NOTE: Before reading this final chapter, know this:

THERE WILL BE A SMALL EXTENSION TO THIS STORY. I know I said at the beginning of this series that there probably wouldn't be any spin off-and there won't be-but Sasuke and Aerin's relationship, in my personal opinion, needs to be explored a bit more. Therefore I'm making a 10 chapter side story to this one! It will only focus on Sasuke and Aerin's relationship, so for those of you that don't like the pairing or whatever, feel free not to read.

However, this story is ending! This is the official end! And after the 10 chapter special, there will be nothing else on Shinobi High. I'll start writing a completely new story-which will likely be "Does It Even Matter?" because it won the poll.

So, to sum up, I'll be writing a ten chapter spin-off (WHICH WILL BE M-RATED, MIND YOU. Hence another reason I can't post it on this story) and then after that I'll likely write a new Naruto fanfic, for any of you that would like to keep reading my work. Also, please note that I haven't started to type the 10 chapter special at all, so the story won't be up for a little while. No more than two weeks though, I'd say...

Anyway, thank you all so much for the support! I love you, and please enjoy this final chapter!

Normal POV

"I got accepted…"

Sasuke blinked and looked over at his girlfriend of nearly a year. It was the beginning of April. They had just arrived back at his home—or their home considering that she was still residing there—from a long day at school.

By the kitchen table Aerin stood with letter unfolded in her hands. The envelope it had come in was ripped apart and abandoned on the table-top.

"I got in," she said again, green eyes wide with surprise as she flipped the letter around and held it up to him. Sasuke quizzically leaned in and began reading.

'Congratulations Aerin! You've been accepted to the University of…'

Sasuke's eyes widened. This was the Uni that Aerin had wanted to get into her whole life…and she was in.

"Oh my god," he breathed and glanced up at her. Happiness was practically radiating off of her, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Sasuke couldn't help but smile.

"Congrats," he said and instinctively opened his arms. He was right to, because a second later Aerin jumped at him, wrapping her arms around his neck joyfully as she hugged him tight.

"I got in!" she yelled into his shirt and Sasuke chuckled. He was happy for her.

Together the two embraced until Sasuke's cellphone started to buzz angrily. Sighing irritably the Uchiha released his girlfriend and pulled his phone from his pocket.

"Dobe, what—"

"GIVE THE PHONE TO AERINNNNNN," Naruto screamed. Sasuke nearly pissed himself, handing the device off wordlessly. Why the hell call him if he wanted to talk to Aerin?—he needed a fucking hearing aid now!

"Hello?" the brunette questioned.

"Aerin!" Naruto responded happily. "Did you get—?"

"Yeah!" she responded energetically. "Did you—?"

"I got one too!"

"Oh my god, Naruto!"

"Right?!"

And then the two broke off into their own happy conversation. Sasuke blinked and watched Aerin as she flitted over to the fridge and grabbed a can of Dr Pepper. That's right, he remembered—Naruto and Aerin had both wished to go to the same Uni. That must've meant the blond had gotten in as well.

"Sasuke," Aerin whispered, pulling the phone away from her lips momentarily. Sasuke blinked and she smiled at him, pointing a finger to the rest of the mail lying on the table. "There's a few for you too."

Raising his eyebrows in surprise, the Uchiha padded over to the stack of mail. Some for him?

After a couple seconds he found two letters addressed to him. One was from a local Uni he'd applied to as a back up—the other was from the university he actually hopped to get accepted to—one that specialized in business, medical, and law.

He picked up the local university letter first. At least if he got denied to the place he wanted, he'd have somewhere to go.

He opened it.

'Congratulations Sasuke! You've been—'

Accepted. He released a small sigh of relief.

Now…

He picked up the second letter and tentatively ripped it open.

'Hello Sasuke, we're pleased to inform you that you've been…'

Sasuke felt his heart pound harshly.

Accepted.

He breathed a sigh of relief and found himself smiling yet again. Now both he and Aerin had gotten some good news.

"Sasuke," the brunette suddenly called. She popped her head back into the doorway of the kitchen and tossed her cellphone to him. He caught it, the device buzzing in his hands. Without an explanation, Aerin sent him a smile before resuming her call with Naruto and disappearing yet again.

Quizzical, Sasuke looked down at her phone.

Sakura Haruno

He immediately realized what this was about and held the device up to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Sasuke?" Sakura said, sounding confused. "What…? Why weren't you answering your own phone?"

"Naruto called for Aerin via my phone for some reason," he responded with a roll of his eyes. "Anyway, what did you call for?"

"Oh! Did you get one?!"

"A letter?"

"An acceptance letter," she corrected him. "So…?"

"I got one," he admitted. Sakura immediately made a sound of excitement.

"You did?! That's great!"

"What about you?" Sasuke questioned, leaning back against the edge of the table. If he recalled correctly—Sakura had applied as well. After all, she wanted to be a doctor, and this was one of the best schools around.

"Well, if I hadn't gotten accepted I sure as hell wouldn't be calling you right now!" she said. "Of course I got in, baka!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Well, congratulations."

"You too!" she responded happily, and then paused. Sasuke became concerned at her silence.

"Sakura?"

"I was just thinking," she said after a moment. "If Naruto's calling Aerin and they both got in to the Uni they wanted, and we got into ours…then…you do realize you and Aerin are going to be about six hours apart, right?"

Sasuke blinked, realization dawning on him. Honestly, he hadn't even thought about it.

Well…crap.

"Go to the place that's best for you," Aerin had said. "I don't want either of us giving up on our future jobs or education just to try and make this relationship work."

"Are you breaking up with me?" he'd responded, and Aerin had immediately grabbed onto his hand.

"No! God no! I'm just saying that it'll all turn out alright, okay?"

Sasuke had nodded, believing her. "Okay."

…but now here he was. He was one trimester into his sophomore year of college, doing fine grade wise, but relationship wise…

"Sasuke…I'm so sorry…I just…I don't know? Let's break up for now, okay? I just, I'm sorry…"

She had broken up with him. Aerin had broken up with him…

He didn't know what to do…but some force had led him here.

"Sasuke?"Sakura questioned, looking surprised. It was ten o'clock at night—how did he even manage to get into the girls dorm?!

He mumbled something. Sakura blinked.

"What?"

"…she broke up with me."

Sakura felt her heart stop. What? Aerin had…no…

Immediately she pulled the Uchiha into dorm room, closing the door behind him. She led him to the couch and he sat down stiffly. His face was blank. Sakura realized that he didn't know what to do with himself. Sasuke had never been good with emotions and after one of the people he truly loved had apparently just terminated her relationship with him, the loss and sadness he was feeling was probably unlike anything he'd ever felt before…

"I'll get us some hot tea," she said quickly and then ran into the small kitchen area her room held. As she gathered hot water and tea packets, her phone beeped quietly. Quickly she pulled the device from her pocket.

3 new text messages from Naruto Uzumaki.

Sakura blinked. That's right; Naruto and Aerin went to the same Uni!

Without wasting a second she opened the messages.

Naruto: Aerin just showed up at my door crying. From the information I've gathered from her she just broke up with Sasuke, and is heartbroken because she didn't want to. She's just lost hope. They haven't seen each other in 4 months, and since we all started college they've only seen each other four times. Four times in 14 months…

Sakura, she loves him. She really, truly does.

Please help me out here. Please. I know you feel the same way I do about them. Please.

Sakura felt determination fill her. She wasn't going to let their relationship end just like that. Aerin loved Sasuke, Sasuke loved her and—as a couple—everyone loved them. It couldn't be over.

Storming back into her tiny living space, Sakura knelt down in front of the Uchiha, grabbing his shoulder. He seemed to emerge slightly from his depressed state, raising his dead onyx eyes to meet her passionate emerald ones.

"Do you love her?"

Confusion slipped through Sasuke's emotionless façade.

"…what?"

"Aerin—do you love her?" Sakura repeated. Sasuke finally noted the determination in her eyes.

"Of course," he replied as if she was stupid. Sakura grinned. Regular Sasuke was making his return.

"Well then," she said and stood, placing her hands on her hips. "Stand up. We're going to your dorm so we can grab some things and then we're leaving."

Sasuke raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Where?"

"We're going on a road-trip."

Aerin woke up the next morning feeling depressed and confused. Depressed because the night before she had broken up with her boyfriend of over two years and one of her best friends. Confused because…she smelled bacon, eggs, and pancakes…and she was in Naruto's dorm room. The blond didn't know how to make anything besides cup ramen.

Yawning, Aerin found it in herself to get out of bed—the bed Naruto usually slept in but had graciously lent her for the night after she'd, well, shown up at his place…an emotional wreck.

Padding from the bedroom she walked into the blonds' tiny living area and stared at the coffee table in shock. Everything she had smelled was there…eggs, bacon, pancakes…

"You know, I thought I'd given you enough of my shirts to wear," a deep voice suddenly spoke, causing Aerin's entire body to tremble. For a few seconds she remained an embodiment of unstable emotions before her head finally turned to meet the owner of the voice she knew too well.

Sasuke was standing in the doorway to Naruto's miniscule kitchen, a black apron tied around his waist. There was neither a smile nor smirk upon his face, only a calculating look in his eyes as they remained glued to her and nothing else

"My shirt was dirty," Aerin mumbled without thinking, her mind still reeling as she gripped the sides of Naruto's shirt comfortingly. Why was he here? Why, why, why?! Was he angry? Had he come to yell at her?!

Aerin felt like she was going to break down again.

"Wha…how are you here?" she managed, voice barely a whisper. Sasuke calmly walked towards her.

"I drove six hours through the night to come and see you," he said and stopped a mere few inches in front of her. Aerin was having trouble looking up at him, so he bent down and gently took her face into his hands. "I drove here to see you because…I love you," he said and Aerin looked up at him in genuine surprise. Those were words he hadn't said to her too often—not because he didn't love her, but just because he had a hard time saying them.

Sasuke's face turned pink with embarrassment, but his voice remained steady and serious.

"I love you…a lot…and I don't want…this to be happening," he continued quietly, dropping his hands from Aerin's face. The brunette remained staring at him either way.

"I'm sorry that we haven't seen each other in so long," he said, gaze on the floor. "And I'm sorry if I could've been a better boyfriend…but please," he suddenly grabbed Aerin's hands in his and turned his eyes back up to her. They were hard with determination but turning soft with pleading. "Please…let's make this work…"

Stunned, it took Aerin a few seconds to register that there were tears hurriedly rolling down her face. Removing one of her hands from Sasuke's grasp, she quickly covered her mouth as a sob escaped, and sunk to the floor.

Sasuke watched in horror as tears continued to roll down her cheeks and over her hand. He was terrified that he had just messed up things even more.

Aerin, on the other hand, realized that she had messed things up already and shouldn't have. She shouldn't have ended their relationship the night before. She shouldn't have doubted him for a second…it was just, she was worried. Aerin hadn't seen him in so long. They were both constantly busy with part-time jobs and school work. Because of the location of her university Aerin lived closer to her family then to his, so for holidays they were never together—the last time she had gone to see his family had been the Christmas of their senior year of high school and that was nearly two years ago…she had just missed him. After living together for a year and a half during high school, suddenly being apart for so long had taken a toll on her conscious…

"I'm sorry," she sobbed and Sasuke felt his heart stop. Was she going to reaffirm her breakup with him…?

"I love you too," she said and suddenly smiled at him, face still damp with tears. "I'd love if we made this work."

Sasuke released a sigh of utter relief and found himself slinking down onto the floor with her. He wasted no time and took her face into his hands, guiding their lips together. Aerin managed a laugh in-between her deteriorating sadness as he continued to kiss her once, twice and again.

Finally, when Aerin's tears had dried up and they had finished their minute long hug, Sasuke pulled back and removed the necklace dangling in front of his chest.

"Let's make a promise," he said as he slid the jewelry over Aerin's head. It was the necklace Aerin had convinced him to buy when they'd first gone to Japan together. "For now I'll give you this necklace, and this way whenever you want to see me or I feel like getting it back, we'll have an excuse to see each other."

"That's kind of cheesy," Aerin said with a joking smirk and Sasuke rolled his eyes. "But either way," she continued, leaning up to kiss him again. "It's a promise."

Two years later both Aerin and Sasuke, 22 years old, stood in front of a black door. More specifically, it was the door to their apartment.

It was a month after both of them had graduated, and they had moved back towards Konoha—the town having a special place in their hearts. Together they both had secured jobs and decided to get an apartment. Sasuke's old house had been put up for sale, but either way the two wanted their own place—somewhere new.

"Here," Sasuke said and handed Aerin the keys. "You do the honors."

Rolling her eyes but smiling nonetheless, Aerin inserted the keys into the door before unlocking it and stepping inside. Immediately she paused in confusion. The apartment was just as she had remembered it…but candles, rose petals, and incense were everywhere.

"Um…is there someone else living here?" she questioned skeptically, continuing to look around. Sasuke huffed a sigh and then stepped in after her, closing the door. At hearing him enter, Aerin turned around and raised an eyebrow.

"I set this up," he admitted, walking up beside her.

Aerin stared at him in surprise and then snorted a laugh.

"Since when did you become so romantic?"

"Since the time you nearly broke up with me," he replied calmly, and Aerin immediately felt embarrassment flow into her. Man, she had been stupid back then…

"But I did it because today is a special day," he continued and Aerin once again found herself looking at him, thoroughly confused.

"And why is that? Because we're moving in together?"

"That…and," he said, suddenly keeling onto the ground. Aerin's heart pounded harshly as Sasuke reached into his pocket and produced a black, velvet box. Flipping it open, he continued, "I was hoping that on this day you'd do me the honor of agreeing to become my wife. So…Aerin Grey, will you marry me?"

"Yes," she said without even pausing to think about it. Before the shocked, yet happy tears could drop from her eyes Sasuke slipped the silver and diamond ring onto her finger and then stood, taking her into his arms. As Sasuke twirled her around happily, Aerin laughed.

"I don't think I've seen you smile this much in a while," she said when he set her down. Smile unfading, Sasuke replied—

"Well, you've just made me the happiest man alive."

Aerin felt her cheeks flush red and she lightly punched Sasuke on the arm.

"How cliché…"

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke chose not to reply with words, and instead with his lips. Aerin seemed to like that reply better as well.

Two weeks after their engagement had been announced, Aerin and Sasuke found themselves standing in the lobby of one of Sharingan Inc's many buildings in Tokyo, Japan. Hands entwined, they prepared to face their fate as the doors to the presidential office in front of them creaked open.

Side by side, Fugaku and Mikoto stepped out.

Aerin remained calm at the sight of Sasuke's parents. She had confronted them numerous times over the years and built up some courage. Well, against Fugaku at least…

Against his mother she didn't really need any courage. Mikoto…didn't really have a problem with her at all. In fact—

"Sasuke! Aerin!" she called and ran up to the two happily. With a large smile she latched onto them, hugging them tightly. "I've missed you! I'm so ecstatic for you both!"

"Thank you," Aerin replied politely, smiling back at her.

Mikoto had never had a problem with her. Since the minute she and Aerin had first met she'd been nothing but kind and helpful. Like Sasuke had said when first speaking of his mother: she considered his happiness over the fate of the family business that he didn't want to be a part of. This was also another reason that Sasuke had attained the freedom to go to the University he'd wanted and also was able to live in an apartment back in Konoha with her…

Not to say that Fugaku was blatantly against the decisions he'd made for himself, but…he'd had his own plans for Sasuke—and they weren't playing out how he'd imagined.

"Sasuke," Fugaku finally addressed, stepping up to meet them. Sasuke bowed his head.

"Miss G—…Aerin," he continued, looking down at her. Aerin blinked in surprise and bowed her head as well. Never before had he called her Aerin…but then again, her and Sasuke had just gotten engaged—it was coming to the point where he couldn't just over look their relationship anymore (like he was used to doing). This was real—they were engaged to be married—and she would not remain "Miss Grey" forever. Eventually she would take on Sasuke's—and his—name.

"We have some things to discuss with you," Fugaku said and turned on his heel, walking back towards his office. Aerin and Sasuke blinked in confusion. What kind of things…?

"C'mon," Mikoto said calmly and placed her hands on their backs, pushing them after him. Sasuke raised an eyebrow and looked back at his mother. She sighed.

"It won't hurt, I promise."

Now even more concerned, Sasuke glanced over to Aerin. The brunette simply shrugged, not knowing what was going on either.

A minute later Sasuke and Aerin found themselves on a couch in Fugaku's large office, the CEO and his wife seated directly across from them on their own sofa.

"Now, Aerin," Mikoto started, folding her hands together. "I remember telling you a while back that if you continued to study Japanese in college than I would place you on Sharingan Inc's line of translators…and I want you to know that the offer still stands."

Aerin stared at her in shock.

"Are you serious?"

"Very," Mikoto replied, becoming very business-like. "Our company has many different translators for other countries around the world, but we still need another to translate Japanese for two people in particular—one of those people is Itachi."

Aerin raised her eyebrows, once again surprised. Itachi?

"As you know, after Itachi graduated from college he decided to accept a job here at Sharingan Inc as the head of the Human Resource division," Mikoto continued. "He needs a translator for some of his matters, claiming that he's forgotten too much of the language since he was a child, and he requested you specifically."

"Me?" Aerin repeated. "But who is the other person you want me to translate for?"

To her surprise, the reply she received was a sigh from Fugaku. The Uchiha leaned forward in his seat, resting his hands on his knees.

"Sasuke," he said, looking up at his youngest son. "I'm aware that you do not wish to be a part of this company, but I'm going to give this offer anyway."

Immediately Sasuke opened his mouth, planning to refuse his father, but Aerin's hand on his knee stopped him. She sent him a soft look, begging him just to be quiet and listen for once. And, with a sigh, he did.

"The head of the marketing division just retired, and before I go on the hunt for another person to fill the position, I'm first going to offer it to you," Fugaku continued. He glanced up at his son, his face not hard as stone for the first time in a while. "I would like you to be the new head of that division," he said, and continued before Sasuke could attempt to turn him down a second time. "This is a family business, after all, and it would please me to see both of my sons involved in the company—however…you are not required to reside here if you do not wish."

Sasuke blinked in surprise. For the first time in his life it seemed as if his father was trying to be…considerate.

Fugaku sighed again, apparently not used to speaking in such a way, "I can see that your heart and home are back in Konoha, and that Japan is not your favored residence—so I will not try and confine you here. You may do all your work back home if that's what you'd prefer, but an office would—of course—be provided to you here in Tokyo as well, for you to use at your disposal. And, if you need a translator to help you—if you so choose to accept my offer—your fiancée will fill the position. "

His father stopped speaking, his proposition apparently over, and for the first time on his own part…Sasuke was having trouble saying "no". Aerin immediately noticed her fiancés silence and glanced over at him. He seemed to be considering, and that surprised her—but not in a bad way.

"Could we—?" Aerin started, but before she could finish Mikoto grabbed Fugaku by the arm and started to drag him out of the room.

"Take all the time you need!" The woman replied before slipping out of the office and closing the doors behind her and her husband. Once they were gone Aerin immediately stood up and relocated herself into Sasuke's lap, placing her hands on either side of his face.

He finally seemed to snap out of his thoughts and looked up at her, his hands instinctively reaching for her hips.

"Are you considering his offer for once?" Aerin said with a small smile. Sasuke sighed.

"I…I don't know," he replied, eyes narrowing as he looked down. "I'm so used to turning him down immediately and just refuting him in general…," he suddenly looked up at her, squeezing her hips momentarily. "What are you thinking?"

"Me? Well," Aerin laughed, shrugging her shoulders. "I've always wanted to be a translator, and you know that your brother and I are actually pretty close friends, so…," she smiled at him again, almost sadly. "I don't really see any reason I shouldn't accept the offer."

"I see," Sasuke mumbled and looked down at his lap once again. Aerin sighed and leaned forward, kissing his forehead.

"Not to shape your opinion or anything," she said. "…but you went to business school. The job your father is offering fits into the category you've been studying about for the last four years. So…I mean…"

"There isn't a reason I should find not to accept, huh?" Sasuke said, glancing up at her. Aerin blinked.

"So…?"

"I'm a college graduate, an adult, and I'm going to be getting married," he said suddenly, surprising her. "Maybe it's time I forget about the bad memories of my childhood and focus on the future…"

"Then you're going to…?" Aerin gasped, and before she could continue Sasuke turned his head towards the door his parents had exited out of a few minutes before.

"Tou-san, Kaa-san!" he called as Aerin scrambled off of his lap, and after a few second the door cracked open, said two figured peeking in at them. Looking one last time at Aerin, determination in his eyes, Sasuke made his decision.

"We accept your offers."

Itachi walked into his office to find a very…natural and expected, but completely unprofessional sight. Sighing, he adjusted the stack of papers in his arms and strode towards the brunette lounging at his desk. She had the TV remote in her hand and happily turned up the volume as the opening to the anime she was watching started to play.

"Ano ko ga kinou nanka sugoku yasashikute~!" she sang along with the funky music, the embodiment of someone who didn't hold a care in the world. Itachi couldn't help but smirk at the ecstatic grin on her face.

"Didn't I ban you watching anime in my office?" Itachi finally spoke up good-naturedly. He stepped up and set the papers in his arms on the edge of his desk as Aerin swiveled to face him.

"Yeah, you did, but I've got nothing to do and you were in a meeting!" she whined, face morphing into a pleading look. Itachi snorted a laugh and was tempted to roll his eyes.

"You do know that you're here to work, right?"

"Of course, but what the hell do you need a translator for at 9 o'clock on a Friday night!" she said, motioning to the dark city out the windows behind her.

"Well…I did have someone who I was supposed to meet with," he mumbled, crossing his arms. "But I think they bailed…"

Aerin paused momentarily and blinked at him.

"Does that mean I can watch my anime then?"

"How about instead we go and catch some dinner?" Itachi suggested, looking her over. "You haven't eaten yet right?"

"Well, I stole some pastries from the break room but officially I haven't eaten a full fledged meal in…7 hours?" she ponder, placing a hand on her stomach.

Itachi sighed and walked around his desk, taking the remote from her hand. Pressing the power button, the TV clicked off and Aerin stood from his chair.

"What are we gonna get?" she asked as Itachi walked over to his coat rack on the wall and grabbed his jacket. The Uchiha shrugged.

"There's a ramen shop right across the street?" he suggested, and immediately Aerin licked her lips happily.

"Sounds good!" she said as Itachi tossed her coat to her. Aerin shrugged it over her shoulders as she and Itachi walked side by side towards the office doors. The elder Uchiha flicked the lights off as Aerin opened the door for him, however, neither could make it a step down the hall before they were stopped by an…unexpected sight.

Fugaku was a couple feet away from the door, looking like he'd been caught in the act of doing something he shouldn't have.

"Oh, um, good evening, Itachi, Aerin," he finally spoke after a couple seconds, coughing awkwardly in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. Blinking in surprise, Aerin and Itachi raised an eyebrow, sharing a look of confusion.

What was Fugaku doing in this section of the building—and this late at night?

"Did you need something father?" Itachi asked politely, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Actually, yes," Fugaku admitted, folding his arms behind his back. "I came to speak with Aerin."

"Me?" Aerin responded in surprise, pointing at herself. Even Itachi looked shocked.

"Yes," Fugaku confirmed. He motioned down the hall to where the break room was located. "So, may I have a word?"

Mindlessly, Aerin nodded and started to walk towards him, only pausing to look back at Itachi.

"I'll wait for you in my office," he said quietly and Aerin nodded an ok at him before jogging to catch up with Fugaku, who had taken off already. She caught up to him after a moment, but opted to walk a foot behind him, not wanting to overstep her boundaries and walk toe-to-toe with the CEO of the company.

A minute later Fugaku opened the door to the break room, holding it open for her. Aerin dipped her head politely in thanks and then headed over to one of the couches, taking a seat. Fugaku took a seat on the couch across from her, crossing his legs and arms.

Aerin was beginning to think that he was going to fire her, but luckily he spoke before she could say anything stupid.

"You…," he started, seeming to struggle to find the right words, "…soon you will be bearing the name of our family."

Aerin blinked. This was about her and Sasuke? Well…their wedding was only two weeks away after all. It'd been 8 months since he'd proposed, and the big day was finally dawning on them.

Fugaku's sigh brought her back into the real world, and Aerin frowned when she saw the distraught look on his face.

"Are you okay, sir?"

"Fugaku," he said immediately, glancing up at Aerin. "When it's not during business hours, please call me Fugaku."

"Al…right," Aerin agreed hesitantly. It was just like when she'd met Minato for the first time! Calling a friends (or even fiancés) parent by their first name was just awkward…

"You and Sasuke will soon be married, and soon you'll don the Uchiha name," Fugaku continued, sitting up a little straighter in his seat. Aerin mimicked him, preparing herself for whatever was going to come.

"I just want you to know that…I fully accept you as my daughter."

Aerin swore her heart skipped a beat in shock.

"Eh?" she said, cocking her head to the side. Had she heard him right? Was this really happening?

"You…are the best thing that ever happened to my son," Fugaku continued, his voice quiet yet serious. "I can see that he loves you and that you've helped him through many times in his life. You even convinced him to accept a job at this company—"

"That was actually his own decision," Aerin butted in quickly, not wanting to berate her fiancé, and Fugaku smiled.

"You're just proving my point," he said and leaned forward, his usually stiff posture relaxing a bit.

"Anyway, I wanted to thank you for putting up with my son," he continued, a hint of humor in his voice. "And I wish you and him a very happy wedding."

Suddenly, Fugaku stood and bowed to her—a full 90 degrees. Aerin felt her face flush in embarrassment, but at the same time happiness coursed through her. He had accepted her as his daughter-in-law.

"Please," he spoke, catching Aerin's attention once again. Fugaku unfolded from his bow and looked her straight in the eyes. "Continue to bring happiness into Sasuke's life—even after you become his wife."

Before Aerin could ponder what she was doing she stood from her seat and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around the CEO.

"Forever," she promised with a smile, hugging him tightly. Fugaku must've been in shock, because she could hear him stuttering to figure out a response to her. However, after a moment he simply breathed a laugh and lifted his arms, placing them on her back.

A couple seconds later he released her and Aerin stepped back, rocking on her heels happily.

"Have a good night Otou-sama," she bowed and winked at him before skipping towards the exit. As she pulled the door open and walked into the hall, she swore she heard Fugaku chuckle something about how 'she's so much different than Sasuke', and smiled to herself.

It seemed Fugaku really did have a heart—he just had a hard time digging deep and finding it.

"Oh?" Itachi said, raising his eyebrows in surprise when Aerin entered his office a few minutes later. He was watching the anime that he'd forced her to turn off, and Aerin sent him a playful glare. Itachi simply grinned in response.

What? It was a good show!

"So what happened?"

"Your father told me that he'd be happy to have me as a daughter-in-law," Aerin replied, posing her hands on her hips. She motioned her head back towards the door. "Now c'mon! Let's go and get dinner!"

"Woah, hold on," Itachi replied, clicking the TV off. He stood from his desk and walked over to her, grabbing her by the shoulder. He looked just as shocked as she had felt a few minutes ago. "Did he really say that?"

"You'd be surprised to know that your father has a heart and can speak from it if he tries really, really hard," he replied with a smirk and lifted her hand, patting his comfortingly. "Now c'mon Onii-chan," she said with a sly grin and smacked his arm, turning towards the door. "I'm actually really hungry if you didn't know…"

Chuckling, Itachi buttoned his coat up once again and followed after her.

"Does this mean I can call you Imouto now, if you're calling me Nii-chan?" Itachi teased in reply. Aerin laughed heartily.

"You can do whatever you want Itachi! I certainly won't stop you."

Smiling, Itachi looked ahead as they neared the elevator, his stomach growling in anticipation. Since the end of her junior year of high school, he felt like he'd taken on the roll of her older brother anyway—but now, in some respect, he actually would be her brother.

Wow.

The world had a weird way of doing things.

"Aerin! Are you and Sasuke back from your honeymoon yet?!"

Laughing quietly, with the phone held to her ear, Aerin glanced over to the closed bedroom door behind her. She was sitting on the couch of the hotel room she and Sasuke had stayed in nearly six years ago on their first trip to Tokyo during Christmas break.

"No, we're not back yet," she replied. "We're supposed to leave tomorrow, but Sasuke's so worn out I don't know if he'll wake up in time…"

"Wait, what? Why is Sasuke…oh. OHHHHHHHHH ," Naruto said as he finally caught on. Aerin rolled her eyes, smirking. Naruto was a little dense sometimes. They were on their honeymoon, what else were they supposed to do?!

"So—?!"

"No."

"But—!"

"No!"

"Dammit," Naruto cursed. "You're just gonna keep shutting this conversation down aren't you?"

"Of course," Aerin replied, smiling to herself. "So why don't we change the topic?"

"Fine," Naruto mumbled. "So…I bought a ring."

"Did you?!" Aerin gasped happily. "Oh my god—Naruto, are you serious?! Did you finally grow a pair of balls?!"

"SHUT UP!" he yelled into the phone, and Aerin could practically feel him blushing. "I just, you know, may have been inspired after seeing you and Sasuke so happy at your wedding!"

Aerin placed a hand over her heart, honestly touched by his words.

"Well thanks, Naru. But really, I'm glad you've got a ring. Do you know when you're gonna pop the question?"

"Well, Hinata is busy with patients 'till the end of the week, and I've got stuff to do at Shinobi High as the new Hokage," he mumbled. Aerin rolled her eyes at the terminology—but according to Naruto 'Hokage' sounded much cooler than 'principle'. "…So I was thinking that Saturday night I'd take her out for a romantic dinner and, well, propose…"

"That sounds great!" Aerin said, clapping her hands together excitedly. "I know she'll say yes!"

"Yeah, thanks," Naruto responded, laughing a little unsurely.

"It'll go fine," Aerin assured him sternly. This time Naruto laughed for real.

"Alright, fine!" he said. "So anyway, did you hear about Lee?"

Aerin blinked, feeling concerned. "What? No, I didn't…what happened?"

"He's gonna be in the next Olympics! Apparently he's gonna participate in track and field events!"

"Are you serious?!" Aerin said, disbelieving.

"Of course!" Naruto responded. "And you know what else? I think Temari is gonna propose to Shikamaru."

"What?" she laughed. "Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?"

"Yeah, but Shikamaru is so lazy about marriage and all that…I think she's finally had enough. She's gonna jump the gun if he doesn't."

"Well good for her," Aerin responded seriously. "Oh, how are Chouji and Ino, by the way?"

"Ehh," Naruto said. "I know they had that fight, but Ino's always over exaggerating…I think they made up already."

"That's good," Aerin sighed.

"Oh! That reminds me!" the blond suddenly said. "Kiba and Sakura went on a date the other day!"

"Did they?" Aerin said in shock. "How'd it go?"

"Well, I haven't had the chance to talk to Sakura yet—you know, she's always busy being a surgeon and whatever—but according to Kiba it went fine. He said they're just trying it out because, and I quote, 'why not?'."

"Well, they have both been single for a while," Aerin murmured. "At least they're trying it—they are friends after all."

"That's what I thought too," Naruto said nonchalantly in reply. "But then again, Sakura-chan went out on dates with Gaara and Kankuro too—and nothing ever became of those…"

"Who knows," Aerin said. "Maybe they're just meant to be single…there are people like that, after all. And besides, they're all happy right? That's really all that matters in the end."

"I suppose you're right," Naruto agreed and suddenly yawned. "Hey, you mind if we end this call? It might be morning there but it's pretty late here…"

"Oh no problem!" Aerin replied hurriedly. "We'll see you when we get back, alright? And if not, we'll catch you in a few weeks at Tenten and Neji's wedding."

"Yeah! Goodnight Aerin."

"Good morning, Naruto," she replied smartly. "And good luck with Hinata!"

Laughing, the blond replied a quick thanks before ending the call. With a sigh, Aerin set her cellphone on the table and jumped in surprise when Sasuke's voice pierced the silence of the room a minute later.

"I'm 'worn out'?" he questioned, sounding amused yet annoyed, and Aerin turned to find him in the doorway to their temporary bedroom…stark naked.

Aerin couldn't help but laugh a bit nervously. "You heard that, huh?"

"It's what woke me up, actually," he said and suddenly started strutting towards her, his state of dress not seeming to bother him at all. Aerin once again sent him a nervous and regretful smile. He surely wasn't going to let her get away with this…

And she was right.

Sasuke, walking up behind her—and before she could even register what he doing—reached down and grabbed the collar of the button-up shirt she was wearing. With one swift yank the front of the shirt was opened, and Aerin was left sitting there—nothing left to cover up her body.

"S-Sasuke!" she hissed in embarrassment. "That was your shirt!"

Smirking, Sasuke simply ignored her scolding of him and reached down, taking her into his arms. Aerin eep'ed and continued to blush furiously as he turned and carried her towards the bedroom.

"I'll show you how 'worn out' I am," he mumbled, stopping her feeble protests. Aerin looked up at him, heart beating faster when she saw his devious grin.

Sasuke continued—

"I think it's time for a shower…"

Pushing open the doors to the familiar shop, Aerin happily strut in and waved to the male sitting behind the front desk.

"Oh? So I see you're finally back in town," Kakuzu said with slight humor, raising an eyebrow at her as she walked up to him. Aerin smiled happily.

"I am! Our honeymoon was a month ago, but I mean I'm busy with work too, so…," she paused and shook her head. "I just thought I'd stop in and see you guys is all!"

"Well," Kakuzu said, leaning back in his seat. "You're in luck because the artist idiots are both in today, as is Pein and Konan, and the lazy ass is still around as well…" He stopped, looking contemplative. "Also, Kisame should be here in a little while."

"Really?" Aerin replied, looking surprised. Kisame had gone to college and become a marine biologist, after all, so it wasn't too often that he came around either…

Kakuzu grunted, nodding, and Aerin knew that meant he had nothing else to say. Thanking him quickly, Aerin cautiously padded past the reception area deeper into the shop. She didn't hear any machines humming at the moment, or any costumers chatting, which was good for her.

Sneaking to where she knew Deidara and Sasori's booths were—still located side by side—she quizzically glanced inside. No one was there…but then again, it was lunch time.

Smirking in anticipation, Aerin turned and instead walked towards the break room in the back of the shop. She could hear voices inside as she approached, and unable to hold back her excitement, simply waltzed right in.

At hearing the door fling open, everyone in the room immediately paused and looked to see who had entered. At seeing it was Aerin, well…

"I'll be damned!" Hidan said, a grin coming to his face as he stood from his seat. However, Deidara had beaten him to it and was already to Aerin, hugging her tightly. The brunette simply laughed into his shoulder and brought her arms up, hugging him in return.

They happily stayed like that until Deidara was pulled back, and both of them turned to find Sasori holding onto the back of the blonds shirt angrily.

"You're not the only one who hasn't seen her in a damn year," he said and then proceeded to fling Deidara backwards. Aerin simply laughed a little at Deidara's shocked look before Sasori stepped closer to her, blatantly ignoring his partner's groan of pain.

"Hello," he said, smirking amusedly. Aerin rolled her eyes and reached forward, pulling him into a hug that he eagerly reciprocated.

"And I do believe that you two saw me at my wedding a month or so ago," Aerin chided as she pulled back, smiling at him. Sasori rolled his eyes.

"Yes, that's true, but before that it had been a year."

"Yeah," Aerin agreed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry about that, I've just been busy…"

"No worries, yeah!" Deidara responded as he jogged forward beside Sasori, having regained his bearings. Aerin simply laughed again and looked to two over. They had changed a lot since they'd graduated.

Both Deidara and Sasori had gone to art school, gotten a degree, and become pretty popular tattoo artists around the area. But besides their degrees and popularity status, their looks had changed as well. Deidara no longer sported an army of blond locks. Instead, he had been convinced to cut it short. His hair style was almost the same, but instead of hair that rained down and shielded one of his eyes away, his bangs stopped short—just above his eye—and the rest of his blond hair hugged his head and flared out, giving him more of a wild feel.

Aerin personally thought that he looked much better with short hair.

And not only Deidara, but Sasori had changed his look a little as well. He'd let his red hair grow even shaggier, and now it reached all the way down to his neck in the back, where it was secured with a little ponytail. The longer hair made him look his age—because for some reason, if he was clean cut and placed in a school uniform, he could probably pass as a teenagers still.

But, in the end, they were still the artists she knew and loved.

…and then there was Hidan.

"Hey there!" he said and placed and hand atop her head, grinning down at her.

Surprisingly, the Jashinist had gotten a little better over the years. He looked just as he always had, slicked back silver hair, toned muscles, and smug grin. He'd gotten a job as a night-guard at some renowned company that apparently got broken into a lot, because he was having the time of his life. Hidan got paid for beating people up—that was his job—and it was an absolutely perfect fit for him.

"Hey," Aerin replied and lightly punched his side. Hidan laughed and lowered his hand as Pein and Konan approached. The two were exactly the same as she had remembered, except for the fact that they were actually dating now.

"Oh, it's been too long!" Konan said and hugged her tightly. Aerin giggled.

"It has, and I'm sorry," she responded with a sad smile. Konan immediately waved her hand nonchalantly.

"Oh don't worry about it," Konan said. "I know you're busy flying back and forth and helping Itachi out, so it's no big deal."

"Yes, it seems you're quite busy nowadays," Pein agreed and stepped forward, wrapping around Konan shoulder she stepped back beside him. Aerin smiled.

"It's nice to see you Pein."

"You as well," he agreed with a friendly dip of his head.

It's not like Aerin wouldn't hug him, because she would and she had, but she wasn't leaving, she'd just gotten here—so what was the point in doing it now?

"Care for some lunch?" Sasori asked a moment later, motioning to the table where they'd all been sitting. There were two large pizzas sitting there.

Aerin felt her mouth begin to water.

"Yes please."

The present Akatsuki members laughed, having known her reply already, and then moved back over to the table as Aerin grabbed a plate. Together, they all chatted and ate for another half an hour until a pounding sound made them pause in surprise.

…it sounded as if someone was running.

And then the door to the break room burst open. Before any of them could react the male who had entered had already approached the table and taken Aerin into his arms, swinging her around happily. Aerin laughed in response at the friendly giant hugging her.

"Alright, alright, I missed you too Kisame! Sheesh!"

The blue haired man chuckled heartily and finally set her back down, grinning at her happily.

"Hey there squirt," he said.

"Hey there mister shark," she responded.

Kisame's grin widened and he looked up, glancing around his at his former teammates.

"I guess you guys are here too."

"Yeah, thanks' asshole," Hidan snorted. Kisame laughed again, as did the rest of the Akatsuki.

Aerin smiled happily as she watched the others stand and greet Kisame with fist-bumps and hugs, welcoming him back to the shop for a long time in a while. Nowadays they were all busy, so there wasn't much time to casually walk in and hang out, but either way—

"Aerin, yeah! You wanna see some of the recent tattoo's I've done?"

"Mine as well," Sasori butted in calmly, and Aerin giggled.

"Hell yeah!" she responded and allowed the two to promptly start dragging her back towards their booths.

—But either way, it was times like these that she cherished the most.

Sasuke immediately became concerned when he stepped in the door to find Aerin on their couch, sniffling and in tears. He immediately dropped his bag and made to rush over to her…but first noticed that she was watching a Disney movie.

Immediately his worry died down and he released a sigh. He should have figured as much…

But nonetheless, she was his wife, so he had to make sure either way.

"Are you okay?" he asked, walking up and kneeling beside her.

Aerin blinked in surprise, not seeming to have heard him enter, and then nodded.

"Yeah," she said, taking a deep breath and forcing a smile. Sasuke sighed and glanced at the TV. She was watching Tangled and it was scene at the end of the movie where Rapunzel was being reunited with her family.

"I don't understand why you're crying about this," he finally said and gave her an amused smirk. "This is the happiest damn part of the movie and you're crying about it!"

"Hey!" she defended immediately. She hurriedly wiped the tears from her cheeks and jutted her bottom lip out, pouting at him. "I'm allowed to be emotional, aren't I?! Especially when I'm pregnant!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, yeah, I know, but—"

His voice caught in his throat as his mind finally caught up to the words she had just said. Eyes widened and lips parted in shock, Sasuke looked up at Aerin. She was grinning widely, hands on her hips.

"So you were listening, huh?"

"You…," he said, trying to find his words. Still sitting on his knees on the ground, he placed his hands on her thighs and squeezed tightly. "When did you find out?"

"Two days ago," she admitted with a happy shrug. "But I figured I'd wait for you to get back from your business trip before I said anything."

"You could've have called me!" he replied exasperatedly, eyes searching the couch as if the words he were supposed to say were hiding there. "Why…why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Because," she said tenderly and reached down, taking his face into her hands. She smiled gently and rubbed the pad of her thumb underneath his eye, catching the single tear that had fallen. "…it's not too often that I'm able to see you so emotional…and, well, confused."

"Shut up," he whispered angrily, and hurried rubbed his eyes. Aerin couldn't help but giggle at him, her own eyes beginning to sting with happy tears. However, the sound was soon muffled as Sasuke stood and pushed her onto the couch, his lips covering hers. He caged her in, kneeling above her, but Aerin only smirked against his lips and lifted her arms up, wrapping them around his neck.

It's not like this had never happened before. Sasuke had always chosen action over words…

"Am I…interrupting something?" a deep voice suddenly cut in, and Aerin immediately pushed Sasuke away, her face flushed. Sasuke simply grinned at the sight and then turned to look at the male who had just entered.

"Yes, now leave," he said seriously.

"Sasuke!" Aerin scolded and crawled up from her position so she could look over Sasuke's shoulder at their guest.

"Hi Itachi!" she said, still clearly embarrassed. Itachi simply grinned at his sister-in-law's greeting.

"Hello Aerin," he replied and set his bag down next to the one Sasuke had discarded on the landing. "Are you…celebrating a special occasion? Or is this just how Sasuke is greeted after every business meeting he returns from?"

Aerin rolled her eyes. "We're celebrating an occasion, actually," she said, and Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"Which is?"

Grinning, Aerin decided to take a direct route this time.

"I'm pregnant."

"What?!" Itachi responded immediately, eyes wide and jaw slack. Aerin couldn't help but laugh.

"You heard right," Sasuke affirmed while Aerin continued snickering to herself. Itachi remained silent, looking between his brother and sister-in-law, before he stepped forward. Within a second he was in front of the two, hugging them tightly. Aerin happily hugged him back while Sasuke made a face of distaste. However, after a second he sighed and wrapped one arm around his sibling.

"Congrats," Itachi said, pulling back. He kissed Aerin on the forehead, causing her to blush prettily.

"And…good work," he said with a sly smirk, winking at Sasuke. The younger Uchiha, instantly caught off guard by what his brother was insinuating, crossed his arms and turned away—his entire face aflame. Itachi and Aerin simply shared a laugh at the sight.

Some things never changed…but then again—

Aerin glanced down at her still flat stomach, a fond smile coming to her lips.

—some things changed for the better.

Total Word Count: 277,900+

Time taken to write: 628 days

Thank you all so much for the support and love. I honestly enjoyed writing this story.

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