A/N: I've been waiting a long time to do this story. This is the revised prologue, shorter and better written. Seiken no Heki-Reki is a Japanese proverb that means "Thunderclaps from a clear sky". This story is inspired by Raina1's Hana Ni Arashi, however I don't compare my writing to her talent in the least. I'm serious, read her work, it's absolutely amazing and she is the main reason I decided to start writing fanfiction.
Sorry if this sucks. Like actually. =_=
Disclaimer: Wouldn't that be just peachy? -_-
Summary:
8 years after his defection, which means all of Team 7 is now 20, Sakura and Naruto run into Sasuke again. By now, Itachi is obviously dead, and they once again try to convince him to leave behind his group, Taka. Initially, he says nothing, which Naruto interprets as a yes. When Naruto approaches Sasuke, he knocks him unconscious. Sakura holds Naruto in her arms and begs Sasuke to come home, where once again, he stays silent and leaves, intending on sparing her. When Team 7 returns home, Sakura is heartbroken again, and visits the walkway where he left her so many years ago.
I don't want this life. I never did. But I bear on anyway. As much as I wish I had changed, I can't bring myself to regret my decisions. If I hadn't made a path for myself, I would not be where I am today. I would not know what I know today. Because no matter where I went, however dark I might've become, something beautiful always followed me, all the way until the end; love.
-Anonymous
Chilly winds blew harshly through Konoha at that moment, Sakura's pink hair becoming disheveled in the movement. Goosebumps formed on her skin, but she paid them little heed and sat down on the bench he left her on so many years ago.
Seating herself quietly, she ran her hand along the aged wood grain, smiling sadly as she remembered their young days, her young days, as Genin. Everything then was so simple; no drama to cloud a friendship, no duties to be fulfilled, no pains needing to be hidden.
No scars to bear. No scars that ran so deep they never really healed, and were just momentarily forgotten in day to day life, the resting intervals between the pain short and fleeting at best.
She sighed, and wiped at her wet face in annoyance. This always happened. Just the thought of him was enough to shatter her carefully constructed facade. 8 years later and she hadn't grown stronger in the least. Just as weak as she was then, like he said. At the time, she had assumed her was criticizing her skills in battle, when in reality he meant so much more. She spent her time training, fighting, sparring, to better herself, to prove to him she wasn't hopeless, to prove to everyone. And only until now, 8 years later, did she even begin to understand the message. Her battlefield skills were impressive, but there was always a chink in her thick mask. She hid behind a cheery smile and enlightened eyes, no one ever comprehending the deep, swirling fathoms below her surface. She never bothered to confront her emotional demons, the ones who really were the most crippling of all.
"Just as weak…" she whispered to herself, earlier tears falling freely now. "Nothing's changed. He was right all along." She rubbed her arm consolingly, voice rising to a louder and higher pitch as desperation entered her voice, and frenzied thoughts filled her head. She felt so alone, so scared, out in the world. So exposed. Everyone had already matured, but Sakura was a 12 year old in a 20 year old's body. She buried her face in her hands, and silently prayed for the simplicity of youth. Just to experience the joy again of mastering a jutsu, to see someone genuinely smile at her. To see Naruto smile at her honestly again.
That was what she had lived for. With the rewards so fleeting now, however, she found it harder to continue. Naruto had grown so withdrawn, so different, so dark, and it frightened her to see this change. She had held hope he would remain strong for all of them, and in the end it was he who fell the hardest. It was all Sasuke's fault.
She drew her knees up into her chest and chewed on her lip till it drew blood, tears still streaming childishly as she sobbed into her knees. This place held so many burdens, she could hardly stand it. She just wanted to leave, to escape and never look back.
Something disturbed the foliage behind Sakura momentarily. She sniffled slightly, wiping messily at her face and turning around.
"W-who's there?" she asked loudly, with suspicion and fear lacing her tone. "Sh-show yourself!" she continued, attempting to appear intimidating but failing miserably. Training and technique left her clumsily, as she sat there vulnerable in the night.
Nothing greeted her, save for a deep bout of silence and another wave of all-consuming loneliness.
She sighed sadly, and turned back to her knees, resting her chin on them and feeling sleepy. She closed her eyes momentarily and took in the soft silence, eerie and calming all at once.
Abruptly, a branch snapped behind Sakura, prompting her to whip around again, her kunoichi skills taking over, and produce a sharp kunai from her pouch, glinting in the moonlight evilly and poised to strike with deadly accuracy.
She stood up from the bench and faced the bush behind it, using the bench as a flimsy form of a shield. She readied her stance and glared into the leaves, emerald eyes ablaze with a suspicious stare.
She gulped and ignored the fat beads of sweat forming on her fair brow, rolling down and hitting the ground loudly. She noticed her hand starting to shake and took a deep breath, blinking to steady herself.
Once again, nothing emerged from the bushes. Sakura raised a brow, and lowered her weapon, her eyes fading back to their natural state of calm green. She could've sworn something was in there; all of her instincts told her so. Instead she shrugged, and backed up, blood freezing and heart falling through her feet when she collided with a rock hard body.
There was no need to turn around for her to know who it was. After searching for him for years, she kept every shredded memory of him and preserved it, knowing him as well as he did. She just knew it was him. It had to be him.
Her breath caught in her chest, and she felt herself suffocating, and also somewhat laughing at the irony of it. 8 years of searching, and no dice. And in the end, it was he who found her.
"Sakura." A cold, familiar voice murmured. Sakura noticed his chest resound with the sound, and then blushed at the proximity of their two bodies.
She said nothing in return, and neither moved away nor moved closer, the coldness of their enemy relationship causing tension.
"Sakura, answer me." The voice was icy, tinted with malice and danger.
Sakura's eyes squeezed shut, and she felt a twinge of annoyance. Years of begging him to come home, with tears, with words, with passion, and nothing. But now she had an obligation to answer to him?
At the same time, she longed to return to his beckoning. A feeling of loyalty was tugging heavily in her, and it didn't help he had a baritone voice and hot body to boot.
"Sasuke." She said simply. "You came home."
She could feel his smirk from behind her. He placed his hands firmly on her waist and slowly turned her around, smiling inwardly at her scarlet face and pathetic attempt to avoid eye contact. Slowly, one of his pale hands tilted her chin up towards him, and when green met onyx, she melted right there in his arms.
The rest is history.
Not long after, Sasuke was cleared of the majority of his crimes by the ever merciful Naruto, the new Hokage, who embraced him with profanity, a few punches, and a suffocating bear hug. Several bruises later, Naruto said that while he was able to clear Sasuke of the heaviest crimes, much to the chagrin of the elders, he still had to serve time in prison, which Sasuke accepted with relief, hardly expecting such kindness.
During his time in prison, he seemed to have many visitors. At first, they were only Naruto and Sakura, Sakura being the more regular, but soon after, the other teams started visiting him after the initial shock of his return registered properly in their minds. Sasuke learned plenty about each of the other shinobi he had never been able to bond with in his youth, and even found friendships with each of them.
When released, he had a huge celebration, with all of his friends present. Sasuke even smiled a few times.
Later that night, Sasuke asked Sakura if she thought they were in a relationship. She had flushed red and stuttered, before Sasuke interjected and said they should be.
6 months later, they were married. A month after that, Sakura found out she was pregnant.
When Sasuke held the tiny newborn boy in his arms, he experienced something like never before. It was if Itachi, and the darkness of his life, never had happened. It was just this little boy, who somehow made everything right, who gave him new purpose to live. This tiny child…gave him something to look forward to.
"Fugaku." Sasuke had said simply after holding him, his voice indicating that there was no room for question.
Sakura had smiled and nodded along. She had predicted that was what he would name his son. That their son would carry the name of Sasuke's father. As a tribute to that past, and a tribute to a new beginning.
As time went on, Sasuke came out of the dark, gradually, accustoming himself to the new, enlightened world engulfing him. Fugaku taught Sasuke something new every day, ranging from centipedes to why smoke was black.
At 4, Fugaku entered the Academy, charming every single girl in there the minute he set foot in the classroom. By this point, his father's looks had obviously descended quite nicely into Fugaku, along with immense chakra reserves, prodigal talent and an early Sharingan at just 4 and a half. Sakura bragged about him to everyone in the village, but Sasuke stayed silent. In his heart, however, he can't deny he'd never been prouder.
The adventures went on happily, until one day, when Fugaku was around 5½ Sakura realized worriedly she had missed her period…twice. Not long after her discovery, she was experiencing severe nausea, until it became a regular occurrence. Sasuke had been away on a mission, and Sakura was thankful, because she wanted to surprise him, however nervous she was herself.
Sakura was a med-nin. She knew what this meant. Her chest tightened at the though, giddiness and nervousness seeping into her as she imagined his reaction.
When he returned, she embraced him tightly, having gathered all of their friends at the gate. People were clapping Sasuke on the back, however he didn't quite understand why. Most of his attention was focused on his wife's upturned face, smiling and bright, peculiar in a sense, not that he was complaining or anything.
Sakura quickly thanked everyone for coming to greet him before rushing him home and happily announcing she was pregnant.
Sakura imagined he would smile, laugh, cry out, spin her around in a circle, sing, anything.
But then again, that was only what she imagined.
He was afraid. More than that. Absolutely terrified. He explained the Mangekyo Sharingan, which was a foreign concept to her, since knowledge of the Uchiha clan had always been a sensitive and highly avoided topic in Konoha. He coldly stated that siblings were not an option, not when the events of Madara Uchiha's past were still fresh and painful in Sasuke's mind, when he could foresee future horrors all too clearly. He said stonily that he would not risk Fugaku's life, or the life of the unborn child to be lost in cold murder.
He said an abortion was her only option.
Her words cut far deeper than he let on. He wanted the child, more than anything. But the clan...the curse of his clan was too dangerous. The Mangekyo Sharingan was too heavy a risk to bear, and if any of his children ever found out about it...Madara's past was very likely to repeat itself. Inside of himself, he apologized for cursing Sakura to be the mother who must suffer it, to be the girl he had to steal opportunities from.
She was different after that. That night, when she foolishly assumed he was asleep, she started sobbing uncontrollably. While he tried to draw her into his arms, she pushed away, unable to meet his eyes. He'd taken a life before it even had a chance to live. She stroked her abdomen tenderly, scared for her baby.
She'd seen abortions before. Frightened teenage girls and their guilty boyfriend counterparts, the awkwardness deafening when the issues of a contraceptive came up. A scared and starved homeless mother once. The all familiar sensation of the mother who decided she had too many children to be able to support them. Even the young, druggie prostitute. But this wasn't just any woman. This was Sakura Haruno, respected med-nin, dutiful mother, faithful wife, cheery friend. And this wasn't just any baby. This was her baby. She would not, could not, live with herself if the abortion occurred.
She fell into a depression. Every day, a plate would be ready for her at the table, and every day, the plate was no emptier than how Sasuke left it for her. It disturbed him to no end; he hadn't thought she would be so upset.
No amount of his pleading or persuasion managed to get her to listen to him or even take anti-depressants.
He inwardly slapped himself as he finally gave in, saying to her that the abortion was cancelled. He was probably going to regret it later.
Tsunade reacted to the news without expression. Then she wearily asked Shizune to leave the room, before she laced her manicured fingers gently across her lips. She smiled happily. Her precious student had grown up and fallen in love. The second child about to come along, she thought cheerfully.
Fairly soon after, Sasuke left to go on a mission. During his absence, Sakura visited Tsunade for an ultrasound.
Tsunade's eyes widened at the ultrasound. Sakura was sitting on the chair, peacefully, rubbing her now swelling belly gently. She smiled, and turned to Sakura, informing her of the news. Sakura was shocked at first, but her face breaks out into a huge grin. She laughs and grabs her old mentor's hand, just sitting there laughing joyfully, reveling in the news.
Sasuke will be so happy to know when he returns from the mission, she thought.
He returned, exhausted from his mission. His wife was standing by the gates, along with many friends, like last time. Sasuke excitedly realized that she probably found out the gender while he was gone. Everyone hugged and congratulated the parents, however before everyone dispersed and returned home, she announced in front of everybody the good news. Ino gasped and screamed in excitement while Hinata just smiled and nodded shyly. The boys all cheered and clapped Sasuke on the back. But he didn't respond. He stayed still and stared at Sakura in pure shock, at an utter loss for words. Everyone assumed he was overjoyed and just didn't know how to react. He responded politely to the best wishes of everyone and thanked everyone, taking Sakura home quickly afterwards. As soon as the door was locked behind him, a part of him bolted and shut as well, as he sighed tiredly.
This is horrible. He can't ask her to get an abortion now; it's too late.
This is horrible. What's wrong with him? She wonders.
They didn't speak at all for the rest of the night. They crawled into bed together, without touching, and turned off their respective lights synchronously. Neither of them were able sleep, bordering on the edge of insane insomnia. When the time passed by slowly and Sakura believed the whole village was asleep, she whispered to him a question that he was afraid to answer. That she hoped she would coax out of him.
The indigo aura of inescapable night seeped through the window. A cool breeze wafted around the room, chilling and tickling Sakura's exposed arms on the coverlet. The stars were particularly bright that night, however neither of them noticed any of this.
"Sasuke, why don't you want twins?"
It was quiet indeed in Konoha that night. He didn't want to tell her. But she forced the answer out eventually.
He sighed.
"One extra child was enough. But twins, Sakura? This only increases our chances for disaster." He seethed.
Sakurs shook her head fiercely. "It's no fault of mine. And besides, it's far too late now. We're having these twins, regardless of your personal fears."
He hmphed, and turned over, away from her. As several minutes passed, he felt her cool hand lay softly against his neck, whispering into his ear.
"You'll be a good daddy. I know you won't let something like that happen either way." She mumbled; a smile in her voice. "As long as we teach them right, there's nothing to fear,"
The thought still weighed on him, but even he could tell it was paranoia. It was a gripping fear of those twins from so long ago that kept him so vacant and so unenthusiastic about twins. He knew his words went unheard and caused heads to shake at him in sympathy, because everyone knew he was wrong. But no matter how hard he tried to assure himself of the facts, he was unable escape the gripping feeling…of just…knowing, that something would go wrong. The remaining fear of twins went pretty much unheard, as Sasuke knew he was being the illogical and troublesome person in this situation.
A few months later, Sakura gave birth to two fraternal girls, each separated by about 10 minutes. Hanako was the older one; Seiko the younger. Sakura cradled Seiko in her arms and motioned for Tsunade to hand over Hanako, however Tsunade only looked gravely at her student and left the room, handing Hanako to Shizune as she passed.
Sasuke was sitting outside, elbows on his knees and staring pensively at the floor, contemplating the two new additions to his family. Tsunade spotted him and approached quickly, beginning to drag him into Sakura's room. His face twisted in annoyance, before he regained composure.
"Tsunade-sama, what's wrong?"
Tsunade's eyes narrowed at this question, and she seethed out through her teeth.
"It's…your oldest twin. I'm afraid she's not breathing properly. She won't respond to stimulation or anything."
Sasuke's blood went so cold at that moment his entire body could've turned to ice. Tsunade cast him a sad look, empathy laced in her brown orbs, before she continued on through the hospital.
"S-so why are you taking me if…" Sasuke whispered fearfully.
She sighed. "I wanted you to at least have a chance to see her, to talk with Sakura." Tsunade approached a white door and knocked thrice, before turning the handle and pushing the door inward.
Sakura sat on the bed, crying and holding Seiko close to her, while Shizune stood there, an incomprehensible expression plastered on her features, the limp and silent baby in her arms.
Sasuke couldn't bear to look at that baby, the one that could've been. Instead, he walked up to Sakura, knelt down, and took her hand, staring up at her.
She shakes her head fiercely, tears still streaming. "I want my Hanako. Bring her back, please. Do anything." She pleads, tearful eyes turning to Sasuke. "Sasuke, please, do something, anything. Give her back to me." Sasuke turned around to see Tsunade place one hand on her hip, the other on her temple, and shake her head tiredly.
"I'm sorry Sakura. I'm afraid she just won't…survive." This prompted even more sobbing from the already hysterical mother. Sasuke accepted this with regret and deep grief in his heart, much more than he would ever let on, before an idea struck him. Shizune, already slightly teary herself, turned to Sasuke. "I'm so sorry, Sasuke."
"Give me the child." He ordered. "Give her to me." Shizune complied immediately and carefully handed over the bundle. He re-adjusted the position of the infant in his arms, and began to search for a pressure point on the baby's neck. When he found it, he shot a wave of stunning chakra through his finger, into the baby's pressure point. The baby jolted for a moment, but no sound emerged from her mouth.
Everyone else stared on in awe. Even Tsunade's interest was piqued. Sasuke searched for another major pressure point and started shooting chakra pulses into those points with direct precision as well. The baby jolted, until at one point, a small cry emerged from the baby's mouth. At this point, the baby's eyes shot open, shocking Sasuke at what he saw.
The baby already had a Sharingan. A Sharingan...at birth? Was it even possible?
As quickly as it came, her eyes closed again, no evidence to suggest the previous crimson pools that were in its place a moment earlier.
Everyone in the room sighed in relief, as the baby starts to wail, no one else having seen the Uchiha bloodline in her eyes. Sasuke quickly handed off the baby to Sakura, who seemed like she was about to pass out from relief.
Sakura hugged her baby close to her, relief flooding her completely. Shizune clapped her hands together and sighed in joy, wiping away a tear. Even Tsunade was a little emotional by now. Abruptly, she turned around to thank Sasuke, to discover he'd already left. She shook her head at his actions, smiling slightly, before turning around to tend to the newborns.
Sasuke sat himself outside, on the stone bench in the courtyard adjourning the hospital. Although he would never admit it, he was terribly superstitious. The incident with Itachi, all leading up to Orochimaru, was all because he believed it was fate. He had always felt terribly cursed because of that.
And now…one of the twins nearly died. If he hadn't stepped in at the exact moment he did, one of his daughters would be dead. To others, it would be called a stroke of luck. To him, it was an unpleasant brush with death, and his suspicious side stepped forward, remarking that this was a sign of things to come. As much as he tried to shake the feeling, he couldn't rid himself of the constant nagging, the insistent tugging at his inner self that there was something wrong with Hanako.
And that Sharingan. Never once, in the history of his entire clan, had a baby ever been born with Sharingan. Sharingan was achieved in the heat of battle, when one exerts themselves enough.
Was the baby in a battle, even in Sakura's womb?...Maybe against her twin, even before either of them were born? Were his earlier fears being confirmed?
He shook his head. No, no, he was being stupid. Impossible. The Sharingan was a coincidence, the baby's near death experience an unfortunate event. That was all. End of story.
He sighed. He really shouldn't be thinking about this. Instead of regarding the inner warning, he stepped up and walked inside, oblivious to the, for once, viable warning.
Because however much he didn't want to admit it, his insecurities were being revealed and confirmed at that very moment.
A/N: Chapter 1 done. FINALLY. Chapter 2 up soon. Hope you guys enjoyed, reviews please. Gotta tell you, this is a vast difference from what I used to write, but I'm incredibly excited for where this story is leading. This is a prologue, next chapter describes Hanako and Seiko as they grow up, and going to the Academy. Chapter 3 is where it will really start, I think. Sorry if there's any grammatical errors, I'm really just too lazy to read through this ungodly long story to edit. :) Alright, next chapter up soon.
