Author's Note: Sorry I didn't update on sunday. I have been quite busy with the holidays coming up. I will warn you ahead of time that I will not update this coming sunday. Hope you like this chapter and please review. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

And She Said

"W-what?"

It was the first thing that came to Sakura's mind as Sasuke asked for her hand in marriage. What was he thinking, asking her a question like that during a war? Sasuke's face remained stern and serious, however his eyes spoke in a different manner. There was disappointment in them. The reply she gave him was not the one that he had been hoping for. It only worsen the situation as a pregnant pause was exchanged between them. Sakura was at a lost for words, not really thinking beyond the one word that she had spoken for. Her mouth opened hesitantly and then closed quickly as she changed her mind. Sasuke lessened his hold on Sakura's hand.

"Marry me Sakura," he repeated.

"Sasuke," she reluctantly spoke.

"We could live a happy life together, I can see it and I know that you can too," he said quickly.

Her hand reached up to touch his cheek and rested it there. "You know that I can, but we are at war right now. What about the possibility of you, um, of you...?"

"Dying?" he responded for her, his eyes becoming darker and more forlorn. "Are you saying no only because you think that I'm going to die? When it comes to retaining my mortality, do you have little faith in me?"

"That's not what I meant," she said, retracting her hand. "I'm trying not to make it sound awful when I say it, but I if I do say yes and supposedly you do die, then it will break my heart."

When she said it, she immediately wanted to take it back. His death would break her heart whether or not she got engaged to him. Her mind was in a jumble, battling the possibilities back and forward. She just didn't know what she wanted quite yet. Yes being Sasuke's wife would be nice, but there was that one reason that made her feel superficial. What he asked had caught her off-guard. She needed to be able to let it the idea sink in and really think about it.

"I see," was all that he said.

Sakura hated to see him like this; upset and feeling rejected. She folded her hand other the one he still held.

"May I ask why now?" she stated kindly.

Sasuke let his legs give way and plopped down right there in the sand. Sakura followed in suit mainly because he still had a hold of her hand. He stared out into the tide-climbing sea and sighed.

"When the meeting with the head townsman was over, he pulled me aside," he began. "He told me that he wished me luck in the war and that it was going to be a sad day if Konoha was going to lose me. He continued on by wondering if anything was to happen to me, was there a Uchiha heir to continue my line. I said no, that I had a someone in mind just in case."

Listening intently, Sakura nodded for him to go on.

"The townsman thought that was a shame. That the Uchiha line would end after ruling for so long and that if I fell, the last Uchiha would be a disgrace. I don't want my family name to be ruined because I failed to defeat the man that ordered my brother to slaughter his family."

"So you want to get married so you can continue your line if death should take you?" the medic asked. "Isn't it a little rash? Wouldn't you want to wait a little longer before you marry?"

"No," Sasuke stated, looking deep into her emerald eyes. "If I waited and was killed, I will die knowing that I didn't do the one I looked forward doing and that was marrying you."

Tears began to form in Sakura's eyes and she choked them back so that they wouldn't fall. "Oh, Sasuke."

She wanted to kiss him, to tell him that she had made her mind up and that she was going to say yes. However, she noticed that there was more that he wanted to say to her and it clicked in her mind what he was thinking. He had said that he wanted to marry her before a plausible death caused by war which meant only one thing.

"You want to get married now, don't you?" she said as it suddenly became clear.

"Yes I do," he responded. "It's the only way for me to do one of the things that I would regret not doing with you."

"And I'm guessing one of the other things is?"

"Reviving my clan."

If things weren't moving so quickly then, they sure were now. He wanted to have a child with her in the next couple of days before Madara was to get to Hamori? And on top of that, get married? It sounded ridiculous. Sakura of course pictured her future with Sasuke differently. He was supposed to live after the war was over and then they were to get married and raise a family. It was too soon for her now and it was written all over her face even though she was tempted to say yes.

Sasuke could tell that she was having trouble deciding and stood up. He brushed the sand from his pants and straightened his clothes. Sighing, he ran his fingers through his raven locks.

"I'm sorry that I just overwhelmed you with my proposal," he said. "You don't have to go with it and I'm fine knowing that I got to ask you. I'll see you later."

As he began to walk away, Sakura was frantic trying to figure out what to do. Should she say yes? If she did, then she would live a happy life with Sasuke. However, she would be forever heart-broken if he was to die against Madara. Saying no would be worse since she would feel awful rejecting him and knowing that they could have been together. She made up her mind. Looking up at his retreating figure, Sakura stood and began to run towards him. Wet sand and water flew behind her as she called out his name and quicken her pace.

The minute Sasuke turned to face her, he had only a brief second to raise his arms to catch her. She leaped into his arms and circled her arms around his neck. He arranged his arms so that he could better hold her as her legs wrapped around his waist and her feet dangled behind him. Sakura planted her lips against his and her heart fluttered as his pressed back. She was the first one to pull away. Her forehead rested against his, their noses touching due to how close they were. A slight grin tugged at her lips.

"I'm in, all in," Sakura declared. "I want to be yours."

Sasuke responded by smothering her with a kiss.

"You're doing what now?!" Ino shouted into Sakura's ear.

The rosette rubbed her ear to stop the ringing caused by her friend's loud exclamation. She sat on Ino's bed in a small inn and had just told her the news. Sakura and Sasuke were to be married tomorrow morning and it was just okay-ed by the head townsman (not like he could say no to a king anyway).

"I'm getting married tomorrow," Sakura repeated, folding her hands in her lap. "I know that it's sudden-."

Ino laughed. "Sudden? What the hell are you thinking? I know that you love him and all, but this is just way too hasty."

Sakura frowned and shrugged her shoulders. She expected Ino to react like this; the rising level in tone and sarcastic laugh.

"Yes it is, but have you even considered everything else I have said? About what would regret not doing?" Sakura asked. "I thought that you would be happy for me."

The blonde sighed and sat on the bed next to Sakura. She took a deep breath and turned to face the other girl with an almost forced smile. Ino patted the pastel-haired girl's hand and tilted her head.

"Of course I'm happy for you," she said. "I'm just afraid that with the war and all..."

Ino didn't need to continue and Sakura was glad that she didn't. She didn't want to think about what would happen if Sasuke was to lose. It was better to believe that he had a greater chance of surviving than anything else. Hinting that she had just sadden her friend, Ino tried to lift up her spirits.

"So," she began. "Do you have a dress yet?"

Sakura weakly smiled and nodded. "There is this woman in the town's market district that volunteered herself into making me one. It'll be completely done from scratch and done by morning."

This made Ino excited.

"Is there going to be some sort of ceremony afterward?"

"The townspeople said that they will do their best to make one for us," Sakura replied. "But I told them that it didn't have to be big or very elaborate since this was all very last minute."

Before Ino could reply, there was a knock on the door. The blonde opened it and a stout woman with jolly garnet cheeks hustled in with a bunch of cloth. She set it down on the bed and rose her hands to her hips. On the apron she wore, needles were punctured through the cloth as a way of holding them. There was a yellow ribbon around her neck that had numbers on it.

"If I remember correctly, you are the bride?" she asked Sakura.

The rosette nodded and the woman did a quick bow.

"I'm Aya, the woman that is making your dress for tomorrow and I was wondering if I could see how well what I have done fits on you."

Sakura looked to Ino who was nodding and about to squeal. It was obvious that the blonde wanted to see the dress and Sakura was a little curious as well.

"Alright, let's see this dress."

The next day Sakura awoke to a parade of women bursting into her room and pushing her into different directions. She was about to fight them off when she realized that they were there to help her prepare for her wedding. The women stripped her down and put her into a tub of extremely hot water that smelled like lavender. She stopped them from scrubbing her down; stating that she could do that herself. Afterward, she was dried off and placed in a simple white dressing gown and situated on a stool. While one woman roughly brushed her hair, another placed out tiny white flowers on the stool next to her. When she was finished brushing, the two women began to braid and put flowers in her hair.

Sakura wished that she could see what the women where doing and was about to ask for a mirror when a new woman got into her face and told her that she was to do her make-up now. The medic was glad that this woman was younger than the others so that she wouldn't fall victim to an archaic form of beauty. Even if she did sound a little vain when she said it, she felt that it was appropriate since she was getting married. The make-up artist painted her face with soft colors of white and pink, only added a tint of aubergine around her eyes to make them pop. A pale shade of rouge was brushed lightly onto her lips and Sakura smacked them to help spread out the color.

Once again, Sakura was hoisted up roughly and was to proceed to the next set of women. This time, she was told to stand with her arms raised. The group of women gently rose her wedding dress over her head so that it wouldn't ruin her hair and tugged it around her frame. They told her to remove the dressing gown and collected it as it dropped to the ground. Now the medic's shoulders were bare and it seemed like the room was colder than it had been before. Sakura didn't let it show as the women did some last minute touches on her dress. Then came the jewelry. A woman roped Sakura's necklace from Tsunade around her neck as another tied a shell bracelet around her wrist.

The rosette lifted her feet one at a time so that a woman could place flat shoes on her. At the same time, the women stepped back and bowed at her. Finally a mirror was brought to Sakura by one of these women and she released a gasp. The dress was a creamy color with duel gold strips at the top and along the long bottom. She had two braids behind her ears and flowers cascading down the back of her head. Her make-up looked simple and she was happy for that. Everything looked perfect and she tried not to cry as she thanked the women for what they had done.

Ino came into the room a little while after and looked just about as teary eyed as Sakura. She fitted her arm around Sakura's elbow and handed the girl some white flowers with green sea grass. The two made their way outside towards the beach where they were met by the townspeople and soldiers. Ino left her by Emi, the fortune teller who had told Sakura that this would happen, and wished the rosette luck. As trumpets sounded, Sakura began to move forward (she was told that this was her cue). People made a path for her as she passed and dropped petals in front of her. Her heart fluttered and she was sick to her stomach. Why did her nerves have to act up now? She swallowed to help suppress them and continued as if nothing was bothering her.

When she got to the front, all her nerves went away. Sasuke stood before her looking dashing and in his own way, excited. She took her place next to him and listened as the head townsman acted as their priest. The ocean breeze tugged at Sakura's braids and at the train of her dress. The sun warmed her shoulders and a grin curled up on her lips. She was happy that she was going through with this, delighted at the fact that she could spend the rest of her life with Sasuke when the war ended.

As Sasuke said his two words like he was suppose to, it began Sakura's turn to do the same. She recited each word like the townsman had asked her to and at the end she turned to Sasuke. His eyes seemed less dark this morning and loving. Taking his hand, she sealed her fate and said, "I do."

Author's Note: I know, the marriage thing was quite quick and it was sort of a small section. Next chapter should be sort of good. I hope you liked this chapter and please review. :)

Things to look for:
1. aftermath of wedding (small part)
2. Madara