Author's Note: Hi, guys I'm back! Heres the next chapter and I hope you'll like it.

Chapter 16

"Where's my baby?"

It was the question Sasuke had been to dreading to hear once she had finally awakened from her comatose state. He knew that it was inevitable. He just wished or rather hoped that it would not be him who would break to her the bitter news. It should be someone like Tsunade or one of those doctors who gives unpleasant news in a straightforward, detached manner.

Looking at her fragile condition, Sasuke pondered if it would be best to lie to her. He immediately erased the thought away. Sooner or later, she would learn the truth. The truth hurts but it would always be better than a lie.

"Sasuke?" Sakura called out his attention impatiently.

Go on. Just tell her.

Frantically, he searched on his brain for the right words so he could at least minimize the impact of the truth. Yet, as he searched his mind, he knew that no matter how much sugar coating he tried, the truth would always be a bitter one to swallow.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, looking down on his feet. He can't meet her eyes yet. Green eyes that would be filled with sorrow and despair.

A heartbreaking scream filled the room as Sakura suddenly leapt from the bed. She would have fallen on the floor if not for Naruto's reflexes.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto gasped in alarm as he caught her on the waist. "You're still weak, don't force yourself."

Dry, hoarse sobs emitted from Sakura as she struggled futilely from Naruto's grasp. She grabbed his shirt and willed him to look into her.

"Naruto-kun, tell me it's not true... please..."

Blue eyes met her green ones and in a sorrowful tone, Naruto shook his head sadly. "I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan but your child is dead. You lived but your child did not survive."

Sakura's shoulders slumped as the truth slowly sunk in. She removed her hands from Naruto and gave him a little push.

"Please leave me alone," she said quietly.

Sakura's mother stepped forward. "Darling, I know it's hard-"

"Get out! Leave me alone!" Then, her eyes unfocused and she slumped to the bed unconscious.

oOo

To say that the changes on Sakura's behaviour on the next days as drastic would be an understatement because after learning the truth, she cried for a whole day and night until her eyes couldn't produce anymore tears and her throat had gone parched. She was given sedatives and anti-anxiety medications but to no avail. When exhaustion finally took place, she fell into a long sleep.

Then, when she woke up the following day she became worse. Sakura didn't cry anymore. She just stopped talking to anyone and shut herself completely. She ate little and spent most her time staring into space thinking heaven-knows-what.

This frightened the people around her and they kept a close watch over her in case she attempts to hurt herself.

Sasuke stifled a yawn as he kept his focus on the person sitting on the bed and staring into the ceiling for the past nine hours. Occasionally, she would get up and use the bathroom. They had removed every single thing that she might possibly used to hurt herself. No mirror, pens or chopsticks.

Sighing inwardly, he got up and made his way towards her and sat on the foot of the bed. Sakura did not even budge or show any attention that he was near her. She was still staring at the ceiling as if seeing something fascinating that only she can see.

Sasuke took her hands and called out her name. There was no reaction of course. How foolish of him. It had been the same on the past few days when he tried to talking to her. She must have hated him so much. He would have preferred if she had cried, shouted or hurt him physically instead of the blank, dead-like expression on her face. Her beautiful green eyes which used to shine with stubbornness and compassion were now lifeless and sunken.

Simply put, she looked...lost.

"If only I could take away your pain, I would." He took her thin, pale hands and brought it to his lips. He was no stranger to pain in all its aspects: physical, emotional or mental. He had been used to it that he had conditioned himself to be numb. From the death of his family, the betrayal of his own village up to his failure to save their supposed to be first born, he thought that he was already numb but why was it that he felt like he was slowly dying on the inside?

Maybe it was because seeing Sakura broken had opened floodgates of emotions inside him. It was his fault. The marriage farce had not only brought shame and sadness on her but grief as well. He wondered what a different kind of life Sakura would have if she had not married him.

He kissed her hand. "Please forgive me for everything I have done to you. If not for me, you would not be like this. You deserve someone better. Someone without a dark past, someone who's responsible and would take care of you. "

He traced her face lightly with his fingers, memorizing her features so that even though his eyes are closed, he could still see her. "I'm going to let you go."

He planted a kiss on her forehead which caused Sakura to involuntary stiffen for a few seconds.

Sighing tiredly, Sasuke made his way towards the door. His shift is almost up. Shikamaru and Ino were the next ones to watch over her. He just needed a few seconds outside the room to clear his head. Surely, she would not do anything to hurt herself in that few seconds. Besides, he would keep the door ajar so that he could see her movements.

His hand was already on the doorknob when he heard a dry whisper.

"Please stay."

He stopped on his tracks and turned around. Sakura was still on the same position he had left her a while ago. Did he just imagine hearing it?

"Sakura," he went back to her side. "Did you... ask me to stay?"

Gods, he felt foolish for asking. It must be his desperate mind.

"Yes." A faint answer escaped from her lips. She blinked and turned her pained green eyes to him, pleading him to stay.

Before he knew it, Sasuke pulled her into an embrace.

"Finally, she's awake", he thought.

"It's my fault," said Sakura sadly.

Sasuke pulled away from her. "What are you talking about?"

"It's my fault the baby died," she said, her voice threatening to break. "He was inside me. I was not able to save him."

"Listen," Sasuke gently held her shoulders. "Don't blame yourself. It was my fault. It was my burden to carry, not yours."

"It was my entire fault from the beginning," Sasuke began. "I asked you to marry me for my own selfish plan of reviving the Uchiha clan. I used you. Every day, I took you for granted. I've tried to manipulate your life threatening to remove one of the few things that makes you happy. And worst of all, I failed you as a husband and a father to our child."

Sakura closed her eyes as she tried to absorb his confession but she did not say anything. After a few moments of silence, she spoke in a wistful voice. "Did you know what I'm planning to name our first-born?"

Sasuke shook his head.

There was sadness and regret on Sakura's features when she answered. "I'm planning to name him after your late brother, Itachi since it was a boy. If it was a girl, I would have named him after your mother. I know how much you respect your brither Itachi despite everything that happened between the two of you in the past. I have long wanted to ask your opinion about it since Naruto and I came up with the idea. "

"I...I didn't know," said Sasuke lost in the rush of emotions going inside him.

Sakura nodded sadly. "I didn't even had the chance to see him or hold him. Tell me, what does he look like?"

Sasuke closed his eyes, the guilt overflowing inside him as he remembered the dead infant on his arms before it was placed inside the casket. "He had dark hair but he had your...eyes. Your green eyes."

Once he opened his eyes, he saw that Sakura was already crying silently. He pulled her to him and enveloped her within his arms. He stroked her dry, limp hair, trying to ease some of the pain she was feeling.

"I hope you'll find it in your heart someday to forgive me. I'm not good for you. I'm giving you back your freedom." He remembered the divorce papers they had signed. It would be best for them to part ways especially for her. Soon, she would be able to forget him and start a new life with another man.

He would have to leave Konoha soon as everything is settled. Seeing her constantly would only make it hard for him to move on. It would be doubly difficult to see her in the arms of another man.

Sakura buried her face further into the crook of his neck. "I already lost our child. I don't want to lose you too."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke lifted her chin and made her look to him. She filed for divorce and it was his fault that their child died, surely she despised him? What does she mean that she don't want to lose him?

Fear and hope bubbled inside him as she awaited her answer.

"I still want to be with you because I love you."

Sasuke was speechless as he searched her face for any signs of confusion brought on by the medicines given to her. Suddenly, Sakura disentangled herself from him and looked away, embarrassed.

"I-I'm sorry for being too clingy. I understand if you want to separate –"

He cut off her words with his mouth. Gently, he laid her down to the bed as he kissed every part of her face: her eyelids, forehead, nose, cheeks, ears and jaw. Thankfully, Sakura responded by linking her hands behind his nape, pulling his head downwards to meet hers. The hunger overtook them as they kissed each other. He kissed her tears and murmured words of comfort and endearment between kisses. Her lips felt dry and chapped nevertheless, it was the sweetest kiss they had ever shared.

It was a kiss full of longing, heartache, forgiveness and most of all, hope. Hope to start again and repair what's broken.

"I will stay with you forever." And in that moment, Sasuke was certain.

He loves her.

a/N: Thank you for reading! The story pretty much ends here. But there would be an epilogue as some sort that I'll be posting in a few days.