Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, I'd take all my money and elope with my girlfriend.

This musing is about Sasuke and Sakura's relationship (well, what I imagined it could become).

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We lie in bed, our torrid liaison having worn our bodies to the point of exhaustion. The heavy scent of after-sex lingers thickly in the air above us, but she doesn't mind. She's curled under my arm, her head resting on my chest, my arm tucked over her shoulder. She doesn't mind horribly how wrong and immoral this is. She hardly notices the disdainful glances people shoot her way when she walks down the street, she ignores the whispers that linger all around her. I suppose that's one reason I love her- she doesn't care what other people think.

She doesn't care that I may walk away and never come back- she's grown to accept that, more or less. She knows that I may never ask her to marry me. She knows a hell of a lot about me, for that matter. I suppose collecting information and watching me for the past eight years has really taught her something.

She long ago gave up the selfish adoration that had consumed her wholly. When she finally realized that she would never get my attention like that, she stopped. I think she was around fifteen when she caught on to that.

Yet she got me anyway. Once she stopped doting over me, I realized that she was more than just a teammate. I didn't accept that fact until I was seventeen, when I finally gave in and asked her to go out with me.

Surprisingly, Naruto was okay with that. He just smiled and wished us well when he saw us holding hands. I was quite amazed, my rival gave his favorite girl up to me. I think he's chasing that Hyuga girl now, anyway, so he can't have been too traumatized.

But Sakura knows that I took her home with me not because I was feeling amorous and needy, a slave to her graces, but because of the sense of duty that hovered over me. She knew that, if I could never kill my brother, that I would need to restore my clan. I think she's accepted it.

"As long as I can be with you, Sasuke. I never stopped loving you, and I never will." That was her exact reply when, after our first tiring bout of sex, I told her that I may not be around for long.

I guess that she really does love me if she is willing to give her life up to have my children. I suppose she really does love me if she doesn't care that people are calling her a little slut behind her back just because she sleeps with me every other week- it really isn't that bad. She doesn't seem to mind that I'm only with her because of a deep-rooted concern for her safety as my only hopes of restoration. She doesn't mind that I'm only out to get her pregnant. She's that perfect.

She shifts under my arm now, her thickly-lashed emerald eyes drifting sleepily up to my softened, onyx orbs. I think that she looks best now, after she's given herself wholly to me-- the way she still faintly blushes, the look that tells me that I wore her out (and I do think that with some masculine pride), the motions of her still-nude body subdued by her exhaustion, and the way her tousled hair falls lazily over my pale skin and the pillows.

"Sasuke?" she coos, she voice slightly slurred by her catnap. I shift my gaze down to her. "You're still awake?"

"Yeah," I mutter in response. I usually pass right out after such an evening, but I guess that I'm feeling restless recently. I'm a jounin now, and if I'm going to ditch-- I have to do it soon. I'm one of the Hokage's toughest little servants, so it would take half an ANBU team to bring me down.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asks me, small flickering of concern in her eyes. God, I love the way she cares. I shift my other arm over towards her, placing my hand beneath her chin and my thumb on her bottom lip.

"I'll be alright," I reply warm,, letting a smile etch itself along my features. I lean down and gently kiss her lips, softly enough to suit the tired mood. "I'll go to sleep soon, I promise." That must have been good enough for her, because she nuzzles herself back down and closed her eyes, her breaths soft and relaxed. I sigh slightly and lean back, my head hitting the headboard of my bed with a dull thud.

What did I do to deserve this? How could I find such an angel as the one next to me? Hyuga Hinata was too timid, and never really seemed to like me at all. Tenten is a real bitchy kind of girl, just too snippety for my likings. Besides, I think her and Hyuga Neji are engaged, but I'm not too sure. I also heard that Neji is having a fling with a chuunin two years younger than him, but I don't know. I've also learned recently that Rock Lee found some girl that's sixteen and is dating her currently. He must like younger girls, but... five years younger? He's a real freak. Don't even get me started on that Yamanaka Ino girl- she just a downright dog. I guess that Nara Shikamaru's genius falls short when it comes to women, too, or else he would have gone after my girl.

My girl... I like the sound of that. Yes, this woman in my arms, at the perfect age of twenty, is my girl. She'll always be my girl.

I really don't want to succumb to sleep and leave this beautiful atmosphere so soon, but I suppose that I'll have to. My brain won't let my eyes stay open anymore.

Sakura-chan, I don't want to leave this heaven so soon, but I'll join you in dreamland. Whether I'm here or not when you wake up in the morning, know that I will always care for you and be with you in your dreams. If I'm not here when you wake up, when you feel a tingling in the depths of your body, when your size triples with the weight of my offspring, know this...

It doesn't matter what people say or think about us, it doesn't matter how poor of a ninja you may let yourself become, it doesn't matter how much weight you gain. I love you, and even if I can only see you in our dreams that intertwine... It will be heaven.

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