It's just some randomfic–age that needed to be done. Once in a while, everyone needs a chance to reveal their alter–egos and this is one of mine. XD

I adore your reviews, so please tell me what you liked or hated. Remember, constructive criticism makes even the best writers better. And since I'm nowhere near the top, I need all the help I can get.

Wrote it in the middle of the night and expanded on it. I've read so many SasuSaku fics that GaaSaku needed its chance to pwn the multiverse. =]

Blue

Disclaimer: What was that? Do I own Naruto? Pssh, is Spock from Argentina?


The Medic and the Demon

Chapter 4: For the Record

by Rachel Poulson

––––––––––

Sakura liked flowers.

You planted them in good soil, watered them once in a while and they grew. Her parents, away most of the time on missions, had allowed her to turn their backyard into a giant garden. Now, years after their deaths, it was where she spent most of her free time in Konoha. It occurred to the kunoichi that flowers were common, reliable and pretty. In fact, they were practically boys with leaves. That was why twenty–five year old Haruno Sakura had gone for the men, who were rare, intelligent and handsome. Not to mention much more loveable.

"Mommy!"

She looked up from a cluster of dahlias to see Momori wave, standing in the gate on the side of the house. "Mommy, come look at what Kami can do!" Setting down her trowel and stripping her gardening gloves from her hands, Sakura got to her feet just as a shiver ran through the ground. Momo called to her from the front yard as she stalked forward. "Mommy, come on!"

In front of her parents' house was the home of several sakura trees whose petals were just beginning to litter the ground, although Sakura suspected that was more from her children's antics than the change of season. In normal circumstances, the yard was beautiful shady refuge from the driving heat of summers in Konoha. These were not normal circumstances and Sakura was aghast. She propped her hands on her hops and glared at the twin girls, who had the decency to look slightly guilty.

"Kami, Momo, go wash up while I take care of this," she said with a sigh as she ran a tired hand through her thick pink locks. By 'this' she meant the gaping hole that Konami had blown in the middle of her parents' front yard.

"Still overly sensitive, I see," drawled a cool voice behind her. Sakura spun, her fists already clenched.

"Sasuke." He stood on the edge of the lawn, hands shoved in his pockets and classic smirk adorning his face.

"Why are you here?" Her quiet question was an encompassment of everything she'd been through in the dozen or so years since his defection.

His answer made her feel like the years had never passed, like they were still children locked in the world of ninjas. "Isn't it obvious? I wanted to see you." She snorted. "Just because the Hokage wants the Uchiha clan to be revived doesn't mean I have to be your friend. You're an ass. Go away." When he didn't move, she sighed. "Listen, I have to go in and make lunch for those two before they tear the house apart, so why don't you just leave now?"

Sasuke merely yawned, irritating her further. "Just because you're their teacher doesn't mean you have to coddle them. Anyways, aren't they a little young to be genin?"

Sakura stared at him, surprised that he hadn't seen the resemblance. Although, she silently supposed, their heads of scarlet hair attest mostly to their father. Once in a while, when the girls played in the dying sun of Suna for hours, their hair would lighten to match hers; but spending this spring in Konoha meant that darkened crimson still dominated their thick tresses.

"They're not genin," she said at last and he raised his eyebrows in interest.

"Chunin, already? Maybe they should be transferred to a more...suitable teacher to expand on their talents."

The insult was not lost on her. Fists clenched and nostrils flaring, Sakura kept her eyes on the Uchiha while she focused on not losing her temper.

"They're not my students. They're my children."

Abruptly, his face darkened and his onyx eyes flew to some point behind her. Following his gaze, she saw her daughters sitting next to the window, faces pressed against the glass as they struggled to watch the exchange. Sasuke's shock quickly melted into something colder and his expression went blank before her eyes.

"I thought you would have waited for me, Sakura. While I was missing–nin I almost grew fond of the idea of you bearing my children." His eyes flicked to the kids inside once more. "So who's the lucky father? Naruto? Or don't you know who it was?"

He was sneering at her. He, who had deserted his village, his friends and her love, was sneering in her direction. The medic shook with barely concealed rage.

"Are you implying I'm a whore?" Her delicate features were a schooled stoic as he shrugged infuriatingly. "I'm implying that I see no wedding ring."

Once again, Sakura resisted the voice in her head screaming for blood.

Tugging off the jacket that restricted her movements, she tied it around her waist, unaware of how the Uchiha greedily studied her pale limbs. Then she began walking towards the house, determined to ignore the jerk that'd had the nerve to insult her while trying to seduce her.

"You should talk to Naruto," she advised as she strode further away from him, "He's been waiting to pummel you for a decade. You can probably find him at Ichiraku's, or the Hokage's tower if you hurry." She'd nearly reached the door when a strong arm snaked around her waist. She froze mid–step, thoughts churning.

"I'd let you pummel me if you wanted," he remarked and she realized how much she hated his hot breath against her skin. "I'd let you do a lot more."She shook her head with a firm, "No."

Why did he come back? she wondered incredulously. For me? Did he really return just to tell me that he wants me to have his babies?

"If you don't leave now, I'll call their father; you really don't want that." His only response was to pull her closer and stroke one of her trembling arms. "Who is he?" Sasuke purred, "Who is this man that you would call to save you? Is he a shinobi? Why wouldn't I want him here? Is it possible that you think I would fear him?" Lips pressed into the nape of her neck.

She glared at the nearest trees, thanking them for concealing this and wondering how she was going to avoid destroying them in anger.

"You won't want him here because unlike me, he isn't merciful."

He chuckled, the low dark sound echoing under boughs surrounded by palest pink.

"Why do you call this mercy?" The tip of his thin nose brushed across her ear and she sighed.

Then she turned around, faster than the eye could see, as rage fueled her actions. She quickly elbowed him in the face, breaking his perfect nose before punching him in the stomach with all of her chakra–reinforced might. It was so satisfying, the feel of bone and cartilage breaking under her knuckles. Maybe she'd try it again sometime, just for kicks.

There was a crash from across the street as the Uchiha flew through a wall, and yells from the harassed neighbors whose lunch he'd just interrupted. Sakura practically blurred as she flew to Sasuke's side, knowing that her excited daughters would follow more slowly. Though he lay groaning amidst the debris, spurting blood from his nose, she felt that one more kick wouldn't hurt him.

Damn that thing her parents had given her; it was called a conscience. So instead of physically kicking the crap out of an injured comrade, she settled for jabbing his eyes out verbally.

"I call this mercy because Gaara wouldn't have let you live."

She nudged one of his broken ribs with sadistic pleasure and he whimpered. Okay, so maybe she was pissed enough to ignore all sense of decorum. "For the record, when someone says no, it usually means no."

"Whore," he gasped and she moved back to meet her breathless children.

"No," she answered firmly, placing a arm around each of her daughters. "Suna marriages aren't represented with rings." She held out her palm so he could see the scar at the base of her thumb, embedded in the thick ball of flesh. "We marked in blood."

Her voice rose to a sugary impersonation of a teacher, taking on an instructor's qualities of standard education.

"Okay, girls! Who can tell us what you learned from today?" Momori's hand shot up first and Konami sulked as their mother let her speak. "Don't attack or try to seduce married women!" Sakura nodded and gestured that it was Kami's turn. "Don't piss mom off when dad's not around to calm her down." Nodding her satisfaction, the proud mother glanced at Sasuke, who was giving her an look of pure disbelief.

"You're all insane–"

His head slumped backwards as Kami slugged him on the chin. Wincing, Sakura gave her youngest daughter 'The Look'. Staring defiantly back, green eyes a mirror of her mother's, she grumbled:

"He had it coming."

With a sigh, Haruno Sakura led her children out, promising her neighbors compensation and making a mental note to have Naruto pick up their former teammate. However good Kami's intentions might have been, the Uchiha would still be out for a few hours.

Besides, even the Hokage–in–Training deserved some fun once in a while.


Continued in Chapter 36.