A/N: Sorry it took so long to update this, I have been focused on my other stories and I had midterms ;o. I think this will be the last moments chapter, I think I've dragged this on long enough LOL. Sorry guys, I've lost inspiration for this one xD Plus I'm working on other pieces soo. Anyways, enjoy!
• moments: part three •
moment nine: the happiest
Sakura giggled at the sight beside her.
She had been checked out of the hospital a few days after delivering, and Sasuke had escorted her home, silent the whole time. But she knew he was happy. She bit her lip to hold back a smile, her arms tightening around her baby. Sasuke's fingers stroked her hair.
He took his paternity leave from the Police Force for a few months, and Sakura had a long year to look forward to with no work. Itachi grew quickly, which wasn't unexpected, he was a Uchiha after all, and within months, dark hairs began to emerge on his head. One morning, when Itachi was a few months old, she had awoken to her husband's steady warmth spreading across the sheets, to her side of the bed and the soft mewl of her son. She cracked open her eyes in curiousity, and held back a laugh.
Sasuke was already awake, laying on his back with his head buried in the pillow. He gently cupped his hands under his son's arms, and was holding him up, lips parted in a coo. Sakura bit her lip. She scooted closer to her husband and son and her lips found Sasuke's cheek. He chuckled, and turned his head so that her lips met his, fingers still tickling the skin of his son's ribs. The baby let out a small mewl.
"Good morning." Sakura murmured, her eyes opening slowly as she pulled away from his lips. Sasuke smirked gently, and kissed her forehead. She hummed lightly and turned on her side, propping her head in her elbow as she watched Sasuke's eyes slowly grace over his son's closed eyes, parted lips, and slow moving limbs. Sakura let out another giggle.
"Did you wake him up for this?" She teased, and she watched Sasuke's own lips pout gracefully.
"No." He huffed, and bounced the baby up and down gently, earning a noise of appreciation from Itachi. Sakura reached out to stroke Itachi's small, plump face and smiled.
Suddenly, she thought of something, and her fingers covered her son's smooth head, caressing the skin.
"Sasuke?" She asked lightly, and he turned to look at her, eyes curious.
"Hn?"
"Ah.. I remember when we babysat Shin for Shikamaru and Ino and you said afterwords that 'All you've ever wanted to be was a father.'" She swallowed, and Sasuke nodded quickly, eyebrow raising at her in question. He remained silent as he waited for her to continue.
"I just.. when did you .. when did you know that you wanted to be a father?" He searched her face gently, before lying Itachi down on his chest, stroking his back. His other hand wrapped around his wife, pulling her flush against him. He kissed her head once more.
"It was after we got back from the war,", he started, his eyes on his son's head and closed eyes. He continued to stroke his back, and caress his wife's shoulder. "I got let out from interrogation early one day, and sent home to rest. I was headed towards the market area to pick up some tomatoes and rice to prepare something quick to eat, and when I was heading back down the street towards the compound, which was still being renovated, there was a couple and their son playing around by the bench." He swallowed, and Sakura already knew which bench he was referring to. She nodded, and he sighed, continuing in a slow, hushed tone. "They just looked so..." he searched for the right word, licking his lower lip, "so.. happy. The boy was so young, and innocent, and the parents...there are no words to describe how much love was radiating off of them. My feet wouldn't move, it was as if I was frozen, paralyzed in place. Just watching them made me think of my parents, and my brother, and I.. I just lost it. I knew that one day I would have to rebuild my clan, knew I would have to have children, but that day, I was hit by the emotional impact of it."
He swallowed, but continued. "I knew that after everything was over, and now that I was free, I wanted a son, not right then of course, but someday, a child who I could protect, and raise to keep out of the shadows. I knew that having a family would complete my life someday."
Sakura wiped away the tears that came to her eyes and snuggled her face into her husbands chest. He chuckled and cupped her head, pressing a kiss to her forehead. He wrapped an arm around her and his other around his son, and closed his eyes.
"T-That was so beautiful.." Sakura whispered, and Sasuke snorted.
"How annoying." He muttered teasingly, and Sakura laughed. She lifted up her head from his warm skin and kissed him, palms cupping his cheeks. He stroked the back of her head affectionately, and she pulled away, gently resting her forehead to his. She looked into his curious eyes and smiled, still teary eyed.
"You don't know how thankful I am that you can open up to me." She whispered, and a slow smirk spread to his lips. He kissed her once more, and ran his hand down her spine, watching her shiver.
"It was worth it." He shrugged. She giggled, and her eyes went back to her son, who was slowly falling asleep from the steady warmth coming off of his father's chest and the soothing feel of his hand stroking his back.
"We are the happiest." She murmured with a nod, and put her head back to her husband's shoulder. He tightened his grip on her, and rested his head on her hair.
"Yes." He agreed, closing his eyes.
moment ten: graveyard blues
He is eighteen, and she has just agreed to marry him. He feels so many weights begin to lift from his shoulders, and he knows, just knows that the future is brighter than he ever considered it to be. Everything would be okay.
He wakes up early that morning to go down to the grounds lined with headstones of fallen comrades. It takes him a while, but he finally convinces the Hokage to place a stone in the back corner for Uchiha Itachi. He heads there now, a small bunch of simple flowers in his hand. He lays down the flowers and silently kneels in front of the hunk of stone with the Hidden Leaf insignia carved into it. He bows his head in respect.
"Big brother.." He murmurs, and closes his eyes slowly. He struggles to find the appropriate words to start out his conversation, and finally just lets his mind ease, words slipping from his lips like honey.
"I've asked her to be my wife.. her name is Sakura. Haruno Sakura."
He hesitates for a second, before continuing with a hard swallow.
"She was the girl from the Academy with baby pink hair. I'm going to rebuild the Uchiha clan, restore it's honor. I'm going to do it in your name, Itachi. And I'm going to keep it from the darkness this time."
His chest is heavy, and he lets a simple tear slip down his cheek.
"Everything will be okay. No one will have burdens to carry on their shoulders." He promises, before standing up and leaving the cemetery without another word.
His heart feels lighter than before, and he decides that he is in a good mood, enough of a good mood to perhaps take her out to a movie.
moment eleven: bloodline faults
Sakura had to admit, it felt good to be able to come back into work, even if it were for short shifts. After her maternity leave, Sasuke continued to mold his schedule around hers and told her to go take some shifts back at work. She didn't object to him, knowing and smiling at the eagerness that he held of wanting to take care of his son. She sighed and rubbed her back, letting a small yawn escape her lips.
This morning, there was a large amount of papers shoved into her 'incoming' paper box and she wanted to tear out her hair over it. She knew that she would have to take all these papers home, and still had to finish her research papers on fertility (she was almost close to being done courtesy of all the time a pregnant woman had to herself). In order to attempt her finishing touches on her paper, she had to go down to the research room, which was crammed with all sorts of files and papers, as well as patient's reports (being one of the official certified ANBU medics had it's perks).
The A/C was cool on her face as she walked into the room, humming a slow tune that she briefly remembered from a movie Sasuke had taken her to earlier in her pregnancy.
She was rummaging around in one of the messy filing cabinets under bloodline and fertility, when her fingers graced over a very large manila entitled 'Uchiha'. She couldn't help but giggle as she slipped out the file, flicking through the large amount of papers. To her shock, the files went back generations, all on the genetic makeup of the clan. As expected, as she read too, the Uchiha's had marvelous genes, as well as a very high fertility rate. She blushed, flipping through some of the older papers on what she assumed was Sasuke's older relatives, when her eyes caught the title of a smaller, bound stack of papers in the file.
Mental Illnesses, it read, and she shivered slightly, slipping the bound papers out of the manila, setting the large file aside. She sat down at the wooden table, perching the files on the table. The ANBU seal was staring back up at her in all of it's glory, and she swallowed, fingers going to the ties on the folder. Within seconds, she had the file opened, papers slipping out everywhere, exposing numerous pictures, files, and notes to her eyes.
Not surprising, like Sasuke had told her of his clan, there were indeed a few over the years, of records of mental instability among the Uchiha. Especially among the male population.
"Oh.." Sakura whispered, slipping out a rumpled paper, that looked like it was one of the oldest. She read over the doctor's notes, as well as the blood results, before her stomach churned, and she had to put the paper back. Her head spun. She knew that no clan was perfect, every clan had faults, but she didn't know such illness had to do with Sasuke's blood line, or his genes. As much as she wanted to just bind up the file and get back to her own research, she found herself rifling her fingers through the papers, searching for a name in particular.
As promised, at the bottom of the large stack, was a file that looked like the newest of the recorded. Her corneas burned as she held up the manila in her hands, biting her lip hard as she read over the scrolled kanji once, twice, and then once more.
Uchiha Sasuke.
The folder was already open in her hands before she could even mentally decide if she wanted to adventure into the ANBU's notes on her husband. She skipped past the first few on his genetic makeup, birth notes, and traditional blood work, before coming to rest on the first of the doctors notes.
Patient seems oddly calm. He is shaking only slightly, but our nurses assured me that he is eating properly and is getting some sleep from what they can observe. Experiences periodic nightmares, wakes up crying and screaming, especially one name (Itachi. Older brother?). Will not speak of the death of his parents or his brother, but we have reason to believe that he spoke with him just before Itachi fled the village. Very quiet, does not speak much, refuses to answer man questions.
Sakura bit her lip harder. Judging by the date of the notes, this was recorded only a few months after the Uchiha massacre. Sasuke couldn't have been more than eight years old. She flipped through a few more papers of his genin days, as well as when he was gone from the village, before stopping at the last of the notes at the bottom. Morino Ibiki's own writing was scrawling, lazy, as if he had had enough of writing. But never the less, Sakura read his notes. As well as the dialogue an assistant had taken of Sasuke's interrogations.
This damned brat (Sakura couldn't help but laugh at this, because Ibiki was truly his own boss) refuses to speak much, and all that he seems to come out with is "clever" retorts. Blood tests are healthy, no signs of illness or disease, other than the strains from his visual prowess. Mental tests have been good so far, though he remains quiet and scowling a lot of the time. No mention of his past or his intentions. Spoke little of Orochimaru. Flinches still at the reference to his brother (Uchiha Itachi). Conversation skills are shit, but not completely abnormal. Overall, his recovery should run smoothly.
Sakura smiled, eyes running down the dialogues below, set up by date. Her eyes held one on piece, and she blushed prettily.
Morino I.: Got any friends?
Patient, Uchiha S.: A few.
Morino: Are they dear to you?
Patient: Yes.
Morino: Wanna give me some names?
Patient: No.
Morino: Sorry, kid, didn't mean to phrase that as a question. I meant, give me their names.
Patient: Hn.
Morino.: Well?
Patient: Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto... and Haruno Sakura.
Sakura smiled to herself. Especially at the last part.
Whether his pause there had been deliberate or not, it definitely meant something, she was certain.
She spent the rest of her shift in the research room, gathering up her notes to take home, as well as reading through more of the Uchiha's folder. One thing was for sure, she would make sure with every fiber in her being that Sasuke would not end up in this folder for any further psychological notes. In fact, she planned to make sure no Uchiha would ever have to end up in the folder for mental illnesses. It was a large goal for her to attempt to reach, but she knew that with just a bit of love and the right bonds, she could do it. They could do it.
When she arrived home, arms full of notes and books, she found Sasuke stretched out on the couch, breathing light from sleep. Itachi was snuggled under a blanket on his stomach, asleep too. Sakura snuck into her office, dumped her books down and crept back into the living room to take in the sight before her, eyes brimming with tears. Her heart fluttered, and she felt the deja vu of when Sasuke babysat Ino and Shikamaru's son, Shin. She bit back a large smile and knelt down by the couch, watching her two favorite boys.
Sasuke's head was angled slightly towards her, lips parted in a very light snore. One arm was curled around Itachi, and the other was thrown over the arm of the couch by his messy raven locks.
As much as she wanted to just stay there and watch her husband and son peacefully slumber like two innocent beings, she knew she had to start dinner. With a silent sigh, she stood up and tiptoed into the kitchen, shutting the door behind her so she didn't wake them up.
As her role as the Uchiha matriarch, she planned to keep the clan out of darkness. And she would keep her promise this time.
"Well,", she murmured to herself in a small smile, deep in thought.
"Being Uchiha Sakura isn't all it's cracked up to be."
end
A/N: Okay yay! Hope you enjoyed his story, I know I did. Sorry it was crappy towards the end, I was pulling things out of my ass to be honest. My brain is so scattered that it's really hard to get back into the mood of this piece. Well at least it's finished. Thank you to all of those who stuck with this story all the way through, as well as those who picked it up midchapter(s). Hopefully people will continue to enjoy it in the future.
I will also be updating my other stories very soon, and try to work on others, but right now, I'm tryna fix my brain. LOL. Anyways thanks guys!