Author's Note: Hey guys. Been awhile! Just a few little comments to fill you in. I have this finished and it runs about 15 chapters. The rating will go up to M eventually (wink) And there is a semi-sequel coming out. What I mean by that is, you don't have to read this, in order to understand it and vice a versa. The stories however do connect. I started writing the other one first and realized I wanted to write how Sasuke and Sakura got together too so I ended up with both... I will have that one started probably today too. All depend how long the baby sleeps :) Thanks for sticking with me. And as always, comments and critics appreciated.


Prologue

Sasuke took his time walking through the village. With his black eyes ahead of him, he paid no attention to the distractions going on around him. Parents rushed their kids by with a sudden fear while fellow Shinobi and the younger generation gawked in wonder. Words like, 'Uchiha.' and 'Sharingan' were whispered behind hands as he passed by.

But Sasuke had no interest in them.

Konoha was changing. Construction was in multiple parts of the village and machines blocked pathways causing him to detour more than he would have liked. But eventually, he made it to his compound. The large, thick doors were shut. A long wooden log laid across the front with the message, 'Keep Out' written in red paint. 'Restricted area.'

It took one slash of his sword for the giant piece of timber to fall and the doors to creak open.

The streets were weed ridden, the roads cracked by brush. Every store was empty and yet full of unsold goods and uneaten, rotten food. Animals scattered by, confused by the intruder in their home. It was familiar to walk the same road as he done most of his childhood. He could still recall walking this path with his mother to do the weekly food shopping. Or running along with Itachi on the way home from training. The memories were faded and far away, but they did not cause pain anymore.

Sasuke stood at the gated entry to his childhood home. The house that was enormous when he was younger now seemed smaller somehow. Ivy grew up the sides and sprouted beautiful white flowers over the door. The grass itself hadn't been cut in over fifteen years and had grown into a forest of wildflowers and wisteria. The trees had nearly eaten half of the house, taken off part of the roof.

It stood as a symbol. Despite the weeds, the broken shutters, and the blood that soaked its floors, it was still standing.

Footsteps sounded beside him and with a single glance, Sakura approached and set a bucket down at her feet full of brushes. She gave him only a smile, before looking on the house, mentally making a list of everything that needed to be and in what order it needed to be done in. Naruto came from the other side with a mop and a broom over his shoulder. He grinned for a moment before grimacing, already hating the work that's to come. And Kakashi had a hose hanging around his arm as he walked up behind them.

They all stood together, silent, waiting for him.

Sasuke took a step forward, only to find that it wasn't as hard as he thought it was going to be.


Chapter 1

What are the odds that it would snow? Sasuke watched from the street as snow continued to fall at a brutal pace onto his unbuilt house. He was currently in the process of putting on a roof and two days before he was finished, it snowed. He hadn't even had the chance to put a tarp on. It was three in the morning. He couldn't go and buy a tarp now either. Would the floors be ruined? What if it got into the plumbing and froze the pipes and in the process, they break?

Sure, he knew next to nothing about building a house, which was why he was taking on this project.

"Hey!"

Walking quickly toward him was Nao, a neighbor from two houses down. He was carrying a big blue bag with difficulty as the only one leaned heavily on a cane. "I knew you'd need this. Hurry it up, put it on."

With great speed, Sasuke snatched the tarp and wrapped it around his half-made roof and covered the rest from any further damage. He dropped down next to Nao who was shivering, rubbing his gloved hands against his puffy jacket.

"Thank you."

"You shouldn't have any damage, just sweep out that snow now before it has time to melt. I can't really help with my bad back but if you need advice. I've built my fair share." He laughed and patted Sasuke on the arm before darting off to his house again.

Sasuke got a broom and swept out the snow. He looked out the backyard where the frozen lake sat, a vast valley of white. Across the way, where the dock stretched out was an empty playground he had recently constructed. Lights lit the area well. It was fenced in to keep any kids from exploring to the water. He had yet to see a child play there but with time, it would happen.

Once he finished, he returned to his parent's house. A year ago the house was condemned. It took a few weeks but he managed to fix everything that neglect had caused to it. The front yard, though now covered in snow, had become a beautiful garden with the perfect symmetry of flowers and trees. There was a sign at the entrance that read 'Historical Monument of the Uchiha Sacrifice.' He kicked his shoes off and hung up his coat in the hall closet, warming his hands up by the heater he had placed at the entrance.

When he had first entered the house back then, the smell had been rancid. Full of death, mold, and rancid food. Naruto had walked in and instantly ran out to throw up on the sidewalk. But now it smelt of vanilla, jasmine, and honeysuckle. And no matter the day or month of the year, it was always warm here. He made sure of it.

On the walls, hung multiple artifacts and depictions of what had happened to the Uchiha. It was a chronoical order of events right down to Itachi's decision. In each room, there were names of all the victims, pictures and personal objects of different people of the Uchiha clan. It even went on to tell how the Konoha government had persuaded and desired the end of the Uchiha.

But of course, being that this was a government building, Sasuke had to dumb it down a little and make it seem like it was the fault of some miscommunication. It was the only way he could clear Itachi's name.

Upstairs his parents, and Itachi's room were open to the public. Itachi's Akatsuki's coat was hung up and his connection in that notorious clan went on in detail how even still he was doing what he thought he needed to do to protect Konoha.

In the room where his parents had died, their outline marks the wooden floor. Sasuke had it wrapped with red rope, so people could come in and look at it. It was a slap in the face tactic. So, people that could just roll their eyes at all this could see for themselves death was here, it was real, and all of this needed their attention.

But until Sasuke could finish building his house, he was stuck living here.

It wasn't bad most of the time but occasionally when the house was silent, and the TV was off, he could hear his mother humming.

One of the reasons the TV was never off.

Sasuke laid on his bed, staring at the screen, clicking through the channels mindlessly. He threw out every piece of childhood furniture and bought new belongings to fit who he was now. He would take all of this to his new place once it was finished.

When an hour past and he still couldn't fall asleep, he got up and sat at his desk, flipping on the light. Papers were neatly stacked in color-coded folders. Taking out the blue one, he opened it up and looked at his finances.

Currently, he was in the negative because of the multiple projects that he had going on.

After cleaning up the entire neighborhood, Sasuke opened the doors to the public. Needless to say, no one wanted to step foot in the Uchiha compound. Along with it being 'cursed', they were simply scared of him as a person.

First, he lowered all the rates to his shops and houses. He was the lowest in the entire village. Next, he went to people that had been colleagues when he was younger and approached them with business ideas. Now obviously, he's not a talker. It was Naruto that did all the talking and the joking and the coaxing, while he just stood by and gave a nod if any questions were directed at him.

That gave way to two people. TenTen opened a weapon's shop and Ino opened a second flower store. It took months for new strangers to enter the village and when they heard about the monthly rates of his shops, they didn't care one bit about any curse. Now one year after coming home, there were twelve shop owners and seven families living in the Uchiha compound.

He knew he couldn't keep their rates that low forever, so they all were on a yearly increase rate until they hit a mark that got him out of the red.

Despite bleeding money, however, he was still rich. He inherited money from every member that Itachi killed. Plus, Konoha felt that they owed him interest. He donated half his income to the orphanage that cared for him when he was younger and secretly invested in orphans across the village, making sure they are well cared for.

Somehow, it didn't feel like it was enough. He had too much to atone for. It was his responsibility to atone for not only his own sins but for Itachi's as well. It was an impossible thing to accomplish when every person Itachi offended was dead.

He felt lips at his ear, "Sasuke."

Sasuke snapped awake, bolting straight. His mother's voice distant in his ear. He rubbed at it, shaking his head. He woke because his front door opened.

Sasuke stood from the desk. His back cramping from falling asleep in a weird position. He stretched and headed downstairs to find Hinata at the front entrance removing her coat. She smiled warmly, "Good Morning, Sasuke-san." She held fresh flowers in her hand like she did every day, having past Ino's shop on the way in. "I'm sorry I'm late."

He glanced at the clock in the kitchen. It was 8:15 am.

"You can go home." He told her, moving into the kitchen to pour himself some juice.

"No, please. I like working here. It makes me feel better."

He nodded, and she smiled warmly, changing out the flowers on the dining table. When she went to move the chair, Sasuke practically jumped over and snatched it out of her hand.

She giggled. "I'm pregnant, Sasuke-san. I'm not handicapped."

He held on to it, glancing about, wondering where she wanted it.

She pointed to the window "I want to dust the curtains."

Sasuke returned the chair to the table, "I will hire someone for that."

"There's no need."

"Just do the job that you are assigned to do."

Hinata bowed her head with a soft smile. "Yes, Sasuke-san."

"I'm going out."

"Have a good day."

Sasuke slammed the door behind him. Will she do what he told her, or will she disobey? Should he check and make sure she doesn't get up on the chair? Does he care that much?

No. If she wants to fall, she can fall.

Sasuke walked to the market. His footsteps crunching on the snow. At least two inches covered the ground, but it was a soft snow and would melt by tomorrow. It was still freezing out and he tucked his hand into his pocket wishing he hadn't forgotten his glove.

At Nao's breakfast shop, he bought miso soup to warm up too. While he was sitting there, Amaya ran up to him. She was his realtor for the Uchiha Compound. She wrapped herself up in a blue snowsuit and every move she made could be heard for miles. "Sasuke-sama, we have a problem."

He continued to sip his soup, waiting patiently for her to spit out whatever it was.

"I can't get a hold of Sakura and Naruto. But these people want to see a house." She pointed to the couple a hundred feet away, confused and freezing. "I can't leave the office because Jiro called out today. Can you take them?"

He was sure this would be a bad idea, but he needed to sell his houses. Sasuke shrugged and finished his soup quickly and followed her.

The couple walked a few steps behind him as he brought them further into the compound. Now normally there would be a long speech about the greatness of the land, the beauty of the silence, the serenity of the lake, and the great wholeness of the community that would go into the walk but Sasuke didn't feel much like talking. They continued in silence till they got to the house and he pushed the door open for them.

They looked at him, expecting more but he only stared back. They had a piece of paper in their hand that gave them everything they needed to know. He needn't say anything.

After a good half hour, they came out again with smiles on their faces, impressed with the floor plan. "The furniture is included too? With that price?"

Sasuke nodded.

"That's amazing. This really fits us." The husband looked at his wife and they smiled adoringly at each other. "But I do have one question."

Sasuke sighed.

"There's this rumor and I got to know. Did anyone die here?"

"No."

That's what he should have said. That's what he thought about saying. That's what he really wanted to say. But unfortunately, when he opened his mouth, it just didn't come out that way.

"There's a bloodstain on the roof were Kano Uchiha was stabbed three times. Over there by the mailbox, their son Keiji age five was sliced in half. And here were you are standing, Tamika Uchiha was screaming and crying as she watched her son die but then she too was murdered, and her blood splattered these steps. We've painted over it however."

On his way back to the market, Amaya was waiting outside the realtor office with her foot tapping. "How am I going to sell these houses if you keep telling horror stories! You're sick!" She slammed the door behind her.

He kept walking. A typical Uchiha morning.