AN: Edits will happen when they happen. I'm having an iffy week this week, and my beta has adulty things to do so I don't want to bug her. Patience please!

_____

True to her word, Shachi spends the coming weeks visiting with her father-in-law. The first few days it is because Kanna is still ill. When Shachi asks to see her, Asura lightly shrugs it off.

"It's simply the weather. This time of year puts her in a sad humour," he tells her, but from the way his eyes shift, Shachi suspects he isn't being completely honest. "Besides, you should not exert yourself in your condition."

Right, because pregnancy means we've suddenly become incapable of doing anything...

"I'm with child, not carrying the plague," Shachi mutters as she walks away, and Sakura can't help feeling a little pleases that somewhere within the quiet, respectful woman there's some indication of spunk.

Asura was right when he said how dull it is around the estate in the winter. Shachi can only watch his disciples train so often before she grows bored. Some of them even talk to her now, but she thinks most are still afraid. Taizo makes a beeline in the opposite direction whenever he sees her, which is only right. Asura is more merciful than his brother; Indra would have had the man flayed alive.

On her loneliest, most unsatisfying days she can't decide whose method of justice she prefers.

It's how she finds herself sitting across from Lord Hagoromo, sipping tea and listening to him talk about everything and nothing. He talks of the weather, his students, of Asura's work with them, explains the concept of ninshu and sometimes recites old poems. Every now and then he will pause, look at her as if he wants to ask her something, and then simply continue talking.

In an effort to distract her from her homesickness, he begins to tell her a story. Before she realises it, she finds herself enraptured in the same tale that Indra once told her, but much more detailed. Her husband is a man of concise words and has little use for flowery imagery; Lord Hagoromo is a wordsmith.

Before she is aware of it, she is drawn into the story, an eager listener

Because neither she nor the old man can sit for long periods of time, he doesn't tell it to her in all one sitting. He draws out the tale across the weeks, and she returns to see him every day, even long after Kanna is well again. Sometimes her sister-in-law joins them, other times Asura does as well; sometimes it is just Ashura and Hagoromo.

She begins to suspect about her sister-in-law's mystery ailment; she has seen that expression too often on the wives of Indra's disciples. Especially those who have miscarried or given birth to stillborn babies. She has never been so unlucky, but she can sympathise. And understanding the pain Kanna has undergone somehow makes her seem more relatable.

The longer she is with them, in fact, Shachi learns that her in-laws are not horrible people. She had always suspected that he exaggerated his tale some, but it's difficult to reconcile the two different views.

Perhaps they sense her wavering in her sensibilities, because as the days become longer, her in-laws' conversations turn to Indra. Together, Asura and Hagoromo tell her of the circumstances leading to his departure, and also mention their hopes that reconciliation can be found in the future.

"Unfortunately, the situation is a complex one. There's no right way to go about fixing it," Asura sighs.

"You might start by considering it from your brother's point of view, instead of treating him like the unreasonable party," Shachi suggests, ever loyal.

Asura stares at her. "He attacked us."

"He was upset," she replies. "Understandably so."

"Unders –" Asura cuts himself off. "No amount of emotion should lead a man to summon a beast made of chakra and try to ravage our home. His home."

Shachi sighs.

"My lord brother, you do not have children," she remarks softly, conscious of the flicker of pain across his features; it's a fact she has noticed in her time here, not least of all in the time following Kanna's supposed illness. "And you did not know the care of a mother."

Her father-in-law confirms this quietly. "A regrettable truth. My wife was taken by sickness too soon after Asura's birth."

"My lord father – forgive me for being indelicate..."

"I am too old to care much for delicacy, child."

"From the stories you and your son have told me, your esteemed mother was not overly concerned with your well-being as she was for her pursuit of power," she points out, somewhat hesitant.

"That is so."

"None of you three benefitted much from a woman's influence – whether it be a wife or a mother," she concludes sadly. "It is a burden that I, too, had to bear, though I believe I was perhaps luckier in a way. My mother's former servants raised me. They showed kindness to me when no others would, cared for me when I was sick and fed me when I was hungry. Perhaps they did it to fulfill their obligations to my father, but perhaps they were simply good people. In any case, their treatment of me gave me some idea of what a child needs. Having my own children has taught me the same. And I wonder, if their mother had lived, whether the situation with your sons would have ended differently."

"I fear it would not have made a difference."

"Are you so sure?" she challenges. "Would she not have questioned your decisions in choosing your younger son as your successor? Or, if she did not, would she perhaps have cautioned you to handle it more delicately than you did?"

"Sister –" Asura warns, a little perturbed at the idea of someone chiding his father.

"No, let her continue," the old sage interrupts, frowning.

"I do not claim to know the wishes of your esteemed lady wife," Shachi says, "but as a mother myself, I know that I would have suggested to the father of my children if there were a similar situation. Whether he listened or not. And being forthright would have solved more ills than it wouldn't."

Asura is utterly tense, looking between her and his father as if expecting an outburst of some kind. Shachi pauses, and when her father-in-law continues to listen, she goes on.

"Instead of telling Indra your decision right away when he returned from his journey – a decision you had already likely made in your heart long before you even asked them to go on that journey – you allowed him to wait almost two years," she points out, trying to keep her tone calm and non-accusatory. "In your fear that telling him news that would anger and hurt him, you allowed him to build up his expectations. To believe he had fulfilled the task you set before him adequately, when in fact he had failed. And instead of telling him so – instead of informing him of the hardships that fell on the village he had visited and having him return to correct his mistake – you let him idle here, and you allowed that village to fall to ruin."

"The village had already fallen to ruin by the time he returned," the old man says stiffly.

"Which you also knew, from your toad friend, and perhaps could have done something about with your far-reaching abilities," she says placidly. "In any case, it is something that should not have been kept from Indra. Whether he learned to lesson you wanted him to or not, he is not one to back down from completing a task. He may have found a way to prove himself once more if given the chance."

The old man looks thoughtful at this, but she continues.

"Then, when you did tell him that he had lost his status as your successor, you did so in front of all of your disciples. Not after years worth of reflection, but within an hour of my lord Asura returning home," she continues. "Can you perhaps understand how hurt Indra would have been in that moment?"

"At some point a man must learn to make the correct decisions on his own."

"And yet is your child not still your child even when have become grey with age?" she counters. "Are the failings of a student truly his failings? Or is it the teacher that has failed to impart the lesson in the best manner? I won't argue that some responsibility lies on the child to learn and grow...but if he is not given a torch to find the way, will he not wander in darkness?"

Lord Hagoromo's expression has softened now, and he is watching her in the same way she has sometimes seen Indra look at her – as if he has no idea what to make of her.

"You know that my husband is someone who does not understand the immaterial – comradery, trust...love," Shachi explains quietly. "He only knows the force of his hands and the power of his will. These are concrete to him. He does not...he is unable to recognise these things in the same way a bat cannot appreciate the colours of spring. And yet, a bat is not truly blind."

Both men are staring at her in surprise now, as if they didn't expect her to be capable of such argument. She is somewhat offended by this.

Yeah, you should be! What, did they think we just sat beside Indra looking pretty for the past couple of years?

"And my lord brother," Shachi goes on, turning to Asura. "You never wanted the succeed your father. Your entire life, you expected Indra to inherit his ways and you supported him. Even if you are better suited to the task, the ease with which you accepted it is what causes your brother to believe you betrayed him."

"But I didn't –"

"If you had truly honoured your brother's wishes, you would have fought for him," she tells him firmly. "Perhaps you would have tried to teach him the lessons you had learned, so that he might become a better person as well as a better leader. Or perhaps my lord father could have, instead of naming only one successor, left his craft to both. Two halves of a whole, dependant on each other and needing to work together for success." She cocks her head to one side and considers the wizened old man before her. "Which is the lesson you wanted them both to learn from the beginning, is it not?"

Lord Hagoromo stares at her for a full minute, and she suddenly shrinks.

"Forgive me," she says. "I may have overstepped –"

But the old sage chuckles, to both hers and Asura's surprise.

"For one whose eyes are not as sharp as ours, you see much, daughter," he tells her, his mouth quirking upwards. "I hope that perception serves you well when you need it most." His tone becomes serious once more. "And I hope it does not blind you to the truth of matters."

"My husband is not perfect," Shachi responds, aware of what he is referring to. "Nor is he blameless. He has made many mistakes – like you, perhaps he sees himself entirely as the victim of circumstance. If you truly want to reconcile with him, all three of you must acknowledge past insults but agree to move on in peace."

"Would you help us do that?" Asura asks.

"...me?"

"You have seen the part of him that only Father and I know or remember. And you're his wife. He will listen to you."

Shachi frowns at this.

"I didn't mean it like it sounded," Asura quickly says. "That is to say – this wasn't a plan, an attempt to sway you to our way of thinking. But now that you've heard both sides of the story, perhaps you can be the voice of reason if we were to all meet again."

She hesitates, torn.

"I will not go behind my husband's back in any way," she says finally, willing her voice to keep from trembling. "I will not return to him as your instrument, speaking words to change his mind to your way of thinking. I have never done so before, and I will not so now. But I will raise the issue once. If he is favorable, I will try, but if he is not – I will not pursue the matter. It has taken many years for him to place any trust in me – I would sooner die than break that."

Asura appears resigned, Hagoromo thoughtful. She isn't sure she likes the way he is looking at her, as if he knows something that she doesn't.

"That is all that we can ask," the old sage says, sighing heavily and sitting back. "All that remains now is to find Indra."

夢

"Do you think your family would have liked me?"

Sasuke doesn't stop stirring the antibiotic paste they are making, but his movements become a little jerkier.

"We've had this conversation before."

"I know, but I need to hear it again," she prompts, and then pats her stomach. "He needs to hear it. You know that babies can hear sound in the womb by eighteen weeks, right? He needs to hear your voice, and face it darling, you aren't exactly talkative."

After a beat, Sasuke shrugs and says, "I don't see the point of revisiting questions that can never be answered."

"I...I guess you're right," she sighs in defeat; she has learned the importance in not pushing certain matters too hard. "It was just something on my mind, but that doesn't mean you want to talk about it. Sorry for bringing it up."

She doesn't want to mention that ever since her dreams have started to centre on Indra's family, Shachi's interactions with her in-laws have made her curious about what her own might have been. It's a completely different situation, of course – she can't think of any reality where Sasuke's parents would have kidnapped her – but she suspects there would have been some similar sense of alienation.

She tries to focus on what her husband is doing across the room; the local apothecary was kind enough to lend them his back room to work on a treatment for the area's pneumonia outbreak. Sasuke is carefully measuring and sorting through ingredients with a frown of concentration; it's understandable, considering some of them are toxic in large quantities.

Ever since she became pregnant, they try to avoid her working with anything too poisonous; some materials can be absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream, and neither she nor Sasuke want to take any risks when it comes to the baby. As such, her husband has become her unofficial assistant-slash-apprentice, learning how to put together passable antidotes and remedies under her watchful eye.

He's also learning that a lot more goes into it than just memorizing precise ingredients and solutions. Even having a Sharingan to help him doesn't help him here, and for once Sakura is the genius having to patiently explain the process to him.

"Be careful, you're adding too much sumac."

"I'm adding exactly what you told me to add."

"For a general dose – you're making an antidote, not a paralytic."

He shoots her an annoyed look, but remeasures the amounts. She beams at him in approval.

"My mother would have liked you immediately," Sasuke tells her as he carefully grinds the thick brown root down to powder. "She was a warm person, and she never said an unkind word to anyone."

Sakura blinks, surprised that he has chosen to answer her after all. Her cheeks warm with pleasure, and she smiles to herself.

"Sounds like Hinata," she muses softly.

"No. My mother had more mettle to her. And she could have a temper," Sasuke remembers. "There was no point to disagreeing with her. Perhaps it's why I don't remember my parents ever arguing."

"So your father just agreed with everything she said?"

"When it came to raising my brother and I, I have no doubt."

"But otherwise he was the boss."

"He was the head of the clan. He had responsibilities."

"Right."

"It...would have taken some time for him to warm up to you," Sasuke says after a pause.

Sakura doesn't allow herself to be upset by this. "He would have wanted you to marry another Uchiha."

"Yes. At first."

"But think I'd win him over in the end, then?"

"He would soon see how much you have to offer. No woman in my clan has ever achieved what you have."

Sakura blushes. It isn't often that Sasuke is complimentary, but when he is, he delivers his words with the utter conviction that what he is saying is true. It's better than any remark about her looks could be.

"And Itachi already liked you."

"Eh?" she squeaks. "But I...I only met him once! And he tried to kill me, and Naruto and –"

"He knew that you and Naruto were trying to save me," Sasuke tells her quietly. "That alone endeared you to him." He raises an eyebrow at her, a grim smile tugging at his mouth. "You may have noticed that my family can be single-minded in our pursuits."

"You think?" she replies dryly.

"Anything or anyone who supports those same pursuits is someone to be valued. Anyone who would face certain death to protect a mutually precious person...he would have respected that."

Sakura considers that, unsure what to say; it's not exactly a healthy way of looking at relationships, but it makes a bit of sense. In a mercenary kind of way...

"If anything else, he would have appreciated your chocolate making skills," Sasuke goes on, an ironic note in his voice that tells her he is teasing. She wasted years learning that particular skill for the benefit of someone who couldn't care less. "He had a sweet-tooth, though he tried to hide it."

"That's..." Sakura blinks, and then giggles. "I never would have considered that."

Somehow the knowledge that the legendary Itachi Uchiha had such a commonplace weakness like sugar makes her feel marginally more comfortable with the idea of him.

"Thank you for telling me this," she says quietly. "I get that you don't like to...you know."

"It's...easier than it was," Sasuke tells her, shifting uncomfortably. "And it's practise."

"Practise?"

"He will no doubt have questions," Sasuke says, nodding to her middle. "I suppose I need to become used to answering them."

"Yeah, staring broodily off into the distance and hoping he stops asking isn't really going to cut it with our child," Sakura agrees

"Not if he's half as tenacious as you."

"Or if he spends a lot of time with Naruto."

Sasuke scowls. "Let Naruto corrupt his own children."

Sakura burst out laughing at this, causing him to return to his grinding with the aggrieved air of someone who has been unfairly insulted. They both know he isn't truly angry; Naruto is the closest thing he has to family, and he will likely expect (or even demand) the loudmouth's presence in their child's life.

Her mirth dissipates as her thoughts return to another family, long ago.

She exhales in resignation.

"Indra's family liked Shachi," she tells him quietly. "They might not have known what to do about her when they first met, but afterwards...I think even though Asura promised to bring her back to Indra, he doesn't want to."

"He knows how dangerous Indra can be. He wants to protect her," Sasuke concludes, tone carefully level and trying to pretend like he is utterly absorbed in his task.

"Yes, I think so. And I think she senses it too, even if she's trying not to think too hard about it. She never had a family before, and it's tempting." Sakura shivers, folding her arms in front of her. "I never knew what it was to grow up alone, but when I'm her...I sort of get it. What you and Naruto experienced. After being alone, it's natural for her to want that."

"You sound as if you think she should stay."

Sakura can't help the guilty face she makes. "Is that wrong of me? I know she loves Indra – and he might even love her back – but their relationship isn't healthy. It's worse than ours was before...before the end of the war."

"It's not wrong of you," Sasuke says slowly. "But I think you know as well a I do that she won't come to that conclusion."

"No," Sakura sighs, clenching her fists; when she looks up at him, her eyes have filled with tears. "Oh, Sasuke, why do I think that her story isn't going to have a happy ending?"

He doesn't answer her, but she knows it's not because he can't.

眠り

For the rest of the winter, Asura is absent from the household. Shachi learns from Kanna that he has renewed his efforts to track his brother down.

"He is more determined than he was all these past years," her sister-in-law confides one evening. "Before you arrived, he sought Indra as a means of confronting his own guilt. Now, he has a hope for reconciliation. You are the reason he searches so ardently."

Shachi shifts, uncomfortable over the praise. "I don't believe I'm the only reason."

"You are an important one, though," Kanna says. "You are his family. He will do anything for family."

The woman is unable to completely keep the concern from her voice though, and Shachi can sympathise. They both know what Indra might do to Asura if the wrong impulse should take him.

Shachi chooses to change the subject.

"I have noticed that you and my lord brother do not have children," she mentions, tentative. "And yet...you both appear to be in fine health."

Kanna's cheeks turn red at this. "It...it is nothing. A childhood ailment, most likely. It makes it hard to carry a child. If the gods mean for me to..." She shakes her head. "We do not want for children. Not with those who look to Asura as their father."

But the evasion rings hollow.

"Have you spoken to my lord father?" Shachi asks. "With his power..."

Kanna shifts uncomfortably.

"As he grows older, his abilities begin to ebb as well. He has not been able to heal for many years now. It is why he could do very little for you while you were ill."

"And none of your healers have found the cause?"

"Our healers busy themselves with treating those who have been injured in combat, or besieged by plague," Kanna says, a little stiffly. "The...the trials of a woman are not of interest to them, and I would not wish to distract them from good works for my own ends."

Shachi makes a face.

"You are most unselfish, even if such reluctance is a waste," Shachi remarks. She steps forward, and reaches for her sister. "May I?"

Kanna hesitates, but then nods. Shachi places her hand above Kanna's womb and focusses.

She can sense something, but it doesn't make itself apparent right away. But Shachi has not birthed six children of her own, or helped ease the pregnancies of the women in her husband's sect for nothing. She adjusts her chakra, reaches out with her senses and concentrates on the places most healers (especially men) would not think to look.

"I see. There is scarring here," she says, frowning with closed eyes. She concentrates, sending a burst of healing energy flicking out through her fingers. Kanna startles at the sensation. "Please keep still."

Several minutes pass in complete silence before Shachi straightens up.

"I have removed the scar tissue," she announces. "You will bleed soon, and afterward there should be no more difficulty in conceiving." She smiles softly. "I have no doubt you will be a good mother."

Kanna stares at her in shock, and as Shachi's words set in, tears form in her eyes.

"My lord Indra does not understand how fortunate he is to have you as a wife," she tells her quietly. "If you can still be so kind despite being married to him..."

Her sister-in-law doesn't mean to give insult, and Shachi chooses to ignore it. It's a skill she has developed in her months here.

Still, she can't help a minor note of exasperation, directed not at Kanna, but at her husband.

If he understood how fortunate he was, he would be trying to find me.

夢

It's become an accepted morning ritual, helping Sasuke get dressed.

They both know that he can do this by himself – he managed a lifetime without her, both before and after he lost his arm – but for some reason he indulges Sakura's coddling tendencies. Maybe because he is so independent that there aren't many thing she can help him with, maybe because he has learned to like having someone take care of him.

She privately thinks it might be the latter.

When they stay at guesthouses, as they've been doing almost every night lately (with the onset of winter she's surprised that Sasuke hasn't insisted they hole up in a cabin somewhere until the snow melts) they can take their time about it, enjoying the simple peace of the moment.

This morning, though, Sakura is distracted; her thoughts are firmly in the past, reflecting on her former self's recent experiences. The idea that Asura's wife might never have had children – that only Indra might have had descendants if she – if Shachi – hadn't interfered makes her very aware of the precariousness of the future.

She fumbles with his shirt sleeves and drops his fingerless gloves several times before finally slipping them onto his hands. He frowns, clearly impatient, but instead of making a contempt filled comment as he might have when they were children, he instead asks, "What's wrong?"

"What if I couldn't have children?" she blurts out instead of an answer.

Sasuke's blinks, the smallest downward turn of his lips the only indication he has heard the question. He doesn't answer, instead waiting for her to provide context or more detail. As if what she's asking him is incredibly complex or nonsensical.

"Would you still have married me if I couldn't have children?" she asks, quieter this time. She hates that she sounds so insecure, but Shachi's anxieties have been seeping into her waking moments more often lately. Combined with pregnancy hormones, Sakura doesn't know how she isn't a mess of tears every day.

Sasuke is frowning now, calculation happening behind those fathomless eyes. "It was never a reason to marry you to begin with."

"But it was a reason!" she insists. "You've wanted a family since we were kids, and if it turned out that I couldn't..."

"Wanting something and deserving it are two different things," Sasuke dismisses.

"But –"

"I would have been satisfied either way," Sasuke cuts her off. "If circumstance decreed I wasn't meant to have children, I would have accepted that."

"Even though you wanted them."

Irritation is clear on his features. "Is there a reason you're asking repetitive questions?"

"I just..." she gestures with the hand that isn't still wrapped around his. "Sometimes I'm not sure if this is real."

"Because of your dreams?" he questions, irritation giving way to speculation.

"No. No, even before the dream I wondered. Sometimes, I thought – sometimes I still think – I'm going to open my eyes and be staring at the ceiling in my bedroom. I'm fifteen years old and all of this has just been a dream. Or worse –" Sakura shivers here, " – maybe I was trapped in the Infinite Tsukuyomi after all. Maybe all of this is just a fantasy my brain cooked up."

"You fantasized about living a vagabond existence with a former international criminal?" he asks dryly.

"Not necessarily," she replies, rolling her eyes at his subtle teasing. "But I wanted to be with you, and now I am, and – especially with all these dreams messing with my head – I just worry it's not real."

"Wouldn't it be more likely to not be real if events proceeded exactly how you imagined them?"

"You mean, like, if I was still at home, playing the happy housewife and running the clinic and you were – I don't know – running the Konoha police?" she suggests.

"Hmph." There's the tiniest indication of a wistful smile there. "Perhaps."

"Actually...if I'm being honest, I can't imagine you having a regular nine-to-five job anymore," she confesses. "I guess that would sort of be a tip-off that something was wrong."

"Childhood dreams do change," he agrees.

"Some don't."

Their eyes meet and hold for several heartbeats, silently exchanging a sentiment that needs no words.

Sasuke reaches forward, slowly, eyes softened in just that way; index and middle finger tap her forehead and she blushes.

"Some are annoying," he agrees, beginning to pull away, but she snatches his wrist, not allowing him to move back just yet. He acquiesces, allowing his fingers to instead slide across her cheekbone, then slowly cup the side of her face. She smiles, shifting her hold on him to keep his hand pressed there, leaning into the warmth and the smell of leather.

"I'll need that back, eventually. It is the only one I have."

"Only because you're so stubborn," she retorts, guiding his fingers to her lips and pressing a brief kiss to the tips before letting them go.

She returns to the task of helping him dress.

"There are other ways to have children," he says after allowing this to continue; she pauses. "Other ways to have a family. We would find a new path."

Her eyes widen. "But...but then your family...it would end with you. And the Sharingan would die out."

"Some might argue that's for the best," he shrugs.

Seeing his utter nonchalance at that idea, her eyes widen with realisation.

"Do you think it will happen?" she asks. "I don't have a Sharingan – you're hoping he takes after me, aren't you?"

"If he does he will be saved a lot of trouble."

"But if he has it...if we had more than one child one day...would we...would he...?"

"It would be a topic that would need to be addressed," Sasuke allows. "A conversation would have to be had."

Sakura bites her lip.

"Should we...should we only have one? Maybe we should only have one. That way he can't be tricked into...or in case there's an accident, he won't have to –"

"Kill me or his siblings and take their eyes?"

Sakura winces. It sounds even worse once it's been said out loud than it did in her head. She tries to offer in a repentant look, but he shakes his head at her; he is not angry or insulted by her obvious train of thought.

"If we only ever have the one, who's to say he won't have many children when he grows up? It would be counterintuitive to base all of our decisions on an event which may or may not happen," he tells her. "If I truly thought it was an issue, I would never have had children. I know as well as you do that there are ways to prevent such a thing, permanently."

"Did you ever consider it?"

"Sometimes. But not with any great deal of sincerity," Sasuke admits, unapologetic. "I did tell you that I'm a selfish man."

"Shut up, no you're not," she insists, abandoning his shirt sleeves in favour of wrapping her arms around his middle, pressing her face into his chest. Mostly it's to hide the sudden onslaught of tears.

Sasuke's arm wrap around her, and she feels his chin on the crown of her head.

"I won't hide the truth from our child," he tells her quietly. "When the time comes, I'll explain the power and the price of the Sharingan. Even if he doesn't have it."

"Children," Sakura corrects with a sniff. "I do want more than one. So he won't be lonely. So you won't be lonely."

She hears a short, rumbling sound in his chest, close to laughter. "Let's have this one first."

眠り

The snow finally begins to melt, and the cherry blossoms begin to bloom. In her seventh month of pregnancy, Asura finally returns with good news.

"You've found him," she breathes one day when he enters the courtyard, tired and dirty from his journey. Although his first act is to embrace Kanna, there is a look on his face that Shachi knows is meant for her.

"Yes."

"And the children?"

"They are safe. All of them have relocated to one of the smaller islands. It was hard to find because of the warding – and because I had to mask my own chakra – but they are there," Asura says, "And they show no sign of leaving."

"Then we have to hurry!" she declares, not wanting to somehow miss the opportunity to be reunited with her husband.

"We will," Asura promises. "But we have to do so carefully. If he senses my presence – especially anywhere near you – it could lead to conflict. And that is something we don't want, especially considering your condition."

She wants to argue, but knows her husband well; he prefers to lead with force and ask questions later. "Fine."

It takes a week of planning and preparation before they are ready to leave. Asura gathers several of his most trusted followers, as well as the litter she had so jokingly mentioned months earlier. There's no choice now but to use it, as she can't walk for extended periods anymore.

At the gates as they prepare to leave, Asura bid goodbye to his wife, promising a safe return. Despite bidding each other farewell, they share secret smiles and hold each other's hands a little longer than normal. Shachi suspects that they will be welcoming a new member of the family soon enough, and leaves them to their moment.

Instead, she meets one last time with her father-in-law, who has left his chambers to see her off.

"I hope when we next meet it will be under better circumstances," he says quietly, before beginning to cough; when he wipes his mouth, it comes away bloody.

"My lord father, you are ill," she realises, wondering how she couldn't have noticed in the past months.

He motions for her to lower her voice, inclining his head toward Asura. "You are perceptive, daughter."

"Can I – ?"

"There is no healing anyone could perform that can help me now, but your kindness is appreciated," he tells her. Off her stricken look, he adds, "I have some years left. Enough that I live in hope that I shall see grandchildren. I am given to know that this might happen soon." His mouth quirks a little, and she smiles back, as if they, too, share a secret. "However, in the event I don't...may I?"

He indicates her stomach, growing much larger but well hidden in her voluminous white robes. She pauses only a minute, and then nods.

The old man places his hand upon her, just below her breast, and for a long time is quiet. Then, he says, "For all your faith and love for him, you have noticed that there is a darkness surrounding your husband."

She is quiet.

"I do not know how he came by it, for it was there long before I considered naming Asura as my successor," he continues. "I fear it will lead him to great loss and sadness. A constant black hole of despair." She swallows, because it's a fear she has secretly harboured for years. "But this child you carry – this child carries in it the potential to break free. The fan the flames of change in Indra, and all those of his bloodline."

She looks up at this, eyes wide. Is he making a prophecy?

Fathomless eyes focus on her, his expression grave.

"But flames burn for destruction more often than they do regrowth. There will be much heartache before it happens if there is no stalwart hand to guide it."

"...Father?"

"Remember this," he tells her, squeezing her hands with unexpected affection. "Farewell, Daughter."

And then he turns and walks back into the courtyard.

夢

"If one more old biddy puts her hand on my stomach without my permission, I won't be responsible for my actions!" Sakura declares loudly, stomping down the snow-covered road from their latest village stopover. "Or – or! – tells me I shouldn't be walking around in my 'condition'!" She whirls around and glares at Sasuke, who is following several paces at a leisurely pace. "I mean, do I look physically incapable to you?"

"Hn."

"Exactly!" she crows. "Where is it written that a pregnant woman automatically loses all of her physical capabilities! If we ran into a band of mercenaries right now, I could take them with one hand behind my back – you know I could."

"Let's not, though," Sasuke suggests.

"Obviously," she rolls her eyes. "But I could. It's not going to hurt the baby. He's strong – healthiest baby ever, because I'm the healthiest person I know. Because I've got this!" She taps at the seal in her forehead. "Diseases and physical ailments and...and stuff! I can punch out goddesses, but they think I should be sitting on my ass doing nothing – shannaro!"

Sasuke sighs.

"Are you hungry?"

She shoots him a dark look. "What kind of question is that?"

"It's a question about whether you're hungry or not."

"No, it's not. It's you being patronizing. You think my mood is tied to my stomach and you're trying to placate me, and I don't appreciate it."

There are several beats of silence, and then,

"Am I wrong?"

"...No."

She lets him lead them off the road and unpack their rations, ignoring the amused smirk he wears the whole time.

"You think this is funny," she accuses.

"No," he replies. "I just find it...interesting. You usually have patience for even the most irritating individuals."

"Well that's because I never had to put up with stupid people while I was having hot flashes," she snaps. "It's winter and I'm dying here. I am actually sweating buckets right now, look! I'm drenched like I just walked out of the bath! How is that even possible?"

"Put your cloak back on," Sasuke chides as he opens a sealing scroll for their kettle. "You'll be cold again in a minute."

"I am not a child!" she snaps, though she does as he suggests because he happens to be right. She kicks at the ankle high snow. "Nice to see attitudes towards pregnant women haven't changed at all in the past thousand years... The only difference now is people think it's okay to invade personal space."

She looks up to see Sasuke quirk an eyebrow at her – she was never really one to respect personal space when they were younger, after all – and she rolls her eyes.

"You know what I mean," she tells him. "Before, no one – not even an old grandma – would put their hands on my stomach without permission. Except if they had mine or my husband's. And even if they did, they knew damn well better than to ask."

He snorts. "You have a friendly face. It puts people at ease enough to think they can take liberties."

She pouts.

"I don't know which is more annoying – you making fun of me, or you threatening to dislocate people's fingers for getting to handsy," she mutters, rubbing at her shoulders through her cloak. Her core temperature is returning to the way it was before and now she's freezing again.

Sasuke frowns at her in confusion. "I never threatened anyone."

"Right, because I just imagined all of those people with broken fingers, my mistake," she drawls. "Though, you'd think if you were that protective of me, you would have figured out where I am by now and come get me. Instead, I'm sitting here, freezing and boiling, promising everyone else that they're going to be happy, while I'm alone. Always alone...And Kanna and Asura are so happy, and it kills me every time I have to see them like that, because I miss –"

"Sakura."

The word is quiet, but sharp, almost like the crack of a whip.

A shiver runs up Sakura's back, and she feels a curious sensation of having been doused in water.

When she looks up at him, she sees that all traces of amusement are gone and Sasuke is eyeing her with concern and wariness.

"What?" she asks.

"Do you remember everything you just said?" he asks her neutrally.

She blinks, casting her mind back. The past few seconds are a little muddled, but some of the ideas come back to her.

"I did it again, didn't I?" she asks in a small voice.

He nods once, stiffly.

"I'm sorry. It's like...she gets closer to the surface whenever I'm angry or upset – which is weird, because she was the most...well adjusted, placid person ever."

"Don't apologise," Sasuke tells her, as he has been doing ever since these dreams started. It rings a little more hollowly than usual. "You have nothing to apologise for."

"I know that, but I also know it freaks you out."

He doesn't answer, but she reads the truth in his eyes.

She holds her elbows close to her body, looking away. "Sasuke?"

"Hm."

"If you...if you think it will help...do you think he would have answers?"

Mismatched eyes harden. "Sakura...we don't have to."

"It's the third time this week. We need to start considering this might not be over any time soon. And if anyone has answers about talking to the dead..."

"It's him," Sasuke concludes, grim. He studies her closely for several seconds, as if trying to gauge how serious she is, and then nods. "Alright. We'll find him."

"Find him?" she repeats. "I thought he was staying outside of Konoha?"

"Only when he feels like it. He was up to something in Tea Country the last time I communicated with him," Sasuke says, bringing out a summoning parchment; she notes that it's the one with the line to Ryūchi Cave, not the aeries of his usual hawk summons. "I suspect he enjoys making Captain Yamato go prematurely grey..."

眠り

The journey back home is much longer than Shachi expected, although she supposes that's because this time she's conscious. For two weeks she and Asura, along with the small contingent of his followers, trek through forest and field.

The closer they get to Indra, the more anxious Shachi becomes. She tugs at her sleeves, readjusts her voluminous robes over her belly – she's smaller than she usually is at this point in her pregnancy, probably due to her illness – or fans herself with the shikai Kanna gave them at their parting. She walks as much as she dares, but her condition doesn't always allow for her to move by her own power. She would much rather they stop for rest more often than accepting the necessity of being carried by litter.

The third time she begs for a stop, Asura obligingly calls for a halt and offers to escort her to a nearby stream for some water. This is pretense, she discovers, when they reach the water source and he flat-out asks her if she's alright.

"You were so insistent on returning to your home, and yet now you appear satisfied to delay while you regain your strength," he points out. "This journey is for your benefit, little sister, yet I feel perhaps you are having reservations."

Of course, her brother-in-law would notice.

And, as she has become accustomed to in the passing months, she finds herself confessing her worries to him.

"He hasn't been looking for me," she murmurs, wringing her hands fretfully and turning a beseeching look on Asura. "What if he doesn't want to see me? What if he doesn't want...?"

Her unspoken 'me' hangs in the air.

"We don't know he hasn't been looking for you," Asura says evenly. "And if he was...unless he knew to seek you out in our homeland, he would not have been able to find you." At her confused look, he explains, "My chakra tends to overwhelm our entire region. There's no need for me to hide it in my own home, and so even though you haven't had your chakra suppressed since you first arrived, he wouldn't be able to notice yours in the same vicinity as mine."

"And he never would have thought to seek you out when I was taken, because it was one of your followers and not you that committed the deed," she concludes dully.

Asura offers her his usual apologetic expression at this; she hates that look, because he reminds her of a sad puppy. It's hard to remain angry at him, and so instead she glares over at the aforementioned man.

"Is that why Taizo is here?" she asks. "To acquit himself?"

"Somewhat," Asura says. "But...I suspect Kanna wanted him along. No doubt he intends to knock me out and drag me back home in the event I put myself in true danger."

"She would do it herself if she wasn't worried for the baby," Shachi agrees.

Asura nods, his expression softening. He looks into the distance, no doubt thinking of his wife at home and their future child. From what Kanna told Shachi, she has never been able to carry a child very long past her first month; upon their departure, Kanna was almost at three months.

I wonder if you and your brothers and sisters will ever meet your cousin, Shachi wonders, pressing her hand to her middle.

She hopes so.

Something occurs to her.

"Wait – if your chakra is so overwhelming, won't my husband sense you coming?" Shachi asks. "He might expect an attack."

The idea of the brothers coming to blows disturbs her.

"It may draw him out, yes, but that's what we want," Asura says. "Especially now that I have you with me. I wouldn't have risked that when I was searching for him myself. I kept my presence masked."

"Why?"

"I fear without your stabilising influence, one of us would surely die from that encounter."

Shachi sighs. "You seem to think I have a stabilising influence."

"You have been married for him for nearly a decade, and yet you live," Asura tells her. "Not only that, you are still good and kind and generous. Even Indra cannot fail to be tempered by that."

Shachi blushes at the compliment. "You think so?"

"I know so," Asura says, confident. "And if my brother requires the truth to be beaten into him – I'd sacrifice life and limb to get the point across."

つづく

_____

Huh! So, parts of this fought me, other parts came easy and others took me completely by surprise because I wasn't planning them. Enjoy?

クリ