sun-summoning

[sun-summoning]

part ii | part iii | part iv

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.”

“your daughter.”

“yes.” 

the cat nods. “i shall inform the clowder. if anyone spots her, i will let you know.”

“thank you.” sakura pauses, self-conscious for needing to rely on everybody else for this part. “if you...if any of you are able to come into contact with sasuke-kun, can you pease let him know too?”

“of course.”

“thank you.” sakura promises to provide the usual exchange at a later time and the cat disappears with a puff of smoke. she heads to her bedroom and she begins to pack in silence. 

her movements are as meticulous as they are automatic, done just so she’s ready to leave the moment she knows where she needs to go. her medkit is stocked. her bag has scrolls, weapons, supplies, and sarada’s favourite toy. she changes out of her days clothes and into the leggings and turtleneck of a uniform she hasn’t worn in years. her cloak is in the front closet. she needs to change her boots. she’ll put on the boots now. she leaves the armour on her bed to don later. right now, they only hinder her movements. she goes to the drawer where her mask hides in plain sight among other trinkets and knick knacks, and on the dresser she notices a flower.

sakura stills as she takes in the detail she must have missed in her earlier haste. she considers the simple glass vase and the single red flower sitting in it. its petals curl at the ends and some are even missing. 

this flower has travelled and as sakura considers what it is, she knows it’s travelled far. 

-

konoha became unbearable by the time she turned twenty. it's so petty and selfish and she'd never say it aloud, but she hated seeing everyone else so happy. she's happy too -- has so many reasons to be -- but she couldn’t help the nagging jealousy she feels when ino declined her invitations because she was going to see sai or when naruto prioritized her almost always only to head home to hinata.

she wanted to be someone's too. she wanted to be their focus and heart and home, but sakura already knew who her someone was and knew that on some level she was his too, so all she needs to do right now is wait.

most of the time, sakura wasn’t bitter. being apart from him wasn't unfamiliar, nor the steadfastness, nor the hope that one day this will pay off one day, nor the self reminders that what she felt was irrelevant as long as sasuke knew and was comforted by the fact that she would always love him.

to suppress her frustrations rather than confront them, sakura worked. she worked tirelessly and relentlessly and by nineteen, they'd named her the greatest medical ninja konoha has ever seen for her accomplishments, ideas, and innovations.

this took her to suna at twenty and to ame at twenty-one to help establish their own clinics.

“i have a gift for you,” ino told her before she left. 

sakura expected a ribbon or a piece of jewellery or that new book on poisons she mentioned she was interested in. instead, ino handed her a bag. its contents shift, imbalanced, and inside sakura finds a potted plant. 

“a flower?”

“not just any flower, you ungrateful bitch.” ino pointed at her accusingly and then at the plant. its petals are a bright red with darker flecks at their base. “i made it.”

“you made it?”

“yes. you know me, interrogating and mind-reading by day, splicing plants together and making my own by night.”

“that’s sad.”

“fuck you. you’re sad.”

sakura laughed and ino laughed too but it got a bit sad because ino probably definitely knew that sakura was sad. “anyway,” ino continued, “we’ll call it the sakuino flower--”

“how creative.”

“--and i expect you to keep it alive through all of your travels.”

sakura frowned at ino, wondering if ino understood that a potted plant had no place in her travels, but ino didn’t seem to care. moreover, this particular thing didn’t seem to have the ability to survive in the desert climate she was going to be living in for the next six months. 

when sakura expressed as much, ino waved the matter off. “deal with it,” she said, giving sakura one last hug. “you’re one of the brightest minds to come out of this village. you’ll figure something out.”

-

its common name is the fire poppy, having originated from the fire country but somehow managing to survive the deserts of wind country as well. the flower is known for its vibrant red petals, eye-catching and jarring across the barren brown it’s normally found in. sakura had to play with the original plant’s physiology when she first moved to ensure it could survive the alternate climate. in her spare time, when she wasn’t working with the kids, she deigned to work with her plant, eventually working on cloning the original. at some point she’d given one to a nurse she worked with who much admired the first, and gaara asked if he could try planting them in his garden. from there, the spores began to spread.

“why the fire poppy?”

was this someone from suna?

sakura considers the obvious motivation of revenge, but who would even want that? there were people who didn’t appreciate her friendship with kankuro or any of his siblings. perhaps an apprentice of chiyo’s who blamed sakura for not saving her when she gave her life for gaara’s. worse, perhaps someone that once worked sasori who resented her for his demise. or maybe someone she, sadly, can’t even remember. a patient she lost during the war whose family hated her.

sakura truly cannot pinpoint a motivation for this, much less a person. 

especially a person that would understand the meaning of this flower for her. 

ino would never give her this flower. ino would have scoffed at it and created her own. sarada couldn’t have picked it today. and sasuke certainly couldn’t have left it for her.

someone was in her apartment. someone brought it here. 

was it here before?

sakura considers the poppy and forces herself to keep calm. stay logical, she demands. stay smart. was the poppy there before? no, she thinks at first. she would have seen it. she’s certain she would have seen it.

but, she can accept, it’s possible she might have missed it. sarada was taken. her babysitter was murdered. it wouldn’t be surprising if sakura missed it. but sakura doesn’t miss things. right?

“don’t gaslight yourself,” she orders. 

no, she knows. the flower was not there before, meaning in between her going to kakashi, going to the prison, and then running back home, whoever took her daughter came back.

or worse, there was a team involved and one was with her child and another came back for her. 

sakura curses, wishing she’d put on her black ops armour earlier, because whoever brought the flower here is now making their presence known. she senses two people before she sees them and is unsurprised to find sudden flares of strength.

the bedroom is small and they’re in a building. she needs to take this outside, but where? there’s too much risk for others getting hurt in the crossfire. that’s why this was supposed to stay quiet. that’s why this will stay quiet.

they step out of the shadows and sakura assesses them quickly. one male, one female, both fairly young based on stature and development, maybe early twenties at the oldest. they’ll have agility on her, but they won’t have her experience. 

the man holds a chokuto. good. an advantage. sakura is excellent at fighting against such a weapon. if they’re foolish enough to use her husband’s favourite sort of blade, perhaps they didn’t do enough research on her. perhaps they were hired? but if they were unprepared, then were they really here to kill her? 

are they here to distract her?

that thought fills sakura with dread. is someone trying to keep her busy so she can’t get to sarada on time?

the woman shifts, one leg sliding to the side as she raises her hands. she holds no weapons, therefore she is the weapon. sakura knows all about that. she’ll need to be careful with this one. but she still has a holster on her thigh. it’s thinner that the usual styles. maybe a couple kunai, but more likely a set of sebon. this one is smart then. she’ll know precisely where she needs to hit sakura to stop her.

“haruno sakura,” the man greets with a short nod.

so it is her fault.

if this was about sasuke, about the uchiha, they would know her married name. this is about her, and for that sakura feels worse. her baby was taken and why? just to hurt sakura before killing her? sarada was who knows where with surely no one that could be good and all just to hurt sakura?

sakura snarls, furious in a way only a mother could be, and she feels the chakra pulsing around her fists.

“where is my daughter?”

their masks hide any expressions. they remain at ease in the face of her rage, shockingly unafraid of this woman that can level mountains. 

good, sakura thinks. let them be brave. let them come at her like fools. 

she runs through the bedroom door to get to the living room where there’s at least more space to maneuver. the man leaps and brings his blade down upon her, but sakura manages to shift to the side. careful to not be forced into a corner, she spins out of his range and into the open middle until the woman runs past her partner and takes sakura on hand-to-hand.

she matches sakura’s punches and kicks blow for blow. she’s good, sakura thinks nervously. and she’s fast. she’s small, maybe half a head shorter than sakura, so she puts her weight behind every quick jab. sakura gives most of her attention to the woman, but keeps a wary on eye on the man who sheathes his chokuto.

what as he planning?

it takes that one moment for the woman to catch her unaware. 

sakura chokes on her breath as the woman thrusts a senbon into her shoulder. the shock from that slows her down enough so she can lodge in a second.

“shit,” sakura curses as she stumbles back. she rips the senbon out, but she feels her left arm begin to go numb from the struck pressure point. “what did you do--”

sakura’s eyes widen she she feels something foreign begin to course through her. she considers the senbon, dark with her blood and likely something else. there’s a metallic smell that isn’t from the weapon, and sakura knows she’s been poisoned.

however, her body doesn’t bother to fight it. 

sakura watches her opponents, trying to understand how she’s been poisoned with something she’s immune to and just what poison this might be. she’s immune to everything in konoha’s own collection, as well as the ones she shares with shizune.

which poison is this?

does that matter?

sakura scowls at the two people involved in her daughter’s kidnapping and reminds herself that she can take them on one-handed just fine. she pulls her right hand into a fist and charges. the man is closest, so she lunges at him with a chakra-laden punch that sends him barreling into the wall. 

she grabs the front of his shirt and as she pulls him forward, his mask falls away to reveal green eyes, cold and lifeless, and a black diamond under his left eye that makes her uneasy.

sakura stares at the man, confused, because she knows this face.

she knows him.

her fear and pain and worry makes it hard to focus, but knows him. 

focus.

finally, it clicks. 

“isao?”

she thinks she might have seen something like recognition in his eyes. that doesn’t long though. she left herself open, and his partner stabs her shoulder. sakura releases isao with a cry before the woman punches her in the back of the head and everything goes dark.

-

the sun is up when sakura begins to stir. she hears the birds chirping and people outside going about their days. but the buzz of the television is missing, as are the small thuds of sarada’s steps. where is sarada? sakura wonders hazily, lazily, not quite understanding yet.

where is sarada?

her eyes widen and she sits up so quickly her stomach rolls.

“careful.” tsunade comes into view, steadying sakura and checking her for any problems. “you’re still healing.”

she’s in her own bed. she’s not at the hospital. she got knocked out and the assassins got away. she should’ve done something to track them. dammit. was she so arrogant she didn’t have a failsafe in place for if she didn’t simply beat them? sakura punches the bed, earning a disapproving frown from shizune on her other side.

“there was poison in your system.” 

“it was one of ours,” sakura admits warily. 

“yes. there are very few people with access to those, much less this particular one.”

the one that the assassin used was meant to render a victim paralyzed but still able to feel. it was a dreadful thing, meant only for the worst of interrogations. or, more accurately, for torture. sakura concocted it in her darkest moments at fourteen under shizune’s watchful eye. since then, while they’ve both had small handfuls of keen students, they’ve probably shared poisons from their personal roster with only five people at most.

for this particular poison, sakura knows only two people they showed it to, and only one of those was a student of sakura’s.

“how did you find me?”

tsunade rolls her eyes. “shizune sent you off to a prison from kakashi’s office. i figured i’d have to check on you shortly after. and it’s a good thing i did, stupid girl.”

“thank you.”

“don’t thank me. i’m scolding you.”

“did they find anything useful?”

“no one’s been able to contact your husband.”

“right.”

“and they’re still under the impression that this has to do with the uchiha blood.” 

“they would be,” sakura mutters, too tired and in too good company to be anything but blunt.

shizune sighs. “do you know who came after you last night?” the flower is still where she left it on the dresser. shizune follows her gaze to the fire poppy, and all knowing with plants as well, shizune determines its origins. “how did that get here?”

“i think it was to taunt me.” sakura grimaces. “you were right.”

“about?”

“i think this is my fault.”

shizune’s eyes widen and quickly soften with sympathy. “none of this your fault,” she reminds sakura. 

tsunade crosses her arms. “enemies of yours then?”

“no.” sakura looks sad. “people i once loved.”

-

tbc

[sun-summoning]

land of iron sasuke + blank period ss

“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.

“sasuke-kun.” they both look at sakura as she slowly kneels by the boy’s side. sasuke doesn’t trust the boy not to do something stupid like try biting her, but he has faith in his wife’s abilities. “let him go.”

“he’s too dangerous.”

“sasuke-kun.” sakura looks at him over her shoulder and sasuke panics because how can she just turn away from the man who had tried to kill her. “he’s hurt,” sakura reminds him. “i want to heal him.”

sasuke glares at the boy that, just hours before, tried to kill the sakura of his own timeline. you don’t deserve her healing, he hopes the boy knows. you don’t deserve her help. you don’t deserve her love.

[sun-summoning]

sequel to this

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. 

in her rattled state, she doesn’t notice her husband until she walks into him, yelps, and drops the book.

sasuke blinks down at it, careful not to reveal anything. “is that--”

“yes.”

“the one with the monster--”

“mhmm.”

“ah.” sasuke clears his throat. “where did you get that?”

sakura raises an eyebrow. “you’re going to pretend it’s not yours?” she flips open to page 181. “you literally underlined some of the text.”

sasuke tries to stay serious, but in the face of sakura’s blush and the cheesy porn, he can’t help but smirk. “it was interesting.”

“sasuke-kun!” sakura shoves him lightly. “is this supposed to be us?!”

“you didn’t know he was basing his characters on us?” he takes out the other books she never actually read. “they weren’t always so smutty.” he shrugs. “they used to be decent.”

“oh, so not all of them include yuriko having sex with yusuke when he’s a crazed monster?”

“kakashi says he’s giving the people what they want.”

“just who wants this?”

sasuke comes closer to his wife, letting one hand fall onto her hip. he towers over, eyes positively smouldering. “you, perhaps?”

sakura gasps, indignant at the implication that she might be monster lover, but cannot manage a complete denial. “me?!” when it occurs to her that she hasn’t said no, she brings her hands to her face. “oh no,” she whispers. “me!”

he has the audacity to chuckle, so sakura pokes him in the chest.

“don’t look so smug. you liked it too. and you don’t have a cursed seal anymore.”

sasuke leans in closer. “maybe not, but i’d be willing to use a few techniques if only to satisfy my dear wife’s...curiosity.”

“don’t make this about me. you clearly want to do this too.”

he shrugs. “i can’t deny that i am intrigued.”

sakura shakes her head, coming to the fact that she and her husband both just discover a kink but at least they share it together.

“so is the bedroom okay?” she asks, starting to unzip her top. “or should we do it in the forest for accuracy?”

[sun-summoning]

11. like this i love you, beloved

Naruto and the others all got Sasuke cornered, but they’re all too weak for it to matter. Sasuke can easily beat them. They knew it. Sasuke knew it. Sakura knew it….except she doesn’t. She’s figured out Sasuke’s blind spot. And she knows exactly what to do to take him down the only way he won’t be able to fight back - fatally. But should she? Time seems to go slow as Sakura struggles to decide between doing what was right and doing what felt right.  - postmanspark

[sun-summoning]

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.

“of course i did.” she smiles down at their granddaughter. “although i think this one is trying to say she’s going to inherit the ring one day.”

“hm.” sasuke comes to her side and offers the girl his finger so she stops pulling at sakura’s. when she notices him, she reaches out to be transferred to his arms. sakura shuffles her over and soon the girl is pulling at his hair.

“now, now,” sakura chides, gently prying the girls hands away. “grandpa is already losing his hair without you doing that.”

sasuke glares at her. 

she laughs the same sweet laugh sasuke knew in his youth and his adulthood and even now. she kisses his cheek and then kisses the girl’s.

the girl begins to yawn, signalling that it’s time for her afternoon nap. 

“i’ll set her down,” sakura offers, taking her back. “two o’clock is harvest time, right?”

he considers stubbornly not picking the tomatoes and cucumbers to spite her, but sakura is right so he nods. she shoos him towards the door while settling the girl into her crib.

sasuke stays though, watching sakura pull the blanket over their granddaughter. his heart swells because that’s his wife and they have a daughter and that’s just one of their grandkids. sasuke has a family. once upon a time, sasuke lost everything and sasuke was terrified of rebuilding those bonds, of losing them all over again. but now sasuke has a family and he can’t imagine ever being afraid of having this.  

he comes to sakura’s side, looking at her ring-adorned hand brushing over their granddaughter’s cheek. he holds sakura close, grateful for the life they’ve built together. 

[sun-summoning]

prompt: “tell me everything” characters: sakura, tsunade

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.”

“shishou--”

“and i asked why and she said you wouldn’t explain so then i decided to ask kakashi and he also wouldn’t explain.”

“it’s complicated--”

“so i decided to come here and make sure you get the right care when the time comes.”

sakura frowns. “what?” she glances at sasuke and then at tsunade and then down to her protruding belly. when she meets her husband’s eyes again, he gives her a brief nod and walks away to give them time alone. “you...you came all the way out here to deliver my baby?” she asks, her voice small and full of emotion.

“it’s not like i have anything better to do now that i’m retired.” despite her earlier scolding, tsunade’s smile is warm. “sakura, it’s important to me that you’re able to give birth somewhere safe and surrounded by people you love and trust.”

“i...thank you, shishou.”

“if i wasn’t here, you’d end up giving birth in--” she considers the worst possible outcome, “--i don’t know, one of orochimaru’s hideouts.”

sakura grimaces. “please don’t joke like that.”

tsunade lifts a hand to rest it on sakura’s head and is taken aback by how tall she’s gotten. wasn’t it just yesterday that sakura was that tiny adolescent? 

“i think it’s a girl.” sakura bites her lip, a habit she’ll never grow out. "well. no. i know. i think.”

tsunade almost laughs. “oh?”

“i thought about how, you know, i can visualize how poisons and stuff are effecting organs with my chakra. so can’t i check on the baby that way too? and i did. a girl.”

“you’re truly brilliant,” tsunade surmises. sakura’s done so much and has grown exponentially. sakura’s accomplishments will change the future of shinobi and tsunade hopes her student knows that. 

“do you want to feel the baby?” sakura asks. 

“of course.” sakura takes her hand, pressing it against her middle. tsunade feels the kick against her palm. “she’s going to be a strong one.” she grins. “just like her mother.”

sakura blushes the way she always does when tsunade states the obvious. 

“thank you for coming, shishou,” sakura whispers. “i was getting a bit nervous, if i’m being completely honest. but knowing you’re here...”

“of course.” 

tsunade takes a seat and motions for sakura to join her. heavily pregnant as she is, it takes sakura a moment to lower herself down. when they’re settled, tsunade throws an arm around sakura’s shoulder. it’s been well over a year since they’ve met and tsunade wants an update.

“so--” tsunade grins down at the woman that she watched grow, “--tell me everything.”

[sun-summoning]

prompt: poison characters: sakura, kabuto

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. 

she cocks her head to the side, watching the way he convulses. 

“i’ve only used this poison a few times. never officially. just things tsunade and shizune knew about. the last time i put this poison on a blade--” she grimaces, thinking back to the time shikamaru formed a team out of her, kiba, lee, and sai. “that was unofficial too. just a last minute response by me and my peers when we knew we couldn’t trust konoha.”

she regards kabuto with disgust.

“sometimes i wonder if i can trust konoha now.”

he sneers at her, his face pale and clammy with sweat. “sa--sasuke,” he manages to hiss. 

“yes,” she confirms. 

perhaps he’s trying to tell her that sasuke gets to roam free too, but sakura isn’t going to indulge his last minute mind games.

“i tried using this on sasuke-kun.” the memory makes her mournful, but today it fills her with rage. “kakashi-sensei said that it wouldn’t have worked,” she says mockingly. “that anything i would have used, sasuke-kun would have been immune to because of you.” she smirks. “looks like he was wrong.”

kabuto spasms more than he consciously tries to move. he even struggles to look at her.

“i suppose, that wouldn’t have been unreasonable. you are, after all, one of the best medical ninja out there.”

naturally, kabuto tries to process the poison. she knows he’s trying to filter it out, to reduce it to nothing, but the poison feeds on his chakra and only grows stronger. sakura knew what she was doing when she made this poison and she knows just who to use it on. finally, he begins to still.

“but i’m better.”

[sun-summoning]

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.” 

[sun-summoning]

“i want to wear his initial on a chain ‘round my neck / chain ‘round my neck / not because he owns me / but ‘cause he really knows me”

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.”

sakura whips around to look at him. his cheeks are flushed, and she’s not sure if that’s a result of her undress or what he’s given her to remedy that.

“do you want me to?”

“it’s...” he shrugs. “i’m not trying to say i own you or anything.”

she knows that. this isn’t about him taking away her name, her identity. no, sasuke is offering his own. sakura’s fingers brush over the red and white stitching and for a moment, she wonders if she’s worthy to wear the symbol of what was once a mighty clan. but sasuke doesn’t care about that. sasuke knows her and sasuke loves her and sasuke, apparently, wants the whole world to see that.

smiling, sakura puts on the tunic. knowing her growing hair is probably covering the symbol, she pulls it into a messy bun. she stands with her back to her new husband, a bit flustered and a bit unsure. 

“what do you think?” she asks, hearing him approach.

sasuke stands so closely that sakura leans back against him. he rests his chin over her head and wraps his arm around her middle. sakura relaxes in his embrace, the uchiwa fan between them. 

[sun-summoning]

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.”

“ah.” he nods as he places his travel pack on the floor. “lord kakashi didn’t want to drag on the meeting.”

sakura giggles. “of course you’re only respectful when he hates the title you use.”

sasuke shrugs and sits down on the chair by the small dining table. she proceeds to quietly shuffle through her closet, glancing at him every so often. he considers the outfits she’s holding out and the one she’s wearing. he didn’t really think wearing a form-fitting black dress was appropriate for the hospital. wouldn’t that be restricting? and from what he saw when she was initially facing him, its front draped low. it was inefficient. and too eye-catching. didn’t she know that? why would she wear that?

“why are you wearing that?” sasuke decides to ask, giving in to his confusion.

“hm?”

“the dress.”

“oh.” sakura turns around and rubs her arm. “i mean, i’m going to change when i get to work.”

“then why wear it at all?”

for a moment, sakura looks annoyed with him. he wonders if he crossed a line. she’s told naruto and sai many times that a man should never comment on a woman’s choice of dress or anyone’s at that. 

then sakura purses her lips. her features twist into something unsure and her cheeks redden. “i wanted to look pretty today.”

sasuke frowns, confused. “but you look pretty everyday.”

she looks so startled that he begins to feel self-conscious. but he’s right, so he doesn’t know what her problem is. he shrugs, never having been one to repeat the obvious.

slowly, sakura nods. “oh. okay.” she bites her lip and looks even prettier. “thank you?”

“sakura--” the air feels thick with some sort of tension he can’t quite identify but knows he only feels with her. he grimaces. “it’s a nice dress,” he offers awkwardly. “but you don’t need it to look p--” he’s talking too much and he hates it. “wear whatever you want.” 

[sun-summoning]

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.

so when sakura comes home at around four in the morning, a serene smile plastered on her face amid dirt and tears, sasuke knows she did something bad.

he feigns sleep while she shuffles around the bedroom and then slips into the bathroom. when the shower turns on, he heads straight to the garage. 

his wife is meticulous. he’s sure she has plans to thoroughly clean the car in the morning. but depending on what she did, they might not have until morning. he cleans the tires and the body, washing away any trace that sakura might have been at the docks. before he gets to the interior, sakura grabs his shoulder.

“what are you doing?!” she asks. her cheeks are still wet and sasuke doesn’t think that’s from the shower. she pulls the rag out of his hand frantically. “don’t touch anything!”

“it’s fine.”

“you have no part in this--”

“sakura.” he takes the rag out of her hand and drops it back into the bucket. his hands are probably filthy, but he cups her cheeks anyway. “are you hurt?”

“no.”

“sakura.”

she bites her lip. “just a few bruises.”

he takes her hands and looks for any defensive wounds. he’s pleased to find none. “where?”

“nowhere a flailing toddler wouldn’t kick.”

he nods, although he’s displeased to know she’s injured at all. 

“does the boat need cleaning?”

sakura shakes her head. “i already took care of that.”

“and ino’s husband?”

“what about him?”

sasuke knows she’s purposely keeping her answers vague to give him plausible deniability. it’s not mistrust. no, his wife wants to protect him.

sakura pulls away and shrugs. she reaches down for the rag, wrings it out, and proceeds to wipe down the car.

“his mistress is going to suspect you.”

“the one who took out that life insurance policy?” sakura raises her chin defiantly. “let her.”

[sun-summoning]

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. 

he sees the way she scowls at herself. “what an idiot--”

“so you used to the epitome of a teenage girl,” sasuke interrupts. he shrugs, hoping his own nonchalance will bring her down from her bubbling fury with herself. “you could’ve been worse.”

sakura rolls hereyes. “yeah?”

“you could have tried destroying konoha. or, like, the world.” 

the joke is so dry, so unexpected and unfunny, that sakura can’t help her laugh. when she realizes what he’s said, she shuts her mouth and looks at him with wide eyes, her unfinished haircut on hold. 

“sasuke-kun! we...wejoke about that now?” 

sasuke manages not to wince. “well, we probably shouldn’t.”

“we could in private.”

“maybe in private.” sasuke reaches for her hand because he’s always revelled in contact with sakura, and now that they’re married, he feels a bit freer in seeking it out. “you were kind of annoying--”

“thanks.”

“--but you turned out just fine. vanity is such a stupid thing to stay mad about. and...” he feels his cheeks grow warm. “i like your hair,” he says simply. “long or short. because…it’s on you.”

sakura grins mischievously. “what if i was bald?”

rolling his eyes, he pulls his accomplished wife into his embrace, and wishes she could see herself the way he sees her. “even if you were bald.”

[sun-summoning]

will you be updating your ss masterlist?

honestly no. i last updated that in 2017 and it’s just soooo tedious.

as of today i have 3433 posts on this blog. i really only use this for writing. i imagine at least 1800-2000 of those are fics. not all naruto, sure, still fics. because of that, i just don’t find a masterlist very effective. as it is, i look at the masterlist and am like “wtf is ‘sasusaku, sewing’?”

if you’re looking for a story of mine, i think the easiest thing to do is add “/search/KEYWORD” at the end of my url. or ask me.

[sun-summoning]

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?

they’re nearly back at the inn when sakura looks at him. “sasuke--”

he nearly flinches when she says his name. “are you mad at me?” he asks. he hates how nervous and needy he sounds.

sakura blinks. “huh?”

he has no doubt that he’s probably pouting. “why are you calling me ‘sasuke’?”

“what?”

“since we got married, you always call me--” he stops because he hears the way his voice is reaching a rather whiny, unbecoming pitch. pursing his lips, sasuke stalks away. “whatever.”

he heads towards the inn, embarrassed by his outburst. it’s fine, he tells himself. sakura not using an endearment for him didn’t mean she loved him any less. right? right. sasuke scowls, annoyed at himself for letting this get to his head. he’s so caught up in convincing himself that he doesn’t need sakura to refer to him anything other than his name that he doesn’t notice she’s holding his hand until she squeezes it.

there’s a twinkle in her eye and a smile on her lips. “so what should we get for dinner, anata?”

[sun-summoning]

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.

“you need to make sure she eats,” ino tells him. “she always says she’s fine but then you find out she spent the whole day working while running on a single protein bar.” she pauses. “and make sure she hydrates too!”

ino ignores sasuke’s pinched features. she rambles on about the things sasuke needs to watch out for, until he cuts her off irritably. “sakura is an adult.”

“so? she’s also an idiot.”

“most people call her a genius.”

“yeah, but not when it comes to herself.”

“stop wasting my time.”

“also, make sure she packs enough sweaters and a heavy cloak. she gets cold really easily. and she says she can regulate her body temperature with chakra, but like why? just wear a sweater? but then she says it’s her look. but like just wear an extra sweater--”

“ino,” sasuke interrupts. “i don’t need you to tell me how to take care of sakura.”

“what,” she mocks, “because you already know how to?”

“because she can do that herself.”

ino grinds her teeth. she stomps closer and holds an accusing finger in sasuke’s face. “you don’t love her the way i do!”

sasuke looks down at the offending hand and then at ino. she swallows, thinking he might shove her away, but he just narrows his eyes. “you don’t know a thing,” he practically growls, “about how i feel about sakura.”

for a moment, ino falters. she lowers her hand, but she does not back down. she waits for him to elaborate, to prove her wrong.

after a moment, sasuke’s shoulders fall. he takes a breath, visibly forcing himself to relax. “i would never let anything happen to sakura,” he says softly. “i--”

“promise me.”

“what?”

“promise me you’ll take care of her.”

“i don’t owe you anything.”

“then promise her.” 

uchiha sasuke is utterly infuriating and ino honestly cannot believe that at some point she had a crush on this man. worse, she still cannot understand her best friend’s devotion to him. 

“sakura has given up so much for you and asks for nothing in return,” ino tells him, although she’s fairly certain he’s well aware of this fact. “you don’t have to promise me you’ll be there for her, but you have to make it clear to her.”

almost imperceptibly, sasuke nods. 

ino nods back. “take care of her, sasuke.”

“i will.”

[sun-summoning]

“i can go anywhere i want / anywhere i want, just not home”

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. 

she reaches out, drawing her finger over a sliver of marbled flesh, and sasuke shivers under touch. he cracks a sleepy eye open and turns onto his side to properly face her.

daylight creeps in through the windows, and sakura wills it to stay away. its arrival means they’ll be separating soon. sasuke throws his arm over her hip and shuffles closer. she buries her face into his chest to ignore the rising sun.

they lay like that, basking in each other’s warmth, until the day becomes impossible to ignore.

“i have to go back to konoha,” sakura tells him. back to their daughter, she doesn’t add. sakura will be the one to end this. she refuses to let him add ending this tryst to his growing list of guilt. 

sasuke says nothing. 

“where are you going next?” sakura asks. she feels him shrug, so she draws back slightly to see his face. “sasuke-kun?”

“i can go anywhere i want,” he muses with a bitter huff. there’s a rueful smile on his face. “anywhere i want, just not home.”

he closes his eyes and clenches his jaw. his nostrils flare as he forces himself to breathe slowly and will away any act of aching. sakura presses her palm against his cheek, her thumb brushing by his lips, and sasuke’s armour begins to crack.

“i’m so--”

“don’t say it.”

sasuke looks pained and sakura cannot bear to see it. she presses her forehead against his and squeezes her eyes shut too.

“stay until noon?” he whispers. he holds her so tightly it almost hurts.  

sakura returns his embrace. “until noon.”

[sun-summoning]

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.