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Anniversary Alert

Written by Purpleblush017

Krrriiiinnngggg!

Uchiha Sakura, formerly known as Haruno Sakura, bolted upright with a huge smile on her face.

Today is the day!

If it were the same day as yesterday or the days before yesterday, Sakura would have let the damn clock buzz all day to its hearts content and she would pretend not to hear anything or at least wait for someone to tell her to smash the damn thing. Normally, the so-called 'man in the house' a.k.a. Uchiha Sasuke—short term: the husband would gently tap the button causing the clock to stop ringing. And like normal days, he would broodingly stand up and stretch his long arms and legs for a few minutes and head downstairs for coffee and a hot shower afterwards. Just like yesterday, after being finished with all that and his morning routine training, Uchiha Sakura was found in bed still, curled up like a baby in the warm comfort of the endless supply of pillows.

Damn Uchiha fortune!

But today is not any normal day.

Uchiha Sakura was not a light sleeper. If there would be any light sleepers around, that would be Sasuke. Murder, nightmares, keen senses and all that attriuted to that. It was a fact. And every one knew that Sakura slept like a logt, with a very suspicious smile and drool coming out of the corner of her lips from time to time.

Sasuke would poke his eyes hundreds of times before he ever admitted that—he found her way of sleeping a serene display of innocence as she pulled it off very cutely. There were times that Sasuke would watch her sleep when he hadn't been around for days. A little creepy, he sometimes thought but he'll never say it out loud. During those times of solitude in his long missions, he missed her. And he believed that was normal. They were husband and wife after all.

If Sakura did waake up early, that day meant something. What do you call it? Ah, an occasion to celebrate. And Sakura had always loved this kind of events. When it came to this, she was extremely punctual.

And her anticipation for this kind of things never seemed to be in the same level as her husbands'.

Today is special!

Sakura nudged Sasuke who was covered with blankets. The man in the house only responded with a slight wave of his hand. She giggled and pulled down the blanket slightly to reveal Sasuke's pale skin and disheveled hair. Talk about a rough mission. Sasuke groaned and shifted—an obvious indication of his annoyance.

Another giggle came out from the pink haired Uchiha, "Sasuke-kun," Husband-dear groaned in reply, "you're soooo cute!" Sakura bent down to give him a quick peck on the lips. "Morning." She murmured.

She analyzed the situation: dear husband won't be up for two hours or so. She glanced at the room. Something caught her twinkling emerald eyes. On the calendar, there were hearts drawn around the day of seventeenth of September. She smiled. Today was September seventeenth.

Today is the day!

It's their first wedding anniversary.

Uchiha Sasuke had a rough night. S-classed mission and all that. He hadn't been able to get at least a straight and decent three-hour sleep. But hell, that's shinobi business. They all suffered these kind of minor set-backs. It was supposed to be an easy mission if it weren't for Naruto. He swore he'll get that blonde dope one day. As soon as he returned from the mission two hours after midnight, he instantly vanished and plopped down in bed with his already asleep wife who had been watering the pillows again.

And just as soon as he was about to enter La La land and dream about his big and stronger brother, his senses tingled. Sometimes Sasuke hated being a light sleeper. There was something different when he opened his eyes. He came to realize that the person beside him had mysteriously vanished. He sat up in alarm. Shit! What the hell? Sakura wasn't supposed to be up before him!

"Sa—" before Sasuke could even finish his sentence, the door sprung open. Blooming, Sakura walked towards him with a tray of breakfast she carried.

She beamed him a smile. "Morning, handsome!"

Sasuke felt something alarming in her aura. She was happy. Too happy. Happier than yesterday, happier than any normal day. He raised an eyebrow at her. She smiled even more as she laid the tray on their bedside table. She faced him as if she's waiting for something to happen. Moments passed by and nothing happened, she frowned a little but smiled again at him. "How was the mission?" she asked.

Husband-dear scratched his raven hair. "Exhausting." He looked at her and her emerald hopeful eyes were staring back at her, wanting something. But what? He narrowed his eyes on her. "What time is it?"

Sakura looked confused for a moment and glanced at the wall clock behind her and answered, "Eleven thirty. Why?"

Sasuke crawled out of bed and headed for the closet and took a towel. "I have a meeting with the Hokage at twelve."

"But you just woke up!" she protested.

"Hm." Sasuke took off his shirt. And in the corner of his eye, he saw a pink blush on Sakura's face. He smirked. Beloved wife was still unexpectedly shy around him whenever he showed skin.

"What about…" an anniversary celebration…? She trailed. Knowing Sasuke, she was expecting a surprise for their first anniversary. And she wasn't supposed to spoil herself. Cheering up, she smiled again as he entered the bathroom without totally closing the door shut. "What about lunch?"

From the bathroom, she could hear him answer, "I'll have lunch with the dope, he owes me." She could hear the water splashing from the shower.

Looking at the almost perfect breakfast she made especially for this day, Sakura remembered she was known to be a bad cook. In the Uchiha household, the cooking was done by husband-dear rather than the sweet loving wife. When husband-dear is away in a mission, she often ordered take-out. But it didn't hurt that she at least tried every once in a while, right? "What time will you be back?" she asked.

There was no answer. It struck her. A thought that might just be possible. That Uchiha Sasuke had, dare she say it—forgot the date they were wed! It was Uchiha Sasuke they were talking about. He was an Anbu captain. He went to the far most dangerous missions there was. So maybe, just maybe—he got hit pretty hard on the head that caused him to have some sort of short term memory loss. It made sense.

Uchiha Sakura grunted and left their room.

As she was walking downstairs it occurred to her that it was still possible that—husband-dear had a surprise planned for her. She smiled optimistically and thought about doing some grocery shopping which correlated to cooking a very special dinner for him tonight.

And she was going to drag him home and shove dinner in his mouth if she had to.

"Sasuke-teme!" a blonde man called out as he approached him. Sasuke snorted at the nickname. "You're late!" Naruto told him. He grinned. "We started off without you. You know... in case you were…" Snicker. Snicker. "busy with stuff." Another snicker came from the blonde idiot and he childishly blushed.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Busy? Stuff? "What are you—" Naruto cut his sentence and pushed him towards the exit. "Naruto! What the hell!"

Naruto grinned at him as he completely shoved the proud and mighty Uchiha away from the Hokage tower. "I'm giving you a day off." Snicker. And he waved Sasuke off. "Just go home, teme!" he smiled at him, which Sasuke swore was leveled with Kakashi's malicious smile.

"Hm." Sasuke turned and walked away from him. Remembering that Sakura had cooked early this morning, he went home.

Upon seeing the perfectly arranged shoes on the front door, the newly dusted appliances, the sparkling floor and the smell of something cooking, Uchiha Sasuke shuddered. Sakura cleaned. That woman rarely cleaned. He was the one who did the cleaning around the house. Why had he not seen it when he left earlier? Remembering the smell of cooking, Sasuke rushed to the kitchen and saw Sakura dressed in a blue and pink apron with an Uchiha ensemble on it.

Realizing dear husband-kun's presence, she turned off the stove and walked up to him bouncing with excitement. "Welcome home, Sasuke-kun." She said and tiptoed to give him a quick peck on the lips. Due to the lack of growth hormones, she reached up only to his shoulders. "I'm making lunch! Isn't that lovely? I'm playing the wife role!" she beamed and hugged him.

"Aa," He acknowledged her and gave a light squeeze. She seemed too fragile for her own good. With his powerful arms and strength, she could shatter into pieces. He made a note to increase the vitamins he was giving her. "What possessed you to sweep my house?" Sasuke arched an eyebrow.

Sakura grunted. "It's my house too!" The lot of the Uchiha Manor they were living in and everything around it was under her name and his. That was the benefit of marriage. She smiled. "Besides, you keep telling me that I have to take responsibility of maintaining the house too."

Husband-dear's thin lips quirked. He was outsmarted.

Sakura looked up to him amused. "Do you have any plans? I got the day off and we could do anything!" Sasuke's black eyebrow arched. "Anything!" she repeated, with emphasis.

Sasuke chocked as he recognized her tone.

Is she seducing me?

His wife let him go and stretched out the ladle in her hand, and said with gleaming eyes, "We could go to the amusement park and get on the rides there! I've never been out for weeks! Or maybe, we could go swimming! That sounds fun, doesn't it, Sasuke-kun? What do you think?"

Too much for seduction, he thought. She was still immature. With a sigh, Sasuke opened the fridge and grabbed a couple of fresh tomatoes and munched them. "I'm going to pass on lunch. I'll sleep upstairs." He said with a wave of his hand and a tomato in his mouth.

Sakura's bouncy mood slowly swept past her system as she saw her husband walk up the stairs. She clenched the ladle in her hand. The thought of Sasuke-kun forgetting their anniversary went through her mind again. She felt the tight feeling forming in her chest and her throat.

Brushing those feelings away, she half-smiled. Maybe Sasuke-kun was just tired. She glanced at the clock and collected herself. It's only twenty after twelve. There's no harm done. There was still almost eleven hours for Sasuke-kun to warm up and surprise her. That's right! She looked at her cooking which smelled burnt and slumped. She probably needed Ino-chan's help for today.

Sakura slumped as she starred at the elegant dinner table she had set up for them. There was a very beautiful bouquet of Lilies with orchids on the flower vase in the circular table covered with white cloth. To think that the candles beside it were expensive made Sakura grunt in frustration. Even the plates and silverware on the table had been pretty expensive. There were red and white rose petals all over the house.

Everything was set and perfect. Sakura was dressed in a pretty white dress with red rose sequence on it. She even dared wearing stiletto shoes. And the food, well, after trying for hours, she had decided that half of her cooking shall be served together with the first class restaurant take-out she ordered, hoping that Sasuke-kun would believe that she made them.

It was ready and all. If indeed Sasuke had forgotten their anniversary, she was willing to forgive him and let it go.

Just as long as he's here.

But he was not.

After dear husband-kun's nap early during lunch time, Sakura went to go to Ino's house to ask for recipes and moral support. When she returned home, husband-dear seemed to have vanished and a couple of their tomatoes had gone been missing too. She knew that he might had gotten out for training and it was the perfect time to set up the dinner surprise for him.

But the moon had settled in high and bright and dear husband-kun was still not home.

She frowned as she fiddled the hem of her pretty dress. He could have at least written a message or called her. Sakura grunted and cursed.

Uchiha Sasuke, you bastard!

Another frown. Tears were endangering to fall.

He apparently really did forget.

She was about to eat all by herself when the phone rang. She beamed, thinking it could be Sasuke-kun on the phone telling her he was sorry and that he'll come home right away and he has a present when he gets home and she'll be happy and they'll—

"Sakura-san?" a rather familiar female voice greeted her. It couldn't be Sasuke-kun for it was a voice of a sweet young woman.

"Yes?" Sakura greeted. Depression visible in her voice.

"I know that you took the day off, Sakura-san… but there have been a crowd of Jounins that have arrived here and we are understaffed. Half of them requires advanced medical ninjutsu. Shizune-sama asked if you could come here and—"

Sakura looked over the dinner table she had prepared. She glanced at the clock. It was quarter to eight. Sasuke-kun probably would be home any moment with a bouquet of roses and lilies all around himt—she shook her head.

Screw the husband.

"I'll be there."

"Sasuke-kun?" Ino narrowed her eyes to make sure she was right. She entered the Ichiraku house and took a seat beside him. "What are you doing here?"

Sasuke slurped his second ramen. Turned his head to her questioningly. "Eating." He answered as if it was the most natural thing.

Ino glared at him. "Yes, yes, I can see that. But why here?"

"Eating here isn't illegal." He stated. If he knew better, Ino wanted to smack him so badly.

Ignoring his words, she asked: "Do you reckon what day it is today?"

Sasuke snorted. "Why do you care?"

"Just answer, Damnit!" she growled. Scary Ino-pig was on the way.

Sasuke glared at her as well, as if matching her. "September sixteenth."

"Wrong." She took his ramen from him. "It's seventeenth."

Sasuke glared harder. "It's not. Today is the sixteenth."

"It's September seventeenth, you moron! It's your anniv—" The way Sasuke's eye glared at her caused her to stop.

He knew what that day means and he had not forgotten. In fact, he had a gift for his wife he bought weeks ago. Something expensive, something romantic, something she'd enjoy, something so un-Sasuke-like but something he was willing to do for her. "It's sixteenth."

"Seventeenth! I'm sure that's why Sakura borrowed my cook books earlier!"

Not giving up, he debated, "Its sixte—"

"It's seventeenth." With the agreement of the owner of the ramen stand, he knew he was defeated. And with that, it clicked—Sakura waking up before him, the happier than her normal happy smile, her cooked breakfast and lunch, the cleaned house, her excitement—

Without another word, he dashed towards home.

When Sakura saw Sasuke waiting for her in front of the hospital lobby, she knew that dear husband-kun had stumbled upon someone who told him the specialty of this day. With the way he looked at her, she knew she would hail defeat and forgive him.

Sasuke-kun is Sasuke-kun.

She sighed and approached him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, softly touching his arm as a sign of endearment. She saw the struggle in his face to tell something. She smiled, she knew he was at least trying. She gently tightened her hold on him and said, "I won't be able to go home for a few more hours or so. You have to—"

"I'll wait." He said in an instant. A silent apology behind his words was mutually understood.

She glared at him. "You're tired, you have to sleep and—"

"I'll wait." Sasuke repeated firmly.

And with that, Sakura knew the stubborn Uchiha won't dare change his mind.

"Look, Sasuke-kun's fetching his wife! Isn't that cute?" one nurse beamed as she stole glances at them across the lobby.

"Yeah." The attendant beside the nurse second-motioned. "I wish I was married. Then, I could have someone who can fetch me even at this late hour!"

The nurse beamed even more and waved when hers and Sakura's eyes met, they were friends anyway. They shared lunch together whenever possible. "I wish I could have someone as sweet as Sasuke-kun."

The attendant sighed. "He'd have to be as hot as Sasuke as well." They laughed.

"I wish they could start spreading their love to us by making little clones of themselves."

The attendant smiled naughtily. "Uchiha babies? That's something I'd like to see."

Letting the issue go, Sakura glanced at him. She nodded and turned around hiding a smile from her husband before walking away and heading towards her new patient. Husband-kun wronged her and he ought to pay the price. She'll give him the cold shoulder now, she thought.

Ah, sweet revenge.

As he saw his wife's figure disappear from the corner, Sasuke silently leaned on the wall and waited.

And waited.

When Uchiha Sakura woke up the next morning, she could not believe her eyes. She saw the beach from the transparent sliding door parallel to her with silhouette curtains and Rose petals all around her. The fragrance of sweet honey and a little dash of strawberry invaded her nose. She quickly turned around, about to pinch herself and soon awaken from the too-good-to-be-true beautiful dream when two strong arms wounded around her. The warmth was so familiar.

"Sasuke-kun." she sounded so sure of it.

And from behind, raven hair sprawled on her slender shoulders as he nuzzled her neck. "Aa."

"Where—" she asked, pinching herself in the process. It hurt. This wonderful dream is real. "—are we?"

"Cloud village."

Sakura's emerald eyes widened. "But that's halfway around Konoha! Last night, how did you—"

—got both of us here?

"I'm Anbu, remember?" a handsome smirk formed on his lips and he felt proud.

Awestruck, Sakura got herself into thinking how he managed to get them here without her feeling a thing. When Sasuke heard no accusation or any retort from his wife, he answered her unspoken question. "You sleep like a log." Short, concise, straight to the point—sooo Uchiha Sasuke-like. Sakura glared. When Sakura was about to say something nasty to level with his statement, Sasuke didn't give her the chance. "Timezone difference." She looked puzzled and then Sasuke pointed the clock and it read:

10: 37 AM

September 17

With a whisper so soft, light and heart-felt, the words flew from his mouth:

"Happy anniversary, Uchiha Sakura."