A/N: I DESERVE TO BE BOUND & BEATEN. I apologize for allowing you to wait this long for the final chapter of this story, it truly is sad. Although I finished writing most of quite a while a ago, I felt that it wasn't good enough, and unfortunately I still think that way. But I'll leave you all to decide for yourselves. Again, thanks to those who reviewed and read! DO WELL TO ENJOY?

Warning746 - Honestly, I never really thought about it...o.o I will now. But whether or not the ending could lead to that, is questionable, but I'll keep it in mind~ 8D

Consider this a cheese alert.

It's amazing how quickly time flies by.

A lengthy seven years after my all too quick departure from the hell I called home, I found myself at the outskirts of the Hidden Sand Village.

I worked in a small tea shop by the name of Esuna under the alias of Esuna Isaaru. The woman who owned the shop agreed to give me a place to stay, and in return I would work in her tea shop; and of course the courtesy for telling people that I was her niece from out of the country. Usually people believed her and dismissed it, but others questioned the fact because I looked nothing like her. But regardless of all of that, life was quaint, simple and I liked it that way - even if she did know I was a missing-nin.

After working there for the past three years, things were bound to end up that way. As for the four years before that - I was more of less a drifter. Settling down at various places, until I would leave within a week. I daren't stay for much longer, I had to keep moving - it's not easy for hunter-nin to catch a moving target. Though, I never went home, that would be an all too obvious place to reside permanently. Of course, this opportunity came around and things have been great ever since.

Naturally, I never stopped training and improving my skills - regardless of what happened, I was still a shinobi at heart, and it was always going to remain that way. I trained on weekends and a couple of nights a week to keep my skills sharp; Just because I wasn't dubbed as an 'official' shinobi didn't mean that I should waste my time lolly-gaging. As much as I was known for it in the past.

Manifestly, everything was fine, but emotionally, things were still in flux. There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think about that thirteen year old Uchiha who had saved my life that day seven years ago. If it wasn't for him pushing me out of the village, it's safe to say that I wouldn't be here today - or anywhere else for that matter. I remembered everything about him. The contours of his face, the sharpness of his eyes, that smirk on his face, the tinge of blue in his hair in the sunlight...It was all fresh in my mind. As if it were only yesterday I left. I wasn't going to lie to myself anymore, I knew I was disgustingly fond of him. But it wasn't like I could do anything about it. He wasn't going to just magically waltz right back into my life one day. Who's to say that the kid's even alive?

I was sitting in the back room enjoying a cup of green tea when Midori, the shop owner, walked in. It was almost closing time and I was going to pack up in a few minutes and retire upstairs to the living quarters.

"You've got a customer, Isaaru. I can't serve them now because I've got to head out, " She informed me, "I'll be home before eleven."

I raised an eyebrow as I took my last sip of tea, "A customer, this late?"

"That's right...and he's a handsome one." She winked as she collected her things.

"Lucky me." I spoke sarcastically.

She chuckled before she went out the back door, "Ja ne!"

I got up and headed into the main room. Sure enough the customer she spoke of sat at the front counter with his head bent. I didn't get to see his so called 'handsome' face. He wore a basic black bandana on his head, and had dark hair a little past his ears. The same went with his clothing, a dark long sleeved shirt and pants - which I thought was rather daring in the humidity and dryness of the country. Let's hope he had some sort of insilation...

"So, what can I get you?" I asked.

"Jasmine tea." He spoke in a near whisper, never looking up.

I nodded and turned away from the counter as I fetched him a tea cup for his tea.

I couldn't shake off the feeling of familiarity between the stranger and I. But I quickly dismissed it as all I wanted to do was go upstairs and sleep. We had a lot of customers today.

I turned back around and handed the stranger the tea, "Here you are - enjoy."

"Thanks." He spoke a little bit louder now.

Hm? That voice...I flinched a little, This is too weird.

It couldn't be him...well it wasn't impossible; but even so, what are the chances of that? Slim to none. Then again, it wouldn't hurt to ask, I've got nothing to lose. And a whole lot to gain, right? It would just be really awkward if it wasn't him.

I was a bit hesitant, "...Sasuke?" I whispered. His name sounding completely foreign to my lips. So many years of not saying it, I felt a little tongue tied; and I actually questioned if I had even said it at all, or if it was just my imagination.

For the few seconds that there was no response from the stranger, was like a lifetime had passed.

He looked up, "Excuse me?"

I stared, my mouth agape at the man who now faced me with a questioning look on his face. He looked nothing like Sasuke. Not at all. This man's eyes were small, beady and had unnaturally large lips for a man. His skin and hair may have been similar to the orphaned Uchiha's at first glance, but it lacked the lustre that his hair and skin so often held. Didn't I feel stupid.

I wondered how Midori could've mistaken this man for 'handsome'. Then again, Midori wasn't exactly known for her amazing eye sight. Quite the opposite really.

I shut my mouth, "I'm sorry, my mistake."

He nodded, "No problem." And continued sipping his tea - irritatingly slowly.

It's always the nights when I was the most tired and fed up, that people always seemed to take their time.

I busied myself cleaning the counter tops and organizing the tea leaves back to their original places in an attempt to make time go by faster. It didn't work. By the time that Sasuke imposter left, it felt like hours had passed by - and he didn't even tip.

Note to Self: Next time, spit in his tea.

As I went to throw the dirty tea cups in the sink, I heard the door slide open.

Don't people read signs?

I didn't bother turning around when I said, "Excuse me, we're closed," I washed the soap suds off the wooden cup and stuck it on a drying rack, "Feel free to come back at 8 am tommorrow morning, when we're open."

At the moment when I should've heard someone respond, or at least heard the sound of someone retreating, I didn't. In fact, if anything, I heard the sound of someone approaching. Don't people have their own tea at home? They make it seem as if we're the only place in the whole village that supplies it.

My head throbbed with exasperation, and before I could turn around and respond to this person's approach, they spoke.

"...What if I don't want to?"

I whirled around so quickly that I could've sworn I got whip lash. Or something of the sort. I dropped the cup that was in my hand, which sent it to plummetting to the ground below. Wetting my feet and ankles with soap and water.

The individual had come a lot closer to me than I had previously thought - right to the edge of the counter. If there hadn't been one there, I'm quite sure they would've been closer. Without a doubt.

We made eye contact and I swore to myself under my breath. At least, what breath was left - it had completely escaped me.

"S-s-s." Was all that I could say.

"And here I thought you've had enough of snakes."

My face quickly became warm, and even if I wanted to talk, the words wouldn't have come out anyway. They remained choked up in my throat, along with my nerve. I didn't know if there was something in my eye, or if it was truly hard emotion that was causing me to tear up. But regardless, wet, clear, fluid was seeping from the innerds of my eyes and I wasn't liking it. It's the types of events that would have you shaking your head in embarrassment a few years down the road.

Without even having the decency to wipe my hands dry, I launched myself at the figure across the wooden counter. Completely ignoring the pain that followed the action, after smashing my hip onto the hard surface. As I enveloped my arms around his figure, I heard his voice hitch in his throat in surprise before he carefully mimicked the gesture. I never thought I would have ever had the chance of calling him by his name once more.

"Sasuke."

I closed the shop, and I suggested taking a walk in the streets for some air and of course a lot of explanations. We both found ourselves in a more or less secluded area of the village - the little area that held the marble statues of the past and present Wind Kazekage.

I wanted to know why he was here and why Orochimaru hadn't taken him as his container already - obviously I wasn't going to ask him the second question.

I leaned against a tree, while he stood in front of me, his shadow towering over me.

He's grown...Holy crap.

"I don't get it...how did you end up in the Wind country?" I asked him.

The moonlight bathed my hair in it's light as it shone above us.

He buried his hands in his pockets, "I've been wandering around for the past few years now...I left Sound when I realized I didn't want to be that Snake's container," I looked at him in surprise, "I didn't need him. I mastered my Sharingan and have since managed to control and use the seal efficiently at will".

So he knew. I thought the boy an idiot for inadvertently allowing Orochimaru to use him as his own body, not realizing that he had already been aware. He knew. It was a testament to his commitment, to his goal: to be an Avenger. Sasuke was a paragon of vengeance, the last Uchiha. "So...did you find your brother?"

He nodded, "Our paths crossed one day three years ago, after I left."

This shocked me, three years? He managed to take down Uchiha Itachi younger than he was now? As a mere teenager? I was awestruck. The thought of how strong Sasuke had become in our time apart was absolutely astounding.

"...And I did it. It almost killed me, but it's done." There was a glint of anger in his eye, and a flash of something that looked like remorse, guilt even. But it was gone so quickly I barely had the time to register my confusion. What would he have to feel remorseful about? He killed the murderer of the Uchiha clan.

What could I say? "That's...great." That was the only thing I could muster, "You're on a roll, hey maybe you could bump off Orochimaru too." I spoke dryly.

It was then that a thought occurred to me. What exactly had Sasuke been doing in the past three years? The selfish part of me wondered why he hadn't come to seek me out sooner. I tossed the thought aside the moment I caught myself thinking it. I had absolutely no claim on him and it was foolish and presumptuous of me to think that I mattered to him in that way. Then I realized that if he wanted to go back to the Leaf, he could.

But he wasn't there, he was here.

I crossed my arms.

He almost chuckled, "And you?"

I sighed, "It's a long and dry story. But the woman I work for offered to give me a place to stay if I agreed to work in her shop. Surprisingly, I'm really content now. I don't have to worry about being hunted down and killed - well, at least not as much as before."

"Does she know that you're a mi-"

"Yeah," I interrupted him, "I told her the whole story. She doesn't mind, in fact, she was really good about it. It's pretty safe to say that not many people would've had the same reaction."

He nodded in agreement before, suddenly smirking, "What happened to the hat?"

I nearly laughed, "I retired it a few years ago."

It was somewhat amusing and symbolic that we tore away from something at the same time. Some sort of representation of our growths; at least, something along those lines.

"It was in your best interest, it looked horrible." He spoke, his lips still curled.

I glared at him, "It wasn't that bad." The glare suddenly morphed into a little chuckle, "Well...maybe it was."

I looked at him watching me. We stood there in comfortable silence for some time. Time seemed to slip away when I was near him, passing by in a blur of moments.

A hand left his pocket as he put it up to my face, a beat of hesitance taking him before he moved a long strand of my hair shielding my face and moved it behind my ear. Heat rose in my face as I watched him, not daring to look away in case he disappeared. He stroked my cheek softly with his thumb, with an expression on his face that I couldn't quite decipher.

He leaned in as I closed my eyes and before I realized it, I had felt a sensation I wouldn't soon forget: his lips on mine, and they tasted like mint tea. Good enough I supposed, at least it wasn't onion. But I'll take what I can get, thanks.

He kissed me and I responded coyly; something that was out of the ordinary with me - I wasn't exactly known for timidity.

That kiss was embarrassingly seven long years in the making. With all that time on the road – my personal life wasn't exactly the first thing on my mind. Besides, I wasn't that kind of girl, I just let things roll as they come. He was gentle, something I wasn't expecting. With the month or so I spent with him years ago, gentle wasn't exactly the first thing that came to mind when dealing with the egotistical Uchiha Sasuke. I supposed it was irony in its sweetest form.

It was an out of body experience; and I decided then that I couldn't be to blamed for any slips of the tongue - no pun intended.

I parted softly as I opened my eyes and stared at him dazedly.

"I...love you." I whispered still engrossed in the moment; saying the three words I neglected to speak the last time we saw each other.

He smirked, "I know." And kissed my forehead - somehow, I knew he did, "Now, how about that re-match?"

Men, they never change.

But in this case, I don't think I mind.

And, we're done! Give me some feedback if you're feeling generous. It was fun writing this story, even if some parts weren't exactly what I was hoping for. I actually wrote another part to this, but I don't plan on posting it. It's a little...impure. Ha, if you catch my drift - and I think it would totally ruin the whole purity of it all. So don't expect it. =] Thanks for reading! And maybe you'll see a sequel in the future, it was fun~ x)