All Uchiha Sasuke wanted to do right now is sleep.
He tried to stifle a yawn that escaped him as his eyes never left the figure of his childhood friend slash neighbour who was busy talking with the manager of the bookstore they’re currently in.
Last night, he finished his History project due next week in order to have a lazy weekend ahead of him. Really, he just wanted to spend his Saturday in the comfort of his own bed and wake up in the afternoon. Now he’s kinda regretting why he even went down to the kitchen this morning to get a glass of water.
The past few nights have been extremely difficult for me to sleep, every time I almost drift off into the dream world I get jostled awake. My hands rub soothingly against the large area of my stomach trying to persuade the growing child to let me rest. Sasuke-kun thought it would be a good idea to stay at Karin’s hideout until I give birth, which could be any day now. At first she was skeptical but we quickly became close. It took my husband by surprise since he knew that she held feelings her him still and had expressed her dislike for me years ago. To me it’s all water under the bridge.
My mind has led me to her lab where she’s working on some new antibiotic pills for the sick children in the land of waves. I wish I could help but with my current state even my chakra doesn’t seem to last as long. Probably because our child’s chakra signature interferes with my own and throws me off balance.
I knock on the door frame before walking in. Her red hair is thrown up into a messy ponytail and she pays to the spot on the bench beside her.
“You should be sleeping.” She scolds absentmindedly, we all know that it’s impossible. I shrug my shoulders and take the microscope to watch the bacteria diminish from the anti bodies.
“So should you.” It’s well past midnight and normally Karin is already passed out in her room.
“He’s already up looking for you.” Of course he is. Every night we do this same game of hide and seek. Mentally I’m counting to a hundred before he walks in the room.
“Oh well. How has your research been going?” The other day she asked me how I broke down Sasori’s poison so fast. After a few hours of explaining she was able to come close to the antidote. As far as medics go Karin is one of the best, but not close enough to Shishou and I. She knows this and that’s why she doesn’t mind my late night interruptions.
“I’m just waiting for Lord Orochimaru to send me the herbs I requested.” I can’t hold back the shiver that runs through my spine. Even after all these years I can’t help but be scared of the snake sannin. Honestly I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to stand being around him after everything.
Both of our eyes redirect to the doorway, Sasuke-kun has his arm propped against his hip and his hair is slightly messy from sleeping. Looks like my game is over.
“Good night Karin.” My body takes longer to rise from the bench but thankfully both Karin and Sasuke-kun help me keep my balance. Exiting the lab, he leads me back towards our room and I can’t help but sigh.
“You should be resting Tsuma.” He’s not scolding me, the worry in his voice is evidence of that. He’s just worried.
“I’ll try, but sooner or later I’m going to be wandering around the halls again.” He guides me to the edge of the bed as I plop down on the soft mattress. His body falls behind mine and pulls me tightly against him, my back pressed firmly against his chest. A lone hand traces the curves of my stomach causing a smile to form on my face. It’s moments like these that make me thankful to have him as a husband.
“EXCUSE ME,” said a reporter for the daily Konoha news. “But, I’m asking you all some questions, and I would really appreciate it if you would answer them!”
“Uh, Sensei,” began Sakura beside him. She gave him a “told you so” kind of look.
“Do not engage and she’ll go away,” he answered in his smooth voice. Sakura could see how calm he was by his face, so she guessed he had things under control as usual.
“If you believe that,” said Sasuke beside her, he had his hands casually in his pockets and looked bored despite their current situation. “Then why do you look so nervous?”
Huh? Thought Sakura, peering at her sensei more closely. Kakashi sensei noticed her more direct stare, not saying anything. Well, Sakura smirked to herself, she thought he was in control.
“Sakura, I said don’t move!” he growled.
Kakashi sensei told his students to keep their heads turned when the old woman and her crew came around. The group of them caught the team just as they were rounding the corner to Ichakru’s. If Sakura was a blaming person, she’d blame Naruto for the mess they got into, he was the one who persisted they go eat ramen after a hard day of training, after all.
She peered over at him now on the other side of their sensei, he was trying his hardest to stand so still he was shaking. She almost chuckled. He could be a dimwit at times.
When the cameramen tried to stop them, Kakashi sensei had thought of something quick and told them all to stand next to a group of civilians near the shop. At first, Sakura felt silly and didn’t think ignoring the excited cameraman was gonna help them get away, but it seemed to be working?
As long as no one gave in the reporter and her people would become too restless to stay and chat and probably move on to find some other team to pester.
Yeah right.
“Why are your ninjas so strong, sir? What are your training methods for them?” Don’t they care that we’re beat up and smell bad!? We just came from training for Pete’s sake and some of us wanna go lie down in a bed! Thought Sakura, not feeling amused anymore as the seconds began to drag on and the group didn’t show any signs of leaving.
“How about anything romantic in your team? Does either of your boys have a crush on the girl? How about these two beside each other? I’ve always said pink and blue go together, am I right?” she laughed. Sakura definitely agreed with her, but she felt dread all the same when she peered over at Sasuke to see his reaction to the obnoxious, but oh so correct, lady. His face was neutral, as always, maybe even slightly annoyed. Even though the reporter was waving her microphone at their backs, Sakura wanted to turn around and punch the living gods out of that woman.
Stay cool, Sakura and we can get home safely.
“Naruto, hold steady…” She heard Kakashi breathe under his breath, and Sakura shifted her eyes to him. She nearly choked. Naruto was eyeing the reporter with indecision in his blue eyes, looking sweaty and uncomfortable just by standing for so long.
Oh gods, no.
“Naruto, I swear if you screw this up for us…” Sasuke’s harsh whisper beside Sakura reached Naruto, and that did it.
Naruto snapped.
“I’M STANDING STILL, IDIOT!”
“Naruto!” Sakura cried out in surprise and anger as the reporter literally hopped in front of them with a bright smile of success on her face and the cameramen followed suit.
She felt and heard Sasuke slap his forehead in aggravation.
Kakashi just sighed real long.
“Kakashi sensei! I’m Emi, and this is my crew-”
“I know who you are-”
“-I would like to continue asking more questions for the paper tomorrow if you don’t mind.”
Again, Kakashi sighed. He looked so broken. “Uh, how long will this take exactly?”
“Five hours,” she responded immediately, an innocent smile on her face.
SasuSaku Month Day 03 Title: Polaris Prompt: Restless Rating: K+ Disclaimer Day’s Notes: Genin SS because I adore those kids; a night under the stars━sometime after the chunin exams
The nightmares were so constant that Sasuke no longer jolted with heavy panting and screams. His eyes no longer widened as he stared into the void and waited for the visions of his past to blur away to darkness of his room.
Now he woke with a sigh and rolled on his back, blinking up at the starry night sky.
He felt stupid the first overnight with Team Seven. He had childishly hoped that being as far as possible from Konoha would give him respite from the dreams of mangled bodies and blood seeping into floorboards.
There was no running from his ghosts.
Sasuke turned his head to his right and saw Naruto with his mouth wide open and his body twisted so that he was snuggling his blanket and bed roll instead of lying on top of it. He didn’t need to look to know that Kakashi wasn’t sleeping in his bed roll. Their instructor was never in his bed roll though he liked to continue to create the illusion that he were sleeping soundly across from his trio of genin.
Turning to his right, Sakura was awake, eyes on the starry canopy above their head and her lips moving slightly as she spoke to herself.
In the dark her chin length hair seemed more dusty rose than the wata-ame pink of fluffy festival treats it looked in the midday sun.
Sakura’s hair looked like the orange of glass molding in flames when the sun was falling and the color of candelabra amaranths during the false dawn━but he wasn’t going to look into why the shades of Sakura were so pronounced in his mind that he could find her in the world and the world in her.
But for now the fire pit was dead and the only sounds were that of chirping cicadas and the rustling of wind through leaves. Yet Sakura was awake.
The room smells of must, her wrists raw and hands bleeding as her eyes open and she realizes this isn’t my home. Her head throbs with a pain unlike anything she’s felt, and as she tries to push herself away from whatever wall she leans on, it hits her that all the strength in her body is gone.
Chakra vibrates in her core, only she can’t concentrate it to whatever part she focuses on and just when she feels like she may be able to apply some to her arms, her body fails to comply.
“From here on, our paths diverge,” he said quietly, almost gently.
Prompt: Day 2 of SasuSaku Month, Side by Side
Sound track: “Sadness and Sorrow” by Toshiro Masuda–the best composition from the anime, IMO.
A/N: Canon divergence from Chapter 181. No real content warning for this post, but it’s a bit dark.
Sasuke could have fled the village that night in stealth and in haste, without alerting a soul to his movements. He could have gone off the beaten path, simply avoided Konoha’s main thoroughfare. He could have circumvented me as I waited on those old, cobbled stones, worn so smooth from decades of padding feet and cartwheels. He could have left without disturbing a single blade of grass…. Yet he hadn’t. He hadn’t done any of those things.
And he hadn’t told me no.
–
“He will come to me, seeking my power….”
My feet took me toward the place I knew I’d find him, some sort of bizarre, celestial prescience guiding my steps.
I’d felt him slowly slipping further and further away, ever since the Snake first crossed our paths in the Forest of Death. But how was it I was the only one who could see him being eaten alive? How was it those on whom we depended most in the world—our friend and teammate, our sensei—were so blind to his descent, even after the savagery that had hospitalized him…after what had taken place only hours ago?
They hadn’t experienced Orochimaru’s inescapable will like Sasuke and I had, hadn’t heard his screams, hadn’t held him as he writhed, hadn’t seen him rise like a reanimated demon to gleefully wrench a transgressing arm from its socket….
Somehow, I had pulled him from the darkness then, hadn’t I? Perhaps just once more… He’ll listen, he’ll come back to me.
A/N: Hi. 🙂 I know I haven’t posted any writing on here in awhile. But I had bit of time to myself this evening and in honour of SasuSaku month and the lovely prompt today, I couldn’t resist putting a quick, short story together. I may edit and post this on ff.net sometime. Hope you like it. 🙂 Happy to contribute to this event that makes my dash so beautiful. ❤
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the great Masashi Kishimoto Title: Heartbeats Prompt: Side by Side Genre: Romance with a splash of angst Context: Blank period Words: 2040
Sasuke never considered himself a hero. At first he was an avenger, when there was nothing left to avenge, I realized he just had been an idiot.
Today he is a father, fathers are usually seen as heroes by their young ones for the first few years of their innocent existence.
But Sarada barely knows him, she’s 2 now and she cries whenever her mother tries to hand her over to him on the rare occasions they have to be together.
It hurts not to be able to mend a bond with his daughter the way his wife is, but he knows that his task is to be a hero in another way. His heroic act consist of making sure that the world his daughter is supposed to grow up on is safe.
He may not be the conventional daddy-hero-type, but he is the greatest hero to her and their daughter, Sakura reassures him, caressing his cheekbone and hair, whenever they lie in bed, sweaty and tired, but in a home full of love.
Sasuke woke up sore and busted, wincing as he sat up in the boy’s guest room of their current protectee’s home. His eyes immediately searched the area for any possible dangers or signs of anything moved.
There was nothing and no one but him and Naruto sleeping side by side in their individual mats. Well, not really side by side. Since Naruto liked to fail around while he slept Sasuke usually took it upon himself to drag his mat to a corner somewhere whenever they were forced to sleep in the same room together.
The blond-haired boy several meters away from him snorted in his wide-eagled position on top of his mat, smirking at something in his dreams. A snot bubble grew to the size of a rubber ball from one nostril before giving a wet pop. Naruto must have felt the tickle because he laughed a little.
Sasuke rolled his eyes, silently calling him a dimwit, and forced his muscles to move.
While the team took some downtime during their mission to protect a bridge builder and his family, Kakashi had them training to control their chakra. Putting enough chakra under their feet, the team was supposed to walk the tree to the top. If they lose control on the tree before they fell they had to mark the place on its bark that they managed to reach.
Easier said than done.
Like him, Naruto was banged up with scratches and bruises from the climb up his individual tree. He remembered how much the idiot had kept up trying to beat him with the highest mark on its bark. Neither would stop, trying to gain the top point before the other. It was nightfall when Sasuke dragged both of them back to Inari’s home. Unlike them, however, Sakura was the only one who got to the top of her tree that first day.
Sasuke smirked to himself when he thought of the twinge of jealousy he felt when their eyes met and he turned away from her. Annoying… he’d thought when she called his name and waved down at him, then looked saddened when he gave no reaction.
Naruto wouldn’t even tell him what Sakura whispered in his ear then, not that it mattered anyway. He finally made it to the top that night, but it was hard won.
It is a must for any shinobi to have good observation skills. It can save an entire nation and is a subject of great importance in the Academy. But of course, some are just naturally gifted with it.
Like Hatake Kakashi.
For his part, it’s like breathing for him. Not to mention that he can’t risk not knowing about things and his surroundings when he’s the jounin in charge of Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno, the rowdy – and dare he say it? adorable – Team 7. The four of them started off better than any group he’s been with. After all, they were the only ones who passed his legendary bell test. Mission after mission, their teamwork improved greatly. Despite the differences in their personalities, the three genin complimented each other well. Also, he got the front row seat on seeing how their bonds grew stronger with each passing day.
And his mismatched orbs couldn’t help but notice the changes between his favourite students, one with the colors of midnight and the other a personification of spring.
Sakura came off strongly as a fangirl and Sasuke a closed and reserved person in their first meeting, but those gradually changed, much to his amusement. He didn’t know if the two noticed, but there were changes in their body language when the other is present.
At first, Sakura would always latch himself onto Sasuke, and the Uchiha survivor would complain and push her off. Slowly and surely, the Sharingan wielder tolerated it. Though he may deny it, Kakashi was certain he considered her a comrade… a precious person to protect. He did try to stop an enemy ninja from hurting the pinkette using his body as a shield, risking his life in the process.
The mission in the land of waves was a great turning point to the bonds of Team 7, and it was when all four of them considered the others as family. It was also beyond that point when Kakashi noticed how Sasuke and Sakura got closer than before. The dark-haired teen no longer pushed Sakura away when she comes to hug him, and heck, he was the one initiating the contact on some occasions. The trust and mutual understanding between the two was palpable.
So much so that Sakura predicted the same day and time Sasuke would leave the village.
The two grew apart, that was inevitable. Sasuke went deeper in his hatred and Sakura’s love for him was too strong that she’s willing to live a life knowing that she killed the man she loves in order to save him.
After the war, Kakashi saw the red string of fate tying the two.
During Sasuke’s stay in the village after his trial, Team 7 tried its best to rekindle the bond that was dormant but never broken. The sensei, now Konoha’s sixth hokage, tried his best to attend the numerous meals and sparring sessions usually arranged by Naruto. It was in these encounters that he knew, just knew, that there was already something more between Sasuke and Sakura.
For once, Sasuke always sat beside Sakura wherever they eat – be it Ichiraku’s or a new restaurant. Now, it’s been like that since their genin days, and Kakashi almost wanted to shrug it off as just a habit. But his sharp eyes, despite lacking a sharingan, caught the subtle brushes and the eye contact shared between the two. And when they talk, oh how the hokage wanted to tease them badly but decided against it, thinking that it may cause some unnecessary awkwardness. They’d have their own zone, their own little world, whenever they talk. It’s as if it’s just them, and nothing and no one else matters.
Also, in the moments that Kakashi would leave his office to get a breath of fresh air, he would seek out the two, seeing them walking around the village while sharing a conversation or sparring. Once, he saw Sasuke patiently waiting outside the hospital, waiting for Sakura to finish her shift. And when she did emerge from the double doors, he saw how the two immediately glowed.
He wondered if they know about it, how one unconsciously started to seek out the other. How they unconsciously tried to feel the other. How unconsciously their postures relax and their entire aura just becomes happy and content. How unconsciously the need to be together became stronger.
He was there when Sasuke left the village again, but this time for his self-imposed road to redemption. He saw the blush on her face when she asked to come with him and the sadness that followed when he said no. He saw the smile he gave Sakura as he poked her forehead. He saw the promise spoken and the way they went into their own dimension again.
Most of all, he saw the love blossom between the two.
That’s why, when Sasuke came back to take Sakura with him, he didn’t have it in his heart to say no. It’s time for the two to be happy and Kakashi would rather get blow away by a chidori than deny that to them. They deserve it – a happiness long overdue. He wished them well as he saw them off at the village gates, and the mask on his face did nothing to hide the smile on his face. Naruto waved loudly beside him, muttering that it was about time.
Kakashi couldn’t agree more.
Seeing the backs of two of his beloved students – now heroes of the shinobi world – he couldn’t help but chuckle at how the two started to walk in sync, their shoulders almost brushing. Kakashi’s gut feeling told him that they’ll be happy, and his instincts are always right.
Now he sees them again after their travels – together, side by side as always – but this time, as husband and wife with their own little bundle of joy… a family of their own.
SasuSaku Month 