"When do you think she will stop pacing out there and knock?" Hinata wondered, head resting her hand as she leaned over the counter, her cheeks making a chubby pout.
"My money's on. She gets frustrated with herself and leaves. She can't think we don't know she's out there, right? Two trained nin, one who can see through walls." Sasuke waved his hand toward the living room. "Even without that, we have windows."
"What do you think she wants?" Hinata wondered, deactivating her eyes and focusing on his face.
"To start more shit." Hinata frowned at him. Sasuke shrugged at her disappointment. "Maybe she has come to give a heartfelt apology for all her ways, begging for forgiveness and wishes us well, promising never to be a pain in our sides ever again."
Hinata frowned more. That did sound more ridiculous, though she would hope that it was just a simple apology to Sasuke, at least for any of the things she had heard. Hinata knew that they were all from his point of view, but what concerned her was that Sakura had known him for years. It was not a secret to anyone they knew or even the whole village that he did not want to be around her in any context. He had made it quite clear. Yet, in places that she could have completely ignored his presence, she sought him out.
That made her more upset than she had ever had been with someone she knew personally. She had resentment toward her father for all he had done to her, but she was in his life every day as his responsibility. Sakura was forcing the connection despite her and Sasuke no longer being a team or even friends. It was rude, no matter the reason, and it bothered her the more she thought about it because as much as she would like to give her the benefit of the doubt, she couldn't justify it to herself in a way that she could accept.
Hinata struggled to be downright angry with her about anything she had heard in stories. She was sure she had been mad when it had happened, so it wasn't fair to her to do it now. It was no use to her health to dwell on it now. However, it had been a while now since they had been married, as while since she had lost her memory, and a while since she had made it clear that she still stood by her husband and he would still come home with the occasional story of an unneeded passing remark from the woman.
"I say we tell her she is trespassing and to get off our property." Sasuke laid his head down on the counter lazily.
She giggled, reaching across the table to ruffle his hair. "I think we are a little young to shout 'get off our lawn' from the porch."
"Well, I say it's never too early to start being an old bastard. Look at Kakashi." He shrugged, looking up at her with a smirk.
"I'm going to invite her in." She decided.
He sat back up and groaned. "Why?"
"Because I have the sneaking suspicion if she doesn't get the nerve to knock, this will repeat until she does." She set her hand on her hip with a shrug of her shoulders. "She's shaking like a leaf out there. Whatever she wants, she's scared to ask."
Sasuke frowned, crossing his arms and giving another annoyed groaning, tipping back in the barstool. "Would you hate me to ask if I hid in the bedroom unless I'm needed? I don't want any part in this."
She gave him a soft smile at his proud cowardice. "Of course not."
He sighed, rubbing the back of his head, and headed to lock himself away.
Hinata started a kettle and headed to the front door. "Sakura-chan." She paused, getting a real look at her. Sakura was disheveled, hair ruffled from running her stressed finger through it, she was tugging on her clothes, her usual makeup was smudged, and it was clear that she had been crying.
She looked like she had had a panic attack.
Sakura looked at her wide eyes like she wanted to run but didn't know if her legs would take her.
"Sakura-chan, come inside. I'll make you tea." Hinata beckoned. She waved her hand toward her to the safety of her home from whatever had scared her so bad. She hadn't seen her this disheveled in her adult life. She had cried over Sasuke, leaving when they were young, but the strong woman she had to grow to be could let tears fall with fierceness. She honestly looked like she had been attacked.
When she finally stepped into the house, Hinata laid a hand on her back to guide her to a chair in the living room. She didn't flinch. That was a good sign. It wasn't likely that she was attacked if she wasn't flinching away from touch, but she couldn't be sure from the small test. She readied a pot of tea, two cups, and some small pastries on a tray and brought them to her.
Sakura had taken a pillow and hugged it to her chest tightly and had gone back to crying, wiping her checks every few seconds with her sleeve making her cheek red and dry. Hinata hopped up and snagged a box of tissues. "Sakura-chan, are you okay? You look like you have been hurt."
"No, I well yes, uh." Sakura stammered. "I'm not hurt." She whimpered, sniffing harshly.
"What's wrong," Hinata asked, holding out the cup of tea she made sure to not fill the whole way.
Sakura took it in her shaking hand and sipped at it a few seconds before she visibly stopped shaking as much, but she wasn't calming as much. She felt more comfortable. "You don't remember this."
"I don't remember a lot, but I'm sure if you tell me, I can help." Hinata offered another tissue.
She sniffed, blowing her nose and holding tightly to the tissue as her hand gave an extra shake. "I came to you a while back about a problem I had, and I made a decision, and now I can't take it back."
"Tell me." Hinata offered. "If I helped, then I'm sure I would help now."
She couldn't tell him Sakura decided firmly.
She just couldn't. There was no way he would think about it the same way she would. She had to go to someone, and the more people she thought about, the more people that kept getting crossed off her list. She especially couldn't go to Ino, best friends or not. She couldn't keep this secret, and since she had had her child, it was unlike she would agree either.
She found herself in front of the Uchiha compound after an hour of just walking aimlessly. It was being rebuilt after the attack. One person popped into her head. She couldn't, could she? They had turned her in for what she had said to Sasuke, the first real reprimand on her record. Especially about this.
She wanted to bang her head off the wall.
"Sakura-chan?" Hinata wondered. She turned to see her carrying a basket of vegetables from the market.
"I need your help," Sakura confessed, not thinking any further about it.
And just like that, she was in their house pouring her heart about what was wrong.
"I fell pregnant, and I wasn't sure how. I was on my birth control." She rambled. "I know it's not 100%, but I was so careful and never missed one. I always took it on time." She hiccuped. "You know once a nin gets pregnant, her career is over. I would be able to keep my job at the clinic, but Naruto would never let me go on anything B rank or up if we had children at home. I didn't want to keep it knowing that, but… I knew Naruto would. I just wasn't ready."
"I see." She wasn't sure what she was wanted for in this, though.
"If I tell him he will be ecstatic, he won't understand what it will mean for me! I can't keep it!" Sakura demanded through her tears.
Hinata rubbed a hand over her shoulders and offered her soft voice. "I personally think keeping him out of the decision will strain your relationship later, but it is your choice in the end." Sakura knew it was not uncommon for a female nin to be prepared for this decision. It wasn't a large point of shaming in the village as it was in others. It was accepted as a choice between continuing your nin career or becoming a civilian. It meant that for some fathers as well.
The decision or, in some cases, debate fell on the couple or the woman in question. That was her problem, Naruto had never had a problem with his nin making this decision before, but it had never been his before.
"He'll never look at me the same again. All he's ever wanted was a family. If I did it quietly and he found out, he might never want to see me again." She sobbed.
"I'm not sure that's true, but that's why I think that you should try to tell him your reasoning. I know you still want children later, so you can explain that you don't have a problem with having children with him, but now is just not the time." She had tried.
"I didn't listen. I made up my mind and didn't tell him. However, recently I had gotten poisoned on a mission, and when I woke up in the hospital, he had my medical records in hand." Hinata heartbroken for her as Sakura shivered. "I've never seen him like that. He was so upset. I just didn't have the answers he wanted. He didn't understand. He was yelling and said something about if I wasn't able to have children anymore, what were we going to do?" Sakura was talking so fast that she had to stop to suck in a breath.
Hinata put her hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he was just heated up. He can get excited and say things he doesn't always mean. I'm rather sure if Sasuke found something that important to him like that, he would say whatever came to mind. I'm sure the possibility of you not being able to bear would come to mind and scare him if he wanted to have a family."
"But that's just it!" She cried.
Hinata froze.
"I can't!" Sakura yelled, stamping her foot and tightening her grip on the pillow pitifully. "Something since then and now has damaged my uterus, and I can't carry children."
Hinata had trouble making words for her. She closed her mouth as it had opened in a small innocent gap. "I… do you know if it was a mission?"
"It's too recent to be the last pregnancy." Sakura whimpered. "But it's old enough that there is a low possibility of the damage being repaired enough for a safe pregnancy."
"Does he know?" Hinata whispered.
Sakura shook her head. "I came straight here. You were the only one I told before. I'm too scared to face him." Hinata didn't know what to do. "I wanted to prove him wrong, but..."
"There are always other possibilities. Many children are abandoned in war. There surrogate mothers." Hinata tried.
"That's why I'm here." Sakura whimpered.
"No." Hinata jumped, looking behind her as Sasuke looked more pissed than she had ever seen him. "You are not asking her if she can carry your child as a backup because you don't want to come to your husband empty-handed."
"Sasuke, I think this is..." Hinata stopped with the look he gave her. Furious, but she had an odd feeling if she wanted to say yes right now, there was nothing he would do to stop her.
Sasuke was making sure Sakura heard what she was trying to ask. He was forcing her to face herself.
"Sasuke, I don't have a choice anymore!" Sakura bawled.
"You have a choice right now, to tell him the truth, let him run out of the steam, and talk to him once he's calmed down about the actual options. If one of those still happens to be someone else carrying your child and you BOTH come back, then we can talk about it." He crossed his arms, and his nose twitched. "But you will NOT guilt Hinata into agreeing to something because you want options beforehand."
"Sasuke..." Hinata tried, she agreed with him, but he was being harsh. However, there was no stopping him now.
"You thought he was upset before? Try telling him that the first thing you did after finding out you were sterile was not to go to him for comfort but to go look for your backup plan!" He growled.
That was low. "Sasuke!" Hinata snapped.
He glared past her, his jaw set. He sighed. "Alright, that one was harsh."
Hinata huffed, letting out a stressed breath. "I agree with him."
Sakura squeaked in disbelief.
"In part." Hinata clarified. "I think you should go home and talk about it, let him yell and scream and then when he calms down, tell him what you told me and how his reaction makes you feel. Explain to him that you understand why he's upset, but your previous pregnancy and your lack of ability now are not connected. Though even if it was, I don't think that matters." Sakura buried her face into the pillow. "Then explain that you're open to options now, including having someone else carrying your baby. Do you still have eggs?"
Sakura nodded.
"Then it can still be your blood if that is something you and him find important, but also if you still don't feel comfortable having a child now, don't let this push you into something you're not ready for." Hinata pushed. "Those options will be there for a while, remember that."
"Don't make us your first option," Sasuke added.
Hinata looked back and frowned, then nodded. "I don't think this is a decision I would be able to make quickly anyway. Please go home and talk to him."
Sakura nodded and got up shakily, thanking her for the tea and walking slowly down the street, hugging herself.
As soon as she was out of range, Hinata turned on her husband, with her arms crossed. "That was uncalled for."
"What? Telling her the truth or saving you from a promise you hadn't thought about." He snapped back.
"You know very well I meant about the delivery of the information and not the information itself." She corrected him.
"Happen to notice that she only came to you when she doesn't want to face a mess she made?" He asked as his nose twitched again.
"Recognize one of the hardest decisions in a woman's life being shot at her twice?" She snapped back.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "She made her choice. She chose not to talk about it when she should have, and now that decision has consequences."
"Do you honestly think he would have reacted better then than now?" Hinata asked with her hands now on her hips.
"He would have gotten over it." Sasuke mocked her by putting his hands on his own.
Her face fell flat. "We should talk about this later."
He was more confused but still riding on his anger. "Why?" His shoulders dropped, making him look much less intimidating with his hand on his hips
"Because this is an argument we are having like this." She waved between them. "Because we are both stressed about this event. We can disagree without shouting at each other." She paused for a moment more. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have started at you right after she left."
Hinata never stopped amazing him.
They had never had much of an argument for this very reason. She would recognize that they were getting into the territory of regretting what they were going to say and stop the argument before it got out of hand. Sasuke just couldn't understand how she had that clarity of thought when she was in the middle of a fight. Then again, she was the only person that he ever fought with that was more interested in the truth than being right.
He couldn't understand how she could realize she was wrong and then admit it.
She shrank had she let out the stressed air from her lungs. "I want a bath and some tomato crackers." She grumbled.
She was so cute.
He released the tension and curled around her. "Alright. Bath and tomato crackers, then we can talk about it."