Disclaimer applies.
You hear her crying from inside the room you share, but frankly, you do not feel surprised or alarmed. Not even in the tiniest bit.
What surprised you was the fact that you only caught her crying a week after her parents pass away.
Her mother was a fine woman, who made the best umeboshi, while her father was kind, albeit strict and intimidating, even for a civilian. Their sudden death, an unavoidable accident while on an out-of-the-village trip, made you feel sad as well, as you grew fond of your parents-in-law. If the event affected you, an emotionally-constipated person, what more for their only child?
She hears you as you enter your room, and you could see how her shoulders grew tense, her whole body becoming stiff. Immediately, she wipes her tears, and faces you with a smile. But even for an emotionally-constipated person like you, you could tell it was forced. Fake. Strained.
She greets you with a hoarse voice, most likely from her crying, and offers to prepare dinner. Before you could reply (do you even have any idea on what to say?), she has already walked past you, and you feel her breaking down again on her way to your kitchen. You make no move to follow, because really, even if you were the most sought after shinobi in Konoha, you had no idea on what to do.
A few days pass, and you never caught her in the act again. For a second you felt relieved, thinking that she was probably okay now. Because your wife was a strong woman. You wouldn't have made her an Uchiha if she wasn't strong.
But even the strong ones broke down. Even the strong ones had their weak spots.
You hear her crying again, still in the confines of their room, a few days later. She doesn't expect you to be home until tonight, since you mentioned that you'd be training until then. You did train, but worry started eating you whole for some weird reason, even if you do not wish to show it.
This time, though, you decided to not knock, to not enter. Because you know for sure what will happen if you did. Because it seems like letting you see her tears was what scares her the most.
But even if you did, it wouldn't be the first time. So what's scaring her?
So instead, you sit by the door, and wait until she's done.
This goes on for more days, weeks even. A month has passed and you've had enough. Originally you plan on confronting her but backed out in the last minute. You assumed she would probably feel more frightened than actually tell you. So you opt for a different approach.
And that different approach leads you to Kakashi. Now, you do not really like talking about personal problems with other people, just to be clear. Because you grew up dealing with your problems on your own. But problems concerning your wife, especially one in which you do not have any idea dealing with, that was a different case.
And so you tell your former teacher your dilemma, albeit the obvious uncertainty in your voice. He is still reading that blasphemous book of his, but you could tell that he was listening.
You finish talking and wait for whatever he will say. Frustration got into you as you were only met with silence. A minute passed and you decide that it was stupid idea. But as you move to walk away, he began to speak, even if his attention still lay with the book.
He tells you that she probably felt embarrassed, ashamed even. You couldn't help but raise a brow at such.. ridiculous opinion. Why in the world would she feel that way?
You must have been obviously confused, because he continues to explain. He reminds you of your own loss: that even though your parents were killed, leaving you without a choice, the same fate happened to the rest of your entire clan. And even if your brother continued to live until then, he left you alone.
You were reminded of how you dealt with the depression and loss on your own. Something she was probably taking into consideration.
She probably didn't want to be selfish and seek comfort from someone who was deprived of such luxury. Your wife refused to seek reassurance from you, because you did not get any of it when you needed it most.
The two of you remain silent, Kakashi just standing there as you make your realizations. Immediately, though, you nod at him and proceed to go home.
It only took you about 5 minutes to reach your house, cutting your normal travel time by almost half. You wanted to see her as soon as possible, because you wouldn't want such.. trivial matters to bother her anymore. You go straight to your room, just in case she locked herself up again, but found the door wide open, with no signs of your wife. Searching the rest of the house, but alas, you found no one.
As you try to think of the places where she might have gone (she couldn't have gone to the hospital since it's her day off), the sound of water invades your senses, and your feet bring you to the garden.
She was holding a hose, gingerly watering the plants. It would seem like normal gardening, but you could see the distant look her eyes held. You call out her name, but this time she doesn't stiffen. She faces your direction, but you see no tears. The absence of tears does not make an assurance though, since that fake smile of hers was still there, and her eyes did not hold its usual twinkle.
You approach her abruptly, making her drop the hose in surprise. She gasps as you wrap your arms around her, before patting her head into your direction, making her lean into your chest. And you tell her to cry.
She says a muffled 'what?', and you just repeat the order. She didn't, however, and she remained silent instead. You sigh, frustration slowly growing into your system, but stopped yourself before you lost control. You tell her to cry, because you are here. You will always be here for her, and it doesn't matter if you didn't have anyone by your side when you needed it. It didn't matter now.
What matters most now was.. you were here for her.
And you thank whatever God there is, because even if you had a hard time explaining, reassuring, she understood you. And you think that was enough to make her sniff, and cry and let all those tears fall on her beautiful face. You feel her slowly embracing you back, holding on for dear life.
But it was a good cry, you conclude, because finally, she didn't hold back. You kiss her hair, and whisper comforting words.
"I'm here," you whisper. "I'll always be here."
Hmm. I actually think this could be my best piece yet. Or is it just wishful thinking? Anyway. I love hubby!Sasuke. Please review and tell me what you think. ;D
ALSO! I'm using LiveJournal again. So let's be friends there! I'm using the same username, you-medea. Thank you!