I can't believe I forgot to mention when Karin tells Sasuke that they should do their own business, it was inspired by a similar moment between Prince Genji and his wife Lady Aoi in the 1951 film Genji Monogatari. XD How silly of me!

Hope you enjoy this moment before the climax - but be warned. I won't spoil, though. Grab tissues and whatever else you need.

Chapter title translation: "make peace with".

Chapter Seven

Nakanaori

Seven years of an unhappy second marriage, no children, and all about frivolous things rather than each other, in contrast to a happier one which could have lasted longer had it not been for him. But he was free now, and as soon as the final day of his term was ending with sundown, he grabbed the reins of his horse and wasted no time getting on the saddle to ride across the village of grass, into the wild until he found the bridge that would take him across the great river beneath.

By the time he was to be faced with the wrath of his former in-laws, he was far away and heading home to where he belonged, praying it wasn't too late. But would his prayers be answered with the sins he committed?

It was the first day of the autumn solstice, a little over seven lifetimes to the day he left Konoha. For two or three days, he didn't stop other than to sleep, and as soon as he was near the border of his old home, he hurried in the dark, taking a little time to take in how different yet the same Konoha Village was. I haven't heard about it since I left. I need to know what's changed and what stayed the same. But first...

That first was none other than seeking out the house where SHE lived - or used to? - as did his brother and his family. But he didn't want to see Itachi, Hanaru, and their son, but the one he betrayed most of all. In the late hours of the night, the village was as silent as a cemetery. However, the full moon aided in his voyage, and as soon as he reached the destination, he was happy to find it exactly as he remembered, though with a few additions that surprised him: there were a few weeds growing around as if to give it a slightly abandoned appeal.

How could his wife or Hanaru not yet care for the grounds?

Sasuke cleared his throat and stopped before the sliding doors in the front of the compound. Raising his hand, he knocked, but there was no answer. He thought it was very...strange, but perhaps no one was home. Or it had been abandoned long before tonight? He didn't want to think so.

What he discovered was a shock: the doors were unlocked from the inside. He didn't know if he was inclined to find that out himself, but here the door opened just for him, destined to let him go inside and explore before he would find the one he was looking for. If I don't see her, then I'm too tired to carry on. I'll sleep here, or outside, with the horse until morning and go asking for her.

The wind picked up then and there, chilling him up his spine. Sasuke heard himself audibly shudder and clenched his hands at his sides as he went into the compound, sandals still on.

Here he was in the front area, finding no items present that he could see. The walls had cracks in them. What was going on here? The moon was even shining above through a hole in the roof! He was tempted to just turn around and leave, but something compelled him to move forward.

He continued to explore this rickety old place he once called home. Each room had a memory that was near and dear to him. Here he was in the main room which was reserved for entertaining guests and each other. He remembered baby Ren learning how to walk, and swallowed his guilt in not being enthused enough when the little boy fell over a few times, then rolled upwards onto his little rear end, laughing because he was without a care. It made his parents, and his aunt and uncle laugh with him. All except one.

If he was right, his nephew must be nine years old now.

There was also the modest cooking area where his wife and sister-in-law worked morning and night for the men of their lives. That food he enjoyed even before they were married before they moved into this place. Out that window, he saw the small area of land surrounded by trees - which were dying with the new coming season, the moonlight illuminating the red leaves like blood - where he and Sakura trained when they had nothing better to do, but it was one of their ways to spend time with each other.

Now that Sasuke thought of it, he couldn't remember a time when he asked Itachi to spar with him when they became grown men. He believed it was because the times had changed, and he didn't need his brother to help him with anything anymore. Why couldn't they have done it for the fun of it, for old times' sake?

Itachi will hate me when he sees me again. I'm counting on it. He could refuse to let me back, he could not.

And Hanaru would threaten him with death, he was sure of that, too. But he didn't know how their boy would take him, since Ren was only a baby. He wouldn't be surprised if the child was told Uncle Sasuke abandoned them for something unimportant.

He found the small room where his, Itachi's, and their wives' weapons were stored, seeing nothing there but dust gathering where the items themselves once were. He was close to deciding that no one lived here, but he was being pulled by some invisible force to keep scouring -

- and it wasn't long until he found himself at the very spot where his beloved Sakura worked her love and sorrows. Where she screamed that night he left that she would work until her looks faded just for him. Anything if only he stayed...

"Sakura."

She was still wearing that one pink kimono she loved above everything else - and it was the one he loved her in. That hair...it's as long and sweet as I remember it! She was by her loom, working on a simple kimono of dark blue with white inner linings, and when she heard her name, she looked up and saw him standing there: face dirty, dark hair all over the place, and his clothes dusted. He had no time to clean before he arrived, but he didn't even think he'd find her in an abandoned place like this! And where were the others? He wanted to ask, but his voice was lost.

Her voice was soft and kind, with no hint of hostility. "Sasuke...it's you."

He nodded. "Yes, I'm here," he answered, finding his voice and then turning it off to the side, unable to look at her. He was going to wait and see if she would relapse and show him the cruelty he was going to take.

But nothing happened. "When did you get back to Konoha?" she asked.

"Just...now," Sasuke said, glancing her way again, wondering if he should just lower his guard if only a little bit since he couldn't even find a trace of hatred in her after all these years.

"How did you find your way to me in all those black rooms?" Sakura asked him, perhaps too happy and excited to see him. He didn't even deserve any of this. Not in the slightest.

He sat down, in exactly the same place he was at the present, and smoothed out the front of his traveling garb. "Sakura...please, don't," he insisted, maybe a little too harshly. "I...I don't deserve your hospitality. I came all the way in the dark, but I should be outside this place rather than in here."

Her face fell a little. "But, Sasuke, I want to do this for you. You came a long way. I should at least get you some supper -"

"No, really, I don't want it."

She stayed where she was then, and he finally found it in himself to look at her face, noting how she hadn't changed at all, not just in her demeanor, but her face as well: she was still young and fresh as the flower she was named after, not even fading like the blossom would when its time was up. Her eyes were darker than he recalled, though the shine of life was still there. Her skin was clear and fresh as a peach.

But none of it as lush as her hair he desperately longed to touch again.

Sasuke felt himself break then and there. It was all spewing from his mouth as he shamelessly released the emotions because he owed it all to her for the rest of his life now. "Sakura...you don't have to forgive me, but I was wrong in every aspect. I was cruel and heartless to you. My term expired two days ago, and as soon as it happened, I hurried back here and didn't stop for anything except for sleep. My horse is outside." He paused to take a few deep breaths.

"I was so wretched without you; I pretended I was happy in my new marriage when I was far from it. She was so heartless, unlike you. I could never stop thinking about you for one moment, and I struggled to sleep at night. So, when my time was finished, I divorced her and came back in the night. I wish to spend the rest of my life making amends unless you no longer want me..."

He jerked his head up again when she breathed, "You were thinking so much about me. You came all the way out here because you came to your senses."

She just told him that he got what he deserved when he realized the error of his ways, and here he was now. "Forgive me," he croaked out, bowing his head and sliding both his hands in front of himself across the floor as his means of submission to her every whim.

"Oh, don't reproach yourself!" Sakura exclaimed. "It's wrong for you to suffer on my account. I always felt I was unworthy to be your wife after you left. I tried to better myself, but I missed you so much."

Sasuke raised his head and saw she was in the same position he was in. She's harming herself because she deserved it! No, that wasn't what I wanted of her! "Don't -!" he begged, but she wouldn't have it. "It was I who left you when it was no fault of yours."

"Poverty was the reason," she answered, raising her head to look at him. A few strands of hair had fallen before her eyes, but she didn't push them away. "You were always the good man I've known in girlhood and when we were married. I did everything I could to make you happy, but then I thought it wasn't enough," she finished with a whisper, the shine turning into a glaze that made him get up and go to her, kneeling before her and taking her hand into his. It was soft as he recalled, though beneath was callous due to her training and hunting days.

"I'll make amends," he swore, closing his fingers around her hand, then placing his free one over it. "Unless you forbid it, I'll stay by your side and never leave again."

Sakura smiled up at him, gazing upon him as if he were some god. "Forget it...husband. You came a long way home. What greater happiness than to see you again..." She leaned against him then, her head over his chest to hear his heartbeat pick up, and it made her sigh.

"...if only for a moment?"

He laughed, throat throbbing. "Only for a moment? Make it the length of seven lives!" He exhaled when one arm wrapped around her back and the other went to...run through her hair. That same soft hair fragrant with a bouquet of many florae. So glossy in the light, so lush in contrast to the finest of kimono. This hair that won him to her so many years ago. Sakura laughed when she noticed what he was up to.

"I remember you telling me the night we met again that it was longer than you remember, and I asked if that was all you came to talk to me about."

Right before she told him her revenge story, which brought them together. It was one of the greatest nights of his life. "And I asked you to go with me because I genuinely wanted to help you, the law be damned," he answered breathlessly. "I meant it when I said I wanted to marry you. There was no one who ever haunted me...except you."

The tears fell from both corners of her eyes; he saw this when she pulled her head back to look at him. Those glistening waters over soft, perfect cheeks, her broad green eyes taking in his face in the careful, loving way unlike HER.

They remained that way for a long time in this embrace, passionately kissing and forgetting their sorrows.

Now they were in this next room which was much closer to his heart: the very room they slept in, but in the final months, he'd subconsciously and purposefully pushed her aside, lost in his own selfish insecurities. He didn't want to sleep for a moment, but to hear from her what happened in Konoha while he was away, and he didn't care if it would be until dawn broke. He laid down beside her, looking right into her eyes and getting lost as she told him everything.

Itachi had succeeded in making his way to the top enough to become a wealthy merchant but was forbidden to flaunt it. Thus his wife and son, who was indeed nine years old now, were taken care of. "Where are they now?" he asked.

"They have their own place," she answered, "not too far away from here. I take care of myself just fine, but I visit them as they visit me. I couldn't bear to leave this place which has so many memories - the good and the bad. Now that you are here, we can rebuild anew."

So we can begin anew.

It was then that she told him their village engaged in a vicious fight with Kiri sometime after he left, and both sides suffered heavy losses and were rebuilding slowly. "But our emperor negotiated with the enemy, called a truce, and got assistance from Suna," Sakura told him, nuzzling her nose against his.

"Now, what about your life?"

He refused to divulge his life with Karin, but he gave her the basics: his new wife was a spoiled brat who thought she could have anything she wanted, didn't enjoy weapons and protection as she did - nor did she see him for the person he was, only his face. And when his story was done, he closed his eyes and fell asleep with her.

~o~

Ahhh...the best sleep I've had in years. Sasuke opened his eyes then and found himself looking up at the rooftop, to see the sunlight streaming in small beams on the floor - but then he frowned when he felt something was wrong. He'd slept in this place beside his wife and it had felt wonderful after a long night of making peace...

...but it still didn't feel right.

Sasuke sat up and stretched his bones, looking around and trying to figure out why he felt so strange when he was supposed to be happy. "Sakura?" he asked, then turned to look down at her when he got no answer. He reached over tentatively and grasped her shoulder gently, turning her over for his eyes - and then he screamed and jerked back with the force of a storm pulling him away from safety.

What he found could only be the stuff of nightmares, which would climax with each candle going out as the story grew even more terrifying. This had to be one of those stories he heard as a child, but his mind was in the frenzy, which prevented him from thinking clear at the moment as he took in the thing wrapped up in the faded kimono, white as the garments the dead were buried in, and the face of the skull tangled up in long PINK hair.

Sasuke's heart and entire body were all gripped with a concoction of monstrous emotions: icy which froze the edges and traveled with an unbearable heat in which he thought he was going to die at this moment. He quickly shut his eyes and scrambled to his feet, the thought racing through his brain over and over: I slept next to a corpse I slept next to a corpse I slept next to a corpse -!

When he was on his feet and against the nearest wall, he turned back around, and the bones of his beloved were gone.

Found on the Seek Ghosts article for Kwaidan's "Black Hair": A traditional Japanese belief is if a dead person is not given a proper funeral with respect after they die—they often return as a Yurei/ghost to seek revenge. (But I chose to tweak) "Black Hair/Reconciliation" has always been depicted as more sad than scary, in the opinion of many.

I know some of you wanted a happier ending for Sakura, and believe me, I thought of it, too, but I had my reasons for sticking to the original material, and it will be revealed in the next chapter which IS the final one. Meantime, reviews appreciated - but please don't flame me. If you guys are crying, so was I. :'(