Title: I can't escape, unless you show me how
Summary: He wants to start new. And to do that, he needs to restart from scratch.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Prompt: Inventions
Rating: K
Warning(s): Some angst.
Comments: I think some of you might really like this idea.

"You're up late again," his wife remarks, voice filled with worry.

He looks up from his desk with a tired gaze, sees her leaning on the frame of his office door, and nods his head lightly in affirmation. "Go to bed, Sakura," he murmurs, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "I won't be long."

"That's what you said yesterday. And the day before. And the day before that, too." She pauses, and takes a few steps forward to touch his shoulder gently. "You need sleep, Sasuke."

"I'm fine," he replies calmly, running his hand through his hair, then turning back to his book and flipping to the next page, before he scans it quickly. He nods to himself after a moment, and scribbles something on a paper. "I just need to get this done."

"Sasuke…" she whispers, sounding a little sad. "You know you don't have to rush this. There's plenty of time to figure this out—"

His eyes harden. "Don't start with me, Sakura. You know we've already talked about this," he says, irritably. "I don't want to hear it, especially when you know nothing about this."

He sees how the worry grows in her eyes and sighs, lifting a hand to rub at his temple lightly, the anger leaving him. He was out of line.

"I'm sorry," he apologizes tiredly, pushing the papers and books away from him as he turns to look at her properly. She seems small and vulnerable with her hands up to her chest like that, and he knows then that his harsh behavior has not only worried her, but it has hurt her as well.

He grasps her hip lightly and bows his head, bringing her closer to him. "I'm sorry," he repeats softly. "I'm just tired." It is the understatement of the year, but he knows she will understand. His free hand clutches the back of her shirt, and he tugs lightly.

He feels Sakura bury her hands in his hair as she lets him bring her close, and he closes his eyes, leaning his forehead on her stomach. He always loved her most in moments like these, when she forgave him without lingering bitterness—when she knew he was not himself and didn't mean whatever he did or said.

"I didn't think it would be this hard," Sasuke says, breaking the long, comforting silence. "I never thought it would be easy, but I didn't think it would be so hard either." He is opening himself up to her, tonight, something he hadn't been wanting to do when it came to this subject. She hardly knew anything about it—he just didn't think she'd get it. "Everything just comes back to the basic techniques. I want new ones. I need new ones." He tightens his hold on her shirt. "I can't let my children use the same destructive techniques that me, Itachi, and the rest of the Uchihas abused of in the past. They're tainted."

"I know," he hears her say softly, while she brushes his scalp with her slim fingers. "I know."

He takes a deep breath and tries to calm the anger—the disappointment—boiling in his stomach. "It's not working," he grinds out, angry at himself. "I can't create new jutsus—I can't even make one." He pushes away from her when he feels that he might ends up accidentally hurt her, and when his red eyes catch sight of the books on his desk, he violently throws them off.

His breathing is slightly off pattern now, but he is unaware. He only runs a shaky hand through his hair, and closes his eyes tightly. "I can't do it."

"You don't need to," Sakura replies after a moment. He sees her crouch in front of him so she can grasp his face in her hands. "Sasuke, you don't have to do this."

His anger flares again, when he realizes that he was right when he thought she wouldn't get it. His hands rises to grasp her wrists so he can put hers away, but he freezes when she smiles lovingly, understandingly, at him.

"The techniques aren't tainted, Sasuke," she starts, stroking his cheek softly. "The only reason they seem tainted is because of the way they were used." His eyes widen, but she doesn't give him time to say anything. "You only need to teach our children to use them for good, to save the lives of the ones they love and care about, like you have done many times. Teach them never to use them to cause unnecessary harm; teach them never to kill, especially not with those techniques. Teach them morality and virtue." She smiles brighter. "They aren't bad, Sasuke. They will never be bad if they choose to use them for the greater good."

He is quiet, for a while. He looks at her, takes in the warmth of her smile, remembers her reassuring words and loses himself in the righteousness of this woman. She echoes truth—she is amazing.

She is his wife, his lover, his one true love… and someday soon, she will be a mother.

He looks down at her very swollen stomach and caresses it with the most loving touch, thinking to himself that she will be a great mother if she keeps talking like that and he will pale in parenthood in comparison to her. Then he pulls her into his lap and kisses her sweetly, murmuring on her lips, "You're right."

He scoops her up and brings her to the bedroom, where they can both get a well-deserved good night sleep, and murmurs words of gratitude and love to her as they become wrapped up in each other's arms.

Sleep comes easy and quickly, and the books lay forgotten on the floor.

A/N: A little short, but please don't complain. I don't intend on making all of my drabbles long. In fact, the majority of my drabbles aren't even drabbles—they're mini fics. Lol. I do hope you still enjoyed! I shall try to get my next update tonight, though it will likely be a little late at night.

Do try to leave a review, they make me smile and I treasure every single one of them (except the ones who contains only two dreaded words).

See you soon!

DeepPoeticGirl