The reader is twenty years old, and Sasuke is older than Naruto because it is an AU for those of you wondering.

And ugh, I'm so frustrated because Wattpad keeps crashing on mobile and I was in the middle of writing and it crashed and I lost a huge chunk of this chapter. :( So sorry if it's short/not as good because I had to rewrite it and I didn't really remember what I wrote.

Unedited.

• • •

"Alright, Sasuke, it's time you learned how to throw a kunai."

Sasuke beamed up at [name], excitedly gripping her hand and cried, "For real?! Mommy's gonna teach me how to throw a real kunai?!"

She smile at the excited little boy and grabbed a kunai from her weapons pouch. Sasuke stared at the piece of glinting metal in awe and reached for it, but the older woman quickly pulled it away and out of reach.

"Not yet! I'll show you how to hold it first." She exclaimed, playfully glaring at the child.

Sasuke puffed his cheeks out, annoyed, but he still kept his eyes trained on her form nonetheless.

"Copy me." [Name] ordered and lowered her position, putting one leg in front of the other and twisting her torso so that way she was in her standard fighting stance. Sasuke stared curiously and mimicked her actions, moving into the stance awkwardly and stiffly.

The older woman giggled and held the kunai in front of her, the circular end pointing towards her face while the sharpened end was aimed at the wooden target in front of her. She swiftly flicked her wrist and the kunai was launched from her hand. Not even seconds later, a loud thunk was heard as the kunai smoothly embedded itself into the red circle in the center of the wooden target.

Sasuke let out a small noise of surprise and he looked up at her, his onyx eyes beaming with admiration. "Cooool! Can I try now?"

[Name] nodded and took out another kunai from her pouch and handed it to the small raven-haired child. He took it from her grasp and tried to throw the kunai as she did, but when he did, it didn't even reach halfway to the target before falling limping to the ground. Stifling her small chuckles, she went to go retrieve the kunai before showing Sasuke how to do it correctly again.

This went on until sundown.

• • •

When the sun met with the horizon, [Name] decided that it would be a good idea to retire for the day. She was surprised at the exceptional progress that Sasuke had made within all the hours of practice they had both endured. Even after going through all of her kunai supply and many groans of frustration, the little Uchiha boy managed to hit the target. Although it wasn't perfect, he was still close to the middle, and that was good enough for her.

He had a lot of potential for being as young as he was, and not to mention he also had the potential to awaken his Sharingan. That would be some scary talent right there.

Sighing loudly, [Name] made her way through Konoha's still crowded streets to her friend's home, whose name was Azumi. She had asked her to watch Naruto while she trained with Sasuke for the day and she was more than willing to help since she loved kids (having a job at the Academy had something to do with that). Sasuke was by [Name]'s side, holding onto her hand tightly as he watched his surroundings silently with a stoic gaze. He was unusually quiet, she noted.

Stepping up to the porch of Azumi's humble home, she knocked on the door and nearly jumped out of her skin when it swung open quickly, slamming into the wall opposite of it. A crying and slobbering Naruto was held in the arms of a young brown-haired woman, who looked like she had just gotten out of a murder scene.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're here [Name]," Azumi breathed out, a look of relief flashing across her face.

Upon further inspection, it seemed like she had gone through a lot while taking care of Naruto judging by the dark bags that underlined her green eyes, her tousled hair, and the wreck that laid inside her house from what [Name] could make out from her position. A wash of concern came over her.

"Are you okay, Azumi? You don't look well." She asked, reaching a hand out to comfort her. But it seems like the younger woman wasn't having it, as she only responded by shoving a bawling Naruto onto her arm before looking ready to retreat into the depths of her ruined home.

"J-Just take him!! He's a demon, that kid! He hasn't stopped crying since you dropped him off here! I've met some nightmarish children before, but he's on another level!" Azumi raged, her eyes wild and deranged before she slammed the door shut so hard, the woman on the porch almost tumbled backwards and off the steps.

[Name] stood there for a moment, mouth agape out of shock from hearing her friend's words. Naruto may have cried and fussed a lot, but he was no demon. At least not to her. And speaking of which, he had even stopped crying the moment he was propelled into her arms, his blue eyes gleaming as he stared up at her, probably happy to see his mother (figure). [Name] shook her head, deciding to leave it alone, and walked off of Azumi's property and back to the bustling streets of Konoha's downtown.

Naruto made quiet, amused giggling noises as he played with the tips of [Name]'s hair, wrapping the silky strands around his fingers and tugging playfully on it. It didn't hurt, so she let him keep at it to keep him entertained in some way. Looking down at Sasuke, she noticed how quiet he had been. In fact, he hadn't really even spoken a word since they left the training grounds.

Stopping on the side of the dirt road near a fence, [Name] crouched down to Sasuke's height and looked him the eyes, which held confusion at the abrupt cease in movement.

"Sasuke, is something bothering you? You're as quiet as a mouse, and it's kind of creeping me out." She confessed, watching as the boy's features twisted into one of sadness.

"...I don't know, mommy. I didn't hit the red circle with the kunai like you wanted me to." Sasuke hung his head down, as if ashamed that he didn't meet her nonexistent expectations.

[Name] smiled warmly, her heart swelling with an overload of cuteness at this. He wanted to hit the target like she had showed him countless of times, but he didn't have a chance to that time around. Pulling the small Uchiha into an one-armed hug (Naruto was occupying the other), she rubbed his back comfortingly as he shed a few tears.

"It's okay, Sasuke. You'll get it next time. I'll always be proud of you, even if you don't always do the right thing."

Sasuke looked up, his teary, hope-filled eyes peering up as his guardian with a starry gaze. "R-Really?"

"Really, Sasuke," [Name] smiled wider, getting up from her crouching position and dusting herself off. "Now, who's up for some ramen?"

Having been reassured by his most precious person, Sasuke suddenly felt a whole lot better.

"I am!" He exclaimed. "Ugwaah!!" Naruto answered at the mention of 'ramen', flashing a toothless smile at the woman cradling him.
She smiled back and grabbed Sasuke's hand, leading the way to Ichiraku's Ramen.

[Name] just hoped they wouldn't make too much of a mess.