Stillborn.
It happens.
Itachi watched his brother carefully, his brother who was only 17 years old and already carrying the burden of losing a child. "How is Sakura?" He asked, his brother's face told him all he needed to know, she does not know yet. "Do you need anything?" He didn't want to ask Sasuke how he was doing, he could see it.
"My son," he replied. So simply, so broken, that Itachi just reached for his brother and hugged him. That was trigger, the moment Sasuke let himself break. There are no words to convey in moments like this, he never imagined this fate for his brother, for Sakura, for his nephew. "That was my baby."
He held his brother, hoping this would at least help as outlet. This reminded him of when Sasuke was small, when he would hurt himself. Except now there was nothing that could be offered to ease the pain, there were no promises of a better tomorrow, of a pain that would heal, there was nothing Itachi could do except be there. Just as suddenly as the tears began, Sasuke let go of him, wiped his tears away.
"I should be in the room with Sakura she shouldn't wake up alone." Sasuke's eyes were still red, but he had composed himself. It was like a switch, it pained Itachi to see his brother do it. "Father is dealing with the doctors, mother was trying to contact her parents. I don't see why, the moment we told them Sakura was pregnant they said she was on her own."
Sasuke became quiet, but he made no move to go back to Sakura's hospital room. Something was on his mind, something he wanted to share, something he wanted to keep. "What's wrong?"
"When she wakes up," he paused took a breath, Itachi already knew where it was headed, "how do I tell her?"
"You will find the strength, because she will need you. She will need you more than ever." It was his mother voice that spoke neither had noticed her presence. "You are a father that lost his son, and your pain is immeasurable," Mikoto moved her hand to Sasuke's face forced him to look at her, to really look at her. From where Itachi stood, he saw a firmness in his mothers eyes, a determination, a show of strength that seemed to say I am your example, follow me.
"But she carried that baby within her for nine months. She carried him within her for nine months. She will need you to be strong and you will be. You will be her pillar, and your father, your brother and I will be yours." Mikoto's eyes shone with unshed tears. He wanted to protest, say that he couldn't, he wanted to hide from the world, because how could he exist in a world where his son did not?
She hugged Sasuke then, "I love you so much, your father, your brother and I are right here whenever you need us. Sakura, however only has you right now. Her parents have made it clear that Sakura is of no interest to them. These next few months will be the hardest of both your lives," she pulled him away once more forcing him to look her in the eyes. "They will be especially hard for Sakura, so you need to be there for her, and it starts when you go back to her room and she wakes up."
Itachi walked away, leaving the discussion to his mother. He had no doubt Sasuke would be the pillar of strength for Sakura his mother wanted him to be. However, at this moment, Sasuke was just a boy who lost everything.
A/N: so I've been going through some stuff, and writing has become hard to do. But time moves forward, with or without us, last month I reread the stories in beginnings just to remember the mindset I was in while I was writing. In a way trying to force back time, to less sad times (at least for me)... While I was reading I thought to myself "these are fun," I remembered just having fun writing them and having all these ideas for the stories, and as of this very moment I dont feel any of what I felt when I was writing those. I dont feel the urge as I once did, and if I do it hits for one sentence and it ends. I wrote this in April, a way to let out my grief, by passing it on to someone else (the grief not the loss).
this is not me quitting, but its also not me making my writing comeback so there's that.