Six Months Later

"Oh. Oh, Madara I like this one."

"Ugh, it feels like cement."

"Mh-hm…I'm in love."

"Stomach sleepers. What the hell am I going to do then? Suffer in silence?"

"Convert."

"Or wait you out. You know you eventually turn and snuggle into my armpit."

"I've been wondering why my face is damp in the mornings. You sweat in you sleep!"

"Be happy I put deodorant on, just for you."

"True love, right there."

"Nah. I figured it was back when I forgot my toothbrush and you let me use yours."

"Really? Because I would argue it was when we both had that farting contest."

"Does that count? We were pretty plastered."

"Not enough. I still remember it."

"Point. What about that time that you brought a raccoon into the house and stitched it up on my counter? Only someone who loves you could put up with that abuse."

"Scruff was a perfect gentleman!"

"Lucifer gutted the fridge. It ate my tuna. And then it went for the pantry and took all the pocky and potato chips and our emergency supply of popcorn."

"Didn't he take the batteries too?"

"I saw him handing our goods out to all his buddies the little bastard. And no, you lost those a week before."

"Oh. Actually that makes se—waiiiiit. How did you know I lost them?"

"My Sakura Senses were tingling."

"Uh-huh."

"I'm serious! They tell me when you're about to do something life altering."

"And how did losing the batteries manage to change the course of our lives?"

"Tuesday. Movie night. We. Couldn't. Record. Sherlock."

"….oh my god."

"Uh-huh."

"I…I have sinned."

"Oooh can I help with the punishment?"

Sakura rolled away when he reached for her, laughing. "C'mon. This was actually starting to hurt after a while." She gestured to the bed, braced her hands on her lower back, and bent backwards. There was a satisfying crick, the wonderful noise of her spine popping, and Madara winced. "You know, as a doctor you should know that isn't good for you."

"Meh. I get a free pass."

"Not from me."

"Your degree was in business, not medicine."

"I'm pretty sure this shiny ring is the FBI badge of marriage. Nothing is off limits."

"Except the fudge."

"That's only on your period. Otherwise free game."

"I will fight you."

"Only if we wrestle."

"…I see your scheme."

"You like the scheme. This one looks nice." Sakura yelped as Madara grabbed her waist and lightly tossed her onto a nearby bed. She stared up at him with wide eyes before grinning. "This one is nice."

"Really?"

"Come try!" She scooted over so he could roll on beside her and as soon as he was on his back he sighed. "Oh. Me likey."

"It's like," Sakura exclaimed, shifting from her side, to her stomach, to her back, and to her side again. "It's totally comfortable in all positions."

"Wait. C'mere."

"Snuggle test?"

"Yes." Sakura obliged, scooting closer to her husband and tucking her head under his throat, using his arm as a pillow and throwing one leg over his thigh. His arm was draped casually across his stomach, the tips of his fingers playing lightly at her hip, the other arm bent at the elbow and going above both their heads. She put her left arm across his chest, hand resting against his bicep, her other arm tucked up under her.

For a moment they just drank in the bliss of a new mattress with actual support, cushion, and didn't squeak when they turned their heads.

"Now," Madara said and Sakura smiled because she could feel his voice vibrating in his sternum. "Just imagine our grey blanket, our pillows, and…the TV." He pointed to a space hovering in front of them. "Flat screen, forty-two inch, and mounted right there."

"Surround sound. I can hook us up."

"I thought you wanted a home theater?"

"Changed my mind. Home theater needs to come to the bedroom. Can you imagine watching The Hangover like this? Or the Riddick Chronicles?"

"You're just full of logic and good ideas today, aren't you?"

"I had Starbucks."

"Ah. It makes sense now." Sakura pinched his bicep a little in lieu of insult, but before he could react in some evil, heinous way she distracted him.

"How well do you think it holds up with sex?"

"Wanna practice?" His grin was wicked, and Sakura figured he had been sufficiently distracted from the first pinch and was dangerously close to needing a second one. "Sure," she said dryly. "Nothing like being watched by a senior citizen to set the mood."

"What senior—oh. Okay, dude that's creepy."

"He's been following us for the past ten minutes."

"Is he," Madara squinted. "Is he a salesman?"

"I saw a nametag, so must be."

"That's still hella creepy."

"Tell me about it. Hey, let me up. I'm going to check the reviews on this thing."

"Mm-kay. Hey, you're off work tomorrow, right?"

"Off for the next week."

"Wow. Seriously?"

"Cleared it a month in advance. I knew we'd need the time to get settled in and everything. I'll have to take time off again of course, we can't move in a week, but it should give us a satisfying head start. Oh hey, it's got some good reviews."

"A whole month. Babe you need to work someplace else. And how good?"

"Real good. And my office is pretty lax in comparison to others. At least I don't work in ER or something. Those people don't sleep."

"I recall many a sleepless night before you graduated and we had to restock our monthly supply of coffee once a week. I still think you should switch or something."

"Nope. Pediatrics is my calling. And you will be my guinea pig for massage therapy."

"No complaints there. Four out of five stars? That is good."

"They say it's pretty solid for sex too. It does say that it smelled funny for the first month or so."

Madara wrinkled his nose. "What kind of funny? Corpse under the bed or my great aunt lost bladder control?"

"More like…airborne plastic and…other factory manufactured stuff. Apparently. I don't know. They're saying that it wasn't unbearable and the website is assuring me that nothing they use could be considered harmful. I think we could handle it."

"If I could sleep like this every night, hell I wouldn't mind. What's the price tag?" As Sakura went to reach for it, Madara grabbed her arm and pulled her backwards. "Actually, no. Don't do that yet. How about we take a nap? Let me fall in love with it so I will buy it." Sakura laughed. "I thought the schemes to drop cash were left for the wife!"

He shrugged. "We have cash to drop. Which reminds me…dinner? There's that steak house we've been eyeing for a while."

"Bit pricey, don't you think? I mean the wedding took care of our kitchenware but—"

"Thank Buda for that. I hate kitchen shopping."

"Thank me and my obsession with said kitchen for that. It's the only reason we got half the crap we did."

"My stomach thanks you, hot stuff. But I'm burning that apron if I see you wearing it."

"Which one?"

"The pink one. I'm sorry sweetie but the only pink that goes well with you is the shade on top of your head. Anything else is just…too much. I like the dark blue one though. Looks good on you."

"I think I'd rule out the pink one on frills alone, but I can't let you burn it. Grandma would be devastated. And I actually really liked the blue one, so no issue there."

"As long as you don't wear the Barbie one we're cool."

"Awesome. Back to dinner. Wedding took care of kitchenware, and we got some curtains but we still need to outfit the master bedroom entirely and the bathrooms and the living room."

"We got that real nice couch though."

"Lord I kissed Itachi when I saw that it was leather."

"Wait. What? You kissed him?"

"On the cheek."

"But you did kiss him?"

"Yes. I kissed the man that gave us pricey, authentic living room furniture on the cheek."

"…"

"You realize that I married you, right? Like, this diamond is something you forked your cash over and I accepted, right?"

"Of course I know. My wallet was hurting for months. I just worry about him and whatever goes on his head. You guys were pretty serious."

"And then we weren't so serious and then we weren't anything but friends. Besides if it weren't for Itachi then we never would have met."

"I still don't trust him. I don't care if he's got a new shiny girlfriend he still gives you these looks."

"And I ignore said looks."

"Except when you go and kiss him."

"You—I—you…he bought us a leather couch."

"He bought you the leather couch. I was just the unfavorable part of the package deal."

"Oh look at me," Sakura dipped her voice into a mocking attempt at Madara's baritone. "I'm the big, muscular Uchiha powerhouse with the great job, a new house, and a hot wife. Woe is me! I'm considered unfavorable by a man who—" She gasped suddenly, sitting up and staring down at Madara's disgruntled, pouty expression. "You're in love with Itachi! It all makes sense now!"

"Sakura."

"Oh my goodness woe is me! My husband is in love with a man! The scandal! The intrigue! Not even a full year into our state of matrimonial bliss and my one true love turns his back on me for the company of my ex!"

"Sakura."

"I've been abandoned. Nay I've been shamed. I should have read the signs—they were so clear! The hoola-skirt incident, the Hawaii trip, the strange love of lingerie stores, the fact that you both have long hair, the—"

"If you don't stop questioning my masculinity, then senior salesman or no my hand is going to end up down your pants."

"Doing what? Are you sure you even know what to do with a—shit! Shit, fuck shit! Madara you can't be serious! Shit, you're Adonis! Your Atlas! You starred in Magic Mike, you're the sexiest man on earth!"

"That's better."

"I can't believe you."

"As soon as we get the car…"

"It's a public parking lot."

"It's my truck."

"Well I bought a new set of underwear."

Madara looked at her for a second, like he wasn't sure if he was supposed to believe the bait, and then propped himself up on his elbows. "Really?"

"They're blue."

"What shade?"

"…"

"Navy?"

"…"

"Is there lace?"

"…I'm not going to te—I'm not wearing them right now!"

"Don't smack my hand; I just thought I'd check. Have I ever told you how much I like your underwear taste? You're always wearing something hot. But seriously what shade? I like blue on you."

"They're at the house, if you're so eager."

He frowned at her, appearing like he was in deep, deep thought. Finally he laid back on the bed they were currently sampling and stared up at her seriously. "If I have to deal with springs digging into me every time we try to have sex then we might as well move to the floor."

"We tried that."

"And it sucked. But I really want to see that underwear and we can't do that in the shower. So…" he patted the mattress. "Is this the one? Because I'm pretty convinced."

Sakura quickly looked around her, checking to see if there was anyone in the near vicinity. Considering that it was a Sunday, not to many people were braving the outdoors to shop. And the bedding floor was practically deserted. Even that old salesman looked to have left. Biting her lip, she flushed a little in embarrassment but…well they were married. Sex happened and if the mattress wasn't going to hold up that it just wasn't going to work.

With thoughts of springs digging between her shoulder blades and rubbing against the bone of her spine as motivation, Sakura hopped a little on the bed. Her knees were under her, so it didn't take that much to try to force her weight down. The mattress was soft and plush, but as she bounced a little she could feel the firm support it gave beneath the layer of cloud. With another look around, she shoved forward in a thrusting motion, basically grinding into the mattress with her hips..

"Oh that's sexy."

"I have to test it somehow."

"Does it sound like I'm complaining?"

"Nooo…stop smiling. It actually feels pretty solid."

Madara sat up long enough to scan the room before grabbing her thigh and dragging one leg over his hips so she straddled him.

"Madara!"

"Do it again."

"We are in public!"

"Nobody's around."

"Security cameras," She hissed to him, but tried anyway because she was curious and maybe just a little bit turned on. Madara let out a shaky breath. "Fuck. We're getting the mattress." He declared, grabbing her hips as she continued to move. "We're buying it right now and then we are setting it up at home and then using it and—whereareyougoing?"

"I'm checking the price."

"Doesn't matter what the price is, we're getting it."

"Either way we have to get up and actually buy the mattress, and then buy a new bedspread, and new sheets, and a rug—are you sure you want to go out to dinner? We need to buy house stuff."

"Yes."

Madara let her get off of him and then rolled off his side of the bed. They met at the little plaque that held the mattress information. For a second he registered the price with little more than a mental grimace. It was a bit pricey, but it was of good quality and a king size to boot—but then he realized that it was on sale and redirected his gaze to a new set of numbers marked in red.

"Now that, we can easily afford."

"Holy shit. It's like, half price."

"Are they serious? What's wrong with the mattress?"

"It felt just fine," Sakura murmured, taking a floating tag and reading. "Oh. It's an old model they're trying to sell out. That explains it."

"So…I think that's a yes?"

"Yes. Definitely a yes!"

"Sweet! Where's that creepy sales dude? I wanna talk to him. There he is—excuse me! Sir! Hey, be right back love." He kissed her cheek before stalking off to a very happy looking old man. Sakura watched her husband's tall, lanky frame slink off towards the elderly man before turning back the mattress, visions of their future bedroom in mind. She had wanted something with neutral tones, and Madara practically insisted on a more modern theme with clean lines and whatnot. Both wanted red, a really dark red, but it was a tricky color to incorporate with the greens she had in mind, so she was thinking of stone colors. Things like a real dark grey, black, white and maybe something metallic to make the red pop out more. Add some green plants and maybe a grey carpet to offset the starkness of it all and it could tie in beautifully. And if they couldn't have a lot of variety with color, then they could always turn to texture. Ino, the fashionista, had taught her much in the ways of interior design.

Madara broke her thoughts by digging through her purse and fishing out a pen. "Signing is going to take a while, so I suggest we divide and conquer. I take care of the shipping and crap and you go buy us some sheets and a bedspread."

"Wonderful. Will they be able to get it to us today? And I'll send you pictures of our choices when I get there."

"Pete, that's the old sales guy, said that they could load it in my truck as we leave. We can just take it home, and then we can go to dinner in celebration."

"Madara it's not that I don't want to go out to dinner but are you sure it's a good idea? We only have so much money from the wedding and we still have all this other stuff to buy and take care of and we only have a week to do it and—"

"Babe."

"Yeah?"

"Repeat after me. We. Are. Not. In. College. Furthermore, you are not in the nightmare that is med school, have a job, and have a hot husband that can more than financially support you. Going out to a steak house won't cripple us for the next month."

"I know, I know, I know."

"Do you?"

"Yes. I guess old habits die hard and we've just been spending, spending, spending and it's got me all jittery."

"I solemnly swear that I have no idea why. You're the one doing the bills—we've got a mini bank in there even after we bought the house."

"Alright…alright. Let's go to dinner."

"Great! We'll take the mattress, set it up, change, eat, and then test our new purchase." He waggled his eyebrows.

"You're a pervert."

"Mm-hm. Your pervert, though. C'mon. Let's finish our errands and head home.

"Okay. If you finish with the paperwork why don't you come up to the bedspreads and help me pick?"

"Sounds good."

"Alright! Meet you there."

"Hey," Madara said softly, snaking an arm around her waist and pulling her towards him gently. His smile was soft and the corners of his eyes tilted up like a cats. "I love you."

Sakura melted inside and felt the sense of calm and peace that she always associated with Madara. He always made her feel like she'd been anchored, like a big warm coat while a blizzard raged all around her. Reaching up on her tip-toes, she pressed her mouth against his in a chaste, but warm kiss.

"I love you, too."

He took her left head, kissed the ring that he gave her, and smacked her on the butt. "Okay hot stuff. Let's get to our missions."

He made to move away but she hooked her fingers in his belt loops and pulled him back. Feeling suddenly mischievous she planted a noisy kiss to the hollow of his throat and then nipped his collar bone. "Sakura what—"

"I really am wearing the underwear."

And before he could react she danced out of his immediate range and turned to walk backwards so she could still face him. "Pete is waiting for you, honey," she got out, a mad grin stretching her face and flooding her cheeks with color. His face!

"You," he pointed at her. "Are going to pay for that."

She did nothing but wink before turning and heading towards the bedspreads. Madara grinned at her retreating back, her hips swinging just that extra bit that she knew he liked. Shaking his head, he raked his hair away from his face and went back to sign the papers for the mattress.

Oh, he'd wait until they had it all set up before he laid her out on it, but that didn't mean he couldn't get revenge a little earlier. Grinning, he wondered how many people were in the parking lot.

"God, I married the right woman."

.

A/N: I don't know if y'all have noticed or not but I'm slowly challenging myself to write short stories. I've never been good at them, always wanting to add just a bit more detail here, or maybe just make it a little bit longer there, or just making it into its own full blown story.

But.

Baby steps. I will prevail. And eventually, I hope I'll get to the point where I cant take prompts and even (if my inner writer can handle the brevity of it) try my hand at the scary 100-word drabbles that so many people like.

Anyway, Review! I love to hear what you think!