Chapter Eighteen: The Five Kage Summit
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The Rinnegan was easier to utilize when traveling to a familiar location. The Nakayama's palace was familiar enough after spending so many months there over the last few years. When Sasuke stepped through the portal into the daimyo's courtyard, what he didn't expect was that while his chakra reserves had only been depleted by thirty percent, his physical strength caused him to collapse almost immediately.
It had been the daimyo's youngest son and the perimeter guard that had found Sasuke. He vaguely recognized the men as they carried him between them with his arms around both their shoulders. He couldn't even stand. They set him on the bed in the small clinic within the palace — the room Sakura had organized when they'd been there together in the past.
The daimyo's wife and daughter mixed up a few medicinal herbs into a tea and forced him to drink it. He was too weak to protest even though the taste was bitter — it did remind him faintly of a brew Sakura had made once when he'd been sick with a stomach virus.
Lord Nakayama entered the room, his hair had gray streaks that weren't there before. He'd gained a little weight around the midsection.
"How long was I gone?" Sasuke asked, surprised by the sound of his voice. It cracked from disuse. But, how was that possible, he spoke on the Otsutsuki's home world — that desolate icy hell. He'd had to use a constant level of chakra to protect his body from the freezing temperatures.
"It's been nearly three years." The daimyo looked towards his wife and she nodded briefly before leaving the room, tugging their daughter along with her. "It's early October." He sat on the chair next to the bed. "I've never been to their world, only seen it in visions. Did you eat or drink anything while you were there?"
"I—-" Sasuke hadn't. "That's impossible. One cannot survive that long without food or drink."
"Humans cannot, but shinobi aren't exactly human are you? You have that extra element called chakra that allows you to do superhuman feats, do you not?" Nakayama held a small bowl of broth and set it on the small table next to the bed. "Did you learn what you needed?"
"I learned some things," Sasuke said. He had never considered chakra superhuman, but supposed that was correct. There was no chakra on the planet unless it was inherited by descendants of Kaguya's sons or from the ninshu Hagoromo spread. "I won't know if it's what I need until later. I thank you for this opportunity, but I must leave. I have an important meeting and I cannot afford to be late— on October 15th."
"That's in five days, at least rest here for three. Eat, drink, maybe take a shower? You look— rough," Nakayama said.
Sasuke looked down at his arms — the Hashirama prosthetic felt like his own now, though it was still a sickly white, but then the rest of his flesh was also extremely pale. "Do you have a mirror?"
Nakayama shook his head. "Honestly, I do not think it's a good idea you see what you look like. Give yourself three days to rest."
"I need paper and ink and a window I can open, I need to write to my leader — have him tell my family I'm okay," Sasuke said.
Nakayama grimaced. "I am afraid for security reasons I'll have to deny that request. Please wait until after you've left my territory."
A muscle in Sasuke's jaw twitched in annoyance, but he'd deal with that set back. "All right, thank you for your hospitality." Sasuke started to get up from the bed, but fell back.
"I'll send a servant to help you," Nakayama said.
Sasuke watched the daimyo leave and couldn't even stop him if he wanted. He stared down at his wedding band— his fingers were thinner than he remembered. He focused on sending a surge of chakra through the connection and once he felt the answering surge back, Sakura's chakra, he fell back against his pillows and fell asleep.
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The Hokage had summoned Sakura, Naruto, and Yamato to meet on Training Field Thirteen. It was nine o'clock and Sakura had only just finished morning rounds on her patients. She'd been scheduled for two surgeries that afternoon and really didn't want to transfer the work to Shizune — her sempai had already done so much for her these days.
"Okay, Kakashi Sensei, why are we here? Is it to talk about the Summit? When do we leave?" Naruto asked. "I'll need time for a date night with Hinata before we go and you've not been very clear."
"Patience, Naruto. You don't hear Sakura and Yamato asking questions — they are silently waiting for their leader," Kakashi chided.
"I don't know about that. I can hear Sakura cracking her knuckles," Naruto chuckled.
In the center of the training grounds were three devices— with two wheels one in front and one in back, a long seat, handle bars at the front. Kakashi gestured behind him. "This is why we are here. You all remember Hiroshu Wantanabe? The engineer inventor that immigrated here from the land of Waves?"
"Not really, but okay," Naruto said.
"Well, his daughter Penelope is an inventor as well — a mechanical engineer," Kakashi explained. "She has created these motorcycles for us to travel long distances. It can run on chakra or on gas - like we import from Sand. We'll be traveling to the summit on these. Instead of a week and a half to walk, we'll get there in three days. It would be quicker if there were roads but a lot of the territory is wilderness between here and there."
"How does it work?" Sakura stepped closer and ran her fingers over the chrome handle bars and down the seat. "I don't think it would be easy to carry gasoline with us, maybe if we sealed it into a scroll and released it when we ran low on it. I certainly don't have the chakra reserves to power these for two hundred kilometers." She swung her leg over the saddle and tested her balance straddling the bike.
"No, but Naruto does and a couple of his Shadow Clones do," Kakashi reasoned.
Naruto was suddenly behind Sakura, arms banded around her waist. "Let's try it, Sakura-chan!" He made the hand seals for Shadow Clones and two clones appeared standing next to the remaining motorcycles.
"Is this really a good idea, Lord Sixth?" Yamato asked. "I cannot protect you from a brain injury."
Kakashi brushed off his concern. "That's what Sakura's for. It will be fun!"
Sakura managed to turn on the engine for the motorcycle, it was fairly self-explanatory and with Naruto powering the device they rode off the training grounds and through the streets of Konoha. She'd decided to drive by Naruto's house and show Hinata — maybe she'd like to give it a try?
They weren't going very fast, they'd work on speed once they got the hang of it. A few startled civilians and shinobi alike jumped out of their way.
"Hey, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, his chin on her shoulder, mouth right near her ear. "I don't mean to alarm you, but did you know there's a ghost around your family?"
"Um, what do you mean?" Sakura focused on turning the bike towards the right. It only took a slight shift of her arms to guide it in the desired direction. "There are plenty of ghosts— so many people died in the last war."
"I mean Itachi. Itachi Uchiha has been hovering around both our kids for years. It's not just at your house — it's at the yogurt place, the playdates at my old house and our new house. He says things and you talk back to him — so do the kids, well they used to. I don't think Boruto hears him anymore."
It wasn't a total surprise that Naruto would be aware of Itachi. He was the greatest Sage alive. "Yes. I know Itachi is watching over our family. I've been able to see him since the time I drowned on the way to Sand three years ago. Sasuke found his spirit in another dimension and brought him back," Sakura explained. "But you can't tell anyone."
"I had hoped it was my father the first time I noticed, but he's gone now. Itachi was a devoted shinobi and brother. I think it's cool. But, I think if the requirement is to be dead and then you can see ghosts, remember that time you kept my heart beating in the battle? But then, why is it only him that I see. I'm sure there are others," Naruto reasoned.
"It may be because you had a connection with him. You crossed paths several times, he trusted you to save Sasuke," Sakura said. "I—-do you think Kakashi sees him too?"
"Maybe. Didn't he say he died during the Pain attack on the village? He and Itachi were friends when they were in Anbu together." Naruto leaned back and laughed quietly as they approached their neighborhood on the village outskirts. "Oh man, Hinata is going to love this!"
He leaned back, the wind blowing his unruly golden hair. "Maybe remind him I don't like it when he calls me an idiot. It's been a long time since I was that obnoxious little boy."
"You're definitely not an idiot," Sakura assured him. "You do tend to make your decisions with your heart and not your brain."
"My heart has always been more reliable than my brain," Naruto agreed.
It was nice that Naruto would be able to interact with Itachi too, but what about Sasuke? Surely, he'd been near death a time or two and no one was closer to Itachi than him. How would he take it if both Sakura, his kids, and Naruto could see his brother?
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Three years. Sasuke had been on a different planet for almost three years! His daughter would have started the academy, his sons would be walking, talking, and have no idea about their father. And Sakura— the last time they spent this long apart, he'd lost his sanity while training under Orochimaru. He focused on his wedding band and was reassured by the connection he could now sense to Sakura. He had thirty-six hours to make it to the summit. On foot, it would take six weeks, but he'd be able to teleport part of the way.
Traveling on the same planet took much less chakra than traveling between worlds into different dimensions. He waited until he'd teleported half the distance before summoning his swiftest Hawk to send a missive to Kakashi and for him to let Sakura and Naruto know he'd meet them at the summit. He thought about writing Sakura specifically, but time was of the essence and his chakra was limited. Hopefully, all the letters he wrote her in advance would go a long way towards appeasing his temperamental wife. And if she didn't care for his pathetic attempts of expressing his feelings with the written word, surely she'd appreciate whatever flowers Ino had picked out to accompany those letters.
A benefit of living on the icy hellish world of the Otsutsuki was that he had fully merged with Hashirama's cells and had two functioning arms — though the pale flesh still looked sickly to him, but then again, he'd lost the little color he normally had on a planet with such a distant sun. It would have meant death without the planets geothermal activity and if he'd not constantly run a low stream of chakra to maintain his core body temperature.
That constant use of chakra had not only forced him to improve his control, but his chakra reserve had increased fifteen percent. While he'd probably spend his lifetime trying to master the Rinnegan for travel to other realms, using it to teleport on earth wasn't difficult anymore.
Just outside Nakayama's territory, Sasuke summoned his swiftest hawk.
"Lord Sixth,
I am on my way to the summit. I have much to report. I apologize for the delay in report —I will explain. I visited their home world where time runs different. I lost nearly three years. I really hope you're bringing my wife — I will need a very thorough physical exam.
S.U."
He rolled the note inside the leather tube on the hawk's talon and watched it take off towards Konoha. It wouldn't make it to the village because his fellow Leaf shinobi would be on their way to the meeting already.
The last time Sasuke had attended the summit, he'd been an uninvited guest. And if not for Obito those previous leaders would have snuffed him out of existence. His wayward cousin caused so much mayhem, but in the end helped Team Seven save the world. Sasuke had a complicated relationship with Naruto, it felt a little comforting to know their rivalry was paralleled between Kakashi and Obito as well.
Aside from the leaders of Konoha and Sand, Sasuke was aware the other three Kage hated his guts— especially the Raikage. That was especially unfortunate, since on a personal note, Sasuke hoped to visit Lightning one day with his affinity for the element.
He made good time and arrived before the Konoha group. He'd chosen to teleport southwest of the destination, hoping to arrive near Sand's delegation. He'd been a little too precise and stepped out of his portal directly in front of Gaara's front guards. He held up his hands to show he wasn't a threat, but apparently that didn't pacify anyone.
"I come in peace," Sasuke said quietly. Past the tan cloaks and painted faces of the Sand Anbu, Gaara pushed his way to the front, his brother Kankuro at his side. "I'm here for the Summit. I'm part of The Leaf's delegation."
"Sasuke," Gaara greeted, his sleepless eyes scanned Sasuke head to toe. "You look terrible."
Sasuke's lips thinned. Just what he wanted to hear. "Gaara." He cleared his throat, "Lord Kazekage," he corrected, noting the tensing from the Sand delegation at his familiarity. "I haven't seen the sun in three years."
"I can tell." Gaara adjusted his ever present sand gourd. "I would suggest at least a shower. You don't want your wife to see you like this." His nose wrinkled. "Or smell you like this. Come, until your Hokage arrives, you won't be allowed entry unless under someone else's invitation. Apparently, a few years back there was this terrorist who had the audacity and try to attack the Kage."
"Yeah? What an idiot he must have been," Sasuke said.
A slow smile spread across Gaara's lips. "More of a misguided fool." He used his sand to create two long arms and hands that covered the distance between them to settle over Sasuke's shoulders and push his arms down gently to his side. "You may join my delegation until then, Sasuke Uchiha — Jonin of the Sand and of the Leaf."
"That's—-I appreciate it, Lord Kazekage." Sasuke followed after, suddenly flanked by Gaara's Anbu guard. It wasn't like they could actually stop him if he tried anything — he wasn't a hot-headed teen experiencing psychosis. Sasuke would have preferred getting settled into his own room, but had to make do with using a room smack dab in the middle of where a couple of the Sand guardsmen were assigned.
He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and grimaced. No wonder the Lord Nakayama and his family had stared at him like he was a ghost— or rather — a zombie. If Sakura saw him like this — would she be disgusted? His hair was long and shaggy and there were very faint crow's feet by his eyes from squinting against the frigid winds in the dim light. It was better than not aging at all. Sakura was already four months older than him, she'd be pissed if she were three and half years older.
He'd never seen his skin so pale — it couldn't have been healthy and his ribs were so prominent. Even as a kid, he'd never been skinny. He could see the seam in his left arm where his remaining arm merged with the Hashirama cells— his natural skin tone wasn't much better. He was as white as Sai.
And as if on cue, his stomach growled. The daimyo's household had managed to introduce broth and a few protein noodles, but anything heavier made his stomach revolt. Sasuke turned on the faucet and cupped his hands under the flowing water and drank. While on the ice planet, he'd not eaten — he'd felt satiated while there. That meant three years without food or water— he should be dead. Maybe Sakura would have an answer or maybe it was like a form of suspended animation?
Priority number one — shower. Then he'd find some food.
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The scientific ninja team had been busy — Naruto's new prosthetic was packing an impressive arsenal of lasers and tiny scrolls with ready to go ninjutsus including a one time use of Shikamaru's family shadow clutch technique.
Sakura and Naruto rode together on their chakra-powered motorcycle — she drove while he powered the engine. They flanked the Sixth Hokage's left and Yamato flanked his right, the other two motorcycles powered by a couple of Naruto's Shadow Clones.
It would reduce the travel time to the summit by nearly sixty five percent. It would have been faster, but most of their journey was off-road. Sakura had let them know when she'd felt Sasuke's surge of chakra in their ring — it was the first time in nearly three years.
Shortly afterwards, Kakashi had received a message from one of Sasuke's hawk summons. He wouldn't tell Sakura exactly what it said, but did say there was concern about Sasuke's health— so it was convenient he was bringing the Leaf's top medic. They were about to have another Team Seven reunion while Shikamaru took care of running the Hokage office, Shizune managed the hospital, and Sai maintained the defense.
"We're finally going to see that Bastard husband of yours!" Naruto leaned over Sakura's shoulder and shouted into her ear.
"Believe it!" Sakura shouted back, earning a laugh from her riding partner. It had taken some convincing, but when they practiced riding in the village in preparation, even Hinata had gotten over her trepidation. The memory of the reserved heiress laughing with abandon while steering the motorcycle with Naruto's arms around her still warmed Sakura's heart days later.
Whenever Sakura felt lonely, she would watch Naruto and Hinata or Ino and Sai and appreciate their romance vicariously. It didn't mean she didn't want some sweet time with her husband herself, but for now she'd re-read his letters, hug their children, and swap stories with his brother. She still hadn't told Itachi that Naruto was aware of his presence — he couldn't exactly see the older Uchiha sibling, but he could usually hear him and have a vague idea of where he stood.
They hadn't confirmed with Kakashi, but if he wasn't going to bring it up, then they weren't either.
By the time the Konoha delegation reached the summit, they learned they were the last to arrive. Based on the Sixth Hokage's laissez faire attitude, he was quite pleased with their less than punctual timing.
They had barely enough time to drop their things off at their rooms before the meeting. Sakura could sense Sasuke's chakra strong in their wedding band. He was close!
"Man, he was gone so long without a word," Naruto grumbled. "He better have solved world hunger or something."
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The summit meeting was held within a large chamber hall. A massive round table in the center for the Kage and their trusted shinobi to sit on either side. Since the ninja from the Leaf had yet to arrive, Sasuke stood behind Gaara's Sand delegation.
And there they were the pink, blonde, and silver haired trio he knew so well. He recognized Commander Yamato trailing behind.
Sakura's jade eyes met his gaze, she missed a step and Sasuke hand's flexed as if to catch her, but they were too far apart. Naruto was the one who grabbed her elbow instantly. Sakura didn't need the assist, but the two steadfast teammates smiled at each other in amusement. Sakura's eyes swept back over towards Sasuke and he saw a a flood of emotions flash across her face in that moment — concern, love, worry, joy, relief.
"It certainly took you long enough!" Naruto shouted across the hall, his hand still on Sakura's arm, a reminder that he'd been the person always at Sakura's side especially when Sasuke was far away.
Sakura smiled across the distance and Sasuke felt his neutral expression turn into a faint smirk. He wasn't at his best physically— Gaara hadn't been exaggerating when he said he looked terrible. He supposed this would be an interesting test to make sure that Sakura wasn't just with him for his looks.
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When Sasuke walked towards the center of the room to speak, all murmurs of conversation ceased. The silence was almost overwhelming and Sakura worried that everyone would hear her heart racing. His hair had grown during his absence, his cloak hid the details of his body while his bangs covered half his face. The visible part of his face showed his bone structure had grown even more fine — the similarities to Itachi had never been more obvious. And he was pale, as if wherever he was, there had been little or no sunlight. His stride was quick and his posture was imposing —he didn't seem taller necessarily but everyone else seemed smaller in comparison.
Sasuke nodded slightly in acknowledgement but his dark right eye swept the room, passing over the leaders of the Five Hidden Villages and finally settling on Sakura. The look in his eye was intense. His bangs shifted ever so slightly and Sakura could see the lavender Rinnegan also peering directly at her for a moment before it faded to his normal onyx irises, special ocular jutsus powering down.
"Apologies for the lack of updates before this," Sasuke murmured, still keeping his gaze on Sakura while he addressed the room. "I was on another planet. The home world of the Otsutsuki. I have learned a great deal about the planet devourers. They have many strengths and very few weaknesses, but we do have a chance of stopping them if we are prepared."
He proceeded to share what he had learned and to answer questions, but his eyes never left Sakura.
"Excuse me," Kurotsuchi said, irritation clear in her voice. "This is serious information. Do you think you could look at the rest of us while you're talking Uchiha, Sasuke?"
"No." Sasuke said simply, his voice cold and emotionless. "I've been on an icy hell planet for the past three years. The only person I want to look at is my wife."
Sakura felt her cheeks burn at Sasuke's public declaration and she carefully used her chakra to ease the flush of blood, but she wasn't fast enough to keep Sasuke from noticing. There was a very slight twinkle of amusement in his eyes.
"It's fine, Sasuke. Continue," Kakashi said, not caring if his subordinate was rude. He'd been through a lot and appeasing authority figures was low on the Uchiha's priority list. Besides, considering that Sasuke could wipe the floor with at least four of the Kages in the room even in his exhausted state, he wasn't going to push it. Sasuke was Kakashi's Shadow Hokage. Kakashi kept the Leaf safe from within and Sasuke kept it safe from without. And as loath as he was to admit it, Gaara was the one most likely to fight on par with him, not Kakashi himself.
"Ideally, there will be two people that are suitable vessels for the Otsutsuki. They will need someone of their kind to sacrifice in order to grow a Divine Tree and when the Otsutsuki finishes growing the tree, it sucks up all history of life on a planet and then the alien eats it and gains all the memories of everything that ever lived." He shifted his feet, the only sign that he was tired. "I am not sure if this also would destroy the souls of the living creatures or just the actual life. I'd rather not find out."
"And so, ten thousand year ago, Kaguya was supposed to do this, but instead fell in love with a human, had her kids and decided to not kill our planet?" Sakura asked.
Sasuke nodded. "At least for a while, eventually she started to have arguments with her children. She wanted to rule absolute and they had different opinions — she didn't like that. Immortal creatures apparently grow bored with us short-lived humans. So she decided to enact her original plan, but they sealed her away and then we did it again at the end of the war."
"But we no longer have the Sun and Moon seal powers," Naruto added. He carefully avoided looking at Sakura. They both knew that a certain someones did in fact have the Sun and Moon seal powers — but they were babies, the burden should not be looming over them. "So we don't have that ability for future threats. If it happens in our lifetime that is."
"It will happen in our lifetime. Within the next ten to twenty years," Sasuke said. "There are a couple of Otsutsuki already here, living within imperfect vessels. They are waiting for the perfect sources of chakra to be found and then will try to take over."
"So guard your children," Kakashi murmured. "For the boogey man is real."
Sasuke shifted his gaze to Kakashi. "My father used to say that."
Kakashi grinned. "I know, because my dad used to say that to him when they were on a team together."
"Your families are all so interwoven," the Raikage groaned. "Hatake, Uchiha, Uzumaki — over and over — for years those names in every skirmish. All that's missing is a Senju and I'd say I'd know exactly where those aliens will target looking for a perfect vessel."
Sakura and Gaara exchanged brief looks and Sasuke followed her gaze to glare at the Kazekage. Gaara smiled at him, his expression smug.
"Well, it's a good thing the Fourth Great Ninja War succeeded in bringing the different factions together. If the infighting had continued, we would have no chance against such a superior force of aliens with advanced technology and the knowledge of countless civilizations."
"That being said, the fact that there was a benevolent member of their race that shared this information with me is suspect," Sasuke admitted. "Perhaps he was altruistic after having caused so much destruction and had truly reached Nirvana, or perhaps he was laying the seeds of a trap. I was on their world for three years without realizing more than a few weeks had passed. My body aged normal, but my mind is still disconnected with the different flow of time. If he had chosen, he would have kept me there for decades and I'd have returned too late. The fact that I was able to return having learned a few techniques that can work against this species — which I will teach you later — is promising."
"Thank you, Sasuke," Kakashi said. "We appreciate your efforts to get here as prompt as possible and the sacrifices you have made to attain this valuable intel. Please, have a seat and rest for a while."
Sasuke gave a curt nod and made his way towards Sakura. There had been another shinobi in the spot next to her, an aid for Iwagakure, but he quickly scrambled away vacating the chair for Sasuke. The aid sat on the other side of the Tsuchikage, with a great deal of space between them.
Sakura reached for Sasuke's right hand under the table, hidden from view. Her husband gripped her hand tight and she could sense his exhaustion. Without hardly a thought, Sakura began to send rejuvenating healing chakra and the tension in his muscles started to relax. Not only had he teleported, but he'd also run at breakneck speed by the state of his muscles and tendons. And there was evidence of malnourishment, dehydration, and cachexia. He had to have been in pain, his calve muscles were on fire and ankles swollen. And yet, he'd stood before the room and calmly shared the intelligence he'd gathered.
Sasuke Uchiha would never cease to amaze her.
She had worried how he would react when they saw each other again — she had no doubt that they would find each other. If he had died, she and Itachi speculated that he'd vanish too — his connection through his eyes to the physical world would be severed. But that ping she felt through their rings the other night had caused so much relief. It was the first night in the last three years that she truly slept peacefully.
By the tight grip Sasuke had on her hand, she had to strongly resist laying her head on his shoulder. She wouldn't embarrass him with publicly displaying her affection, but she really didn't care if there was an audience. Naruto kept looking over at them— he was on Kakashi's other side. His smile hardly dimmed as he heard about the alien race that wanted to devour their world. There was no threat he couldn't face with his friends!
"This has been a lot to digest," Gaara said. He'd been in charge of the meeting. "Let us break for lunch and meet back this afternoon at two."
As the meeting was dismissed, Kakashi turned towards his team. "It's very good to see you, Sasuke. I would have liked better news, but I'm grateful for your sacrifice. Sakura, your presentation is tomorrow first thing in the morning. You two, go catch up. Naruto and I are having lunch with Kurotsuchi," he said. "I'll have some food sent to your room if you'd like. The other meetings today are optional for you two — if you know what I mean."
"Understood, Lord Sixth," Sasuke said. He stood, still holding Sakura's hand and started for the exit.
"Don't you want to know where our room is?" Sakura said, as he walked down one of the hallways. He was actually going in the correct direction.
"I figured you would tell me," Sasuke murmured.
Sakura leaned her head against his shoulder briefly and then gave directions. No sooner as she secured shut the door, Sasuke dropped his bag, cloak, and shoes at the door. He grabbed hold of Sakura's hips and drew her close to him, bent down his head and kissed her — long and hard.
It was nice that he had two hands for the process, wearing the prosthetic on his left. Sakura's arms reached up and wrapped around his neck, pressing her body against his. Sasuke started walking them towards the bed small step after small step while guiding Sakura backwards until her thighs hit the bed and they laid down together in a crumple.
"I had hoped to take you to bed as soon as I saw you, but I'm too tired," Sasuke said, his deep, silky smooth voice apologetic. His dark eyes were darker with desire.
Sakura continued to send him healing chakra. "I just want to hold you right now and make sure you're real. Sasuke, dear, you should probably be in a hospital. You're in really bad shape."
Sasuke nuzzled the side of her neck. "I'm definitely real. And why should I need a hospital? You're all I need." He held her tight and fell asleep— a deep, exhausted dreamless sleep. There was no need to dream, everything he wanted was right there with him.
Sakura poured healing chakra into her husband for six hours straight. She didn't know what that icy hellish planet was like, and she'd rather not know if her fierce husband had wasted away to such an extent. After she was satisfied that he was stable, she allowed herself to fall asleep beside him— more exhausted than she'd been in years.
It was well into the night before either of the Uchiha couple woke up. They'd missed dinner, but some had been delivered outside their door. It had gone cold so Sasuke did a heating jutsu to warm it up for them. "This will be my first attempt at solid food since I returned," Sasuke confessed. "I don't know how, but I didn't eat or drink at all while I was in the other dimension. I'm not sure how I survived — it really hadn't felt like much time had passed, but it was years."
Sakura shook her head. "It defies known science. You're still far from recovered, Sasuke. I poured chakra into you for hours. Your Vitamin D has to be so low and your bones are brittle. One punch and you'd shatter— literally."
"Maybe we'll can visit the beach, a family vacation? For medical reasons," Sasuke suggested.
"That's actually not a bad idea. I'm not clearing you for missions — not like this. You're a shinobi of the Leaf and you need permission not only from the Hokage, but from the Hospital Director— me." Sakura brushed his hair away from his face and he turned into her palm. "The kids have never seen the beach."
Sasuke sighed against her hand. "So I won't have missed all the firsts." He scooted on the bed until his back was propped against the headboard. "I know we should eat, but I want to show you something first." He closed his eyes briefly and then a phantom purple Susanoo arm materialized, picked up his discarded pack and brought it to the bed. He opened the bag and pulled out the silver flute he'd created.
"Okay, I want to complain about the wasted chakra, but I'm more curious why you have this," Sakura traced her finger along the instrument.
"I had to present an unique gift to the Otsutsuki for an audience," Sasuke explained. "So I created this flute and played for him a song my mother used to sing me. My uncle, Mom's youngest brother played the flute — he taught me a few lessons before…" Sasuke cleared his throat. "Would you like to hear?"
"Yes, a little, but then you need to eat, Sasuke." Sakura sat on her knees, hands clasped together and faced her husband.
Sasuke brought the instrument to his mouth and began a hauntingly familiar song. When he'd finished, he set the flute down and looked back at Sakura expectedly.
"I have heard that song before," Sakura said. "I had a dream where Itachi showed me the memory of the last Uchiha New Years lantern on the lake celebration. There was a musician playing this melody."
Sasuke stared back at the flute, his brow creased as he tried to remember that long-ago evening. "I—-don't remember."
Sakura's arms were around him pulling his head against her chest. Sasuke let himself breathe in the scent of her. There was so much of his childhood he didn't remember — he remembered the loneliness. The remembered the despair. He remembered the crushing weight of hopelessness and anger.
"It was a beautiful memory," Sakura told him gently, running the fingers of one hand soothingly through his hair. "You were so cute — holding your mother's hand. Eager to hear the song and to float your lantern on the water. You wanted to know what wish she'd make— but you were her dream come true. She was so beautiful and kind," Sakura said. "She'd be so proud of you, Sasuke. You've been through so much and have come so far."
He wasn't sure when it happened, but he started crying. He couldn't remember the last time he'd cried. It wasn't something he did. There was no gnashing of teeth or wailing— just a few silent tears that soaked into his wife's shirt.
"I know Itachi didn't have a choice, but I wish he could have at least sparred mother and some of the other children. It wasn't right," Sasuke whispered.
"No, it wasn't."
"The Uchiha bloodline has such great powers with the Sharingan, but why must we suffer to unlock its power?" Sasuke took a deep breath and centered himself. It was a rhetorical question.
"I don't think the suffering is necessary," Sakura said quietly.
Sasuke sat up and looked at his wife directly. "What do you mean?"
"Gaara, he has this technology that analyzes blood and apparently my great-great grandfather was Tobirama Senju — on my mother's side," Sakura explained. "And I found this journal he wrote — he entrusted it to the grandfather of your cousin Shisui. The two of them were good friends and he suspected that the Uchiha loved more intensely and that's why when the loss happened it awoke the great Sharingan power. Though, they theorized that the loss wasn't necessary if the love was intense enough. One theory is that instead of consuming the infinite flames awoken by intense love could heal and restore."
"That's an interesting theory," Sasuke murmured. "Lord Second, eh? Well, hopefully, our kids won't be too traumatized and we can test that theory."
"I want you to eat. I'll tell you what's been happening back at the village — you eat." Sakura set a tray in front of him on the bed. "Take your time."
"Yes, ma'am," Sasuke agreed.
"So, the New Years after the boys had turned one, I started the tradition of the lanterns on the lake — I've invited close friends and neighbors." Sakura paused at Sasuke's raised eyebrow at the neighbors part. "Our house isn't so secluded anymore. Naruto and Hinata had a place built across from us. Shizune lived in our guest room for a few years to help with the boys. She has a lake house with her girlfriend and they just moved in together two weeks ago. Kakashi splits his time between the Hokage palace and another lake house. Some of the houses that were in poor condition, we've had them razed and there's healthy lush grass growing over their stead— and so many wild flowers. Sarada and the boys and I —for the past two springs spread so much flower seeds — it's an absolute beauty in the spring. The children — they're so sweet and smart — I can't wait for you to see them."
Sasuke managed to eat all the food on his plate and keep it down. He listened to her in silence. His eyes focused on her every word. When she paused for a few moments. "Are you done now? I would like to speak."
Sakura's mouth opened and shut silently She nodded.
Sasuke smirked. "I forgot how much you talk. That mind of your is always running." He reached over and tapped her forehead in their special way. His fingers traced over her earrings — the ones he made on their last trip to Suna.
"I wear them every day," Sakura admitted.
Sasuke picked up his empty tray and set it on the end table in the room. "Do you want to eat?"
Sakura reached over the side of the bed and pulled out her pack and dug out a soldier pill. "Maybe later, this will do for now."
Sasuke sat back beside her on the bed and no sooner had his weight settled than Sakura tackled him in a full body hug, with her arms looped around his neck as he fell flat on his back across the mattress. Sasuke let out an oomph as her weight knocked the air out of his lungs. "That's no way to treat your injured husband." He smirked as his hands began to roam over the contours of her body, starting on her tight ass, over his hips, up her ribs and cupping her breasts. Either they were bigger than before or his hands were skinnier after his sojourn.
Sakura began to trail kisses along his neck. "You've just received medical intervention from the most renown medical ninja in the world. You'll be fine. The flowers and the letters, Sasuke, I don't know what I would have done without those little reminders. I wrote you too— I have a whole journal written to you."
"Sakura?" Sasuke could feel himself responding to his wife's body. He wasn't feeling tired anymore — he was feeling three years worth of pent-up passion. "You talk too much."
He captured her mouth in his and swallowed the words of apology she'd attempted to say.
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A/N: Sorry guys, I had wanted to include a decent Lemon, but then I remembered this story is rated T. Use your imagination — they had a very nice reunion! I appreciate reviews, but at least with the statistics features on FFN I can at least see if people are reading. So, for those of you that got this far- thanks for your support and I hope you enjoyed some sweet SasuSaku moments.