title: It Was Always You
prompt: SASUSAKU MONTH 2014
rating: T-M

summary: o24: Sasuke thought killing Itachi would bring glory to the Uchiha name. Looking down into his son's eyes, he knew that was a lie.

dedicated to: my girls reviee, DeepPoeticGirl, and SR :)

.o24.
Glory

When I realized that the man in front of me was finally dead, I thought that I could live happily. I had avenged my goal.

Itachi was dead.

But instead of joy and relief, guilt and self-loathing washed over me. I had killed the one person that meant most to me—my very own brother. Itachi raised me from a little kid, played with me, taught me everything I needed to know, and I repaid him like this.

I looked down at my hands stained with his blood and watched it turn into pink water as the rain poured furiously down into my palm, crying the tears I couldn't force myself to cry.

His eyes were still open, but they were glassy and lifeless, just like he was. I knelt down above his head and looked over him, our faces only inches away. I didn't see my brother; I only saw the dead body of someone I loved and knew so well.

I thought I could bring glory to the Uchiha family by killing Itachi. I was wrong.

I only furthered the path of hatred.

.

.

.

I woke up in a cold sweat, my hands gripping the sheets around me. I sat upright, trying to catch my breath. I scanned the room to make sure nothing was wrong, and that it was just another dream of me and Itachi, before lying back down on the mattress.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked me, rubbing her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Shit," I muttered. I took a quick look at the clock and noticed that it was two in the morning. "Go back to sleep, Sakura," I told her.

She placed a hand on my chest and moved closer to me. "Was it the same dream?"

I knew that I couldn't hide anything from her. At least, not anymore. She always saw me past my lies.

"Yeah," I said. "Same one."

She pressed a tender kiss to my forehead and cupped my cheeks. "Sasuke-kun," she said, her voice deep. I knew she was serious. "I know it's hard, and I know you loved him. He knows that, too, alright? Itachi wouldn't want to see the baby brother he's cherished for so long hate himself. There were reasons in your family that only you know about, and you're the only one who can fix them. Move on from the past, Sasuke. Enjoy the future and what we have now."

I growled, pushing her back down onto the mattress and lacing my fingers through hers. Her chest heaved wildly up and down, and I saw that one strap of her nightgown had fallen off her delicate shoulder.

"How?" I growled. "How did I ever find someone like you?"

Sakura's eyes softened, and she gave me one of those small smiles that I cherished so dearly. She reached for my head and brought me down to give me a kiss, but the sound of crying interrupted us.

"Oh no," she breathed, pushing me off and wrapping a bathrobe around her. She tied it haphazardly around her waist. I jumped out of bed and followed her, not bothering to put on a T-shirt or sweatpants.

Sakura gently opened the door to Itachi's room. The little bugger was crying, and he kicked his little legs around, begging for his mother.

"Hi, sweetheart," Sakura said, picking up our child. She gave him a sweet kiss on his nose, and Itachi immediately stopped crying to stare up at his mother. "What bad dream did you have?"

The baby began to coo, and Sakura laughed. She then handed him to me, and I grasped his tiny body with a firm grip.

"Hey, bud," I murmured. "You've been very naughty, haven't you?"

"Sasuke!"

I smirked, pressing my lips against my son's black hair. "You just want to cause trouble for the establishment, don't you? Isn't that what you are, you little rebel?"

Itachi began to clap his hands. All signs of sadness had left his face, and he looked at me with such happy eyes that I felt joy and pride swell up inside my chest.

"I realize now," I began, my eyes never leaving baby Itachi's. He had Sakura's eyes, my brother's name, and the glory of the Uchiha surname. It was as if everything I loved and cared about was all in this little child, resting securely in my arms.

"What?" Sakura asked. "What are you talking about?"

I patted Itachi's back rhythmically, averting my gaze towards Sakura. "I brought glory to the Uchiha clan by repopulating the clan. Now, I know what you're thinking: yes, we did repopulate the Uchiha line, but it was with somebody who loved me." Carefully, I set Itachi down back into his crib. As I tucked a blanket up against his chin, I patted his soft mat of hair and watched his eyes close.

"And it was with somebody I never knew I loved, too," I said. I held Sakura close to me and embraced her, my fingers pressing into the soft cotton of her bathrobe. "I know I don't say this enough, but I love you, you know."

"I know," she murmured. I could feel her fingertips pressing into my back, as if she were trying to hug me even tighter. "Sasuke, I don't care about all the bad things that have happened in the past. As I said before, the future is now. The future is our baby," she said, watching her son sleep peacefully in his little blue pajamas. "The future is us."

I managed to force my hands away from her waist so that I could stroke her delicate, pink cheeks. I gave her my best smile.

"Please keep loving me," I said, my voice in a delicate whisper.

She held my hand against her face and smiled back. "I never stopped."

Thanks for all your kind comments. I will actually be out of town this week and won't be back until August. However the rest of IWAY is already finished and on my Tumblr the posts are scheduled so that they release midnight EST. Even though it's not on Fanfiction, you can still continue it on Tumblr!

Thanks for understanding :)