THIS ONE IS SHORT!!!! Only because it's Dylan's birthday snippet and it has to fit on twitter. Happy birthday to best girl dy-LAN

Sarada knew a lot of things about her dad. She knew that he was her mother's teammate, is best friends with Uncle Naruto, was formerly a rogue ninja, is the only surviving member of the Uchiha, and is a legendary ninja. But she didn't know enough- and that fact kept her from having the normal relationship that she needed with her dad. Sarada's mother tried to do things to bring them together, but even the talented healer that she was, she couldn't heal a fractured relationship.

Sarada was training out of the village with her team when someone attacked her out of the blue and stabbed her, then dragged her away for some reason. Sarada couldn't think of a single reason for them to kill her, and take her body, until she remembered that she possessed a very rare kekkei genkai.

Sarada struggled in her chains, until she realized she had to stop because that only caused more blood to run down her stomach. She was in big trouble if she didn't stop the bleeding, she realized. She'd lost about half a pint of blood, and was starting to feel lightheaded. The only thing keeping her from passing out because of the pain was the fact that she needed to get out of here and get to her Mama immediately.

Sarada was being held in an old warehouse, probably five hours out from the village. By the time anyone came looking for her, it would probably be too late, so it was her job to get out of this mess.

Sarada wasn't any good at medical ninjutsu, so her best bet was to clean and close the wound, maybe with stitches or something. She had a lot of raw chakra, but since her focus was skewed, Sarada knew she couldn't hone her chakra control to save her life. Sarada took multiple deep breaths to calm herself down. She would probably only have a little bit until they came back for her eyes, and she wouldn't be able to defend herself chained up.

Her father would probably never forgive her if her eyes fell into the wrong hands.

Sarada got her head together, even though she felt a thrill of  fear at the idea of not being able to see. He had taken her glasses, but if she turned on her Sharingan she could see just fine. She focused her lightning style chakra. These chains were thick, but not the thickest she'd seen before. Sarada slowly began to chip away at the chain with her sharp chakra.

Someone came into the room when she was three quarters of the way through her chains. He was wearing a mask that covered the top half of his face, but he had a smirk.

"Hello, darling." He said. He had a weird accent. Sarada didn't bother to reply to his greeting. "I hope you're comfortable? I'm sorry for the rough journey, I do hope you'll still be alive at the end of this."

"What do you want from me?" Sarada asked, utterly seriously.

"Well, darling, you're Sarada Uchiha. Surely that doesn't take much thought." The man said. "I'm here for your eyes, dear."

Sarada bit the inside of her cheeks but she wasn't terribly surprised. "And?"

"What?"

"And?" Sarada pressed. "You could've just taken my eyes and killed me easily somewhere else- but no, you've stabbed me and brought me somewhere far away. There is another purpose for this."

The man smiled. "Oh, I had heard that the little Uchiha was a clever girl, and I didn't realize just how clever. Yes, girlie, there is another reason why you're here. I'm going to lure your father into a trap to come get you."

Sarada's heart jumped into her throat. If he got her father... words could not express how bad that could be. Her father was strong, but he could be surprised sometimes. "My father won't come." Sarada said with a bored tone of voice, wincing as the chains shifted and her injury smarted. "He isn't stupid- he'll send someone else to come get me. He won't come himself. He isn't driven by emotion."

The man laughed. "Oh my dear, I'm afraid you don't know your father all too well." He leaned forward, face inches from Sarada. Sarada slowed her slicing of the chains so that he couldn't hear it. "Your father is the one man in the world that is completely driven by emotion. You think your father cares too much about the village?" The man asked, leaning back. "Well, maybe he does now, but he didn't used to. He wanted to destroy the village at some point. He is only in the village and protecting it because you and your mother live there. Everything he's doing- every time he is away for those long years. He was doing it for you." The man said. "So I know for a fact that Uchiha Sasuke will appear in this very room, and try to save you. And when he does that, I will trap him, take both his, and your eyes, and sell you both on the black market for a large sum of money."

Sarada half listened to his words, half focused on cutting. "That's what this is about? You're selling us?"

"I'm selling your eyes, dear, I'm not sure if you'll be alive or not." The man said, backing away. "And I'm ready to take them, I just need one thing." He walked over and picked up some gloves, before slipping them onto his fingers.

Sarada's mind blanked. It utterly shut down. Sarada looked at the man in absolute shock as he walked closer and closer to her with a sadistic smile on his face. He came to a stop ten inches away from her, and extended his arm. His fingers were hovering millimeters away from her eyes, and Sarada instinctively flinched them closed, pulling her head away.

She felt a significant give in her chains, and in a split second she had an idea. As the man's hand came dangerously close to her left eye, Sarada channeled chakra into her body, especially her face, and when his fingers touched her eyes, she let it all at him at full force.

The man screamed. He stumbled back, his back hitting the wall opposite her. Sarada watched him, breathing heavily. Her chains were almost through, but she still needed a minute. "You little bitch!" The man stood up, and Sarada abruptly realized that she didn't have a minute.

But before the man could get any closer to her, a sword was sticking out of his heart. Sarada's eyes widened in awe as the man gurgled for a second, blood gushing out of his mouth, before the person behind him kicked him forward and off the sword. He fell onto the floor and never moved again.

Behind him, stood her father. He looked exhausted, and he was bleeding, but he was looking at her with a look of absolute relief. Tears welled up in Sarada's eyes without her permission. Her father ran towards her, slicing her chains and finding them already cut, and beamed at her. The biggest smile she had ever seen on him. Sarada slumped on the wall, but her father gathered her into his arms and pressed his face into her neck.

He was hugging her fiercely. Almost as tightly as mama. Her wound throbbed and Sarada remembered then that she was injured. The shock and adrenaline faded away because she was safe, and now it hurt. And she was dizzy.

"Papa," she said weakly, wincing. Sasuke noticed her voice, and the tiny trickle of blood running down the side of her mouth, and he looked down at her stomach. Her clothes were pierced, and it was bleeding heavily.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Sarada-"  He picked her up bridal style and opened a portal with his Rinnegan.

"Papa, I protected the Sharingan..." Sarada said, coughing. Sarada thought her eyes must be blurring too much, because she could swear she saw tears leaking down her father's cheeks.

"I don't care about the Sharingan, Sarada, I care that you're alive." His voice cracked. He pressed her to his chest, and Sarada resisted the urge to fall asleep. "Sarada, stay awake. Please, I need you to stay awake."

Sarada nodded drearily, but her consciousness was slipping. Her papa noticed this. "Sarada," his voice sounded especially pained and terrified. "Sarada, just wait a little while longer. I need you to stay awake, okay?" Sarada nodded again, but she barely heard him that time.

"I'm tired, Papa..." she slurred, her burning head resting against her papa's neck. He was carrying her on his back.

"I know, but you have to do this one thing for me. I promise, I'll never ask you to do anything again, but keep your eyes open."

Sarada forced herself to keep her eyes open. She pressed her face into her father's cool skin on his neck, and forced her eyes open. "Papa... I think I'm gonna fall asleep..." she said.

"Sarada, don't you dare- Sarada-" An animalistic growl left her father's mouth, but Sarada was hardly paying attention.

"... mhkay. I love you, papa..." she murmured, closing her eyes and passing out.

"SARADA-"

—

Sarada heard things before she woke up.

"It's not your fault, Sasuke."

"It's entirely my fault. She has my stupid eyes- I knew this was going to paint a target onto her back."

"We knew that when we had her, but we promised we would protect her, and you did."

"She almost died, Sakura! Do you realize how close we came to losing our daughter?!"

"Sasuke, she is a shinobi. Shinobi almost die all the time. We knew this was going to happen, it is not your fault."

"She's not just any shinobi! She's an Uchiha! She's going to be hunted for the rest of her life because she has some special eyes that she didn't ask for. She's going to suffer because of her bloodline that she didn't want."

Sarada heard something slam onto a table. "Uchiha Sasuke! Get yourself together! We've talked about this! Sarada is proud to be an Uchiha! She always is, always has been, and always will be! I know my daughter, and I know that she won't let something like this hold her back. Just because she was born the daughter of Uchiha Sasuke doesn't mean that she doesn't have any power in this situation. She doesn't hate you or me for being born- she isn't unlucky or unfortunate to have you as a father. You're strong, and noble, and brave. You're the best person I know. Your bloodline has absolutely nothing to do with anything. It's who you are, and it's who Sarada is, and that won't change, and Sarada will accept it and thrive."

"Sakura, I've done horrible things."

"I know."

"Really terrible things."

"I know."

"And if people come after her for revenge for them... I don't know what I'll do. I just want her to be happy. I'm not the father that she deserves."

"No, but you're the one she has, and you're the one she wants. And our daughter is in there, right now, sleeping off a stab wound. So get your shit together."

".... I love you, you know that, right?"

"I know, I love you too."

Sarada drifted off again, happier than ever.

—

When Sarada woke up, she gathered her sense by looking around. Her glasses were still off, so things were pretty blurry, but she saw solid things clearly enough. Sarada could see her own hands out in front of her, bandaged. She brought them closer to her eyes, and realized that the skin was kinda flaking off.

"You sliced your skin to ribbons when you used your lightning chakra." Someone said, making Sarada jump and look around. She couldn't see the details on his face, but she was pretty sure that was her father who had just stepped into the room, and closed the door behind him. "Your mother was called away in the middle of the night for a medical emergency, but she didn't want to leave you for a second. She'll be back soon."

Sasuke sat down on a chair by his daughter, leaning closer to her. Sarada could make out his facial features, now, and recognized that concerned look as one that Sarada herself had mirrored many times before. Sarada's mama had told her that she really did look like her father, and Sarada hadn't believed it very much, but now she supposed she'd find out, since he was living at home now.

"Hi dad." She said instead, leaning back and dropping her hands, wincing at the sting.

"Hey, Sarada." Sasuke replied, realizing that Sarada felt comfortable now, and relaxing his tense shoulders. "How are you feeling?"

Sarada narrowed her eyes, in an effort to gage her chakra. She sighed. "I'm feeling like I got kidnapped and beat up." She told her father quietly. "I don't like it. It should not have been that easy to take me."

"I agree. I was talking to Naruto about the city's defenses and-"

"That's not what I'm saying, dad." Sarada bit her lip almost nervously. "I'm saying I need to train. And become strong. I carry one of the most important Kekkei Genkai, and it's even more important because it's rare. I can't just lose these eyes. I have to find a way to protect them."

"Sarada..." Sasuke looked like he wanted to protest, but wasn't sure what to say. "I don't think it would be a good idea to train for your eyes."

Sarada blinked in confusion. "What?"

"That didn't come out well." Sasuke said, sighing. "I'm normally a good communicator, but that's only when I know exactly what I want to say. But this... let me try again."

Sarada's eyes widened as Sasuke scooted his chair closer to her and gently picked up one of her bandaged hands, holding it in his own. "I haven't been very good about explaining to you what is going on inside my head. I tend to do this thing where I don't say anything, and let people take a guess on what I'm thinking. I won't do that with you anymore." He paused, apparently gathering his thoughts, before he nodded. "You seem to think that I care more about your eyes than you, and that isn't true. When I rescued you, the first thing you said to me was that you protected your eyes, and I'm proud of you for that. I agree that the Sharingan is important. However, I don't think it is half as important as your life."

Sarada brought her empty hand back to rub on her shoulder, because her muscles were spasming, but paid attention as her father continued to speak.

"If something like that happens again- and you have to make a choice in between your life and your Sharingan, you must always chose your own life. Do you understand me?" Sasuke asked her. "I don't care how I get my daughter back as long as I get my daughter back." He finished awkwardly, looking out the window for a second.

"Dad," Sarada squeezed his hand. Sasuke turned from the window to look at Sarada. "Thank you. I understand what you're trying to say. But, this bloodline limit is a gift from you, and it's something important to restoring the clan, so I will fight like hell to keep it." Sasuke opened his mouth to retailiate, but Sarada got there first. "However," she held up her empty hand to stop her father from complaining. "I will not value the Sharingan more than my own life."

Sasuke sighed, nodding. "Alright." He fixed his cloak, leaning back in his chair. "I'm happy you're awake." He told his daughter.

Sarada was silent for a few long moments. Her mama had always told her that Sasuke was impossibly gentle and kind. Sarada had been equal parts grossed out, and equal parts skeptical of that. Today just proved otherwise. Of course, her father had just slaughtered a black market dealer, but as of right now, Sarada firmly believed what her mother said was true.

"Hey dad," Sarada spoke up again, looking at him. Sasuke squeezed her hand to let her know he was still here. "I love you." Sarada told him, giving him a shining smile.

Sasuke's cheeks went red, making Sarada's smile turn into a smirk. He gave her a small, completely genuine smile too. "I love you too."

At that moment, Sakura decided it would be a good idea to break into the hospital room. "I heard my baby's voice- OH! SARADA!" She tackled Sarada into a warm hug, completely bypassing her husband.

"Ooow, mommmm." Sarada whined, but her own arms wrapped around her mom's neck. She hadn't thought she'd be able to see her mama anymore when she'd been taken, so the sheer relief was staggering.

Sasuke let go of Sarada so that her hand wouldn't break from Sakura's weight, and gently reminded his wife that their daughter had just been kidnapped and tortured.

Sakura sheepishly got off her daughter, kissing Sarada's cheeks over and over again. "Oh, my baby, I'm so happy you're alive." Sakura hugged Sarada normally.

"Thanks to dad." Sarada shrugged. "I wouldn't have made it out of there by myself."

"I doubt that." Sasuke hummed.

"Thank you anyway, Sasuke-kun." Sakura told her husband. "Now! I don't think there's any reason to keep you here, so unless you two have any plans, we should go get some black tea."

"Do you have a change of clothes for me?" Sarada asked, gesturing for the hospital gown she was wearing.

"Oh!" Her mother snapped her fingers. "Yes, I do actually. I'll be right back." Sakura let herself out, resting her hand on her husband's shoulder. "Ah, Boruto, what a pleasant surprise." Her voice came from behind the door, and Sarada's eyes widened. She didn't move as Boruto made small talk with her mom, and Sasuke noticed her discomfort.

"Want me to get rid of him for you?" Sasuke asked, looking more than willing to get rid of his blonde brat of a student.

"Nah, it's fine." Sarada sighed, realizing that her teammate had probably heard that she'd been kidnapped and had gotten no other updates other than that she'd been found by her father. It was only polite to let him hello.

"Do you want me to leave?" Sasuke asked, looking at Boruto, who was still holding up Sakura.

"No, it's fine, dad. We're gonna leave soon, anyway."

Boruto slipped in from the hallway, hand raised in a wave. "Hey, Sarada, hey uncle Sasuke." He stalked over tho what had been Sakura's chair, by Sarada's head, and clapped his teammate on the shoulder. "Congrats on not dying." Boruto sat on the chair and leaned back. "So, what was it like getting kidnapped?"

"Sucks." Sarada smirked at him. "What's it like not getting kidnapped?"

"Boring." Boruto sighed dramatically.

"Doomed if we do, doomed if we don't, huh?" Sarada asked, impressed at how Boruto's presence made her awkwardness melt away.  "What did I miss from training yesterday?"

Boruto started rambling about how boring and stupid Konohamaru-sensei is, and Sasuke rolled his eyes so hard he thought his prized weapon would get stuck in the back of his head. Sarada just sat still, contently wrapped in her blanket, laughing at Boruto's apparent suffering, and Sasuke's responding faces.

Sarada was quite happy with how this turned out.