't as rigid or awkward toward Sakura as he had been before she had left for Oiru. In fact, even though he was trying to protect her feelings, it really wasn't too difficult. As it appeared, their relationship seemed to have gone back to how it used to be before Sakura married Sasuke. There was a feeling of good, uncomplicated acquaintance between them – a kind of laid-back camaraderie…

"Off course she doesn't want to join us," Naruto quickly reasoned before turning back to Sakura. "Didn't you just say there are a lot of things to do in the hospital?"

"Well, I have time to spare…"

"That's not our concern. Go, shoo… Go do something else… Go look for Sasuke," the Hokage casually ordered as he placed another hand over Hinata's that was pulled to his chest. "This is our time together."

"Naruto…" Hinata murmured as she turned toward her husband. Even in her upset mind, her cheeks were slowly flushing red.

The Hokage smiled while pulling his wife away, "And don't come bother us anytime soon."

Sakura could only stand, stunned for a moment as she watched the couple walk away. Then, she shook her head and giggled. She had never really seen this side of Naruto before – the Hokage was actually amusingly affectionate, something that maybe, only Hinata could bring out in him and somehow, Sakura couldn't help feeling happy for them.

%%%

As he ran and leapt through the woods, Naruto slowly became surer of what he needed to do. It wasn't surprising to note that, even though it didn't show on the outside, he had been feeling restless since morning and, the more he pondered on the situation, the more uneasy he seemed to have become. No matter how he tried, he knew he just couldn't let the matter slide – not when he understood the quandary… Kiba's quandary. So, after placing the bags of groceries in the kitchen and giving his wife a peck on her cheek, he had excused himself, promising Hinata that he would be back for dinner as soon as he 'resolved a little problem.'

In Sage Mode, he was able to essentially detect anybody's whereabouts from anyplace in the village, an ability that would easily surpass the Inuzuka's superior sense of smell. So, once outside and adopting senjutsu, Naruto could precisely pinpoint Kiba's whereabouts without any trouble – Hinata's teammate was in the forest to the southwest of the village. Within seconds, the Hokage was sprinting toward his goal, well aware that the Inuzuka and his canine friend, Akamaru, were actually engaged in a kind of manic training.

It didn't take too long to arrive at the improvised training place. Quietly, Naruto alighted onto a branch, near enough to notify Kiba of his arrival, even though he suspected that the Inuzuka had already sensed his approach long before he got there.

"What do you want?" Kiba asked straight after he landed on all fours, breathing heavily from the exertion of his training. A few seconds later, Akamaru landed beside him in a similar combat stance.

Naruto smiled as he waited for the smoke from an earlier smoke bomb to slowly disperse into thin air. Then quietly, he took in the surrounding area. Branches and small trees were strewn over what would have been a lush piece of forest area while big boulders were either shattered or bore formidable indentations from prior attacks. There were also fearsome claw marks on the nearby trees.

"What do you want… Hokage-sama?" Kiba asked again, clearly annoyed by Naruto's sudden appearance.

"Well, I thought I'd join you for a little spar," the Hokage answered as he jumped down from the tree.

"What?" Kiba quipped as he slowly stood up.

"I said, I want to spar with you."

The Inuzuka considered the Hokage's incredulous proposition for a second before giving a huff and asked, "What do you really want… Naruto?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to spar with you… Like simply sparring… just you, me… Akamaru too, if he wants to join us."

The canine gave a hearty bark at that, eager to assist his master in any sparring match. Nevertheless, Hinata's teammate only scoffed before slowly turning around, refusing to entertain the Hokage's sudden demand.

"What! You afraid to fight me now?" Naruto jeered.

It seemed he knew exactly which button to push as Kiba, clearly annoyed, instantaneously pounced on him. The Hokage fell backwards onto the ground while his opponent sank long, sharp claws right above where his heart sat. Then, with a sneaky smile, Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke, his earlier self being replaced by a piece of log.

In an instant, Kiba realized that Naruto's scent was all over the place.

"Kage bunshin? Don't you have any other tricks?" he shouted before making a quick nod towards Akamaru to communicate his command.

The dog gave a bark before Kiba adopted a shadow clone technique to change it into a clone of himself. The two then spun in vicious speed on opposite directions, tearing down trees and breaking up boulders while directly attacking the dozens of Naruto clones. With one last Naruto in sight, Akamaru, having transformed back into a dog, leapt up into the air and spun while urinating on the Hokage, applying dynamic marking.

"No, no, no… aaarg," Naruto yelled, trying in vain to shake the urine off his body before quickly jumping onto a tree branch as Kiba followed with accelerated fighting force.

The fighting continued in close combat as the Inuzuka attacked with animal-like impulses while Naruto dodged and fought with superior skill and speed. They struck and ducked, hit and darted for a whole half hour before finally landing on the forest floor. Kiba was on all fours, panting heavily as blood streamed down the sides of his mouth. Naruto in spite of his advantage, stood many meters from him, gasping for air as he entertained the stinging pain on his claw-tainted arms and chest. There was no ninjutsu, no genjutsu. Senjutsu was not engaged too. The whole spar was purely a hand-to-hand fight – a combat of stamina and strength, a contest of wits and speed.

When it all boiled down to basics, the two understood that they were equal in forte. Kiba knew that Naruto was much more dominant than him in terms of power. Nevertheles, he also knew that he wouldn't lose out to the Hokage in mental control and elementary speed. All the same, Naruto couldn't deny that Kiba had always been a force to reckon with. The Inuzuka clan's ferocious assault was not something to be taken lightly.

As the Inuzuka readied himself for another round of assault, the Hokage quietly held back. He wasn't afraid, wasn't even as worn-out as he made himself looked like. Somehow, he wasn't really there to fight Kiba in the first place. When Hinata's teammate leapt forward in another attack, Naruto allowed himself to be pinned to the ground.

Then, just as Kiba was about to place a punch on his face, Naruto cried out, "I love her!"

It was all he needed to say to stop the Inuzuka in mid-attack. It was all he needed to say to reveal the reason he came calling. Stunned by Naruto's sudden acknowledgment, Kiba exhaled aloud before slowly directing his blow onto the ground just next to the Hokage's face.

They both understood the implication of those three words – it obviously brought to light Naruto's awareness of Kiba's feelings towards Hinata. What's more, right at that very moment, the Hokage was essentially claiming his rights as Hinata's husband. He was making it clear that Hinata belonged to him and that Kiba really shouldn't be holding anymore affections toward his wife.

Defeated by his very own feelings, the Inuzuka felt the energy within him drained as he allowed himself to fall onto his back, beside Naruto.

"I love her," the Hokage repeated, this time in calm assertion as he looked up to the leaves swaying from the branches above.

It took a while before Kiba actually snorted, "Nice to know that."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't have to come all the way to tell me that… I'm not a contender."

"Kiba…"

"Hinata… she had only ever loved you."

"…ah."

"Did you actually think that I'd try to win her heart?" Kiba asked as he placed an arm over his eyes, blocking away the sporadic sunlight that was filtering through the swaying leaves. "Like I said, I'm not a contender. Not then, not now… not ever. True, I've loved her for a long time but you were the only one she has ever loved. In fact, I don't even know when she started having feelings for you… She already liked you before we were a team. It was like… like she already loved you when she was born or something."

At the Inuzuka's comment, the two friends actually started laughing. Even though it was impossible for Hinata to be in love with Naruto since she was a baby, they both knew that she did start having feelings for Naruto from when they were still very young and that, by itself, sounded funny, almost far-fetched.

Nevertheless, Kiba's laughter was soon filled with a kind of hurt and painful understanding that he was never a candidate for Hinata's heart. Somehow, even though most of the villagers had hated the Hokage when he was younger and even though Naruto used to be a heedless, impetuous prankster who so often got into mischief, Hinata seemed unaffected. She was one of the very few people who had been quietly accepting, even emulating his positive qualities and probably the only one who had loved him since he was still a young boy.

Naruto's laughter subsided as quickly too when a twinge of guilt became palpable within him. Although he had slowly come to realize that Hinata had been in love with him for a long time, he wondered how he had been that insensitive to her feelings all these time… and how truly hurt she must have been when he had treated her as second best.

"By the time I realized I liked her, she was already madly in love with you… like deeply, crazy kind, you know? So crazy, she'd fight Pain for you."

Naruto smiled, "She also tried to shield me from the ten tails' attack."

At that, Kiba put his arm down and turned towards Naruto. "…That's when we lost Neji, right?"

The Hokage took a deep breath as he recalled a painful part of the war before quietly emitting, "Yeah… I would have lost her too if not for Neji."

"We would have lost her… Thank God for Neji."

Soon after, the two stayed in a kind of quiet contemplation as they expectedly called to mind the last war. It had been a frightening experience, a nightmare of sorts. They've both lost friends and loved ones and no one - not a ninja or a regular person - had emerged unhurt in one way or another. And even though it had been many years since, the memories had stayed fresh in their minds while the scars remained.

Finally heaving a sigh, Kiba sat up and ran a hand through his hair before carelessly wiping blood stains off his face with his sleeves.

"You know," he said as he turned towards the Hokage. "If there ever was a contest for Hinata, I would have already lost before it even started."

Slowly sitting up, Naruto pulled a smile. Somehow, he was glad that Kiba was frank enough to admit he loved his wife. Now, all he had to do was to get him to come face to face with reality, to stop having feelings for Hinata… and to actually get over her.

As he stood up, the Hokage extended a hand and pulled Kiba up. Then, with a genuine smile, he offered, "You know, why don't you come join us for dinner tonight? Hinata's cooking..."

A/N: I know I'm taking up space but, Naruto has ended! So, just let me rant!

I do realize that I've been out of the picture for too long. Gosh! Sooo long that Naruto manga has come to an end! Seriously, I didn't expect much from Kishimoto, thinking that the story will end with the end of the war, everybody being in good terms again, Sasuke returning to the leaf village and everyone's happy. I totally, totally didn't expect the Naru/Hina ending. Well, maybe a little but to actually be married and with children!? When I read chapter 700, I was like, what!? Really!? Naruto actually married Hinata!? Unbelievable! Unbelievable! I was jumping with joy! Who would have thought – Naruto and Hinata? Kishimoto, you're the greatest!

Frankly speaking, I half-expected Naruto to end up with Sakura (at some point) and if that really happened, I suppose I would be really upset for a while before trying to console myself with all the Naru/Hina fanfictions. Lol! Thank God for fanfictions!

Ahem…

Firstly, I want to thank Serious Sam for the amazing support.

To those I couldn't reach – misha48(thank you for the little push. I suppose I needed that), hinataaa(Naru/hina actually happened and your first thought was my story? I was so thrilled to hear that. Thanks!), sugarune(thank you so much for such an uplifting review – put me on cloud nine), hqhqhq,softwinds fan(there is one thing that I can actually be proud of – I don't really get the writer's block. My poor, poor brain is always full of ideas. Only thing that prevented me from writing would be my personal life. Sadly, writing can only be considered a past time, not something I can do full time. So, I do apologize for the late, late update!), xx(actually, a lot of things happened – personal stuffs. Still, thanks for your concern, really appreciate it), kk, Karen(I wonder if you're still a fan. Actually, I wonder if anyone's still a fan. Sorry for letting you guys down), Inukag4everbabe(thank you for actually putting this story into one of your favorites, really appreciate it!), ringthatbindsfan, Lovethis, kojiharu-hime(I really can't thank you enough for all those encouraging words! You're such a great fan), Erica L, jimbo and U.

I'd also like to acknowledge a guest who had written a 500+ word review on Sept 25. Thank you so much for the encouraging comments. I'm so glad you loved this story and thanks for the great ideas.

I know I don't deserve reviews for this because of my late update. Still, I never thought I'd continue writing after chapter 3! That said, next chapter should be the last for this story. In truth, this chapter has taken me many months and too many late nights to complete. I hope I don't disappoint...

Thanks again for reading this!

- softwinds -