A/N: Hi guys! Sorry for the very late update. A lot has happened that prevented me from updating my stories. There's some personal matters to attend to here and there, trips, sports event, work, family gatherings, etc. Oh, BTW, I've changed my username from fallenleaves142 to EthiopianPrincess. I don't know but the feeling just came to me and the name just pop out in my mind. Enough of that. Just enjoy reading this chapter and please leave a comment after reading it. I want to know your thoughts about this story and if this story is worth continuing.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. The only characters I own here are the OOC's. Yes, that includes our loveable and hardworking housekeeper.

Rating: T for Teens (Ratings may change)

Age of Characters:

Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke – 21 years old.

Uchiha Mikoto – 40 years old

Summary: Non-massacre AU. Sasuke had been missing in the forest for 2 years. When he returned, Sakura had just gotten engaged to his best friend. The years apart had changed them both. Could they make their marriage work again?

A hand gently but persistently shook her shoulders. "Sakura-sama? Wake up, please." Sakura stirred, lashes fluttering as she tried to figure out whether she was imagining the voice. "Wake up, Sakura-sama!"

But she wasn't imagining the hand on her arm. Her head throbbed dully as she opened her eyes and rolled over, dragging the covers with her. Her sleepy gaze focused on the agitated expression of the housekeeper hovering above her.

Sakura became conscious of several things at once: the rumpled pillow beside her where Sasuke had lain so briefly, her own naked state beneath the covers and the clothes scattered around the room – hers and Sasuke's. My God, the room is a mess, she thought.

"What is it?" she questioned, trying to maintain a measure of composure despite the surge of embarrassment.

The older woman bit her lip as if uncertain how to reply. "It's Sasuke-sama."

The anxious look on the housekeeper's face brought an instant reaction as Sakura propped herself up on her elbows, concern chasing away the remnants of sleep. "Sasuke? What's wrong? Has something happened to him?"

"No…it's…it's just that he's sleeping downstairs–on the floor in the library." A dull red was creeping up on her neck into her cheeks. "And he isn't wearing any…any clothes."

Sakura swallowed back a smile, her relief lost in amusement. Poor housekeeper, she thought, never married in her life nor seriously close to it and probably shocked to her prim core when she found her master sleeping in the library in the altogether.

"I see," she nodded and tried to keep her face straight.

"Naruto-sama will be arriving in just more than an hour." The woman was trying desperately to avoid looking at the bareness of Sakura's shoulders. "I thought you should be the one to…to wake up Sasuke-sama."

"I will," said Sakura and started to rise then decided against adding to the housekeeper's embarrassment. "Would you hand me my robe at the foot of the bed?"

After handling the robe to her, the housekeeper turned discreetly away while Sakura slipped into it. "Mikoto-sama had a few things sent over yesterday for Sasuke-sama," she informed Sakura. "There are pajamas and a robe. I put them in the empty closet."

"I'll take them to him." Sakura finished tying the sash of her robe. "And tomorrow, I think you'd better make arrangement with Mikoto-san to purchase a bed with a very firm mattress, one that's as hard as a rock."

"I will," the housekeeper promised as if taking an oath. "Sorry to have awakened you, Sakura-sama."

"That's quite all right," Sakura answered, smiling.

With a brief self-conscious nod, the housekeeper left the room. Sakura put on her slippers and walked to the small closet Sakura had indicated. It was used mostly for storage. Amid the few boxes and garment bags hung three shirts and a brown suit. On the two inside door hooks were the pajamas and matching dressing robe in a muted shade of strawberry silk. Leaving the pajamas, Sakura took the robe.

Downstairs, her hand hesitated on the knob of the library door. Tension hammered in her temples and her stomach was twisted into knots. Steeling herself to ignore the attack of nervousness, she opened the door quietly and walked in. Her gaze was directed first to the floor and its open area around the fireplace.

"Our housekeeper sent in the reserves, I see," Sasuke's male voice mocked from the side of the room.

Sakura turned in its direction and saw him standing near the solid wall of shelves filled with books. A dark blue blanket was wrapped around his waist, his naked torso gleaming in that deep shade of tan. Fingers had combed his thick jet black hair into a semblance of order, a suggestion of unruliness remaining. Sakura's pulse fluctuated in alarm, her head lifted as if seeing danger. Her looked like a primitive native, proud, noble and savage.

"Did you hear her come in?" She realized it was a foolish question after she had asked it. Those long months in the forest had to have sharpened his senses, making them more acute.

"Yes, but I decided it was wiser to pretend I was still asleep rather than shock her sensibilities," he admitted with cynical derision. "I thought she would scamper up the stairs to inform you or my mother of my lewd behavior."

Behind his veiled look Sakura felt the dark intensity of his gaze scanning her face–searching for something, but she didn't know what. It made her uncomfortable and she wished she had dressed before coming down.

"I brought you a robe." She held it out to him aware of the faint trembling that wasn't yet visible.

"No doubt at the housekeeper's suggestion. She must have been more shocked than I thought." But Sasuke made no move toward it, forcing Sakura to walk to him.

"Our housekeeper isn't accustomed to finding naked men sleeping on the library floor," she said, defending the housekeeper's reaction and discovering a similar one in herself as Sasuke reached down and unwrap the blanket from around his waist. Self-consciously she averted her eyes, her color mounting as if it were a stranger undressing in front of her instead of her husband.

There was a rustle of silk then, "It's safe to look now," Sasuke taunted, his mouth curving in ungentle mockery.

She flashed him an angry look for drawing attention to her sudden burst of mockery and turned away. The vein in her neck pulsed with a nervousness that she wasn't able to control. His hand touched her shoulder and she flinched from the searing contact.

"For God's sake, Sakura, I'm not going to rape you!" he cursed beneath his breath. "Dammit, can't I even touch my wife?"

Her eyes were wide and wary as she looked over her shoulder at his fiercely burning gaze. "I don't feel like your wife, Sasuke," she said tightly. "I don't feel as if I am married to you."

Immediately the fires were banked in his eyes, that freezing control that was so unlike him coming into play. "You are married to me," he stated and walked by her to the door. Opening it, he called, "Bring some coffee into the library for my wife and myself." With emphasis on the word "wife."

"Naruto is coming and I still have to dress." Sakura reminded him, objecting to spending more minutes alone with him.

"He isn't due for an hour," Sasuke said, dismissing her protest, and walked to the leather-covered sofa, pausing beside its end table to lift the lid of the ceramic cigarette box. "You want?" He flicked a questioning glance in her direction.

"No, I don't smoke. Remember?" she said with a faintly taunting arch to her voice.

"You might have acquired the habit during my absence," he shrugged.

"I didn't."

Brisk footsteps in the foyer signaled the housekeeper's approach. Seconds later she entered the library with a coffee service and two cups on the tray she carried. A pink tint was still rouging her cheeks as the housekeeper steadfastly avoided looking directly at Sasuke.

"Where would you like the tray?" she asked Sakura.

"The table by the sofa will be fine."

Sasuke carried the ceramic lighter to the cigarette in his mouth and snapped the flame to its tip. Smoke spiraled upward and he squinted his eyes against it. Despite his show of disinterest, Sakura knew he was aware of the housekeeper's every movement. After setting the tray on the table at the opposite end of the sofa from where Sasuke stood, the housekeeper straightened up erectly.

"Will there be anything else?" Again her query was directed to Sakura.

It was Sasuke who answered. "That will be all," he said exhaling a thin trail of smoke. "And close the door on your way out."

"Yes, sir." Two red flags dotted her cheeks.

As their housekeeper made a hasty exit, firmly closing the door, Sasuke walked to the tray. Lifting the coffee pot, he filled the two cups and offered one to Sakura.

"Black, as I remember, with no sugar," he said in a tone that baited.

"Yes, thank you." Sakura refused to bite as she took the cup and saucer from his hand.

Scalding steam rose from the brown liquid and Sasuke let his cup sit. He studied the glowing tip of his cigarette and the gossamer-thin white smoke rising upward. A wry smile crooked his mouth.

"I'd forgotten how good a cigarette can taste first thing in the morning," he mused.

Sakura felt as edgy as a cat with its tail caught in a vise. She couldn't help retorting, "I thought you haven't forgotten anything."

"Not the important things, I haven't," Sasuke replied, levelly meeting her irritated glance.

With a broken sigh, she wandered to the library window overlooking the expansive front lawn of the house and its driveway. She was caught by the memory of the last time she had stared out the window in troubled silence. Oddly, it seemed an eternity ago instead of the short time that it was.

"What are you thinking about?" Sasuke was close, only a scant few feet behind her.

"I was merely remembering the last time I stood at this window." She sipped at the hot coffee.

"When was that?" He seemed only idly curious.

Sakura felt his gaze roaming her shapely length as surely as if he touched her and stiffened to answer bluntly. "The night of my engagement party to Naruto."

"Forget about him." The command was crisp and impatient, as Sakura guessed it would be.

"It isn't that easy to turn back the clock," she muttered tightly.

The cup nearly slipped from her fingers as she felt the rasping brush of his fingers against her short hair. Her throat constricted, shutting off her voice and her breath.

"Have I told you I like your hair this length?" His low voice was a husky caress running down her spine.

He lifted aside her hair, pushing it away from her neck. The warmth of his breath against her skin warned her an instant before she glimpsed the waving darkness of his hair in her side vision.

His unerring mouth sought and found the ultrasensitive and vulnerable spot at the base of her neck. Her heart felt as though it had been knocked sideways and Sasuke took full advantage of her Achilles' heel. She felt boneless as her head tipped down and to the side to give him freer access.

The cup rattled in its saucer but she managed to hold on to it. His arms wound around her waist to mold her back to his muscular length. For a magic second she was transported back to another time. Then a roughened hand slid under the overlapping fold of her robe to encircle the swell of her breast, a callused finger teasing its nipple and the arms felt suddenly strange.

"Sasuke, no!" Weakly she tugged at his wrist, no match for his strength.

She gasped as his sensual mouth moved upward to her ear and desire licked through her veins at the daring probe of his tongue. An all-pervading weakness went through her limbs. It was a dizzying sensation, wild drums pounding in her ears.

"Do you remember the way we used to make love in the mornings?" Sasuke murmured against her temple.

"Yes," she moaned, the memory all too vivid.

The cup disappeared from her hand, carried away by a fluid movement of Sasuke's hand. It only took the slightest pressure to turn her around. She was drawn to his side, a muscular, silk-covered thigh insinuating itself between her legs as she was arched against him. She lifted her head, subconsciously braced for the punishment of his rough kisses. Her fingers curled into his shoulders for support.

There was the tantalizing touch of his lips against hers. "After last night, I thought I had you out of my system," he said against them, "but I want you more than before."

A half sob came from her throat at the absence of any mention of love. In the next second she didn't care, as his mouth closed over hers with sweet pleasure. There was no plundering demand, only a persuasive exhorting to respond.

Her lips parted willingly, succumbing to the rapturous mastery of his exploration. The dream world of sensation seemed almost enough. She slid her fingers through the springing thickness of his jet black hair, the scent of him early and clean.

As if tired of bending his head to reach her lips, Sasuke tightened his arm around her waist to lift her straight up, bringing her to eye level. It was another indication of his increased strength, that he should carry her weight so effortlessly. At the moment, Sakura was oblivious to this example of his change.

His mouth blazed a moist trail downward to explore the pulsing vein in her neck. "Did Naruto ever make you feel like this?" An attempt to exorcise the memory of Naruto's kisses from her mind? had it been motivated by nothing more than that? She pushed out of his hold, staring at him with wounded pride.

"Did he?" Sasuke repeated, a faintly ragged edged to his breathing.

"You'll never know," she answered in a choked voice. "Maybe he made me feel better."

He took a threatening step towards her, his features dark with rage. There was nowhere for Sakura to retreat. She had to stand her ground despite its indefensibility. Just then there was a knock at the door. Sasuke halted, casting an angry glance at the door.

"Who is it?" he demanded.

The door opened and Naruto walked in. "I'm a bit early, but your housekeeper said you were in her having coffee. She's going to bring me a cup." He stopped, as if sensing the heaviness in the atmosphere. "I didn't think you'd mind if I joined you." But it was something of a question.

"Of course not." Sakura was quick to use him as a buffer.

"Come on in, Naruto," Sasuke continued the invitation. "Speak of the devil, Sakura and I were just talking about you."

"Something good, I hope," Naruto joked stiffly.

"Yes." Sasuke's dark gaze swung to Sakura, considering grimness in their depths. "Yes, it was." But he didn't explain what it had been.

She started breathing again, her hand sliding up to her throat. She became conscious of her partially clothed state and used it as an excuse to leave.

"If you two don't mind, I'll leave you to have coffee alone," she said.

"I hope you aren't going on my account," Naruto said frowning.

"No," Sakura assured him quickly, avoiding Sasuke's mocking look. "I was going upstairs anyway to dress before our housekeeper serves brunch. I'll be down shortly."

As Sakura left, she met the housekeeper bringing the extra cup for Naruto. The housekeeper's composure was under admirable control now and she was her usual calm-faced self.

Once she was dressed, Sakura slipped Naruto's ring into the pocket of her skirt. At some point during the day she hoped to have the chance to return it to him while they were alone. But it was late afternoon before the opportunity presented itself.

The Konoha Press had learned of Sasuke's return and the house was in a state of siege for the greater part of the day. Either the doorbell or the telephone seemed to be ringing constantly. Sasuke had to grant interviews to obtain any peace but his answers were concise, without elaboration, downplaying his ordeal. As his wife, Sakura was forced to be at his side, while Naruto adopted the role of press secretary and spokesman for the Uchiha Company.

Finally, at four o'clock, the siege seemed to be over and a blessed quietness began to settle over the house. Uchiha Mikoto, who had insisted that coffee and sweets be served to all those who had come, was busy helping the housekeeper clear away the mess.

The ringing of the telephone signaled the last interview for Sasuke, one conducted over the phone. Sakura had started helping the other two women clean up. When she noticed Naruto slip away to the library, she excused herself, knowing she might not have another chance to speak to him alone.

As she stepped inside the library, she saw him pouring whiskey from a crystal decanter over ice cubes in a squat glass. The engagement ring seemed to be burning a circle in her pocket.

"Would you pour me a sherry, Naruto?" She quietly closed the door, shutting out Sasuke's voice coming from the living room.

Naruto's blond head lifted, his surprised look vanishing into a smile when he saw her. "Of course, Sakura-chan." He reached for another glass and a different decanter. Pouring, he remarked, "It's been quite a hectic day."

"Yes, it has." Sakura walked over to take the sherry glass from his hand.

Ice clinked as Naruto lifted his glass to take a quick swallow of whiskey. "A reporter that I know from one of the local papers called and got me out of bed this morning. He'd gotten wind that there was a shake-up in the Uchiha company and he wanted to know what it was. I pleaded ignorance. But that's why I rushed over here so early, to warn Sasuke that the onslaught was coming. I knew it was only a matter of time before they found out."

"Yes." She nodded in agreement, glad there had been no announcement of their engagement in the newspaper or the reporters would have turned Sasuke's return into a circus.

"Sasuke really knows how to handle himself with the press," Naruto stated with undisguised admiration.

"Yes, he does." Sakura sipped her drink.

"And it will make good publicity for the company," he added.

"Yes." She was beginning to feel like a puppet whose string was being pulled to nod agreement to everything Naruto said – when it really wasn't what she wanted to talk about at all.

"I imagine somebody in the company let it slip about Sasuke." He stared thoughtfully at the amber liquid in his glass. "I called around to all the major officers yesterday to let them know he was back. That's probably how the word got out."

"Probably," Sakura agreed and promptly took the initiative to lead into her own subject. "Naruto, I've been wanting to see you today, alone–" she reached in her pocket to take out the circlet of diamonds "–to return this to you."

He took it from her outstretched hand, looking boyishly uncomfortable. His thumb rubbed it between his fingers as he stared at it, not meeting the brightness of her gaze.

"I don't want you to get the idea that I was deserting you yesterday." His voice was uncertain, almost apologetic. "But I know how you felt about Sasuke and I didn't want to stand in the way of your happiness."

With the explanation given for the way he had so readily abandoned their engagement, Naruto lifted his head to gaze at her earnestly, a troubled shade of clouded blue in his eyes. Affection rushed through Sakura at his unselfishness, sacrificing his want for hers.

"I understand, Naruto."

Relief glimmered in his smile. "You must be really glad to have him back."

"I…" she started to repeat the positive assertion she had been making all day, ready to recite the words automatically, but she stopped herself. Among other things, Naruto was her best friend, as well as Sasuke's. with him she could speak her mind. "He's changed, Naruto."

He hesitated for a second before answering, as if her response had caught him off guard and he wanted to word his reply carefully.

"Considering all Sasuke has been through, it's bound to have left a mark on him," he offered.

"I know, but…" She sighed, agitated and frustrated, because she couldn't find the words to explain exactly what she meant.

"Hey, come on now," Naruto cajoled, setting his glass down and grasping her gently by the shoulders, his head bent down to peer into her apprehensive face. "When two people care as much about each other as you and Sasuke do, they're bound to work out their differences. It just can't happen overnight," he reasoned, "Now come on. What do you say? Let's have a little smile. You know it's true that nothing is ever as bad as it seems."

Mountains and molehills. Reluctantly almost, her lips curved at his coaxing words. His steadying influence was having its effect on her again.

"That's my Sakura-chan!" he grinned.

"Oh, Naruto," Sakura declared with a laughing sigh and wrapped her arms lightly around him, taking care not to spill her drink. She hugged him fondly. "What would I do without you?" She drew her head back to gaze at him.

"I hope neither of us has to find out," he remarked and affectionately kissed the top of her nose.

The knob turned and the library door was pushed open by Sasuke. At the sight of Sakura in Naruto's arms he froze and the same paralysis gripped her. She paled as she saw his lips thin into an angry line.

But the violence of his emotion wasn't detectable in his voice as he remarked casually, "Is this a private party or can anyone join in?"

His question broke the chains holding Sakura motionless. She withdrew her arms from around Naruto to hold her sherry glass in both hands. Naruto turned to greet him, insensitive to the heightening tension in the air.

"Now that you're here, Sasuke, we can drink a toast to the last of the newspaper reporters," he announced in a celebrating tone, not displaying any self-consciousness about the scene Sasuke had interrupted.

"For a while anyway," Sasuke agreed, his gaze swinging to Sakura. Sasuke would wait until they were alone.

"I will have the same."

It was late that evening before Naruto left. Each dragging minute in the interim honed Sakura's nerves to a razor-thin edge. By the time he had left, she could no longer stand the suspense of waiting for the confrontation with Sasuke.

With the revving of Naruto's car coming from the driveway, Sakura paused in the foyer to challenge Sasuke. "Arent you going to say it?"

He didn't pretend an ignorance of her question, his gaze hard and unrelenting. "Stay away from Naruto."

All the blame for the innocent encounter was placed on her and she reacted with indignant outrage. "And what about Naruto?"

"I know Naruto well enough to be assured he isn't going to trespass, unless encouraged, on my territory."

"So I'm supposed to avoid him, is that it?" she flashed.

"Whatever relationship you had with him in my absence is finished," Sasuke declared in a frigid tone. "From now on he's simply an acquaintance of mine. That's all he is to you."

"That's impossible!!" She derided his suggestion that she could dismiss Naruto from her life with a snap of her fingers. "I can't forget all he's meant to me that easily."

A pair of iron clamps dug into the soft flesh of her arms and she was jerked to him, the breath knocked out of her by the hard contact with the solid wall of his chest. Her lips were crushed by the angry fire of his kiss, a kiss that seared his brand of possession on her and burned away any memory of another's mouth.

Sakura was released from his punishing embrace with equal force. Shaken and unnerved, she retreated with a step. With the back of her hand she tried to rub away the fiery imprint of his mouth.

"You–" she began with an impotent rage.

"Don't push me, Sakura." Sasuke warned.

They glared at each other in thundering silence. Sakura had no idea how long the battle of wills would have continued if his mother hadn't entered the foyer seconds later. Each donned a mask to conceal their personal conflict from her eyes.

"Our housekeeper just told me you'd asked her to bring some blankers to the library, Sasuke." Uchiha Miikoto was wearing a frown. "You aren't going to sleep there again, tonight, are you?"

"Yes, I am, mother," he responded decisively.

"But it's so uncivilized," she protested.

"Perhaps," Sasuke conceded, for an instant meeting Sakura's look. "It's also infinitely preferable to not sleeping."

"I suppose so." His mother sighed her reluctant agreement. "Good night, Sasuke."

"Good night, mother," he returned, and coldly arched an eyebrow at Sakura. "Good night."

A/N: Well, there you have it! The end of chapter five. Don't forget to review.