Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto.

Happily Ever After Doesn't Exist

1. Naruto

You couldn't blame her for being happy. Naruto knew it, when he saw her. Sasuke was by her side, a bastard as always, but they were smiling. His eyes filled with tears, but he was happy. He loved her; he loved them both. And he wanted them to be happy.

2. Tenten

It wasn't as though they were trying to keep it a secret. But one look at Sakura's ring finger, and suddenly word go around that the Uchiha was finally settling down. That day, the medical nin tied Tenten's bandages a little bit too tight. And pretended not to smile too widely when her fiance was around.

3. Shikamaru

Though normally it took a disaster of geological proportions to get the slacker moving, Shikamaru wasn't stupid. So when a normally troublesome mission was offered, he was quick to take it before he was roped into helping with wedding preparations.

4. Hinata

While her friend was gone, Sakura took base advantage of the shy Hyuuga heir. Aside from assisting with decorations, sending invitations and answering calls in the middle of the night from the nervous bride-to-be, Hinata was routinely tortured with bridesmaid dresses. Lavender was a good color on her.

5. Kiba

Kiba was never really much of a person for weddings. But one look at his teammate in sheets of the lavender monstrocity called a bridesmaid gown made him smile. That is, until he realized that he'd be spending the rest of the evening saving her from amorous suitors.

6. Shino

When Sakura started throwing up in the morning three weeks after her wedding, she thought it had something to do with the flu virus going around. But when Abarame Shino said "congratulations," she didn't think he meant for surviving three weeks of marriage to an Uchiha.

7. Ino

As soon as the results were final, the first person Sakura told was Ino. After much screaming and squealing and "You have to be kidding me!", her friend finally decided that this might make up for not telling her first about the wedding.

8. Choji

After she told her husband, news about the pregnancy made it quickly through the Ino-Tenten grapevine. To help celebrate, Choji decided that everyone should hit a buffet. After she finished throwing up, Sakura made a point to tell him that it was a wonderful idea, and thank him for the good evening.

9. Rock Lee

Sakura was always amused afterwards, that in the early weeks of her pregnancy she had a constant escort in the form of Rock Lee. Whatever Sasuke thought about the energetic ninja's stifling overprotectiveness of his wife remained unsaid.

10. Neji

She was still happy at the later half of pregnancy, but when he saw her in the understaffed hospital still working long hours, Hyuuga Neji was furious. She found herself kidnapped and carried home by the self-righteous Hyuuga, and was confused when the next day Tsunade told her to stay home until the baby came.

11. Sai

When she found herself on bedrest until the baby came, Sakura tried to be optimistic. But cabin fever gets to the best of us, and when her husband went out, more often than not she found herself sneaking out. Sai was always surprised when she came to see him, even though she solemnly swears than he needs her company more than her bed does.

12. Sasuke

When the baby comes, it's in the middle of the night in her bed. After six and a half hours of blind terror, and finally the hope that things might be okay when she stops swearing at him, Sasuke screams and doesn't stop.

Sakura gave him a beautiful little girl

But it cost him his wife.

Note: I was reading a lot of fanfiction earlier...actually, so much I was practically sleeping through it. But eventually I read a story where Sakura got her "happily ever after," that didn't quite turn out the way she'd imagined as a child. She got the man (Sasuke), and she gave him three children, but he wasn't particularly warm (although he did care). She couldn't carry the children very well, being undersized, and that ended up seperating her from her friends and made her start questioning her sanity. I can't remember what the fic was called or the writer (I'll have to hunt it down), but it was posted in the C2 SasuSaku Haven.

In any case, the fic brought this on, and now I am falling over, just trying to stay awake. Quick infoness, Neji was concerned about how Sakura looked. She is, as I said, unsized, but in the story the pregnancy's been getting to her; she looked like she was still having trouble eating, and working herself to the bone on top of it. Don't ask me why he was furious; he just said he was. I never really figured out his relationship with Sakura.

Her relationship with both Sai and Shino, however, are well developed in my mind. Another quick infoness, Sakura regularly visited Sai throughout her pregnancy. She worries about him a bit like a mother does, I guess, and he's still an irresistible puzzle to her, married or not. Though after she was put on bed rest, Sai always made sure to shove her into his bed and make her stay there, so she never got away with being naughty for long. And really, he was a lot more gentle than I made that sound; they're friends, right?

Themes for this fic: Rascal Flatts - What Hurts the Most and Simple Plan - How Could This Happen to Me