*:･ﾟ✧ - Wonderland(?)

DISCLAIMER: characters – Kishimoto, in honor of mu149

I was almost there. I was almost finished. Just a few more to go and I would be finally done.

There were only three large boxes before me that needed to be unpacked and then I would finally be finished with moving in with Sasuke. I wiped the sweat from my brow and looked at the boxes in satisfaction. Once I finished those last three, I would be triumphant over them!

Pushing a hand through my hair, I frowned when I felt the nape of my neck. Years have passed since I cut my hair and for some reason I still can't get used to having short hair for some reason. I guess I was more attached to my long hair than I thought. But I cut if for a reason.

So many years had passed since I left Sasuke to go with Naruko.

I thought things between us would be completely different when I came back just a month ago. I expected Sasuke would have gotten tired waiting for me. I expected that he would maybe find someone else. I expected a scenario where we wouldn't end up together.

But when I ran into Sasuke's arms the moment I saw him, we picked up where we had left off. The difference was that we were grown up now.

Sasuke was stronger and I was stronger.

I cut off the duct tape of the first box and opened up the flaps. It was more keepsakes from when I was with Naruko. I set the box aside and tackled the next. It was filled with lots of books from when I went to school. I would have to find a bookshelf for them later…

Finally I was on the last box.

Going through the same process as all the others I ripped off the duct tape and opened the flaps of the box. I held my breath for a moment when I saw that the box was filled with lots of my old uniforms from when I worked with Jiraiya at the café.

I dug through the outfits remembering each and every one of them. The school girl, the kimono, the little black dresses, there were lots of them. At the very bottom of the box was the spring blue dress I wore on my last days at the café.

The dress I wore going into that place.

I took the dress and held it up in front of a mirror. It was too small for me to wear now. I reached into the pocket of the white apron, hoping to get some change that I had maybe forgotten there. But instead I had pulled out a black ribbon.

I was unsure what to do with the box of outfits.

Walking back to it I carefully folded the blue dress on the top of the box and closed the flaps of it.

Rest is what I needed.

I sat on the Sasuke's bed. I mean our bed. It's hard to get used to saying Sasuke's things are my things for now.

Laying my head back on the pillow, I stared up at ceiling and thought of what to do with them. Giving them away could be an option. But I felt too strong of an attachment to let go of them. Briefly I thought about just putting them away on top of a shelf. They would still be there… but they wouldn't be gone. And I think if I kept them there it's not like they would be haunting me or anything.

Wonderland didn't haunt me. It couldn't haunt me.

I shut my eyes and concentrated on my breathing. I needed a rest from all the work I did today.

Just take a little nap for now. Then wake up to make something to eat for Sasuke and me.

*:･ﾟ✧

There was a haze around me. It was thick and I couldn't even see beyond a few inches ahead of me. But quickly it dispersed and I looked around to see where I was.

It seemed that there was nothing but shrubbery around. Just trees and flower bushes lined the environment. I looked up and saw that there was plain blue sky above me.

When I looked down in my lap, I recognized the blue fabric of my dress that I wore years ago! I angled my feet so that I could get a good look at them and I was even wearing the same shoes that I wore with the uniform. I briefly touched my shoulders but found that my hair wasn't long like back then; it was short. I touched the top of my head to feel the black ribbon in place.

"You look lovely as always Alice."

Freezing at the voice I looked ahead of me to find Hatter (or Time) sitting so casually in front of me.

Was I Wonderland, like for real? Or is this just some dream that I'm dreaming because I happened across the dress and I fell asleep thinking about it?

We sat at a small circular table together, once again a tea set sitting on the surface of the table and a slim vase with a single blue rose inside but nothing more than that. Hatter picked up the cup in front of him and sipped it. He let out a content sigh when he placed the cup back on its saucer.

Hesitantly I asked, "Am… am I dreaming? I have to be dreaming. No way we're doing this all over again!" I groaned. I leant forward on the table and put my face in my hands. "Are you Hatter or Time?"

Hatter chuckled and he took his hands away from my face. He held both of my hands and looked at me straight in the eye.

"Think what you want Alice. If you think you are here then fine. If you believe that you are dreaming this then I have no arguments. I just merely have something to tell you."

I was silent but I nodded my head to let him go ahead and speak.

He simply smiled at me and squeezed my hands as he spoke. "Come back whenever you like Alice."

"Huh?"

"If you ever want to escape, even for a little, then you can come back. I'll be here and we can have more tea together. I'll feed you as many pastries as you want and we could even play chess together! Maybe even go swimming in that pool. You can come and go freely Alice." Hatter informed me.

But all the while, I was just confused.

This had to be a dream. Sasuke and I were together now… we didn't need Wonderland anymore. But what if it wasn't? I never did tell him to permanently get rid of the jutsu; I just told him to lock it away. It's all very confusing for me.

I gave him a suspicious look and asked, "You didn't answer my question. Are you Hatter? Or have you gone back to being Time?"

He shook his head and chuckled, I guess telling me that he wouldn't answer it. A little like how he couldn't answer why a raven was like a writing desk.

I asked a different question, playing along now with whatever was going on. "How long will you wait for me?"

"I'll wait forever."

"That's a long time."

"Yes. Yes it is."

The world around us started to blur but before I could wake up, he had leaned over and planted a kiss on my lips, his hands cupping my face and making me tilt my head up slightly. I sighed when he had pulled away from the brief contact but his smile lifted my spirits up.

"Alice…" he whispered into my ear. Wonderland continued to blur around us but he wasn't paying much attention. "Alice…" he whispered again against my lips. He gave me a chaste kiss and chuckled, "Wake up now Alice."

*:･ﾟ✧

I opened my eyes slowly but there was barely a thing I could see.

It registered in my mind that it was nightfall. And I was asleep from lunchtime to now!

A warm body was pressed against my back and I immediately knew it was Sasuke. He was spooning me with his arm curled around my waist. I craned my neck to look at the digital clock on the bedside table. It told me that the time was 8:37.

My dream… could I really call it a dream?

Either it was a dream or I was really in Wonderland.

I couldn't choose one or the other.

Wriggling slightly, Sasuke loosened his arm a little bit. I turned my body around so that I could rest against his chest. He briefly woke up and gave me a sleepy smile. Sasuke kissed my forehead but didn't say anything and drifted back to sleep.

I shut my eyes and decided to go back to sleep too, this time Wonderland not appearing at all.

A/N: And there is your epilogue. I wanted to be cryptic about Naruto's dream to Wonderland but maybe a lot of you would think that it merely was just a dream.

It took me a while to finish and I even worried that I never would. But yet I started on October 11, 2011 and here I am ending July 10, 2013. The only credit I take is that I finished this in honor of mu149, myself and a lot of her readers from the original would have very much liked to read how she would have ended it in her own words. I've done my best to the story on how I think she would have done NIW based on her skeletal outline. I wouldn't have done this without the blessing of Alecksander92, who didn't have to let me finish the story when I asked in a PM not expecting to get a blessing but did. A lot of my thanks go to him.

Old readers of the original NIW, new readers of mine, or both I just thank you for keeping up with the story, adding to your favorites, and following. I hope you all enjoyed!

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧