Pieces
Summary: Sasuke's in pieces and he knows it. Thankfully, though, he has a few people to help him put his life back together, one tiny piece at a time. –SasuSaku-
Pairings: SasuSaku with mentions of NaruHina and ItachiOC.
Note: I'm so freaking mad at Sasuke after he did in Chapter 693. :[ Therefore, I am writing this as if 691 was the final chapter, because I would rather see the story end there than the way it is heading now. (But I will forever ship SasuSaku.) [I also bumped their ages up by a year, heh]
Note 2: The title, once again, comes from the RED song, which I HIGHLY suggest you listen to as you read this. It's truly a beautiful song.
Sasuke is not the least bit excited when Naruto drags him to the Hokage tower one day, about two months after the last Uchiha finally returned to Konoha. As Naruto begins to explain that he was on a solo mission when his "surprising discovery" was made, Sasuke scrunches up his face in worry. He hates surprises, and he's worried this is one that will make him regret returning to Konoha, but with the way Naruto's smiling and laughing every little bit, Sasuke's fears pretty much are quelled, and he knows it's not something bad, but appears to be something good.
For once in my life, let it be something good…
He's told that the person Naruto brought back is their very old, very dear friend Asuna Myuki, who had, supposedly, disappeared from the village without a trace nearly two years ago, and had been found living in Kusagakure, by Naruto. Sasuke asks the blond why he seems so giddy over the whole thing, and Naruto simply replies that now all his friends are home, and he couldn't be happier.
This causes Sasuke to roll his eyes, but he does give a small smirk. He's truly glad to be home, but he's still concerned about rehabilitating and this surprise Naruto keeps going on about.
When they finally reach the Hokage tower and enter Tsunade's office, Sasuke looks around quickly, finding Sakura, Tsunade, Shizune, and the previously mentioned brunette, Asuna, in the room.
Sakura's off to the left with Asuna beside her, while Shizune is standing on the right of Tsunade. Sasuke looks over Asuna and takes in his old friend's appearance. Her hair is still same, an inverted bob that looks like she had just gotten it cut recently. She still has bright green eyes that look happy to see him, but Sasuke immediately notices one large difference with Asuna.
She is, quite obviously, very pregnant, and, supposedly, wearing a wedding band.
…she's barely eighteen…
This is highly worrying to Sasuke. He's instantly worried for his friend's well-being, and wonders what on earth may have happened in the time she's been gone, but she's smiling at him.
Asuna is smiling at him and that makes Sasuke nervous. He's not sure why, but it does.
"Sasuke, hi." Asuna gives a wave, still smiling.
Sasuke blinks, glancing from her to Sakura, who looks worried and surprised as well, but is still smiling.
"Hi, Asuna…"
When she moves to hug him, Sasuke doesn't stop her, but accepts it fully. He's begun to do that with Sakura as well, but it's odd to have Asuna do it, especially when he can tell she's pregnant and having a hard time hugging him.
"Ah, it's so hard to hug people when pregnant…" she laughs, and Sasuke smiles just a little bit. He's known Asuna since he was two-years-old, same with Sakura, and he's still wanting to question her about her pregnancy and the man she's married to.
"So, Asuna has an announcement for you, Sasuke."
As Tsunade speaks, Sasuke looks at her, nodding before he looks back to Asuna, who's suddenly not looking at him and has a bright red blush on her face. She's obviously nervous and worried herself about telling him whatever it is, but after a few moments, she sighs, and looks up at him with a broken smile.
"I'm pregnant with Itachi's child."
+!+
Asuna's revelation earlier that day caused Sasuke to walk out after she finished speaking. Naruto and Sakura yelled for him to come back, but he heard Asuna reassure them that it was all right, and that she'll try to talk to him later.
Since then, Sasuke has been at the docks, simply staring out at the lake and thinking.
Asuna is pregnant with Itachi's child… I can't believe this. I have family on the way?
The shock from earlier has just about worn off, and Sasuke's calming down enough that he's told himself he'll sit and talk with Asuna that evening about what he can do to help her out with the baby.
He's terrified of the idea of having family again, but he's also excited for it. He's going to have a niece or nephew soon, and it's fairly exciting to him.
"If only the circumstances were different, Itachi… I would be more excited to become an uncle if you were still here."
"You know, talking to yourself isn't very attractive."
Sasuke doesn't even turn around when he hears another voice. He just nods and moves to the side, allowing Sakura to sit beside him.
Sasuke had apologized to her numerous times for all her did to her in the past few months. Sakura accepted immediately, and confessed to him once more, which caused Sasuke to become extremely nervous, before he stated that he acknowledged her feelings and would let her know when and if he returned them.
That made Sakura break down instantly, sobbing and throwing her arms around Sasuke in a hug, which he accepted as she repeated over and over again that she loved him with her all her heart no matter what happened.
Since then, Sasuke's done what he could to be close to Sakura, and allow her to have a more active role in his life, especially since she had a special place in is heart.
"Sakura."
"Hm?" she looks at him with a smile, looking quite tired after this day that seems like it'll never end. "What's wrong, darling?"
"I don't know how to be an uncle… what the heck do uncles even do?"
When Sakura bursts out laughing, Sasuke sends her a small glare, while she takes his face in her hands and kisses him, not surprising him in the least. She's been doing this for the last month, even though they aren't dating or are even close to being romantically involved with each other.
The first time she did this surprised him, as they had finished training and Sasuke had walked her home, telling her that he lived down the road from her and had to pass by her house to get to his place. When she invited him to come meet her parents, Sasuke denied and said he needed to get home and rest, but he didn't get to finish speaking before Sakura grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.
It instantly caused Sasuke to pull back, while Sakura smiled and he asked her why she did that, receiving a shrug and a giggle in response before she headed inside. All she told him was she felt like kissing him, and they've been doing this ever since.
Sasuke simply takes the kiss, used to them by now, and kisses her back, as he's begun to do that in return when Sakura does this.
"Sasuke, all you have to do is love and dote that baby girl."
"It… it's a girl?"
"Yeah, Asuna told us after you left. She's got a name picked out and everything."
Sasuke nods, turning from Sakura and back towards the lake while she leans on his arm and sighs.
"Sakura?"
"Yes?"
"Can you… can you help me? I want to help Asuna out, because she and her child are my family… but I don't know how…"
It's quiet for a few minutes, before Sakura smiles and nods.
"Of course."
"Thank you."
"S-Sakura-san!"
Sasuke and Sakura pull away from each other in surprise when one of the young nurses calls for her, looking quite distressed as she quickly approaches the two eighteen-year-olds.
"What's wrong?! What happened, Yue?!"
The nurse, Yue, catches her breath, before looking at Sakura. "Your friend, Asuna, has gone into labor and is at the hospital!"
Sakura's eyes widen and she looks at Sasuke, who looks quite concerned. "She's only seven months pregnant… this isn't good! We have to go!"
Nodding, Sasuke helps Sakura up and they follow quickly behind Yue as they run towards the hospital, Sasuke saying silent prayers the whole way there.
No, please. I don't want to lose any more family, please…
+!+
The very moment Sasuke and Sakura reach the hospital with Yue, the young nurse leads them down the hallway to Asuna's room, catching them up on what has happened until now.
Tsunade had insisted on having Asuna go to the hospital to make sure she and the baby were all right after traveling so far in just two days, and she escorted the eighteen-year-old mother-to-be to the hospital. Once they reached the hospital, Tsunade did a few tests on Asuna and the baby to make sure both were all right, when she noticed that Asuna had been taking deep breaths the whole time, and asked her why.
Asuna said she had been feeling strange pains in her back most of the day, and that she wasn't sure why. At that, Tsunade did a few more tests, but those only lasted a few minutes before Asuna realized her water had broken and she was suddenly in labor. After getting Asuna settled in a room, Tsunade sent Yue off to find Sakura and Sasuke, who showed up just a few minutes later.
"Asuna, are you all right?" Sakura speaks in a calm voice as she hurries over to her friend, checking over the monitors that Asuna had been hooked up to, making sure everything was all right.
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, Sakura…" Asuna gives a small smile, looking tired yet scared at the same time. "I'm just afraid… I want her to be ok."
Nodding, Sakura smiles at Asuna as well, watching Sasuke as he moves beside his sister-in-law. She's quite impressed with him once a contraction hits Asuna, and she grabs a hold of his hand, looking at him and apologizing, before he shakes his hand and returns the hold she has.
"Its fine, Asuna. Don't worry."
When her contraction ends, Sakura pulls over the ultrasound machine in the room, and starts it to check on the baby, doing what she can to reassure Asuna as she looks at the monitor screen.
At first, Sakura's smiling as she tells Asuna everything looks all right and she should be able to give birth any moment, but a few seconds later she begins to frown, and it scares Asuna.
"What, what's wrong? Sakura, tell me, please."
"Asuna… no, no, it's ok! I need to talk to Sasuke, ok?"
Asuna takes a breath, but nods. She's wondering what's going on, but she lets go of Sasuke's hand and allows him to follow Sakura outside the room.
"Sakura," when she closes the room door, Sasuke begins to ask the question both he and Asuna have. "What—"
"The baby's breech."
He stares at her for a moment. Sasuke isn't exactly sure he knows what that means, and questions Sakura about it.
"It… well, when babies are born naturally, they have to be in an up and down position… Asuna's baby is sideways, she can't be born naturally right now, but," Sakura stops for a second, biting her lip. "We can't wait any longer. The baby's very, very early… but we have to do a C-section to make sure both Asuna and the baby will be OK."
Sasuke nods, while Sakura sighs and starts to walk down the hall. "Where are you going?"
"I have to go get ready. Tell Asuna for me, all right? She'll understand."
+!+
Sasuke does go back and tell Asuna what's going on. While she looks scared of the idea of having surgery, she completely understands why and agrees to go ahead with it, even though her child is going to be nearly eight weeks early.
Once Sakura gets back and Asuna's been prepped for her C-section, Sasuke stays in the waiting room, trying to stay calm. He's never been this involved with someone giving birth, and its nerve wracking. He's not sure what to do while he waits for Sakura to come back, so, Sasuke just sits in once place and watches the clock.
Sakura said it would only take a few minutes, but it's almost an hour later when she shows up again.
"Sasuke-kun." Sakura sighs as she takes the seat beside him, making Sasuke look at her and start asking questions.
"Is Asuna all right?"
"Yeah. She did well… she's in her room, resting."
"And the baby?"
"Gosh, she's tiny, Sasuke-kun… scary tiny, and her lungs are underdeveloped. She's not even five pounds… Lady Tsunade's worried she won't make it through the night."
Sasuke's quiet for a few minutes, while Sakura's trying to rest a bit.
"She'll make it."
Sakura looks at Sasuke, who is the first to speak after nearly ten minutes. He looks confident as can be with his statement.
"How do you know?"
"If she truly is Itachi's child… she'll make it. I know she will."
As Sasuke leaves for Asuna's hospital room to check on her, Sakura watches him and smiles.
You've yet to be wrong, Sasuke-kun… I hope you don't start now.
+!+
Sasuke spends the next morning trying to keep Asuna from bursting into tears. Sakura has informed their friend that her tiny newborn daughter is having problems breathing because of her underdeveloped lungs, and it scares Asuna to think she might lose her baby.
Sakura reassures her that she and Lady Tsunade are doing everything they can to help the baby so she'll be healthy and be able to go home soon, but, even after that, it makes Asuna sob and Sakura feel like crying because her friend is hurting so much.
As Sakura leaves, she asks Sasuke to stay with Asuna and keep her calm while she checks on the baby again, and Sasuke agrees, calming the new mother down the best he can, and doing everything possible not to mention her daughter.
"Can I ask you a question?"
Asuna looks at Sasuke in surprise. He has been quiet for a while, especially after her lunch was brought in. She's silent for a moment, before she smiles.
"Sure. What is it?"
"Why did you leave Konoha and look for my brother?"
Taking in a breath, Asuna tries to remember her reasons for leaving, before it almost hits her in the face and she gives a small smile.
"Love makes people do crazy things… ah, but I bet you know that, huh?"
This wasn't the answer he was expecting, but it made Sasuke smirk a bit as Sakura entered the room again, giving Asuna an update on her daughter, and wanting to know the baby's name for the birth records.
I guess I do know that…
END CHAPTER 1