Title: The End
Rating: K
Summary: "Hello, goodbye? What difference does it make? We'll end up together one way or another, perhaps down the aisle in the future. I'm sure you'll make sure of that."

"I am nothing if not persistent. Just check out my nose."

Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto… but I DO own Team Seven plushies.

Prompt 6- hello/goodbye

The last day they would ever be apart, was on their wedding day

{The End}

The first words to come out of Sakura's mouth the next day after her awkward encounter with the man who now wore a splint on his nose were, "Goodbye," then proceeded to do so as she turned on her heel and walked in the opposite direction.

Her victim, however, was at the very least over six feet tall and his long legs managed to carry him to his new obsession with just three steps as she quickly tried -and failed- to evade his presence.

"Can we talk?" Sasuke asked as he continued dogging at her heels.

"We have nothing to talk about," Sakura said dismissively. Which wasn't true. They had many things to converse about. First and foremost being the damage she had caused to his profile. It didn't look as bad as the damage she could have caused (her dad was into self-defense) but that didn't keep the guilt at bay. She felt bad knowing that a man as handsome as this guy (why haven't they introduced each other yet?) would go through life with a story of a broken nose courtesy from a girl who probably weighed less than his entire class books combined. And in college, that was saying something.

"What did ya tell them when they asked about how you got that broken nose?" Sakura, completely forgetting her no-talking policy, asked as she reached the top of the stairs and readjusted the shoulder strap of her book bag.

She had noticed him talking to four other guys as she passed to enter her Chem class and decided he was retelling their encounter, but with much less accuracy than if she had told it.

"Let me guess, you were surrounded on all sides by thugs and managed to escape with a broken nose while the other guys ended up looking like dog meat, that it?"

The day was slightly chilly, perfect for a light sweater and jeans, as she now wore. The man in front of her also had a cotton sweater, but in black as opposed to her dark green one and with a gray collar. His trousers were also gray and neatly pressed, making her ripped jeans instantly feel cheap and worn but quickly discarded the thought. She'd rather go for comfortable over fashionable.

Sasuke stuck his hands in the pockets of his probably-cost-more-than-I-make-in-a-year trousers and said, "Can't you come up with something a bit more original? That has to be the most overused excuse that even if it were to happen, people still think it didn't."

"You saved the head cheerleader from thugs and managed to escape with a broken nose while the other guys ended up looking like dog meat and the cheerleader was forever grateful."

Sasuke smirked. "Much better. However, you skipped the part were we went steady and shared a chocolate milkshake down at the diner. We'll be breaking out into song later today."

Sakura couldn't stop the laugh that trickled out from her mouth, not even if she tried. "So come on, what was it?"

"I'll answer yours if you answer mine."

The giggles ceased and Sakura regained her composure. She regarded the well-dressed man in gray and said after a moment, "It's not that important, anyway," she said to herself more than to him and continued on her way again.

Or at least she tried to but Sasuke held onto her wrist fast enough for her to jolt back as if she were electrocuted. "I really do wish you'd let me ask. It's a very good question."

The warm air exiting Sakura's mouth caused the chilly air to fog up. "Okay, ask away. But I'm not guarantying 100 percent satisfaction. I'm not the Hampton Inn."

Sasuke smothered the smirk that tried to make its presence known and instead asked his question before she decided to change her mind. "What's your name?"

After a long pause, of which Sasuke had begun to think she hadn't heard and was about to ask again, when she said, "I could lie, you know."

His broad shoulders shrugged in disbelief. "I doubt that."

But he didn't go into details, and she didn't ask.

"Sakura, but I'm not telling you my last name."

He smiled. "I like that," was all he said.

"Well? What's yours?"

"Sasuke, but I'm not telling you my last name."

"Should I be alarmed we have the same surname, Sasuke?"

Sasuke, in question, tried not to show how much his name on Sakura's lips made him feel warm and satisfied. He instead said, "I hear it's a very common surname, Sakura." He had added that last part after wondering what her name coming from him might sound like.

It sounded wonderful.

She nodded, as if agreeing on something internally. "Good. Now that we have successfully acquainted ourselves with one another, I can leave knowing we left on good terms."

"Well, not quiet."

The emerald eyes of the woman in front of him darkened in confusion. "What's left to say?" Then darkened further in rage. "If you think I owe you an apology for breaking your nose, you're crazy! You were the one creeping around the park like some stalker, I was merely defending myself!"

"No, that's not it," Sasuke tried to sooth her with hands out in front of him as if he needed to show her he was unarmed and harmless.

But Sakura huffed and could have cared less if Sasuke suddenly sported a bazooka as she clarified, "Good. Because I would gladly re-break your nose a million times over before I ever apologized."

"Right. What I meant was, you had already bid me a farewell."

"When?" Sakura's eyes lightened a bit. At least she wasn't angry or about to slug him.

"When you saw me not too long ago. You said 'Goodbye.' "

She was quiet for a minute or two, obviously trying to remember. Then she slowly nodded and said, "Yes."

Sasuke smiled as he stared down into Sakura's jade orbs. "Perhaps a better farewell would be, 'Hello'?"

And at that moment, Sakura couldn't care what was going on around her. It seemed that the only two people that mattered were her and the man with the broken nose.

Sakura nodded once more, her smile brighter than she could ever remember it to be. "Hello, goodbye? What difference does it make? We'll end up together one way or another, perhaps down the aisle in the future. I'm sure you'll make sure of that."

His nod was absolute. "I am nothing if not persistent. Just check out my nose."