Chapter Text
Sasuke gently ran his fingers down the curved contour of his wife's spine as she lay naked, soundly sleeping beside him. They stopped at an inn after spending countless nights in caves. The forest—making love under the stars.
He still could not get over the concept of having a wife. It was something he never could have fathomed in his turbulent past. After the massacre, the only thing he lived for was to avenge his clan. He was not expecting to live past his teen years.
He had always thought that after his battles with Naruto, he would not live to see another day, or that he would be executed for the dark deeds he had committed.
Never did he imagine that he would be living this life - a life filled with joy from a blissful marriage and the anticipation of welcoming his child into the world.
But it had to start somewhere…
Sasuke had no idea when it all began, but he knew it was before the massacre, during his early days at the Ninja Academy—a happier time in his childhood. Before everything—that is when he first saw her at the Academy entrance ceremony. How could he possibly miss her? The girl who stood out in the crowd with her pastel-colored hair. A spring flower waiting to bloom.
Her name was Sakura Haruno. The girl he would find annoying, but someone he would eventually latch onto. A lifeline. The light to his darkness. The warm spring breeze would melt his icy heart, breaking down the walls he built to protect himself. Walls that will crumble for her.
She annoyed him and always will, but the meaning of that word changes over the years. From the pink-haired fairy annoying him to a term of endearment. A way for him to express his love for Sakura.
Thinking back his seven-year-old self would describe her as what the meaning of the word was—annoying.
As a Uchiha, he viewed people differently than they viewed him. He heard their whispers. How could he not? “The last Uchiha.” “A child of a cursed clan.” He ignored their words the best any child of a clan could. Train, train like your life depended. Distract yourself, and one of those distraction was Sakura. His younger self would never admit this, but she was the perfect distraction.
Initially, he found it irritating that she was outperforming him in academics on, almost every written exam—she would be on top. Sakura was smart, there was no denying that. Even leaders of other clans noticed and tried to interfere, but Iruka wouldn't listen to their complaints. The man never gave in to bribery or corruption.
He’s a good man. Saw positive traits in everyone and tried to nurture those traits but was often oblivious to bullying. He noticed. He was a very observant child and had ears.
People often talked about her large forehead being the reason why she was so smart, but he never found it big. Average. Never understood why she got upset about something so stupid. Those girls were just jealous of her intelligence and fearful they would be dropped from the academy if they did not perform adequately.
He was jealous too, mainly embarrassed that he lost to a civilian girl, but would never resort to bullying. It was not in his nature, and he had other things to worry about—worried he would have to explain to his father why a clan-less girl bested him, but his father was different. He did not care if someone was clan-less. Not like other clans who compared their children. Sasuke was held to a different standard. The only person his father would measure him against was Itachi.
Always Itachi, not once was he seen as his person, until his brother's behavior changed, and his father's focus shifted to him. He became the golden child and forced himself to work harder. He did not want to be a disappointment. The pride of his clan. That is what he wanted to be, but it was short-lived. He now realized what was being kept from him. That his clan was planning a coup d'etat and, in a few weeks, he would fall victim to a tragedy orchestrated by the village.
He just continued to go to school. Have tea with his mother in the engawa. And watch Sakura from afar. Helping her from the shadows to keep her bullies away. A memory he suppressed the day of the massacre—leaving him traumatized. Unable to form bonds. It stunted him, his growth. Locking away a part of himself was the only way to reach his ultimate goal—to kill Itachi.
He was never much of a talker, and losing his clan only made him more isolated. However, that didn't stop some people from trying to interact with him. He would often get into fights with Naruto, and girls would flirt with him. Try to get his attention. None of them deserved it, except her. There was something about Sakura that made her different.
Sasuke vividly remembers the first time she spoke to him. How could he not?
It was summer, a week before break. The classroom was filled with a warm orange light from the setting sun. Sasuke had chosen to study in an empty classroom to avoid spending too much time in the house where his parents were killed. The only downside was that girls would often bother him— asking him on dates.
He thought one of his fangirls found him, but when he looked up from his book. It was her.
He remembers staring at Sakura. She wore her usual sea-foam green dress, nervously fidgeting with the hem. He always liked that color on her, brought out her eyes. Sakura seemed anxious that day and never quite understood why girls got nervous around him, but he remembered his mother's words—girls act that way when they like you. What was there to like about him? He was weak and allowed Itachi to destroy his family.
“Sasuke-kun,” Sakura blushed. “I really…”
“What is it? Who are…” he asked as he rose to his feet, but she ran off before he could finish asking his question. Confused about the whole ordeal, he forgot about it, only to remember the moment four years later when they were placed on the same Genin team—upset he was stuck with the village idiot who originally failed the exam, and a fangirl who did not understand what it takes to be a shinobi, but that soon changed during their mission in the Land of Waves. It was a reality check for all of them. On the mission, he learned how much Sakura would affect him. How he would have a strong urge to protect her from others and himself.
The girl he once viewed as a fangirl had no fear. She was not afraid to throw herself into dangerous situations, The mist shinobi was only the beginning. He never expected from a girl like her. Who he thought was superficial about not only her looks but his as well. That she only liked him because he was cute and cool. He was wrong and realized Sakura would constantly throw herself in the line of fire—to protect him, Naruto, and strangers. She was selfless and it annoyed him. Sakura was still guilty of selfless acts and wished she would be selfish.
It annoyed him. Many things annoyed him, but the one that always broke him was her tears—the ones she would shed for him.
He remembered the first time she cried. He did not expect someone to care if he died. The people who did were long dead. That day on the bridge is one he revisits often. Her floral scent, the way her weight pressed against him when she believed he had died—never anticipated someone to care for him so profoundly. He felt familiar love. The warmth that Sakura exuded gradually eroded the barriers he had erected to shield himself from the pain of losing someone he cherished.
In that instant, he realized that Sakura was the person he wanted to share his life with, assuming he survived to adulthood. He didn't think he would with Itachi still out there, lurking in the shadows.
He would soon learn that his estranged brother was not the only adversary he would have to worry about. There was a serpent watching him from the grass waiting for the right moment to strike. A man who was after his eyes and body.
A man who changes his path forever. One that would send him into madness.
How things would have been different if they had not taken part in the Chunin Exams. They were only a team for a few months. Have only been on a few missions. Not ready to be thrown on the world stage. What was Kakashi thinking?
He knew that morning of the exam when someone was off with Sakura. She was scared. Not ready. He should have felt the same but was a child who had something to prove. He needed to test himself against other shinobi. To prove he was ready to face brother.
He was wrong. He was not ready. He let his anger get the best of him when Orochimaru mocked him. Used his Itachi’s name to anger him. He let his guard down and allowed Orochimaru's poison to course through his body.
You will seek power and come to me!
Orochimaru was wrong or so he thought, but at that moment he was more focused on his pain. How it was tearing him apart. How he was searching for comfort. Her comfort. The moment she was by his side he latched onto her, clutching her hand, holding on to her as if his life depended on it. She was his beacon of hope, the light he desperately clung to as the darkness threatened to engulf him.
The last thing he remembered was passing out in her lap and his nightmares of the massacre. He didn't know how much time passed but when he woke to find her hair scattered on the forest floor. Battered and bruised.
He was angry. So angry he was blinded by rage. He saw red.
"Who did this to you?"
He knew who harmed her. The sound of shinobi. They mocked him. Mocked her. Called her weak. She wasn't, but he needed to avenge her, but before he could kill them. She stopped him. Running towards him. Hugging him. Seeing those tears again. He stopped. At that moment, he realized that Sakura possessed the ability to soothe his inner rage, and he knew that she was his weakness.
A weakness. The one person who filled his lonely existence with the emotion known as love.
An emotion that did not last long. It was shattered once again when he returned. Itachi. He tortured him, to feed his anger. To push him over the edge and believe he was not growing stronger. Sasuke now knew why his brother did what he did but back then, all he wanted was to kill him and avenge his clan. So, he left, but leaving was never easy. He almost stayed. Sakura poured his heart out to him, and she always swayed him, but in the end, he chose a dark path over a happy one.
Over the years they crossed paths, but the moment that still haunts him is when he almost killed her at his lowest moment. How could he forget their confrontation in the Land of Iron? How she chose them? The village that destroyed his family. She had to know. Sakura, the Hokage’s student had to know the village ordered his brother to massacre his family. But she didn’t. She too was lied to and was the last to find out the truth.
But at his lowest, he thought killing her would plummet him further destroying the one thing that kept him in the light.
Good thing Naruto and Kakashi stopped him. He would never be able to forgive himself if he killed her.
Everything else was a blur until the end of the war. He joined the allies for his own gain. It was the only way to fulfill his goal. To destroy the current shinobi system and implement a regime that would not manipulate children to become mindless soldiers. Sasuke tried to remain cold, aloof, and uncaring but his walls began to crumble when she confessed to him once again.
He knew she would follow them, and he needed to put a stop to it. He placed her in genjutsu of their time at the academy.
Sasuke felt the bed shift and glanced at his wife, who was still fast asleep. Well, he hoped she was. Sakura needed rest.
“Sakura..."
“Anata, is everything alright?” Sakura turned to face him. She placed a hand on his cheek.
"Everything's fine."
Sakura raised an eyebrow, clearly not convinced. "Sasuke-kun, you can talk to me."
“We do talk..."
He frowned when Sakura pouted. “Tsuma, I was just thinking about how we got here. How your love holds an indescribable significance in my life.” He placed his hand over hers. “How you still loved me even during my darkest moments, seeing the goodness in me, a goodness that I couldn't perceive myself. Though I may not vocalize it frequently, my love for you is unwavering.”
Sakura's green eyes swelled with tears.
Damn it, I made her cry again.
Sasuke wiped away her tears with his thumb, feeling a pang of guilt for causing her distress. "I'm sorry, Sakura. I didn't mean to upset you."
Sakura shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips. "No, it's just... I never get tired of hearing you say those words. It means everything to me, Sasuke."
He pulled her into a tight embrace, burying his face in her hair. "I love you, Sakura. More than anything in this world."
