A little sad that this is the last official chapter of my first ever official story; although, I may do an epilogue for it later on. I sincerely appreciate all of the support I've had with this one so far since I've had so many ups and downs while writing it and I hope that you have enjoyed it up until this point. I'm hoping my next story won't be as fast paced as this one was and I hope you are happy with how this one ends!
(Again, sorry for the repeating of words! It's a bad habit of mine that I need to work on!)
The Haruno's annual Christmas Eve bash was to be held this evening, as per tradition, but this left both Sasuke and Sakura feeling slightly nervous; for obvious and different reasons. Sasuke Uchiha was starting to worry about his previous decision of asking Sakura to marry him tonight; though it wasn't because it was something that he was now second guessing himself on but because the dark-haired male wasn't sure what her reaction to said question would be. Would she be... happy, angry... would she flat out refuse him? The unknown was what worried him most. He didn't feel as if he was rushing into things... not really; but would she? Sakura on the other hand was worrying herself to death about whether or not she should readily agree to marry him so soon after they rekindled their love... or if she should ask him to wait a few years before they jumped into a commitment like that; to make sure things would really work out in their favor. She loved him and she knew she wanted to marry him, so then was she just thinking too much into this?
The tension in the air was high and so thick you could cut it with a knife; if that was plausible, and the pressure on the two young lovers seemed to be mounting the closer the time came... the anticipation of what this evening would bring was stifling; nearly consuming them both from the inside out.
Are they ready... that was the real question that had yet to be answered.
This would be a major life decision for them both. But... they knew that they loved each other; very deeply and more than anything else in this world. So, that helped to finalize both of their unspoken decisions; helped to strengthen their resolve on the matter.
Whether ready or not; they full-heartedly agreed (though without actually speaking the words aloud to one another) and are willing to navigate this new chapter in their lives... together.
Now... it was up to Sasuke to find the right time to ask her.
.
.
.
Sakura could tell right away that something was off about Sasuke when she first saw him; though she had a pretty good idea, without even having to ask, of what it was that was bothering him because the thought of the Uchiha asking her to marry him... tonight of all nights... filled her with an anxious energy that caused all of her muscles to go extremely tense. She took note of his own rigid form and slowly, very carefully, reached one of her hands over to grasp onto his tightly before giving him a reassuring squeeze and warm smile. The gesture had the desired effect it seemed and she watched as his head turned towards her; his dark gaze meeting her bright one before a small, soft smile pulled his thin lips upwards. Sasuke's shoulders began to relax the longer he stared at her and the pinkette let out a soft, quiet sigh of relief before returning her attention back to the female who sat across from her at the dining room table. The blonde-haired woman was one of the only people whom her parents had invited that she actually enjoyed interacting with and did so on an almost daily basis. The lady in question, was actually Sakura's boss and also a very dear friend; a platinum blonde, busty, hardworking (but slightly tipsy) woman named Tsunade Senju. Sakura absolutely adored her, for she was a very smart and admirable woman it had to be said; even if she was a drunkard... most of the time.
"So, this is the young man that you keep talking about all of the time, Sakura." Tsunade eyed him up and down before nodding her head slowly, in what appeared to be approval, while the pink-haired woman blushing profusely as she avoided Sasuke's intense stare. "I have to say... you were correct in your assessment of him. He is a rather handsome specimen indeed." Sakura's blush darkened when she spotted Sasuke's upturned lips, forming his signature smirk, from the corner of her eye; his gaze turned into one of curiosity as he took a slow sip of his drink before setting the glass back down... his orbs never leaving her, which made her fidget nervously in her seat. She swallowed slowly before attempting to defend herself.
"I don't talk about you all the time Sasuke. I..."
"Maybe it isn't all of the time Sakura, but you do have to admit that it is quite often. It's almost like you are obsessed with him or something... I can't count the number of times you've brought him up in a conversation; my memory isn't that good..." Did she say she liked Tsunade, because she was starting to dislike the woman in that moment. She gave her boss a heated, dark glare... but her reddened cheeks (due to her embarrassment) seemed to lessen the severity of it greatly; for Tsunade was smirking mirthfully at Sakura's severe discomfort with the direction in which this conversation had taken.
"I do not talk about him all of the time... you old bat," Sakura added that last part in a soft, quiet whisper under her breath, but Tsunade managed to hear her and only chuckled in her amusement before taking a large sip of her beverage. "I may have mentioned him once or twice...," Sakura continued as she followed her boss's lead; trying desperately to wet her suddenly dry throat. She needed to change the subject... and soon; this whole situation was getting out of hand.
"Ha, that's putting it lightly," Tsunade teased her further as she raised her glass in Sakura's direction; the pink-haired woman only rolled her eyes as a response.
"Anyway...," Sakura hissed in irritation; her deep blush still staining her cheeks. "How are things with you and..."
"Don't drag me into this mess," Tsunade's brown eyes flashed in irritation as the situation turned towards her; she wasn't as amused when the role was reversed and tipped her drink back fully to finish the glass before calling for another refill. "You know I don't want to talk about him. Venting is your thing... not mine. But I did want to discuss the cells research project that we have been working on."
"What about it...," Sakura asked; eager for the change in subject. Slowly, as the conversation progressed, she began to relax.
While Tsunade and Sakura continued to discuss work related matters, Sasuke placed his arm on the back of her chair while his long fingers slowly raked through the soft ends of her hair; the man allowed his other hand to rest on her upper thigh and massaged the flesh beneath his palm gently, his gaze focused on her side profile to gage her reaction to his touch.
She didn't attempt to push him away.
To the untrained eye, his lover didn't even seem to notice him at all.
But Sasuke knew that Sakura knew what he was doing because her cheeks were a bright shade of pink and her voice had grown slightly higher than normal, though she refused to even glance in his direction; most likely fearing to draw attention to what it was that he was doing to her. The Uchiha could only smirk to himself as he stared lovingly at his beautiful partner.
'Yeah, I'm ready to make you officially mine. I just hope you say yes.'
.
.
.
It was finally time, Sasuke had decided, and the poor man was a bundle of nerves as he stood stiffy beside the couch. One hand was resting in his pocket, where it was wrapped firmly around the small box that held the diamond ring, he had picked out last week for her while the other one was resting by his side; his gaze shifted to his lover and he swallowed slowly as he observed her contented expression.
'I guess this is it... it's now or never. You can do this Uchiha... just stay focused. You've got this!'
"Sakura...," he called to her softly and when she looked up at him with a gentle smile, he felt some of his nerves disappear; her presence was a strong comfort and he appreciated it greatly. He grasped onto her hand and threaded his fingers with hers; palm to palm and hand to hand.
'I can do this... focus.'
"Come with me for a minute." She nodded slowly and followed him until he stood directly in front of the Christmas tree. Sasuke stopped and turned towards her... his gaze meeting hers as he stared at her for a good minute, just holding her hand; contemplating on where he wanted to begin.
'I really hope this works, Sai.'
"Can I ask you something," he finally decided to ask and waited for her to respond; watching as her throat bobbed when she swallowed harshly.
'... Naruto was right... she knows...'
"S-Sure..." Sakura stood nervously beside him; anxiously worrying her bottom lip as she averted her eyes from his; finding herself unable to hold his intense stare for more than a few seconds at a time. Sasuke swallowed his nerves and took a long, deep breath before he began.
"Sakura, do you love me?"
Her gaze immediately went to his as her brows pulled together in confusion. She failed to notice that the rooms conversations had died down and all eyes were now focused on the young couple; ears straining to hear every word that was being spoken between the two. "Y-yes of course. What kind of question is that, Sasuke?" Having noticed the onlookers, Sasuke shifted uncomfortably on his feet as his hand tightened around hers. He noticed Sakura's mother had her hands clasped in front of her, silent tears falling from the corners of her eyes as she gazed lovingly at her daughter and hopefully soon-to-be son-in-law. He felt a small pressure beginning at his temples, but tried to ignore it and focus on only Sakura.
"... and you know that I love you too, right."
"...yes. I do."
"...very much." He saw a flicker of recognition in her viridescent gaze and watched silently as her eyes widened.
'This is it...'
"Sasuke...," her free hand went to her chest and clutched at the fabric of her dress; her eyes were wide as saucers and he thought that he could hear her heart beating frantically... but it could just be his own that was currently ringing in his eardrums. Another deep breath filled his lungs as he readied himself.
"Sakura...," he grasped her hand more tightly in his own, so that she couldn't flee, and proceeded to kneel in front of her on one knee; watching as her eyes bulged and filled with ushered tears... though, what worried him was that for some odd reason... she had grown slightly pale. He's not sure why, but he ignored it; playing it off as just a trick of the lights or something and continued with his plan and the proposal. "Sakura Haruno, I humble myself before you... knowing that this is really sudden and probably slightly crazy but... I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. It has only ever been you that has stolen my heart and held onto it for all of these years; even if you had no idea that I was still completely and utterly smitten by you. I do wish that there was a way for me to somehow take back the foolish mistakes that I made in the past... I wish that I could turn back time; but I can't. I know that I've hurt you due to my stupidity and immaturity back then, but Sakura, if you truly still love me like you say that you do... then I will spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you. I will do whatever it takes to make you happy." After his speech, Sasuke pulled the small box from his inner pocket before clicking the little button on the front with the tip of his thumb to release the lid; opening it up to reveal the beautiful, sparkling diamond ring inside that was resting on a soft, velvety cushion. He looked deeply into her watery eyes and held her gaze as he continued.
Taking a deep breath... "Sakura Haruno, will you do me the honor of becoming my bride? Will you marry me?"
Silence.
Silence.
And more silence.
Sasuke watched anxiously as her mouth opened and then shut; her hand shook in his grip and her skin grew even paler. He couldn't play it off as a trick of the lights any longer and he was growing concerned; starting to feel slightly self-conscious as every single eye in the room was now on them; though he was concerned for her own well-being as she seemed to be suffering from... something. You could hear a pen drop from a mile away, due to the immense silence that perforated the entire room. "Sakura..."
He watched her swallow; then blink several times before she clutched his hand firmly. "S-Sasuke... I... y-yes... my answer is yes." He was overjoyed with her answer, but that soon turned to startling and immense fear as he watched her begin to sway on her feet; her eyes then rolled to the back of her head before she collapsed... falling into his arms; unconscious. He clutched her tightly to his chest as he looked at her slumped form in terror.
"SAKURA!"
.
.
.
Sakura felt herself stirring from a deep slumber; sounds slowly growing from a dull hum to actual words as the pinkette became more aware of her surroundings. Her fingers twitched as she felt her consciousness returning to her slowly and her breathing increased drastically. "Hold on guys... I think that Sakura's finally waking up...," a deep, masculine voice sounded from her right side as a dark shadow crossed over her closed eyelids; as if someone was hovering over her slightly to get a better view of her. She wasn't fully aware yet, but was still able to recognize the voice as that of her blonde-haired friend, Naruto.
"Give her some space, you idiot," a rough, deep... very familiar male voice sounded to her left and her body jostling slightly as the figure of her lover moved to push the other man away from her. She heard a soft grunt followed by a loud curse from the blonde-headed male as he fell to the floor with a dull thud.
"I can't believe she fainted...," the feminine voice of her friend Ino could be heard at the foot of the bed she was currently laying on and Sakura felt that if her eyes were opened at that point in time, then she would have rolled them in annoyance.
The pink-haired woman groaned softly when she finally became fully conscious and she rolled her head to one side before opening her eyes slowly. She found herself lying flat on her back upon her own plush mattress... surrounded by all of her closest friends while they starred back at her with a mixture of swirling emotions. Some with anxiety, some with relief and one... as in her 'best friend' Ino... was looking at Sakura with severe displeasure and disappointment written all over her face. "W-what happened to me?" She was almost certain that she knew the answer already, but felt compelled to ask the question regardless.
"You fainted... stupid girl." Sakura scowled at her friend and was about to tell her off when she felt a large hand grasp onto her thin shoulder gently before rough fingers brushed at a few strands of pink hair that rested on one of her cheeks. She turned her head slightly to see a worried looking Sasuke sitting directly beside her; his orbs were searching her prone form for just a minute before they met hers once again.
"How are you feeling," he asked softly; causing the other occupants in her room to widen their gazes; shocked by his rare show of tenderness.
Sakura ignored them and focused on him; letting her lips pull up into a warm smile as she reached for his hand to lace her fingers between his. "I'm fine, Sasuke. You don't have to worry. I just got... overstimulated, I guess. I will be fine."
"Sure, he does," Ino chimed in as she placed her hands on her hips. "His fiancé just fainted in front of him... right after he fucking proposed. So of course, he's going to worry!" Sasuke's expression turned into a deep scowl before he removed his gaze from hers to looking at the other people in the room.
"Can you give us a minute?" Hinata was the only one whom seemed to understand the intensity (and vulnerability) behind Sasuke's question and decided to speak up for the others, to get them moving; knowing that Sakura was okay now and that the couple would need some alone time to figure things out between them.
"Sure," Hinata whispered as she quickly ushered the others from of the room before closing the door softly behind them. Almost immediately, the dark-haired male had pulled Sakura into a tight, warm embrace; burying his face in the crook of her neck while wrapping his arms tightly around her thin waist. Sakura mirrored his actions and closed her eyes; breathing in deeply to saver the comforting scent that was uniquely Sasuke and his strong, safe hold.
"I'm so sorry that I worried you Sasuke..."
"Shh. It's alright Sakura." He pulled away slightly to give her a gentle smile and to brush his thumb against the soft skin of her bottom lip. "I'm just glad that you're feeling better. But... if us getting married is going to be that stressful for you, then we can just..."
"Why would it be stressful, Sasuke?" Sakura was confused and tilted her head to the side slightly as she stared into his dark eyes; her small hands coming up to tangle themselves through the thick strands of his black hair at the base of his neck. She watched as his throat visibly bobbed as he swallowed slowly and she could hear his breath as it started to come out more harshly. She knew that she was having an affect him and had to hold back the knowing smirk that threaten to present itself to him; which would effectively ruin the entire mood of their current conversation. 'Be serious Sakura... you just need to focus. Breath.'
"You... just fainted, Sakura..."
"I know that but... I... I was just so overwhelmed." She moved her hands to grasp onto his chiseled jaw and pulled him in for a passionate kiss; when they slowly parted... it was much to Sasuke's displeasure; though he chose to keep that fact to himself. She held him close as she whispered her next works softly against his ear. "I want to marry you, Sasuke... that's why I said yes. I love you."
"Are... are you sure through... that it's what you truly want?" Sasuke had to know; he had to know that she was completely certain with her final decision. The pinkette pulled away from him and held the Uchiha at arm's length; green piercing straight through black as the intensity behind his lover's orbs gave Sasuke the answer that he had been searching for.
"Absolutely Sasuke. I've never... ever... been surer of anything in my life. You are the only man for me; the only one I want to be with for the rest of my life. Haven't you been listening to a word that I've said... I told you already, but I will tell you time and time again; until you understand. I love you, Sasuke Uchiha. I love you so, so much and I want to be your wife; I want to marry you. I want to have your baby's someday... (that one made him chuckle) and I want to grow old with you."
Sasuke fought off a smile as he leaned into her; pressing his forehead against hers as he laced his long fingers through her pink hair, at the back of her neck. "You want to know something...," he softly whispered against her lips; his dark eyes closing briefly as he took in a sharp breath.
"What...?" Her response was just as breathy as his and her grip on him tightened. She felt tears begin to form in the corners of her eyes before they then dripped silently downwards; making a line of long, wet streaks along the soft expanse of her heated cheeks.
"All I've been wanting for Christmas this year...," he whispered as he pulled her even closer; their lips just a few inches apart now and their irises locked onto each other. "...is you; and now... I have you." She smiled and then kissed him again; the young couple completely tuning the rest of the world out for the remainder of the evening as they chose to celebrate their love and happiness together; in a heated and passionate moment that was solely meant for the two of them... and long overdue.
When Sasuke held Sakura's naked, sleeping form against his chest that night, he gently kissed the top of her head before closing his eyes to join her in night's slumber. The last thing on his mind was how much he loved her and how thankful he was to have her back in his life... for the rest of his life.
Their future was now set and only time would be able to heal any remaining wounds that lingered between the two as they navigated this new chapter of their life.
Their love would help to bind them together... for the rest of their lives...
...and that was all they really needed; in the end.
Author's Notes:
(Sasusaku au. Sakura is a very, very forgiving person in this fanfic just a heads up and it is a little fast pace. I hope you still like it anyway. I will most likely go back and improve this short story in the future but for now I hope you enjoy it as is.)
Note: Sakura is very influenced by her love for Sasuke. She is also a very forgiving person so I feel it effects most of her decisions to so readily forgive him; especially since it's not like he cheated on her or anything! That would be unforgivable in my books!
.
.
.
If any of these sound like your own writing or another you have read I apologize but I didn't copy anyone's work. This is entirely my own writing.
