Epilogue

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only the occasional OC that may / will appear

~ ҉ ~

Naruto stared at the lifeless body before him. So many things streamed through his head, but he couldn't hold on to them long enough to understand what they were about. His hands shook slightly, and he held them tightly against his side.

Sasuke ran a single hand through his hair, while the other was braced on the handle of his katana. Both shinobi turned their eyes to each other… Sasuke smirked and Naruto let out a relieved laugh.

It was almost absurd. It was over… ha!

Their joyous moment was disrupted at the sounds of thundering footsteps. Sasuke turned his head to see what was going on, while Narutos body went totally ridged.

Several ANBU appeared around the village, picking up the dead bodies. A single ANBU appeared near Waru's corpse, lifted the corpse over their shoulder, and disappeared. As did the other ANBU, taking the bodies somewhere else.

Villagers began to file into the street, worry and fright etched over their faces. Several pairs of eyes wondered around, while some stared openly at the large silver skeleton lying several feet away. Two young children even went up to the red goo, poking it.

"Uchiha-san! You saved us!" several people called out. Sasuke turned his black eyes to them, his face blank.

"I may have done some, but my friend here did the most. He was the one who defeated Gekido. He is the one you should be thanking." Sasuke said, gesturing towards the blonde. Naruto had his back to the villagers, his head down.

"MISHTA! You sabed ush!" a little girl ran out and wrapped her arms around Naruto's leg. Naruto stiffened, not moving. "Mishta? You didn' get huwt, didju?" the little girl moved to stand in front of Naruto, and her lower lip trembled. Not because of who the man was, but because the man did not reply.

"I'm ok…" Naruto whispered, not looking at the child. The little girl reached up and grabbed his hand, pulling downwards. Naruto sunk to his knees, his eyes watching the little girl's reaction. The girl stared at his face, before hesitantly putting her hands on his whiskered cheeks. She squished Naruto's face together, making him look like a fish. The little girl giggled.

"Yay! MUMMY! He sabed ush!" the child squealed, running back to her mother. Naruto stood again, still not facing the villagers, though his stance was a tiny bit more relaxed then what it was before.

"Sir! We are forever grateful! How can we repay you?" one man, presumably the child's father, stepped forward, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto sighed, and turned his head to see the man. The reaction was expected.

The man fell back in shock, words beginning to get stuck in his throat. The man cowered, his eyes locking with the 'demons'. Narutos blue eyes were sad, his hands shoved into his pockets. Sasuke eye the man with a degree of annoyance.

"You're…. you're..!"

"Naruto!" Naruto's head snapped around, his eyes drawn (like everybody else's) to the voice. A blonde kunoichi had her mouth gaping open, her eyes wide and disbelieving. Standing on either side of her a large brown haired man stood, his mouth hanging open with munched up chips being exposed. On the other side, stood a much thinner man, with brown hair tied up in a spikey ponytail atop his head. He rolled his eyes and mumbled, 'troublesome'.

"Hi…" Naruto mumbled weakly, one hand coming up in a half-hearted wave. Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji continued to stare at him. As soon as Naruto spoke, a loud angry cry of 'DAMNIT!' made everyone turn to see a pissed of Inuzuka barge his way through the crowd, with a very nervous Hinata and stoic Shino following behind him.

"OI, Blondie! Where the HELL have you been? Do you know how WORRIED you had all of us?" Kiba fumed, his ace screwed up almost like a pissed of dog. Akamaru, whom had grown to the size of a small horse, barked with each capitalized word. Naruto just openly stared at the brown haired ninja.

"Where have I been? I've been hiding for the past five years, because I was kicked out of the village! Where the fuck do you think I've been? HUH?" Naruto yelled back, anger brimming in his eyes. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the blonde.

"Well…i….hum" Kiba stammered, shocked by Naruto's outburst.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata said, taking a few steps forward. Naruto felt the anger drain from him as he looked to the shy girl. He was totally caught off guard when the Hyuuga threw herself at him, bringing him into a bear hug.

"Y-you're really back! We missed you!" Hinata sobbed, clutching Naruto tighter. A blush grew over Naruto's face. "P-please don't l-leave again!" Naruto wasn't sure how to react to the girl, so he awkwardly put his arms around her and returned the hug. The blush never left his face.

Kiba, Shino, Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru made their way over to the Jinchuuriki, and began o converse with him, and Ino even tried to initiate a group hug. Naruto was completely confused at the situation.

~ ҉ ~

Sasuke turned his head from the group hug, to see a pink haired kunoichi standing near the side of the large mob of villagers. Everyone was busy staring at the Jinchuuriki, that no one noticed the Uchiha move over to them.

"Sakura." Sakura turned her green eyes to see Sasuke's dark eyes watching her.

"Sasuke… what..." Sakura said, almost shocked that Sasuke was talking to her. the last time they had a proper conversation, Sasuke had said she got on his nerves, yelled at her, and even armed himself with a Sharigan and katana… although, he really did have the right to. She should not have blamed Naruto for the Kyuubi's attack, and definitely not called him a… a Bakamono…

"Why aren't you going over?" Sasuke asked, seeming curious.

"I don't think I should…" She said, her eyes softening with guilt.

"I think… it would do both of you good to talk it out." Sasuke said, standing next to her and turning to watch as Naruto was again being swamped by their friends.

"I suppose so. But I'm not sure what I should say to him. I've hurt him so much…" Sakura said, curling her hands together and her head dropping to face the ground. She felt sorrow and guilt swirl inside her. She should never have done or said what she did. She regretted it all. She had never even spared a thought, to what Naruto must have felt the day of the banishment, or how he must have felt when he risked his life for her.

"He's Naruto… He'll forgive you." Sasuke murmured in reply. Sakura turned her head up to Sasuke, gave him a small smile and then walked towards the group. As she did, Sasuke heard the villager's whispers picking up again.

~ ҉ ~

"Naruto…?" Sakura said hesitantly, standing on the outskirts of the small circle that had been surrounding Naruto. The group turned to see Sakura standing there, and Naruto stiffened slightly. He was unsure of what she was going to say, and he seemed guarded.

"Naruto… I'm… I'm so sorry…" Sakura said, looking up at Naruto. Naruto could see the guilt and regret swirling in her eyes. "I should never have… I shouldn't have done any of the things… I've known you for so long… and that day…" Sakura didn't need to specify the day, since Naruto knew she was referring to the banishment, "I was… all logic flew out of my head… I never stopped to think of how you felt or what you thought. You must have been so hurt by my reaction… I don't think I can fully apologize for what I've done… when you saved me earlier… I can never thank you enough… it made me realize, that you were never a monster. You were my friend, my teammate. I'm sorry it took me so long to remember that."

Sakura was looking at the ground by the time she had finished, her shoulder shaking as she sobbed. She jumped in surprise when arms suddenly wrapped around her and pulled her into a large, warm body.

"Sakura… thank you…" She heard Naruto say, his voice shaking slightly. He hugged her for a few moments before drawing back. His eyes were blurry from tears, but he had a smile on his face.

His friends had forgiven him, missed him… he could never thank any of them enough. For five years he was alone, and now… he didn't have to feel that way any longer.

"Naruto…" Naruto turned his head to see the young face of the Hokage. She was smiling at him.

"It's time that I make an announcement…"

~ ҉ ~

"Villagers of Konoha. Five years ago, a Council member by the name of Waru, had announced the presence of a 'demon' in our village. He berated, he accused and he banished a loyal member of Konoha. The Jinchuuriki of the nine tailed Bijuu, Kyuubi no Kitsune, was sent away, because of our foolishness. He had never done anything wrong to this village. He was always loyal, and he only wanted the best for us. But because of the Villages' blindness, we could not see past the 'Demon' label. We did not see the person, the one who had no part in the attack on the village twenty-one years ago. We only saw Kyuubi."

Tsunade took a deep breath, her eyes glaring across the whole of Konoha's villagers and Ninja. She stood atop of a large black stage, a black podium with the Konoha symbol in the middle of the stage. Tsunade continued to glare. Almost the entire village looked guilty.

"And then, we were blessed when he returned. Because of him, the Ketsueki Ookami, the Blood Wolf, Gekido was destroyed. He saved our village. True, there have been some fatalities, but had he not been here, then there would have been far, far more. Naruto," there were gasps of shock at the name. Not many had mentioned that name for five years, "was the only one who knew how Gekido could be defeated. We all would have died trying to kill her."

Tsunade cleared her throat, than motioned for Naruto to stand next to her. Naruto hesitated for a moment, before he walked up next to her. There were a few cries and murmurs when Naruto walked up. A lot of them were mixes of guilt and sadness, while some were confusion. The Jinchuuriki looked out over the villagers, before the Hokage's arm was wrapped around his shoulder.

"Naruto, the Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi no Kitsune, is no longer classified as a missing-nin. He is, once again, a loyal member of Konoha. This decision is non-negotiable, and really, I don't care if you have anything to say by it. Also, those who have helped Naruto along the way, will not be punished either. And if any have been classed as a missing-nin, their status will also be re-instated."

Kakashi had chosen that exact moment to pop up next to the Hokage, his normal lazy look about him. His eyes were upside-down 'U''s, and he held his orange 'Icha Icha' book in his hand. "Yo!"

"Kakashi, your timing is impeccable…" Tsunade shook her head, before turning back to the crowd.

"Now, I would like all ninja to begin a village clean up. All of the… flesh must be disposed of. Naruto, what should we do with the bones?" Tsunade asked, as Naruto had flinched slightly at the mention of Gekido's flesh.

"I… I want to bury it. I mean, I know she attacked the village but…" Naruto shrugged, "I believe that she should have a proper resting place… not just be left there to rot." Naruto looked up to see Tsunade smiling.

"I couldn't agree more. You will make a brilliant Hokage someday."

~ ҉ ~

Naruto snuggled into his bed at the end of the day. The night sky was twinkling with stars and a light breeze brushed the cabin as it passed. Naruto let out a content sigh, and he smiled. His eyes drooped with weariness, and he let out a yawn.

The villagers had all taken the time to apologise to the Jinchuuriki, and some had even had a whole conversation about his time away from the village. Teuchi has even cooked up a heap of ramen to celebrate Naruto's return.

All of Naruto's friends had gathered together, wanting to celebrate with the Blonde. They had talked no stop to him, and no one mentioned anything about the incident five years ago, or the one twenty-one years ago, which he appreciated.

Naruto let out a happy sigh. After five years, Konoha was, once again, home.

~ ҉ ~

END

Written by Urufu-chan

(Ochibi and Urufu)