Pairing: SasuSaku

Summary: Sarada discovers an old love letter addressed to her mother and asks her father about it.

Author's Note: Part 3. Instead of starting my 12-page final paper that's due this Friday, I finished Part 3. Yay, procrastination! As always, I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. Believe it.

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Uchiha Sakura had prepared her family's favorite entrée for dinner that evening. Although Sakura had more of a sweet tooth, her daughter seemed to take after her father's taste and when Sasuke was home, Sakura didn't complain about eating Onigiri and tomatoes more than once in two days. Sarada always seemed to be merrier when she arrived to dinner when he was home, knowing her mother would make her and her father's favorite.

Sakura hummed pleasantly to herself as she prepared the final touches of the meal, waiting for her husband and daughter to return, from what she presumed to be their own personal errands and training exercises.

Sakura had not expected Sasuke to recover so soon, shocked to have noticed his chakra's absence and their bedroom empty upon her return. She expected that he had gone to see the Hokage to discuss in more detail the intel that Sasuke had gathered on his mission away from the village. Still, Sakura admired her husband for his strength, understanding in full just how much of an effect the Rinnegan had on Sasuke's body. This was the first time she'd seen him bounce back so quickly.

Sakura had taken a few days off from the hospital on Sasuke's return, knowing her husband wouldn't come to the hospital for treatment now that she—an elite medical ninja—was his wife. She had spent three days in total, healing her husband from his injuries. Sarada had been impatient like she usually was when waiting on Sasuke to recuperate enough to come out of their bedroom. Sakura couldn't blame her daughter, admitting to herself that she had trouble with patience during this time, too.

Today, Sakura had returned to her shift at the hospital, knowing that there was nothing more that she could do for her husband other than to let him rest. Apparently, Sasuke didn't think he needed rest.

Sakura continued to hum happily, dicing the last of the tomatoes when her daughter walked through the door.

"Sarada," Sakura called out in her direction, looking over her shoulder. "I've made you and your father's favorite for dinner."

She heard a disgruntled response of acknowledgement and turned to see her daughter yank out one of the chairs from their dinging table and sit down. Obviously, Sakura had not received the merry Sarada she had been expecting.

"What's the matter, darling?" Sakura asked as she began to approach her.

Sarada pouted in return, jutting out her chin as she supported it with her palm. Sakura could recognize that sulking face from anywhere. It was an Uchiha thing, she told herself.

"Is it Boruto, again?"

"No," she replied tightly, "Papa."

Sakura was thrown by that. "Papa? What are you talking about?"

Sarada's frowned deepened and she raised her head from her hand, leaning forcefully back into her chair. "He promised to help me train this afternoon but never showed. I tried to find him, but it's as if he's not in this damned village!"

Sakura didn't know what to say to her daughter other than: "I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation. Your father is very important to the Village which makes him very b-"

"Busy. I know," Sarada finished for her, emphasizing the word "know." Sakura frowned and looked down. She understood her daughter's frustration and had always tried to appease her, stressing the importance of what it was her father was doing.

Sakura sat across from her daughter and took Sarada's hand. Her daughter peered up into her mother's eyes, seeming to soften at her touch. "Your father loves you very much."

It was at that moment that the door opened and Uchiha Sasuke stepped through the entry. Sakura and Sarada both stood up at what they saw. His shirt was bloody and his right eye faintly bruised. Hair disheveled and drooping his right arm, the Uchiha stopped at the sight of them. Sakura gasped.

"What happened to you?" she was at his side in an instant, taking his arm over her shoulder. Her husband visibly winced as she did so and Sakura took the opportunity to assess his injuries more closely. She helped him make it to the dining room table and Sasuke settled deeply into the chair, nodding his thanks.

"Well?" she asked in response to his silence.

"Just a spar," was his curt reply and Sakura felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle.

She gritted her teeth. There's only one person that could have inflicted this much damage on Sasuke and Sakura instantly recognized Naruto in all of his injuries. "What were you thinking? You're supposed to be resting! Not fighting the Hokage!"

Her husband offered no excuse and remained silent. Sakura decided she would let him suffer through his minor injuries, hoping it would teach him not to be too reckless. Instead, she began to heal the worst of his injuries: his arm. Sasuke seemed to pull away from her at first but was stilled by the pain of moving his arm. Not realizing his effort, Sakura held on more tightly, summoning chakra to her palms and sensing that the radius bone of his forearm was completely severed and the ulna was also fractured. She grimaced.

"Are you trying to lose your right arm, too?" she exclaimed.

She heard Sarada giggle, but when Sasuke raised his eyes to hers, Sarada seemed to remember her annoyance with him. "You were supposed to train with me today, but instead you were out getting your butt kicked by the Seventh!"

The Uchiha scoffed. "You should see him."

Sakura finished healing his arm and released it. Her husband flexed it approvingly and then reached it out across the table, closing the small distance between him and his daughter, and placed two fingers upon her forehead. "I got distracted today. Next time, I promise."

Sakura smiled at the familiar gesture that her husband used to show them affection. She also found that her annoyance with him had faded and was replaced with happiness as she watched the two people she loved most together in one room, again.

Sarada rubbed her forehead where he had poked her, saying, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Smiling, Mrs. Uchiha bounded into the kitchen, exclaiming "Hope you guys are hungry! I made your favorite!"

Plates were set before them and Sakura took the seat next to her husband, smiling at him as she waited for his approval. He said nothing and immediately began to eat. She guessed she wasn't going to get a very joyful Sasuke tonight, either.

The rest of the dinner was spent somewhat awkwardly. Sakura would ask them about their days and would get a short response here and there from both of them, neither seeming to express the desire to reciprocate a conversation. Not necessarily wanting to sit in silence, Sakura decided that she would update them on things from the hospital: new techniques and discoveries, diseases and jutsu, patients and their injuries.

"You seemed to have mastered the arm pretty well," her husband interrupted, saying his first full sentence to her since he had arrived. He kept his eyes on his plate and avoided looking at her.

Sakura noticed that Sarada had stopped eating and now stared at her curiously, sneaking occasional glances at her father.

"Yes," she smiled a reply, interpreting her husband's statement as gratitude for healing him. "The arm's network is complex but I seem to have acquired a full understanding of it.

"Have you had lots of practice?" interjected her daughter, who closely evaluated her face.

Sakura nodded modestly, "I guess you could say that."

She notices a small exchange between her daughter and husband, but did not make anything of it. Sakura was just grateful to have her family interested in her accomplishments as a medic-nin.

Sakura continued to explain in detail different parts of the human anatomy, other complex systems that Sakura found more interesting, but her daughter began to express a different interest.

"Did you heal many people in the Fourth Shinobi War?" Sarada asked, interrupting Sakura's advanced speech of terminology in reference to the human brain. Sasuke seemed to jerk his head up at that question and narrow his eyes at their daughter.

Sakura smiled at her daughter's curiosity, replying "Many shinobi were injured during the Fourth Shinobi World War. I belonged to the Logistical Support and Medical Division of the Allied Shinobi Forces, whose task was to heal the wounded."

"I see," was Sarada's reply. Her daughter grew solemn as she continued to pick at her food.

The rest of the evening was spent in silence. Sakura tidied up the kitchen while her husband bent over his katana, cleaning it carefully. He then proceeded to clean his shuriken and kunai next. Sarada came by and hugged them both before announcing her plan to go to bed.

Sakura followed her upstairs and kissed her goodnight, a routine that was familiar to the both of them.

"You're not ever going to leave us, are you, Mama?" her daughter asked hanging on to her hand as Sakura kneeled beside her bed. Sarada's voice was small and it reminded Sakura of the time when Sarada was just a little girl.

"Of course not," she replied, "What would ever make you think that? You and your father mean far too much to me."

Sarada still didn't seem comforted so Sakura quickly added, "Know that there will never be a time where I will willingly leave you. I am your mother and you are my daughter and I intend for us always to be together."

Sakura knew that they both understood that in this shinobi world there might come a time where something threatened their family and separation might be the result. However, Sakura knew in her heart that she would do everything in her power to prevent that from happening. She hoped that her daughter would come to understand that it was for this very reason her father had to leave them sometimes.

Sarada smiled and closed her eyes. Rising from the floor, Sakura exited her daughter's bedroom, glancing back at the child who meant everything to her.

Turning, Sakura made her way back down the hall, passing the room where the little Uchiha family stored their books. Out of habit, Sakura made to close the opened door, when something caught her eye. A book lay on one of sofas and Sakura assumed that her daughter had forgotten to put it back on the shelf. However, when she made to pick it up, Sakura noticed that a folded piece of paper lay on its surface.

Lifting the paper, she recognized the book beneath it. It was one of her medical reference books that Sakura had used in the war. It had been passed down to her from her mentor, Lady Tsunade, and Sakura had studied it mercilessly, finding it extraordinarily helpful when healing the wounded shinobi of the Allied Forces.

Turning her attention back to the piece of paper in her hand, Sakura unfolded it. She read it at first, not recognizing the script that was scribbled across it. However, she was taken aback as Sakura began to recognize the words. It was the love letter that one of the ninja from the Hidden Stone village had given her after healing his arm in the war. What was his name again?

She found it, signed at the bottom. Morio. Sakura smiled, faintly remembering the ninja's face. She had forgotten about the nice man who had professed his love for her after only having met her once. After Sakura had apologetically rejected him, she had placed his letter in the book, next to the illustration of the arm she had referred to when healing his. Sakura hadn't given the letter a second thought, forgetting it completely.

She hoped that wherever the man was now, if he had survived the war, that he had found the happiness that he was searching for.

But why had this letter resurfaced, now? Why was it laying here on the sofa?

Turning, Sakura was surprised to see her husband standing in the entry, staring at his feet.

"Sarada found it, hidden in your book," he spoke, no trace of emotion in his voice.

Sakura glanced down at the note in her hands, realizing he was referring to the love letter. She contemplated her husband's words. Sarada had found and most likely read the love letter to her mother. Suddenly her daughter's questions at dinner made a lot more sense to Sakura now.

"Ah," she said, folding the letter back the way she had found it. "I see."

She knew Sarada to be overly curious about her and Sasuke and that included each of their pasts. It was no secret that Sarada had been kept in the dark for most of her life regarding Sasuke's past. They had decided to wait until the time was right to reveal those kinds of truths to her. Sasuke had not wanted his brother to be viewed as a monster by their daughter and so had decided to conceal his past until she had acquired more life experience and understanding. Only then, would he tell her everything.

But now, Sakura realized, that maybe Sarada was questioning her mother's past as well. She shook her head sadly, fully realizing why her daughter had been upset when she had put her to bed. Of course, Sarada had assumed that since Sasuke left to redeem his past, that her mother might leave to redeem hers as well. This was not the case and Sakura would explain things to her daughter in the morning.

Looking up at her husband again, she noticed a deepening scowl in his features. It was at that moment that another realization occurred to Sakura. Her husband had read the letter, too. The more she looked at his irritable facial expression the more she knew it to be true.

Was Sasuke jealous? She audibly giggled at this notion and her husband shot her a glare.

"What's so funny?" he demanded, walking fully into the room.

Sakura giggled again. "This means nothing, darling."

"Hn," was her husband's quick reply as he picked up the resting book off the couch and placed it in its correct location on the shelf. By his sharp movements, Sakura could tell he had been a little more than annoyed by the letter addressed to his wife.

She regarded him attentively as he pushed the book a little too forcefully into its place. Sakura knew she had every right to be vexed with him over his unjustifiable anger towards her. Who was he to judge her? Sakura had only ever loved the man in front of her, even if he less than deserved it at many points in his life. With that thought, Sakura identified the very insecurity that her husband was struggling with. He knew that he had ignored and hurt her for most of her life, even tried to kill her at one time. It was for this reason, she understood, that her husband was believing what the letter had suggested to him: she had had every reason and opportunity to love someone else.

"Sasuke, this letter—"

"You kept it," he interrupted, leaning his back against the book shelf. She took in the sight of him, still battered from his fight with Naruto. Was it the letter that had caused him to act so recklessly? By the looks of him, she was beginning to believe that maybe it had.

Sakura noticed that Sasuke was purposefully avoiding her eyes and she knew it was because he felt ridiculous for experiencing what he was feeling. Sasuke never acted this way and that's precisely why Sakura found it somewhat amusing.

"There's no reason to get jealous," she stated simply, smiling innocently at him.

He scoffed. "I'm not jealous."

She began to make her way towards him, and asked, "Do you want to know what I said to the man who gave me this letter?"

Her husband met her eyes and remained still as the distance between them grew shorter and shorter until Sakura peered up into his mismatched eyes, remaining silent until he gave her an answer.

"What?" he finally asked, obviously annoyed at her question.

She noticed his expression change to one of surprise as she placed two fingers upon his forehead. "I told him that I was in love with someone else." His eyes widened and then after a moment, instantly softened.

"I have always been in love with you," she said softly, lowering her hand. He closed his eyes and released what Sakura believed to be a sigh of relief. She smiled at him then and when he opened his eyes the irritation was gone.

Taking her hand in his, he squeezed it in appreciation, and said "Thank you for everything."

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End