Story 4
Prompt: "Death brought them together" sequel. – Requested by Ketsurui15
Rating: K+
Don't worry, Itachi-san. I'll take good care of him for you, but also for him, too. I'll lend him my strength so that he can keep that promise!
That was what she told Uchiha Itachi almost five years ago.
Smiling sadly, she lowered the bouquet of flowers, resting them against the charcoal coloured headstone. It was a sunny day, as per usual. Birds were singing their songs high up in the blue sky, the occasional breeze fluttering their feathers and brushing her hair away from her features.
Brushing her fingertips along the smooth marble, she slowly knelt down before it, watching the carved kanji in hopes that it would disappear, that it would be some kind of mistake. Even after five years, those memories haunted her – haunted them all.
But they'd also come such a long way since that awful night.
Are you watching us, Itachi-san? Are you proud of how far they have come?
Shisui had kept his promise, meaning she'd kept hers, too. There were bad days, of course. Days when Shisui didn't want to rely on her strength to help Sasuke, days when he'd yell at her to butt out because he wanted to be left alone, but at the end of every day, he came to his senses.
It hadn't been easy. There were days when Sasuke would absolutely refuse to speak to anyone, where he would wallow away in his room. The first time she saw him after locking himself away in his bedroom was carved into her memories just as permanently as the kanji on the headstone. Sasuke had been worryingly thin, with dark circles surrounding his eyes, making him appear as though he was recovering from a broken nose, and carried such an air of exhaustion that it made those around him feel exhausted, too.
His depression, to put it simply, was terrifying to witness and Sakura had honestly feared for her friend's life. For weeks – no, months, she'd been expecting to hear the news of him taking his own life, unable to cope with his grief and sorrow and she knew she wasn't exaggerating, for even his parents had been worried, going as far as moving Naruto into their home temporarily just to keep an eye on him.
Sasuke's depression was so destructive that it ate away at Shisui, too. Every night it had him coming back to her, emotionally drained and in need of a shoulder to cry on. Never did she ever judge him for that.
"Sakura."
She turned just in time, not even standing from her kneeling position as somebody slammed into her, almost knocking her down. It was instinctively that Sakura returned the embrace, her hand running though the messy black hair and when she slowly pulled away, childish eyes peered up at her curiously.
"Are you talking to Uncle Itachi, Mama?"
Nodding once, she allowed her daughter to pull away and stood carefully with only a small amount of difficulty, smiling up at her husband of four years. She pretended not to see the teasing glint in his eyes. "Today is a special day, Ima-chan."
"It is?"
Shisui rested his hand on the top of her head, ruffling her hair as he replied, "It would have been your Uncle Itachi's thirtieth birthday."
Although Ima had never been able to meet Itachi and although they weren't actually blood related, she and her husband made sure that she knew exactly who he was. They made sure to have pictures of him in their home, so she knew what he looked like, so that they could remember what he looked like. It sounded ridiculous, but over time, memories faded, no matter how hard you fought to preserve them. It broke her heart, but she could no longer remember his voice. Shisui told her that he couldn't either and when he realised that, it had broken him all over again.
When he finally began to see the light at the end of the seemingly never ending dark tunnel, Shisui had proposed to her, telling her that she had the patience of an angel and how he wouldn't have seen the light at all, had it not been for her strength and support.
There were still days when her husband would feel sad – their wedding day being one of them. She and Shisui were anything but traditional, meaning they'd wanted a modern wedding, with bridesmaids and a best man, only… The only person who could fill that role, hadn't been able to be there for them, for Shisui. It had still been much too soon for him to even think of finding anyone else for that role, so he hadn't had a best man at their wedding and to make it fair, Sakura had not had any bridesmaids (even though Ino pitched a fit at that).
As for Sasuke… Well, Sakura knew for a fact Itachi would be proud of his baby brother. At the age of twenty-five, he was already an adviser for the Hokage and with his Mangekyō Sharingan, he was one of the most powerful in the village. Not for one day did he let his brother down. Like her husband, Sasuke had his bad days, though did his best to keep them under control. In the beginning, he'd had zero-tolerance in regards to many things, with people being the main problem.
But they were well and truly moving on, now. Not forgetting – never could they forget a man like Uchiha Itachi, a man who'd impacted so many lives and probably never even realised it – but learning to cope, learning that life still went on and they couldn't get stuck in the past.
A small, peaceful smile played along Shisui's lips and he stepped closer to her, the hand not in their daughter's hair coming to rest on her swollen stomach. It was a smile she returned easily when he kissed her forehead and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ima grinning up at them happily.
"He would be proud," he told her softly, "that we've found happiness in each other, and created two beautiful children."
Sakura couldn't help but smirk teasingly. "I'm sure baby number two will be even beautiful-er once he or she is here."
One of the most beautiful sounds in the world filled the otherwise sombre cemetery, Shisui's carefree laughter lifting her spirits effortlessly.
Are you proud, Itachi-san? Keep watching over us and we'll make you even prouder, I promise.
A/N - Ima means 'now' and 'present', which I thought was appropriate! Since the first part of this prompt was really, really sad and depressing, I wanted to lift the mood and end it on a happy note.
