A/N: All right...much against my better judgment, I decided to continue this fic ^^ This might be a little...er...confusing, but it jumps time a lot. It's all the same AU, though, and everything will make more sense eventually.

I feel so stupid for needing to even clarify this...but line breaks are time changes, while three asterisks are scene changes within the same time period and going chronologically.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

A young girl, about six, hovered at the edge of a group of girls who were crowded around another girl's desk. She shot a glance at her lunch box and swallowed, looking longingly over at the others. Aimi-chan was so pretty, with her dark brown hair and black eyes; Kohaku-chan was one of the brightest girls in their class; Hanako-chan was so good at sports. She could see why they had so many friends.

The girl caught her own reflection in the classroom's window and blushed self-consciously, dipping her head down lower so that her pale pink bangs would cover more of her face. Pleased with the way they fell, she swallowed and managed to gather the courage to speak up.

"Ai—Aiko-chan? May I sit here?"

A red-haired girl with bright brown eyes twisted her lips into a pout. "Not you, Sakura-chan!"

The girl sitting next to her turned away from the conversation to back her friend up. "No one would want to sit near someone as ugly as you."

"You have such a big forehead," a third girl chimed in, her voice quiet but demanding.

Sakura tried to blink away the tears that threatened to well up in her eyes. Suddenly, the girl whose desk her classmates had crowded around stood up, eyes narrowed.

"Stop making fun of her!"

The snickers around her fell silent for a moment. The blonde girl navigated away from the crowd at her desk and smiled at her classmate, reaching a hand to her face to brush away her bangs. Sakura stepped back, letting them fall back into place.

"People make fun of you because you have a big forehead," the blonde girl pointed out sagely. "So you have bangs. But you should be proud of your forehead! If you believe in yourself, then no one else will want to be mean to you."

Sakura parted her lips slightly as she examined the other six-year-old. Her hair was cut into a small bob and held in place with a pin; she was wearing the standard uniform for their primary school, but her satchel was pink and decorated with a plethora of buttons and stickers. Quickly, she grabbed the bow at the front of her sailor suit and, reaching for her scissors, cut off a length of navy blue ribbon. Smoothing it out, the girl reached over and tied the ribbon around Sakura's hair, keeping her bangs back.

"There. Now you look pretty!"

Sakura smiled and bowed as she'd been taught. "Thanks! My name is Haruno Sakura. Want to be friends?"

"Yamanaka Ino," the girl replied, "and yes."

"He said, specifically, to wear something special?"

Sakura tried hold back her grin and nodded, not trusting her voice. The other woman giggled and quickly ran over to her friend, pulling her into a hug and lifting her off the bed.

"Sakura, I can't believe this!"

"You're not the only one," Sakura said, a little breathless. Tenten sucked in her breath and pushed her friend back onto the bed, running over to a white door on the wall to her right and pulling it open. "What do you have?"

"Nothing at all!" The pink-haired doctor buried her face in her hands as Tenten attempted to sift through her closet. Finally, she pulled back and sighed.

"Okay, that's it. We're going to Hinata's."

"I don't want to impose," Sakura cut in quickly. Tenten waved her complaint away airily. "Hinata-chan's the sweetest girl you'll even meet, Sakura. She won't mind at all."

Sakura swallowed and shot a glance at the mirror, examining herself. Her hair was about as vibrant as boiled spinach, she had two zits on her chin, and the bags under her eyes were probably more pronounced than Itachi's. She groaned.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Look, the happy fiancée-to-be thing is great, Sakura-chan, but cut the melodrama!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Sakura examined her nails with growing panic. "It's just…" she shook her head. "It's just great to be in love." She paused for a moment and turned red. "What? Fiancée? Did he tell you that?!"

"No," Tenten said, slightly exasperated now. She pulled her car keys from her pocket and shoved Sakura off the bed and away from her mirror. "We're going to Hinata's now. When did he tell you to be there?"

"Seven," Sakura muttered shakily. "Seven…at that expensive restaurant by the hospital. High class, Tenten! I've never even dared to look through the window!"

"Yeah, well, he's loaded," Tenten said, shrugging but unable to hold back a smile. It was good seeing Sakura able to worry about frivolous things like clothing now; thirty-six hour shifts at the hospital weren't doing her much good. He really should be more worried about that, Tenten mused, but pushed the thought away. She grabbed her cell phone and began to dial.

"Hyuga residence, how may I help you?"

The brunette smirked. She'd never heard someone who was able to sound so bored and so pretentious at the same time. And sexy, a rebellious part of her mind pointed out. Tenten stomped on the thought.

"It's Tenten; I work over at the law firm with Hinata-san. May I speak with her?"

"Hn. Sure," the voice on the other side said, and the line went quiet for a moment. Tenten heard muted conversation and then a voice so soft she had to strain to hear it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Hinata-chan. You've met Haruno Sakura, right? We went to the mall together last Saturday."

"Sa-Sakura-chan! Yes; does she need something?" Hinata replied. Tenten explained the situation cheerfully, bantered a little with the woman, and finally snapped the phone shut, laughing.

"She said she'd love to have us over, right now." Tenten grabbed Sakura's shoulders and squinted. "Erm…you're probably quite a bit taller than her, but I'm sure she'll have something to accommodate you."

Sakura nodded and the two of them made their way to Tenten's secondhand Toyota. Hinata's house wasn't too far away; it only took Sakura and Tenten about ten minutes to arrive amid Saturday-afternoon traffic. Tenten rang the doorbell.

It was answered by a tall, handsome young man with white eyes and long, gorgeous brown hair.

He looked like a girl.

An extremely masculine, hot one. Not that Tenten was thinking that.

"Hello. How may I help you?"

Tenten nearly laughed—it was the same voice as the phone call. She pointed to herself and her companion, bowing and introducing them. "Tenten, Haruno Sakura."

"You were the girl on the phone," the man commented with the same pretentious laziness Tenten had noted earlier. The brunette tipped her head.

"Yup. So, you do everything around here?" Her grin widened as the man's eyes narrowed.

"T-Tenten-san!"

A short woman dressed in white with pale lavender eyes and dark, almost purple hair made her way down the stairs and stood next to the man. "You're here! I-I took out a few things Sakura-san might like, but I'm not really sure…" She smiled at the pink-haired woman. "Tenten told me everything. I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks," Sakura said, slightly embarrassed. The man standing by Hinata shrugged. "So, the proposal attire is for you…er…Haruno-san?" He seemed almost relieved.

Hinata nodded for her. "N-Neji-nii-san, this is Tenten-san, and this is Sakura-san. T-Tenten works with me at the law firm, and Sakura's interning at the hospital. Sakura, Tenten, this is Neji—my cousin. He works at Hyuga Corp."

"Hello," he said coolly.

Hinata stepped onto the stairs. "C-come on up."

Tenten shot a last appraising look at Hinata's cousin and followed the young woman up to the second floor.

"I'm shorter than m-most, so I took out a few that were t-too big for me." Hinata motioned at the bed; Tenten walked over a picked up a short, dark blue dress.

"How do you like this one, Sakura? It's a nice contrast with your hair. Plus—they're his colors!"

"N-no, no," Hinata interjected hastily. "It'll c-clash with her eyes! H-how about this one?" She smoothed out a light green dress. Tenten clucked. "No, no, it makes her look childish."

"Something darker, t-then," Hinata muttered thoughtfully. Tenten gestured dramatically at the dark blue. "Like that!"

"No, this," Hinata corrected, showing Sakura a vibrant, dark green one. Tenten rolled her eyes and grabbed another, this time in lavender. "This."

"I-it's light-colored," the Hyuga woman said absentmindedly as she held the dark green dress to Sakura's shoulders.

"It's purple. Purple is a mature color, even if it's light."

"It w-won't go w-with her hair."

Tenten huffed and put the dress back on the hanger. "Okay, well, let's start with Sakura herself, then. What have you worn before, Sakura?"

The woman blinked and shrugged. "My school uniform? My hospital uniform?"

"D-doesn't count," Hinata said with a giggle. A silent moment lapsed before both Tenten and the Hyuga led out a gasp and rushed over to the closet.

"Black," they concluded in unison.

Nearly four hours later, Sakura dared to look at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a long kimono-style dress and Tenten's red high heels; Hinata had washed and straightened her hair so that it fell down her shoulders and back.

"You look p-perfect," Hinata said with a small smile. Tenten nodded. "Now, if only we could do something about her forehead!"

"Please, no," Sakura said, laughing. "As if I didn't hear that all through grade school…"

"People made fun of your forehead?" Tenten laughed even harder. "You poor, traumatized child…"

"No," Sakura said thoughtfully. "It was fine. Ino was around."

"Who?" Hinata broke in.

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows but then smoothed her face out, smiling vibrantly. "Nobody."

***

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, smiling. He looked gorgeous, in a dark suit and red tie, and, at that moment, when he nodded at her, the smallest of smiles turning his lips upward, she felt as if she was glowing, and though she couldn't see anyone but Sasuke, Sakura knew that the eyes of every woman present were on her. She could sense the way they watched her and her irresistible, dark escort: envious of her radiance, wondering what was there in her stride, her smile, her voice, that made Uchiha Sasuke want her.

Sakura lifted her chin higher and allowed herself to be led to their table.

It was in a corner of the restaurant, elegant in a crisp white tablecloth; Sasuke pulled a chair back for her and she sat down, as he did the same. She took a moment to drink it all in.

Ever since she'd been a little girl, enthralled by the tales of princes and princesses and happily ever afters, she had dreamed of a night like this one.

Sakura smiled and ordered with confidence in her tone.

They ate; they ate the most expensive delicacies the restaurant had to order—in complete silence, but Sakura didn't notice, and when they had finished eating Sasuke placed his credit card down on the table and stood for an awkward second before extending a hand to Sakura.

She took it; it was warm and clammy, and something swelled happily up inside of her, knowing that he was hers, and he was nervous.

And as soon as she had taken a few steps away from the table, he unclasped their hands and dropped to one knee, head bowed and one hand inside his coat pocket. Sakura didn't dare to breathe.

He raised his pale, beautiful face to her and raised up a small box. Hesitantly, Sakura opened the lid and laughed with joy, tears threatening to well up in her eyes.

Sasuke cleared his throat and she smiled at him, and he began to speak in his cold, measured voice.

"Haruno Sakura"—he took a deep breath and then continued—"Haruno Sakura, I love you. And I will love you forever. Will you marry me?"

Sakura's vision grew blurry with tears and she let out a choked sob, falling to her knees and grabbing him, arms tight around him. He remained still as stone, but she could feeling his breaths rising and falling unnaturally, as if he actually doubted that she would say yes.

There was no reason to doubt, because this was Uchiha Sasuke, and every other woman in the restaurant—every other woman in Japan, in the world—would give up everything she possessed to be Haruno Sakura at this moment and every moment forward. Sakura wondered if she was dying, because her life was flashing past her eyes.

Sasuke, the first day she'd seen him.

Sasuke, cold and stoic, alongside her.

Sasuke, the day he'd left.

Sasuke, the day she'd first seen him again.

Sasuke, the day he'd first asked her on a date.

The best summer of her life, spent in a strange new city that wasn't strange at all, because nothing could frighten her now. She was strong, twice as strong, and there was something rushing through her blood every second of that summer that made her giddy, and she wondered how she'd lived without this for so many years. And she'd go to sleep every night with a warm body next to her, who held her as if to never let go, and there was always a hand to hold and a shoulder to cry on, just as there had always been, and it was everything she'd ever had, and everything she'd ever wanted, and if only that summer could last forever, because it was everything she'd ever need and everything she'd never have again—

Sakura buried her head in Sasuke's shoulder and held him tighter.

"Yes," she said, her voice small and quiet. And then, "Yes," as if she was afraid he hadn't heard the first time.

She was still crying and she couldn't remember why.

"I love you!"

Sasuke heard the shout, but he didn't heed it. Suddenly, there were quick footsteps behind him and two small, pale arms wrapped around his chest, and a face pressed into his back. The entire body behind him shuddered, sobbing.

Sasuke closed his eyes and raised his hands to his chest, pulling the girl's hands apart and peeling the body off himself. He didn't have the time to deal with some clingy, delusional twelve-year-old who thought she could love someone she hardly knew. So what if they were in the same class? The same work group? Bonds weren't automatic.

He turned around and was met with bright green eyes and tears pouring down a sleep-deprived face.

"Don't go," the girl whispered brokenly.

"Sakura," he said, his tone measured and even. The girl swallowed a lump in her throat and tried to blink away her tears. She met his gaze, desperate and hopeful.

Sasuke contemplated for a moment and wondered if he'd ever regret what he was about to do.

But there was no room for regret, not if he was to become the best.

"Thank you."

Confusion registered on her face for a moment before Sasuke rammed his fist into her temple. She crumpled into his arms, knocked unconscious, and he managed to lift her enough to deposit her on the bench where she'd been asleep, waiting for him.

Sasuke took a deep breath and walked away.

***

When Sakura entered the hospital room, she was surprised to see a stranger inside, conversing with the patient. She wondered if he was the doctor, but he wasn't wearing a lab coat, or scrubs, and he didn't appear to be doing anything medical. He was standing by the window, back to the boy in the hospital bed, saying something in a determined, low voice.

Sakura hated hospitals.

The boy in the bed was propped up on two pillows, caressing something which lay on his lap. He raised his head and smiled widely at Sakura.

"Sakura-chan! Thanks for visiting."

Sakura smiled thinly, unable to muster much more than that, and swallowed. "N-Naruto? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. No stupid broken bones are going to keep me down!"

She bit her lip and stared at her feet, unsure of what to say. The man by the window turned around and greeted her. He was broad-shouldered and had laugh lines etched on one his countenance and long, spiky white hair. His eyes were somber. Sakura bowed.

"Hello," she said, quietly. "I'm…Haruno Sakura. I was—am—in Naruto's work group."

"Jiraiya, a friend of the late Sarutobi-sama. And author of—"

"Ero-jiji!" Naruto interrupted quickly. Sakura turned around to berate her classmate for his rudeness, but she didn't have the heart; her eyes examined his scratched face and the bandages that swathed his body.

It's my fault. Why did I make him do it? He could have died…he's all I have left…

"So, Naruto, is next month enough time to pack your things?" Jiraiya asked. Sakura's eyes widened. Naruto nodded, uncharacteristically quiet.

"Y-yeah."

"Where are you going?" She asked sharply. Jiraiya answered.

"Naruto's going to come and live with me further north for a few years."

Sakura thought she felt her world crash down upon her…not that there was much of her world left.

"Um…I'm sorry if this seems rude, but what right do you have to him?"

Naruto broke in. "Ero-jiji raised my father."

Sakura swallowed. "Oh."

The blond grinned and sat up a little higher. "Aw, c'mon, Sakura-chan! Don't get all weepy on me now. I'll be back in three years, and I'll be awesome, and I'll make sure Sasuke-teme comes back. You'll have to go on a date with me then!"

Sakura laughed. "Keep dreaming, baka." She placed her vase of flowers down on his bedside table, which was already littered with gifts. She left the room and saw a tall blonde woman who was wearing a white coat and holding a clipboard.

"Excuse me?"

The woman looked down at Sakura. "Yes?"

"Are you the doctor? I—I'm Haruno Sakura, grade seven."

The woman quirked an eyebrow at her. "Dr. Senjuu Tsunade. What do you need, kid?"

What do I need? Sakura couldn't think of anything to say for a moment. She didn't know why she'd even approached the woman…

She voiced the first thought that entered her mind, not bothering to process it. "I…want to be a doctor."

The blonde woman smiled ruefully. "Good luck, then, kid. Work hard."

Sakura stood in the doctor's shadow and then nodded quickly. She moved as if to leave but stopped when she felt the woman's hand on her shoulder.

"Haruno Sakura, eh?"

"Yes, Dr. Senju-san."

"You're a bright girl. Quit worrying what other people think about you and maybe you'll get somewhere." She smiled and pulled something out of her breast pocket.

"Most of the year, I work at the hospital down in Konohagakure." She placed a small piece of paper in the girl's hand. "If you ever get through four years of medical school, I'll intern you there myself."

Sakura blinked, surprised, but caught herself and bowed. "Thank you, Dr. Senju-san."

"Huh," the woman said, walking away. "Thank me if you ever get there."

***

"Forehead!"

The pink-haired teenager turned around from the school bathroom's mirror to see Ino, who smiled more warmly than she ever had in the past four years. "Um…I heard about Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun."

"Yeah," Sakura said coldly.

"It must be kind of weird, not having a work group anymore. I mean, Shikamaru and Chouji are lazy and stupid and good for nothing, but I'm used to them." Ino smoothed her hair down and checked her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Sakura walked over to the paper towel dispenser and dried her hands.

"Sakura."

"What?"

"I thought we were friends again."

The younger girl pursed her lips and shrugged. "We are."

Ino heaved an exasperated sigh and walked over to the bathroom exit, blocking Sakura's escape route with her body. She refused to take her wide blue eyes off Sakura's light green ones.

"Kakashi-sensei said he needs to get you a new work group. He said that he wanted someone you were familiar with so you wouldn't feel so weird about the transition."

Sakura sniffed somewhat indignantly.

"So I volunteered."

Sakura looked at Ino and was unable to hide a smile. She sighed in mock defeat.

"Okay, well…thanks, pig."

Ino smirked. "No problem."

Review, please?