Disclaimer: Yeah, I own none of the things. Prepare yourselves! Sakura/Sasuke coming at you right now for your reading enjoyment!

~Where Life Leads~

It was good to be back in Konoha after so many weeks away. Sakura's herb gathering mission to the Land of Mist was a complete success. The rare seeds and plants her team collected might lead to numerous medical breakthroughs over the next couple years. The information they had gather was of vital importance to all the ninja nations. It was the first multinational medical mission conducted in ninja history. The kunoichi was very proud to have been the leader of such a groundbreaking assignment.

It had been nice to get away from the daily life of the village for awhile. Honestly, the hardest part was being separated from all her friends for so long. She really missed them.

Overall, the best part had been when Sakura finally got some time to see... well, him.

A secret smile alighted her lips as Sakura thought of all the stolen moments she had with Sasuke on this trip. Bit by bit, she began to notice him opening up more. The pink-haired woman had never been known for her patient demeanor. But for Sasuke... she would wait a thousand years if she had to. Their love, was a complicated one. There were times when all they did was fight, each incapable of comprehending the other person's side. Yet, there were also moments of bliss. Like when they simply sat together watching the sunrise. Lately, when Sasuke chose to return to the village, they barely fought at all. It was strange... this odd sense of peace they both seemed to achieve with one another.

Sakura had really needed some quality time with... well with whatever Sasuke was. At this point, she wasn't exactly surewhere they were relationship wise. But they were happy. And at the end of the day, that was the most important thing, right? It was good to be back home though. No more sleeping on the cold ground or trudging through miles of swamp in search of some elusive plant life. All Sakura wanted to do now was take a hot bath, curl up with a good book, and go to bed. She was just going to make a quick stop at the Hokage's office when-

BANG!

The door to Kakashi's study suddenly burst opened. Startling both Sakura and a random crow outside that started crying out, "Caw! Caw!" Instinctively, the pink-haired woman stumbled back and took on a defective stance. But Naruto's ecstatic yell of "SAKURA-CHAN!" proved that such an action wasn't necessary.

"There you are!" the blond exclaimed as he rushed out the newly opened door. "I've been waiting forever for you to get back!"

Immediately, he grabbed Sakura's hand and started pulling her back toward the stairs.

"Naruto!" she said in an aggravated voice. "What are you doing? I have to give Kakashi-sensei my report first!"

But the determined blond just kept tugging her toward the exit. "Dattebayo! Don't worry about it. I already spoke with Ero-kage and he said you could handle it later."

"What?" asked Sakura with a confused blink. "Why on earth would he say that?"

"I-uh... Look, it's important. Okay? Just come along with me!" Naruto stuttered back sheepishly as he continued to drag her out of the building and back onto Konoha's busy streets. The kunoichi rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

"DAMN IT!" Inner-Sakura yelled in her mind. "CAN'T THIS CRAP WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW? I REALLY WANTED THAT BATH, BLOCKHEAD!"

But when Naruto got like this, there was no stopping him. Best just to follow along until he was ready to tell her what was going on. It looked like her well deserved alone time would just have to wait...

At last, the blond finally dragged Sakura all the way to his apartment, and quickly slammed the door shut behind them. "This had better be worth it, Naruto," she hissed threateningly, brandishing her fist. "Because if it's not, I'm giving you hell to pay!"

Dangerously, the kunoichi then eyed the blond, giving her knuckles a satisfying crack. The sight made Naruto physically gulp for a moment, and nervously fidget with his right pants pocket.

Sakura could immediately tell something was up. "Naruto... you're acting weird. Like way more than usual. What's up?"

His face then became very serious. "Sakura-chan... I owe you a great deal."

"Naruto?" she questioned back at him with worried eyes.

"You've taught me, so much over the years. Through... well everything, every battle, every enemy. You've been with me through it all. It's because of you that I was able to understand my feelings for Hinata-chan, and her's for me. You're... not just my teammate, you're my best friend, Sakura-chan. And I will never be able to repay you for all the kindness and support you've given me."

Sakura's bright green eyes filled with joyful tears. "My goodness! I-I don't know what to say!" she replied with a slight gasp, clearly not expecting this abrupt declaration from him. "I guess all I can say in return is... you're welcome. I was happy to do it. You helped me grow a lot as a person, too. Really, I was just returning the favor. Both you and Sasuke-kun inspired me to be a stronger ninja. But what on earth brought all this on? "

"Well, you see... while you were away, I came to a decision," the blond said in a hesitant voice as he suddenly stopped messing with his pocket and instead reached inside.

Sakura's eyes when absurdly wide as Naruto extracted a small velvet box from his orange sweatpants.

"Oh my gosh..." she whispered, placing her right hand breathlessly over her chest.

He then flashed her a rather bashful grin. "As we were finishing up the last touches on the house, I came to realize something... If I moved into it by myself, it'd be kinda lonely. It just wouldn't be home, unless well... Hinata-chan was with me."

Joyful tears ran down Sakura's face. "N-Naruto! Are you telling me? Is this really-"

"So as my best friend and well... sister in all things but blood. I was hoping to get your option on something," he sheepishly confessed, offering the little black box for her to hold.

Carefully, Sakura removed it from his grasp. She placed the hand that had been resting against her chest atop the lid, and with a deep breath, pulled it open.

And that's when Sakura knew, this wasn't an average gift. Naruto was actually planning to propose.

The pink-haired woman let out an awe inspired gasp. "It's gorgeous!"

"Damn that's beautiful! Hinata's going to be ecstatic!" cheered Inner-Sakura merrily."With all those orange clothes Naruto has worn over the years, who knew he actually had taste?!"

Hergreen eyes danced as she took in every detail of the ring. The band was made of yellow gold. At the center was a deep blue sapphire that instantly reminded her of Hinata's hair. Around the glimmering stone was wrapped a delicately carved image of a sleeping fox. It's ears and tail were accented with tips of white, while the rest of body was formed from the same gold as the band. The little animal was loving curled around the sapphire, as if to protect it from all harm.

"So... do you think Hinata-chan will like it?" Naruto finally blurted out, staring at her with pleading eyes. "I mean, you know, i-if she says 'yes' that is..."

"Naruto..." answered Sakura gruffly, delivering a light punch to his arm for good measure. "Of course she's going to say, 'Yes!' She loves you, you big idiot!"

"Ow!" he grumbled, rubbing at the sore spot. "I know, but still..."

"Oh, hush up you," dismissed the pink-haired woman with a definitive snort. "Everything will be fine."

Naruto just stared back at her with a small pout thinking to himself, "Why on earth does everyone seem so sure?"

But Sakura ignored him and continued on. "I've really got to hand it to you, Naruto. This ring is something special! Didn't think you had the right kinda eye for this stuff, but I'm glad to see I was wrong!"

"Yeah, well-" he replied nervously, not thinking what he was about to say. "In...o-Uh-oh."

Naruto stopped the second he saw Sakura's smile freeze and her grip on the ring box dangerously tighten.

Oh... he was a dead man!

"T-That is, what I mean to say-" the blonde immediately tried to backtrack, but it was too late.

Red anger symbols started appearing over Sakura's head as her eyes became shadowed. "What does Ino-pig have to do with this?" she growled threateningly.

"I uh, well you see- our friends started finding out what I was plan-"

Sakura's other arm suddenly lashed out at hearing this and grabbed Naruto by collar. "I'm not the first person you told?"

"I... no, not exactly-" he was barely able to croak out. "See it all stared when Gai and Lee- "

Sakura glared at him with a violent glint in her eye. "Ino-pig helped you pick out the ring," accused the kunoichi, her fist tightening even harder around Naruto's shirt. "Didn't she?"

"H-Hai," he admitted, praying that Hinata would forgive him for his most untimely death.

"CHAAAAAA!" Sakura screamed as she clamped the ring box safely shut in her one fist and then slammed the other into Naruto's apartment floor.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto cried out, but it was too late.

BOOOOOM! CRASH! SHATTER!

His poor apartment building was reduced to nothing more than a pile of rubble. As the dust began to settle, two heads popped up out of the debris: a pink-haired, sheepish looking woman, and one mad as hell blond.

"Oops," said Sakura with a sweatdrop. "Kinda went a little overboard, huh?"

Naruto was literally shaking next to her trying to contain his fury. "And you wonder why I won't let you within in 50 feet of the new house?!" he snapped with raging eyes.

Sakura delicately placed the box, that had luckily remained intact, in front of Naruto. "Yes, well," she said nervously, attempting to discreetly slip out of the rubble and run away. "It seems that you're not in the best mood at the moment- I uh, am just gonna-"

POOF!

The kunoichi used a substitution jutsu to leave a log in her place and made a speedy getaway.

"Sakura-chan! You'd better be prepared to pay for this!" the blond yelled at the top of his lungs as he dug himself out of the rubble and then tried to catch his crazy friend...

Later that night, Sakura found herself standing on the roof of her apartment, staring up at the stars. Naruto and Hinata were going to get married. Would wonders never cease? When on earth had Naruto become adult enough to even consider such a concept? This made Sakura snort to herself. She shouldn't be so harsh. Her friend had grown leaps and bounds over the last few years, especially once he started dating Hinata.

She couldn't be happier for her friends. But yet... this new turn of events made Sakura being to ponder about her own life and where it was going. Loving Sasuke had been a constant struggle for her. The man never made anything easy. They were in a good place now... but where was it all leading? Would Sasuke ever be ready to take the next step with her? Could he handle the idea of having a family again? Did she care if he did?

Once the woman got started, it seemed like the whirling questions would never cease. So much uncertainty and doubt. Another thing to consider was the fact that Sasuke always seemed to be leaving her behind. Would they ever be happy and stable, like Naruto and Hinata were? Or had the darkness of war truly damaged them both beyond repair?

"Sakura-chan..." a familiar voice suddenly whispered from behind. "I, uh, got your message."

With a rueful smile, the pink-haired woman turned and addressed the source of all her troubles. "Thought you would have stormed in and threatened Naruto within a inch of his life when you found out."

"Please," Sasuke returned with a sarcastic smirk. "As if I would ever be that crass. I simply plan to kill him in his sleep. Far less messy that way."

She let out a boisterous laugh as Sasuke slowly walked up to her adding, "But, all kidding aside. I'm not really sure why you're surprise. I wouldn't have let the dobedate Hinata if I didn't think he intended to marry her."

His blunt statement made Sakura shake her head. "I think both Hinata and Naruto would have some words with you if you ever told them that."

She paused here for a moment and once again looked out over the village. Sakura barely even recognized it as the place she grew up. Sometimes it seemed like she'd blink and something else would instantly change. Did she want to take the next step like Naruto and Hinata were doing? Were she and Sasuke ready for that?

"Sakura-chan..." came the gentle sound of his voice next to her ear. She felt his hand reach out and brush a few stray hairs away from her face. "Look at me."

The pink-haired kunoichi released a brief sigh, as she turned to him fully.

Sasuke stared back at her with his deep, emotion filled eyes. Sakura could just tell, he knew precisely what she was thinking. "I swear to you, when I'm ready... you will be the first to know," he stressed, before placing a loving kiss upon Sakura's forehead.

Tears began streaming down her cheeks, Sakura knew how much it must have taken for him to confess that. Sasuke had always been a man of few words. He felt his actions spoke far greater than meaningless pleasantries ever could.

"Arigato, Sasuke-kun... Arigato..." she thanked him in return, allowing his one armed embrace to be her steadfast anchor, in the uncertainty of life.

It was well after 3am when Naruto finally placed his bedroll on the floor of his newly constructed home. Having to clean up the mess that was his old apartment building had been a real chore, even with his clones lending a hand.

He let out a mournful sigh as he lay down to sleep... alone. "Stupid Sakura! I wanted my first night to be here with Hinata!"

His comment made Kurama laugh sadistically within his mind. "Feeling horny now, are we?"

"No one asked you, baka fox!" muttered Naruto under his breath.

"Oh come now, kit! I can practically feel the sexual tension running through you," the demon scolded. "You humans make everything so difficult! All this time and effort placed upon ceremony! Bed your vixen and be done with it already!"

"If I wanted your opinion, I'd ask for it!" the blond growled as he turned over once again in a futile attempt to sleep; when a sharp, rapping noise from the window caught his attention.

Naruto raised his eyebrow in question as he stood up and went to investigate.

"A carrier hawk? Odd, wonder what it's doing here at this hour," thought the blond as he removed the scroll from the bird's leg and allowed it to return to the skies.

With a deep breath, Naruto prepared himself and unrolled the note:

Dobe,

If I didn't think you were going to marry Hinata from the start, I would have never allowed you to date her in the first place.

"TEME!" he growled as Kurama snickered in the back of his mind. "What do you mean 'allow?' I'm so kicking your ass the next time I see you!"

He took a brief moment to cool down and then continued to read:

Don't know why Sakura seemed so surprised. Honestly, I didn't think it would take you this long to finally go for it. Guess you didn't have the balls to do it until now, huh?

"YOU'RE ONE TO TALK ASSHOLE!"he practically roared at the tightly gripped piece of paper.

But... truly, Naruto. I am happy for you both.

The blond simply blinked in return. Since when did Sasuke say shit like that?

Sakura made me write that.

Naruto let out a snort and shook his head. "Figures..."

And... yeah, Sakura and I will pay for your apartment. Just put it on our tab.

"Your tab is getting larger than the entire Konoha treasury, teme!" he spat back.

P.S. If you ever hurt Hinata-chan, I'll dump your sorry ass in a random dimension. And I don't care how much Sakura and Hinata beg, I'm not bringing you back!

This last part made Naruto roll his eyes. Transporting people to other worlds had recently become Sasuke's new favorite threat.

"Hey it's better than killing them, right?" was the dark-haired man's defense.

"Not if you always drop them in the acid dimension dumbass!" grumbled Naruto as he balled up the note and tossed it over his shoulder. With a painful sigh, the blond once again tried to get back to sleep as Kurama merrily cackled away in his tired mind.

And so, both Sakura and Sasuke now know of Naruto's intentions. As the intended day grows ever closer, the risk grows higher! When will Naruto finally propose?

As always, only time would tell...

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes: Well hope you liked the chapter guys. That was a hard one to write. Since we already know a lot about Sasuke and Sakura, I really didn't have all that much to add. Hope all the fans liked it though.

And now for next time! Would you look at that? Tenten's chapter! *Everybody groans* Hey! I made Sai chapter great didn't I? And well, I believe Gai and Lee will make the whole thing more than a little... interesting. All this and more, next time!

And as always...

Please remember to read, fav, and review! Feedback helps fuel the muse! Feed the fanfic muse!

Japanese Word Key:

Dobe: Dead Last or Idiot

Teme: Bastard

Nii-chan: Brother

Nee-chan: Sister

Hai: Yes

Itadakimasu: It's a traditional Japanese phrase that means: "I thank you for the meal."

Otousan: Father (formal)

Tou-chan: Dad (informal)

Kaa-chan: Mother

Oba-chan: Granny

Ero-kage: Perverted (or Ero in japanese) Hokage

Arigato: Thank you

Kami: God or spirit

Chibi: Short, cute style of drawing

Baka: Idiot

Gomen'nasai: I'm sorry

Gomen: Sorry

Bento box: the Japanese term for a lunch box, or a boxed lunch of some kind.

Shogi: Japanese chess

Kunoichi: Female ninja

Shinobi: Ninja (not sure if it's just used for males though)

Sensei: Teacher

Dattebayo: Naruto's catchphrase in Japanese. It doesn't actually translate to "Believe it!" It's just an exclamation like: Yippee! or Huzzah!