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Sarada sat with her small arms crossed as her mother roughly rolled a bandage around her fractured wrist with a deep frown. Sakura’s lips were tight as if she’d just sucked on something unpleasantly sour and her brow was beginning to shine with the first hints of perspiration. Sarada sighed and Sakura sighed along with her.
“This is the second fight this month, Sarada.” Her mother admonished strongly, tightening the bandages to an almost painful degree. At Sarada’s wince, Sakura loosened them but did not turn away from her daughter’s gaze.
Sarada knew her mother was waiting for an excuse but Sarada had none and she was tired of coming up with reasons for why she came home with bruises on her face and cuts on her arms. Sarada knew her mother was tired of it too; Sakura wasn’t using her medical ninjutsu and instead allowing a natural healing to take place.
“Your papa would be disappointed to know his daughter has turned into such a scrapper.” Sakura sighed quietly. “He’ll blame me, no doubt.”
Sarada watched as her mother turned away to gather more salve from the cabinet and Sarada took to rubbing her sore wrist. The solid punch that she had delivered to Inojin’s face had been the cause of her current affliction and Sarada smiled with secret pride at the damage she had inflicted on his otherwise flawless pale face. Inojin was far too smug for his own good and what he had said to her warranted a good punch in the nose.
Sakura returned and Sarada wiped the grin from her face, taking on a more shameful expression, one she knew her mother was looking for and would approve of.
“I don’t know what to do with you, Sarada.” Sakura said sadly. “Why won’t you just tell me what he said? I could talk to Ino about it.”
Sarada shook her head instantly and turned away from her mother’s intense green gaze because surely those shimmering orbs would pull the truth from her within a few seconds.
Sakura sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time since she had been forced to pick Sarada up from Shino-sensei’s office and continued in bandaging her child’s wounds.
XXXX
“I don’t believe that.” Was Sasuke’s not so delicate reply that evening when Sakura called him at the inn he was staying at.
Sakura practically felt a vein burst in her forehead at her husband’s lack of concern. “What do you mean you don’t believe that? Do you think I’m making this up?!”
“Hn, I don’t believe my daughter starts fights for no reason.” Sasuke explained patiently, recognizing the irate tone his wife was beginning to take with him. “Did you ask her what he said?”
“Of course I did!” Sakura cried, exasperated with constantly being bombarded with the same question. “It was the equivalent of talking to you at that age.”
Sasuke sighed at the comparison but gently asked, “Should I come home?”
Sakura felt a crashing wave of guilt swallow her at his question. Of course Sakura always loved it when Sasuke would return home earlier than expected and the two were able to reconnect on an intimate level that was difficult with the physical distance. However, knowing that he was returning home because she couldn’t handle their daughter was not only humiliating but it was severely damaging to her ego as a mother.
“You don’t need to do that.” Sakura insisted after a pause. “I can handle this.”
“Are you sure? You seem rather distraught.” A familiar sliver of uncertainty entered his voice and Sakura once again felt the pressure of guilt for being the cause.
“We’ll be fine.” Sakura convinced cheerfully. “I am her mother after all.”
“That you are.” A hint of pride in the raven’s voice. “I’ll be home in about two weeks. I can’t wait to see you.”
Sakura blushed hotly and smiled softly, pushing the receiver closer to her lips. “Me neither. I’ve really missed you.”
Sasuke gave his familiar chuckle before hanging up like he always did, without saying goodbye. He never said goodbye. It was too final for him and the farewell always made him uneasy.
XXXX
It was around noon the next week when Sakura received a rather frantic call from an academy sensei. It wasn’t Shino, like it usually was, so at first she assumed it was a call to send a medic over. Calls like that were not unusual, especially when the students began working with weapons and started sparring. Broke bones and sliced flesh was not uncommon for the students and while the senseis were trained in basic medical ninjutsu, sometimes a more expert hand was needed.
However, the woman on the phone was calling for Sakura in particular and that set up a wall of confusion.
“This is she.” Sakura answered when woman asked for her, she sounded out of breath.
“Hello Uchiha-san, I am calling about your daughter, Sarada.” The woman spoke quickly. “We are sorry to phone you at work but we need you to come pick her up right away.”
Sakura sighed, frustrated. “What has she done now?”
“There’s been a…disagreement between her and another student, I’m afraid.” The woman was hesitant and Sakura was confused by the delicate way in which she tip toed around the answer.
“Has she gotten into a fight?” Sakura questioned.
“Please just come as soon as you can, Uchiha-san. She will be in Shino-sensei’s office.” The call cut off as the woman had hung up.
Sakura quickly dismissed herself from the hospital, handing her duties off to a flustered batch of nurses with a quick apology, and hurried to the Academy. Sakura’s stomach plummeted when she saw Shino waiting outside for her.
Shino’s arms were crossed tightly over his chest and his brow was furrowed as if he was thinking very hard about something. When he noticed the pink haired mother, he waved her over with a stiff hand.
“What’s going on, Shino?” Sakura asked before she even reached him. “Is Sarada alright?”
Shino was silent for a moment and Sakura practically reached out to shake him before he answered. “Sarada is fine. It is the other student whom I fear for.”
Once again, Sakura’s stomach crashed and she met the man’s shielded eyes. “What do you mean?”
It was then that something most unexpected happened. Shino, one of the most reserved ninja’s that Sakura had ever met, burst out laughing. Confusion set in and Sakura placed her hands on her hips impatiently.
“What is going on, Shino?” If the boisterous laughter escaping from the usually silent shinobi wasn’t disturbing enough, the Cheshire grin which flitted across his face surely was.
“It would appear that Inojin Yamanaka was being quit the brat to Sarada over the past few weeks. Apparently the punch to the nose did little to curb his attitude however.”
Sakura was stunned. “I’m not following…” She trailed off.
Shino muffled his chuckles with her hand and attempted to compose himself. “I think it’d be best if I let Sarada explain herself to you.”
After that, Shino would say no more and reverted back to his usual stoic self. Sakura followed him to his office though she had practically memorized the way over the past month with how often she had been called to pick up her daughter.
Upon arriving at the tiny office, Sakura found her child seated on a padded chair with a rather sullen pout on her face. Sakura nearly shook the girl.
“Sarada!” She snapped upon seeing that she had no bruises or other injuries. “What is the meaning of this?”
Sarada jumped at her mother’s sudden intrusion and brought her hands to her chest, almost as if she were trying to press down her rapidly beating heart.
“M-Mama!” She cried.
Sakura’s hands found their familiar place on her hips and she strutted over to her daughter’s side. “There better be a good reason that you fought with Inojin again, young lady.”
Sarada was quiet and Sakura grew impatient at her daughter’s continued silence.
“I expect you to answer me when I ask you a question, Sarada.” She spoke seriously with precision so that the child would understand the severity of the situation.
Sarada sighed. “I didn’t fight him, mama.”
“Then why was I called down here?” Sakura didn’t appreciate the lies her daughter was spewing. If there was one thing she always wanted there to be between her family, it was absolute honesty. There was no way their unorthodox family would survive without such trust.
“I used a genjutsu on him and made him wet his pants.” Sarada answered without skipping a beat.
Sakura was speechless. “You….you did what?”
“It was quite impeccable in all honestly.” Shino explained. “I’ve never seen a student wield a genjutsu so skillfully. Of course, Inojin was not so impressed.”
“Why in the world would you do that, Sarada?” Sakura asked to cover her sudden strong pride in her child’s skill. There would be time for praise later and somehow Sakura didn’t think now was appropriate to provide it. Besides, utilizing a genjutsu on a fellow student seemed unnecessarily cruel.
Sarada met her mother’s eyes and Sakura saw a deep rooted pain hidden in the obsidian orbs. “Sarada?”
“He kept saying that papa would stop coming home and that we are a weird family because papa is never home and he only comes back once in a while and he never stays long and papa is irresponsible because he ignores us to be a hermit.” Sarada’s tiny voice sounded weak as it rushed to explain everything she had been too ashamed to admit before.
Sakura instantly understood.
Winding her arms around Sarada’s thin body, she pulled her daughter to her chest and placed a chaste kiss against her forehead. “Sarada, you know that’s not true. Papa loves us so much and he would do anything for us.”
Sarada nodded against her mother’s chest and Sakura could feel a distinct dampness as silent tears began to fall. Sakura noticed that Shino had slipped from the office, leaving them alone.
“We may not be an ordinary family like Inojin’s but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t just as much love between us. Do you feel bad because papa doesn’t live at home?” Sakura felt it important to ask.
Sarada shrugged. “Sometimes. When Inojin’s, ChouChou’s and Shikadai’s dads come and pick them up, sometimes I feel sad cause papa has never picked me up.”
Sakura nodded and stroked her daughter’s hair like she always used to when Sarada was younger and slept beside her during Sasuke’s absences. Sarada had ceased to do so when she began at the Academy, claiming she was too old for such childish activities. It was refreshing to feel the soft black hair caressed in her fingers once more.
“That’s right, papa hasn’t picked you up from the Academy before. But mama has. Grandma and grandpa have too. Have Inojin’s grandparents ever come to pick him up before?”
Sarada shook her head in the negative.
“No? What about his mama?” Sakura was aware that Ino was often busy as head of the Interrogation unit and childcare was left to Sai when she was on duty, which was a lot of the time.
Sarada, once again, shook her head.
“You see? Papa may not always be here to pick you up from the Academy but you have plenty of other people who can fill that role until he returns.” Sakura whispered gently. “Now, why don’t we go home, okay? I’m sure mama can whip us up a pint of ice-cream and pop in a DVD.”
Sarada nodded and as Sakura bent to stand back up, she felt a tug on her shirt. Peering down, Sakura found her daughter’s obsidian eyes shining with a silent plea, her arms outstretched in an obvious sign.
Sakura felt her heart soar as she hefted Sarada into arms and rested her on her hip. It’d been too long since Sarada had allowed her to hold her like this.
The walk home was a peaceful one and upon arriving home, Sarada refused to let go of her mother’s sleeve, following her as Sakura scooped out double the amount of ice-cream she would have allowed Sarada on a normal night, and squirted excess amounts of chocolate sauce on top of the frozen treats.
Seated on their fluffy sofa, Sarada resting in the crook of Sakura’s arm, the two enjoyed their sugary dessert while watching an old home video of Sasuke attempting to put together a baby crib.
The two fell asleep halfway through Sasuke painting the unborn Sarada’s nursery and it was there, settled against each other, that they were found the next morning by the star of the movie as he walked through the front door with a small grin on his face.