Sasuke had felt empty with no true purpose. There was no goal seeing as at the time he believed that being an Uchiha was a sickness; it was a disease that he had no business spreading and he was fine with being the last of his kind. There was nothing left to live for. Nowhere to go, no vengeance to seek. His life's goal had been completed and in its wake was bareness. The truth of the matter was that his goal had given him no true closure, simply made him hollow and lifeless.

And then Hinata became pregnant.

He went along with it simply because of who she was. His thoughts on the matter certainly hadn't changed and he figured he could terminate it if it looked like anything was out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, Hinata had done something to him. Something that irrevocably changed him; that made him believe that this wasn't a mistake, that this was fate. It happened with Hinata for a reason and suddenly he wasn't averse to a child... hell, even triplets didn't deter him from the thought.

And he was... happy.

"I'm sorry," Tsunade was saying. It rang in his ears and something in his heart constricted painfully. "It's not uncommon, especially with more than one fetus. The good news is that the other two are fine and I don't see any danger."

Tsunade went on to explain the complications that might have risen with triplets. Her voice clinical and matter of fact despite Hinata's tears that were over flowing. Tsunade forged on because they needed to hear it and because there were still two other lives in her stomach. What seemed like an eternity later, Tsunade handed him a set of papers that he vaguely realized were instructions on keeping Hinata healthy, before she exited the room with a solemn face.

"Its... okay," Sasuke finally said, throat dry. It wasn't and he hated the lie that managed to make its way out of his mouth. He cleared his throat and tried again. "You might have died during childbirth and now the risks have lowered greatly."

"I-I still lost a baby... a son or daughter that we'll n-never get to meet," Hinata said, voice strangely composed, but unfeeling despite the tears that were running down her face.

"We can have more... if you really wanted," Sasuke murmured, his hand caressing her own that laid on her protruding stomach. It felt like such a useless gesture, but he found it comforting all the same.

"What?" Hinata questioned, surprise appearing on her face.

"I..." He swallowed whatever he was going to say, unsure of whatever it was. Contemplative, he resolved to not promise anything he couldn't keep nor offer anything he truly couldn't give. "If you were to ever want... more, in the future, I could perhaps give it to you." He wasn't just talking about children anymore and he hoped that wasn't lost on her because he didn't think that this was an offer than he would give more than once, however cryptic it was.

From the rise of her eyebrows, he figured that she did in fact understand. And then a watery smile appeared and he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Hinata didn't look like all was lost anymore and Sasuke figured that his suggestion wasn't stupid after all.

It was a somber night. A loss was still a loss, but now he knew at the very least that Hinata would recover from this. She was still sad, but she was coping with it now, instead of remaining in an unhealthy detached manner. He'd done it enough himself to know that it solved nothing and the longer you remained in the void, the harder it was to get out of it.

Naruto hadn't let him and he wouldn't let Hinata.

"Y-you've left the other women haven't you?" Hinata suddenly questioned.

Sasuke froze. It wasn't often that he was caught off guard, but he was honestly struck speechless. That was the last thing he expected out of Hinata's mouth. Especially tonight. After a moment, Sasuke unable to find his voice, nodded his head in agreement.

"We're having kids… w-we're… I'm becoming an U-uchiha." Hinata took a breath and looked him in the eye. "This is it. Y-you and me."

Sasuke blinked and stood, kneeling beside her so they could look each other in the eyes. He had to respect the sneak attack. Sasuke was in no condition to deny her anything at the moment, much less the truth.

"You and Me. Partners." Sasuke made sure to hold the moment and she must have seen the sincerity in his eyes because Hinata nodded in agreement, before closing the distance and meeting his lips with her own. Sasuke wasn't sure what happened to his heart, but it stopped before it surged with a rush of adrenaline, going double time. His hand cradled her head, fingers threading through her hair before they had to break for breath. Sasuke continued downwards to the rare exposure of skin, teeth nipping at her collar bone, hearing the hitch in her breath.

It was the catalyst. Food could be reheated later, they needed to do this now. Sasuke picked her up from her seat and headed for the bedroom.

Do you ever just want to cringe at what you wrote nearly ten years ago? Except I almost lost everything since before this account was made and it made me want to finish my WIP. Nostalgia or not it's still a disaster of a story that, though I'm willing to finish it, I refuse to go back and edit it. It's also interesting to see the progress of my writing over the years. Whatever. Ignore me.