"Is it over?" Aiko asked as she looked out the widow of the home that was once her parents. Now it was hers.

"I think it's safe to say yes," Sasuke answered as he looked out with her. He stood behind her, arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her close. Aiko basked in the warm feeling of his chest against her back. It was a comfortable pressure that kept her grounded, kept her from thinking that maybe this was a dream.

It was so strange to think she could finally relax. She had done it! Her parents were gone and she was High Priestess, and the family was finally turning itself around. It was all a feat that Aiko never thought she would ever accomplish, or that she would ever even have the opportunity to do. But, even so, with the death of old challenges comes the birth of new ones. Aiko taken over the family, but now she had to run it.

Not that she was complaining. Tying up loose ends, reworking the family business, even correcting behavioral problems among the Okumura who were still so rooted in their cruel ways, it was a walk in the park compared to what Aiko had gone through.

Outside, Aiko and Sasuke watched as the clan's servants tended the small flower garden that sat in the center of the compound. They trimmed back any wild stems, pulled weeds, and fed the koi that swam in lazy lines within the pond that rested in the middle of it all. Those beautiful fish still didn't have a care in the world. Almost as if nothing existed outside their little home. There was just the crisp, clear water and the blessedly placed lilies to hide under when the sun beat down too fiercely.

Aiko still envied them, but not quite so intensely anymore.

"What do we do now, Sasuke?" Aiko asked. "We've been on the road for so long, I don't think I really know how to be back here anymore."

Sasuke hugged the red head a little tighter in reassurance, "Just start with fixing your clan. That's already a big job. Worry about the rest later."

Aiko turned in the Uchiha's arms, "And you? Will you stay with me?"

"Where else would I go?"

"You could rebuild your own clan now," Aiko said softly, "Now that you've... now that everything's finished." Dark, onyx eyes locked with her own blue ones and she saw a longing within them. "You deserve a start over, after everything that's happened these last five years. The last ten years, even. You've been through so much..."

Raising a hand, Aiko gently cupped Sasuke's face. He remained motionless a moment, eyes somber, until he finally pressed his cheek more firmly into her palm. Aiko smiled, truly happy, as she stared at the only man she had ever loved in her life. Everything was falling into place, everything was finally starting to make sense for once. But most importantly...

She felt she could breathe.

"If I rebuild my clan, Aiko, I would only want to with you," Sasuke finally said, a spark lighting in his dark eyes.

Aiko blushed and looked away, dropping her hand onto his arm—which was still wrapped around her, "I don't want you to feel like your obligated to be with me," she explained hesitantly, voicing a concern that had been on her mind lately. "I'll always love you Sasuke, and I could never be with anyone else, but I'll be okay if you want to take some time to find yourself. Let your wounds heal, especially the ones left behind by your brother. There's no rush."

For the first time in a long time, Sasuke smiled widely and genuinely. There was a bright, lifting happiness in it and for a moment, Aiko was seeing the Sasuke that had been lost ten years ago with the death of his clan.

"You stood by me through my darkest times, Aiko," Sasuke replied, "When I was at my lowest, when I hated everything, when I betrayed everyone who was ever unfortunate enough to get close to me and I ran away. You came with me even though it put you in danger, even though it frightened you. I don't think I can ever measure up to your courage or bravery, but what kind of person would I be if I left you now? After everything? You finally have the chance to live a good life with your family—neither of us even contemplated that possibility. I want to be by your side."

With restrained eagerness, Sasuke pressed his lips to Aiko. Immediately, she reciprocated. This was all she ever wanted, ever needed. Just to be loved. To have someone who cared about her. Even if Sasuke did leave one day, Aiko would always be content, knowing that there was someone out there that felt this way about her. It made her feel whole. But she would never be his chain, holding him back, tethering him to anything he didn't want to be tethered to. And she knew he would never try holding her back either.

The two of them had always built each other up, it what they had always done. There was no point in keeping one another from their true potential. No point in smothering each other's ambitions. They had both seen and known people in their lives that felt obligated to certain social standards, who held themselves back because of their fear—who became what their parents or friends told them they would be good at or settled into motions and paths that didn't make them feel quite whole.

That wasn't the kind of life either of them wanted.

Aiko grinned into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Sasuke's neck and pulling him closer. His own arms hugged her more tightly to his chest and the two of them reveled in the overwhelming passion that passed between them. It was like years and years of bottled emotions were finally spilling out into the light. It felt good. They both wanted to live in this moment of warmth and brightness forever.

When, finally, they pulled away to catch their breath, Aiko couldn't help but laugh. She couldn't help it. It was just so strange how well everything had turned out. Even though, deep down, a part of her was painfully sad that she had had to kill her parents. And, inwardly, Aiko admitted that it would probably always be a sadness that she carried with her, no matter what. He parent had been horrible, awful people, but she couldn't help loving them still.

Sasuke grinned and kissed Aiko's forehead. Her laughter was a contagious, melodic sound that he knew he could fall in love with. Maybe not right now, but he could see himself settling with her. She would be the only one. No one else moved him or supported him as much as Aiko did. Even Sakura, who had bellowed her love for him many times and tried her hardest to prove that she cared about him the most could never hold a place as intensely in his heart as Aiko did. She just understood him, completely. More than anyone else ever could.

Aiko could understand Sasuke's pain and she had never—even once—tried to make him move on from it. She understood that it was a part of him, that he would always carry it. It shaped him. And she accepted him as he was.

She always would.

"I don't want to be anywhere else," Sasuke said as they both just basked in each other's closeness.

Aiko smiled softly this time and planted a short kiss of her own on Sasuke's lips, "I love you," she whispered. "I'll always love you."