I had been reading a fanfic with Mikoto, and this thing popped into my head. Spellcheck and Grammercheck have been used, but you never know. Constructive Criticism is always welcome, because i don't pretend to be a good writer. Reviews are also welcomed with open arms. listening to: Fix You
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, thank god. Drawing THAT much every single day...ew. The only downside is that I can't have the characters be my slaves T.T
Mikoto had always wanted a daughter. She never voiced the plea, and she loved her sons dearly, but sometimes a mother needs a baby girl to spoil. Mikoto had decided early on that if she could not have a daughter, then a daughter-in-law would do.
That was why if you happened to glance in her direction at the festival, you would see a woman marked as a Uchiha by the dark hair and eyes standing on top of a bench. She appeared to be scouting the surrounding area as if looking for someone. If a person happened to look closer, they would notice the Uchiha prodigy Itachi standing next to her with a bored look on his face. He appeared to be holding the hand of a younger boy with similar features.
It was this one that Mikoto lifted into the air after an exclamation of 'Aha!' She began to speak to said little boy,
"Alright Sasuke-kun! I have found you the perfect wife! You know I have always been partial to pink, so when you grow up, I want you to marry that little girl with the pink hair over there!"
The young chosen girl's back was turned, so all that was visible was her shoulder length pink hair. Sasuke nodded solemnly.
"Hai, Okaa-san. I shall." Itachi merely scoffed at the idea of pink-haired Uchihas and looked away as his mother continued to hug Sasuke fiercely. Thanking him over and over.
That was not the last time Mikoto brought up Sasuke's marriage. She constantly asked him who he was supposed to marry, and Sasuke always replied with a smile, "the pink-haired girl at the festival."
One day, a year or so from the festival where they had found Sasuke's future bride, Mikoto had brought little Sasuke into her room under the pretense of needing help looking for an earing. Instead, she pulled out a small box.
"Ne, Sasuke-kun! Come look at what I got for you!" When Sasuke craned his neck, she pulled the box back and giggled, "but before you get to look, you have to answer a question for me." Sasuke merely nodded, looking excitedly at Mikoto's hand. "Sasuke-kun, who are you going to marry?"
Her son smiled at her, "I am going to marry the pink-haired girl from the festival!"
"Hai! Good job Sasuke-kun!" Mikoto lowered the box, "And look what I got her." When she opened it, Sasuke's eyes grew big,
"Wow, Okaa-san! It's so pretty! I bet she will love it!" Mikoto nodded,
"Now, Sasuke, I want you to pay attention to what I say," she saw her son immediately alert and smiled inwardly, "I am going to hide this in my dresser. If something happens to me, I want you to find it, and give it to the pink-haired girl. Can you do that for me?" Her Sasuke nodded proudly,
"Hai, Okaa-san! I shall give the pretty ring to my pink-haired girl."
After that, Mikoto continued to ask her youngest son the question, but less and less frequently.
The last time she ever asked that question was the day before she died. After the incident, Sasuke had been so overcome with grief that he forgot about the ring. Overtime, the pink-haired girl faded from his mind, and his promise to his mother lay forgotten in the dark recesses of his mind.
0
Her pink hair had always bugged him. Pink was a weak color, and weak things annoyed him, but it was more than that. Something deep inside his heart pulled whenever he saw it. When Team Seven was formed, the feeling merely got stronger. It was that one thing that kept him from physically maiming the girl. He wanted to know where it came from and what caused it.
As Team Seven continued to grow the pulling continued, lessening only slightly once he acknowledged her as a teammate. He at first dismissed it as hormones. A simple crush as a result of adolescence.
In that state of mind he left Konoha. Crushes were easily forgotten when covered by training and revenge.
Forgotten, but never gone. When he saw her again, the pulling in his chest returned. When he had time to reflect on it, he realized it wasn't a crush. Contrary to popular belief, he had harbored several crushes in the time he had spent in Konoha, he just never acted upon them. This wasn't like the rest. After probing farther, he was decided it was an absence of sorts, a longing.
Sasuke cared not for such trivial things, and again hid it under his avenging.
0
He had done it. His brother was dead. Killed. Through with existing. The relief he hadn't expected to feel was there, but the satisfaction he had was not.
As he walked aimlessly in what he assumed was the direction of Konoha, he remembered his brother's words,
Sasuke held the Chidori over his brother's defeated body. The power he had at that moment overwhelmed him, and he hesitated. At that moment, his brother addressed him,
"Foolish little brother, what do you plan to do now?" an amused smirk crossed the half-dead Uchiha's features, "Taint the Uchiha blood with pink hair? Father would have a fit, but mother wouldn't. Would she?" The mocking smile was still in place as the younger brother ran his Chidori through him, angered further by the reference to his useless teammate.
He was still trying to make sense of that deathbed statement and why it had made his hatred grow as he reached the edge of Konoha's Forest.
He got the whole, 'taint the Uchiha blood with pink hair' thing, but why would Itachi insinuate he would marry a pink-haired girl? The only girl he knew of with rosette hair was Sakura. Why would his brother care to mention her? She was whiny, emotionally weak (even he knew of her incredible physical strength), and clingy.
His mother was another reference he couldn't figure out. Why bring her up? That bastard had no right to speak of his family. The family he had killed, but that was unimportant. There was always a reason behind Itachi's doings, and if nothing else, Sasuke was curious.
0
He didn't know that he had lost consciousness until he woke up. The first thing he noticed was that he was chained to what was undoubtedly a bed in the hospital. And so began his return.
The next several weeks were devoted to recuperating and figuring out his punishment. In that time, many people passed through his room. Nurses and doctors came and went. The first actual visitors were, of course, his old team members. They had been perhaps the most welcome, if only because they weren't judging him. Sure, they were angry, but more relieved that he had returned than anything. The Hokage had also visited several times, as well as a few council members under the excuse of getting more accurate information so as to be able to pass judgement.
Eventually, it was decided that since he had rid Konoha of several threats that he merely be placed on probation and restricted to the village for a year.
The punishment really didn't bother him. Training had been his past-time for the last six years. He was positive that the year would pass in no time.
He had been wrong. His brother's parting words left him puzzling over the connection between his mother and Sakura. It got so bad that about six months into his probation he decided to go to the Uchiha mansion to see if it held any clues. He searched his mother's favorite rooms, but had left the bedroom for last.
The door was slightly ajar, but dust lined the floors, so he knew nobody had been in there. The room was familiar, even if he had only been in it a handful of times. He decided to start with his mother's bedside table, and then go to the dresser. He found nothing but a few dusty books in the drawer of the table, and moved on to the dresser.
He opened the top drawer, but had to stop and suppress the memories. After he had gotten his mind under control, he carefully filed through his mother's clothes. In the back far corner of the third drawer he encountered a box. Curious, he opened it.
Inside was the most peculiar ring. It appeared to have a gold band, but the gem in the center was in the shape of a cherry blossom, complete with carefully detailed green leaves and exquisite pink petals.
The same pink as the pink-hair. He put the ring in his pocket to be considered later, and continued his search. The next two drawers yielded nothing, but in the bottom drawer in the exact same place as the ring had been, there was a small note:
My Sasuke-kun,
Congratulations sweetie! You found the ring. Now go give it to her.
Love Always,
Kaa-san
P.S: Sorry honey, I'm not going to tell you who she is! That was what the training was for.
The short note brought back the painful memories that refused to die, even though their creator had. He wanted to angrily shove the note away, but resisted: it was his mother's after all.
Instead, he stalked back to his apartment where he lay on his bed, putting the puzzle pieces together:
Itachi mentioned a girl. His mother mentioned a girl. There was a low probability that they weren't the same person. The girl Itachi mentioned had pink hair, and the ring was pink. It all pointed to Sakura.
God dammit. He didn't want to give Sakura a ring. She would undoubtedly overreact, thinking it as a symbol of love or something.
He took out the ring. As he studied the box, previously buried memories surfaced,
"Sasuke-kun," his mother questioned, holding something in her hand, "Who are you going to marry?"
Rather startled by both the remembrance and the question, he opened the box carefully.
"Hai! Good Job Sasuke-kun!" He missed her smile. Precious few memories of his time with her remained, fewer had her smiling. Along with this particular one came a smile. He merely stared at the ring, not really sure to hate or thank it.
"Now, Sasuke, I want you to pay attention. If something happens...give this to her...Can you do that?"
Give it to her?! His mom wanted him to give this ring to Sakura? He had already made up his mind not to, and nothing was going to change that.
But something akin to guilt settled in his heart that day. Right next to the throbbing that had been his constant companion. His only thought on it was that now they could keep eachother company and leave him the hell alone.
0
"THAT'S IT!!"
Three days later, he found himself again training, the exercise that was supposed to take his mind off things.
It didn't. His pink haired teammate had been running through his mind so much he wondered why she wasn't tired. It needed to stop, he was getting god damn pissed off. The more he thought of it, the more irritated he got. Finally, he just blew.
"YOU WIN!" with that declaration, he stormed off the field, leaving behind a confused Naruto.
He stomped off to his apartment, angrily dug out his key, and headed to where he had left the ring. He then turned around abruptly and headed off to the hospital.
When he got there, it wasn't particularly busy. The dobe had dragged him there often enough so he knew the place well enough not to ask for instructions. After going down several hallways and up a flight of stairs, he finally reached her office.
As he flung open the door, his rosette teammate gave a startled yelp. Before she could say anything, he continued on his rampage up till he was but a foot away from her. He held out the box impatiently.
"Tell my mom to stop bugging me." he glowered at the floor. He was almost positive there was a blush on his cheeks, and he didn't want her to get any ideas.
"N-nani?" Sakura merely stared at the small white box, making no move to take it, "ano, Sasuke-kun, is something the matter?" He merely shoved the box in her direction.
"Just take it! Kaa-san wanted you to have it!" his scowl deepened when she didn't heed his request.
"A-ano, Sasuke-kun...I-I'm sorry...but I don't know what you're talking about. Y-your mother...she...she..."
He shifted his glare unto her, "Take the ring dammit!" he practically yelled. Slowly she reached out. When she finally removed the ring from his hand, his temper calmed enough for him to notice her. As she looked at the box, strands of hair fell from behind her ears into her face.
Pink hair.
He continued to stare, flashes of memory coming back:
His mother on the bench, looking around. Him being up their with her, looking where his mother was pointing. It stood out in the crowd:the pink hair
Sakura noticed his staring, "Sasuke-kun? Are you alright?"
"You know I have always been partial to pink, so when you grow up, I want you to marry that little girl with the pink hair over there!"
When she stepped forward, he stepped back,
"Hai Okaa-san," he had always been willing to do what she said. She was his mother after all.
"Sasuke-kun?!"
She seemed so happy: smiling and hugging him; thanking him over and over. She looked so excited, and he knew how little happiness there was in her life. He felt proud for being able to give his mother even an ounce of happiness.
"SASUKE-KUN?!" he finally realized the distressed Sakura in front of him. He also noticed the unopen box she had placed on her desk, waving both hands in front of his face. He frowned at the box.
"Aren't you going to open that? Okaa-san must have spent a long time picking it out." His teammate merely gaped at him,
"Sasuke-kun, I don't know what you're talking about. You're parents, well they're...they're..."
"Dead, I know," he replied tonelessly, "That doesn't mean they weren't alive once. Just open it."
She sighed, but complied nonetheless. When she saw the ring, her eyes grew wide, "Oh, Sasuke-kun, it's so...beautiful! I can't accept this, it must have cost you hundreds!" The pink haired girl tried to give it back, but he wasn't taking.
After a minute of silently refusing, he said, "Look, one day my mom saw you at a festival. She then got this...notion that I should..." he paused at the word marriage, not sure of how she'd take it, but decided that she needed to be informed,"that I should marry the pink haired girl at the festival." With that, the rest of the memories resurfaced. The numerous times his mother had asked, and the many times he had responded, "the pink-haired girl at the festival."
The emotions he had also felt when he said that came back. If he had been paying more attention, he would have noticed that the throbbing had stopped, filled by something far more pleasant.
At that time, the only thing his brain seemed to recognize was the girl before him, and how inviting her lips looked.
0
They were married not long after that.
Many turned up to see Tsunade's beautiful, pink-haired, apprentice wed to the former-traitor and last Uchiha.
The celebrations were elaborate and excessive to say the least. He would have preferred a smaller, simpler style, but when his pink-haired fiancé had tentatively asked about the subject, he had merely shrugged, "Do what you want," knowing that if he had challenged it, the Hokage and his mother wouldn't get off his back.
There was one thing he refused to allow, though. When everyone filtered in, they were guided towards the bride's side, while the groom's side remained empty. When asked about it at the receptions, Sasuke had merely shrugged,
"Where else would she sit?"