I hope that you enjoy this final chapter. :)

Combos, Family and No Regrets

A bolt of lightning struck the writhing black mass.

"Damn this bastard!" Naruto swore, cloaking in burning orange Chakra. "Using people's life force to increase his own power!"

"He's like Akatsuki's Kakuzu, but less stable." Sai noted, "He can't control what he's absorbed."

"Naruto, are there any remnants of a human in there?" Ami asked, raising a shield to protect herself and Sai from an overhead blow.

"No." he confirmed, probing with Sage Chakra, "His Chakra patterns are completely corrupted."

The black pile of tar-like goop began to violently bubble and undulate.

Sensing what was coming with Sharingan, Sasuke barked an order of retreat.

There were no arguments. Less than a second later, thick, black limbs that consisted of tentacles, malformed arms, and sickening hybrids of the two came rocketing from the sides of the sludge.

Hidden behind the thick forest trees, Team Seven gathered.

"Sakura, you're leading this mission. What are your orders?" Sasuke asked.

The medic thought a moment. "Naruto, has it any consciousness at all?"

The blond shook his head. "No. It's just a big ball of instinct to consume anything alive."

"Then our Genjutsu abilities are useless against it, even in combination." Sakura muttered, meeting Sasuke's eyes.

"Pity." Sai bemoaned, eyeing the slow-moving ooze skulking aimlessly about the trees in a random pattern. "A Moonflower Genjutsu combo would have been a good way to hold its attention until we figured out how to handle this."

"It's no good worrying about that now." Sakura said.

"It didn't like the lightning." Naruto offered.

"Yes, and we can use that." she agreed, "We'll use physical attacks. Sasuke-kun, you knew that the blob was going to attack, do you think that you can reliably predict its movements?"

"Not sure, but I'll definitely have the best chance and reaction speed, anyway." he answered.

"Then I think a combo or two will help." she said, glancing over at the blob, and then beyond it towards a clearing. "Sai, Naruto, help me chase it into that gap in the trees up ahead. After that, Cloak Moondance, and they'll hit the blob with a Skyspinner. If ineffective, Ami will Dome it, and we'll regroup. Are we all clear?"

Everyone nodded.

With fifteen years of cooperation since they had reunited in a warzone, they knew their team's code words well.

To indicate those involved in the techniques, there were codes for various groups made by combining each member's personal words. Naruto was 'Sun'. Sakura was 'Flower'. Sasuke was 'Moon'. Ami was 'Dance'. Sai prefixed everyone as 'Painted'. These representations were used in combination for easy recollection, with a select few group names being altered for easier use. For example; Naruto and Sakura were 'Summer', Naruto and Sasuke were 'Eclipse', and Sai and Ami were 'Watercolour'.

The entire team was simply referred to as 'Seven'.

Naruto passed Sasuke and Ami, and the pair were instantly enveloped in orange Chakra.

"Painted Summer, Sky Toss!" Sakura ordered, the relevant teammates jumping into action while Ami and Sasuke moved on ahead.

Sai painted a gigantic, blind, furry creature. A mole. The masterpiece burst from its page and into the earth with claws of epic proportions. It tunneled through the earth around the enemy's base like soft butter.

Meanwhile, twenty Narutos struck the blob with a barrage of physical attacks, keeping it in place. Its job finished, the monstrous mammal resurfaced.

Sakura took a running jump and aiming just so, struck the earth outside of the slice with her fist. The sheer force of the impact thrust the loose piece of ground, together with the blob, skyward. Sakura burst into a run, and with a massive leap and a powerful kick, the blob and its clod were hurled to the desired location.

Ami and Sasuke joined hands, spinning once. With that much contact, they were already in sync.

Ami made a thin plate of ice that was a metre in diameter. Sasuke boarded it and was instantly propelled at least a hundred metres high into the sky through a combination of Ami's push and his own Chakra-fueled leap.

The Uchiha was airborne. The ice-user immediately made a sealed dome around herself with enough room to easily dance inside, setting herself close by the blob monster's base, though kept out of reach of its siphoning abilities.

Just reaching the height of his rise, Sasuke drew his sword.

Ami made a seal and instantly fabricated no less than a hundred barely-frosted, practically clear plates of ice from the mere moisture in the air. These plates, each one the size of a dinner plate, circled the enemy at all angles in various directions at various speeds.

Sasuke began to fall, aiming Permafrost at the hideous mess below. The steel in his hand blazed with blue electricity, chirping madly. The Uchiha slipped effortlessly through a perfectly-timed gap in the otherwise impenetrable prison of ice projectiles.

His weapon sank up to the hilt into the foul entity's peak. The mass expelled an unholy keen of outrage.

Before the black ooze had a chance to react to him, Sasuke turned his scarlet eyes onto a colourless plate a ways off and teleported to its location, leaving a single crystalline disc to be swatted in his place. The Uchiha leaped from one plate to another, bounding about the corrupted being in a matrix barely visible to anyone but himself and the woman generating it. When needed, he would teleport through space, his Chakra sustained by the cloak that Naruto granted him. However, merely jumping from circle to circle in order to slash at the enemy while avoiding attack was usually more than enough.

The blob became more and more agitated with each stroke, and was now vibrating violently, exploding with flailing appendages at exponentially increasing frequencies.

A hideous screech like metal on ceramic ripped out from somewhere within the offense against nature. Being right next to it, Ami found the noise deafening even inside of her dome. The tar-like pile began to smoke.

Sensing that a cataclysmic end was fast approaching, Sasuke generated Susanoo from the waist up to protect himself and the other teammates against further noise and fallout.

Ami dropped her plates, clasping her hands over her ears and writhing involuntarily at the pain, unable to conjure the thought to do anything else.

Realising her vulnerability, Sasuke grabbed her enclosed dome in one of Susanoo's massive fists, and pulled her from the situation.

The Konno could neither hear nor sit up straight. She made her shell of ice fall away. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura all appeared to be shouting, but unable to hear one another. Everyone seemed to be temporarily deafened. Sai was slumped over in discomfort, bleeding from one ear, which had been facing the entity right before its outburst. Sasuke was bleeding from both.

Beneath them, the heap of filth that had once been a human was in its death throes. It twisted, wriggled and flailed, before finally collapsing like a burst water balloon.

Having been the people least exposed, Sakura and Naruto seemed to have mostly gathered themselves.

Sakura shuffled over on her hands and knees to Sasuke and Sai, and placed a hand on each of their heads, mending their eardrums in just a few seconds. Sasuke released Susanoo gently, and the team sank slowly to rest on the forest floor.

Naruto, who had been the most protected of anyone, stood up on shaky legs. He seemed to be saying something to Ami, who was too dazed to follow a word. He and Sakura touched their hands to Ami's face.

By now, their hearing started to recover.

"Sai... nee... eal... ha... thing." one of the girls was saying.

"Wha...i...ou...sa...?" came the aforementioned boy's confused voice.

"I ...aid..." Sakura began again, "Sai needs to seal that thing."

"Oh, that makes sense." Naruto said.

"I'll... get right on that." Sai said, making his way over to the fallen blob. He pulled the medium-sized scroll from his hips and began to paint the appropriate pattern. Making a seal, the black pile of ooze vanished, reappearing on the paper in a bottle clutched by the fist of a ferocious giant. Sai rolled up the paper, and placed it back onto his back. A black puddle of ink remained on the forest floor, now all that was left of Sai's earlier creation.

"It's the third time in as many months that we've had to stop something like this." Sai noted, sighing heavily.

"These people are definitely being inspired by Orochimaru's work." said Sasuke, "But what's troubling is how similar they are to things that I've seen in the past and each other. They seem to be using a slightly altered technique to that of Orochimaru's previous experiments to gain new powers. It's work that he abandoned for being too unstable and unpredictable, though."

"Orochimaru's hideouts are still being discovered, even though he's been dead for half a decade." Sakura said. "Karin, Suigetsu, Juugo and Sasuke-kun only know so much."

Naruto and Ami met each other's eyes, looking abashed.

"Sorry..." Naruto mumbled shamefully.

"We can't apologise enough." Ami agreed.

Sakura sighed. "We get it guys, stop beating yourselves up."

"We've been over this." Sasuke agreed, "There's no guarantee that he would have talked anyway."

"At least you were able to finish the fight." Sai agreed.

"But maybe Ino could have-!" Naruto began.

"Naruto." said Sakura, "Ami. There's no use in thinking about it now. Let's just do the best that we can with what we have."

"... Okay." the Uzumaki sighed, Ami nodding solemnly beside him.

"...Maybe they're working with incomplete notes?" Sai suggested.

"Maybe so. But where they're getting any notes at all is the question." Sakura said.

"Black market?" Sasuke suggested.

Sai pulled out a map, marking their current location in red ink. The third location for such attacks that they knew of. He spread out the map for everyone to look at.

Ami pointed at a town near the centre of the three Xs. "This place has a big black market community. It's usually stuff like art forgeries and stolen petty goods, rather than really dangerous stuff, so it's been left on a back burner."

"But if Orochimaru's notes are there..." Naruto mumbled.

"Then it could be worth a look." Sasuke said.

"And possibly even a source of information." Ami noted.

"Then it's settled." Sakura said, "Let's get this info back to the village so that Naruto can sign off on the mission officially."

With that, the group headed back swiftly to Konoha.

Re-entering the gates was always a proud moment.

One of Naruto's clones could be seen in a local restaurant at a table for twenty, dining with some of the children from the Keijousai orphanage, as well as Iruka. Two ANBU accompanied the group as added protection.

The blond spotted himself and his teammates coming in and waved happily, fried chicken gripped between his teeth. The orphans followed suit, some actually jumping up and hugging the other Naruto, Sasuke and Ami as they drew nearer.

"Did it go okay?" the Naruto at the table asked, offering fried chicken to Sakura.

"That's confidential." Ami chided, stroking a young boy's head.

Sasuke lifted a young girl into his arms, swaying and rocking her. "We made progress. We can say that much."

"Speaking of which, we need to talk to the you in the office about that. Is he in?" Sakura asked.

'Should be." Naruto said, opening a little boy's mayonnaise packet for him before gently handing it back. "There you go..."

"Great." Naruto grinned. "We'll see me there."

Upon arrival at the office, Naruto cheerily greeted the him in the chair, who had been leafing through papers and chatting with Shikamaru about various things.

The clone was relieved, and instantly dispelled himself while Shikamaru was mid-sentence.

"You're a pain in the ass." came his irritated advisor's greeting.

Naruto grimaced as his clone's memories flooded him. "Oh my god, that paperwork was boring. Useful, but so boring. Thanks for helping me, Shikamaru."

"I look forward to my paternity leave." the Nara answered frankly.

"Congrats again to you and Temari." Sai smiled.

"Yeah, thanks. I just hope it's only one kid. More than that would be way too much effort."

"Hey, what's the attitude for?" Ami asked, half-annoyed and half-concerned.

Shikamaru waved her off lazily. "Don't get me wrong, I look forward to it. We just can't all handle two hundred kids running around our house."

"The house and the orphanage are separate these days." Sasuke frowned.

"Still, how do you do it?" he shrugged.

"We have fifteen different staff members looking out for them at all times, and the kids are really good." Ami said, frowning at him.

"Still..." Shikamaru muttered.

Sasuke's eyes glinted. "Are you insulting us?"

Naruto decided to step in. "Hey, families come in all shapes and sizes, right? There's nothing wrong with that! Sakura-chan and I had our two boys, and we're happy."

Shikamaru took the hint. "Exactly, it's not a bad thing!" he said hurriedly. "We're just really different, right? I took forever to get married and a become a parent, you guys didn't!"

"It's not like we were teenagers." Sasuke glared.

"Sasuke, it's okay. Leave it." Ami said.

"But-"

"Would you rather that we had lived our lives any other way?" she asked.

"I have no regrets." he answered immediately.

"Then that's all we need." the Konno smiled.

Sasuke considered this, then nodded in agreement. "You're right." he smiled.

Shikamaru internally sighed with relief at the ice-user's ability of soothing her husband's wrath. 'She's so much calmer than she used to be... Will Temari be like that after becoming a mother too?'

Meanwhile, Sai minded his own business and laid out the map.

Ami leaned over it. "Now, let's get down to business and make further plans on how to destroy all that remains of the asshole that got crushed into paste at the bottom of the ocean by Naruto and I for kidnapping Sasuke and being generally fucked up in a multitude of ways."

The shadow ninja tried and failed to suppress a grimace. 'Never mind, I've never been so wrong. Mothers are always terrifying. I should know from my own.'

After hearing them out on the plan to investigate possible distribution of illegal materials (i.e. Orochimaru's research notes), Shikamaru helped the team gather the appropriate paperwork and a first draft for the mission plan was decided.

"We'll discuss this more once it's been further reviewed." Shikamaru said.

"Cheers, man!" Naruto beamed.

"Yeah, yeah..."

Sai checked the time. "I'm going to go. There's a sale on art supplies that started today. I'd like to go now before the best items sell out."

"Sakura-chan, how about we go on a date tomorrow?" Naruto asked, cuddling his wife close. "There's that new movie that you wanted to see, and those flower gardens that opened recently."

Sakura's eyes lit up in happiness. "I'd love that Naruto. But can we rain check it to Thursday? Aiko-chan and I are doing brain surgery tomorrow."

"Gotcha." the blonde beamed. "Just leave Shinachiku and Haru to me, okay? I'll have dinner for you when you get home. We might have a dinner guest, since I invited Karin over. The boys were missing their auntie."

Sakura smiled. "The more the merrier. Thanks. I'll leave it to you."

"What will you two do this evening?" Sai asked, turning to Sasuke and Ami.

"We have a meeting tomorrow, so we'll be preparing for that first." the ice user said.

"Shikamaru, we need to talk to you about that." Sasuke said.

"Got it."

"Also, why did you text a 'k' in response to my message yesterday? Did you not read it and accidentally reply by sitting on your phone?"

"What? No, it's just short for 'okay'."

Sasuke's brow furrowed. "...I wrote twenty lines of text to you and you not only responded with just 'okay', but you couldn't even be bothered to type that properly?"

Shikamaru stared at him. "...Pretty much." he deadpanned.

Sasuke looked at Shikamaru as though he had just eaten a bug off of the wall.

Shikamaru looked about as apologetic as a man who had thoroughly enjoyed this bug, but was considering having the next one with ketchup.

Naruto made a clone to replace him behind the desk before waving goodbye to the others, bringing Sai and Sakura with him.

Saying their farewells, this group left.

Shikamaru turned to Sasuke and Ami. "Are you two all set for the meeting tomorrow?"

"Yeah, it should be fine." Sasuke said, "We've prepared everything."

"Any particular plan on how to convince the feudal lords to go along with what you want?"

"The usual." Ami smiled.

Shikamaru nodded sagely.

'The usual' approach was undeniably effective.

"Ideally, we wouldn't need the feudal lord's permission at all, and he would only be a figurehead leader of Konoha." Sasuke noted.

Shikamaru hushed them at once. "Don't ever tell him that that's your end goal! You'll start a war!"

The Uchiha shrugged. "We'd win. Konoha is the main and strongest ninja village of the Country of Fire. Plus Ami and are are like an army each."

"But in all seriousness, we know not to annoy him." Ami smiled.

Sasuke followed up on this; "He just shouldn't be completely in charge of a community that he's completely detached from. A Hokage and a council of ninja understand the struggles that ninja face. A pampered feudal lord will never get it. Collaboration, yeah, but total control, no way. When we know that minors shouldn't be put on assassination missions, we shouldn't have to debate with a guy for two years to put laws in place to protect those kids."

Ami nodded. "Or that children of this village should be allowed more variety in their career options. They should have as much choice as the kids born in non-militarised villages. It's just common sense. Aiko didn't like being a ninja, wanted to be a doctor instead, and thankfully her Chunin-level study of medical Ninjutsu helped her get into that. But what about career paths that don't have backdoors yet? Starting your own business is doable, but what if you want to be an actor or an ecologist? If you fail the Genin exam you go back to the academy or drop out of school at twelve or thirteen years of age to do... what exactly? Rely on family to teach you something from the family business? Your family members that also failed and had to figure something out? At least to start off, low-risk part time ninja work while pursuing further education would be great."

"Okay, well, that's nice and all, but tomorrow's talk is on a different area altogether, so focus, yeah?" Shikamaru requested.

"Obviously." Sasuke and Ami replied in unison.

"...I get why Naruto appointed both of you as the heads of ninja welfare, but it's still super weird to watch."

"I can see that. There isn't usually two people in the same position." Sasuke nodded.

"...Yeah... That's it exactly..." the advisor nodded, not trusting himself to speak further.

"We make an excellent team." Ami smiled, bumping Sasuke's hips with her own.

Sasuke smiled smugly in response.

Shikamaru nodded. "But also, the surname difference makes your interactions really confusing for people who don't know you."

"If Ami took my name, then how would people know who she was?" Sasuke argued, "Everyone knows who 'Konoha's Konno Ami' is, but nobody would know who 'Uchiha Ami' was. This way it doesn't take meeting her to command respect."

Ami grinned. "It's still funny when misunderstandings happen, though. Like when that guy suggested to me; 'Hey, you and Sasuke should go on a date! You'd make a great couple!', and you overheard and replied; 'We're happily married with four children, but thanks for the advice.'"

Sasuke exhaled through his nose at the memory. "I didn't mean to do it when he was drinking hot tea."

"Liar. You timed it specifically for that." Ami answered, without a hint of displeasure.

"Alright, alright, moving swiftly on." Shikamaru said, not at all interested in watching them flirt.

An hour or so later, Ami and Sasuke left the government building. They spotted Hinata and Neji out on an evening walk, each holding the hand of a young girl with dark hair and the milky Hyuuga eyes. True to his word, Naruto had successfully solved the hierarchy issues within the clan, and no member had been branded in nearly a decade. Use of punishment by existing brands had also been outlawed.

Tsunade, Sora and Shizune were commonly seen together. Tsunade was drinking less these days, having found new joy in life with not only when her new hope and her final student made life together and made her the honorary grandma, but also with the progress clearly seen in the village that she used to govern over. Sora was pleased to see Ami succeed so ferociously where she herself had not in the area of returning a lost friend to their home, and had proudly declared herself the 'vodka aunt' of the Uchiha-Konno family. Shizune had gotten a high up position in the hospital and found a wonderful partner. Along with being another terrible influence on his six honorary nieces and nephews, Kakashi spent more time with Gai than ever these days, and was very much pleased with his choices.

As time had progressed, the building that had started off as a clan fortress before becoming an inn and then a dormitory, and then being rebuilt after Konoha's disaster, had now completely changed into a combined Konno training school and Konoha's orphanage while also being the home of Ami, Sasuke and their family.

The orphanage was doing well, with happy, well-minded residents and frequent adoptions.

Ami and Sasuke were well-loved by the children, always doing their best to make time for regular quality time with them. Their own children also bonded happily with the orphans. The couple were very protective of all of those under their roof.

And so, Kabuto was far less than welcome upon his arrival at Keijousai two days later.

The man was having difficulty breathing. Ami was showing no signs of relenting her death grip.

"Ami, we need to hear him out." Sasuke said, making doubly-sure that no children were watching this scene.

The Konno glared harder at Kabuto's reddening face, but less than two seconds passed before she dropped him to the ground in a choking, gasping heap.

"He is the reason that I'm still here and alive beside you." the raven said, hoping to soothe the wrath of his wife, who had far more ire for Kabuto than was perhaps reasonable.

"So are vaccines, but they never kidnapped you first." Ami snarled.

Sasuke placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, knowing well how effective this move from him was in soothing her. "I trust Itachi's ability to change his heart. And..."

Kabuto looked up at them with streaming, snakelike eyes.

"...he's our only remaining link to Orochimaru's past."

Ami's face did not soften, but the air around her grew a little less cold. "...You're right." she sighed. "Thank you, and I apologise."

Kabuto said nothing, well aware that none of Ami's words were directed at him.

He did not protest his immediately being enclosed in a bubble of ice, nor when they brought him to Naruto's office.

"Oh, holy crap. Hi Kabuto. It's been like... ten years since we last saw you?" the blond said.

Kabuto could read lips, and responded with a small wave and "Hello, Naruto...sama, I guess it would be now?"

Naruto could not read lips. He blinked in confusion. "...What'd he say?"

"Basically 'hi'." Ami explained shortly, glaring at the back of Kabuto's head.

Naruto was well aware of how abridged this was, but decided not to address it considering his trust in Ami's judgement. "...Let's call Sakura-chan and Sai." he said instead, picking up the communication device on his desk that he still couldn't fully understand, but successfully figuring out which way was up by following the sound of the noise it made before dialing.

"So you know where those people got that research?" Sai asked.

"An abandoned hideout approximately twenty kilometres east of where you were last fighting." Kabuto nodded. "I believe that I know the majority of Orochimaru's most secretive hideouts, and have been steadily destroying them since I heard of his death." He pulled a thick notebook out from his satchel, offering it up. "This is a full compilation of all of my notes."

Ami took it in a bubble of air, refusing to touch it directly or allow any of her teammates to do so. She didn't trust it to not contain anthrax or something similar.

"What did you do before then?" she asked suspiciously.

Kabuto met her gaze. "I had been helping street children. I took them in, taught them to cook and fight, and how to farm and make a living. But once I knew that Orochimaru was dead, I had a different way of being useful. Those children had grown up and were able to teach and look after others. They didn't need me anymore."

Ami turned the pages cautiously from outside the barrier.

The notes were truly comprehensive. If this was indeed accurate, then Kabuto had already completely destroyed far more hideouts than they had ever guessed to have existed and 75% of the overall amount were already in ruins.

"Due to technicalities and/or lacking manpower, I can't do any more of them alone." Kabuto said.

"Why didn't you ask for help sooner?" Ami glared, "Scavenging?"

Kabuto looked at her tiredly. He seemed aged beyond his years. "I wear the results of my past mistakes on my face, Yuki Onna. I have no such intentions anymore. I have cut my losses." He thought a moment, then shuddered. "The horrors of those places... of what I assisted... they're my greatest shame, and the worst of tragedies. Nobody should see so many destroyed lives... especially when they include so many lives of children."

The parents in the room all shuddered at the thought. Sai brought a hand to his mouth, feeling ill. He could only think of his youth in the ANBU ROOT training days.

"I'm delighted to see the progress with the village's childcare system." Kabuto said, particularly to Naruto, Sasuke and Ami, "I wish that I could have had the chance to contribute to that."

"Maybe after all of this, we could look into it?" Naruto suggested, aiming a smile at the Uchiha-Konno couple.

Sasuke looked annoyed. Ami looked as though her gaze could curdle milk.

Naruto promptly shut his face.

"Let us remain on the topic of the hideout destruction for now. Konno-san, please turn to page 286." Kabuto said. Once said page was visible, he began to point at various parts of it. "This is hideout 102. There is only one entrance. If the building is entered by any other way, then it will release an odourless, invisible cloud of noxious gas, which is a by-product of activities carried out in hideout 93. I believe that this gas is leaking from this damaged area in the southern end, and is an additional component in the physical symptoms of those corrupted individuals that you have encountered. The entire interior may be filled with these fumes-"

Kabuto took them through the entirety of the information that he possessed on the hideout, and then surrendered his notebook for copying. Kabuto was placed in a comfortable but secure cell under careful watch. Once Ino had probed his mind to confirm the truth of his words and story, the plans were approved. He was brought out on these missions, but under tight security. Konoha did not want to let such a valuable source of information be lost easily.

A plan was made up for the destruction of this facility, and following its success, the plans were drawn up for another. This pattern continued for some time. Many cases of stolen and scavenged notes and equipment was also recovered from various black markets. With Kabuto's expertise and assistance, they destroyed more than twice as many facilities in the space of two months than they had in a year by themselves.

Various techniques and combinations were useful in these demolitions. Watercolour combination sealings to contain some of the nastier findings were not uncommon. There were some places so corrupted that only the all-consuming black flames of Amaterasu could serve as fit.

Proving himself and his reform with each task and test, Ami's animosity towards Kabuto grew less and less with time. When they visited a building that turned out to still be inhabited, this change of heart was cemented.

The things that he had seen. The things that he had warned them about.

He hadn't cushioned any of it for them once it became apparent that they would be seeing such things for themselves. The sight, sound and smell of emaciated beings in a cold, dark place who had faced more traumas that most adults could even imagine. The feeling of desperate, freezing, skeletal hands on their skin. Trying not to pass out at the barrage of hellish sensations. Seeing his guilt, horror and absolute breakdown at being faced with what he had helped to create while being so cruelly moulded himself first-hand.

Finally, it was enough. Enough to fully convince her of his values.

Those fifteen or so god-forsaken children were taken away, cleaned, fed and rehabilitated. Their memories between being taken and fully recovered were wiped. Each child was returned to their respective families, placed into care if no such relatives existed, and carefully observed for any changes in mental, emotional and/or physical health.

Ami and Kabuto, the only two who had fully witnessed the discovery and rescue of these former prisoners, recorded all events in both written and video format. Following this, in order to retain their sanity, both requested and were granted permission to have the rescue's events wiped from their minds as well.

Ino was good at her job.

Kabuto had asked for the removal of a few events that he had witnessed in his time, though of course, not before carefully recording every detail that he possibly could.

Ami, as per her request, retained her memories of everything but those spine-chilling 34 minutes and 23 seconds. She retained her change of heart towards Kabuto. Everything else about the day was completely intact and untouched.

As the process involved the subject focusing on and picturing the event that they wished to forget, before Ino instantly scrambled and destroyed the memory being focused on, the process was safe for the practitioner, and was simply repeated until all unwanted memories had been rendered nonsensical, inaccessible, completely corroded and therefore, gone forever from their minds.

Once they had both completed this treatment, Ami promised Kabuto that she would look into a childcare position for him after all known hideouts were in ruins, if he still desired such work when that time came.

Kabuto was grateful for the chance.

Steel flashed in the sun. The ring of vibrating metal played in their ears.

Two sets of charcoal eyes set in pale faces stared each other down.

"Try that again." Sasuke instructed.

The girl's gaze burned into him.

She struck again, her blade swiftly deflected away from Sasuke's thigh. Another thrust, now at his stomach, and this time, she was disarmed.

The girl glowered as the tip of his blade rose to point at the base of her throat.

"You need to focus more on defence, Yumiko." he explained, lowering the blunted sword. "You're too eager to attack."

Yumiko pouted irritably, side-eyeing her fallen weapon.

"...You look angry." Sasuke noted. "Want to talk about it?"

"I'm not annoyed at you, Daddy. I'm annoyed at myself." Yumiko sighed.

Sasuke frowned at this, though he felt relieved that he wasn't the cause of his daughter's frustration. "You don't need to be annoyed at yourself."

"I know, but I still am." Yumiko huffed. "I hate being wrong. I hate making mistakes."

"...You might get that from me." Sasuke confessed. He thought for a moment. "...And maybe from your mother, too. You still need to try to break the habit. It's anti-productive."

Yumiko looked up at her father, mulling over his words. "...Okay." She picked up her blunt practise sword. "...Could you show me what you did again? More slowly this time? I still don't fully understand how it works."

Sasuke nodded. "Sure. But we'll need to wrap up and start dinner in ten minutes. Your mother is just about to start her classes."

Striding across the yard was Ami, with a water bottle in hand and the two youngest children, both aged six, following behind her in suit. The trio all smiled and waved at Sasuke and Yumiko, who smiled and waved back.

They were fraternal twins, both with blue eyes, and Konno clan abilities. Naoko, with wind, and Kouki, with water. Neither had Tsukunaimen, and both had average ranges of divination and control. Naoko, the shy, gentle twin had Ami's straight, dark brown hair and Sasuke's fair complexion. She was soft-spoken, fond of nature and music, and always polite. Kouki, the younger brother, was a confident, outspoken boy, with wild, black hair that stuck out in every possible direction and a skin tone somewhere in-between that of his parents. A smattering of freckles ran across his nose from so much time in the sun. They followed their mother like a short line of baby ducks.

Ami made a clone once they reached the two class groups, and each twin went with the appropriate group, joining the crowd of students.

Her uniform was the colour of the sky, a sleeveless hoodie with the Konno clan symbol blazing fiercely on her back in silvery-white thread. It was a sign of great honour, exclusive to those who were certified and approved masters of all three elements of the clan. Wearing it symbolised both the love for their clan and the pride and dedication for their training that these people showed. Just two other people wore this uniform. They danced by their teacher's side at the front of the class.

"Kouki's wearing my skirt again." Yumiko sighed in annoyance.

"We'll get it back."

"It's fine, he likes pink more than me anyway. Can I have a red one instead?"

"Sure. Let's get one together next time we're in town."

"Thank you. Also, Daddy, when will you start teaching me more fire techniques?" Yumiko asked.

"Tomorrow, if you like." was his immediate answer. "At least, if you can learn to avoid that disarming technique I just did."

Yumiko smiled. "I think I've got it now." she answered, "In my head at least."

"Then let's try again." Sasuke said, raising his sword again.

His daughter mirrored him.

Tatsuya slipped off his shoes upon entering the door. "I'm home!" he called out.

A loud meow answered him. A black cat looked up at the tanned boy with dark eyes.

"Hello, Baby." he said, picking her up and moving her onto his shoulder.

The feline's response was to wind around him, unimpeded by his straight, black hair tied back into a short, high ponytail.

"Tatsuya, welcome back!" Sasuke called. "How was practise with your teammates?"

"It went well." the boy smiled, entering the kitchen to find his father and younger sister cooking. "Can I help?"

"Yeah, could you stir this for a moment?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, father." Tatsuya transferred Baby to a cushion beside his nine year-old sister, then took over.

Yumiko held out a piece of carrot for Baby to sniff.

"Shinachiku is getting better and better at healing." Tatsuya announced proudly.

"Well, he couldn't ask for a better teacher than his mother." Sasuke replied.

"Shinachiku-kun's mom is so cool." Yumiko agreed. "But you prefer his dad, don't you, Daddy?"

"Well, Naruto and I are best friends, after all."

"What about Mom?" Yumiko chirruped.

"She's another kind of best friend."

"Can you have two best friends?" Yumiko probed.

"Of course." Sasuke answered. "You have two favourite colours, but you like them for different reasons, and you wouldn't give one up for the other, right?"

Yumiko considered this for a few seconds. "...I guess that makes sense."

Sasuke smiled as he worked. "Naruto and Ami are both precious teammates to me. I couldn't trade one for the other, ever."

"But Mom's the one you proposed to." Tatsuya said, nodding serenely.

"That's right, son." he grinned.

Sasuke's eyes softened at the memory of presenting Ami with their black cat wearing a blue ribbon, a ring at the feline's neck, as he expressed his wish to dance with her for the rest of his life.

All the battles that they had fought and won, all the sights that they had witnessed, all the times that they had spent together. They had taken down a god together. And yet this single, comparatively mundane event was their happiest moment together. And they had zero regrets about it.

Domestic peace was underrated, he decided.

"It was nice to see Gaara and Shukaku today." Naruto said, passing a slice of cake to Sakura, who tucked into it gratefully. "I hadn't seen them in a few months. Missed the guys."

Another slice was passed to Sai, then Naruto cut himself a piece as well.

The medic hummed delightedly around her forkful. "Sasuke, for someone who doesn't like sweets, you're very good at making them." she noted chirpily.

Sasuke pointed a thumb at Ami and said just two words. "Pregnancy cravings."

The Konno side-eyed him.

He met her gaze, then smirked teasingly.

The Konno shook her head at him, but couldn't keep herself from smiling. "You're lucky that I love you."

"...I know." He smiled lovingly at her.

Naruto frowned. "Guys, dial down the PDA. I'm losing my appetite over here."

"We're not being obscene." Sasuke protested mildly.

"No, but you literally have your hands in her hair right now." he frowned, "Can you not keep them to yourself?"

"It'll get greasy if you keep it up." Ami noted, though her hand was gently holding his face in return, and she seemed to be enjoying the ministrations.

"Don't worry, my love. I'll wash it for you later."

Naruto was about to open his mouth again when Baby appeared beside Sasuke, yowling jealously.

"The green-eyed monster has appeared." Ami grinned.

Sasuke picked up the feline and set her on his lap.

"...Thank god. She's the saviour of us all." Naruto muttered, shovelling a mouthful of cake into his face.

"Do you want your hair washed, Baby?" Ami teased.

"She's so weird, she'd probably enjoy it." Sasuke smirked.

Shinachiku, with his father's hair and grin and his mother's face and eyes, was running around outside with his brother, Sasuke and Ami's children, and several orphan children. Haru, Naruto and Sakura's youngest, was the spitting image of his mother. While Shinachiku shared his father's desire to lead the village and aimed to become a medical ninja like his mother, Haru was much more interested in honing his skills in Genjutsu and art.

"How much longer do you think it will take to destroy all of these hideouts?" Sai asked the group after swallowing another piece of cake.

"Who knows..." Naruto murmured.

"I'd say two years, with how many there are." Sasuke said.

"I think that's overambitious." Ami confessed. "If they were regular buildings, then sure. But we don't know how many are booby-trapped or how long it might take to properly dispose of everything."

"I burn it all to the ground. Easy. Thirty minutes to do the job." Sasuke replied.

"Only if Naruto's Sage mode doesn't detect signs of life inside." Ami noted.

"Plus, the research notes need to be studied in case there are things from those places hidden, escaped or roaming elsewhere." Sakura said.

"...That's true..." Sasuke admitted regretfully. "My first instinct upon seeing those places is 'destroy'."

"It's a difficult task that we're faced with." Sai mused, "They're grim sites. But I'm sure that we'll be able to complete it in good time. Especially now that we have Kabuto-san's help. Perhaps we should consider what to do after we've destroyed them all?" He smiled wryly. "Maybe we'll be out of work."

"Well, there's always going to be crime and fighting, even in times of peace." Ami said, "Half of our current work is that kind of miscellaneous stuff. But in the hypothetical case that there was no more fighting..."

Sakura chuckled. "Well, in that kind of situation... I don't think that medicine will go out of fashion anytime soon. Naruto will always have new things to try to fix and improve, especially with the dream team-" she gestured to Sasuke and Ami, "-always coming up with new ways to harass authority figures to get a better deal for the rest of us."

The Uchiha-Konno couple high-fived at the back-handed compliment.

"...I've been considering child therapy." Sai admitted sheepishly. "I thought that I might be good at it, considering my past experiences and study of psychology..."

The others blinked in surprise.

"Whoa! Sai that sounds like a great idea!" Naruto beamed exuberantly.

"You should totally go for it!" Sakura agreed.

"I can think of at least a dozen people our age of the top of my head who would have benefited from that kind of care as children." Sasuke said.

"Best of luck with it!" Ami grinned, "You're always welcome to observe or interact with the kids here."

Sai released his breath in relief, his cheeks lightly flushed. "Thank you all. I'm glad to have your support."

"We're glad to provide it." Sakura smiled.

Kouki trotted in the door and looked up at his father expectantly with large, blue eyes.

Sasuke checked the time. "It's only a ten minute walk. And we have twenty. Wanna grab your bag?"

Kouki grinned widely, his face barely reaching above the table. "Yes!" he said, absolutely relishing the word and then hammering his way up the stairs.

Naruto listened to the din idly. "Making noises like that, you wouldn't think that he was doing ballet."

"He's very graceful when he wants to be." Sasuke noted.

"Isn't ballet quite hard on the body?" Sai asked. "How will it combine with his ninja training?"

"He'll be fine so long as he pursues contemporary ballet rather than traditional pointe." Sasuke said, "We looked into it all before letting him sign up and we made sure that he understands the importance of the choice. And we'll keep an eye on his weight to make sure that he doesn't get too thin. He said that he wants to be able to fight properly too, so it should be fine. Plus he was freaked out when we told him that en pointe can make toenails fall off."

Naruto made a face, relieved that he had long finished his cake. "What a gross lie. Sakura-chan, isn't that gross?"

"I do surgery. My stomach is stronger than yours." the medic shrugged.

"Oh, that's true. Anyway, you guys are mean!"

"Naruto, it's true." Sasuke blanked.

"That you guys are mean?"

"The toenail thing." Ami corrected.

"Are we talking about ballet dancers?" Kouki asked, suddenly beside them.

Naruto jumped in surprise.

"Told you he's light on his feet." Sasuke said.

Kouki did a little bow in appreciation. "Why thank you, father. And yes, Naruto-ojisan, my ballet teacher has pretty messed up feet. You would not like to see them. She's a beautiful dancer, though!"

Naruto simply nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"C'mon son." Sasuke said, standing up. "Let's get you to ballet."

The little boy whooped excitedly, bouncing out the door after his father.

Naruto not so subtly started to lean back in his chair to try to look at Ami's feet.

"...Are you trying to see if my feet are fucked up?" Ami asked.

He straightened immediately, defensive. "No." he said, far too quickly.

"...Naruto, I wear sandals." the brunette smirked, cocking an eyebrow at him. "We've been teammates for years. If I had feet like a ballet dancer, you would have noticed by now."

"...So, Kouki likes ballet..." Sai mused.

"He only signed up a few weeks ago, but it seems so, yes." Ami nodded.

"What does Naoko like?" he asked.

"She plays a couple of instruments. And she seems to like singing."

"Oh, that's interesting." Sakura remarked curiously, "She seems so quiet."

"She's not fond of performing, even for family. But she'll play in private all day if you let her. Listen."

The group was silent for a moment, and heard the faint sound of a flute from upstairs.

After a few seconds, Naruto spoke quietly; "The twins really did take after you."

"I suppose so. Yumiko can sing, but she's more into fighting." the Konno smiled, "Meanwhile Tatsuya is Sasuke's child through and through, from the fighting to the cooking to the personality."

Sasuke stepped back into the room, but they had never heard the front door open or close.

"Did you forget something?" Sai asked.

"No. I just felt like traveling with Shunshin." he answered. "I could see inside through the window, so I used it to arrive indoors."

"Baby hates it." Ami snickered.

The cat had been asleep in her bed, but was now staring with a mixture of affront and confusion at the suddenly present man.

Sasuke patted her head as he passed by. "Kouki and I ran into the guy in charge of education."

"Oh?" Ami asked.

"We need to stop discussing business where the children are present."

Ami quirked a brow in question.

"Kouki quoted you. 'My mommy says that you're out of touch with the actual state of affairs'."

Ami bit her lip and averted her eyes in embarrassment.

"He's got a good memory." Sasuke chuckled, "I had déjà vu. It made me think of when we were children and Aiko quoted you to me. She asked: 'Are you the asshole?'"

Ami buried her face in her hands, mortified. "Oh my god. I'd almost forgotten about that."

"He must get his memory from me, then." the Uchiha teased.

"If you're going to start flirting again, then please get a room." Naruto complained.

"We live here. We've got a whole house." Sasuke shrugged.

Naruto made a face.

Later on, Kouki had finished his class, and Naruto Sakura and Sai said their goodbyes. Sasuke picked the boy up and brought him home.

Kouki had apparently been involved in a small disagreement. According to the story, it had started when a girl had made a jab about his father.

'I hear that your father used to be a thug.' she had sneered quietly as they moved in step.

'And I see that you dance like a drunken baboon.' Kouki had retorted in an equally hushed tone.

'I bet that he beats your mom.'

'Anyone who beat my mom would have their legs broken off and shoved up their ass. Maybe if you spent less time trying to be snotty you'd be more creative. Or even slightly less stupid.'

The girl had scowled, spitting: 'Why's your weird sister so quiet all the time?'

Kouki was having none of it. 'Naoko likes to listen. Why are you so damn loud?'

"He gets it from both of us." Sasuke sighed heavily.

"The sass, guts or grace with language?" Ami questioned.

"All three. In abundance. Meanwhile, Tatsuya is soft-spoken, but he's the type to hold a smile even while his blood boils under his skin. Naoko is shockingly frank when she's asked a direct question. Yumiko's ready to shoot arrows at whatever or whoever she disagrees with."

"I do need to talk to her about that again." Ami admitted. "She may have misinterpreted what the best way to tackle issues is on account of how often our fighting skills are praised."

"What will we do when they're teenagers...?"

Ami snorted. "Well, compared to us, they don't have a high bar. So comparatively, they'll probably be fine."

Sasuke side-eyed her, but there was no animosity in it. "...We both know you mean me."

"Because I was such a picnic?" Ami kissed his cheek in response. "I love your ambition and thirst for justice, babe. Again, sorry I tried to murder you."

He smirked at the display of affection, linking his pinkie with hers. "I'm over it. The attempt was weak, anyway. And now you're my partner in... well not crime, but.."

"Sometimes crime."

"Yeah, okay, sometimes crime."

"When the situation calls for it."

"And we keep each other in check on that, so it's fine."

"But usually, it's just you, me, and our justice-driven dick-moves."

"Occasionally aided by Naruto."

"Our trusty mascot."

The Uchiha blew air out his nose in a laugh. "He would not appreciate that title."

Ami winked cheekily.

"...But seriously, what can we do?" Sasuke asked. "Kouki shouldn't be hated because of me. Nobody should..."

"Sasuke." she said softly, "There will always be people who hate each other, even for no reason. All that we can try to do is encourage cooperation and steady change. And if we raise our kids right, then one day they'll be aiming for improvement of life in whatever way that they can as well. It's what the next generation is for. It's why Naruto is already teaching Konohamaru as much as he can."

"We can only do our best, I suppose." he huffed. "But progress feels too slow."

"It usually does." Ami agreed, sighing slightly. "But it's the only way that it's sustainable."

"But in the meantime, we'll talk to the ballet instructor about it?"

"Yes, of course." she agreed.

"And if all else fails, we'll talk to her parents directly?"

"Yes. And if they doubt our love we'll make out on their couch until they cry from the beauty of it and beg for us to leave."

"Excellent." he said seriously, before they both burst out laughing.

"Oh my god, that might actually work as an ace in the hole." she joked.

Sasuke put on a theatrically exaggerated voice; "'Child, don't bully the Konno boy again, his parents were grossly affectionate when they came over last time. Your mother and I can't handle it again. We haven't sat on the couch since.'"

They burst into another round of giggles.

He took her hand in his and instinctively, the pair began to move in step.

"We're still only young, but we've already built so many wonderful things together. We help Naruto make the village and the world better every day. We defeated a god when we were just teenagers. We rebuilt a house when we were children."

"We were lazy infants." he teased, gently twirling the woman.

"We were fine. And we will be. And so will our children. And our friends."

"We've overcome worse things than this, I suppose." Sasuke murmured, leaning his head on her shoulder.

Ami kissed his cheek in return. "Yes." she smiled, "I do believe that we have."

If you've made it this far, then I'd like to thank you. Thank you for following this story to the end. Thank you for all of your support. I have loved writing this story, and I'm glad to finally be bringing it to the close that I had hoped for. I hope that it is the ending that you had hoped for as well.

The support of you all made this a pleasure to write. :)