Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Plot elements borrow heavily from Amanda Quick's 'Seduction'.

Author's Notes: So this took a while...Thank you so much obsessed dreamer for being a soundboard. Lol.

Seduction

Chapter Fifteen

She felt the emptiness beside her before she even opened her eyes. The space Sasuke left in their bed was ice cold and she buried herself further under the cocoon of blankets like a child, as if it would protect her from the uncertainty in her heart.

Sakura had told her husband the previous night that if he wished to drop the issue and just forget about everything she uncovered regarding Patrice's death that she would comply. But her words were said in a moment of desperation, her thoughts singularly devoted to ensuring her husband's comfort and happiness. The light of day reminded her that it wasn't just about Sasuke. It was about Patrice. It was about Sayuri. It was about justice.

A soft rapping on the door brought her out of her reverie.

"Are you awake?" Sasuke's deep voice penetrated the thick oak.

She nodded before smacking her palm against her large forehead after realizing he couldn't see her. "I am."

She could feel more than hear him sigh. Even without seeing him, she could tell that he'd had a restless night. He sounded tired, agitated and…worried.

"I took the liberty of calling the hospital for you. I think we'll both need the day off today."

He didn't need to explain any further. Sasuke wasn't the type of man to dawdle and let something stew for far longer than necessary.

"I'll meet you in the study," he paused, as if second-guessing himself. "Don't worry too much."

Sakura smiled at her husband's words. He knew her far too well.

In the space of an hour Sakura had taken a bath, brushed her teeth and put on a loose pair of pants and an old t-shirt. She'd contemplated putting on a business suit before berating herself for her silly thoughts. Well, silly thoughts were far more comforting than the matters at hand.

She went down the stairs and walked towards their shared study, noting that the house was bereft of any household staff. She was sure it was Sasuke's doing.

She knocked twice on the oak door before twisting the knob and entering. Sasuke had his back to her, facing the window with a distant expression on his face and a thick manila folder in his left hand.

He turned to her and smiled awkwardly. There was a pinch in her heart in the way he moved with uncertainty towards the red couch and motioned for her to sit beside him. Since they have rekindled their connection, it had been tumultuous, hostile, comedic and affectionate…but it was never awkward. The last thing she wanted was for Sasuke to be a stranger.

She took her place beside him, the foot long gap between them felt like a mile. Sakura eyed the folder he held tightly in his hand, initially believing it to be Patrice Uchiha's file, which she had given him last night. She swallowed a gasp when she realized that it instead had her maiden name on it.

Sasuke gingerly handed the folder to her. "Before we'd gotten married, while I was still courting you, I had asked someone from the clan to gather some information about you."

Sakura could tell he was nervous by the way his jaw shook as he spoke. She leafed through the file, easily recognizing the information on herself. She stopped at the image of her sister, deep green eyes looking back at her. The photograph was taken when she had graduated from beginner's school. Her mother made such a fuss over Sayuri's braids.

Sasuke's words flitted to her ears. "I trust you inherently, my only purpose was to…help advance our courtship. I was having a difficult time wooing you—"

"Stop."

Sasuke clamped his mouth shut at her interruption.

Sakura smirked at him. "Full disclosure, you were not the first man who tried to woo me and I sure as hell did my research before paying them any sort of attention. Of course I didn't have any clan underlings at my disposal so I had to do it myself."

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. "You're not angry?"

She snorted as if it was the dumbest question in the world. "No. It's just the smart thing to do. You never know which ones are the good guys and which ones will push their penis against your knee during dinner."

"Does that happen often?" he asked, sounding scandalized.

"Oh, once is too often."

He snickered softly and she almost didn't want to continue the conversation, and just talk about her dating mishaps and maybe Ino, because that was always entertaining.

But they had to, they had to. Things you have to do are always the hardest.

"Is there a reason you're telling me this now?" Part of her already knew the answer but she had to hear it from him.

Sasuke took a deep breath as he ran his hand through his inky locks. "You're a scientist," he said matter-of-factly. "You're not easily swayed by the occult. I don't believe it's just dreams. There has to be a larger reason why you're so invested in Patrice's death. And the answer's in that file."

"Why does it matter?"

Sasuke reached for her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. "Because if we're going to do this, you have to trust me completely."

Sakura turned away from his naked gaze. She had carried the burden in her heart alone for so long that she had developed a sadistic need to keep the darkness to herself.

Sasuke kneeled before her and kissed the tightened knuckles of her closed fists as if begging her to open up to him. "You and me, Sakura. Together, remember?"

Her lips quirked upwards as her eyes welled up with tears. "I promised that, didn't I?"

"You did, and I'm holding you to your promise."

She sniffled. "You could find out you know. You're smart, you have connections, and you can easily figure it out."

"That's true. But I'd rather hear it from you."

She let out a strangled sob, the pressure in her chest threatening to burst. "I was supposed to protect her, you know? I'm her big sister, I was supposed to be her shield from all the bad things in the world and I couldn't, I couldn't…"

Sasuke wrapped his arms around her shoulders and sat on the glass coffee table in front of the couch and pulled her towards him in a tight embrace as if he could absorb her pain through the pores of his skin. "Breathe, breathe… we don't have to do this now, we don't have to," he whispered against her temple, his words ridden with guilt as if her grief was his doing.

He continued to hold her as her shoulders shook violently against his chest. Her hands felt clammy and sweat trickled down the side of her face. It was as if the pain of her sister's death was an addiction and the mere thought of sharing it with her husband caused her to suffer from withdrawals.

We don't have to do this now…

The promise of a reprieve strongly tempted her, the part of her that relished the grief urging her to hold on tightly. Sakura felt Sasuke's hand trail down her back, his mouth cooing tender words in her ear.

She knew she hadn't been truly happy for a long time. But she couldn't remember the last time she had longed for someone else's happiness.

She steeled her resolve and reminded herself that she was brave. "We have to do this now, because we'd never move on if we don't," she whispered.

Sakura held on tightly to her husband, hiding her face in the nook of his shoulder and neck as she told him of a young girl named Sayuri, who had long greyish blond hair and deep green eyes. She told him of how she was terrible at math but wrote essays with such flourish. She told him of how she loved to watch the sunrise and always badgered Sakura to wake up early to watch it with her. She told him of how she would eat anything with chocolate. She told him of her extensive collection of stationery and how she hated it when Sakura would steal them to write to some boy. She told him of her bright, innocent smile. She told him of how she made soft boiled eggs perfect every time and how Sakura had not eaten a perfect soft boiled egg in years. She told him of how she trusted blindly. She told him of one ordinary Thursday morning when Sakura walked into her room and her whole world shattered. She told him of how she'd lost her sister and her niece in the span of a day.

The harsh bells of the grandfather clock in the living room reverberated around the house.

Sasuke gently caressed her back, willing her hiccupping sobs to subside. The feeling of helplessness overwhelmed him as he struggled to find some way to ease her suffering, his mouth opening and closing as he made a futile grasp for words of comfort.

"Whatever you do, don't tell me it's going to be okay. I am tired of people telling me it's going to be okay because it's never going to be," she whimpered with a hint of edge.

He smiled sadly and nodded, his chin resting against her shoulder. "I know it could never compare to your pain. I may not have loved her but I had never wanted to Patrice to die." He carefully chose his next words. "We may not have shared the bond that you and your sister had but…her death brought me sadness," he said as if he'd regretted the feeling.

She lifted her head from where it rested on the nook of his shoulder and looked at him straight on. "Don't you ever feel sorry for that. I would lose all respect for you if you didn't feel that."

Sasuke kissed her softly, wordlessly thanking her for her understanding. "My mother was worried so one night she sat me down and told me, that grief never really goes away. It just grows deeper and changes forms but there will come a time when grief can peacefully coexist with happiness." He cradled her face with his large, elegant hands. "And I know that's true because I have been so happy since you came back in my life. I never even knew it was possible to be this happy and…I have to believe that one day you'll feel this feeling to because all I ever want is for you to be happy because I love you, Sakura."

Her green eyes widened at his words.

He smiled softly at her, an embarrassed blush staining his cheeks. "It shouldn't really be that surprising, you've had me wrapped around your finger since day Kakashi told me you rejected my proposal."

She emitted a strained laughter amidst her tears. "Sasuke, I…"

"You don't have to say it now. There are things we have to settle first, I can wait," he assured her.

Sakura wanted to say the words back so badly, but how much can you really love someone when you feel sorely incomplete? But perhaps his love would be enough for the two of them for now, and she just knew that if the two of them can get past this, she could return his love an infinite times over.

With a confidence she had doubted she could possess, she reached for the two objects sitting heavily in the pocket of her pants. "You asked me why I was so invested in Patrice's death," she started. She opened her hand to reveal two identical rings with the shade of dull silver and in its center stone a symbol of a water snake shaped like an S. "One belonged to my sister, and I have a reason to believe whoever impregnated was the owner of the ring. The other one, I found in Patrice's belongings."

Recognition alighted in Sasuke's eyes as he took a closer look at the rings. "I've seen this symbol before, Sakura."

The thrum of excitement settled at the pit of her stomach at his words but his next ones stunned her.

"You have, too."

Next Chapter: I swear to God there is one and it will be really quick (Sasuke and Sakura as Mulder and Scully. Karin and Ino return because they are fun.)

Thanks for reading and please don't forget to review (it'd be nice to know people are still reading)!