Yum. The second chapter To be honest, after revision, the story seems like it's straying from it's original course...well, not from that course, but it's a lot different. Anyways, this chapter's really short (but you have no idea how many times I looked over this single chapter.) Enjoy.

Her eyes opened to a slit and she felt something warm underneath her. From the side of her right eye, she saw a bird lift off of her balcony. It was nearly dawn. She was…home? She looked across the bed where her bag was…it was there. She remembered leaving it at work…She didn't remember leaving work, though.

'Work! What did happen at work?!'

"What the hell?" She quickly sat up and looked around at her surroundings. She sat shocked as she hugged her arms.

"…warm…"

She frantically yanked at the pull string on the lamp on the small bed stand and shoved her right hand under the light. Someone had gripped her hard enough to leave marks on her arm. She lay back on her bed figuring she was too tired to even move. A tear ran down the side of her face. She had a good guess about who brought her home.

--

He had left his temporary home to return to the estates. If he was to do anything before officially returning to the village, it would be to go home; not to reminisce, of course (that would suck) but to retrieve an item. If he was going to get married to revive the clan and all, it was going to be done right.

Sasuke had wandered the compound to see how it held up (not too well) and then went into his former home. Traveling through his house to his parent's room, he stepped on a squeaky board, the one he had stepped on each time he went down the hall when he was small. Entering, he saw how the room had collected much dust. He headed for the dressing table, lifted off its mirror and began tapping the wall behind the mirror in various places. His mother had shown him this long ago and he was thankful to remember it.

'There!'

He tapped the hollow spot again to be sure and then pressed it in like a button. A small drawer ricocheted out of the wall, a small boxed casing inside it. He raised the box up and blew the dust off it. Popping it open, the light beaming in the room reflected off the contents brilliantly. His mother and father's wedding rings were preserved nicely.

'It only needs to be polished.'

His mother and father valued their uniting symbol too much to have it accidentally fall down a drain or to have it snatched by a pickpocket or any of that sort, so they stashed it safely in their room. If he was going to wear any ring, it would be that one.

"Perfect."

He appeared back at Sakura's apartment and sneaked in from her balcony window, relieved that she was still asleep. He looked at her for a moment and then stared at the ring and thought deeply.

'If she refuses?...'

He stuffed the ring in his pocket crossly and headed for the living room of her apartment. He sat down carefully on her couch and sank into its silkiness. He took a deep breath and noticed that he smelled horribly of nature and bloody wounds. He did have a hard time killing Itachi, after all. He looked around for a bathroom of some sort so he could wash the stench off. He found one to his left and entered it. He locked and closed the door and pulled off his open shirt and proceeded to switch on the lights.

The bathroom was…big. It had the toilet in another separate compartment and in the huge bathtub with a regular shower box parallel to it. It smelled of sweet sugar in there-it made him feel awkward...he didn't like how it made his nose tingly. He hoped Sakura wouldn't wake up to the noise of the bath, especially to find him in the state that he is.

He turned on the bathtub water and waited for it to fill while he yanked off his pants. He stared at himself in the mirror in front of him. His face had become very gruff…he didn't recognize himself anymore. He had slight stubble on his chin, light fuzz on his lip, and dark rings under his eyes. It'd been a fairly long time since he got a good look at himself in a mirror.

'When did this even happen?… ' He thought as he rubbed the bottom of his chin.

His eyes had a deeper sullenness now and his facial expression was stuck on a serious tone. He stopped the water and slowly slipped into it.

'Getting used to this…not a problem…marriage on the other hand…' He sank down and blew tiny bubbles. It was the first time he took a good bath without his hair sticking out on end.

After stepping out and giving himself a quick shave with a chakra infused kunai, he found that it was still just 4 a.m. in the morning-plenty of time to relax until his future…wife would awake. He decided to use his time wisely to plan out how he would explain all this to his former teammate (and then to his other teammate, then Kakashi, then the Godaime, then probably the whole freaking town.) He lay down on the bouncy cushions of the living room couch. The spare clothes he picked from the bathroom closet felt strange against his skin (he only wore the pants, though); oddly, Sakura had stored a few male outfits. He felt exhausted but he knew there was no way to put this off to the side. What would happen if she said no? What would he do then? They'd probably execute him for being an apprentice to that wretched snake sannin. A familiar frown appeared. His thoughts all seemed so bothersome, so telling himself to wing it all, he swept his mind clear and shut his eyes for some quiet rest.