A/N: If you wanna get into the mood for this chapter, just legit listen to Justin Timberlake's "Mirrors" on repeat.

After the incident with Ino and Shikamaru's son, Sakura had spent another half an hour in her office, trying to pull herself together. She had wiped her eyes, cleaned up her clothes, and headed out towards the break room in the back of the hospital. She grabbed a small fruit bowl from the fridge and sat down to munch on it slowly, her mind wandering.

She was envious of Ino and Shikamaru's marriage, of Kakashi's marriage, Shizune's and everyone else's relationship.

It wasn't fair.

She wanted to come home from work to her husband, to a hug, a kiss, and a conversation, most of all. She wanted to be able to sit down on her day off and talk to someone. She wanted to be able to walk around town with her hand intertwined in her husbands, she wanted public displays of affection. She wanted to be round with life, and a husband who paid attention to her needs, and took care of her, like Kakashi, like Shikamaru, like Naruto.

She wanted to feel like she was loved, and not just something to come home to everyday that made meals, and cleaned up the house.

She irritably wiped the tears from her eyes, and thanked Kami that the break room was empty. She continued thinking, chewing on a strawberry.

She wanted to see her parents again. She wanted to be able to visit her mother and father with her husband, to be able to have dinners with the four of them, chatting and laughing. Making memories.

She wanted intimacy. She was fed up of this cold... fucking (who was she kidding? She and Sasuke had never made love) she let herself get into, getting her hopes up that this was really what she needed from Sasuke, what she needed to feel loved, and what she needed to get pregnant. She gagged, swallowing her strawberry heavily and shoving the rest of the fruit bowl away from her, feeling sick.

She wanted a honeymoon, three weeks to herself and her husband, full of romance and love. She wanted a wedding where she danced around happily with her husband, and had fun with her friends all night. She wanted a photo of her marriage where both of them were smiling, happy and ready to start their life together. She wanted a wedding night, filled with awkward, but romantic love, and warmth. She wanted to be embraced after sex, and when she slept, and when she came home and every time in between.

Sakura pushed back her thoughts, and picked up her fruit bowl, throwing away the left overs. She headed back into her office, intending to hide from everyone until her shift ended in two hours. She felt more tears fall down her face, but she ignored them when she closed her office door behind her.

She decided to lay down on her couch, and take a nap, filled with fantasies of the life and marriage she wanted, to get away from the shithole of a marriage she had.

She walked home from work that morning with her coat open, hair loose as she took out her ponytail. She let the cold wind hit her as she walked, her hands moving unconsciously to grab her house keys out of her bag as she approached the household. Without thinking, she pushed open the door, slipped out of her coat and shoes and put down her bag. She walked down the hallway, and stopped, looking into the kitchen, seeing that the coffee maker was on, ready for her. She laughed bitterly, but quietly and unplugged it, and headed to the bathroom. She snuck in, and washed her face, brushed her teeth and headed into the bedroom. She undressed, and threw on a pair of sweats and a shirt and turned towards the bed and stopped.

Sasuke was on his side, as usual turned away from her, and her keen shinobi ears heard his light breathing. She snuck over to her side of the bed, and grabbed the pillow and left the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She grabbed the thick blanket from the hall linen cupboard and headed into the living room. She plopped down, adjusted herself on the pillows and pulled the blanket around her.

She closed her eyes.

Right now, even a nightmare wouldn't scare her.

Sasuke awoke a few hours later, and stretched his muscles. He sat on the edge of the bed and frowned. He turned towards the bed and saw that Sakura was not on her side. Also, there was a pillow missing. He pulled on a shirt, adjusted his sleep pants and peered in the bathroom, and then headed down the hallway. He stopped at the living room, seeing a mass of pink hair flowing out from under the blankets.

He frowned.

Why hadn't she come to bed? Usually she plopped right down next to him, and passed out; he didn't mind being woken up to hear her sneak into the bed beside him. She made a small noise, and snuggled closer into the blanket. Sasuke closed the living room screen door ajar and walked into the kitchen.

By his quick analysis, she hadn't had her usual cup of coffee before coming home, and the coffee marker had been turned off. He turned it back on and put two pieces of toast into the toaster. He sat down at the table, looking around him.

Before Sakura moved in, much of his furniture had been bare, the table had nothing on it but scrolls, counters only held the toaster and coffee maker, walls with minimal pictures, and bookshelves half empty. But when Sakura moved all of her things in, every room came to life. She placed flowers in the kitchen windsill, papers, notes and pens on the table, medical books and novels on the bookshelves, and wedding photos on the walls. The Uchiha compound finally looked lived in.

He stared at her little calendar, hanging on the wall. This month's picture was of a beach sunset, with pinks and reds casting over the sand. Sasuke stared at the little x's once more. It was almost the end of the month, and the last x had been about a week ago. He almost jumped when the toast popped up int he toaster. He stood up, placing the pieces on a plate and poured himself a cup of coffee. He sat back down at the table and ate the toast dry.

When he was done, he cleaned up the dishes, but left the coffee maker on for Sakura when she woke up. He went back to the bathroom to take a quick shower before changing into his black, training gear. He left the compound to go for a run and do some training.

Sakura rolled around on the couch, and stretched. She opened her eyes and looked on the wall for the pretty little clock she had brought from her apartment. 1 pm. She stretched and stood up, folding up the blanket, everything from last night and this morning flooding back to her. She placed the blanket back in the linen closet and threw her pillow back on the bed. She hopped into the shower, brushed her teeth and changed into a hoodie. She went to pull on a pair of shorts and then hesitated.

Today was too hot, and today was a lazy, no pants day, she agreed and chucked her shorts back in the drawer. Either way, the hoodie came down to her mid thigh. She pulled her hair into a messy bun and headed into the kitchen. She hopped up onto the counter, a habit of hers was sitting on the counter, and then hopped off again. She remembered what had happened last time she was sat on a counter.

She sighed heavily, and poured herself a cup of coffee, not even bother to acknowledge that Sasuke had left it on for her and sat at the table.

She heard the clink of the mailbox go, and she jumped up. Perhaps Tenten's invitation had come. Usually, she left Sasuke to get the mail because if she received any mail, it came to her office mailbox. And as Mrs. Uchiha, she had no bills to pay. She flung open the front door and ran outside, flinging open the mailbox. She pulled out two small letters, and looked at the names on the letters.

Mr. Sasuke Uchiha, she read and grumbled. She brought the letters in and placed them on the kitchen table, standing them up for him to see. She finished her coffee and made herself a quick sandwich, before heading out into the garden. She watered her Azalea seeds and inspected the cracked walkway. She headed back inside, hating the heat of the day, and sat back in the living room. She really wished they had a tv. Sakura made a mental note to order one under her new name for the house later.

She headed over to the stereo player, and gingery opened the CD box, half expecting there to be another blank CD in there, but it was empty. She sighed out in relief, and headed over to her CD collection, picking out a favorite from her teenage years. She plopped the CD in and pushed play, hearing the familiar boys voice flow from the stereo. She smiled and turned the volume up, until the entire house echoed with the boy band's music. She sang along (rather well if she could say so herself) and began to bob up and down in a dance.

By the time she was tired of dancing, it was already six. Her stomach rumbled, and she turned off her CD and walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge boredly. She slammed it shut again.

"I don't feel like cooking."

She shrugged to herself and decided that she would go to Ichiraku's. Alone. She needed to spend sometime with herself right now. And Sasuke could fend for himself for one night, she was sure. I mean, he had done it for ten years before, right? She wrote a curt note out to tell him where she was going and headed upstairs, deciding to get dressed up a little. She pulled on her nicest pair of jeans and a silk tank top, adding a thin cardigan. She took her time curling her hair, and put on some heavier make-up, and headed out the door, not looking back.

She ignored the glances she got as she walked down the street to Ichiraku's, and ignored the whispers.

Isn't that Lady Sakura Uchiha?

Sakura looks so pretty. Where is her husband?

Do you think they're having a fight?

Probably. I mean she is married to Sasuke, right?

Sakura laughed at the last one, as she popped under the half curtain to Ichiraku's and plopped down on the bar stool. She said hello to the couple and ordered a large bowl of ramen. After she finished, rubbing her stomach in a Naruto like fashion, she decided to pop across the street and into the small tavern. She ordered a bottle of sake. She hadn't drunk any alcohol since her wedding, where she had sipped wine.

Sakura wasn't an alcoholic. She knew what kind of bad things it did to one's body, so she only drank on occasions. And tonight was an occasion.

Sakura also, was never one to get sloppy or loud when she was drunk (which had only been twice). Ino was the one who danced on tables and sung at the top of her lungs, Tenten was the loudmouth and the clutz, Hinata was the giggler, and Sakura was the quiet blusher. Her cheeks would turn red, and she would remain quiet, but also slightly giggly when she heard someone talk.

She couldn't remember how many bottles she had had, probably 3 or 4, but she knew she was drunk. And she didn't care. When the bartender came up to her to ask her if she was okay she giggled and nodded. When a man tried to hit on her, he laughed and took another swing of the sake. Unlike her mentor, Tsunade, Sakura did not have the highest tolerance for alcohol. She could drink a bottle or two and be okay, but three was getting on the drunk side.

She laughed again and played with her hair, resuming her chat with the other person next to her. Some woman who owned a tea shop. She mentioned that her own parents owned a tea store, and proceeded to have a giggly, fuzzy conversation with the woman.

Then she heard her husbands, cold, but slightly worried voice outside the tavern. He entered and pushed his way past all of the customers, standing in front of the bar, gripping the counter.

"Where's my wife, Uchiha Sakura?" Sakura giggled, holding her hand over her mouth to hide herself from him. He had never called her that before. Let alone acknowledged that she was his wife. The bartender, scared by Sasuke's scary glare, pointed a shaky finger towards Sakura's booth in the corner. She giggled again before a hand flew out to take the bottle of sake from her. She tried to protest, but her tongue went fuzzy. Instead, she giggled, and tried to stand up. She did so and wobbly headed past her husband and towards the exit, thanking the still scared bartender as she did.

A hand gripped her arm and pulled her back against his chest.

"Sakura." He said gruffly. She tried to pull herself out of his embrace, still slightly giggly.

"No, Sasuke-kun, I don't want to goo.." Sasuke's eyes widened slightly at the suffix, but he remained frowning. He put a hand to his wife's waist, leading her out of the bar and into the crowded street, ignoring her attempts at getting away. She continued to pull at him, her waist escaping his grasp. He frowned deeper.

"Sakura, stop." She pouted and tried to pull away from him again.

"No, I don't want to." She kept trying to pull out of his grasp. He was beginning to get agitated, especially with all the people staring now and whispering among themselves.

That's Uchiha Sasuke.

Ooh, they were having a fight! She must be drunk.

Do you think she'll forgive him?

She looks like she probably won't.

"Sakura." He gritted his teeth, and tried to control his breathing, as his grip became gentler on her wrist, but still tight. He tried to calm down his voice.

"Sakura, why don't you come home and get some sleep?" He said, gentler this time and reached out to hold her waist. His fingers were almost on the material of her shirt when she let out a short, bitter laugh, her face turning to him, looking like a beautiful, flaming goddess. Her cheeks were flushed from the alcohol.

"Oh yeah?" She countered, her eyes looking angry. "Well, why don't you kiss me when you fuck me, Uchiha?"

The crowd went quiet, and Sasuke's eyes widened. All of the words left his lips, and his hands were motionless in the air. He took in a breath and then exhaled. Before the crowd could start whispering again to end the quiet moment, Sasuke grabbed his wife, picking her up bridal style, ignoring her struggles, and disappeared in a poof of clouds from the street.

He set Sakura down in the hallway of their house and headed towards the bathroom. He closed the door behind him, leaving Sakura standing in the hallway. Her fast immune system began working, and she slowly pulled out of her drunken state. She rubbed her eyes and headed into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. She couldn't remember any of what just happened, the last thing she remembered was her second bottle of sake. She gulped down the water and two aspirin and took off her heels, rubbing her feet. She could hear the shower running, so she headed to the bedroom and stripped down to her panties.

She reached for her brush and combed her tangled hair and removed her makeup. She let out a groan and smacked her head lightly on the wall. Why had she been an idiot and gone and gotten drunk? She was going to ask Sasuke what happened when he got out the bathroom. She swallowed the bitter taste of sake in her mouth and gagged.

She closed her eyes, while she waited, and focused her chakra into ridding herself of all the alcohol. By the time the water had stopped running, Sakura had cleared her thoughts up and felt a bit better. She sat on the edge of her side of the bed and waited for the door to the bathroom to open. Sasuke walked out, clad only in a towel, and moved swiftly past her, silent.

He dropped the towel and changed into a pair of pajama pants and Sakura watched him, her eyes staring at his naked back and buttocks, this time, not blushing.

"Sasuke-" She started, but bit her lip. She didn't know what to say. "I'm- What happened back ther-"

She was cut off by a curt and harsh laugh.

"You mean you can't remember?" His retort came out bitterly. She looked down at her hands, guiltily. She shook her head, feeling him sit on his side of the bed.

"No, I can't." She answered honestly. She turned back to him, her eyes coming in contact with the back of his head.

"Tch." Is all he said, before he laid down, his back to her, and his breathing became shallow. She bit her lip harder, and stood up, moving into the bathroom. She shut the door behind her quietly and sat on the toilet, pulling her knees up to her naked chest. She wrapped her arms around her legs and began to cry.

Whatever she had said to Sasuke, it wasn't good.

When she awoke from the bed, groggy, the next morning, Sasuke was gone, and she felt like shit. She took a shower and gagged into the toilet to rid herself of any leftover alcohol in her system. Then she called in sick to work, claiming to have a migraine, but promised to be in bright and early the next morning. She spent the entire day in the kitchen, alone, preparing a lemon meringue for her parents. Later that afternoon she made Sasuke a small dinner, left out the instructions for heating, and departed the house, pie in hand.

When she got to her parents, she was greeted with warm hugs and kisses. Her mother wiped a few tears from her eyes.

"Isn't Sasuke-san with you, Sakura, honey?"

"He's on a mission." Sakura lied swiftly. To be honest, she had no clue where he was, nor did she really want to find out. She had dinner with her parents, her favorite chicken curry, and noticed her father was silent the entire meal, except after they had sat down on the couch after, all with pieces of pie.

"Is he treating you okay, Sakura?" She looked up at her dad, shocked at how quietly he had asked the question. She bit her lip and nodded.

"Perfect gentleman. He took me out to eat at the Dual Dragons last week, and we've been working on planting Azaleas in the garden and fixing the loose stones." Well she hadn't lied abut the first part. Her mother smiled warmly, and her father remained silent, eating another piece of his pie.

"That sounds lovely, honey." Sakura nodded.

She caught her parents up on how she was doing at work, the details of Tenten and Neji's wedding, running into Kakashi and Anko's pregnancy, Tsunade's hair clip, everything. Everything except what she really wanted to say about the crumbling in her marriage. She bit her lip and finished her stories with a fake smile.

She left her parents house late that night, feeling a little better. She walked home and opened the door slowly, closing it quietly behind her. She headed into the kitchen, ignoring the fact that the house was completely dark and uninhabited. She flicked on the kitchen light and saw that Sasuke's dinner was still sat on the counter. She hastily dumped it into the trashcan, and stood against the table, looking at the plate in her hand.

Before she could stop herself she pulled her arm back, and using her monstrous strength, lunged the plate at the nearby wall.

"FUCKING SHIT!"

She crumpled against the fridge and let out another sob, laying her head in her arms on her knees. She sat there, sobbing for twenty minutes, before wiping away her tears, cleaning herself up and standing. She took a deep breath and cleaned up the plate pieces with a broom dumping them in the trashcan to cover the leftover food. then she sat down at the kitchen table and stared at the wall she had just thrown the plate at.

She waited for her husband to come home.

It was another hour before the door opened and closed silently. She continued staring at the wall, hearing the footsteps get closer and then pass by the kitchen.

"Sasuke." She said, not taking her eyes off the wall. She heard the footsteps stop near the living room. Then they started again, slowly fading, walking away.

No.

He would not just walk away from her like this.

"SASUKE!" She screamed and stood up. She heard nothing, not even a hitch in breathing, no footsteps, nothing. Then, came his usual sound from the doorway.

"Aa."

She let the tears stream down her face, and she turned to him, her eyes searching his face, knowing they would find nothing. Like usual. He continued to look at her, waiting, his hands by his sides. She ignored the cuts, scrapes and bruises covering his exposed skin, and the fact that his knuckles were bleeding profusely and beginning to drip on the floor.

She flew at him, at first with her fist aimed his face, but then she stopped. She watched as her tears hit the ground, mixing with the small drops of his blood. Her eyes shut, as she let out another sob, and her hands gripped the front of his shirt, her forehead against his chest. She continued to cry, letting her sobs vibrate through his chest.

"I'm sorry", she said, "I'm so sorry...I'm sorry..." She kept saying it over and over, letting her sobs drown out the words turning them into useless sounds.

Then she was enveloped in his strong, warm embrace. She tried to calm down her sobs, her chest heaving against him. She unclenched her fists from his shirt and placed her palms against his warm chest. He picked her up, and her legs wrapped around his waist, and he carried her towards the bedroom. He set her down on the bed, but she wrapped her arms around his neck, unwilling to let him go. He slowly pulled her arms away, and stripped himself of his shinobi gear and shirt, grimacing at his cuts and bruises.

Sakura finally noticed his state and wiped her eyes and took in a deep breath. She let him sit down on the bed before standing between his knees and taking care of his wounds. He continued looking down, his bangs hiding his eyes. She closed up his cuts and fixed his bruises, and his arm snaked around her waist, pulling her into the bed with him. He tucked her into his chest as he lay on his back, and she closed her eyes, still feeling tears come to her eyes.

He let out a deep sigh.

"So annoying."

In Sakura's dream this time, there was no terror, and no bloodshed. It was just her, and Sasuke. She was stood between his thighs as he sat on the bed. He stripped her of her clothes and his own, laid her down on the bed and kissed her lovingly. He let her tears fall onto his neck as she wound her arms around him and he slowly made love to her, gently, and sweetly.