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“Sarada, it is way past when you were supposed to be home.” Sasuke announces angrily when his ten year old daughter decided to finally prance through door as if she weren’t two hours late. “I was about to go out looking for you.”
Sarada’s dark eyes met him and he saw the fiery defiance which lit them like a blazing fire. Her mouth was set in a frown that he found was harder and harder to make disappear lately. If it wasn’t for the fact that he were so furious right now, he would have commented on it or sat her down to discuss it. Now was not the time for niceties and counseling, however.
“Where were you?” Sasuke asked the question that had been plaguing his mind for the past two hours. The only reason he hadn’t gone tearing through the village to find the girl standing before him now was because Sakura had reluctantly confirmed that this was a nearly nightly occurrence and that Sarada always arrived home just before eight on week nights.
Sarada did not answer and Sasuke felt his control splinter at her challenging gaze. He had not been expecting such a stare from his daughter until she was at least in her teens. He wasn’t prepared yet to deal with an unruly child, not when he had just returned home for a lengthy and strenuous exploration.
“Answer your papa, Sarada.” Sakura butted her head out from the kitchen, her normally soft green eyes now blazing with a similar heat. She was not pleased with their daughter’s sudden rebellion either.
“I don’t have to tell you anything.” Was Sarada’s quick and snappish response.
Sasuke felt his eyes nearly pop right out of his head at the girl’s answer and he could see Sakura frown and place her hands on her hips like she always did when she had lost her patience with someone. While Sasuke had often been on the receiving end of that hand-to-hip stance, he had never seen it directed at their daughter before.
“Excuse me?” Sakura practically shrieked. “What did you just say?”
Sarada wisely did not repeat herself, instead she just took to glaring at her mother, her arms crossed over her chest.
“Sarada,” Sasuke beckoned for his daughter’s attention. “Go to your room. Now.” His tone left no room for argument and Sarada quickly stomped her way to her room on the second floor, allowing her door to slam shut, rattling the walls of the home.
Sasuke met his wife’s frustrated gaze and the woman unleashed a torrent of complaints that she had been obviously holding in.
“She’s been like this ever since you last left.” Sakura fumed, storming back into the kitchen where their forgotten dinner had grown cold while they had waited for Sarada to return home. “She’s disrespectful and never comes home on time.” Sakura swept her arm across the counter and Sasuke winced as all the dishware that had been sitting out went crashing into the sink. “I’ve tried grounding her and taking away items but she just sneaks out or steals them back when I’m at work.” Sakura gripped the counter and Sasuke heard a clear snap as the sturdy wood began to bend under the woman’s strong hold. “I don’t know what else to do. She doesn’t listen to me anymore and you’re never ho-” Sakura halted and glanced over her shoulder, meeting Sasuke’s eyes.
Sasuke didn’t blame her for her frustration nor did he feel offended by her accusation. “I know.” He said, placing his hands on her shoulders and rubbing softly. “I’ll talk to her. I’ll take care of it. Why don’t you go pay a visit to the Yamanakas.”
“What?” Sakura was confused. “I can’t just leave now, not with Sarada like this. And it would be rude to just pop over unannounced.” She trailed off.
“I’ll call Ino and let her know you’re on your way.” Sasuke offered and that was all it took for Sakura to slip on her shoes and place a goodbye kiss on Sasuke’s cheek.
After making a quick call informing Ino of Sakura’s arrival, Sasuke ascended the stairs and approached his daughter’s room. He could sense the dangerous aura radiating from the small room and he almost turned away and returned downstairs to calm his nerves. Sasuke rarely ever had to scold Sarada and even more rare was an occasion where he’d actually been forced to discipline her. Sarada had always been well behaved and respectful and an overall joy to be around. These acts of rebellion were unlike her and could not be without cause. He was determined to get to the bottom of it.
Sasuke knocked on his daughter’s door, still feeling as if he should at least respect her privacy. With no answer he opened the door anyway and found Sarada sprawled over her bed, staring right at him. She had been expecting him.
“Hello, papa.” She said quietly.
“Sarada.” Sasuke greeted. “We need to talk.”
Sarada sat up and folded her legs underneath herself so that she sat on her knees, making room for her father to join her. Sasuke took a place beside his daughter and watched her face as she stared at her folded hands in her lap. He could see the underlying shame that she had been so carefully hiding earlier downstairs.
Sasuke didn’t exactly know how to go about this so he started off with sating his curiosity. “Where were you tonight, Sarada?”
“The training fields with Inojin and ChouChou.” Sarada willingly and easily admitted. “We were training for our weapons accuracy exam tomorrow.”
Sasuke was taken aback. He hadn’t been expecting the girl to part with the information so quickly and without any probing on his part. “Why didn’t you just tell us this morning that you were going to train with them? If we had known where you were, it wouldn’t have been a problem.”
Sarada shrugged and continued staring at her hands, expertly avoiding her father’s intense gaze. “Didn’t think about it.”
“Is there a reason you have been so disrespectful to your mother these past few months?” Sasuke asked his next question, not missing a beat.
Sarada was less willingly to explain herself this time. Her lips remained sealed and she gave a weak shrug.
“Don’t shrug at me.” Sasuke said.
Sarada sighed. “She just gets on my nerves?”
“How so?”
Sarada’s fists clenched in her lap and he could see the reluctance on her face. While Sarada was incredibly tight lipped when she wanted to be, she was not very talented at keeping the secrets from showing in expressions. Her nose always crinkled when she was guilty of something.
“Well, she…you know….” The girl trailed off and averted her gaze, finding one of the potted plants sitting on her desk far more interesting.
“No, I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking.” Sasuke said.
He reached out and grabbed her tiny frame, twisting her around to face him, brushing her black hair from her face to reveal her sparkling obsidian eyes.
“Why don’t you try telling me the truth?” He suggested lightly.
Sarada stiffened but sighed as she laid her head down on his lap like she used to when she had been little and in need of papa’s comfort. Sasuke allowed a barely noticeable grin appear on his face when he recognized the position and he carded his fingers through her fine hair as he waited for her to reveal all her secrets to him, just like she always did. It was just a matter of waiting now.
Several minutes went by but Sarada said nothing and Sasuke was in no hurry to force any words out of her unless they were going to be truthful and meaningful. Sasuke had patience where his wife, unfortunately, did not. He could wait out his daughter’s moods until she was ready to unveil herself.
After about fifteen minutes had come and gone and the street lights had flickered on outside, Sarada finally released a tense sigh, rubbing her cheek against her father’s leg. Sasuke knew this was the step just before she would speak. He waited and was rewarded for his eternal patience.
“Boruto told me to act badly.” Sarada whispered as if the words themselves were taboo.
Sasuke was confused, her explanation needed more context before he could fully make sense of it. “And why would Boruto tell you to behave badly?” He prodded gently.
“Because I said I missed you.” Sarada explained as if it were obvious. “Boruto said that whenever he misses his dad he just does something bad and then his dad always comes home early or picks him up from the Academy or stays home to spend time with him. He said if I acted badly then you might come home too.”
Understanding flooded Sasuke and he felt like complete fool for not having noticed earlier. Scooping his child up into his arms as if she weighed nothing, Sasuke stood and held his precious bundle to his chest and rested his lips upon her forehead. He waited a moment and allowed Sarada to soak up all the affection he had to offer before he even dared to speak.
“So, this behavior has just been a ploy to get me to come home, has it?” Sasuke almost chuckled because in a way, it had worked.
Sasuke had returned earlier than he’d been planning after he noticed Sakura’s letters becoming more frantic, her stress evident in her sloppy handwriting and terse language, as if her mind had been elsewhere when she’d been writing. She had also mentioned Sarada being ‘off’ a few times and that was more than enough to push up his return date. Sasuke had arrived in Konoha three weeks ahead of schedule, cutting off four stops he’d been intending to make in the process.
“I’m sorry, papa.” Sarada sighed woefully as if she had just committed a most unforgivable crime. “I’ve been so rude to mama and causing her so much trouble. She had to leave the hospital early the other day to come get me from the Academy. She missed delivering one of her friends’ baby.”
Sasuke did recall Sakura mentioning a similar event occurring but since she hadn’t seemed overly distressed about it, he hadn’t bothered to pine for details. Now he understood.
Sasuke cuddled his daughter, lips still fastened to the girl’s forehead. “Your mama is easily placated, as long as you apologize.” Sasuke soothed his child’s fears. “She will understand and forgive you. She loves you so much, Sarada. As do I.”
Sasuke heard the tiny sniffle and wet droplets drip onto his skin and he knew that this was the true nature of his daughter, soft and delicate but at the same time as strong as a bull and just as stubborn. He saw so much of himself in this little form and while that worried him sometimes, he also knew that his child was far wiser than him in many respects and had the support he had been sorely lacking at that age.
Sasuke caressed Sarada’s fine hair and pulled her glasses from her face, placing them on her desk. The man laid down on his daughter’s small bed, his child still safely bundled in his arms, and tucked the soft pink comforter around them. It smelled faintly of the apple infused oils that Sakura used to clean their linens, a comforting scent that reminded Sasuke that he was home.
“You’ll still be here when I wake up, won’t you papa?” Sarada asked, panicked.
Sasuke kissed her nose and brought her warm body closer to his. “I will always be here for you, Sarada. I’m not going anywhere for a long time.” Sasuke quickly added, “And next time you find yourself missing me, instead of asking Bolt for advice, you let me know and I will come straight to you. Nothing is more important than you, Sarada. Nothing.”
Sarada gave a sleepy smile at her papa’s strong words as her eyes slid shut; Sasuke practically felt the tension fade from her body until she became soft and pliable once more. Only then did the shinobi allow his own eyes to close and himself to join his daughter in the land of dreams for a much needed nap.