disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Naruto, nor do I make any profit from writing this story. This is the work of a fan that is exercising her imagination.

notes: this is the final chapter. Ohmygosh, it's over. I think I might cry. Or eat some chocolate crepes with Nutella.

P.S. I've been calling it Nutella (nuh-tellah) all my life. Apparently it's actually pronounced new-tellah. My life/childhood shattered when I found out.

some assembly required

"Uh, do you want me to go?" Ino asked from behind her.

Sakura turned around slowly. Ok. It was time to grow some balls and get this the hell over with.

"No, I need to talk to you," Sakura said. "About the past few months and what we've been doing."

"Before you say anything," Ino interrupted. "I have something to say. I just want to say that I can't believe that you went to the spa with Hinata. You know that's our thing!"

Sakura was about to respond when Karin burst it, shoving both Sasuke and Naruto off her. She was with Suigetsu and they both looked very excited.

"Oh my God, guess what just happened!" she shrieked, oblivious to the tension in the room. "Oh, you never will so I'll tell you!" She grabbed Suigetsu hand, grinning like a madwoman. "We're getting married!"

"WHAT?" Sasuke shouted. In the general chaos that followed he tried to pry his sister and his friend apart.

Ino and Sakura turned to each other and said at the same time: "Karin's getting married? Before us?"

"My world is all askew," Sakura said faintly.

"Up is down," Ino nodded. "Black is white."

"I need to sit," Sakura said. They both sat.

"This is so weird. Karin and Suigetsu are getting hitched. Who knew?" Ino said.

"So, so very weird," Sakura agreed.

"Sasuke does not look happy," Ino pointed out.

"No. no he does not."

"So where does this leave us?" Ino asked after a moment.

"Well obviously you're going to be the maid-of-honour and I'm going to be the best man," Sakura said.

"Wouldn't that make Sasuke a bridesmaid?" Ino asked.

"Yeah, but you know what? He's got the hips for formal wear."

Ino snorted. Sakura whacked her on the arm.

"Shh, don't let him hear you!" she whispered.

"Oh, what's he going to do? Kill me?" Ino rolled her eyes.

"I think we're too old for the silent treatment," Sakura said after a pause.

"Yeah," Ino nodded. "I think the last time we pulled one of these was on Shikamaru after he dumped me for Temari in the eleventh grade."

"Ah ha ha, I remember that. God, we were stupid kids, weren't we?" Sakura laughed.

"Yeah," Ino sighed, "God, we are was too old for this."

"Seriously," Sakura agreed. "And we can't have a cat fight at Karin's wedding. She'd kill us."

"Remember that bookshelf we built my dad for his birthday? Yeah, Karin in no joke with a saw," Ino said.

"Shit," Sakura said, looking back at Karin. She was dancing around the room with Naruto, grinning madly. Suigetsu was saying something to Sasuke and edging away, lest Sasuke decided to decapitate him.

"I think we need to salvage the situation before your boyfriend kills someone. You call her mom and I'll call everyone else?" Ino suggested.

"Already on it," Sakura held up her cell phone and grinned.

Sakura was pretty sure that Hinata was happy to move in with Naruto. She wasn't exactly bouncing off the walls, but she was grinning and for Hinata that was practically the blissful. Sakura shoved her last box into the center of the living room and looked around. She and Sasuke had moved out a month before Karin's wedding and found their own place. There was only one bedroom and the kitchen and bathroom were twice as big as her last two places combined. She was pretty sure heaven was something like this.

"Where are we going to put all this stuff?" she said. Sasuke walked over to her and put his hands on her hips.

"Well, there is a storage warehouse a few blocks away," he said.

"A storage warehouse? Uh, yeah, so when I need my hair dryer I'll just hope in the car and go dig it out of the dusty confines? No thanks."

"Or you could help me build the furniture that we ordered. It's being delivered today."

"I would love to help you, but I made an appointment with Ino and Karin to go dress shopping. The bride must have someone there who doesn't dress like a hooker on a regular basis," Sakura said.

"You looked pretty sexy last week in that outfit," Sasuke said. She thought it sounded like he was protesting her regular clothes.

"Oh, so you want your sister to walk down the aisle, on your father's arm, wearing a mini-dress that will probable expose her special place to everyone in the church?" Sakura asked.

"You're right. You should go," Sasuke relented. Sakura kissed him quickly before she whirled off into the maze of boxes, looking for a nicer pair of shoes.

"I shouldn't be out too late. I'll call you when I start to head home, okay?"

"Yeah, okay. Don't have too much fun without me," Sasuke said, following her to the door.

"Did you just make a joke?" Sakura raised her eyebrow. "Watch yourself. Your careful façade of disinterestedness is slipping."

"Get out," Sasuke said, shoving her lightly. He pulled her back to him a second later to kiss her before she wiggled out of his grasp and vanished down the hall of their new apartment building.

"K, relax, take some deep breaths. Think about something serene, like the ocean!" Ino said. She was sitting in the bridal store with Karin and they were both seriously stressing out. Where the hell was Sakura? There was no way Karin was going to get through this without her calming presence.

"Hey, hey, sorry. There was a huge accident on 4th and I had to detour past the cemetery." Sakura came rushing through the door. Karin and Ino both leapt up and hugged her.

"Where have you been? This crazy one has been getting me to visualize the ocean!" Karin shouted.

"Shh," Sakura said, waving them both away. "The ocean is generally something you visualize when you need to calm down. Both of you can relax. Mikoto called to say she was going to be a few minutes late and that we should start without her. So let's get a shop girl over here and see what we can find, ok?"

Karin flounced off to find someone who worked in the boutique store and Ino looped her arm through Sakura's.

"Thank God you got here when you did. I think Karin was ready to piss herself. I wasn't sure how much longer I could have held down the fort."

"You were doing just fine," Sakura said. "Oh, this is pretty," she paused at a mannequin.

"Wow, yeah it's gorgeous. But I don't really think it's Karin's style. Too classic. She's more of a bombshell," Ino said. They stood a few minutes longer looking at the long white dress. "Come on, before Karin realizes we're not shopping for her."

"So we're looking for something trashy then?" Sakura asked.

"Oh ha ha. Very funny Sak. When you marry my brother don't expect me to help you find the perfect dress," Karin called back to her.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Sakura replied, grinning at Ino.

"So we were thinking that we should do this thing with sprays of white flowers where they kind of drape along the aisle," Tenten shoved the picture of flower arrangements across the table. "What do you think?"

"Maybe you should consider the fact that people have to sit there," Neji said.

"Ugh, whatever. Ino's supposed to be doing this. Flowers are her deal, not mine. And where the hell is Hinata? She's supposed to go with me to look at cakes and stuff."

"I can't believe they're having a wedding in a church. Of all places."

"Yeah, that's a little…is ironic the right word for this?" Tenten asked, checking her watch.

"I was going to go with ridiculous, actually," Neji said. "Hinata should be her by now, unless that blond idiot is driving her."

"Awwe, Naruto is a sweetheart. He can be a bit stupid sometimes, but he's a good guy overall. Relax a bit, okay? You're probably freaking them both out."

Tenten got up when the doorbell rang and stretched her arms.

"I'll be back later. Mwah!"

"So we're looking for bridesmaid dresses today," Sakura said. She was walking with Hinata down the street, at eight o'clock at night, towards yet another bridal store. "If I look like I might kill someone, remind me that this is Karin's wedding and everything has to be happy, ok?"

"Ok, but, out of curiosity, why would you want to kill someone?" Hinata asked, propping the door open with her foot.

"Ugh, Sasuke and I have been living in our own place for a week now and neither of us have found the time to put the goddamn bed together yet. If I have to sleep on Ino's couch one more night I might have to kill myself."

"Why can't you and Sasuke stay at his parent's giant house again?" Hinata asked.

"Because Karin and Suigetsu are staying there while they move in together and Sasuke flatly refused to be in the same house as either of them," Sakura shrugged. "I'm inclined to think that that is a good idea. I don't think he should be around either of them right now. He's still fuming."

"I don't understand how he can be so angry about this. I mean, Karin's happy, isn't she?" Hinata said.

"Yeah, I don't really get it either," Sakura said. "But then again, since it's Sasuke, I kind of stopped trying to get it."

"These dresses better not make me look fat, Karin."

"Ah, Tenten's here," Hinata said.

"Tenten, darling, you look fantastic," Karin said reassuringly. "I like the empire waist actually. It looks nice."

"Really?" Sakura asked. "I thought you would have liked the tight flashy one."

"Just because I dress like that on a regular basis does not mean that my wedding is going to lack style," Karin said primly.

"Ha ha, okay, sure," Sakura mumbled, checking her phone. "I wonder how the boys are making out with their tuxes?"

"It's probably a nightmare," Tenten said, sagely. "Can you imagine anything productive getting done with those dumbasses spearheading things?"

"Itachi said he was going to help," Karin said. "And it occurs to me that we are very mean about our men."

"Yeah, but we know how to make up for it later," Sakura smirked.

"Eww, keep it in your pants, Sak!" Ino squealed. Sakura laughed.

"Let's see the next dress, you little vixens!" Karin said, tossing a confection of silk at the bridesmaids. "I have final veto on EVERYTHING!"

"We're all doomed," Hinata said solemnly.

"Yup," Sakura nodded.

Sakura almost fell asleep in the elevator, only coming out of her three-second doze when she nearly keeled over onto the floor. She unlocked the door to her apartment, rubbing her eyes. Maybe Sasuke got home before she did at built the bed…if she was lucky.

Sakura rounded the corner to the bedroom and stopped short in the doorway. She burst out laughing, leaning against the doorframe in order to stay upright.

Sasuke was sitting in the middle of the floor, amongst piles of cardboard, packing materials and what was, apparently, the disassembled bedframe.

"What is this?" she asked, when she got herself under control.

"The bed," Sasuke said shortly. He was clearly extremely frustrated. "This is the only thing that was in the box. There were no building instructions or anything."

He thrust a single sheet of paper at her and made a ort of growling noise in his throat when she started laughing again.

"Oh, Sasuke, relax. We can just call in the morning and get the furniture company to email us a copy of the instructions so that we can build it. At least we have a mattress. And that is plenty. I don't think I could have lasted another night on Ino's couch."

Sakura tossed her purse into a corner and kicked her shoes off. She tiptoed through the wreckage and flopped down on the mattress next to Sasuke.

"Now come here and hug me," Sakura said. "I spent all evening trying on dresses and I'm tired."

"How tired?" Sasuke asked. Sakura raised her eyebrows at the look he was giving her.

"Hmm," she pretended to think. "I don't know. Why don't we find out?"

And by the door, lying forgotten (for the moment) on the floor, was a single sheet of paper with three words printed on it.

SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED.

THE END.

extras: what a bumpy ride.

Review Responses:

Saiyuri Haruno: haha yeah, Kiba has balls dude.

Ai Deidara: hey! Thanks for the lovely compliments : ) I think I might write something else, like a bit shorter than this though because I have Uni next year and stuff. I'll probs wait for a bit before I get into something else, just so I can adjust to the hardcore studying lifestyle of a university student and all that (haha, yeah, like I'll be studying).

LovexxxSakuraUchiha: so…they kind of apologized at the same time?

betty69blue: FIXED!

andy-chan24: I'm doing just fine, thanks : ) hahahahaha, I always take so long to update stuff! Ugh, oh well, at least I did it this time.

Tigers and Dragons: Just because they are together does not mean the story has to end. I mean, they have to like, get settled into their relationship and stuff, right? And friends are a part of life. So mostly I didn't want my story to be too boring so I worked in a bunch of other types of relationships and shifted focus every once and a while, just to keep y'all on your toes :D. KARIN IS AWESOME! I would defs consider writing another story with this kind of Karin in it. Fo sho.

Macey Hart: AWWWE : ) sadly, this is the final chapter of the story. But I hope it lives up to your expectations! Thanks so much for reading!

SapphireRivulet: Sadly all good things must end : ( but I think if this story went on much longer it would have started to suck.

finish line: hey, don't even worry about it. I take so long to update my shit anyway. Different like Crazy? Haha because I take that as a compliment : ) Karin is so much more fun to write as a good guy, seriously. The possibilities are endless. AHAHAHAHAHA! Dumb smiles is what I was going for :D

Kinda sad that this is ending, you know?

Also, I just recently saw my friend in a play. God it was the most depressing play ever. I was like on the verge of like sobbing but the guy-friend-person that I went with (he is my car monkey) was being all like I'm-a-stoic-guy-who-has-no-emotions in the chair next to me so I could cry properly.

I don't think I have the energy for a squeal, honestly. And I think I've run out of viable drama for this particular story line anyway. But I might do another story! So keep an eye out! : )

Midnight Angel Sakura: haha Sasuke is so sexy when he's sleepy! And just all the time.