Author's Note: Here is the next installment. I hope you all enjoy!
title: jubilee, written for kairi-chan
prompt: we'll go dancing in the dark, walking through the park, and reminiscing
pairing: naruto x sakura
genre: fluff / romance
rating: t
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
Let me know what you think by reviewing! Favorite and follow, also!
On the list of 'most embarrassing things to ever happen in her life,' this scenario easily made the top five.
Of all the days for Naruto to be late, it just had to be today. How he could forget such a date was beyond her.
Naruto knew how important today was for her; for them.
They'd had these plans for months. It was circled in bright red on every calendar: the one in her office, the one in his office, and the one that hung on the back of the pantry door in their shared apartment.
Jade eyes narrowed marginally, and Sakura dispassionately scowled at the glass of chardonnay that sat on the table in front of her. The patrons seated on both sides of her booth exchanged hushed sentiments, and the rosette didn't need to try to guess what the topic of their conversations were.
Their not-so-secret sidelong glances were filled with more pity than compassion, and their whispered words weren't as quiet as they thought them to be.
Hearing the term 'stood up' used to describe her caused Sakura's teeth violently gnash together and made the muscle above her right eyebrow twitch.
She was going to make the rest of his life a personal hell. That was for damn sure.
Sakura could understand if it was another Wednesday dinner date he had forgotten. She was just as much of a workaholic as he was. Time was ever-so-elusive, slipping by when she least expected it to, and more often than not, it was Sakura who happened to be late to their get-togethers.
However, today was different.
Not only did she have to call this restaurant to book a reservation three weeks in advance, but today also happened to be their three-year anniversary. They were celebrating with dinner and it was pretty fucking important.
When Sakura got ahold of her wayward significant other, she was going to throttle him with her bare hands. Only after Naruto's face turned blue from lack of oxygen would she be somewhat satisfied.
"Um…excuse me? Miss?" A light, feminine voice called out.
Some of the dark thoughts that were bouncing around in Sakura's head must have shown on her face, because when she turned to regard the woman who appeared next to the table, the girl visibly flinched.
It took a moment for Sakura to place the mousey female as the hostess who greeted her when she initially entered the eatery earlier on.
"Yes?" The pinkette inquired through clenched teeth, offering the employee a tight-lipped smile that appeared more sinister than anything else.
The girl's reaction this time was to take a tiny step back.
"I-I know," The petite brunette started, but paused to clear her throat.
When the younger woman spoke again, it was in a firmer, more confident tone. "I know you said that the other member of your party would be arriving shortly, but the dinner crowd is picking up, and it has been a little over an hour…"
As the hostess' statement trailed off, Sakura took the opportunity to glance around the dining room.
The smaller woman was correct.
So engrossed in the staring contest she was having with her glass of wine, Sakura failed to notice how busy the restaurant had become. All the tables were now filled and the line near the entrance was beginning to trail out of the intricate glass doors.
Sakura sighed as she turned her attention back to the chestnut-haired employee.
"I'm taking up a table you need, aren't I?"
The younger woman immediately opened her mouth to say something, a rebuff maybe, but must have thought better of it because a second later, her jaw snapped shut, lips drawn down into a regret-filled frown.
There was a short pause and the hostess gracelessly shifted her weight from foot to foot, twisting her body in such a way that made it look like she was preparing to turn around and flee. Eventually, however, she confirmed Sakura's suspicion with a curt bob of her head.
"My manager sent me over here to see if you would be alright with giving up the table for now, at least until the other member of your party arrives. When they do come, we would be happy to give you the next available table."
Sakura's brow furrowed, and she released a long, slow breath through her nose, shoulders slumping with the exhale.
"No, that's alright," She declined with a wave of her hand. "I don't think he's coming, and I wouldn't want to cause you any more trouble on my account."
Again, it appeared that the hostess was going to refute her comment, but Sakura didn't wait around to hear it.
She vacated her seat while simultaneously digging through her clutch, producing a few dollar bills that would not only cover the unfinished glass of wine, but also leave behind a little something extra for the waiter who brought it over.
Sakura took a step away from the table, in the direction of the exit, but hesitated, inwardly battling an inkling of indecisiveness.
She really shouldn't.
This wasn't the type of place for her to do something so inappropriate…but, then again, she had been stood up – by her boyfriend no less – and her night had already turned to shit.
It really couldn't hurt.
Decision made, Sakura turned back to the table and, in a move that would have made her old mentor proud, snatched up the glass of wine and downed the remaining contents in one, smooth gulp.
Smacking her lips together with a wet 'pop,' the rosette placed the empty cup back on the table before she spun on her heel and began her trek towards the exit. While she weaved between the other diners, Sakura reveled in the hostess' expression of muted horror and the taste of buttery chardonnay on her lips.
-o-
The crisp, cool night air was a welcome reprieve from the stuffy atmosphere of the busy restaurant, and though her feet were killing her in the beige slingback heels she paired with her black dress, Sakura insisted on traveling by foot the entire way home.
The restaurant wasn't far from their apartment; three blocks south and a short traverse through the park was all it would take to arrive at the front door of their building.
Though walking in shoes that pinched her toes wasn't helping her current state of disarray, Sakura carried on, trying her best to reign in her anger.
Controlling her emotions had always proven to be a difficult task, and she couldn't help but frown most of the way home, glaring at anything and anyone who happened to cross her path. Only after two couples and a gaggle of teenagers gave her an extremely wide berth when they passed her on the sidewalk did Sakura finally avert her hardened gaze to the ground in front of her feet.
Luckily for both herself and the general population, once she disappeared into the park, the foot traffic died down drastically and Sakura no longer had to hide her ire. Welcoming the silent solitude the park granted her, Sakura allowed her mind to wander.
She tried to process what she would say or how she would act when she saw Naruto. It wouldn't do Sakura any good to start an argument – because there was going to be an argument – with an irrational mindset. She needed to think out what exactly she wanted to say carefully.
Going in 'guns-a-blazing' seemed to work well when they were teenagers. Her temper was notorious during their high school years. However, this wasn't a situation where bullies were poking fun at the size of her forehead.
This was their relationship.
Although she might have been dating a forgetful idiot, Sakura prided herself on taking certain things seriously, and this scenario constituted as such.
She wasn't agitated because he missed dinner. Over the course of their time together, there were plenty of dates that she had to cancel last minute. It would be hypocritical of her to hold that against him.
They weren't that type of couple to begin with. Called-off plans didn't strike a sour note, and more often than not, they both preferred takeout from the restaurant around the corner over some elaborate, expensive dinner.
No. What Sakura was upset about was that Naruto didn't call, didn't text, didn't try to reach out to her.
Though she was comfortable in assuming nothing drastic had happened to him, Sakura was still concerned. It wasn't like Naruto to fall off the grid; to abandon her on their anniversary, and the mere thought of it churned uncertainty in her stomach.
She was worried.
Or at least, she was.
The pinkette's apprehension melted away when she made it about halfway through the park and noticed someone standing near the three-tiered water fountain.
Someone, who had a very familiar head of blond hair.
"Now, Sakura-chan…," Naruto started sheepishly. He had the gall to look remorseful.
All thoughts of being civil were thrown out the window, and Sakura did the only thing that she deemed reasonably logical: she took off one her shoes and threw it at his head.
"You son of a bitch!" She gritted out through clenched teeth, closing the distance between them with three long, awkwardly unbalanced strides.
Naruto adeptly maneuvered himself out of the hurled object's trajectory, but Sakura didn't give him a chance to recover before she was upon him.
She intended to punch him in the shoulder, a small taste of physical pain to go along with the verbal lashing she was preparing for him, but the disruption in the equilibrium between her right foot and her left threw off the momentum and the attack ended up being more of a full-body tackle.
Her boyfriend landed against the concrete lip of the fountain ungracefully, struggling to catch his balance before he fell back into the bubbling water.
"Sakura!" Naruto yelped before dodging the open palm that was meant to cuff the side of his head.
Undeterred that she missed her target, Sakura aimed another strike at his right temple, but before she could make contact, Naruto seized her wrist in a gentle, yet firm grip.
"Mercy woman! Mercy," The blond griped with an uneasy chuckle. "Just, please let me explain before you attack me again."
Unhappy that her charge had been thwarted, Sakura growled, a low animalistic noise that emanated from the back of her throat.
"Oh, I'll show you mercy, alright!" The viridian-eyed woman grumbled harshly.
Unperturbed by his pleading, Sakura used their new height difference to her advantage. Bringing her free hand up, she smacked Naruto in the back of the head, finally completing her earlier assault.
At the sight of his wince, Sakura smirked with smug satisfaction.
Naruto released the hold he had on her wrist, burying both of his hands in the tuft of golden hair at the nape of his neck. He gingerly caressed the wound, grimaced once again, before looking up at her.
"Okay, I deserved that," Naruto admitted honestly.
"You deserve a lot worse!" Sakura screeched, looming over his prone form. "What the hell Naruto?! An hour and a half. I waited for you for an hour and a fucking half. You didn't call; you didn't text! I thought something happened to you and yet, here you are, lounging around a fountain. Just where the hell were you!?"
She wouldn't admit it out loud, but Sakura was somewhat impressed how well Naruto was taking the outspoken onslaught. During most instances where she was yelling at him, the blond was cowering or at least trying to abate her anger.
Naruto was trying to calm her down, albeit only somewhat. His hands were waving back and forth in front of his chest in a disarming motion, but he seemed more earnest and somber than panicky.
"I know, I know," Her lover agreed softly. "I'm sorry that I didn't show up to dinner. I got caught up in the office longer than I expected and I had errands to run after work which forced me to be later than I already was. By the time I finished up, it was already an hour after our intended meeting time."
At his explanation, Sakura deflated, if only slightly. His reasoning might not have been the best, but she knew how busy he had been lately.
Minato, Naruto's father, was running for the position of Mayor and somehow managed to rope his son into working alongside him in the campaign office. The closer they drew to election day, the less and less Sakura had seen Naruto. Despite her disdain for not being around him that often, this was important to him, and what was important to Naruto was important to her.
Sakura huffed, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. She tilted back, shifting her weight so that she would seem less intimidating without losing the underlying impression of vexation. Missing one of her shoes made the overall movement uncoordinated, but the rosette tried to play it off by crossing her arms.
"That doesn't mean you couldn't call," was Sakura's retort, though there really wasn't any bite behind her words. "And what 'errands' could you possibly be running this late, anyway?"
Instead of answering her question, Naruto reached out and gently pried her arms apart. Seizing her right hand in his left, he intertwined their fingers before he offered Sakura a soft, genuine smile that disarmed her. He turned away from her then, using his free hand to reach for something that was resting on the ledge next to him.
"I had to pick up a few things," Naruto murmured nonchalantly.
Before Sakura could inquire as to what her boyfriend was doing, her vision was abruptly filled with varying shades of sapphire and violet. A subtle, sweet smell tickled her nostrils.
Forced to take a step back, the cherry-haired woman blinked in rapid succession, trying to process what Naruto had shoved right under her nose. It took a minute, but Sakura realized that it was a bouquet of purple and blue hydrangeas, accented with a small selection of dusty miller stems.
There was a short bout of silence where emerald eyes shifted between the flowers and her significant other, but after a while, Sakura pouted and as she stomped her bare foot against the pavement like a child.
"Oh! That's not fair," She gripped, disentangling her hand from his own so that she could steal the bundle of blooms from his grasp. "You know these are my favorite."
Sakura brought them closer to her face for a tentative sniff, eyes closing as she savored the overwhelming scent of garden-fresh springtime.
"Yeah well," Naruto started, rubbing one hand across the back of his neck sheepishly. "I figured they would help out with calming you down a bit."
Sakura glared at him over the tops of the flowers.
"It's working," She muttered, eyes drifting over his apology bouquet with barely veiled approval. "But, not that much."
Naruto chuckled, though he didn't offer anything more on the topic and the two lapsed into a comfortable silence. Sakura poked and prodded through the different buds while Naruto seemed to be content with merely watching her.
He eventually reached out for her, wrapping his arms around her waist and gently pulled her towards him. Sakura went along willingly, depositing herself in his lap and situating herself so that her legs were carelessly tossed over his own, cheek pressed into the juncture where his neck and shoulder met.
Previous anger forgotten, Sakura closed her eyes, humming in contentment as she was enveloped in his warmth.
"So besides getting me flowers, what other 'errands' did you run today?" She questioned after another beat of stillness.
Instead of immediately responding to her query, Naruto unwrapped one of his arms from around her waist, burying the hand in his pants pocket.
"Do you remember the day we first met?" Naruto asked suddenly.
Taken aback by his spontaneous inquiry, Sakura lifted her head from where it was tucked underneath his chin. She blinked at him owlishly, head tilted ever-so-slightly to the left to exemplify her curiosity.
"Of course, I remember. We were in high school. I was running in the park with Ino and she distracted me. I wasn't looking where I was going and I accidentally bumped into you. You fell into…the…," Her voice trailed off as her eyes lit up with an unspoken revelation.
Leaning back, Sakura turned her head to peer over Naruto's shoulder, looking towards the enormous, dazzling water spout behind them. When green eyes flicked back in his direction, they were dancing with mirth.
"You fell into this very fountain," Sakura finished, tone laced with amusement.
"I'll never forget that day," Naruto said with sage-like nod his head. "It was the day that I met the most beautiful woman that I had ever seen."
A pretty flush dusted across the Sakura's cheeks, and she tried to fight off the butterflies fluttering in her stomach with a small roll of her eyes.
"You always were a smooth talker," Sakura lightly joked.
It seemed Naruto wasn't in a playful mood, however. He regarded her with a thoughtful expression, the one hand currently resting on her hip pushing her impossibly closer till the bouquet of flowers was awkwardly smushed between them.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" She squealed. "You're going to ruin the flowers!"
Sakura's exclamation fell on deaf ears and she tried to shimmy away from him, but it was to no avail. Naruto refused to let her move an inch.
"I'm serious," He stated. "You are gorgeous, Sakura."
The sincerity and severity in his tone caused her heartbeat to pick up and her toes to curl, a warmth settling into the center of her chest.
"Alright, already," She tittered nervously. Sakura didn't know why she felt that way. This was Naruto for god's sake. "I believe you, so lighten up a little. You're ruining my gift."
Her fair-haired knucklehead eased up on the pressure around her waist, though not by much. It was enough for Sakura to remove the cluster of flowers from in between them, however, and she placed them on the edge of the fountain next to them.
Naruto didn't give Sakura the chance to further question him about his odd behavior. Before she even turned back to give him her full attention, he was continuing his formal tirade.
"We've been together for three years now, but we've known each other since we were kids. Ever since I met you, that day in the park, I knew that you were the only one for me."
A shiver of uncertainty ran up her spine and anxiousness caused her throat to constrict.
Just where was he going with this?
"My attraction to you isn't because you're pretty…though you are. Don't let Sai tell you any differently."
His sorry attempt at a joke garnered short bark of laughter from both of them. When the humor subsided, Naruto carried on. "My attraction is to your soul and to the wonderful person you are inside."
"N-Naruto," Sakura stammered, at a loss for words.
He smiled. That open, wide-toothed grin that caused the skin around his eyes to crinkle.
"With all that being said," He hummed, the hand that had been hidden in his jeans finally coming into view once more. "Sakura Haruno, will you marry me?"
Sakura could feel her eyebrows slowly disappearing into her hairline, lips inelegantly parted in her stunned stupor. She slipped out of his lap, staggering as she took one step back, then another, eyes never leaving the black velvet box that he held out in her direction.
Naruto vacated his perch on the fountain's edge to kneel in front of her, opening the case to reveal a halo-style engagement ring. The band was white gold, a diamond of moderate size housed in the center encased by a circle of much smaller, pink diamonds.
She didn't know what to think, what do, or what to say. Her mind short-circuited, and before Sakura could verbalize a proper response, she found herself choking back the laughter which bubbled up her throat.
Naruto, unphased by her reaction, just grinned.
"Well that's not a no," He stated, tone laced with delight.
"It's pink," She whispered, voice a mix of exasperation and awe.
"Yeah, well," Naruto replied with a chuckle, azure eyes swinging between herself and the ring. "Pink happens to be my favorite color."
Sakura smiled, taking a tiny step in his direction. "Liar. We both know that's orange."
"That may be so," He said, reaching into the box to pull the ring from the cushion. "But, it doesn't answer my question. What do you say? Feel like putting up with my idiotic tendencies for the rest of our lives?"
Sakura didn't hesitate with her answer. "Yes. Yes, yes, yes."
Naruto shot up so quickly Sakura was forced to lean back so that the top of his head didn't collide with her chin. He gave her just enough time to register that he was slipping the ring on her finger before he engulfed her in his embrace.
Naruto was laughing, full body whoops of happiness that shook them both. His merriment brought about her own, pulling Sakura from her semi-stunned daze.
Naruto kissed her then; the soft feel of his lips on hers was grounding and Sakura couldn't help but gaily reciprocate.
They broke apart after few minutes, when the need for air became apparent and almost instantly, Sakura overwhelmed by the thought that this, right now, is what real love feels like. She always knew that her feelings for him were always genuine, but here, in this moment, she can feel the full extent of his love.
Naruto is looking at her like she is the only thing his world. He's beautifully flushed in his excitement, beaming at her as his fingers trace the dimples in her cheeks. She would remember his open, yearning expression for as long as she lived.
Sakura was broken from her daze when a loud, high-pitched rumbling noise pierced through the silence that had surrounded them.
"Please tell me that was your stomach," Sakura questioned with a snicker.
Naruto's face contorted into a remorse-filled grimace.
"Sorry to ruin the moment. I didn't have the chance to grab a bite to eat on my way over."
"Neither did I," Sakura politely reminded him before removing herself from his embrace.
She took a step away from him, holding her left hand up for inspection under the light of the street lamp. The ring was slightly loose, but it fit well enough. They would have to go get it resized sometime during the upcoming week.
"Come on," Sakura called, moving in the direction of the park's exit. "If you can find my missing shoe, maybe I'll be nice enough to whip you up something to eat when we get home. I think it landed in the fountain."
Sakura didn't need to turn around to know that Naruto's demeanor suddenly became determined.
"Even if I ask for a bowl of ramen?" He asked. Sakura heard a series of splashes followed by a soft grunt, but she didn't turn back around.
"Even if you ask for a bowl of ramen," She acquiesced in a sing-song tone.
"Best fiancée ever!" The blond cheered.
It was odd to hear the use of her new title, but Sakura couldn't find a single ounce of regret with her choice.
Even when a pair of soaking wet arms wrapped around her middle, pulling her back into an equally soggy bear hug, Sakura couldn't and wouldn't take back her decision.
She would, however, still give him a piece of her mind for potentially ruining her dress.
"Naruto! Get off!"
Thank you for reading!
word count: 3,958
last edited on: 05/23/18
ja mata ne
nerazenn