Love, Actually

Chapter 3

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"That's right. It's Higurashi Kagome."

Sakura couldn't breathe. The air had whooshed out of her lungs at Ino's statement and now it felt as if somebody's fist was clenching around her heart. Squeezing the life out of her, making her feel absolute agony.

She let out a little cry and turned back to the shop, staring intently at Sasuke and the woman. Now that Sakura had a name to match to the figure, she could see the obvious signs of the woman being her friend. No. Not her friend anymore.

It's Kagome… The woman is Kagome… Sasuke is cheating on me with Kagome… Sasuke is having a child with Kagome… Kagome… Kagome… Kagome…

"Sakura…" A voice was calling her name. "Sakura?"

She didn't reply. All she could focus on was the couple on the other side of the street.

"… I'll just give you some time alone then…" the voice said, sounding further away this time.

The woman over there is Kagome… She is sleeping with Sasuke behind my back… She is pregnant with Sasuke's child… She has betrayed me… Kagome…

Sakura was an idiot. She really was. Back when Kagome had first come into her office, she had given the doctor clues about the father of her child. Though the clues had been few and no name had been said, right now Sakura could see how obvious the answer was.

She chided herself again for being so stupid. So blind.

One. Kagome hadn't wanted to tell Sasuke about her pregnancy. In fact, she had been rather adamant about keeping him in the dark. (Then why did it change? She wanted to scream. Kagome had wanted to raise her child without letting the father get involved. So why was it different now? WHY?!)

Two. The age difference. Kagome was five years older than him. Three. From what little Sakura knew of Kagome's past, the woman had known Sasuke ever since he was a baby because of her friendship with Uchiha Itachi.

Also, the qualities Kagome had told her about the father also described Sasuke pretty well. Sakura wracked her mind, trying to remember.

Four. The Uchiha was never one to speak much, unlike his blonde best friend. Five. He was aloof. (Isn't that one of the qualities that attracted her teenaged self to him in the first place?) Sasuke had put up a barrier between himself and the rest of the world, only letting in a limited number of people. Previously, Sakura had felt honoured that she was one of the few who Sasuke got close to. She had felt honoured that as his wife, she was the one that he cared about the most. (Of course, now she didn't think that way anymore.)

Six. The emotional baggage… Sakura bit her lip.

If there were such a thing as a contest for the person with the most fucked up childhood ever, Uchiha Sasuke would win. Hands down. Really, with all the shit that had happened to him up till now, it was a wonder he hadn't gone insane yet.

Though, he was not completely unaffected by it.

Sasuke was often plagued by nightmares and once in a while they got bad to the point where he would awaken in the middle of the night screaming and shaking profusely. The first few times it had happened while they were together, Sakura had tried to get him to open up to her. Despite her constant reassurances that he could trust her and that it was okay for him to be weak around her, Sasuke never talked about it.

After a while Sakura stopped asking.

Seven. Uchiha Sasuke was a proud man. Honour meant everything to him, even before the face of good reason. Eight. He was also thick-headed and oblivious about people's feelings. There had been times in the past where Sakura had been this close to throttling the life out of him because of how infuriating he was being.

However… Sasuke was also brave, and strong. (And that made nine.) He had lived a very hard life, but he never let it drag him down. Ten. If he had a goal, he stopped at nothing to achieve it. Even if it meant leaving everything he knew behind.

Eleven. He was selfless, and would gladly die to protect his friends. Their very first mission to Wave Country with Zabuza and Haku came to Sakura's mind.

Twelve. Despite his cold demeanour, Sasuke was a kind person at heart. Not many people knew it, but he loved children, and always smiled this particular smile whenever he heard them laughing as they played.

Thirteen. In their more private moments, his sweet side always came to the forefront.

Fourteen. He was married to Sakura. 'Taken,' as Kagome had once so aptly put.

In short, Sasuke was exactly like how Kagome described the father of her child.

I don't believe it… How could she do this? Sakura questioned herself. Kagome was her friend. She had cared about her. She had trusted her. Yet the raven-haired woman had taken Sakura's trust and trampled on it. Why did she betray me like that? How could they do this to me?

Sakura felt like she had been played for a fool.

She turned back to the store. As she watched Sasuke and Kagome search through baby clothes together, Sakura felt a pang of jealousy in her chest. With their dark hair, pale skin and unbelievably good looks, the two of them looked striking together. Perfect.

Sakura and her husband also looked striking together as well, but in what she felt was a jarring way because of Sakura's pink hair and bright green eyes.

Sakura always thought that Kagome was beautiful, while she herself was plain. Kagome was curvy in all the right places. Sakura's chest hadn't grown much since she was a teenager. She even had a large forehead that all the children used to mock her for. Kagome was gentle and womanly, but could also be tough as nails when needed to. She was a true blue Yamato Nadeshiko, while Sakura was a violent tomboy with a hair trigger temper.

Kagome was everything that Sakura was not. Honestly, she wasn't surprised that Sasuke would choose Kagome over her.

Between the two of them, Kagome was the more appealing option as a model wife. She could stay at home, clean the house, do the laundry and prepare warm meals for Sasuke when he came home. She would even bear and take care of the many children that Sasuke wanted to have. To Sakura, it seemed like the Kagome she knew was completely suited for that type of lifestyle.

But Sakura wasn't.

No, Sakura didn't want that. She wanted to work. To heal and help people, make medical breakthroughs that would affect future generations. Become the best Kunoichi of her time. A housewife's life wasn't her cup of tea. It never was.

Sasuke wanted a family, and Sakura couldn't give him that right now. She wanted children, yes, but she wanted to wait a few years first. (She was not even 21 yet, for heaven's sake!)

However… if Sasuke were truly so desperate to start a family to rebuild his clan that he had an affair with Kagome…. Then why did he marry her in the first place? Before they had tied the knot, Sakura had told him that she wanted a career and stability in their lives first before having children. Sasuke knew what he was getting into when he became her husband.

Did he honestly and truly love me as much as he claimed if he could do this to me?

If he didn't, then why didn't he marry Kagome back then instead of her? That would have saved her the pain of getting her heart broken again.

Sakura was faintly aware of the tears that were silently coursing down her cheeks. She saw Sasuke place his hand gently against Kagome's pregnant belly, and choked back a sob. She quickly stood up, slammed her money down on the table before fleeing from the restaurant.

She needed to go home so that she could cry her heart out.

She didn't want to embarrass herself in public by being a snivelling, inconsolable mess. So the best place for her to go was home. Also, when Sasuke came back, she could confront him about it.

If they ended up fighting, then it would be all right because they weren't out in public sight.

Sakura exited into the street and channelled chakra to her legs. She quickly made her way to the top of a nearby building and headed towards the direction of their house. Hopefully, she had been fast enough not to be detected by Sasuke.

Sasuke glanced up sharply when he sensed a familiar burst of chakra and he immediately saw a flash of pink disappear from a roof. Sakura.

"Fuck," he muttered, realizing what Sakura had seen and how she would interpret it.

Sasuke had been aware about the rumours in Konoha about him and Kagome for some time now. He wasn't deaf, nor was he an idiot. Honestly, those rumours made his blood boil. The fact that people assumed he was the type of man who would cheat on his wife, that Kagome was a whore who seduced a married man, showed clearly what they thought of them.

People didn't trust them.

Even though Sasuke and Kagome had already spent 4 years in Konoha making amends and contributing to the village, people still mistrusted them. In their eyes, Sasuke was still the traitor who ran off to Orochimaru, the monster who killed his own brother. And Kagome? She was the slut who ran off with Itachi, who probably screwed the older brother and was now screwing the younger one. (Sasuke may have cleared his brother's name, but not everyone in Konoha was so ready to accept the truth. Some people were even violently in denial about it.)

Let them think what they want then, he thought with a sigh.

Even if he tried to tell them otherwise, they wouldn't believe him. As Itachi had once put it, people lived their lives by bound what they saw as 'right' and 'true.' They lived by their own assumptions. The truth was only what they thought it to be. Everything out of their 'truth', they would never accept.

"Is something wrong, Sasuke?" Kagome asked, looking at him curiously.

"No," he shook his head. "It's nothing."

She pursed her lips in a frown. "It's not nothing. You have a slight furrow in your brows here." He blinked as she pointed to a certain spot on his forehead. "Which tells me that something's bothering you. So, what is it?"

He sighed. She knew him too well. "…You remember what people are saying about us?"

"That we're sleeping together?" She said this as a matter-of-factly.

Sasuke nodded, trying not to wince. Though she was calm about it now, Kagome had in fact been pissed as holy hell when she first found out. The Uchiha had never been more scared of anything in his life than Kagome at the time.

He had seriously thought he was going to die then.

Fortunately, Kagome had not been angry with him. She had only been angry with the people who thought up such offensive things about them. Sasuke had spent a couple of hours trying to convince her to let it go, and that even if she wanted to beat them bloody or disavow the rumours, it wouldn't do any good. They would still believe what they wanted to believe – that Kagome and Sasuke were sleeping together. That he was one who knocked her up.

"What about it?" she asked, her eyes still scanning through the rack of children's clothes.

"I think Sakura believes it too."

Kagome froze, and turned to him slowly. Her blue eyes were wide in surprise. "She what? But that's…" she frowned, shaking her head vehemently. "No, that's ridiculous. Sakura knows us. Why would she believe we would do something like that?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Well, to be fair to Sakura, you and I have been spending a lot of time together recently."

"As friends!" Kagome insisted. "You're just a friend who's kind enough to help me out while I work through everything that comes with being a single mother."

"I know that, and you know that," Sasuke agreed with a quiet sigh. "But other people don't. So instead of seeing two platonic friends spending an afternoon together clothing shopping for that friend's unborn offspring, they see the Uchiha traitor and his backstabbing whore of a mistress embracing in public and flaunting themselves as they clothes shop for their bastard child." At Kagome's look of distaste, he shrugged. "Their words, not mine."

Kagome let out a soft growl. "I could care less about what those gossiping assholes think. But Sakura… Why do you think she believes them?"

"Well. She was here just now," Sasuke stated bluntly. "But she ran away. So yeah, I think she believes it."

"What? She was here? Why didn't you tell me?" Kagome frowned. "We could have explained to her then that it's all just one big misunderstanding!"

"I didn't know she was here until after she left," he replied dryly.

"Urgh, why didn't you think to tell her of the rumours before she found out about them?"

"Because I didn't think something that stupid was worth bringing up before," Sasuke shrugged. "And anyway, aren't you the one that's prodigal at sensing people? I thought you knew she was there."

"I told you already," Kagome said, trying and failing to keep calm. "My sensor abilities have been shot to hell because I'm pregnant. For example, you're standing right in front of me but I still can't feel anything!" She put her face in her hands. "Oh god… if your marriage ends because of me I won't ever forgive myself…"

Sasuke put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It won't end, and it's not your fault Kagome."

"But this whole rumour started because you wanted to help me, and I let you…" She began, before pausing. Her hand flew to her belly and she let out a hiss of pain. Sasuke's reaction was instantaneous.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly. "Are you going into labour?"

Kagome still had a month more to go before she reached the end of her pregnancy, but Sasuke had read that sometimes when the mother was under a great deal of stress, she could trigger an early labour.

The woman shook her head. "No, no, nothing like that. It's the kicking. It's been rather vigorous today…" her voice trailed off, and she let out a small smile. "But it's nothing I can't handle. Now come on! We've got to find Sakura and explain it to her."

"Absolutely not." Sasuke's tone was firm. "You are going home to get some rest. I'll find Sakura."

"Are you sure?" Kagome's voice was sceptical.

"What's with that look?"

"Well… you're not the most…" Kagome paused, thinking of a nice way to say it. She motioned with her hands for emphasis. "You're not the most tactful person around Sasuke. You've also got the empathy skills of a gnat. I think it would be better if I went along."

"No. You're going home, and that's final."

"But—"

Sasuke sighed. "Look Kagome. I can handle Sakura. I married her after all."

"Empathy skills of a gnat," Kagome said again, and the Uchiha's brow twitched.

"I can handle it."

The woman hesitated. "Well, if you're sure…"

"I'm sure."

"Okay." Kagome said slowly, her brow raised in doubt. Sasuke didn't know if he should be insulted or not at her lack of faith in him. "I'm going to pay for these." She gestured to the several baby outfits she had clasped in her hands. "After that I'll head home. You should go look for Sakura now."

"I will, after I escort you home first," Sasuke replied.

"What? Uchiha Sasuke," Kagome began with a put upon sigh. "Stop being so overprotective. I'm a 25-year-old woman who's a month away from being a mother. I think I can survive the 10 minute walk home." Her smile was wry. "Now go. The longer you delay, the more hurt Sakura will feel when you find her."

"…" Sasuke hesitated.

"Go." There was a warning glint in Kagome's blue eyes.

Sasuke turned around and left.

He wasn't stupid, nor was he suicidal enough to argue with an angry, pregnant Kagome. But why did she have to chase him away so early? Couldn't she tell that part of the reason why he offered to escort her home was exactly because he wanted to delay in finding Sakura?

On second thought, Kagome did know. Yet she still rushed him to the proverbial slaughterhouse. The Uchiha sighed.

If Sasuke knew his wife as well as he should, then she would be at home. If that were the case, he also knew that if he were to go home right now, there was a high possibility he would be ending up in the hospital for a good six months, courtesy of Sakura's fists.

But Kagome was right. The longer he delayed, the longer it took to clear up this misunderstanding. The longer Sakura had to suffer.

With a resigned sigh, Sasuke continued walking home, already bracing himself for the pain that would no doubt be inflicted on him. He entered their apartment complex and slowly made his way up the stairs. When he stood outside their door, he paused and listened for any noises coming inside. He heard some slight sniffling and knew that she was crying again. Sasuke searched his pockets for his keys and inserted it into the lock.

The click of the door opening never sounded more ominous in his life.

It let out a soft creak as Sasuke pushed it open and stepped inside. He could see Sakura's silhouette slumped against the dark corner of the hallway. Her arms were wrapped around her knees tightly. Her red eyes were focused on the floor and there were still tears rolling down her cheeks.

Sasuke felt the slightest twinge of guilt at the sight.

Now, there were a few things that Sasuke could have said to Sakura then to clear the misunderstanding and salvage their marriage. I'm sorry, for instance. Or what you saw just now, it's not what you think. Maybe even I'm not having an affair. I did not get Kagome pregnant. It was him, not me.

Yet, as Kagome had put it, Uchiha Sasuke had no tact whatsoever. Which was why he decided to say this instead.

"I'm home."

It was official. Uchiha Sasuke seriously had to be the most socially retarded person in the history of Konoha…

.

End Chapter

Hello there my lovelies, here's a new chapter.

Some of you were upset with Sakura and Ino last chapter, and rightly so. They really shouldn't jump to conclusions like that. But they're only human, and humans make stupid mistakes sometimes.

In this chapter, I expanded a bit more on Sakura's feelings, so you get an insight of where she's coming from. Or at least I hope you do. If I epically failed at this, please tell me...

I added more Sasuke and Kagome interaction too. They're fun to write together. XD

I also made Kagome know about the rumours, because in retrospect it really isn't realistic for her not to know about them after all these months. I admit in Version 1.0, my Kagome in the earlier chapters was somewhat lacking in brains. *facepalms*

Kagome in Version 2.0 though, I tried making her more mature/badass. I kind of pictured her behaving like a proper and kind lady most times, but when there's danger, she turns into this absolute badass.

For those of you who know about TV Tropes, look under 'Yamato Nadeshiko' and 'Silk Hiding Steel' for examples. :D

Please let me know what you think!

~Beans