v.

By the end of their 'therapy session,' Sakura stood up to walk over the stroller parked next to the window.

He didn't understand the purpose of this "psychoanalysis" as Sakura had called it.

He wasn't insane, and Sakura appeared to have known that. So why all the bullshit?

Their sessions consisted of questions he, more often than not, refused to answer. Honestly, he couldn't believe that after all this time, she was still annoying as hell. However, it appeared she had an ulterior motive, so he didn't comment on it. And he was almost certain it had something to do with the baby that she almost never failed to carry around as if flaunting to his face how far she was over him.

As he watched her, he thought back to the dream he had the other night. The images were nothing but a blur but the feelings, the thoughts... they were so vivid as if they were his own. While the dream disturbed him, he decided not to confide about it to her, at least not yet until he figured it out—if he'd figure it out.

Sakura bent over to take the baby into her arms, and carried him over to him.

It was the closest proximity he had with the baby, so he never got the chance to take a really good look at him. Though the darkness of the young innocent boy's hair was unmistakably the same shade of his own; that particular observation wove a fantasy where the child was his and not someone else's.

Then he frowned. So far, his pink-haired (former—he'd never failed to remind himself) teammate had been spending her time with him for their little 'sessions' and more often than not, she'd bring the child along.

It had made him wonder who the father was. All the time.

As he was about to voice his curiosity, she spoke softly.

"You should hold him."

And he had to look up to her because her tone reminded him of the days back when they were all genin (because unlike him and Naruto, whenever that thought would occur to his mind, his ego only further deflated, she'd already passed the Chunin exams).

Before he could protest though when he finally realized what she just said, the baby was gently placed in his arms, her warm hands carefully arranging his arms to accommodate the baby.

Sasuke gulped. He wasn't sure if the weird tingling he was feeling was due to the bundle of joy in his arms or a result of Sakura's warm soft touch. He'd never felt anything like it before. The feeling of carrying a baby, a being so innocent of the cruelty of the world they live in, in his arms—the arms tainted with blood and death and all the gruesome mistakes, against his chest, for the first time was indescribable. Was this how his mother felt when she first carried him? His father? His brother?

His brother...

He looked down on the innocent child and to his horror, a pair of tear troughs resembling his brother's adorned the boy's face.

Could this child be...?

Then the baby raised his eyelids, revealing a pair of green eyes... familiar yet not really. He looked up to Sakura, who was gazing with them with a soft smile on her lips, into her eyes.

Her green eyes.

He returned his gaze back to the child's eyes. They were green, as well. Though they were unlike Sakura's, there was something familiar about them, something nostalgic...

A satisfied sigh escaped the woman standing before him, making him aware of her presence. He almost forgot she was even there. He lifted his head to look at the pink-haired woman, and was surprised at the expression on her face—an expression he couldn't quite... identify. Nonetheless, it made his heart beat faster.

The next words that left her lips made his heart halt its rapid thumpthumpthump he thought he'd have a heart attack.

"You guys look good together."

tbc.

note(s): many reviewers expressed how they wanted longer chapters, so here it is! the thing i dislike about writing longer chapters though, is that i feel i bore my readers, that's why i keep it as short as i could.

while i'm very grateful to all the reviewers of chapter 3 and 4, i am very disappointed with the lack of response... especially with the previous chapter. i was actually hoping that someone would ask what the hell it was all about but no one did, sadly.

just a heads up though, expect more vague (and short) chapters like chapter 4 does not make sense like that almost every now and then.

btw, i know all you have been wondering about the baby's identity and while some of you guessed it quite correctly... i won't reveal it until a couple more chapters.

to Pockybandits89: thanks for sharing your knowledge about psychoanalysis. that's exactly what i had in mind when i decided to introduce it on the story.

[reviews are highly appreciated.]