Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and Kudozaki Lucine. The rest belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Uchiha Sasuke

"Weren't we supposed to not eat breakfast?" Lucine asked nonchalantly. She stabbed her last tomato-slice with her fork, and brought it to her lips. "Kakashi-sensei said that we would puke."

I rested my hand on top of hers and smiled, "My princess has to eat. Breakfast is the most important meal. I'm sure we can handle whatever he throws at us."

Lucine stared at me for some seconds, with a blank expression, holding the fork with the tomato-slice on her lips. She looked confused. But the look made her look adorable. "But what if I actually throw up?"

"Don't worry my love, I'll make sure you won't." I rubbed her knuckles gently, but she slapped my hand way and brought it on top of her lap.

"Don't call me that. And don't call me princess." She demanded flatly while she stood up, with our plates in hand, and walked towards the kitchen.

I sulked a bit and walked after her, "Why not?"

She put the dirty plates in the sink, "Because I am not 'your love', and I am not a princess." She started washing the plates calmly.

While she washed, I went up behind her and wrapped my arms around her, but she didn't move. Instead she just continued doing the dishes as if I wasn't there. I smiled and rested my chin on top of her shoulder while closing my eyes. Her hair tickled my nose and the side of my face, making me nuzzle her tightly. The joy I felt at knowing that she was mine, that she was so close, I could hold her and look at her at any time of the day. Because she's mine. It feels good... just holding her like this. If we could stay like this forever I would be perfectly content. Having Lucine in my arms is enough for me to be happy.

Or, that was what I thought until a darker thought crossed my mind, remembering the fate that was awaiting me. Almost happy, that is. I still have to kill Itachi and avenge my clan, to make him pay for what he did to us. My jaw tightened as I grinded my teeth together at the thought of his betrayal. It had been years since then, but the wound still felt fresh. I will never forgive him for what he's done.

Lucine started talking again, interrupting my musing. "Let go of me, I'm finished, and we'll be late if we don't go now." She pried my arms off her and turned to me, "We were supposed to be there at 5 am, and now it's 4:50 am."

"After making us wait like that yesterday, Kakashi will probably late today too, so there's no rush." I reasoned.

"Do you really want to be a shinobi with that attitude? You're so careless." She said nonchalantly, her voice remaining monotonous, but I could sense the seriousness in her words. After placing the last cup back in the cupboard, she walked away while I trailed after her, ignoring the fact that I most likely resembled a lost puppy. "This could be good training for your ambition. Do you want revenge or not?"

That made me stop walking and I looked at her, contemplating her words. Lucine must have noticed that I had grown quiet as I held her, and figured that I was thinking about that.

She didn't look up as she put on her sandals and was already beginning to walk out the door, but she stopped by the doorframe, as if waiting for me to catch up, yet not saying anything. I smiled subtly as I followed after her.

It's always the little things when it comes to her, but what she said now is simply how Lucine shows that she cares. She takes care of me, nags after me when I'm being careless, spars with me during our free time, and overall pushes me to become stronger so that one day I will be able to accomplish my goal. Almost like a mother... or, a more fitting term, like a wife. While she has always been like this, after the massacre she was the first to adapt to the change of lifestyle. She learned how to cook for us, and while it tasted horrible at first, she had now become an expert, and now eating anything else besides her cooking just tastes dull. I don't know why Itachi was merciful and decided to spare her, but if he hadn't, I probably would have spiraled into complete insanity. Lucine keeps me afloat.

She can be cold, and even cruel sometimes. I know Lucine doesn't actually care about much. She shows mild interest in her life as a kunoichi, and I still don't know why she chose to be one. Her indifference can even be puzzling sometimes. When we were seven years old we encountered a semi-dead cat in the forest. It looked like it had been tortured painfully, with parts of its fur pulled from its bones and the legs twisted the wrong way or completely separated from its body. It was seemingly still alive, judging from the way it twitched once in a while and the occasional low mewls of pain it let out. The cat was obviously suffering. 7 year old Lucine blinked once, and didn't hesitate even a second in snapping its neck with her bare hands, and then she kept walking. Looking back on the memory now, it was most likely an act of mercy from her part, putting it out of its misery. Still, I know girls her age wouldn't have acted so nonchalantly like that.

But what matters is that she cares about me. She loves me. Like now. Well... I suppose she doesn't exactly love me in the conventional way, but she expresses her appreciation in other ways. When I told her that I would avenge the Uchiha clan, she respected me and has helped me in any way she could. She seems to know how much it means to me, because she was there with me through it all. When it all happened... Lucine has always been there from the start. While it wasn't her clan that was massacred, it was still her new family and she was betrayed as well after Itachi killed them. When I woke up at the hospital after the massacre happened, she sat there next to me, waiting for me to wake up. After that she let me sleep in her bed whenever I had nightmares. She was there supporting me whenever I cried, and she let me cry on her chest for years after. I remember I sometimes pretended to be sadder than I was, just so she would hold me close. If I close my eyes, I can still feel the warmth and love that exuded from her, from the way she ran her fingers through my hair or nuzzled my neck with her face.

Itachi took everything from us. But we have each other. Lucine is all I have left, and I am all that she has left, too.