Daylight

Cosmos Pt.1

A/N: I just HAD to split this into parts as I really want to put this out into the world. Enjoy!

As the burning embers of the twilight sky simmered away until it transcended into the deep blue of the night, with only the glow of the moon and a thousand lights guiding the way, Sasuke looked up at the sky wherever he went, and knew that pink would flutter in the breeze as emerald tilted itself up to meet the blanket of stars as a smile graced its beautiful face. And just from that one look at the heavens, the myriad of constellations would confirm that their hearts still beat as one, no wonder where they were, nor how far apart. It had been like that for a number of years previously, too. But now, Sasuke knew, that when those emerald eyes looked up at the sky, a third pair of eyes - onyx - would follow her mother's gaze and wonder how the love between her two parents blossomed, and how it was still kindled after all these long years. But Sasuke and Sakura were confident of their love for each other, and that was all that mattered. With time, Sakura was sure that their daughter would come to understand how love can bloom in the quiet of darkness and the whisperings at night, but for now, there was no time nor space for that type of understanding, as Sasuke had still not returned after his reunion with his family. 

It was another two birthdays missed. His wife's and daughter's.

It was another one of his gone uncelebrated. 

Another anniversary not spent together. 

Just a pang of longingness. And sometimes loneliness. 

But as fate would have it, Sasuke had found his feet setting towards Konoha again after finally tearing through dimensions and after over a decade of dead ends and misleads, he had come into contact with members of the Otsutsuki clan. Their piercing byakugans were a fair match for his mismatched blood red and purple vortex eye. But with just a single thread of hair out of place, Sasuke had managed to escape their clutches without fail, and with a scroll that could not even be deciphered with his rinnengan, nor with the information gathered by the Root scroll which Naruto had delivered to him months ago. 

In that short time span that he had gone, Sasuke had discovered that already, so much had changed. Sarada was no longer an Academy student, but a genin in her own right, about to participate in the chunin exams... this had meant that Sasuke had already missed out on an important part of her life - her youthful genin days. Sasuke found himself reflecting back to his own days full of life and laughter with his two teammates who meant so much to him back then... and now were two beams of light that filled his life with warmth and love. Reminiscing was bittersweet for Sasuke, for he knew that their genin days together came to an abrupt end due to his defection of Konoha, in search for power... and it was that fateful night that still seamlessly visited him late at night in his dreams, in the whisperings of the stars at night.  

It was the silent cries of the clouds that reminded him of her tears that poured into his skin as she held him when he allowed the curse mark to almost fully consume him that first time. It was the cloaks of birds that reminded him of her feather-light touches, and the wind which would carry her voice to him in the ripples of the water. Just like the long years that had preceded him, her being was evident no matter where he went, and he would find himself being forever grateful for the love she had harboured for him from even during a time when he could not fully comprehend romantic love, for he had been clouded with a lust for revenge and hatred at his older brother. And so it was that knowledge that his own daughter was partaking in the chunin exams that made him feel as if he was repeating the same mistakes: it was a different plain, but the path lead towards the same destination as his past sins. Just like his lover, he was destined to miss out on watching his own kin bloom into a beautiful flower as her strength flourished and blossomed. The younger, feminine reflection of him may have had the same idea as a noise struck between a strained gasp and a choke escaped her throat as she opened the door to the apartment to him.