I do not own Naruto.
Sasuke - 20 years young
Sakura - 19 years young
Naruto - 19 years young
"Sasuke, please…" A glossy lip quivered. The green eyes that had captivated him once upon a time were dull, dimming even still now as he breathed. His face was so impassive that Sakura had to clench her fist to keep from knocking something onto it. She wanted to see him, the real him, not the arrogant façade he had built up around himself. She had just gotten to him and all that time, all the energy and all the love amounted to nothing. Her head hung in shame, pink bangs shrouding her sullen features.
"If not for me, then do it for Naruto. Don't do this to him again, he will break." He had suffered enough hadn't he? She had seen the pain just beyond those eyes of his. His smiles were so happy and carefree but the pain swam through his eyes. He could not shield that from her. He hurt because she hurt and she hurt because of him. That enigma of a man that now stood with his back towards her. Nostalgia hit her in waves, past events quivering and coming back to the surface of her mind. She had shut those memories out the moment they had brought him back. She had thought they could all be happy again, that they could finally be the family they had all wanted. Family. Her eyes stung with unshed tears.
She refused to cry. She had promised herself that she wouldn't cry anymore, that she wouldn't be weak anymore. She felt so vulnerable in his presence, her hands clutching the hem of her shirt. They had been through too much for him to throw it away so easily. They had almost died trying to bring him back. They? No, it was Naruto who fought the fight. It was Naruto that defeated him. It was Naruto that he hugged. It was Naruto that he cried with. Not her, never her. She had stood by on the side and watched. A nuisance, a hindrance. 'Just like old times.'
"Stay for him. He loves you so much…" She saw his shoulders tense and the faintest fountains of hope spread through her chest. Perhaps she could get through to him in a way that she had never been able to before. "…you are his brother, his family." She saw with a heavy heart that his shoulders relaxed once more. She knew he cared about them in his own way. Even his cold remarks held affection. He was definitely not the Sasuke they had grown up with but they loved and cherished him regardless. All they wanted was for him to be happy. All they wanted was to be happy themselves and the only way for that was through him. She had thought herself to be the bridge of the team, keeping it together but she had been wrong. Sasuke was the lock and key that kept the team together. In his absence she and Naruto had grown inseparably close. Naruto had accepted that Sakura would never love him the way he wanted her to and had actually moved on and was finally realizing his feelings for the Hyuuga heiress. Sakura, on the other hand, had dwelled on her feelings for the raven haired male and kept her love for him alive within a picture. Every night she would speak to him through the picture of Team 7 and hope that he could hear her. When he had returned with them she had cried herself to sleep, so filled with joy and hope.
The next night she cried herself to sleep as well but not from happiness. She had gone that day to visit him in the hospital and he had been cold as ever. He scarcely even honored her with his signature 'hn' or the flick of his eyes on her pacing figure. He did not utter a single word the entire time she had been there and she, becoming increasingly upset, filled the silence with words of her own. After her time was up she left the room with a small goodbye and a heartfelt smile. He did not acknowledge that she had exited the room of course. She was greeted in the hall by an anxious blonde and watched in silence as he entered the room and sat down next to the stoic Uchiha. She had stopped the door before it closed, just in case…just for the sake of curiosity. She watched as Naruto placed a strong hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Dobe."
Such a simple word seemed to have such a severe impact on her heart. She felt it shatter in her chest and in a blur of pink she had run out of the hospital. He had not even blinked at her once when she was in the room but he had greeted Naruto without a thought. She knew it was a stupid thing to get mad over but god it hurt. Her chest had ached that night and the pain had never completely healed.
The next couple months had gone by painstakingly slow. Sakura had busied herself with her medic duties and training. By that time she had already surpassed Tsunade and was a ranking ANBU. Her emotions still had a grip over her performance but more often than not she channeled it into an asset as opposed to a problem. She was highly respected by all shinobi of the village except for one and it tore her apart from the inside. She was so lonely and covered it by spending more hours at the hospital and more hours training and although her abilities and strength increased, her social skills began to deplete. She no longer made time to spend with Ino at the flower shop or treat Naruto and Iruka to meals at Irachiku. The only time she spent with her friends was when she was training with them. She spent hours upon hours with team Gai, trying to tone her skills. She practiced weapon wielding with Tenten, taijutsu with Lee, and precision and timing with Neji. When she was not training or tending to patients she was off on ANBU missions with her squad. After a while everyone grew worried about her. She had become withdrawn and pale. Her eyes were empty, not filled with life as they once were. The old Sakura seemed to have died, replaced by a newer, colder one. Even Sasuke had been perturbed by the sudden change in the kunoichi. Even though he was quite glad not to have her fawning over him every day, the lack of her bubbly self seemed to set the world on an imbalance.
That was when Naruto approached him. Sakura had wondered faintly why the blonde seemed to be so serious. He had briskly pulled Sasuke aside to discuss something with him in private and with that, he left. Sakura had questioned Sasuke about Naruto's strange behavior but he kept quiet. Later on that day she found out that Naruto had been sent on an S-ranked mission regarding suspicious activity in Rock. The time scale of the mission was over a year and she remembered complaining adamantly to the Hokage, seeking permission to aid him. She was denied and the weary Sanin had sent her away to indulge on her new supply of sake.
Saddened by the fact that her childhood friend had not spared her a farewell she made her way back to her apartment. Once she had opened the door she was greeted by the Uchiha prodigy. She had gone to him for support since Naruto was not with them. She had held him and he had held her in return. He whispered words meant to soothe and she had eaten it all up. That night he had taken her virginity and as she lay in his arms asleep, he stroked her hair and stared down at her peaceful face. That morning she had expected to wake up in an empty bed, the night's ministrations having been a dream but she was surprised to see a snoozing Uchiha next to her, an arm wrapped protectively around her waist. She had stared at him till he woke and they held each other till the sun rose. After that he had kissed her forehead and left to train. She took the day off and cleaned the house. By the time he got home it was already dark and the house looked cleaner than it had in years. They made love again that night. The ritual repeated over and over till it became a blur. Sakura couldn't tell if she was truly happy or not and neither could Sasuke. Naruto was gone and they both missed him, now leaning on each other as Sakura and Naruto did when Sasuke had left to be with Orochimaru.
Time passed and steadily things began to look up. Their love-making sessions grew heated and filled with passion, their bodies seeking each other for other purposes besides filling the voids in their hearts. He would hold her in hand in public and take her out on dates. He even took her to the annual Cherry Blossom Festival, something in the past that he had avoided at all costs. Naruto was always in their hearts but they began to feel happy in each other's company. Sakura had opened up again, spent more time with her friends, and in doing so, exposed Sasuke to the wonders of friendship. He and Neji found that they shared many things in common and often sparred while Sakura and Tenten watched. They would have a picnic afterwards and enjoy watching the clouds like the lazy genius.
Their relationship had just broken the physical and before she knew it she had spoken to him those three words she hoped he would not deny. She told him she loved him, always had. He, of course, was well aware of her feelings towards him and struggled expressing the way he felt towards her in return. He loved her, of that he was sure, but he did not know if he was in love with her. Did he want to spend the rest of his life with her? Months rolled by and even after they lay naked and tangled in the sheets no news of a pregnancy arrived. He grew impatient and rough, leaving her sometimes sore and bruised in the mornings. She grew frantic and afraid, gripping his arms tighter than usual as if in fear that if she let go he would disappear forever. And thus began to decline of what had started out so beautiful. His demeanor returned to its icy nature and he spent the night more often at his own place than hers. She drew back into herself and resumed her intensive and nonstop training. It seemed they needed Naruto more than ever at that point.
The next week had caught them all by surprise and proved to be the most tragic week of Sakura's life. She had visited the hospital to have a checkup regarding the issue of her not getting pregnant. Shizune had done a couple tests and spoke with Sasuke once the results had come back. He informed her that nothing was wrong and that it simply needed time. She had believe his every word and focused instead on other things. Naruto was on his way home from his long mission and the anticipation seemed to have affected both Sakura and Sasuke. They avoided each other and when they did come in contact they fought over the pettiest of things. And here it brought them to this point. He stood not far from the gates of Konoha, the rosette haired woman not far behind him. Naruto was predicted to be back by sunrise and Sasuke had planned to leave under the moonlight. It was ironic how they could be so different yet similar at the same time.
"I know Sakura, and that is why I have to leave." Her head snapped up, her eyes glazing over in confusion. As if reading her mind his head turned to the side so that she could see a side of his face. "Do you want to know what he said to me that day?"
She opened her mouth and shut it again, nearly afraid to speak for words failed her. She simply nodded, and even though he did not see her he continued.
"I was going to leave that week. I was going to search for Itachi and finish what he had started but Naruto…" He seemed to hesitate as if unsure whether he should be telling her or not but she took a step forward, signaling for him to continue.
"Naruto knew my plans already. He's not as dumb as he looks." His lips turned up in what looked to be a smirk. "He pulled me aside and told me about the mission…"
"Teme, I'm going to tell you something and you have to promise not to say anything until I'm finished."
The raven haired boy blinked slowly and did not speak. Naruto cleared his throat and fixed Sasuke with a stare that made the Uchiha uneasy. "Sasuke I'm going on a mission and I won't be back for a long time and I want you to promise me something. I want you to promise me that you'll take care of Sakura-chan and that you won't do anything to purposefully hurt her. She's hurting so much right now and I know that me leaving won't help the situation very much."
Sasuke began to open his mouth to speak but Naruto lifted a hand to silence him. "Please hear me out." The look on his team mate's face was enough motivation to keep Sasuke from interrupting. Raw pain was strewn across his face. "Sasuke I know that you want to leave and…and I'm okay with that." A pair of dark brows shot up. "But only on one condition." Sasuke sighed audibly; of course there was always a catch. After taking a deep breath Naruto continued. "I want you to love Sakura the way she deserves to be loved. I want you to take away her loneliness and I want you to take away some of yours as well. If you do that for me…for her…then you can leave the day I return and I won't come after you until you've killed Itachi." He held out a strong hand and his lips thinned.
Sasuke stared at the hand for a second before slipping his own into it in a firm handshake. "Whatever you say Dobe."
Sakura stared at the man in disbelief. All those months had been a lie? She shook her head, the pain in her eyes molding into anger. She took another step towards the still man.
"But that's not the only reason you're leaving is it, Sasuke?" She ground the words out, the revelation shedding its light upon her.
"No."
A tear welled up and threatened to spill over her cheek. She inhaled deeply and shakily, her hands clenching and unclenching. "Tell me Sasuke, what really happened at the hospital? What was really wrong with me?"
"Sakura…you are infertile."
She choked on a sob and slowly went down onto her knees, palms flat on the ground. Her whole body shook. She was infertile. She could never have kids and therefore could never help Sasuke achieve his goal of restoring his clan.
The sound of her own tears covered heavy footsteps as he walked out of her life once more.
Haven't written in ages! Wow...I just suddenly had an urge to write this story. I have the plot sort of formulated in my head so I hope I don't lose interest. Ehehe.. ; As for the other stories...I'll update when I can! ; Please read and review.