Me: This is it! The final chapter!

Naruto: It's been a long journey!

Sakura: So am I going to live?

Me: T_T Why don't you begin acting the scene in people's minds and find out?

Sasuke: Ready? Set? Action!

-Unknown time and place-

Sakura opened her eyes slowly.

She blinked once.

She closed her eyes.

"HEY OUTER, DON'T SLEEP YET!"

Sakura shot up at the voice of Kura, eyes wide as an exact replica stood above her, grinning cheekily as she held out a hand. Sakura seemed to be in some type of scenic area and there was a nice house that looked similar to the house in their shared mindscape, only it appeared to have been builded upon and extended. The trees were healthier than Sakura had ever seen them and they were not alone.

"Hey, she's up, un!"

Is that the bomber?

"Sakura, you've done a marvellous job protecting our son."

"Dear! Sound less formal! She's family to us, blood related or not!"

Mikoto… Fukaku…?

"Sakura sweetie!"

"My little Sakura."

…Mom…? …Dad…?

It seemed Sakura's brain couldn't keep up with everything. More and more people kept arriving but wasn't this meant to be her mindscape? And hadn't she seen many of them die or knew them to be dead?

"Saku, stop thinking so much." Kura rolled her eyes, pulling the shell-shocked Sakura to her feet. "Now, we've got greetings to do, tears to cry and say goodbye~"

Sakura looked weirdly at inner's singing voice.

"She's been hanging round' me too much that she's learning a bit of my singing touch!" Killer B appeared beside Sakura and Sakura felt more out of place than ever as the two of them held hands.

Kura… and Killer B…? A couple…?

Kura burst out laughing at Sakura's face. "I think we've broken her. Here, let me explain: Saku, we're all dead here."

Sakura froze.

Kura grimaced but then tugged on Sakura's arm, not looking at her as she continued speaking. "Well… For the most part anyway."

They went into the house and Sakura made a little sound of distress. Naruto-her Naruto from the first timeline -sat at one of the tables slurping ramen with a small child in his lap. Hinata stood a few metres away, blushing slightly at something Ino said.

Shikamaru was playing a game with his father and-

It's too much. I can't! I can't!

"Woah. Easy there, Saku." Kura seemed so different to when she and Sakura were merged but if she really was 'dead' then Kura had probably been influenced through different circumstances to Sakura.

But still-everyone was here. Everyone who Sakura hadn't been able to save-

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto engulfed her in a hug, laughing all the way as he spun her around even as Sakura, in a daze, could only give a weak laugh as Naruto's kid grabbed the abandoned bowl of ramen and began eating it when Naruto wasn't looking.

"Naruto, put her down!" Ino bonked him on the head before hugging Sakura instead. "I missed you, forehead. We all are so proud of you."

"We didn't even know the doll until her second chance." Sasori's gruff voice came from the doorway as he scoffed. "And even then me and the idiot end up getting killed before we can really talk to her again."

"It's not my fault you were still with Akatsuki when Madara attacked Konoha." Kura stuck out her tongue. "Besides, you have eternity with us now so shut up!"

"Art is fleeting, un!" Deidara entered the room, glaring. "I don't want to be stuck here forever!"

"See, art is eternal and you can't escape it." Sasori said smugly and Sakura finally spoke as Hinata this time hugged her.

"So… We're all dead…?" she asked quietly.

"…Not quiet for you." Kura admitted before putting on a bright smile. "You're going back!"

Silence.

"Let me die." Sakura said bluntly and Kura snorted.

"I told you she'd want to stay here." She muttered to Killer B. "I am part of her, after all, so I'd know these things."

"Sakura-chan, you have to go back." Naruto said softly. "The younger me and Sasuke need you-you are their family."

"But here…here is my family." Sakura's voice trembled. "I… I can't go back!"

"You can." Ino encouraged. "So many of us lived this time. Now you need to go out and enjoy it."

"And damn it-get yourself a guy!" Kura interrupted hotly. "All this seriousness turned me into a sexually repressed person like you! What happened to the good old days when I used to make lewd comments?! Oh, how I miss them-"

"-Ignoring her…" somebody put a hand on Sakura's shoulder and Sakura's eyes widened as she saw a semi-transparent Tsunade. "…You won't be alone, Sakura. I have my memories and you have your friends-even if they aren't quite the same."

"…Act now, cry later." Sakura mumbled under her breath as the first sob escaped her. "Now… I think I'm going to cry."

As she burst into uncontrollable cries of anguish, before anyone could move, Sakura's parents (four of them-two sets!) ran into the room and started hugging her. Laughing through the arguing sets of duplicate parents trying to comfort her, Sakura was not sure how long she cried her eyes out, only that when she finally stopped, some sort of tension within her seemed to have disappeared.

"My baby-" first Sakura's mother paused as second Sakura's mother coughed. "Right… Our baby… has grown up so much…! We are so proud of you, sweetie. Take good care of yourself and for goodness sake, take advantage of all the hot guys around you-"

"WHAT?!" both Sakura's fathers jumped up, identical looks of horror. "Sakura, don't you dare get close to any boys or I'll -"

"You guys are dead." First Sakura's mother deadpanned and Kura snorted as she pulled Sakura away from the parents back to her deceased friends.

"See what I have to deal with, Saku? It's bad enough dealing with one mother and father but double sets?! It's a nightmare!"

"Killer B had to go through both of the fathers to get Kura to date him. I'm surprised he was only killed twice" Naruto sniggered before grabbing his head as Kura whacked him. "Ow~"

"I'm glad father didn't kill you for the sixth time." Hinata said softly as Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Well, after the fifth time he started to calm down…" Naruto admitted. "…and then I had to deal with Neji…"

They continued walking as Sakura listened to everyone chat happily in a carefree atmosphere (except for Deidara and Sasori who were still in an argument about art). However, as Sakura saw Tsunade standing near the edge of the river and everyone become sombre, Sakura realised this must be it.

It was time to say goodbye

Tsunade began explaining as soon as they stopped in front of her. "The reason I am transparent is because the second me has my memories, as you no doubt figured out. You might say her and I are connected in a way. As such, while second me heals you in the real world, I can act as an anchor to return your soul to your body from here. You will live."

"I…" Sakura's heart ached as she saw everyone she had lost-everyone who had hardened her will to keep fighting to avoid further loss. Now she was being asked to let them go?

Kura grabbed her hand again. "Outer… You have to be willing to go back to your body. Otherwise… Things can go wrong. Please. I want you to live for me… For us all who can't. You have a chance at happiness so do it for me."

There was a small silence before Sakura laughed weakly and gave a wry smile, feeling lighter than she had in years. "I guess I should... I could do with some ramen right now."

Naruto laughed at remembering he had gotten Sakura addicted to it too… before his eyes widened. "AH! MY RAMEN! I FORGOT YOU! I'M SO SORRY! SEE YOU LATER, SAKURA-CHANNN!"

Sakura burst out laughing as Naruto finally remembered his abandoned ramen (it was probably all gone by now anyhow).

"Wait a moment!" Kiba grinned as he came into the clearing dragging Kakashi. "This idiot was reading Jiraiya's latest book and didn't even realise she was here!"

"Err… Yo…?" Kakashi said awkwardly and Sakura smiled.

"Hey sensei." Sakura laughed. "Whoops. Old habits die hard but… you are the first Kakashi, right?"

"Yep. Second still lives." Kakashi shrugged before he giggled perversely. "At least I've got all the Icha Icha Paradise books."

"Evil, even to yourself…" Kura muttered just as Tsunade started glowing. "Outer, it's time."

Sakura took a deep breath and nodded. She stepped beside Tsunade who grabbed her hands. She could feel the familiar tingle of chakra through her and an almost echoing pull of Sakura's own chakra somewhere very far away.

Sakura turned to look at all she had lost, her heart throbbing once before she remembered all she had gained. She would do this for them and in time, she'd be able to move on. Of this she was sure.

Because she had friends and family beside her, waiting for her to come back to them.

And she would never give up.

"Outer… We love you." Kura held Killer B's hand again as a tear fell down her identical green eye.

As a white mist enveloped Sakura, she saw her old family wave bye (her parents were still arguing) as Mikoto and Fukaku held up a poster that nearly made her snort.

SAKURA: TELL OUR CHILDREN-WE WANT UCHIHA BABIES!

And then there was a flash of light and Sakura disappeared.

-Konoha Hospital (Five weeks after the end battle)-

Emerald eyes snapped open.

Me: Okay! This is the end! Sakura wakes up in the Konoha Hospital. But just so you know-remember her mindscape was blown to bits so it will be a long recovery for her (it's not all sunshine and daisies).

Sakura: Why don't you write more on the reunion between Sakura and everyone alive in Konoha?

Me: I wanted that to be left up to the imagination of the reader. Not everything has to be written, only that Sakura has the will to continue on regardless of their reactions.

Sakura: Well... I see... I jsut have one question. Does this mean our contract is at an end?

Me: T_T ...Yes.

Sakura: *gets everyone else* LET's THROW A PARTY! WHOOO

*everyone starts dancing as music beats and disco lights come on in a suddenly darkened area.*

Me: ...errr... okay? Well, might as well start with the thanks:

Thank you to everyone who reviewed my story-giving me helpful feedback (which also includes people pointing out where they were disappointed). I also can't help but be shocked at some of my writing too wondering-how the heck did I write something stupid like that or how did I miss the spelling of her name? Still, we learn from errors so I am especially proud to say thank you to any and every type of review which tells me where I went wrong or what things should be improved (and I also love positive reviews too but everyone probably already knows that, right? Heh).

Thank you to everyone who favourited my story. Honestly I never expected my story to go so well. This was my first story on this site and I started this over two years ago. Since then I have matured as a writer in skill and such and can't help but feel touched when I look at my story and see all the loopholes and funny errors I made yet still had so many dedicated readers. A big thank you to everyone.