A Daughter's Plea

A/N: Gosh, my first Naruto fanfic and it's because I was too happy to see that SasuSaku, my first anime OTP had been officially labelled as canon. Man, I almost cried in relief though I can't help but wonder if Kishimoto-sensei got lazy with the next gen's character designs but who am I to complain? It's SasuSaku CANON! For ten years of fangirling and reading the manga... I feel like I have to say goodbye to an old friend...

Uchiha Sarada frowned as she flattened the paper in her small hands. It was a note which called for the attention of the students' parents regarding the change of curriculum. Something about adding different subjects and separate them based on their grades but Sarada wasn't worried about that; she was at the top of the class. She's an Uchiha after all.

But her main concern was the fact that her mama will be the only one to represent her... again. She envied her classmates whose parents, both their fathers and mothers, would come to every meeting. Heck, even the Hokage will squeeze in even for a few moments to attend the meetings. But her own father only returns for a short period of time; a month to three months at most before he would go and leave them for another six or seven months.

The raven-haired girl bit her lip that started to quiver as she brushed her bangs to the side. This emotion was supposed to be beneath her, she's not like Boruto-baka who wore his heart on his sleeves; even though her mama told her it's not healthy to keep her feelings (both good and bad) bottled up. "Kami-sama help me if I get another emotionally-constipated Uchiha to take care of" he mama once sighed.

The soft orange lights peeked from the crags of her blinds-covered windows. Should she tell mama about this? That was a stupid question, her mama will know about this. Not only because she knows about these kinds of meetings since she has connection with the Academy staff but also because she knows when she (or her papa) is lying to her. It was a scary power of hers, as well as punching a slab of concrete into dust.

A soft rapt on her bedroom door pulled her out of her thoughts; her mama's voice flowed into the space. "Sarada-chan," she called out "It's time for dinner." Sarada folded the paper and tucked it under her pillow and walked out of her room to follow her mother to the dining room.

Dinner was simple enough though she thought her mama's teasing her by serving a large plate of salad that consisted of lettuce, cucumber and, to her horror; tomatoes. Sarada hated those round red things. Unless they're in ketchup form, she wouldn't go near one with a ten-foot pole. Picking up her chopsticks, she began to eat her rice and a piece of grilled meat in silence.

"Alright, what's going on?" Her mama asked before she took a gulp of water. Sarada looked at her with a neutral expression, feigning a look of surprise that most adults can fall for. But then again, her mama's not like most adults.

"What do you mean mama?" She titled her head to add a sweet cutesy visage. Usually her mama would coo over her and nuzzle her nose with hers but somehow her mama just knew that she was hiding something. Sakura placed her chopsticks down and gave her a smile that never failed to make her guilty whenever she did something wrong. Sarada really need to learn on how to do that someday, guilt was a good motivator.

"Sarada-chan, is this about the parent-teacher meeting next Friday?"

She felt her whole body stiffen, her mouth formed into a thin straight line like a bucket of cold water doused over her. Her mama knew, obviously. Hokage-sama must've told her about it during their weekly dinner gathering at the Ichiraku ramen place. Sarada squirmed in her seat, clearly uncomfortable under her mama's gaze. Maybe mama thought that she didn't want her to know because she did something bad, or maybe because she failed at something or-

A warm hand on her head made her thoughts stop. Pink covered her vision and the scent of mama's own personal perfume enveloped her as she wrapped around her daughter in a comforting manner. Her arms wrapped themselves to her mama's neck as well as she whispered against her hair.

"I know sweetheart, I miss him too."

"Why does he have to leave every time?" she asked, her usually cool and calm voice cracked and her tone was an octave higher. She felt her mama's warm breath fan her head before she pulled back and leaned her forehead against hers, awkward for her own part because she got her mama's larger than usual forehead. But as she stared at her bright green eyes and understood the unspoken words hidden in those orbs.

'He needs it'

Of course he did, her papa never does something without a purpose. But sometimes she can't help but question his love for her and mama. She had seen other fathers act around their wives and children and there was a stain of jealousy that can't be removed. A complete family, she wanted that. She missed her papa so much; there were times when she had nightmares and she would cry out for her papa only to remember he was somewhere in Iwagakure or when she had a part on the Hanabi Festival dance but he was absent from that too. Even in the quiet moments in the afternoon, she would sit on the edge of her balcony, feet poking out of the rails and watched the people walking by under her; searching for the long, spiky black tresses.

She loved mama dearly but there will always be a void that only her papa can fill.

After dinner, she did her nightly rituals. Then she took off her red framed glasses and tied her hair in a loose ponytail before climbing on her bed. The snowy white blanket covered her feet and her pillows lined the side of her bed against the wall. The silver picture frames shone under the fluorescent lights and stacks of books cluttered on her desk. Normally a neat person, Sarada ignored the mess and flopped on the bed to stare at the ceiling. She should be studying for a test tomorrow but she found her mind wandering around her estranged father, hoping- wishing with an innocent child's heart that her papa will come home and maybe stay for good.

Why should he leave them?

Why can't he stay like all normal fathers?

Why is mama condoning this?

Her mama's strong, she can easily tie him in a chair and make him stay there for as long as she wants but she didn't. The way they looked at each other truly proved to their daughter that they loved one another but she can't ignore the subtle pain and worry in her mama's eyes whenever he leaves for his personal journey again.

Why can't he see that he's hurting her and mama every time he walks out of the gates? She was more familiar with the sight of his back than his face.

The thoughts were cut short as her throat felt dry. Thirsty. She sat up and silently walked out if the bedroom with her bare feet pressing against the smooth wooden floorboards, careful not to disturb her mama and at the same time training her stealth. She expected her mama to be in the kitchen washing plates or maybe in the living room to update the hospital records but she didn't expect to see her mama and papa standing in the middle of the living room locked in a tight embrace (one-armed for her papa's part) And the way her mother was standing on the tips of her toes and the way her papa was slightly leaning down gave her a clue as to what they were in the middle of.

Her gaze quickly flew to the floor with her cheeks flaring, not used to witnessing her parents' public display of affections. But in a couple of seconds, she felt a large hand cover her head and the scent of the forest and rain invaded her nose.

Sarada looked up to her father's face. The fair skin had been tanned lightly from the sun and his hair had grown to his back, no doubt her mama would try to cut it short before he leaves... yet again. The left section of his hair covered his purple eye and his onyx orb took in her own pair.

"Tadaima" he whispered in his husky tone.

"Okaerinasai papa" she answered though it was colder than she intended it to.

All she wanted to do was flung herself at his strong form and lose herself in his warmth and relish the fact that he was standing right in front of her. But there was a wall that formed then and there. The reality pained her, the reality that he came back just so he could just walk out on her and her mama again, a vicious cycle that she didn't want to be a part of.

"How many days are you going to stay until you leave me and mama again?"

Her papa frowned, her mama did as well and before any of them can say anything; she turned her heel and went straight to her room, clicking the lock into place. She could hear the heavy footsteps shadowing her own and the doorknob twisted before she heard her mama's voice call him back. It would be so easy for him to open that door but the tone her mama had used was akin to a warning and he heeded it. Sarada slid to the floor and hugged her knees and tucked them under her chin.

"She hates me"

Sakura sighed as she dried his bowl and placed the dish inside the cupboard. Finally, she turned to her husband who was sulking in the rotund dinner table, his face was scrunched to that perpetual frown and his arm was resting on the edge of the surface.

She approached to his back and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "She doesn't hate you" she assured him "She's just furious at you."

"Right, that's much better" he scoffed but leaned in her touch. She pressed a kiss on top of his head and sat on chair next to his, it was always her place. Always by his side even if she wasn't physically there to stand next to him in his travels. He reached his arm out to feel the fine silver chain that peeked under her shirt and tugged at it to fish out the diamond-shaped pendant. His gaze softened as his fingers traced the Uchiha clan symbol that was placed on the middle.

Sakura covered his hand with hers and pressed it against her chest, "You can't force her to understand it fully for now, she's just a child Sasuke. It's hard for her- for us to see you for a few months and gone for the rest of the year. Birthdays and holidays are nice but it's the ordinary days that count the most for Sarada-chan." She held his hand tightly as she placed it on the table.

His scowl deepened as he mussed over her words. The pain he had inflicted to his new family placed a heavy weight in his chest, he didn't want to leave them but he has to renew his way of thinking, his perspective of the world, to be a better person both of them deserved. Sakura sensed his internal conflict so she lifted the hand that held his and placed it on his cheek, his jawbones jutting out of his skin ever so slightly. He was eating less during his travels.

"I know it's hard, especially when she's acting like this but you can talk to her about it Sasuke-kun. Just explain to her why you need this and she'll understand. She's such a smart child."

When he didn't respond, she caressed his cheek and placed her hand under his chin so that his gaze will return to her eyes. "I love you" she stated, voice clear and strong.

His heart skipped a beat his eyes drank the sight of her. Gone were the soft edges of childhood and adolescence and was replaced by a matured woman. A strong, loving woman who had the heart to give someone as dark, as sinful as him something as precious as unconditional love. He never understood what she had seen in him; afraid that even if they were married and together for over a decade and produced a daughter in that union, she will wake up one day and realize that she can do better than him. Deserved a husband who can't hurt her be it unintentionally, someone who won't make her cry. Sarada deserved a father who wasn't absent for the majority of her life. They deserved better than what he has to offer.

"I love you too" he answered faintly, he was still uncomfortable saying his emotions out loud even if they were intimate. He preferred showing it rather than saying it after all. And now it seemed his daughter picked up that habit as well.

"Pencils down!"

Aburame-sensei's voice was overlapped with various groans and lingering curses. Sarada didn't get what the big deal was, it was just basic knowledge but judging by Boruto's moan, it seems it wasn't that basic at all. But then again... Boruto's an idiotic loudmouth hence her nickname for him.

She lifted her glasses to the bridge of her nose and and placed her notebook to his desk before exiting the classroom. But before she can take another step, she was blocked by a tall and rather intimidating obstacle.

Her papa stood in front of her, he wasn't dressed in his travelling gear, favouring his dark blue shirt and (much to her surprise) his two arms that were covered with a black cloth. Several of her classmates poked their heads nosily out of their room and she could hear Chocho and Inojin whisper to each other but she blocked them out, like she always does.

"Pa- ahem, Otou-sama. What are you doing here?" she asked in a professional manner she heard her mama used inside the hospital.

"Lunch" he simply answered and began to walk to the entrance. Sarada blinked owlishly at her papa's back before she shook her head, fixed her bag and followed him.

It was the restaurant she and mama frequented whenever she had the free time to pick Sarada up from school, which was a rare commodity but both of them made it work. Sarada picked out the table they always sat on and placed the sling of her bag at the chair's spine and grabbed the menu while her papa sat across her table, flatly ignoring the curious stares they were getting. A female server wearing a light pink yukata bowed at them and asked what they were having. Sarada ordered her favourite meal of oyakodon along with a cup of anmitsu she and her mama usually shared.

Her papa just ordered a plate of dumplings and watched her throughout the whole meal. She can feel herself shrink under his silent gaze. This was ridiculous, he was her papa, not some stranger- but then again, she hadn't properly bonded with him to get exactly comfortable at his presence. To ease the tension, she offered to share her anmitsu with him by scooping out a spoonful of the dessert to him. With a sudden look of confusion and a dust of pink splayed over his cheeks, he ate it, internally making her smile. She wanted to offer him more but he looked like he was in physical pain as he chewed it slowly.

She guessed he didn't like sweets.

After that, they walked to the gardens where the babbling brook met the river that flowed through the forests that surrounded Konoha. He led her to a bench that was freshly painted and sat there, waiting for her to do the same.

With a neutral expression, she settled herself next to him and nearly jumped when he spoke, "Why are you mad at me?" Her papa's a man of few words, mama said she got that but when she gets riled up, she will utter the word 'shannaro' and punch the unfortunate object that was nearest to her. The wind made the leaves on the trees dance and fanned their faces. She pursed her lips, afraid that she might speak out of her position before she clenched her hands into fists with the thought 'To hell with this!'

"You're always leaving" she stated though it lacked the anger she wanted to express but before she can think over her words, her mouth started to run meticulously. "One moment you're there sitting on the couch or training with Naruto-san the next, you're already half-way across the earth country. You're only here when it's my birthday or mama's or your anniversary or- or whatever... but you never stayed!"

His eyes widened as she poured her heart out. All that anger, that sadness she felt, came flooding out. "You make mama cry sometimes when you didn't return for almost a year only to stop by for a day or two then vanish again. I don't feel like- I don't feel that you're my papa!"

Her confession ended with a yell. Her whole body was shaking and her whole face was cold. She diverted her eyes to the ground and refused to look at him; afraid that he will get angry at her for disrespecting him, afraid that she had hurt him.

"I... I didn't know-"

"No you don't" she whispered, "You don't know how much we missed you. Why?" she turned to him, eyes stinging from the unshed tears she had held up for far too long. "Why can't you stay here with us in Konoha like a normal family?"

She watched him take a deep breath and lifted his right hand. She flinched but he just lifted her to his lap and gently stroked her black mane. "I have to leave because I have to change myself" he replied. She turned her head to look up to him but he was busy staring at the void that she couldn't see.

"I had done horrible things when I was young. I've hurt too many people, even the people who cared a great deal for me... especially your mother." Sarada wanted to ask why but she held her tongue, knowing that he still have a lot to say. "I lived in darkness and all I ever felt was hatred that it blinded me. I was turning into something dark, unforgivable. But before I was far too gone, Naruto-baka and your mother saved me and I have to make amends for them, to be a better person."

Sarada shifted in his lap as she pondered over his words. So that's what mama meant when she said her papa needed this journey. She bit her lip before asking, "Will it take forever?"

"No Sarada... at least I hope it won't" he answered honestly. Sarada nodded before she slid off of him and asked, "What kind of things did you do?" His posture stiffened before his shoulders slumped and he leaned his elbows to his knees, "I will tell you when the day comes" he promised.

"Anou... what do you mean you became something dark?"

He closed his eyes and leaned back on the bench before he turned to look at her straight in the eyes and said, "I've become a monster."

There was silence that enveloped them but it wasn't awkward or tense. Sarada let the newfound information sink into her head, demanding every understanding bone in her body to accept his reason. And when she looked into his black orb, she knew they weren't the only ones hurting from that separation. The way her papa would touch mama upon returning from his wandering, their smoldering gazes and their quiet moment in the veranda where they would sit on the wooden bench and watch the stars. The way he praised Sarada's high grades and insisting her to show the techniques she learned at the academy.

He didn't want to leave them... he had to.

So with a single nod, she accepted his reason. And he knew she did with that small action. Even though they barely had time to bond like a normal parent and child, they understood one another like they were joined at the hip. Sarada took off her glasses and wiped her eyes before she stood up and placed her hands on her confused papa's cheek, brushing the thick patch of hair that covered his Rinnegan to the side and said to him,

"You're not a monster papa."

"Aa, thank you"

He stayed for four months after that. But they all knew he will have to get back in his nomadic ways again, much to his daughter's chagrin. But instead of a cold shoulder, she poured her time spending it with him; ranging from training to an afternoon nap where she would fall asleep right on top of him and her mama would take a picture of them.

She found herself wanting more but told herself to be patient, as much as her mama was. Now that she mentioned it, her mama's been sleeping an awful lot lately...

"I'll come back soon" he promised as Sakura handed him a wooden bentou and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. Naruto was in the middle of a meeting but he had sent his regards with a messily written letter that he never bothered to read. Behind Sakura, Sarada shuffled her feet on the ground with a pout on her face. Of course this day would come but she felt his hand on her head and she lifted her gaze to see his face with a soft and tender look in his eye. He reached into the pocket of his pants and pinned it on the side of her hair. Sakura hid a smile behind her hand before she took out her compact mirror and held it up for her daughter to see. A cherry blossom hairclip that was coloured with red and white had pinned her bangs to the side like her mother's hairstyle. Sarada's ears went red before she bent her head down and mumbled her thanks.

Sasuke nodded to his family and started to walk off. Sarada's heart pounded against her chest, she won't see him for many months or so again and before anyone can blink, she was running after her papa and flung herself against him.

"I'll miss you papa!" she cried, tears spilled from the corners of her eyes and fogged her glasses but she felt herself being carried and a pair of warm lips covered her forehead. "I'll see you very soon, I promise."

They heard Sakura walk towards them and carried Sarada into her arms before she turned to her husband and said, "Just make sure you'll be here real soon or you'll be surprised that there will be three of us who will welcome you back."

Sasuke froze, eyes wide with surprise while Sarada blinked in confusion before she put two and two together. Sakura smiled at her daughter and said, "You'll be an onee-chan, Sarada-chan!"

Sasuke was immediately in front of them with his right hand splayed across Sakura's stomach, almost demanding the baby to reveal itself before he activated his sharingan and saw the flicker of chakra in her tummy.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" he asked, miffed that she withheld the information from him but she just waved off his angry tone and explained, "I just found out this morning. And consider this as a punishment for making us wait for you in a long time!"

Sasuke shook his head and looked at his family. His wife positively glowing while his daughter was pressing her ear against Sakura's currently flat stomach. They're his family. The ones he loved the most, the ones he will kill for and will die to protect. And when Sarada and Sakura turned at him with beautiful smiles on their faces; he decided that maybe he should stay more and travel less. Maybe he will turn those months in the road for just one or two.

After all, that's what all they ever wanted.