CHAPTER EIGHT: BYE, PAPA

Sasuke thought he had everything he ever needed in life. He had a stable job, a roof over his head, a loving wife, he really couldn't think of anything else he could possibly need. But, as all stories go, something–er, someone came into his life. When his baby girl, Sarada Uchiha, came into this world, he thought he had lost his ability to breathe. She looked so fragile, and the Uchiha patriarch feared he would blow her away with one minor exhale. And when Sakura held the silent baby girl out to him, he was insistent on refusing. He refused five times before he finally had to take the girl from Sakura's demanding arms. He hadn't any clue on how to hold her. He had to sit beside Sakura in order to receive instructions. Support her head, check. Use your forearm, check. And oh how he remembers the way her little hand wrapped around his finger. Sakura swore she saw tears. When little Sarada opened her eyes, showing both mother and father the deep, onyx orbs that mimicked her father's, Sasuke finally spoke. "I'm a father," he breathed.

Beside him, Sakura giggled. "Yeah, you're a father."

Sasuke reacted as though he didn't hear her. He simply lifted Sarada's fist that encircled his finger and kissed it softly. "I'm a father," he repeated.

As time went on, Sasuke learned that Sarada upheld the Uchiha name. She was a fast learner, excelling far ahead of the other babies. Naruto would get sick of hearing Sasuke ramble on about how Sarada was superior because Bolt simply wasn't as amazing. To Naruto, the little things didn't really mean anything. He wanted Bolt to hurry and become a ninja. To Sasuke, the little things were everything because he wanted his baby girl to remain just that: his baby girl. So when she learned to roll over, Sasuke ran to go get Sakura saying, "Sakura! She just rolled over!" And when Sarada sat up, Sasuke called Sakura on her break and hissed, "You missed it! She just sat up." When Sarada took her first steps, Sasuke actually wasn't present, he was on a mission. Sakura was the one who had to inform the lad of their daughter's first two steps. That was a sad day for Sasuke Uchiha. "I missed her first steps," he asked Sakura sadly before not uttering a single word for the rest of the day.

So as you can see, Sasuke is wrapped around little Sarada's finger and has been since the day she was born. But, as you know, things change. People change. Sarada was growing up far too fast for her father's liking. Sasuke was so worried of the girl speeding through school and into the ninja life that he had forgotten to be a better father than his own had been. When Sarada would come home with an excellent report card, she would get her praises from Sakura. Sasuke would simply sit in his arm chair and gaze at her, not giving any response besides a single nod. In Sasuke's mind, he was imagining the day she would leave on her first mission. In Sarada's mind, her father simply didn't care.

Quickly the relationship turned sour. The little girl that would follow her father as often as she could no longer wanted to be in the same room as her and this scared Sasuke to death. Many nights he would confide in Sakura, admitting his fears only to find that Sakura shared many of them, she simply handled them differently. "I think about what she wants," Sakura told him one night. She had found him looking through their family photo album and on every picture of Sarada he would stop and graze his calloused fingers over it, remembering the day all too well. Sakura rested her head on his shoulder as an effort of reassuring him, but to no avail. He was tense, he was silent, he was sad.

"She wants to be a ninja, Sakura," Sasuke managed to get out despite the fact that he was nearly inaudible. "That's too dangerous. I won't allow her to be a ninja. I can't–" Sakura cringed when his body began to shake. He turned away, refusing to show this of weakness to his wife. After some time, Sasuke was able to compose himself and he said, "My family is everything and I will protect it no matter what. If she comes to hate me in the end, so be it." He got up and stormed away but Sakura knew he didn't mean a single word he said. She knows from the way his face adopted the pain of lost memories the moment the word "hate" slipped off of his tongue.

However, one night when Sakura was fed up with the division within her own household, she found herself keeping Sarada up later than usual in order to have "a talk." The two were seated at the kitchen table during one of the nights of Sasuke's mission. Sakura figured it was best to bring it up during a time where a fight would not ensue.

"What's this about, mama," Sarada asked, suspicious that it was going to be "The Talk" all over again. Oh, how embarrassing and slightly over-detailed that conversation was.

Sakura's face was all too serious, so much that Sarada partially knew what the conversation was going to be about. Rather than storming off, as her instincts told her, Sarada sat at the table and figured she could wait this conversation out. After all, that's what she's always done. Sakura did not allow Sarada to utter a word before she said, "You have to realize that your father cares about you, Sarada."

"Does he," was all Sarada responded with.

"Yes," Sakura asserted, "He does."

"Well then why won't he–"

"Because being a ninja is dangerous and, as far as your father is concerned, any amount of danger can take those precious to him. It has before."

Sarada knew about the Uchiha massacre. After all, it was what shaped her father into the man he was today. But she was stubborn like her mother, she refused to allow her father to ruin her dreams just because of some fear. Besides, the country was in an era of peace. Become a ninja was virtually redundant but the idea of it is what Sarada truly desired. She wanted to be strong, she wanted to be someone that could live up to the prestigious family name. Her father had, and her mother, so what was she supposed to do? Sit back and be a useless civilian? "So what are you saying? Are you saying I should just be a civilian then?" Sarada never openly challenger her mother, but it was also her mother who told her to fight for what she believed. She believed in herself, so she was going to fight for herself as well.

"No," Sakura shook her head, seeing that the conversation was digressing. "I'm saying meet him halfway, Sarada."

What did halfway mean? That was the question, the same question Sarada asked herself for the next two weeks. Graduation came and went, meeting her first team came and flew right on by, and soon she was signed up for her next mission. It was a minor mission, escorting some civilian across the country, but Sarada was terrified. Word around town said that there were some dangerous bandits lurking around unguarded territory and they were just waiting for a group of ninjas to walk on through. Sasuke had been hearing this as well and, unbeknownst to his wife and child, he had gone out to patrol the area. If there were bandits out there that could potentially harm his child, he would murder them before they could. He'd come home exhausted and disappointed, having found nothing but curious animals lurking about. But something kept bugging him so much that he was beyond help when the day came for Sarada to leave.

"Don't forget your pack," Sakura said, rushing to the front door with said pack in hand. Sarada saw it and mentally slapped herself. She was so nervous that she had forgot all of her weapons! "Okay, remember–" and as Sakura went through the safety checklist of every mother, Sasuke rounded the corner after having pondered what he was going to say as he sat in his favorite armchair. As soon as he saw his daughter, all dressed up in her ninja clothes, prepared to go off and, well, be a ninja, everything left his mind. Sakura felt him standing behind her, so she cut her long list short "–okay, I guess I should let your father get a few words in."

Sakura stepped back and urged Sasuke forward. He stumbled at first, and Sarada fidgeted with the hem of her skirt. Awkward could not encase the scene that presented itself before Sakura, and she had the urge to cut it all off and send Sarada on her way, but that idea soon left when she noticed Sasuke lowering himself to Sarada's eye level. "Sarada," his voice was stern, and Sarada fought the urge to roll her eyes in the precedent of some sort of remark that always came out condescendingly. But it never came. Instead, she was surprised with, "To hell with proper conduct and morality. Do whatever you have to do to come back home, do you hear me?" Sarada only blinked. "Your mother– no. I want you home safe and sound, nothing else. Nod if you understand." Sarada nodded as Sasuke drew her into the biggest hug he could ever administer. He was shaking, Sarada felt, which meant he was just as scared as she was and he was the Uchiha Patriarch. Because of me, Sarada thought, shamefully happy. He's scared… for me.

"Okay," Sakura sensed Sarada's team approaching, blinking back tears. "It's time for you to go, Sarada."

Sarada nodded, "I know." She made sure she had her pack and slipped on her shoes, opening the front door. Sure enough her team was waiting a short distance away. Her immediate reaction was to run to them but, after the second step, she stopped momentarily and turned back on her heel. Sasuke was just standing when she came back to him, launching herself into his arms. He returned her parting hug as she said, "Bye, Papa. I love you!" She turned and ran before she could hear him but Sakura definitely heard a, "I love you too, Sarada."

So this may be the last one that I make for this series because the Naruto: Gaiden Ch. 1 came out! Omg the suspense is killing me and I hope there are weekly releases just like the original Naruto. If you guys haven't read it, I strongly suggest that you do because sh*t is about to go down. I'm telling you, people. This is not a game!