Namae

He remembered Sakura's beloved smile when she said yes. Sasuke had been courting the pink-haired kunoichi for more than a half a year when he had asked her to marry him. He had attempted to hide the uncharacteristic blush on his face when he had pulled out the sakura blossoms. Naruto would have definitely laughed at him for such a simple move. Sasuke thought not. He had confessed to himself that his favorite flowers were sakura, for they were very beautiful and gentle-looking. Sasuke often did think about flowers or a beauty.

When as a child, he mostly focused on his oniisan, and how to gain his father's approval. His mother, he remembered had loved sakura as well, and confessed that if he had been a girl, the flower named after the cherry blossom would be his name. "Why?" his five year old self had asked. He and his mother had been walking along the road, seeing the Spring Festival with his wide eyes. The sakura were falling from the trees, and Sasuke had resisted the impulse to touch them with his plump hands. His mother, however, held no such fears, for she reached out her hand as sakura fell on her palm. With her slim fingers, Mikoto breathed the fragrance of the sakura as her youngest son stared at her with an awed expression.

His mother was patient and explained to him as they walked along the road. "Cherry blossoms are not weak, Sasuke, despite of their brief life. They are most beautiful when they bloom…and one of the first flowers to welcome of beginning of spring." Mikoto smiled softly at her son, who was softly frowning with a sudden pensive look on his face. "Spring is a sign of new beginnings, and I believe it is only when it blooms that the cherry blossom is as it's most beautiful…and powerful."

Sasuke had remembered his mother's words long after her death. As he had watched the beloved sakura fall onto his and Sakura's laps, he thought of the truth his mother had said. It had been during the Spring Festival when he had arrived in Konohagakure. Sakura had smiled at him, welcoming him home. She had not asked him anything, seemingly content with having him beside her. Suddenly she had asked if he had ever been to the Spring Festival, and was surprised when he had followed her there after seemingly having no interest.

Sasuke had never been to any of the festivals celebrating the coming of the seasons before. His father had deemed it unbecoming and wasteful for the prideful Uchiha clan, and later, Sasuke had found the festivals useless and annoying. He had better things to do. Although, Sasuke acknowledged to himself now that inwardly, the festivals were too painful for him, to see the whole families and laughing children. It was then as he watched Sakura gaze at her namesake that Sasuke realized that he could have feelings for his teammate. She has blossomed, the young man thought as he continued to observe her, into a beautiful woman. Into…a woman who is someone I can respect and admire. A smile, almost as gentle and peaceful as the one he gave her more than a year ago, almost surfaced on his lips. You are not annoying anymore.

Okaasan was right. The cherry blossom is as it's most beautiful and powerful when it blooms. You…have blossomed beautifully, Sakura.

Sakura had smiled blissfully as she stated yes. Sasuke had found himself moved, unable to speak as thick tears trailed down his face. She had not said a word as she watched him cry. Her only movement was her lips, when she caressed her lips against his own.

It was their first of many.

Sasuke and Sakura had married soon after, the wedding a small quiet affair. Naruto and his wife Hinata stood by in attendance as Kakashi watched, softly smiling beneath his mask as he witnessed a look of love he hoped would never leave his student's faces. Sasuke had been wearing a dark blue traditional Uchiha wedding ceremony dress, and Sakura had worn a soft and beautiful white kimono as her parents, Mebuki and Kizashi, looked on proudly and cried with happiness. Sasuke had whispered thank you into his wife's ear, and she softly smiled beneath the gaze of his eyes. Their honeymoon had lasted a week, and although it was summer and the days were beautiful, Sasuke and Sakura spent most of their time inside. Even now as he held his wife's hand as she screamed, Sasuke could still remember the soft caresses and heated touches and kisses as they explored each other's bodies. During the night as Sakura slept across his chest, Sasuke once more thought of the threat who had thought to be extinguished during the Fourth Shinobi World War. Kaguya... Sasuke tightened his grip around his wife, holding her close and stroking her hair. I won't allow you to take anymore from me. I will find out what you had been planning for your army…and stop it. No matter what it takes.

Sakura had insisted she go with him. It wasn't a matter of choice. Sasuke knew when his wife was determined and wouldn't relent from her choices. Sasuke had suddenly moved and held her close. He could feel his wife's surprise as her blushing face rested against his shoulder. The dark-haired man did not show affection as much as certain others. Sasuke had explained the situation to his wife, and what he was planning. He watched as her emerald eyes narrowed and widened with each word. "I am a kunoichi first before I am a wife," she had stated to him calmly as his mismatched eyes bored into her own. It took only a couple of weeks for Sakura to become ill. Sasuke had watched with concern as his normally strong and short-tempered wife lied in bed with a fever, waking up every morning with nausea and vomiting. They had stayed in the same inn for two weeks as Sakura healed, and Sasuke was stunned when his wife suddenly and shyly asked him to come over to where she lied.

"I'm pregnant, Sasuke-kun." Sasuke's eyes had widened with shock at the explanation, and as his body remained almost completely still, his wife moved his hand over to her abdominal area. He could feel the fresh, new chakra starting to grow, feeling a familiar sensation as he felt a mix of his and Sakura's chakras. The dark-haired shinobi had almost stunned himself when he embraced his wife with as much strength as he could, his head on her shoulder as he feverishly whispered "thank you, thank you," as he wept. A change underwent Sasuke as he and Sakura continued to travel. She wouldn't leave his side, and Sasuke found himself becoming more protective of her as Sakura continued to advance into her pregnancy. He would always rub her growing globe in circles, content as he felt Sakura's happy gaze on him. It seemed to him that his wife grew more beautiful as her pregnancy progressed, and he allowed himself the pleasure of running his fingers through her long hair as their hands intertwined as they rested above the pregnant belly. Sakura had confessed to him one night that she thought their child was a girl, and asked him if that disappointed him. Sasuke had replied carefully. "Having one child is proof enough of our bond, Sakura. The gender does not matter to me." Sakura had smiled, her face radiant with joy as she stared at her husband as she started to fall asleep.

It had been warm day when Sakura's labor had begun. Although he would deny it to a certain orange shinobi later, the moment with his wife pale in his arms as she breathed through her nose was the scariest moment in Sasuke's life. He had remembered vaguely that Karin now lived in this hideout that he was going into, his eyes scanning wildly for the redhead as his wife started to struggle. He had found the older woman studying textbooks when he had arrived in her room.

Sasuke was shocked when the woman who had previously been infatuated with him had said that she would help his wife. She had ordered him to search for warm water and towels as she crouched down to Sakura and spoke softly to her. Sasuke had found the towels and water with great speed, and found his wife lying on a bed that obviously belonged to Karin as she started to scream. The bespectacled sensor had almost ordered him to hold his wife's hand as Sakura would start to push. Sasuke held his wife's hand, soothing her with his presence and did not shout as he felt one of his fingers get broken. Several towels were placed upon her head, washing away the sweat and tears across Sakura's face.

"It's alright, Sakura." Sasuke whispered as Karin eased her fingers through Sakura's vagina. "It's okay. I'm here."

Eventually Sasuke got his entire hand broken as the labor continued for hours. Soft cries were escaping from Sakura, and Sasuke tensed as another hard squeeze spammed through his hand. Sakura…is stronger. Stronger than me. Stronger than anyone I know, he thought as Karin instructed Sakura to push.

A new cry entered the air, and Sasuke stared in amazement as a tiny baby with obsidian hair was held in Karin's arms. The tiny human was still crying, her mouth pink and her hands against her face as her cries filled the room. My daughter…. The thought jolted through Sasuke.

"Look at our daughter, Sakura." Sasuke whispered as his lone hand caressed his wife's face as tears spilled from her eyes. The new mother could only nod she was too emotional to speak. Sasuke watched, his attention divided between Karin and Sakura, as his infant daughter was washed and swaddled in a thick blanket. Her cries had ceased, and she stared at the strange woman with red hair with wide eyes. Their daughter was handed to them, with Sakura holding the small bundle in her arms. The two stared at the tiny human being, observing her small face and features.

"She looks like you, Sakura." Sasuke stated as his wife continued to smile at the dark-haired baby in her arms.

"Sasuke." The man turned, surprised to find Karin staring at him with concern. "Don't you know your hand is broken?" Sasuke could feel his wife's shameful gaze shift from him, and almost smiled. He softly reached out and poked her in the center of her forehead. He whispered that he would be back soon.

"You changed." Karin stopped and looked at Sasuke in surprise as she bandaged his hand. "I actually wasn't certain if you would help us."

"Sasuke." Karin turned to him with understanding and seriousness in her eyes. "I understand what you are thinking. I…" she sighed. "I made a fool of myself many times when I was with you, and when you suddenly left, I realized that I didn't truly love you. It was a love overshadowed immensely by the mother of the adorable little girl." Then she smiled, a true smile that Sasuke had never seen before. It reached her eyes. "I want you to be happy, Sasuke. I would not allow my former feelings to get into the way of your happiness. I see the way you look at your wife and…I know now that you will be happier with your daughter." She held out her hand, as a sign of friendship, Sasuke noted. He took it, noting of the calmness from her.

Sasuke stared at the daughter lying in her mother's arms.

"What should we name her?" Sakura whispered as she lovingly stroked the girl's plump cheeks.

Sasuke thought. He remembered the names that his mother had chosen for him. "Everyone in the clan thought I was expecting a girl. Even the clan elders believed, and they encouraged me to find a proud and strong name for the daughter of the clan head." The long-haired Uchiha had laughed at her younger son's dismayed expression. "However, they were as equally pleased when you were born as a boy."

"What would you have named me, Okaasan?"

"Sakura…" his mother stated as Sasuke pouted, his frown deepening by the moment. "Or Sarada."

"Sarada." Sasuke heard the pink-haired kunoichi giggle as she pressed the baby to her chest.

"Why are you naming her after a food?"

Sasuke smirked. "Her name is more complex than that. It was said in the first founding days of the Uchiha, before Uchiha Madara was born, that there was a lone woman who was stronger than any man. She was much like you," he added with fond gentleness, "with strength parallel the first Kages and with an array of jutsu only one man could match her in battle." Sasuke was amused to find his wife staring at him as he did when he had been a child when his mother had told him the story. "It is said that she was the first ancestor who bore the Uchiha name. Beautiful and dark with almond shaped eyes." He leaned closer and rested his lips across Sakura's forehead. "It is my belief that she was the wife of Indra."

Sakura didn't reply to his story, nor did she seem to react to their daughter's new name. Instead, she stared into Sasuke's eyes deeply and said, "I love you, anata."

"Aa." Sasuke smiled, a full smile that filled his face. "I love you too, Sakura."