Samsara

Part IV

Motherhood is everything and nothing like she imagined. Whatever feelings Shachi has for her husband utterly pale in comparison to the bewildering joy she experiences when her first child is placed in her arms.

Even Indra is unable to hide his amazement as he tentatively reaches out to place a hand on the infant's downy hair. There is nothing of the godlike warrior about him when the infant is passed to him. Exhausted from a long labour, Shachi can only watch him with their daughter and marvel. It occurs to her that perhaps he's never seen anything like this before.

For an intelligent man, he really did miss the basics, didn't he?

Unlike Sakura's usual commentary, there is a something bordering on amusement in her usual criticism as she watches the ancient demigod and his child. She has seen that soft expression before, after all, and quite recently. Sasuke may not have held their child yet, but the way he gazes at where it grows in her stomach is unquestionably reminiscent.

It's a relief to know that Indra is capable of such emotion, however far down it's buried.

The thought's barely registered when Indra looks up, eyes gleaming in the dim room.

"While I live, no harm will ever come to our children," he vows. But whereas that statement from anyone else would be the dutiful plea of a husband and new father, there is a sinister undertone in Indra's pledge. Both Shachi and Sakura can read the subtle, menacing threat and know that he would tear down the world to protect them.

Sakura shudders at this because she's seen firsthand what terrible things devotion like Indra's can cause.

Her dreams begin to take on that repetitive quality again, and the sense that she is watching time pass faster than normal makes her wake most mornings with a headache. She feels as though an entire life is being crammed into her head during her sleeping hours, and she has no choice but to hold on for the ride.

And just like that, the years pass and Shachi gives birth to five more healthy children. Strong sons and daughters that are her joy and Indra's pride, a sign to his followers that his teachings will continue across the generations. None of their children take after their father in looks, favouring her grey eyes and darker colouring – and none of them show signs of inheriting his Sharingan.

None of them can summon flames the way she can, either, which she knows her husband is disappointed about.

Shachi is initially anxious that their legitimacy might be questioned. However, from an early age, their ability to wield chakra without instruction, and their utter ease in learning their father's craft suggests different. With every passing season, though they don't spend much time with him, their temperaments all become similar to their father as well.

Her fears retreat to the back of her mind.

After so many years together, their relationship has settled into something that might be described as comfortable. The days of him fleeing their marriage bed after bringing them both to release are rare; either he allows himself to succumb to sleep by her side, or he will listen to her narrate the day's events. In the early years, all her tales relate to keeping their outfit running smoothly. Once the children are born, she uses this time to report every detail of their upbringing that he misses when he is busy guiding his disciples. His expression never changes – whether to smile or frown at the stories – but there is a relaxed air about him that she never notices at any other time.

At the times when she is pregnant, he refuses to have relations with her, either for fear of harming the child in her womb or because he is still trying to maintain the fiction that his interest in her is only for procreation. She suspects it's the latter because he only stops initiating intercourse when she informs him of her pregnancy or when her condition is so obvious that neither of them can deny it.