The Uchiha clan would rise yet again; magnificent in all its aspects. Perfect. Even though Sasuke wasn't. She was light and he was darkness, after all.

Sasuke did dream of his second goal.

The Uchiha clan, under his guidance, would rise again. Perhaps, he hoped, far surpassing the original. Magnificent in all its aspects. In other words, it would—or so he dreamed—be perfect.

Yet…he knew that he would not be able to recreate the perfect clan alone.
(Not referring to the process of actually creating the members, but that of course would also require…assistance, so to speak.)

Uchiha Sasuke was far from perfect. He knew, that to reconstruct his clan in such a way that it would be the best it possibly could be, he would require patience and a near-endless supply of love. Things he would not be able to provide.

and then there was Sakura.
Sakura who loved him.
Sakura who would wait forever—and more, if need be.

Right now, he tormented her in her dreams. He knew. Not dreamed…nor believed.
He knew that the thought of him would drive her crazy.
He knew that he would continually hurt her, even if he wasn't there.
That one day, he would ask for her hand in the least romantic fashion.
That someday, she would accept.
That he was not what she so rightfully deserved.
That she would take him wholeheartedly regardless.

Such was the nature of love.
It being exactly why Itachi and the bloody corpses of the once-proud Uchihas haunted him every waking second of his damned life.

…did he love Sakura in return, you might ask? He thought otherwise.
He would not let her in; let her break his oh-so-carefully built defenses, leaving him vulnerable. Not yet. He couldn't love just yet. Perhaps even for years to come.

She would have the patience and love, though, that he didn't have. She would wait. She would gradually…gently…get through to him. She would fill the void Itachi had so mercilessly made.

She was light and he was darkness, after all.

No, he concluded, he would not be able to make the perfect Uchiha clan by himself.
He was broken; incomplete; shattered.
Even so, the Uchihas would rise again; in the most magnificent possible way.

Because Sakura completed him.

Deep inside him, the part of his soul he thought to be long dead…loved her.

"Thank you, Sakura."