Mayday

Chapter 6

AN: Yeah. I know. Almost 5 months. I am so unbelievably sorry. I worked on this chapter a ton, but it just wasn't any good. And then, randomly, the -right- plot line hit me. So... I hope it's good and makes sense. I have a lot of insecurities about this chapter, but I feel it's the right direction. I'm worried that it seems abrupt, but... whatever.

Please enjoy!

She wasn't sure how it had happened, but now she was in a cave. And it was warm, and she was wrapped in a blanket, and there were voices.

Oh god. She was going crazy, wasn't she?

She opened her eyes and sat up, to find a campfire and men sitting around it, talking in low voices. Sasuke was sitting there too, clutching his arm, which was bandaged.

Her eyes met Sasuke's, and his obsidian eyes widened.

"S-sasuke?! You're all right!" She cried. She attempted to stand, but got stuck on the blanket, and was about to fall—until one of the men, a guy with blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, caught her.

"Damn, I knew you'd fall in love with me! Hahaha!" He laughed a little too loudly, but it made Sakura smile nonetheless. Sasuke snatched Sakura from the man's arms.

"Are you okay? What about the bullet?" She whispered, hugging him.

"Eh, we got it out. It was just in his arm, after all. Kind of a drag though." A man with a topknot said with a blasé wave of his hand. Another man with long hair snorted.

"Don't let his laxness fool you. It took forever to get out—luckily we were able to do so before the idiot bled to death." He said waspishly.

"Ignore him, Sakura. The stick up his ass gets uncomfortable sometimes." Naruto confided, whispering loud enough that it made the gesture seem even more ridiculous.

"All of you stop talking and let Sakura REST!" Sasuke ordered, helping Sakura sit down again. Sakura glared.

"Um, I am FINE. Let's talk about you--"

"You've been out for twelve hours, Sakura. I've recovered since then. Everything is going to be fine. The rescue teams are coming to pick us up. The only problem is the snow storm." He pointed out the mouth of the cave. Just seeing it made Sakura shiver.

"But what about those men? What happened?"

A man with sunglasses stepped in.

"After you collapsed, they moved to grab you both, but Neji--" he pointed at the man with the long hair, "--managed to shoot the guns out of their hands and get them away. Meanwhile, Shikamaru and Lee fought them down until they knocked them unconscious. The rest of us carried you back here."

Sakura stared blankly.

"It was SO COOL, Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried, pumping his fist. Sasuke rolled his eyes, then turned to Sakura, pulling her sneakily into his lap. The blanket obscured the position, and Sakura felt her cheeks flush.

"Rescue teams will arrive shortly. I suggest you get some sleep." Neji warned her. Sakura frowned.

"Why me?" She asked innocently. Sasuke scoffed. She didn't understand that already, all of his friends cared for her. She had that effect, though she didn't seem to know it at all. She'd spent so much of her life without a clue as to how adorable she really was. That alone made her even more adorable. Sasuke furtively pulled her closer.

"Because I have a feeling you're irritating when tired." Neji sneered. Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but Naruto cut in with some conversation about some sports team. Sakura relaxed into Sasuke's chest and felt him hold her even tighter. Even if her life had been more than surreal for the past several days... she was happy. Everything would be okay now, and she'd get married to Sasuke, and they'd have a gorgeous wedding, and on their wedding night...

"Heeeyyy... Sakura-chan... why are you blushing like that?"

"Shut up!!"

--

"And now, for our newest and hottest story. Seven months ago, politican Haruno's daughter and her bodyguard were found in the mountains after the crash of Haruno-san's private jet. Rescue teams say that both were alive and well, although Ms. Haruno's bodyguard had sustained a bullet wound, thanks to a previous rescue team—the famous politician Uchiha Itachi. He apparently intended to retrieve the young Haruno and use her to secure Haruno-san's job for himself, but was stopped by a group of the bodyguard's friends. Today, Uchiha Itachi's trial took place. According to inside sources, Uchiha was being tried for multiple offenses, including attempted manslaughter, as well as fraud, and many other smaller offenses. He was sentenced to life in prison, with no option for parole."

"Meh, nothing we didn't already know. I mean, we kinda testified against him and all." Naruto chuckled humorlessly, scratching his head. It had been a more than stressful experience, but Sasuke seemed content with the results.

Naruto tossed the remote at his new flatmate, Sakura. She was curled up on the couch with her boyfriend, who was eating cereal and watching TV with Naruto. Sakura was perusing a newspaper and circling job offers for Naruto.

"I guess. Let's watch the game." Sasuke changed the channel to football, and immediately he and Naruto began cheering wildly and booing and catcalling. It warmed Sakura's heart (even if it was a little bit annoying), and she smiled as she circled another ad.

Within the next hour, the rest of the gang showed up. Bored with football, Shikamaru and Sakura began playing shogi and enjoying the ruckus coming from the living area, where even Shino was bellowing at the top of his lungs.

"NO! YOU IDIOT! THAT'S YOUR OWN GOAL! AHH! THE STUPIDITY!"

Eventually, Shikamaru couldn't hide his love for the sport anymore, and joined the rest of the men in screaming and shouting at the television.

"Oh, shit! I'm going to be late to meet Hinata!" Naruto whined, running out of the living room and into the kitchen to snatch his coat from the closet.

"You are WHIPPED, you idiot!" Kiba called after him.

"You're just jealous." Neji pointed out, beaming over the fact that his little mouse of a cousin was so popular with the guys. Shino was blushing hotly, but no one except for Sakura noticed. Lee called something about chivalry and the loveliness of the light of youth in everyone's eyes, to which everyone responded by booing Lee, similar to how they had booed one of the football players less than a minute ago.

Finally, the game ended, and everyone was gone, leaving Sasuke and Sakura alone in the apartment.

Sakura plopped down on the couch next to Sasuke, and they settled into their usual evening routine, with Sakura studying from a medical textbook and Sasuke resting his head on her lap and drifting in and out of sleep. Sasuke couldn't have been more thrilled by the arrangement; ever since Sakura had begun living with him, everything had been going perfectly. She was the missing piece in his life. Certainly, it had taken some convincing of her father to let her live with him, but her grades hadn't dropped and, in fact, it was plain to see that she was happier.

"Wow, everything is... finished, I guess." Sakura stated. Sasuke grunted semi-meaningfully in reply. "So now, can we live happily ever after?" She teased, putting down the textbook and looking down at her boyfriend, whose eyes were closed.

"You talk too much."

"Well, I was just thinking about it... we literally crashed into each other's lives, didn't we? Such a chaotic beginning, and now all of a sudden, there's peace. It's odd."

Sasuke turned over, facing her stomach and yawning.

"Give it time, and soon, you'll be keeping a framed picture of these days on your nightstand and kissing it." He grumbled. Sakura raised her eyebrows as she stroked his hair.

"And why is that?"

"We live with The Dobe."

"Oh."

"Sakura, your stomach is growling loudly."

"Yeah. It kinda is."

"It's killing the moment."

"A little bit, yeah."

Sasuke looked up at her, and they both burst out laughing.

As Sakura wiped the tears of mirth from her face and enjoyed feeling Sasuke sit up and begin kissing her, it occurred to her that her life was perfect.

--

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Sweet Bliss, Claire, Hiei's Cute Girl, KeraQ, Kakashi500, pinky101, Ayane Selznick, mal-deviant, brightfairy8, Neji Uchiha, and everyone else who reviewed! Your reviews kept me going, that's for sure.

One more thing: Do I make an epilogue? Let me know.