One Punch Woman

Hold on to me!

Lots of Sakuras for all our Sakura needs! <3

All she could do was whisper her “thank you,” to the only other Uchiha her child will ever know.

Itachi. For all he had done and all that he had not, was the last man standing. Gone was the little brother he had abandoned everything for, sacrificed his very life for. Gone was the man Sakura had waited for, saved herself for. The father Sarada will never know, but will always long for. If Sakura was capable—wasn’t about to break in half, she would be laughing at fate’s cruelty.

She steps in, dragging the mud and the muck from the rain outside into Itachi’s pristine hardwood floors, too deep in her agony to even care about basic etiquette.

“Tea would be lovely…” she says, voice too calm, too perfect, too false. Like the perfect way she smiles at Sarada whenever her daughter stares a little too long at their family picture, forever thankful for the little one’s inability to articulate her thoughts perfectly.

How would she ever explain this to Sarada? How long can a long mission go on for? How can she mourn her dead husband and wait for him at the same time?

Itachi nodded. He stepped aside to let Sakura enter. He wanted to tell her it would be okay, but that would be a lie, and he had promised long ago, in an effort to make amends with his brother that he would do his best to not.

Sakura had been good for his brother. Good for their family. He enjoyed her presence and his adorable niece. They had pulled him out of his own darkness and allowed him to catch a glimpse of a future.

And now that future was threatened.

"Sarada-chan, I have some dango if you would like some? You can go play while I talk with your mother."

He worried if she were to hear such saddening news if it would cause her irreparable harm. He knew the price tragedy paid. The grief of war marked on his four year old eyes- the mess of life.

And now he felt like he was about to be engulfed. But he had to be strong. For them. For Sasuke- part of him knew eventually he would have to acknowledge it.

"Take a seat, Sakura." He went to get tea.

Sakura kneels by her daughter’s side and presses a kiss to her temple. “It won’t be long, sweetie. Itachi-san and I just have something to talk about.”

Hearing Itachi’s name, Sarada claps her little hands and exclaims, “Uncle Ita!” nodding happily.

Itachi smiles warmly, but his eyes are hollow, haunted. His niece represented everything he saw for the future. Every glimmering smile from her he wanted to preserve.

Itachi had only returned home in the middle of the night. After the final search, a desperate search at that. Still, he left his crows on lookout, many soaring as far in every direction as his chakra could will it. And that, in itself, was not enough. It drained him substantially.

The illness that ravaged Itachi was gone now, thanks to treatment from his homeland who, begrudgingly decided to spare him, but the effects were long-lasting. Gone were his days of the shinobi life, of being able to mold chakra beyond the occasional jutsu.

Itachi stares at Sakura, the ache in his chest that hadn't subsided since word of Sasuke's hawk returning with no letter and looking lost and confused.

Everyone went to search for answers, and no one turned up with anything substantial. It was maddening, terrifying, soul-crushing. Itachi blamed himself above all.

I should be out there. Not him.

"I used to..." he said, in such a low voice. "I used to stand in the rain when I wondered if he was out there." He used to grieve. "I somehow always felt certain that he was." He remembered Deidara's last stand, how the sky glowed from his final attack. How he worried for just a moment if his brother had the cunning to escape.

Itachi closed his eyes. He wrapped his hands around the warm cup of tea. "Sakura-san, I'm sorry."

His sister in law was crying and all he could mutter was a simple sorry? How does one even address this?

When the Otsutsuki threat had grown in the shadows, it was Sasuke who took charge. Besides, the rinnegan made him a target that if he were in Konoha for too long, someone was bound to use his family against him. Itachi had wanted to go with him, after all, he is an infamous missing nin. But his limitations were clear. If caught in battle, if he were forced to resort to chakra for defense, he might as well be dead.

"Protect them in my place," Sasuke had said. In that moment he poked his own elder brother's forehead, stunning the elder Uchiha into silence.

Forgive me, Sasuke... I... If I had known that you would—

"Mama, look!" Sarada cheers, holding up her giant bunny plush. "Cute!"

Sarada snapped Itachi out of his thoughts, over to her, and then back to Sakura. He shook his head.

Itachi's knuckles were white from his grip on the cup. "Sakura-san, I promise you. I will do everything in my power to look after you and Sarada..."

This much, he knew he could do. For his brother. For Sarada. For Sakura.

When Sasuke was first declared missing, search parties poured out of Konoha’s gates week after week after week. The best of the best. Friends, family, allies. They searched relentlessly for close to a year, until they were no longer searching with hopeful determination. Until only Itachi and Sakura remained. Until, they, too, were forced at some point by official orders to halt. To let go.

Until today.

Itachi ran a hand through his hair, a sigh escaping his lips. "Konoha can declare him dead..." The words leaving his lips left him feeling somewhat bitter. Konoha was supposed to be a refuge for his brother and his family. It's what Itachi had always wanted. "They can stop searching."

He never imagined the sense of betrayal he felt at Naruto declaring his brother dead. At first, Itachi had stormed Naruto's home, enraged and inconsolable. Naruto had been the one that promised him that he would bring Sasuke back to the right path. He had done such, but Sasuke was still someone Itachi thought Naruto would always be adamant about bringing back home.

He had said a few too harsh words to his old mentor from the anbu Kakashi. He had slandered the Hokage, he had threatened him to continue searching. He almost wished he hadn't destroyed Shisui's eye and could then evoke a command to ensure Sasuke's search would not come to an end without key evidence.

That bought them a year.

As painful as it is, Sakura knows that Naruto’s hands are tied. She had gotten angry, screamed, fought, and begged, to no avail. Konoha has lost hope in finding Sasuke—in recovering his remains. And the majority agreed that no more expenses are to be spent on such a fruitless mission. That two years was enough. That it is time to mourn, to move on, and to let go.

For a moment, the world around him freezes at her words. His jaw tightens, a lump forever trapped in his throat. There's something in her words that he wants to vehemently deny, to denounce, and yet there is something in her words that pulls him closer, unable to deny her request.

A part of him wants to confirm Sasuke's death. To know for certain. For his own selfish, grief-stricken benefit. He could utilize the Edo tensei, force a sorry soul into a sacrifice for his brother's soul. But to that end, in his irrational, desperate musings, he knows an Edo tensei confirms nothing. If Sasuke were not to be summoned then he could be sealed away in another state of death.

His tea has grown cold. The life of the shinobi was cruel and twisted. He had once wanted to end all fighting, to be Hokage himself.

Staring at her untouched teacup, Sakura nods along at Itachi, barely even aware of what he’s really saying. Drunk on the thought that Sarada, her precious little angel, doesn’t have to, never has to know. That Sarada may be shielded from tragedy was enough of a reprieve for Sakura’s soul. She nods along, head reeling, and heart empty. She would think of the consequences later.

Stunned, Itachi can only watch little Sarada for a moment. She looked so much like Sasuke and yet distinctly like Sakura. It was a painfully beautiful sight over these two years.

He knelt down to her, placing his hands on her arms. A gentle smile emerged from his lips, and his gaze softened. He would do anything to keep her this happy. No child this young should ever have to comprehend the enormity and utter tragedy of loss.

"That's up to your Mama to decide, Sarada-chan." He has a guest room he used as Sarada's home away from home on the nights he looked after her since Sasuke's disappearance. It could easily be shared between them, and knowing his sister-in-law, she likely did spend many nights cozied up next to her daughter, likely to keep herself sane.

A chuckle tumbles out of Sakura at her little daughter’s antics, silently thanking the universe that she is too small to understand.

“And we love you too. Always, my angel,” Sakura says, as easily as stating the most irrefutable fact.

She brings her gaze back up to Itachi’s and nods. “We’ll.. stay. For so long as you’ll have us.”

It’ll be good for her, she thinks. I’ll do anything to shield her from this world.

~~~ end of premise ~~~

to mend and defend, an itasaku fanfiction (ao3 | ffn)

always feels weird advertising my own fics, but my crazy talented wife offered to draw a cover for this one and 🥺💕 if you want to check out the fic, it's on both ao3 and ffn (though ao3 is the cleaner/more updated version) and I would so so appreciate it!!

I was commissioned by the sweet @birkastan2018 to do this homage for @the-copy-mistress ‘s fanfiction Dance With Me 

Go read!! 😎

Speaking of dancing… 💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻❣️

Me: I like [enemies/friends to lovers ship]

Anti: but they hate eachother/are just friends

I rest my case

Follow @kazekaze030 in Twitter.

Itasaku 🌸🍡

221211 | neimana [pixiv]  [Do not remove]

By: ずんぐり