Notes: Different format, huh? Thought I'd get my thoughts known before anything.

Your Stalker: Tehe, I'm surprised you're still finding my stories, ah? We have to find some other way to talk at this point. I hope you're doing well^^

As for my other readers, this one is probably gonna be sappy. I'm good at that.

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Long Tresses

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Brushing through her long tresses was starting to become a daily task. She had noticed that her hair now reached the middle of her back, and it was ever-growing. While she did not cut it—nor have the time to, she was nearly at the point where she wanted to ask her husband if they can go into town to have it cut.

With her pregnancy, they had been wandering so slow. Her husband was attentive and refused to allow her to get to a pace faster than a brisk walk. Such a worried man, he is. She feels loved and cared for, but it was starting to get annoying. Though, she was really enjoying her time with the man—deciding that she wanted him to be present for their child's birth.

This was the only way.

From what he had stated, that, while they were making trips to exotic and incredible places, he still was looking into his mission. Of course, he was not constantly looking over ancient scrolls or texts, but she would see him doing it every now and again when they were booked into a hotel room. He would be sitting in a small lighted area, allowing himself to read into these scrolls.

Though, she had noticed that he would instantly stop if she asked him to come to bed or to just relax with her. It had always been like that with him.

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One day, she had brought up the idea of going to get her hair cut.

She had not really received much of a reaction, other than a tightening of his fist against her hand—not nearly enough to harm her, of course. It was almost like he had something to say, but instead bit his tongue and withheld it.

It was an annoying reaction.

"Excuse me," she walked in front of him, pulling her hand free of his. "I was asking you a question."

Now able to stare at him, she noted the look of irritation splash across his features before his usual stony expression returned. You are so annoying, she could almost hear him uttering.

He did not even say anything to her, only staring at her with his mismatched eyes that, if he wanted to, could become frightening and intimidating in the—forgive the irony—blink of an eye.

"Were you even listening to me, Sasuke-kun?"

Being pregnant often made the woman's emotions spark much quicker—whether it be happiness, anger, sadness or other feelings.

Again, the quiet man did not respond, only tightening his jaw.

This only infuriated the young woman even more.

"Sasuke," she started. "Did you, or did you not, listen to me?"

"I was."

There.

She knew that he was practically terrified of her when she became mad. She almost smiled at the fact that he will almost always try and make sure that she is in a calm state of mind. Except, right now, he was obviously being quiet about something.

"So… can we head into town so I can cut all of this," at this point, she lifted her long hair to show him. "to a more manageable length?"

"It's fine the way it is."

At that, the pregnant lady's eyebrow twitched in pure exasperation as she almost stared at her husband with a dumbfounded expression. You are so unbelievable!

"Well, I'm sorry that you don't have hair this length to deal with, Sasuke-kun! It gets leaves stuck in it and it just gets frizzy and it's a pain to brush—"

"I like it that way," it was a quiet murmur, almost shy.

She stopped her rant and once more, stared at him with a flabbergasted face. Did he just—She had not expected that at all. She blinked a few times, tried to pick up her words, and ultimately failed.

"But—But why?"

"You look like a mother," when he seemed to notice the offended expression, he added in: "More like a mother. … You just remind me of—" he stopped himself and looked away.

At this, the girl allowed herself to calm down before looking at him. If she knew any better—which she did, it seemed like he was nervous on saying more. Almost like he was worried it would offend her.

"Who do I remind you of?" she asked, in a softer fashion.

"Okaa-san," it was so low that she barely caught it. "You remind me of Okaa-san, Sakura."

Sakura bit her lip in hesitance. "Is… Is that a good thing?"

"Yes."

The roseate smiled gently then. It was a rarity for him to mention his family, or anything. She felt… happy.

"Sakura…" her husband started. "You can cut it if you want, but if not… I'll help you with brushing it, and whatever you need—for everything."

That made her heart swell.

"If you want me to keep it this way… then I will."

With her response, Sasuke gave her one of the rare smiles that only she has ever seen, and felt him reach for her.

You could have just said that, Sasuke-kun.

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Fin

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