Not This Time

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. For those of you interested, feel free to check out my other stories and/or my profile. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the grand finale of Not This Time!

Chapter Notation: This times place ten years after the last chapter. There is also a brief scientific explanation, but as it is only a paragraph I didn't feel it merited an official warning. It's a bit out there, but if you've made it this far into the story…I'm going to assume that you can handle it ;) Happy reading!

Chapter 18

Ten years had passed since Orochimaru was defeated and they had all gone by blissfully fast. Sasuke smiles at the thought as he waits for the others to arrive. The others who were part of Reborn!

"That's weird, they're later than Daddy." A little girl giggles.

Reborn was what they called themselves now. All of those who had remember their past lives and regained the ability to use their chakra. After all, they had been reincarnated. So they had been reborn in a way.

Speaking of born though, Sasuke smiles down at Rin. Rin was his daughter with Kakashi and the light of both their lives. She was such a sweet little thing.

He couldn't help, but chuckle at her assessment. "Yes, they're actually later than your father. I didn't think that such a thing was actually possible before, but apparently it is." Kakashi still to this day had a habit of being notoriously late to anything that didn't have to do with him and Rin.

The silver haired seven year old had her wrapped around her tiny little fingers and her adorable smile. Save for Kakashi's hair color though, she had certainly taken after Sasuke in almost everything else. Well at least when it came to looks.

"Hey!" Kakashi clucks his tongue disapprovingly at that. "That isn't very nice!" It probably wasn't, but that didn't make it less true!

The man would be late to his own funeral. Which was actually a good thing really, but Sasuke digressed. Now wasn't the time to focus on such things when their friends would be arriving shortly.

Sasuke smirks at that comment. "True, but I never claimed to be nice and you married me anyway." Rin laughs at that, her obsidian black eyes filled with delight.

It was like looking in a mirror in some ways, Sasuke thought. Well a mirror of his younger self, anyway. She had the same "bubble eyes" that he did when he was younger.

Well that's what Kakashi called them anyway. Bubble Eyes. Sasuke refused to call them as such because it was an insult to his masculinity, but whatever. The concept seemed to thoroughly amuse his husband and Sasuke didn't have the heart to do more than half-heartedly correct him!

"That's because I love you." Kakashi smiles.

Sasuke smiles back and kisses him. "I love you too." Naturally, that's when Karin and Sugietsu decided to walk into their living room!

"Awe that's so sweet." Suigetsu smirks at the happy couple. "I think I'm going to get freaking cavities!"

He was also going to get a black eye or a busted lip, if he didn't knock it off. Sasuke rolls his eyes though. He knew that Sugietsu was Sugietsu. That wasn't going to change just because they were supposed to be respectable adults now!

He wasn't the only one rolling his eyes though. "Suigetsu, knock it off." So was his wife Karin.

He and Jugo had definitely been right about the swimmer and the red head. They had ended up getting married a year or two after Kakashi and Sasuke had tied the not. Thankfully, they didn't have any kids. (The world just wasn't ready for the spawn of Karin and Suigetsu)!

"Come on." Suigetsu groans. "I was just having a little fun is all."

Right. Fun. Suigetsu's idea of fun usually got him a slap upside the head from another member of Reborn, Sasuke snorts in amusement.

Though this was their life now. They were all leading dual lives. Their normal everyday lives and their Reborn lives. Right now, it was time to focus on the latter.

Elsewhere Kabuto shakes his head at Tsunade. "Well he certainly is a rather gifted historian, but are you sure that you made the right decision?" The former ninjas might have saved his life, but the bespectacled man tried to give them as wide a berth as possible.

True, he had tried to stop Orochimaru from killing him, but that didn't make them friends and he couldn't help, but feel more than a little disturbed. His deceased mentor's rival had now just been named Dean of the University.

"I'm positive that it's a good idea." The busty blonde smiles at him. "Kakashi will make an excellent Dean and his husband should prevent him from being late to everything. It'll all work out perfectly." She smiles. "Besides, this means I'll get to enjoy my retirement in Costa Rica!"

Kabuto tries not to snort at that, but it was difficult. Over the years, he had grown closer to Tsunade. She had replaced Orochimaru as his mentor to a certain extent as her previous field had been medicine and she could revival even the deceased Sannin when it came to medical knowledge, but he still missed him.

Orochimaru had gone missing years ago. He'd been missing long enough, that he had legally been declared dead a couple years back. Though Kabuto knew the truth. He really was dead.

How he had met his untimely demise, the silver haired man wasn't exactly certain. It was just apparent that after he had summoned that monster and tried to kill him, Orochimaru had disappeared. Though Sasuke and his friends hadn't. He could do the math.

"Well I do hope that you enjoy your retirement." He smiles at her. "If anyone has earned it, it is certainly you."

Sasuke and his friends had killed Orochimaru. Kabuto might not know how, but that fact was apparent. Of course, he hadn't reported them for two reasons.

The first was he could hardly speak about that giant snake! The police officers would all think he was crazy. Ibiki and Baki might be happily retired by now and doting grandfathers, but they would find out about his story somehow and they'd both laugh their asses off at him. They'd probably think he'd had a few too many drinks one night or something and frankly that was likely the most charitable reaction that he would receive from any of them! (And he didn't particularly want to think the not so charitable reactions that such a tale would garner because they would lead to him ending up in a straightjacket)!

Tsunade pours herself and Kabuto another glass of sake. "That is rather kind of you to say." She smiles at him. "I do appreciate it. Here, have a drink." She laughs softly at him. "It looks as though you could use it."

"Yes, I could." He takes the drink gratefully. "Thank you."

The second reason was because they had saved his life. Honestly, none of them had any real reason to do that. He had been working with Orochimaru. Frankly, Kabuto wouldn't have blamed them, if they had left him to die.

They hadn't though. Instead, they had spared him and for that, he would eternally be grateful. So that was why in the end, he hadn't reported them and he had just continued on with his life as if nothing had happened. Eventually, being promoted to tenured professor. (Ironically, to the same post Orochimaru had once held)!

She nods at him. "You're welcome." And stretches. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure that Kakashi will do a great job as Dean." Probably.

Kabuto just hoped that he wouldn't hold a grudge for those things he had said back when Sasuke was a graduate student! If the other silver haired man did, he was screwed!

About an hour later, Kakashi smiles. Everyone from Reborn had finally arrived and tonight was more about a celebration of how far they had all come than anything else.

"She's so cute!" Ino gushes over Rin and beams at the little girl.

It was thanks to advances in reproductive technology, that Kakashi and Sasuke had been able to have a child together. They each had gone to the doctor who had combined their genetic material and after that, they had found a willing surrogate. The result had been Rin.

Rin smiles at Ino. "It's good to see you, Auntie Ino, Auntie Sakura, Auntie Anko, Auntie Karin, Auntie Hinata, and Auntie Kureni." She blinks at that. "Wow, I have a lot of Aunties!"

Kakashi chuckles at that. That was most certainly true. Everyone that wasn't her father in Reborn, Rin considered to be an Auntie or an Uncle. Most of them weren't related by blood, but they were family!

"Yes, she is." Sasuke smiles and kisses Kakashi's cheek. "She takes after her Daddy."

To which Jugo just laughs. "Well she's definitely got Kakashi's hair, but I'd say she takes after you more strongly." He pauses and adds as an afterthought. "Well at least when it comes to looks."

That was true. Rin did look so much like Sasuke, but she took after him more so in personality. She was more carefree than her Papa Sasuke, but more punctual than him. The best of both worlds, he supposed.

"Well I got the tickets for the waterpark next week." Itachi chuckles as he wraps his arms around his wife, Anko. "I'm sure that we'll all have a grand time for Rin's birthday."

Who said that you couldn't buy love? Itachi certainly did seem to enjoy spoiling his niece. Not that Kakashi could blame the man. Not with those adorable Bubble Eyes of hers.

Rin beams at her Uncle Itachi and Anko laughs. "Yeah!" She smiles. "The slides aren't as big as Aoda, but they're going to be lot so fun. Are you sure that we can't take him with us?" She looks up at her fathers with pleading eyes.

Oh boy. Not this again. If there was one thing that they had found out quickly, it was that Aoda really did have a soft spot for children. He called Rin their "Hatchling" and well, the snake was just like a golden retriever when it came to their daughter.

He was very protective and friendly. Aoda couldn't seem to get enough of playtime with Rin and was more than content to let her use him as her favorite (and only) scaly slide.

"I'm not sure how the other people in the park would react to that." Sasuke smiles as he kisses her forehead. "Sorry, but we can always Summon him for you to play with whenever you want."

Anko nods at that. "We just have to make sure that no one else sees him." Well, she was right. Itachi had married a very smart woman.

The sassy lady had ended up taking over for Minato when he decided to leave his post in favor of traveling around the world with his wife and writing various articles. He'd become quite the successful author and the news station had flourished under Anko's dramatic flare while her husband continued excelling in the field of medicine.

"Careful Lee!" Guy warns his favorite student. "That stuff is very strong!" Uh oh.

Kakashi winces because he knew what was about to happen. Lee and whiskey really didn't mix well. With that in mind, a certain red head drug him outside.

"No, Lee." Gaara shakes his head. "If you're going to drink that stuff, you're staying outside. I remember what happened last time."

Lee was a very friendly person. He might be a smidge eccentric, but usually Gaara was willing to overlook that. His heart was in the right place, after all. Where he drew the line is when the man got thoroughly intoxicated.

That was just too terrifying a sight for even Gaara to handle. Which was saying something, considering he used to be Kazekage.

"But Gaara, it's the Power of Youth!" Lee pouts.

He shakes his head. "Well you can be youthful outside while you drink until you smarten up." And with his work being done, Gaara quickly headed over to his wife Hinata.

He wasn't really sure how it happened. He supposed that they noticed each other sometime after Orochimaru got swallowed whole by a giant snake, but they had noticed each other and well they had been inseparable ever since.

She was his beautiful and sweet pearl and that shocked everyone. Hell, it shocked him sometimes! Though he supposed that opposites had a way of attracting!

"Did you really have to lock him outside?" Hinata giggles and Gaara nods.

Shikamaru yawns as he wraps an arm around Temari. "It's a drag, but he did the right thing." The lazy engineer knew what Lee got like when he had one too many as much as the next person did.

Surprisingly, even Temari was nodding. The fact that Gaara's sister agreed, just further validated Gaara's original point. Lee was far too wild a drunk to have inside!

"So it looks like crime is down." Asuma smiles as he holds a certain Genjutsu Mistress in his lap.

She smiles at him as Naruto watches in amusement. "That's true. Reborn is really doing a good job cleaning up the city!" Yeah! They were awesome!

It kinda sucked that no one else had gotten chakra besides their group, but Naruto understood the reason. He had seen enough of his past life to realize that people often misused chakra and while it had the potential to help a lot of people, it also had the capacity to destroy a lot of lives.

Sadly, most people just weren't ready for the awesome responsibility that came with having chakra. Believe it! Oh well. Maybe, one day things would be different.

While Naruto was having his philosophical musings, Itachi was just amused as he watches Choji chat with Neji and Tenten. Apparently, the chef was rather interested in Tenten's career choice.

"You aren't worried that you're chakra will show up on tests?" Tenten was now an Olympic Athlete!

The cute brunette shakes her head as she snuggles into her husband's arms. "Nah. They aren't testing for it and even if they were, I don't think they'd recognize it." She waves away his concern. "Besides, I'm not using any chakra to compete. So I'd probably be good anyway!"

Neji looked a little uncomfortable at that thought. Though it was clear the financial wizard who had started his own investment banking firm couldn't say no to his wife. Itachi had the same problem, really.

"We're very careful." Neji nods his head in acknowledgement.

On the other side of the room, Karin was having a grand ole time looking at Kankuro's puppets, he noticed. The man had become a famous comedian and incorporated them into his acts.

She tilts her head, having already drug Sugietsu over to look at them with her. "How do you make them talk without moving your lips?" That was a good question. Itachi had wondered that more than once himself!

He just grins at her. "Talent!" Right. Whatever he said.

"Arf! Arf!" Akamaru dashes through the room with his Mate and several puppies following suit.

Kiba looks a little embarrassed at that. "Sorry, guys." He smiles at them. "It looks like they wanted to join the party too!" Well that was certainly a new one!

"Better dogs than Shino's bugs." Ino shakes her head at that. "Seriously, Shino, bugs?" The florist was obviously less than impressed by his association with insects.

He merely shrugs at her though. "I'm a beekeeper now, what do you think?" And the man made damn fine honey!

"Well I just hope that Karin and I don't end up having to treat you for beestings." Sakura laughs as she and Karin were now both doctors!

He twitches at that. "You won't have to treat me for beestings!" Shino puffs up. "I am an excellent beekeeper, I'll have you know!"

The party continues on until well into the night when Sasuke and Kakashi politely usher them all out. The last to go was the Marine Biologist, his wife, and Jugo. The zookeeper. Oh and Haku who now owned an antique shop!

"Well that was interesting." Sasuke shakes his head as he and Kakashi put Rin to bed. "Respectable citizens by day and crime fighters by night!" He smirks as he shuts the door and turns on the child's nightlight.

"Well crime fighters and a few other things." Kakashi smiles as he kisses Sasuke's cheek. "Also lovers."

Well that was true. Sasuke still wasn't sure how he had ever gotten so lucky. His crush on his professor had turned out better than he could ever hope for.

He now had a sexy husband and beautiful daughter. Orochimaru was gone and they still all had their chakra. Not to mention, he had a "pet" snake the size of a two story building. Who could ever ask for more than that?

"That's true." Sasuke smirks. "Was that an offer?"

After all, they hadn't used that hot tub in awhile. It would be quite the shame to let that go to waste. Hmm. Maybe, he could find where he put those fuzzy handcuffs too. That would be fun!

Kakashi smirks back. "It might be." Damn a smirk that sexy should really, really be illegal.

Seriously, it was no wonder that Sasuke had fallen for perhaps the oldest cliché in the book. Falling for his sexy teacher.

He was far from the first person to become infatuated with his instructor, but Sasuke was lucky. Unlike most people, his attraction for said instructor hadn't been one-sided!

"Then I might be interested." Sasuke smirks as he heads towards the hot tub. "Meet me in the hot tub in say ten minutes and see if you can't find those cuffs?" And before Kakashi could response, Sasuke saunters of.

Kakashi chuckles at the sight of his lover's retreating backside. "He really was such a tease sometimes!" He'd had to punish him for that soon.

If Sasuke thought that Kakashi was going to be the one in cuffs tonight, he was wrong. Very, very wrong.

He laughs softly as he quickly grabs them and follows his lover. Idly, he wonders what his previous self would have said about all this. As far as he could tell, 'Ninja Kakashi' had never actually acted on his attraction to Sasuke.

Hell, he wasn't even entirely sure that his previous self did have romantic feelings for his future husband. Though he supposed it didn't really matter. Either way, it was nice to know that in a sense, they were destined to be together in one form or another. Whether that was a student-teacher relationship or the relationship that existed between lovers, they had found each other in at least two lifetimes (and he suspected there was a chance they had found each other in even more)!

"Well time to go punish him for being an evil tease." Kakashi smiles as he heads to the bathroom.

A ninja must always wait for the perfect time to strike. So when he saw Sasuke getting into the bath. He pounced and cuffed him. Kakashi didn't even care that he was still dressed!

"Umpf!" Sasuke's expression was as always, priceless.

He smirks at that. "Much better." That and he looked really hot in these cuffs.

They'd been married for years now, but neither one of them could keep their hands off each other. He quite liked fact that their Honeymoon had never truly ended. It made things interesting.

There were also many benefits to being married to handsome doctor. Who was also a genius. Particularly, when it came to one's sex life! Sasuke could be enormously creative when he wanted to be! Much to Kakashi's delight!

"You're horrible, you know that?" Sasuke scoffs.

He smirks more. "And yet, you married me anyway." Kakashi nips his ear playfully. "So what does that say about you?"

"That I apparently possess a slightly masochistic streak?" Sasuke smirks.

Yes, endlessly creative and Sasuke did love bantering almost as much as Kakashi did. They were absolutely perfect for each other and he doubted that was ever going to change.

"Perhaps, there might be some truth to what you're saying." Though Kakashi certainly had other things on his mind at the moment.

The rest of the night passed in pleasurable blur. Needless to say, by the time that the Sun rose, their bathroom was flooded. Oh well. They could fix that later, he supposed.

"Did Rin leave to catch her bus?" Kakashi smiles at Sasuke.

Sasuke nods in confirmation. "She left and I made sure she didn't forget her lunch this time." Sometimes she forgot her lunch during the morning cuddles.

It was really her own fault. The kid was just too adorable. How was he supposed to resist those Bubble Eyes on her?

If Kakashi couldn't resist them on her father, what hope did he have of resisting them on a kid? Yeah. That's what he thought! Absolutely none!

"Good." He smiles at that thought.

Sasuke smiles and wraps his arms around Kakashi's neck. "So what made you do it?" He tilts his head innocently. "What made you say that Aoda should swallow Orochimaru?"

Oh that. Well Kakashi damn why he had done that. Orochimaru had quite simply deserved it. He deserved that and worse.

"He stole you from Team Seven in our other lives." Kakashi shakes his head as he kisses Sasuke's forehead. "And he was trying to steal you from me in this life." Unforgivable really. "So I made up my mind that this time was going to be different. He couldn't steal you away again." Kakashi smiles. "Not this time."

Sasuke smiles at that and brushes a stray strand of silver hair out of his lover's eye. "Good. I'm glad." He smiles and rests his head on Kakashi's shoulder. "Though I'm also really happy that our Ninja Taijutsu skills came back." he smirks. "Now, that comes in handy." Yes, it did, Kakashi smirks at the thought. Particularly in the bedroom!