Mornings

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The light seeping through the venetian blinds caused Sasuke to slowly open his eyes. On most days, the sudden welcoming of the sun's heat and rays after a good night's rest would normally irritate him and give him a struggle to regain a good mood throughout the day. But today was one of those days that he's not on a longterm mission in any of the hidden villages. He's sleeping with the comfort of a mattress and not in a forest or a cave. He's in his safe place. He's in his home.

Groggily, he tried to sit up, only to lie back down on the bed again when he noticed some weight on his chest and caught sight of pink tresses sprawled on it. He then realized that his wife was beside him, nestled in his arm with her head resting on his chest peacefully, and her arm just right above his torso. He smiled.

Waking up in a home with any loved ones, let alone waking up next to someone just like this, wasn't something Sasuke had been accustomed to ever since the slaughter of his entire clan. Yet, Sakura's presence beside him was an impactful reminder that he's not alone anymore unlike pretty much majority of his life. Just the fact that his former teammate and childhood lover is present in his life even after everything he had gone through brought a drastic change to his lifestyle as the "lone Uchiha survivor", for finally, there's someone that he could go home to, someone eagerly supporting him on his decisions, someone lovingly correcting him when he makes the wrong ones, someone comforting him in his physical and emotional pains, and someone with whom he could rebuild the Uchiha clan out of love with.

Staring at her, it dawned on him how all his loneliness for how many years due to the absence of a family had gone down the drain; and truly, in her presence, there is fullness of joy that he has never had before.

Sasuke took the liberty of gently stroking his wife's pink locks, careful not to wake her up knowing that she had a tiresome shift in the hospital the night before. He rolled his eyes at the memory of hearing young girls bully Sakura about how weird her hair color was back when they were kids. Sure, having hair that rivals the color and beauty of Cherry Blossoms was peculiar, but to him, it was peculiar in a good way, just like how everything was suddenly extraordinary ever since Sakura came into his solitary life when they were genins in Team 7.

Furthermore, when he finally returned her feelings for him and eventually asked her to marry him, he learned to appreciate how all things were made new in this new life he's surrendered to. It's so much unlike what was usual in his life, yet it was as special as his wife's pink hair. For once, there was affirmation that he's always desired from his father, tenderness comparable with that of his mother, and relentless love he had never experienced since the death of his brother – all, and so much more, encompassed in just a single person. Even though he was robbed of the bliss of having a family for so many years, Sakura was the proof that one could start anew, and that a once pitch-black life could still be filled with all the colors of the spectrum.

Stirring in her sleep, Sakura tightened her embrace to her husband. Sasuke couldn't help but be amused. Even in his wife's sleep, the warmth of her touch was inevitable. Hers were the only close physical contacts he tolerated and eventually got used to since they were still genins. With his common reticence to people when they try to be close to him, it was kind of an unspoken rule that if you aren't Sakura, you have to back off.

Sasuke subsequently pulled his wife closer while a mental image of that time he had an unprecedented rampage due to his curse seal appeared in his mind. It was Sakura's sudden embrace to his uncontrollably enraged self that made his almost too frozen heart due to hatred and desire for revenge melt in place, slowly causing the curse mark to diminish in the process. With that bittersweet memory, he realized how her every touch affects him like a consuming fire that devours every negative thing inside him. And it was through it that he knew, although it was quite too impossible to believe back then, that he still had a tinge of hope for salvation because someone was willing to take his pain away from him even though she could be hurt in the process.

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