Chapter 3

"You're doing fine Hinata," Sakura assured the laboring woman. It had been close to five months since her husband had left and at this moment it didn't matter to Sakura as she helped yet another laboring friend.

Hinata, a quiet, modest, extremely shy, strong fighter, and determined was hell on wheels when in labor! No one would've suspected it but she had tried to strangle Naruto, Sakura had to bodily part them because her friend had been turning a faint shade of purple; only for Hinata to scream and yank Sakura's short pink tresses yanking her down and slamming the back of her head against the hospital table. Holy Shit! Had that ever hurt; Sakura had seen stars from both hair pulling and head slamming.

Now though she was checking to see how dilated her friend was so hopefully this labor could be coming to an end. Thank Kami she was ready to push! Sakura did not know how much more abuse she could take from her gentle friend. But thankfully it was almost over as Sakura ordered Hinata to push.

The kid came out with no problems, he screamed bloody murder though as he landed in her hands. She acted fast as she cut the umbilical cord and cleaned the wailing babe before handing him back to his dark mother and blonde father. It was so obvious who the kid took after that she wanted to laugh, Hinata held her blonde boys and smiled. Sakura felt a twinge of envy but shoved it down as she walked out of the room to give the new family a rest.

Once she was alone in her office she slumped in her chair and closed her eyes to let a few tears slip past her guard. Though her marriage to Sasuke was good and it made her happy, it didn't seem to stop her pain from time to time. Sighing she sat up, wiped her tears away and smiled. It was not the end of her world that she wasn't pregnant like all of her friends. It was not horrible that no one supported her marriage to Sasuke aside from Kakashi and Naruto. And it was the best thing in the world that Sasuke had picked her to marry, it was as if he was saying he did care despite everything he had done to her in the past. But he probably didn't, he probably married her because it was convenient.

After all she did love him, unconditionally and after all these years she had proven that she would wait for him no matter what. It was obvious though that the Uchiha did not or rather would not love her, and she decided she could live her life with that. He cared, it was enough to even know she mattered to him more than the other girls in the village because he had married her. Though, again that could be convenience rather than care, she would do anything for her Uchiha; even die at his hand. Her fingers glided down her very flat stomach and sighed, perhaps that week of bliss with her husband was just another sign she and he were not meant to be.

"Sakura?" she looked up from her desk when Naruto's head popped into her office.

"Is Hinata alright?" Sakura demanded standing again, ready to a woman she considered family. Naruto was her family, very much so; he was like the annoying, loud, little brother she had always wanted but never gotten. And Hinata, since marrying him, had come to mean even more to her; she had to push the dobe to her friend but it was for the best. Hinata loved Naruto in a way Sakura knew she never could and because of that she protected Hinata fiercely. Hinata was like a sister to her now because of Naruto and as she stood there panicking he just vehemently shook his head.

"No! She and Boruto are fine!" Naruto said firmly.

"Oh thank Kami," Sakura slumped back into her chair as she looked at the blonde. "What's up Naruto?"

"Sasuke's coming home," he said it happily and calmly as he sat across from her. Her heart leapt but she remained indifferent to the news. He had been coming home earlier and he had never made it because he had been called away just before he got here. There were times she hated Kakashi for keeping him away but she understood, she understood all too well just how valuable an Uchiha was and how dangerous her husband was.

"He is?" Sakura tilted her head a bit, skeptical, as watched Naruto.

"Yep! I'd have told you sooner but when Hinata went into labor…" Naruto trailed off with a sheepish grin. She smiled back at him.

"It's alright Naruto, it's been a really long twenty-two hours for all four of us," she said evenly. She glanced out her window at the new rising sun and sighed.

"You know he wouldn't even be returning if you weren't here," Naruto announced.

"No, he'd come because this is his home. I'm not even important," she muttered.

"That's not true, he wouldn't come near the village if you weren't here."

"No, Naruto, he'd come, but I'm going home. Your wife is violent," Sakura mused, Naruto sighed. Clearly he wanted to talk more about this but she wouldn't, she couldn't. It was like before only now she was married to him and she was aching because she missed him so much. But in the past months she had learned not to expect much from him, there were no letters or calls and there was no messages from him. All she had was an empty Uchiha compound and her husband's shirts for comfort. It wasn't much but it was all she had and she didn't particularly want to hope he'd come home when she knew he hated that compound.

She could feel the ghosts there.

And she didn't even believe in ghosts! But all the same, that wasn't home for him and she didn't want to continue to live there. All she wanted was him to come home and hold her but that wouldn't happen. Sakura walked out of the hospital and through the village. Temari was holding her new baby as she talked with a pregnant Ino, and Hinata was in the hospital with her new son. Sakura sighed as she looked down, flat chest, flat belly, and she was so obviously not pregnant there were times she hurt. Before Ino or Temari could notice her she slipped into an ally and took the long way home through the shadows. There were storm clouds in the sky, she wondered if it would rain. The rain would help her garden.

Walking onto the compound grounds she walked straight into the main house and began stripping, her shoes, then her jacket, then her shirt, she wiggled out of her pants on the stairs, she dropped her bra in the hall way, and her panties in her room as she snagged on of his shirts and walked into the bathroom for a shower. It had been a very long and tiring day and she wanted peace for a moment before she curled up on her futon, hugged his pillow and dreamt of him being home.

Bracing herself in the shower she sighed as her eyes closed and the water ran over her. She didn't feel like moving from her spot as she just let the water flow over her. This was her peace, this was her moment alone and this was something which soothed her frazzled nerves.

"I'm a horrible person," she sighed as she let her head fall back and the warmth of her shower eased the tension away.

"I wouldn't go that far," he said. She just smirked.

"And now I'm proving it to myself by hallucinating about my Uchiha," Sakura said between clenched teeth and a bitter smile twisting her lips. Then hands snaked around her waist, her eyes snapped open as her head fell back to look into a serious set of eyes which could only belong to one person.

"Sasuke?" she asked softly.

"If you're expecting someone else I'll have to murder him," he said coldly. She smiled happily then as she spun around in his arms, reached up and kissed him happily. He growled and the kiss deepened as he shoved her roughly up against the shower wall.

He swallowed her gasp as he grabbed her thighs then hooked them around his waist. Frantically she tried to grab something, anything to hold her steady but there was nothing but him to grab as he kissed her breathless. Finally his lips traveled over her jaw and to her neck. She moaned when he began sucking the skin there, swirling his tongue, and nipping her lightly, her reaction was to tilt her head back to give him better access.

"I missed you," she murmured. He came up and nipped her bottom lip then he slammed his erection into her. She screamed, and arched, both in pain and pleasure. Though he never said much beyond her name she sensed his urgency as he moved them together. His pace was ruthless, and his kiss was mind numbing so all she could do was hold onto him and be slammed against the tiled wall. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as she pulled away from the kiss to scream his name as he made her come. He smiled against her throat but he joined her soon after.

Finally they were both limp and panting and the shower was cold. She didn't like the cold, but she didn't want to let her husband go again, he might disappear if she did let him go.

"Sakura, I"

"Don't you dare ruin this Uchiha, else I'll kick your ass," she warned. She swore she saw him smile but it could've been a figment of her exhausted mind.

"Sakura, I was only saying I'm glad to be home," he murmured as he carried her out of the shower. He wrapped her up in a towel. She brushed her hair, then dried off her shaky body before grabbing his shirt and pulling it on, he merely scowled as he lifted her out of the bathroom and dropped her unceremoniously onto their futon. He fell beside her then he pulled her against him. She wrapped around him securely making certain he was real as her eyes shut.

"I love you," she breathed as she drifted off to oblivion.

"Hn," he replied, but she was relatively certain he was asleep already. Smiling to herself she surrendered to the exhaustion. He was home! Her heart was happy and whole again as she held onto him. She never wanted him to leave again, and right now he was here with her. That was all she ever wanted.

Sasuke lay there with his wife clinging determinedly to him.

"Sakura, I…" he trailed off as he stroked her pink hair. I what? I need you? I need your love? I need your trust and faith? I missed you? I craved you? I could barely sleep? I love you (he still wasn't certain he loved her though)? He didn't know as he shut his mouth and held her to his chest.

These past near six months had been hell on him. There were things he'd rather be doing than hunting a fake Uchiha created by Orochimaru. He had little doubt that Orochimaru had something to do with the Sharingan being in a none Uchiha and he was certain that this 'Uchiha' was not an Uchiha at all. The creature he had seen with the Sharingan had been blonde, no Uchiha had ever been blonde! His clan had rarely ever produced someone who was not of the colors red and black, they just didn't have the lighter colors in his family.

Well there was Sakura but she was his wife, and she wasn't related to him in any way and he loved her pink hair.

In the Acedemy he had thought her annoying, bright and attention seeking because of her pink hair, he had also wondered what compelled a woman to dye her hair pink. Not that it wasn't beautiful on Sakura, but it was just odd. When he had seen her in his depths of maddness he had hated that pink hair, it was a signal for hope. It was a sign he didn't have to be alone, that she would come with him or wait for him. In the war her hair had been a beacon for medic, it was also a target. He had noticed enemies trying to take her out, he had defended her fiercely because he was terrified of losing her. He had been so terrified that he had tried to kill her so he couldn't lose her. If she was dead then he wouldn't have to worry about her or continue to pain her. But it hadn't worked, because as he lay there with Naruto with his arm sliced off he had seen her pink hair. At first he thought the pink was a heavenly vision, that he was dying but then he had seen her determined emerald eyes filled with tears as she desperately worked.

Pink was the color of life, it was a color he liked and looked for now. It was a color which made him feel at home, strange as it seemed, and it always brought to mind her and her emerald eyes. He gently turned her face so her head rested against his heart.

She was like the sakura blossoms she was named for, full of life and beauty and stubborn. Unbelievably stubborn! Before he had come home to a trail of clothes leading him to her he had gone to the hospital looking for her. The dobe had been there, proudly displaying his new son.

All Sasuke had remembered thinking was that the poor bastard never stood a chance looking exactly like his father. But then Naruto; after having first introducing Boruto (Bolt) to him had then punched him in the shoulder and demanded he go home to Sakura who had been moping around since he had left. Sasuke had frowned but complied with the dobe's orders; because in all honesty the only reason he was even at that hospital was to find Sakura.

Then he had opened the door to his house. There was a shoe, a few hops later there was another shoe, her jacket was dropped on the couch, her shirt on the newel post, her pants on the landing, a sports bra in the hall way, her panties in his bedroom doorway and her headband in front of the open bathroom door and her silhouette in the shower. He had snapped as he silently discarded his clothes then slipped behind her.

She hadn't been a hallucination, because apparently like she, he had dreamt of her while he was away. With his Sharingan on nights he was truly alone he could replay the memories of her with him, not just of his making love to her but of those perfect little moment. The moments he began dreaming about when he had returned.

It was just little stuff, like her reading on the couch, her sleeping in his arms, them sparring, her laughing, breakfasts, dinners, her working in her garden, and just little moments that mattered the most to him. To him it wasn't the big things that mattered, it was the little things and after all the years of hurting her he was happy to engrain into his memory some good times, before their marriage, and during their marriage, he had even remembered their entire wedding; though he had infuriated a good portion of the village by marrying her. But it was worth it, he had the only person in this world who loved him unconditionally; and she loved him, not his façade.

Sasuke smiled a bit as he kissed the top of her head then let his eyes close while he slept. He was truly a man who had everything he ever desired in life and then some.

He watched in disgust outside of the village with his Sharingan activated. These peace loving fools had no idea what peace was! They were weak, they were disgusting, they would be eliminated. Starting with that Uchiha and his peace loving pink lover! It honestly disgusted him that the mighty Uchiha, his brother, who also wielded the Sharingan could not see the world so clearly.

No matter, he would continue with his experiments, they were going quiet well. And when he had enough he'd destroy his weak brother for succumbing to emotions such as care, fondness or even love. There would never be an evolution without a revolution and he would lead the charge. He would destroy these peace loving fools and eradicate such genes. When the world was the way it was supposed to be then he would die at peace knowing he had salvaged humanity.

They would always remember him, they would never forget him. He would set the human race on the right course again and eliminate those who did not agree with his views because Kami knew peace was unproductive. But he was most disappointed in the Uchiha; he'd have to destroy him.

It was faint, but it was enough to have his eyes snapping open and a hand reaching for his sword while he tightened his hold on Sakura.

He activated his Sharingan and began looking around the larger room for the chakra signature he had felt though it was faint. But he couldn't find it, the only chakra he felt was his own and Sakura's soothing on. Carefully he shifted his wife, pulled on some loose pants and began walking the house looking for what had disturbed him. But there was nothing as he walked back into his room where Sakura had curled up on his side of the bed. He frowned as he crawled in beside her and held her.

Whoever or whatever it had been was gone or concealed now.

He held Sakura close to him but he kept his sword within reach he worried about her when he was away but he was confident she'd be able to take care of herself. Still with this person wielding his Sharingan he was worried and on edge and sensing a faint trace of the Sharingan had had him alert. But the strange part was that it felt like it had been in the house.

He looked at Sakura who grumbled and rolled around in his arms so she buried into his chest. He looked at the flow of chakra in her body and nearly sighed. There was nothing odd here so why was he worrying.

Perhaps it was just from working too hard and not getting enough sleep. Yeah, that had to be it, he decided as he shut his eyes then and tightened his hold on Sakura.

That had to be it.