Watercolors in Haru (春)
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The man cursed silently.
Too much pink.
He dipped his paintbrush back into the paint palette.
Tsk, now it was too light.
"Damn," he cursed as his swift brushstrokes became expeditious.
No, no, it was all wrong.
It was the wrong shade of pink.
No color in the world could ever capture the right color tone of-
"Darling,"
Soon he felt his wife's hands soothing his back.
He hadn't noticed how stiff and tense he had become until he felt himself relaxing at her touch.
Sakura smiled sadly at her husband's tense state before resting her arms around him.
"Sarada is waiting for you outside," she spoke softly.
Sasuke nodded, recalling how he promised his daughter he would play with her this evening.
There was a moment of comfortable silence before Sakura allowed her arms to let go of Sasuke.
She silently watched as he placed his art supplies back in their designated places and used a wet cloth to wash his hands.
She seized the opportunity to analyze his upcoming painting. In the eyes of anyone, the portrait was magnificent. A beautiful beach scenery next to cliffs and a gorgeous sunset.
However, Sakura knew better.
Knowing her husband, the color of the sun was bothering him, and so was the rigid state of the ocean waves. He hadn't quite captured it perfectly to his taste.
And- wait, what was this?
Squinting her eyes, she managed to recognize the figure of a person.
That was odd; her husband never painted human beings.
She took a closer look before her eyes widened.
It was a woman with pink hair who looked similar to her.
A warm feeling suddenly spread on her chest as Sakura gazed at the woman.
Sasuke rarely ever painted humans. He primarily focused on landscapes and sceneries.
What provoked this from him?
Sakura turned around just before he could leave his studio.
"It's beautiful." she let out with a smile.
Sasuke paused and stared at her.
He frowned slightly, replying, "It's not good enough." before leaving to find their daughter.
"I don't know how you do it, dear." the baker spoke.
Sakura fought the urge to walk away and return home. She needed to do grocery shopping.
"Honestly, if I were you, I would have left him long ago." another lady added.
"Seriously, Sakura dear, how do you know he isn't cheating on you?"
Maybe because he locks himself up in his studio all day long?
"He's so moody and antisocial! What did he do to make you fall in love with him?"
Sakura shook her head.
It was a weekly routine, going shopping and tolerating the whispers and insults from the town folks.
It got to the point where Sakura stopped taking Sarada since she started believing their gullible lies about Sasuke.
She returned home with a frown and hadn't noticed she walked past Sasuke.
"Sakura," he spoke, waking her up from her dreamland and provoking a shiver down her spine.
"Sakura"
She loved how her name rolled off his tongue.
"Oh, da-darling." Sakura let out, quickly turning to her husband.
He narrowed his eyes at her; something was going on.
His wife was a very sharp woman. To become suddenly unaware of her surroundings meant something big was going on.
Sasuke then eyed the basket with groceries and frowned.
He should've known- town gossip.
Sakura noticed the frown on her husband's face and shook her head.
"It's alright. It's just foolish gossip." Sakura smiled before continuing her way back inside their home.
However, Sasuke saw past her slight smile, and it broke him, knowing she had to tolerate all those sick assumptions about him and their family.
He could see how she laid the basket on the table and began to take the groceries out from his view.
He saw it again, just as the countless of him he had over the past years of being married: the soft pastel pink color of her hair.
Soon Sarada joined her mother's side and began helping her put groceries away.
Now he saw black and pink-no- all he saw now was a mother and her child.
Sasuke smiled, knowing what his final piece would be.
"Oh, Sarada, look!" Sakura giggled as she pointed at the koi fish in the garden pond.
Sarada smiled and began to throw small bread crumbs at them.
Sasuke had found a house in the fields of Konoha. The house was surrounded by endless flower fields, trees, river streams, and lovely green hills.
It was the perfect vacation getaway.
Sakura held Sarada as she tried sticking her hand in the water so the koi fish could kiss her.
Turning back to see her husband, Sakura smiled softly.
Sasuke sat a few meters away from them with a canvas stool and his paint palette.
Sakura didn't believe him when he told her he would be painting both Sarada and her for his artwork.
Her husband was not a portrait artist.
However, Sasuke wasn't a joking person. Perhaps he had been serious.
Humming, she turned away and focused on her daughter.
The next few days in the house were lovely. Sarada and Sakura explored the area around them, played music, and enjoyed the company of the koi fish pond.
It wasn't until the last night at the house that Sasuke finally allowed her to see his portrait.
All Saukara could do was stare at it.
It was unbelievable-no-it was breathtaking.
There she was, beside Sarada. They were next to the koi pond wearing the dresses Sakura's mother had gifted them.
"Sas-Sasuke-Kun." Sakura managed to gasp out, tears forming in her eyes.
She slowly walked up to the canvas and began to cry at the artwork's title.
Sakura Uchiha and Her Daughter
"All my artwork is based on the places we go on vacation." Sasuke began.
"I never could paint you because I never could get the right tone of your hair color."
Sakura wiped her tears away as she laughed.
Sasuke continued.
"But I realized my artwork should never be about the right shade of color usage. It should be about my message."
Sasuke looked at her.
"I wanted to capture the bond between a mother and daughter. But most importantly, I wanted to show the world who my world is."
Sakura smiled.
"Have you heard?"
"Mr. Uchiha released-"
"Another art piece?!"
"People say this is the best one yet!"
"I've heard he's retiring, and this one was his last piece."
"You're lying?!"
"Only God knows how Mr. Uchiha creates these works of art."
"I wonder what he looks like?"
"He's probably divine like his works of art!"
"You ever wondered if the man who creates these paintings is a kind soul?"
"I've heard he's the most stoic person ever."
"No way! Seriously?"
"I've heard he's a huge grouch."
"How does such a person create such a masterpiece?"
"I bet his wife is a grouch as well."
And no one will ever know that his greatest masterpiece and biggest inspiration was his wife and daughter.
His family.
Notes:
This story was based on the cover image.
The cover image is not mine. I tried looking for the illustrator but I couldn't find them. :(
For my artistic fans, you might have noticed that I based Sasuke on french painter Claude Monet. The painting he did of Sakura and Sarada was inspired by Claude Monet's painting, Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son.
I also inspired a bit of Sasuke from Hayao Miyazaki, who's one of the founders and animators for Studio Ghibli. The man is known for being a jerk in real life. As described by author Colin Groundwater in their GQ article, "For a guy known for his whimsical modern fairy tales of giant animal friends and magical bathhouses, Miyazaki can be an absolute savage. His protege Hideaki Anno, known for the influential Neon Genesis Evangelion series, once put it simply: "He's a really mean old guy!"
I never expected to have received so many messages from readers informing me they enjoyed Even Sakuras Bloom In The Dark. It never crossed my mind for so many to have enjoyed my story. I only published it for fun.
Nonetheless, I am genuinely touched by such feedback, hence why I published this one. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did when I wrote it.
Both of my SasuSaku stories are AU's. So if I do happen to write another SasuSaku story, you best believe it'll be an AU.
This book is dedicated to Chenet Slvk since they were the first person to leave me a review on this site.
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