Hey guys! So, okay, one person requested this, but I chose to do it anyway, simply because I want to :D Do you guys realise that this will be the 31st story I'll have on FanFiction? Crazy, right? Whist writing this, I am also writing the next chapter of The Wrong One, so expect that to be up soon too :D It's a good day for all!
I'd like to dedicate this story to SilenceIsTheKey, because it's thanks to her I got the motivation to write this (plus, she's an awesome writer, read her work!) So yeah, this one's for you :)
Also, I'd like to apologize for it not being uploaded on the 28th, FanFiction wouldn't let me post it no matter how hard I tried -.- Stupid error D:
Summary: It seemed the older she got, the slower she became. Since he was one for subtlety, he couldn't help but be annoyed. Still, it was worth it in the end. Sequel to 'A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words' – SasuSaku.
I guess you don't have to read A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words to understand this, but it would make your life much easier if you do. (And if you read it, I would LOVE it if you dropped a little review by :D)
Note: I re-read 'APWATW' (such a long-arse title D:) and I assume that I was gonna make this Sakura's 21st birthday … So, she's gonna be 21! Woo! :D
Again, major OOC Sasuke. OOC Sasuke needs a name … it's used so much xD
Disclaimer: Me no own.
Anyhoo, on with the story.
Enjoy!
A Day To Remember.
"Sakura, come on, you're gonna be late."
-silence-
"Sakura?"
Sasuke pushed the door into his (and her) bedroom open, to find the pink-haired girl still sprawled out on the bed, fast asleep.
He glared at her sleeping body, taking note of how peaceful she looked. The quarter of his heart that was full of warmth wanted to let her sleep, but, since the other three quarters were still a block of ice, he walked over to her figure, clasped the warm duvet (it suddenly decided to get cold again. In March. Which meant thick duvets and woolly scarves all around.) between his fingers, and flung it off her so quickly, the coldness threw itself at her bare skin (since she cleverly decided to wear a tank top and loose pyjama bottoms, because "Sasuke-kun's body heat would warm her up as well as the duvet, and she didn't want to get too hot"), causing her eyes to dart open as she yelped and sat upright. Panting, she took a moment to focus her eyes, before turning her glare to the source of her coldness.
"Asshole."
Sakura wasn't surprised to see Sasuke smirk at her. It wasn't the first time he had pulled the covers off her, and over the years she had discovered that he seemed to enjoy watching her suffer. She dangled her legs off the bed, still glaring at her boyfriend.
"What did I do to deserve it this time? It's not like I'm late for anything!"
Sasuke's expression very nearly changed. In the words of Shikamaru, she was a troublesome woman.
Sasuke shrugged and began to walk out the room, stopping halfway. "I thought you were going to see Ino today or something. You know how much she hates you being late."
Sakura's eyes widened, before looking at her calender. If the several exclamation points and highlighters and love hearts and the giant 'MY BIRTHDAY' written across the small box labelled '28th of March' weren't a big enough hint, he thought she would never understand. He turned to face her again, remaining passive, though with one eyebrow slightly more raised than the other.
The way her expression changed so dramatically could've made Sasuke laugh. You know, if he wasn't an Uchiha and all that. The frown and glare she had plastered on her face when looking at him turned into the biggest smile he had ever seen (and by Kami, it was amazing) as she jumped off the bed with new found energy and ran towards Sasuke, taking one of his hands.
"It's my birthday, it's my birthday, it's my birthday! Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me! Argh! I'm so excited! So, have you planned anything super-duper romantic? Moonlight walk across Konoha? Stargazing on top of the Hokage Monument? Expensive dinner? Tell me, tell me, tell me!"
"Does a lot of Ramen at Ichiraku's count as an expensive dinner?"
"No."
"… Not even with Naruto there?"
"Sasuke! It's my 21st birthday! As my boyfriend, YOU are supposed to come with something awesome to do! Then I'm supposed to be all surprised and emotional because you've done something super-duper romantic, and I begin to cry happy tears, and we hug and kiss and it becomes the best birthday ever! You mean to say you've done nothing?"
Sasuke simply looked at Sakura's disappointed face. "Ino's waiting."
He watched her shoulders slump as she plodded to the bathroom to get ready. Every year, it was tradition for Sakura to meet up with Ino, where Ino did something amazing and such. Last year, she had everyone turn up at her house in fancy dress, and when Sakura knocked at the door, she almost fainted at the sight of a grumpy looking Sasuke dressed up as Batman. Apparently, Ino and Naruto literally forced him into the outfit (though no one would ever say how …) and, as a result, they were both briefly taken to the hospital for minor injuries.
This year, however, Ino had refused to tell anyone about her plans for Sakura. Not even Sakura had a clue. It made her nervous; after all, Ino was never the most trustworthy person. Sakura shuddered at the possibility of her potential death, before finishing up and walking downstairs.
The energy Sakura had faded into disappointment. She was quite a modest person, and she always told people that she never expected anything for her birthday, yet Sasuke's passiveness made her feel like her birthday was pointless. She sighed, trying to be excited as she reached the bottom step, and came face to face with the wall opposite her.
She smiled softly.
On the wall hung 27 little pictures, all drawn by Sasuke. Each one showed a different romantic situation, which he had, somehow, managed to re-create in reality, too. This got her spirits up once more, as she realised that it didn't matter if Sasuke didn't do anything. Just being there was enough for her.
-cough-
Sakura swiftly moved her head at the unexpected sound, and was startled when she saw Sasuke standing at the front door, hand on the doorknob, a bored expression on his face. She raised an eyebrow before walking towards the door, putting her boots on as he opened it.
"You're eager to get rid of me, aren't you?"
Sasuke smirked, making her blush instantly. He loved having that affect on her.
"Ino will kill you. Besides, I have a picture to draw."
Sakura smiled as she tiptoed up and kissed him on the lips sweetly, before turning back and heading out the door. Sasuke watched her leave before closing the door slowly, a smirk playing at his lips.
"FOREHEAD!"
The moment Sakura stepped foot onto Ino's property, she had been bombarded by said blonde, who seemed far more excited to see her than a normal human being should. Sakura hugged back, taking note of the pyjamas Ino was wearing.
"Ino, why are you in your pjs?"
Ino let go of Sakura and gasped, finally realising that she had just ran into the street in her pyjamas. Ino coughed and took Sakura's wrist, leading her back into the house. Once they were away from the public view, Ino let go of Sakura and flung herself on her sofa, picking up a half-eaten packet of crisps and devouring the rest. Sakura inwardly gagged, and joined her best friend on the couch.
There was a silence between the girls, as Ino finished up her crisps and placed the packet on the table in front of her. Sakura looked around the living room she had been in many times before out of boredom.
"So …"
Sakura was the first to break the silence, causing Ino to raise an eyebrow. "So … what?"
Sakura narrowed her eyes at her friend. She knew that Ino wouldn't have forgotten something as trivial as Sakura's 21st birthday, and wanted to know why she was pretending.
"Ino, cut the crap. It's my birthday! What have you planned? What are you up to?"
Ino simply stared at Sakura, a small smile playing at her lips. "Oh, that? I haven't planned anything. I figured we could just sit here and talk! Wouldn't that be fun!"
Sakura rolled her eyes. Ino's definition of 'talk' was her gossiping about someone at sometime somewhere while Sakura had to (pretend) to listen. To Sakura, this didn't sound fun at all.
"Awesome! So, what do you wanna talk about?"
Her forced smile went unnoticed by Ino, as her widened her eyes and leant forward, ready to discuss urgent matters such as Tenten and Neji making out during a mission or Hiashi preparing to murder Naruto for how many times Hinata willingly paid for his ramen, only to leave the Hyuuga household with hundreds less than they had before the timid girl started dating the mouthy blonde.
"I wanna talk about you."
Sakura was startled at Ino's comment. Ino had never spoken about her – well, to her face, anyway – and wasn't quite sure how to react. Ino, however, seemed unfazed, as she leant back again, draping her arm over the back of the sofa. Sakura shifted, uncomfortable with the situation. It was her birthday, she was supposed to be having fun!
"So, how's life? You and Sasuke doing okay? What's it like living with him?"
Sakura sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get anything but gossip with Ino, and responded the only way she could.
"Good. Fine. Nice."
Ino scoffed and playfully punched the pink-haired girl on the arm. "A little more detail than that, please! Has he given you anything amazing for your birthday?"
"Other than the pictures, no, he hasn't. Come to think of it, no one's given me anything … where's my present, Ino?"
Ino disregarded the question and shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, to be fair, Sakura, it is your 21st. Which means, some of us have been forced to give you presents for about 16 years, give or take. I think you're getting too old for surprises and presents now, don't you agree?"
Sakura glared at Ino. The last time Ino tried telling her that she was too old for presents, she punched the living daylights out of her and sulked for the rest of the day. Trying to control herself to prove her point, Sakura took a deep breath and looked calmly at Ino.
"Ino, no one is ever too old for presents. The older you get, the more presents you should get, it's like a law! Therefore, I demand to get a present from you."
Despite constant protesting, Ino didn't back down once, causing Sakura to huff and fold her arms across her chest.
For another few hours, Ino went back to gossiping about random villagers and ninjas ("Did you hear about Shikamaru and Temari? They're together! The bitch probably used some kind of technique on him or something …" "Just coz you like him, Ino." "No I don't! Shut up!") and it didn't seem like long before the sun was beginning to go down. Ino noticed this, and her eyes widened, stopping mid-sentence.
"Ino? What's up?"
As much as Sakura loved Ino, she was getting very annoyed and very grumpy. Sakura wanted to go home hours ago, but Ino literally forced her to stay, getting all emotional about how 'it's rare nowadays that we get to have a good ol' talk!'. No one had contacted her in any way to say a simple 'Happy Birthday!', there were no presents, no amazing day-to-remember, and she wasn't even allowed to spend the day with Sasuke.
She sighed dreamily; her mind hadn't been able to process anything Sasuke related since Ino started talking, and now she had stopped, her mind was allowed to wander.
"I just noticed it's getting dark is all. C'mon, lets take you home."
"Ino, I'm a big girl now. I can take myself home."
Ino pouted, before linking arms with Sakura (she had a five minute breather earlier in the day, and used that time to change into actual clothing) and grinning mischievously. "I know, but this way, we can still have some quality "InoSakura" time. Wouldn't you like that?"
Sakura groaned loud enough for Ino to hear, yet she ignored it and left the house, dragging Sakura along with her.
As they reached the familiar house belonging to Sasuke and Sakura, the latter realised that Ino actually hadn't spoken during the entire journey. She shrugged it off, figuring her mouth was just tired, and unlocked the door, stepping into darkness.
She furrowed her eyebrows as she could see nothing, and flicked the light switch carelessly.
"SURPRISE!"
Sakura almost screamed at the multiple faces grinning at her, and all at once the chakra from the beings flowed into her senses.
She looked around; almost every ninja had turned up at her house, even Tsunade had taken time off to be there. Tsunade smiled warmly at Sakura, nodding her head in acknowledgement. Naruto was grinning from ear to ear, and Sakura could see Hinata physically holding him back, and chuckled to herself. Shikamaru was awake (probably because Temari would hit him if he dared close his eyes) and nodded, as Temari waved sweetly (this earned a grunt from Ino, which Sakura smiled at) Kiba and Akamaru were there, the former smirking as he subtly stole food from the table while the latter barked his greeting. Neji and Tenten were holding hands, Tenten smiling and Neji looking as passive as ever, save for the tiny curve of his lips. Choji was too busy eating to notice Sakura's arrival, Kakashi had his book open, yet Sakura could tell he wasn't really reading it as he smiled at her, and Shino stood in the corner, not really bothering to acknowledge anything but his bugs. A few other villagers and shinobi were also there, and Sakura wondered how the living room managed to fit them all in.
And of course, standing in front of them all with a white sheet of paper in his hands, stood Sasuke. His black hair was its usual messy neatness, his pale complexion going well with the black suit he was wearing, his eyes were full of love, and he was actually smiling. Sakura could've gasped at his beauty, but her cool composure remained as she turned to face Ino, who was smiling cheekily.
"You liar! You told me you didn't plan anything!"
"I didn't. Sasuke did."
Sakura's eyes widened at this new-found knowledge, and turned to face her tall, dark and handsome boyfriend.
Sasuke watched his pink-haired girlfriend wander up to him, her eyes set on the object in his hands, and Sasuke gathered that it was because of the major blush adorning her face. When she stretched her arms out to take the paper, he pulled it away, causing her to blink and look up at him with a confused expression. He simply continued to smirk, and Sakura took this chance to fully look around the room. Party poppers, party food (plenty of ramen for Naruto), banners and balloons covered every inch of the house, except for the wall displaying Sasuke's pictures, which remained untouched (she assumed Sasuke threatened anyone who went near it). The main feature, of course, was the table that had towers of presents on it. Sakura gasped.
"You … you did all this?"
Sakura looked back up at the onyx eyes she loved so much. He smiled and held out the piece of paper. "Well … I had a little help."
Hearing the cheer from Naruto but choosing to ignore it, Sakura took the piece of paper and looked at it excitedly, before faltering slightly.
There was no picture on it. Instead, it had the words "I Love You Always & Forever" written in his calligraphy styled writing. She had focused so much on the sheet of paper, that when she looked up to see Sasuke's face, it wasn't there. Confused, she looked down, and saw him on one knee, a box in his hand and an almost nervous look about him. Sakura studied his form and her eyes widened, becoming aware of what he was about to do.
"Sakura … you have always been special to me, even in our Genin days, despite how annoying you were. There was something about you that wasn't like the other girls here, you saw me for me, and not for my amazing looks or awesome powers-" A scoff came from Naruto, but everyone ignored it "- and I remember the last thing I said to you before I left was 'thank you'. I was thanking you for everything you have every done, and will do for me. I thank you for still accepting me and keeping your promise to love me forever, and in return, I'm going to love you forever. I'm not sure if this is as super-duper romantic as you wanted but here it goes … Haruno Sakura, will you marry me?"
Sasuke opened the box to reveal a silver ring, like any other, except in the place where a diamond should be, the Uchiha crest was placed there, shining brightly under the lights.
Ino, Tenten, Temari and Naruto squealed, Hinata and Tsunade cried, Shino, Neji and Shikamaru remained passive, and others sighed and smiled at the happy couple. But to Sakura, none of them existed at this point in time.
Tears streamed down the girl's face as what Sasuke said sunk in. She couldn't believe he was doing this. For so many years she dreamt about becoming Uchiha Sakura, and now he actually asking.
"Yes … of course yes!"
Sasuke barely had time to stand up before she flung her arms around him, swearing to never let him go. He placed his arms around her waist tightly but gently, before taking the ring out of the box and (forcing her to take her arms away) slipping it on her finger. She gasped at how it fit so perfectly around the bone, and glanced up at her now fiancé, before reaching up to kiss him passionately for what seemed like hours. Slowly, the other people in the room began to reappear, and Sakura heard the cheering and wooing throughout the house.
She stopped to breathe, and hugged Sasuke around the waist. He pushed her away slightly to get something from his coat pocket, and her eyebrows knitted together until she recognised it as another piece of paper. She unfolded it and there was the picture. It was an image of the two, Sasuke proposing and Sakura looking shocked, yet happy, with their friends around them, and the room set up similarly to how it was in reality. She smiled at him through her tears and looked back down at the picture.
"This is the best birthday ever."
Sasuke went back to his smirking ways, and intertwined her fingers with his own. "Happy birthday, Uchiha Sakura."
Sakura's smile never faltered, as nothing could ruin the moment.
"SAKURA-CHAN! TIME TO OPEN THE PRESENTS!"
And there we have it, folks. Wow, it was the first time I've ever written a sequel to something, I never realised how difficult it could be! Lol, I kept having to look back to APWATW to remember things haha. But yeah, I hope this was good enough for you all, I know the Ino scene is kinda dull, but hey, now you know how Sakura felt :p Leading up to the proposal, I was actually getting excited myself. I was sitting here like I WANNA WRITE IT, I WANNA WRITE IT! Haha, I had fun :D I know in some places it might not be the 28th of March, but here in the UK, we still have 3 hours of the 28th left, so there! :p Anyhoo, please let me know what you thought of it, I think this has been my fluffiest fic ever :D
And I told you Sasuke was OOC xD
And trust Naruto to shout at the end (yes, it was Naruto in case you didn't realise) to completely ruin the moment :p I feel so sorry for Hinata xD
Please review, I've noticed how many people have favourited/alerted APWATW, but … I kinda want feedback! Haha, thank you to everyone that did review … the above story (not even the abbreviation is short enough), I strongly appreciate it :)
To fans of The Wrong One, a new chapter will be up within the coming weeks! I have my Easter holiday in two weeks, so maybe then ;)
Over and out!
-x-Emma-x-
