Eye for an Eye

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters and make no money from this.

Chapter Eighteen:

The warm Spring sun heated her pale skin, much to her relief. Her arms hauled her small body out of the river in which she had been bathing in. She sat quietly on the edge of it in all her naked glory, letting her legs create large ripples in the water they waved back and forth in. The air was warm, just the right temperature to be comfortable. A small wind was blowing almost rhytmically against her wet skin, elliciting a few shivers from the pinkie. Her delicate hand landed on her protruding belly, petting it gently as she glued her eyes to it.


It had been seven months since that night at the daimyo's estate. Since the night that had caused her so much grief. Soon, her child would be born. Ever since she had first felt it kick, something had changed in her. A sense of responsibility for this child's life had bloomed in her. It didn't matter who the father was, how he was conceived or who he would be. He was her child. She didn't need to hold him in her arms to know she was hopelessly in love with this little being that hid comfortably in her tummy.

Her back slowly lowered to the grass, eyes looking up at the sky, unconsciously counting the few clouds scattered in it. One hand cradled her belly while the other caressed the top of it. A deep, relaxing breath slipped in and out slowly. She enjoyed these few moments alone. These few times when it was only her and her unborn child. He couldn't speak to her, but for some reason that stayed a mystery to her, he seemed to enjoy stirring up when she did this. He must have felt it when she relaxed. He was gonna be a feisty, that much she could tell by the amount of kicks and punches he gave her. Little brat.

"Sakura." Why was he bothering her now? He usually left her alone for a while when she wanted to bathe. He gave her at least that much privacy.

"What is it, Sasuke?" She groaned, not bothering to look behind which tree he hid. Truth be told, he had never touched her once since she had left with him.

"I'm picking up high levels of chakra. You should come back to the house." She heard his footsteps fading away after this. She was aware it was more of an order than a suggestion, but she didn't hurry.

If he was in no urgent mood, then they were still far away. She could take a little more time. Past the third week of her pregnancy, her chakra had started failing her. The kid's chakra was messing with hers, preventing her from accessing it at all by the third month as his grew steadily stronger. She could only rely on Sasuke for anything that required sharp senses or a high level of strength.

Lazily, her legs pulled out of the water before she lifted her body up to stand on them. Her clothes were neatly folded on a few away from her. It was sad, really. No towels to dry off with. Sasuke only bothered to gather the absolute necessities. And really, he had no taste in fashion. Her new clothes consisted almost only of mid-thigh length loose shorts with elastic waistbands and plain t-shirt of every color of the rainbow. He hadn't even known what color she liked to wear, so he had taken a different one for the number of shirts he assumed she needed.

The walk back to their wood cabin, stolen from a poor civilian Sasuke had no pity for, was barely a fifteen minute walk away from the beautiful lake she had just bathed in. Those few minutes were spent pondering over a certain silver-haired man that she had reluctantly abandonned several months back. About her behavior towards him. She understood why she had acted in such a way by now, but it didn't excuse it. It had taken several weeks before she accepted her situation.

She had wanted to forget about what her old friend had done to her. Refusal to acknowledge it had led her to push away the man she loved, to feign being fine and to not have a child growing inside of her. For a time, she believed her lies. She followed and obeyed Sasuke's orders without question, resuming the role she had assumed towards him before he had deserted. Despair had driven her to twist reality in a way that made her sick now. Now she was well aware that she felt nothing but hatred for the father of this tiny living being in her stomach. All those months trying to act like they were wife and husbands nauseated her.

Where had her bite gone? She wasn't the kind to get kicked and just take it. Her ego and stubborness didn't allow her to. Just for a while, for a few months, she had hidden behind a personna, one she had believed she had gotten rid of, but that Sasuke had brought forth again. The little insecure, sad and weak girl who had wanted to abandon the Leaf for a psychopath. The girl who had innocently wanted love and a life with him more than anything else. Only years later had she realised how terrible her actions had been. It didn't matter, because she had only been a child at that time, but now she was a grown woman. She had no excuse for acting this way. Shinobi didn't act that way.

The first kick of her son had been the trigger that opened the flood gates, that forced her to come to terms with her situation and her feelings. It had taken a while, many sleepless nights spent sobbing and screaming her heart out, but she felt herself come back with a new vigorous sense of self at the end of it. Sasuke would not be the end of her. She didn't know if he would die at her hands, but it didn't matter. She had what he desired the most. He only tolerated her because of the child she carried, she was well aware of that fact. When the right time came, she would free them. She would not allow her child to live the life of a missing ninja from the first day of his life to its end.

Her mind wandered to those chakras he had felt. To who did they belong? It could spell trouble for him, and indirectly her, if they decided that the Uchiha name should die with him. Drifting to a far-away memory, she also remembered the note she had left to Kakashi under his pillow. Uncertain of what she had meant to do with it and whether or not she had meant for it to find him, she came to the conclusion that she was happy to have insisted on leaving it. It didn't say much. It said that she was sorry. That she loved him. She didn't even believe those words when she had written them, or why she had done it. A deep feeling of helplessness had driven her to do it, but she thankful for it together. Wherever and whatever he was doing, she dearly hoped that he had found it.

Sometimes at night, she would watch the stars and wish to them that he had found either closure in it, or a desire to seek her out and find her. The latter was more tempting, but she believed it was too selfish to honestly wish it. She could imagine him knocking their front door down, sweeping her off her feet and carrying her away into the sunset. The little imaginary scene put a smile to her lips. She had no idea how Kakashi was doing. No idea of how he felt towards her now. All she knew was that she had blown her best chance at happiness to be miserable. It was pitiful, really, but she had been at fault. She couldn't blame him if he gave up on her.

"Sakura." She chuckled at the sound of the familiar baritone voice. She was imagining sounds now.

"Sakura!" A hand grasped her shoulder and her kunoichi instincts kicked her. Her fist swiftly collided with the nose of her offender, a curse of string escape his mouth as he cradled his mask-covered nose.

Wait. His mask-covered nose?

Her eyes focused on the person standing at her side and they widened so much that for a second, she honestly thought that they would fall out of their sockets. A tall man, silver untamed mane, standard jounin uniform and an infernal mask. Her jaw dropped and she stared. Stared and stared as she cursed whatever god was making her hallucinating.

"I guessed you might be mad to see me, but did you really have to punch me?" He complained, his voice laced with annoyance. This was real. He was there. And he was bleeding all over the place.

"K-Kakashi?" She called softly, still unable to believe her eyes.

"Yes. I'm not a ghost, stop staring at me like that." He deadpanned, giving her an odd look.

"Oh. Yeah, uh, sorry." She blurted out, closing her mouth and blinking stupidly.

"A little help, please?" He asked softly, his onyx eye never leaving her jade orbs.

"I can't do anything about it." She replied honestly. He seemed oblivious to what she looked like below the shoulders.

"You can't possibly hate me that much." His eye was squinting as if in disbelief. A smirk crossed her pretty features and shook her head at him.

"And you can't possibly be that blind." She responsed and observed him closely, waiting for the moment when realisation would dawn on him. And it soon did. His eye lowered to her mid-section, searching for what she meant, when it widened and a gasp escaped his lips. This sound was instantly burned into her memory. She had never heard her sensei gasp before.

"Just how far along are you? You look ready to burst!" His voice was filled with surprise. He had really believed her when she had told him she wasn't pregnant.

"Seven months. I still have about two more months to go." Why did talking to him feel so natural and easy? Why wasn't he making any remarks about how she had left him? Heck, how did he even find her? So many questions that were thrown out the window the second he spoke again.

"Wow. I guess you've really got another life now." His statement bothered her. No. She didn't. She was constantly planning against Sasuke, waiting for the perfect moment to escape him.

"So must you." She replied blankly, the smile wiped off her face and her eyes turning to an odd, dull expression he wasn't accustomed to seeing.

"Stop kidding, Sakura." His tone dropped to a low, dangerous sound. She had to bit her tongue to refrain from closing the distance between them and kiss those lips she had missed so badly.

"Are you happy?" The question was a simple one, yet it surprised her. Eye contact was formed once again between them and she couldn't bring herself to answer. She knew it was a silent offer of his help. But she couldn't burden him with the task of delivering her from the man who had violated her. She wasn't his anymore. She couldn't force that responsibility on him now. She would get out of this by herself.

"I am." She lied swiftly, breaking eye contact.

"You're lying." Her eyes moved back to him quickly. He had said this with such ease, it made her wonder for whose benefit he was saying it.

"You heard the girl, Kakashi. You should leave now." Sasuke's voice came from behind them, coming from the direction of the horrible home she had promptly forgotten about when Kakashi had shown up.

"I'm not talking to you. I want her honest answer." Kakashi never removed his eyes from the object of his affection. He would do as she wished. If this is what she wanted, then so be it. The note he had found several months back led him to believe that there was still hope for him, but he might be clinging to false expectations. Nothing was clear to him anymore now that his beautiful cherry blossom had exited his life.

His finger brushed hers ever so softly as he closed the distance between them, his nose hovering barely an inch away from hers. Sakura could see the pleading in his eye, silently begging her to take his hand in hers. To give him the strength to punch this monster who had snagged her away from him to make her his unwilling concubine. She couldn't possibly want this. He couldn't believe it. His eye followed her smallest movements for any clues. Her teeth bit down on her lower lip, he heard her heart beat pick up, felt her breath quickening against his chin.

"I came back for you, Sakura." He breathed against her forehead, placing a soft clothed kiss. Her heart swelled at his words, a feeling of longing and happiness washing over her. Time had stopped for a second for her. Nothing existed but them, and the way his mask felt against her skin, his fingers gently coaxing hers to lock with his.

She gasped as she was pulled away from him, into the arms of a man she despised and loathed more than ever right this second. Her hands flew up to grasp his arms, fingernails digging into his skin hard enough to break it. Her eyes never let Kakashi's.

"Leave her, Kakashi. You've said enough." Sasuke roared, his voice resounding painfully in Sakura's ear. The jonin's gaze move to his ex-student for a moment, before returning to his lover. Her eyes were filled with determination and a fire that couldn't mistaken for anything else. Sakura was back with a vengeance.

"I think the girl made her choice, Sasuke." A grin appeared on the older man's face, impossible to miss even with his mask. Sasuke frowned and he looked down at the girl he held, slightly worry lines etched into his face. He was goddamn right to worry, the kunoichi told herself just before she swung her head back at him. A small crack confirmed that she had effectively broken his nose. His arms didn't release her, instead tigtening their hold on her as he pulled a kunai out and pressed it to her throat.

"You bitch!" He yelled as he backed away a few distance, putting a reasonnable distance between them and the jonin.

"Don't get any closer." He warned him, pushing the blade harder against the girl's throat.

"Go ahead, Kakashi! He's not gonna kill me!" She didn't feel for her safety once. Over the months, Sasuke had showed her to what lengths he would go to protect his unborn child. He was worth the world to him. He wanted this child more than anything else, risking his own safety more than once to provide housing or supplies for the woman. She felt his breath hitch behind her. A glance up his way showed her black eyes that expressed betrayal. Had he really expected her to side with him? She must have been doing a goddamn good job at looking satisfied with this life and his presence.

The next seconds were nothing but a blur to Sakura. She had latched onto his arms, preventing him from escaping Kakashi's incoming attack. The sound of a thousand birds ripped through the air, a bright light forcing her eyes closed as she waited. They flew open when she felt Sasuke flip them around, his back to his opponent. The scream of pain that escaped him as chidori cut through him chilled her to the bone. Her breath froze in her chest and Sasuke's arms went limp around her and he dropped to her knees behind her.

She turned around hesitantly, her eyes widening as she assessed the extend of the damage done to his back. Even if she had access to all of her chakra, there was no way she could save him. Chidori was truly a jutsu to fear. She felt bile rising up her throat before she tore her eyes from his gaping wound.

Wouldn't that attack have hit her if he hadn't protected her? For a second, she couldn't believe what was happening. Maybe Kakashi wanted her child, Sasuke's child, dead that badly. Whether it was because of how it had happened or how much he despised the father, it didn't matter to Sakura had that moment.

Sasuke's hands came up to rest on her belly, a small smile on his lips when a kick hit his palm. This was his child. He would live and make the Uchiha clan proud. He knew he was dying. Sakura could see it in his eyes, but she saw no regret. He was smiling. Why was he smiling when he was dying?

Tears welled up in her eyes as she watched him, waiting for the moment he would drop. It was with no impatience, for the person she saw dying wasn't the cold-blooded killer, but the boy who had only wanted to avenge his clan, who only wanted his family and clan back.

"You'll... You'll make me... proud, I know." His last words were spoken with such sincerity and love for the child hidden in her womb that it broke her heart to know that he would never meet his only son. She released a shaky breath as he fell to the ground, all life leaving him with the last breath he expelled.

"S-Sasuke..." She whispered, dropping to her knees beside him. Kakashi kneele beside her, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and pulling her to him in a tight embrace.

"He's in a better place now..." She breathed out gently, honestly. She hoped with all she had that Kami would be indulgent towards him.


Chapter Nineteen: Click Here