Chapter 40
"You will not be taking my daughter or my wife anywhere!" he snapped he was here before the council without Sarada or Sakura because Kakashi's brokered deal with them had been broken the moment he had rushed here with Sakura; who was bleeding and dying from a burst of chakra within her, ripping her to shreds; and he could not leave Sarada behind when he had been terrified for Sakura.
"Your child is staying in this village, she is not going on a mission!" the council snapped.
"And my wife is in charge of my child!" he growled through gritted teeth. The council didn't mind him and Sakura leaving, however they were hell bent on keeping Sarada here in their control. He didn't like this idea, he knew damn well what the council was up to, they would keep Sarada with them to and raise her to be against everything Itachi had done, everything he was, and everything her mother believed in. They would be brainwashing her if they had her.
"And your wife will be traveling with you," the council woman informed him.
"Sakura and Sarada stay together! Or I take them with me and we'll disappear where you'll never find us," he warned in a cold tone as he turned his cold glare on the elderly man and the elderly woman. They both flinched on his glare. He didn't care though, if he had to leave then he was going to make damn sure his wife and daughter stayed together while he was away. He would not trust anyone else with his daughter, not anyone in this village anyway; even he friends, he would not entrust her to anyone but Sakura.
"You take your daughter out of this village and your wife, we will declare you an enemy of the villages again."
"And I will be again if you dare to take my daughter from my wife," he snarled, he would murder the entire council and anyone who dared to come near his family if they wanted to break them apart. If they had to be apart then by all Kami he was going to make sure that his wife and his daughter were staying together. He would not permit his family to ripped apart and be used and abused again. History was not going to repeat itself this time, he was not going to lose or have his family threatened because he had lost enough already. He would turn his back on the village; despite what Itachi wanted of him, if the council threatened his family. For once he'd do what was right for his family, and that would not be avenging them, chasing them, or grieving for them, and he'd keep them together.
Sakura and Sarada belonged together, they needed to be together; they were not being ripped apart. Sakura had suffered enough because of him, and he would not be the reason she was torn away from her daughter. He'd do anything to keep them together.
"That is enough Sasuke," Kakashi said as he walked in. "And the Uchiha is right, you will not be separating mother from child. That is final, Sasuke broke our deal, so Sakura and Sarada will be in the village while he resumes his mission. They will live here in peace, you will not have them under surveillance either, Sakura's loyalty to the village has always been unwavering.
"But instead of banishing him from the village how about when he should find out what the Ōtsutsuki clan is doing then he is free to return to the village for a bit of time with his family. When he defeats the Ōtsutsuki, should they be a threat to us, then he is permitted to stay home with his wife and daughter unless he should want other missions. Should he fail… well, he'll continue with these impossible missions you assign him, and only permitted brief periods of contact with his wife and family. After all, Sasuke is a war here of the Fourth Great Shinobi War."
Both the elders looked dejected then as they scowled at the Hokage but they nodded in agreement. He scowled but accepted this.
"Come with me Sasuke," Kakashi ordered. He nodded as followed Kakashi then.
"I know you do not like this arrangement, but you are the best at doing the impossible, you and Naruto; that is. I have faith that you and Sakura will be together as a family with Sarada in the future. If you do pull this off, you will also have the immediate respect of the council and will have freedom again.
"And until you return, we'll keep an eye on Sakura and Sarada in the meantime. And I will personally see to it that they are not restricted in the village or trapped under the council's thumb. They will be safe here," Kakashi assured him.
"Hn," he nodded then. Closing his eyes he just tried to cool his temper.
"I think you need to buy a house though, I'll help you set it up for Sakura, and so will Naruto, but I know you won't win the battle against the council. This compromise, it'll give you a chance to be with them, one day, just not now." He looked to Kakashi then. "I will be watching out for them, and so will Naruto, Ino, Sai, Yamato, Hinata, Shikamaru, and everyone else. You're not leaving them alone Sasuke, and I have no doubts you'll be back. You'll just have to go about proving everyone wrong in the process; you're good at that," Kakashi stated.
"Aa," he decided was his best answer as he walked with Kakashi. "How did you know I was not letting them go to the Uchiha compound?"
"Because, it's too far from anyone for it to be safe for Sarada and Sakura for a long period. Besides, Sakura only lived there when she did because she wanted to be close to you, when you were gone she hated that compound."
"Sounds like her," he admitted.
"Yup, now there's house avalible near the hospital which I think she'll like," Kakashi said and he nodded as they walked together in silence. This was why Kakashi was his favorite master, not that he'd ever say as much.
"That's great! There's a perfect house three blocks from here! Lots of land! Sakura will love it!" Naruto declared when he had spotted Kakashi and Sasuke walking through the neighborhood with a young woman. The realtor he was informed when he had dragged Boruto up to them. Boruto had immediately begun trying to fight Kakashi; his former teacher looked more weary than annoyed. Sasuke took a step away though.
"That house! But it's a three bedroom house! Not suitable for a single man," the young woman said as she slid a sly look over to Sasuke. Sasuke ignored the woman, but Naruto was seething, and Kakashi looked beyond annoyed.
"Oh, that's fine! Your wife, Sakura, will love the space, and Sarada is supposed to be having more siblings; right Sasuke?" Naruto asked through gritted teeth. He was going to remind the teme he was married! This flirting woman was not going to be the cause of Sakura's heart breaking again!
"Huh?" Sasuke blinked and looked confused.
"Your wife, Sakura, you know? Pink hair, green eyes, pretty?" Naruto snarled at Sasuke.
"I am married to the woman; I know what she looks like Naruto. And I'll be looking at that house," Sasuke said flatly. The woman was gaping, Naruto smirked, Kakashi looked smug as well, Sasuke was looking annoyed with all this.
"WHAT!? A w-w-wife?" the realtor stuttered. Now Sasuke turned a baleful glare on the woman, Naruto was internally doing a happy dance at Sasuke finally noticing the woman and her intentions.
"Yes! He's married!" Naruto shouted at the woman in his glee. "Now, the house is this way!"
"Dobe! Release my arm!" he snapped at him, but Naruto didn't release Sasuke as he dragged him after him.
"Come on! Come on! Come on!" Naruto demanded.
Sakura was sitting on her bed with her daughter, reading a child's book to her daughter. Sarada was stubbornly clinging to her, when the council had shown up this morning and tried to drag Sarada off, it had sent the toddler in a screaming fit. Never had Sarada screamed so loudly, it had had Tsunade, Kakashi, and a very furious Sasuke showing up within a second. Scaring the elders into shock, and then they had shouted they were taking Uchiha Sarada with them, Sakura had wrapped herself around Sarada then. Ino had shown up just then and a mad Ino was rarely something people wanted to deal with.
A furious Sasuke though… well, that was a quiet, forceful anger which was as strong as a typhoon. He had bodily dragged the council members from her room as Ino was shouting at them, throwing her flowers and avowing all sorts of painful death on them if they came near her godchild again. Sakura had been crying at that point, Kakashi and Tsunade had settled her and Sarada down, the Kakashi had gone off to go save Sasuke from committing murder and being branded a traitor for the death of the council.
Which had led to Ino sitting with her for two hours before she had fallen asleep with Sarada. Upon waking she had started reading to Sarada. Tsunade checked in on her and had informed her, her husband had not committed murder and he was safe and sound for her. He was with Kakashi and Naruto at this moment; which was good news to her, because it meant he was ripping the village apart.
"Hello," Hinata appeared then, Sakura looked up from her reading at the very pregnant Hinata.
"Hey Hinata, how are you feeling?" Sakura asked. Her toddler grabbed her arms and wrapped them her as she glared at Hinata with her Sharingan out.
"Fine, she has the Sharingan," Hinata whispered as she waddled over to the chair then.
"Yeah," Sakura said as Sarada blinked her, her eyes were back to normal then. "She doesn't have the chakra to maintain it."
"That is fine, it takes time to get that chakra level." Hinata said as she sat there with her.
"So, how's your pregnancy going?" Sakura asked softly. Part of her was aching at seeing her friend pregnant after her loss, but another part of her was happy for Hinata and Naruto, they deserved to be happy. Especially Hinata, she had loved Naruto for almost as long as she had loved Sasuke, and she had gone through her own heartaches with loving the oblivious rather than loving the cruel.
"It's… it's fine, Ino said she'd help with the birth," Hinata mumbled.
"What!? Do you not want my help?" Sakura asked, now she was really hurting.
"Well, I just… I thought, you know, after everything that happened to you, well, I thought you wouldn't want to do that just yet, memories and everything…" Hinata trailed off. Her silvery-purple eyes looking miserable and Sakura smiled softly at her friend then.
"I'm not going to lie, I hurt, I hurt a lot right now and not just physically, but… Hinata, you're my sister now, you married Naruto and he's practically my kid brother, I want to make certain that your baby is safe and healthy and that you're alright too. It'd kill Naruto to lose you," Sakura admitted to Hinata as she slipped her fingers through Sarada's ebony hair. She didn't want to admit she was so petty as to not want to do this for her friend because of her memories and losing her own child. But she also knew everything that could go wrong in a birthing; just look at what happened with her birthing Sarada.
"Oh," Hinata looked at her and smiled shyly. "Truthfully, I would still rather have you be my doctor if you wouldn't mind."
"Not at all, besides I know just how dangerous birthing can be and how it feels to be with no one around to help you who has medical experiences. It's really scary to feel that way, that… helpless," Sakura admitted.
"Oh, well, thank you," Hinata smiled.
"Not a problem." Sakura admitted, she hid her misery then. She was terrified of it being known just how she felt in reality. She was not dead, and she still had her marriage and husband, and Sarada too. She hadn't lost everything despite how she was feeling. The loss of her child was painful, but she would be alright, she still had Sasuke and Sarada.
