© 2006 FastForward

Y'all should thank my sister for dragging me out tonight. It's the only reason I posted this so early. I was going to wait until ten o'clock my time, like I always do, but since I didn't think I'd be back anytime before midnight, I figured I would be nice and post this BEFORE going out. So... Enjoy the epilogue. :smiles:

Disclaimer- K. Masashi says I tortured them too much for them to be mine. :shuffles feet: He says they're trying to find me with torches and pitchforks. :shuffles feet some more: Yeah...

Naruto climbed out of his black Viper, his hand resting on top of the car door as he stared out before him. Sasuke climbed out on the other side, slamming the door. He walked around the car and put one hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"You know—you don't have to do this." he whispered.

"Yes, I do." Naruto insisted. "Because of everything that happened this year—I didn't come here in February. I've never missed their anniversary, not once." He stared at the ground, as if blaming himself for not having had the time.

"It's not your fault." Sasuke insisted.

"Yeah." Naruto whispered. He stepped away from the car and slammed the door. As he began walking towards the gate of the cemetery, he turned to Sasuke, who was following him. "I-I want to do this—alone."

"Are you sure?" Sasuke inquired. Naruto nodded.

"Yeah. I think—I owe my mum that much." He forced himself to smile, and Sasuke nodded. He knew it would be hard for the blond, but if he wanted to be alone, he would respect his wishes, even though he didn't understand what he meant about owing his mother.

"All right. I'll wait by the car."

"Thanks."

The two split, going separate ways. Naruto climbed the stairs that led into the old cemetery, walking through the rows of graves until he reached the one that had both his parents' names engraved on it.

"Hey mum, dad." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "I've never been able to talk to you aloud before, because someone was always with me, but..." he trailed off. This was weird for him. He'd always spent all of his time praising his father and hating his mother. Now—things were different. "I found some stuff out a few months ago." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I don't know what to believe." he whispered.

"I grew up thinking dad was a hero and mum was a monster, but now—I don't know anymore. Deidara insists mum never killed you, dad. He says it was him. I don't know why he would openly admit that to me before trying to kill me unless it was true. I mean, he did think I was going to die, so..." He shook his head. "I don't know anymore. I don't know anything anymore." He wiped furiously at his eyes as he felt tears forming.

"I guess—I'm going to try and believe you loved me, mum. I'm going to try and believe you loved dad, too. I mean, I have home videos and pictures of the three of us before—well, you know." He sniffed. "We looked happy. So I think—I want to imagine we were happy, once. I want to imagine our family was—not perfect, but normal, you know? Like if everything hadn't happened all those years ago, we'd be a happy family with normal problems. Like having an overprotective mum and an anal dad, or something." He smiled to himself.

"I think I can finally let it go. I can finally have pictures of the two of you together on my desk without ripping out mum's half. I can have one of the pictures of the three of us on my night table." Naruto wiped his cheeks to get rid of the tears. "I'm sorry—about everything. I'll try to be the son you wanted me to be. I love you—both."

Naruto felt a weight lifted off his chest as the words left his mouth. He could finally say he loved his parents. Not he loved his dad. It felt—nice. Different, but nice. He was happy he could finally let his hatred for his mother go, and he would be able to tell his friends what he'd found out. He hadn't told anyone, yet. Not even Sasuke. But he would, now. He would tell them all that, yes, his mother was a murderer—but she loved her family very much. So much so that she couldn't kill them.

Naruto turned away from the grave and walked back towards the gate. He climbed down the stairs and pushed through the gate, Sasuke pushing off the car and walking towards Naruto with his hands in his pockets.

"That was a short visit." Sasuke said, concerned. "I don't mind waiting. You can have a longer one."

"Nah. I've said all I needed to say." Naruto smiled. "And I have something to tell you about my mum."

"You do?" Sasuke was stunned.

"Yeah." Naruto's smile softened. "But not now. Later." He walked towards the car and pulled open the passenger-side door.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, almost alarmed.

"Letting you drive." Naruto flashed him a grin. "It may be my baby, but so are you." Naruto got in the car and slammed the door.

Sasuke stared at Naruto a long while. He'd only ever gotten to drive Naruto's car when the blond was injured, or when he had to go pick him up somewhere. He'd never been allowed to drive the car if Naruto was capable of doing so himself. Wow, he must be sick or something, Sasuke thought with a small smile as he made his way to the driver's-side door and got in.

A few seconds later, and they were zooming down the street, headed for the highway. They sat in silence for a long while, Sasuke keeping his eyes on the road, and Naruto leaning his head against his window, staring out at the passing scenery.

It wasn't until they were half-an-hour away from Naruto's house that the blond finally spoke.

"This must be the end." Naruto whispered as he stared out the window.

"Hm?" Sasuke inquired as he looked away from the road for a second before turning back to it. "What do you mean?"

"My grandmother." Naruto smiled. "Everything is always okay in the end. If it's not okay, then it's not the end." (1) He turned to Sasuke. "Everything is okay, so this must be the end."

"I don't know." Sasuke grinned as he put one hand on Naruto's thigh. "I'd call this the beginning."

"Eh?" Naruto stared at him, confused.

Sasuke leaned in to whisper to him, his eyes still on the road. "Genma told me something interesting the other day. You know how he's an uber horny bastard, and I'm only a mega horny bastard?"

"Yeah."

"He says I'm up to ultra." He grinned at his boyfriend, all the colour draining from Naruto's face.

"I swear to God, you turn into Genma, we're through!" Naruto hollered, pointing one finger at Sasuke while leaning back as far as he could against the car door.

"Raidou says that all the time." Sasuke grinned. "But, you know—you can bribe me into not turning into Genma."

"Oh?" Naruto cocked his head to the side. "How's that?"

Sasuke turned to him with a malicious smirk before looking down with his eyes. Naruto followed his gaze and his eyes widened. "You're kidding!" he blurted out. "Right now? Here? While you're driving?"

"Do you want me to be like Genma, or not?" Sasuke grinned.

"Oh, you're going to pay for this!" Naruto exclaimed, pouting and crossing his arms. "You're going to pay really badly for this."

"You haven't done anything yet, so I can't pay for it." Sasuke smirked as he changed lanes. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Are you going to do it?" Sasuke inquired.

Naruto looked at him, then looked out the window, a blush creeping onto his cheeks. He bit his bottom lip before looking back at Sasuke, the raven waiting expectantly. With an explosive sigh, he threw his hands in the air.

"All right! Fine! But just this once, dammit!" He shifted in his seat and reached over, undoing Sasuke's pants. "Fuck, it's a good thing Kiba's not here."

"Oh, way to ruin the mood!" Sasuke groaned. "Talking about that guy. I swear, it's a good thing he's not here. He'd interrupt it—and then I'd have to kill him."

"I've already thought of your punishment." Naruto smirked as he leaned down.

"Oh?"

"Next time—I top."

Sasuke let out a sharp gasp as he was impaired from responding to the threat. "N-Naruto!"

The REAL End.

(1) I forgot to mention this in a previous chapter. As much as I would like to take credit for this line, it's not mine. I found it on a quotes site a few years ago. It's been my saying since forever and a half, but I didn't make it up. I'd give credit to the person who did, but unfortunately, I don't know who that was. :sweatdrop: Just thought I'd clear that up.

EDIT: Thanks to an anonymous reviewer who said the quote comes from "Tuesdays with Morrie" (I don't even know what that is, so fair's fair). Thank you.

A/N: Yes, this is the REAL end. It's over. No more. Roommates is officially dead. Cause... you know, since this was the sequel, it's still technically Roommates... cause... you know... yeah... :shuffles feet: And NO TRILOGY!. :shakes fist: Some of you are asking for a third one! Wasn't two enough?. :cries: This was torture! TORTURE! The only way for me to write a third one would be if I was CERTAIN I could make it as decent as Roommates and Blood and Tears. Since I don't think so... NO TRILOGY! ... But I'll let y'all know if I change my mind... I mean... after all... I wasn't going to do a sequel...

Thank you to everyone who stuck with me through this angst-fest, and thank you infinitely for all the reviews you have given me. :smiles: Reviews are always awesome, and I appreciated them. Thank you to those of you who took the time to do so.

Pyro readers will be happy to know I'm going to focus on that now, since Blood and Tears is over, and The Challenge will be updated more, too. Sorry I've been taking a while. :sweatdrop:

Again, thank you for sticking with me, and I hope you enjoyed the ride. :smiles: Unfortunately for all of you, I'm not disappearing any time soon. I still have... :counts on fingers: four more ideas rolling around in this brain of mine. :grins: If you want more of my humour/angst, you know where to find me. :smiles:

EDIT: You damn, persistent, EVIL PEOPLE! FINE! Trilogy! FINE! Gah, I can't get a break from you people, lol. I can't tell you when three's coming out, but it'll be out eventually. It'll be called "Follow the Leader."

EDIT 2: "Follow the Leader" is now out.

© 2006 FastForward