Note from the Author: Note from the Author: This chapter is so OOC for Hinata, and I love it.

So this is it.

Thank you guys for being so great – I had a lot of fun writing this story, and I hope everyone enjoyed it. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed every single chapter for making me smile everyday when I get mail. Thank you to the people who have been reading silently for doing exactly what I do: enjoying quietly and making me happy at the same time. Thank you all for being so patient with me since I tend to write and update a little sporadically. Thank you to everyone who read this story and liked it enough to check out the other things I've written. Thanks for being around, I guess I'm saying. And I'll see everyone again, I hope.

Elizabethan fun fact: I'm a thesaurus whore.

… and the rain belongs to all the tender songs that I'll be singing only for you now.

Hinata separated the blinds with her fingers, smiling at the blue sky, and looked at Kiba and Shino, who were sitting on the couch beside her.

It was June, the sun was shining, and they were out of school. Hinata had decided to give a statement against Kabuto, but he had fled, leaving the state completely – she was content with that, considering she wouldn't ever have to see him again. And to top off how beautiful her life was: She and Neji had been together with her parents' blessing for almost three months.

She bounced up from the sofa, her friends on her heels, calling a good-bye to her mother in the kitchen before skipping out the door.

"Morning, Hinata-chan!" Sakura waved from where she sat on the back of Sasuke's convertible. "Ready to go?"

The Hyuuga smiled, shifting her sunglasses from her head to her nose. "You know it!" She and the two boys with her hopped down the steps toward Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura who were waiting for them.

A VW van pulled up to and parked at the curb, and Neji, TenTen, and Lee spilled from it, strolling up to the group already waiting. Lee hopped up beside his girlfriend, draping an arm over her shoulders. Neji came to Hinata's side, settling a lingering kiss on her lips.

"Come on, lovers." Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji ran up, accompanied by Kankurou, Temari, and Gaara. "We've got about nine hours of sunlight and an hour drive to the beach. Let's go! You can make out all you want when we get there." With that statement, Ino's company split up – Shikamaru and Temari climbed into the backseat of Neji's car, followed by Kankurou and Chouji. Ino and Gaara squeezed in with Sakura and Lee in the back of Sasuke's, TenTen nudging in next to Naruto in the front.

"I still can't believe you drive a hippy van, Neji." Kiba scoffed, following Shino into it.

Neji laced his fingers with Hinata's, leading her to the passenger's side and opening the door for her. "At least I drive at all. And if my car smells like your stupid dog, I'll kill you."

Hinata laughed, climbing in and closing the door. "I'm surprised Akamaru's not with you, Kiba-kun."

He shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "Eh, you know. I figured this stick-in-the-mud wouldn't be cool with him."

Neji buckled his seatbelt, glaring at him in the rearview mirror. "Watch it, dog-boy, I'll put you out."

"Yo!" Ino was yelling again. "Let's get going!"

Sasuke pushed his car into reverse, backed out, and put it in drive, sending it skidding down the street. Neji rolled his eyes, pulling out behind him. "What a show-off."

"Oy, get the hell off my sister!" came a shout from the back.

"Kankurou, shut the fuck up!" Temari shouted back.

Kiba snickered and Hinata smiled, rolling down her window. They paused at a red light, and Neji pulled her across the armrests for a kiss. She held his lips against her own for as long as she was allowed, until Kiba yelled, "Hey, the light's green!"

Hinata laughed, settling back in her seat, enjoying the breeze on her face, Neji's hand in hers as he drove. "You know something, Neji-nii-san?" she whispered.

"Yeah?" he smiled fondly at her for a moment, running his thumb across the back of her hand, before turning his eyes back to the road.

She cast her head around, looking back at the friends behind her – all of whom were involved in a collective playful bickering – and forward at the friends in the car ahead of them – who were all thrashing around in a wild seat-dance to some rock song – except for Sasuke who was scowling and trying to ignore Naruto, who was pressing suggestively against him, so he could concentrate on driving. She grinned, savoring the company of them all. "I think everything's going to be okay now."

"Why do you say that?" His eyebrow lifted at the crazy kids in the convertible, wondering vaguely what the old ladies in the car beside them were thinking.

Hinata pressed her lips to his jaw, pulling his attention back to her. "Because I love you." She said softly, nipping his neck lightly, then she leaned out the window, cupping her hands around her mouth. "And I love all you motherfuckers!"

She laughed as fourteen voices lifted in cheering agreement.

Fin.