Artificial Happiness

Sasuke was walking toward the village of Konoha. His village. Where he had a lot of memories and where things were familiar. His thoughts went to his special person living there and smiled at the memory of their first night together.

Looking down, he brushed the dark hair of a little creature that was clinging to the front of his clothes. He tried readjusting the sling without waking her up. He smiled slightly, barely noticeable for any by passer. This little girl –his little girl- was the miracle that was created from his and Naruto's love.

Although he wouldn't admit it, Sasuke was anxious to see him again. He couldn't wait to see Naruto's reaction to his daughter. It had been a while since he had seen his lover; he didn't know of the child yet. He doubted, though, that Naruto would reject his own family. He smiled sadly, knowing that the Uchiha clan would finally be continued after all, although in weird circumstances.

Looking up, he could see that he was getting closer to the entrance gates of the village. He braced himself; anything could happen at this point.

When four anbu black ops stopped his way, he knew that he shouldn't do anything that could endanger his daughter. He raised his hands in the air, showing his intentions of surrendering to them.

An hour later, he found himself in front of the Hokage herself. To say that Tsunade was stupefied, it was too… gentle. She would have punched a hole trough Sasuke's forehead if it wasn't for the fact that she needed answers.

Sasuke was restrained by chakra repressing shackles. Those four anbu ninjas from the gate were encircling him. The thing Sasuke hated the most, though, was the fact that they had taken away his daughter. She was currently in Shizune's arms, still sleeping. The dark-haired boy was actually thankful that his baby hadn't awakened yet; he couldn't hold her at the moment and she wasn't used to be in someone else's arms. She would probably cry and it would only serve to strengthen the already unpleasant tension in the room.

Tsunade looked like hell. Sasuke stared at her; her eyes were shining with some strange emotion. Frowning, he focused on preparing himself to answer any questions she would throw at him. His plan was to quickly answer some questions and negotiate the right to hold his daughter.

"What are you doing here, Uchiha Sasuke?" the Hokage said straightforwardly. She was tense; after all, the dark-haired teen in front of her was an S-class ninja. The only thing she was wondering about that didn't fit in the portrait was the baby that Shizune was currently holding; who was she and why was a baby with someone such as him?

Using his mind, Sasuke quickly mustered something he thought would fit best: "I came here in peace, Hokage-sama."

The older woman snorted at his answer. She looked at him from head to toe; he looked haggard. "What happened to you? You look like hell" she exclaimed herself.

Sasuke wanted nothing more than to scoff and answer 'a lot', but he went against it, in case it'd jeopardize his rights to his daughter. And to have her taken away from him would be his death. So he cleared his throat and say instead: "I killed Orochimaru and gave birth to a child."

Everyone in the room gasped, but remained on their guard. It could have been something to create a diversion.

"Nonsense, Uchiha. The last part of your answer is impossible. Although we heard that Orochimaru had died by your hands... but, what have you done after killing the Sannin? We know that you had your own team of ninjas, but what has happened to them?"

Sasuke had felt a certain hesitation when Tsunade had pronounced 'impossible'. He somehow thought that she would come back on it later on. "After killing Orochimaru, as you mentioned, my team and I travelled in order to seek ways to kill my brother. I had to put my plans on hold because of her" he said, tilting his head toward the said baby.

This time, Tsunade frowned deeply and everyone inside the large office could see that she was deep in thoughts.

A small whining interrupted the silence that had installed itself.

All the eyes turned toward Shizune who looked down at the baby in her arms. The young woman raised an eyebrow when the whining intensified and got accompanied by a fidgety baby. Looking up at the Hokage, she asked, "What should we do?"

Then it was Sasuke's turn to have all eyes on him. Tsunade could see it in the young man's eyes that he wanted to hold her. She had a feeling that if she would let the boy hold the baby, she could milk more answers from him. Thus, a plan was born. "I want everyone, except for Shizune, the baby and the Uchiha out of this room."

The anbu black ops stilled; the Hokage wanted to leave the prisoner without guards?

Lady Tsunade nodded, and smiled, "It's not like he'll do anything with his hands cuffed anyway… and in case something happens, Shizune and I will be there to stop him. Don't forget who I am: the strongest ninja in this village."

The four anbu black ops saluted and exited the office.

Sasuke fell on his knees: "Please, Hokage-sama, let me hold my daughter. I have to, or else she will start to cry; she is not used to be held by someone other than me." He lowered his head to look at the floor, praying Tsunade would accept his plea.

The blond woman looked at the baby and then at her… mother? She cleared her throat: "First, I will warn you: if you ever try to do anything to leave this office, you will be neutralized on the spot and you won't see your daughter ever again." She looked at the dark-haired teenager for some answer.

Sasuke was getting impatient. "Of course."

Tsunade approached the young man and released him from the chakra binding shackles.

He sighed, rubbing his wrists. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

The older woman scoffed: "I'm not doing this for you. It's for the baby." She looked at her assistant: "Shizune, give him the child."

Doing as told, Shizune walked forward and bent over to give the whining baby to the youth still kneeling on the floor. Sasuke eagerly brought his daughter against himself and whispered some words to reassure her. Tsunade could feel that the Uchiha teenager wouldn't try to leave. Now was the time to ask more… personal questions: "So, you said that you 'gave birth' to this baby. Is this true?" she said, raising her eyebrows.

Sasuke gently stroke his daughter's cheek, which quietened her down a little and made her open her eyes.

Tsunade gasped at the blueness of the child's eyes; they were just like Naruto's.

"Yes, I did bear this child for a total of nine months" was Sasuke's straight answer.

Tsunade frowned. "But how?" She could only think of two answers; one light and one dark. "Was it the Sexy no Jutsu or Oro-"

"-don't dare pronounce his name in front of me. But yes, it is the latter one" he cut her, wincing at the cloudy memories. Even though he didn't like to admit it, if he had to choose to go through those… experimentations again, he'd do it all over because he knew that in the end, he's have his daughter. He smiled slightly, making Tsunade understand that maybe he really wasn't back to destroy the village; he had a new reason to stay.

Then, came the ultimate question: "Uchiha, who's the father? And where is he?" She had a feeling of who it might be, but before assuming anything, she would hear out the answer.

Sasuke cleared his throat nervously. "It's… Naruto."

Tsunade's breath hitched when she saw the youth's eyes shining shyly. "I'm sorry…" she said. Shizune put a hand on the older woman's shoulder to comfort her.

The young man was starting to get suspicious; Tsunade had been acting weird ever since he entered her office. What happened during his absence? "What is wrong? Is there someone who died…?" Then it hit him: Naruto was dead. Sasuke started to hyperventilate, tears ready to fall when none of the two women answered his question. He shouted, "Why aren't you answering!? It's Naruto isn't it?!!" Anger was getting the best of him.

Tsunade was going to answer, but her throat was too tight.

The silence was tense and no one really wanted to tell what happened. The baby started crying, bringing back Sasuke down to earth; he tried to calm himself by stroking his daughter's hair which also had a calming effect on the baby.

The blonde woman spun around, her back facing the dark-haired teen, hiding her tears. She sobbed, not able to hold back the pain she felt. "Naruto…" her voice was uneven. "Naruto died a couple of weeks ago" she finally said, her serious mask crumbling under the emotions.

Sasuke froze on the spot; to think about it was one thing, but to have it said by someone else was too difficult to handle: "Wh-what!?" He was now trembling, trying to imagine how that could have happened. "It can't be possible! The-the demon! Naruto told me it would protect him! He promised me! He…!" he took in a deep breath. "He said he would always be there…" Sasuke whispered. He encircled his daughter and brought his face closer to her.

Tsunade turned around to take a look at the teenager; she walked to his side and tried to hug him to comfort him, but she was quickly pushed away. She gasped when she saw the anger in the dark-haired man. He was about to yell again when his daughter started to cry again. The baby could feel her mother's distress and she didn't like it one bit. Sasuke tried to calm down again, petting her hair again to reassure her.

"Listen to me, Uchiha. He died protecting this village. He died as a hero" the Hokage said, trying to brighten the situation.

Sasuke hold back the curse he was going to say: "That village who shunned him because of the demon inside him?!" He scoffed, "He didn't even know that…" His tone changed from angry to sad, "… t-that he was going to be… a father." He bit his lip and closed his eyes quickly, tears running down silently his cheeks.

Tsunade felt her own tears coming back. "He died protecting his friends from an attack. Some Akatsuki members." She sniffed, very unlady-like, but she didn't give a damn at the moment. She had thought that she was finished mourning the blond teenager, a boy she considered like a little brother. "They captured him and were almost done extracting the demon when he… committed suicide. He knew that if the Nine-tailed Fox went into their hands, our world would come to an end."

Sasuke growled, "Another fucking sacrifice he made." He kissed the top of his daughter's head. "I have to go to the memorial stone."

The blond woman nodded.

Shizune was surprised at the Hokage's answer. "But, he's an S-class missing nin…!"

Sasuke got up from the floor and bowed the best he could with his daughter in his arms. "I will be back in a couple of hours" he said.

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When Sakura had woken up early that morning, she knew there was a reason. Ever since Naruto's death, she didn't have as much energy into her. However, today was different; after being up for a while, she could sense a chakra that she recognized… something powerful. Her eyes lightened; it was Naruto's chakra, she could feel it! Quickly putting on some clothes, she ran out the main door, scaring her mother in the process, and went straight to the source of chakra.

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Sasuke was facing the memorial stone. Now he knew why Kakashi would often be late when they were supposed to meet; when you start thinking about that precious person of yours, you don't see time passing by. He hugged his daughter who had started cooing; she was all that was left of Naruto. He breathed in deeply and exhaled loudly as a bout of nausea was pestering him ever since Tsunade had given him the news about Naruto. What would he do now? He had come back for Naruto, but he was now gone.

The young man was lost in thoughts when he heard a voice ringing through the field.

"Naruto?" a female voice said.

Sasuke flinched. It was Sakura. He didn't want her to see him now… but he had no choice, because she was already too close.

When she saw Sasuke, the pink-haired woman couldn't move; she froze on the spot. "Sa-sa-sasuke?!" She felt her heart skip a beat: "What are you doing here?"

So many thoughts ran through the Uchiha boy; had Tsunade sent Sakura here to check on him? "Why are you here? Go away" he could only say.

Sakura frowned, not liking his tone of voice. He seemed more emotional than all those times they had met since he had left Konoha, but she didn't know why he was acting like this. However, she thought it was more important to answer his question first; maybe he would answer hers. "I came here because I thought I had sensed Naruto's chakra." She looked at the ground and smiled sadly. "I think that I officially lost it…" she said, her voice wavering, "…because even though I can see that he's not here, I can still feel it."

It was now Sasuke's turn to frown; he tried to analyse if what she had said was sincere or just some lie to come to see him. The problem was that she had felt Naruto's chakra… it was probably his daughter's chakra she had felt. He didn't want, however, Sakura to know about the baby's origins yet so instead he said coldly: "Probably was your imagination… Naruto is dead."

She gasped and spat angrily, "I know! He's dead!! I've seen him die with my own two eyes!"

Sasuke was taken aback by her harsh tone which also scared his daughter who whined her fright. He shushed her, not wanting her to start to cry again like earlier.

The pink-haired woman calmed down a bit and looked with some curiosity at the baby in her ex-teammate's arms. She walked closer to the young Uchiha to take a better look. Sasuke tensed, but let the woman touch his daughter.

"Who is she?" was her question.

The young man didn't know what consequence it would have on Sakura, but she had asked, so he would give her the answer. "This is my daughter." He played with a dark strand of the baby's hair.

It took a good minute before Sakura was able to register that information in her mind. She gulped loudly. After all, even though she wasn't attracted to Sasuke anymore, it didn't mean that she didn't feel a slight pang of jealousy in her heart. She smiled, "Oh. I am happy for you." She looked at the baby, "So, who's the lucky lady? And where is she?" Sakura asked, innocently.

"Why are you acting like this?" he asked with some kind of irritation.

Sakura's face changed from clueless to anger, "Like what?" she snapped.

"When we were younger, you would have done anything just to have my attention. Now you act like you never liked me." He raised an eyebrow, "Did you finally succumb to Lee's advances?" He smirked at the image of the ugly Rock-Haruno children floating in his mind.

Sakura choked on her own saliva, "What?! No, it's not him…" She hesitated to continue, "With all the time I spent with Naruto, I guess he grew on ne and…" she sighed, "And I had decided to tell him, but with the attack of the Akatsuki and all… I never got the chance." She closed her eyes to keep the tears from falling.

The dark-haired teenager frowned. "Sakura, even though you liked Naruto –even maybe loved him- he never would have returned your feelings" he said bluntly.

The kunoichi's eyes widened and she threw her arms in the air angrily: "How come? I'm not good enough for you and now you're telling me that I wouldn't have been good enough for Naruto?!" She was starting to get fed up of his I'm-better-than-anyone attitude.

"Do you want to know where my daughter's mother is, Sakura?" Sasuke asked, confusing the young woman.

"Why are you asking this now? Don't try to change the subject!" she said, pointing her finger at the dark-haired man.

"Don't worry," he said, shifting the baby in his arms, "you will understand. Do you want to know?"

Sakura nodded, although reluctantly. What was he going to say? Tons of answers ran through her mind, from the mother being Ino to things like admitting that he killed the baby's mother. She bit her lip, waiting for the dreaded answer.

"It is actually very simple. You are looking at that person."

Sakura's breath hitched and she laughed nervously. "Come on, Sasuke, stop joking around." She was white as a sheet, knowing well that he was not of those people who liked to relieve the tension by cracking a joke or two.

"Didn't you think it was weird that you had felt Naruto's chakra, even though he is dead?" Sasuke proved his point when he lifted his shirt to reveal the stretch marks on his stomach.

The pink-haired kunoichi looked like she was going to pass out. "But… How? Why?"

The young man's expression softened a bit, knowing she was in shock. He pulled on his shirt to put it back down and said: "As simple as it sounds: experiments conducted against my will during my stay in Otogakure. Then I escaped and I…" He looked on the side, "…well, Naruto and I… we…" he said, gesturing something.

Sakura understood: Naruto + Sasuke = baby. She blushed lightly when thinking about what her friends had done together. "So, that's why you were saying that he couldn't have returned my feelings? Not because you think I'm stupid?" she asked, just to be sure.

The dark-haired teenager nodded and Sakura felt relieved, although she felt a certain bit jealous, knowing that she wouldn't have stood a chance. There was also the fact that she wanted a child too. Being a medic-nin, she saw births and babies often and she thought that she'd be the first one from Team 7 to have children. It seems she was wrong.

Looking at the child, Sakura asked Sasuke if she could hold her. He had half-heartedly agreed, knowing that his daughter wasn't used to being held by someone else other than her 'mother'.

Sakura smiled. The baby girl was indeed the cutest baby she had seen; Naruto's blue eyes, Sasuke's pale skin and dark hair. She looked up at the other male, "What are you going to do now? Are you going to stay here now that you… have a baby?" the pink-haired woman asked, rocking the child.

Sasuke watched intently every move Sakura was making to be sure nothing would happen. He was surprised that his daughter hadn't started to cry yet. "I don't know. I will probably be punished for deserting the village." He looked at the sky, "I just hope they won't take her away from me…" Then he locked eyes with Sakura. "Will you marry me, Haruno Sakura?"

She gasped, for the nth time today. What was he saying? "Are you okay, Sasuke?" she asked, confused.

The young man's eyes lowered to his daughter. "Sakura, I have the feeling I won't be able to take care of her for a while. Marry me, even if you don't love me. Being an Uchiha you will have everything you ever wanted."

"What are you talking about?"

"If I go to prison, this child has no other parent" he simply said. That answer alone made Sakura understand.

"And by marrying you, I will be able to take care of her so she won't grow up alone… like Naruto and you did" she smiled sadly.

"If you don't want to do this for me, do it for Naruto" he pleaded. Normally, Uchiha didn't ask, they demanded; but this wasn't an ordinary situation.

Sakura looked at the child in her arms. She couldn't let the baby suffer like her teammates did. "I'll do it."

"Thank you, Sakura. I will always be in debt to you." He touched his daughter's head. "Keiji, I present you your new mom."

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That same evening, Sakura and Sasuke got married. Sai and Ino were there as witnesses and that was it; no one else was needed.

After a few months of serving his sentence, Sasuke was starting to regain the village's trust. He was in prison and only saw his daughter and his 'wife' once a month. It killed him to see his little girl grow up and not being able to be there for her.

One day, Tsunade came by Sasuke's cell to entrust him with a special mission. If he were to eliminate the rest of the Akatsuki members, his sentence would be over. Shizune had been against the idea, as the Hokage was taking a huge risk by letting loose a criminal like Sasuke; but without a lot of strong ninjas, they wouldn't be able to get rid of this menace.

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"Sasuke? Are you done? We're going to be late for the ceremony" Sakura said. She slid open their bedroom door.

"Hn. Almost finished." He turned around. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

Sakura smiled, "We're both fine, thanks for asking" she said, petting her round belly. Even though they didn't love each other like real wives and husbands, they decided to have children, since Sakura always wanted one of hers. So here they were: Sasuke's second child and Sakura's first. They also decided that for the sake of appearances, they acted, outside of their home, like any normal couple would. Of course, their close friends knew that Keiji was Naruto and Sasuke's daughter and it was out of obligations that Sakura had married Sasuke.

A little girl with bright blue eyes entered the room, "Daddy, Iruka-sensei said that it's about to start! You're going to be late!!!" she said, out of breath.

"Keiji." Sakura scolded. "I told you to be careful. You will ruin your kimono and your hair" she said, rearranging the hairclip that was threatening to fall from the dark hair.

"I'm sowwy mommy" the little girl pouted. "But it's important!"

An hour later, the Uchiha family was on the top of the Hokage tower, in front of the whole village. People were cheering as Tsunade presented herself. She raised a hand to silence the crowd. "Citizens of Konoha. This ceremony is very important, as we are all present here today to welcome the sixth Hokage: Sasuke Uchiha, the Rokudaime!" She motioned the dark-haired man to come closer, put a hand on his shoulder and whispered: "Congratulations, son. Naruto would be proud of you." She smiled widely.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." He bowed.

The older woman laughed and took off the Hokage hat from her head to put it on the Uchiha's. She turned to face the crowd: "Now let's celebrate!!!" she yelled.

Sasuke waved at the crowd and turned to look at Sakura; she had tears in her eyes. Young Keiji couldn't understand why her mommy was crying, so she hugged her, hoping the tears would go away. The pink-haired woman laughed softly, "Don't worry, honey, mommy is just happy for daddy." After Naruto's death, Sasuke had taken the blond boy's dream of becoming Hokage and made it his own. Although, because his past as a missing nin, people had taken a while before forgiving him, but he was still able to realize Naruto's cherished dream.

Sasuke was happy to admit that he wasn't the teenage boy with dark thoughts and a thirst for vengeance; he had killed his brother and started to revive the Uchiha clan. He looked at the sky and he whispered to the wind, "Naruto, I hope you can see this from where you are."

That evening, everyone celebrated until dawn.

THE END

By the way, Keiji means 'happy event'... because even though Naruto is dead, Keiji's birth still is a happy event in Sasuke's opinion. Oh and the title given is Artificial Happiness because Sakura and Sasuke are not with the one they love, but they created their own hapiness by being 'together'.