The Return

Chapter 31

*Warning: Some mature content in this chapter*

A Night to Remember

Sakura woke up with a groan. Her head was splitting and the sunlight streaming in was far too bright. She looked around the room, rubbing her eyes. Her friends were all strewn across tatami mats. Where am I, she thought sleepily. What happened?

"H-how are you feeling, S-Sakura?" a voice whispered by the door.

"Hinata? What are you doing here?"

"Well...um...you see...N-Naruto and the boys went over to our house s-so..."

Sakura took a closer look around the room. Could this be... "Argh! Why did you bring us here Hinata?!" Sakura cried, jumping up.

"W-well, you said you didn't have anywhere to stay s-so it was just easier to bring you all here."

"To think, a bunch of drunks would end up at the noble Hyuuga household. I'm sorry for the trouble, Hinata" Sakura bowed her head.

"Oh no really, it was the least I could do. After all, you deserved to celebrate" she smiled.

At the mention of a celebration, the previous night's events came to mind. "Kyaaaa!" she squealed. She looked all around her surroundings, where was it? It had to be here somewhere! That was the one thing she couldn't afford to lose!

"Pipe down, so noisy" Ino mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"What's going on?" Tenten asked, stretching.

Hinata looked confused for a moment then ran out of the room quickly.

"No, Sasuke is going to leave me for sure! I have to watch it when I go to bars, shannaro! I'll end up like Tsunade at this rate!"

Ino chuckled. "Yeah, you were kind of all over the place last night...or should I say, all over Sasuke."

Sakura wanted to curl up in a ball and disappear, this was so embarrassing.

"So, where is your fiancée anyway?" Tenten asked.

Sakura looked up at them. They both had sneaky expressions on their faces. Fiancée, that word sounded so strange to her, but she smiled even so. Sasuke and she were really engaged, weren't they? She put her hands on her warm face, remembering the night before.

***

"Sakura, will you marry me?" Sasuke asked with a conviction she'd never seen. His eyes were so serious, and he looked nervous, but the thought that he put so much time and consideration into this question made her happy. Besides that, she could see that the Uchiha crest he'd presented to her was well-worn as if he'd been carrying it around with him all this time, waiting for the right time to present it to her. Then, after she'd accepted his proposal wholeheartedly, they'd spent the evening kissing as fireworks lit up the sky. It was better than anything she could have imagined. It was simply perfect.

Afterward, they went back to the village, hand in hand. Everyone was so excited, Choji even took them out for barbeque as a treat. Kakashi, Tsunade, and all of their friends joined in the celebration. They had so much fun together, and her heart was aflutter as she saw Sasuke's happy expression. He rarely showed his emotions to others but that night, he seemed to be really enjoying himself. He even wrapped his arm around her at the table, which was something she never thought she'd see. She felt lighter than air just thinking about it all. After a few drinks with Tsunade though, her memory blacked out somewhat.

***

She sat on the floor of the Hyuuga household, continuing to search for the treasured object.