Not a lot of people knew this, but the male members of the Uchiha clan were capable of smiling. However, Uchiha Sakura had yet to be made aware of this fact.
People told her that Fugaku-sama could never once be near Mikoto-san without hinting some sort of happiness in her presence. Whether it be through a small quirk of the lips or a glance in her direction. All while she wasn't looking of course, otherwise he wouldn't have heard the end of it, the way Sakura had heard.
They saw Fugaku-sama and Mikoto-san walking through the streets silently. He would hold her groceries and guide her through bustling crowds. Many saw him keep close without her awareness in the matter. They said that when she wasn't looking at him, he was looking at her with all the love in the world. He would show it too by paying for all the groceries and never letting another man too close. If any man did get too close, he would have them running with one flash of his Sharingan.
They told her that once, Mikoto-san was upset for some reason. So one night, he had abandoned all of his work at the Police station to go out to buy her flowers. But he had gotten his sons to present her with them. He watched from afar, of course, because he never gave up the opportunity to see the smile on her face, nor the smile on his kids' faces.
Some even claimed that he had smiled thinking no one could see him but someone always did.
She was also told that her late brother-in-law, Uchiha Itachi, would be smiling all the time. But it was never genuine. Never. Unless he was training with his little brother or spending the night with his mother. He wouldn't smile like that for his father or his friends at school. But those two never failed to bring a smile on his face.
Uchiha Sasuke didn't smile. Not now and not for a long time before. Not since that night. He would smirk and smile sarcastically, yes, but a genuine smile took years to adorn his face. No one expected him to of course, he had just lost his whole family. And the smile didn't come for anybody. Not even his wife.
She remembered when they first got courted. It wasn't even a considerable relationship. After all, he had almost killed her and then left her. When he came back they had barely dated for 2 years. If you could count occasionally sleeping together and nod in each other's direction dating.
People asked her why they wouldn't often be seen together in public and when they were, they definitely didn't look like they were in love. And that was only while he was around: rarely.
There was no one but her protecting herself from the bustling crowds or sleazy men. There was no one holding her groceries nor was there anyone paying for them. She paid from her humble earnings as a medical-nin. So when people asked, she just shrugged.
But people didn't see how eager Sasuke was to go out with her in the first place. How when he saw her at the door, he wouldn't even ask what it was for. He would walk out behind her and silently walk beside her. Even when he came back scratched, scarred and exhausted from some mission, he didn't miss the opportunity.
She did it for that.
She also noted semi-amused, how when he was around, no man dared approach her. And when he left, any man that had seen them together would stay as far away as possible. It was like the crowd just split apart to create a pathway for them.
He didn't pay for the groceries but she always found more money than she had known to earn in the savings. A lot more money.
Many also wondered why Sakura had endured Sasuke's terrible attitude towards her. They knew that Sasuke never bought her flowers nor did he seem to be around when she was sad, not that he brought her any comfort when he was. Some even had the bravery to ask. She would just shrug and give some vague answer about her devotion to him or what not.
There was tonnes of bickering. The bickering led to arguing which, in turn, led to him storming out of the house and her quietly sobbing on the floor.
They may have noticed him leave but they never noticed when late at night, he would walk back in and slip into bed with her silently like the master ninja he was. He would lie down on his side of the bed, not pulling her any closer but giving her the reassurance that he was there.
There were never any apologies or talking about "working it out". He wouldn't say anything to her and she didn't push it, because she knew that he would always stay loyal. No matter what the squabble be about. In the end some of the things they argued about discreetly ended up in her favour anyways.
She did it for that too.
In the beginning, they didn't talk. They had sex and he would leave for a mission or go to his side of their bed without a word.
But then it felt like making love. Like he was with her to let her stay. Or silently ask if he could. He would still have his side of the bed and she would have hers but the act itself was full of beautiful gentleness and devotion. He would never do something she didn't want nor would he leave without spending at least some time with her afterwards.
She could've sworn that when she was on the brink of sleep on those nights, he would shuffle closer and whisper a sweet something that she had yet to figure out in her ear.
She definitely did it for that.
But she mostly did it for those smiles. He didn't even ask her to marry him, he handed her a ring with the Uchiha crest before leaving for another mission. But she could've sworn that his lips had quirked up when it had happened.
When he came back, he was wearing a similar ring on a chain around his neck as his left arm was tragically unavailable. But Sakura didn't care because she had her ring on her finger and she caught him glancing at it from time to time.
She could even think that his eyes softened by the smallest bit.
She could think it but she had yet to know for sure.
No.
She longed to know for sure. It was her mission.
And today she was going to find out for sure.
She was going to make him smile.
- - -0- - -
"Sasuke-kun," she began nervously looking up at her husband as she continued to tie bandages around his injured leg. He was looking forward, seemingly deep in thought, but he looked down when he heard the distress in his wife's voice. He had been gone for almost 2 months so he expected some worry but this sounded different.
She gave him a small nervous smile. The smile that was never returned, even in his eyes. Her smile faltered and she looked back down at his leg, thinking against what she was about to say, "So… you're leg looks good. It's uh… going to be just fine. An inch deeper, and it would've hit bone, but it'll close up-"
"Sakura," his deep baritone demanded, "What is it?"
Her mouth moved before he brain could. She was never able to deny him anything (which she hated), "I'm pregnant."
Silence. Sakura didn't look up knowing that he wasn't smiling, she didn't want to know what the expression was. She continued to gently wrap the bandages around his leg, quietly adding in some chakra to help it heal faster.
"But we…" he began.
"Not last time. Remember, you…" she began, her face turning red when she remembered how frisky they were the last time they had sex. They only had an hour before he had to go to a mission so they sped it up and skipped over some ahem… priorities.
"How long have you known," his guard suddenly going up. Sakura internally sighed. Even after so many years of being together, he didn't let his guard down around her at times.
"I found out a month after you left. I planned on writing you a letter but I-I wanted to tell you in person," there was still no response, "I'm almost two months in," she quietly added, hating herself for sounding so pathetic. Inner Sakura decided to make her appearance.
Oh No! You idiot. What if he didn't want a kid yet? He wouldn't ask me to abort, would he? Oh Kami-sama! I really want some peanut butter. Maybe some pickles too…
The thought seemed disgusting considering how much she hated pickles but it seemed really appealing at the moment.
"What do you want?" her head snapped up. She looked at him confused.
As if it isn't obvious… Inner Sakura grumbled.
"W-well I want to keep it. I know you have your missions but Ino-pig and Hinata-chan could help me out. I don't expect you to do everything for me. I know you're busy b-but…" she didn't know how to finish her rambling. But it turns out that she didn't need to.
"You were going to keep it no matter what," he stated firmly, "I meant… you look like you haven't eaten in days. What do you want to eat?"
Sakura stared at him, in a daze. He still looked like he did a few minutes ago- staring ahead. Inner Sakura had seemed to shut her mouth.
"W-what?" she asked dumbly.
"I don't think that I need to repeat myself."
"R-right," she expected a bit more emotion but he was acting like she had just stated something about Naruto's love for ramen. When he didn't get an answer, he looked down at her again, snapping her out of her demeanor.
The look on her face showed that she was beyond shocked that he had nothing more to say on the matter, "S-s-so that's it?" she didn't get an answer so she quietly continued, "A-are you happy or sad or angry?"
"I may take the last month of the pregnancy off. I won't be leaving the child out of my sight then. Karin will take care of you until then," he continued to elaborate, not answering her question. He was acting like it didn't matter. Like she was just being another obstacle that he could easily take care of.
How on Earth could she fight with an unborn child inside of her? Was he not worried?
Sakura felt tears well up in her eyes. She was going to be especially emotional considering her hormones were going awry. She immediately wiped away her tears and stood up, intending to walk away. She didn't want to become a bawling mess of pink hair in front of her stoic man.
Only to be stopped and whirled around into a standing Sasuke's arms. With a gasp, he felt his good arm wrap around her silently before resting on her stomach.
"I'm happy," he murmured. And he continued to surprise Sakura joyously when she saw his lips quirk up into a smile. He unwrapped his arm and poked her on the forehead affectionately, "I'm really happy."
Sakura's rigid posture immediately relaxed. She jumped up and wrapped her arms around Sasuke's neck, pulling him down to her significantly shorter height and planting a chaste kiss on his lips.
She realized that she had seen that smile before. And it was always directed at her. Her subconscious had picked it up from the corner of her eye and was finally verifying it now. She knew how Mikoto-san must have felt when she had realized the same as her.
She was worth something in his eyes.
She was worth his smile.
"I actually am hungry," Sasuke quirked an eyebrow and waited for her to elaborate. She meekly looked down feeling her face flush embarrassed. She wouldn't request this on a normal occasion in fear of getting strange looks from her husband but she could get rid of the craving at all.
"I was hoping for… peanut butter. And maybe some… pickles. Some strawberry dango and vegetable dumplings sound absolutely amazing too, now that I think about it," Sakura muttered. Sasuke sighed and reached for his cloak from its spot behind the chair he was just sitting on.
Sakura watched him put it on before heading to the door. She figured he would've started some sort of argument on how she should be able to control her cravings because after all, she was a kinoichi. But he silently put on his sandals and stood at the door.
"Don't get used to it, Sakura. The stupid dessert shop owner hates me," she could hear some amusement in his voice, knowing he wasn't serious even if he was still facing the door.
"Thank you Sasuke-kun," Sakura stated gratefully. She didn't think she could go another hour without any of those foods.
"We'll talk more when I get back. I'm going to keep you both safe but I will not be letting your annoying-self get in harm's way again," and with that he left leaving Sakura feeling like she should be squealing in a pillow.
Mission accomplished.