She honestly thought she would ever be happy doing the laundry. It was the kind of thing that used to be on the list of "Things to make Naruto's clones to," Sure there was a bit of a bumpy start but once he figured out that if he did them properly he was rewarded very enthusiastically he became much more willing to at least do them some of the time.
That came to a stop when she discovered that him using shadow clones to live a hundred lives was causing him to mentally age faster than normal (Which explained her rapid maturity during Naruto's training), and she wanted her idiot to remain ever so slightly idiotic. She didn't want an old man for a lover.
So after the war and their house was rebuilt, They divided up the chores in the fairest way possible. Naruto would do the dishes and take care of their lawn, she would cook (Admittedly the easiest chore considering they ate out every other night) and do the laundry, and they'd clean together.
"This is oddly therapeutic," Sakura muttered to herself as she folded another one of Naruto's boxers in a neat bundle. With an armful of her boyfriend's boxers Sakura spun on her heel and marched towards his dresser, he used to just throw all of his clothes in a pile on his bed like a wild animal. "At least now he's domesticated."
Sakura slid open the boxer draw, a bit of a mess from the last time Naruto rummaged through there with several pairs of bunched up in the corner. Sakura sighed into another smile as she began to sort through Naruto's underwear. She hit something hard under the boxers and peered beneath them.
It was black. A hard black box that felt like velvet.
Her mind went blank and she slammed the drawer shut. Her face felt hot. Very very hot. Was that? No, it couldn't be they were only twenty. Where did it come from? Was it something else? Did she even want that?
CHA! Call me Sakura Uzumaki!
No it couldn't be that. Sure she'd probably say yes in a heartbeat if he asked her. But they'd never even talked about, it not that they had much of a chance with the war and then the repairs and they had been so busy with everything. And then there was Sasuke, he was back in the village which was great. But there was no way he was going to stay, she could hear it every time they spoke. He didn't think he belonged here, at least not yet.
But that wasn't important! She had just found a velvety black box in her boyfriend's boxer drawer. Her boyfriend who she had been living with for well…. The exact amount of time was impossible to guess when clones were thrown into the mix. But it was for a long time! "Oh come on Sakura you're just seeing those things, Naruto's the type of guy I'd have to remind to marry me, or he probably thinks we're already married. There's no way that he'd have a ring box in his drawer."
She opened the drawer again. The box was still there.
"Okay so he has a jewelry box, he probably just keeps the pieces of Tsunade's necklace in there. That's all." It was hidden for a reason though. She grabbed the box, feeling it's smooth texture. This was breaching her trust with Naruto! Surely she didn't want him to dig through her private things… like that lingerie, she bought on a whim and so far hadn't mustered the courage to wear. It was on the list.
The box snapped opened, a shining diamond ring that must have cost him an arm and a leg…. Okay, bad metaphor. Still, the ring was absolutely gorgeous, there was no way that this was for anything but to propose with. Her mind went blank as she removed the ring from the box. It slid so effortlessly onto her ring finger. It was a perfect fit.
She could hear her heartbeat as she stared at the ring on her finger. Naruto had bought her a ring! He was going to propose to her! She was going to say yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes. They were going to get married, they were going to get a house, wait, they already had a house. A wedding she needed to start planning for it! Were they going to have a spring wedding? Or maybe one in the summer! Oh, a winter wedding with snow would be absolutely gorgeous but probably a bit cold. Fall could be pretty.
"Wait, cherry blossoms! We need to do it when they're in bloom it would be so perfect! We should also do it at sunset so that way the sky can be cast orange and pink!" With a hand placed on her cheek, Sakura continued to freak out. Stomping her feet she let out a girlish scream that would do her twelve-year-old self-proud.
The front door opened. "Sakura? You okay? I heard you scream!"
The ring was inside the box and buried in underwear before Naruto came into the room. "Oh don't worry Naruto it was just a spider,"
Naruto blinked at her his arms burdened by bags of groceries. "You're not afraid of spiders though."
Caught red-handed! "I um, well What's in the bags?"
A smile broke out on Naruto's face. "Steak and other stuff." Was that a candle sticking out of one of the bags? "I'm going to cook dinner tonight so don't worry about that, I'll do the dishes tonight too. it's going to be great Sakura!"
Was Naruto making her a steak dinner? She loved this man and he was all hers forever and ever, especially because he was so totally going to marry her. Sakura swallowed and brought on a nervous smile. "Sounds great Naruto."
XXXX
Four O'clock, the curtains were drawn, the table was set, the candles were lit and Sakura sat in her seat, wearing a cheap tank top that showed off a lot of her shoulders - a feast for Naruto's eyes - and sweatpants. For a steak dinner, she was underdressed. For a steak dinner at home that her boyfriend had cooked three hours before he was supposed to, she was dressed about right.
Sure she had smelled him cooking, but she didn't even have a dress that was clean from that last formal diplomatic dinner they had to attend! She only had like two dresses! (Something that Ino considered a sin). And just because she found herself happy doing laundry didn't mean she liked doing it.
CHA, not like Naruto cares, he thinks it's sexy when we're comfy.
He probably had a fetish for her wearing pajama pants or her workout attire.
"Here you go!" Naruto slid an ever so slightly to well done steak in front of her, covered in some kind of sauce or gravy that looked like dried plastic. It smelled like lemon and salt, and a bit of lettuce and a leek - a whole leek, not cut at all - served as garnish.
There was a reason why they ate out so much. Her own ability to cook was questionable at best, but they would smile and eat it. There was no intestinal damage. Yet.
Tapping it with her fork Sakura found it to be both tenders in places and rock hard in others. At Least it wasn't trying to growl at her like the time they tried lobster. "Thank's Naruto it uhh looks delicious."
Naruto smiled nervously quickly taking a drink from his glass of… something was it the wine Ino bought her? he was still nineteen for a few more weeks, but nothing was stopping her from buying alcohol and bringing it home. "Well, it is a special night after all."
It was? Oh god, what was it? How could she forget something important!? Let's see here what was today. August… it was August did anything important happen in August? Was it his mother's birthday? No that was in July, and they didn't really celebrate that, was it Iruka's birthday? No, if it was a birthday they'd be celebrating with the person, probably with cake.
It wasn't the date of their first date, first kiss, or their first date was it? No, she had those memorized and marked on the calendar. Wait. Today was the day that he met Futaki! Was that idiot actually celebrating meeting that slutty little princess? Who, was the grass's primary diplomate with leaf and spent more than enough time in the leaf trying to get her Naruto's attention. Was that idiot trying to celebrate that?
"Oh," Sakura mumbled as she began to cut into her steak. "Yep, it sure is worthy of a steak dinner"
Especially this steak dinner.
Taking a piece into her mouth Sakura was surprised that it actually tasted good. Not amazing, or even great, just good, like a decent Riceball for lunch. Nothing to write home about or even remember.
"Yea," Naruto laughed taking another sip from his drink, he held the glass there for a moment before he let out a long sigh. He was planning something. "Well, it's just that we've been together for a while now and…"
Wait wait wait, was he going to propose now? Here in the middle of their home, with no witnesses around after feeding her a crap steak dinner. While she was in her sweatpants? He was going to propose to her while she was wearing sweatpants! Sakura let out a laugh and continued to cut the steak. "We sure have, and it's been absolutely perfect."
Keep it, cool girl! You can do this. Just wait for the ring, act surprised and then kiss him over and over again.
Another nervous laugh from Naruto, he looked so pathetic right now it was adorable. "Yea, well it's just with Sasuke back and all I thought that."
Of course, that idiot would want to wait until Sasuke was back to marry her. That stupid promise was weighing him down still. Still, it might be one of the more annoying reasons why she loved him.
"It's just that he's leaving soon to go travel or something, and I just thought that maybe you'd want to be with him…. And not me."
Her plate cracked down the middle and her knife was now buried into the table. Did he just? Was he? "What?"
Naruto squeaked, nearly jumping out of his seat. Which probably would have been smart. What would have been smarter would be for him to start running. "Well, it's just that you still love Sasuke. And you've been really happy since he came back. And I just thought maybe you'd want to be with him and not me. So please Sakura if you want to be with Sasuke I won't be mad, you can even have the house!"
We're in love with the biggest idiot ever.
Sakura slammed her hand down onto her knife, sending it through the table and causing the table to split in the middle, giving her a direct path towards her unbelievably idiotically stupid idiot of a dumbass she called a boyfriend.
"Narutooooooo." She growled allowing the anger to seep out in every house shaking stomp towards him, the plates and glasses shattered under her footfalls.
He was cowering now. Good, he should be afraid, he should be very very afraid.
With no resistance she picked up one of the most powerful shinobi in the world by his shirt collar and held him there, his feet dangling a few inches from the ground. Stupid tall idiot.
"Naruto Uzu-fucking-maki, you listen here when I say this. I love you." She said that at least twice a day to him, often times more. "During the war, when the Kyuubi was removed from you and you were dying, wait no scratch that you were dead. It wasn't some other slutty idiot that kept you alive. No that was me. For Five fucking minutes and twenty-nine seconds, I beat your heart with my hand. Your life belongs to me."
With one hand still on his collar, she showed him the hand that she used to beat his heart. Making a pumping motion with it. "I cried for you, I fought for you. I told you I loved you every single day. I am the woman I am today because of you. I am happy because of you. I have this wonderful home because of you. And we saved the fucking world because of you."
"So no. I don't love Sasuke. He's a friend and a teammate. But you, you are the stupid dumbass idiot that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with." She dropped him to the ground and pointed towards their bedroom. "Now go get the ring that you hid in your boxer drawer and propose to me before I murder you."
Naruto didn't move, probably because his legs were shaking too much. "How'd you know about that."
"Idiot," She growled, folding her arms over her chest. Her foot tapped lightly on the ground as the anger faded from her. "It's really smart to hide something like that in your underwear drawer when your girlfriend does your laundry. Now hurry up."
On his hands and knees, Naruto scrambled into their bedroom. Moments later he reemerged from the room, his face red as a tomato, and hand outstretched with the box still closed. He stopped when the box was within arms reach of her. "Here you go."
"Naruto," She sighed touching the box and his hand gently. "If you want this, please do it properly."
The anger at his idiocy had vanished at the sight of the box. Now it was replaced by a feeling that caused her entire body to feel like it was on fire and ever so slightly numb. Her face was probably as pink as her hair.
Naruto got down on one knee, opening the box slowly while looking at her in the eyes. Fear and sadness were quickly washed away by the tide of courage Naruto often displayed. "Sakura Haruno, will you marry me?"
"Yes," The ring slid on her finger like it belonged there. "Now let's go have Ichiraku ramen and let everybody know!"
Only Ino cared that Sakura was wearing sweatpants. Everybody else thought it was about damn time.
AN: I got this idea for the proposal that I just had to write. Hope you enjoyed it! Anyways I started some new fics, Another World, Another you has fem Sasuke, Fem naruto as well as regular Naruto and regular Sasuke. It's a pretty awesome fic I thinkk There's also Flower shop romance which is Naru Ino. Please Check it out.
Also follow me on tumblr Yojimbra. Tumblr com There's a link to my P.A.T.R.E.O.N. There if you want to support me. which would help given recent events with Northern California. Anyways Thanks for readign!