(Sasusaku w/ Sarada. Sorry this ones a little sad at the beginning. My mood lately has been affecting my writing...I'm still pretty happy with this one nonetheless.)
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He made sure to pay extra attention to her hands, so soft and delicate to the eye and touch and yet so easily capable of leveling an entire village if she so wished. Though Sasuke knew his wife well enough to know that she would never be able to do such a thing, it just wasn't in her nature to be cruel; she had to kind of a heart for such an evil act. The soft, damp sponge that was grasped firmly in his large hand scrubbed away slowly and gently at the non-existent grim on Sakura's thin fingers. His mismatched eyes lingering on the fourth of her left hand, on her ring finger and a soft smile twisted his thin lips upwards, though it was just barely visible to the naked eye. The visual reminder of his affections for his wife was wrapped tightly around her finger, the red stone that rested in the very center of the jewelry was forged from his very own chakra and it shone brightly as the afternoon sun bounced off its smooth and reflective surface.
His black and purple gaze focused once again on the rest of his wife's soft feminine features as he scanned her form with a critical eye; nevertheless, most of his attention was quickly drawn to her face. The long weeks of slumber in which she had succumbed to had done absolutely nothing to diminish her beauty, he thought as he brushed his fingertips lightly against one of her pale cheeks. Sakura's rosy pink hair had grown in length and was kept washed by none other than Sasuke himself. Although, when the occasion called for it her best friend's Ino or Hinata would step in and do it; that is only when Sasuke found himself unavailable to do the task. Even still, their young daughter would always make herself available to brush it afterwards. Sakura's pink lips were pulled into a soft smile. Even in her comatose state, his wife was smiling; a fact that always seemed to make his heart feel even a little bit better. That meant she wasn't in pain, even if he was (emotionally that is), and that's what Sasuke cared about the most. Kami, did he miss her. His heart began to ache as he paused in his actions to grasp one of her hands tightly within his own as the telltale stinging behind his irises indicating he was on the brink of yet another breakdown.
He missed her voice which would sweetly calling out to him whenever she was attempting to grab his attention.
Her contagious laughter which would occur most often whenever their daughter said something funny or whenever she was simply overwhelmed with unimaginable and unencumbered joy.
Her soft, sweet caresses as she placed her small hands delicately and lovingly against his cheeks.
Her bright, expressive green eyes...he knew that he missed them the most.
Shaking his head and blinking his dark eyes once, Sasuke resumed his current task of bathing his wife and dipped the sponge in the warm water basin before bringing it up to scrub at her arms next. Their daughter sat across from him on the other side of his wife's hospital bed, her onyx-colored eyes that were identical to his own were focused on her mother's sleeping face as a look of pure pain was written all over her small features. Wet and silent tears were leaking down her cheeks but Sasuke couldn't bring himself to comfort her for he had no words in mind that would be able to help heal a wound such as this. She sniffled softly as she whipped her damp cheeks with her gloved hands before her gaze moved up to meet his briefly. A sad smile forming on her pink lips and Sasuke watched as they slowly trembled; his daughter's emotions were threatening to overwhelm her. Sakura was in this vegetative state because she had saved their daughter from a fatal wound and Sarada was blaming herself entirely for her mother's current condition. It broke Sasuke's heart a little more to see the two most important women in his life like this; he felt helpless.
"Papa...," Sarada whispered, her sad gaze moving back to her mother's prone form before she reached out and grasped her hand within both of hers. "Will Mama...will she ever wake up?" Sasuke took a long, hard breath in through his nose before exhaling it slowly out of his mouth. His dark eyes shut tightly as he fought for the right words to say to their young child. What could he say in this situation...for nothing that came to mind would make it any better or any easier because he didn't truly know if Sakura would ever wake up. She had suffered serious injuries in that attack and even though Tsunade and her staff had done everything they could to save her...only time would tell if their efforts were in vain or not.
He glanced out the window as the sun came to its highest peak in the afternoon sky before he decided to speak his fears. He couldn't lie to his daughter; he had done enough of that in the past and he refused to do it now, especially in this situation. "I don't know Sarada. There really isn't a way to tell but I'm hopeful and you should be to that one day, Sakura will return to us." Sasuke watched his daughter's body slump in defeat and her small shoulders shook as she tried not to cry. His gaze softened slightly before he paced his rough fingertips gently onto the middle of his daughter's forehead, which startled the girl. She looked up at him with wide eyes that so reminded him of his wife's when they were younger...before he left for his redemption journey. He smiled softly at the memory. "Just have faith Sarada. Have faith and I'm sure Sakura will be fine. She just needs a little more time to find her way back to us that's all." That seemed to pacify his daughter somewhat and she stood up swiftly before leaning over the hospital bed to wrap her father in a slightly awkward embrace. When they parted, Sasuke's heart felt a little lighter as he brought the sponge to his wife's skin once more.
Faith. He tried to remind himself to just have faith.
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Two weeks later....
It took two more long weeks before Sakura finally regained full consciousness and the small family of three basked in their good fortune as they sat together silently on the hospital bed; embracing each other tightly. The small ticking of the rooms wall clock was the only sound heard apart from the small cries of joy emitting from the joyous family. When they finally released each other, Sasuke grasped his wife's face gently within his large hand; bringing her watery gaze up to meet his own. "Don't ever do that to me again Sakura," his whispered, his demand was gentle but the tone he used was firm as he didn't try to hide his emotions from her. He showed her just how much he had truly feared he would never see her awake again and it broke her heart that she was the cause of his distress. "Do you understand me?" Sakura nodded her head slowly, a soft smile working its way onto her plump lips as she held his strong gaze, her small hands coming up to grasp his cheeks affectionately.
"I won't...," she whispered as she brought her forehead to meet his. "I promise, Anata."