Because it was with his Sakura, it had been the best sex he'd ever had.

His Sakura. Sasuke loved the way that sounded. She fell asleep soon after but Sasuke stayed awake most of the night, reveling in just the feeling of her small delicate frame pressed against his.

He wished this one moment would never fade.

The morning after shattered his euphoria however, his servants had come running to his door, pounding across the locked surface while screaming for him to wake up, that there was a disaster.

He'd gotten up immediately, alert and ready while Sakura was still blinking the sleep from her eyes. Realizing the situation, Sasuke immediately instructed Sakura to stay quiet, before he gently drew the covers over her head. When he was dressed and any sign of the girl's clothes were hidden away, Sasuke opened the door and let the servant explain frantically what was currently wrong.

The inner Uchiha sanctum had been broken into.

None of the servants knew what resided inside the building since no one was ever allowed in it but they knew enough that it couldn't have been a good thing when the grafted seal across the slate doors had been completely shattered and the doors lied split open, revealing a dark shadowed interior that no one dared to investigate.

Sasuke's eyes had widened at the news, immediately running to examine the scene. And indeed, the inner sanctum's doors lied cracked apart, split on its sides like a broken domino.

What was worst, the five ANBU Uchihas that had been stationed to guard the entrance, lied massacred in front of the entrance. Their thick course blood pooled across the stone ground and got absorbed into a nearby koi pond, causing the entire surface to now look grotesquely crimson, with floating dead fish across the surface.

The smell of metallic blood tainted the air and made it hard to breathe.

Dear god.

Wh-who could have done this?

The Uchihas stationed here had been among the strongest and the seal across the doors had been placed there by Itachi and Shisui, two shinobi that were said to be the strongest in all of their present clan.

Sasuke ran inside the sanctum and found that all of the clan's most secret jutsus, that were inscribed across slate tablets and then used to make the walls of the sanctum, had been completely scratched off. As the head of the clan, Sasuke's father was in charge of protecting this place, which is why his family had moved into this mansion, the home that had been built around the sanctuary.

The secret jutsu were taught in intervals to developing Uchiha, once they had proven themselves past a certain level of aptitude. Itachi, being as gifted as he was, had already learned all of the techniques on the tablets (but had been forbidden to teach any of them without the clan's permission). Sasuke had still had two more to go.

Sasuke knew his father was going to face hell once this leaked out.

And indeed the man did. The clan called for his immediate resignation, as punishment for failing to keep to his duties.

Fugaku Uchiha, while being a man of prejudiced and narrow minded views, loved his clan too much to start an internal riot and as such agreed to rescind his post, agreeing also to move out of the mansion.

Sasuke didn't care about leaving, honestly he never quite liked being waited on hand and foot anyways (all his fangirls did that 24/7 at the academy anyway) and he honestly liked this change. Of course he worried about his father and mother, who had grown used to being pampered but he knew that with time they would get used to everything.

The one thing he did worry about was Sakura. When she was taken in by the Uchiha family when she was younger, she had been made to sign a servitude agreement, saying that she would be given room and board, clothing and any residency necessities for "more than her current skills could pay for" in return to her serving the Head of the Clan until her twenty-first birthday.

She was twenty right now which meant she still had a year of servitude left, until her debt could be paid off. He had offered to pay for her on many occasions to free herself but Sakura had adamantly refused each time, saying that he would have a hard time explaining to his parents why he'd just spent thousands of dollars on her. During the entirety of their dating, Sakura explained once she turned twenty-one she could legally leave and then she could be with him outright.

But now this happened.

How could Sasuke let her spend her last year with some unknown family that only god knew how they would react to a beautiful pinkette serving them day and night?

Sasuke was overtly jealous and Sakura had called him out on it but the Uchiha had just merely scoffed and said it was for her own protection.

So, once he formulated his plan to save her, on the night before his family was evicted, Sasuke once again brought Sakura up to their spot, atop the summit heads of the Hokages.

He asked her to marry him.

Sakura had gasped in shock at the proposal, covering her mouth with her small ivory hands. After a second, she moved one palm down to cradle is face.

Sasuke took her hand into his, saying that this was the only way for them to be together, for his family to accept her. He told her his plan to tell the Hokage, a kind woman by the name of Tsunade, first thing in the morning –if Sakura accepted- and ask for the woman's support.

Sasuke knew his father would have a harder time rejecting them if the Hokage granted their marriage.

Sakura had smiled at the end of his speech, her hand came to cup his thin cheekbones, before standing up on her tiptoes to kiss him lightly on the mouth. When they separated, she answered happily: "Whatever it takes to be with you, Sasuke."

They made love again that night, atop the Hokage carvings, the nights' sky their only witness.

Tsunade was surprised when she found the two young adults waiting for her right outside her office, first thing in the morning.

She recognized the young man: currently the highest ranked/skilled Uchiha inside Konoha; his skill was second only to his brother Itachi and Shisui. Standing next to the man was a girl of quiet nature and someone Tsunade had never seen before today.

She was remarkably beautiful, though her slightly hunched position behind Sasuke slightly took away her appeal. Tsunade sighed as she sank into her chair behind her desk, meeting the young couple's gaze.

"What seem to be the problem?"

Sasuke took charge of explaining; his words came out concise and to the point, ending with a plead for the Hokage to help them. Tsunade now had her hands pressed to her lips while her elbows leaned across the table.

Hmm.

This was problematic.

She'd known about Fugaku's prejudice towards non-Uchiha people for quite some time now but had never been able to act on it too much because the man had always been keen to stay subtle about it.

As Hokage she couldn't force a man to accept a daughter-in-law he didn't want to accept, especially not someone that had just recently been the head of the Uchiha clan…

And then an idea occurred to her.

"What if I took in Sakura as my pupil? I can use that excuse to buy her out of servitude?" Tsunade suggested and Sakura's eyes had immediately lit up at the idea.

The pinkette explained that while she didn't know any bit of ninjutsu or taijutsu, she did know some basic forms of medical procedures, and had actually always wanted to learn more about the subject (for the Hokage was well known for being an amazing healer).

Sasuke had stayed silent during their entire exchange, eyebrows scrunched slightly together. It wasn't that he wanted to keep Sakura from her dream, far from it actually. It was just that…he'd kind of been looking forward to the idea of marrying her. Looking forward to the idea of marching with her hand down the streets of Konoha so that everyone would finally know of their relationship.

So that no one would dare mistreat Sakura ever again, being his woman.

But…this solution was just as good. If not better, considering the delighted look that now decorated Sakura's beautiful face, making her look even more radiant than usual.

Yeah. He could accept this.

Sakura turned to look at him, discerning his silence, and Sasuke quickly gave her a small smile, implying that he supported her. He was never good with expressing his feelings and Sakura knew that (another reason why he knew they were meant to be) which is why she'd long since cracked the code behind his silent looks and partial smiles.

Sasuke knew, that she knew, he would always support her.

Still, he couldn't help the grumpy disposition that settled down into his movements as he walked next to Sakura now, in the middle of Konoha's street market.

His marriage plan defunct, Sasuke kept his hands in his pockets with his gaze trained on the ground and him staying silent the entire time they walked through the streets that bustled with people.

Because of the dense population, Sasuke was forced to walk half a foot apart from her with Sakura keeping her hands folded in front of her demurely; a servant following her master. This was the plan they'd- well actually, the plan Sakura had worked out before, to keep their relationship a secret when they were in public.

Sasuke hated this.

He hated all of this.

In a second, he had broken away from Sakura, shoving fangirls and random people out of his way so he could make his way out of Konoha. His fangirls squealed at just being touched by him but he completely ignored them.

The pinkette stared with wide eyes at Sasuke's departing form.

Sasuke should have predicted that she would know where to go to find him.

He was sitting on the top of the Kage summit, gaze once again overlooking Konoha in a position that prevented other people from seeing him.

It was very late day, almost dusk when Sasuke heard the scraping of wooden sandals behind him.

He turned around and took in Sakura's disheveled state, standing hunched and out of breath at the edge from where she'd just climbed up from. Cuts and bruises littered her arms and legs while her kimono had been cut open in several areas and instant guilt flooded into the Uchiha's body.

She'd climbed up here on her own.

Being a shinobi with chakra, Sasuke had always gone up easily and taken her with him when they needed to talk.

He hadn't thought it would be physically possible for Sakura to follow him up here, just wanting a little time to himself.

But he had underestimated the woman he loved and he once again stared in astonished adoration towards the injured pinkette in front of him. Without any chakra to balance herself, Sasuke knew she had had to climb up using just her bare hands, and probably had slid many times as a result.

In an instant, he was in front of her, catching her right before she fell. Sweat soaked across her forehead while a few minute cuts graced her elegant cheeks. Her arms and legs had far more cuts, including a rather large and obscenely dark bruise that graced her calf.

Damn.

Nothing about her injuries were too serious but Sasuke's heart ached miserably seeing her in this state.

He was never really good at healing jutsus but for Sakura, Sasuke sent his chakra into her body as he cradled her. It took a while and his chakra abruptly stopped many times, like it wasn't used to being exerted this way, but in the end Sasuke still managed to heal most of Sakura's body.

The bruise on her calf diminished in darkness but still stayed visible, despite how many times he sent his chakra into her. Eventually, Sakura stopped him from trying anymore, assuring him with a smile that she was okay now.

Sasuke groaned into his palm. Gah. Why…why did she have to follow him here?

He wanted to scold her but his heart knew it was really his own fault; he was the one that had left without saying anything.

Night had fallen around them by now and the moon hung high, half crescent above them, luminating their faces pale.

Sakura moved closer, as they both sat on the smooth stone surface, so that her hands could come up to touch his face. "Sasuke, I'm not an idiot. I can tell you're upset. Do you not want me to take Tsunade's proposition?"

The man blinked. What?

"No, no of course not," he iterated fast, shaking his head while standing up. Sakura stood up now too.

He gulped staring into her lurid green eyes, turning away in the end with his heart hammering inside his head.

Dammit.

He…he was never good with expressing himself.

Sasuke suddenly felt Sakura's small hands wrapping around his waist, hugging him.

"I can reject it, if you want me to," Sakura spoke against his t-shirted back while her hands stayed wrapped around his waist.

Sasuke broke away from her now, turning around so that he could catch her elbows with his palms, making her look straight at him. "Listen, Sakura, I…want whatever you want. Whatever makes you happy, makes me happy. Honest. I'm not angry that you accepted."

The pinkette scrunched her eyebrows together. "Then why are you upset?"

Sasuke's posture stiffened; he sighed while looking away as he answered her. "Because I really wanted to stop hiding what we have."

"I want to tell my family, my friends, everyone in Konoha and the world that we're in love. Gah." Sasuke once again smashed his face into his elegant hand at the lame romantic spew he'd just uttered.

Sakura was strangely silent for a while behind him. Sasuke eventually turned around to look at her and for a second, he could have sworn he saw…something different across her face, something he couldn't read but it only stayed for half a second and he soon saw Sakura's endearing smile. "Sasuke…"

He suddenly embraced her. "I meant what I said before Sakura, it wasn't just to free you from servitude. I really want you to be my wife."

The pinkette smiled into his hold. "I know. I promise you, someday, I will be."

With him living separate from his parents, Sasuke found it much easier to spend time with Sakura. He would often spend nights in her apartment (provided to her by Tsunade) and frequently invite her to stay in his.

He now lived in a single bedroom apartment with a small kitchen and a living area right near the entrance, it was paid for by the salary he made as a Jonin.

As a result of this arrangement, Sakura ended up encountering a lot of Sasuke's friends. Well, she called them his friends but he seemed to only see them as "people he graduated with." No matter how open minded he was compared to the rest of his clan, Sasuke Uchiha still had that condescending arrogance that graced any skilled Uchiha.

Though, it was pretty obvious he always tried to reign in this side of him back, whenever he was in front of Sakura.

He never spoke about any awards he got, any new jutsu he'd succeeded in mastering or even any promotions he got in his career. Only just a brief response if Sakura ever asked him about his professional life.

Sasuke did this because…he knew Sakura didn't know anything about jutsus and he didn't want to make her feel inferior.

Though he was like this only in front of Sakura.

On more than one occasion he offered to bring her to his parents (that now lived on the other side of town) and announce that they were engaged, so that they could actually set a date, regardless of whether or not his parents approved.

But Sakura had disagreed each time.

She stated that she wasn't ready yet. That they were both too young and that she didn't want him to have any regrets when he was older.

"What does it matter, as long as we have each other?" Sakura had asked him one night as they lied bare underneath his bedcovers, her head rested endearingly right above his heart.

Sasuke exhaled a deep sigh. "Well for one it would put an end to those nuisances."

He inclined his head towards the large pile of gifts and love notes he'd absently tossed into a large garbage bag in the corner of his apartment. He could fill about two bags of those every month. All love confessions or gifts from those that had already confessed and were intent on winning his "bachelor" heart.

"Everyone thinks I'm single," the beautiful Uchiha stated in an amused tone, partly humored by it himself.

Sakura sighed into his ivory chest. "It's okay. It's alright. Let them think what they want."

Sasuke frowned. He moved her head so that it raised up and met his eyes. "You're not the least bit jealous?"

To be honest, this kind of hurt. He wanted his Sakura blossom to be concerned about him. To hold him in regards.

The pinkette flashed a small smile, the look in her eyes mature and understanding. "Of course I am, Sasuke. What women wouldn't be? It's just, I trust you."

She brought his hand that had been resting at his side upwards to cradle her cheek, before she kissed the curve of his thumb. "I know you love only me. I won't let other people compromise my faith in you."

Sasuke's mouth parted ever so slightly, eyes unable to leave the form of what he knew was the world's most perfect girl.

In a second, he brought her lips down onto his, kissing her tenderly.

They made love again for the third time that night, ending with the Uchiha falling asleep into his pinkette's arms, his head resting right over her heart. Sometime in the night, while he was sleeping, Sasuke whispered: "I love you, Sakura."

Everything started with an illness.

It was a strange plague that seemed to only target those of the Uchiha clan. Within days of contraction, the victims would sprout violent and grotesque cysts across their entire body, causing them to have to be immediately quarantined since the cysts could burst and release the pathogen through the air. The victims then suffered from a fever before eventually falling into a coma, before the final step of death.

Depending on the victim, the stages had different durations so it was hard to predict when someone would move onto the next stage but whenever anyone hit the coma, inside Konoha General Hospital, they gained highest priority.

The disease spread fast: within days of the first victim falling ill, half the entirety of the Uchiha population fell ill. Sasuke stayed healthy though, and miraculously, so did his parents, while nearly all of the remaining Uchiha were stricken.

Every week the disease claimed new Uchiha victims while old ones passed away.

It was a living nightmare.

Sasuke couldn't believe that he was witnessing the literal annihilation of his clan from a disease that no one had even heard of before. The best scientists and medics in Konoha had no idea how to deal with the virus, no matter how many tests or experiments they ran.

It got so bad that eventually, less than thirty Uchiha remained alive, including Sasuke and his parents. And of those thirty, about half had already grown cysts.

Every day, Sasuke returned home stressed and frustrated. Agitated and angry at himself that he couldn't do anything to save his clan. Itachi –who had been sent away on a mission when the outbreak first came- still hadn't returned any of his letters and Sasuke feared that his older brother too had…

He retched right now, in the middle of his apartment, inside the living room area. He hadn't eaten any lunch or dinner and only threw up bile, the stress of his current life wearing down on his body.

Sakura who had been waiting for him to come back, now ran up to him, falling to her knees in front of him, while he stayed hunched on all fours, continuing to vomit.

"Sasuke!" she cried desperately while patting his back soothingly. "Maybe we should check you into the hospital!"

Vomiting wasn't one of the symptoms for the disease, now named Atethe's Disease (for the first Uchiha to have been diagnosed with it) but Sakura still cradled Sasuke's head as he retched until there was nothing left inside of him.

The man collapsed onto his side, head falling into Sakura's lap while she knelt on the ground. His breaths rang hot and heavy across his sweat soaked face. His usually beautiful countenance was now marred in pallor with deep sallow cheeks and heavy bags underneath his eyes.

When the first dozen people started falling sick, and Sasuke's schedule became filled from day to night with searching for a cure or escorting healthy people into uncontaminated areas, Sakura had moved in with the man.

She never had to ask, it just happened. One night, she stayed over and the next morning Sasuke asked her not to go. She had consented with just a quiet nod. No other words or protests were made because Sakura knew there were much more important matters at stake in the moment. During the days, she worked with Tsunade in the hospital and taking care of sick people, even offering up her blood for testing as a control group (since those that didn't have Uchiha blood were unaffected).

Anything she could do to help, Sakura did.

And now, tears seeped down her face as she cradled Sasuke's morbidly weak form inside her lap.

The man shook his head about taking him to the hospital. "I've seen enough…dead…bodies…today."

His hand moved to cradle Sakura's trembling tear streaked face. "I'll…I'll be…fine…I…just need…to rest…"

His head lolled to the side and Sakura screamed. "No, Sasuke!"

Sasuke gasped awake at the sensation of cold shower water hitting his face. His eyes spluttered open as he took in the sight of Sakura's relieved face above him, while he lied cradled inside her lap. They were both in the bathtub with the clothes they'd just had on in the living room. Sakura a light pink yukata and Sasuke a navy blue t-shirt and simple black pants.

They were soaked to the bone from the cold shower Sakura had turned on.

Sasuke picked his head up from inside Sakura's lap, rising up to meet her tear rimmed eyes, the water from the shower moistening her face and camouflaging her tears. The pinkette rubbed her eyes with her small ivory hands. "Dammit Sasuke, you scared me half to death."

A sob escaped her lips, a second before she found her head pulled into Sasuke's chest, his arms wrapping tight around her as the two of them let the cold water wash away their stress and pain.

Half an hour later, they were both dressed in clean dry clothes. Sakura offered to make him dinner but Sasuke merely shook his head quietly and stated that he wanted to sleep, before resting his head on his pillow.

Please read and review! They really encourage me to write!