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A/N: Don't own Naruto. But I own a laptop and a phone, among other things.
Spoilers for all of Naruto and Naruto Gaiden.
Also, rather than a chapter fic, this is a series of loosely related one-shots.
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Uchiha Sasuke was well acquainted with the fact that nothing lasted forever. No matter how much you loved something or someone, or wanted it, or tried to hold on to it, everything had a time of its own, and when that time came to pass, it would slip through your fingers,even if you clung to it. He had learnt that the hard way when he was eight, and he'd come home to find his family dead.
When he'd married Sakura, when he'd held his baby girl in his arms for the first time, and every moment in between, he had known that one day, one day that would all be gone. Uchiha is a cursed name, he'd told Sakura once, before they'd been married. If you marry me, you'd be part of it, the curse of the Uchiha. She'd laughed it off ofcourse, and then she'd told him, with a solemn look on her face, "I'd take all the curses there are on myself Sasuke-kun, just for you to be happy."
And made him happy, she had. Sasuke knew full and well that she was more than he deserved, and he made sure to remember it. He'd hurt her, and he'd hurt her again, until it went past the point where it could be forgiven, yet she'd forgiven him with a smile on her face, and she loved him, despite everything he was, despite how much he lacked.
He had never been happier than with his little family; with Sakura beside him and little Sarada curled up between them. But then again, nothing lasted forever.
"There are whispers from the west, tales of a nameless fear with red eyes that can make you things that aren't there," their informant told them. "Their eyes, they can kill with a look, or they can make a thousand nights pass within a second." Sasuke wasn't one to be afraid, but at that moment, he could feel the fear rise up in him like a sheet of ice.
Madara?
"I'm going," he'd said to Naruto. "If there are anyone- like me out there, I- I can't let them be in danger." If Sakura knew, she would never let him go on his own. And Sarada- if anything happened to him- "You need to promise me Naruto. You need to promise me."
Naruto had been hard to convince, but in the end, he'd agreed to most of Sasuke's plan. "You're going to come back, Sasuke. Nothing is going to happen to you. I don't see why you have to do this to them."
But Sasuke knew. He knew first hand that it was more painful to have known something and then to have it snatched away from you. He would be damned if he let that happen to his family.
So Sasuke packed a bag, and he played with his daughter until she was too tired to sit up properly, despite Sakura's "Sasuke, what is wrong with you? Sarada has school tomorrow!", and then tucked her in. Then he stayed with his wife until the wee hours of morning, stroking her hair, stroking her hair long after she'd fallen asleep, taking in the way her lashes barely brushed the skin beneath her eyes, until he felt like if he stayed any longer, he would lose the courage to do what needed to be done. Then, he took a breath and woke her up, his madly spinning eyes looking at her sleepy green ones.
"I'm sorry, Sakura."
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When Sakura woke up in the morning, she was alone, just like she'd been for the last eight years. It was weird, because she could have sworn Sasuke had been there in her dream. Then again, he'd left her eight years ago, hadn't he?
Just a stupid dream, she told herself.
"I had a weird dream last night," Sarada told her over breakfast. "Me and papa were playing in the garden and you were yelling for us to stop." She sighed, munching on a piece of toast. "Mama, did papa like to play?"
Strange. She felt like she'd had the same dream as well.