Sequel to Empty Promises Part II
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything in association with it.
Empty Promises Part III
He had promised to never hurt her. But she knew, she always knew that it was a promise that he could never keep.
She knew that at thirty-eight with the sixteen year old ANBU Captain as her son, doom was inevitable for finding a good relationship. But that was fine with her. She didn't want a relationship.
She had four men in her life, her son and her tree teammates; two of which are her best friends. The other her husband; but only on paper.
After he had been declared deceased, she never expected to see him again.
But after she had discovered that he was still alive, that expectation had never changed.
And that hurt him. It hurt him so bad.
He knew that he should have told her about the decree set by the council about the preservation of the bloodlines. He knew that he should have told her about the mission, the truth about the mission.
But his enemies needed to believe him dead, and that meant so did his wife.
He never told her about the decree because he wanted her to understand, needed her to understand, that he loved her with every breath in his body.
He never wanted for her to have that nagging doubt in the back of her mind that would always undermine his words of 'I love you' no matter how many times he said them.
He didn't want that disbelief in his own intentions to be the reason why she would turn her own love towards his to distain, and then into the hate that only a bitterness that spread to the very marrow of her being to the point where she would leave him and never be seen again.
Just as his own mother had left his father in the early days of their marriage.
But then again, wasn't that the only kind that e and Sakura had? The early days?
But to completely miss the raising and teaching of a child, to miss the months of his love needing help as the life within her grew, to completely miss the love of a child as they looked to you for all they could ever want or need.
To completely miss giving all the love he possessed to his own child…
His mind flashed back to the night of his wedding, to the very promise he had made to his beautiful bride as he laid her down on their marital bed.
His heart ached as he thought of the promise he had made to her as he gently cupped her cheek, the promise that had etched itself into his own heart, as he spoke the most honest, the most sincere that he ever had in his life.
He remembered looking into her eyes, into her heart, her very soul, as his whispered words filled the room more than any screamed declaration ever could.
'I love you Sakura. I love you and with all the power I possess, with every ounce of blood that runs through my veins, I promise I will never hurt you.'
She had gently wiped away the tear that escaped his cursed, blessed, eye and said, 'I love you, and I will forever hold you to that' before he gently kissed her lips and touched her for the very first time.
But the sinking feeling of his own betrayal, no matter how little control he had over his own actions, made him feel more undeserving, more unworthy of her love than he ever has before.
Only days after he had spoken those words did he find out about his leaving.
And when he walked into their home and having just stepped inside their door to find her arms already around his neck, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, and kissing him with everything she possessed, he knew that he couldn't tell her.
He took her that warm lazy afternoon more gently, more possessively, more desperately than he had ever thought himself possible.
But with every kiss, every caress, every lingering touch, he knew that he had already broken his promise, and her heart, more than he ever could have thought himself capable.
The one promise that he gave with absolute honesty and every intention to keep until the end of days, was the one that he broke the most absolute.
He had broken her heart into more jagged pieced than he had ever, or would ever want to see.
And he had taken her knowing that he had broken his vow, his solemn promise to the one he loved most, that he would never her.
He had taken her that warm lazy afternoon haven broken her heart, knowing that she didn't even know it yet.
