Sakura opened her eyes and realized instantly that she was in the weaponry room of the Uchiha compound. There was a storm outside, and the lightning struck through the windows in the room, the bright light blaring. She held up an arm to protect her eyes, and turned to leave the room, only to find him standing in the doorway.
His eyes, this time, were not in his Sharingan form. They were just his regular, obsidian, cold eyes. She swallowed as he took a step towards her, his katana raised.
"Sasuke, please-" This time she was able to form words, and her hands were held out towards him, palms up as if to help him. He smirked in the darkness, but said nothing. He slowly walked towards her closer, and closer, and she had no time to speak once more, or to beg him to stop.
Because he had already driven his sword through her stomach.
Sakura bolted upright in bed, a small whimper escaping her lips.
This time though, her husband's eyes snapped open at the sound, and he sat up right too, turning towards his wife.
"Sakura?" He asked, his eyes turning to her, Sharingan activating instantly to look for danger. She saw this and whimpered louder, moving away from him on the bed, still immersed in the dream.
"P-please.. don't.." She pulled her knees against her and huddled under the sheets, her arms wrapping around her legs. She was breathing heavily. Sasuke frowned, worried, and oustretched a hand towards her again.
"Sak-"
"No!" Sasuke pulled his hand away and stared at his wife, unsure of what to do to help her, his Sharingan disapearing from his eyes. She whimpered harder and pulled herself out of the bed. She collapsed to her knees on the floor by the bed, holding her face in her hands as she slowly tried to clear her mind. Finally, she managed to get a grip on what was real right now, and stood up slowly on shaking legs. She wrapped her arms around herself and headed towards her dresser, pulling her bathrobe from where it was hanging over her vanity chair. She pulled it around her shoulders, ignoring her husband's worried look on her back.
"Sakura.." He tried again, ready to get up from the bed to go towards her, but her words kept him where she was.
"It's .. it's okay. I'm just going to head down to the kitchen." She wrapped her arms around herself again and disappeared into the darkened house. Sasuke was tempted to follow her, and he was already standing up, his arm reaching out for his pants. His head replayed how she had reacted to him as she woke up. He got back into bed and turned towards the door, his eyes open. He would wait until she came back to bed.
Unfortunately that night, she never did.
Sakura was awoken from the dull throbbing in her neck. She sat up slowly from the couch cushions and looked around the living room. She remembered walking down the hallway, away from Sasuke, and the bedroom towards the living room, where she had lain, letting tears slip down her face before she fell asleep. What was wrong with her? Why did she keep having these nightmares?
She rubbed her eyes, and looked down, finding herself covered in a thick blanket. She frowned. She hadn't brought a blanket with her to the couch..
Sasuke however, had waited for two hours, and realizing she didn't plan on coming back to bed, made his way out into the hallway to look for her. He had found her on the couch and had instantly wrapped a blanket around her, seen her dried tears, and shuffled back to bed, no idea of what to do. He willed himself to sleep for a few more hours until the sun came up and then he was gone from the compound, to look for answers. But Sakura didn't know that. She only woke up to find him gone.
Sakura yawned, and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and stood up. She padded towards the bedroom and peeked in, finding the bed empty and made, then she returned to the kitchen, finding it also empty.
"Sasuke?" She called, her arms gripping the blanket tighter, as she shivered. She called out his name again, and realized that he wasn't here.
She bit her lip, memories flooding back to her at what happened last night. She hadn't meant to push him away, she was still in her dream, scared. It just.. happened. She bit her lip harder. Perhaps he was scared and still embarrassed from their last lovemaking. She blushed a little, but pushed away the thoughts. She headed towards the bath room and run water into the tub.
She sat in the water for what seemed like an hour before getting dressed in her work outfit and heading out the door. She figured she could catch up on some extra shifts. And perhaps during her break, she should call Hinata. Or Ino. Or even Naruto.
During her lunch hour, Sakura finished a full sandwich and an apple, before she took a deep breath and called Hinata's number. The woman picked up on the first ring.
"Hi, Sakura! What's up?"
"Oh not much, uhm.. I just .. ah.. I need to tell someone what happened between Sasuke and I.." She heard Hinata hesitate but bid she continue. Sakura breathed in, and told Hinata all about Sasuke taking her out to dinner and the.. part afterward. Sakura was glad that Hinata couldn't see her right now, because she was blushing very hard, and left out no detail. She did, however, leave out her dark nightmare, and how she had pushed Sasuke away soon after. After she was done, Hinata squealed and she sounded like she was jumping up and down.
"Oh, Sakura, I told you he loved you! It just takes him some time to open up! Gah you lucky girl, I bet it was a hot encounter!" She giggled at Sakura's awkward acceptance and laugh. Sakura looked towards the framed photos she had on her desk, her eyes focusing on their wedding photo, at Sasuke's cold, unwavering gaze, and Sakura's happy smile.
"I think he's embarrassed, Hinata, he left for work early this morning." She heard Hinata giggle once more.
"He'll come around. Good luck, and have as much fun as you can! I knew that Ino was right, his favorite color really is black!" Sakura shushed her, but laughed, promising to talk later. She hung up and looked at the wedding picture again.
She had never told anyone, and neither had he, but they never took a honeymoon. Every time one of their friends asked, Sakura avoided the question, and Sasuke kept quiet. It seemed reasonable, Sakura had a lot of moving to do to get her stuff into the Uchiha compound, she had a lot of adjusting to do, she didn't have time for a honeymoon with her new husband.
But that didn't stop her from fantasizing at what it would be like to be on honeymoon with a Sasuke who actually opened up to her.
Because the hospital was quiet today, Sakura decided to finish her shift after fours and go home. Either way it was extra hours she was putting in, and either way, she didn't have another shift until tomorrow night. She wrapped herself in her coat, feeling the small wind that had picked up rustle though the thin material. She shivered as she walked down the familiar streets that gave Konaha it's mundane feel. It was only late afternoon, but the wind that had started showed the hint of an upcoming thunderstorm, so mothers were pulling in their children, shopkeepers closing the doors, waiting for the rain to begin.
Sakura increased her pace, aiming to get home as soon as possible, but then another thought crossed her mind. She should probably go and see her best friend, Ino, before it got late. The two had managed to keep in touch, unlike Hinata and Tenten who were busy, but Sakura still felt the need to see her friend every few days. Sakura headed down the familiar side street towards the Yamanaka Flower Shop, but her feet slowed to a stop as she saw a figure against the counter. She immediately recognized the hair. She let out a breath and hid behind a giant rosebush Ino had placed outside. Thanks to Ino's store door still open, she could hear the faint voices.
She frowned. Why was Sasuke in Ino's store-
"Sorry, Uchiha. I can't exactly figure out your problem with such limited details."
"That's all I know, Yamanaka, now explain!"
"Jesu, there's nothing to explain. You can't just barge in here and tell me that Sakura woke up, got scared of you, and disappeared and expect me to diagnose a whole goddamn problem. You have to give me more details!"
"Tch. Ibiki's successor."
"Don't mock me, you bastard!"
Sasuke was right. Ever since Morino Ibiki's retirement from ANBU investigations, Yamanaka-Nara (because she decided it sounded better this way around) Ino had taken over, having been already promoted to ANBU status. Her mind control jutsu's and attitude gave her the edge for investigating and interrogations that no other candidates had, and from then on, Ino was the leader of interrogations branch of the ANBU.
Sakura peered over the rosebush and saw her husband stood in front of Ino's shop counter, his hands crossed over his biceps, face looking dangerously irritated. Ino eas leaning on the counter, her lips a thin line. She frowned.
"Look, I'll talk to her, but I can't promise anything. And next time you have a problem, I suggest you don't come storming in, shove my customers out and immediately start yelling!"
"Hn." Sasuke grumbled, and set his eyes down onto the floor. Ino let out a short laugh and raised an eyebrow at the Uchiha.
"Well, is that it? I hope you didn't expect me to just listen your marriage problems and for you to walk out of here empty handed. I'm getting ready to close the store, there's a storm coming. Either buy something or get out!"
Sasuke mumbled something, and Ino turned her ear towards him, indicating he repeat. He sighed, a large frown settled on his handsome brow.
"Azalea seeds." Ino's hard look immediately changed into a bright smile. She beamed at him, stood up straight and walked around her counter to the seed shelf.
"Well, why didn't you say that before!"
"Tch."
Sakura turned away from Ino's store and swallowed. Sasuke told her about what happened last night? She slowly walked away from the flower store, heading towards the Uchiha compound, lost in thought. She kept her eyes trained on the ground in front of her as she ran through everything she had just heard. She honestly hadn't figured that Sasuke would even ask anyone for advice. She had assumed that this morning, he just wanted to forget everything that happened and move on. Did he really care about her then?
Sakura bit her lip.
His actions before her nightmare indicated that something in him was changing, that maybe he was opening up to her, but she didn't really think that he was per se growing to care about her. Either way, she knew that Ino would have to bring up this subject sometime soon and Sakura would be backed into the corner, unready to tell her best friend everything. She supposed she would just have to wait until the call came from Ino and act as if nothing had happened like last night.
She blushed. She really didn't want to act like last night hadn't happened after dinner, but she knew pushing it would just drive Sasuke away, and she didn't want that. So instead, she decided to just leave everything alone, and to go on with her life. She stopped outside the Uchiha compound's doors, and reached for her key. She figured she should get in and start dinner before Sasuke arrived home and wondered where she had been.
She stepped inside, took off her shoes, bag and coat and headed into the kitchen. Without thinking, she pulled out the frozen fish, putting it in water to defrost, and the leftover rice. She reached over, aiming to pick up the last tomato to slice, but found it gone. She sighed heavily, cursing her husband's addiction to the delicious fruit, and reached over towards the green peppers. Sasuke would have to suffice with something other than tomatoes until she got to the market tomorrow.
She was just rolling up the finishing touches on her homemade sushi, when the front door opened and closed swiftly. Sakura wiped her arm across her brow, and started humming a small tune, while she got out the plates and chopsticks. She heard Sasuke's light footsteps enter the kitchen, and there was a rustle as he dropped a bag onto the kitchen counter. She turned to him and gave him a small smile, before placing their plates of food down on the table.
She sat down opposite her husband and placed her hands together, bowing her head lightly. Sasuke did the same.
"Itadakimasu." They said quietly, and began eating. Sakura's eyes traveled to the paper bag on the counter, her eyes reading the label for Ino's Flower Shop. She acted as if she was trying to figure out the contents, even though she secretly already knew. She felt Sasuke's gaze on her turned head.
"What did you get at Ino's?" Sakura questioned between bites of green pepper.
"Azalea seeds." Sasuke continued eating, and she could read his face that he was a bit unhappy at the lack of tomatoes with his dinner. Sakura let out a small giggle, and returned to eating. She didn't meet his eyes again until she finished.
"Gomen, Sasuke, that was very sweet of you. I thought tomorrow, since I don't have to be at work til nighttime, that I would go to the market and get you some more tomatoes and after I could start on the garden. I'd like to plant the Azalea's on the strip of earth by the porch, if that's alright?"
She realized that now, this was also technically her home now, but she still asked Sasuke's permission to make any adjustments. It was his house, where he had lived all his life, and he had gone through so much in this compound. She swallowed, waiting for his response.
"Hn." She looked up at his face, finally, and realized he must have agreed. He wasn't denying her request, so she shrugged, and looked out the kitchen window, seeing the wind blowing the tree branches now. She could hear thunder rumbling a few miles away.
"Well okay. I suppose we'll have to stay inside tonight, it's about to storm like a bitch outside."
"Aa."
She watched as he placed down his chopsticks on his plate, and she stood up, taking the plates towards the sink. She ran the water to begin the dishes, and folded her arms, still watching the storm picking up outside the window.
"Sakura." She jumped at Sasuke's voice, and turned towards him, but he was looking away from her.
"Hm?" She tilted her head, waiting for him to speak once more.
"Aa." She rolled her eyes and turned back to the sink, sighing at her husband's lack of speech. Sakura huffed, inwardly wishing that she could still have the intimate Sasuke that she was with last night. She wiped her cheeks, trying to stop a small blush from forming, and started the dishes. She continued humming the tune she hadn't finished earlier and realized Sasuke was still sat at the table. She said nothing, but was happy to have his quiet presence to keep her company.
When the rain started to hit the kitchen window, Sasuke stood up, his hands grabbing the teapot and steeper. Sakura wanted to ask him what he was doing, but realized she might as well keep quiet. She watched out of the corner of her eye as he slowly made a pot of chai tea, his hands fiddling with the switches on the oven as he tried to turn on the burner to boil the water. She giggled as he quickly gave up and used his own fire jutsu to quickly boil the water. Sakura giggled, and dried up the dishes, putting them away.
Sasuke poured out two cups of tea, and dissapeared from the kitchen. She heard him collapse down on the futon in the living room, and she smiled, grabbing her own tea. She took a sip, and reached out to grab a small desert plate. She opened a box of small unsweetened cookies (the only ones that Sasuke would eat) and placed a few down on the plate, and headed into the living room. She placed the plate down gently onto the glass coffee table and walked over to the book shelf, her hand still holding her tea cup.
She let the cup warm her hands as she tilted her head, reading over all of the book spines. Most of the books were Sakura's medical books, but a few were Sasuke's ANBU guides. The rest of the books were Sakura's novels, her favorites from her childhood and teenage years. The bottom of the shelf she had left for photo albums. Currently, there were only a few on the shelf, two balanced together that were from Sakura's childhood, but on the opposite side of the shelf, there was a large, black one.
Probably Sasuke's, she thought to herself. She reached out towards a small white one leaned against her other albums of Sakura's, and moved to it down next to Sasuke on the futon. She folded her legs under her and opened the album to the first page, reading the inscription that she herself had beautifully written.
Lord Sasuke & Lady Sakura Uchiha.
She smiled, and turned to the first page, which was their wedding photo. It was only Sasuke and Sakura in the picture, both clad in the traditional robes, standing in front of the beautiful arch of roses that symbolized the wedding gardens of Konaha. Sasuke, of course was not showing any indication of emotion on his face, but Sakura was smiling pleasantly at the camera. She could see his fingers on her waist, and her arms were folded in front of her.
"Smile, teme!" Naruto, the best man had screamed, as the photographer was getting ready to snap the photo. Sasuke had scowled, making the photographer scream, and turn to Naruto, smacking him repeatedly over the head with his invitation. Naruto had screamed out too, and soon, Sakura was in a fit of giggles. Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing deeply. The photographer had then yelled promptly at Sasuke, telling him to put his hand on Sakura's waist. Finally, Sasuke had stopped scowling, Sakura had smiled, and the picture was snapped.
But that was just the ceremony.
The reception was quite different. It was held in the ball room outside of Konaha's gardens, and it had been decorated in white and cream, courtesy of Sakura's designs and Sasuke's unwillingness to input an opinion. AS tradition followed, Sasuke and Sakura sat at the head of the large table, Sasuke taking small sips of his wine, as Sakura munched on some of the small dinner. With Ino and Hinata sat at her side, and Naruto to Sasuke's right, it felt like everything was going to be okay. Until Naruto flew up, wine glass and spoon in hand. He had knocked the table, elbowing Sasuke in the shoulder, who promptly kicked Naruto. Finally, the blonde haired man was on his feet and clinking the spoon to the glass, leaving a small crack. He slowly placed the glass down, pushing it away and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Wow. I er- Man when I was writing this speech, I really thought I wouldn't be nervous, but I am now!" Everyone chuckled. Except Sasuke, who crossed his arms and looked down at his plate. Sakura giggled, her eyes on Naruto. Honestly, she had no idea what his best man speech would be like, only Hinata knew. She winked at Sakura, and Ino nudged her best friend happily.
"Well.. these last few years have been long, and hard for everyone here. But finally our teme is back!" Naruto ignored Sasuke's death glare aimed at him, and continued. "Uchiha Sasuke is back to restore the Uchiha clan. Isn't that amazing? After all he's been through, and he's back. And who better than Haruno Sakura, our favorite head medic and pinkette to be his wife? Sakura can keep him in check, don't worry guys! Ah, I guess I just wanna say that since our Team 7 days, even when I had the biggest crush on Sakura, I always knew that she would be happy with the man she loved. She deserves it. And teme here, well Sasuke, Sasuke deserves happiness too, even if all he does all day is scowl! To the happy new Uchiha's!"
Everyone in the room had toasted, following Naruto, repeating his last words. Sakura smiled, seeing tears coming to Naruto's eyes. She felt her own eyes brimming with tears, and wiped them away quickly, looking around the room.
"NOW LETS HIT THE DANCE FLOOR!" She laughed as Naruto's scream cut through the air, and everyone began standing up to dance. Naruto ran over to Hinata, pulling her up, and led her to the dance floor, giving her a twirl. Sakura smiled, watching Ino, Tenten, and the rest of her friends slowly disappear onto the dance floor. She stole a quick look at her husband, not expecting him to even ask her to dance anyways. Sasuke didn't dance. She looked back down at her folded hands in her lap, a small, but sad smile still on her features. She watched as everyone danced around, laughter filling the air. Hell, even Kakashi and Anko looked like they were having fun. She saw Tsunade in the corner, sneaking a few glasses of sake, looking around for Shizune (who was already dancing with her new husband, Iruka.) Sakura laughed out loud, and continued to scan the crowds.
Her eyes widened, as the music slowly turned into a piano number, and everyone formed a circle around the center of the dance floor. She bit her lip, knowing she would have to make up and excuse for why she and Sasuke were not going to have their slow dance, but when she opened her mouth and turned to her husband, she saw that he was standing up, eyes hidden, his hand outstretched towards her. She gulped and took it, letting him lead her towards the circle of people.
His hand took hers, his other arm wrapping around her waist, and her hand placed itself on her shoulder. He led her in a slow waltz, and she kept her eyes on his robes, not wanting to look at anyone, especially him. When the song ended, he left her, and she scoured the crowd, finding him nowhere to be seen. She pushed through the other slow dancing couples, and made her way around, socializing with her friends and peers.
Sasuke didn't appear at her side until the end of the night when they were required to stand and thank all the guests, which was about three fourths of the village. It was tiring, but a smile never left Sakura's face, even when it turned from happy to sad.
Sasuke looked up from his finished scroll and turned to his wife, who was asleep, her head resting on her elbow, the wedding album on the very last page, the only picture snapped of their kiss, which was as always, small and chaste. Sasuke sighed, and closed his scroll, putting it back on the shelf. He cleared up the tea cups and empty plate, putting them in the kitchen sink, and headed back into the living room. He closed the album and replaced it on the book shelf and turned to Sakura's sleeping figure. His hand was poised over her shoulder, aiming to wake her up, but he caught sight at how peaceful she looked.
So, instead, he picked her up and gently put her to bed, before turning on his side away from her, lulling into his own sleep.