Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything linked to it. I just own this fic, that's all. I do not own the characters of Naruto. But I do own the original characters here, so… Well, you get the point.

AUTHOR'S HEARTFELT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: I would just like to give my million thanks to Blitz Magnus and Aikuchi Shikaku, who, helped me make this fanfiction possible. Thank you so much! I wish I could repay you for your kindness someday.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

First things first! I'M VERY SORRY FOR THE DELAY! Well, finally, my PC's now back, with a whole new and functional CPU! (THANK YOU, DEAR LORD!)

Here it is folks! The SasuSaku sequel for A Curse to Kill, Homebound! I just want to say THANK YOU to my readers and my reviewers, I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! Sorry for too much of the delay. Here's the story: my computer broke down so, of course, when something gets broken, it needs to be fixed, right? So that's 3 weeks of repair for this computer and then, in those three weeks, I'm also in school and that made me very busy. VERY busy. Anyway…

Reviews are highly appreciated!

(Chapter 1: One Disturbing Question)

Sakura was sitting on her chair, thinking of what flowers should she use for her nuptial with Sasuke. She wasn't good at this.

"Perhaps I can just use the same flowers as Tenten did in her wedding. Some rhododendrons and azaleas… No, I have to have originality. I know! Ino can help me!"

And so, she grabbed her house key and left the house.

She walked downtown until she reached Ino's flower shop.

"Oh, Sakura!" It was Ino's mother, sweetly greeting Sakura as soon as she entered the shop.

"Good morning, Mrs. Yamanaka." Sakura replied.

"Oh wait," Mrs. Yamanaka replied, "I'll be back here. I'll just call Ino, okay? Wait here."

Sakura smiled and nodded as Mrs. Yamanaka went inside a door at the very back of the shop and shouted Ino's name.

There were so many flowers in the Yamanaka Flower Shop. There were exotic flowers and some of which Sakura have never ever seen before.

"Hey Sakura, what's up?" Ino asked, approaching Sakura.

Sakura asked, "Where's your Mom?"

"Why, do you want to see her more than your best friend!" Ino pouted, "She's upstairs, getting some drinks for us."

"Oh she really doesn't have to."

"So what brings you here in our humble little flower shop?" Ino asked.

"Little? This place was renovated, wasn't it?" Sakura teased.

"Well, yeah, so it's a little bit bigger now." Ino replied, "So, what do you want?"

"I want some help for the flowers I'll use in my wedding." Sakura pointed out, "What did Tenten use in her wedding?"

"Tenten also consulted me for flowers but it was Neji who chose the flowers." Ino answered, getting the spray bottle and spraying some water onto the flowers, "Neji wanted something special for their wedding, so he chose pretty expensive flowers. Like the rhododendrons, laurels, azaleas, and magnolias and had marsh marigold as the flower for the guests' chairs. But what kind of theme do you want? Neji and Tenten went for exotic, so, how about you, Sakura?"

"It would be really nice if the flowers would be blue, red and pink with a touch of white." Sakura replied.

Ino went to the counter and grabbed a selection booklet for Sakura, "You can find them there."

After a while…

"I really don't know what to choose." Sakura sweatdropped.

"WHAT!" Ino jawdropped and sighed, "Okay, I'll suggest. For blue, you can use: Canterbury bells, tulips, lupine, blue flag, rocky mountain columbine, mountain iris and fringed gentian. For pink and red, you can use: fireweed, mariposa lily, gladiolus, carnations, roses, pinks, hollyhocks, and bougainvillea. And lastly, for white, you can use: daffodils, magnolias, Shasta daisies, jasmines, Atamasco lilies or sweet orange. So, you got all that? All you have to is pick."

Sakura sweatdropped again and said, "Ino, I didn't get all of them. You were too fast…"

"WHAT!" Ino shouted, "Well, come here, I'll just show you the flowers I just said."

Ino then dragged Sakura to the back of the flower shop and started showing her the blue flowers.

After another long while…

Sakura and Ino sat on a bench in the flower shop, drinking the orange juice Mrs. Yamanaka prepared for them.

"So, how's it going with Shikamaru?" Sakura broke the silence.

Ino grinned and showed her left ring finger, "I'm engaged to him, Sakura!"

Ino was laughing her most evil laugh and Sakura sweatdropped and smiled, "Wow that's great to hear Ino, but uh… Are you sure that Shikamaru proposed to you wholeheartedly or did you force him to propose to you?"

"What did you say!" Ino yelled, showing her fist to Sakura.

"Oh nothing, nothing, I'm just talking to myself."

"You know what, I'm worried." Ino said, becoming serious, "Neji and Tenten's marriage was something startling and unbelievable at first, but later on, it just turns out that they were meant for each other."

Sakura looked at Ino with confusion, "W-what are you trying to say, Ino?"

"Sakura." Ino turned to her, "Sasuke said he wanted to revive his clan so I was thinking… I was thinking that your marriage might be painful. Maybe he's just marrying you to use you to bear his children and not because he loves you.

"I still don't know where you're getting at, Ino." Sakura said.

Ino placed her glass on the counter and asked, "When was the last time Sasuke showed affection to you, Sakura? When did he say 'I love you'? How long was your engagement with him?"

"We have been engaged for around 7 months and… and… H-he never said 'I love you' and… He never showed affection."

"See? That's what I'm trying to say."

"What?"

"ARGH!" Ino shook Sakura's shoulders violently and told her, "Sasuke's just going to use you as a baby manufactory, Sakura. I don't know how much children you can give him, but I can't even sleep peacefully at night whenever that question pops up from the back of my head. Sakura, listen to me, why don't you ask Sasuke how he feels towards you? Tell him to be honest. Also ask him of his purpose of marrying you."

Ino withdrew her arms and Sakura replied, "I don't know Ino… Perhaps I should just go with the flow you know. Everything's going to be okay, I promise."

A tear escaped from Ino's eye and she let out, "Sakura just ask him. I can't bear to see my best friend suffering; you know that? You're too absorbed with your love for him… WHAT IF HE DOESN'T LOVE YOU? Don't you think your marriage makes no sense if that's so?"

Sakura was just startled at that comment, "She's right…"

TBC...