A/N: Hello, all! I'm finally here with the last chapter of this story. Sigh, it's a little sad, I really liked writing this. But oh well.
Important: This chapter heavily coincides with the first chapter of Return and Reciprocate and I really recommend that you read that before this, if you haven't already, to get the best experience. For those of you who don't want to though, I have also added bits from that chapter here to sort of blend the stories together as smoothly as possible, setting the time frames and all and also to give a more umm surreal? feel to the chapter haha. So, those bits i.e. Sakura's POV is in bold, while the normal storyline i.e. Sasuke's POV is in normal font. Enjoy!

Sakura had always expected Sasuke to return in the night, as silent and swift as the breeze. It just seemed more fitting to her, for some reason. But again, she had been wrong.

.-.-.

'Identify yourself.'

The command came almost instantaneously as Sasuke approached the gates of Konoha.

Sasuke lowered his hood. 'Uchiha Sasuke.'

.-.-.

He came around noon. And she hadn't been the first to find out.

.-.-.

The guards looked at him doubtfully.

'Do you have per-?'

'Let him enter,' a familiar voice interrupted.

Sasuke looked up to find none other than Kakashi standing just inside the gates.

'A-ah, Hokage-sama!' gasped one of the guards. 'Ah, yes,' he hurriedly obeyed, giving way to Sasuke.

'Kakashi,' Sasuke smirked.

'Sasuke,' he smiled in return. 'Welcome home.'

The words made Sasuke drown in a wave of warmth and he could sense every inch of his body relax into its hold. He was finally home.

He had already contacted Kakashi a day in advance, informing him that he'd be arriving soon but he had asked him to keep that information to himself till he actually got there.

'You look well,' he began as they started walking towards the interior of the village.

'Thank you,' chuckled Kakashi. 'You, on the other hand, look pretty worn out.'

'Aa.'

Sasuke knew he did. Years of travelling tended to have that effect on people. He rolled his eyes.

'You need to be taken care of,' added Kakashi.

'I can take care of myself,' griped Sasuke.

'Don't worry,' crooned Kakashi. 'I'll only appoint the most suitable person for the job.'

Sasuke eyed him suspiciously. 'Are you going somewhere with this?'

'I was, I think,' said Kakashi. 'But I forgot,' he sighed lazily. 'Old age, you know.'

'Hn. Right,' muttered Sasuke, not believing a word. There was no way the old man was not up to something.

'Maybe if you gently poked my forehead, I'd be able to remember.'

Sasuke stopped.

'Don't,' he warned.

'I'm sorry,' Kakashi said with a half-hearted gasp. 'Did I poke my nose in too much?'

'Stop it,' growled Sasuke.

'Now now, Sasuke. It has only just begun,' smiled Kakashi nonchalantly. 'Anyway…'

'Did you... did you tell them?' questioned Sasuke.

.-.-.

She was on her way to the hospital when she saw a flash of orange, felt a whoosh of wind and a strong force pulling her by the hand, coercing her to turn and move forward, all at once.

'NARUTO!' she had yelled in response.

'SASUKE'S HOME!' he had grinned back.

.-.-.

'That you were coming?' blinked Kakashi.

'I told you not to,' said Sasuke.

'I didn't, I didn't,' assured Kakashi. 'I only just sent Naruto the message before leaving my office.'

And then, as if on cue, an indisputable combination of yellow and orange appeared in the distance and Sasuke sighed.

'Speak of the devil...,' he mumbled.

.-.-.

And while she allowed her body to move just as fast as Naruto pulled her, her heart had stopped. Eyes wide, mouth agape. He was back. He. Was. Back. Her mind went numb and she couldn't think, couldn't feel, couldn't breathe. Anticipation enveloped her completely.

.-.-.

But as he got closer, an unquestionable shade of pink also emerged from behind him. Naruto. And Sakura. They were getting closer and closer by the second.

.-.-.

But as he came into sight, her feet scraped against the ground to a stop, causing Naruto to lag too. He looked back, eye-brows furrowed. 'Sakura-chan!' he whined. 'What's the deal?' Upon receiving no response, he unlocked his hand from her wrist and moved ahead on his own.

.-.-.

They stopped. She stopped. He could hear some incoherent groaning, courtesy of the one and only dobe but Sakura's movement was equivalent to that of a rock. He tried to study her but was forced to shift his attention as a loud screech filled the air.

'TEME! HOW DARE YOU WALK BACK IN HERE WITHOUT A WARNING, YOU BASTARD?!'

God, that was loud.

'Shut up, dobe,' he commanded. He had no plans of becoming audibly impaired just yet.

'Don't tell me to shut up, you – hey, I'm talking to you! What are you staring – ohhh!'

Sasuke didn't care even if the whole village saw him staring at Sakura right now. He hadn't seen her this close in years. And it was only after seeing how small she looked that he realized how much he had grown during this period. She was at least six inches shorter than him now. And her hair was shorter than what he remembered too. And she was dressed in colors he had never seen her wear before. She looked… so different, so grown up. No longer like a girl, but like a woman. Yet somehow, still exactly like the Sakura he had always known.

'Enough already, Romeo,' drawled Kakashi. 'Call out to her.'

Sasuke blinked. Naruto snorted.

'I'll do it,' he said. 'SAKURA-CHAN! HURRY UP ALREADY!'

And Sasuke saw her run up to them, to him and when she stopped, no more than a foot away, he thought she was too close yet not close enough. Her lips parted but no words came out. And so, he went first.

'Sakura,' he smiled.

'Sasuke-kun,' she exhaled.

He smirked. Satisfied. He felt so damn satisfied. He had missed hearing her say his name like that. He had missed her.

'Did you miss me?' he questioned.

And then, it happened. He felt strands of pink tickle his neck and slender arms wrap around his back and he felt… comforted. Only this time, it wasn't a dream. She was here. She was actually here. Hugging him. Before he knew it, his hand had made its way up to her hair and was pressing her head against his chest. He would comfort her too.

Suddenly, his chest felt wet. Tears. Had he made her cry again? No. He had wanted to make her happy. But wait. Sasuke sighed of relief. He still had the flowers. Those would surely make her happy.

'I have something for you.'

She pulled back and Sasuke looked at her eagerly, waiting for her response. But before it could come, Naruto interrupted.

'What?! HEY! You better have brought something for me too!'

'Tch.' That idiot had the worst timing Sasuke had ever seen. But there was no way he'd let him give Sakura the flowers in peace unless he had received his present first. Sasuke shook his head. 'I did, dobe. Don't you have any patience?'

Thud. Sasuke was on the ground now and Naruto was on top of him. Sasuke gritted his teeth.

'Wha'cha get me, huh?' laughed Naruto.

'Get off me. Now,' said Sasuke, threat dripping from each syllable.

Thankfully, Naruto did as told.

'Hn,' grumbled Sasuke, getting back to his feet.

Naruto looked at him, bouncing with enthusiasm. Sasuke smirked as he set his bag down on the floor and searched for the blonde's favorite food item.

'Here,' he said, holding out the packets for him. 'The different kinds of ramen I found around the world.'

After following Gaara's advice in Sunagakure, Sasuke had also managed to find some rare flavors in Iwagakure and Amegakure. Naruto, he expected, would love all of them.

'AHHH!' shrieked Naruto. 'TEME! I LOVE YOU!'

Sasuke felt the urge to cover his ears.

'Well, well, this is nice,' mumbled Kakashi, half amused, half dazed.

Sasuke felt his eyebrow twitch as a certain recent memory popped up in his head.

'I have something for you too, old man,' he muttered.

Kakashi blinked. 'Oh, really?'

Sasuke scowled as he rummaged through his bag again, looking for what was in his opinion the filthiest book he had ever come across. Admittedly, out of curiosity, he had gone through the first few pages and he had, to put it mildly, been utterly disgusted.

'I have never been embarrassed as much...,' started Sasuke, looking murderously at Kakashi as he threw the book to him. '… as I was while getting that piece of p-'

'Don't call it that!' interrupted Kakashi. 'It's a literary masterpiece.'

Literary masterpiece? It was anything but that. Porn. Plain porn whatever way he looked at it.

'Though honestly, Sasuke, you shouldn't have,' added his old sensei.

'Hn, I think so too,' he replied.

He had been about to throw another insult at him when he saw a certain pink-haired girl staring nervously at her feet.

'Sakura…,' he called out.

'Oh, uh-um?' she stammered, looking up at him and the red tinge on her cheeks made Sasuke feel… funny.

He wondered if he was blushing too. If he seemed as nervous to her as she did to him. He put his hand in his bag and carefully collected all the flowers, simultaneously checking if they were still fresh enough and to his relief, they were. He pulled them out and stood straight.

He then saw the most surprised expression appear on her face as he held them out for her. He looked into her eyes, trying to figure out if the surprise had been a pleasant one as he had hoped.

'These are for you,' he reassured her, trying to smile despite how anxious he felt.

'Th-thank you, Sasuke-kun,' she said, finally breaking into a grin as she accepted them. 'They're beautiful,' she added.

And Sasuke felt his heart start again.

'Glad you like them,' he said before a sudden thought struck him. 'They haven't wilted as yet because they've been drizzled with a special potion but you should probably get them in some water soon, or they won't last much longer.'

Sakura nodded. 'I'll do that right away.'

The blush was still present on her face and Sasuke couldn't help but think that she looked beau-

'Okay, okay, enough with the googly eyes,' intruded Naruto. Again. 'I say it's time to celebrate! And what better way than with some gold ol' ramennnn!'

Sasuke sighed. Why did his best friend have to be such a moron? If only he could say that he hadn't missed him at all. But unfortunately, he had.

'Fine. As long as it shuts you up, dobe.'

'My treat,' announced Kakashi as they all began walking towards the famous 'Ramen Ichiraku' or so Sasuke had assumed at first. In fact, there were only three pairs of legs walking.

He stopped as he noticed that Sakura wasn't with them. He looked back.

'Sakura-chan?' called out Naruto as if having read his thoughts.

'Sorry, guys,' apologized Sakura. 'I was just on my way to the hospital when you grabbed me earlier, Naruto. I'm already late for my appointments. I'll see you guys in the evening.'

Sasuke couldn't believe it. He had finally returned after all this time and she was too busy to spend time with him? Her appointments were more important than him? Had she already forgotten how he had just held out his hear – er flowers for her? Didn't she know what they meant?

'See ya later, Sakura-chan!' Naruto's voice registered somewhere at the back of his mind.

But of course, she didn't. Sasuke mentally slapped himself. Of course it would take her some time to figure out the true meaning of his flowers. She didn't have the stupid book. He did. But Sakura was smart, right? She would eventually figure it out. Or at least he hoped she would. But no, he would not rush her. He would not force his feelings upon her. After all these years that he had made her wait, now, he would wait for her. He would wait for her to understand. And he would wait for her to reciprocate.

A/N: And that's a wrap, folks! Review/favourite to let me know what you thought of this chapter and this story as a whole. I hope you liked it. :')
Umm the sequel to Return and Reciprocate (and hence, the sequel to this too), about that, I do have a vague draft written for it but I will start working on it seriously if enough people are actually interested in reading it. So, if you are, please let me know and I'll appreciate it. Also, if there is anything particular that you would like to see in that story, feel free to mention that too and I will take it into account. Thank you and happy holidays! ^^