[ Sakura finally picks her head up then, mostly in surprise, to look at him. ]

That's not —

[ — what I meant, but it dies in her throat. It may not have been what she meant, but it's still basically what she said, isn't it?

She hadn't really known what was said at the Valley of the End. How do you begin to ask that question? It seems too personal, too private, something she can't touch and isn't sure she wants to. Like Sasuke's genjutsu at the end of the war. Like a confession she hoped, in vain, would steer Naruto off a course she thought could only end badly. She was wrong on both counts. It doesn't shock her that Sasuke said it, though. They were all too good at hurting each other back then.

Sakura takes a long inhale, pauses, and then it all comes out in a rush. Stalling, perhaps. Trying to put words to feelings she has long since stopped trying to define, for her own sake if nothing else. ]

I'm not ashamed. I missed Sasuke while he was gone, but it didn't hurt as much as it could have, because I had her.

[ She had a breathing reminder of why every sacrifice was worth it. ]

But now... I don't know how to explain it, Naruto. I'm her mother, I should be there for her and I can't be.