Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

A Living Secret	By : viridianglare Category: Naruto > General Views: 3159 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto anime/manga/franchise and do not make money from this work.

Chapter List
- 1-results
- 2-exchange
- 3-seed
- 4-public
- 5-foundations
- 6-resolve
- 7-trust
- 6
- 7
She had to call in some favors in order to get things moving; some of those favors were with senior jonin that she wasn’t close to, and so she needed someone who was to call in those requests for her. Which meant, Sakura thought as she swallowed her nervousness, she was going to have to face Kakashi.
She pushed open the door to the bar with trepidation. She was blasted with warm air filled with the scents of sake, sweat, body odor, and cheap ramen. She waved away the scents from her wrinkled nose and hung her head to try and stay inconspicuous as she made her way through the crowded seats toward the darker, slightly quieter back. Sakura had chosen this dive bar in the civilian district in order to keep some chance of anonymity - she had been getting all sorts of stares in the streets in the last several days, and she heard the endless whispers that rippled through the crowds. She and Madara had naturally become the gossip of Konoha and she found that it was nearly impossible to escape the scrutiny of everyone she knew, let alone the strangers as well. Choosing a dive bar in a sparser part of the civilian district was her best chance at having some sort of private conversation without questioning stares or interruptions.
She lifted her head slowly as she felt his familiar gaze on her, and her brows drew together as she met Kakashi’s eyes from across the bar. He was sitting alone in a dim booth, a drink already in hand, and he blinked slowly at her with an unreadable expression; she swallowed her rising apprehension and approached him. Relax, she told herself, he’s one of your closest comrades. This won’t be too hard.
She knew she was wrong as she slid across from him into the booth and met his dark eyes once more. There was an edge in his gaze that made her shrink back into the worn leather of the seat. “‘Kashi-sensei,” she greeted quietly, and he gripped the sake glass tighter in his gloved hand as he threw the rest of it back and set it aside. He leaned forward on his elbows and fixed her with his dark stare, and Sakura pressed further back into the seat, finding herself unable to look at him anymore.
“Sakura-chan.”
She stared at her knees, trying to keep her face neutral. “How are you?” she asked shakily, and managed to lift her eyes to his. She winced when he looked away, tilting his head into his hand as he leaned against his elbow. “How am I?” He closed his eyes as he exhaled softly. “We’re here to talk about you, not me.”
Sakura shifted uncomfortably where she sat. Already, she hated this. Where she and Kakashi’s bond had once been of the strongest she’d ever had, it was now one of the most frayed, and where it was still connected it was so taut with tension that she was terrified it would snap. Her hands lifted tentatively from her lap and rested on the rough wooden table as she tried to find the right words. “I… I’m sorry I didn’t…”
She closed her eyes, leaning forward and resting her head on her folded hands as she searched for the words. She decided to try and start as positively as she could. “Thank you for not telling everyone right away, when you figured it out about Sarada.”
“What?” Her eyes snapped open at his harsh tone, and she shrank back again at the indignance in Kakashi’s eyes. “You’re thanking me, for that?” He shook his head, and she bit her lip as confusion blurred her thoughts, her hands falling limply to the table.
A waitress appeared at the table, and Sakura looked up at her with dull eyes. “Neat whiskey, whatever’s cheap, please,” she said, and the waitress nodded before disappearing once more. She found that her eyes were prickling dangerously and she gripped her fingers into fists as she turned to Kakashi with rising frustration. “Why are you so mad at me?” she hissed, “Why are you making this so much harder than it needs to be?”
“Because he killed Obito,” Kakashi spat back, his normally relaxed tone tight and angry. “Because he caused the events that forced me to kill Rin. Because he tried to kill you, and Gai, and Naruto, and Sasuke, as well as everyone else, and he very nearly did.” He leaned toward her, and Sakura held still where she was, keeping her fierce gaze on his. “Stop living in the past,” she hissed through clenched teeth.
At the sudden hurt in Kakashi’s eyes, she immediately relaxed her tight hold on the table’s edge. Sakura knew by the way he was tensed that he was about to leave and her hand darted out, gripping his arm. “Don’t go.”
His arm stiffened at her touch and she tightened her grasp, pulling his arm to her and taking his hand, running her other hand through her hair with her frustration as she beseeched him with her eyes. “Please. I’m sorry I said that.”
Kakashi blinked down at her hand that gripped his as if she were about to arm wrestle him and he sighed softly, turning in the booth to face her once more. The look of wistfulness on his face made him look all of his years for a moment before he let go of her hand, folding his arms. “Why shouldn’t I go, Sakura?” His dark gaze held hers.
“Because I still want you in my life,” she answered simply, her features pulled tightly together in her stress. “I know you. If you leave now, like this, you’ll avoid me forever. I can’t have that.” She rubbed her temples as a headache started to come on. “You’re one of the few who keeps me sane, Kakashi-sensei, and if you disappear too I think I’ll truly go mad.”
“I highly doubt we will be able to be close again, Sakura-chan,” he replied quietly as the waitress arrived with not one but two neat whiskeys. She set the glimmering glasses of liquid before the two of them and gave Sakura a kindly blink as she returned to the din of the bar.
At once, they took hold of the glasses and took a generous sip before their eyes returned to the others’. “Why do you say that?” Sakura asked, the lines between her brows deepening as she tapped her fingers along the side of her glass.
Kakashi snorted. “Do you think that he’d let you have a close male friend, especially once you’re…” He winced as he looked away a moment, and Sakura’s eyes widened as he returned his saddened dark eyes to her. “It simply won’t happen.”
Sakura sipped her whiskey again, frowning into it as she accepted the burn of it slipping down her throat. Her thoughts were stirring with old pain as she set the glass down and when she looked back at Kakashi there was a decided look in her eyes. “You’re staying as my comrade forever no matter what happens. I’m sorry that you…” She glanced down at the whiskey as she chose her words. “I’m sorry that you don’t approve. I know his past is terrible… but Naruto’s made me kind of a believer,” she went on, feeling silly as she admitted it. “People can and do change. Perhaps not their natures, really, but they can change their actions, their lifestyles.” A memory of affectionate warmth in Madara’s dark eyes drifted through her mind, sending that heat down her chest with the burn of the whiskey in her stomach. Green eyes met black as she finished. “He has changed.”
“He’s a possessive, manipulative, controlling, evil bastard and he always will be,” Kakashi spat, and Sakura’s eyes widened at his vehemence. She sat back in the booth as she stared at him, and he untensed slightly at her open shock. “This isn’t just about the people he’s hurt, is it?” Sakura asked, and Kakashi’s face grew carefully neutral as he responded. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Sakura gave a great sigh through her nose as she closed her eyes. “‘Kashi-sensei…”
He winced. “You know, you can stop calling me that. I haven’t been your sensei in many years.”
Keeping her eyes closed, Sakura frowned at his words. “What do I call you?”
His responding sigh made her open her eyes. “Just Kakashi.” Her heart twisted and she took another swig of the whiskey, focusing on the feel of its burn as she tried to put her thoughts back on the path she wanted to follow. She reached out to Kakashi, taking his hand back and squeezing it lightly. “Please trust me.” Sakura searched his eyes, and he looked away as he answered. “He’s not going to change enough to be good to you, Sakura.”
Her fingers tightened around his palm. “Don’t you trust me?”
“I trust you; I don’t trust Madara Uchiha, and I don’t see how you do.”
“Do you think I would lie to you about him changing for the better?” Sakura placed both of her hands over his. “I need you with me on this. I need you to be there for me.”
The pain in his expression made her blink with surprise once more, and she bowed her head, her face tightening. “Please, Kakashi.”
His hand slowly withdrew from hers, and she heard him swig back the whiskey, setting the glass down with a loud thunk. “Fine. But I’m only calling in those favors for your sake, not for his.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and he paused; she fought back the tears. “I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“You already know,” Sakura said as she got to her feet, slapping several bills on the table. She gave Kakashi a wistful smile before she turned from him and fled the dim bar.

Sakura scrubbed the tears away from her cheeks as she walked away from the bar, letting the cool night air soothe her in its gentle rippling breeze as she walked. She pressed a hand to her chest and tried to ease the tightness there. She knew that the look in Kakashi’s eyes would haunt her for a long time, and that it would be even longer before things felt any sort of normal between them again. She clenched the fabric of her shirt with her frustration, another tear gliding softly down her face. She bowed her head, her light hair falling around her features, and she took in a slow breath of the cool leaf-musk air.
She found, then, that she needed her other confidante. Sakura slipped her fingers into her pocket and took out the small new phone she had gotten; she’d changed her number to avoid unwelcome calls from curious strangers and acquaintances. She dialed the familiar digits, pressing the phone by her ear as she walked.
“Hello?”
“Ino.” Sakura’s relief was audible; already her shoulders were relaxing at the sound of her best friend’s voice. “I miss you, and I’m kind of a mess. Are you free to talk for a moment?”
“Yeah, I’m just finishing up at the flower shop. Want me to come find you?”
“That would be good.” Sakura took a tissue from her side-strapped pouch and wiped her nose.
“Oh, so you met with Kakashi,” Ino commented in her ear, and Sakura blinked at her friend’s immediate guess after hearing her sniff. She could not help but to smile slightly at how well she knew her. “Yeah. It was just as rough as I had imagined it would be, but he did agree to help me.”
“You should never have had that fling with him, Forehead,” Ino scolded her, and Sakura winced as she adjusted the phone against her ear. Her response was a whisper. “I know.”
“Poor old sensei. He had it bad for you before that happened, and now, you’re dating like… his worst enemy.”
“I don’t want to talk about it, Pig.”
“Then what did you call for? Who else are you gonna vent to about your love life?”
Sakura sighed. “By the way, I’m just walking home from the dive in the civilian district. I’m about to turn onto the main road.”
“I’m heading out now. I’ll be there in a few.” The phone beeped as Ino hung up, and Sakura shoved the phone back into her pocket, lifting her head to breathe in the air. The smell of leaf musk was strong now that fall was approaching; the colors of the many leaves on the trees surrounding the village had just begun to bleed into red and orange.
Her mind wandered away from her conversations with Kakashi and Ino, whispering ahead through the quiet buildings and across town to her weary house in the distance. She hoped that Sarada had not had as rough a day as Sakura had had. Though her closest friends had remained loyal to her, Sarada had inevitably been the center of attention during classes as of late after the events of Madara’s return to Konoha and the spreading truth that he was her biological father. She had become even a little feared because of this. Sakura bowed her head as she felt the tears coming on. This was all a lot harder than she could have expected, and she found herself looking forward to burying herself into Madara’s side and drowning herself in sleep.
Her head spun with her stress, and she felt like she was about to burst into tears; as she reached the brink, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and Sakura jerked her head to the side to see Ino walking with her with sympathetic eyes. “Oh, Sakura-chan.” Ino forewent the nicknames and put her arm around her, shaking her head. They walked together down the quiet road, and Sakura leaned into her side.
Her best friend had been uncharacteristically light on teasing her about her dramatic new relationship since it had become public. Ino had been her listening ear in the last several days, absorbing all the stress from Sakura, who didn’t know what she would do without her.
The quiet was broken when Ino finally spoke; they were halfway to Sakura’s home. “So. What exactly did you need that you had to talk to Kakashi?”
“Yamato-taichou,” Sakura answered, rubbing her eyes. “His wood-style could rebuild all of the Uchiha district in five minutes. But… as much as I get along with him, I don’t know him well enough to dare to ask him for that big a favor.” She tilted her head back, looking up at the stars above them. “But he would do anything for Kakashi. You know how they’re good friends.”
Ino nodded, her concerned eyes remaining on Sakura as they walked. “How are you holding up?”
“Sometimes I feel like I’m going to split apart,” Sakura admitted, frowning up at the constellations. “It’s especially hard what with being the village gossip. I think the rumors will never cease.”
“I mean… you’re in the very least dating one of the original Konoha founders after he nearly killed us all in a war that he started.” Ino rolled her eyes. “Of course it’ll be the hottest news around, for like, decades.”
“Hmm.” Regardless of her churning emotions, a smile touched Sakura’s face. “Dating… well, it does go beyond that term in the conventional sense.” She bowed her head with her smile, and Ino’s curious silence prodded her to continue as they walked. “I told you, didn’t I? We’re moving into the compound, and after that I think he…” Sakura swallowed. “I think we will be… repopulating it.” Her core stirred with the images that rose to mind - a household full of black and pink heads of hair, bright mixed eyes of green and black. Though it brought her a flush of deep warmth, it also twisted her gut with anxiety. Ino squeezed her side gently, staring at Sakura. “‘Repopulating it’? So you’re really going through with that, huh?”
Sakura lowered her head from the sky and fixed Ino with a calm look, a twist about her lips. “Yes.”
“Damn.”
“I mean, we already have a kid together,” Sakura added, her cheeks darkening, and Ino raised her eyebrows. “Having a kid by accident is one thing. Making more on purpose is entirely another.”
Sakura looked down at her boots, kicking the leaves out of their path as they walked. Her insecurity made Ino sigh. “Sakura. Look at me.”
She did, a glimmer of her anxiety remaining in her gaze, and Ino gave her a half-wry smile. “Stop worrying about everything so much. Look at it objectively.” She gestured at Sakura’s small house that had now come into their view in the distance. “You’ve got not only a kickass daughter and a good life already, but now you have this…” Ino grinned. “...This apparently dedicated, stupidly powerful and much-too-hot man-mountain in your life too.”
Sakura stared at her with a slack jaw for a moment before she laughed, her hand on her stomach as she stopped in the street with her chortling. Ino smiled triumphantly. “See? Just reframe your perspective a little.”
“I’ll tell him you said all that,” Sakura chuckled, and Ino gasped. “No. You wouldn’t dare. He’s too frightening.”
“What was that about reframing your perspective? He’s not scary.” Sakura raised a brow at Ino, who folded her arms with an annoyance. “Idiot, he is scary. All that hair makes him look like some savage wildling, and then he’s got that godlike-level of chakra… haven’t you heard the stories Tsunade tells about him versus the First Hokage? And her stories from the 4th war from fighting him herself are gruesome. To think he was strong enough to pull the world’s most powerful genjutsu on us all even after fighting off Naruto, Sasuke, all five Kage, and all of Gai-sensei’s opened gates? No, the ‘Grim Reaper’ is pretty terrifying,” Ino confirmed, and she rolled her eyes at Sakura’s frown. “And he’s got that smug look those Uchihas have too, where they’re just all tall and dark and imposing. He barely held back from smiting us with that Susanoo this week as well. You really like dancing with danger, don’t you, Forehead?”
With a shake of her head, Sakura reached out and patted her shoulder. “Maybe it’s just me, then, but he doesn’t frighten me.”
“That’s why you have me to remind you why it’s hard for everyone to accept that he’s… sticking around.” Ino sighed as Sakura spoke with an apologetic expression, reaching out and resting a hand on her arm. “I’m sorry if I upset you, Ino-chan. You really did help me tonight, and you’ve helped keep my head afloat… This week has been hard enough since… you know. Thank you.” She pulled Ino into a hug and smiled as she pulled back, and there were tears glistening again in Sakura’s eyes; Ino shook her head with a smile. “All right, go on and be with your… Wait, what is he exactly? Fiance?”
Sakura gasped at the word, pressing her hands to her mouth in a comical O. “Ino!”
“What? I was just asking. Don’t tell me you guys haven’t defined whatever you have?”
“I mean… not exactly…”
“Yet you’ve already decided to move in and make more Uchihas…?”
“Pig, I swear---”
“You should probably figure that out.” Ino waved Sakura off with a chuckle as she turned to leave, and Sakura stared after her a moment before she speed-walked toward the little house that awaited her.

“So you and the First Hokage were best friends?” Sakura heard Sarada squeak, and she held perfectly still outside as she listened to what her daughter was saying through the front door. “That’s crazy. I can understand being best friends and enemies at the same time. It sounds kind of like me and Boruto-kun sometimes…”
Sakura smiled slightly, pressing her hand to her chest as she heard Madara reply. “Hashirama Senju was an idiot and a hero in his own kind. It’s a shame you can’t meet him.” There was a clink of cups on the counter and a shuffling of plates. “Though I have plenty of stories from over the years.”
“What was it like, knowing him well? Why weren’t you the Hokage, didn’t you both create Konoha?”
“Yes, I named this village, actually.” There was the sound of running water and the creak of the sink handle. “Hn. Hashirama being Hokage instead of me helped set our enmity in motion; his brother began the alienation of my -- well, our clan. But that’s not a story for tonight.”
There was a short pause before Sarada answered in a bright tone. “You know, I’m going to be Hokage someday. It’s my dream.”
“I am sure you will be.” The sink faucet squeaked as it was turned off, and she heard Sarada humming as the slight sound of pages turning tickled Sakura’s ears.
Sakura closed her eyes and leaned back against the side of the house. She knew she shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but to hear her daughter finally get over her terror of Madara and have a conversation with him was warming her heart in ways she didn’t know she could still feel. His earlier words -- our clan -- reverberated pleasantly through her being.
She turned then, taking a breath as she opened the front door and stepped into the warmth of her house. Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, she pressed the door shut behind her back and approached the lit kitchen. She stopped where she was to stare at the scene before her. Madara in his dark wide-collared shirt and pants, barefoot, finishing drying the dishes; Sarada in her pajamas, reading a book on the couch, her focused dark eyes flicking down the pages. They both turned to look at Sakura and she gave a dazzling smile to Madara before she walked over and knelt by Sarada. “What are you up to?”
“Just some reading for class,” she answered, a small smile on her face. “It’s history, and I’m learning some stuff from Madara-sama.”
Sakura raised a playful eyebrow over at Madara. “You know, since his return recently, there’s already been talks about a revised history textbook for the school. They have to rewrite some of the parts with him in it.”
“I know, I told him that already,” Sarada said with a yawn, rubbing one of her eyes. Sakura reached over and plucked the book from her daughter’s fingers and set it on the coffee table. “Go sleep,” she said, gesturing with a tilt of her chin toward the stairs, and Sarada yawned again as she got to her feet and padded sleepily upstairs, waving shyly at Madara before she went upstairs.
Sakura bent her head with closed eyes, memorizing the moments she had just experienced.
Then she got to her feet, facing Madara. He was drying his hands on one of her hand towels - a pink one - and the image of the tall, shaggy-haired Madara doing something so domestic as dishes made Sakura cover her lips with a laugh. He shot a glare at her, dark eyes narrowed under his shock of black hair, and she grinned beneath her hand. “When’s the last time you had to do something so…”
“So domestic?” Madara rolled his eyes as he left the kitchen and leaned against the counter, folding his arms. “Keep teasing me and I’ll never do the dishes again.”
“We’ll see about that.” Sakura sidled up to him, her hands pressing into his shirt. She slipped her arms around Madara and before she thought about it had wrapped herself around him in a tight hug. She buried her face in his chest and gave a deep sigh as she breathed in his smoky bonfire scent. The traces of her familiar dish soap made her smile, though her brows were furrowed where she was pressed into his shirt.
“Rough day?” he asked quietly, his arms tight around her back.
“Impossible day,” Sakura answered, and cursed silently at the tears threatening her eyes again; she focused on the feel of another warm heartbeat against her body, listened to the sounds of his breathing, and reminded herself that she was home safe now. Her anxiety began to ease, and it dissipated at the feeling of his breath in her hair.
She remembered Kakashi and the tears threatened her again; she spoke before they fell. “I did get some help for rebuilding your old home, though, in the compound.” She sighed into his chest before she pulled back, a weary smile on her face. Madara’s eyes were narrowed and he had an expression of curiosity. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, I suppose you don’t know him. My… friend is close to one of the Leaf captains, who can use wood-style.” She blinked as she further remembered that wood-style was not only exceedingly rare but also unique to the First Hokage; she watched confusion and more invested curiosity flick through his dark eyes. “So there’s more than one Senju still around? That’s interesting.”
“Well, no, he’s not a Senju. He can just use wood-style.” Sakura bit her lip. “It’s a long story, but the point is that thanks to my friend, he’ll agree to rebuild and fix those buildings for us. And the Naka temple.”
“And who is this friend of yours?” She blinked at Madara’s rumbling tone and she sighed. “My old sensei. You know, the one you stole an eye from.”
“Oh. The Hatake boy.” Madara hmmphed as Sakura remembered Kakashi’s words, blinking away how odd it was to hear someone like Kakashi referenced merely as a ‘boy’. Do you think that he’d let you have a close male friend? She searched his face as she spoke. “Yeah, we’re pretty close, what with all we went through. He’s a bit protective of me, and he uh… It’ll be a long road to getting him to approve of you being with me.” If he ever does, she added silently.
Madara’s eyes glinted dangerously. “You make it sound like this will be a significant problem.”
“I’d like for you to at least try to get along with him. He’s my friend,” Sakura insisted, giving him a stern look, “which isn’t up for debate.”
“Wasn’t he Obito’s old teammate?” Madara looked thoughtful before his eyes darkened. “Ah.” He glanced away, and Sakura caught his jaw with a hand, turning his face gently back toward her. The question about regret had made its return to her gaze, and Madara’s dark brows drew together. “Don’t ask me about that now,” he said, turning from her and toward the stairs.
“Hey,” Sakura called softly, and he paused at the stairs, his dark mane shifting as he looked back at her with an unreadable expression. “Thank you for talking with Sarada.” She followed him up the stairs. “It… it feels strange to say aloud, but thank you.”
“It’s not as if we had a deep conversation,” Madara commented as they moved up the stairs and down the hall. “Mostly small talk.”
“You two having any conversation is significant,” Sakura argued as they entered the master bedroom; she shut the door quietly behind them. “She’s getting less afraid of you. I heard her telling you about her dreams to become Hokage.”
Madara shrugged. “She did, and I’m sure she will get there. She is an Uchiha, after all.” He gave Sakura a grin. “My first descendant has every right to take power, and over more than just Konohagakure.”
“‘First’,” Sakura echoed, a small smile on her lips as she watched Madara toss aside his shirt and fall back onto the mattress. He cracked open an eye at her. “Hmm?”
Sakura pulled her vest and shorts off, smirking at how his eye dilated as she flung her clothes aside, leaving her in her sports bra and underwear as she flicked off the light switch and crawled into the bed beside him. She rested her head on the spray of black hair beneath her where Madara’s mane blanketed the pillows and watched him with a serious look in her eye. “Ino asked me today what we are, exactly.”
“Hn.” Madara watched her, dark eyes unblinking. After her pause, his voice rumbled through her body where she was curled against his side. “And? What did you tell her?”
“I didn’t.” She glanced down his chest, suddenly shy. “We never defined… anything.”
She didn’t expect the laugh that shook the bed, one hand lifting to cover his face as Madara chuckled. “Oh… Sakura.” He shook his head and the thick hair beneath her shifted; Sakura’s face burned, and she shoved him gently. “What? Why are you laughing at me? Look, she was poking fun at me for planning on more ‘descendants’ with you and I didn’t want to just make up an answer.”
At her statement Madara stilled and then stared at her. Sakura’s blush deepened and she turned her face into his black mane, hiding her face as her words hung in the air. “I assumed that’s what you wanted, you basically told me we’re heading the clan and going to --- oh kami I’ve messed this whole conversation up and I’m just going to stop talking.” She wanted to drown in the surprisingly silky yet still coarse black hair that surrounded her, and she willed sleep to take her away, but the tension between her and Madara beside her was too great for her to sleep. She waited with hunched shoulders for him to speak.
“No, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Madara rumbled then, one hand reaching over and pulling her closer to his side. She felt him press his nose into her hair and her shoulders began to slowly untense as he continued. “Relax, Sakura.” He chuckled quietly, and she huffed a sigh into his hair. “Perhaps that crossed my mind.”
Her blush burned, and she reached out, her hand falling along his neck. “Perhaps it did, you say, after practically proposing and agreeing to move in with me.”
“When you have a child together,” he said with sternness, “it’s the right thing to do.”
Sakura frowned as she pulled back and searched his face. “You’re only doing all this because we have a daughter?”
Madara pinched the bridge of his nose. “Woman--”
“Is that why you’ve done all this? Just because you finally have a descendant, and I just happen to be part of the equation?”
“Sakura---”
“Because if that’s the only reason you’re doing all this, I’m---”
“Sakura!” Madara took her by the shoulders and stared her squarely in the eyes. “Stop.” He pressed a hand to her lips, frowning at her. “Stop.”
There were tears welling up in her eyes, and he sighed through his nose. “No. Sarada’s existence is not the sole reason I’m moving forward with you. She is one of them, true, but not the only.” He tipped his head back on the pillow, dark eyes moving to the ceiling, a twist about his mouth as he looked for the right way to express what he was thinking.
For all the word-smithing Madara had done in his past lifetimes to manipulate and intimidate others, he was of few words now, and Sakura found it oddly endearing that his usual verbal tact grew sparse when it came to what was between them. It twisted her heart in several directions to see the mildly embarrassed look in his dark eyes and very slight tint along his cheekbones as he stared up at the ceiling. It occurred to Sakura that she might be the first or only woman he had ever had this kind of talk with, and she felt patience calming her emotions as she relaxed her taut muscles, settling more comfortably next to him on the sheets.
Madara turned his dark eyes to her then, a settled finality in his gaze. “Purpose, and meaning.” He exhaled quietly. “You have given me reasons to live beyond what I’ve known before.”
Sakura’s pupils widened as she took in his words, their infinite weight pulling through her mind and settling deep in her soul. Madara sat up on the bed, dark mane falling around her as he leaned in, casting them in a private shadow and blocking out the world around them as his hand lifted to her face; she searched his deadly-serious ebony eyes with parted lips as he spoke more softly. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes.” Sakura’s green eyes glittered with her genuinity.
Madara closed his eyes briefly and then reopened them, his crimson Mangekyō Sharingans spinning slowly as he stared down at her. She felt his gloved hands rest gently around her sides, and she breathed in his smoky dark scents as she watched his black-and-red eyes spin.
“Do you want to know me?”
The question was simple, but it sent cascading splinters of her own questions through her mind as Sakura processed what he was asking. She frowned up at Madara. “Of course…”
His burning red eyes blinked slowly. “You never did experience the Infinite Tsukuyomi.” He lifted a gloved hand, enveloping the side of her face with it; Sakura inhaled as she realized what he was proposing, and her gaze widened. Madara watched her consider it for a moment before she smiled up at him, tipping her face against his hand. “I told you I trust you. I just… I want to be able to come back to you… here, and now.”
“Hmm.” He bent his head, touching his forehead to hers; for a long moment they both simply breathed, Sakura’s heart pounding in her chest as she readied herself.
Her hands reached out, running up his chest and curling around his shoulders. She steadied herself with her hold on him as she exhaled slowly and met his eyes again, her face set with her focus.
When he saw the anxiety that Sakura tried to hide behind her gaze, Madara smiled warmly down at her. “I’ll make sure you are able to return to me.” He bent closer, his lips brushing against the side of her cheekbone. “Wouldn’t want to postpone our plans for more descendants.”
Her cheeks burned, and her apprehension was gone when he fixed his Sharingan gaze on hers again. The tears that slid quietly down her face were from her happiness this time as Sakura smiled up at him, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’m ready.” Madara’s gloved hands steadied her as he focused, and she was lost as her mind was thrown into the darkness beyond his scarlet eyes.
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A Living Secret