I was sitting in the living room, reading some scrolls and fighting sleep. I was tired, but I wanted to wait until Sakura got home to go to sleep. I was worried about her.

She had been on a mission for the past two weeks, and I hadn't heard for her. She was supposed to be back in tonight. I heard the soft pitter-patter of tiny feet, and I put my scroll down. My four-year-old walked in the room, holding his stuffed bear.

"Daddy?" he asked, looking like he was about to cry.

I held my arms out to him. "Come here, Kenji."

He ran to me and climbed into my lap, snuggling to my chest. I held him close.

"What's wrong, Kenji?" I asked, concerned.

His voice was shaky. I saw tears spill from his eyes. "Daddy, someone at school today told me that Mommy won't ever come back."

I frowned. "Of course Mommy's coming back. She's supposed to come back tonight, in fact."

"But what if she doesn't?"

"Kenji, Mommy loves you too much to never come back."

"Does she love you, Daddy?"

"Yes, Mommy loves me very much."

"Do you love Mommy?"

"I love Mommy very much, too."

"But what if Mommy gets hurt or…or dies?" he said fearfully, starting to sob.

My face softened, but inside this troubled me. He was too young to be worrying about if his mother survived a mission.

"Mommy's not going to die, sweetie, she's a very good kunoichi. And if she gets hurt, she can fix herself. She's a medic, remember?"

"But…Kima said…"

I interrupted him. "Don't listen to anything Kima says. And besides, who do you believe, Kima or Daddy?"

"Daddy," he said, his fear starting to wane.

"Hey. Why don't I come tuck you in, and I'll tell you a story, okay? And we can go to bed."

"Okay," he said, lighting up. He loved it when I told him stories. I was the story guy, and Sakura sang to him. I picked him up and carried him to his bedroom. I tucked him in and laid next to him in the bed.

"What do you want me to tell you a story about?"

"You and Mommy and one of your ninja adventures!"

I laughed at his enthusiasm. "Okay. Well...have I ever told you about our Chūnin exams?"

He shook his head.

"Alright…well, Mommy, Uncle Naruto, and I were taking the Chūnin exams. We were in the Forest of Death. We were trying to find a scroll, and we got stopped by a very mean man named Orochimaru. We were trying to fight him, but he was a Sannin and we were only Genin at the time. He bit my neck and gave me this curse mark," I said, showing my son the place on my neck where the now-benign mark laid.

When Orochimaru died, it had become nothing more than a tattoo.

Kenji traced it with his fingers as I kept telling the story.

"It made me really sick when he bit me. It hurt really badly, and I couldn't fight. Uncle Naruto got knocked out, and I passed out because it hurt so bad. Your mommy had to protect us. She fought against all these bad guys, and when she was trying to heal us, a very bad ninja grabbed her by the hair."

"Why did the ninja pull Mommy's hair?"

"Because Mommy couldn't move if that ninja had her hair. It hurt Mommy really bad, but she cut her hair off with a kunai so the ninja wasn't holding her anymore."

"All of her hair?" he asked.

"No, but a lot of it. Mommy's hair was very long, like it is now. You've seen pictures, though."

"Oh, yeah!"

I chuckled a little. "She defended us until the end of the exam, and even though we didn't get promoted that time, we knew we were worthy of it."

"That was a good story, Daddy."

I kissed his forehead. "Now, go to sleep."

"Wait! Daddy, will you stay with me tonight? Please?" he said, his eyes wide and pleading.

I hesitated, then got under the covers with him and he snuggled to my chest. "Goodnight, Kenji-chan."

He yawned. "Night, Daddy."

SAKURAPOV

I walked into my house from a long, tiring mission. I dropped my things onto the kitchen counter and went into the living room. That's usually where I found Sasuke when I came home from missions. I didn't find him there. I frowned.

I went up to the bedroom. He wasn't there, either, or in any of the bathrooms. I decided to check on my son.

I crept into the room and saw my husband and son laying in the bed, both fast asleep, Sasuke's arms around our little boy.

I smiled. It was such a sweet sight. I climbed into the bed with them. Sasuke peeked an eye at me. He kissed me over our son's head.

"We love you," he whispered.

"I love you guys, too."

"He was afraid you weren't coming back."

"Who told him that?"

"Nara Kima."

"I'm going to kill Ino-pig."

He smiled and stroked my hair back. "Just go to sleep for now, sweetie."

I smiled. "Goodnight, Sasuke-kun."

"Goodnight, Sakura-chan."

I closed my eyes and fell asleep, content, my arms around the two men I loved most in the world.

Another successful one-shot. I thank you for your reviews.