A/N: At last, the penultimate chapter.
Bright and early the next morning, Sakura stopped off at Ino's family flower shop to buy a bouquet.
The girl was working with Sai that day, surprisingly. She explained that she had gotten close with him, and that her family was letting him stay with her to court her.
Armed with a bouquet of white tulips, Sakura made her way to her childhood home alone.
Arata was sitting on a bench reading a book outside the home when she arrived, and when he looked up he gasped when he saw her.
"Holy cow!" He hollered, hopping to his feet and dropping the book on the bench. "Mama! Mama, it's the lady!"
"You remember me!" Sakura exclaimed with a big smile. She squatted, opening her arms for a hug.
He ran into her arms and wrapped his arms around her neck. "Man oh man, Mama was so happy to get the comb back! I'm happy you came back to see me!"
"I'm happy too, young one," she whispered, standing up as Mebuki came running to the door.
"Arata, you were yelling for-" She stopped short in the doorway, her aged eyes widening.
Arata turned to give her a toothy grin. "Mama! It's the pretty lady I told you about! The pink one! You remember the pink one-"
The cup that she'd been drying fell to the ground, shattering.
Arata let out a squeak, eyes bugging in surprise. "Mama?"
"... Sakura?" Her voice was tiny, trembling, as she beheld her lost daughter with stunned disbelief. "Is that you? Is that really you?"
Sakura gave her a sad smile. "I'm here in the flesh, Mom."
A choked sob escaped the older woman's throat and she ran for her, throwing her arms about her.
Arata blinked in astonishment at the two women, glancing back and forth from Sakura to her mother.
"Kizashi!" She hollered over her shoulder, wiping the rising tears from her daughter's eyes. "Kizashi, come quick!"
Sakura let out a quiet breath as Kizashi appeared, alarmed at her cries and concerned when he saw the shattered porcelain.
"Mebuki, what happened to the tea-" He stopped when Mebuki turned, her eyes weepy.
"Kizashi, she's home ," she exclaimed in a waving voice. "Our Sakura is alive and home !"
Arata, up until this point horribly confused, looked back to the pinkette with shock.
"Are you my big sis?" He asked. "B- but my big sis is dead!"
Sakura smiled down at the young boy. "That was a cover; I've only been hiding... and I've waited for too long to finally meet you properly, little brother."
"Oh wow!" He exclaimed, hugging her tighter. "Just wait until I show you my books! Mama wrote a buncha stories about you after you went away!"
"Did she now?" Sakura chuckled. She looked up and sent her aging father a crooked grin. "I've missed you, Dad."
"Sakura," he breathed, racing to the hug pile. "My daughter, I- I thought you were- the royal family claimed that you were-"
"In a way, I was dead," she confirmed with a nod. "But I'm alive. I'm here now. I'm not leaving you like that ever again."
Mebuki let out a cry.
"I'm so sorry for all the trouble I caused you both," Sakura whispered.
"Nonsense, you silly girl." Kizashi chuckled, wiping the rising moisture from her eye with his thumb. "I'm so glad you've come home."
"So did you visit me sometimes?" Arata piped up innocently, squirming a bit as she adjusted her hold.
"I did," she confirmed with a gentle smile. "The nights when your mama gave you packages? Those were from both me and a very special person I had help from."
Arata's nose scrunched up as he thought. Then he gasped. "Have you seen my angel?"
"I've met her," she agreed. "She's a very amazing person."
Then she remembered her parents were standing there, and she gasped. "Oh! Uh, I got you flowers. Do you still like Lily of the Valley?"
"How lovely," Mebuki exclaimed, wiping her eyes before taking the flower bundle. "I know just where to put these. Oh- we're just about to have lunch! Do you want to join us?"
"I'd love to, if it's no trouble," Sakura replied.
The couple took pause, Mebuki's eyes darting down to the remains of the cup on the welcome mat. After awkwardly sweeping the shards to the side with her foot, she looked back up with a grin.
"Good, good!" Mebuki pressed a chaste kiss to her husband's cheek as she took Arata. "I'm afraid I accidentally dropped the cup, but we should have a spare in the cupboard somewhere."
Footsteps down the hall made his heart beat faster every time he heard them.
Sasuke clenched his eyes shut and shook his head before staring out the window once more.
He knew deep down that this was something that had to be done. He knew that if he didn't talk to her about everything that happened, that it would continue to eat away at him inside. It didn't make it any easier to attempt.
"Focus," he told himself. "You told Naruto you would do this only once. It doesn't matter what you discuss. Just get through it and he'll leave you alone."
The quiet beeping and faint chatter of the hospital seemed to be omnipresent. It filled the silence of the day and was missing in the cool of the night, when his thoughts came back to haunt him the most.
"Mother, I wish you could be here to mediate," he thought despondently. "You would have known just what to say to keep me calm."
A soft knock drew him from his thoughts, and as he looked up, he saw a head of pink hair in the doorway.
He steeled his nerves, his face remaining impassive.
Sakura smiled awkwardly as she walked into the room. "Hey. Naruto said you wanted to talk to me?"
"Hn." He gestured to one of the chairs in the room.
Sakura's smile faded and she let out a quiet sigh as she grabbed a chair and pulled it to his bedside.
As soon as she was in the chair, hands interlaced into each other, Sasuke stared her in the eyes. "Why did you do it?" He questioned.
Her eyes were weary and sad, but she still looked into his own as she answered, "I never wanted to hurt you. I wanted to save you."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Partially, it does." She sighed. "The plan was always to force out whatever was controlling the royal family, and I volunteered to go in as a spy for Tsunade."
"Even then, you suspected…"
"It seems like excuses now, but it's the truth." Sakura shrugged her shoulders loosely and a crooked smile came to her lips. "I just hadn't expected how deep the rabbit hole would go."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he looked away. "Did you suspect Madara to begin with?"
"No."
The answer both did and didn't surprise him in the least. "Orochimaru."
"Yeah, Tsunade had a feeling he was poking his tongue where it didn't belong." She started to say something else, but hesitated when she saw the stormy look in Sasuke's eyes. Quietly, she added, "I'm… really sorry about your mom."
He didn't answer at all.
"Sasuke…" She sat up straighter and squeezed her hands together. "I'm sorry I had to lie about who I was. I know it's hard to wrap your head around, but…"
"Who was she?"
"I- what?" She asked, taken aback.
"Who was she?" He repeated, slowly looking back over to her. "Your false identity."
Sakura opened her mouth, but closed it and frowned at the floor. "She died in the original raid on Morino. Her and her mother both."
Sasuke's frosty expression melted a bit, but he looked away.
The rosette clasped her hand to her chest, the pain overtaking her for the first time since Shien's death. She swallowed, feeling a lump of emotion in her throat.
"Sakura."
She looked up, her eyes beginning to grow misty.
Sasuke didn't even look at her, instead continuing to look out the window. "I want to be alone."
It took her a moment to register, but she quickly nodded and stood from the chair. "Of- of course, you're still healing. I'm sorry for taking up too much of your time."
The room was awkwardly silent as she put the chair back, gathered up her wits, and began to leave.
At the doorway, she paused. "Sasuke."
His eyes flickered over to his peripheral vision.
"Everything I told you that night… everything I said was true then, and still rings true now." She took a shuddering breath before turning to face him and smile. "I love you. With all of my heart."
This seemed to make him respond, but as he turned his body to face her, she was already out the door.
