Sasori watched the woman he cherished move through their shared room in an uncomfortable fashion. It was clear that she was studiously ignoring the Uchiha, who sat there smirking at her, for some reason that he wasn't sure he wanted to know. What in the hell had come over his stupid ass to leave them alone and naked in the hot spring last night? Was it the way his blossoms eyes wistfully traveled over the assholes face? Or the way they seem to always turn to Itachi no matter what? He let out a heavy sigh. Perhaps if he had just left well enough alone in the beginning his heart wouldn't hurt like this.
"I'm going for breakfast. Alone." Sakura snipped and proceeded to dash out of the room.
Sasori raised his eyebrow, yes Cleary something had gone on last night. He glanced over at Itachi; the arrogant man was splayed out on his bed, one hand behind his head whilst the other held a TV remote. He had a satisfied looking smirk on his face, for some reason everything about his demeanor suddenly pissed Sasori off to no end.
"Take a picture puppet boy, it'd last longer." Said man suddenly bit at him.
"Shut up Uchiha, or ill shut you up myself." Sasori snapped back.
The two men glared at one another, each trying to stare the other down. Until suddenly Itachi's smirk grew more pronounced and gave Sasori a knowing look.
"You can't win her you know." Itachi said slyly.
Sasori froze, his anger suddenly pounding inside of him.
"It's not like you didn't have a chance or anything, it's just that there's no way she'd consider you after last night. Thanks for that by the way." Itachi almost sang.
Sasori's heart dropped, so something did happen. He was about to question it, when the door suddenly slammed shut.
"We have a problem," A soft voice called out. "Get off your asses and suit up; I suspect we have less than 60 seconds before we are attacked."
"BY WHO?" Itachi bellowed, as both men became an incomprehensible blur.
"Uchiha Sasuke." Sakura called back, tying off the breast bindings she had just strapped around herself, and unsealing her katana from a scroll she had tied to the back of the door. She spun it in her capable hands; If Sasuke wanted her Itachi he would have to put up one HELL of a fight.
~ earlier~
She had left the room hastily; the tension in there was too much, what with Itachi smiling like the cat that ate the canary and Sasori with the nonstop switching between glares for the Uchiha and wistful glances for the rosette. She had to leave, it was just too awkward.
"Good morning miss." A tall, white haired man said politely as they passed in the hallway.
She nodded respectfully, but felt a familiar shiver down her spine as she sensed his chakra pattern. Hers was of course perfectly masked, but for some reason she felt the man's eyes linger on her for a second too long. A second is all it takes for the odds to turn against a shinobi, she knew this. She kept walking however; studiously ignoring the looks she could feel him shooting her over his shoulder. She had made her way into the restaurant, and immediately a male waiter came over to her.
"Good morning beautiful." He winked at her.
She gave him an emotionless once over before looking away, completely uninterested, he didn't hold a candle to Itachi.
"I'll be your waiter this morning, what can I get you gorgeous."
She stiffened and turned to him. She must've looked quite ridiculous. She was wearing a short white cotton dress, with a sweetheart neckline dipping in the front. It floated around her petite form perfectly, stopping mid-thigh. Her hair hung in its usual waves, touching the hem of the dress which made her look even smaller than she was. That mixed with the murderous glare she was giving the waiter must have made her look like a hissing kitten. If she didn't have to mask her chakra she would have half a mind to scare the stupid water so bad he'd die of shock. He just chuckled at her expression.
"Bet you get it all the time." He commented, leering at her.
That was it. She was in no way going to sit there and take smack from some civilian waiter. She reached out and grabbed said man by his throat, unmasking her chakra and using her super human strength to pick him high off the ground.
"You will talk to me with the respect I deserve, got that boy?" She growled.
She boy was clawing at her hand while gasping for air; she threw him unceremoniously to the ground. His eyes immediately fixed themselves on the ring that sat on her right index finger. His face paled and he threw himself into a bow on the ground.
"Gomen! Please, have mercy I me I swear I meant no disrespect." He whispered fervently at her feet.
"Tch, get up, you look pathetic." She muttered.
They boy then scrambled to his feet and bowed periodically whilst moving backward quickly.
"Full breakfast, everything, on the house. I'll get room service to bring it to you right away!" He called.
She blinked and looked around; she had forgotten there were other people staying here. Everyone had frozen and was staring at her. Well, they were until she started looking back. Many people made their leave when they were sure her eyes weren't on them. And she found herself suddenly very much alone.
"I don't remember you ever being so cold, Sa-ku-ra- chan." A familiar, sinister, eerie voice rumbled behind her.
The hair on the back of her neck stood straight up. A shiver of anticipation made its way down her spine. She knew that voice; she would always know that voice. It had haunted her sleep for years, wreaking havoc on her broken heart. Said organ throbbed painfully at the onslaught of memories that came barreling out at her. But it was no time for nostalgia, if he were here, it meant a fight.
"Funny, I didn't think you'd remember me at all. Sasuke-kun," she whispered, slowly turning her tiny frame around to meet him.
His dark onyx eyes met hers, and she noticed with smug satisfaction that Itachi's were indeed prettier than Sasuke's. He towered over her, she guessed at 6'5". His chest was exposed, his less impressive 6 pack bored to the world. His hair was longer, falling onto his shoulders but still sticking up ridiculously in that stupid chicken butt style. His face was emotionless; his eyes were roving over her body, pausing to look at the ring on her finger.
"You, a member of the Akatsuki… What did they do start a genin training program?" Sasuke growled.
She just stared back at him impassively, feigning a lack of interest. While her mind was racing, Itachi was here, which meant that Sasuke would sense his chakra soon and proceed to hunt him down. He would have the advantage of a surprise attack, IF he could win against HER. She blinked at him, before remember she had placed a seal on Itachi's cloak the day earlier. Her teleportation jutsu only works in places she had gone to and places a seal on. She quickly brought her fingers in front of her and willed herself to melt into a wave of cherry blossoms.
"Come find me, Sasuke-kun." Were the final words the irritated Uchiha heard.
BOOM.
An earth shattering explosion rocked the ground, the Inn they were staying at completely destroyed in second. Countless survivors took to the woods, desperate to escape the inevitable fight that would be of an explosive caliber.
Three figures stood on the west side of the huge crater, whilst 3 others stood at the other end. Sakura was wrapped in Itachi's cloak, watching with weary eyes as the dust cleared. Sasori stood close to them, his own chakra blocking the debris from their position.
"Uchiha Itachi." A deep voice demanded.
Sakura felt Itachi stiffen as his younger brother addressed him from across the field.
He stood in the front of a lose V. The tall white haired man Sakura had seen earlier stood by his left side smiling, his teeth were pointed and his eyes shone in excitement. On his right stood a female, she was by no means pretty at all, who wore tiny black booty shorts and a cropped white top that was undone exposing a generous amount of non-existent cleavage. She had the most terrible glasses pushed up on her pig like nose, her red eyes were fixed on Sakura wrapped in Itachi's embrace, and she flipped her red hair impatiently.
"Sasuke." Itachi addressed.
His arms fell from around Sakura, but she made no move, standing with her back pressed against her love. Itachi didn't try and move her, savoring her warm and safe against him. This battle would be fierce, and while he had no doubt in his woman's abilities he worried for her anyways. Sasuke's sinister eyes landed on his would-be sister in law, his sharingan boring into her. She watched as his eyes widened in surprise.
"So, you have already started the revival of the clan you massacred?" Sasuke hissed.
Itachi froze; he ceased breathing as he immediately pushed his chakra into Sakura's system. There were indeed two chakra signatures, but they had only made love once. The Uchiha chakra was dominant; he could already sense his familiar chakra signature within the fetus. Sakura was staring at Sasuke with disbelieving eyes, until she felt Itachi's chakra wrap around her protectively. She sent her own to investigate her womb, and was just as surprised at Itachi when she found that there was another life-force growing inside of her.
"Congratulations." Sasori whispered to his teammates, surprisingly enough he sounded sincere.
The look of happiness on Sakura's face, no matter how fleeting, had set Sasori's world straight. She belonged with Itachi, it didn't mean she didn't love him, it meant her love wasn't exclusively his. He could live with that, live with loving and protecting her and the life inside her. Itachi seemed to notice his change in heart, and slowly pulled Sakura so that she was in between them.
"You sick bastard. Why on earth would you impregnate her!? After you killed our clan! How dare you take that right away from ME?" Sasuke snarled, his skin taking on black tomahoe shaped marks.
"You're wrong Sasuke." A whisper rang through the hostile air.
Both Uchiha watched in astonishment as Sakura appeared in the middle of the crater, Itachi growled and tried to move after his love, but found he was frozen in place. He looked across at Sasuke, and saw the he too was frozen, though his sharingan eyes were trained on Sakura's every movement. Itachi watched in disbelief as Sakura walked over to Sasuke, and flicked him hard on the forehead.
"What the fuck?!" Sasuke cursed at her, but remained irritatingly still.
"It's a jutsu that I developed a long time ago Sasuke-kun. It would allow me time to stop time during a battle and save a precious person. I can only use it every few years; it takes a lot of chakra to pull of such a technique. Your team mates, as well as Sasori will remember nothing of this." She explained in a tired whisper.
She turned to Itachi, and smiled lightly trying to convey to her soul mate that everything was alright. His eyes were worried, not moving off of her, his face a somber mask.
"Now, you're going to listen to me. I already know Itachi will hate me for this, but it needs to be done." Sakura said quietly.
"NO SAKURA! PLEASE!" Itachi yelled, catching onto her plan.
Itachi knew that his days with his lover were numbered, even after having his injuries healed. But that is what he wanted; he had killed his entire clan, babies and adults alike and had left his younger brother to be an orphan. He had inflicted so much hurt on everyone he loved... Death would be his great escape, it would put his shamed heart to rest... and he had always wanted to die at his brothers hands. In the arms of someone who had loved him.
Sakura ignored him and stared straight into Sasuke's eyes.
"What I'm about to tell you is true, but Sasuke if you are still keen on achieving some kind of revenge after this I promise that I will be forced to end your life. I don't want to do that."
Sasuke swallowed and stared at his fellow teammate. When he had seen a woman holding a waiter up by his throat, he had been so amused. But then to see that the woman had long raised coloured hair... and to hear her stern voice... yes she had changed a lot, a hell of a lot since they last saw each other. But he would know that voice anywhere, and when those jade eyes fixed themselves on his he couldn't deny her identity. His Sakura had grown into a beautiful, powerful, worthy kunoichi. It angered him that she now lay in the hands of his brother, but remembering the Uchiha life that grew inside her... his feelings of resentment and anger strangely disappeared from the otherwise hateful Sasuke. For the first time in years, he wanted to protect something...
"Your brother has lied to you Sasuke. Not out of spite, out of love." His eyes snapped up to bore into his brothers across the field.
Itachi's dark eyes were filled with an incomprehensible sadness as they stared deep into his brothers. Sasuke's world was spinning as he read the regret, the shame, the anger and the love that washed across his brother's face.
'Your clan was plotting against the village hidden in the leaves; Itachi-kun was a double spy for the leaf. When the time came for the Uchiha to make their move, Itachi was ordered by the Hokage to intervene by any means necessary. He was order to execute the entire clan, you included Sasuke," Sakura studied his eyes; they were weary, disbelieving and very lost. "He couldn't kill you Sasuke-kun. He knew this is what the council was counting on, for Itachi to deliberately disobey orders in which the consequence is death. That is why your brother left you alive and disbanded the village."
Sasuke snapped his eyes back to Sakura's, he searched her emerald depths for some kind of sign that she was lying to him. But all he found was sympathy; he looked back to his brother and to his astonishment saw tears, actual, crystal like orbs of water dripping down his older brother's face. Ever since that night, Sasuke felt nothing but burning hatred in his heart for his brother. But now... even against his will, it was slowly chipping off, like a block of ice melting in the summer heat. His heart suddenly, undeniably ached for his sibling. He too felt like sobbing, his clan had brought their murder upon themselves... but his brother had loved him far too much. He had sentenced himself to death for Sasuke.
"Is this true, ni-san?" Sasuke whispered.
A broken sob erupted from the elder Uchiha's throat at the simple use of his nickname. He nodded his head bowing in shame.
"Forgive me Sasuke." He whispered.
And they were able to move. Sakura released the two Uchiha and stepped away from Sasuke. He turned to his ex-teammate for a moment. She had always been the one after his heart, always trying to save his condemned soul. She promised him she would... and he suddenly found himself indebted to her forever. He reached for her, and she for him. They embraced tightly, Sasuke crying into her soft hair, she clinging tightly to his shirt, her own tears splattered against the skin on his chest. He kissed her head again and again, hugging her to his body with all the strength he could muster without hurting her.
"I'm sorry." He whispered.
She finally pulled away from him, and suddenly Itachi was behind her, wrapping and arm around her waist... and holding his other arm out for his brother. They stared at each other for a moment, before Sasuke reciprocated the hug. Sakura was wedged between the two men. Her heart warmed as she thought about what this mean.
A family?
Yes... A real family.
I feel so warm
Me too.
When they finally pulled apart, they all stood there, touching lightly. Sasuke's eyes moved from Sakura to Itachi, down to Sakura's belly, whilst Itachi stared at his brother, as if engraving his face into his memory. Sakura glanced between the two men... a feeling of deep satisfaction rolling in her chest. She felt her jutsu waver suddenly, and she dispelled it. Gasps from either side of the crater filled the air.
"Stand down." Sasuke ordered his confused team.
"All is well Sasori, Sakura really is an angel." Itachi whispered to the puppet man, who merely nodded in acceptance.
Sasuke glanced at Sakura's stomach again and smirked.
"So I'm going to be an uncle? That is the Uchiha air inside her is it not?" Sasuke said in a mocking tone.
"Of course." Itachi shrugged.
Sakura placed a hand on her stomach, and her heartbeat skipped. Her baby, Itachi's baby...
"I think we should be on our way." Sakura said suddenly.
Itachi looked at Sasuke and nodded. "Will you come with us?"
Sasuke paused for a moment and looked back at his team.
"Just a second."
He walked up to his team, and after a short conversation, they followed him down to his brother. Sasori flashed over to Sakura's side, the rosette suddenly had started to buckle. He caught her easily, and Itachi spun to see what was wrong with her.
"She used too much chakra." Sasori whispered.
Itachi was about to reach out for his love, when the woman Sasuke had brought beat him to it. She ran her hand, glowing green, over Sakura's stomach.
"The baby is fine, but she must rest." It was as if she had read his mind.
"Let's go." Itachi barked.
And with that the remaining 2 Uchiha, along with their teammates took off, headed straight for the Akatsuki lair. Leader-sama was not going to be too pleased with Itachi... but he was sure he would understand. That wasn't an important thought right now though, he wanted Sakura home. He wanted her relaxing in his bed where he could take care of her. He wanted Sasuke beside him, so he could talk and explain everything in more detail. His own eyes widened as he suddenly realized... he had his family back. And it was all due to her, the rose haired angel of a kunoichi that Kami had assuredly blessed him with. His own stone heart was warmed; this was his genesis, his new beginning. And he could not have asked for anything else in the world.