Rated K

After a long day at the clinic I finally get to remove my heels, today was more demanding for some unknown reason. I hear noise coming from the living room which means Sarada is home from training. Sasuke must be gone for the day because he hates when the television is too loud. Lately Sarada has been acting strange, normally Boruto would be right behind her most days and he would stay till dinner, but he's been absent for a few weeks. My motherly intuition lets me know that there's something going on between the two of them. Knowing my daughter, she wants to ignore any feelings she has, which she gets from her father, but a large part of is confused on why she's feeling this way. Sasuke told me that Uchiha's love deeply and I can see what he meant.

Moving into the room, I see my daughter thrown across the couch almost dramatically. Very in Sarada like. My brows narrow at the scene and I sit down next to her on the open spot. A pair of dark eyes look up at me in defeat, another characteristic not known by my daughter.

"What's wrong Sarada?" I let my voice soften and I reach out to pull her close. Since she's been a teenager we haven't had quality time together and with her father home the small time is cut in half. Her face leans on my shoulder and a deep sigh escapes from her.

"When and how did you know you loved Papa?" The question causes my eyes to widen slightly, for her to ask such a question is shocking. Sarada has never turkey brought up the topic of romantic love. Having the attention of a boy or having feelings for a boy is shocking yet I knew it was coming. I've witnessed how her and Boruto have interacted and looked at each other. It reminds me of Sasuke and I while we traveled except we had years of history behind us.

"Sarada…" Her name rolls off my tongue and I stare down at the ground in wonder. Where should I start? Should I start back to when I was six or when I was sixteen and we never saw eye to eye…

"Mama I already asked Papa, I just want to know your side." A smile covers my lips and I wrap my arms tighter around her growing frame. She already knows Sasuke's side, which means I have to fill in any blanks of our past.

"Hmm, let's see. Well I've had feelings for your father since I was a child. He was the cool silent type that most girls love and fall for. Your Aunt Ino and I fought over your dad until the war started." Our genin days were full of arguing and bickering over his attention, looking back on it now it was pathetic. It's no wonder why Sasuke called me annoying when I was younger but now I know it has a different meaning behind it.

"I tried so hard to get your father's attention, to get him to acknowledge me as a teammate. Our first mission was a disaster and I thought your father had died. I cried so hard despite being on an important mission, your father is the pro at making me cry like an idiot." I can't help but laugh at my last sentence. Most of the time I've cried, Sasuke was the reason. Not all of the times were bad, like the day he asked me to marry him or the day he told me he loved me, but there have been rough times too. Sarada wiggles from my arms and moves so we can look at each other, her eyes almost turning red.

"Then why do you love him?" The words come off almost in disgust from the statement. She's gotten my personality for sure, a little too hot headed. Patting the top of her head I cock my head to the side smiling at her.

"Let me finish Sarada. After our first Chunin Exam I decided that I wasn't going to be in your father and Uncle's shadow anymore. I still worried for him more and more each day, I even jumped in front of Gaara to protect your father. The odds of me being severely injured were high but I didn't care as long as I protected your father…" Sarada knows all of this, we never wanted to keep the past from her.

"The night your father left…I waited for him on the main road, knowing that he was going to leave. My heart broke into pieces that night trying to persuade him into staying with us, with me. But it was for the better that he left. After that all I wanted was to save him from the darkness and bring him back home. It took a long time…" My heart tightens during my words and I have to take a deep breath in fighting back the memories. Tears are starting to build in the corner of my eyes, these memories always tend to cause this reaction.

"Your father was only slipping further and further into the darkness, I couldn't take it anymore. There was one point when I tried to kill your father thinking it was the only way to save him, I'm glad that I didn't succeed." A small smile comes to my lips after my last part. Even back then the real Sasuke was still there, just stuck on his avenging. It took him losing an arm to come back to us.

"During the war, there was a moment when your father caught me from falling out after using most of my reserves. Our eyes locked onto each other and I could see that he wasn't completely lost. Later I begged him not to leave us again and confessed that I loved him, but I was being 'annoying'." Sarada's eyes widen at the word, so Sasuke must've said the same thing. That's always been his favorite word to describe me. Something that's always on your mind tends to be annoying so Sasuke is annoying too.

"Then you know that I found your father and Uncle almost dead from blood loss, while I was healing him he apologized for everything. That's when my heart came back together, and he came back home to us. Remember when I told you what's better than a kiss?" She nods quickly and touches her forehead. It's Sasuke's way of telling us he loves us in his own way, the Uchiha way.

"That's when I knew that my years of loving him hadn't been for nothing. Sarada, I've always loved your father. There has only ever been your father, it took years of hardship for us finally understand each other. No matter what we go through, what we've been through, your father and I have each other to count on. I know deep in my heart that he loves me, even though he doesn't say it often, his actions prove his true feelings." There's a small tear that rolls down my cheek and I see my daughters eye water also. I know my answer isn't detailed enough for her to understand but her love is different than ours. Boruto is here to protect her and would do anything for her, I've seen how he looks at her when she's not paying attention.

"Mama…Boruto umm…" Her cheeks turn red to match the color of her shirt, a fit of giggles come from me and I wrap my arms around her again.

"I know, I'm your mother. It's your father you should worry about." Mentioning Sasuke causes her to tense up against me. The front door opens and Sarada goes running towards the man of my life. Sasuke must've ended training early, good because I've missed him the past few days. The site before me is enough for me to melt. My daughter is looking at her father in amazement but Sasuke's eyes are locked onto me as he turns towards me. There's a spark in his dark orbs, the spark that only I have ever seen. He moves over to me and places a chaste kiss on the crown of my head, Sarada only blushes harder from the scene and my own face turns red. Sasuke Uchiha can certainly be annoying, but I wouldn't want it any other way.