after speaking to kido, sakura rushes home. when she calms down from the rage that nearly had her crush his throat, sakura can admit that she doesn’t really think this is him. he knew a lot about her for someone that was supposed to have been locked up all this time, but he seemed genuinely surprised to hear that sarada had been taken, if not disappointed. he fit the profile of what shikamaru and kakashi thought -- that someone wanted sarada for her eyes -- but sakura can’t stop the nagging feeling that somehow this runs deeper.

back in her apartment, megumi’s body is right where she left it, and sakura feels awful for having moved so mechanically. megumi was an orphan, but she was still someone’s little girl. ashamed, sakura lays a sheet over her and swears she’ll do more later.

she heads to her bedroom and begins her work. alone, she summons one of the cats she’d made a contract with shortly after her marriage. the black cat is sleek and holds himself confidently. he’s always been an efficient one, quick to do as she needs and be competent about it. he regards sakura with a cock of his head.

“sarada’s been taken.”

“if you hurt her, i will kill you,” sasuke promises. 

sasuke regards this younger version of himself disdainfully. he’s a mess and he’s going blind and he still has so much blood on his hands. the boy thrashes against the seals sasuke used to bind him, and he wonders if he should really release them.

the boy exudes bravado. “but then what would happen to you?” he asks, manic and smug. 

sasuke grinds his teeth, hating this stupid child as much as he remembers the boy once hated the world.

sakura didn’t normally read kakashi’s books. she had no doubt that they were trashy and dumb. sasuke has copies that he thinks she doesn’t know about (complete with dogeared pages), but sakura has never given them the time of day. knowing their old sensei, they were nothing but angsty romance and gratuitous porn, so sakura didn’t think they were necessary to read. 

it was only when ino told her she had to read the most recent book by that oh so amazing author because of a particularly interesting sex scene that sakura deigned to borrow her husband’s copy.

and read it she did.

sakura knows the scene when she gets to it. she knows it intimately when she finishes it. and for that matter, when the characters finish too. utterly flushed, sakura goes to put the book back where sasuke thought he’d hidden it. 

sasuke doesn’t actually know when sakura started wearing that ring again. sarada never made a fuss about it, but sasuke imagines she must’ve seen it before. it’s only decades down the line, when they’re watching over sarada’s youngest and the girl tries to pull it off of sakura’s finger with her grabby little hands, that sasuke notices it.

sakura laughs as she presses a kiss against the girl’s cheek, earning her a toothless smile. “now, now,” she admonishes. “that’s not for you, little one.”

sakura isn’t very good at retirement. sasuke would say she’s worse than him. he keeps busy by gardening and watching the grandkids, but sakura is still researching and teaching and bossing people around. she doesn’t partake in the treatment though -- not that often, at least -- meaning her hands are arguably free and she gets to wear the ring.

sasuke considers the jewel on her finger, something twisting in his stomach.

“you kept that,” he says softly.

a powerful presence approaches them, putting both sasuke and sakura on alert. sasuke’s gaze darts from her face to her midsection, and sakura feels his fears. she isn’t exactly in the best state for a fight right now. he tells her stay close to him and sakura agrees. they wait for the person to come to them and when they draw close, sakura braces herself for battle. 

“sakura!” shouts a familiar voice.

both sakura and sasuke frown when they realize who’s approaching. sasuke curses while sakura gawks, utterly shocked to find tsunade before them.

“shishou?” after a moment, sakura shakes her head. she grins and waddles up to her teacher to give her a hug. “what are you doing here?” 

“i was in konoha last month and got talking to your mother.”

“oh no.”

“and she told me you weren’t going to come home to have the baby.”

the nature of their roles means they work with the same children. kabuto runs the orphanage where they live and sakura provides the care some of them need for the traumas that led to their circumstances. 

she’s expressed her disgust over people like kabuto and orochimaru roaming free after all the atrocious things they’ve done, but the hokage says his hands are tied. sakura would much rather never hear about kabuto, but it doesn’t work like that. not when the care of these children is at stake. so sakura listens. she gently inquires about the interactions they have with their keeper, and she vows the second the kabuto slips up, she will end him.

the night that she decides he cannot be trusted, sakura sneaks past his surveillance, incapacitates him quietly, and with one knick of her knife, kabuto is poisoned. it’s shockingly simple. kabuto tries to fight back. of course he does. he’s a highly trained operative and sakura knows this. but all it takes is the prick of her blade.

“interesting,” sakura whispers when kabuto collapses. 

sasuke is not at all surprised to discover that his daughter is loud. at six months, she screeches at night and she screeches during the day. she squeals when she rolls and screams when she eats and she makes sure to be extra loud when sasuke holds her. she’s not distressed or hungry or tired or anything like that. no, those noises come from one happy, happy baby.

sarada is finding her voice, sakura explains. she’s realizing that not only can she make noise and communicate, but that doing so gets reactions from people, so it’s important to encourage her.

as sarada sits upon his chest while sasuke tries to nap, sarada makes sure he knows that she knows that she’s going to learn to talk very, very soon. 

“sarada,” he grumbles as he sits up. he carefully shuffles her body so that she’s standing on his lap while leaning against him. “you sound like a piglet.”

she squeals in return and he tries not to wince.

beside him, sakura pokes sarada’s cheek. “why can’t you babble like a normal baby?” still, sakura is sure to smile when sarada screams again.

“so annoying.”

“sasuke-kun!”

sighing, sasuke presses a kiss against sarada’s forehead. “you really are your mother’s daughter.” 

their visit to nekobaa includes congratulations over their recent nuptials, a new summoning contract for sakura, and a whole lot of new supplies sealed away into their scrolls. they intend to spend the night there, so sasuke checks their packs to make sure they have everything while sakura takes a shower. he has everything ready for them to make a quick departure, complete with tomorrow’s clothes stacked on top of their backpacks. 

when morning comes, sakura grabs the pants and new tunic nekobaa supplied. she slips the pants on first. after that, she unfolds the shirt, but pauses when she notices the fan stamped on the back. 

it’s the symbol of the uchiha clan. sasuke’s clan. now her clan.

she doesn’t notice sasuke is behind her until he speaks. “you don’t have to wear it,” he quietly offers. “only if you want to.”

his meeting with kakashi went by quickly and their dinner with naruto is still in another hour, so sasuke heads to sakura’s apartment to kill time. there’s certainly other things he can use this hour to do. he knows he needs to buy a few supplies before heading back out tomorrow. still, sasuke would rather spend time with sakura.

he uses the spare key she’d given him to let himself in. he’ll be sleeping there tonight since she has a nightshift at the hospital right after their dinner.

sakura looks up at him from her place by the closet, two pretty dresses in each hand and another one on her body.

“sasuke-kun!” she greets. her eyes grow wide at his unexpected arrival. she throws the two dresses she’d been holding back into the closet and smiles. “you’re early.”

sasuke knows his wife is hiding something.

ever since sakura’s tuesday dinner and wine nights came to an end, she’s been quiet. she doesn’t smile the way she used to, but sasuke attributes that to the obvious. her best friend disappeared without a trace. of course sakura is devastated. she puts on an act for their daughter, but at night, sasuke holds her while she cries. “i think he did it,” she tells him furiously, “but i just can’t prove it.”

sasuke doesn’t doubt her. having access to the missing person’s report filed by ino’s husband, sasuke knows there was no evidence of foul play, much less an actual body. no, all they have is a questionable purchase of brand new truck tires and a mistress quick to take ino’s place.

sasuke holds a mirror behind sakura’s head so she can make sure the freshly cut locks are even at the back. he likes watching her cut her hair, he’s come to realize. there’s something soothing about seeing sakura partake in a mundane task. and, not to make it about him, but he will always remember the reason why sakura had to crop her hair so short the first time. while now it’s just a chore for her, it’ll always be an act of love for him. 

for sakura, it’s a reminder of the person she used to be. 

“once upon a time, i used to care so much about my hair,” she says softly, breaking the silence. her lips twist into something wry. “i brushed it so carefully, counting each stroke, using all these products to keep is silky and shiny.” she takes a deep breath and shakes her head. “i used to be so vain.” she laughs without humour, regarding the remaining long locks with unwarranted shame. “so, so vain."

sasuke frowns when she chops a clump of hair extra forcefully. no one can deny what sakura was like at the beginning, obsessed with her looks, obsessed with a boy. she was competent enough though, he thinks. and, more importantly, no one can deny the sheer exponential growth she’s undergone. 

sakura has the titles, the feats, and the clout that no one in their peer group could ever achieve. 

sasuke’s grown so accustomed to hearing sakura call him endearments that the first time she just calls him by his name, he’s completely taken aback.

they were at the market to purchase some produce when she asked, “do you want tomatoes, sasuke?”

not even sasuke-kun. he’d only nodded numbly, unsure of how else to reply. when they finished their errands, sasuke made it a point to hold all the bags, if only to earn a way back into her good graces. he glances at her every so often, hoping for any indication of her approval, but sakura just looks straight ahead with nothing on her face.

it’s not her birthday, he knows. and he hasn’t missed any sort of anniversary, he’s vaguely certain. a holiday perhaps? no, sakura didn’t care about those things. what was wrong then?

before her best friend leaves konoha, ino tracks down sakura’s new travel companion to lay down the law. 

at best, he looks annoyed that she’s standing in front of him. he regards her quietly, making no greeting or promises to take care of sakura. ino frowns, because this is who she’s going to entrust sakura’s safety to? she’s about to yell, tell sasuke he can’t be like this and give sakura the silent treatment or just be silent in such a way that sakura will think it’s the silent treatment because she cares too much and so sasuke better step it up. 

but she pushes that urge down. if there’s someone with the grace and patience to deal with sasuke, she supposes it’s the woman that loves him. 

sakura is leaving tomorrow morning to a travel and work alongside the man she’s been in love with for years. ino should be happy for her best friend, but mostly she just feels apprehensive. if sasuke does something that hurts sakura, ino won’t be there to help her pick up the pieces.

sakura studies the planes of his back, the small scars and the big ones too. there are a few new ones, mars made permanent because it’s not like he can stitch these up on his own. and it’s not like he has a medic on hand, much less one like her. after all, sasuke must undergo this years long mission on his own, and this brief interlude of husband and wife is happenstance at best. 

sakura rarely leaves the village. she’s an invaluable asset there as a kunoichi, from healing to teaching to managing, but most importantly, she’s a mother. sakura doesn’t like leaving the village because that means leaving behind their daughter.

when she does leave, when it can’t be helped, sasuke will always be in the area to give her his report for the hokage. 

tummy time, sakura explained, is a very important part of sarada’s growth. she said it helped babies build strength, develop motor skills, and more. provided sarada is in a good mood, sakura likes to lay her on her stomach for as long as the girl can manage. a few months ago, she was only able to lift her head for a few seconds. now, sasuke sees the way she tracks the toys sakura drags around in front of her, how she’s slowly putting her weight on her arms to stay up, and just how much she loves rolling towards him. 

sasuke can’t help the flutter in his heart whenever she does this. 

sakura is always on her left, while sasuke stays on her right, his hand hovering closely in case she needs him. every time she rolls towards him, sometimes landing on her back, sometimes coming to a halt against his chest, sarada’s eyes meet his and she smiles.

“hello,” he says. at first he felt embarrassed to baby sarada in front of anyone, even sakura. now, if only to earn her precious little grins, he does so fairly often. “hello, peanut.”

sarada sticks a few fingers into her mouth and waves around her free hand, replying with her own hello.