Summary: I don't really know where I'm going with this but I need some fluff

Age: Sarada's like 2, then 13, then 21

Category: mostly PapaSuke and his little peanut

Note: just because I love her and her papa and mama- IM LATE BY A DAY BUT HEAR ME OUT- I WAS SPEED WRITING THIS TO GET IT OUT ON TIME

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"Hey Sasuke," Sakura said one day before they started moving again. Sakura had been traveling with him for about two months now, and couldn't get enough of it. Sasuke took her to the most beautiful places she'd ever seen, because he wanted to make up for lost time. Sasuke was happy that she was with him. He didn't feel lonely or sad anymore, and when he did, Sakura's presence made him feel better.

"Hmm?" He looked at her with the thinly veiled affection that he had been looking at her with for a while now. He always kept his emotions in check- keeping his face blank and calm, but sometimes he just couldn't.

"Remember how you said something about wanting to restore your clan when we were kids?"

Sasuke gave her a mildly embarrassed look, with the affection more prominent. Ew, he thought, remembering how cringey his kid self had sounded as the words escaped his mouth. He'd been such an embarrassing kid with no tact at all. He wondered how Kakashi had controlled his laughter when he had just blurted that without thinking. Sakura had remembered that? Of course she did. "Yeah?" He replied, turning to walk beside her as they made their way through the forest.

"Well, it turns out you've already succeeded." Sakura grinned, putting a hand on his arm and stopping him in place.

A chill ran through Sasuke as he began to understand what Sakura meant. He stopped and gaped at his beautiful companion- forgetting to school his features, so now his mouth was dropped and his eyes were wide. "You're pregnant?"

Sakura nodded, biting her lip to stop her grin, waiting for Sasuke's reaction.

Sasuke was too busy processing what that meant. I did it. I restored the clan. The curse is finally broken. I did it. No... he looked at Sakura, who was still beaming at him, her beautiful green eyes wide with excitement, and worry that he was unhappy. We did it. He looked up at the sky, exhaling softly. Did you hear that Itachi? You're going to have a nephew or niece. He looked down at Sakura, and gave her the biggest, most genuine smile she'd seen, and she tackled him into a hug that Sasuke never, ever wanted to get out of.

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Sasuke woke up when he felt Sakura shift. He sat up immediately, and looked at her intently. "Are you okay?" He asked, staring her down. "Are you uncomfortable? Do you need anything?"

"Sasuke, calm down." Sakura smiled at him, tilting her head to the side. She looked down at her round stomach, and sighed. "Sarada's just being a handful. She's not even out yet and she's acting like you."

Sasuke's eyes widened, and he laughed breathlessly. "Me?" He smiled, rolling his eyes. "You're the one that insisted that you wanted to travel with me during the pregnancy- which isn't a good idea, by the way-"

"Oh, hush." Sakura replied, pulling her hair up into a bun, before she winced.

Sasuke eyes narrowed, his mind whirling with endless negative possibilities. "Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

"I'm a medic, darling. She's fine. She's just giving Mama a hard time." Sakura beamed, excited that this child was going to be born sometime soon. "Hey, Sasuke, give me your hand."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in suspicion- sometimes Sakura almost broke his hand when she held it, but complied with his wife's wishes. Sakura placed his hand over her stomach, and Sasuke's eyes widened as he felt something kick. A little smile grew on his face. "She's strong."

"Oh yeah." Sakura agreed, a grin on her face, looking down at her stomach. "She's gonna be kickass when she grows up."

Inwardly, Sasuke agreed. For right now, though, he turned on his Sharingan. He'd done this countless times to make sure everything was okay. There was something comforting about seeing the small child in Sakura's stomach. Sasuke watched her move and kick Sakura again, and Sasuke felt it through his hand. She is so alive. Sasuke thought, his smile widening in affection. She was another Uchiha- Sasuke wasn't the only one anymore. First Sakura, now his daughter. I'm going to always protect her. He decided, before looking at Sakura. Her affectionate eyes were resting on Sasuke's face, and she just beamed. I'm so... happy. Sasuke realized all at once.

In a rush of pure excitement, he quickly grabbed Sakura and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips, before backing away with the remains of a smile in his eyes. "Get some rest, Sakura."

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Sakura opened the door, sighing loudly. She was exhausted, and her head was pounding, and she probably still had to cook dinner. She dropped her bag and removed her shoes and her jacket, proceeding to put both away. She turned around and locked the door, wandering further into her house. It was eerily silent, she noticed right away. Her baby Sarada was starting to talk, and when she wasn't talking, she was running or babbling. The girl was so energetic that Sakura felt bad for Sasuke for being stuck with her running around all day. Sasuke interacted with her flawlessly, even though he didn't always vocally reply, but he was actually more talkative with his two year old daughter than he was with his best friend.

Yet the house was utterly silent. Sakura's eyes narrowed, and she looked down, noticing Sasuke's shoes and Sarada's tiny ones still there. She pulled a kunai out of her pouch, walking further in. She extended her chakra, and found her husband's massive presence and her daughter's small but powerful (even at this age) chakra. They were in the living room. Sakura poked her head in cautiously, but was instantly met with what quite possibly was the most adorable sight she had ever seen.

Sarada Uchiha didn't take naps as a toddler. She played all day, and slept all night, but she never took naps.

Last night, Sarada had a nightmare that kept her and coincidentally Sakura and Sasuke up until past midnight. This morning she was exhausted, and her sleeping schedule was all messed up, but Sarada hated naps. She would not sleep while the light was out.

So imagine her surprise to see her baby girl fast asleep on the couch, with her father holding her close from behind. She was cuddled to his chest, but both were facing outward, and both were passed out. Sasuke's one arm was holding her against his stomach so she wouldn't roll off, and his face was turned inward into her hair. They wore the exact same expression of peace on their face. Sakura had known her daughter was going to look exactly like her father from them moment she was born with black hair, but she hadn't expected them to be almost the same person.

Sakura bit her lips so she wouldn't squeal, because while she'd seen her husband do the cutest things occasionally, this topped it all easily.

Sasuke was a light sleeper. He was awake even at the slightest movements across the room. He was always the first one up to take care of Sarada, no matter the time of night, without complaint. Often before she even started crying, he was up and walking out the room. It was purely intuitive, and downright impressive that he always seemed to know when Sarada would start to cry even before she did it. He somehow knew with Sakura, too, so he did the most ridiculous and sweet things before she did. It was like a superpower. But the point is- even before the kid, he slept light and woke up at even a stick cracking 20 feet away. His intuition had gotten him and Sakura out of trouble so many times when they were traveling, that it was ridiculous.

But his breathing stayed even and his eyes remained closed, even as Sakura pulled out a camera and snapped a photo of the cuddling duo. She saved the picture, and immediately got ready to show Naruto. She sat down, and looked at the scene one more time, shaking her head. How was she supposed to react if her husband and daughter insisted on being cute like this?

Sasuke's breathing shifted, finally, and he lifted his head. His eyes found Sakura's, and he gave her a small smile, before pulling Sarada closer and squeezing her gently, then letting her go and sitting up. "Hey," he muttered, stretching. His shirt rode up a little, and his mouth opened in a cute little yawn, his black eyes scrunching in effort. Sarada shifted, but didn't wake up.

Sakura sighed, shaking her head and standing up, before twisting her arms over her head to soothe her aching shoulders.

"What?" Sasuke asked, blinking his ridiculously long eyelashes that Sarada had somehow inherited. He scrambled up, and followed her into the kitchen as she went to make food.

"You're so pretty." Sakura laughed, throwing her hands up into the air, grinning.

Sasuke's nose wrinkled at being called pretty, which made Sakura laugh harder, as she cut tomatoes for her husband because she knew he liked them. He popped a slice of one into his mouth, his lips turned down into a frown still. He was pouting. Sakura poked him in the ribs. 

"How was work?" Sasuke asked through a tomato.

Sakura sighed, rolling her shoulders again. Just the memory of the stress made them ache. Sasuke noticed that, and used his hand to rub soothing circles into her shoulders while Sakura put some rice on. "This kid was being difficult. But other than that, fine."

"A kid?" Sasuke asked, eyebrows raising in interest.

"Yep." Sakura looked at him, a mischievous grin on her face. "Stubborn teenager- around seventeen. He was really cold- wouldn't let me look at his injuries. Thought he could tough it out. But when I threatened to castrate him, he seemed to obey pretty quickly."

"Wow. You're a great doctor."

"Thanks."

"Papa!" They heard Sarada's small voice call out from the couch. Sasuke froze, and Sakura did as well. They also felt the other presence in their house. Sakura adjusted her grip on the knife, before gesturing for Sasuke to lead. The two of them snuck down the hallway, before peeking their heads into the living room.

Sarada was sitting up on the couch, glaring at a figure in the corner. Sasuke and Sakura adjusted their eyes to the corner and a man sat in the arm chair, aiming a crossbow at Sasuke and Sakura's child. Sakura slipped the knife into the waistband of her pants, before adjusting her shirt over it.

"Oh!" The guy said, sounding cheerful. "Two of the Legendary Team 7. What an honor. When I broke into this house, I wasn't expecting ninja of your caliber. Seems I'm pretty outgunned." He looked at the girl. "Is this yours? Cute kid."

Sarada didn't move from the couch, probably sensing the tense aura in the room, the danger, but she turned her little head towards her parents fearfully. Sakura's fists clenched and Sasuke's eyes narrowed. This man knew he wouldn't escape under normal circumstances, so he was holding their daughter hostage, because he knew that they wouldn't do anything to harm her.

"Give me one reason not to kill you right now." Sasuke said, a threat in his voice that anyone knew he would be following through with.

"Let me see... I'm pointing a crossbow at your kid. You come even a little bit close to me, and I'll kill her. The little Uchiha princess, right? Yep. She'll be gone."

Sakura looked at Sasuke, her eyes wide. Sasuke gave an imperceptible nod. The two of them had a plan.

"You won't be killing anyone." Sasuke drawled, before stepping forward. The man tensed his posture, the arrow fixed solidly on Sarada, who was isolated and exposed on the couch. The man wiggled his finger, inching it closer and closer to pressing down on the trigger. Sakura panicked, praying that either she or Sasuke could move fast enough to stop the arrow if need be. Sarada's cute little face was scrunched in confusion and instinctual fear.

"Sarada?" Sakura asked, her voice cold as ice, but concerned for her daughter.

"Mama," Sarada whined, pointing at the man that was holding the weapon. "Papa," her tiny voice made Sasuke's shoulders visibly stiffen.

"Sarada, look at Mama. Look at me, honey, okay?" Sakura asked, more like pleaded, because she saw her husband was about to snap. "Only look at Mama. This will be over soon."

"Will it? Last I checked, I had the upper hand." The man in the corner sneered.

Sasuke looked at her, and Sakura nodded. Her daughter was looking at them, and them only. Sakura whipped the knife out of her waistband and shot it at the man before he even had time to blink.  Sasuke switched places with the knife using his Rinnegan before it reached the man, swiftly kicking the crossbow away and disappearing behind the man, holding him by his neck. His Sharingan was activated, and he looked absolutely enraged. Anyone who threatened Sarada would suffer.

Sakura looked at their daughter, and saw that Sarada was looking at her, just like she had commanded. Sakura gave her a reassuring smile, before walking over and picking the two year old up, holding her so her face was away from Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at her meaningfully, and Sakura just nodded, giving him a small smile. Sasuke smirked back, before he disappeared, along with the man, to take him straight to Naruto and Kakashi, where he would never be seen again.

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Sarada liked playing with her toys as a two year old- she spent a lot of time around her friends. ChoCho, Inojin and Boruto were particular favorites of hers. Sometimes, though, when she was alone in her room playing with her toys, she got really lonely. When she was alone, her heart tended to hurt. It was like she would always be by herself- no one was ever going to come for her, and she would be alone forever. No one could see her, no one could hear her, and she would never be happy again. Her toys were nice, but she wanted human contact- someone to respond, to smile at her and hug her like her mama or papa. But they weren't there, and Sarada was utterly alone.

It was like there was a weight on Sarada's chest pressing her down. Sarada's breathing got heavy, and it felt like she was being swallowed whole. She didn't know where her Mama was, so she just stared at the door, mentally pleading for someone to come through it. Her tiny green dinosaur was shoved to the side as Sarada got up on her tiny feet and stared at the door, unsure of how to get rid of this stifling feeling.

Sarada's eyes filled with tears, and she blinked them, dismissing tears. The room had started to close in on her, as she watched the door, crying quietly. She couldn't talk, her voice was stolen by her fear. She clutched her shirt, and couldn't help but think that nobody was coming for her-

"Mama?" She whispered aloud, before her eyes got too blurry to see from.

Suddenly, there were loud thumping sounds, like someone was climbing the stairs two at a time and landing heavily each time. Sarada shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself.

The door to her room burst open, and there was her Papa, eyes wide. When he saw Sarada standing in the corner crying, he crossed the room in seconds and wrapped her in his arm.

Sarada cried like she never had before, whispering, "thank you," over and over again because that was all she knew how to do to express that she was happy her papa had come for her.

Papa held her and rocked her, shushing her gently. Sarada just let it out, because it hurt a lot. "You're okay, peanut. You're okay." Papa's voice was wrapping around her like a warm blanket, soothing her nerves and making her sobbing slow into soft hiccups. "Were you starting to get lonely, Sarada?" He asked her, holding her tighter like he already knew the answer. Sarada nodded. Sasuke squeezed her gently. "I get like that too, peanut." Her papa said softly, rocking Sarada back and forth. "When papa was little, my big brother would help me, but when he was gone and my mother was busy, I was all alone." Sasuke held her so close, like he was afraid of losing her if he held a loose grip. "Then Papa lost everyone, and was like that a lot. But do you know who helped me through it?"

"Who?" Sarada asked quietly into her father's midnight hair. It smelled good, soothing like the warm tea her mama would make her.

"Your mama, your uncle Naruto, and Uncle Kakashi." Sasuke said, pressing his face into Sarada's hair. "Even when I left the village, knowing that they loved me and that I had someone to go home to made me feel less alone. Thinking about them made me stop feeling lonely." Sarada nodded into his shoulder, silently basking in her father's warmth. "Do you have friends like Uncle Naruto and Uncle Kakashi?"

".... Cho.... Chocho... an' Inojin.... 'n Boruto..."

"Good, then think about them. They know you, and love you." Sasuke said, gently rocking her back and forth soothingly. "And whenever you get sad and lonely, always remember that Papa and Mama know you exist, and we love you more than anything. You're not alone. Papa is here with you, all the time. Even when I'm not physically here, we're connected. So if you think like that... you're not ever alone. See?"

Sarada didn't know how to do that yet, so she was comforted by her papa's presence, but she nodded. Her papa didn't talk a lot, so whenever he did say a lot of stuff, it was worth listening to him. Maybe she would try that next time. "Okay, Papa."

"Do you want to come downstairs with me, Sarada? I wouldn't have left you up here alone if I knew you were awake." Sasuke said, already moving towards Sarada's stuffed green dinosaur, picking it up and holding a Sarada with it in his palm. Sarada nodded against his shoulder, and Papa took her downstairs, sitting her on the couch and having her tell him what she liked the best about her friends, until Sarada didn't feel lonely at all. Then, Papa played with her and showed her what he was doing, but Sarada thought that paperwork was boring. He took her outside in the backyard, and the two of them played tag for a while. Sarada had a real hard time catching Papa- one minute he was there, the next he was gone!

When Mama got home, Papa told her what happened, and Mama swallowed her in a hug, tears falling down her face. "I'm so sorry, baby..."

Sarada wasn't sure how to explain to her mama that it wasn't her fault- it felt deeply ingrained. Like there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. But Sarada didn't know how to put that into words, so she just looked at her papa, and he nodded. He seemed to understand. He kissed Sakura on the forehead, then Sarada.

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Sasuke walked into his house and dropped onto the couch. His daughter was siting next to him, reading a book. She looked up at him and gave him a pretty smile. "Hey, Papa." She said, grinning. Ever since Sasuke returned, the two of them had been getting along well.

Sasuke leaned forward, and pressed a kiss onto her forehead. "You put your hair up?" He asked, looking at her. Her hair was in a messy bun at the top of her head as she read her book.

"It helps keep my hair out of my face. You should try it, Papa." She said, poking him in the arm.

Sasuke's eyebrows raised. He'd never really minded his hair being in his face, but at that nudge from Sarada, he looked at the thing that was holding her hair up. He removed his cloak and held out his sleeve for Sarada to roll up. By now, she understood the protocol, and rolled his sleeve up to his elbow. Sasuke stood up and stretched, before he leaned forward and allowed his hair to be pulled down by gravity. Sarada stood up, and collected the hair into her fist and made a little bun with it, pulling stray hairs into the hair do. Sasuke flipped up normally, and his eyes widened. His vision had cleared, and he got a better view of his house and his cute daughter before him.

Sarada whistled, grinning good naturedly as she helped him. "I can definitely see why Mama married you now."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "I don't understand."

Sarada grinned. "You have a nice face, Papa."

Sasuke blinked in mild confusion. "So do you?"

Sarada rolled her eyes at her father's direct deflection of her compliment. Mama blushed a lot when she came home, and Sarada decided that it would probably be a good idea for her to spend the night at Chocho's house for a bit.

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Sasuke loved listening to his wife and daughter talk. Whenever he was home, he loved to just sit in their presence, and let them talk their hearts out. It was always so easy. They were so comfortable around each other and Sasuke, and speaking came so naturally to them. Sakura would tell them all about her day, or what Ino had told her. She'd complain about her subordinates, even though all three of them knew she loved each and every one of them.

Sarada would regale them all with tales of Boruto's many screw ups in their genin team, and how irritating her sensei and Mitsuki collectively were. Sarada reserved the word 'annoying' especially for Boruto, which Sakura smirked at Sasuke discreetly about. Sasuke always tensed, and his fingers itched towards his sword. The little brat barely had a right to be around his daughter, much less be the subject of her affections, no matter how small they were. She always loved to tell them all what pranks she and her male teammates liked playing on Konohamaru. She'd tell them about her mastery of the Katon, and Raiton jutsus. She also liked to practice her aim with Sasuke, because according to her, there was always an opportunity to improve.

"Speaking of target practice, Papa, I was going to ask you something." Sarada said. Sasuke's eyebrows shot up in interest. "So! I was thinking, and I saw Uncle Kakashi earlier, and he was at the archery range. He had brought over a couple of bows and arrows." Sasuke's eyes widened in interest when he listened to his daughter. "I tried it out, and it turns out I'm okay at it."

"Oh, come on." Sakura rolled her eyes at her daughter, looking at Sasuke with an amused glint in her eyes. "Kakashi dropped in the hospital, and told me she was a natural."

Sarada blushed, looking down. "I wouldn't word it like that..."

Sasuke smirked. "The bow, huh?" He asked, thinking about the weapon. He and Itachi used to go hunting a lot. Sasuke had been a natural at shooting as well. Itachi had taught him at a very young age. He'd loved it. Really, he didn't know why he stopped.

No, he did know why he stopped. It was because using that weapon had always reminded him of Itachi, and the good times they'd had. He hadn't wanted to remember those, because Itachi had convinced him they were all a lie. He smiled at his daughter, who looked so excited. It appeared she now had a passion for it as well. Maybe it was time to take it up again. The Uchiha clan had always been impressive with weapons, and the bow was the same. They would be taking up archery again.

"Yeah." Sarada nodded her head, a smile on her face. "So I was thinking, I wanted to get one for myself, then maybe take that up. It would be a nice hobby." Sasuke liked that idea.

"A good bow's pretty expensive," Sakura smirked at her, obviously hearing the underlying question in Sarada's mentioning archery. "You gonna work for it?"

Sarada was unfazed. "Sure. 'Couple months' worth of C-rank missions should do the trick." Sakura exchanged amused glances with Sasuke. Sarada was an extremely well disciplined child because Sakura had always trained her to work for what she had. Even though her family was extremely well off, Sarada had a work ethic that was better than almost everyone she knew. Nothing was ever handed to her. She always put effort into everything. Sasuke was extremely pleased with the results. Sakura really was an amazing mother.

Sasuke nodded in approval, a soft smile on his face. "That's not necessary, Sarada. Your mother was just kidding. I'll provide you with everything you need, just as soon as I find the right things." He wanted nothing but the best for his daughter. He then stood up from the table, remembering something. "Actually... come with me?" He asked her. Sarada's eyes widened in excitement, and she stood up as well, grabbing both her plate and Sasuke's and taking it to the sink. Sasuke gave Sakura a guilty look. He was normally on top of taking care of himself, and doing little things around the house, but still Sakura and Sarada did unnecessary things for him.

Sakura winked at her husband, a cheeky grin crawling onto her face, before going to the kitchen to do the dishes. Sarada came out looking excited. "Where're we going?"

Sasuke's snapped his fingers, more details coming to mind. "There's an underground Uchiha armory nearby. I keep forgetting to tell you about it." He slipped on his shoes, and Sarada did the same. "I bet we can get some stuff from there. It's sealed, so the weapons should all be preserved."

He led the way outside, telling her about how Itachi would take him down to the armory when they were kids. He'd gotten Sasuke his own bow, and always stored it in there. Every family in the Uchiha had their own locker, and he had forgotten to take Sarada down to theirs. He led her out of the village and to a shaded, wood area.

The sun was going down, so they would have to be quick. Sasuke pressed the button on a rock, and opened a trap door. He taught Sarada the sequence to open it, and she memorized it with her Sharingan. "If you're ever in trouble, or can't get into the village and need weapons, don't forget you have resources available to you. This place can also be used as a hideout, if you need it." The doors opened, and Sasuke led her inside. "By rights, this is all yours." He grabbed a torch and did a quick katon jutsu to light it. Sarada did the same, and followed him further down the tunnel. A squeak sounded nearby, and Sarada startled, making Sasuke look back at her, and laugh. She stooped and picked up a rock to throw at his head. Sasuke ducked it.

Finally, they ended up in a big room with the wall carved out to look like a little shelf. Sasuke smirked at Sarada, dropping his torch on one side of the shelf. The ancient oil that was spread along the whole of the shelf lit on fire, the fire spreading. It looked like the fire was running along the shelf, or like dominos falling. It lit up the whole shelf, creating a light source in the room. It went around the whole room, lighting up multiple rows of chests with the Uchiha Crest carved into it. At the far end of the room, there was a massive Uchiha symbol carved onto the wall, the three tomoe of the Sharingan inside of it. Sasuke scanned everything, seeing that it was all the way he'd left it ten years ago.

"Wow..." Sasuke looked at his daughter, and saw that she was looking around in absolute awe of her family legacy. Five long rows of chests, dating back to Madara's time. Sasuke briskly lead her down the middle aisle, until he found his father's name inscribed on one of the chests. There was one for him, where he stored all of his old weapons, and one for Itachi. Sasuke nodded to the one beside Sasuke's, the latest chest that was inscribed- Sarada Uchiha. He'd made that for her on her 2nd birthday, so eleven years ago. He'd left some precious family heirlooms in her chest, for when it was time to collect her inheritance- for when all of this would be hers.

Sarada looked down at the chests with awe. "Wow..." she said again, looking at hers. Each chest was customized originally. Sasuke's had light blue patterns on the outside edges. Itachi's had ravens streaking across the lid. Sarada's had cherry blossoms on it. Sarada's eyes shone, and she traced the lid. "This is mine?"

"All of this is, technically."

Sarada shook her head at him, looking scandalized. "I couldn't mess with the family's things! That's disrespectful."

Sasuke chuckled quietly. "Yes, that's yours. I made that a long time ago." Sarada loved it, Sasuke could tell, and was pleased. It was customary of fathers to make their children's chests, and Sasuke's own father had done both his and Itachi's a long, long time ago.

"You're an artist, dad," Sarada gaped, looking at the intricate detail the chest had been made with. Sasuke winced. That chest had taken a long time to make, and he'd screwed up more than once, but if Sarada loved how it turned out, then it was a success.

He gestured down at his own trunk, then at Itachi's trunk. "We're going to pilfer these, if you don't mind." Sarada pouted, her cheeks puffing exactly the way his and Itachi's used to. Sasuke reigned in full fledged laughter.

"Don't be disrespectful to Uncle Itachi!" Sarada complained, crossing her arms.

"Uncle Itachi would want you to have literally everything you wanted." Sasuke said honestly. Itachi would've loved his child more than anyone aside from himself and Sakura. He would've moved heaven and earth for this girl. "I don't think he'll mind if we borrow his bow."

"What?" Sarada asked, looking at Sasuke in poorly concealed shock.

"We're here to get you a bow, of course." Sasuke said briskly, holding up a hand and allowing some of his chakra to pool into the seal on his brother's chest. He and Sarada were the heirs, so the chests only responded to their chakra. They were made like that- specially for Uchiha. They would self destruct before they were opened by an enemy. Highly coveted during war time, and extremely expensive. And really freaking hard for Sasuke to make. He was lucky he'd seen his father make his, and other fathers make theirs when he was little. Plus, there were written instructions Sasuke had found when going through old files.

The chest popped open, and Sasuke lifted the lid, leaving Sarada to rifle through his brother's things, and turned to unlock his own chest. All of the chests were wide, as wide as Sasuke's head to his hips if he were laying down. He opened his own chest, then showed Sarada how to open her own. She caught on as quick as ever, being the prodigy she was.

Her perfect chakra control that she inherited from Sakura, and powerful chakra in general that she got from both of her parents (her mother's chakra storage method allowed her to set aside copious amounts of chakra. Her chakra natures were the same as Sasuke's, and extremely potent as an Uchiha) made her naturally set for this job. She grinned widely as it popped open. She looked through the things inside, looking absolutely awestruck. Mikoto's heirlooms were always meant to be hers. (Though Sakura, also, got plenty of things from her mother-in-law. It was written in the woman's will that everything precious that she owned would pass to Sasuke and Itachi's wives)

"Papa," Sarada said, her soft voice tugging at Sasuke's heartstrings. She looked painfully like Mikoto with that face. Their smiles were exactly the same.

"Sorry, princess." Sasuke snapped out of it, digging through his chest. He moved aside a sheath, and found what he was looking for- a well preserved bow, with a sheath full of arrows. He tested out the string, drawing it back. It was a bit small for him, but just the right size for Sarada. He handed it to her with a smile. "This was mine. It's yours now."

Sarada held it gingerly, like she was afraid of breaking it. She bowed formally, in acceptance of the weapon, as was custom in the old times. "Thank you." She said, voice quivering. Her hair fell into her face. Sasuke just smiled.

"I can't shoot it, but we should get me one." Sasuke smirked, getting childishly excited at the idea of snooping through his onii-san's things. He found an old picture of his brother with a young Sasuke on his shoulders, the two of them laughing. Sarada peered over his arm, looking at it and smiling.

"Uncle Itachi is the best." Sarada said, though Sasuke wasn't exactly sure if she was talking to herself, to him, or to Itachi. She said 'is'- as if her uncle was alive and well. Sasuke gave her a soft smile- Itachi was well somewhere, if not alive.

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed anyway, putting the picture back, and grabbing his brother's bow. He activated his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and summoned a small Susano'o arm to help him draw his bow back. He nocked an arrow on and pulled it back, aiming for one of the tomoe on the wall. He let the arrow fly, hitting a beautiful bullseye.

Sarada gasped, clapping. She slipped the bow over her shoulders. "Papa's amazing!"

"Uncle Itachi and I used to hunt all the time." Sasuke told her, putting the bow over his shoulder too. He grabbed the sheath of arrows, then picked up another two quivers from the family stores, and closed their chests. "Do you want anything from your chest right now?" Sasuke asked her, seeing her eyeing a necklace that used to belong to his mother.

Sarada opened her mouth, and closed it. Sasuke understood the contemplating look she had on. "I haven't done anything to deserve it," she confessed. "Maybe when I make Jonin or ANBU, or Hokage, I'll pull some stuff out. I want to be worthy of Grandma Mikoto's things, ya know?" She asked her father, who understood exactly what she meant.

He shrugged. "Suit yourself." He closed her chest for her, forming a tiger hand sign with his only hand. He handed Sarada her second quiver of arrows, and slung his own over his shoulder using the strap, like he'd done with the bow and the first quiver.

He looked around the giant storage room. "Do we need any targets?" He asked Sarada, picturing their backyard in his mind.

"I don't know." Sarada shrugged. "Won't kunai targets work?"

"These bows are really powerful," Sasuke told her, picking up a target. Sarada hefted her own up over her shoulders as well, and Sasuke lead the way out.

"We're just going to leave the fire on?" Sarada asked as they passed the front doors, and the shelf where they'd dropped their torches.

"Once we get outside, I'll lock the building, then perform a jutsu that creates a vacuum in there. It sucks out all the air for a couple minutes, which will kill the fire." Sasuke explained. "It's also a foolproof way to kill robbers. Not that they'd make it past the entrance- we came in the right way that didn't trigger the traps and wards. I'll teach you how to handle this base in a couple days."

"Papa?" Sarada said once they were out.

"Yeah, princess?"

"Thank you."

Sasuke gave her a smile. As her father, it was his job to support her in anything she endeavored to accomplish. He would do anything, use any resources he had available to make her happy. "This was nothing." Sasuke told her. He had wanted to help her. He liked the idea of her taking up the hobby he and his brother had loved.

<>

"Bye, Uncle Sasuke."

"Bye." Sasuke turned around, shaking his head at his student. He walked down the streets leisurely, pleased that he wouldn't need to see Naruto today. But he froze when he saw Kakashi and his daughter walking together. Sarada had bandages on her arms, but was talking excitedly with Sasuke's former teacher.

Sasuke turned away from his route home, and instead sidled up to his daughter. "What has Kakashi done to your hands?"

"Papa!" Sarada smiled, pleased to see him. "Kakashi-ojii-chan didn't do anything to me. He's helping me learn change in chakra form and change in chakra nature."

Kakashi smiled sheepishly at his student, rubbing he back of his neck. "Your daughter is an extremely quick study." Sasuke smirked. Kakashi looked noticeably happy, which meant that his daughter had learned the extremely advanced exercises Kakashi drew up quickly. He had taught Naruto change in chakra form and nature, so he was probably unaccustomed to actually teaching someone who knew what she was doing.

Sasuke tampered down aggressive feelings of pride, and just rubbed her hair affectionately. "Of course she is."

"Wanna see something cool, dad?" Sarada asked, looking at Kakashi for confirmation. "I think I have some more chakra, now, Kakashi."

"Sure, kiddo, as long as you have enough chakra."

"If you're busy training Boruto, dad, you can see it some other time..." Sarada said, looking at her father with a slightly disappointed expression as she remembered her father's other obligation.

"No, no, I want to see it now. I sent Boruto home a bit ago." Sasuke told her, his interest peaked.

"You're gonna be proud." Kakashi told him as the three switched directions, heading for the training grounds. Sarada lead the way, leading the two of them with a skip in her step.

"I already am and I haven't seen it yet."

Once they arrived at an empty training ground, Sasuke stood back with Kakashi as Sarada ran to the middle of the grounds. She focused, and pulled out a kunai. There was one target set up over in front of her.

Sasuke didn't know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't for her to start using the Chidori. Her fingers sparked blue, and her eyes burned red, three tomoe spinning threateningly. She was holding a full Chidori in her hands before Sasuke could blink.

She ran forward, and did something surprising. She threw the kunai. And then threw the Chidori. The Chidori followed the kunai that was thrown with deadly accuracy towards the head of the target. Seconds after the kunai met its mark, the Chidori came through and electrocuted the head, scarring it past the point of return. The flimsy material the target was made of disintegrated under the force of Sarada's Chidori.

Sarada stood, panting.

"Did she just throw a Chidori?" Sasuke asked, looking at Kakashi to double check that his eyes weren't failing him.

"That's the newest one. She's made others before. She calls this one the Kage Chidori."

The shadow Chidori. What a fitting name. The Chidori shadowed the movements of the kunai perfectly. "How long did it take her to learn?"

"Three days, with a couple shadow clones. First, she mastered the original chidori, that you taught her, then she made her own spin on it. Learning the Chidori took her about two weeks."

That was faster than Sasuke had learned the Chidori, Sasuke realized, a smile fighting its way into his face. He turned to his old teacher, who was watching Sarada with obvious pride. "What else does she know how to do?"

"She made this thing... God, I've never seen anything like it. She calls it the Raiton: Kaminari no Sakkaku, and it's insane."

"What does it do?"

"It's like a genjutsu... but not, because it's deadly." Kakashi said. "She puts someone in a genjutsu using her Sharingan, then she gives them the illusion of lightning strikes, so the person has to dodge to avoid it, right? But the thing is, in the genjutsu, it's almost random, but for her, in real life, she's pushing them wherever she wants them. She puts a person in corner, or away from her teammates, then strikes them with a lightning jutsu she calls 'Hiraishin.' In the literal sense. It means Lightning Rod. You can imagine what happens to the person. And it works on multiple people at once. When her chakra reserves expand, she could take out an entire platoon of enemy ninja with just this jutsu."

Sasuke looked at his panting daughter. He had never been more impressed in his life. He was always proud of her accomplishments, but the last time the pride was this smothering, Sarada has just learned how to walk. She'd grown up so fast. She was twelve, and developing her own strategies of using jutsu.

"Sarada's all grown up and making deadly jutsu, huh?" Kakashi asked, watching as Sasuke's daughter summoned ANOTHER Chidori, this one normal, and ran at the target with incredible speed, this time getting all the way there and shoving her hand through the target's chest, right where the heart would be. Sasuke's Chidori limit per day had been two when he was her age. Sarada had learned more effective techniques for it, from both the Uchiha who mastered it, and the genius who created it. But Sasuke suspected that her extended range of jutsu meant that Sakura was also teaching their daughter how to separate and store their chakra. Sarada had been born with the reserves of an Uchiha, and the chakra control of legendary med-nins, her mother and grandmother Tsunade.

"She's going to be far stronger than me soon." Sasuke breathed, shaking his head at the girl. She had moved on from that, and now lifted a bow. She aimed it, sparking some lightning into her hands. The arrow flew with deadly accuracy, landing square in the already charred head. The lightning strike that followed it turned the whole target to dust. Kakashi laughed in shock. He hadn't seen Sarada do that before. "She's progressing so quickly."

"Yeah." Kakashi smiled sadly. "The next generation is always stronger than the last."

"Always." Sasuke agreed, thinking about his genius student. He shook his head. "So much potential in this crop of kids."

"Sarada wants to be Hokage, right?" Kakashi asked, barely paying attention to what Sasuke had said.

"Yeah."

"You know she could very well take the title after Naruto retires and Konohamaru does, right?"

"Yeah, I know that."

"You aren't scared?"

"Of course I am. I'm her father." Sasuke didn't know which he was the most scared of- his daughter deliberately putting herself in danger to save the country she loved, or his daughter having to shoulder the responsibility and pains of being Hokage. "But it's alright." Sasuke smirked, closing his eyes. "Boruto will take care of her if I can't."

Kakashi's eyes widened. "You're putting your trust in Naruto's kid?"

"The kid isn't much now, but in the future, Sarada will rely on him to help her keep the peace." Sasuke told Kakashi with conviction. Boruto had promised him that he would look after her while she was Hokage- he said he would be her right hand man, the way Sasuke was for Naruto.

If there was one thing Sasuke knew about an Uzumaki, it was that they never, ever went back on their word.

<>

"Mom, Dad." She walked forward and trapped them both in a hug. "I'm so happy you could come." Sakura squeezed her so tight, it hurt, but Sarada didn't say a thing. Sasuke's arm wrapped around her comfortingly.

"Ahh! Sarada!" Sakura squealed, rocking her daughter back and forth. "You did it! We're so, so, so, so proud of you!"

"How does it feel?" Sasuke asked, pulling away and looking at her. Boruto appeared at their side, and Sakura wrapped an arm around his shoulders too, pulling him close. Kakashi and Naruto arrived soon after. Naruto slung an arm over Sasuke's shoulder, and Sasuke wrapped his around his friend's back.

Sarada smirked at her crazy family, crossing her arms. Sasuke marveled at how beautiful she looked. Her long black hair was tied in a loose ponytail at the nape of her neck. Her eyes looked almost darker than usual, thanks to the black eyeliner she used, but they were shining in excitement. She looked painfully like Itachi. "Honestly?" She looked out over the village with a smile that broke his heart because it was identical to his mother. "Like a dream."

Sasuke stood beside his wife as Sarada walked forward, stopping at the edge of the roof of the Hokage tower, the white haori in her hands. Everyone on the floor below her- civilians and ninja alike, were shouting and clapping at the sight of her, going absolutely crazy. Sarada slipped the haori over her shoulders, and Naruto bounced up and down in excitement despite his old age of 42, Himawari screaming and hugging Boruto tightly. Konohamaru was up beside her for the passing of the torch effect, beaming proudly at his student. Kawaki stood in the corner, his arms crossed but a smirk on his face as he watched Sasuke's daughter, and even Mitsuki was freaking out in that quiet way he did.

The ceremonial haori Sarada was wearing was white like Naruto's had been, and held the inscription of Sarada's position, but between her shoulders, above the kanji that spelled out Sarada's title, sat the Uchiha clan symbol. The woman who made it seemed to understand the importance of this day.

Sarada put on the ridiculous hat. The hair tied in a low ponytail flew in the wind, and Sasuke swore up and down he saw his brother standing there instead of his daughter. The necklace Mikoto had owned before her death, one similar to the one Sakura wore, was dangling from her neck, the Uchiha clan symbol out there for everyone to see- that Sarada held her heritage close to her heart. His heart swelled with joy and pride, and mostly love. His daughter was an absolute rock- she'd worked so hard, and become stronger than anything Sasuke had imagined.

"Give it up for Sarada Uchiha, the first Uchiha Hokage!" Konohamaru shouted, making everyone below them scream in excitement.

Sasuke looked away before anyone could see his tears.