Sasuke sat by the door, listening for any odd movements of any kind. Both Kenji and Sakura were sleeping now, and he licked his lips a couple times. He could still taste her on his tongue.

What a pleasant taste. He allowed his lips to curl upward a bit.

He sighed. Tomorrow, they would have to get a move on. He didn't know exactly what was going on, but he knew someone was after Sakura and Kenji. There was something bothering him about Kenji. It was something important. It went right back to the day they were attacked by the masked man...

A flash of pain waved through him. He banished the thought from his mind. It wasn't important at the moment. Right now, he just needed to get them back home safely. That's all.

Their safety mattered most.

Sakura woke up to the sound of scribbling. Still in a daze, she cocked her head to the right, finding that Kenji was busy with his coloring books. He noticed that she was awake.

"Ah, Mommy! Good morning, good morning!" He held up the drawing for her to see. Sakura giggled. It was sloppy, and he didn't even bother to try to keep it within the lines.

It was perfect.

"Good morning, baby." She sat up in bed and stretched. Looking around the room, she noticed that Sasuke had fallen asleep against the door. A soft smile came to her lips.

Kenji was quiet. "He fell asleep around fifteen minutes ago," he said softly.

Sakura frowned a bit. "Do you regret knowing?" she asked finally, folding her hands in her lap.

Kenji smiled sadly and shook his head. "A lot of things make more sense now. But..." he trailed off. "I think right now, he doesn't need to know."

Sakura felt tears sting at her eyes. Grabbing Kenji, she smothered him with a hug, eliciting hysterical laughter from the boy. "I love you," she choked out, pressing a wet kiss to his cheek. Then another one.

He eventually pushed her away, still laughing. "Okay, okay. I love you too, Mom!" Sakura saw it now. He was going to become the teenager who was always running from her affections. Sakura felt a tear trickled down her face and wiped it away. At least now, she had hope that she would be there to see him grow up.

She settled down in bed. "Get ready. Let's let Sasuke sleep for now."

When Sasuke dreamed, it was like he was on drugs.

Lately, Sasuke had been having a lot of dreams.

"...son..."

Images of Kenji's face, torn up with his eyes ripped out flashed before him.

"In order to leave the village, you have to take this road."

A crying Sakura came to mind, helpless and weak.

Then flashbacks of her screaming at him scared but angry were all around him.

"You fucking BASTARD!"

He could feel the blow as if it had happened just seconds ago, when she had broken the bed post over his head. That had hurt, and he still could pinpoint the exact spot on his head where he had a bump.

Sasuke then saw himself. Two of them.

"Sasuke, is it okay? Letting all this power go to waste? For what, a woman and a child?"

The other Sasuke growled and pointed at his other half. "Don't listen to him; you made the right choice, Sasuke!"

"You're letting go of your revenge if you do this. You'll never get justice for the clan's death. Think of Itachi, how he betrayed them, how he betrayed you."

The other Sasuke shook his head. "Killing him isn't going to bring them back, Sasuke. They're dead, but you're alive! Anyway, you always knew that things weren't always what they seemed."

"-suke, Sasuke!" Sakura shook him awake.

Sasuke slowly opened his eyes. "I'm up," he deadpanned.

She beamed at him, and Sasuke felt his heart skip a beat. "It's time to go. You ready?" He nodded, grabbing his things in the corner of the room.

They quickly checked out of the hotel and headed on the way to Konoha, with Kenji on Sakura's back.

"Do you want me to carry him?" Sasuke offered. Sakura smirked.

"Nah, I can handle this. You're carrying all the stuff anyway." A pause. "Thank you."

Sasuke looked away. He was not worthy of her gratitude. Even she knew that, but she still thanked him anyway.

"Your dream..." Sasuke's turned to Sakura. She hid behind her bangs. "It looked really scary."

Sasuke tensed up. "I guess it was."

"What was it about?" Sakura asked, and Sasuke's brow furrowed.

"I can't remember."

Sorry, kind of short, but it dealt with all things I wanted it to so there.

and sorry for the long wait!