A/N: After this chapter, we'll have a short time skip!

Safe Travels

Sakura stood outside the door of the examination room, clipboard clutched between shaking hands. She dreaded this appointment for weeks, pleading unsuccessfully with Tsunade and Shizune to take this patient from her, but both refused. She needed to confront this, they both said. She needed to be an adult about this. She'd been caring for Hinata all this time, they both said, sympathetic but knowing glints in their eyes, what was so different now that she knew who the father was?

As if they didn't know. As if everyone in the village didn't know.

She wasn't in the village when Naruto had his now infamous temper tantrum; she was in the Land of Rivers overseeing the particulars of a children's hospital being built. When she returned to Konoha, it seems everyone mutually decided to keep quiet about the drama, and though the hushed conversations that went silent as soon as she came into view were curious, she was much too preoccupied with her projects to be overly concerned.

Her teammates' behavior should have told her something was wrong. The way Sai looked at her with his version of sympathy, always giving her cryptic and awkward consolation only to be shooed away by an uncharacteristically shy Yamato, should have been her first clue. Kiba and Shino's sudden wariness around her should have been another. The way they and Neji stuck to Hinata's side, even pushing Naruto away, did strike her as odd, but she explained that away as being some kind of clan thing. Naruto was no different, at least around her, and Hinata had always had trouble meeting her gaze during her baby appointments, so that wasn't so surprising. As far as she was concerned, everything was just fine.

And then Naruto brought Sasuke home.

For one, glorious, foolish moment, the sight of him, that man she loved so faithfully for so long, brought forth the normal flood of happiness, anticipation, and apprehension. Finally, she thought. He's finally come for me.

How wrong she was. How very wrong.

When those words, said so softly, so full of emotion she was sure he didn't even know he was capable of, reached her ears, she went into a state of shock. Even now, she doesn't know how she got home or what she did for the first few hours after that. All she could do was lay on her bed and listen to those words repeat endlessly in her mind.

"Sakura...it - it's true. I got Hinata pregnant." How those words tormented her!

I got Hinata pregnant.

For so long, for years, she consoled herself by reminding herself of his total disinterest in sex. It wasn't just her, she would think; he also ignored the advances of his redhaired teammate, Karin. His eyes never seem to catch on anyone, man or woman, and Kami knew how often she checked! She and Karin bonded over his seeming disinterest in anything other than revenge, for goodness sake! And while it was never in her mind or heart to force him to be intimate with her, the thought that he would have to be, if only to restore his clan, was always lurking in her subconscious.

So to be shown this, to find out that, yes oh yes, he was interested in sex, yes he did think of things besides revenge and make time for them, that he returned to the village again and again for the sake of the pleasure he found between Hinata's thighs, hurt her more than anything else could have.

It pissed her off, made her want to hurt him in a way she'd never felt before, when she thought of all the times she and Naruto begged him, pleaded with him with tears in their eyes and hope squeezing their hearts, to please, please come home only for their love and hope and desperation to crash against the impenetrable dispassion, the utter disregard for their lives and their love and their motivations, of his face like waves broke against a cliff. Time and again he would leave them, only the scent of ash and ozone marking his presence, reopening the wound of loss anew, and each time that scab was ripped open, she knew with a little more certainty that he would never willingly return to them. And she was right. The man Naruto brought home was wore down, tired, and defeated. There was no joy in his eyes when he gazed at them, only resignation.

Yet still she hoped. For all the good it did her.

Sakura took a deep, steadying breath, forcefully pushing those thoughts away, and opened the door. She could do this, she could -

They were holding hands. She stopped short, a smile frozen on her face, emerald eyes fixed on their joined hands. The two of them were so close to each other, leaning into one another so subtly that Sakura was sure they didn't realize they were doing it. Her stomach churned, and her blood turned to ice in her veins, slicing her as it raced, heedless of her pain, throughout her body. Somehow, more than Sasuke's admission, more than Hinata's steadily growing womb, more than Naruto's longing heartbreak, and Sai's awkward sympathy, this made everything real. Seeing them, holding hands, so close and comfortable with each other, seeing Sasuke more relaxed and at ease than she could ever remember seeing him in her company, was the final straw, the straw that broke the camel's back, and heartache bloomed like a star exploding in the emptiness of space, but instead of seeding new life, this explosion brought death, and it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it -

"Sakura." As always, the sound of Sasuke's voice arrested her attention completely, and she was jerked from her inward thoughts. No more than a few seconds could have passed since she walked through the door, and she found herself resenting him, not for the first time, for expending so little energy in saving her. She let the smile on her face brighten just a bit more before she stepped fully into the room, closing the door behind her with a soft but firm snap, and telling herself to focus on the task at hand. No way would she allow personal feelings to get in the way of her caring for her patient.

"Good afternoon, Hinata...Sasuke," she greeted brightly, stumbling only a little bit on Sasuke's name. Hinata bit her lip, a worried and guilty look pulling her mouth down, and Sakura didn't need to be a Yamanaka to know that her Hyuuga friend felt awful about the situation. She could relate. Beside Hinata, Sakura could feel Sasuke's dark eyes burning into the aide of her face, but for once in her life, she ignored him completely, choosing instead to check Hinata's vitals and make quiet, awkward small talk with the other woman.

"Sakura," Hinata said, her voice holding a questioning, apologetic tone as Sakura helped her lie back so they could view the baby. Sakura touched Hinata's cheek gently with the backs of her fingers, and Hinata quickly reached up to thread their fingers together. Sakura's smile turned wobbly.

"Please don't apologize, Hinata. I know you well enough to know you didnt do this to hurt me. I'll," Sakura swallowed, her hand tightening around Hinata's in a desperate plea for comfort, "I'll be fine. I can't wait to be your baby's number one aunt." She said, injecting a cheerines into her voice that she didn't feel. One day I'll be okay with this, Sakura promised herself firmly. Until then, she'd power through.

"So!" Sakura said, leaning back and clapping her hands together. "Are you two ready to see your baby?" Without waiting for a reply, she placed the sensors on Hinata's exposed belly and directed chakra into them. The machine attached to the sensors slowly came to life, the screen glowing as the live movements of the growing child came into focus.

Though most of her attention was taken up by analysing the data on the side of the screen, Sakura was still able to note Hinata's slight gasp and trembling smile.

"It's so much...more than I thought," Hinata murmured, reaching out to once again claim Sasuke's hand. Sakura laughed, used to that reaction in first time mothers.

"She's growing beautifully," Sakura said. Sasuke tore his gaze, which had been glued to the screen with a mixture of fascination and what Sakura might have labelled terror if it were anyone but Sasuke, from the machine, eyes wide.

"She? It's a girl?" He asked, and Sakura laughed sheepishly, amazed at how easy it was to interact with him when Hinata was around.

"Oh whoops, I should have asked if you wanted to know that beforehand, huh?" She said, embarrassed at her slip up. Hinata smiled and gently touched her wrist with her free hand.

"It's alright, Sakura," Hinata said. She looked radiant, Sakura thought, like a fresh spring dawn.

She'll be good for him, Sakura thought suddenly. He's been in the darkness too long. The thought that Sasuke, her beloved boy, might finally regain some of the happiness she remembered from their genin days, soothed the burning ache in her heart. She thought maybe it wouldn't be such a long time until she was genuinely happy for them. Perhaps Sasuke saw her thoughts written on her face (he was always good at doing that, whether for good or ill), perhaps the softening of her smile and the lightening of her eyes stirred him to action. Whatever the reason, Sakura gasped when she felt his hand cover hers over Hinata's pregnant belly. She looked up into his eyes, and for the first time since they were children, perhaps for the first time ever, she saw genuine affection looking back at her. Her breath caught.

"Thank you, Sakura, for taking care of my family. I'm glad we're friends," he said lowly, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Me, too," she said, laughing even as tears, of happiness or grief she would never be sure, filled her eyes.

Later that night, Hinata and Sasuke lay curled up on her bed, their naked bodies pressed together. Hinata was nearly asleep, coaxed there by Sasuke's fingers running through her hair and his slow, even breathing.

The baby, their daughter she reminded herself over and over, strangely giddy over the prospect of what traits her girl would inherit from her father, was shifting around in her womb, the fluttering movements beginning to have sharp angles as knees and elbows stretched and her body grew. It wouldn't be long before the pleasant sensation became uncomfortable. Not long after that, she would be here and in her arms. A happy, incredible thing to ponder.

"Marry me." The words, whispered against the crook of her neck, were so low she almost thought she imagined them, but the way Sasuke's hand stilled its movement and his body became tense told her otherwise.

"Why would you want to do that?" She couldn't help but ask. Why would he want to marry her? After she lied and betrayed him? Didn't he know he could do much better? But Sasuke took her question much differently than she intended. His hand slid from her hair down to her stomach, stroking the skin and directing his next words to the baby.

"Your mother," he said to the baby, sliding down until his face was level with Hinata's stomach. Hinata watched him with wide eyes. "Your mother has a bad habit of thinking badly of herself, even now. She thinks," and here he paused to kiss the space where he last spotted the baby's movement, "that I'm somehow above her, that she doesn't deserve me, but I think we both know," he said as he spared her a quick glance, dark eyes full of an emotion she couldn't identify but that made her heart race.

"I think we both know it's the other way around, don't we, little one? So tell her, since you two are so close, tell her to marry me so you don't have to deal with a sad, mopey father who's always trying to kill your loser uncle Naruto," he finished, smiling against her belly when a giggle escaped her. He moved back up to lay beside her, making room for her in his arms when she shifted to face him, his eyes turning serious as he did so.

"I don't have anything to offer you but a name, my body, and the promise that I will always try and make you happy. I know it's not enough -"

"It's more than enough, Sasuke," she said as she cupped his jaw in her hand. The look in his eyes as he watched her was so open and vulnerable, so full of everything she ever hoped to have, it made her heart hurt. She knew how important clan was to the man beside her, and to be invited into the clan, into the deep love and trust he reserved only for those he considered family, touched her more deeply than anything ever had. She would never be able to give him a gift of this magnitude, she thought faintly, but she would do her damnest to be worthy of it.

"It would be my greatest honor to become your wife," she said, and when he pulled her into a tight hug, she returned it just as fiercely.

Yes, she thought, holding his trembling form against her, this is more than enough.