"She looks just like you," they would tell him, he would only nod, silently disagreeing. "She is just like you," again a simple nod, a sign that he heard, but he could not help but disagree. Sarada smiled too easily, like her mama, besides her coloring, black hair, dark eyes, she had her mama's face. She looks like Sakura, she is like Sakura, she is nothing like me, he would think upon any comparison made between him and his daughter. He was unworthy of such comparisons.

Only Sakura's parents saw Sarada for what she was, Sakura's daughter through and through. Others, he thought, were afraid to see Sakura in Sarada, even Naruto always said, "she reminds me of you, always has a scowl on her face." Naruto was wrong, the only times he ever saw Sarada was when he forced her to spend time with Boruto, and he couldn't blame his daughter for the scowl. Boruto may be smarter than Naruto, but he was impulsive and loud. The scowl his daughter wore was one borne from exasperation, not because this was normal behavior for her.

"Papa, look!" Sarada drew him from his thoughts, pointing at the Yamanaka's flower shop, "can we buy flowers for mama?" There was a jittery excitement in her voice, and it hurt him to know what the answer was.

"We cannot," flowers need a vase, vases break apart. He could only watch as her shoulders slump, "but," he quickly added, "we can get her one flower." One flower will not hurt, especially coming from Sarada, no vase would be needed. No danger of it breaking apart, of sharp objects on the ground. Sarada's mood instantly shifted, she was the first inside the shop.

When he entered soon after Sarada, he watched as Ino smiled at Sarada and asked her questions, while the smile was not fake, he could still see the pity at the edges. Not pity, he forced himself to remember, Sarada will forever have the shadow of her mother on her. While most drowned themselves in denial to see Sasuke in Sarada, the quiet melancholy in their eyes, in their smiles, when they saw Sarada was often enough for him to know, Sarada reminded the world of her mother. Sarada would be a constant reminder for the world, and the world would in turn be a constant reminder to Sarada.

It was Kizashi that had made him realize this, on one of his visits to Sakura, "the world sees my daughter in yours."

"Sakura is not dead,"Sasuke had replied. Why would they seek her elsewhere? Kizashi's eyes had filled with tears, the man did not say the words on his mind, but Sasuke had heard them clearly in the man's tears, she may as well be.

Instead, Kizashi answered, "her shadow will follow Sarada specially in those that loved her." Loved, past tense, at that moment a blind fury had engulfed him, she is alive. He had wanted to yell, but it was his turn to be silent. That man is broken, and he broke a little more every time he saw his daughter. It had taken Sasuke time to understand the meaning of Kizashi's words, so focused on the details and not on the meaning. For so long he worried what horrible shadows he had casted on his daughter, he never considered that Sakura would cast the largest.

"Daffodils," he heard Ino tell Sarada, "those where your mama's favorite. She used to give them to your papa too!" Sarada's smile grew wide, while Sasuke blushed at the way his daughter looked at him. That was all the encouragement Sarada needed, that was the flower she was going to give her mama.

"Do you think she will like it?" She asked Ino as she went to pay.

"She will love it," Ino assured, Sasuke agreed fully, but before he could add his opinion, he noticed the excitement fading from Sarada's face, replaced with uncertainty. This uncertainty was nothing new, at four years old Sarada was growing impatient with her mother's illness. Disappointed in Sakura's inability to reciprocate the affection she so willingly gave. Sasuke often wondered how much longer he had before it broke Sarada, if she breaks I break. "And I am so sure she will love it, that I will add six more flowers, so that you can give her one every day this week." He knew the extra flowers were nothing more than a way to distract Sarada. Still, the smile Sarada gave in response was more confident.

As they left the store Sarada was already talking about buying more flowers, "if she does not like these can we try different flowers?" He agreed, her excitement growing as she spoke of the other flowers they could. She will love each one, but none as much as she loves you, he thought.

A/N: I've wanted to write more Broken Doll for some time now... I wanted to give you guys an idea of what it was like through Sasuke's perspective, but I didn't want to cover the same story. So I guess this is a prequel, and I also wanted something short, this AU can easily pack a punch length wise, but it is really important to me that the glimpse into Sasuke's thoughts does not take away from the Sarada's view.