A/N: Follow up from challenge #16 on Tomato Kiss. Will contain more chapters once I have enough time.
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There's a sudden yell followed by crying and it takes all of Sakura's willpower not to stomp over to see what the problem is. She leans a bit more to the sink, shifting from one foot to the other, anything to alleviate the pain she feels from the growing burden and the extra weight that pulls her aching muscles. She sighs; stopping in mid wash as the tug on her skirt becomes more insisting and the sniffles become louder.
"What's wrong, dear?" She asks, never looking down to see the toddler and her little mouth working.
"Mummy," She whines and Sakura decides to wash another dish hoping the child will run off and play in her room.
"Nii-chan is meanie. I have a boo-boo. See?" She points to the small bruise on her arm and Sakura, though frustrated and worn from the day, decides to amuse the child by patting her head while murmuring sweet nothings and sending her off to the nanny that patiently waits by the door. Once they leave she relaxes, the tense muscles in her shoulders lax and she sits on the kitchen stool to stare out the window.
The sakura trees are in bloom, beautiful and magnificent as the bright blossoms sway with the powerful wind. Looking closely Sakura spots her oldest child reading a book while the little one lingers about forgetting the bruise he has caused. The toddler laughs, twirling as the blossoms fall on her dark hair while the older sibling just smiles softly getting up to pick her up and setting her on his shoulders as if apologizing for earlier.
Sakura keeps watching her children and realizes she can't find the heart to care anymore.
A glass cup breaks when her thoughts uncoil and she notices the shards are somehow impaled in her hand. The blood pools in her palm and trickles down her arm. Sakura narrows her eyes, trying to remember when she picked the cup up, but dismisses it quickly to stare at the flow of crimson.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Eyes glaze over as pain and discomfort are forgotten. The impatient movement in her womb slows to dull thumping, and silently she is thankful she no longer has to think of the unborn child. There's a sudden voice in the deepest corners of her mind, quiet and soft, urging her to use the sharp edge of the shard to slid across her throat.
It is so easy.
It urges.
It won't hurt. It won't ever hurt again…
It finishes softly almost in a motherly whisper.
"Sakura?" The strong voice startles her and immediately she looks up to find Sasuke staring at her with a knowing frown. She swallows hard feeling guilty (though knowing she shouldn't), watching him as he moves to stand in front of her and kneeling to inspect the injury. He says nothing, gently taking the shards of glass from her bloodied grip. His mouth moves and Sakura can't understand what he is saying amidst the buzzing in her head.
He places a soft kiss on her temple, strong fingers in her mussed hair gently stroking her scalp. She doesn't move as his hand trails down to stroke the swell of her belly, stopping several times to put pressure against her skin silently encouraging the unborn child to move. Sasuke succeeds after a while and Sakura wants to heave her lunch as his rich chuckles fill the kitchen while the thumps within her increase in strength.
She is set upon her aching feet with his arms around her frame pulling her as close as possible. The stinging from her feet increase (they're swollen she can swear without looking down) as well as the comforting message on her lower back (it hurts and she aches everywhere and she wants nothing more than to rest…to sleep and never wake up).
Sasuke says nothing only breaths against her skin as his hot breath tickles the shell of her ear. He kisses the corner of her lips.
She prays he didn't feel her flinch.
But she knows she fools herself when he grips her chin, forcing her to watch the red of his eyes become bright blood as the black spins over and over until she can no longer remember.
Sakura wakes up the next morning feeling empty.