Final Chapter

Celebration

For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
~T.S. Eliot

Sakura curled her arms around her knees and pulled them to her chest. She was on the floor, warm and cozy. Outside, snow was piling on the windowsill white the world was still covered in darkness with bright streetlights twinkling everywhere. She was in her room, her own cozy nook, with Naruto, still unconscious and lying on her bed and Sasuke sitting on her study chair. Silence hung above in the air awkwardly.

For as long as she could remember, she knew that she had lived on this apartment, 26th floor, far right from the elevator. Her parents were always kind to her, sending her to the most prestigious schools in the city and taking her to travel around the world with them. They treated her like their little princess and gave her many presents and sweets. But no matter what, she could never feel the real parental love from them, no matter how much she begged and asked for it.

It all came clear to her.

"I messed up time real bad," she whispered as she kept her eyes to the ground. Sasuke's ears perked in interest, though he still had his eyes closed as if he was sleeping. "I'm Haruno Sakura from a village called Konoha, not a city named Tokyo. The real Haruno Sakura of Tokyo should exist here with my parents, sleeping in this room and hanging out with friends for Christmas in the afternoon. Because of me, my parents in this world never had any children…"

"Just shut up and sleep," Sasuke cut in. "You're mumbling."

"Sasuke-kun…"

"I'm going out to get some air," he said, and quietly left her room.

Her room felt never more so empty in her life. She stared at Naruto, still unconscious, and yet seemed so peaceful. She crawled over to him, sat beside the bed on the floor, and carefully touched his cheeks with whisker marks. She had already treated his wound that Sasuke had inflicted upon, and it was healing rather fast. She sighed in relief. Naruto was safe. He was alive with her.

"Naruto," she said. Just then, his hand grabbed her caressing, gentle hands. She gasped, and saw Naruto's eyes slightly open.

"Sakura-chan," he said weakly. "Where am I?"

"In my room, and don't worry – you're safe," she smiled. He smiled back, though it was faint.

"That's good…."

"Sasuke-kun's here too, you know,"

"What, that bastard?" Naruto feebly got up, and Sakura assisted him a little.

"Don't sweat it. He won't fight you anymore. It's all over now, though there's still Madara we have to worry about," she told him. Naruto nodded, but groaned in pain as he held his right arm.

"Ugh, you idiot," she said as she pushed him back down on her bed. "Just stay there until you fully recover, okay?"

He held her hand closer to his chest.

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan. I'll in tip-top shape in no time!"

"Ugh, cocky as ever," she said with a hint of smile rising. He grinned back, and she was sure that her heart started to beat a little faster. He was now carefully staring at her, giving her all his focus and gentleness. She wanted to kiss him so badly….

"Uh, how's your arm?" she switched the topic, and he twisted his eyes. He was so close on making progress….

"Fine," he muttered.

"Say, Naruto… do you want to go back home?"

He looked at her right in her eyes with firmness and strength. "Yeah, of course I do. That's where I was originally from, Sakura-chan."

Me too, she wanted to say. Me too….

"Take me with you, Naruto."

"But Sakura-chan, you just got home. Why would you want to go back to Konoha with me?" he asked, surprised from her odd reaction. He was a little cautious, thinking if this was a trap set up by Sasuke. After all, Sakura went through many ordeals just to come back home, and here she was, wanting to go back to Konoha with him.

"Don't worry, Naruto," she smiled at him genuinely. "I'm never surer in my life that I want to go back with you, to be with you... So please let me go."

He was still in daze, wondering why all of the sudden she would be like this. Still, he nodded with overwhelming happiness mounting in his heart. Smiles bloomed on their faces, and he kissed her forehead.

"I'll be right back and bring some ointment for your arms," she said, and walked out of the room.

She took the last tour around her flat. As she went down the hallway, she carefully peered through the frames, staring at her mom and dad's faces. All those family photos that had mounted on the walls now would remain as precious memories to her. She took the last look around the living room, full of her photos at school, summer vacations in Europe, and all her small, frivolous crafts that she made when she was in elementary school. Tears began to roll from her eyes from the thought of leaving her home, everything she knew to a place where she originally came from.

She wiped her tears away and went into the bathroom to find some medicine in the cabinet. She saw a rolled up newspaper sitting at the edge of the tub. Her father always loved to read newspapers in the bathroom early in the morning. She sighed, wishing that he would get rid of that nasty habit, but wanting to treasure that piece of memory as well in her heart. She collected the ointment, but just before she left, she decided to read the rolled newspaper, the headlines of this world just one last time. She unfolded the paper, and saw the front cover read: Christmas – time of joy, celebration, and grief. It's the 10th anniversary of the Iruka Academy Bus Accident.

'That's my old elementary school,' Sakura thought and further pursued reading the news. She read in her mind, and the black letters embedded in the paper rang loud and clear in her heart.

"While travelling back home from their field trip on Christmas day, the Academy bus containing twenty-four children inside all tragically passed away with the bus driver as it slid off the slippery curves of Kappa road. Here are their names and faces to commemorate in respect of their parents…"

Only two names and faces stood out to her. They were both ten years old and had bright, adorable, eager little faces beaming out despite the black-and-whiteness of the photo. Their names were Namikaze Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. One boy's last name was different and had no whisker marks on both sides of his cheeks, but they still presented the similar features to the ones that she knew. She sighed heavily in grief, dropped the paper down on the tiles, and walked back to her room to see the injured boy.

After he was asleep, Sakura decided to go out to the balcony just for the last time. When she got there, she saw Sasuke sitting on the edge of the metal bars dangerously.

"Are you sure that you won't fall?" Sakura said as she leaned against the bars beside him. He answered back with a "Tch," and kept his focus out in the beautiful city.

"The sun will rise soon," he told her. "And you decided to go with him, didn't you?"

Sakura nodded. "I have to protect him against Mardara. I have the time travelling power to shield him in case something goes wrong, remember?"

Sasuke took a tentative look at her. "You only tell half the truth, Sakura. Why lie, when you're actually in love with that idiot?"

Sakura quickly turned back, feeling her cheeks burn despite the cold. "I-I am not!"

"Keep talking," he said.

The cold winter wind silenced them both, and Sakura bent her head down to stare at the ground far apart from her. Her lips were curling up, visible by Sasuke. I gave you my heart last year, and you just threw it away… but somehow, now I'm okay. You're not there anymore in here.

"The portal won't open again until next week. That's how Madara's powers work," Sasuke said.

"Huh? Then how will we go back?!"

Sasuke dug deep in his pocket and pulled out a few more chakra crystals, which were now pitch black. "Madara gave me more than just one, just for show. When we were in the core of his body, these crystals sensed him and absorbed a bit of his chakra. If I go out to that exact spot where we landed and hold the crystals out, Madara will surely reopen his portal again because his chakra will call for him with me."

"Ehh? But Sasuke-kun, that means you'll be the bait? But what happens afterwards?"

"I will strike the central core of his space-time jutsu while letting him take over me," he answered.

"Sasuke-kun, you can't do that!" Sakura shouted. "You can't die! Sasuke-kun, Naruto can destroy the portal using Rasenshuriken, so please don't do this!"

"You really think that will destroy Madara completely? It would, but then Madara would regenerate over and over again. The core where his space-time jutsu is performed must be destroyed before the Rasenshuriken could happen," Sasuke explained. Tears began to well up in Sakura's eyes. He turned back to her, and it was the first time that he ever had such a gentle look upon his face.

"Be happy, Sakura, with Naruto," he said. "Heh, you're so annoying."

Just then, the glass door of the balcony slid open, and Naruto stepped in.

"Sasuke," he glared at the calm jet-black haired boy.

"Naruto…," Sakura began to wipe the tears away from her eyes.

"Right, we should get going now to that place near the central clock tower to find the portal,"

"Uh huh," Sakura nodded sadly. Naruto furrowed his brows, knowing that something was up by instinct, but not exactly being sure.

"Alright, up we go!" Naruto carried Sakura princess-style and jumped off of the balcony.

"Kyyaaa!!! What the heck are you doing you idiot!!!!" Sakura screamed for her life as she began to pound on his chest.

"Ow, ow, just hold on, Sakura-chan and stop punching me!" Naruto shouted back, facing the current of the cold winter wind. He landed safely on a roof, and leaped to another, picking up his pace. Sasuke soon followed them, muttering curse words to the idiotic couple.

The snowflakes were falling again, one by one again on that Christmas morning….

The convenience store near the clock tower was always open 24/7, due to the fact that the owner changed just a few months ago. Sakura picked out a cup of tea and blew away the steam to let it cool a little.

"So here we are, but there's no portal anywhere," Naruto said, looking around the empty park. It was nearly four in the morning, so the central clock tower told them through its four consecutive rings.

Sasuke pushed Sakura aside and dug deep into his pocket. Then he pulled out the black chakra crystals and held them high in the air.

For a minute, nothing happened, and then suddenly, the bright pillar of light thrashed down on to him and slowly started to lift him away.

"Sasuke-kun!!"

"Sasuke, what are you doing?!"

Finally, for the first time, Sakura witnessed a gentle smile spreading on Sasuke's face.

Though he didn't make a sound, they could both read his lips. "Be happy…"

"Sasuke!!" Naruto shouted, but soon, he vanished away in the light.

Sakura wept in silence, trying to hide her tears while Naruto stared at the blinding light still descending from the sky. Naruto knew by feeling that it would be the last time to see his rival, his friend.

"Come on, Sakura-chan, it's time for us to go back too," he said, holding Sakura by her waist. Slowly, they moved into the light.

"Do you think we'll get there?" she asked him giving him a sip of her tea. He drank it, and grinned whole-heartedly.

"I think we can go anywhere if Sakura-chan's by my side," he answered her back.

The beautiful snowflakes were dancing around them, fluttering freely against the raging wind of December. She slowly inched toward his lips, locking it with hers. He was a little caught by surprise at first for her being so bold, but later returned the kiss back. He held his right hand up toward the sky, and cool air seeped into his hands, forming the blue sphere with additional four sharp blades spinning at the side.

'Hold onto me tightly… I don't want to lose you. That's my only wish,' she thought as they were pulled up to the sky with the pillar of light. After she parted away from his lips, she smiled and he did too, and they both went back to Konoha with hopes held high in their chest for another adventure, for another new beginning….

The sparkling slowflakes which had just landed on the ground were also lifted away together with the light. Sakura and Naruto watched this magic happen around them, each holding a wish for each other, each wanting nothing but best for the future which waited for them back home.

"You see, we time travelers know most of things, but won't tell. We know the outcome, but we won't say. What fun is that in life if someone told everything about your future, your dreams? Wait for time to come to you, Sakura, and then you will know everything," Tsunade smiled as she saw the clouds gather at the center of the village with the pillar of light descending down. She was watching them over at her office, with a woman with short, shaggy ebony hair carrying a tiny pig named Ton-ton.

"Tsunade-sama, how did you know that they'd defeat Madara?" her assistant Shizune asked.

She turned to her. "That, I didn't."

"Eh?! Then how did you…"

"I have my full confidence in them," Tsunade replied with a wink, and watched the two couples land on the grounds of Konoha. "Like I said, I only know most of things, not everything."

The villagers stared at the couple in shock, wondering how possible that was. Snow which never came to Konoha was falling lightly upon their heads. Sakura stared at the blue sky with the tunnel of light slowly dissapate away along with the wisps of clouds gathered around before them. She held her hand out and gave a bittersweet smile to the heaven above. Snow, the last gift which Tokyo would ever give her for her new life with Naruto...

"Na-Naruto, you're back," an old woman said, rubbing her eyes in disbelief.

Naruto and Sakura grinned and gazed into each others' eyes, as if they held a deep secret that they shared, heart to heart.

"No time to waste now," he said. "We've got a wedding to celebrate today!"

The villagers all awkwardly stared at each other, until one by one they started to realize. They clapped and cheered, congratulating their union and boys elbowed Naruto for snagging such a beautiful woman.

Another happy new year.

A/N: So the chapter finally ended. I hope you enjoyed it (as this story did make me stay up all night to work on). R&R please or I'll hunt you down... 'I know what you did last summer' style!!! :)

Now that I think about it, maybe I should've put chapter 3 and 4 together, but maybe it's better this way. I'll keep thinking about it.

I have to apologize for not continuing my other stories too. I'm kind of uncertain for two things. One is that I have school, and I'm super busy with all the activities and work that I have to do (I'm pretty much involved and have lots of practices to do). Two: I want to edit it, but I feel kind of afraid to do a touch up and then continue, or it might mess up the whole plot. I will try to continue the stories. I think "Death Wish" is definately going to continue, so stay tuned for it!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!