Naruto: Serpent's Vengeance

A Shattered Dreams Story: By TwilightLink20xx

Note: Naruto: Serpent's Vengeance is a sequel to Naruto: Shattered Dreams. While one may read this story first, it is recommended for the sake of understanding past plot points that one read Shattered Dreams.

Prologue: A Proposal

Rain poured down on the village of Kohona. A blond ninja walked through it, taking in the smell of the damp ground. It had been a warm day, so a bit of cool water felt good to get a contrast to the sweat that covered his brow. Granted, he had been training all day, so maybe it hadn't been as hot as he thought, but it didn't matter, it felt good. He looked at his watch; 5:50. Perfect, he'd make it just in time.

He approached a door, knocking on it. It opened, a pink haired girl about five months younger than him stood in the doorway. "You're late, Naruto." She said, a sly smirk on her face.

"What are you talking about," Naruto replied, showing her his watch "It's only 5:55!"

The girl shook her head, "No, it's 6:05, your watch is running ten minutes behind, as usual." She giggled a bit, "Come on in." She brought him into the home, a warm and welcoming place he'd been so many times he'd lost track, but still looked forward to seeing. He wiped his feet on the mat, and squeezed the water out of the jacket through the doorway. He took a seat in the chair, looking towards his friend that sat in the chair across from him. "So, you sure you want to still get Ramen tonight?" She asked.

He laughed, "Not really, Sakura-Chan," he said, "Only if you still want to. I was kinda thinking that we'd go somewhere else tonight. Somewhere you'd like to go to. It is your birthday, after all."

Sakura smiled, it was her 19th birthday today, and she was looking forward for Naruto to come over. "Well, depends of if the Hokage is willing to pony up a little cash..."

Naruto laughed, "Sakura-Chan, If I can afford all that gaming gear, I think I can take my girlfriend out for something nice. Anything you want, I promise!"

"Okay.. Well, I was thinking about that place near the center of town with the view of the mountain. I hear they have really good steak."

Naruto smiled, "I thought you'd say that. I'll call them up, we should be able to get in." Perfect, Naruto thought, Too bad it's raining, though, the patio would have been the perfect place...

"Isn't it kinda fancy, though?" Sakura asked, "Shouldn't we dress up for that?"

"I've been there a couple times with Gaara after some sparring, they didn't seem to mind a whole lot."

"True, but it was you and the Kazekage, as far as they're concerned that's free press."

Naruto nodded, she had a point there. "Well, we could if you insist."

She smiled, "You go ahead and make the call and I'll meet you there. Make sure you wear something at least a little nice, preferably with no holes."

Naruto laughed, "I'll see if I can find something." He got up, and ran to his home. Oh crap.... I think this is all I have that's not shredded!

*****

Naruto was seated at a table next to the window, it wasn't a terribly busy day, but there certainly were people. He had managed to find a pair of black slacks and a button-up shirt, both of which were wrinkled from being shoved in a closet and used maybe once before. The last time he wore anything like this was.... Well, he couldn't remember wearing anything like this before. It was probably a gift from a year or two ago. He looked at his watch, it read 6:35, Sakura was taking her time. He'd only been there for 5 minutes, but he was anxious. He had a small box in his jacket's pocket, the same jacket he always wore. He knew good and well what he was doing.

Within seconds, he saw a familiar silhouette through the screen at the front, pink hair peeking through the top. Naruto smiled, straightening out as he watched her approach. She walked towards the table, wearing a long red dress. It's style was not unlike what she normally wore, but it was a bit more elegant in nature, as it ran a bit closer to her figure. Her hair was straighter than it normally was, brushed over from the right side, a flower shaped clipped held it in place. Sakura's emerald green eyes met with Naruto's. She blushed a bit, smiling at the blond boy, though shaking her hair a bit.

"Wow, Sakura-Chan..." Naruto said, having a bit of trouble speaking, "You look beautiful.... Not that you normally aren't but-" Sakura giggled.

"Thanks, Naruto.." replied Sakura, her blush even more evident now as she took her seat. "But seriously," She said, tone slightly embarrassed, "was that all you had?"

Naruto laughed, "Yeah, it was actually. Everything else was either too small or wasn't nice enough."

"Well," she said, her smile slightly askew "I guess it isn't that bad... You did clean up at least."

"You have to admit I clean up nice." He replied with his trademark grin.

She smirked, "Just a little." They both laughed, enjoying the time the spent together as they always did. Sakura thought, This is gonna be a great night....

*****

Sakura placed down the fork, having finished her meal. They had both ordered the Kobe steak, which was extremely tender. It was a treat for her, as she'd never tried it before. It really was as good as they said it was, though she was a bit worried that Naruto would have trouble affording it. He had been the Sixth Hokage now for three years, but he never increased his paycheck. As a matter of fact, he actually made more money when he was just a sage! But that's how he felt, he never needed a lot of money in the first place. It didn't help that he was always spending it on his games and gifts for her, but then again, he still lived off of ramen.

"Oh!" Naruto said, " I can't believe I forgot to ask, how were things at the hospital today??"

"Good," she replied, "Shizune and Ino gave me a couple gifts, and it wasn't too busy for once." Naruto nodded, smiling. "How was yours?"

"Great!" Naruto responded, "I got to do some training and managed to get all that paperwork taken care of. Gaara's coming back into town next week, so we had to get all that set up for him."

"Very nice." Sakura looked at his left hand, he was fiddling with his jacket. He pulled out his money pouch, still the same frog he had when he was only twelve. He placed the money for the meal and tip on the table and grabbed his jacket. It was still raining, but it should be okay, especially if Sakura brought an umbrella.

"You ready to go?" Naruto asked.

Sakura nodded, "Yep, let's get out of here." They walked towards the front, Sakura had brought an umbrella, and walked through the streets. The rain was letting up a little bit, but not by much. She came in a little closer to Naruto, only the very bottom of her dress had gotten wet. They held hands, able to feel the warmth of the other, though Sakura could sense something was a little off about Naruto today.

"So," Naruto said, "Where do you want to go?"

"I'm not sure," she said, "Too bad it's raining, I'd love to go to that bench we always go to."

"We could still go," he said, "It isn't too cold yet, and if it gets too bad I could give you my jacket."

She thought about the proposition, it was tradition between the two of them to go there every time they went out on a date. Granted, it had never been raining when they went out, but then again there was a first time for everything. "Well... Okay, let's go." Sakura looked into the eyes of the boy, there was something going on in his head. He came across as more nervous than she'd seen him in a long time, since the first time they'd gone out together. What is he up to? I wonder... They got to the bench, sitting there together.

Naruto held the umbrella, the trees around the stone bench helped keep it from getting wet. Sakura smiled, leaning on Naruto's shoulder. She felt his heart start to beat a bit faster, faster than it usually did when she leaned on him. He placed his open arm around her, smiling.

"This brings back a lot of memories..." Naruto said. Sakura nodded.

"It does." She warmly recalled. "Remember the first time we talked together?"

"When I henged into Sasuke?" He chuckled, "That didn't work out to well... Should have checked that date, I was so close!"

She laughed, "You know I would have socked you clear across the park, it would have been my first kiss!"

"I got that anyway, didn't I?" Naruto slyly grinned.

She raised her eyebrows. "Touche...." She looked down. "It's the same bench we sat at after Lady Tsunade died too..." Sakura took a breath. She had died over three years ago, and even though she was able to move on and accept it, it didn't change the fact that Tsunade was gone. "So many memories here..."

Naruto nodded, closing his eyes as he held the girl of his dreams. He looked at the sky, the sun had set and it was now dark, the only other light source the lamps. The rain poured still, but it had let off quite a bit sense they had arrived. He looked into Sakura's emerald eyes, heart pounding, this was the perfect time... "You want to make another one?"

Sakura smiled, she had started to catch on a bit, but she had a feeling about what was coming. "Maybe..." Naruto handed her the umbrella, taking out the box from his pocket. He got down on one knee, opening the box. Sakura's smile grew wider as she looked inside of the box. It was a small gold ring with a diamond in the center, nothing extremely extravagant, but beautiful in it's simplicity.

"Sakura-Chan," Naruto said, "I know I asked you this before, a long time ago... But I told you I'd never hold you to it, we were barely 16 after all... So... Sakura Haruno, will you marry me?"

Tears streamed down Sakura's face, her smile now glowing with joy. She leaned in closer to the boy she'd loved with all her heart and pressed her lips against his. She pulled away after a moment and said one word. "Yes."

AN: Alright! Don't worry, the action starts up in the next chapter. You can expect a slight difference in stylings from this and Shattered Dreams (obviously I've decided to use the honorific for Sakura, but that's probably where it stops), but things will get closer in terms of pace and action sequences. (Trust me, if I don't get any of that in here, I'll go insane! Balance is everything, and if you're gonna write based off an action story, then dang it, make sure there's action!)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never have, never will. That's probably a good thing XD.