A/N: Hope you like this chapter! I know I took kinda long in updating…well, thanks for waiting. I am getting better at story-writing now anyway, compared to before. Sorry again for all grammatical and typographical errors. Did I mention I'm new at this thing?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters but my characters only. (Otaru, Tai, the king, and maybe others…)

The sun bloomed out in the sky. Birds chirped on tree branches and the weather was comforting. For some, it was a great day to relax and enjoy life. For others, well…let's just say they woke up at the wrong side of the bed.

"Darn that Otaru! Who does he think he is…asking Sakura to marry him? As if she is really going to say 'yes'…or will she?" A conspicuous raven haired shinobi murmured, as he walked in the hall ways of the huge castle.

Everyone at that morning was called for a meeting with the king. It was still quite early but they had to get up. According to Kakashi, it was their way of giving their respect and gratitude to the king for all he has done…yeah right! As if he would get up so early just to give some whatever kind respect and gratitude to---Ahem. Right, well, back to the story.

Once he arrived at the meeting room, Sasuke saw a loud-mouthed Naruto, shouting right at Otaru's ear, a sick and pitiful-looking Otaru, and a beautiful Sakura. He just stood there, with his cool-looking attitude. Somehow, it didn't affect Sakura anymore. Today, she looked like she was in the room, but her spirit flew somewhere else.

Nobody noticed it much but Sasuke, the moment he entered the room. Her eyes stared at one place, for about the longest period on earth. 'Maybe it was about the time when Otaru…proposed to her…' He thought silently.

FLASHBACK

"WHAT?---You proposed to her! She hardly even knows you!" Sasuke snapped back at Otaru. At that moment, he lost all his pride and cool but it didn't matter to him. The only thing that did was the idea of Otaru, getting married to Sakura…HIS Sakura.

"Yeah, I told her that already. It happened before the battle." Otaru answered back, smirking.

"So what did she say?" You could sense that Sasuke was really serious. His eyes and face told everything off.

"She was actually speechless. Since I heard the explosion, she didn't have time to answer, so I told her to wait. I'm guessing that she will give the answer tomorrow."

Hearing this, Sasuke stood up and glared at Otaru. His face darkened a bit as he left. The prince was felt fond of seeing Sasuke like this, especially over a girl. He thought that he was one of those types that didn't like to be bugged by girls but seeing what just happened, he might've changed his mind by now.

END OF FLASHBACK

Sasuke knew that Kakashi wasn't going to come so they had to fill in for him. Just then, the king, along with his daughter Tai, came in. He had a cheerful smile that day, which made Naruto kind of curious. Naruto was the only one who reacted that way since everyone knew what was coming, except him.

"Good morning everyone. Sorry you had to wake up early. Tonight is the festival night so I tried to persuade Kakashi to stay for one last night so you wouldn't miss this. Thankfully, he gave in. anyway, I am not sure if my son has told you about this, but…" He looked at his son then turned to Sakura. A smile was put on his face as he continued.

"…Otaru has proposed to Ms. Haruno and she will be giving her answer tonight."

Everyone just stared to the new couple. Of course, Naruto was the most surprised since he was the last to know. Sakura wondered what Sasuke's reaction was so she looked over her shoulder to look at the Uchiha. As always, there was a blank look on his face.

"That is all! Have fun later on youngins!" Otaru went with his father as they exited the room. The rest headed for their rooms. Tai just went along with them. It was awkwardly quiet on the trip back. When they reached their rooms, Naruto blurted out abruptly and loudly.

"Sakura-chan, don't accept that proposal! He could be cheating on you, you will never know---" Before he even started, Sakura was already in her room. Tai thought this was her chance, so she said something to Sasuke.

"Do you want to go with me to the festival later, Sasuke-kun?" She placed her most innocent look as she asked the silent Sasuke. His monotone-voice answered her as he stepped in his room.

"Whatever." He didn't really care.

"Yay!" Her voice could be heard anywhere in the castle. Naruto couldn't believe that a girl like her would actually have a louder voice than he did.

He opened the door to his room, just like the others. Tai just merrily skipped back to her room.

Inside the kunoichi's room, the confused girl lay on her bed. Her hair spread all over the bed as she rested her head on the pillow. She was so confused. The thoughts in her head swirled and went to different directions. She felt like crying so much.

'What should I do? If I accept, I won't be coming back to Konoha. If I accept, I won't…ever see my friends again.' She felt little wet droplets crawl down her cheeks. It was like each droplet that fell was like the rain.

When she got up from her bed, she approached her closet. She opened the doors and pulled out a red kimono. The kimono had some markings with dark and gold color on it. It was to be worn by Sakura for the festival later on. The beautiful garment was from the royal family…Tai's actually. They lent it to her so she had something nice to wear later on.

Sakura held it close to her body, as if she was already wearing it. She let out a sigh as she hanged it back in the closet.

'I'm sure Sasuke wouldn't even care the least bit about you. I mean, did you see his face awhile ago? It had an 'I-don't-care' look written all over it.' Sakura's inner voice spoke up. Her face darkened at the statement. Tears fell once more.

'Yeah, your right! But…' She paused to think deeper. '…I don't know why I still feel this way…'

Hours passed and it was soon time to leave for the festival. Sakura locked herself in the room, skipping all events that occurred outside. The maids tried to get her to eat, but she said she kept on saying that she wasn't hungry.

The truth was, the whole time she was inside, she thought about her answer. She cried her self to sleep momentarily but woke up just in time. When she woke up, she slipped in her kimono, which fit perfectly. She tied her hair into a bun and stared at the figure that reflected her image. Her precious looking smile was tugged on as she stared.

"I finally decided!...I just want you to know that…whatever I decided upon, you would forgive me….Thank you."

A/N: R&R Pls! Hope you like it! Sorry it took so long for me to update. My internet broke down on me so I had to use an internet café. T.Y!