Happy Valentine's Day
By: Rise of the Blossom

Pushing open the front door, Sakura frowned softly at the smell that greeted her the moment it was open just a crack. It smelled like… She breathed in deeply, trying to capture the smell and still holding onto the handle of the door. It smelled like flowers, like an open field that was filled with many beautiful, breathtaking flowers and so many living things. It was her most favourite smell in the world and only one person knew that.

He was home.

Tears threatened to fill her eyes and her bottom lip started trembling. He was home. Finally, he was home. How long had it been this time? Over a year. Well over a year since he had been home, since she had had him by her side.

The time apart had been excruciating, bordering on unbearable. Waking up, going about her day, returning to an empty home and then going to sleep in a cold, much too large bed… It was lonely to say the least. Even though she was surrounded by everyone, by all her friends, Sakura had never felt more alone. The person who meant the absolute most to her, the person who was pretty much her entire world, was not around. But that didn't matter now.

He was home.

And just in time for…

Grinning to herself, Sakura fully opened the door and stepped inside her home, though surprised to find the lights had been dimmed. The grin faded as she tilted her head to the side in confusion. Why were the lights dimmed? Wait…

They weren't dimmed! Her eyes widened. They weren't on at all! There were candles lit up and placed on the shelf in the hallway, the one beneath the mirror. Usually there would be a vintage bowl in the centre of that shelf, one that held a couple sets of keys as well as other random bits such as those. Not only would there be a vintage bowl, however, but there would usually be ornaments on either side of the bowl. Glossy, snow white ceramic ones that were in the shape of love–birds. She liked having the bowl between them because of what it represented, who it represented. It was like a wall between lovers. Need she say more?

Shutting the door quietly behind her, Sakura took a few steps forward, only to pause as soft music began to play, drifting to her from up the stairs. She closed her eyes for a couple of seconds and simply lived in the moment. Joined with the smell, everything so far felt so soothing and peaceful, felt so perfect.

She opened her eyes and removed her sandals before following the music without another thought. It was like her guide as it lured her down the hallway, her bare feet silent against the wooden flooring. The stairs were slightly wider than your average staircase and it seemed her lover had taken advantage of that fact, for he had also placed candles on both ends of each step. It still gave her enough room to make her way up them without catching herself on the flame. A small part of herself was worrying about the fire hazard, but those thoughts were calmed as Sakura leaned down and daringly put her finger through the flame, not surprised in the least that she wasn't burned. That meant it was a certain fire jutsu, one that was used with a very fine amount of chakra. It was more or less harmless as long as there were no flammables around.

The journey through the home continued as Sakura made it to the top of the stairs, ears focused on nothing but the music playing. It was wordless music, just the sound of a gentle piano playing, but to her, it seemed so very romantic – and so very out of character for him.

It was when she reached the door to the bedroom that Sakura felt her heart beat increasing dramatically and she forced herself to take a deep breath before slowly sliding the door open.

The sight that greeted her almost brought her to tears and a hard lump raised in her throat.

There he was.

Standing in front of the bed, looking as handsome as ever, was her lover.

"Sasuke–kun," she whispered, "you're home!"

He was silent, waiting for Sakura to close the distance between them and once she had, Sasuke raised his hand, holding out a single, white rose to her. That caused her to pause, to stare down at the flower longer than she probably should have. Usually, red roses were given on this particular day, for they were flowers of love, they were associated with beauty and perfection. Red roses were the flowers used to express one's feelings.

White roses, however, stood for purity and innocence.

They were the original flowers used as a symbol for true love.

Surely Sasuke didn't know that? Sakura's eyes slipped up from the white rose and up into Sasuke's dark eyes.

It was like she said the question out loud, for he murmured quietly to her, "I told you before, Sakura. You are the only thing in my life that hasn't been tainted."

Purity.

Innocence.

Tears filled her eyes as Sakura glanced around the bedroom. Like downstairs, it was lit up only by candles and the relaxing flowery, outdoors smell lingered around them. She glanced over his shoulder next and spotted that rose petals were scattered over and around the bed. Unlike the white rose in his hand, however, these ones were red.

She could feel his intense eyes on her as she scanned the bedroom, eyes sticking to the bed. The meaning wasn't hard to figure out, but it was still… Sakura wasn't sure. She was nervous as hell, though, that was for sure. Why? Because this… It would be their first time, despite being together for a while. Sasuke simply didn't stay in the village long enough for anything to ever build up, for her to ever build up enough courage to… Well, seduce him, basically. She could tell he was watching her closely to make sure nothing escaped him. Nothing could escape those eyes of his, however. Even though his sharingan and rinnegan was deactivated, nothing escaped his eyes.

"…We didn't get to spend the first one together." he muttered vaguely, refusing to allow his awkwardness to show. "I thought it would be… nice to make an effort."

"It is." Sakura told him quietly and her eyes drifted back to his. "I'm glad you're home for Valentine's Day, Sasuke–kun. I missed you."

He stared at her for a moment with who knows what going through that head of his, before he sighed and pressed the white rose into her hand. With his only hand now free, he raised it to her face, hovering just over her cheek for a second before he was cupping it gently, watching in fascination at the way she was so very accepting of him, how Sakura leaned into his touch, smiling softly.

"I also have something to tell you." Sasuke stated and even though his voice was blank, the hand against her twitched ever so slightly and when she looked up, his eyes were burning with a determination she'd never seen in them before. They were so intense at that moment in time that it took her breath away. It was similar to how they appeared out on the battlefield, only, they were a little different. Still intense, still determined, but instead of showing his anger and hatred and perhaps even blood lust, they were filled with realisation, tenderness and awe. "It took me a while to figure out, but while on my path to redemption, maybe even before that subconsciously, I realised something."

Sasuke paused for a moment, showing her without words that it was difficult for him to voice his feelings and emotions. She waited patiently, already knowing that. It had always been difficult for Sasuke to be open, to share what he was feeling with not only her, but anyone. It was something he was still working on.

"You have always been there." His voice dropped back to a murmur, his dark eyebrows knitting together ever so slightly. "No matter how lost I was, no matter how much I hurt you… You still believed in me and still loved me. You believed more than anything, more than anyone that I could still be saved." Another pause. "We both made decisions we regret now, doing what we thought we had to, to save the other…"

He was talking about her trying to kill him, she realised with a horrible knot in her stomach. They'd talked about that day before, wanting everything out in the open and dealt with before giving 'them' a try. The day where they tried to kill each other. Sasuke never allowed her to make excuses for him, no matter how true those words were. So what if he had been almost completely blind? So what if he was in the midst of madness and insanity? That did not make it right for him trying to kill her. It hadn't been self–defence. It had been anger. It had been hatred. He'd been taking his hatred of Konoha out on her, because despite everything he'd done, Sasuke had always thought (deep down) that Sakura would never turn on him. That she'd always love him.

That day, something else had snapped within him. It was something Sasuke hadn't even realised until that final battle between himself and Naruto, until Sakura was leaning over him and trying to stop the bleeding of their arms.

Sakura had never turned her back on him like he had stupidly thought she had. She had been trying to save him from the darkness by giving him a way out, even if that way out meant she would lose him forever. All she wanted for him was to be at peace, to not have to worry about anything ever again. And he'd completely missed that meaning and thought Sakura had finally turned on him, too. That had been like the final snap in his mind, in his heart. It was then that all the building anger and hatred and insanity took over him, made him lash out at her. Sakura wasn't supposed to turn on him, after all. She was supposed to love him. He needed her to love him.

He took a deep breath, staring down into those expressive, apple green eyes. It had never occurred to him before that he needed Sakura and when he found out, it was safe to say that Sasuke had been confused. Still was, in a way. He didn't need anybody. But if he didn't… Well, he wouldn't have reacted that way to her supposed betrayal, would he? That was what he had recently discovered on his path to redemption.

Sakura had never betrayed him.

Her love had always been and would probably always be, unconditional.

His forehead pressed to hers without permission, brow wrinkling with confusion. Sasuke just couldn't understand how she could love someone such as himself. Someone who was burdened with so many ghosts, so many demons.

"You are the light."

She was in awe, completely stunned as she watched Sasuke lower wall after wall. If he continued letting down more walls, she was going to have to remove that vintage bowl from between the love–birds, Sakura thought numbly. "The light?"

"My light." he corrected himself, refusing to shut his eyes so that she could see his emotions. "You are my light. The one I had been trying so hard to ignore and turn my back on. You…" Sasuke gave a small, tired smirk. "You are so annoying. I tried so hard to ignore you, but your light was too persistent. Even when everyone, including myself, believed I was lost in the darkness… You continued to try and light it up, to guide me out of it."

Her throat was dry, hands trembling ever so slightly. "A–And… Did I? Did I guide you out of it?"

The hand on her cheek slipped away, going into her hair and inwardly, Sasuke marvelled at the feeling of it, the softness. They'd never touched before. No, actually, that was a lie. They'd kissed a few times and she had hugged him, but Sasuke had never tried to push it any further. He'd never ran his hand through her hair… He couldn't understand why he'd never done it before. Maybe because he was waiting for her to make sure he was really what she wanted, and didn't want to get too attached, should she change her mind? "I wouldn't be here if you didn't."

Naruto's battle, his friendship and words, may have helped Sasuke overcome the Curse of Hatred, but it was Sakura's love that showed him the light, showed him it was possible. And now she continued to guide him, continued to remind him when those dark days returned to him, that he was not alone.

It was only a second later that Sakura's lips pressed against his in a hard kiss, one that had his body heating up, but Sasuke broke the kiss before it truly started.

"I'm not done."

Reluctantly, Sakura remained silent and still, watching as Sasuke seemed to grow more uncertain, as his eyebrows knitted together and he fought hard to find the correct words. It was such a beautiful sight, seeing him trying so hard for her. After all, Sasuke wasn't one for this kind of thing. He didn't do Valentine's Day and he didn't express his feelings like he currently was doing.

"I also came to realise many things. One of those being…" There was yet another pause and Sakura felt impatience clawing at her, although she remained silent. "…I realised that your love is not unrequited."

It literally felt like her heart stopped. "…What?"

At her quiet voice, Sasuke finally shut his eyes, taking a deep breath. "It is why I took so long in returning this time. I didn't know how to react about this discovery or what I was supposed to do. The people I… My family…" Seeing his internal struggle had Sakura aching. "They all died, Sakura. It… unnerved me. Finding out that I return your feelings… scared me. You're my light… You can't die."

Not for the first time, tears filled her eyes and Sakura dropped the rose, her hands cupping his face and bringing it back down to hers, her apple green eyes flickering between his dark ones. "I'll never leave you, Sasuke–kun. Not willingly. Hopefully, not ever."

"I love you." The words left him in a sigh, his shoulders relaxing like a huge weight had just rolled off them. He brought her closer to him, his only arm wrapping around her.

"Marry me."

Sakura was just as stunned by her words as Sasuke was, as they honestly hadn't meant to leave her lips. They'd been playing around in her head, but with those three words, those seemingly simply yet so very powerful words leaving his lips…

Sasuke stared down at her with wide eyes.

Her heart leaped straight into her throat and in his hair, her hands twitched and threatened to clench into fists.

"I…"

Sakura bit her lip and looked away, angry with herself for destroying the moment with her stupid impulsiveness.

The hand on her waist fell away, but just as Sakura thought Sasuke was going to leave, that she had pushed him too far, too soon, that hand moved up to her cheek and forced her to look him in the eyes.

He was unimpressed. "Those are my words."

Once again, her heart and breathing stopped and all she could say was a pathetic, "Oh."

Sasuke raised a single eyebrow and reached down into his pocket, retrieving something and only when Sakura removed her hands from his hair did he release it, dropping the gift into her upturned hand.

A ring.

"You're so annoying." he sighed, giving her a blank look.

Sakura smiled sheepishly.

"Well?"

Seeing his skin burning a bright red at the back of his neck, Sakura couldn't help but smile more genuinely. "Yes. Yes, I'll marry you."

A/N - Ended quite abruptly, as I didn't know how else to end it! I'm trying out a multi-chaptered SasuSaku story, so I'm writing/posting one-shots as practice, to make sure I'm not making Sasuke OOC. Please tell me if you think he's OOC!

Happy Valentine's Day!