Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Crown of Flowers

.

"It's a baby, Sasuke. You have seen babies before, right?" Sakura chuckled nervously, trying to cover up the pressing worry that started building up in her chest.

He had been staring at Sarada as she, with the same precision as his, observed an ant-mound on the ground, her tiny hands leaning on her knees as she bent over and followed the deeply intriguing ant action going on. Apparently, it was of the highest importance that she stood still and silent, and caught every detail of it because she was stuck on this point for the past five minutes and didn't stir once. Her puffy ladybug-stamped dress was flowing on the gentle wind and she had two mini ponytails on both sides of her head.

Sakura didn't aim to admonish, but it kind of sounded like it and she regretted ever trying to put irony in there. Startled by her words, his eyes quickly returned on the onigiri she had set before him and tried the taste of it. He approved, by the looks of it.

"Sarada, aren't you hungry, sweetie? Come, come," Sakura made alluring motions to the lush picnic blanket, filled with all kinds of food she prepared in advance and she seemed to have Sarada's attention.

Konoha's springs have been the best time for picnics ever since her childhood. She decided to renew the tradition now that she had her own family and so far she was having the time of her life, sitting under the variegated shadows of the thick-stemmed trees. Sarada seemed to be overjoyed with the abundance of colors and insects she could relish on. But Sasuke hadn't said a single word since they put the blanket.

When he wasn't absent-minded, he spent the time staring at Sarada. Which wasn't bad, Sakura thought, since he saw her rarely, but the time he spent doing it and the intensity of it was bothersome.

Sarada didn't even care to sit on the cloth, she grabbed her onigiri with both hands at the second Sakura offered it to her and, biting at it, quickly ran back to the ant-mound and squatted next to it again, possibly afraid that she'd miss something. Sasuke slowly put down his and shifted his attention on her again, within the same thick silence.

In the beginning, she had been too lost being in love and all she paid attention to was her own unstable heartbeat and the unhealthy amount of emotions she passed through whenever he was near. During the time they traveled, she set herself the task to grow familiar. To go beyond her emotion and start wresting out his.

She had slowly begun to unravel, his emotion was one big mess, actually, like a ball of hundred different colors of thread, except the colors represented sub-emotions he had tangled into one clutter of unanimous hatred. Whatever their conversation had started with, joy, curiosity, affection, hopefulness, he always twisted it through his dark lens, and they'd always end up in awkward silence.

He used to have all this heavy tension when she tried to pick a single thread and keep the conversation at it until the end. He didn't know how to do it, it always ended up with half a quarrel, a bitter statement or a hurtful remark he had made without even meaning it. She loved him too much and it hurt her to see him struggle to find a way. It stuck in her throat, the pain of watching him attempt to botch and patch himself up with this sadness in his eyes, the same one he had now.

A sadness that she started to recognize long ago, when he would glance at her after any of those times they spent in thick silence after a failed attempt at a conversation and she would start crying because he was sorry. He was a thousand times sorry but didn't say it, busy drowning in the sea of guilt he had filled for himself. He didn't say anything because he thought even his apology would be twisted into something that will hurt her.

So she would always come close and quietly take him by the hand, and squeeze it, as they went on their way, to let him know he was forgiven. A thousand times forgiven.

Sakura slowly moved to his right side and her worried eyes searched for his, "Are you alright?"

He took a sharp breath and she realized he hadn't noticed her approaching. It frightened him. "I'm fine."

Sakura furrowed at him, taking his hand between hers and nailing his attention to her face. He still acted with absolute astonishment whenever she tried doing normal things like hugging or touching. When it wasn't tragic, it was funny. Onto the main subject, she sighed a little when her fingers interlaced with his and she felt how warm his skin was.

Sakura moved a little closer, to birth the same inconvenience in him he always acquired when their faces were so close. "Tell me."

Sasuke tried to ignore her big green eyes staring right at him, to detect any change in his expression. "She just looks…"

"Yes?"

"So much like… like me," he spoke the words slowly as if he was figuring out a complicated scheme, "She looks like me."

Sakura was aware he wasn't used to Sarada as much as she was because he was travelling a lot, but this wasn't exactly what he meant. There was a big dose of fear in his words, but it didn't stop her stomach tumbling with the bittersweet sensation. It was a notorious fact, of course, that all her insides would start spasming with adoration when he was flustered like that.

"Yes. Because you're the father," Sakura explained slowly, biting at her lip so hard, it hurt her. The struggle to not laugh was real, despite that she was worried. The fact didn't particularly ease him, he tensed even more. "That's one small, happy you right there."

"I don't want anything bad to happen to her," he said, abruptly, and slightly pulled away from her, but she didn't let him escape her grip.

"It won't."

Sakura peered into his eyes, they sank it deeper and deeper with this vulnerable, wounded glaze. She knew he had stacked bad scenarios in his head for days and was now leafing through them in his head, sinking with them like he usually did.

"What if it's inevitable? It's in her blood. And her eyes—" When he caught the panic and silenced again, his eyes were pointedly staring at Sarada. Then he took another breath, the words rolling out of him quickly, "You are right, she is me. It's a problem already."

"Hey," Sakura whispered, leaning in against his temple. "Nothing bad is going to happen. Bad is over."

Before he could react or say anything, Sarada came their way and they both looked at her with surprise as she carried a bouquet of fairly squashed flowers and she was very much determined to deliver them, stepping over the food and pulling their hands apart. She squeaked when they parted, in wonder, and reached for his hand.

Sarada diligently opened his palm and placed the crumpled set of camomiles and dandelions in his hand. When he tried to take it away, she protested with a voiced mutter, forcing him to leave his palm opened. She went away a couple of times and returned with new additions, for some particular reason deciding to collect flowers of all interesting shapes and colors and collect them in his hand.

Sakura was laughing most of the time because that must've been the most hilarious activity she had ever seen Sasuke participate in, and he was taking it as he took any other —deadly serious. She could bet he hadn't imagined being a live flower stop in the years before they married. Which was practically his whole life. Anyway, this child was always full of surprises.

When the flowers started to become a lot, Sakura decided to intervene with a nice idea. The next time her daughter came in with more flowers, she took her by the waist and pulled her in her lap. "Sarada, let me show you something."

Sakura took a few of the flowers from Sasuke's palm with a chuckle and started twisting them one with another. Sarada took great interest in what was going on and joined her, handing her flowers one by one as Sakura weaved the circlet calmly. When he wasn't observing Sarada, Sasuke looked over at her from time to time and she looked back, with a quick smile on her lips.

Soon Sakura was out of flowers and Sarada appeared ultimately happy with the new creation, eyes sparkling and tiny hands reaching for it and pulling at it from Sakura's hands. After Sakura tucked a few sticking flowerets, it was done and she put in on Sarada's head before she tears it away.

"See, you're a princess now!" Sakura flung her hands in the air with excitement.

Sarada squeaked in delight again, swirling around the blanket for a while, but she removed it from her head almost right away and eyed the crown with peaked interest again, fingers plucking flowers and pulling weeds from it.

"Naruto's kid really likes her, you know. Spends a lot of time playing with her." Sakura threw in quietly, pursing her lips when Sasuke turned to look at her with his usual stance of dreadful discontent.

"Are you sure bad is over?" he replied, in a low voice that made Sakura choke with a laugh. As she thought about it, if Naruto wanted another duel with him, that was probably the way to do it. Leaving his son to gradually develop a fondness of Sarada.

Sarada gasped, somewhere behind their backs, and then she came running, closer and closer, until she didn't find herself in front of them again and, to their deepest surprise, reached out for Sasuke. He was confused, in the beginning, but then he understood, bending his head just a little so that she could reach him and put the crown on his head.

"Great idea," Sakura chimed, leaning to her level. "Now we have a handsome flower king."

Sasuke straightened up and both Sakura and Sarada looked at him in silence. The violet, white, purple and red sat very unnaturally on his head, but they added a comical charm to him and his dark clothing. It wasn't until he took Sarada's hand, all silent and mysterious, and kissed it when she giggled and disappeared again, likely off to collect more flowers.

Sakura was about to tease him about the new look because, for the first time in her life, she couldn't see the war he represented and the darkness he had allowed to take over just a few minutes ago. There was a beautiful lightness to him now that made her stare for a little too long, but he proved her right. He smiled when Sarada started using him as a flower basket again, without him being able to object.

It didn't mean she couldn't tease him about something else, though. She leaned in again, her hands wrapping around his arm. "Sasuke, you can't have her for yourself forever, you know that, right?" Sakura chuckled breathily in his ear.

His brows came together in an instant frown.

"Yes, I can."

"She'll have to marry sometime, Sasuke."

He turned to look at her with an even deeper furrow, and it seemed to her he was coming to terms with her on the subject. The silence prolonged when he thought over her words, staring right at her from the short distance between their faces, and then he turned away, drawing a conclusion, "No, I don't think so."

Sakura laughed, shaking her head. It was going to be a mess and she was going to love every bit of it.

A/N: Hey, you guys, thanks for reading! I hope you're doing well and stay calm and take care of yourselves. I also hoped to brighten someone's day, if I could, so that's what this one-shot is all about. I'm sending all the love to you!