WE ARE ALIVE NOW

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

- SOMETIME BEFORE THE EXPLOSION OF ICHIRAKU RAMEN PLACE -

Sakura Haruno awakens at the terrible sound of a thunder clap, causing her to sit up abruptly. With her mind still slightly dazed from the sleep, she utters,

" Oh shit, not again! ", ' the hospital might have need of me, no one, except Konohamaru knows where I am and I don't think he's in here ' she thought.

Taxing her brain, Sakura was hit with a harsh migraine, her left hand went straight up to her head and it glowed with emerald chakra, which she poured into her head to rescue herself from the headache.

Feeling better, she withdrew her hand.

' I shouldn't have left the hospital without notifying anyone... Although, I had no idea i'd sleep for this long, damn it. No umbrella, damn how could I have been this thoughless ' 

Sakura glanced around at the voluminous dark bedroom space, she could hardly see anything, since the sky had grown darker, no more light was coming through the partly opened curtains; which she could see the rain splattering against it's corner windows. As she was thinking to herself, Sakura hears as the front door creaks open and closes after a few reluctant seconds.

Believing it must have been Konohamaru, Sakura got up quickly and sprang up unto her feet, and hasted away towards the living room,

" Hey! Do you have an umbrella with you. Give it to me, I need to get to the hospi- - tal, " Sakura pauses running into the living room.

Sasuke looked at Sakura with slightly wide eyes, though he stood with his perplexity hidden, and the wet umbrella folded in his left hand, he was still shocked to see her in the house; Sakura noticed however first the left hand which she hadn't seen since the end of the war holding an umbrella.

' What the hell, how did he grow it back, ' she thought.

" Sakura... How did you find out about this place? – – hmm, that Sarutobi brat must have told you. Tch, Naruto shouldn't have trusted him to begin with... " Sasuke says, with his eyes glancing around at the living room.

Once entering, Sasuke had switched on the lights in the living room, which was a series of white bulbs built into the ceiling of the living room.

" Hn, they did a pretty good job- ", " I'll be returning soon, Sakura " uttered Sakura abruptly.

" Huh? ". " Not a day has gone by since I heard it, that I have forgotten. No matter how hard I tried, it sticks with me like glue, " Sakura says staring at the umbrella impassively, watching as a drop of water trailing down the umbrella plummets and splatters unto the floor.

" What are you talking about- ", " it was cold. I felt sick to my bones hearing that, I ran to my apartment, locked myself in and thought to myself. 'this certainly is the extent of his affection for me... I must really be such a drag, if that is all am worth, four impassive words'. Over the following months, I kept trying to make sense of it, what could Sasuke really mean by that. And it dawned on me, nothing, you meant absolutely nothing by it " said Sakura, too entranced by the wet umbrella, and the sound of rain and thunder to meet the Uchiha's puzzled gaze.

Sasuke wasn't sure what Sakura was going on about, any of her words hardly we're making sense, so he thought,

' this seems like the perfect opportunity, I should seize it while I'm here '.

" Let's get married, " Sakura's head tilts up, and she finally met his gaze with a slight curiosity on her face, as she saw Sasuke had a small smile on his beautiful face.

" Married? " She asks, " I decided it would be best for us to become husband and wife before I leave again, to make up for all my absence " said Sasuke.