Chapter 4: Proposal

"Damn."

Sakura muttered a curse as she felt a sharp pain in her right hand. Quickly she withdrew her hand from the wall and used her other hand to rub the injured area. Her fingers came into contact with a sticky substance that led Sakura to believe she was bleeding. Smothering another curse Sakura ignored the pain and continued to make her way back to the bed, using her hands to guide her. After the explosion had occurred, Sakura had felt Kakashi grab her hand, but in the middle of their escape one of the floorboards had cracked under her weight causing her to fall to the ground. All she remembered was that she had passed out, and when she had come to, she had no idea where she was. Deciding it was best for her to explore than sit around, Sakura had slowly made her way around the large room until she came across the familiar shape of a doorknob. Unfortunately, it wouldn't open.

"Ouch."

She had found the bed. With a sigh, Sakura plopped down on the bed and gently rubbed her foot that she had hurt when she ran into one of the bedposts.

"Are you alright?"

Sakura froze as she recognized the voice.

"Uchiha Sasuke?"

Instead of replying, Sasuke walked over to Sakura and gently took her hand. Upon closer examination, he saw that she was bleeding. With a sigh he walked over to the bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit.

"Wait."

Sakura proceeded to get up from the bed, but she felt Sasuke's warm hand gently push her down.

"Sit down."

Sakura complied as she heard Sasuke begin to rummage through something.

"This is going to sting."

Within in seconds, Sakura felt another wave of pain radiating from her injured hand. Biting her tongue, she waited until the pain subsided and felt the scratchy material of a bandage being wrapped around her hand.

"What happened?"

"What, no thank you? Where are your manners, Haruno Sakura?"

"Why do I need to thank the person responsible for causing this injury? If we are talking about manners, I believe you owe me an apology."

Sasuke chuckled as he put the first aid kit away. Even though he had the advantage over her, she still chose to talk back.

"Fair enough. I am sorry, but I did not expect to run into you at a yakuza engagement party, let alone be the fiancée of the organization I detest."

Sakura sighed before replying to Sasuke.

"It wasn't my choice. I am only doing what is expected of me."

"Oh? Yet, you adamantly rejected the proposal and accused the group of murdering your mother and causing you your injury."

"When one berates you for being physically impaired, it is only natural to lash out. Not to mention, I was only stating a fact. The Furido group was responsible for the Naka incident. Anyone with a bit of common sense could've put two and two together."

Sasuke smiled in response. What she said was true, everyone knew that the Furido group was responsible, but chose to turn a blind eye because no one wanted to start a war with the syndicate. What they lacked in strength, they made up for in numbers. It is also why Sasuke had spent a year preparing his plan to destroy the group, but finding out that Sakura is Sasori's fiancée would be very problematic.

"What do you plan to do?"

Sasuke broke from his thoughts to look at Sakura who was sitting on the bed. She still looked gorgeous in her vivacious red dress, although her hair had escaped its hold and was tumbling across her shoulders. Looking at her eyes, Sasuke immediately recalled what the asshole Sasori had said. In an instant Sasuke knew what he wanted to do.

"Marry you."

"Where are you taking me?"

Naruto sighed as he continued making his way down the tunnel that would eventually take them to the Karasu's main house. He was still trying to figure out why the hell Sasuke had ordered him to bring the silver haired dude to the main house. Of course, Naruto was pissed at the fact that Sasuke got to take care of the pink haired woman while he was stuck with this dude.

"That's it."

In a flash, Kakashi pinned Naruto against the wall with his hidden blade poised for attack.

"Where is she?"

Naruto eyed the man and was seriously considering attacking but decided against it. He wasn't in the mood for a fight.

"She's with Sasuke and that is where I am taking you right now."

"What does he plan to do to her?"

"Hell if I know. All Sasuke told me was to find you and take you to the main house. He would be waiting there with Sakura."

Kakashi watched Naruto as he processed the information. The guy seemed to be telling the truth...

"You are Sasuke's right hand man. Why would he keep you out of the loop?"

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. So the man did know about him and Sasuke. Then again, he was part of the Haruno group so it is expected that he be informed about the other gangs.

"True , but I swear I don't know anything. Besides, if you look at the situation logically, I do not harbor any feelings of ill will towards you. All I am doing is just following orders."

Kakashi realized what Naruto was saying was true. He had allowed his emotions to take over, causing him to act unreasonable. Kakashi released Naruto and quickly sheathed his blade.

"Very well. Just bring me to her."

Naruto glanced at Kakashi before he started continuing down the path.

"You really care about her."

"Of course. Can you imagine what it would feel like to know the one you care about is in danger and you can't do anything about it?"

Naruto took a minute before he could answer the man's question.

"Yeah, I know the feeling."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because, my belief about marriage is that one should only marry out of love."

"How juvenile."

"How is that juvenile? What is wrong with wanting to marry someone out of love and enjoy those moments of happiness with them?"

"Simple. You cannot expect to find happiness in our world that is ruled only by pain and sadness."

"That is not true!"

"Yes it is. I will tell you now that this world is cruel. In an instant the ones you love can be taken away from you. How can you be so irrational to think or even hope to find happiness in this world?"

Sakura could hear the bitterness in Sasuke's voice and a part of her wanted to reach out to comfort him. She knew what is was like to lose a loved one.

"I am not being irrational. Even though I lost my mother, I choose to recall the happy moments I had with her instead of dwelling on my hatred for the ones who had caused her death. You cannot close yourself off from the possibility of finding happiness just because you are afraid it will be taken away from you."

"Are you telling me that you do not wish to seek revenge on Furido's group for killing your mother."

"Of course I do! But I will not let my desire for revenge stop me from falling in love or loving someone. How can you be so pessimistic? "

"I am not being pessimistic. I am just being realistic. How can you be so optimistic?"

Sakura felt something break inside of her.

"Because if I choose to dwell on all of the painful events that have occurred, I would've killed myself long ago!"

Silence filled the room as Sasuke absorbed what Sakura had said. Feeling that he had stepped on a landmine, Sasuke walked over to Sakura and gently took her in his arms. At first she refused but after a few moments she gave in and accepted his embrace.

"I'm sorry."

"No. It is my fault. I was overcome by my own emotions. Besides, I understand where you are coming from. A lot of the heads of the different syndicates choose to marry out of convenience so they wouldn't have to worry about losing someone they hold dear."

"That is true, but I assume your father did not?"

"No he didn't, which is why a lot of our members have noticed a change in my father. Before my mother's death, my father was always interacting with the other members making them feel as if they were our family, but after she died, he became distant with everyone, myself included."

"Losing a loved one is a heavy toll."

"I know, but being able to experience those moments of blissful happiness makes up for it."

Sasuke was silent as he continued to hold Sakura in his arms. She felt so right in his arms that he found it difficult to let her go.

"Hey Sasuke, I brought the..."

Naruto trailed off as he entered the room and found Sasuke embracing the pink-haired girl. His mouth dropped open in response.

"Sakura?"

"Kakashi?"

As soon as Sakura heard Kakashi's voice, she quickly withdrew from Sasuke. Reaching her hand out, she started walking in the direction of Kakashi's voice. She didn't have to go far because Kakashi raced over to her and quickly pulled her in for a tight embrace. She could feel the tension in his shoulders as she returned his hug.

"Are you alright?"

Kakashi let go of Sakura and quickly examined her. His eyes zeroed in on her bandaged hand. Gently he reached for her hand to examine the neatly bandaged hand.

"What happened?"

"I cut myself while walking along the walls. Sasuke took care of it for me."

Kakashi glanced over the top of Sakura's head to see Sasuke with an indifferent expression observing them. Although he looked as if he didn't care, Kakashi could see an indescribable emotion lurking in the man's ebony eyes.

"Thank you for taking care of her, but what are your intentions?"

Sasuke continued to stare at that silver haired man who still had his arms around Sakura. What was he to her?

"Well?"

"I plan to marry her."

Kakashi froze for a heartbeat as he heard Sasuke reveal his intentions. He couldn't believe it.

"What? I thought you wanted to kill her."

Sasuke and Kakashi immediately turned their attention to Naruto who was in turn looking back at Sasuke.

"Shut up Naruto."

"Wait."

Sakura pushed herself away from Kakashi and turned to face the direction where she had heard Naruto's voice.

"Can you please explain, Naruto?"

Naruto was temporarily tongue tied as he got an up close view of Sakura. She was really pretty, but it were her eyes that Naruto couldn't stop staring at. They were a bright shade of green but it was muted by a murky cloud that took the place of her pupils.

"Naruto?"

"Oh, sorry about that I was distracted. The original plan was that Sasuke wanted to kill anyone that was related to Furido's group, including the fiancée which is you."

"Did he give a reason as to why he wanted to kill me?"

"He thought that he would be doing you a favor since it was highly likely that you were being forced to marry into the group."

That did it. Anger coursed through Sakura as she glared at Naruto.

"Bastard!"

Sasuke groaned as Naruto revealed his original plan. For once he wished Naruto would listen when he told him to shut up.

"Sakura."

Hearing his voice, Sakura immediately turned her glare in Sasuke's direction.

"If you planned to kill me, why did you even want me to marry you? Did you do it out of pity?"

"No, it's because I thought it would be the best solution. You wouldn't have to marry a man who took part in the Naka district incident and I wouldn't have to kill you..."

"So if you had found out I wasn't the fiancée, but instead it was some random girl from another group, you would've went forth with your plan?"

"...Yes."

"You are an asshole."

"I won't let anything stop me from obtaining my revenge. Not everyone can be optimistic like you."

Sakura heard the cold and mocking tone in Sasuke's voice. She couldn't believe that this was the same guy that was comforting her moments ago.

"Kakashi, let's go."

Kakashi who was observing the fight from the sidelines walked over to Sakura and began leading her out the door.

"Wait!"

Sakura and Kakashi paused in the doorway as Naruto called out for them to stop.

"Let Sasuke explain..."

Naruto looked at Sasuke who was looking out the window. Muttering a groan Naruto glanced helplessly at Kakashi and Sakura.

"It is obvious that we have very different viewpoints. Thank you Naruto for bringing Kakashi here. We will take our leave. But before I go, some advice for Sasuke. Try not to let your desire for revenge blind you from your emotions and humanity. Otherwise, you are no better than Kazuma and his group!"

"Sakura..."

"What is it Kakashi?"

"The reason why you got so angry...it's because you were thinking about Konan?"

Sakura could only nod in response. Konan was her longtime friend that was killed due to her involvement with the Akatsuki. Although Konan was originally part of Haruno group, she had fallen in love with Yahiko the head of the Akatsuki. When Kizashi had found out, he immediately forbade her from continuing the relationship, but Sakura knew that Konan had ignored him. Mainly because she had assisted her in sneaking out to meet Yahiko. Unfortunately, an enemy of the Akatsuki had found out about their relationship and used it to their advantage. Konan was killed along with Yahiko and a majority of the Akatsuki group. The rest dispersed. When Sakura had found out, she tried to convince her father to find the ones responsible, but he refused.

"She made her decision."

"But she was only in love with Yahiko. She didn't belong to the group."

"It doesn't matter."

Sakura had despised Kizashi then and even now, she still was not happy with her father's way of handling that situation.

"She didn't deserve to die."

"I know...but Sakura, she was happy."

Sakura laid her head against Kakashi's shoulder as they waited for the car to pick them up.

"She was..."

"Sasuke."

"What?"

Naruto watched as Sasuke took a long drag from the cigarette and blew the smoke out into the night. At least he had the decency to open the window so the entire room wouldn't smell like smoke.

"Why did you say that?"

Sasuke didn't even want to reply to Naruto. He was already feeling guilty for flinging those hurtful words at Sakura.

"I don't know."

Naruto leaned against the wall and looked out into the night sky. The stars were out and it helped illuminate the dark night.

"She's right."

"Yeah, I know."

Sasuke put out his cigarette in the ash tray that he always kept on the window sill. He let out a long sigh as he ran his hand through his midnight black hair. What Sakura had said was true. If he had actually went through with his plan to kill the fiancée just because she was forced to marry into Furido's group, he would've been no better than Kazuma. Why is it that he hadn't been able to see that? Was he really allowing his desire for revenge blind him?

"What do you want to do Sasuke?"

"We will still go through with the plan. I want half of our group members to head out to take away all of Kazuma's territories until all he is left with is Naka district. Then we will go for a full out attack on that district. Naruto, you will be in charge of the group that is leaving tomorrow night. Be ready by then."

"Alright, but what are your plans with the girl?"

Silence filled the room. As of now, Sasuke didn't know what to do about Sakura. He didn't want to kill her and she had rejected his proposal, although he would admit that he acted like an asshole. Still, there was a part of him that had hoped she would have accepted his proposal.

"You like her, don't you?"

"Yeah, it seems I do."

"Seems? Let me ask you this Sasuke, when was the last time you had comforted a girl?"

"Hmph, I don't remember."

"That's because you never did. You were always cold to them, even when you were dating them."

"...I wasn't..."

"Do you want me to call up all your exes and have them tell you how distant you were? They all said that you were going through the motions of dating but they never felt as if you actually cared about them."

"How the hell do you know?"

"Because they were always coming to me asking twenty thousand questions about you. Man, I never knew how much a girl could cry over one guy. I mean, I was starting to dislike you after hearing what those girls had said about you."

"Tch."

"But there was something different about the way you had dealt with Sakura tonight. It actually seemed like you care for her."

Sasuke thought about it for a bit and Naruto was right. He was actually worried about Sakura when he had found her unconscious and he was sorry for saying those things to her. Plus, he had enjoyed kissing her when they had first met.

"See, you even noticed."

"..."

Naruto groaned in response to Sasuke's silence.

"I will tell you this Sasuke, if you like her, then go after her. Otherwise, you are going to regret it for the rest of your life."

"You know better than I do how difficult it is to allow oneself to actually care about someone in this lifestyle."

Naruto furrowed his brows as he reached over and grabbed Sasuke by the shirt. When he spoke, it was in an angry whisper.

"I do and I do not regret loving Hinata. Those moments we had together were the happiest moments of my life. Now listen to me for once. Do not pass up the opportunity to experience happiness when it is given to you, because you are right, you will never know if you will have a chance to experience it again."

Sasuke could see the tears forming in Naruto's eyes and decided it was best to just listen to him for once.

"I guess you are right."

Satisfied, Naruto released Sasuke who proceeded to fix his shirt.

"First things first, go apologize to her and bring her flowers. That might make it easier for her to accept your apology."

"I have been in relationships before Naruto."

"Yeah, but you didn't even have to make an effort in any of them. This time you do."

Sasuke rolled his eyes in response, which caused Naruto to smile a bit.

" This will be interesting, Sasuke trying to woe a girl, who is engaged no less."

"Shut up and get out. You have to be ready for tomorrow."

Naruto chuckled and turned to leave.

"Best of luck, Sasuke."

Just as Naruto was about to walk out of the room, Sasuke's voice stopped him.

"Was it really worth it?"

Naruto lowered his head and whispered his response before he headed towards him room, leaving Sasuke alone to think about what he had said.

"Yeah, it was."