A Letter from the Author

Hi everyone,

So as you all must have realized by now, I have long since retired from the shiny world of fanfiction. However, I have gotten a number of very nice emails over the years asking me to summarize the would-be endings of my still open fics.

While I know this isn't what all my readers were waiting for (and I am flattered that some of you waited at all), I do hope it will provide some closure. Of course, those of you who do not care for this form are free to ignore and imagine your own endings. If you are so inclined, please feel free to share them in a review or an email. I would love to hear about them. Or, seriously, just say hi.

I very much enjoyed writing fanfiction for the Naruto universe, a fandom I had been a part of since I was genin-age. Now that Naruto has grown up, I am briefly coming out of fanfiction retirement in this limited capacity to pay respects to an important part of my own childhood.

Thank you, everyone, for being a part of it too.

Sincerely,

Rosesareblue

Ultimate Uke Syndrome Ending Summary

The Konoha team frequent the hospital following Shikamaru's injury. As it turns out, it is the same hospital where Uchiha Itachi is a patient. Sasuke visits his brother for the first time since the incident with his newfound insights from Naruto. While the brothers find closure, Sasuke begins to be increasingly protective of Naruto – which, to his surprise, seems to push Naruto away.

From his bed, Shikamaru tells Naruto what he learned from Temari. He also tells him one more thing… now he knows why Naruto is so attracted to Gaara. Naruto feels that Gaara, with his warped definition of love, will let Naruto die. Gaara – unlike Neji and now Sasuke – might let Naruto play basketball, no matter the consequences.

The final scene is Naruto practicing for the team in Shikamaru's place in the hospital courtyard. Sasuke and Itachi watch him from Itachi's room, Neji and Hinata from the roof. Gaara watches alone from the sidelines, and slowly starts to cry…

Thanks for reading!