Chapter Forty-Five; A True Hero

"Huh?" Sakura wondered aloud to herself while she watched him leave before she chased after him. "Hey Sasuke, wait up a second would you?" she questioned before she came to a stop in front of him and he turned around to face her.

"What is it?" he asked her back.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were alright. I mean you walked away from us awful quick." She told him.

"Relax, I'm fine. It's just that something really worries me. Boruto and Himawari may have been able to defeat Doragon this time but I'm afraid that he'll try and go after Naruto again." He told her.

"Yeah well he's got to have a few screws loose inside his head if he does. Because nobody messes with your little brother and gets away with it!" she exclaimed before he simply just took a deep breath and sighed heavily.

"That's not all. I'm afraid that you are missing the point completely." He told her before he slowly turned his head and gestured towards Boruto and Sasame. "Look over there and tell me what you see." He told her as she slowly turned her own head and looked at them. Boruto was standing in front of Sasame and they both were exchanging friendly smiles with each other. Sakura giggled.

"It looks like Boruto and Sasame are finally starting to get along." She began. "In fact, I wouldn't be all that surprised if they were starting to like each other." She told him.

"That's just it." He began before turning to look back at her. "Orochimaru always used those close to Naruto as bait to get to him. And now that he's dead there's no doubt in my mind that Doragon will come back and be an even bigger avenger than I was. If Naruto's son and our daughter really do like each other then he'll probably use them to get to him." He explained.

"Uh Sasuke, no offense or anything, but I think you worry too much. I mean did you even see Sasame? She was amazing! And so was Naruto and Boruto. I really do believe that they know to handle themselves out there." She told him before he heaved another deep and heavy sigh and slowly turned his head away from her and stared down at the ground.

"It's not that I don't have any faith in them but I almost lost Naruto today. And it really scared me. I never want to have to go through something like that again." He told her.

"Listen Sasuke, I know how much you love them but if everybody in the hidden leaf village thought like that, then nobody would ever want to live their life as a shinobi. I mean it's a really dangerous job. You're constantly putting your life on the line, but you're doing it to protect the people that are precious to you." She told him.

"Hn." He began. "You're just about the cleverest ninja that I ever met." He told her with a grin before he turned around and saw his daughter standing there in front of him. "And you're just about the bravest." He told her.

"Thanks Papa, and I'm sorry for running away again." She told him while sheepishly hanging her head before he took a deep long drawn out breath and then let it out again.

"It's alright, I'm just glad that you're safe." He told her.

"Uh Papa? Do you mind if I ask you something?" she wondered.

"That depends. What is it about?" he questioned her.

"Well, you and Mom really love each other right?" she questioned him back.

"Well yeah obviously we do since you exist." He replied.

"Then why did you_ I mean_" she began while glancing down at the ground.

"Let me just take a wild guess here." He began. "You're wondering how we even got married if I used to be a criminal." He said.

"Yes." She answered quietly. "But you don't have to answer it if you don't want to." She told him.

"Listen Sasame, you already admitted that you made a mistake by running away again even if it was for the right reason. Your uncle Naruto admitted that he made a mistake when he almost lost control of the Nine-Tailed fox. And your mother and I admitted that we made a mistake about not telling you that you were really a ninja. Do you see where I'm going with this? Everyone except for one person makes mistakes." He told her while clutching onto his cross necklace.

"Nobody's perfect and as your uncle just proved, everyone has a little bit of darkness inside of them. It's what side that they choose to act on that matters. It's like Naruto said, even you Sasame, who have the gift of the chieningan doesn't mean that you should let the future control you. Because you're the one who's in control of it." He told her as she smiled warmly up at him.

"Thanks Dad, I love you." She told him.

"I love you too." He told her while squatting down in front of her and spreading out his arms for her to run inside of them. Then he smiled down at her and kissed the top of her head before hoisting her up inside his arms. "Wow, what have we been feeding you? You're getting heavy." He told her as she simply just giggled at him.

"Come on Dad, I'm almost a teenager now. I'm growing up!" she exclaimed.

"Oh great, now you're going to make me feel old." He told her as Sakura smiled at them while all three of them walked back to the parking lot together.

…

Nine Months Later…

Sasuke sat beside Sakura holding her hand and squeezing it tightly. "Alright come on Sakura, it's time to push." The nurse told her as Sakura gritted her teeth and pushed as hard as she could. "We're almost there, I can see the head." She said and sure enough a few moments later they heard the sound of their baby's cries. "Congratulations, it's a boy." The nurse told her as Sasuke smiled and tears of joy ran down Sakura's cheeks. "Do you want to cut the cord Sasuke?" she asked him.

"Sure." He began with a grin. "Especially since I didn't get a chance to last time." He told her before he got to his feet and walked over to her smiling down at his son who already had a head full of dark hair. He cut the cord while the baby boy continued to scream before the nurse cleaned him off with a towel and wrapped him up inside a blue blanket and handed him over to his mother. The tiny infant finally stopped crying and then opened up his bright green eyes and looked upon his mother's face for the first time.

"Oh Sasuke, he's so beautiful." Sakura began with a gasp of astonishment before kissing the top of his head as Sasuke sat down beside her again.

"I know. Sasame has a beautiful baby brother." He told her.

"So what do you think we should call him? I mean the first thing out of Naruto's mouth when we tell him it's a boy is what is his name going to be." She questioned him.

"Well,.. I think we should name him after Naruto." Sasuke began with a grin.

"Uh,.. listen Sasuke, I love Naruto as much as you do but Naruto Uchiha really doesn't sound all that good together. Besides, how are they going to know which one we're talking to?" she wondered but Sasuke simply just laughed.

"Let me rephrase that. Naruto is more to me than the number one hyperactive knuckleheaded ninja. He's the only one in squad seven who never doubted me for a second. He saved me and he saved my daughter and he never gave up no matter how many times that I told him that he should. For that reason he is my true hero. And for that reason I do believe that's what we should name our son." He told her.

"Oh I get it." Sakura began with a grin. "Hiro. I think that's a perfect name for him and it's very touching that you would want to give him that name for that reason. And I think that Naruto will be too once you tell him." She said.

"Are you kidding me!? I'm not going to tell him. I'd never hear the end of it." He told her as Sakura giggled.

"Oh Sasuke, what am I going to do with you?" she questioned him as he smiled at her before they exchanged a kiss on the lips.

…..

Sasuke heaved a deep and heavy sigh while staring down at Kakashi's grave. That's when all of a sudden he heard a car door slam behind him and quickly turned his head to see Naruto walking down the street. "Hey buddy what are you doing here? I thought that you would still be at the hospital with Sakura." He told him.

"I know, but I had a lot on my mind. We were some team weren't we?" Sasuke questioned him with a grin.

"Yeah, we were. Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha saved the day again!" Naruto exclaimed with an excited little giggle and great big shinning grin as Sasuke smiled at him.

"I just wish that Kakashi would have seen it. I think that he would have been proud of us." He said.

"You know Sasuke,.. I think he did." Naruto told him while Sasuke grabbed onto his cross necklace again.

"You know what? I love you you idiot." He told him teasingly with a grin.

"I love you too you bastard." Naruto told him as Sasuke laughed. "Wow, we sure do have a rather strange relationship don't we?" he questioned him.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't change it for the world." Sasuke told him. "Come on Naruto, let's go home." He said as he put a brotherly arm around him and led him away.

So that's the story of how it happened. The story of our first adventure as a family. Iruka-sensei was so impressed with how advanced my ninja skills were that I graduated my first year at the academy. Sasame glanced inside her bedroom mirror and smiled proudly at her reflection while she tied her new headband around the lower half of her shoulder. Then she quickly hurried down the stairs two at a time and waved to her parents over her shoulder. "See you guys later, I've got a mission to complete!" she exclaimed.

Sasuke and Sakura looked up at her from the couch and smiled while Sakura held Hiro inside her arms and breastfed him. "Alright, have fun see you later Sasame!" she cried as she hurried out the door.

You see that year I learned something very important. It doesn't matter how many mistakes you make. There are some things that are a lot more important than that. Just like the friendship that my father has with Uncle Naruto, and the love that both of my parents have for each other. If it really is strong enough, then nothing can overpower it. Sasame raced along the ground before she finally stopped in front of Boruto and Himawari and their new sensei.

"Hey Sasame, are you ready to go?" Boruto questioned her.

"You bet! I was born ready!" she exclaimed before all four of them started racing through the woods together before leaping through the tree branches.

Everyone is in charge of their own destiny and I already know that mine is saving the world and kicking butt! Sasame stopped on top of a tree and placed her hands upon her hips while grinning proudly and looking over the hidden leaf village and the carvings of all the hokages including Naruto just hoping that one day, she would be up there as well.