A/N: I have returned! Hopefully for a while!

"Eeeee! It's so beautiful!" said Sakura breathlessly, giggling like a little girl as she burst out of Sasuke's Bugatti, her sparking pink scarf flying in the cold wind. Sasuke was barely parking when she zoomed away.

"Sakura, don't run out when the car's still moving!" he scolded, feeling like a father yelling at his kid. She was all energetic ever since they left. Kakashi barely handed her her coat and she zoomed into the car. She blatantly ignored him and bounced in place, looking at the glowing lights of the festival. The festival resided in one of Suna's largest lots dedicated to events. Snow had been gathered up and piled and shaped into animals, trees and even buildings from around the world. Bright lights were either buried into snow or around the buildings and trees of the plaza. Ice sculptors made clear ice flowers and different colored lights colored the petals and centers with light hues of the rainbow.

Vendors selling food surrounded the areas with lights glowing on their signs and stands. A field dedicated to snowball fights had kids, teenagers and adults firing at each other from all cylinders. A separate area contained a large skating rink. People skated in the rink with partners linked together or in packs to keep one another from falling.

Booths were set up for mini carnival games like ring tosses and knocking down small snowmen with smaller snowballs. A long bridge was decorated with beautiful lights that slowly faded into new hues and rails made of ice that glittered and branched off the top of the surface and shaped into little hearts that echoed the hues of the bridge.

Sakura's grin stayed plastered on her face. Sasuke locked his car and ran up to her, picking up her scarf that hung over the ground by a few inches and carelessly tossed it around the skin of her neck that was bare. He growled at her despite the innocent smile on her face.

"Quit running off! Or else-" A loud roar of excitement cut through Sasuke's voice, getting louder as it was speeding towards them. He grabbed Sakura and yanked her to his chest, a man with jet black hair carrying a blonde teenager on his back charging through the snow. Sakura fell onto him as she felt the rush of cold air and the squeals of a young girl. She looked up and saw Naminé clad in a snow white winter coat on the back of a handsome older man with spiked hair, a black snowsuit and the same blue eyes of Naminé. He stopped and hoisted her higher on his back.

"Hurry, Roxas! You need to keep up if we want to check out all the spots around here!" he shouted. Roxas was running by in a black and white coat and dark blue jeans. He looked flustered.

"Mr. Fair, Naminé just got better! I don't think she should be running around!" he shouted back. The man grinned.

"That's why I'm running with her on my back! Right, honey?" he asked Naminé. She was giggling.

"Yes, Daddy!" She spotted Sakura. Her wide smile brightened as she waved excitedly. Sakura waved back, pleased to see Naminé looking much better than she was the other day. She looked a little pained, a side effect of the poison. Personally, Sakura would recommend bed rest and not piggyback riding on her dad, but she looked happy. Her father didn't notice Sakura or Sasuke.

"To the skating rink!" he announced, then raced away with his daughter. Roxas groaned.

"Fuck me!" he breathed, then ran after them. "You just got back from Amegakure this morning! Why don't you have jet lag?!"

"Jet lag is for boring people! Now get your ass over here!" the man snapped. Roxas struggled to keep up with his speed. Sakura looked up at Sasuke, giggling at the scowl on his face.

"You okay?" she asked. His arms around her loosened as he looked down at her with a soft expression on his face.

"I'm fine. You?" She nodded, then took his arm and strode to the ice flowers. He let himself get dragged, smirking at her energy.

"I used to come here with Sasori when I was younger. After my grandma Ginchiyo died." She looked at him, little tears in her eyes. "Remember her, Sasuke?"

He grinned, remembering the energetic old lady who loved Sakura and passed away before she could see her granddaughter in the wedding dress Sasori had made.

"Yeah, I remember." Her fingers glided over a pink flower with a sparkling gold center. Sasuke cleared his throat.

"Sakura, do you want to talk about it?" She straightened, turning around with a large smile on her face.

"Nope! This is about you and me, right?" she asked innocently, then knelt down to touch the flowers again. She didn't want to talk about it, he knew. Seeing her shiver, he wrapped himself around her from behind.

"You have all these layers on and you're still cold?" he joked. She giggled.

"I guess so!" She lifted herself up and grabbed his hand. "Let's go play!"

"I'm. BORED!" shouted Kankuro, laying across the floor like a starfish. Gaara scowled from his place on the computer.

"Will you stop acting like a child?" Ino nudged Kankuro with her foot.

"What would you guys do for fun?" she asked. He grinned.

"The Suna Light Festival. Every holiday was the best because of it! I mainly went for the snowball fights. Gaara would sit there and scare little kids by glaring at them." Gaara glared at him.

"I wasn't scaring anybody. I was looking at ice sculptors and some kids threw a snowball at me. I looked at them and they freaked out. Not my fault." He typed away on the keyboard to his sister Temari. Tenten hummed.

"A light festival? Konoha has one too! It's really romantic. Neji and I wanted to go this year, but the crowds are too much." Kankuro sighed.

"It's too busy here in Konoha for that. It was busy in Suna too, but at least we could move around without slamming into people. Damn, is Temari going this year?" he asked Gaara over his shoulder. Gaara shrugged.

"I'll ask," he replied, typing another message to Temari. He got the reply not a minute later.

"She's on her way out," he read, then frowned as the next message popped up. "And she's calling us losers for missing out."

Kankuro roared, then sat up angrily. "Fuck this! Let's just go out and do something!"

Hinata, who was quietly braiding Tenten's hair into a ponytail, shyly raised her hand. "Umm, w-we could just wing it a-and go to the light festival…"

He snapped his fingers at her. "There! Let's do that! I'll drive!"

As the girls cheered and rushed to get ready, his brother stayed rooted to the computer.

"I'm gonna stay here and finish these reports for Father. That way he knows we're not messing around." Kankuro rolled his eyes.

"That's boring! You've hardly had any fun around here! Get your ass up and join us, your big brother demands it!" The redhead twitched. There wasn't a lie in what Kankuro said, but his delivery was horrendous.

"…Fine."

Sasuke and Sakura stopped by the ice skating rink first, a crowd of couples already gathering to skate. They lined up along the rail of the rink behind a couple, already wearing their skates, when Sakura nearly ramming into the girl, a brunette with a long braid and shimmering green eyes.

"Oh, sorry!" she gasped, giggling excitedly. The girl looked at her and smiled brightly.

"Oh, it's okay! I wouldn't feel it much anyway. Kya! I'm so excited! I've never ice skated in such a huge rink before!" said the girl quickly, bouncing in enthusiasm. Sakura responded in full.

"You've never been here before?" The girl shook her head.

"Nope! I've always wanted to come!" Her boyfriend, a blonde with spiky hair that defied gravity, looked at Sasuke with a blank expression. At the same time, they nodded to each other. He looked back at Sakura, all the sadness she had felt previously was all drained. The atmosphere didn't have a shred of unhappiness, unless the annoyance of some of the boyfriends counted. It was nice to get out of the work routine, he sighed. They didn't have to worry about any work-related shit until after. But what really bugged him was that sly look Kakashi threw at him before he left. And that mocking salute…

"Sasuke! Time to start skating!" Her voice brought him out of his reverie. The couple in front of them had already started to skate, their arms linked tightly as they skated side by side. Sasuke pushed off the rail and joined Sakura, taking her gloved hand and onto the ice. They guided each other along the rink slowly, Sakura pressing herself tightly to his arm. The music playing was a slow song that had everyone taking their time across the ice. A young woman suddenly zoomed by them, the rush of air making Sakura shiver and bury herself into Sasuke. The girl's long raven hair waved in the air, her laughter contagious as she skillfully skated around the other couples. A young man with short brown hair skated after her.

"Will you knock that off?! You might fall!" he shouted after her. She didn't listen. Sasuke sighed.

"How many people want to knock you over?" he asked Sakura. She giggled and held onto him, kissing his cheek.

"How long do you plan on protecting me?" she whispered, her eyes gleaming with happiness. When he had a wise retort, the music suddenly changed into an upbeat, girly Christmas song that had all the girls on the rink, even Sakura, squealing. He quickly let go of her hand.

"Hell no. I'm not going to be caught dead next to you with this song on," he grumbled. She laughed, pecking him on the lips.

"It's only for a few minutes! Skate with me!" she begged, pleading puppy eyes staring into his own. He glared.

"No." At his reply, a guy in the rink was scrambling off the ice and onto the outside rail. His girlfriend was trying to coax him back in, but his head was a blur from all the shaking he was doing. The blonde from earlier was gliding off the ice too, leaving his partner calling after him.

"Fuck this song…" he growled.

"Get back here!"

"Not interested." Sasuke smirked.

"I'm following his lead." Sakura pouted.

"You're no fun…" But she smiled. "Just wait for me then!"

He was already getting off the ice, Sakura joining the blonde's partner and skating alongside her, both of them doing a little dance to the song. They were soon joined by the girl with the long hair. The blonde was leaning on the rail, next to him was the guy from earlier who was chasing the girl. Both of them looked at least three years older than him and apparently knew each other by the way they talked to one another. Sasuke joined them on the side, the blonde nodding again to him.

"What is it about shitty songs that get girls all friendly to each other?" asked the blonde.

"There's something in that shit that they like," answered Sasuke. He looked over to the other guy, who was slightly panting.

"I can see that your attempt to catch your girlfriend was unsuccessful," he joked.

"Ah, you could tell?" he replied sarcastically. The blonde smirked.

"All night you've been chasing after her. I've noticed." The brunette nodded.

"Yeah. I've been trying to propose to her." He pulled out a little ring box from his puffy leather jacket. His scowl turned deeper. "But she keeps running around."

Sasuke propped his arm up. Proposing? Here? With all these people around? He couldn't think about doing that.

"Maybe you shouldn't have picked a place where there was room to run around." The blonde raised his hand.

"Agreed. I locked myself and my now-fiancée up in a room until she said yes." …

They stared at him, Sasuke and the brunette slowly stepping away. The blonde looked up, his face blank.

"I was joking." They let out a sigh of relief. The blonde stared at Sasuke.

"What about you? Are you married to your girl?" Sasuke let his answer slip before he could really think about it.

"I could've been." The others seemed to wince, but recovered. Either way, they didn't want to pry, something Sasuke appreciated. The obnoxious beat of the song made him clench the rail tighter. "Anyway, is this song over yet?"

The blonde scoffed. "Nope, we still have to wait for the chorus to repeat at least a billion more times. During that time," he slanted a look to the brunette, "Get ready to run, propose and join me in the realm of the taken."

The brunette smirked, stuffing the box back in his pocket. "Thanks."

Sasuke shook his head, smiling to himself. Maybe, in a year or two, he would be in the realm the blonde was talking about. He looked over at Sakura, who was skating with speed alongside her newfound friends. Her grace on the ice matched the one he had seen whenever she was in the hospital. But the smile on her face had no comparison to the level of concentration she would have normally. He was glad she could let loose and have fun. Suddenly, the three stopped behind a little girl and her mother, the girl shivering in the cold. Sakura skated in front of them, exchanging words with the mother who looked grateful, kneeled and unwound her scarf and gave it to the little girl. The girl gave her a little bow, skating away with her mother. Sakura stood back up with the help of the other girls and resumed their lap.

She caught his gaze and grinned, waving excitedly from her place on the ice. He couldn't help but smile at her actions. She was always compassionate to others. He waved back.

"The song's about to end. Thank God," said the blonde, getting ready to join his fiancée. They moved back to the entrance of the rink when their partners skated up to them. The brunette's girl pouted at him.

"You should've skated with me!" The brunette rolled his eyes.

"Not to this song or with your speed." The song had thankfully changed to a slow song again. He smirked at her and took her hand, then went back onto the ice with her by his side. He gripped tight to her just in case she wanted to fly off.

The blonde and his partner were smiling gently at each other.

"I love this song…" she whispered. He smirked.

"I love you." They all scoffed.

"That's so corny!" she cried, then squealed as he took her in his arms and skated off.

Sakura smiled at Sasuke, who could see that her lips were turning blue from the cold. His eyes widened.

"Sakura! You're freezing! Where's your scarf?!" he shouted, then almost smacked his forehead, remembering that she gave it to the little girl. But the air was cold…and his scarf was pretty big. He unwound enough to wrap it around her neck. She eagerly scooted closer to him, wrapping her arms around him as they skated.

"You should take better care of yourself, you're the medic." She giggled, snuggling into him.

"I'm sorry. That little girl was shivering though! Wouldn't you do the same thing?" she asked, peering up at him. He shook his head.

"I wouldn't freeze myself to death. Let's get you warmed up." He took her arm and guided her back to the entrance of the rink. She tried tugging her arm back.

"But I haven't skated enough!" she whined. "We're not gonna have a day off until after the holiday!"

He rolled his eyes. "We'll come back."

They walked away from the rink, Sakura staring back at the ice before he dragged her away with the scarf. He turned to her, his gloved hands reaching for her face. She gasped as his fingers grazed her lips. He had a pained expression on his face, slowly letting his fingers warm her face before he bent down to kiss her slowly. She sighed in content, his lips warm on her own. A minute later, he let her go, smirking.

"Feel better?" he asked. She grinned.

"Yup! Still a little cold though…" she muttered, snuggling into his scarf. He wordlessly led her to a hot chocolate cart, buying two cups from the smiling vendor. Sakura took her cup graciously, blowing and taking a sip. She made a couple yummy noises, grabbing his arm and dragging him away.

"Let's go to the bridge!" she squealed. He followed suit, hiding his amusement.

On the bridge, a few couples were bunched together around the bridge. Some were cuddling, leaning on the rails, taking pictures or flat out making out. Sakura headed to an open space against the rail, giving them a view of the skating rink and an ice angel sculpture with massive wings overlooking the rink.

"This looks gorgeous!" she cried, placing her cup on the rail. He came up behind her, arms on either side of her to look over.

"Look!" she gasped, pointing at the ice angel. He followed her finger, spotting the brunette couple from earlier. The girl was trying to run off again, but froze when the man got down on one knee, retrieving the ring box out of his jacket. The blonde and his fiancée were close to them, along with Naminé, her father and Roxas, smiling proudly and cheering.

Some words were exchanged between the two until the girl was dancing in her spot, then she tackled him down in a hug and all over the snow. Sakura cooed.

"That's so sweet!" she gushed. "And it's really romantic…"

She whipped around, intent on telling him something, until she knocked her hot chocolate off the rail and spilled all over Sasuke's left glove. They both gasped, backing off the rail.

"I'm sorry!" she shouted, reaching for her handkerchief. He only took his glove off, the liquid hadn't touched his skin.

"I don't need anything," he said quickly, "It didn't burn."

He placed the glove on the bridge, reaching into his pocket to get the spare ones Kakashi usually left in his winter coats.

Sakura wasn't paying attention to what he was saying, digging into the coat pocket. 'Where is that damn cloth?' she thought. Her hand shifted to the other pocket, bumping her hand onto something hard. Curious, she grabbed it, pulling it out. Her heart raced at the sight of a little ring box.

He put the new gloves on, turning to her. "Sakura, it's-" He broke off suddenly, freezing when he saw her holding the ring box. Where did she get that? He swore he left the ring at home. Itachi was helping him pack that night and he made sure to leave it on his desk. Unless he secretly snuck it in while Sasuke wasn't looking. But how did it end up with Sakura? Wait, Kakashi had given her her coat…

'Those bastards!' He was contemplating snatching it out of her hand until she spoke, her voice soft.

"Sasuke, you wanted to propose to me?" she whispered. His arm had stretched out to take the box, but shifted and went to the back of his neck.

"Hn…" He turned away, but she grabbed his shoulder.

"Hey, don't give me that! I'm serious, did you want to propose?" Rage filled his veins. He turned around to her, forcing her to let go of him. He glared at her.

"Does it matter? Everything fucked up before I could even think about how I could do it. If I asked you to marry me now, would you say yes?" She gulped, clutching the ring in her hand. The thought of marrying Sasuke was a good idea, but now?

"…I don't know!" she admitted. Hurt flashed on his face, leaving her tongue-tied.

"Why?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "You can't see us together?"

Was that what she really thought? If she did, he wasn't going to let her go. Not again.

"That's not what I meant!" she replied hastily, Sasuke breathing a sigh of relief. "We're too young to get married! You're like 23 years old! We aren't ready! I've only been a medic for so long and I'm not pressured or ready to settle down yet. I love you."

She reached for his face. He didn't move and let her take him into her hands. He grabbed the wrist of the hand that held the ring. She gave him a watery smile, kissing him deeply. When she let go, he was reluctant to pull back, the ring now in his hand.

"We could have a long engagement," he suggested, smirking. She playfully slapped him.

"Then we'd be pressured to get married! Can you imagine telling your mom that you proposed? She'd get us married the following week!" That was true. He'd seen his mother when it came to wanting grandchildren before he even thought of asking Sakura to marry him. An actual proposal would spark a finished venue, dress and food ready by the snap of Mikoto's fingers.

"You're right. Besides, I wanted to propose before everything that happened with Karin. When we finally started dating again, I was afraid to ask you since it would be too soon." Sakura smiled nervously. She wasn't ready for marriage. Not when work was reaching a never-ending peak.

"We can wait longer. My feelings for you won't change. I love you." He smiled.

"I love you too." They kissed again. Unbeknownst to them, Temari was a few feet away, watching the couple. She had intended to sneak up and scare them, but hearing their conversation froze her in place. As the two kissed, her heart swelled with pity for her little brother.

'Should I tell him?' she thought, then shook her head. 'No, it's none of my business. Fuck me…'

Instead of making herself known, she walked away.

They opted to go home after a few hours of messing around in the snow, walking around and admiring the ice art. Kakashi was watching TV when they came home. He smiled as they walked in, noticing the glare on his master's face.

"Welcome home, you two! I have prepared each of you hot chocolate and Christmas treats. You are free to have them any time." Sakura smiled sleepily.

"Thank you, Kakashi. I'll have some after I shower." She treaded up the stairs and out of sight. Kakashi smiled at Sasuke, who looked furious.

"Sir, I hope you had a nice time at the festival." Sasuke's eyes widened, grabbing the ring box out of his pocket and shoving it in Kakashi's face. The older man cleared his throat, but remained joyful.

"Master Itachi asked me to place the box into her pocket. He's waiting to speak with you." Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"He planned this?" Kakashi nodded.

"Of course. He said that as your older brother, he felt obligated to do this for you. In return, you should be grateful." The Uchiha growled.

"That bastard…" But Kakashi was still at fault too. "As punishment for going through with it, you aren't allowed to touch that book until we return home."

This time, Kakashi actually sputtered. He had never seen the man jump off the couch so fast.

"B-but sir! It's all your older brother's fault! I was following orders!" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"And if I tell Itachi that you said that, you can expect your collection burned by the time you get off the plane."

Sakura sat in her room, the cup of hot chocolate on her desk, grabbing her phone. Seeing the ring box had spooked her, if it didn't please her.

She tucked her bare legs to her chest, wondering if her mother was still awake. She didn't look exactly look presentable. She was dressed in a large T-shirt and mini shorts for bed, her hair still in a towel. But she just needed to talk to her mother for some mother-daughter bonding. And because she needed to know if she could be ready for an engagement. If nothing else, she wanted Mebuki's reassurance that she was making the right decision and wait until later to get married.

Checking the time, she saw that it was two in the morning. Her computer was on and she had logged onto Skype before she changed. Sasori was still online. She strode to her computer, hesitating before she finally clicked the option to video call. Maybe her parents were at his parents' house. If not, she could just hang up. Her heart beat calmly, speeding when she saw someone answer from the other line.

Sasori answered, looking wide awake and smiling at her. "Hello, dearest cherry doll. We've been waiting for you to call."

Sakura tilted her head in confusion. "'We?'"

Her parents, aunt and uncle appeared behind Sasori, waving at her. Sakura grinned. Her family always stayed up together for long hours.

"Hi, honey!" said Kizashi. "It looks like it's snowing in your room!"

She blinked, along with the others. "What?"

He looked ready to burst into laughter, pointed to his head. "You've got some snow on your head!"

Her hand shot to her head and into the fluffy white towel in her head. The meaning of the joke struck her like lightning. And it wasn't funny.

"Dad!" she screeched. "Not funny!"

The men of her family were chuckling at the joke, Aunt Sasaki smiling nervously. Mebuki made a noise of disgust, whacking her husband with her hand.

"How is that funny?! Out!" She chased him out of sight. Sakura squeaked.

"Wait, Mom!" She stopped mid-step, looking back at the screen. Kizashi popped back into view.

"What is it, dear?" Sakura swallowed, her family looking at her questioningly.

"Can I talk to you? Alone?" Her tone made Sasori's eyes harden.

"What did the Uchiha do?" he hissed. She sighed, massaging her forehead.

"I just need to talk to my mom…" Mebuki saw the fatigue on her face. She smiled sympathetically.

"Alright. Out you all go! Shoo!" She waved Sasori off the computer seat as he tried to argue to stay, being it was his room. Sasaki grabbed her son by the arm and shooed the others out. Kizashi grinned at his daughter.

"Honey, things aren't as bad as you think they are!" he said, attempting to cheer her up. He knew Sakura. She turned to Mebuki for emotional support and him for a cheap laugh and a smile. She needed Mebuki. Sakura giggled.

"Thanks, Dad!" As the door shut, Mebuki sat in Sasori's chair.

"Now what's wrong?" Sakura sighed, unsure where to start.

Sasuke paced his room, changing into his sleeping shirt and pants as he contemplated calling Itachi and yelling at him. Luckily that bastard was on Skype. He wanted him to hear his wrath.

Itachi's smiling face filled his screen when Sasuke called. That smile on his face…like he was plotting something…

"Good evening, younger brother. I take it you enjoyed the light festival?" Sasuke gave him a sneering smirk.

"Yes. I especially liked your trick," he replied sarcastically. Itachi faked a questioning look, adjusting something in his ear.

"Trick?" Sasuke groaned.

"Quit being an asshole! You and Kakashi gave Sakura the ring!"

"Itachi? Who are you talking to?" asked a new voice. Sasuke paled. Mikoto was standing over Itachi, smiling at Sasuke.

"Shit."

Temari sighed for the millionth time. Gaara, from what she had seen when they chatted, was still in love with Sakura. It was obvious from tonight that Sasuke and Sakura were going to get married. She didn't want her brother chasing after someone who no longer loved him the way he wanted to be loved. But she was afraid of breaking his heart.

"Fuck! What do I do?!"

I just finished (as in, today) my course and have one month until school starts again! Hopefully, just hopefully I can get another chapter up before I can't do anymore writing until winter break. Until next time! By the way, can anyone guess who the blonde, the brunette, and their girlfriends are?

Next chapter preview:

"I did it for you to tell her how you feel. I think you should be thanking me."

"Sakura, I don't think you should marry him…"

"Hey Gaara…do you have time to talk?"