AN: It's finally here! Just so you know I didn't do as much editing as I originally planned. I just went back and cleaned up some of the grammar and spelling mistakes; no real changes so you don't have to go back looking for new scenes or anything.
All of you should thank my reviewer Kakrotta for reminding me to get moving on this fic. I was getting ready to start another fic when I got the review and remembered that I still had this to write. Now that this is done, I can move on and work on the others.
This officially marks the end of my first Naruto fan fiction. I have to admit that I am quite proud of myself for making it all the way through. Enjoy!
P.S. If you read all the way down to the bottom past my author note you'll get a treat.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
B regular stuff
B internal thoughts and such.
Picture Day
"Sakura-sensei!" Whatever thoughts Konoha had of a peaceful day were officially shattered by the enthusiastic shout of a young Chuunin.
"Kana-chan," Sakura said, smiling at her former student in greeting. "How are all of you today?" she asked trailing her eyes over her former students.
"We're all fine," Kana answered. "We were waiting for Lee-sensei's students; we were all going to come visit you," Kana explained.
"It looks like they're here now," Sakura said, pointing to the three Chuunin walking towards them.
"Where were you heading to?" Kana asked turning around.
"Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun jut got back from a mission. Lee and I are meeting them for dinner to tell them the good news," Sakura said winking at them. "Do you all want to come?" she asked.
The six Chuunin grinned at each other and nodded eagerly. "Ichiraku's?" Kana asked jokingly.
"Of course!" Lee shouted bounding up to the group. "My illustrious rival would have it no other way!" he added, giving the teens the nice-guy pose.
"We should get going," Sakura said grinning at her husband. She grinned a bit more when she remembered telling Naruto that it would only take six months. She had been wrong of course: it had only taken four months Lee to propose. They had been married in a small ceremony three weeks later. Naruto, Sasuke, and Genma had been given the job of making sure Kakashi wasn't late. In one of his strokes of genius, Naruto had simply told Kakashi that the four o'clock wedding started at noon. Kakashi set a record: he was half an hour early for the first time in his adult life.
The group of eight entered Ichiraku's and quickly sat themselves at the large corner section – Naruto had of course seen to it that the Ramen stand had expanded to nicely sized restaurant over the past several years. They had been there for a minute or so when Sakura looked up to find Kakashi and Genma entering the restaurant; she wasted no time in waving them over. "What's the occasion?" Genma asked, as the two seated themselves.
"They got back this morning," Sakura answered grinning.
"Ah, you telling them?" Kakashi asked, gaining a nod from Sakura.
"The Chuunin Exams are coming up," Genma said, during a drag in the conversation about ten minutes later.
"Oh, that's right. I wonder if Naruto's nominating his team," Sakura said.
"Already?" Lee asked, "It is unwise to send such inexperienced Genin into the exam. We both gave our students a year before nominating them," he added.
"I sent my team in as rookies," Kakashi reminded him, not bothering to look up from his book. Jiraiya's latest book was his best selling yet. I wonder if Naruto and Sasuke have seen this yet. He pondered just as Jiraiya walked by the restaurant's window. Guess not. He'd be dead if they realized he had modeled the newest characters off of them, Kakashi decided snickering.
"Kakashi-sensei would please not read that thing right now. If Naruto or Sasuke see it, it could ruin the whole night," Sakura said, glaring at him.
Kakashi sighed and slipped it back in his pocket. "Anyways, Naruto will probably nominate them just to give them more experience; it's what I did," he said.
"Yes, but just because you did it doesn't mean he will," Sakura countered.
"I don't know; I think if he had been allowed he would have nominated them for the last Chuunin exam," Kakashi declared.
"My eternal rival is not so irresponsible as that. He would not have nominated them for the Chuunin exam barely two weeks after becoming Genin and only two D-class missions under their belts," Lee exclaimed.
"Actually, I tried to," Naruto said walking up to the group. "I wanted to beat Kakashi's record by putting them through earlier, but Tsunade wouldn't let me since they didn't have the required number of missions," he added, glancing down at the young Genin standing nearby.
"You already beat his record by failing twelve teams before finally taking one," Sasuke retorted walking up beside Naruto and sliding an arm over his shoulder.
"I told the old hag that they could complete six more missions in the week before the exam actually started but she still wouldn't let me," Naruto added pouting.
"I take that to mean you're nominating them this time," Genma said, gaining a nod from the blond.
Sakura took her time gazing at her teammates. If they had been boyishly handsome at seventeen, they were stark raving gorgeous at twenty four. Okay so maybe she was a bit biased in wanting to believe that they were the most attractive men in Konoha, which they were, but still. "So what's the occasion, other than my illustrious homecoming?" Naruto asked causing the six Chuunin already seated to laugh. Sakura wondered if he had used that adjective on purpose.
"Have a seat, Kakashi-sensei's buying," Sakura said, inviting them to sit at their table.
"Why do I always end up paying?" Kakashi mumbled, glaring at his adorable former students.
"Payment for torturing us for so long," Sasuke claimed.
"So what is the occasion?" Naruto asked again, once he and his students had settled in. Sasuke sat down next to him after pulling up an extra chair.
Sakura grinned at them. "First off I should warn you that if you haven't already seen Tsunade, be careful around her for the next week or so. The elders have cut down her sake supply and she's been in a bad mood ever since," Sakura explained.
"Damn, I have to turn in our mission statement to her tomorrow," Naruto cursed. He and his team had their first C-class mission over the past month. Tsunade wanted to hear about it first hand from him and Sasuke.
"However, that isn't why we invited you here," Sakura added, grinning at them. Naruto leaned in and looked at his green eyed teammate suspiciously. "Lee and I are expecting, we found out about a week after you left," she said. Naruto and Sasuke gaped at for a moment before finally realizing what she had said.
"Go Lee!" Naruto shouted, causing Lee to blush bright red.
"Congratulations," Sasuke said, grinning at Sakura. It was amazing how much more he smiled now. Naruto has been an excellent influence on him, Sakura thought. Either that or Tsunade was right, he just needed to get laid, she added in her mind. She spent the next five minutes trying to ignore the leer on Inner Sakura's face, that girl had enjoyed Jiraiya's new book a bit too much.
After the group finished dinner, Naruto's Genin had taken off for home. Lee and Sakura's former students had split off from the group as well; one of them had mentioned training. Former Team 7 decided to take a stroll around Konoha, accompanied by Lee and Genma.
They were passing Hokage Tower when a body flew out the second story window and landed on the ground in front of them. "Ero-Sennin, what did you do this time?" Naruto asked.
Jiraiya had opened his mouth to retort when a figure in green spandex exited the already shattered window and landed next to Jiraiya. "If I ever catch you there again, I'll kill you myself and save Naruto the trouble," Tsunade yelled down to Jiraiya. "And wear something else," she added for Gai.
Naruto looked up at Tsunade questioningly. "Oi! Old hag, why would I kill him?" he shouted up to him.
Tsunade's eye twitched at her pet name before realizing who it was. "Welcome back Naruto-kun," she said as sweetly as possible. Her grin took on a slightly frightening edge when she turned back to Jiraiya. She pulled out a small orange book and dropped into the blonde's waiting arms.
Naruto took one look at the book and the temperature in his vicinity dropped below freezing. "I was gone for one month, and this is what I come back to?" he asked, shoving the offending material into Sasuke's arms.
"Shit," Jiraiya muttered jumping to his feet and taking off.
"I can't believe that man," Naruto said watching Jiraiya run off. He turned to Sasuke for support only to find him flipping through the book with interest. "What are you doing?" Naruto asked in slight horror.
Sasuke looked up at him and quickly hid the book away for later. "Nothing," he mumbled.
Naruto turned to glare at Kakashi. "You turned him into pervert," he shouted.
Kakashi sweat dropped and backed away from the irate blond. He turned to Genma for support, but the other man just twiddled with the senbon stuck in his mouth. "At least he's not blaming me for this," Genma stated.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and whispered something to Naruto. Much to Sakura's amusement the blond blushed lightly. "Fine," Naruto finally said, turning away from Kakashi. "So how is everyone else?" he asked cheerily, turning back to Sakura with a grin. Yup, the mood swings are still scary, Kakashi thought.
The group once again set off around Konoha discussing the latest gossip in Konoha. Hinata was close to a mental breakdown; it seemed she had yelled at two people when they had messed up the flower arrangements for her impending wedding to Kiba. Ino it seemed had gotten bored with dating every man she could lay her eyes on. She and Chouji had been dating the entire time Naruto and Sasuke were gone, and Sakura said it didn't seem likely that they would break up anytime soon. TenTen and Neji had finally learned that their daughter would have a younger brother: TenTen was due in two months.
As the group passed Sakura and Lee's house, they bid farewell. Kakashi and Genma set off for their apartment; and Sasuke and Naruto went the opposite way towards their own.
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The next morning, Naruto and Sasuke dutifully reported to Tsunade's office. The mission had gone off without a hitch they assured her and yes the team was now perfectly prepared to enter the Chunnin Exam. "Well that's good," Tsunade muttered, staring at the back wall dejectedly.
Halfway to the door Naruto decided to take pity on the woman and muttered to Sasuke, "You go on ahead; I'll meet up with you later." When Sasuke closed the door, Naruto walked back sat down in front of Tsunade. "Sakura and Lee told us she was pregnant," he stated, hoping that would get Tsunade to talk.
"That child had better look like his or her mother," Tsunade mumbled.
Naruto shivered at the thought of another Lee or Gai running around. "Anyways, she also mentioned that you were having a bad week. I figured I could make it a little bit better," Naruto declared, pulling out his travel bag.
"You're not leaving again," Tsunade stated.
"I know that," Naruto replied, reaching in and grabbing two bottles of Sake. "Courtesy of Tea Country," he said, handing them to her.
Tsunade greedily reached out and took them. "Oh Sake, how I have missed you," she muttered.
While Tsunade was busy fondling her gift, Naruto let his eyes drift around the office before finally settling on the pictures lining the front of her desk. He smirked when he finally reached the newest one. Kami, Sasuke looked good that day, he thought.
Kakashi had gotten it into his head that Team 7 had needed to break away from their usual style and colors; now that he could look back at it without remembering the terrifying week before hand, the man was a genius. Sasuke was wearing dark gray pants with a navy blue fitted t-shirt. Sakura was wearing white pants and a light blue tank top, which brought out the green her eyes and made her hair look even pinker. He was wearing grey pants just a bit lighter than Sasuke's. Kakashi had made him try on nearly a hundred shirts before finally deciding on the second one he had chosen. It was a sleeveless shirt the same color blue as his eyes; it had an oddly shaped collar that was higher in the back than the front. Kakashi had mentioned that it reminded him of the jacket the forth had worn.
Tsunade looked up from her Sake and realized that Naruto was still there. "Why are you still here?" she asked.
Naruto broke his gaze away from his team photo and reached back into his bag. "I got this back this morning on the way here, thought you might like it," he said pulling out a picture frame.
Tsunade gazed down at Naruto and the three runts standing in front of him and grinned. Luckily none of his students were frowning, Naruto made sure that they were always in high spirits. "Okay," Tsunade finally said setting down on her desk. "Is there anything else?" she asked when Naruto still didn't stand up.
"I was just wondering," Naruto began looking at her curiously. "When are you going to give that hat?" he asked, pointing to the Hokage's ceremonial headdress sitting on its stand in the corner.
Tsunade blinked twice and cleared ears hoping that she had heard him correctly. "When do you want it?" she finally asked.
"Whenever you're ready to part with it," Naruto countered, smirking at her.
Tsunade studied him for a moment before jumping and cheering. She walked over and flung that hat at Naruto before taking off for the door. Naruto watched in a slight daze as she took off down the hall shouting, "Tanzaku Gai, here I come!"
Five minutes later, Sasuke and Sakura walked into Tsunade's office in confusion. "What did you do? She was pissed off yesterday, now she's running around hugging people and inviting random people out for drinks," Sakura asked.
Naruto swung his chair around and raised the headdress onto his head. "Oh," Sakura said staring at him.
Sasuke grinned at Naruto and walked over to sit down next to him. "Now that you've become Hokage, what do you plan on doing next?" he asked.
Sakura's shout of joy cut off Naruto's reply. "You did it!" she shouted happily, "Wait until I tell everyone. Oh, this awesome. I was on the same team as the Hokage. He used to ask me out on dates. I actually beat him once or twice in spars, and this is so great," she rambled on much to Sasuke and Naruto's amusement.
"Would somebody care to explain why the Hokage is running around like a chicken with its head cut off?" Shikamaru asked sauntering in.
"Tsunade-sama," Naruto corrected.
"Yeah, why's the Hokage…" Shikamaru was cut off by Naruto.
"Not Hokage, Tsunade-sama," Sakura said, pointing to Naruto.
Shikamaru looked at Naruto for a moment. "How troublesome," he declared before turning away and walking out. "I suppose I should go alert the elders," he muttered as he waved goodbye. Apparently he was still sore about losing so much money after he lost that bet to Ino and Chouji. Not that he could put it off for lack of evidence when Naruto had gotten sick of his grumbling one night at Ichiraku's and had pulled Sasuke into a kiss that lasted well over a minute. Lee hadn't been able to set foot in the restaurant for almost six months.
Naruto grinned and stood as well. "I'm gonna go tell Iruka," he said, waving goodbye.
"We'll wait for you here," Sakura said, "We'll get Kakashi-sensei to treat us to ramen when you get back."
AN: Okay so this is the end. Thank you to everyone who enjoyed and stayed with this story. Once more I'm sorry it took so long to get this up.
For those of you who really liked this, I'm working on another story that is fairly similar. Some of the pairings will change, but the characterizations and general mood will be almost the same. It's a longer story and will have more action in it, hopefully when it gets put up you guys will like it as well.
Also in case you didn't catch it, Tanzaku Gai is the city/area where Naruto and Jiraiya first met up with Tsunade. From the way the others referred to it, I got the impression that it was a rather famous spot for gambling centers and such.
Reviews:
Pony-Taled Baka well the elders' names were cannon but they aren't used that much, so I apologize for the confusion. As for Naruto's scheme, he gave Sasuke two pieces of paper: one held a fake pay raise request to freak out Tsunade; the other held his resignation from ANBU. He tore up the pay raise request and handed Tsunade his resignation. He was toying with her. I hope that clears it up a bit. I also hope you enjoyed this last chapter!
Ly Mizukage I'm glad you enjoyed it. I am a bit confused by this: you aren't planning to end with writing right? I'm not quite sure what you meant so I really can't respond. I hope you enjoyed the last chapter!
Goingcommando, wolvesm0on, Shi Rurouni of the Aphrodesiac, kelpy,Night-Owl123,HanaTenshiHimeko,insanechildfanfic,Alana-StarSugarCat,Kazumi Tachikawa, Kuu-sama, I hope you enjoyed this!
Non well once again a reviewer kinda confused me. Technically, it became Sakura/Lee back in like chapter six. I don't know if something in one of the flashbacks bothered you or what, sorry if you don't like that pairing. Really none of the pairings played a real role in the story so…like I said, just confused. I hope you enjoyed the ending!
Azamiko I hope you enjoyed!
PH-Snuffpot sorry the rookie thing bothered you. I just didn't know how else to refer to that particular group; I figure they'll always be known as the rookies since it isn't often that rookies enter the Chuunin Exam and from the looks of things even Gai's team was younger than the average participant. Anyways, I'm glad you liked it so much, I'd try fan art but I can't draw so it'd suck. If anyone else out there would like to try that would be fine with me but like I said I suck. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Noname well I'm not sure if this is what you meant by mention, but anyways hi! I looked up that phrase but what I got back was "Hämden is really sweet", I'm confused. Did it just not translate right or…? Anyways, hope you enjoy (a translation would be appreciated)!
LoOkYiTsSpAm I did consider making AtD a Sasuke/Naruto, but decided against it. Those two will probably end up not having a romantic involvement. Anyways, I'm glad you enjoyed this!
Black Hikari I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. I suppose the real question is what were Jiraiya and Tsunade not betting on. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the epilogue!
Kakrotta see I kept my promise. This was posted just a day after your email. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and IM me whenever you get bored or whatever; I hope that game turns out to be worth the wait!
Random Fun: Just a scene that took place, let's say four years before this chapter. Enjoy!
"Lee-kun, could you run this over to Naruto for me?" Sakura asked, running up to her husband. "I promised I'd give him the stats on the Genin team he's going to test tomorrow, but I forgot and now I'm going to be late," she explained, handing him the scroll.
"I'll take it over on the way to Neji's," Lee said, taking the scroll from her and giving Sakura a peck on the cheek. She grinned up at him and took off towards the hospital for her rounds.
Lee headed off in the opposite direction towards Naruto and Sasuke's apartment. Luckily he had gotten over his slight problem with the word spar about a year after the incident. Not that anyone other than Sakura had even tried to help him. Naruto and Sasuke had purposely staged several other 'incidents' hoping to prolong his torture. The others brought it up as much as possible; apparently they found his reactions quite funny.
Finally arriving at their apartment complex, Lee threaded his way up three flights of stairs and through the hall towards their apartment. He paused outside and glanced around, it was fairly quiet for this time of day; normally he ran into at least one of their neighbors when he came by.
He turned back to their door with a shrug. His hand paused about an inch from knocking on the wooden door, it was already open. "Hello?" he asked, as he hesitantly pushed the door open wider and walked in. From what he could see and hear the apartment seemed empty. Oh well, I'll just leave this where my eternal rival is sure to find it, he thought to himself happily. Then Sakura-chan will be so happy with me and… his thought drifted aimlessly through the many ways his lovely wife would reward him for completing the task she had set up for him.
Lee's mind was in its happy place as he made his way blindly through the memorized lay out of the apartment. He turned the corner into the kitchen and stopped dead his in tracks. Apparently the apartment wasn't quite as empty as he had thought.
The taijutsu master dropped the scroll on the floor and turned hastily heading for the door. "Lee?" he heard Naruto yell after him. I will never be able to look at a table the same way again, Lee whimpered as he closed the apartment door behind him and took off for the Hyuuga Estate. TenTen had just had a baby girl and he had offered to watch her for the day so that Neji and she could have some time together. He shook the kitchen scene out of his head hoping that he would be able to pay attention to the baby.
After Lee had slammed the door shut, Naruto burst out laughing. "That was priceless," he muttered into Sasuke's shoulder.
Sasuke grinned down at him before hopping off the table and walking over to the lower cabinet. He opened it allowing the laughing girl inside to climb out. "Did you get it?" he asked.
Ino barely managed to nod in assurance and hand the camera up to him. Kiba spilled out of the cabinet next to Ino laughing hysterically. "He…is never…gonna…get…over this," Kiba finally managed to get out between heaving laughter.
Sasuke turned back to Ino suspiciously. "You took a picture of Lee, right?" he asked. Ino blushed slightly and nodded, "Then why does this say that two pictures have been used?" Sasuke asked. Kiba's laughter only got louder, but Naruto rolled over on his side to glare at the blond girl.
Ino reached up and snatched the camera back. "I figured I deserved a souvenir for being smashed into the cabinet," she quipped back. "Jiraiya will pay good money for that shot," she added before taking off out the window. Sasuke immediately took off after her. Naruto paused just long enough to grab his shirt and kick Kiba in the ribs for laughing at them before he followed as well.
Lee spent the next year and a half eating on the floor.
Naruto and Sasuke never did get the camera back.
AN: Just remember Lee isn't homophobic, just a bit naïve and people like messing with him.
Once again thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, and enjoyed. I'd really like to hear from you all to see how you liked this. Obviously since this is the last chapter I won't be able to respond much. However, I will try (meaning if I remember) to get back to all of you in my bio. If you have any questions, I'll answer them there as soon as I get a chance.