The rain outside gave the room a cold feeling. A chuunin boy sucked in air through his teeth when the baby a mother held beside him accidentally hit his bandaged arm with a rattle. The woman apologized and the chuunin smiled back a "no problem". An old man dozed off in his chair and a fat lady inspected her purple polished nails.
The sound of heels clicking against the tiled floors of the inner halls grabbed the attention of the inhabitants of the Konoha Hospital's lobby. woman in a white doctor's coat flipped through the papers on the clipboard she held in her hands. She handed the receptionist the clipboard.
"You can go home after you file these diagnostics. Good job today." The doctor smiled and the receptionists bowed their heads as the pink haired lady walked away.
"Ah! Uchiha-sama!" one of the receptionists called after her. "Your husband is in your office."
Sakura looked over her shoulder with an eyebrow raised. She smiled at the girl. "I see. Thank you."
Once she had rounded a corner, the whispers began.
"So beautiful." The young Chuunin mumbled, shaking his head.
"Sakura-chan has been the head of the hospital since Tsunade-sama retired. She's an amazing woman." The old man told the young Chuunin with a toothy grin.
"Her husband isn't so bad himself." A rather round lady chuckled from across him. This elicited giggles from the receptionists and a huff of annoyance from the old man.
"Too bad he's cheating on her." The Chuunin muttered.
The room became silent. The baby started crying.
Sakura entered opened the door to her office. There looking bored on the leather couch flipping through a copy of Psychology Today, sat her handsome husband, Uchiha Itachi.
Kidding.
Her husband was Uchiha Sasuke.
"What a pleasant surprise. What brings you here, darling?" She stressed the pet name as she removed her doctor's coat, revealing her red ninja attire.
He looked up at her as she made her way to her desk with his usual stoic expression. Getting up, he put the magazine down on the coffee table.
"I'm going on a mission to Suna, won't be back for a couple of weeks."
She frowned as her back was facing him. "A mission, is it?" She turned to him with a cheerful smile plastered on her face. "Good luck then, Sasuke-kun."
He didn't answer but made move to peck her cheeks. She moved away and smiled. "I'll let Haru know his dad's leaving."
He moved back and looked at her, his face blank as ever, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Sakura closed her eyes and exhaled. She couldn't let her tears fall now. She looked at the clock on her wall. 12:15. She was late for her lunch meeting.
The hustle and bustle of the streets of Konoha filled the air outside of the Itsumo café. Women chattered and teacups clinked against the glass tables of the quaint little shop. It was a cute shop in one of the town's high end streets, recognizable by the baby pink and baby blue laced umbrella's that covered its customers from the afternoon sun.
A civilian woman of twenty-something sat nervously on one of the tables. She wore a purple none-too-modest dress that exposed too much thigh and looked questionable with her blonde hair. She fidgeted with her cup and shook her head when a waitress asked if she wanted anything else. As the waitress walked away, the woman looked up to see a long pink haired lady standing elegantly in the shop's patio looking around the tables.
The brown haired woman stood up, a bit too fast, and called out to her. "Uchiha-san."
Sakura smiled in acknowledgement and made her way to the woman's table.
"Sahara-san, I presume?" Sakura said, shaking her hand.
The woman, Sahara, nodded nervously. This woman was so calm, it was scary. Sakura sat down and motioned for the girl to sit. Sakura raised her hand to call the waitress.
"I love your husband."
Sakura smiled. "Don't we all."
The waitress came and took Sakura's order. When she left, Sakura looked at the girl who had a determined look in her eyes. Sahara saw the Uchiha matriarch frown. She was pitying her. Sahara knew that Sasuke had had a lot of other mistresses before her, but unlike the others, she was willing to fight for him.
"I-"
"I can't divorce him. If that's what you want." Sakura beat her to it
The waitress arrived with Sakura's café au lait. Sakura thanked her and she left.
"Why not?" Sahara's voice was quivering. She wasn't ignorant of this woman's strength. Physically and politically. She eyed the woman sitting in front of her. Sparkling emerald eyes, long eyelashes, a body she had to admit was enviable to any woman. For a woman nearing her mid-40s with a 23 year old son, this woman looked amazing. Sahara wondered why Sasuke would ever even think of cheating on one of Konoha's finest.
Sakura drank took a sip of her coffee and sighed in annoyance. She looked up, sizing Sahara up. The girl looked away and took a shaky sip of her tea.
"Sasuke won't let me." Sakura said. Her voice was stern, not once did it quiver. Sahara sat dumbfounded. Was that really the only thing keeping their marriage intact?
Sakura smiled sadly at the girl. Again, pity evident on her eyes. She took another sip of her coffee.
"Do you love him?" Sahara stuttered. She didn't understand this woman at all.
Sakura held the cup in her hand and frowned. She looked away in thought.
"Are you from Suna?" Sakura said, continuing her drink.
Sahara was frowned at the random question and shook her head. "No, I grew up in Konoha. Why?"
"Sasuke's in Suna now. Or so he says." Sakura said eyeing the girl. Sahara's eyes grew wide. Sasuke hadn't told her anything.
"I knew that." Her voice shook. Again.
Sakura raised an eyebrow. She looked at her watch and clicked her tongue.
"I'm sorry, Sahara-san, but we'll have to cut our chat short. I have to go back to the hospital." Sakura smiled politely. Sakura called for the waitress and paid for both of their drinks. "And yes. To answer your question. I do love Sasuke-kun." She smiled sadly at Sahara and walked away.
Sahara frowned. That last smile wasn't sad for her. It was sad for herself. Their meeting hadn't accomplished anything except boost her insecurity towards her lover's wife. She knew she could never equal that woman's love for Sasuke.
"I met your wife."
Sasuke frowned. He had gotten back from Suna several days ago. He had given her a half-assed excuse about forgetting to tell her. He didn't meet with her until several days after she got back.
He plopped down on the loveseat in front of her. She stared at him with sad tear-stained eyes. He looked back at her with his stoic face.
"Suna's weather is too damn hot." Sasuke mumbled, looking up at the ceiling.
"Your wife is beautiful." Sahara said. Her voice was quivering again.
Sasuke sighed. She knew he was getting annoyed.
"You moan her name when we have sex."
"That was ONE time." He said, glaring at her.
"We've only had sex once!" She shouted. "You even whisper her name in your sleep." That caught Sasuke off guard. She reached her limit. She started crying.
"Do you love her?" she cried.
He closed his eyes. He saw his wife's face, miling happily like the time they were genin, smiling sadly as she welcomed him back to Konoha, arms wide open. He had screwed up.
"Yeah. I love her so much."
They sat like that for a while. She kept crying. He kept his eyes closed. After she calmed down, he stood up, patted her head and left. Sahara knew she would never see Sasuke again.
She rubbed her temples in hopes of relieving the headache she knew was coming. A risky surgery had gone pretty well but took too much energy too fastToday had been hectic. . It was already pretty late and she was on her out. Good thing it was over. Sakura once again opened the door to her office to find her husband again on the sofa, his head propped on a bridge his hands formed.
"Another mission, Sasuke-kun?" she said, plopping down beside him and leaned on the couch. Sasuke was being more frequent with his visits to the hospital, she thought.
"I heard you met Sahara." Sasuke said, ignoring her question.
"Yep." She chuckled. " You really like 'em young, don't you? That one wasn't even 30."
Sasuke leaned back and sighed. "I told you that you didn't need to meet them."
"I feel bad for them." She shrugged.
"You don't need to feel bad for them."
She laughed.
"I'm not stoic like you."
"She asked me if I loved you."
"She asked me too."
He sat up.
"What did you say?"
"I'm not telling you that."
"I have the right to know."
"Oh yeah. As what?"
"As your husband."
She laughed again.
He leaned back.
"I said I did."
"I said I did too."
They sat in silence for a while, both leaning on the sofa, centimeters from each other. Sasuke could hear her breath. He could hear her heart beat. He realized he missed his wife.
Sasuke grabbed her hand and she flinched, but didn't push him away.
"I'm sorry."
Sakura snorted but didn't answer. Sasuke glanced at her and saw tears drip down her closed eyes. He closed his eyes, holding back his own tears. He wondered how many times he's made her cry. He wanted to hold her and kiss her tears away. But he couldn't move. He was scared she'd reject him again. After all he'd done, he couldn't blame her if she did.
He knew she wasn't oblivious the first time the rumors started spreading. He remembered the day she nonchalantly asked him if he wanted a divorce. He said it wasn't possible because it would tarnish the Uchiha name. In reality, he was just scared. He didn't want to lose her.
"I love you so much, Sakura."
He felt her grip his hand. She was holding on so tight that he felt the circulation in his hand waver. She was letting her anger seep out She started sobbing, in pain, in frustration. He sat there and let her cry. He mustered up the courage to put his arm around her and pulled her to him and let her head rest on his shoulder. No one ever felt as warm as Sakura. No one ever made him feel so at home.
"Can we try again?" She said in between sniffles.
Sasuke pulled her into an embrace. Yep. No one. Ever.
"We'll keep trying until we get it right."