Sacrifices for Peace

Interlude VI: Sakura Haruno / Sakura Uchiha

There were times that Mikoto had really worried about her children. Of course, she was constantly worried about Sasuke. He was out in the world, lost physically and mentally to her. She ached for him like nothing she'd ever known before, and there was a knot of emotion in her heart that never faded and would never fade until she saw him safe and sound and in her arms again.

Itachi was different. He'd always been different. Always so smart, so distant, so very Itachi-like. She'd been worried about him until Sasuke was born, worried that he wouldn't be able to connect with people properly. Having a little brother changed Itachi, and she was glad of it. Shisui was good for Itachi too. He brought out a different side to her son, a more playful side to him that she rarely saw.

After meeting Naruto and Sakura, her worries for Sasuke to make friends had lessened. Her worries for him to have a place to belong and come home too also lessened.

But Mikoto was happy for Sakura to be in both her son's lives, her life, and her husband's life. Sakura was something new and wonderful in her family. Aside from herself, her boys never experienced the subtle influence of a female presence in life. A girl like Sakura, who was sincere, strong-willed, effeminate, compassionate, and with the potential to become a woman without equal.

Fugaku, at one time, had confessed he'd thought he might've liked a daughter. Both of them were glad they had their boys, but Mikoto had secretly wanted a girl too. It was partly why she had encouraged Sakura to stay close to the family. She knew that Sakura had feelings for Sasuke, and that meant she was curious about the family. It was easy to influence the young girl to stick close. It worked out better than she'd hoped.

Sakura was vibrant and lively. She reminded Mikoto of Kushina in a lot of ways. It made her smile to see and hear her argue with Naruto. She wasn't related to the Uzumaki in any way, and there was no blood relation, but Sakura was almost like a piece of his mother, and that made Mikoto happy. She was sure Kushina would be too.

For Itachi, Sakura was colour and distraction. She didn't know it, but all her efforts to get closer to Itachi were wasted, and only served to entertain him. He accepted her far more quickly than she knew; it only took a few days before Mikoto had caught him smiling fondly at her when she wasn't looking. She knew he had been hiding a lot from her and his father about how he was tired and stressed, and after Sasuke left, he'd become withdrawn. Sakura brought him back - with Shisui's help. It might have been Mikoto's subtle suggestion to seek the older Uchiha out.

It took a little longer for Fugaku to see Sakura. Mikoto knew that her husband was under immense amounts of pressure, he simply didn't have time to look at her properly. But when she entered his vision - as a girl who made his son smile again, as a girl whose name seemed to be known to every Uchiha in the compound, who talked to all his officers on the street, who he heard rumours about every day for her conduct and what she said about the clan - he took notice.

Sasuke didn't know it, but in many ways, he took after his father. Itachi was often seen as the quiet one because he wasn't as outspoken or emotive as Sasuke, but the truth was that Itachi was far more attuned and honest with himself than his brother, and as he grew older, he became more talkative and connected with others more deeply.

Sasuke kept his true feelings close to the chest. He spoke harshly to hide it, he remained silent to keep it locked away. He was very much like his father in that respect. Fugaku showed his pride and growing love for Sakura in non-verbal ways, and often only to Mikoto, so the poor girl had no idea at all.

He asked Mikoto to make sure she was resting enough, she looked tired. He asked Mikoto to inform him of the days she was coming for dinner, so he'd be home from work on time to be there. He told Itachi to make sure he was training her properly, but not pushing too hard since she had a lot of work to do at the hospital and with the Hokage. When any of the Uchiha were hurt or injured, he always recommended they go to Sakura for treatment.

It made Mikoto smile to see her husband and son worry about her when she was out on missions.

Within two years, Sakura Haruno had become another member of her family.

She wondered what would happen when Sasuke returned, dragged back to his senses by Sakura and Naruto - she knew they would do it one day, somehow. How would he react learning that she had become so close and important to them all in his absence? She had a suspicion that although Sasuke had been pretty focused on training and his ambitions, he'd preferred Sakura to any other girl he met.

Or would Itachi grow attached to her, the older and more beautiful she grew? It would be reasonable, she thought. Sakura was the first girl he'd grown close to since Izumi. She was too young now, but maybe when she was seventeen or eighteen, he'd start to see her as a woman.

Mikoto smiled to herself as she sat across from Fugaku at his desk at the station.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked her, frowning.

Her smiled broadened slightly.

"I was wondering about Sakura," she answered.

"And?"

Mikoto shrugged, still smiling.

"I was thinking that Sakura Uchiha sounds like a fine name."

Fugaku regarded her a moment before his face softened.

"And which of our sons would you pair her off with?" He asked, his voice lighter than it had been all day.

Mikoto laughed. "I don't think she'd appreciate being paired off with anyone," she said. "She's already taking after Tsunade with her temper, and she's far too like Kushina already to be told what to do."

Fugaku gave a nod of agreement and a knowing look, clearly remembering Kushina from years earlier.

"She's too young for you to be thinking of her being married," Fugaku said after a moment, frowning slightly.

Mikoto let out a wistful sigh, stood and walked around the desk to kiss her husband on the temple.

"But Sakura Uchiha... she would truly be our daughter then," she said. It was time for her to leave. "I'll see you at home for dinner."

Fugaku nodded. Mikoto was at the door when he called out for her.

"She doesn't need the name to be a daughter," he said to her, the ghost of a smile on his lips.

Mikoto looked at her husband with affection and then left, walking through the station and greeting those she walked past with a pleasant smile.

He was right, of course. There was no mistake in her heart that Sakura was the closest thing to a daughter she had.

But the name wouldn't hurt either.