and the world is born anew.
A/N: So basically I was writing a whole thing about this headcanon (started it shortly before i even posted the headcanon) but then @sasusake also had to grow inspired and write her own little thing about it and it was so PERFECT that I couldn’t write that part over. I wanted to just write my own little thing to relate to her own. AND HERE WE ARE. So the first scene is entirely me, but that second one is entirely @sasusake. :’) HAPPY HOLIDAYs GUYS.
It wasn’t something he ever thought he would care about.
New Years. The time of cheer and celebration, of well-wishes and new starts, where families long grown apart came together to love and cherish one another in the spirit of a new beginning.
A time that did not belong to a teenage, orphaned boy brimming with rage, consumed by the darkness of his past and set out on the path of revenge.
Sasuke had never cared about the holidays. Even when Team Seven had made themselves a second family, for the brief moment he’d allowed them to be, the time of New Years had never quite brought him any meaning. They’d only reminded him of a past he could never have again, one that always had his throat tightening up: his mother’s gentle smile flashing through Sakura’s soft, sun-bright grin as she handed him his end-of-year present, Itachi’s kind chuckle resonating within Naruto’s bright laughter as he stuck their homemade shimekazari to the entrance of their sensei’s household, the touch of his father’s hand fused with Kakashi’s as he ruffled his hair while they watched the first sunrise of a new period.
This was the first year since the massacre of his clan where the season had ever brought him a sense of peace.
“Oof,” Sakura exclaimed, as she moved to sit at his side. Her hand cupped the positively gorgeous swell of her belly, and she smiled, rubbing softly. “She sure is getting heavier to carry these days,” she said, throwing him a teasing glance.
The sight of those crinkling eyes almost had him smiling, too. The pregnancy really made her glow, today, he couldn’t help but to think. His wife was so beautiful like this.
“You all right?” he asked, shifting his lone hand over her own to cradle the weight of their child. He felt his eyes soften as his wife giggled and leaned against his bad shoulder, the prettiest grin to her lips.
“Oh, I’m perfect. Everything’s absolutely perfect.”
His mouth tugged at the corner a little, thumb caressing the skin of her hand. Chest warm, he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her hair. “Hm. Good,” he murmured, contented with himself.
(this was the life he never imagined he could have, filled with so much bliss and hope and love—something that seemed so unattainable, once.)
Thin fingers reached to intertwine with his own, still pressing lovingly to her rounded stomach, and he sighed, long and quiet. His eyes slipped closed with the serenity of the moment.
“It’s almost midnight,” Sakura murmured, then, her smile transparent in her voice. He let his eyes flutter open once more just to see it. “The fireworks will start soon, won’t they? Maybe we should start heading out there.”
Humming, Sasuke merely nodded, before letting his gaze fall to her ankles, observing how puffy they were. “Can you walk there by yourself?” he asked, honest in his query. After all, they had walked quite the distance today.
His wife, however, seemed quite surprised instead, brows shooting up high. Then, as she noticed where his eyes were set, she burst into laughter. “I’m fine, I swear! Anata, if you worry about me now, I wonder how intolerable you’ll be when we’ll be trying to last for the first sunrise.”
Sasuke made a small huff in response, lips quirking lightly again, before moving his hand swiftly to tap two fingers to her forehead. “Just trying to make sure my wife is comfortable, that’s all,” he said, his tone bordering on playful.
Sakura only smiled wider at that, green eyes gleaming so devotedly at him. It made his heart skip a beat, sometimes, when he saw how deeply this woman really loved him.
(—and how happy he made her.)
“Come on,” he mumbled, letting his fingers fall away softly. Pushing himself to his feet, he turned to face her once more, and extended a hand. “Let’s get going.”
Shaking her head at him, his wife simply grinned and accepted his offered help, allowing him pull her safely to her feet as she cupped the swell of her stomach and patted it gently, breathing out another soft exclamation at the weight. Sasuke found himself smiling faintly at the sight, reaching for the thick blanket he’d kept near the makeshift bench for precisely this moment, throwing it over his bad shoulder as he touched his hand to Sakura’s back and started their trek towards the sloped hill overlooking the small village.
“Hey, Sasuke-kun,” his wife called as they finally settled on the grass, wrapped in a wholesome warmth and watching the town scintillating with life.
“When the fireworks are done,” she started, smiling softly—but never looking away from the gleaming lights, “we’ll be heading out to that temple we saw coming in, right? To offer our prayers and wishes for the new year?”
His features softened. He moved to press his lips to her hair lingeringly. “If you’re not too tired…” he murmured.
She turned at him then, and smiled near blindingly, her green, green eyes a thousand times more lovely than the twinkling view below them.
(gods, he hoped their child would end up with eyes as beautiful as hers.)
“Of course I’m not too tired. We took a nap this afternoon just to keep up with the tradition like everyone else, remember?”
“Right,” he said, smiling faintly once more. “We’ll head there after the fireworks, then.”
As if on cue, the sound of one taking off tore through the air, capturing their attentions; with wonderment, their gazes shifted towards the dark sky, catching the path of a shimmering trail, before it disappeared for a split moment and exploded in glittery embers, making Sakura gasp. She leaned against him in her delight, one hand drifting lovingly over her pregnant belly, while the other sought out his own. Sasuke couldn’t help but to sigh at this, lacing their fingers together as the show of colorful sparkling bursts continued, commemorating the start of something new.
The sunrise slowly greets them, in beautiful shades of orange and pink that spill across the sky, awakening the world to a new year. What residual warmth it lends to the chilly air reminds Sasuke that, in just a few months, he’ll get to feel the breath of his child for the first time. This year, his clan will begin anew. He wonders, fondly, if the child’s hair will be as pink as its mother’s; as pink as the light that breaks through the scattered white clouds; as pink as the lips smiling sweetly at him.
“What are you thinking about, Sasuke-kun?”
He looks down at her belly, visible just beneath her cloak, and imagines their child to be warm and safe – and happy? He hopes so. Sakura makes him feel happy, and warm, and safe.
(She keeps him safe from his demons. Safe from himself.)
“I’m grateful,” he says. He rests his hand on her belly and watches her eyes wrinkle with joy and her cheeks blossom. She glows – more than the rising sun, more than the bursting sky, she glows with life – and he counts his blessings one by one; the image forever branded into his memory.
“Hmm… You’re taking a picture.” Sakura holds one hand up to his face, runs it across his chin. Her thumb traces the edge of his lips just as he leans in for a kiss, two smiles becoming one. Their child flutters against his palm; flutters inside his chest, inside his very soul, this product of their love and ode to his salvation.
He promises, before the sun and the mountains and the temples, before the sky and the trees and the clouds; he promises he’ll always protect them, and cherish the feelings connected in their hearts.
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