DISCLAIMER: All characters from Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Miyuki, her mom and their family were original characters I created for this fanfic.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Sasuke tried to remember that night. He knew he liked Tsukina more than any of the other girls in that club. Those girls were all over him, but what captured his attention was the girl sitting on the far end of the couch. He found her nervousness endearing. Something he never encountered before. And so, she got his undivided attention. The attraction was mutual. Otherwise, why would she give him her virginity? That particular bit still baffled Sasuke. Women threw themselves at him. But to actually relinquish their innocence? To him, for one night? And that was what it was for Sasuke. A one-night stand. No matter how endearing he found her, he had no intention of seeing her again.

So, imagine his surprise when Itachi brought Tsukina to their family dinner a couple of months later and introduced her as his girlfriend. At first, Itachi wanted to keep secret from their parents how Sasuke met Tsukina. That did not sit well with Sasuke. He felt betrayed. It was against the bro code – dating your brother's ex. Granted, him and Tsukina did not date, but still. They slept together.

And then there was the nature of her employment. Sasuke was convinced that she was in it for the money. Itachi was an appealing and handsome man, of course. But there had always been this innocence about Itachi that made Sasuke so fiercely protective of his older brother. That protectiveness led Sasuke to revealing Tsukina's occupation to their parents. It resulted in an argument of epic proportions that left Itachi no choice but to abandon everything for the love of his life.

Sasuke blamed himself for that. But Itachi never did. He even appointed him as their daughter's guardian. Itachi was weird that way.

"Sir?" Juugo's voice interrupted his musings. "We're here."

Sasuke looked outside the window at the typical apartment complex where Sato Ayame – Tsukina's mother – lived. He suddenly felt unsure about this. What if she becomes hysterical in her grief? He could handle crying women. Crying and hysterical strangers, however, were out of his league. I should've dragged Naruto along. But Naruto and Sakura were off on their monthly weekend getaways, leaving Sasuke no other option but to leave Miyuki with the Hyuugas.

"Stay here," he sighed. "I won't be long… I hope." He wanted to get back to Tokyo before Miyuki's bedtime.

"Yes, sir."

Sasuke felt out of place as he climbed up the stairs to Mrs. Sato's apartment. He should have worn something less formal. But he went straight here after a meeting and did not have the time to change into more casual clothes. He paused outside room 202, took a deep breath, and knocked. A few moments later, the door was opened a tiny bit by a smiling middle-aged woman.

"Yes?" she asked, wiping her hands on her apron.

"Good afternoon," Sasuke said politely. "I'm looking for Sato Ayame."

She stopped smiling and looked around. "W-what is it? Are you a loan shark?"

Sasuke's eye twitched. He supposed it was his fault for dressing like one. "I'm not." The woman still peered up at him suspiciously. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke."

"Okay?" she looked at him blankly now.

Sasuke cursed inwardly. "You don't know. Of course… My older brother was married to Kobayashi Tsukina, Sato Ayame's daughter."

"Oh, well," she frowned and opened the door wider. "Come in, then. That's me, by the way. Sato Ayame. Sit down, sit down. I'll go get some tea."

Before Sasuke could decline the offer, she already disappeared into the kitchen. Sighing, he sat down on the couch. He looked around the small apartment and could not help but wonder if Miyuki had an aunt or an uncle. Maybe even cousins. She came back a few moments later with the tea.

"Thank you," Sasuke muttered.

She sat down on the armchair and waited until he took a sip before saying regretfully, "My daughter and I are not close. I didn't even know she got married."

Sasuke placed the cup on the table carefully, bracing himself for what he was about to say. "Sato-san, I apologize."

"Huh?" she asked, puzzled.

"Due to unfortunate circumstances, we have not been aware of your existence until a couple of days ago. Sato-san, I'm sorry, but your daughter and her husband died in a car crash last June."

Sasuke watched her face go from pale to deathly white in a matter of seconds. She cried, of course. Close or not, that was still her daughter. And Sasuke thought maybe there were unresolved issues between them that will never be cleared or get any closure. Sasuke would know. He had a lot of things that he wished he had done for and said to Itachi. So many what ifs that still plagued him to this day. But now it was too late.

xXx

Sasuke pressed the doorbell to Hyuuga Neji's apartment. It was already past midnight and he was exhausted physically and mentally. The guy answered the door, looking as exhausted as him.

"She's sleeping in the living room," Hyuuga said quietly, stepping aside so that Sasuke could enter. "Every time we try to carry her to the bed, she'd cry. She's been waiting for you."

"Thanks," Sasuke mumbled awkwardly. "For looking after her. She'd be worse if I left her with my parents."

Fugaku may had a newfound affection for his granddaughter, but Sasuke knew his father. He would never be able to understand what Miyuki was going through and how to deal with her trauma. Fugaku would need an abundant amount of patience. Something he never possessed to begin with.

Miyuki was lying curled up on the couch with Hanabi sitting next to her. The latter glared at him over the top of her laptop and looked like she was about to impart some wise-ass remark that she had forgotten to include to her barrage of text messages:

"I think your niece has anxiety disorder."

"This is like a disaster waiting to happen."

"Good thing Nee-chan is in a place where they could use that thing called cellphones? Have you heard of that?"

"Crisis averted."

"Spoke too soon…"

"You could have taken a train, you know? It takes only like over an hour. Just saying."

But for some reason, Hanabi kept her mouth shut and just observed as Sasuke knelt next to his niece.

"Miyuki," he murmured, stroking her head gently. She jerked awake; eyes shooting wide open. She blinked at him slowly before launching herself straight to his arms with a whine. "I'm here. It's okay."

"Stay the night," Hyuuga Neji said, "It's late."

Hanabi stood up and stretched. "Nee-chan's bedroom is down the hall. Kitchen's over there, so if you haven't eaten yet…"

"Thank you for looking after my guests," Neji deadpanned, "in my own house."

"You're welcome," Hanabi yawned. She laid a hand on Miyuki's back gently. "Good night, Miyuki-chan."

"Good night, Miyuki-chan," Neji said, softly. He gave Sasuke a nod before following Hanabi upstairs.

Sasuke carried Miyuki toward Hinata's bedroom. "Guess we're sleeping here tonight."

It was not really Hinata's bedroom. There were no personal stuffs here. It was a guest bedroom that Hinata used when she would stay with her cousin. Sasuke laid Miyuki on the bed. She looked around as he tucked her in.

"Go back to sleep," he told her, sitting beside her. He took out his phone to text Juugo to go home and that to come back for them tomorrow.

"Home?" she asked. She pulled the blanket higher so that it covered the lower half of her face. Only her huge eyes were visible.

"We're going home tomorrow," he assured her, placing his phone on the bedside table. He leaned against the headboard and stroked her head gently. "I met your grandmother today."

"Gramma?"

"Not gramma. Your other grandma. You have two."

"More gramma?" she asked in astonishment.

"I know, right? You have another grandpa, too. And an aunt." He had a little bit of a shock when he saw Tsukina's half-sister. It was as if he was looking at a middle-school version of Tsukina. "They seem nice. They want to meet you. Would you like that?"

But Miyuki was already fast asleep. Sasuke watched her for a while. Sometimes he still could not believe how things turned out to be. He resented Itachi for his choices. He hated the woman he made those choices for. He hated them and they knew it. And yet… they trusted him of all people to take care of their only child. Sasuke recalled the immense relief in Sato Ayame's eyes when he told her about Miyuki.

"I'm glad," she said quietly as tears streamed down her face. "I – I'd like to be involved in her life. If that's okay? I've always felt sorry for abandoning my daughter. I kept thinking 'I'll make it up to her someday'… But now that's impossible… Maybe through her daughter I can… give her the love that I didn't give Tsukina…"

Sasuke never thought of it that way. Having Miyuki as a means for him to amend for his mistakes. He supposed he should feel like that. However, gazing at Miyuki's sleeping face, Sasuke was filled with contentment. And whenever she smiled? Pure happiness. The thought of marriage crossed his mind in the past. Just marriage and settling down. Producing a child, though. That was something he never entertained. In all honesty, Sasuke never wanted to be a father. He believed he was not suited for fatherhood. He never thought that kids were cute. He found them annoying and never liked them at all.

That was until life dealt him with the unexpected.

He hated Itachi and Tsukina. However, if it was not for those two, Miyuki wouldn't have existed. Whenever he looked at Miyuki, he felt thankful to them. Miyuki changed him in so many ways. He had no patience. He was very selfish and temperamental. If it was not for Miyuki, he would not have met Hinata. He did not believe in love. And now… He never thought it possible to love not one, but two people more than he loved anyone else, even himself. Or that he would be willing to lay everything on the line for a little girl. A little girl who came into his life in the most unexpected way.

July 20, 2020 – Because I'm in a different mindset now than when I started almost ten years ago (10, what?!), I struggled with this chapter. I don't know if this is how I want this to end. Not that I had a particular ending in mind. I just want to end this and move on, you know, lol. I wanted chapter 26 to be the ending, but plot holes. There's not much about Tsukina's family because it's too late to introduce them now.

Next chapter is the epilogue. Now that's something that's always been at the back of my mind these past years. It will be how I want the epilogue to be.

Thank you again for reading this, taking the time to review, for following. You guys are awesome. Apologies for the mistakes.

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