a steady flame that never flickers
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Let's go home, to Sakura.
Series
- Part 1 of a steady flame that never flickers
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“Sarada,” his eyes locked onto hers. “Sakura might be your mother, but she’s my wife. No one talks to my wife like that.”
Sakura’s soft gasp broke the tension. “Sasuke-kun…” she whispered. He could hear the telltale squeak in her tone that he heard since they were children, and from the corner of his eye, he caught the blush spreading across her cheeks. Even after years of marriage, Sakura still reacted this way when he stood up for her, he found it endearing, secretly.
Series
- Part 2 of a steady flame that never flickers
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Why was she the force pulling him back, like the earth anchoring the moon to its gravity?
Series
- Part 3 of a steady flame that never flickers
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A fleeting glimpse into the journey that delivered Sasuke and Sakura their happiness.
Series
- Part 4 of a steady flame that never flickers
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When Itachi heard that his little brother had been placed in a three-man squad alongside the village’s jinchūriki and a pink-haired girl, he found himself intrigued. Not necessarily because of the squad itself, but because of what it would mean for Sasuke. Team dynamics were important. And though Sasuke had always been self-reliant, distant, and aloof, Itachi wondered how his little brother would handle being part of something larger than himself.
A pink-haired girl…
Itachi couldn’t help but chuckle. He remembered how that little girl had managed to have an effect on Sasuke, how Sasuke talked a little more about her than anyone else, how his chubby cheeks sometimes turned red without him even realizing it. His foolish little brother.
Series
- Part 5 of a steady flame that never flickers
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Can Team 7 survive one last mission, with feeling?
Series
- Part 6 of a steady flame that never flickers
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Four times Sasuke denied Sakura was his girlfriend, and one time he get annoyed when someone assumed otherwise.
Series
- Part 7 of a steady flame that never flickers
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“Sasuke-kun! Sakura!”
Two-year-old adorable Sarada stumbled forward on her chubby legs, arms spread slightly for balance. Her little socks made a soft shff-shff sound on the wooden floor as she toddled her way toward her parents.
Sasuke and Sakura, sitting on the floor and leaning comfortably against the couch after a long day, looked at each other in confusion.
“Did she just call us... by our names?” Sakura blinked, feeling amused and bewildered at once.
“I think she did,” Sasuke replied, his brows twitching slightly.
Series
- Part 8 of a steady flame that never flickers
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“But… why would Sakura-chan do that? It doesn’t make sense! She loves Sasuke! She always has!”
“That’s exactly why she did it. Because she loved him too deeply, she reached her breaking point.”
“This jutsu… it’s not something anyone uses unless they’re truly at the edge. It’s a last resort. Sakura didn’t want to forget Sasuke completely, that would’ve torn her mind apart. She targeted the feelings instead. She silenced the part of herself that couldn’t stop hurting. She surgically removed the emotion… but kept the memory intact.”
Naruto’s voice was barely a whisper now. “So… she rewrote Sasuke in her mind?”
“Yes,” Kakashi said. “She reshaped the entire emotional framework around him. In her mind, he’s no longer someone she loved. Just someone who was… a teammate. A friend of a friend.”
Series
- Part 9 of a steady flame that never flickers
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Marriage had always been something she only pictured with Sasuke. A dream born in childhood and clung to through years of pain and hope. She imagined waking up beside him. Raising a family. Living quietly after everything they had survived.
But that dream had shattered. And now, standing before her, was a man who wasn’t asking her to love him, just to let him stay by her side. A man who didn’t offer her a fairy tale, but a promise of safety, respect, and unwavering support.
“You’ll find a good man. Someone who will make you happy.”
Those words echoed relentlessly in her mind. She stared blankly at the floor, his parting words looping in her head like a broken lullaby.
Will you be happy if I marry Gaara, Sasuke-kun?
Series
- Part 10 of a steady flame that never flickers
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When Sasuke left years ago, it wasn’t a goodbye in words, but in silence.
Sarada had cried. Sakumo hadn’t.
Not because he didn’t care, but because, deep inside, he had inherited something he didn’t yet understand, his father’s habit of holding his feelings in until they became too heavy to carry.Series
- Part 11 of a steady flame that never flickers
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Deep down, Sarada knew her parents loved each other. She felt it in her bones, in the feelings they shared. Their bond wasn't loud or flashy like Inojin's parents, who were always bickering and and being gross in public. It was quieter, it was in the way Papa's eyes would soften when he looked at Mama, in the way Mama's whole face would light up when Papa came home, even if he'd only been gone a few hours, and in the silent conversations they seemed to have with just glances across the dinner table.
But Sarada wanted more than subtle gestures and silent understanding. She wanted to see the proof that Papa could actually show his love. That he wasn't just some emotionless man who happened to be married to the most loving person in the world.
And thus, on a particularly boring Tuesday afternoon when she had nothing better to do, "Operation Jealousy" was born.
Series
- Part 12 of a steady flame that never flickers