"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted with excitement shining through his voice and eyes. Sasuke smirked.
"You're so loud, loser," Sasuke responded. Naruto beamed at him. Sakura's smile quickly fell, and a blank, exhausted expression took its place. She hadn't slept in days. Sasuke turned to her.
"Hello, Sakura," he greeted with a nod of his head.
"Sasuke," she greeted, not bothering to smile. Or look at him.
Naruto grinned at the sight of them. Sakura was being bashful after all this time, but it seemed as if Sasuke was finally returning her feelings! Naruto sighed. He swore that he would get them together if it was the last thing he did. He slapped both of their backs. "Now, now! There's no need to be shy! Have a 'welcome home' hug!" Sasuke's eyes widened, and Sakura blanched.
No! How could I have let my guard down? she chastised herself mentally. "It's not necessary," she said gravely, her voice lowering almost an octave.
Sasuke made a rather convincing smiling face at her. "Really, Sakura." He rolled her name off his tongue like sweet chocolate. Sakura had to refrain herself from castrating him. "No need to be shy," he repeated. "Come here." He outstretched his arms. She narrowed her eyes at him and scoffed. Sakura didn't care if Naruto was there; she could no longer contain it. "Sakura," Sasuke said impatiently. She smiled brightly at him.
"No. Fuckin'. Way." she said. Naruto gasped and looked to Sasuke.
To ordinary people, Sasuke probably just looked amused, but inside, he was very confused. Why would Sakura not want to stay in his embrace? It was her dream, years ago.
It was as if Sakura had read his mind.
"I'm not twelve anymore." She paused and looked to the sky, as if thinking very hard about something. "I'm not fifteen either," she added. Sasuke inwardly grinned at his sudden muse.
"No. You're not a girl anymore... You're definitely a woman," he complimented, looking her up and down. Sakura gaped at him with her mouth open. She suddenly clenched her teeth together. Was he openly ogling her? On top of that, he was flirting, too!
She started, "You pompous, little-"
- and was interrupted by the arrival of the Hokage.
In a flurry of the viridian leaves of summer, Saobi appeared before them, wearing traditional Hokage's headwear. He bore a lazy expression on his face, glancing right into Sasuke's face.
"Uchiha Sasuke," he stated. "I see you're back." Sasuke looked openly surprised. He turned to the man who was once his best friend.
"You're not Hokage?" he asked stupidly. Naruto's expression suddenly turned hateful. He pointed an accusing finger at Saobi.
"Nakahara stole the job from me!" he declared. Saobi rolled his eyes.
"Shut up," he ordered. Naruto opened his mouth to argue, but Saobi cut him off. "Uchiha Sasuke. You have stopped the war and returned to Konoha after all these years. Why?" he asked. Sasuke looked a little taken aback by the bluntness of the question.
"Excuse me?" he bit out. Saobi cleared his throat and started interrogating him again.
"You went off to Orochimaru to get power to kill Itachi." Sakura noted the lack of disgust and honorifics when Saobi had said Itachi's name. She figured that Saobi most have known him back in the day. "Then you kill Orochimaru. Then you kill Itachi. Then you team up with Madara and started a war, then you presumably kill him. Why?" Saobi asked again. At the end of the speech, Sasuke's eyebrows seemed to attract to each other like magnets, creating a scowl.
"I don't have to tell you anything," he said. Saobi nodded.
"That's right," he agreed. Sakura felt a "but" coming on. "But," he added, "if you don't tell me, you will either be sent to prison or revoked of your ninja status." Naruto grew red.
"Hey!" he shouted. "That's no way to talk to him. You should be happy he came back at least-"
"Naruto," Saobi interjected. "Sasuke is not my friend." Naruto shut up immediately then started looking at his feet as if they were the most interesting things in the world. Sakura looked at her friend with pity. Then she looked at the other one.
His face was covered with acceptance.
"Perhaps somewhere a little more...private?" Saobi suggested.
Sasuke nodded. "In a moment." he replied. He then turned to Sakura. "Sakura." He retrieved a velvet box from his pants' pocket. He flipped it open.
There stood a diamond ring. Naruto gasped loudly, and Saobi quirked a brow.
"Marry me."
XXX
Sakura was appalled. She could only stand there with her jaw hanging down, the insides of her mouth on display. "Excuse me?" she asked with a rudeness edging her voice.
"Marry me, Sakura," the Uchiha said. Sakura started to turn red with fury and started spluttering.
"Y-you little- I can't believe you would-You little jerk- you can't just-UGH!" She stomped away quickly despite her blond teammate calling for her.
Sakura couldn't believe it. The nerve of him, even after all these years! She smiled bitterly. He hadn't changed after all. He was still the same cocky bastard he was all along.
Sakura observed her surroundings, not realizing before that she had marched into the woods. She slumped down against a tree and let out a frustrated groan, dragging her nails down her face. She started to blabber.
"I can't believe him!" she screamed. She started to thrash wildly in frustration, letting out closed-mouthed screeches. When she had finished her tantrum, she flopped down tiredly, unable to take it anymore. "What a jerk," she muttered exasperatedly.
"Moo," agreed the person sitting next to her. Sakura nodded.
Then she did a double-take and let out a raspy scream. It resounded through the forest, and the birds above the pair scattered into the sky. She scrambled away from the other person. She didn't even realize someone was sitting next to her. Then she saw the face. "Y-y-you-"
"Moo?" inquired the person. Sakura covered her mouth to muffle a gasp. It couldn't be! He was supposed to be dead. Unfortunately, fate decide otherwise.
"Uchiha Itachi!" she whispered with horror.
