A/N: ahh final chapter! Thank you to everyone who has read and supported this story 3

It was their first night sleeping in their newly built home, so they just had to christen the new bed. Multiple times. Obviously.

The afterglow emboldened Sasuke to say what was on his mind. "I can't believe you're my wife," he murmured. He felt lucky. Sakura was kind, smart and beautiful. Plenty of other marriages ended far worse than theirs.

Sakura never thought she'd know the feeling of a girl in love, but she knew it intimately now. His words, even after laying together over and over again, made her swoon. It was never too late for the honeymoon phase.

"I wish I could go back in time and tell myself it would end up okay."

"I never really wanted you to change, you know, back then," he confessed.

"I know." Sakura's voice was soothing and full of understanding. They were both just scared kids when they first got married.

"You changed a little." He tucked a piece of her pale hair behind her ear, searching her face as if to see whether he could pick out exactly how she'd changed.

"Because of you."

He furrowed his brow, "But I just said I didn't want you to. You didn't have to."

She smiled warmly at him, reaching up to smooth his brow, "I know. I wanted to change, or at least, improve myself in some ways. You were one reason. Is that so wrong?"

"I would never force you," he said very seriously.

"And you haven't," she agreed. "Are you even listening to me, Uchiha Sasuke?" She tapped his forehead affectionately.

He closed his eyes in contentment, grabbing her hand and kissing it. "I'm always listening to you. Always watching for you." Even if he didn't say it, his statements were proof that he was always talking to her, too, sharing his thoughts and feelings. This was a privilege not shared by others.

They laid there in silence for a while longer until Sakura became too overwhelmed by her feelings to maintain it. Her eyes had stayed open, admiring Sasuke's handsome features, while his had slipped shut. But she wanted to see his eyes.

"I love you," she whispered, cupping his face in her hand.

"You don't have to." But her words got him to return her gaze. He blinked at her. He meant no harm by his words, he only wanted her to remember that she did have a choice.

Despite being husband and wife, Sasuke had learned long ago that, to a certain extent, you can choose who you love or don't love. Being father and son did not mean that there was mutual affection between them, for one thing. He was born into Fugaku's life, made into Sakura's husband. He didn't want Sakura to feel that it was her duty to love him.

"I know that." She wasn't sure if she should or if she even wanted to love him because what she felt for him was not free of pain. She ached for him. But she couldn't help it. She loved him and he had to know.

"Okay."

She broke into a smile because she didn't need him to love her back, he just needed to accept her love.

Although, when Sasuke held her close that night, Sakura knew she was not unloved.

It had been a couple weeks of living in the new house when Sakura asked after dinner, "Is this still what you want?"

"Yes. Is this still what you want?"

She bit her lip then explained, "I just don't want to force you to stay here with me is all." Alone together. She was his wife, yes, but should not be his whole world. They still existed outside each other. Sasuke had his own work and all that, but the thought of her holding him back kept grating on her. She saw the way he looked at the village gates.

"You're not. I can make my own choices and right now, I'm not ready to see them again. I like our house." He liked spending time with his wife. She was his priority.

"Okay," she said reluctantly.

"I like spending time with you," he reassured her. Her entire face lit up at this and his heart skipped a beat in turn. Besides, the way he practically clung to her in the privacy of their home was evidence enough of his sincerity.

"Me too." But she still felt selfish, so she told him, "Your mother misses you." She had gone into town earlier and passed Mikoto, who told her with sad eyes to say hello to Sasuke.

Sasuke's expression softened further. He sighed, "I know. Maybe she can visit us here one day. Just not yet. My brother, too."

She sensed the twinge of sorrow in his words. "You're grieving. You had something and now it's different. Take your time with the process." Even if things seemed at least halfway decent right now, pain had a tendency to linger and make itself known right when you think it's healed.

"I'll figure it out." He had plenty of other things to think about right now.

Her husband was often harsh on himself. She could tell he was slipping into his tendency of wanting to be able to fix everything, to always have the right answers. She spoke up again to remind him, "You can still help people without being drained by them." Sakura gave him a faraway smile, "You've always done things your own way though, haven't you?"

"It's the only way," he said gruffly.

She laughed at him. "It's cute."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He pulled her flush against his chest and enjoyed watching her eyes widen. "I think you like my way."

She did. She liked the way his fingers threaded through her hair as he kissed her soundly, the way his palm burned through her clothing as it slid over her curves. She loved him.

"I never said it was a bad thing," she told him between kisses. Her husband, in his own way, was cute and generous and loving.

As lovely as living away from everyone else was, they still needed to go into town every so often for supplies. Today, Sakura planned to make an extra trip to pick up some tea and visit her sister. It had been too long.

After exchanging the usual pleasantries, Sakura had to force herself not to talk about Sasuke. She felt like she was going to burst with this strange sense of bliss. But Ino, always the gossip, poked and prodded it out of her.

"I love him," she finally blurted.

"How do you know?" Ino asked. Of course, she wanted to be happy for Sakura, but she didn't want her to live some fraudulent existence just because she had gotten more comfortable. Lying would be more painful.

"Because," Sakura smiled, "I really am so glad to see you, but I can't wait to go home after this." Because that's where Sasuke would be waiting for her.

When Sakura discovered she was pregnant, neither of them were surprised. Their nightly activities nearly guaranteed it. Plus, they had talked about it plenty and agreed that they wanted to expand their family. Based on the way Sasuke interacted with the village children, Sakura knew he'd be great with their own child.

"You have to be really nice to me now," Sakura said smugly.

"You make it very hard," Sasuke said exasperatedly. But even when he couldn't help but roll his eyes at her self-satisfied smile, he also couldn't help but kiss her.

They were having a baby. They were having a baby.

"The kid's lucky. I heard there's a pretty doctor in the village who knows a thing or two about delivering babies, general medicine, you know."

"And watch her still turn out to be a daddy's girl," she pouted.

"You say that like it's such a bad thing."

Sakura ran her hand over her still-flat stomach. "She's going to finish school," Sakura told him very seriously. What a faraway future that was! But she felt entirely certain.

"She will," Sasuke agreed.

"She'll play with her cousins all the time and know the importance of family."

"Mm."

Sakura took a deep breath. "Oh my. There's just so much to consider when raising a child." She could deliver children, but the thought of having her own was overwhelming.

Sasuke nodded, placing his hand over the one on Sakura's stomach. He stroked her reverently. "She'll know how much her papa loves her mama."

Tears filled Sakura's eyes, the eyes he adored so deeply. "Sasuke-kun?" She sounded breathless.

He tapped the center of her forehead gently with his other hand and said with great resolve, "I'll make sure of it." This was the life he was choosing to live, and he was proud of it.

The word destiny sounds so dramatic; fate is the same. Having free will puts so much pressure on you to always be making the right choice. Otherwise, any consequences are of your own creation.

But your destiny can be simple. It can feel like belonging. It can be living in a petite house of your own design with your family and maintaining a garden and watching the river rush by and teaching children how to think. You can choose to lean into what's meant for you and remember that mistakes are only natural.

Perhaps Sasuke's grand purpose was not so grand at all, but as he watched Sarada giggle in Sakura's arms, he thought it was still pretty damn important.

A/N: slipped into my usual style of little vignettes but um yeah wow I finished! I'm actually really proud of myself for staying relatively focused on this story and finishing it during one of the hardest years ever lol

I so enjoyed the overall gentleness of this verse and am really glad people appreciated the slow, mundane nature of the fic! I know I added quite a bit of drama towards the end and hopefully I tied it up satisfyingly but at the end of ze day, this is an ss fic and I mostly care about their happy ending LOL if ur wondering about the uchiha clan..things turn out fine too I am nothing if not a happy ending fan

Thank you for reading! On to the next one :'))

come say hi to me on twitter and tumblr~