Title: Louder then Thunder
Author: mitsuki0tennyo (Mitsukino Tennyo)
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: SasuSaku (Uchiha Sasuke x Haruno Sakura)
Rating: T
Word Count: 953
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Summary: Sasuke learns that the hardest thing about becoming a parent, is that his own desires couldn't come on the first place anymore. Suddenly his revenge and Konha's destruction didn't seem so important anymore as Sakura was willing to put aside her own dreams for their child's sake.

"I'm pregnant."

The words echoed through Uchiha Sasuke's head as he stared at his lover. Sakura however refused to meet his eyes, instead she stubbornly kept her gaze focused on her feet, cleverly hiding her face from his sight with the hood of her Akatsuki cloak.

Only seconds after Madara and Taka left, Sakura had grabbed one of his hands, peering up at him underneath the hood of her robe. 'I need to tell you something,' she had said before raising his hand as she kissed the tips of his fingers before splaying them across her currently flat stomach. She left his hand there as she fiddled with sleeve of his cloak. She was nervous, Sasuke realized as he noticed the familiar habit. It was one of the few habits that their time in Otogakure hadn't been able to crush. Sasuke quickly squashed that last thought, thinking about the old Sakura always made him uneasy. Even though he had allowed Sakura to come with him when he left Konoha for the power Orochimaru offered, the time they spent in Oto had changed the pinkette, made her colder… sometimes it was like her face became a porcelain mask. He was the only one who could read Sakura when she wiped any trace of emotion off her face. Mentally shaking his head, Sasuke decided to focus on the situation at hand. Looking at his hand, the Uchiha's eyes widened fractionally.

Sakura watched how Sasuke-kun finally made the connection in his head, once he noticed the location of his hand. Slowly her love's eyes moved up until they reached her eyes, black orbs questioning as if foreshadowing the question she knew he would ask.

"Are you sure?" The small nod was enough to erase his doubts. As a medic-nin, Sakura would have made sure she was certain of her condition. Still Sasuke couldn't completely believe it.

"How long?"

"Two months... I've suspected it for a few weeks," She whispered softly. "but I didn't want to believe it."

His hand removed itself from her stomach, unfurling her red cloud-patterned black robe. When it was open he raised Sakura's shirt and almost unconsciously his hand began to gently caress her abdomen. A small yet genuine smile graced the Uchiha's otherwise emotionless face.

"I'm scared, Sasuke-kun."

"Why? This is wonderful news, Sakura."

She raised her head, looking the Uchiha in the eye for the first time since her confession, her green eyes filled with unshed tears. "If you go down the path you've chosen, I can no longer follow. They will hunt us down like animals, Sasuke-kun. We will be fugitives, maybe even international criminals if you succeed in capturing the Kumo jinchūriki for Madara. I can't and will not raise a child like that."

Sasuke hadn't expected that, his mind refusing to progress her words as he just stared at her blankly. Sakura rarely disobeyed his wishes, she always adhered to his commands. One of the few exceptions was when it concerned his health but that partly about her pride as a medic.

"Are you betraying me Sakura?" He stared at her, expression stoic but his voice took on a menacing quality.

"Of course not! But it isn't just about you or even me anymore Sasuke-kun. I love you with everything I am and it will break my heart to leave to you," the first tear ran down Sakura's face followed by many others and Sasuke wanted to wipe them away like he had done the last three years she had spent under Kabuto's cruel tutelage. But he found he couldn't, it was like an invisible wall had been erected between them. "But I'm pregnant with your child and I want to raise it with you. If you continue walking this road we will always be watching over our shoulders, always waiting for the next hunter nin to come and try and kill us, that isn't a way to raise a child and... I don't want our child to have a life like that!"

He could understand her fears, but Sasuke had lived for revenge for so long, that he wasn't sure how he could live without. "It will not be like that, Sakura." He tried to reassure her even when the words sounded hollow to his own ears.

"You can't promise me that Sasuke-kun." Sakura said, slightly angry because he was thinking about his own revenge rather than the future of their unborn child. "What if they succeed and we die? Our child will be all alone like you were after the massacre."

Her words struck him harder than any jutsu known to men ever could. No, he didn't want that life for his child.

"Alright…"

"…What?" Surprise coated Sakura's tone as if she was unable to believe that he agreed with her.

"We will turn back. I will tell Madara I've changed my mind and want him to transplant Itachi's eyes." Sasuke cupped her face, wiping away the falling tears with his thumb. "But I'm not going to give up my revenge, Sakura. Not for you, not for the baby."

"That's enough for me."

"They need to die. I need to cleanse my clan from their influence." Taking Sakura's head between his hands, Sasuke rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes so she wouldn't see his darker urges, the ones that hungered for the destruction of Konohagakure.

Sakura placed one of her hands over Sasuke's as she leaned into his touch. Placing a soft kiss on the palm of his hand, green jewels stared into onyx eyes. "I never asked you to give up your revenge and I never will. I'm just asking you to think about your unborn son or daughter before you make any rash decisions."