A/N: Two stories in two days. I rock. -cough- Even though they both suck. -cough-
What Konohagakure saw when Haruno Sakura married Uchiha Sasuke was a radiant, glowing bride and a genuinely happy (for once) groom.
What the head of Intelligence saw was something not meant to work, and certainly doomed to fail.
What the village's top Jounin saw were his two former students, one of whom he had thought had grown out of her fantasies long ago, and the other her worst possible match.
What the Hokage saw were his two closest friends, but something was wrong.
When she married Sasuke, her world crumbled down around her.
When she uttered the words "I do", something inside her broke.
It broke more with each second she held a smile on her face.
When she cried tears that were taken for tears of happiness, she was failing to hold in the pain.
When she headed straight for their bedroom after the wedding, she didn't let Sasuke near her and cried herself to sleep.
She was miserable.
Her only moments of happiness were "accidentally" meeting him outside the village while gathering medicinal herbs, or "accidentally" bumping into him, in the deep disguise only she could penetrate, on the village streets.
When she was able to get away (Sasuke never noticed her disappearance) she would sit on the wide, flat rock at the side of the river. Their place. When he appeared, they would talk for hours.
Then she would leave, and it continued.
When their son was born, Sakura was lost.
She hadn't wanted anything to exist that was Sasuke and her. Nothing…. But she loved the child, because it bore a resemblance to…him.
Still, though, she always cried. Sasuke never saw. The world never saw. But she cried, because she had never wanted this…
When she brushed the child's silky black locks (so like his…) away from his face, one day, she froze. Not daring to look, she sat there, unmoving, for what seemed like an eternity, until she gathered herself and breathed deeply. She cast her eyes downward, toward the child's face.
Two marks. Two identical marks under the child's eyes, one on each side, making the tiny boy look years older even in infanthood. Sakura's breath was let out with a loud sigh, but for the first time; for the first time since she had married Sasuke it was happy. It was so exuberantly happy she was surprised she couldn't see happiness pulsing in her chakra, brightening it, brightening the whole room.
Sakura again swept the child's hair away from his forehead, kissed the top of his head and set him down. She headed out the door with a smile on her face; another first since the marriage, a wide, truly radiant smile, and villagers turned to look at her as she passed, heading straight for the rock by the river.
He was there, she knew he would be. He turned to her as he heard her approach and she walked still faster, needing to tell him. He stood and met her halfway as she whispered, "It was us! He's your child!"
When she saw Sasuke next, she channeled chakra to her fist and punched him halfway through the Uchiha compound. Picking up the child, she walked over to the raven-haired lump slumped against the last wall he hadn't crashed through.
"Uchiha, to hell with you."
Throwing one last punch before leaving, she stuck a note into his raven spikes (apparently he used so much gel they withstood even the force of her punches). Waving over her shoulder, she jumped out of the compound and to the gates of Konoha.
He was waiting.
Dear everyone (except that bastard Uchiha),
I'm sorry for leaving like this so suddenly, but some… unprecedented circumstances came up. I'll be visiting, but if a certain someone comes with me, it's alright- I've cleared things up with Tsunade-sama, he's been pardoned. Don't attack him. (Naruto, Sai, Kakashi- yes, it really is all right.)
Oh, and if you see a small boy with us… he's our son.
(That's right, Uchiha. Shut your mouth, I know you're gaping. And boys, try and keep him from destroying my son or his father when we're here. I'm counting on you.)
Love, Sakura.
'Head of Intelligence' is Shikamaru, by the way. I couldn't think of what else to call him -headdesk-
