"For what it's worth, you would have made a wonderful mother."
The words hit Sakura like a physical blow, and a strangled cry and a gasp of air broke from her lips. It was as though she had been holding her breath for so long, and the dawning realization that for a moment she had been a mother, had felt like the final blow. Without mercy or relent, her whole body shook as she finally let it all out. Her room became filled with the painful screams of an essentially widowed, motherless woman.
Sakura didn't know how it happened, but the first tear came and suddenly they were flowing down her face with unrestrained abandon. She became inconsolable, her sobs echoing through the room. Hinata ran into the room, trying to console her, but it was no use. Sakura was beyond consoling. Hinata had to send for her other friends, hoping that they could do something to help her.
All of Sakura's friends were now in the apartment with her, trying to figure out why she had suddenly broken down after all this time. "It's okay, Sakura," Ino tried to comfort her best friend. "We know how much you loved him."
But Sakura shook her head almost violently, her sobs growing even more sorrowful. "M-my...my..." She clutched at her chest as she tried to speak, but her sobs only grew more intense. It wasn't just the pain of missing her dead fiancé that was tearing her apart, it was the fact that she had lost any chance of having even a little part of him left.
"What do you mean, Sakura?" Naruto asked, coming in for the first time. It was killing him to see Sakura like this and knowing that there was nothing he could do to fix it was tearing him apart.
"My...baby," Sakura choked out. "I want...my baby."
Her friends looked at each other, confused. What was she talking about?
"So that was it." Outside the apartment, Kakashi stood just beside her window, He hadn't meant to intrude, he had only wanted to check on her. His Anbu team had finally been able to track down all the Mist shinobi that had a hand in Itsuki's death. He had wanted to ensure they paid the price for crossing his village and Sakura. He had never imagined that she had also lost her child. He sagged against the window, his heart constricting with every hollowing wail that escaped from her lips.
…
Shikamaru and the other guys, except for Naruto and Sai, had stayed outside, listening to Sakura cry. It was both disturbing and distressing, and they had no idea what was going on in the room. The girls and her team had tried for a few hours to calm her, but they were not able to. They had eventually called for Shizune, who gave Sakura a sedative that would force her to sleep.
Now, as they all sat around the living room in shock, they couldn't even begin to fathom how they would help her through losing not only her fiancé but her child as well. "What are we going to do?" Ino asked, her voice shaking.
"I don't know," Shikamaru replied, his expression grim. "You got me. I have no idea where to even start, man this chick's got problems." He then buried his hands in his pockets, in silent contemplation.
The other friends looked at Shikamaru in shock, not expecting such a callous response. "Shikamaru, that's not helpful," Neji said sternly.
Shikamaru let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "I know, I'm sorry. It's just...this whole situation is so messed up. I don't know how to fix it."
"We can't fix it," Hinata then said softly. "All we can do is support Sakura and be there for her."
The others nodded in agreement, determined to do whatever they could to help their friend.