Previously...
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."
vi.
Waking up to a half empty house and the pitter-patter of the crying heaven, one look at the calendar and a pointed look from his mother, told him all there was to know.
It was that day of the year again.
"Good morning," he greeted softly as he entered the dining room, where his little brother was sitting by himself.
"Good morning, nii-san," the younger boy mumbled in a state of half-awake. He almost chuckled at that; his little brother was just simply too adorable.
Taking his seat next to the little kid, he frowned as he took in the unoccupied seat across him. The frown only deepened when he saw the untouched plateful of breakfast sitting there.
That girl, he thought, she must've gotten up early. Again.
Even though his mother didn't say anything as she placed his own plateful of breakfast in front of him, the bento that was placed next to his plate by his mother further confirmed his suspicions.
Thus eating as quickly as he could, he grabbed the bento, said a quick 'ja'ne' to his mother and brother, before disappearing to the endless droplets of water from the skies above.
Having known her since they could barely crawl, despite not being a sensor-type ninja, he'd been greatly attuned to her chakra, allowing him to easily locate her. Oddly though, not whenever that day arrives during the year. He could never seem to find her during this particular day of the year. It could probably have something to do with the fact that every single corner of the village was radiating with her chakra.
The sun was yet to rise, but with the dark heavy clouds hovering above, he wondered whether she'd be able to accomplish the feat she'd always achieved for the past three years.
Unless, she lighten things a little of course—that would be a piece of cake for someone her calibre. Her chakra control was the best he'd seen so far; it would've been a waste of talent had he failed to convince her to attend the Academy.
He didn't know how long he searched for her, the bento still clutched on his hand, but when he finally caught sight of her long striking red hair hanging off a tree branch, the once heavy downpour had subsided into drizzles.
In such stillness that even some Jonin didn't possess, he jumped onto the tree branch where she was perched on.
"You should let it out." Because it wasn't healthy.
Any other person would've been surprised at his voice, but she didn't even flinch.
"I am letting it out," she responded quietly.
Touché.
He sighed. True enough, she was. He just didn't agree with the way she was doing it.
Her method was starting to cause inconvenience to the villagers. And she had been doing it for four years.
Sighing—silently this time, he sat beside her, watching as droplets of water continued to shower from the skies.
Silence engulfed them, except the pitter-patter of the rain until the downpour subsided—rather, until she released the jutsu—that was followed by a gigantic arch of seven colours.
"Sugoi!"
The two young Chunin looked down at the loud exclaim below them. It was a blonde-haired boy about the age of his younger brother—it was him. And he couldn't help but notice how as the boy grew up he looked more like his father yet acted like his mother.
The boy's bright blue eyes shone with glee and happiness.
As reminiscent of the sacrifices, losses and last but not the least, the gift that was a legacy that occurred that fateful day...
...on the tenth day of the tenth month for another four years, rain would engulf the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
When eighteen-year-old Uchiha Sasuke opened his eyes that morning, several weeks had passed since he returned to the village he not-too long ago aimed to eradicate down to its very last child, he expected another boring day until Sakura shows up on his doorstep with the pram for their daily one hour sessions. Well, the last part of that sentence happened except it was three hours earlier and without the one hour sessions.
The moment the young Uchiha answered his door, completely bewildered at the uncharacteristically early but frequent visitor, who entered his house in a flash of pink and red, pushing through the door frantically as she said strings of words that he couldn't quite catch save for "late," "mission," "appreciate," "look after" and "thank you" before she bolted out of the house.
As his door closed with a quiet thud, it was only then that he realized that two diaper bags were sitting in his couch, where the pram was parked next to.
Remembering the pieces of words he caught earlier, filling in the blanks and putting them together, also adding the items the pink-haired kunoichi left in his humble abode did Sasuke fully grasped the situation.
And damn, because he was in babysitting duty.
Another damn when he realized that while Sakura's out in a mission—possibly a dangerous one without him to protect her—he was left to do a housewife's chore.
tbc.
thank you so much for the reviews! the numbers improved a bit so a BIG THANK YOU! really.
note(s): i'm ending it there! sorry, it's supposed to be a longer chapter but i have a feeling i was giving away too much so i'm posting the rest as vii (i'll upload this within 2 days if i get satisfied with the amount of reviews, otherwise, this will be next week).
besides, this is really a difficult chapter to write. not to mention i've been busy as hell to the extent i wrote the second part during a train ride. therefore i apologize for any mistakes. and i can't believe i missed my weekly update for last week! so i'm really sorry :(
review response(s): to maximumride24, when i was planning the format for this fic i considered putting a recap for every chapter but because of the italicized scenes, i was afraid it might confuse readers. but well, because you requested it, there you go!
additional note(s): uhm, i was writing viii when i realized i was careless about the time frame but i'll explain it on chapter eight. AND i posted about how Absolve Me became a story in lj but there's a lot of spoilers. oh yeah about the Christmas update I will do; shall i post it on my Christmas (i'm in the southern hemisphere) or shall i post it on American Christmas?
[reviews are highly appreciated.]