:) Don't worry, it'll all turn out right! This chapter ends angsty, and tbh, I didn't want to put it out there so soon after the end of the manga, cause it bummed me out!!
(But I feel better about the ending now, enough time has passed I guess, and I have written up most of the important scenes. So I knew where it was going.)
Anyway, yeah, it has to go this route for a little while — where they have to open the doors and look through to what might have been, then make a concious decision that they don't want that life before they close the doors and choose happiness.
Setting it up this way helps me address what happens when things go back to normal, and the happy shiny unity of the battlefield wears off? The Hyuuga clan returns to being the most powerful clan? The village goes back to hating Sasuke?
And conversely, I can make fun of some of the most ridiculous aspects of the ending. Like Sasuke apparently taking credit for the bench scene, things like that.
edit: I don't mean to be stupid and cryptic, I just don't want to give anything away!! :)
Oh, it's cool, hon ;) I know you don't wanna give any secrets away, but the things you said.... what you hinted to... more than enough to restore my faith. I believe in you!