Fifty Shades of Gennin: Chapter 28 (Epilogue)

A/N: And... we're done. I've gotta admit, I love this story. It's consistently been my least-followed story by pretty much every metric across basically all sites. But a lot of the best reviews I've ever gotten were on this story. If I had to pick a story of mine that I think is the best writing I've ever produced, start to finish, I'd probably say this one. Thank you for coming along on this journey with me.

I'm not done with the Naruto fandom quite yet. I've got another story that I'll be posting the first chapter of this week. It'll be a little different from this one, as a more action heavy Naruto/Harem story with Hinata as the main girl (Naruto/Hinata/Harem if I were tagging it on AO3). The title is Missing-Nin, so make of that what you will.

I'll post the full story of Fifty Shades of Gennin as a PDF and EPub for download too, as soon as I have those files put together. That will be a separate post, but won't have any new material, just all the chapters pasted together.

I think that's everything I had to say. Now... it's time to draw Naruto and Hinata's journey to a close.

The Epilogue

Where We Now Stand

Hinata’s hair was a little bit longer, her posture slightly more comfortable, and her face much more self-assured as she stood outside the gate to the Hyuuga compound, her breath creating clouds in the cold air. Winter had come, gone, summer returned, and then they reached winter again, all in the time since the duel she fought here. She’d been back multiple times since, but today’s visit was a little bit different. She hadn’t brought her equipment for burning away Caged Bird Seals… because there were almost none left to be removed. 

The cold bit at her exposed neck, chilling the ring on her left hand. She walked forward, marveling at the way she could hear voices inside the compound. Children, playing like ordinary kids, hooted as they chased each other around icy zen gardens.

When Hinata stepped inside the walls the children spotted her. Soon, she was surrounded.

“Hinata! Hinata!” They tugged on her hands for her attention, and Hinata wasn’t sure which way to face, although she tried to give everyone a smile.

“Look at—!

“In the Academy we—!”

“My forehead’s so pretty now—!”

A female branch member clapped her hands, stepping in and making the children scatter. Hinata sighed with relief. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to hear about their days. It was just a bit hard to absorb eight different stories being yelled at you at the same time. Hyuuga had good eyes; their ears were the same as anyone else’s.

The woman who wrangled up the kids bowed deeply to Hinata, making Hinata blush.

“You don’t have to do that,” she insisted. “I’m simply another Hyuuga, the same as you.”

She almost said Branch Member reflexively, before catching herself. That no longer existed, after all.

“I don’t care what you are,” the woman said. “This is for what you’ve done for me, and for everyone else.”

Hinata nodded, not sure what she could say to that but still wishing the woman wouldn’t bow.

“Get used to it, sister. They never stop.”

Hinata looked up to find Hanabi approaching. Her sister had grown up too. It was hard to say exactly what was different, apart from her new hairstyle— twin tails in the front with a longer ponytail at the back. Yet Hanabi felt like a new person. Her lips were smirking more often than not now, and her tongue was growing looser by the day. She wore immaculate golden robes with a thick outer layer over her torso, looking tiny because of the tall man trailing behind her. There was little in the way of threat these days, but Neji Hyuuga had picked up habits over the last year that he might never lose.

“They even do it to me,” Hanabi said, “and I’ve barely done anything! I wouldn’t be surprised if every baby born for the next ten years is named Hinata. Even the boys.”

“I wouldn’t exactly describe what you’ve done as nothing,” Hinata said.

Neji nodded his agreement, but Hanabi snorted.

“I would,” she said. “Comparatively, of course. My hard work is all well and good. But I’m not the one who changed the clan. I’m just the one that allowed it to happen.”

The aftermath of Hinata’s duel had been, to put it frankly, chaos. Hinata turned the clan's world upside down, then disappeared off the face of the earth. Many feared the worst. While she was busy being abducted by the Akatsuki’s last remnant, the elders made a final bid for power.

They insisted that the Caged Bird Seal would never lose its power. Leveraging the crowd’s fear, they told the branch Hyuugas that anyone who allowed their seal to be removed would simply have it applied again… and activated.

It could have worked, or at least caused far more damage, if Hanabi hadn’t told them to “Fuck off.”

To this day she insisted she used different language. Everyone else agrees that those were the exact words. Knowing her sister, Hinata was inclined to believe the crowd.

Without Hanabi’s support, the seal had no future. Hiashi would not live forever, and he had no extra heir. The Hyuuga’s elitist tactics backfired on them in the most decisive way. When Neji rose to his feet, asking coldly who it was that was going to put his seal back, the matter was as good as finished.

It was almost amusing to Hinata how unstoppable the two were as a pair. No Hyuuga could beat Neji in a fight, and even Hiashi was helpless to stop the future Clan Leader with any kind of political plot. Hinata’s work removing the seals would have been a completely different affair if she'd been forced to do it without either of them.

When Hanabi and Naruto once shared a brief sexual encounter, right before Naruto abruptly left, he’d told Hanabi that she needed something no man could give her. Hinata suspected that whatever that was — confidence, freedom, self-identity — Hanabi had discovered it during the last year and a half.

“You’re here to see him, aren’t you?” Hanabi asked. “I’ll take you there now.”

The path the three of them followed was different to the one Hinata remembered. Instead of the old Clan Leader’s quarters, they wound their way to the very edge of the compound, as far from anything else as possible.

“I didn’t make him move,” Hanabi said. “Even now, I couldn’t really force that stubborn man to do a damn thing. He just did it on his own. I think the sound of children drives him crazy. Too loud, or something. I won’t pretend to understand him.”

“Is he well?” Hinata asked.

Hanabi laughed. “Make your own judgement on that.”

A single bedroom, set apart from everything else, came into sight. It was probably meant for a servant, not the leader of the clan, but life was always full of surprises.

“It really is a nice ring,” Hanabi said casually as they approached the door.

Hinata looked down at her hand, including the metal band that glittered there. “I agree.”

Hanabi’s voice held extra emotion, but Hinata didn’t take it for anger, or jealousy, or even pure sadness. Instead, if she had to guess, she would call it regret.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that,” Hanabi said. “I never had a chance from the start. Do you see the way he looks at you? Besides, it’s not bad having a bit of freedom in your youth!”

“I didn’t come here just to talk to Father,” Hinata admitted. “The wedding is next week. There are open seats for both of you in the front row, if you want them.”

“There should be.” Hanabi sniffed, channeling some of the imperious brattiness from her youth. “If there wasn’t a place for the Heiress of your clan, I would have had to find a way to shut the whole wedding down.” Her smirk softened. “I’ll be there, Hinata.”

Hinata matched her smirk with a smile, then looked at Neji. The strongest Hyuuga in the world looked like his collar had become too tight.

“If it’s your wedding… she’ll be there, won’t she?” he said.

“Tenten won’t be in the crowd,” Hinata said, and watched her cousin relax. “She’s the Maid of Honor.”

Neji immediately looked away, shifting on his feet. Hinata sighed. Hanabi looked thoroughly amused by the whole thing, and burst out laughing when Hinata grabbed Neji by the collar, smiling at him.

“She’s still single, you know,” Hinata said brightly. “She could never completely get over this one ex. It’s starting to be a problem, if you ask me. Especially since that ex has really turned his life around. I truly think they would work out if they gave it one more try.”

Neji’s expression was hollow. “I see. All the more reason why I shouldn’t—”

“By Kami, she means you, dumbass!” Hanabi said. “This is why you need to practice katas less and talk to people more.” She hauled Neji away by the arm, but not before turning back to her sister. “We’ll be there, Hinata. Both of us. So go and have your talk. We’ll see you next week.”

Hinata was smiling as she watched them leave. Slowly, the chilly air seeped back in, and her smile faded. She faced the door, pulled it open, and stepped inside.

Hiashi Hyuuga had a bed, a desk, and a table for meals in his self-imposed cell. He was sitting at his desk when she walked in. Not doing any kind of work, just staring at it. When Hinata entered, he rose. He’s grown whiskers. The surface of his kimono was wrinkled.

“I thought I heard voices,” he said. 

His pale eyes only seemed to half-see Hinata. At one time, she would have flinched under such a look. Now, she tilted her head down just enough to be polite. “I’ve come, Father.”

“So you have,” Hiashi said. “Sit. I have little else to do.”

There was only one chair in the room, so Hinata placed herself on the edge of his bed.

“That boredom is your own choice,” Hinata said. “No one is forcing you to be here except for yourself. Have you considered taking up a hobby? Calligraphy is quite wonderful. Or if a book club would be more to your taste, I happen to know of an exciting one that’s always looking for new members.”

“Why have you come?” Hiashi asked.

Hinata sighed. Her brief attempt at levity had been mostly for herself, but it was a waste of effort. There was no putting off this conversation that she’d chosen to have. They might as well dive in.

“It’s the eve of my wedding,” she said. “I would be a bad daughter if I didn’t at least visit.”

Hiashi’s face twitched. He wasn’t invited, and he wouldn’t have gone if he had been. That was where they were. But Hinata still saw value in having a conversation.

“After this, I don’t know when I’ll come back,” Hinata admitted. “I have no reason to. So before I shed this last name of ours, it only seemed right to have this talk. Tell me your thoughts. Whatever you don’t say now, you may never get the chance to.”

The tiniest, most childlike part of her hoped the words I’m sorry would finally pass from his lips. It was a fool’s dream.

Hiashi retrieved a serving bottle of strong sake from his desk, pouring himself a cup. He stared at his reflection in the alcohol, eyes lingering on the facial hair that had been left to sprout unchecked.

“You have destroyed your clan,” Hiashi said. “And you have destroyed your own Father.”

Hinata’s disappointment appeared only as a twitch of her lips. “So now you become my father?” 

“I have always been your father, Hinata.”

“It did not feel that way,” she said. “And, frankly, I think that is what matters.”

Hiashi tilted his sake back, draining the cup. As soon as it was empty he was already refilling it, pouring out more clear liquid.

“The elders want you killed,” he said.

“And you?”

“How low do you think of me?” Hiashi asked.

Hinata raised an eyebrow. They sat on each side of the table, and after five immeasurable seconds, Hiashi looked away.

“I do not know,” he admitted. “I think I hate you. But I hate that as well. You do not need to fear me.”

“Do not worry,” Hinata said, “I don't.” 

She leaned forward. “And you can tell the elders when you see them next that I do not fear them, either. If they hurt me, it will be the end of them. They will not rest in one piece.”

Hiashi winced. “That damn fox.”

“That damn fox,” Hinata agreed lovingly.

She waited for almost five whole minutes for more, but the only time Hiashi moved was to refill his cup each time he drained it. She hung on as long as she could. Then, Hinata rose to her feet, walking from the room. On her way out, she heard him begin to hiccup. The door opened and closed as she stepped out into the chilly air.

“Goodbye, Father,” Hinata mumbled. “I wish you made a different choice.”

But of course he couldn’t hear it, because as Hinata said, Hyuuga ears were no better than anyone else’s. If a bit of moisture came to her eye as she walked away, it was because of the stinging cold, and definitely not any reminiscences for times long past.

On her way out of the compound, Hinata waved to the children playing their game. They all stopped to wave back. She stepped out the front gate, onto the street, and found that someone aws waiting for her.

His hands were linked behind his head as he stood in the street, leaning back. He was looking up into the sky, his handsome whiskered face lost in thought.

“You didn’t have to come pick me up,” Hinata said, approaching him.

“It’s going to snow,” Naruto said. “Can’t have you walking back in that.”

Hinata stepped up to him, sliding her arms around his back. “You’re certain you’re not running away from your father? You see, this morning, he told me not to talk to you until the evening. Something about a lesson on paperwork that you keep skipping?”

Naruto whistled in a terrible facsimile of innocence. “Whaaat? I don’t know anything about that.”

“Of course you don’t.” Hinata tilted her head. “It’s not very Hokage-like to run away from your responsibilities.”

“Lucky I’m not the Hokage yet, then,” Naruto said. “The inauguration isn’t for another six months. That’s plenty of time to finish off the boring stuff! But not today.”

“You’ve got plans?” Hinata asked.

“You could say that.”

Naruto leaned in. They kissed, their bodies working in tandem to fight off the cold. Eventually, when they separated, a single white dot drifted down and melted on Hinata’s nose. They both looked up, spotting thousands more drifting toward the ground. 

“Told you it was going to snow,” Naruto said.

“Mm,” Hinata said, feeling the frozen flakes sting her cheeks. Naruto’s arms tightened around her.

“Let’s go home,” he said.

They disappeared in a single orange flash.

The end.