Title: Silver-lined Matriarch

Summary: Sasuke muses that Sakura might be the only thing the Uchiha clan ever did right.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, there would be no goddamn revolution.

Prompt: Silver Lining from day twelve of the SasuSakuMonth Prompts.

Rating: T

Words: 1,573

Warning(s): Implied sex

Author's Note(s): I went for it. I'm sorry. I tried to think of something better than "Sakura's Sasuke's silver lining," but it just kind of wrote itself. I know it's short.

"Sasuke-kun? What are you doing out here?" a sweet voice asked in the still silence of the night.

Slowly, Sasuke shifted his gaze from the starless night to the face of his new wife. Wrapped only in his shirt, she slumped heavily against the doorframe of their patio. Her petal colored hair was in disarray from their earlier activities, and her eyelids were heavy with sleep, but concern still shone in her eyes. The sight sent a warmth he had only just allowed himself to experience swimming through his chest, and he opened one arm, silently asking her to come join him. Even though there was a slight chill in the spring air, Sakura didn't hesitate to come nestle into his side.

A herbal scent floated to his nose as Sakura pulled her knees to her chest and laid her head contently on his shoulder. This, this was the piece he had always been missing. Sasuke slid his fingertips down her exposed arm before settling on her hip, barely covered by his shirt. The fearsome kunoichi purred at the soothing circles he rubbed into her skin, and he smiled at the sound, dropping a lingering kiss to the top of her head.

What did I ever do to deserve this woman? The errant thought brought him back to his reason for being out here in the first place, and he smothered a sigh. Truly, this wonderful woman had no place tying herself to a monster like him.

He had put her through hell, and he acknowledged that. There was no excuse for the times he had walked away from her, the callous words he tossed at her to drive her away, or the time he had actually aimed to kill her—he closed his eyes suddenly, forcing back the feeling emptiness that threatened to consume him at the idea of a world without her bright, selfless existence. Sakura stirred against his chest, somehow sensing his unease, but Sasuke squeezed her gently to reassure her he was fine.

Sasuke knew he was no prize, but for some reason Sakura wanted him anyway. She had waited years for him. She had taken abuse from and for him. She had defended him without a thought and came to his side without hesitation. She declared her love for him even in the face of rejection—not once, but twice.

For years he had side-stepped her affections and tried to get her to hate him. He was cruel and blood-stained and cursed and why couldn't she see that? Why couldn't she see he was trying to protect her? Why did she make it so hard to deny her? Why did she have to love him so fully?

In the end, and after several confrontations from Naruto, Sasuke had finally given in. As the Dobe put it, even if she deserved better, she wanted him—and didn't she at least deserve to be happy?

It was incredibly selfish of him, because he gained so much more by being with Sakura than he could ever offer her, but Sasuke finally pulled down his walls. Just for her. For her, he would try to be man she deserved and not the Uchiha he was described as.

And that was the other half of the problem.

Even if he could come to terms with the decisions he'd made, and even if did become worthy of being Sakura's husband, he had generations of bad decisions laid upon his shoulders. "Uchiha" was a name that brought with it fear and disgust, and Sasuke couldn't bring himself to disagree with those who held such opinions.

When had the Uchiha, in all their history, ever made a good decision?

Madara, the co-founder of this village, turned on his best friend and spent the duration of his life plotting Konoha's downfall. Even as the Chief of Police, Sasuke's own father had planned to overturn the village in a bloody revolution. Obito had unleashed the kyuubi on Konoha, resulting in the death of Naruto's parents. Itachi, though it pained Sasuke to admit it, was still responsible for massacring the Uchiha clan. On top of that, Itachi had lied to him for the majority of his life, even if it had been out of the urge to protect him.

That was the root of it, wasn't it?

Just as Hagoromo said, the weakness of the Uchiha was that they loved too deeply. It didn't matter that their actions were driven from instincts of love, they still seemed to wreak chaos and bloodshed wherever they turned.

As far as history was concerned, the Uchiha could make no right decisions.

And then there was Sakura—selfless, loving Sakura.

Sakura's love wasn't a source of weakness, even though he used to think it was. From the time of their genin days, Sakura's had been a source of her strength. It drove her to face foes far out of her skill level without flinching. The work she carried out as a medic was the perfect example of the type of love Sakura's heart held: giving and selfless. Sakura refused to give up on any patient, even if it put her wellbeing at risk. Her loyal defense of her friends was unwavering and resolute. Darkness and hatred and hardships and insults found no holes in her caring armor.

When he took a second to think about it, marrying Sakura was probably the best decision he—the Uchiha, really—had ever made. Uchiha Sakura was the silver lining to the dark and pain filled cloud the consisted of the Uchiha existence.

He nuzzled her soft hair affectionately, taking comfort in the sound of her steady breathing next to him. The combination of his caresses, their long day, and the peaceful night seemed to have drawn her to sleep. She didn't snore, but he could feel a slight dampness on his arm from where she was beginning to drool. Smiling against her head and concealing a chuckle, Sasuke hooked his arm under her knees and stood, cradling her against his chest.

"Hmmm, where're we goin'?" she slurred sleepily. When he glanced down at her, Sasuke could see that she hadn't even attempted to open her eyes and instead had nestled comfortably against the bare skin of his chest.

"To bed," he answered as he set her down lightly on their shared—shared—mattress. Sakura had left the covers upturned when she left earlier, so it was easy to tuck the silk sheets and Uchiha quilt around her dreaming form.

He thought she was gone the moment her head hit the pillow, but as soon as he had settled into the sheets, Sakura snuggled against him once more. Surprised, but not unpleasantly so, Sasuke wrapped his arm around her so she could use it as a pillow.

"Thanks," she murmured, encircling his torso with her free arm, "Love you."

Sasuke didn't respond verbally, but ran his hand affectionately up and down her back. Now that his mind was more serene and he was lying down, sleep began to pull his eyelids downwards as well. He couldn't think of anything more peaceful than this: settling down for the night in the mutual bed with his most precious person.

"Mm, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura's half-muffled voice pulled him back from unconsciousness. She only continued when Sasuke made a noise that suggested she should, "Why were you outside, anyway?"

"Hmmm, just thinking," Sasuke replied, his voice rumbling from deep within his throat.

"Hm," Sakura answered, seemingly content with his response.

Sleep was just around the corner, but there was one more thing he wanted to say. One more thing he wanted her to know. With his free hand, Sasuke tenderly cupped Sakura's chin and simultaneously kissed the rhombus that decorated her pale forehead. Sakura's eyes fluttered open at the contact, and Sasuke found himself dazed by the viridian hue. With a smile, Sasuke pressed a kiss to her lips which Sakura responded to with equal pressure.

He'd meant for it to be chaste, but when Sakura parted her plush lips, he had slipped inside before he knew what was happening. She tasted sweet, everything about her was, and the way her tongue twined against his sent shivers down his spine. Seized by the desire to have her closer, the hand that had been cupping her chin trailed to her waist and Sasuke shifted from his back onto his side. Eventually they broke apart in favor of air, and he could feel the warm puffs of her breath that settled against his cheeks. Pulling completely away seemed impossible to accomplish, so Sasuke only retreated back far enough so that he could see her expression clearly.

"I was thinking," he said, his voice was rougher than usual, taking a moment to rub his nose gently against hers, "that you're going to make a perfect Uchiha matriarch."

Sakura's eyes widened. Drawing back slightly, Sakura studied his face as if searching for something. Apparently finding what she was looking for, it wasn't long before a mischievous grin made its way across her face.

With grace only a kunoichi could command, she slipped her leg out from between his—when had that gotten there?—and dragged it seductively along the outside of his calf. His mind had all but blanked when she deftly used her superior strength to force him onto his back and straddle him as she proceeded to show him exactly how right he was.

Ending too forced? Let me know, I live for constructive criticism!