CHAPTER 24 COVER

Sakura is standing on top of a rail dressed in a white dress and grey wool button up coat with bare feet. Her arms are spread out and her eyes are closed. Below her on the ground is Naruto, staring up at her, dressed in black skinny jeans, and a white t shirt hidden under a long knee length black coat with his hands dug into the pockets.

WANTED: A PINK HAIRED WIFE

Summary: Sakura gaped as she looked at the sign before doing a double take. Yup, she wasn't dreaming. There, on the sign in front of the mansion, was stating that Uchiha Sasuke needed a wife. And it was her lucky day she became the hired wife.

Disclaimer: I don't own the world either.

CHAPTER 24

They could never be together.

"Marry me."

And they never will.

"I…"

Before they could find their own happiness… they must wait for something…something to happen…

"…love you…"

…Makoto…

You know, some people told me that when you grow up, you'll always end up with the person you love.

But that's not the truth, and it's just my luck that I had to learn it the hard way. In this world, there is no such thing as a happy ending. Because we all know, in the end, we will all have to fade away eventually. So it's best to uphold and appreciate the days that we do have to laugh and smile.

The diaper days, when we're so small and barely know how dangerous the world we're in could be to us. When we think of our mothers as 'the best people in the world.' When we know our father as 'the person that makes us happy.' When we think that life is so easy and it will always be done and chosen for us. When we think our parents will be the ones to always decide what path we take in our lives and do things for us.

The childhood days, when we pretend we know things and have silly little crushes that we claim to be 'in love.' When we get a better understanding of the world around us. When we realize what we once thought of the world was no more. When we think that we're so grown up and know things just like adults do. When we think it doesn't matter what our parents say, we can do whatever we want to ourselves.

The preteen days, when we have long crushes and have relationships. When we say, "You're always controlling me!" to our parents. When we say, "A few more minutes mom!" in the morning. When we shut ourselves alone and lock away our private life at school to ourselves. When we tell ourselves, "I can do this." When we hope that we'll be popular and pretty in high school.

The teenager days, when we kiss and hug all day long, having just one person in our heads throughout the whole time. When we say, "I love you" the most. When we believe that we'll grow up and marry that one person. When we think we're so independent yet we still rely on our parents' money to live. When we… take our chances for granted.

The pre-adulthood days, when we finally understand we were not in love, just pretending to be. When we try to keep ourselves alive while managing hours of college and university life. When we try to ignore the people that just don't matter. When we apply for jobs only to be crestfallen when we're not accepted. When we drink tons of coffee to try to stay awake.

The adulthood days, when we at last know and realize… love is just another name for pain.

She sat there on the large rock, rocking herself asleep to the sound of the waves as she held the glass of wine in one hand while the bottle of wine sat on the sand, waiting for her to touch. She looked at the waves; seeming almost dazed an entranced if not unconscious. She smiled softly to no one in particular as she ignored the cold that infested itself in her skin.

She ignored the fact that it was freezing this time of night and she ignored the fact that Makoto was probably kissing Sasuke like crazy. Ignoring the fact the two were in one bedroom together, ever so happy… she just wanted to ignore it all. She let out a sigh as she sipped once more her wine quietly.

The beach was empty, no one there except for a few couples sitting faraway, trapped in their own little worlds. The teenager days… she chuckled to herself silently as she drunkenly dropped the glass onto the ground. It landed alarmingly onto the sand, still unbroken but alert and slightly damaged.

Sakura laughed as she kicked off her pumps, not caring how expensive they were as they just sat there on the sand. She arched back and laid her body onto the rock's hard surface as she let her ears brim with unshed tears. She opened her eyes halfway so she could just take a small glimpse at the dark sky ahead of her.

It looked so inviting… all dark and velvety with glistening ornaments adorned onto it. It's what we call stars… no? She slurred, nearly falling off the rock had a strong arm not lifted her up. "Mmm…" she groaned looking up angrily at the person that stopped her fall. She could barely take in their features. Huh…spiky blonde hair and blue eyes? Hm… who is this…?

"Sakura-chan, what are you doing here? It's cold out and you're drinking,"

Oh…! Haha… it's pretty Naruto! "Ne? Naruto…? Mmm… haha, what are you doing here? And I'm just enjoying myself… haha…" Sakura giggled as she looked up at him. Her cheeks were flushed red and he could see the way tears were threatening to fall. Naruto frowned, lifting her into his arms as he sat himself on the rock, letting her lean on his chest.

His hand accidentally brushed against her forehead and his eyes widened. "Sakura-chan you're burning up! What have you done to yourself?!" he shouted at her as he felt her heated forehead. He looked at her when he received no reply and he parted his lips slightly when he saw tears running down her cheeks.

The tears that she hadn't shed in that restaurant.

"Ne…you know Naruto? I thought I was going to have a happy ending like every princess in those cute little Disney movies always do… haha…-hiccup!- I'm pretty stupid huh?" Sakura murmured as she smiled up at him. She hiccupped once more as he took off his blazer so he could lay it on her body, trying to keep her warm as he wrapped his arms around her thin body.

"…" he didn't reply as he tried his best to keep her warm. "We should get you home…" he said softly as he brushed away some hair on her face. She sniffed before looking at him alarming, shaking her head gently. "N-No! I want to stay here! I want… I want here! Here!" she cried out childishly as she swung her arms around.

Naruto pulled her arms back inside the blazer as he sighed. "Alright Sakura-chan, here…" he whispered as he tried his best to warm her. She relaxed, leaning against him. She took in the waves and night sky before her as she slowly closed her eyes, breathing in the scent of the beach and the scent of… Naruto…

"You know… I loved him a lot…" Sakura whispered as she cried, gasping in and out sleepily. "I loved him so much… it hurts. You know Naruto? To love someone like this… it really hurts!" she cried out alarmingly as she whimpered to herself.

She stayed quiet after as she fell to sleep. "I…love…you…" Naruto's ears perked up as he widened his eyes. Did she just…?! "Sasuke…kun……" his eyes drooped as he relaxed his tensed shoulders before looking away from the sleeping girl.

That's right isn't it? She was in love with Uchiha Sasuke and always will be.

There was no place in her heart for little ole Uzumaki Naruto.

Sakura-chan…

"I love you…" he whispered to thin air, already positive she couldn't even hear him in the least even if he was so close to her ear. He chuckled softly, a small rumbling in his chest as he sniffed, wiping away some tears forming in his eyes. "Damn it…the teme would love to see this…" he murmured to himself as he defied the falling tears.

But they didn't stop falling.

They just didn't.

They couldn't stop falling.

Because…

Ah… love is a backstabbing bitch…

He cradled her head in his arms, placing his chin atop her head as he took in the soft breathing coming from the one woman he loved the most.

"Hinata-sama," Neji called out her name as he watched her lean against the tall and large window of the living room. Hinata turned to look at him with small dismay as she sent him a small smile. "It's late, what are you still doing, asleep?" he asked his younger cousin as he walked up to her, proceeding to take her back to her room for rest.

She shook her head, shaking his hand off her arms gently. "Iie, you should get some rest, N-Neji-nii-san. I want to stay here for a bit longer, and you have a date with Tenten-chan tomorrow, you should look your best," she smiled brightly at him when she saw the faint blush on his cheeks at the mention of his newly found girlfriend.

Neji nodded as he backed up a bit, "Then oyasumi, Hinata-sama," he said respectfully as she nodded to him. He nodded back before turning to go upstairs.

Hinata looked out he large window once more as she crossed her arms around her chest, warming her body up. She knew where Naruto had gone when they had finished dinner. She had seen him looking around frantically to where Sakura could have gone. Sakura was walking because Tenten had driven her there, but she wasn't with Tenten.

And they had seen her buy a bottle of wine and a glass from a bartender there as well.

She let her breath heat up the cold window as she placed a hand softly onto the glass. "Do you really…love her that much?" she whispered as she let her eyes close to prevent any tears from falling. But one had still escaped her eyelids… "That even after a year… you can't say goodbye to her? That you can't… love another instead?"

"I love you…Naruto-kun…"

If only she could say it to him so easily.

"Sasuke-kun…did you ask me because you really love me?" Makoto questioned innocently as she sat in the car after he had arrived at her house. He put the car on park as he remained silent before giving out a slow and secretly hesitant nod. Makoto smiled as she nodded, leaning over to peck him on the cheek before admiring the ring on her left hand. "It's beautiful… I'm glad you took time to pick this out for me…"

He flinched when she said the words 'for me.' He grimly nodded once more as Makoto sighed aloud. "Mou, Sasuke-kun, if you want to be a good father, you should learn how to talk properly or else our kids might grow up to be vocabulary-lacked just like you!" Makoto complained as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

Sasuke looked at her, "Hn…" he replied simply as he looked away from her and to the window. He looked back at her when he felt pressure on his lap and saw that she had climbed onto his lap. "Makoto…what are you doing?" he asked her as he narrowed his eyes. Makoto pouted as she leaned down to give him a quick kiss on the joint between his neck and his shoulder.

"Maybe… we should start… giving you an heir…" she whispered to him heatedly as she slipped off her jacket. Sasuke widened his eyes and mentally froze, he tried to move but he was locked under her. Makoto turned a switch on the side of his chair so that the chair sprung down into a small bed-ish looking thing.

Sasuke grunted, turning his head as she slipped off her shirt. Makoto giggled, "Oh Sasuke-kun, you don't have to be shy… we're engaged… and besides… we love each other… and I want to be yours and only yours and I want you to be mine and only mine…" she murmured to him as she leaned down, grabbing his hand so it was positioned above her breast.

Sasuke looked at her face and glared at her gently, he threw her shirt at her before opening the door stepping out. "I'm tired, and you are too, so go get some rest, Makoto…" Sasuke said as he closed the door to give her some privacy for her to put her shirt on. It was silent in the car and he knew she was saddened (A/N; Try PISSED OFF Uchiha, but good job!!)

The door opened a couple seconds later revealing a fully dressed Makoto. She looked at Sasuke who had his back turned to her. She stepped up to him to nibble his ear softly before pulling away when he didn't do anything. "I'll wait for you when you're ready…" she trailed her hand down his back before turning around to enter her house.

Sasuke finally turned around when she was gone. He let out a sigh as he rubbed his forehead. Sakura…

Sakura stirred as she woke up, she opened her eyes blurrily, and groaned when she felt a major headache coming on. "Damn alcohol…" she looked around and widened her eyes. "Aw crap… where am I? This isn't the hotel…" she murmured as she looked around. The room was a decent size albeit a bit messy.

She turned and froze when she saw a note on the bedside table. She picked it up and read it aloud.

"Sakura-chan… it's Naruto, you're at my house. You fell asleep at the beach yesterday so I brought you back here. Sorry if you're uncomfortable, and I know my room's a bit messy… OK. A LOT messy, but I hope you don't mind. I didn't have time to fix it up, and you were running a fever last night, so I left some medicine for you in the kitchen counter table. And sorry, I don't have any hangover cures. I just usually wear my hangovers out until they're gone. There's a glass of warm water there too so yeah… feel free to go around and explore!! I'm buying some breakfast outside right now so I'll be back in a couple minutes. Stay safe ok? –Naruto :)"

She smiled to herself as she stretched and got off the bed, slightly tripping since she had a hangover. She made her way to the door with some support from the wall. She walked out of the room and proceeded out of the hallway until she reached the living room connected to the kitchen. She made her way to the kitchen and found the said medicine and water there.

She sighed as she plopped the medicine in her mouth and gulped it down with the warm water. She walked over to the living room and curled up on the couch as she turned on the TV. She saw a DVD by the floor. She walked over to it and picked it up only to giggle slightly when she saw the title.

Titanic

How cute, he's a romantic. She thought quietly to herself as she placed the DVD into the player and walked back to make herself at home on the couch as the movie started.

He's so sweet to me… she sighed as she took the topic out of her head and relaxed herself.

She didn't need to cry more than she already did.

"Sakura-chan! I'm back! Are you awake?!" Naruto cried out as he closed the door behind him, slipping off his shoes. He looked around for the girl and found some pink on his couch. He walked over to her and smiled only to let his smile fade when he saw her cheeks infested with dry tears. "S-Sakura-chan! What happened! Why are you crying!?"

He was inwardly hoping she wouldn't say Sasuke. Sakura turned around to look at him in surprise. "U-Uh, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I mean, bad memories should be forgotten. If you know what I mean, you know? But uh, aw crap am I making this worse?! G-Gomen Sakura-chan!!" he stuttered as he tried to stop her from telling him.

Sakura stared at him before bursting into a fit of giggles. Naruto blinked and stopped ranting to look at her like she had grown another head. Sakura calmed herself before smiling at him widely, a faint blush sprouted on his cheeks. She's so… "Haha! No Naruto! I'm not crying because of anything big, I just finished watching Titanic! Haha, no need to fret Wonder Boy!" Sakura smiled brightly at him.

Naruto widened his eyes, "Oh… OK… uh… wait… T-Titanic?! Uh it's not m-mine! I swear! We had a sleepover one day and Ino brought it over! I'm serious! It's not mine! You have to believe me! Uh, I'll go return it to Ino to prove it to you! I didn't really like the movie anyways… too sad…" he mumbled the last part to himself.

Sakura giggled again before shaking her head at him, "Silly Naruto. There's nothing wrong with you watching it. It's an awesome movie! Here sit down with me; we'll watch it together now while eating breakfast!" Sakura grinned at him as she gestured to the bag of food he had in his hands and patted the spot beside her.

Naruto blinked, trying to register what had just happened before letting a warm smile bloom on his face. "OK!" he grinned as he nearly skipped over to sit beside her. He smiled at her as he blocked out all other sounds around him, just listening to her speak as she pressed play on the remote once again.

"You know it's a really nice movie albeit a bit too sad. But it's a true story and it's so amazing to know such a wonderful love story really happened in real life and…"

He let her trail on, not really caring she was ranting as he took in the features on her face. Her eyes were still slightly puffy from the crying but there was a bright and truthful smile on that face and it was all he needed to see to be happy…

It was quiet… the movie had ended a couple minutes ago and now they were just sitting on the couch, with her head laid on his shoulder as she had her eyes closed. He was staring into the black screen of the TV with his eyes blank. He stayed silent so he could listen to her soft breathing as she rested her eyes.

He peeked down just a little bit to look at her, a smile painted itself on his face.

Sakura-chan… I…

He broke out of his thoughts when he heard a sigh escape from her lips. He looked at her as she opened her eyes slowly to peer up at him. "…Sakura-chan?" he murmured quietly as she pulled her head away from his shoulder to look at him fully. She continued to stare at him for a while before he decided to break the awkward silence.

But it was like his throat dried up.

Her jade eyes were… intoxicating. They were like a drug… once you looked at them, you couldn't look away.

…

"Sakura-chan, is something wrong? Is something on my face? Because if there is you could just-!"

He froze on his sentence, when he felt a small, warm hand lay itself on his cheek. A thumb rubbed against it gently as she looked at him with eyes so…

Pained…

"Why do you care so much about me… Naruto?"

It shocked him to know that she didn't know why he was always so caring towards her.

"Why do you treat me so sweetly when I've never done anything for you?"

It made him want to slap her (softly) when he heard that.

"Why… why do you act like you—…"

…

He sighed, interrupting her sentence. She looked at him with confusion. He looked into her eyes determinedly, his own cerulean blue ones lighting up with unspoken determination.

"I love you."

Her eyes widened by a fraction, but he didn't let her respond.

"I'm not asking for a response. I just want you to know that… I really love you, Sakura-chan. Though it's weird because we haven't really known each for the longest of times… but I love you. And I don't need you to love me back, and I don't want you to. Because I know in your heart, Sasuke-teme is always the winner.

"And… if he makes you happy… then I'm happy… because you're… you're the first miracle I've ever had in my life, before you came, I didn't know what loving meant. I was stupid and thought it was something like kissing then you just move onto another… I didn't have a real girlfriend because I didn't know what I'd have to do. But when I met you… I felt like I've known how to love someone since I was born. But I don't want to force you to love me… because I love you."

I would call you up every Saturday night
And we both stayed up 'til the morning light
And we sang, "Here we go again"
And though time goes by
I will always be
In a club with you
In 1973
Singing "Here we go again"

She smiled softly at him as she pecked him gently on the cheek before laying her head on his chest, letting him cradle her against him.

His ears perked up when they heard her let out a long sigh as she closed her eyes, after looking at him for the last time.

"Thank you…"

…

It was quiet.

Except for the silent sobs that he tried to keep hidden…

His heart broke.

Credits—

1973 by James Blunt

--Note: There's really no resemblance between that song and this story, but I just put it there because it's a really nice song that kind of describes Sakura and Naruto's relationship. Not exactly, but he always stayed up with her whenever she was "Sasuke Broken." And it's like he'll always be with her, just not in a club or in 1973. I might edit the song out if someone says anything about it.

Important: I might not be updating for more than 2 weeks in between each chapter because I got my eye exams, and my mom's pissed because my eyes got really bad so she's not letting me use the computer a lot anymore. T-T Feel sorry for me!!

20 reviews? It encourages me to sneakily update!! ;)

Lots of Love,

XOXO Kaze-Chan