For a moment, the pain from shallow nicks on the skin of his scalp pierce through the numbing grief. On his knees, Kakashi stares blankly at the blade in his hands and all the hair he has cut off.
"Kakashi-nii?" He turns and finds Sukea in the doorway. The purple paint around his eyes that marks him as the Hatake clan heir makes his silver eyes glow in the dim light of the dawn. "It's time."
He knows. He also wonders if he decided to do this now in an attempt to delay having to look at Rin's funeral pyre.
"I'm not ready."
He turns back around. Then he hears Sukea shuffle closer to him.
"Let me help you."
Kakashi snorts.
"The elders will be angry with you."
"I don't think I can disappoint the elders any more than I already have," Sukea says with a shrug. "Now give me the blade, Kakashi-nii."
He does. And it is quiet for the next few minutes, except for the scraping sounds of the blade shaving the patches that he has missed.
"Why?" Sukea asks quietly.
Long white hair is a symbol of pride in the Hatake clan. While it is customary to cut their hair above their shoulders after a defeat in battle, no one has ever shorn their hair down to the scalp before.
"How can I call myself a warrior when I couldn't protect the person who mattered to me the most?"
Exhaling shakily, he runs a palm over his bare scalp.
"Rin-oba's death was not your fault," Sukea says firmly.
"But the unhappiness she endured for the rest of her life was," Kakashi says. "She was so miserable here, Sukea. And for what? A man who couldn't protect her from being ostracized by his own clan?"
Although Sukea has always favored sweet words, he is not cruel enough to use them for a lie.
So instead, Sukea holds a hand out and says, "We have to say goodbye to her, Kakashi-nii. It's time."
"I'm not ready."
"I know. But we have to do this. For her."
Suddenly struck by how tall Sukea has become since turning fifteen, Kakashi stares up at the boy for what feels like an eternity before grasping the hand and pulling himself up to stand.
Although Tenten only trains once with the Hatake clansmen during her three-day stay, it is enough to strike both fear and admiration into the hearts of too many warriors to count, much to Sakura's amusement.
So despite the early hour, Sakura is not surprised when a substantial crowd gathers behind her to see Tenten off at the gates.
"Please get home safely. I don't think either clan would ever forgive me if anything happened to you on the road."
Tenten snorts.
"Nothing happens to me on the road. I'm the one who makes things happen." Tenten presses her forehead into Sakura's. "But yes, I'll be especially careful, and it's only because you asked so sweetly."
Sakura nods, teary-eyed.
Beside her, Kakashi clears his throat.
"Thank you for your visit, Tenten-taichou," he says mildly. "And for your educational demonstrations."
A wide smile takes over Tenten's face.
"Anytime, Kakashi-taichou," she says, patting her trusty kusari-fundo. Then she looks him up and down with that signature glacial Senju glare and says, "Take care of my sister."
Kakashi nods, and as they watch her horse get smaller and smaller in the distance, Sakura feels a warm, heavy weight hesitantly settle over her shoulder. It is Kakashi's hand.
"Are you alright?" he asks.
"No," she answers, avoiding his gaze. "But I will be."
A fragile truce has been in effect since Kakashi's apology, but they have also not spent much time together during the past three days; Sakura slept at the guesthouse in which Tenten had stayed, and given Tenten's fearsome reputation, the elders had graciously invited her to sit next to Sakura during dinners.
Despite the truce, Sakura is nervous about going back to the house she shares with Kakashi. She does not quite know what to make of the man she saw the other day with his pupils blown out from adrenaline as desperate pleas and apologies spilled out of his mouth.
"I'm going to the stables," Kakashi says gruffly. "If you want to visit Pakkun with me, we can walk there together."
Her husband has been unbearably nice to her since the apology. In the mornings, she and Tenten have been waking up to various plates of sliced fruit, all of which have quelled the funny noises in Sakura's stomach. And this morning, there was a warm pot of fragrant herbal tea that eliminated the nausea almost entirely.
In response to Kakashi, Sakura nods. Then together, they walk to the stables, doing their best to ignore the eyes on them.
"Thank you," Sakura says quietly. "For the fruits. And the tea."
She sees a faint blush rise above the hem of his mask.
"It's the least I can do," he says, scratching the back of his neck.
"You only do that when you're nervous," Sakura says bluntly, taking great pleasure in watching him squirm as he forces himself not to scratch his neck again. "Why are you nervous?"
Kakashi sighs.
"I don't want to make anymore of a mess than I already have."
They arrive at the stables. Sakura hides a smile behind her hand when Pakkun nudges Kakashi out of the way with his snout and whinnies when she stays put.
"If you work with me and not against me, then we'll be fine," Sakura says, finally stepping closer to gently squeeze Pakkun's face between her hands. She gently touches her nose to Pakkun's before glancing at Kakashi, who has begun brushing Bisuke. "Why didn't you want me to visit Pakkun? Before?"
He runs the brush over Bisuke's flank several times. Sakura finds herself watching the sinuous motion of his muscles tensing then relaxing underneath his clothes.
"He tried to bite off Hideo's fingers once," Kakashi shares.
Sakura scoffs.
"I think any horse would try to bite off Hideo's fingers," she says, grimacing.
The curve of his eyes indicates a faint smile.
"Has he been giving you any trouble?" Kakashi asks.
Sakura shakes her head.
"I've only spoken with him once. It was the day I asked you to have lunch with us," she says, moving her chin to the side when Pakkun sniffs his way around her. "But I think he did much more talking than I did." She frowns. "It's a little upsetting, how much he looks like Sukea."
The muscles in Kakashi's back stiffen. He slowly puts down the brush, and his hand twitches upwards towards his neck before he forces it to stay by his side.
"I'm sorry about what I said about you and Sukea," Kakashi says in a low voice. He turns the brush over in his hands before absent-mindedly patting Bisuke's side. "That wasn't fair of me to say. Or assume."
"Which part?" Sakura asks coolly. "The part where you questioned my love for him, or the part where you implied that I slept with someone other than him?"
Kakashi winces.
"I'm very sorry." He goes back to brushing Bisuke again, and his eyes slowly curve upwards again. "Sukea was an idealist. A romantic. The only thing he ever said about you was that you were spring incarnate. I never would have assumed he'd proposition you before your wedding."
Sakura raises an eyebrow.
"Who says he was the one doing the propositioning?"
Kakashi fumbles with the brush. Bisuke whinnies, apparently displeased.
"Oh," Kakashi says, sounding like he very much wants to run away. "Right. Of course."
And unexpectedly, Sakura blushes when she remembers how she tried to seduce Kakashi six nights in a row.
"I'm sorry too," she says quietly. "When I tried to convince you to…"
"It's alright," Kakashi says quickly, apparently eager not to have either of them voice it out loud.
Sakura huffs out a short laugh.
"In retrospect, I wonder if I could have been honest with you right away instead of trying all that." She peers up at him apologetically. "But you were frightening. And hostile. And I was worried you would use this information to oust me from the clan."
His shoulders tighten up, and despite the mask he wears, his regret and self-loathing is obvious.
"I'm —"
"Stop apologizing," Sakura says bluntly. "I know you're sorry."
Those shoulders relax again.
"You visited Rin three days ago. Why?"
She pauses.
"To ask her for courage." At Kakashi's surprised look, she elaborates, "You were the only one on this compound who hated me, and I couldn't stand it. But she had the whole compound against her, and she withstood it for years."
With a bitter laugh, Kakashi moves to brush Bisuke's other side. She can no longer see his face.
"She was brave where I wasn't." The muscles of his back ripple as he brushes Bisuke faster. "I told her things would get easier over time, that the clan would accept her eventually. It wasn't until Rin —" he stops brushing, the one hand he has settled on Bisuke's side clenching into a fist. "I realized too late that my love wasn't enough to make her happy. That I should have taken more measures to make things better for her instead of waiting."
Sakura looks down at her feet.
"A clan like yours is hard to change. And you had no power. Not really. You were only a branch house member."
"That's kind of you to say, but the fact of the matter is that I didn't even try," Kakashi says dully. He turns to glance at her, a steely look in his eyes. "When I was a boy, my mother told me that marriages were partnerships. I can't love you the way I loved Rin. But I know how to work with a partner. A teammate. I can do that for you."
Sakura nods slowly.
"That's all I ever wanted from you." A comfortable silence settles in between them. "But if we're going to be partners, we have to trust each other. And we need to know more about each other to make that happen."
Kakashi sighs. His wildly untamable hair, much shorter than his fellow clansmen's long manes, almost deflates.
"I'll do my best. But I'm warning you, I'm not very good at making new friends."
Sakura laughs quietly behind her hand.
"Partners don't have to be friends. We just need to lay down some ground rules to make sure we don't accidentally work against each other." She waves hello at Hideki as he enters the stables. The twelve year old boy blushes to the roots of his white hair when he waves back and ducks behind a horse. "We can talk about it later tonight, if you want."
After their most amiable dinner to date, pSakura and Kakashi lay down three ground rules.
"We can't hide things from each other," Sakura says. "What you know, I know. And vice versa."
Kakashi nods.
"What else?"
Sakura frowns.
"We should consult each other and come up with a plan before either of us do or say anything to reveal sensitive information that can be used against us. You're going to be clan head one day, and you need to start showing the elders that you are a person to be respected, not some pawn for them to push around."
Kakashi raises his eyebrows as he pours some tea for both of them.
"Did Sukea know he was going to marry a covert politician?"
Sakura laughs.
"He had some idea." A strangely sad smile on her face, she shares, "I think it made him a little upset when I compared people to shogi pieces."
Crossing his arms, Kakashi says, "Do you really think of people as shogi pieces?"
She winces.
"Somewhat." She sips, glancing at him over the rim of her teacup. "It sounds worse than it actually is." Her eyes narrow. "Although how is what I do any worse than what you and your father do with your countless regiments?"
Kakashi shrugs and stares into his empty teacup.
"I guess it's not." He pours more tea for her and then for himself. "Anything else?"
Sakura nods, glancing down nervously.
"Every word we say to each other must be said in good faith. Especially when we criticize each other's actions or ideas. Especially when we have to communicate about boundaries. Especially when we have to talk to each other about the painful things in our past."
Wearily, Kakashi nods.
"Any other rules?" he asks.
Sakura shakes her head.
"We can always add more if we need them. But we need to make sure we can manage these three first."
Kakashi looks hesitant then blurts out, "The only other person Pakkun would allow to get that close to him was Rin." Sakura watches as he clenches his jaw. "It was upsetting to see you with him. Almost like your presence in this compound was erasing her. That's the real reason I didn't want you visiting Pakkun."
She nods.
"Do you still feel that way?"
He clenches his jaw again.
"It's hard not to, when I see how the elders treat you. How the wives have accepted you. And I forget it's not your fault."
Sakura exhales.
"The children haven't forgotten her. Ichiro and Kenji talk about her all the time." To stave off the tears, she forces a smile. "She sounded like an incredible woman."
Kakashi closes his eyes.
"She was. And I hate how no one else saw that. They didn't even give her a chance."
As they settle down for the night, Kakashi asks, from his corner of the room, "Who talked to you? About Rin? And how did you know where to find her grave?"
Sakura lays down on her side to face him. He is on his back, staring up at the ceiling with his hands underneath his head.
"Your mother. I asked her some questions. She was the one who showed me Rin's grave." She pauses. "Are you angry with me?"
Kakashi sighs.
"No," he says. "It's not like you could have asked me, at the time." He turns his head to look at her. "How did you convince the twins to go with you?"
Sakura smiles.
"They were visiting their mother the same morning, and they followed me to Sukea and then to Rin." The smile fades away. "They didn't know she was there. Not until that day." Contemplatively, she plays with a strand of hair. "They were happy to visit her. We agreed to leave flowers for her together every Sunday. If that's alright with you."
Silence. Sakura does not dare breathe.
Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Kakashi look back up at the ceiling then drape his forearm over his eyes.
"Thank you, Sakura," he says, his voice heavy.
Even though he cannot see, she nods.
"Goodnight, Kakashi."
The next morning, Sakura watches with great interest as Kakashi brews the tea that helps to alleviate the nausea.
"It's more complicated than I thought it would be," she says, craning her neck for a better angle.
He is steeping different combinations of herbs in separate teapots, and he only starts combining everything into the largest teapot after two minute intervals.
"It's to prevent the herbs from burning," he says as he brings it to the table. "This is the only thing that helped Rin when she was…" he trails off and keeps his eyes down.
Sakura nods.
"Like I said the other day, she was a talented herbalist," she says kindly, taking a sip from the cup he pours for her. "She must have been a great help whenever one of the wives fell pregnant."
Kakashi shakes his head.
"She could have been. But they thought her infertility would touch them if they so much as spoke with her."
Sakura stares at him, appalled.
"I'm so sorry," she whispers, blinking quickly to stave off the tears.
Slowly, Kakashi stands then leaves the room. When he returns, he is holding a box.
"I kept some of her scrolls because I thought the clan had thrown her other ones away," Kakashi confesses, setting them down before her. "If you'd like, you can read through them. I think she'd be happy, knowing that someone found her work interesting."
A peace offering. And an apology.
Sakura hesitantly reaches out for one of the smallest scrolls, opens it, then laughs.
"This is a poem that Ichiro and Kenji wrote for her," she says, still giggling.
It is not very good. As she reads it out loud, Kakashi laughs with her, and she is surprised to find that his laughter sounds all sorts of pleasant when it comes deep from his chest.
"What made you start talking to those two? They're trouble," Kakashi says wryly.
Sakura taps a finger against her teacup.
"Sukea told me so many stories about them. And about so many of the other motherless children on the compound." She smiles down at the table. "After I made the decision to brew that tea from Rin's medical scroll, I thought I was going to lose Sukea forever. But listening to those same stories from the children's mouths reminded me that Sukea was still here with me."
She hears Kakashi exhale heavily.
"If you like, I can show you his favorite tree," he says. "He would go there to write poetry about you after training with me and Genma."
Suddenly, Sakura realizes that the gentle light of dawn has filtered through the shoji screen doors of their home when she glances at Kakashi and finally gets a good look at his unmasked face.
Despite the scar that extends all the way down to his well-defined jawline, he does not appear as frightening as he did during their first meeting. Maybe it's the endearing beauty mark to the left of his chin. Or maybe it's the surprisingly gentle slope of his mouth.
Maybe it's because she sees echoes of Sukea in his face.
Sakura feels her heart breaking all over again. And she takes a deep breath to ease the pain.
"Don't you have training with Genma right now?" she says, gesturing at the doors. "It's dawn."
"Genma sprained his knee a few days ago," Kakashi says, shaking his head. "I barred him from training for at least two weeks."
She allows a small smile on her face.
"Show me the tree."
Inquisitively, Kakashi tilts his head.
"Do you know how to ride a horse?"
Sakura's eyes light up.
Some moments later, Sakura crosses her arms petulantly as Kakashi settles behind her on Bisuke. To her left, a very riderless Pakkun somehow manages to look distinctly betrayed.
"What happened to speaking to each other in good faith?" Kakashi says dryly. "I thought that included being honest."
"Technically, I know the theory behind riding a horse," Sakura says, trying her best not to look or sound haughty.
"Yes, this was clearly my fault," Kakashi quips. "I should have asked you if you'd ever ridden a horse before. Or managed to mount one by yourself without falling over and splitting your skull open."
With a click of Kakashi's tongue, Bisuke begins to trot at a leisurely pace before speeding to a full gallop. It does not take them long to arrive at the tree in question, and the sight of it almost takes Sakura's breath away.
It looks just as Sukea described: a large plum tree with white blossoms, its sprawling branches arched over the edge of a clear-watered lake.
With Kakashi's help, she dismounts Bisuke, and somewhat dazedly, she touches the trunk with her fingertips.
A songbird chirps in the distance.
Sakura smiles.
She can still feel Sukea here, in this quiet, peaceful place mere minutes away from the never-ending bustle of the compound.
She turns to Kakashi, tears in her eyes.
"Thank you."
He nods slightly, his own eyes strangely bright.
"When should we tell the clan?"
She removes her fingertips from the tree then touches them to her belly with some reverence.
"When I begin to show."
Sakura does not know if she is lucky enough to have a body that carries a baby in such a way that the belly won't round so much, so quickly, or so early, but regardless, she knows they cannot keep this secret to themselves for much longer.
Kakashi looks out to the lake, his eyes distant. When it is time for them to go back, he helps her mount Bisuke once more.
"Do you think they'll believe us?" he asks on the ride back to the compound. "I was very cold towards you."
Sakura almost tells him about the rumors circulating around the wives regarding his voracious sexual appetite, but she is suddenly very conscious of her seat between his legs. Although he has somehow managed to leave a respectable amount of space between their bodies, she can still feel the hard muscles of his thighs and his arms caging her in.
So instead, she says, "You've proven time and time again that you would fulfil any duty your clan gives you. And it's not unheard of for arranged marriages to be consummated on the first night. They'll believe us."
Behind her, he sighs.
"If you say so."
Over the next two weeks, they settle into a comfortable routine.
In the mornings, Kakashi brews tea for Sakura, because despite watching him over and over again, she cannot quite get it right, much to her frustration. As she drinks it, he talks to her about Rin, and shares stories about Sukea. Then together, they visit the cemetery before embarking on the horseback riding lessons Sakura insists upon receiving.
("Light exercise is good for women in my condition," she says primly when Kakashi expresses skepticism for her safety. "And besides, I am tired of having to ask you to take me to the lake. Bisuke jostles me around too much."
Bisuke side-eyes her before snorting emphatically into her face.
"Don't listen to her," Kakashi reassures his horse. "She clearly has a favorite."
Then they both watch as Pakkun tries to nibble on Sakura's hair for the umpteenth time.)
Every other afternoon, Kakashi joins Sakura for lunch with his parents and the elders. Since Sakura is always flitting around the compound, they agree to meet at the dining hall instead of walking there together.
While the elders are displeased with his fairly late appearances and his sweat-soaked clothes, they are also mollified by his less prickly demeanor towards Sakura. They even stop nagging him about the mask he still insists on wearing.
For the most part.
"If you're going to keep wearing your mask like a branch house member, you should at least wear the paint around your eyes," Daichi says with a sigh. "Or tie your hair. It is finally long enough for you to do it."
Kakashi shrugs. And he represses the urge to touch his now shoulder-length hair.
"Sakura likes my modesty," he says mildly, but at the same time, he cannot help but frown because Sakura has yet to appear.
Almost halfway through the meal, Kakashi stands, dropping his chopsticks over the untouched food on his plate.
"Something is wrong," he says to Sakumo. "I have to find Sakura."
Sakumo nods at him. For a moment, Kakashi is struck by how much his father looks like Jiraiya, now that he has finally tattooed the red lines down his face.
"Go."
It does not take long. Kakashi beelines it for the crowd gathering by the women's bathhouse.
"Kakashi-sama!" Emiko says, waving him over. "Sakura-hime is unwell."
He does not see any pink hair. She must be inside the bathhouse.
"What happened?"
Emiko winces.
"She collapsed — she said she felt nauseated —"
"Take me to her."
Quickly, Emiko checks to make sure that no one is bathing before ushering him inside. He finds Sakura on her knees with one hand against the wall, surrounded by at least five wives. Ume is murmuring comforting words as she holds Sakura's long pink hair in both hands. Another wife is dabbing at Sakura's clammy forehead with a wet washcloth.
"Sakura." Only her eyes move to look at him. "Are you alright?"
She shakes her head before doubling over and dry heaving.
Ume rubs small circles in the middle of Sakura's back.
"This will pass, Sakura-hime. I was the same way when I was carrying Hideo."
He can feel everyone's eyes on him.
Kakashi swallows and whispers, "We have to get you home."
"I'm so sorry," she whispers back, her eyes screwed shut.
Sakura wasn't showing yet. They thought they had at least two more weeks.
Inhaling deeply, Kakashi pushes past the panic and says, "There's nothing to apologize for. Can I carry you?"
She nods, keeping her eyes closed.
"Be careful, Kakashi-sama," Ume says reproachfully when he scoops her up from the floor in one smooth motion.
"I'll try my very best," he replies.
She feels so small and fragile in his arms.
The moment he steps outside, Sakura buries her face into his chest. Kakashi swallows hard and takes slow, deep breaths to quell the quickness of his heartbeat.
"Asuka was carrying fish to the kitchens," she says, sounding utterly miserable. Her voice is muffled by the fabric of his clothes. "She walked by me and now it's all I can smell whenever I'm outside."
"I just got back from training," Kakashi says wryly, keeping his gaze up ahead and studiously avoiding eye contact from the wives he walks by. "Are you sure my clothes are a better-smelling alternative?"
"So much better," she groans.
He glances down. Her cheeks are slightly pink, but he attributes that to the nausea.
"I suppose anything's better than freshly caught fish," he acquiesces.
Upon arriving at the house, Kakashi slowly sets her down on the futon and brews more tea for her. She is hardly able to drink any.
"You don't usually feel nauseated in the afternoons," he says slowly.
Sakura nods, sitting up a little straighter.
"Symptoms are unpredictable. And they can change at a moment's notice." She tries to take one more sip. "The elders must know by now. Are you ready to make an announcement? To both our clans?"
Kakashi swallows.
"I am."
He is not. After they send a messenger bird to the Senju containing the good news, the Hatake clan celebrates with a celebratory feast the next evening, and Kakashi snaps his chopsticks in half with just one hand when one of the elders' wives, Chiharu, loudly tells Sakura to stop visiting Rin's grave. Two seats to his left, he hears Aiko sigh irritably into her sake dish.
"That girl was a curse," Chiharu is saying, her lip curling in disdain.
"What did you say?" Kakashi says in a low, dangerous voice.
The head table goes quiet, as do the two tables closest to them. Chiharu raises an eyebrow. But the haughty expression on her face drains away when Sakura sits up to her full height, glares at Chiharu, then says, "Answer him."
Chiharu blinks rapidly.
"I only meant that we should be taking every precaution to protect Sakura-hime and the baby, Kakashi-sama," Chiharu stammers.
"To speak ill of Rin-san is to speak ill of Kakashi. And to speak ill of Kakashi is to speak ill of me." Sakura narrows her green eyes. "Would you care to rephrase your advice, Chiharu-obaa-san?"
Shaking with barely restrained rage, Kakashi watches along with his fellow clansmen as an astonished Chiharu bleats out something about eating well to take care of the baby growing inside Sakura.
Sakura smiles coldly.
"Thank you for your concern, Chiharu-obaa-san." She nods at Kakashi. "I think my husband is ready for your apology." She glances down at his hands. "And a working pair of chopsticks."
Chiharu mumbles an apology. One of the branch house wives sitting close to the head table, Fune, hurriedly darts into the kitchen and presents Kakashi with new chopsticks.
Sakura looks Chiharu up and down one more time before saying, "I trust you and the rest of the clan will no longer perpetuate the vile superstition concerning Rin-san."
Chiharu blushes.
"Of course, Sakura-hime. Kakashi-sama."
The chatter that fills the dining hall again is less jovial and more hushed. Kakashi somehow manages to nod a quick thank you to Fune, but he has lost his appetite.
And apparently, so has Sakura.
They excuse themselves from dinner early, citing exhaustion. And under the soft glow of the lanterns, Sakura forces him to sit at the table as she picks splinters out of his right hand.
"I was going to say you didn't have to do all that," Kakashi says quietly. "But I'm glad you did. Thank you."
Sakura laughs, but there is no humor in it.
"Chiharu-obaa is a nasty piece of work. Just the other day, I caught her ripping Emiko to shreds for not falling pregnant with a second child yet. Emiko gave birth three months ago!" Sakura exclaims, annoyed.
She raises his hand closer to her face, inspecting it carefully. Kakashi clears his throat and pulls his hand out of her gentle grip.
"It feels fine now. Thank you, Sakura."
She smiles at him. Kakashi's heart beats faster.
"I'm going to visit Rin," he hears himself saying as he stands.
It is a bit of a blur, but he soon finds himself standing in front of Rin's grave.
And for once, he does not quite know what to say.
Two weeks after receiving the news of Sakura's pregnancy, Sakura is melting into Tsunade's arms by the gates leading to the Senju estate. Blinking some tears away, Tsunade holds her daughter's face in both hands and turns it left then right, examining her with a critical eye.
"They've been taking good care of you," Tsunade says, her voice hitching slightly. Then she touches Sakura's stomach. Although subtle, there is a curve to it. "And have you been taking care of this little one?"
"Of course, kaa-san."
Tsunade glances at the small group of heavily-armed Hatake clansmen that has accompanied Sakura during the three day trip to the Senju estate. Someone is missing.
"Where is your husband?"
Sakura sighs.
"He's been away for a week and a half now. But he'll come by to pay his respects to you and the clan once he has secured Fort Mito. I'll stay here until he does." She frowns. "I keep telling him that the clan heir shouldn't be on the front lines, but he insists on leading by example."
"A stubborn one, is he?" Tsunade deadpans.
"Like you wouldn't believe." Tsunade raises an eyebrow at the small, fond smile that appears on her daughter's face. "But he's not so bad."
Tsunade ushers Sakura to her study first — "Because I'll never get a moment with you to myself once Tobirama-oji and your siblings see you!" Tsunade complains — and has Sakura sit down.
"That's a peculiar instrument," Sakura says, eyes curious as Tsunade pulls out a long wooden tube.
"A new invention from your brother," Tsunade says. She shakes her head. "He made it with the initial purpose of 'listening to the soil,' or whatever it was that he said. But I think it's much more useful in my hands."
She places one end of the tube above her heart then motions for Sakura to place her ear to the other end of the tube. Sakura's eyes widen.
"This can amplify your heartbeat," she whispers in awe.
Tsunade nods.
"And other funny sounds inside the human body." She gestures towards Sakura's stomach. "Can I listen to my grandchild?"
A pleased blush on her face, Sakura nods.
Tsunade gently places the tube over Sakura's stomach and leans over to place her ear on it, moving the tube around every few seconds. With a sigh, she stands up straight.
"It's much too early to hear the baby, but I thought it was worth a try. I'll listen for a heartbeat again when you begin to show more." She wiggles the tube in her hands. "And perhaps your brother can make some adjustments to this so that you can listen to it as well."
Sakura smiles wryly.
"I'm sure Yamato-nii will jump at the opportunity."
Tsunade laughs. Then she takes out a scroll and a brush to jot down some notes.
"When did you last bleed?"
"Before the wedding."
Tsunade nods.
"How long before the wedding?"
"Two weeks."
Tsunade pauses in her note-taking. Sakura sounded a little too nonchalant, too measured. She puts down the brush and levels her youngest child with A Look.
"Were you forced to consummate the marriage?"
"No," Sakura answers calmly.
Tilting her head, Tsunade then asks, "How soon was the marriage consummated?"
Sakura blinks.
"The baby was conceived early."
"That's not what I asked."
Some defiance gleams in Sakura's eyes.
"How are these questions relevant, kaa-san?"
The sides of Tsunade's mouth tilt downwards.
"I'm trying to help you, Sakura." She sighs. "You don't think I remember what it was like to be young and in love with a handsome boy?"
Sakura's face has gone blank. She is hiding.
Tsunade holds Sakura's face in her hands again, the way she used to do when Sakura was being particularly mulish.
"If you begin to show too early, your new husband will get suspicious," Tsunade murmurs. "You can stay here for a few months then go back to them. They will be none the wiser."
Sakura blinks those big, green eyes at her. Suddenly, Tsunade finds herself missing her mother. Although Tenten tends to draw more obvious comparisons to Mito because of how she styles her hair, Tsunade has always seen more of Mito in Sakura's green eyes and brightly colored hair.
"Kakashi knows," Sakura says, and the serene expression on her face is enough to let Tsunade know that her youngest is telling the truth.
Tsunade nods.
"And what if the child inherits his father's eyes?"
Sakura tilts her chin upwards.
"The child's father is half Hyuuga. Anything is possible."
Tsunade huffs out a short laugh.
"My sweet girl," she says, lightly touching the jewel in the middle of Sakura's forehead. "You remind me more of your grandmother with each passing year."
There is a light knock on the shoji doors before they open, revealing Tobirama. He is half-scowling, and his arms crossed.
"I knew it," Tobirama deadpans. "You've been hogging her."
"I'm her mother," Tsunade says, incredulous.
Tobirama looks at Sakura, who is practically glowing with affection.
"I need your help interpreting a scroll. Come with me."
Sakura laughs.
"I missed you too, Tobirama-ojii."
Tsunade watches fondly as Sakura loops her arm through Tobirama's and steers them away to Tobirama's study, speaking excitedly about the surprisingly rare scrolls in the Hatake compound.
"And you won't believe what I discovered about the Inuzuka clan…" is the last thing she hears Sakura saying as they turn the corner.
Tsunade smiles. It is good to have Sakura home.
Some miles away from the Senju estate, a handsome young man with short dark hair and pale skin bows before an older man with stark white hair.
"Report."
"The Senju princess has arrived home. Given the number of guards and the herbs they brewed for her, I suspect she is pregnant with the Hatake heir's son."
The older man raises an eyebrow. Almost absent-mindedly, he touches the scarred skin on the right side of his face.
"I will bring this information to Madara-sama. Excellent work, Sasuke-kun."