Hello! So, this was just a random little one-shot that popped into my head. I was thinking about the ending of Naruto and how it's kind of wrapped up in a little bow. Everyone gets married, has kids, and gets their happily ever after. This is just my version of what might have happened after Sasuke left Sakura and Sarada. Please, no flames, although I'm always up for constructive criticism.

Also, please be aware that I do not dislike SasuSaku by any means. In fact, I'll probably do a SasuSaku fanfic in the future. NaruSaku is just my preferred ship at the moment.

I do not own Naruto.

Please enjoy!

It was quiet. Until the baby woke up.

Sakura groaned as the wailing reached her ears. She turned on her side to find the bed empty. She shivered. The bed was cold. It was always cold.

It was cold because it lacked the second body that was supposed to be lying there. The man who belonged there was gone, on some mission. He said he would come back. She wanted to believe him, yet there was always that fear that gnawed on her. The fear that he'd deserted her. Again.

She peeled herself away from the bed and stumbled through the darkness into the hall. Shadows flickered up and down the walls as she neared the nursery. The sound of crying got louder and louder, adding to the pounding in her skull.

She reached the crib, and the moon poured light onto a tiny figure that was sprawled out on the blankets.

"Hey, Sarada. It's okay. Mama's here," she murmured. She lifted the baby into her arms and cradled her. The baby continued to screech, louder. Sakura cringed while resisting the urge to curse.

She sighed and fell back into the rocking chair beside the window. She rocked back and forth, and back and forth.

She looked at her child. His child. Their child.

In all honesty, her daughter was more Sasuke's child than her's. She had Sasuke's jet black hair, his dark, deep eyes. She rarely smiled, if ever. In more ways than one, Sarada was a full-fledged Uchiha.

Sometimes, Sakura would look at her child and wish she saw a hint of herself. A fleck of green in her eyes, a streak of soft pink hair. Other times, the baby in her arms had blonde hair and bright blue eyes. The baby in her arms would smile, and she'd smile back. There would be a warm hand on her shoulder, and the man beside her would look up at her with deep, warm blue orbs…

It was times like those that she shook herself. She was married, and not to the man in those daydreams. Times like those, she was especially cold and especially lonely. On those particularly troubling days, she'd have to remind herself that she was Sakura Uchiha, not Hinata Uzumaki.

She squeezed her eyes shut. She shouldn't be thinking like this. No, she was Sasuke's wife. She'd won the man of her dreams, her childhood crush. She had a beautiful daughter that she wouldn't trade for anything. She had the life she always wanted. And yet, she waited. She waited for him until she wasn't quite sure what she was waiting for, she just knew something was missing, something was out of place. She'd find herself glancing at the door, waiting for someone to open it. She'd imagined it so many times, him opening the door, her running to him and being swept in his arms. But that was a dream, and at this stage in life, she wasn't naïve enough to believe that such things existed. Things like betrayal and loneliness existed, but happily-ever-afters? No.

She bit her bottom lip as she played the moment over again. She could still remember every detail. She was falling. Fast. She wanted to scream, but she was being strangled. A giant fist was closing in on her, waiting for the life to slip from her. She could feel the wind in her hair, ready to take her away. She closed her eyes, waiting for the ground.

She never hit it. She hovered above it, waiting for the final blow.

She simply stood, watching his shadow disappear. She refused to cry. She couldn't cry. Her muscles were wound tight, her fists clenched and white. She pressed the bundle in her arms against her breast. It began to wail softly, as if it knew what was happening. Her newly acquired intuition kicked in, and her knees began to bounce as she whispered into the child's ear.

"He'll be back, Sarada."

Her daughter continued to wail, just as she was now.

She remembered Naruto, whispering in her ear. "He'll come back. He always does."

He missed Sarada's first birthday. And her second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. He wasn't there to see her take her first steps. He wasn't there when she lost her first tooth. He wasn't present on her first day at the Academy. Naruto was, with Hinata. They stood off to the side, beside Sakura. After the ceremony, Naruto decided that they should spend some "quality time" together. That could be translated to Sakura eating her lunch quietly while Naruto, in his typical exuberant fashion, went on about Hinata's pregnancy. Hinata, in turn, had blushed and giggled. They'd seemed too caught up in the prospect of another child that they didn't notice when Sakura left.

She watched her daughter look and stare at the families in the street. The families consisting of a smiling mother, laughing brother, giggling sister and proud father. Somehow, while watching them, their family felt incomplete. Unstable.

He wasn't there when Sarada had asked if Sasuke wore glasses. It would seem like a simple enough question to anybody else. But it meant more to both Sarada and Sakura than the words implied. He wasn't there when his daughter had questioned his marriage with Sakura. He wasn't there when the rage took hold of her and her fist smashed into the ground. He didn't see the house blow apart, shake and collapse on its foundation. He wasn't there during the aftermath, when the dizziness took over and the world spun and suddenly, she was falling. He wasn't there to catch her before she hit the ground.

He wasn't there when the picture Sakura had constructed that held a photo of the three of them broke. The frame was smashed, shattered.

When he did come back, she opened the door for him. She waited for that giddiness that she used to get, the kind from when she was a little girl. She searched him, desperately, because she wanted to feel something. So very badly it was like a knife through her ribs.

She opened the door and looked into his dark eyes. The orbs she used to melt into. Instead, it felt like someone was carving out her chest, hollowing her inside.

She looked into his eyes and felt nothing.

So, yeah. Not my best story, but I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for reading! Also, if any of you are interested, I may continue this story. We shall see.

Please review!

Best Regards,

Ivy