338Well, we've finally reached the end. I want to thank each and every one of you who have read and reviewed over the past two and a half years, whether you were here before my hiatus or came after it. I have a few other things in the works at the moment; I've been putting off working on Rays of Spring Sunshine so as to concentrate on wrapping up here, but now that we're done that's my number one priority. There's also a few other ideas I have that I'm chipping away at, so I hope you look forward to more in the future!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything associated with it. All rights to Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto and the other proper entities.
Summary: Sasuke leans away as the girl turns to him, and his mother doesn't need to be any closer to guess as to the expression on his face. The girl's body language changes in an instant, and Mikoto recognises the posture of a little girl in love. It's kind of adorable.
Rating: T
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Pairings: SasuSaku
Hatsukoi
Chapter Fifteen
For as long as Sarada can remember, Mama has never looked like the rest of their family. She points it out to Papa when he takes her down to the lake to start teaching her the clan's katon.
"That's because she wasn't born an Uchiha like us." He says softly, placing a hand on her dark little head.
"Like me and you and Oji-san and Ojii-san and Obaa-san?" She blinks up at her father.
"That's right." Papa nods. "Her last name used to be Haruno, like her parents."
Sarada loves Mebuki-obaa-chan and Kizashi-ojii-chan. They let her play with paints and crayons when she visits with Mama. "How come she changed her name?" She asks curiously.
Papa seems to think about this for a while, sitting on the edge of the dock. It seems their lesson is over for now. "Because she became a part of this family." He says eventually. "People do that, when they get married."
"Will I have to?"
Papa blinks down at her for a moment. There's a weird look in his eyes that she doesn't understand. "Probably not." He eventually says. "Our name is special."
"Special how?"
"It's a very old name." He says slowly. "Going back many generations. Lots of very strong people have had our name, so people associate it with strength. Not many people in our clan would give it up."
"So Mama got strong when she changed her name?"
"No," Papa's smile is crooked, "she was strong a long time before that."
Papa only smiles properly at home.
"That's because he's happiest here." Mama says when she brings it up as she tucks Sarada in for bed. "He loves us very much and we make him very happy."
"But you smile everywhere." Sarada says. "Aren't you happier here too?"
Mama's bright green eyes widen. "Of course I am, sweetheart! There's nowhere else I ever want to be if you and Papa aren't with me!"
Sarada thinks about this for a moment. "And when you go away for work?"
Mama's eyes soften. "When I go to work, I miss you both very much." She smooths Sarada's hair away from her face. "But I do lots of good things there, and that makes me happy, too."
"But not happier than me and Papa do."
"No."
"Does Papa do good things at work too?" She asks. She doesn't really understand what it is her parents do. She knows Mama helps sick people and Papa catches bad guys, but beyond that she doesn't really know.
Mama nods. "He does. His work is very important. It protects people all over Konoha."
Sarada sighs and snuggles into her blankets. Her parents are both very important people, but they still come home to her every night anyway. It makes her happy. "Good night, Mama."
"Good night, baby."
When Sarada is six years old, Papa is sent away for a while. She and Mama are sad about it; it's not the first time he's been sent away, but this time he's gone for six whole weeks before he comes home. He tries to sneak inside in the middle of the night, but Sarada had had a bad dream and is awake with Mama in the living room when he walks in.
"Anata!" Mama cries when she sees him. He's got lots of cuts and his clothes are torn. Sarada sees the bright red of blood on his arms before Mama is hurrying her out the door and into the hallway.
Sarada can't get the image of her Papa out of her head; he looks like he's dying. She presses her ear against the door and strains to listen.
"…she'd be awake." That's Papa's voice, sounding tired and sore, like it does after a long day at work.
"She had a nightmare." Mama's voice is the same as it is when Sarada sees her working at the hospital. "Hold still, let me patch you up."
"I should have gone to the hospital."
"Yes, you should have. But that doesn't matter now. We can only hope she didn't get a good look at you. Turn around."
Mama doesn't sound too worried; if anything, she sounds angry. That's strange to Sarada. Mama is never angry with Papa. Sometimes with Naruto-oji-chan or Ino-oba-chan, but never Papa.
"There. That's the last of it." Mama is saying. "Go and have a shower, wash all that blood off. I'm going to check on Sarada."
"Thank you, Sakura."
"You don't need to thank me, Sasuke-kun." She sighs. "I'm not going to leave you to bleed out in the living room."
Sarada scrambles away and hides in her bedroom. She throws herself under her covers and waits. She can hear Mama's footsteps getting closer.
"Sarada, honey? It's Mama." She says as she opens the door. Distantly, she can hear Papa start up the shower. Mama is the bestest doctor Sarada knows, and she wouldn't leave Papa alone if he was dying, so she relaxes a little. "Are you asleep?"
"No." Sarada sits up. "Is Papa okay?"
Mama smiles tiredly. "He's fine. He's just having a shower."
"Can he come see me before I go back to sleep?"
"Of course, sweetheart." Sakura sits on her bed. "Are you okay?"
Sarada chews her lip for a moment before answering—a habit she inherited from her mother. "What happened to him?" She asks in a whisper.
Mama stills. "Some very bad people hurt him while he was on his mission." She says slowly. Sarada's eyes widen. "But you know how strong Papa is. He beat them and came home and I fixed him right up." She hastens to assure her.
"So he's gonna be okay?" Sarada's eyes well up with tears. For a minute she'd been so afraid that Papa was going to die.
"Of course he is." Mama runs her fingers through Sarada's dark hair. "He would never, ever let anything take him from us."
Sarada buries her face in her Mama's side, but she doesn't cry. Mama rubs her back and runs her fingers through her hair with soft noises of reassurance until Papa appears in the doorway. He looks fine. Tired, but fine. Sarada throws herself into his arms.
"I'm sorry I scared you." Papa murmurs into her hair. His arms are tight around her as he lifts her. She's a bit big for this now, but he hefts her onto his hip and kisses her forehead. "I'm okay, see?"
Sarada nods into his throat. Sarada knows what blood smells like from her many scraped knees and nicked fingers from shuriken practice, but she can't smell any on him. He smells like strawberry shampoo and soap. "Can I sleep in your bed tonight?"
"Of course." Sakura stands and throws her arms around them both. "Come on. We're all up way past our bedtimes."
Sarada giggles at the pout Papa gives Mama, but he carries her into their bedroom anyway.
Papa and Mama both stay home, the next day. Sarada still has to go to the academy, but Papa promises to take them out for ice cream when they pick her up.
She sees them standing with Hinata-oba-chan while she waits for Boruto. She runs toward them and Papa bends down to pick her up. "Hello, Oba-chan!" Sarada chirps.
"Hello, Sarada-chan." Hinata-oba-chan's voice is always so soft and pretty. "How was school today?"
"It was good! Manami-sensei taught us flower meanings!"
Mama laughs. "I remember those lessons, eh, Hinata? It was the only time we didn't have to worry about the boys being loud and disrupting the class."
"If I remember correctly, you were plenty loud and disruptive yourself." Papa says with a smirk. Sarada recognises it as the tone he uses when he's making fun of Mama.
Mama tosses her long pink hair over her shoulder. "And yet I still beat you in every single written exam." She sniffs.
The grown-ups laugh and say goodbye. Papa puts her down and Sarada holds his and Mama's hands as they start down the street. "Are we still getting ice cream?" She asks hopefully.
"Aa." Papa nods.
She skips along happily. Her Mama and Papa are both here, and they're both smiling and happy. Her fright from the night before fades away and she enjoys time with her family.
They have dinner when they get home, and Sarada does her homework on the coffee table after. She can hear Mama and Papa talking softly in the kitchen while they do the dishes; Mama's voice is happy and Papa's tone is light. When she sneaks a peak at them, Papa is bending down to kiss her.
Sarada's eyes get wide and she blushes, ducking her head. There's a small part of her that feels icky when her parents kiss, but mostly she's happy that they love each other so much.
"Sarada!" Mama calls when she's nearly finished her homework, hurrying into the living room. Papa follows behind at a slower pace, a small smile on his face. "Come sit with us for a minute!"
It's usual for Mama to interrupt her when she's doing her homework. Sarada crawls up onto the couch and sits between Mama and Papa and looks between their happy faces in confusion. Papa pulls her onto his lap and Mama's eyes sparkle bright like the stars in the sky outside when she puts her head on his shoulder and wraps her arms around them both.
There, sitting on her Papa's lap and with her Mama's arms around her, Mama and Papa tell her that, soon, she's going to be a big sister.
THE END
