The Uchiha House Divided (A sequel to Sooner Than You'd Think)
Summary: Sasuke and Sakura enjoy family life in Konoha before he returns to his recon mission that will take him away from his home for years. Learning to control his Rinnegan powers, Sasuke finds Itachi's spirit and has his brother watch over his family. Will Itachi's presence help ease the burden of life with an absentee Sasuke for the Uchiha clan? Their children resent their father's absence, but Sakura tries to hold the family together, with a little help from her brother-in-law help teach Uchiha clan history and skills. Sasuke will try to balance his obligation to protect the village from the outside and actually being present for those most precious. Sasuke spends Quality time, not quantity time with his family. Sakura learns she's descended from a famous shinobi and her and Sasuke's children have a power that threatens the Otsutsuki. Sasuke x Sakura, Itachi x Sakura (though more familial love), Naruto x Hinata, Kakashi x Yugao, Ino x Sai, Shikamaru x Temari
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Prologue:
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Six weeks had passed since Sakura's parental leave ended. Sasuke maintained the household, cared for Sarada. In the evenings after Sakura returned home, he honed his Rinnegan skills. It was an exhausting routine, but every night Sakura was able to snuggle against her husband in their bed, it was all worth it. Thankfully, Sarada slept through the night most nights, aside from the occasional sleep disruption from erupting teeth.
The hospital was now under Sakura's leadership. The mental health clinics she and Ino founded were fully staffed and full of clients. Shikamaru and Naruto both helped Kakashi full time in the Hokage office. This freed up Shizune to be Sakura's greatest asset with the healthcare system since Ino's promotion. She was proud of her oldest friend's new roles — Head of the Sensory Division and the Interrogation Squad. They were due to meet for lunch in a nearby cafe.
"Sakura! Over here!" Ino Yamanaka called out, as she waved her hand from an outside table. A colorful floral centerpiece brightened the table. "This is for you to take back to your office. It will brighten up that utilitarian space."
Sakura pulled out the chair opposite of Ino and leaned forward to inspect the flowers closer. The sweet smell of Jasmine and Sweet Pea tickled her nose. "Thank you. The office does have excellent light from the windows. These should thrive."
Ino nodded. "Sai will drop off the potted plants for a long term solution later this week. He's still on his mission."
"Who's watching Inojin?" Sakura asked.
"Mom. He's at the flower shop with her. I feel kind of bad that I can't help out there anymore," Ino confessed.
"You're running two major divisions in our village's defense and your husband is the Head of Anbu. I think your mother understands you're not able to help out at the family flower shop." Sakura scanned over the menu. "My mom was interested in helping at the shop."
Ino met her eyes across the table. "Then who will watch Sarada after Sasuke goes back to his missions?"
"Hinata has embraced the housewife role," Sakura suggested. "Though, I'm still wanting to pursue a daycare at the hospital for staff and maybe expand it for other shinobi families."
"Smart," Ino agreed. She smiled. "I'd expect nothing less from that brain of yours. Just don't let them start training ninjutsu to toddlers."
"Alphabet, colors, and happy songs only," Sakura promised. "Also some basic skills — like using utensils, folding laundry, putting away their toys, and potty training." She waved down the waitress and they made their orders.
Ino braced her elbows on the table and leaned forward, her pale eyes sparkled with interest. "Did you tell Sasuke yet?"
"No," Sakura sighed. "He has to leave in a few months. I don't want him to feel any more guilt about it than he already does. I'll wait a few more weeks, make sure it's going to work out, before I tell him."
"If you wait too long, he's going to notice himself." Ino chuckled.
"I'll just wait until we've run the tests to make sure the baby's development is going normal," Sakura promised. "That's only three more weeks - tops."
"Well, you better finish writing up the proposal for the hospital staff daycare sooner, rather than later then!" Ino poured a generous amount of honey into her hot tea. She looked back at Sakura. "I guess none for you for another few months, eh?"
"Why did I tell you?" Sakura groaned, burying her face against her palms.
Ino shrugged. "Because you're too chicken to tell your husband and your parents, best friend, and mentors would all make a very big deal about it."
"Best friend? Isn't that you?" Sakura asked, confused. She knew Ino was right about why she hadn't told anyone else yet. It wasn't real until all your loved ones knew.
"I'm like your best girl friend. And sure, Sasuke's your husband. But, everyone knows, you and Naruto are best friends. You're like siblings, which none of us had growing up except Sasuke, but you know how that worked out. You're how beloved siblings are supposed to be — always looking out for each other, going ridiculous lengths for each other," Ino explained. She tapped her temple. "I know how people think. Trust me on this. You're kind and sweet to everyone, but he's the one that brings out the banshee in you. Yet, you're fiercely protective of him. And, you made sure he and Hinata were finally together before you seriously pursued Sasuke."
"Sounds like you're the Psychology expert," Sakura murmured. She felt impressed and enlightened by her best girl friend. She did wonder what Sasuke would think about her being Naruto's best friend and not him. Surely, he considered Naruto his best friend. Or actually, he probably considered Itachi his best friend, but that was a complicated relationship too. And Iruka was Naruto's best man, so maybe Ino was right.
"Co-founding a mental health program for youth certainly caused me to learn a few things." Ino reached over and tapped Sakura's forehead gently. "No need to go down the rabbit hole to label who's best friends with who. You can have two best friends and so can your husband."
"Did you just read my mind?" Sakura knew Ino's skills had grown, but her mental defenses were nearly impenetrable.
Ino laughed again. "Hardly! I can read your facial expression to figure out where your thoughts led you." She leaned close. "Maybe you can ask Lord Hokage if he has an extra face mask for you."
Sakura swiped at her friend playfully and just missed. "Maybe if you have time later this week, you can come to the hospital with me and we can run the tests together. I'm afraid Shizune will tell Master Tsunade."
"Of course!" Ino clasped her hands together excited. "This is way more fun than the interrogations I have scheduled this week. I have no one to gossip with these days."
A soft smile crossed Sakura's lips. "I'm glad I can be your source of entertainment this week."
"Nah, that's Inojin," Ino assured her. "You're my source of drama!"
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It was a pleasant afternoon to be outside. Sasuke had laid out a checkered picnic blanket in the yard under the shade of the large red maple tree. Sarada slept soundly, her afternoon nap right on schedule after they enjoyed a homemade lunch of onigiri and a few dango sweets. Both Sakura and Itachi loved sweets. Sasuke wasn't a fan, but it seemed that Sarada had inherited the sweet tooth that had bypassed him.
Both the onigiri and dango had been made from his mother's old recipes. Sometimes, it was hard to remember that life in the Uchiha clan wasn't always full of misery. There had been plenty of good times — usually with his mother, Mikoto.
Lately, with Sakura back at work, Sasuke had been thinking about his mother and his brother more than usual. He'd never been close to his father. Most of his memories about Fugaku had been full of disappointment about never really having his father's attention. How could a seven year old compete with the thirteen year old prodigy? He would not do that to Sarada. Sure, he wanted her to be a good ninja, but more so, he wanted her to feel loved and appreciated. Sakura was more confident than his mother had been. If Sasuke started acting like a jerk, he was sure that his wife would call him out on it.
He'd been using his Rinnegan to explore different dimensions about five times a week, without experiencing significant fatigue. The main issues happened when he ended up in a realm without oxygen, or one time there was a water world. Another time, he ended up on a fire planet and only survived due to his Susanoo. It was generally emotionally draining rather than physically draining most times. Though, with each trip, he was able to map out the realms —though it would take lifetimes to explore them all.
Naruto had given him a journal that had belonged to Hogoromo Otsutsuki, the Sage of the Six Paths. It had discussed many of the realms, but the map had been confusing. He'd wondered if the Purelands were attainable. It would be nice to see his mother again. But, surely there were rules and he'd' probably irreparably mess with his psyche if he were to see his mother's spirit. Though, the idea of finding Itachi was appealing. His twenty-first birthday was approaching — it was the same age Itachi had been when he died. Having been forced back by the Edo Tensei, there was a possibility that Itachi wasn't able to reach the Purelands, but was instead in one of the limbo dimensions.
That's where he wanted to travel to next. If his brother was trapped in limbo, he wanted to find a way to help him.
He glanced down at the dark head that slept against his chest. In spite of all the trauma he'd endured, Sasuke felt lucky to have been given the chance to be a father and a husband — two titles Itachi had been denied because the leaders of Konoha and the clan elders of the Uchiha couldn't communicate.
If Minato had survived as the Fourth Hokage, he suspected that both his story and Naruto's would have been been less tragic.
His father-in-law would be over the next day to help with Sarada. Sasuke would try exploring one of the limbo dimensions then. He was grateful that unlike the rest of their childhood team, Sakura had both parents. While he didn't have much in common with his civilian in-laws, they did share a love for Sakura and Sarada — that was enough. And strangely enough, he kind of liked that his mother-in-law worried about whether or not he had a hair cut recently and his father-in-law liked discussing what sort of light-bulbs they were using and the most economic setting for the thermostat.
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A/N: Thanks for joining me on the continuation of Sakura and Sasuke's love /family story. As I'm still grieving over the recent death of my own brother back in January, I decided to find a way to incorporate Itachi into this story.
While there will definitely be some of the Boruto plot involved, I'm trying to stick to the slice of life aspect for the Uchiha clan. This is NOT cannon. Sarada will not be an only child in my world.
5/7/2023