AN: Originally this was posted on tumblr as unfinished snippet, but people liked it, so I decided to continue the story and post on FFN.

Contains non-explicit love scene.

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Syncope

Chapter 1

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Sasuke's return home went quite differently from what he imagined. He expected a brilliant smile and an overenthusiastic hug from his wife, then a quiet dinner in the company of the two most important women in his life. Instead, the moment Sakura saw him, she passed out cold. He managed to catch her in the nick of time before she hit the floor and hurt herself.

Sasuke hurriedly laid her down on the couch in the living room. He would have been insulted by such a reaction from her if he wasn't so worried. This was unlike the energetic Sakura he'd always known. He kneeled by her side and activated his doujutsu, scanning her chakra just in case, but everything appeared to be normal. Her levels were slightly down as could be only expected after a full day of activity. He brushed the soft pink strands off her face, noting the unhealthy paleness of her skin.

"Does this happen often to her?" Sasuke asked his daughter.

Sarada shrugged. "From time to time. It's nothing serious. She'll wake up in a few minutes like always."

Sasuke hesitated, but Sarada's calm demeanor convinced him to let the matter drop. If she thought this was nothing out of ordinary, then he'd trust her judgment.

He clasped Sakura's hand in his and caressed her knuckles gently before taking her pulse. The steady beat reassured him.

"Papa, you can go clean up now. We're having salmon for dinner," Sarada told him. When he hesitated, she sighed with exasperation, putting her hands on her hips. "I told you, Mama's fine. Go on."

With one last lingering look at Sakura, Sasuke retreated to the bathroom.

Just as Sarada promised, when he returned Sakura was already up and busy with plating their dinner. He watched her for a moment to make sure she was fine.

"Darling!" she exclaimed when she turned. Thankfully, she didn't faint again at the sight of him.

"Need some help?" he asked.

"No, no, I'll take care of this!" she said vehemently. "Go sit down, I'll bring this up right away."

Sasuke pursed his lips, wanting to argue, but he knew how stubborn she could be. He slowly backed out of the kitchen, keeping an eye on her as discreetly as possible. Sarada still gave him an amused look when he joined her at the table. Despite the years of separation, his daughter saw right through his cool facade.

As their family evening progressed, Sasuke gradually relaxed. Sakura and Sarada filled him in on all the news. Sakura acting like her usual cheery self gave him some peace of mind.

After they all retired for the night, Sasuke went straight to bed, but he didn't sleep yet. He waited up for Sakura patiently. When she finally entered their bedroom with rosy cheeks from the hot bath, he couldn't take his eyes off her. She smiled radiantly and crossed the short distance to the bed, her eyes gleaming with mischief. She crawled in and hovered over him like a playful kitten. Being so close to her without touching was more than a little frustrating, but Sasuke forced himself to remain calm and placid in face of such a temptation.

"Sasuke-kun, are you tired?" she purred.

"I'm not the one who fainted today," he pointed out.

Sakura's gaze narrowed at the blunt reminder of her little episode and she sat up. "I was just surprised to see you back so suddenly," she explained. "It was... unexpected."

"Just like my wife fainting at the sight of me," he shot back. "It wasn't the welcome I expected."

He didn't divulge that a lance of fear and guilt had pierced his heart when she'd collapsed, an irrational part of him blaming himself for it as if he was somehow responsible. As if he brought some dark curse with himself that targeted those closest to him.

Sakura groaned and lowered herself, burying her head against his neck, so he wouldn't see her face. His arm automatically curled around her back in a hug.

"Please, don't be unreasonable. You should have sent a message that you were coming back," she mumbled. Her hot breath on his skin and their closeness distracted him from his dark thoughts.

"Maybe..." he allowed, his mind already on other, more pleasant things. His hand slipped under her nightgown.

Sakura trembled under his touch. So soft, so smooth, so willing. "Ah... Sa-Sasuke-kun..." she moaned his name and the dam broke. He couldn't hold back anymore and neither could she.

Sasuke brought her face up for a searing kiss, then flipped her on her back.

Afterwards, as they laid together among the tousled sheets, both comfortably worn out and dozing off, Sakura gave him a small peck on the lips. Sasuke blinked sleepily at her, wondering what was that for.

Sakura only smiled. "Welcome home," she whispered. "I didn't get to say it to you properly before." She cuddled up to him with a happy sigh. "It's good to have you back, Sasuke-kun," she muttered, her eyes drifting shut.

It's good to be back, he thought contently and fell asleep. The corners of his lips were turned up ever so slightly.

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It was an early morning two days later. Sasuke was stealthily getting dressed for the morning practice. He kept a close eye on Sakura, careful not to wake her up. His efforts were wasted when a loud noise invaded their bedroom through the open window.

Sakura woke up in an instant. She grabbed the alarm clock from the nightstand and squinted at the hour. She gasped.

"I'm going to be late!"

Sasuke stifled a chuckle at her morning antics. The quiet amusement quickly fled him when Sakura leapt out of the bed, then all of a sudden she swayed on her feet, hands going up to cradle her head. She'd have fallen over if he wasn't fast enough to put her in a secure hold.

For a moment, all they could both hear was the sound of their harsh breathing. After a long while Sakura regained her equilibrium.

"Thanks for the save, darling," she said shakily and pulled out of his grasp.

"What was that?" he asked with a touch of alarm.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just got up too fast and lost my vision for a few seconds there. It happens to many people in the morning," she explained with a bright, reassuring smile, treating the incident like it was no big deal.

Normally, Sasuke wouldn't question her, she was the medical expert between the two of them after all, but he still vividly remembered her recent fainting spell when he'd come back home.

"Sakura, are you sure-"

"I'm fine!" she cut him off with a smile. "As I said, it's pretty common. I've got low sugar in the morning. I just need to eat breakfast and I'll be back to work in no time!" Her eyes widened comically. "Oh no! I have to hurry!"

Sasuke had to grab her again to explain that she didn't have a shift, because she didn't work on Saturday mornings. He let the fainting matter drop for the time, though he didn't forget about it completely. However, the daily life went on in the Uchiha household, and as the days passed, stretching into weeks without any more similar incidents, he relaxed. Sakura must have had a few off days when he'd initially returned.

Then, one day he came home early, so he decided to start on dinner. Sasuke always enjoyed cooking, but with his two girls around insisting to feed him he never got much of a chance to make anything. He smirked, imagining their surprise when they got home to a warm meal prepared by his truly.

Sasuke put on his wife's apron and got to work, chopping up vegetables skillfully. Even one-handed, he wielded the kitchen knife with an expert skill.

By the time the girls would arrive, the rice was perfectly cooked and Sasuke was putting finishing touches on his creation. He nodded to himself with satisfaction and checked the clock. All that was left for him was to wait for Sakura and Sarada to come home.

Sasuke sat at the table and turned on TV, however when Naruto's face filled the screen, he hurriedly pressed the off button on the remote. He wasn't in the mood to watch another of the Hokage speeches for the general public. With TV out, Sasuke looked for another distraction.

A little speck of ruddy brown on the table's corner drew his attention. He leaned down to inspect the strange mark. Did something spill there?

He looked down and discovered more brownish spots on the floor. He brushed some of the substance off the corner with his thumb and put it up to his eye-level. By the faint smell and texture, he finally realized what it was.

Dried blood.

Sasuke ignored the uneasiness creeping over him. A little blood in the house of three active ninjas wasn't exactly a cause for worry. From the amount and placement of the spots he concluded that someone probably scraped themselves against the table this morning. He'd wager it was a head injury.

There were only two options, Sarada or Sakura, but his gut feeling immediately chose his wife as the most likely culprit. In his mind's eye he could already see her fall, overcome by sudden dizziness, her head glancing off the table's corner and the blood dripping from the fresh cut.

He felt a sting in his Rinnegan. Sasuke rubbed at the eye, still caught up in the very detailed, life-like vision of what could have happened to Sakura, but he didn't get any time to analyze it, because the phone rang.

Sasuke picked it up swiftly. "Uchiha residence."

"Hello, is- is this Uchiha Sasuke-san?" The feminine voice on the other side was hesitant. He didn't recognize it.

"Speaking," Sasuke said shortly.

The woman inhaled, preparing herself to say whatever she needed. Sasuke only wished she would hurry up and spit it out.

"Uchiha-san, your wife was just admitted to the hospital. She collapsed in her office and-"

"I'll be there," he cut her off and put down the receiver with more force than necessary.

He had enough presence of mind left to turn off the stove and take off the apron before heading out. The family dinner was officially cancelled, but he couldn't bring himself to care. All that mattered was Sakura.

Sakura who collapsed at work. After she had possibly (most likely) fallen over just this morning in their living room. He didn't know how or why, he had no proof, but he was convinced that his vision was true. And he hadn't been there to intervene and stop her from going to work. What was she even thinking?

Sasuke clamped down on his emotions before they got the best of him. First he needed to get to the bottom of this. He rushed to the hospital. To Sakura and, hopefully, some answers.

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AN: Thanks for reading! Second chapter will be coming soon.

Reviews will be appreciated! :)