Warning: spoilery, lemony, not happy
Haruno Sakura heaved a deep sigh, and stretched her arms out. It had been three months since the Hokage had informed her that it was hopeless, but she couldn't help trying, researching rare cures and trying each day, pouring all of her heart into it... three months of having her hopes dashed.
Sasuke sat in the chair where she'd placed him, blinking blank, empty eyes. His physical hurts had long since been healed, but the psychological damage inflicted on him by his own brother in that final battle... there was no known cure for that kind of harm. Konoha had reclaimed him after he fought to protect the village from Orochimaru, and many of the villagers had regained their respect for him after he finally killed Itachi and claimed his vengeance for the Uchiha clan... but Sasuke was aware of none of it, little better than a vegetable now, and he didn't realize that he'd had visitors for the first month or so, or that the visits had decreased over time and eventually stopped. He didn't notice the fresh flowers Sakura brought him every day, or the daily visits from an unusually quiet Naruto, or the taste of foods prepared specifically to tempt his appetite, or the ill-fitting hospital-issue pajamas.
Under the nagging supervision of the hospital staff and, whenever she could manage it, Sakura, Sasuke was able to perform most of the tasks needed to keep him healthy. He could feed himself, and change clothes, and use the toilet and bathe himself, as long as there was someone to break each action down into tiny steps, and to drone those steps at him relentlessly until each was accomplished. His days were made up of waking up, eating breakfast, walking around the grounds with Naruto, eating lunch, sitting in the sun, taking a bath, eating dinner with Sakura, and going to bed.
"Enough for today, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, burying the urge to cry deep down inside. Crying agitated Sasuke, as did loud noises, sudden movements, and anything red. "Time to go to bed. Stand up, Sasuke. Time to stand up. Stand up. Go to the bed. Time to go to bed..."
As she harassed him into the slow, mind-numb shuffle across the floor and watched him climb into bed, a horrible thought occurred to Sakura. She clapped a hand to her mouth to cover a gasp, and Sasuke stirred a little, a faint, troubled frown creasing his brow.
"It's Ok, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, forcing herself to use the soothing, measured tone to which he responded best. "You can go to sleep now. Close your eyes and go to sleep."
She watched until Sasuke's breathing took on the regular, slow rhythm of sleep, and then she stood watching for a little while longer. When he was asleep like this, he looked normal. She could almost convince herself that there was nothing wrong with him, that he'd wake up and glower at her for staring any moment now.
But Tsunade-sama had told her that wouldn't happen. Sasuke had already passed the window of opportunity, when he could have been revived; the odds of his recovering now, after being in this state for so long, were so slim as to be laughable. But Sakura had seen both Sasuke and Naruto beat overwhelming odds before, and she couldn't help but hope, with every piece of the heart that still ached for Sasuke. And so she tried, day after day.
And now... it occurred to her that he'd met one of the life goals he'd stated, the day Team Seven had first met Kakashi-sensei. He'd killed the man who had slaughtered his family... but the other goal, the restoration of the Uchiha Clan... that would never happen now.
Unless.
Sakura bit her lip, and went to check that the hallway was empty before locking the door. She couldn't give him healing, but she could give him this one thing, and see that his line continued.
His eyes opened when she went to uncover him, but they were empty, not accusing. She tugged at the loose waistband of his pajama pants, and Sasuke's brows drew together in confusion, but he allowed it. Sakura's face was burning as she finally came face to--
For a long moment she knew she couldn't do it. But she reached out and touched it, and it didn't take long at all for him to respond.
"Forgive me, Sasuke," she whispered, stroking him tentatively. She knew from her studies that the proper application of chakra stimulation to the prostate could force ejaculation from even a comatose patient. She just hadn't been prepared for the reality of it, or the soft little gasping noises Sasuke made in what sounded like an almost natural voice, or the incredible guilt she would feel over what was essentially rape.
After it was over, she collected his semen and pushed it as far up inside herself as she could, then she cleaned him up and put his pajamas back to rights. She hoped it would work on the first try; she didn't think she could do it to him again.
It had occurred to her that if she'd succeeded, eventually her guilty secret would make itself obvious, and when it came out, she would definitely lose her right to practice with patients, likely lose her standing in the village, and possibly even be kicked out to live on her own. She tried to tell herself that it would be worth it, to make Sasuke's final wish come true.
As Sakura left the hospital room, feeling guilty and ashamed and hopeful and defiant, Sasuke stared blankly up at the ceiling, seeing nothing and thinking nothing.
After a little while, he went to sleep. There were no dreams.
still in denial about that epilogue XD