Daughter Complex

Sakura's father loved his little girl. He loved her so much it was borderline obsessive, but hey, who was to blame him when the kid was such a sweetheart? Besides he only had her, and last time he talked to his darling about having another one, he had to spend the night in the couch and the next day unable to carry his little girl because of a back pain.

Yes, he loved them both dearly.

So when he heard the Uchiha kid's name sprout from the lips of his angel, he saw red.

Literally.

"Uchiha Sasuke" he pursed his lips, looking tall at the boy in front of him. He made sure there was controlled disdain in his voice.

"Hn."

HOW DARE THE LITTLE BASTARD GRUNT AT HIM LIKE THAT! WHO DID HE THINK–

"I hear you are Sakura's new teammate…?"

"Aa."

Twich, twich.

Stare.

Twich glare twich.

Stare.

"… And I'm Uzumaki Naruto, BELIEVE IT!"

"…"

"…dobe."

SUCH FOWL LANGUAGE! HIS LITTLE SWEETHEART SHOULD NOT BE NEAR THE LIKES OF HIM! FOR HIM TO BE PUT IN THE SAME TEAM AS HIS ANGEL IS–

"Dad, I'm ready to go. Please stop harassing my teammates."

"Yes, sweetheart."

The boy was free. For now.

It took long to arrive at the Festival. The boy was wearing a yukata which made him look much too old for his liking, and the other idiot was too, though it just made him look silly, and slightly smarter.

"WHAT'S UP, DAD!"

…Slightly.

Sighing, he turned his head to his angel, the light of his eyes, the sole bright spot of color in his dar–

Hmm.

In any case, his little girl was stuck on the boy's arm, and said boy was frowning and almost seemed angry at her.

…how dare he seem angry at her?

"Sakura…" Annoyed frown.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?" Wide eyes.

"…" Glare.

"…Nothing."

"…?" Confused eyes.

"…" Good boy.

Though sad his little pumpkin would have to be with the boy the rest of the Festival, he felt slightly glad at the fact the boy hadn't turned her down.

…He would have to pay hell if he did.

He had to see the boy various times, him being his cherub's teammate and all. He got to see the other boy too, and though slightly more annoying, he was a good friend of Sakura's, and cared for her like a sister. So he decided he didn't need to worry about him, since it was obvious he would do nothing to hurt the light of his eyes.

That left the boy.

He had to keep an eye on him at all times. He, being the loving father he was, searched through his past, receiving the most vague responses of "poor boy" "so sad, so sad" and the occasional "to be betrayed that way" followed by a quick hush from the person next to him, and silence.

He wasn't sure what to make of it, and it only made him dislike him more and more, because no boy could be any good for his daughter if his past was so enshrouded.

-

-

-

So he decided to talk to him.

"Sasuke."

"…? Hn."

Twich, glare. "I wanted to ask you some questions."

Slow blinking. "Aa."

Fork scraping across plate. "What's your family like?"

Silence.

"Sasuke-kun–"

Chair scrape. Stomping. Pause.

"Thank you for the meal."

Door slam.

…What the hell?

Next time he saw him, it was a cold morning when some ninja appeared in his door with his angel in their arms.

Next time he saw him, it was in her eyes.

He hated the boy. The man. The demon. He hated him so badly he felt as though his heart would rip out of his chest and chase after him to kill him. He made his daughter cry. He made his daughter break. He made her change.

He hated the boy.

He didn't find out about his past until a year after he left her. She told him with tears in her eyes, and his face in her pupils, and he hugged her close and never let go.

Afterwards, he bought a box of cigarettes and smoked the whole thing, while thinking how life was unfair and how angels aren't supposed to shed tears.

He then went to the bench on the path leading away from the village and sat there for a few hours. After that, he quickly got up, stretched, and headed home.

Yep, he still hated the boy, no matter what.

It was several years in which he saw nothing of him, and Sakura started smiling again, and the idiot wasn't as quiet as before. So he was happier, and almost forgot about the boy, thinking how his cherub was free now and his, because little girls should always stay with their fathers and the next time a boy appears in front of the house I'll pummel him.

So yeah, maybe he hadn't quite forgotten about him. But hey, he made his angel cry.

But his darling hit him hard each time he talked about their little girl staying single, so he supposed he had to find someone to replace the boy. So he did what any good father would have done.

He set her up.

And it all went to hell from then.

"Dad."

"Why hello, …Sakura." He had to remind himself not to call her the various names he'd given her, for quote unquote she wasn't a little girl anymore. Bull.

"May I know what the hell is our neighbor doing outside with flowers in his hand?"

"Oh, he brought flowers? Well I would say that was a bit too much, but if the flowers are nice and to your liking I guess I wouldn't have a problem with him being a bit of a pussy."

"Dad."

"Of course, one flower would be nice, not that you deserve any less, but I think a man should not lower down their pride by buying so many, that just screams desperation."

"Dad."

"But give it a try, pump- Sakura, he might be a really nice boy, and he is quite high rank in shinobi, so I don't think it should be a problem for him to treat you well, and he is not having missions of too much risqué, if you know what I mean."

"One, no I don't know since you and I both get that all missions have a risk, and two, stop this or I'll tell mom you tried to set me up."

"…Well I don't think there's much need for that, Sakura, your mom doesn't need to know." Gulp. Charming Smile. "Just go on one date with Nato and see where that takes you."

Silence. Long sigh.

"Dad, I appreciate that you try to help me, but this isn't the way." He watches her smile bitterly at him and reminds himself that he's not here anymore, he can't hurt her.

"But he's still hurting you." It is times like this he wishes he'd lost his tongue in a mission.

She frowns, and shakes her head from side to side. "He isn't."

"I can see it in your eyes." Not too much, he wouldn't want to die from blood loss. A small cut that would make him incapable to make coherent words.

"He isn't." It's not the words, nor the firm and resolute nod, but the small purse in her lips and the glimmer in her eyes that stops his heart.

"He isn't."

Pumpkin has just left on an emergency from the hospital, and he's lying on the couch with his darling. She's looking at him through half-lidded eyes, and her grip on his arm is firm, but doesn't hurt.

"How many have there been?" it sounds more like a command, so he gulps slightly and prepares.

"Darling-"

"How many, Haruno." He wants to correct her that it's not fair to use that now, since both of them are Haruno, but her grip is getting firmer and he doesn't like her glare.

"… ten." His voice is small, and he doesn't think he's ever felt more scared. So he waits for a slap, a punch, a throwing off to the other side of the planet –

Sigh.

…What?

"Honey…" she lowers her head and he frowns because he can't see her face. So he should ask her to lift her head up and –

"She loves him."

… Excuse him. Did she say something?

"She loves him like I love you and my mother loved my father."

He's hearing her, but he can't understand a word she is saying.

"She won't stop loving him."

He doesn't know why he's heading to the door. He truly doesn't. He must need fresh air, he supposes, because his head is spinning and he still doesn't get what his darling said.

He just knows it's time for boy 11.

There is no boy 11, though, because Sasuke is back.

It hits him like lighting, like a kunai plunge in deep and less than a second later ripped out, leaving him shocked and broken, but not quite finished.

Not in that second, at least.

And it's only when his angel looks at him with bright eyes and a happy smile, and he is still there in her eyes, that he breaks.

"He's not stepping a foot on this house."

And her smile breaks too.

She's happier. He's here. He doesn't want to relate the two facts.

But it's clear every time she looks at him, and he struggles to find a place to step on and not tumble down the false floor. He's between a rock and a hard place, letting his daughter stay happy or get the boy out of her life for good.

But she smiles at him so gladly, so cheerfully now, that he decides he will let him stay.

Angels aren't supposed to cry, and he isn't about to make his angel do just that.

And she must have realized he is letting the grip loose from now, because the next day its not the idiot at the door, but the boy, and his blood is boiling because he looks so calm and collected and he broke her heart, he broke her, he changed her.

The boy, the man, the monster.

He feels the hate building up, and he remembers himself that it's for Sakura, for his angel, so that she doesn't break again, and he shouldn't be standing there.

His face doesn't even change when pumpkin appears beside him, doesn't even acknowledge her, only stays with his eyes closed and says "Hurry up." And he feels more anger and resentment building up and yelling to be free because the idiot thinks he has the right to order her around?

His little angel is happy.

He treats her like trash.

His little pumpkin smiles.

He ignores her completely.

His angel would cry.

He left her on a bench, alone and knocked out.

"I'm ready Sasuke-kun."

"Hn."

He's had enough.

"You are not coming 20 meters near this house." His voice is calm and strong, and his eyes open to look at him.

"…Hn." And he turns around and walks away.

-

"…Sasuke-kun?" Her voice is a blow to the stomach, and the life is sucked out of him. He doesn't even want to look at her, let alone try and console her.

The boy turns around and looks at her.

-

-

-

"Are you coming or not? Tch, annoying."

She doesn't speak, doesn't yell or cry, but simply grins and hops up to him; looking at him with a smile so beautiful it breaks your heart.

Next time someone comes to pick her up, it's him again, and he watches him from the doorway, 20 meters away.

The boy takes a step forward, and looks at him in the eye.

"I don't like his eyes."

"… Funny, that's exactly what I like best."

"Bu- But they're black."

Pause; Smile. "They're simply a darker shade of blue."

He wonders if his pumpkin's right.

His eyes say I'm not going anywhere.

There are millions of next times and thousands of door slams, and darker-blue eyes and almost tears from his angel before he can enter the house.

"You are not allowed to talk unless I tell you to."

"…"

"You also can't sit or touch any object in whichever room we are in and always stay in my line of sight, and if I ever loose you from it, I will hunt you down and kill you."

"…" He's almost certain he wants to say you wouldn't be able to, because of the barely hid arrogance in his eyes, but he very well would be able to, and if he couldn't, there is always his wife to count on.

"I wouldn't lay a finger on him, honey."

Did all Haruno women have to be mind readers?

"Yes, Dad."

Damn.

"I won't lay a finger on you, dear, that is, of course, if you don't hurt our daughter, because if you do then I would do more than simply kill you."

"…Aa."

He finds it unfair how his darling can produce such raw fear on the boy and he simply earns himself arrogance.

"In any case, let's have some dinner!"

It is only after that he is able to talk, because his darling and his pumpkin had prohibited him from talking with anyone after The Incident, entitled thus by both of them.

He finds it completely unfair though, seeing as he had no way of knowing.

"HEY DAD!"

…He now wishes he had been prohibited from talking throughout the whole evening.

"GUESS WHAT!"

"What, Naruto?"

"WE ARE GOING FOR ANBU NEXT YEAR!"

"That's great, Naru- wait; what?"

"YEAH, THE THREE OF US. THE BASTARD DIDN'T WANT TO AT FIRST BUT THEN HE DECIDED HE HAD TO."

"…Why?" He had meant it as why do you want to enter Anbu, because he seriously didn't care what the boy had in his head.

"BECAUSE SAKURA-CHAN WAS GONNA TRY, SO HE HAD TO KEEP AN EYE ON HER."

…What?

The incredulous look must've shown, because the idiot launched into an explanation as to why.

"YOU SEE, WHEN HE CAME BACK, ALL THE GUYS AND A COUPLE OF GILRS JOINED UP AND GAVE HIM A BEAT UP, BECAUSE HE LEFT SAKURA-CHAN LIKE THAT, RIGHT? AND THEN WE WERE STILL VERY MAD, AND HE GOT ALL FED UP BECAUSE WE WERE BEATING HIM CONSTANTLY," Pause, Deep breath "So one day he yelled at us that yeah, he was stupid, and yeah he was a bastard, but that didn't mean he would do it again. SO, I stood up and claimed that we had no way of knowing for sure he wouldn't do anything and that he didn't understand the seriousness of the situation." Deep breath. "So he said make me, and I very HEROICALLY told him everything that she had gone through, and left him saying something like 'you broke her, Sasuke'." He paused, as if remembering it all. "And then the next day, on the bridge, when I was about to go pick up Sakura-chan, he said he'd do it, and it wasn't as if I had any say in the matter, because he had already left to look for her."

He grinned almost annoyingly happy.

"And when that same day Sakura-chan asked me if I could go pick her up because Sasuke no longer could, he simply raised an eyebrow and asked who the hell said he couldn't." The grin became bigger." And when she said 'my dad', he stared and said 'he said I couldn't go 20 meters near the house, not that I couldn't pick you up.'"

He let out a sigh and settled down better on the comforter.

"So since that day Sasuke has been watching over her like a mother hen and the name actually suits him because have you seen the back of his head? DUDE, TALK ABOUT CHICKEN-BUTT HAIR!"

Next time he sees him, he didn't actually stops seeing him, because the boy had followed his orders and remained in line of site. His angel was in the kitchen with his darling, and they were alone in the living room.

"Sasuke." The name felt strange and foreign, almost as if it wasn't meant to be pronounced by him.

"…hn."

Twich. "If you ever hurt her I will have your head." Pause. "Scratch that; I will make my wife have your head."

He blinks at him, slowly, very slowly, almost bored and unbelieving. Then he opens his mouth, and speaks.
.

"I love her." Pause. Lifted eyebrow. "Why would I hurt her?"

When his light comes in, she finds her father in shock, an indifferent Sasuke, and wonders if the silence is the good or the bad kind.

Next time he sees him; he can bring himself to smile, and call him by his name, and lets him stay to dinner when they are all tired and sweaty.

He's no longer afraid he'll hurt his light, his angel; he doesn't worry when she will come in crying through the door.

After all, Sasuke loves her.

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-

Wait a min… he loves her?

If the boy touches one hair on his angel's pure body, he will–

OWARI

A/N: ... This deserves an edit.

Review, please. Unless it is a flame. If it is constructive criticism explaining why I suck so much, then for all I care, please review.