Life brought them together. Life helped them surpassing their own traumas and finally finding the so dreamed happiness. It seemed fair that life was the one who took it away.
It all happened in a fraction of seconds. They were in the middle of the village, during the most crowded hour and in the middle of many people. They had set to meet there after his mission. Even if the place would be a mess, they knew that their eyes would meet each other. Her emeralds would always be found by his dark pearls, and they were. He found his 6 month pregnant wife. He found her beautiful eyes and her brilliant smile, and that was how the Uchiha knew that his pink haired girl also had found him. For them, that quick connection felt like falling in love all over again, but it didn't last for long.
Sasuke waved in order to greet her from far. He was trying to cross that sea of people but they were an army. All the kinds of people seemed to be there in that specific day, but one of them would be the responsible for their happiness ruin.
Sakura was about to repeat the same gesture as her husband but suddenly she felt an enormous pain in her stomach. It wasn't time for the baby to come out yet, and the contractions weren't that strong. Her expression shifted and her hand reached to the aching spot just to be stained in blood. She was bleeding, but nothing related to a miscarriage nor a small cut, no. The Uchiha girl was stabbed during that moment of joy. She could do nothing but succumb to that unbearable pain, neither of them could.
The sharingan holder watched from a distance while her green eyes widened and her body slowly lost it's strength. He watched as her smile faded and tears started to roll down her face. In no time, Sakura was on the ground.
Sasuke pushed everyone away and ran to his wife. Her eyes were barely opened when he got there and once he took her in his arms, he saw her clothes soaked in blood.
" y-you're gonna be fine..."
" Sasuke-kun... Just save the baby..."
" shut up! You should save your energies."
" just... Save... Him..."
" don't close your eyes! Stay with me!"
By the time the arrived at the hospital, she had already lost too much blood. Her body was weak and was almost in a state of shock. Her skin was getting colder and her breath was shallow. If not for her inner strength, Sakura Haruno would have died in his arms.
The doctors rushed with all the equipment needed and, luckily for them, the Godaime was there helping with the patients while her pupil was resting at home during the past months.
" hurry Sasuke! We have to take her to the operation room!"
A whole team of specialized medics were running down the hallways and the Uchiha heir was right behind them. He was holding her hand and trying to comfort the pinkette in a moment like that.
" don't worry, Sakura. Tsunade is here and you two will be fine!"
" please take care of him, Sasuke-kun... Promise me you'll choose him instead of me if you need!"
" Sakura, I-"
" just promise me!"
Her tears were falling to the sides of her face as she knew what was going to happen. Sakura knew that there was no way of saving both of them, the wound was too deep. She knew that they would try to save her but she also knew how much Sasuke wanted to have a family, and that was what she was willing to do. Even if she wouldn't be there to see her son growing up, she would make him happy.
" I love you, Sasuke-kun!"
After that last scream, she closed her eyes and imagined it to be the last time she would see those hallways. The last time she would see his deep dark eyes. The emergency room separated the couple. The huge door swallowed the pinkette and left the Uchiha behind. He couldn't do anything for her anymore. He had done it all but to promise her that one last thing. His hands were tied, or that was what he thought.
Coming out for an instance, the Hokage of Leaf came to talk to the husband of her pupil. She knew he was shocked but she also knew that he needed to take the last decision.
" Sasuke, I'm gonna be straight. We can't save both of them, she has lost too much blood... I know it's not the right time and I know you're nervous, but I need your answer."
His dark eyes were widened and all the happy moments they've shared started to pop on his mind. Would he save the one thing that connected them the most? Or would he save the girl who has done everything to him? That choice should never be made by anyone, but hard times needed hard measures.
He gave his answer and hoped to have been the right one.
The soft breeze of the wind slowly danced with his hair while the Uchiha was stuck in that window. He couldn't help it, the nostalgia was stronger than him. The pouring rain seemed to reflect his inner state as he imagined the rain drops as tears coming from the sky caused by the loss of someone special. The fatality that happened earlier that day would affect not only their own lives, but the whole village's. In that day, Konoha lost someone really special, and Sasuke lost his baby.
The Uchiha heir had chosen the life of his beloved wife. He knew she would be mad and he also knew that the baby meant the world for both of them, but he just couldn't let her die. He couldn't lose her, not again. The life of their unborn baby seemed so small compared to hers. Sakura was the one who loved him during the whole time and she was also the one who understood him. Losing her would be the same as dying.
The room where she was kept was painted in white and there was only one chair near the said window where the boy could be found. He was waiting for her to wake up, yet, he didn't know how to tell her about the tragedy. Sasuke would have to deliver the message tenderly and slowly. He couldn't risk her sanity in such delicate question, Sasuke would simply have to be strong to show her that she could lean on him even if he needed someone too. They would be each other's pillars in order not to fall. It was just a matter of time for them to prove their strength.
The girl in the bed slowly started to open her emeralds. Her vision was blurred and the only color she could see was white. "Am I in heaven?"- she thought. She never imagined herself going to heaven, specially after the horrible things she's done. In fact, the pinkette didn't believe in life after the death, no. For her, after your heart stops beating, only the cold earth and its warms await for you. The girl was a logical ninja, but she had to admit that heaven seemed like a beautiful place to enjoy the eternity. It even had a familiar scent near her, or maybe it was just an epiphany.
" Sasuke-kun..."
Her whisper was almost unheard by the avenger's ears, but his heart quickly woke him up from that trance. The man approached her bed and he saw her eyes widening when he became an object of her vision and a cause of her shock. Was he dead too? And where was the baby?
" Sakura... How are you feeling?"
The words still didn't seem to form on her mind, but her hand automatically reached to her belly just to find that the curve was no longer there.
" S-Sasuke-kun... Are you dead too?"
" dead? No... You and I are alive."
" so it means-" a huge smile formed on her face- " it means that he's alive... Oh Sasuke-kun! How is he!?"
" don't push yourself... Try to rest a little bit more..."
" but I'm not tired Sasuke-kun! I wanna know how he is!"
" just rest okay..."
" what's wrong, Sasuke-kun? I just wanna see my baby, that's all... Everything is alright, right?"
Her bright emeralds detected his shifting movement. They saw as his eyes got melancholic and how they couldn't face them directly. He couldn't do it. He couldn't tell her what he had done.
Her heart raced and the tears started to fall from her eyes when she understood the message behind all those gestures. Sakura didn't want to face it but sooner or later she would have to accept that the little seed she had planted in her stomach wasn't among them anymore.
" no... NO! Y-You promised me, Sasuke! You promised you would save him!"
" I couldn't do it... I couldn't promise you... I couldn't lose you..."
" Oh my god... No! You s-should ha-have saved him... You should have saved my baby Sasuke!"
The eyes of the avenger were in the verge of crying. The pain of the loss was also in his heart. Sasuke was just a victim of the tragedy.
The boy sat by her side and tried to hold her hand, but she refused to. She didn't want to get comforted, no. She wanted her baby.
" I- I begged you... I-I begged y-you t-to save him... Oh my god! Now he's gone forever! I won't ever be able to hold him nor give him a good night kiss! Oh why?!"
" Sakura... I-"
" don't you try to calm me down!"
Her tears were falling like a waterfall. She couldn't look at him nor at his eyes. And from that unilateral rage, Sasuke decided to let it all go.
" you have to understand it, Sakura! I also loved him too much! H-He was my son too... He would be that little and fragile thing that would receive my love unconditionally! He was also a part of me!"
Sakura lifted her eyes to meet his just to see the tears streaming down his face, and they were not made of blood. They were tears of suffering and pain. Maybe she should have listened to him first.
" so why...? Why did you save me instead of the one who would be a part of your family?"
" because... Because I couldn't lose you. I couldn't let you die... You're the woman of my life and I love you more than anything! I couldn't let you die because of something that is not even born... I promised myself that I would never let you die. I promised myself that I would protect you until the end of my life."
The man was clenching his fists and trying to wipe the tears away before he drowned himself in them, something she was really used to.
Sakura was speechless when she heard such words. She was broken when she saw the tears. She was torn when she realized that she had been screaming to him for the couple last minutes. He didn't deserve it.
"S-Sasuke-"
" I promised myself that nothing was going to harm you... Not while I'm around... You're too precious to me Sakura, and I don't regret having saved your life... You can hate me as much as you want, but I'm not gonna stop loving you!"
The Uchiha girl quickly held his hand tightly and brought it near her eyes. Her lower lip was almost bleeding from biting it so much. Her whole was destroyed, but her heart was beating faster. She didn't know why, but in that moment of despair she found comfort in his words. How could she ever hate him?
" hate you...? Y-You saved my life... How am I supposed to hate the only man I love? How am I supposed to hate my own husband? You're also too precious for me, and I'm sorry for screaming at you... I know I'm not the only one who feels like this..."
His tears suddenly stopped and Sasuke quickly slipped under the covers with her. He had his arm around her and she couldn't stop hugging him in pain. She was really traumatized, but she was also happy to be able to share her whole life with him. She would be able to see her kids growing up and finally leaving them behind. It was a closed cycle, but tragedies could always break those bonds apart.
" Sasuke-kun... Are we gonna be okay?"
" yes... I know we will..."
" oh... Thank you for those words... I love you so much..."
" I love you too, Sakura... And don't worry... We will be together until the end, I promise you."
Sasuke kissed her head gently and perfectly placed it above her own pink haired head. Her cheeks blushed slightly and she squeezed her head in his chest just to get the chance to hear the amazing symphony of his heart. It seemed to be slowly returning to normal.
They stood together until both of them fell asleep with their eyes red and their hands enlaced. Sasuke and Sakura would be together until the end, that was a fact. But moving on would be a hard challenge for them, still, they would survive. They would slowly recover their smiles.
The End.