Dying Embers: Sasuke/Sakura
Fandom: Naruto
Characters: Sasuke & Sakura
Genre: Angst/Romance
NEGATIVITY
“No.”
He knows that she’s on the brink of tears. But he pretends not to notice.
He realizes that he’s been saying “No” quite often lately. “No, you can’t go to Ino’s party”, “No, your friends can’t visit”, “No, you can’t go on that mission”, “No, you can’t take the ANBU exams”, “No, you can’t continue working in the hospital”. And he wonders if he’s regressed to his toddler years, when negativity was a distinguishing trait.
He wonders, what was he saying no to again?
Ah yes, she had asked if she could go live with her parents for a while. They had had a big fight, and apparently, his wife needed some time to ‘get away from it all’.
And he had said no.
He hears her mumble a faint “why”. And he realizes that her voice is weak and trembling. But again, he pretends not to notice.
“Don’t question my authority, Sakura.”
He dismisses her, just like that. And as he watches her slink away, he wonders if he did the right thing.
And he scoffs at himself. What a stupid question - if he did the right thing indeed. He knows that he didn’t do the right thing.
But can he help it? No - because he’s selfish.
And as he hears their bedroom door close, he thinks that his wife is probably crying again. And he congratulates himself for being adamant in his denial. He congratulates himself for keeping his secret.
No, I don’t want you to let you go because I’m afraid that you’ll never come back.
He is afraid… afraid that after spending months with him, she realizes that he’s not worth the effort and the moment he lets her go, she’ll bolt.
She has proven her loyalty a million times over, but not to ‘him’. She proved her loyalty to the boy she barely knew. The one she couldn’t grasp - the 12-year old teammate. But now that she knew ‘him’, he wonders if she will still be loyal. Now that she knew the depths of his insecurity - his selfishness - his darkness. She has yet to prove her loyalty to the real ‘him’.
So, no, he wasn’t taking a chance. There would be no more risks for him. Not after what had happened - not after he learned how painful it was to lose something.
So he keeps her caged inside the cold walls of his ancient manor - a willing and pliant prisoner.
And he wonders if he’s ever going to free her.
And he scoffs again because he already knows the answer.
“No.”
PRETENDING
She went to her dressing table and sat down on the soft chair. Picking up her ivory mirror in one hand, and her ivory hairbrush in another, she admired the elaborate patterns on the frames of these two items. They were beautiful, boasting of antiquity that only an old an illustrious clan like the Uchiha could have supported. And with that, she started combing through the tangles of her hair, carefully counting to a hundred brush strokes all in all. When she was done, she set the mirror down, and looked at the much bigger mirror. Again, she admired the woodwork, and she wonders how much time was spent on sculpting the sakura petals embedded on the expensive oak frame. Finally, her eyes were drawn to her own reflection. She started brushing her hair into a tight bun, securing her loose hair with pins from the small jewelry box in the corner of the table. Satisfied that her hair was in perfect order, she set her hairbrush down and started opening the drawers, looking for the make-up set that Ino had given her for her 16th birthday. She couldn’t help but smile at the memory of their young selves trying out some make-up, aiming to look more mature but failing miserably. They had only received a deriding snort from Naruto, and a ‘how troublesome’ from Shikamaru. When she found the kit, she opened it, and to her dismay, the eyeshadow cakes were cracked. The pink had meshed with the blue, rendering the two colors unusable. Too bad, for pink was her favorite. Nevertheless, she had to work with what she had. With a sigh, she started putting on some foundation, carefully applying it evenly to her face. She gave extra attention to the dark circles under her eyes. After all, she didn’t want to look all haggard for the whole day. She put on some blush and some purple eyeshadow for added effect. Next, she took out her black mascara from one of the drawers and started putting some on her lashes. For the final touch, she applied some red lipstick on smacked her lips. When she was done, she took one lasting look at her reflection in the mirror and smiled.
After she tidied up the dressing table, she went to her closet and took out her medic outfit. She wrinkled her nose, narrowly preventing a sneeze, as the dust from the outfit assailed her senses. After which, she took out some stockings and her medic hat, and placed everything on the bed.
She sat down on the edge of the bed, and put on the stockings first, the medic outfit next, and the medic hat last. She made her way to her dressing table and took another lingering look at her reflection. She decided that she liked what she saw.
Her musings were cut short as she heard the front gate open.
Panicking, she frantically took off all her clothes and replaced them with the ones she was wearing earlier. She shoved her discarded medic clothes into her closet, not bothering to arrange them properly. ‘She would fix them later’, she told herself. She ran to the bathroom and started washing all the make-up off, bit by bit revealing the haggard face, the dark circles under her eyes, and the wrinkles on her forehead. When she was done, she looked at the mirror on the medicine cabinet, and tried not to notice that her mascara was running, and that one droplet was traveling suspiciously fast down her cheeks. She shook her head, steeled her self, and removed the last vestiges of her makeup.
Sighing, she took the apron hanging from the chair, put it on, and made her way to the foyer.
Her husband was home.
ANCHOR
It's only when he’s asleep that she has the liberty to touch him like this. And it’s only when she thinks that he’s asleep that he allows himself to revel in her touch. As it is, he keeps on feigning sleep as she continues to stroke his hair.
And he feels somewhat guilty for doing this to her. He knows how happy he could make her if only he’d allow her to know how happy she makes him. But he can’t. No, the scars are still too deep. And he’s still too damaged… and he thinks that maybe he’s damaged beyond repair. And he’s sorry that he pulled her into this sad existence. He should have never allowed her to affect him in the first place.
But now it was too late. He needed her so. And she knew that if she disappeared, he would fall apart. He’d drift away. She was his anchor… the anchor to his sanity. And she loved him too much to allow him to live in solitude again.
But like all anchors, the brutal waves and the turbulent waters would continuously assail her, just like his near-insanity and his insecurities beat her black and blue.
And he knows that in time, she will become rusty, just as all anchors do… the process has already begun. He notices it, the telltale signs of depression… that she’s rusting away.
He’s sure that someday, those brutal waves and turbulent waters will succeed in pulling the ship away. And the anchor, rusty as it is, will not be able to keep the ship from drifting away. Instead, the anchor will be pulled along into the solitude of the sea.
But at least the ship and the anchor would be together.
And it is with this thought that he allows himself to drift asleep, lulled into oblivion by her rhythmic stroking.
Thank you, Sakura.
CRUMPLED
Sasuke just got back from a long and trying mission, silently grumbling to himself. The mission was just too long and he was pretty sure that it was quite impractical to send just one man to do it. And he wondered if the Hokage deliberately trying to kill him - perhaps to free Sakura from his grasp? Maybe - he surely wouldn’t put it past that old hag - yes, she was probably doing it on purpose. He had been to three consecutive S-class missions, each mission taking a month to complete. Thankfully, he was an Uchiha, and he sustained only minor injuries.
And it was exactly those thoughts which he voiced out to the Godaime when he gave his mission report.
In reply, he had gotten a curt “Serves you right Uchiha, you don’t treat her well enough.”
And in return, he had given the Hokage a rude glare.
To which, the Hokage sighed sadly and said, “Just get her something nice before you go home. She deserves a lot more from you. No, let me rephrase that, she deserves a lot more than you. It’s really the least you can do.”
He really had no intention of doing what the Hokage advised him to do. But as he passed by one of the Hyuuga’s flower patches, he saw a bunch of Hyacinths that were blooming quite nicely. Thinking that it really wouldn’t be too bad to give Sakura something and that he would be making the Hyuuga garden ‘less beautiful’, he deftly clipped a clump of Hyacinths from their stem with a Kunai and shoved them into his pocket. After all, he didn’t want to be seen holding flowers. But that in itself was an irrational thought, the whole village hated him anyway, so what would something like this mar his reputation even worse?
When he got home, he took one look at the wall clock. It was 7:30. He figured that she would be cooking dinner by now and so, he made his way into the kitchen. His wife had her back turned to him, and she seemed to be oblivious to his arrival. In fact, she was so sure that nobody was watching her that she was singing and shaking her hips. He raised a slender brow at the comical sight and the much more comical sound; he never knew that Sakura’s singing was out of tune. If he was ‘normal’, he’d have laughed at how poor a singer she was. But he wasn’t normal, far from it, and so he merely shook his head and coughed a bit to alert her of his presence.
Her reaction was priceless. The vegetables she had been sautéing had all flown up into air and then dropped to the floor, her apron and his ANBU uniform got all stained with the reddish sauce that she was making, and - her… her cheerful manner had vanished in an instant, only to be replaced by a timid and apologetic one.
“Sasuke-kun, you’re home. I’m glad you’re safe.” - that sounded a bit too ‘routine’.
“Uhm… Gomen, let me help you clean up. I’m sorry I’m such a klutz. Sorry. Uhm… it won’t happen again and well, gomen. Please don’t be angry. Gomen gomen.”
“Sakura”, he cut her off. He opened his mouth to say something but closed them promptly when he realized that he had nothing to say. Sakura had her head bowed and she was determined not to meet his gaze. It unnerved him that her mood had changed from ‘happy’ to ‘sad’ the moment she saw him. Did he really upset her that much? And why was she apologizing? It wasn’t like he was going to punish her for something as mundane as staining his uniform - did she think he would? Was she that unhappy with him?
He remembered what Tsunade said about Sakura deserving more than him. His thoughts eventually led to the bunch of flowers he had in his pocket.
He reached into his pocket to retrieve the flowers and was slightly surprised that his palms were sweaty. Was he nervous? It was, after all the first time he would give her something. He took the flowers out and was quite dismayed to see them all crumpled up. He had this nagging thought that everything he had to offer her was 'all crumpled up' too.
“Gomen, they got crumpled.”, and he got the feeling that what he was saying shouldn’t be taken in a ‘literal’ sense at all.
Sakura, who had her head bowed, looked up at him in astonishment and her jaw literally dropped. Apparently, she couldn’t believe that he had done something ‘nice’. She promptly recovered from the blatant display of shock, and mumbled an incoherent ‘thank you’ before bowing her head again in a futile attempt of hiding her blush.
But those few moments were enough for him to see the spark that came into his wife’s eyes. He had made her happy. It was such an alien feeling. He was so accustomed to making her sad that he had forgotten how it felt to make her happy. Even if his flowers were 'all crumpled up', she could still appreciate them. And he was grateful for that.
That night, before he went to sleep, Sasuke saw Sakura place the flowers lovingly into a shoe box and smiling wistfully before climbing into bed with him. He reckoned that she looked rather pretty wearing a smile. And it was then that he realized that he was smiling too.
He went to sleep with a new resolution - he would make her smile more often.
MISTAKE
Her biggest fear - ever since she was a child - was to make a mistake.
It was drummed into her head again and again by her parents. It was perfectly understandable that she was a perfectionist.
She did not like making mistakes in the exams, she did not like making mistakes in missions, she did not like making mistakes in her lessons with her shishou, she did not like making the wrong decisions, she did not like making mistakes -- Period.
Mistakes, to her, meant mediocrity.
And in her eyes, she was already mediocre. She was a ninja without a bloodline limit, not like Sasuke, or Neji, or Ino, or Hinata. She didn’t have boundless energy like Naruto. She wasn’t a genius like Shikamaru. She wasn’t anything special. Mistakes meant even more mediocrity.
Mistakes, to her, meant regret.
She did that a lot - regretting. And she hated the feeling. She hated it more than anything else. She didn’t want to have any regrets. And if she made a mistake, that would mean that she would have something to regret afterwards.
Mistakes, to her, meant rectification.
If she made a mistake, then she would have to spend a bit of her time in trying to rectify her mistake. And rectifying meant wasted time. And she hated wasting time. Rectification meant losing time to do other more important things.
As a result, more than half of her life had been spent trying not to make mistakes. It had become a way of life for her.
Funny though, that she had been making a mistake, a big one, ever since she set eyes on a certain boy.
Ino was able to rectify her mistake early on.
But she, she knew perfectly well that she was making a mistake, but was completely powerless to stop herself.
He made her lose her wits, he made her feel weak, he made her cry, he made her miserable. He even took her freedom away from her.
This was her biggest mistake. It caused her more grief than she could have possibly known.
But it was also the best…
For this mistake was different from all the other mistakes she made.
This mistake hardly made her mediocre.
You’re different, Sakura. You’re the only person in the world who could stay with that bastard. I gave up on him the moment I noticed how hot Shikamaru is. No one else can love him like you do. You’re one of a kind. But you’re also a fool.
This mistake didn’t give her any regrets.
I don’t regret marrying him, Ino. He’s the one I love. It would be hard. It is hard. It’s been hard from the beginning. But I think that I’ll regret it even more if I stop loving him.
This mistake didn’t garner the need for rectification.
I’m not going to change. I’m not going to stop loving him. I can’t stop, you know. Because everybody else has stopped. And if I stop too, he’ll have nobody left. And then he’ll truly be alone. He was the one who told me how painful solitude is. I don’t want him to suffer through it again.
This was one mistake she didn’t mind making.
There was no doubt about it, Uchiha Sasuke was the best mistake she ever made.
TEARS
She was crying again.
“Stop Crying, Sakura”
No, don’t stop. Don’t ever stop.
He deliberately tried to sound annoyed, if only to sprinkle some salt on her wounds. But he wasn’t annoyed, he was amused.
He tried to sound as if he didn’t care one bit, so that she would wallow in even more self pity. But he did care, he didn’t want her to stop.
So of course, hearing his tone, Sakura didn’t stop crying. She wouldn’t… she couldn’t.
He didn’t know if he was just really sadistic or what. Maybe this was the side effect of all the mind-fucking he had received from his brother. Or maybe it was the repercussion of all that had happened in his life -- from the massacre to his betrayal to his final confrontation with Itachi. He really didn’t know. But it seemed that he just couldn’t help but be slightly comforted, hell, even happy at the sight of her tears.
Perhaps it was because her crying meant that she still “felt” for him. Hell, he’d rue the day she stopped. But for now, he’d relish her tears, drinking in her misery… her sorrow.
WISHING
Sakura stares at the whitewashed walls beside her and sighs.
Be careful what you wish for.
For the past few years of her prison-like marriage with Sasuke, she’d been wishing for a chance to go to the hospital again. Her wish was granted, though she wishes that it was granted in a different way. And now, she thinks that perhaps, she should have been more specific with her wishes. Really, if they held another “Best Comedian Contest”, fate would definitely win.
As it is, she is sitting on a chair in front of one of the doctor’s desks. And she realizes that if she only she didn’t quit her job, this office would have been hers. And she wonders, if she didn’t quit, would things have been different?
“How many months, doctor?”
She stares the doctor straight in the eye, not betraying the fear she’s feeling. And she thinks that she might have stared a bit too intensely as the doctor is squirming uncomfortably. So she closes her eyes. When she opens them, they are soft again, and this time, the doctor clears his throat, pushes up his glasses, and replies.
“Eight.”
She bears the news calmly. And she surprises herself for being so calm. But perhaps it’s because she might just get the freedoms she’s been yearning for. Still, it doesn’t keep her heart from constricting painfully at the thought of her husband.
And she thinks about the eight months she still has and how she’s going to spend them. She pats her stomach and smiles sadly.
“Eight months… just enough to bear my baby.”
ANGER: Part 1
“Sakura.”
It comes out as a hiss… harsh and bitter.
“Don’t you dare, Sakura, damn it! Don’t you dare!”
He growls at her…
“Sakura! Damn it!”
And he wishes he could stop cursing. But he can’t. And he just wants her to stop crying. So he screams at her…
“Stop crying, damn it!”
Hoping to drown out her sobs… nauseating, suffocating sobs…
“Damn it!”
“Damn it!”
“Damn it!”
He’s angry at her… again. And that’s why she’s crying… again.
“Sakura.”
... Or maybe she’s crying because of the pain.
“Damn you!”
His tone is still harsh and bitter… he’s still angry, after all… but he knows that he has no right to be…
“Sakura! Don’t you dare!”
But he’s such a bastard. And though he wants so badly to stroke her hair and whisper words of comfort, he just can’t…. because he doesn’t know how.
“Damn you!”
He only knows anger…
“Sakura!”
that's right... anger... in situations like this, he can only act angry… it’s been his defense mechanism for who knows how long…
“Damn it! Don’t you dare!”
And he can’t change now… because he’s too selfish to change.
“Stop crying! Damn it!”
And he immediately regrets the words as they come sprouting out of his mouth…
“Sakura…”
… Because she finally complies.
“Sakura…Don’t…”
And suddenly he’s so uncertain… so afraid… and all his bluster is gone… and he can’t be angry anymore… his defenses are gone… because he’s uncertain…
“Don’t you dare…”
And his tone is no longer harsh and bitter.
“Don’t you dare leave me…”
His words come out as a whisper… a broken sob.
“Sakura…”
ANGER: Part 2
I think I’ve forgotten how to ‘feel’?
The moment she gave her last breath, I became numb… numb to everything… I don't know... maybe I was just shocked... or maybe... I don't really know... just... I wonder...
“Uchiha-san…”
“Uchiha-san, may I please speak to you for a moment?”
I wonder when I’m going to remember how to ‘feel’ again…
… or if I ever will.
I don’t even flinch when I hear the doctor announce my wife’s time of death… the cause of her death… death at childbirth… hemorrhage… massive bleeding…
“U-uchiha-san... I-I'm s-sorry for your l-loss... S-sakura-san is... was... I'm s-sorry... I-I d-don't know what to say... I'll just call on N-naruto-kun now, if that's okay with you... h-he would h-have to be informed...”
Their words fall on deaf ears...
I’m numb… numb to everything…
... wh-
… what’s that I hear?
… is that… oh God forbid… is that the sound of someone ‘crying’?
stopcryingstopcryingstopcryingstopcrying...
“Uchiha-san, it’s a boy…a healthy baby boy... would you like to… erm… hold him?”
damnitdamnitdamnitdamnitdamnitdamnit...
It seems like I might relearn one of my emotions sooner than I thought.
“Get that… that thing… out of my sight.”
“B-but Uchiha-san… he’s your son.”
“I - don’t - care. Now get him out of my sight.”
“H-hai, U-uchiha-san.”
…Ah… what was this feeling again? So... familiar... Oh yes… I remember now… anger. This is anger...
NAME
“Damn it.”
“Na-naruto-kun, don’t say bad words in front of the baby!”
“Ah… gomen Hinata-chan… but he bit me… and…”
“No buts, Naruto-kun, here, let me hold him for a while.”
“…”
“…”
“You’re really good with kids, Hinata-chan.”
“R-really?”
“Yeah, I wish my own children would have a mom like you someday.”
“N-naruto-kun…”
“…”
“But hey, I think I’d better go check on Sasuke. You know how he is, he probably drunk himself to oblivion again.”
“A-are you going t-to try to get him to accept the baby again?”
“No, not this time. Maybe next week. But for the meantime, can you take care of Baby… erm… baby Itachi…”
“I-I don’t think it was a g-good idea t-to let Sasuke-san name his baby.”
“He’s the father. It’s his right to name him. But maybe I shouldn’t have asked him while he was drunk.”
“Y-yeah.”
“But Sasuke hasn’t been sober ever since… ever since… you know… and I couldn’t let the baby remain nameless for a long time. Besides, I don't think the name Uchiha Ramen sounds good. heheh...”
“You have a p-point.”
“…”
“…
“Neh, Hinata-chan, I’ll be going now. The teme probably needs my help. Thanks for coming over and helping me take care of the baby.”
“N-no problem. I-it’s my pleasure, N-naruto-kun. I like taking care of Baby Itachi, he’s such a sweet child.”
“Nu-uh, he bit me. He’s not sweet at all. If I didn’t know better I’d say he takes after...”
“Not Itachi.”
“N-no! I was gonna say that he takes after the teme!”
“O-oh… gomen.”
“Nah, it’s okay.”
“…”
“Well, Hinata-chan, bye, and thanks again.”
“Bye Naruto-kun.”
GRIEF
He squints as Naruto, the dobe, pulls back the curtains to let some sunshine in. He always had some sort of photosensitivity. The light was just… irritating.
“You know, Sasuke, you shouldn’t sulk like this.”
And he pretends not to hear.
“And don’t pretend like you can’t hear me, teme, because I know you can.”
“Besides, Sasuke, I’m suffering too.”
And that statement alone is enough to coax a reply out of him… an indignant, angry reply.
“Shut up, you don’t know how I feel. You’ll never know- you- you-“
And he gives up trying to talk because he’s too weak to continue. Because he’s dangerously close to tears, and the last thing he wants is to cry in front of the dobe.
“Sasuke… she was my friend too. Anyway, let’s not talk about it anymore. I’m challenging you to a spar.”
“Just go away, Naruto.”
“Sasuke, you never backed away from a fight before.”
“Go away”, he repeats, this time more forcefully.
“…”
“Alright, but try to clean up a bit Sasuke, it stinks in here.”
And it’s all he can do to glare as Naruto wrinkles his nose. He knows that the smell of his room is putrid. And that he hadn’t shaved since the ‘incident’. But he doesn’t care. He’s given up… and he’s tired… and he just wants to roll over and die… but she wouldn’t want that.
“I’m going, but make sure to visit your son some time soon. Hinata-chan’s perfectly willing to take care of the little critter for now but he’s yours and Sakura-chan’s son, Sasuke, not ours. You’re his dad and you’re the one he needs.”
She would want him to take care of their son too. But he hates the thing. It ruined his life. Besides, he never did what she wanted before, why should he start now when she’s no longer there to appreciate it?
“Rot that damn thing.”
“Sasuke…”
“Just go, Naruto, just go.”
“Alright, I’ll go… for now. I’ll be back though. And try not to drink too much.”
He watches as the blond ninja turns to leave. And his heart burns with something… something akin to hate. The dobe always was a self-righteous prick.
“Oh… I almost forgot. I brought some food for you. Thought you might be hungry, s’all.”
Finally his friend leaves. He stares hard at the paper bag, trying to hate his best friend. Knowing that, though he desperately wanted to, he couldn’t. And he’s hopeless. So hopeless. Wanting something he just can’t have. Like he wants her to come back but she can’t. She just can’t. Because she’s gone. And this is one time that she won’t pull through for him.
He can’t hate the dobe… but he can hate her. She lied to him. She said she’d never leave him… but she did… everyone always did leave him…
at least the dobe never makes promises he can't keep...
he hates her..
But he’d willingly love her again if she just came back… but she won’t… because she can’t.
And so he just stands there, diverting his gaze from the paper bag to the ceiling. Hoping that looking up will keep his tears from falling…
… but they fall anyway.
REGRET
When he heard someone knocking on his door, he thought it was the Ramen delivery guy. He never, not in his in wildest dreams, thought that it would be Sasuke.
“Sa-Sasuke!! I wasn’t expecting you! W-why are you here?”
The very idea of Sasuke being on his doorstep was absurd. Sasuke never… never… visited anyone. Besides, Naruto assumed that his best friend would never be seen in living day light again. The guy did, after all, manage to stay a hermit in his own compound for the better part of a year. He just couldn’t imagine why Sasuke would want to come out of hiding now.
“Itachi.”
For a while, Naruto couldn’t even find his voice. He wondered what Sasuke would want with Baby Itachi. Could it be that he… no… he wouldn’t… would he? Naruto had gotten used to having Baby Itachi in the house. He even nicknamed him ‘Tachi so that his name wouldn’t be associated with the S-class criminal automatically. And without Baby ‘Tachi around, would Hinata stop coming? Baby ‘Tachi was like a son to him now…
“Well, Dobe?”
“What about him, Teme?”
“Isn’t it obvious, I’ve come to take him back?”
“Why, after all this time, how-”
“I’m his father.”
Sasuke was right, of course. But Naruto had his doubts. He had this deep sense of foreboding about giving little ‘tachi to Sasuke. But Sasuke was the father, and Naruto had no right to deny him his son. He knew he would regret his decision…
--
All he cares about is training and surpassing his father. It's so annoying. Tou-san, when will he ever notice me? Kaa-san, how did you get Tou-san to notice you?
He never had a son. Hinata had given birth to a daughter who happened to be in the same cell as ‘Tachi. They named her Hana and as fate had it, she just happened to be in love with someone who was the mirror image of Sasuke, both in looks and in attitude. Sometimes, she reminded him so much of Sakura that he had to wonder what would have happened had things been different. He wondered sometimes what would have happened if Sakura hadn’t been too in love with Sasuke. Perhaps she would still be alive. Perhaps she wouldn’t have suffered too much. Either way, she just hoped that Hana wouldn’t turn out like her. Sakura was a wonderful person and all but she loved too much… and look where it got her. He wished Hana would choose her other teammate instead. That Nara boy seemed promising. He wished that Hana would have more common sense than Sakura did.
But when Hana came home crying one day because ‘Tachi left the village and became a nukenin, he knew his wishes were futile… he thought of Sakura and how Hana was exactly like her. And he thought about Sasuke… he hated the guy… he ruined too many lives. No, he wasn’t surprised at all that ‘Tachi left.
Sighing, he got up from his chair, gave his daughter a quick hug and a few words of comfort, and walked out the door.
He knew he would regret his decision thirteen years ago… what he didn’t know was the form his regret would take. It was no use wondering about it now. He’d find out in a matter of minutes, anyway.
HISTORY
He had half expected Sasuke to be sprawled on the floor of the huge compound, dead.
He didn’t know whether he should be happy that his best friend wasn’t there or scared because now he didn’t know what to expect.
He had searched every single room but to no avail.
Slapping himself for not thinking of it sooner, he quickly went to the weapons room and scanned the racks for Sasuke’s infamous sword, the Kusanagi. It wasn’t there. There was also a noticeable number of shurikens and kunais missing. His common sense told him that ‘Tachi took the items but he had a feeling that there was more to the situation than what met the eye.
Deciding that he wanted to make sure, he went to ‘Tachi’s room and looked inside the closet. It was quite organized and ‘Tachi’s Chuunin Vest was still there. He counted all the vests. One. Two. Three. Three vests in all, the standard set given to all ninjas. If ‘Tachi left then that meant that he was probably in his normal clothes. The ninja sandals were still there too, so was his ninja pouch. There was just something fishy about the whole situation. When Sasuke left the village, he had his full battle gear on but nothing seemed to be missing in ‘Tachi’s room.
Naruto knew that there was little left to analyze in the room so moved on to Sasuke’s room. He then looked inside Sasuke’s closet and counted all the ANBU uniforms. One. Two. Two…
He didn’t need to think twice before he ran out of the compound in pursuit of Sasuke. The guy was more insane than he thought possible.
Finally, after thirty minutes of nonstop running, he caught up with them… or rather, him… because by the look of things, the other was no more.
Naruto couldn’t suppress his shudder when he heard a wry chuckle emanate from the one standing before him.
“History repeats itself, you know. Who would have thought that I’d have my revenge on him twice?”
Characters: Sasuke & Sakura
Genre: Angst/Romance
NEGATIVITY
“No.”
He knows that she’s on the brink of tears. But he pretends not to notice.
He realizes that he’s been saying “No” quite often lately. “No, you can’t go to Ino’s party”, “No, your friends can’t visit”, “No, you can’t go on that mission”, “No, you can’t take the ANBU exams”, “No, you can’t continue working in the hospital”. And he wonders if he’s regressed to his toddler years, when negativity was a distinguishing trait.
He wonders, what was he saying no to again?
Ah yes, she had asked if she could go live with her parents for a while. They had had a big fight, and apparently, his wife needed some time to ‘get away from it all’.
And he had said no.
He hears her mumble a faint “why”. And he realizes that her voice is weak and trembling. But again, he pretends not to notice.
“Don’t question my authority, Sakura.”
He dismisses her, just like that. And as he watches her slink away, he wonders if he did the right thing.
And he scoffs at himself. What a stupid question - if he did the right thing indeed. He knows that he didn’t do the right thing.
But can he help it? No - because he’s selfish.
And as he hears their bedroom door close, he thinks that his wife is probably crying again. And he congratulates himself for being adamant in his denial. He congratulates himself for keeping his secret.
No, I don’t want you to let you go because I’m afraid that you’ll never come back.
He is afraid… afraid that after spending months with him, she realizes that he’s not worth the effort and the moment he lets her go, she’ll bolt.
She has proven her loyalty a million times over, but not to ‘him’. She proved her loyalty to the boy she barely knew. The one she couldn’t grasp - the 12-year old teammate. But now that she knew ‘him’, he wonders if she will still be loyal. Now that she knew the depths of his insecurity - his selfishness - his darkness. She has yet to prove her loyalty to the real ‘him’.
So, no, he wasn’t taking a chance. There would be no more risks for him. Not after what had happened - not after he learned how painful it was to lose something.
So he keeps her caged inside the cold walls of his ancient manor - a willing and pliant prisoner.
And he wonders if he’s ever going to free her.
And he scoffs again because he already knows the answer.
“No.”
PRETENDING
She went to her dressing table and sat down on the soft chair. Picking up her ivory mirror in one hand, and her ivory hairbrush in another, she admired the elaborate patterns on the frames of these two items. They were beautiful, boasting of antiquity that only an old an illustrious clan like the Uchiha could have supported. And with that, she started combing through the tangles of her hair, carefully counting to a hundred brush strokes all in all. When she was done, she set the mirror down, and looked at the much bigger mirror. Again, she admired the woodwork, and she wonders how much time was spent on sculpting the sakura petals embedded on the expensive oak frame. Finally, her eyes were drawn to her own reflection. She started brushing her hair into a tight bun, securing her loose hair with pins from the small jewelry box in the corner of the table. Satisfied that her hair was in perfect order, she set her hairbrush down and started opening the drawers, looking for the make-up set that Ino had given her for her 16th birthday. She couldn’t help but smile at the memory of their young selves trying out some make-up, aiming to look more mature but failing miserably. They had only received a deriding snort from Naruto, and a ‘how troublesome’ from Shikamaru. When she found the kit, she opened it, and to her dismay, the eyeshadow cakes were cracked. The pink had meshed with the blue, rendering the two colors unusable. Too bad, for pink was her favorite. Nevertheless, she had to work with what she had. With a sigh, she started putting on some foundation, carefully applying it evenly to her face. She gave extra attention to the dark circles under her eyes. After all, she didn’t want to look all haggard for the whole day. She put on some blush and some purple eyeshadow for added effect. Next, she took out her black mascara from one of the drawers and started putting some on her lashes. For the final touch, she applied some red lipstick on smacked her lips. When she was done, she took one lasting look at her reflection in the mirror and smiled.
After she tidied up the dressing table, she went to her closet and took out her medic outfit. She wrinkled her nose, narrowly preventing a sneeze, as the dust from the outfit assailed her senses. After which, she took out some stockings and her medic hat, and placed everything on the bed.
She sat down on the edge of the bed, and put on the stockings first, the medic outfit next, and the medic hat last. She made her way to her dressing table and took another lingering look at her reflection. She decided that she liked what she saw.
Her musings were cut short as she heard the front gate open.
Panicking, she frantically took off all her clothes and replaced them with the ones she was wearing earlier. She shoved her discarded medic clothes into her closet, not bothering to arrange them properly. ‘She would fix them later’, she told herself. She ran to the bathroom and started washing all the make-up off, bit by bit revealing the haggard face, the dark circles under her eyes, and the wrinkles on her forehead. When she was done, she looked at the mirror on the medicine cabinet, and tried not to notice that her mascara was running, and that one droplet was traveling suspiciously fast down her cheeks. She shook her head, steeled her self, and removed the last vestiges of her makeup.
Sighing, she took the apron hanging from the chair, put it on, and made her way to the foyer.
Her husband was home.
ANCHOR
It's only when he’s asleep that she has the liberty to touch him like this. And it’s only when she thinks that he’s asleep that he allows himself to revel in her touch. As it is, he keeps on feigning sleep as she continues to stroke his hair.
And he feels somewhat guilty for doing this to her. He knows how happy he could make her if only he’d allow her to know how happy she makes him. But he can’t. No, the scars are still too deep. And he’s still too damaged… and he thinks that maybe he’s damaged beyond repair. And he’s sorry that he pulled her into this sad existence. He should have never allowed her to affect him in the first place.
But now it was too late. He needed her so. And she knew that if she disappeared, he would fall apart. He’d drift away. She was his anchor… the anchor to his sanity. And she loved him too much to allow him to live in solitude again.
But like all anchors, the brutal waves and the turbulent waters would continuously assail her, just like his near-insanity and his insecurities beat her black and blue.
And he knows that in time, she will become rusty, just as all anchors do… the process has already begun. He notices it, the telltale signs of depression… that she’s rusting away.
He’s sure that someday, those brutal waves and turbulent waters will succeed in pulling the ship away. And the anchor, rusty as it is, will not be able to keep the ship from drifting away. Instead, the anchor will be pulled along into the solitude of the sea.
But at least the ship and the anchor would be together.
And it is with this thought that he allows himself to drift asleep, lulled into oblivion by her rhythmic stroking.
Thank you, Sakura.
CRUMPLED
Sasuke just got back from a long and trying mission, silently grumbling to himself. The mission was just too long and he was pretty sure that it was quite impractical to send just one man to do it. And he wondered if the Hokage deliberately trying to kill him - perhaps to free Sakura from his grasp? Maybe - he surely wouldn’t put it past that old hag - yes, she was probably doing it on purpose. He had been to three consecutive S-class missions, each mission taking a month to complete. Thankfully, he was an Uchiha, and he sustained only minor injuries.
And it was exactly those thoughts which he voiced out to the Godaime when he gave his mission report.
In reply, he had gotten a curt “Serves you right Uchiha, you don’t treat her well enough.”
And in return, he had given the Hokage a rude glare.
To which, the Hokage sighed sadly and said, “Just get her something nice before you go home. She deserves a lot more from you. No, let me rephrase that, she deserves a lot more than you. It’s really the least you can do.”
He really had no intention of doing what the Hokage advised him to do. But as he passed by one of the Hyuuga’s flower patches, he saw a bunch of Hyacinths that were blooming quite nicely. Thinking that it really wouldn’t be too bad to give Sakura something and that he would be making the Hyuuga garden ‘less beautiful’, he deftly clipped a clump of Hyacinths from their stem with a Kunai and shoved them into his pocket. After all, he didn’t want to be seen holding flowers. But that in itself was an irrational thought, the whole village hated him anyway, so what would something like this mar his reputation even worse?
When he got home, he took one look at the wall clock. It was 7:30. He figured that she would be cooking dinner by now and so, he made his way into the kitchen. His wife had her back turned to him, and she seemed to be oblivious to his arrival. In fact, she was so sure that nobody was watching her that she was singing and shaking her hips. He raised a slender brow at the comical sight and the much more comical sound; he never knew that Sakura’s singing was out of tune. If he was ‘normal’, he’d have laughed at how poor a singer she was. But he wasn’t normal, far from it, and so he merely shook his head and coughed a bit to alert her of his presence.
Her reaction was priceless. The vegetables she had been sautéing had all flown up into air and then dropped to the floor, her apron and his ANBU uniform got all stained with the reddish sauce that she was making, and - her… her cheerful manner had vanished in an instant, only to be replaced by a timid and apologetic one.
“Sasuke-kun, you’re home. I’m glad you’re safe.” - that sounded a bit too ‘routine’.
“Uhm… Gomen, let me help you clean up. I’m sorry I’m such a klutz. Sorry. Uhm… it won’t happen again and well, gomen. Please don’t be angry. Gomen gomen.”
“Sakura”, he cut her off. He opened his mouth to say something but closed them promptly when he realized that he had nothing to say. Sakura had her head bowed and she was determined not to meet his gaze. It unnerved him that her mood had changed from ‘happy’ to ‘sad’ the moment she saw him. Did he really upset her that much? And why was she apologizing? It wasn’t like he was going to punish her for something as mundane as staining his uniform - did she think he would? Was she that unhappy with him?
He remembered what Tsunade said about Sakura deserving more than him. His thoughts eventually led to the bunch of flowers he had in his pocket.
He reached into his pocket to retrieve the flowers and was slightly surprised that his palms were sweaty. Was he nervous? It was, after all the first time he would give her something. He took the flowers out and was quite dismayed to see them all crumpled up. He had this nagging thought that everything he had to offer her was 'all crumpled up' too.
“Gomen, they got crumpled.”, and he got the feeling that what he was saying shouldn’t be taken in a ‘literal’ sense at all.
Sakura, who had her head bowed, looked up at him in astonishment and her jaw literally dropped. Apparently, she couldn’t believe that he had done something ‘nice’. She promptly recovered from the blatant display of shock, and mumbled an incoherent ‘thank you’ before bowing her head again in a futile attempt of hiding her blush.
But those few moments were enough for him to see the spark that came into his wife’s eyes. He had made her happy. It was such an alien feeling. He was so accustomed to making her sad that he had forgotten how it felt to make her happy. Even if his flowers were 'all crumpled up', she could still appreciate them. And he was grateful for that.
That night, before he went to sleep, Sasuke saw Sakura place the flowers lovingly into a shoe box and smiling wistfully before climbing into bed with him. He reckoned that she looked rather pretty wearing a smile. And it was then that he realized that he was smiling too.
He went to sleep with a new resolution - he would make her smile more often.
MISTAKE
Her biggest fear - ever since she was a child - was to make a mistake.
It was drummed into her head again and again by her parents. It was perfectly understandable that she was a perfectionist.
She did not like making mistakes in the exams, she did not like making mistakes in missions, she did not like making mistakes in her lessons with her shishou, she did not like making the wrong decisions, she did not like making mistakes -- Period.
Mistakes, to her, meant mediocrity.
And in her eyes, she was already mediocre. She was a ninja without a bloodline limit, not like Sasuke, or Neji, or Ino, or Hinata. She didn’t have boundless energy like Naruto. She wasn’t a genius like Shikamaru. She wasn’t anything special. Mistakes meant even more mediocrity.
Mistakes, to her, meant regret.
She did that a lot - regretting. And she hated the feeling. She hated it more than anything else. She didn’t want to have any regrets. And if she made a mistake, that would mean that she would have something to regret afterwards.
Mistakes, to her, meant rectification.
If she made a mistake, then she would have to spend a bit of her time in trying to rectify her mistake. And rectifying meant wasted time. And she hated wasting time. Rectification meant losing time to do other more important things.
As a result, more than half of her life had been spent trying not to make mistakes. It had become a way of life for her.
Funny though, that she had been making a mistake, a big one, ever since she set eyes on a certain boy.
Ino was able to rectify her mistake early on.
But she, she knew perfectly well that she was making a mistake, but was completely powerless to stop herself.
He made her lose her wits, he made her feel weak, he made her cry, he made her miserable. He even took her freedom away from her.
This was her biggest mistake. It caused her more grief than she could have possibly known.
But it was also the best…
For this mistake was different from all the other mistakes she made.
This mistake hardly made her mediocre.
You’re different, Sakura. You’re the only person in the world who could stay with that bastard. I gave up on him the moment I noticed how hot Shikamaru is. No one else can love him like you do. You’re one of a kind. But you’re also a fool.
This mistake didn’t give her any regrets.
I don’t regret marrying him, Ino. He’s the one I love. It would be hard. It is hard. It’s been hard from the beginning. But I think that I’ll regret it even more if I stop loving him.
This mistake didn’t garner the need for rectification.
I’m not going to change. I’m not going to stop loving him. I can’t stop, you know. Because everybody else has stopped. And if I stop too, he’ll have nobody left. And then he’ll truly be alone. He was the one who told me how painful solitude is. I don’t want him to suffer through it again.
This was one mistake she didn’t mind making.
There was no doubt about it, Uchiha Sasuke was the best mistake she ever made.
TEARS
She was crying again.
“Stop Crying, Sakura”
No, don’t stop. Don’t ever stop.
He deliberately tried to sound annoyed, if only to sprinkle some salt on her wounds. But he wasn’t annoyed, he was amused.
He tried to sound as if he didn’t care one bit, so that she would wallow in even more self pity. But he did care, he didn’t want her to stop.
So of course, hearing his tone, Sakura didn’t stop crying. She wouldn’t… she couldn’t.
He didn’t know if he was just really sadistic or what. Maybe this was the side effect of all the mind-fucking he had received from his brother. Or maybe it was the repercussion of all that had happened in his life -- from the massacre to his betrayal to his final confrontation with Itachi. He really didn’t know. But it seemed that he just couldn’t help but be slightly comforted, hell, even happy at the sight of her tears.
Perhaps it was because her crying meant that she still “felt” for him. Hell, he’d rue the day she stopped. But for now, he’d relish her tears, drinking in her misery… her sorrow.
WISHING
Sakura stares at the whitewashed walls beside her and sighs.
Be careful what you wish for.
For the past few years of her prison-like marriage with Sasuke, she’d been wishing for a chance to go to the hospital again. Her wish was granted, though she wishes that it was granted in a different way. And now, she thinks that perhaps, she should have been more specific with her wishes. Really, if they held another “Best Comedian Contest”, fate would definitely win.
As it is, she is sitting on a chair in front of one of the doctor’s desks. And she realizes that if she only she didn’t quit her job, this office would have been hers. And she wonders, if she didn’t quit, would things have been different?
“How many months, doctor?”
She stares the doctor straight in the eye, not betraying the fear she’s feeling. And she thinks that she might have stared a bit too intensely as the doctor is squirming uncomfortably. So she closes her eyes. When she opens them, they are soft again, and this time, the doctor clears his throat, pushes up his glasses, and replies.
“Eight.”
She bears the news calmly. And she surprises herself for being so calm. But perhaps it’s because she might just get the freedoms she’s been yearning for. Still, it doesn’t keep her heart from constricting painfully at the thought of her husband.
And she thinks about the eight months she still has and how she’s going to spend them. She pats her stomach and smiles sadly.
“Eight months… just enough to bear my baby.”
ANGER: Part 1
“Sakura.”
It comes out as a hiss… harsh and bitter.
“Don’t you dare, Sakura, damn it! Don’t you dare!”
He growls at her…
“Sakura! Damn it!”
And he wishes he could stop cursing. But he can’t. And he just wants her to stop crying. So he screams at her…
“Stop crying, damn it!”
Hoping to drown out her sobs… nauseating, suffocating sobs…
“Damn it!”
“Damn it!”
“Damn it!”
He’s angry at her… again. And that’s why she’s crying… again.
“Sakura.”
... Or maybe she’s crying because of the pain.
“Damn you!”
His tone is still harsh and bitter… he’s still angry, after all… but he knows that he has no right to be…
“Sakura! Don’t you dare!”
But he’s such a bastard. And though he wants so badly to stroke her hair and whisper words of comfort, he just can’t…. because he doesn’t know how.
“Damn you!”
He only knows anger…
“Sakura!”
that's right... anger... in situations like this, he can only act angry… it’s been his defense mechanism for who knows how long…
“Damn it! Don’t you dare!”
And he can’t change now… because he’s too selfish to change.
“Stop crying! Damn it!”
And he immediately regrets the words as they come sprouting out of his mouth…
“Sakura…”
… Because she finally complies.
“Sakura…Don’t…”
And suddenly he’s so uncertain… so afraid… and all his bluster is gone… and he can’t be angry anymore… his defenses are gone… because he’s uncertain…
“Don’t you dare…”
And his tone is no longer harsh and bitter.
“Don’t you dare leave me…”
His words come out as a whisper… a broken sob.
“Sakura…”
ANGER: Part 2
I think I’ve forgotten how to ‘feel’?
The moment she gave her last breath, I became numb… numb to everything… I don't know... maybe I was just shocked... or maybe... I don't really know... just... I wonder...
“Uchiha-san…”
“Uchiha-san, may I please speak to you for a moment?”
I wonder when I’m going to remember how to ‘feel’ again…
… or if I ever will.
I don’t even flinch when I hear the doctor announce my wife’s time of death… the cause of her death… death at childbirth… hemorrhage… massive bleeding…
“U-uchiha-san... I-I'm s-sorry for your l-loss... S-sakura-san is... was... I'm s-sorry... I-I d-don't know what to say... I'll just call on N-naruto-kun now, if that's okay with you... h-he would h-have to be informed...”
Their words fall on deaf ears...
I’m numb… numb to everything…
... wh-
… what’s that I hear?
… is that… oh God forbid… is that the sound of someone ‘crying’?
stopcryingstopcryingstopcryingstopcrying...
“Uchiha-san, it’s a boy…a healthy baby boy... would you like to… erm… hold him?”
damnitdamnitdamnitdamnitdamnitdamnit...
It seems like I might relearn one of my emotions sooner than I thought.
“Get that… that thing… out of my sight.”
“B-but Uchiha-san… he’s your son.”
“I - don’t - care. Now get him out of my sight.”
“H-hai, U-uchiha-san.”
…Ah… what was this feeling again? So... familiar... Oh yes… I remember now… anger. This is anger...
NAME
“Damn it.”
“Na-naruto-kun, don’t say bad words in front of the baby!”
“Ah… gomen Hinata-chan… but he bit me… and…”
“No buts, Naruto-kun, here, let me hold him for a while.”
“…”
“…”
“You’re really good with kids, Hinata-chan.”
“R-really?”
“Yeah, I wish my own children would have a mom like you someday.”
“N-naruto-kun…”
“…”
“But hey, I think I’d better go check on Sasuke. You know how he is, he probably drunk himself to oblivion again.”
“A-are you going t-to try to get him to accept the baby again?”
“No, not this time. Maybe next week. But for the meantime, can you take care of Baby… erm… baby Itachi…”
“I-I don’t think it was a g-good idea t-to let Sasuke-san name his baby.”
“He’s the father. It’s his right to name him. But maybe I shouldn’t have asked him while he was drunk.”
“Y-yeah.”
“But Sasuke hasn’t been sober ever since… ever since… you know… and I couldn’t let the baby remain nameless for a long time. Besides, I don't think the name Uchiha Ramen sounds good. heheh...”
“You have a p-point.”
“…”
“…
“Neh, Hinata-chan, I’ll be going now. The teme probably needs my help. Thanks for coming over and helping me take care of the baby.”
“N-no problem. I-it’s my pleasure, N-naruto-kun. I like taking care of Baby Itachi, he’s such a sweet child.”
“Nu-uh, he bit me. He’s not sweet at all. If I didn’t know better I’d say he takes after...”
“Not Itachi.”
“N-no! I was gonna say that he takes after the teme!”
“O-oh… gomen.”
“Nah, it’s okay.”
“…”
“Well, Hinata-chan, bye, and thanks again.”
“Bye Naruto-kun.”
GRIEF
He squints as Naruto, the dobe, pulls back the curtains to let some sunshine in. He always had some sort of photosensitivity. The light was just… irritating.
“You know, Sasuke, you shouldn’t sulk like this.”
And he pretends not to hear.
“And don’t pretend like you can’t hear me, teme, because I know you can.”
“Besides, Sasuke, I’m suffering too.”
And that statement alone is enough to coax a reply out of him… an indignant, angry reply.
“Shut up, you don’t know how I feel. You’ll never know- you- you-“
And he gives up trying to talk because he’s too weak to continue. Because he’s dangerously close to tears, and the last thing he wants is to cry in front of the dobe.
“Sasuke… she was my friend too. Anyway, let’s not talk about it anymore. I’m challenging you to a spar.”
“Just go away, Naruto.”
“Sasuke, you never backed away from a fight before.”
“Go away”, he repeats, this time more forcefully.
“…”
“Alright, but try to clean up a bit Sasuke, it stinks in here.”
And it’s all he can do to glare as Naruto wrinkles his nose. He knows that the smell of his room is putrid. And that he hadn’t shaved since the ‘incident’. But he doesn’t care. He’s given up… and he’s tired… and he just wants to roll over and die… but she wouldn’t want that.
“I’m going, but make sure to visit your son some time soon. Hinata-chan’s perfectly willing to take care of the little critter for now but he’s yours and Sakura-chan’s son, Sasuke, not ours. You’re his dad and you’re the one he needs.”
She would want him to take care of their son too. But he hates the thing. It ruined his life. Besides, he never did what she wanted before, why should he start now when she’s no longer there to appreciate it?
“Rot that damn thing.”
“Sasuke…”
“Just go, Naruto, just go.”
“Alright, I’ll go… for now. I’ll be back though. And try not to drink too much.”
He watches as the blond ninja turns to leave. And his heart burns with something… something akin to hate. The dobe always was a self-righteous prick.
“Oh… I almost forgot. I brought some food for you. Thought you might be hungry, s’all.”
Finally his friend leaves. He stares hard at the paper bag, trying to hate his best friend. Knowing that, though he desperately wanted to, he couldn’t. And he’s hopeless. So hopeless. Wanting something he just can’t have. Like he wants her to come back but she can’t. She just can’t. Because she’s gone. And this is one time that she won’t pull through for him.
He can’t hate the dobe… but he can hate her. She lied to him. She said she’d never leave him… but she did… everyone always did leave him…
at least the dobe never makes promises he can't keep...
he hates her..
But he’d willingly love her again if she just came back… but she won’t… because she can’t.
And so he just stands there, diverting his gaze from the paper bag to the ceiling. Hoping that looking up will keep his tears from falling…
… but they fall anyway.
REGRET
When he heard someone knocking on his door, he thought it was the Ramen delivery guy. He never, not in his in wildest dreams, thought that it would be Sasuke.
“Sa-Sasuke!! I wasn’t expecting you! W-why are you here?”
The very idea of Sasuke being on his doorstep was absurd. Sasuke never… never… visited anyone. Besides, Naruto assumed that his best friend would never be seen in living day light again. The guy did, after all, manage to stay a hermit in his own compound for the better part of a year. He just couldn’t imagine why Sasuke would want to come out of hiding now.
“Itachi.”
For a while, Naruto couldn’t even find his voice. He wondered what Sasuke would want with Baby Itachi. Could it be that he… no… he wouldn’t… would he? Naruto had gotten used to having Baby Itachi in the house. He even nicknamed him ‘Tachi so that his name wouldn’t be associated with the S-class criminal automatically. And without Baby ‘Tachi around, would Hinata stop coming? Baby ‘Tachi was like a son to him now…
“Well, Dobe?”
“What about him, Teme?”
“Isn’t it obvious, I’ve come to take him back?”
“Why, after all this time, how-”
“I’m his father.”
Sasuke was right, of course. But Naruto had his doubts. He had this deep sense of foreboding about giving little ‘tachi to Sasuke. But Sasuke was the father, and Naruto had no right to deny him his son. He knew he would regret his decision…
--
All he cares about is training and surpassing his father. It's so annoying. Tou-san, when will he ever notice me? Kaa-san, how did you get Tou-san to notice you?
He never had a son. Hinata had given birth to a daughter who happened to be in the same cell as ‘Tachi. They named her Hana and as fate had it, she just happened to be in love with someone who was the mirror image of Sasuke, both in looks and in attitude. Sometimes, she reminded him so much of Sakura that he had to wonder what would have happened had things been different. He wondered sometimes what would have happened if Sakura hadn’t been too in love with Sasuke. Perhaps she would still be alive. Perhaps she wouldn’t have suffered too much. Either way, she just hoped that Hana wouldn’t turn out like her. Sakura was a wonderful person and all but she loved too much… and look where it got her. He wished Hana would choose her other teammate instead. That Nara boy seemed promising. He wished that Hana would have more common sense than Sakura did.
But when Hana came home crying one day because ‘Tachi left the village and became a nukenin, he knew his wishes were futile… he thought of Sakura and how Hana was exactly like her. And he thought about Sasuke… he hated the guy… he ruined too many lives. No, he wasn’t surprised at all that ‘Tachi left.
Sighing, he got up from his chair, gave his daughter a quick hug and a few words of comfort, and walked out the door.
He knew he would regret his decision thirteen years ago… what he didn’t know was the form his regret would take. It was no use wondering about it now. He’d find out in a matter of minutes, anyway.
HISTORY
He had half expected Sasuke to be sprawled on the floor of the huge compound, dead.
He didn’t know whether he should be happy that his best friend wasn’t there or scared because now he didn’t know what to expect.
He had searched every single room but to no avail.
Slapping himself for not thinking of it sooner, he quickly went to the weapons room and scanned the racks for Sasuke’s infamous sword, the Kusanagi. It wasn’t there. There was also a noticeable number of shurikens and kunais missing. His common sense told him that ‘Tachi took the items but he had a feeling that there was more to the situation than what met the eye.
Deciding that he wanted to make sure, he went to ‘Tachi’s room and looked inside the closet. It was quite organized and ‘Tachi’s Chuunin Vest was still there. He counted all the vests. One. Two. Three. Three vests in all, the standard set given to all ninjas. If ‘Tachi left then that meant that he was probably in his normal clothes. The ninja sandals were still there too, so was his ninja pouch. There was just something fishy about the whole situation. When Sasuke left the village, he had his full battle gear on but nothing seemed to be missing in ‘Tachi’s room.
Naruto knew that there was little left to analyze in the room so moved on to Sasuke’s room. He then looked inside Sasuke’s closet and counted all the ANBU uniforms. One. Two. Two…
He didn’t need to think twice before he ran out of the compound in pursuit of Sasuke. The guy was more insane than he thought possible.
Finally, after thirty minutes of nonstop running, he caught up with them… or rather, him… because by the look of things, the other was no more.
Naruto couldn’t suppress his shudder when he heard a wry chuckle emanate from the one standing before him.
“History repeats itself, you know. Who would have thought that I’d have my revenge on him twice?”