Epilogue

After nine years…

The palace has been lively as ever as the four-year-old Princess Sarada runs through the hallways, playing hide and seek with her maids. She giggles as she peeks at the four older women in agony.

"Your Highness, please come out. We cannot afford for you to be late at your first day at school." One of them tries to coax the youngest Uchiha.

And yet, Sarada decides against it, turns around and runs once again; she then turns left. The royal guards standing by give each other a look concerned as they witness the princess sprints happily. However, her fun did not last long as she stops deadly in her tracks as she almost collides with her seemingly unimpressed mother.

Sarada bows her head, unable to meet her mother's gaze. She hears her mother sigh. And then she hears the footsteps of her maids getting louder. A quiet gasp escapes from Moegi, the oldest of the maids assigned to Sarada, as she meet the emerald eyes of Sakura.

She apologizes right away. "Please accept our apologies, Your Royal Highness. This will not happen again." They all bow their heads nervously.

"Raise your heads." Sakura instructs quietly.

Moegi and the other three servants hesitantly does as they were told. And yet, surprisingly, the pink-haired princess merely shakes her head. "It's fine. Sarada is still a child. I hope you're not having a hard time looking after her." She smiles softly.

"Not at all, Milady. It is our duty." Moegi waves her hands in panic.

Sakura then crouches to her daughter's level. She carefully puts both of her hands in each side of her chubby cheeks. Sarada turns to face her mother, almost crying. "Now, Sarada-chan, I told you not to run in the corridors." Sakura reminds the youngest princess in a hushed tone. "Don't cry." She proceeds to wipe the corner of her big, onyx eyes.

That was when she hears her husband approaching. He stops by and looks at her in question.

"What is going on? Why is my princess crying?" He announces. The maids automatically bow their heads as he walks towards his little family.

Sarada, hearing her father, does not waste a second to run into his arms. Sasuke catches her up; she, in turn, buries her head into her father's neck, hiccuping. He proceeds to rub her tiny back in slow, soothing motions. "It's okay. Mommy is not mad."

Sakura stands up; she crosses her arms and frowns at him. He, however, remains unbothered by her death stares. He really spoils her. How can their daughter listen to her when he always rushes to her aid? He undoes whatever discipline she is trying to instill to Sarada. It is just really up to her to educate their child with regards to royal protocols.

Moreover, the King himself has also allowed her to do as she please. He is the one indulging his niece to different sweets before dinner, letting her call him Uncle instead of Your Majesty. Speaking of the King, he and Izumi, his Queen, continued to improve the alliance within the Five Great Nations. They just left couple of hours ago to their conference in Amegakure. They were accompanied by Shisui, who acted like the King's right handed man.

Gaara, King of Sunagakure, and his wife, Pakura, will be there as well. The last time Sakura heard, they were expecting their first child by Autumn. Gaara's brother, Kankuro, on the other hand, is to be married by next year.

Their only sister, though, Princess Temari, left Sunagakure to marry Shikamaru three years ago. She even abdicated and chose her love over any wealth and power. She now lives in Konoha with her husband who still continues to work for the royal family. Their son, Shikadai, turned two a few weeks ago.

On the other hand, her best friend, Ino, traveled Kirigakure to study fashion design. She even opened her first store two years ago. She mentions different names of guys every time they catch up. Other than that, she seems happy with her life.

Naruto, in contrast, was finally accepted by the Hyuuga family. He and Hinata's engagement are all over the news as soon as they announced it.

Her parents also call her often. They are doing well back in the Land of Snow.

Sakura also thought of the former king and queen who left the palace to retire in Land of Leaves. Even so, they often visit to play with Sarada. Her mother-in-law would always tell stories how she is beyond contented to spend the rest of her days with her love in the countryside.

She exhales heavily and shakes her head to bring herself back to reality. She then reminds her husband and daughter of their agenda today. Sarada seems to brighten up at the mention of school. She stops crying altogether and wiggles her legs in excitement.

Sasuke lets her down in response. She is now smiling, dressed in her uniform, a white blouse with black ribbon and a knee-length black skirt partnered with long black socks and equally black doll shoes. Sakura then asks Moegi for Sarada's red hat. She proceeds to help her daughter to fix it on top of her head.

She reminds Sarada to look at the cameras and wave her hand. She smiles again looking at Sarada, thinking back to her and Sasuke's bittersweet beginning. She was just eighteen, completely naive and somewhat clueless when she entered the palace. Now, she is twenty eight, a princess, a wife, a mother, a medical student, a Konoha citizen. Time indeed flies.

Sure, things still do not go smoothly as always, but she knows that she has a husband to lean on. She then looks up to inspect the portrait of her father, Kakashi Hatake, placed carefully on the wall. She hopes he can see her now, see his adorable granddaughter. She smiles again. Father, I'm happy now.

Her husband's voice then interrupts her to further dwell into her thoughts.

"Ready?"

Sarada nods eagerly before holding both of her parents' hands. Together, they are escorted outside the palace to the awaiting car that will lead them to Konoha Academy.

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THE END

A/N: It took me a long time to complete this. I'm grateful to those who patiently waited and read this story till the end. And more so, to those leaving me kind reviews. I will now move on to my other fanfic, After All. Please stay safe and may God bless you all. Have a good day!