𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐈𝐑𝐄 | sasuke uchiha

Anguish

"Tera?"

I was jolted out of my sleep as I vaguely heard someone calling my name in the darkness, and frowned as I tried to make sense of what was happening. I could feel Ayumi's hand in my mouth as she lay sprawled out across the pillows and myself, and heard a chuckle as it was slowly removed from my being.

I squinted as I attempted to discern whether or not I was in a dream, but as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could just make out the silhouette of the person standing beside me.

"Sa... suke?" I yawned, still unable to function this early in the morning. The Uchiha chuckled and leaned over to move Ayumi aside, before nudging for me to roll over and make space for him.

"I'm home," he said softly, easing his way onto the bed and lying so that he was facing me and Ayumi. Still in a daze, all I managed was a small smile as he cuddled up into my side, resting his head near my shoulder as he held onto me like his life depended on it.

"Nice... would you like fries with that...?"

I fell asleep just as quickly as I had woken up, too tired to even string together a coherent sentence.

***

"Mummy... mummy!"

I groaned and rolled over as I felt Ayumi leaning on me, shaking me with her tiny hands in an attempt to wake me up. However, I was prevented from rolling off the bed entirely by a mysterious mass, and let out an even louder groan as I groggily opened my eyes.

"H- EH?! SASUKE?!"

My voice was a small scream as I was fully brought to my senses and sat up, covering my mouth with both hands as I regarded the sleeping figure beside me. There was no mistaking his messy black hair, and toned physique- there was Sasuke, right there. Right there. Lying shirtless, as if he had been there the entire night.

Sasuke frowned at the disruptive sound of my voice, and opened one eye to see what all the noise was about.

"... hn..?"

My brow furrowed as I closed my eyes and rubbed them, wondering if this was just a dream.

"Eh? Is that really you?!" I leaned forward and poked him repeatedly in the side, just to make sure he was tangible and not a figment of my imagination.

"Of course..." he mumbled in an annoyed tone, reaching over and grabbing my pillow. Not bothering to explain himself to me, he stuffed the pillow over his head and went back to sleep, while I looked over at Ayumi with an incredulous look on my face.

"Well... your father's back," I said to her, even as she whined and pulled my arm to get my attention.

"I'm hungry," she whined, pulling at me to follow her out of the bed and towards the kitchen area. I sighed and reluctantly followed her, peering over Shisui's cot as I walked past. Thankfully, he was still out, meaning it was one less mouth for me to deal with while I was still in the process of waking up.

"Up we go," I said gently, lifting Ayumi up and placing her on a seat at the dining table as I walked over to the cupboards. "Cereal, Ayumi?"

Ayumi beamed and nodded at me vigorously, earning a chuckle.

"I'm so glad you enjoy the simple things," I sighed as I pulled out her special bowl and spoon, reminiscing on the children back at the orphanage who always had the most outrageous demands for breakfast. I want candy! I want chocolate cake and ice cream and apple pie! I want three thousand blueberry pancakes! Don't get me wrong, every other day I would make Ayumi something hot for breakfast, maybe eggs and bacon, or porridge, or pancakes, or whatever else I could get my hands on. But it doesn't hurt to have cereal too, you know.