Disclaimer: Still not the genius creator/owner of Naruto.

Chapter 2: Vows of Commitment

Sakura suddenly became very conscious of how she hadn't showered after all her training, and how she probably looks very ragged in addition to the lovely sweat smell. Oh well, she though, this whole thing hasn't exactly been a girl's fantasy come true.

Sasuke took her by the hand and surprisingly led her back toward Konoha. He slowed as they approached the wall surrounding the village and motioned for her to stay back as he checked for any sign of patrol in the area. After a few minutes of sharingan observation, he signaled the coast was clear and they made their way to an abandoned section of the village.

Sakura gasped when she realized where he had taken her; it was obvious from all the Uchiha symbols displayed everywhere. She started to question, but Sasuke interrupted with, "Just a little further." Sasuke's steps faltered ever so slightly in front of one of the many symbols that had what appeared to be damage from a kunai or other weapon before turning to enter the house that faced it. Sakura stared at the marred symbol for a moment before following him into the building.

This was all so strange to her. A whole section of the village to house one clan. For her family, it was simply her one set of grandparents, her parents, and herself, all in two adjacent apartments. She felt like she was stepping into a completely different world than she had known her whole life. But in addition to awe, she felt the cold chill of what had transpired here, as if the massacre itself had somehow attached itself to the very air she was now breathing. She shuddered as she slipped out of her sandals to follow Sasuke down the hall. He seemed so indifferent. How could this not affect him when I can feel the weight of what happened here?

After walking down several hallways and past an overgrown courtyard, Sasuke finally seemed to reach his destination and opened the door to his parents' bedroom. Walking straight to one of the closets, he slid open the doors and started laying aside several wrapped bundles before finally pulling out two small wooden boxes. At first they appeared to be plain boxes, but then Sakura noticed a very ornate and detailed pattern carved into them. Phoenixes, each following the one before it, frozen in graceful motion around the sides.

"Here." He held out the slightly larger of the two boxes in her direction. As she took it from him, Sasuke added, "Turn right out of here, and then the second door on your right is a bathhouse. I started a fire earlier, so it should be warm enough now. There's no running water, so I filled some buckets for showering. It'll be cold. Sorry."

"Oh…that's ok. A cold shower is refreshing right?" She tried to give a reassuring smile.

"Try not to take too long. We don't have much time tonight."

Something about the way he said 'tonight' made her stomach jump a little. She nodded and turned to find her way down the hall. This all just seemed so surreal. When she entered the room, everything she needed was all laid out for her. After washing up quickly, she allowed the hot water in the tub relax her nerves a little.

What on earth am I doing? This is absolutely crazy. Sure, for a moment he had a desperate look that I couldn't help but feel moved by. But it's not too late to back out. I can just say, 'Sorry, this is just too weird. Come back a little more normally, please.' But then, will there be a next time? It was desperation that had prompted him to leave Konoha and chase after the promises of Orochimaru. Now it was desperation that brought him back….to me. I can't pass up this opportunity to restore him to us, but is it worth what I have to give?

His pleading eyes crossed her thoughts once more, and she resolved that she would go through with this regardless of the consequences to her. She'll worry about that part later. She stood up and wrapped herself in a towel as she stepped out of the tub. Sakura hadn't dared to open the box up to that point, but since she had made up her mind to go through with this, she reached out a shaky hand and popped open the latch. Inside lay the most beautiful wedding kimono she had ever seen. It was the traditional white, but the embroidery was so intricate. Cranes seemed to soar through the branches of the pattern, as if trying to reach the heights of joy. She hadn't worn a kimono since her parents used to take her to festivals when she was much younger.

Slowly, almost like donning on a new personality, she slipped on each layer, like memories of a time long forgotten. She tied the obi as if it would hide her nervousness in confidence. She placed the hat on her head to cover any worries.

There was no way she could put her hair up in a traditional bun herself, so she had simply pinned up the long pink locks with crane combs she found in the box. Hopefully that won't look too out of place with the traditional outfit, she thought. When she went to put on the tabi socks, she realized a horrible mistake she had made – the socks should have been the first thing she put on. Crap! Ok, don't panic. I don't have time to undress and start over, so I'm just going to have to figure out a way to do this.

Sakura very precariously lifted one leg up as high as the kimono would permit and then slowly stretched out with her arms, hoping they would find a point in space where they could meet up. Sasuke happened to choose that moment to check up on her progress and found for himself a rather interesting looking silhouette.

Staring cockeyed at it for a few minutes, he finally decided to speak up. "Ummm…Sakura, everything going ok in there?"

"Eeek!" Sakura screeched as her kimonoed bottom hit the floor. "Hehe, yeah, I'm fine in here. Just putting on the last touches. Hehe." Somehow the self-assurance she had gained in the dressing process slowly deflated.

She looked up at the sound of the door sliding open to see Sasuke walking toward her. She tried not to stare, but Sasuke looked absolutely handsome in his black kimono and haori overcoat. The dark material brought out his eyes, and for a moment she seemed lost in their deepness. This was the first chance she had to see him in proper lighting, and she noticed his face had a more mature, elongated look since she last saw him, and the features seemed a little more defined than before. She studied his face without blinking until her eyes began to dry out and she had to blink to remoisten them.

"Would you like help with your tabi?" he asked, surprisingly gently. She nodded and couldn't hold back the blush as he bent down to carefully slip the socks onto her feet as she sat awkwardly where she had fallen to the floor previously. He stood back up when he had finished and looked down at her. "Are you all ready then?"

"Um…" She delayed as she glanced around the room, as if she might have left something behind. "Yes," she confirmed. "And uh, thank you for helping me with the tabi."

"You're welcome," he answered in reply as he walked toward the door. Sakura quickly stood up to follow. Stopping right before exiting, he turned to her, "You're sure you want to do this?" he questioned one more time.

She brightened her face with a large smile. "Hmm-hm. Of course! I already said I would, didn't I? And not to sound cheesy like Naruto-kun, but I don't go back on my word."

He turned back and walked out the door. Her face fell, only slightly, though, and she hurriedly followed him out the room and down the hall. He led her to the other end of the complex where there was apparently a shrine. Who knew? Sakura thought. The priest looked bored waiting for the couple to arrive, but immediately donned a smile at the sight of the couple.

"Here is the happy couple. You two must really be in love to secretly marry like this. Probably going against family wishes, too."

"Is that a problem, Priest? You said you would do this."

Waving his arms to assure it was ok, he responded with, "No, no, this is fine. No one goes with arranged marriages anymore. And it seems each generation waits later and later in life to get married. So old when they finally have children. But not you two. You will have time for lots of kids, eh?" he seemed to almost wink at them.

Sakura looked embarrassed while Sasuke appeared impatient. "Is this kind speech part of the ceremony now?" he retorted sarcastically. The callous Sasuke was definitely back.

"Ok, ok. I didn't mean to embarrass you, young man. Follow me."

"I wasn't embarrassed," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

As they followed the priest into the shrine, Sakura noticed a shrine maiden making the final preparations for the ceremony. She saw that someone had already set up the offerings of rice water, salt, fruit, and sake.

(Track 2)
She followed Sasuke and kneeled next to him facing the alter, the priest in front and to their left, and the maiden in front and on their right. The priest then proceeded to purify the alter and the couple with a folded paper-decorated staff followed by a few words on marriage. Sakura could hardly pay attention to the words over the pounding in her chest. She glanced at Sasuke out of the corner of her eye, wondering if he was just as nervous as she. Before she realized, the maiden was already serving the three cups of sake that they would individually take three sips from each of the three cups. Sakura tried to steady the shaking of her hand, but she felt completely transparent at that moment, yet Sasuke remained as composed as he had through the entire ceremony.

He really must have nerves of steel,Sakura thought as she took her first sip. She tried desperately to hold back the grimace that wanted to surface. This was her first time drinking, and she did not see why anyone would drink this stuff willingly. But then her eyes accidentally caught Sasuke's gaze and the weight of the situation suddenly descended upon her. She wasn't nervous anymore, but she wasn't sure exactly what kind of feeling it was replaced with. Soon, the ceremony was over and Sasuke was leading her back to the main house section after handing the priest a few coins.

They stopped in front of the bathhouse. "Change back into your clothes and meet me back out here. We've probably already spent too much time here and need to sneak out quick before someone notices," he advised solemnly.

Sakura simply nodded and proceeded to enter the room and follow his instructions. She quickly changed and placed all the garments back exactly as they were to the best of her ability. She then picked up the box and found Sasuke was already outside the door waiting for her. He replaced both of their boxes back in the closet, picked up some blankets from a different closet, and grabbed her hand and without a word guided her back into the woods surrounding Konoha.

Probably a kilometer or so outside the village walls, Sasuke dropped down to the ground. Sakura followed suit. She watched him walk underneath one of the large trees where the trunk was supported a few feet off the ground by its massive roots, like one of the trees under which she had spent the night watching over her two teammates during the Chuunin exam. She watched wordlessly as Sasuke spread a few blankets on the ground. She understood what this was for.

"Um, is this really better than at your house? I mean, at least there we have four walls and a roof. This is so…so open."

"If we're discovered, this allows for a much easier escape into any direction, as well as being farther from back up. If it'll make you feel better, I can cast a genjutu so it'll look like we aren't here."

"Yeah, that'll help, I guess," she replied plainly as she joined him in the shelter of the tree, trying to put out of mind the unbelievably humiliating 'if we're discovered' part.

At least the shadowed location made her feel a little less self-conscious as she hesitatingly removed her clothes as Sasuke did likewise. They stood like that for a few moments until Sasuke moved in close and started kissing her body and feeling her with his hands. After a few minutes of such, he slowly lowered her down onto the blankets and proceeded further until he noticed her scrunched up face and stopped.

Sighing in frustration, he started, "You knew this was part of the agreement. You said you'd do this. I'm not going to rape you here and I'm not trying to hurt you!" his voice slowly rising by the end.

"I know. It's not that, it's just, um…how should I put it? I'm, uh, not quite ready just yet. I need a little more from you."

"More than that?" Sasuke questioned with a sincerely puzzled look on his face. For the first time since she had accepted his proposal he looked unsure of himself, which helped Sakura feel a little less unsure.

At least this seems to be his first time, too, then. She then guided him in what better worked for her, and somehow they managed to pull something off. It wasn't the best, it was awkward as hell, not to mention slightly painful on her part, but at least it wasn't horrible. And it was obvious Sasuke was being as gentle as he could. That's why she could only stare in shock as, as soon as it was over, he immediately stood up, got dressed, and turned to leave. The only thing he said before his departure was, "I'll stop by your room the next time I'm near here. It'll probably be at least a few weeks. And, uh, you looked nice in the kimono. I forgot to tell you that earlier." And then he was gone.

Sakura assumed she was to take the blankets back with her, wash them, and put them back in the closet he had taken them from. But instead of taking them back, she stayed where she was. And instead of soap and water she used her tears. She wasn't ready to put herself back just yet. Only two things alternated within her mind as the tears poured unceasingly: his voice repeating 'I'm not trying to hurt you' and the fact that not once did he kiss her on the lips.