Enjoy this one-shot and please leave a review!

Note: The following names will be used in this fic for some reason: Akemi (means 'bright and beautiful), Ryuu (means dragon) and Ichirou (means 'first-born son). I'm not saying what for I'll use them. Just read on.

Oh! Oh! I know what I want for my birthday: Kankuro! –chases the puppet master, screaming, "No! Wait! I just want to take your shirt off!"-

-snicker-

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but I'd like to have it for my birthday. –dances and sings, "Happy birthday to me!-

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Mommy, who's my Daddy?"

I've always asked my Mommy about him. And every time she did, she'd just look at me with a smile without saying anything, her emerald eyes softening as she looked back at my dark gray ones. Then, my mother would pretend that I never asked anything.

I don't know too much. I don't know why she hides my dad's identity from me and my brothers. I don't know why he only shows himself to my Mommy and never to us. Was it because he was ashamed of us? Did he hate us?

I never knew.

I approached my brothers about him, asking if they knew him or saw him before. The answer I got from my elder brother, an 18 year-old ANBU captain, would always be a quick shove (he has always been rough, even with me) and he'd say that he's busy and has no time for me. As for my other brother, who is 15 years old and Chunin, he'd just shrug and say that I'm too young to know anything.

With that, I knew that my mom and my brothers wouldn't answer my question. So, I turned to other people around me, like my aunts and uncles. I turned to my uncle, Kiba, one day when he picked me up from the Academy. His answer was worst than Mommy's: he said, "Who are we talking about, again?"

When I went to the Yamanaka Flower to go see my playmate, I went to my Mommy's friend (I think her name was Ino) and asked her about my father. She simply bit her lip and shook her head. She gave me a cosmos and said, "You like flowers, right?" They always change the subject and I wonder why.

Being twelve, I'm still stuck in the Academy. Of course, I knew that my class' sensei, Tenten-sensei, was also a batch mate of my Mommy, so I thought maybe she'd have an idea. But I was given a pat on the head as a reply and she said, "Maybe later, Akemi."

My failed attempts get to my nerves every time. I'm sure that they know the real answer to all of my questions but it shows that they make an effort to hide it from me. Why is that so?

Desperate, I went to some of my friends, hoping they can answer me by maybe eavesdropping from their parents' conversations. I went to my playmate from the Yamanaka Flower and she said that neither her father nor her mother ever mentioned my father any day.

I went to the Hokage's son, the one who everyone says has a crush on me, and asked him. I never realized that I was desperate enough. The little blond and pearly-eyed boy was stammering when I asked him. I don't know if he did that because he was shy or because he knew and kept it from me, too or maybe it was really his nature to do that.

Soon enough, he'd just begin to fidget and say these exact words, "You know, Akemi, I think you're really pretty and I think your pink hair is cute and I guess it matches your eyes." Then he'd slap his hands onto his mouth, shutting himself up. Soon, he'd run off.

Slightly annoyed now at how everyone keeps things from me, I went straight to my best friend, the boy who has a weird but adorable addiction to shuriken. He kinda looks like the Hokage's son with his pearly eyes (okay, so they're cousins) but he was definitely better looking. I expected more from him, but he also couldn't answer me.

Up till now, I still don't know who my father is, how he looks like or why he doesn't show himself to my brothers or me. I am also beginning to doubt if I even have a father.

I've been asking people, and sometimes myself, these many questions and they've always told me nothing. They've been keeping the secret from me for too long. Now, I'm a fifteen year-old Chunin and I think I'm mature and old enough to know what I never knew.

But even if that was so, no one answered me still.

So, I've lost my high hopes. I was getting sick of the blank answers I've been getting from everyone.

As I lay on my side tonight, on my bed, unable to sleep again, I still think of my father and I don't deny it. I just wanted to know who he was and more than that, I wanted to know if he really exists. I wanted to know if I really did have someone who loves my brothers and me; I wanted to know if there really is that respected shinobi Mommy talks of on her own who named the three of us. I wanted to know if I did have a father.

I heard my bedroom door creak softly then a few footsteps. I felt no chakra aura, assuming that mother hid her aura to check up on me and not wake me up. She usually did that in the middle of the night, and she'd freak if she found me awake. So, I squeezed my eyes shut and pretended to be asleep.

I felt a firm hand pat my shoulder as I lay, facing the direction away from the open door. It certainly didn't feel like Mommy so I started to worry, wondering if this is one of my brothers or an intruder. My thoughts raced on whether I should grab him and catch him by surprise or should I trust him and pretend to be asleep anyway.

But then, I heard him whisper something…

"Akemi's grown so." A deep, masculine voice said from near me, "It feels like it was only yesterday when I carried her in my arms. She has never seen me before, unlike her brothers Ichirou and Ryuu, right?"

"Never." The voice that replied to the man's question was definitely my mother, "She has always wanted to know more about you. I made it an effort to keep it from her till she's old enough."

The man kept his hand on my shoulder, neither rubbing it or even moving his hand but his touch seemed to make me feel a certain comfort, "Why don't we wake her now?" the man suggested, "Ryuu saw me when he was twelve. She's already fifteen and she deserves to know the truth."

I felt Mommy shake her head and oppose, "No, Sasuke, she'll never understand."

Sasuke? Who is this Sasuke guy? And why does he know me? And… And…

Maybe… he's my father.

I was convinced… Since that was the case, I wanted to open my eyes and turn to them to see how he looked like and ask him the thousand queries I have in my head, but something was holding me back. Not like a ninjutsu or something. It's like my instinct or such.

I felt the man nod at my mother and he muttered, "I guess she'll find out later than my two boys." He took his hand from my shoulder, probably ready to leave. I heard my mother speak, "It's going to be a risk, Sasuke. Both Ichirou and Ryuu found it difficult to accept that they had a missing nin for a father. It was also hard for them to know that Haruno is my maiden name. I also told them that I didn't use Uchiha to protect them from anything like criminal suspicions."

The Sasuke guy nodded and he said, "Thanks for coping with that, Sakura. You should really hide my surname first and use yours to hide our family from enemies of mine and even ANBU who are after me." Sakura nodded in understanding.

I knew the man, assuming he's someone named Sasuke, chuckled and he said, "Yeah, but when Ichirou found out that he's my favorite, he learned to accept me. Ryuu learned to take me in when he learned that I was the last Uchiha, a member of a powerful clan. I'm just glad that they accepted me now. I just thought maybe Akemi would do the same."

I wanted to try and sit up again, hoping that my body won't be numb anymore. But I had no luck. I wanted to see this stranger. I wanted to ask him if he was my father. I wanted to ask so many questions… I wanted to see my Dad…

"I have to go, Sakura." I sensed Sasuke say it, "The ANBU might find me and take me away this time. We can't take any chances." I felt Mom nod and she stood from her place on her part of the side of my bunk.

I felt him lean nearer to my cheek and he gave me a light and tender kiss and he whispered, "Good night, Akemi, my daughter. I love you. We'll meet some other time."

When I heard this, I felt my tears well up in my shut eyes and when I knew that my parents were gone from my room, I blinked my eyes open to let the tears fall.

Why didn't I do anything? Why didn't I speak up? Why didn't I turn to see who he was? How stupid was I?

Only now did I realize that my father was a missing nin, wanted and tracked down by ANBUs all the time. It pained me to learn that, since Ichirou was the ANBU captain. Only now did I realize that I did have a father. Only now did I realize that his name is Sasuke…

Only now did I realize that my father did exist and he loved me very much.

Not all of the answers that I needed have been given but the most important ones have been revealed. I can now sleep well without wondering anymore. I can stop asking random people about him…

All I can do now is wait for my father to come back and the first thing I'll do is hug him tight.

I still don't understand a lot about him, but now, I understand that he hid from us for he believed that acceptance might be difficult.

Well, when he returns, I'll show him that I'm more than willing to take him in as my father.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I'm sorry if it wasn't that good. Anyway, please leave a review. Feedback is, after all, encouraged, needed, wanted and appreciated.

I just wanted this off my mind so I apologize if it's an unsatisfactory fic.