Uhhhhhh…. I don't know what to say, guys. This is my first ever fan fiction. It did NOT go where I intended it to, but you know. I'm nothing if not a sucker for gentle Sasuke. Also I loves me some Sasusaku travel times! Ya feel me? I'm thinking of writing more chapters, but if you think I should not, just send me a message and say, "No, Momo. Please stop that nonsense." I'll still write them anyways, but I do like hearing opinions, and protestations, and whatnot. Okay! I love you all!

PROLOGUE: THE SOUND OF THE BREEZE

A dog was barking somewhere in the distance. There was a cicada humming just outside the window. The wall clock across the room, which read 2:26 in the morning, ticked away each passing second. A one-armed man and his 36-week-pregnant wife lay together in their futon. Unlike some of the previous inns they had stayed at, tonight's inn was far from silent. In addition to that insufferable clock, there was the occasional sound of footsteps tip-toeing past their door on their way to take a late-night dip in the hot springs. Sasuke lay on his left side trying to ignore it all. The noises were not what had woken him up in the first place though.

He had woken up to Sakura shifting on her back. She was uncomfortable and in pain. She released a strained sigh, and he knew. Her back had been hurting her lately. More specifically, her sciatic nerve. Despite her immense physical strength, he supposed it was probably difficult for someone with such a naturally slender build to constantly have the weight of another little person pressing and kicking against her lower abdomen. This was only worsened with all of the walking and moving around they had been doing.

He watched as she struggled to turn herself away from him with her teeth clenched and her eyes squeezed shut in agony. The moonlight streaming through the window illuminated a tear on her cheek as she moved. Sasuke couldn't simply observe any longer.

When she had stilled with her back facing her husband, Sasuke slowly raised his hand and pressed it gingerly to the small of her back. She must have thought he was asleep, because she jumped ever so slightly at the surprise contact. His hand simply rested against her ache. Occasionally, he would move his thumb back and forth in a soothing motion. The pain did not appear to dissipate, but he could feel her tenseness slowly ease away. His hand felt warm and it had begun to tremble a little bit against her. He heard her begin to focus on breathing in time with the stroke of his thumb. Stroke. Inhale. Stroke. Exhale. For a long time that was the sound that drowned out all of the others—the sound of breathing, the sound of life. Out of the darkness, a quivering sob broke the rhythm and Sasuke's hand retreated because he suddenly felt that his touch was not enough.

"Sakura, please. Tell me how to help you," he whispered desperately. She moved to dry her face before she turned her head slightly in his direction.

"Sasuke-Kun," her voice was strained as the moon cast a shadow over her exhausted smile. "Just knowing that you're thinking of me is enough. I'm fine, really. It's just pregnancy hormones and all of that."

He knew she was lying. She was not fine in the least. Sakura was always one who believed that she had to push down her pain in order to avoid being what she perceived to be a burden on the ones she cared about. He knew how tenderly she loved and waited for the child that was growing inside of her, but now that she was so far into her pregnancy, they were no longer able to move around as quickly or as nimbly as before. He could feel her ever mounting frustration at the physical limitations. As if she thought she was holding the man she loved back. She didn't know and he couldn't say it out loud, that she was truly just the opposite. She wasn't his burden. She was the summer breeze behind his spirit, propelling him, guiding him ever forward. She moved him and motivated him in ways he never believed another human being capable. Sasuke, of course was never a man of words, especially flowery words such as those. No matter how strongly he felt them, he would never be able to say such things out loud. He preferred to speak through action, but this time he was at a loss. Nothing he could do, no touch, no embrace, no kiss, could ever convey how deeply he relied on her love, her consistency, her patience. Her. How deeply he relied on her. It was maddening how he could never seem to get past his own deficiencies and just express to her what he wished.

At her denial, he wanted to push the subject, but he knew that any further conversation would only serve to delay sleep even more for her. Instead he wrapped his arm around her and drew her back against him. Ghosting his lips over her hair, he breathed, "Rest." Finally she settled into him and it wasn't long before her breathing steadied once again and she nodded off. It wasn't a peaceful sleep, Sasuke noticed, but it was something.

In the darkness, he pondered their itinerary. In the morning they would continue on their way. Their ultimate destination was Karin's hideout. A place where Sakura would be safe and comfortable until the baby is born.

For now though, with thoughts only of his warm summer breeze, the one-armed man soon followed her into sleep.

TO BE CONTINUED?

Will Sasuke learn to talk about his feelings? Will Sakura learn her importance to Sasuke? Find out next time on "I Just Ruined My two Favorite Characters Because I don't Know What the Cheese I'm Doing!"