Title: an anomaly
Prompt: pregnancy
Summary: Uchiha Sasuke have heard many tales, assumptions and even events based on true stories that are so fascinatingly peculiar it becomes scary. But none of those were put true when he, experienced the whole ordeal of caring for your pregnant wife.
Author's Notes: Enjoy y'all. This one's fluff. Mistakes will be edited tomorrow!
Pregnancy. What an anomaly.
Uchiha Sasuke have heard many things about this certain topic called pregnancy. From tales, to assumptions and even events based on true stories that are so fascinatingly peculiar it becomes scary.
But none of those were put true when he, experienced the whole ordeal of caring for your pregnant wife.
Morning sickness, weird to completely crazy food cravings, a cycle of mood swings, and so much struggle to experience when your wife is pregnant are what he frequently heard from women that talk about it when he was young.
Of course being the youngster that he was, and especially a male with absolutely no knowledge about how women's body workings at that, he believed those tales.
But having Haruno Sakura as your wife, well, all those whispers are almost understatements to what he truly experienced.
It was worse. So, so much worse that it scared the living hell out of him for the almost nine months that she conceived.
Her first trimester was quite a new experience, for everyone actually that were experiencing their first time expecting, and of course, for both of them. Morning sickness started before they knew they were expecting. Sasuke, being the new husband that he was, immediately became concerned to his wife's frequent vomiting right after breakfast.
They both thought it was food poisoning first, thinking that the food being served to them wasn't being digested properly.
But then, her symptoms worsened and increased in quite a few—including fatigue, unusual cravings, and constant need to use the bathroom which was really odd. He was almost scared out of his wits, not knowing what to do with all these symptoms all over the place and to add more, does not make any connection of sense at all.
But then, when they had a sat down and talked about, Sakura had the chance to recite her symptoms until everything made sense.
She stopped mid-sentence, eyes wide as she looked at him as if she reached an epiphany. Sasuke did not know at first why she looked like she was about to cry. His best thought was that she was suffering with a chronic disease or something worse as that. But when she smiled charmingly, looking at him with the most tender and loving expression he has ever seen, it all clicked.
She was pregnant. She was carrying their child.
It all happened so fast, as if in a flash and she had him in a bone-crushing hug that knocked all the air out of his chest. Tears welled in his eyes and threatened to drop as he embraced her in the same ferocity and urgency that she had.
It was the best moment of his life, so fulfilling and incredibly tender that he knew he'll do everything to make his wife feel like she's a queen the whole time she'll conceive.
He said he'll make her feel like a queen. But that seems hard to fulfill.
Everything was running smoothly the first few weeks into her pregnancy. It was not as easy or usual as when they were only newly married. She was experiencing fatigue that made it hard to continue their travels in a speed just like before. She was also quite picky and had started to crave more. It was bearable and easy to provide at first. He assisted her with ease and determination that made everything easier.
But throughout the months and weeks that were passing by, all he could say was that good heavens it was getting worse ten-fold.
She was unreasonably whinny and extremely sensitive. A wrong remark and she'll break down in tears, and a slight mistake then she'll feel utterly mad the whole day. And Sasuke, having no good ability in expressing his feelings through words, was struggling immensely to keep up with her.
Her back was also aching quite often, which led to uncomfortable situations like sleeping. She would toss and turn for so long that he's became used to being awake at night just to avoid her foot kicking his face while he's peacefully slumbering.
But the worst, the very worst, was the craving.
First it started with only foods that he thought was only rational, and he could very well provide. Chocolates was a common one that he did not even think twice to give to her. Sweet things were her main thing, and that includes beverages that they do not usually drink on a daily basis before they were expecting.
Everything was fine—manageable and he was confident he was able to get through.
But oh boy did it not became dreadful when the months passed by.
The first craving that she had that etched a deep frown of concern on his face was when she craved a can of sardines and chocolates in a bread. He's never heard that type of combination before, and was very much aware to how utterly disgusting it sounded. Maybe his disgust was obvious on his face because Sakura suddenly looked pained, her eyes averting from his to the ground, then looking absolutely pained like a child rejected.
He was about to refuse, honestly, until he saw a tear drop from her eye and her lips tremble as she holds in her sobs through her hiccups.
Doting husband he may be, but he knows he can't bare to witness her cry just because he just rejected her pregnancy craving.
Immediately, he sought to find a way to somehow make whatever she wanted happen—two pieces of white bread, sardines in the middle then drizzled with a good amount of chocolate.
He tried very hard not to wretch as he makes the food, though.
But, he supposes, that going through that gruesome experience of combining two unimaginable foods to be paired together was worth it when Sakura visibly glowed in pure, unadulterated joy as she munched happily at the…food that he presented.
If he thinks at that point it gets, maybe, better…Well he's absolutely mistaken.
There was a time when Sakura had a craving in the most unimaginable time.
She woke him up in the middle of the night, her being completely awake and him trying to stay awake as he groggily opens his eyes.
He tries to stay alert, as much as she does, because the only reason he thinks as to why she woke him up in such a late hour is because there's an emergency.
"Sasuke-kun," she whispered as she shook him lightly.
"Hm…?" he asked, groggily after his slumber has been interrupted.
"I want to eat something."
He almost groans as he heard it, fearing those words with absolute dread within the past few days. Her cravings have turned to odd, to crazy, to extreme within a course of two weeks. And by those two weeks it was as frequent as every day.
But he does not groan because he knows she'll just cry and keep to herself the whole time until her mood swings decides otherwise. And Sasuke knows he absolutely does not, above all, like to see her cry.
So instead, he asks, "What is it?" It was almost incoherent, but trust Sakura to understand every word.
"I want to eat dirt."
He could've choked, or spluttered if he was drinking water right now. But lucky him, he was laying down right now. Because that was the most outrageous craving he has ever heard.
"You want to eat what?"
"Dirt," she answered nonchalantly as if she was merely wondering about the weather.
"Sakura…" as much as it pains to reject her, he has to because there's no way he could feed her dirt right now. "You know you can't eat that."
"But Sasuke-kun…" she says in the voice that she's learned to use to have him agree to her every request. "Please…?"
She's pleading, with those eyes that sucks him into its depths. Beautiful, magnificent viridian eyes that could hypnotize him to say yes to her right now. So what he does, is he averts his gaze and instead looks at her hands to avoid tempataion.
"Sakura. It's the middle of the night," he reasons, pointing out a little more using rationality rather than plainly saying no.
"But still…" she sounds so pained, so sad that her voice cracks and it stabs him in the heart.
He knows this is just one of those things that he had to endure before experiencing euphoria. Like how you need to drag yourself to the shower to feel the best sleep after a tiring day. Or like how you have to train to gain power.
And heavens know that he's ecstatic to finally have the child that she's carrying in her stomach. Their child. And he knows, very well knows, that he'll love their little bundle of joy unconditionally even if she has not done anything yet. Her first cry will be like music to his ears. The opening of her eyes will be the best sight, and she will be one of the women that he'll confidently lay his life for.
So what he does is he winds his arms around his wife's waist, cradling her close to him as he murmurs, "Tomorrow," to the crown of her head.
She does not speak for a few beats, until, "You promise?"
"Yeah. I'm going to get it tomorrow."
"You'll get me dirt tomorrow?" she asks with glee, as if it's a dessert that she's always wanted to try.
Sasuke still can't put his head on the thought of craving, of all things, dirt. He admits that he can't even begin to understand what goes through a woman's head, but surely Sakura's rational enough to figure out that dirt, in no way possibly, is edible for human consumption without giving yourself diarrhea.
But he won't hurt her tonight.
"Sure," he says almost mindlessly, wanting nothing more than to end this narrative.
She squeals then hugs him tighter, before going back to sleep in flash with a smile on her face.
Sasuke strokes his wife's head tenderly, lovingly, and hopes that when their child is born, he'll apparently forget the hardship of being the male one in the pregnancy.