First Meeting

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

For the past few weeks, he had been sleeping sleepless nights. He knew the bags were present under his eyes and he would yawn in the day. But tonight, he got a call and the second he heard his his younger brother frightened voice, he immediately screamed a, "Heading there! I know!" and left the telephone dangling on its wire.

At first, he sprinted, but noticing the distance from where he resided to his destination, he began to jump from one rooftop to another. Yes, he tried to land very softly on the houses, yet there would always be creaks and thuds and the more he did it, the more he became used to it.

Even if the village was still in its deep slumber at three in the morning, the hospital was awake and looked as lively as ever. Still dressed in his pajamas, he stormed into the entrance, immediately heading to the receptionist.

"U- Uchiha," he panted. Understanding to whom he was referring to, the person on duty gave him a room number and he flew in the blink of an eye. He did not ask for directions and relied solely on his senses and instincts. Luckily, painful cries were not hard to miss and he turned on his heel.

Once arrived in front of the room, he decided to knock on the door as the polite man he was. There were sounds of yells, panics, and numbers of unpleasant words inside that his knock went unheard. So he knocked again, only to have a, "SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU FREAK!" shouted at him. He jumped a little at that.

There were mutters and the cries increased until a nurse opened the door for him. "Oh Uchiha-san! Please do come in!" she welcomed him as if they were in a friendly situation. Except, it was not. He hurried entering the room to spot a group of nurses, a doctor, and a pair of couple.

While the pink-haired woman on the bed was all sweating and grunting and had a red face, his younger brother breathed in relief upon seeing him. "Nii-san, please take her right hand!" the squeak in his brother's voice was too evident, it scared him in a way to wonder what he was going through.

But he, without more doubts, took the job his brother had offered to find out it was not as what he expected.

Under his sister-in-law's strong grip, several bones were crushed as the woman wailed; he was sure he could have done the same if it had not been for his healthy mind and respect to her. He bit down his swear words when he felt an extra mount of cracks, terror washing over him.

He did not know why he had to endure this as he had only been a brother and a friend to the two people in front of him. However, he kept comforting them and praying to all the gods up there for lucks so that he, together with the two, would survive this.

At eight in the morning, the infant was finally pushed out from her mother's womb.

He collapsed completely on his chair, satisfied that the torture had ended after six hours of terrible, awful labor. From where he was, he saw his brother a.k.a. the new father having both of his broken hands treated and the new mother being cleansed up. He felt he was lucky enough to only have one hand smashed, but the fact did not help him from cringing slightly. Despite it, he took a peek at the newborn girl who was now crying so loudly and healthily.

"Well done, Sakura-chan, and congratulations," he gave his sister-in-law a genuine encouraging smile and although weary, she returned the gesture. All of the sudden, a nurse came to him and asked him if he wanted to carry the towel-wrapped little human. He glanced back at the new parents, unsure if it was alright for him to cradle her. To their approval and 'you deserve it' sayings, the nurse handed him the small bundle of joy as he awkwardly supported her tiny head.

The baby stopped crying all at once. Big black orbs wandered curiously at another pair of black orbs and at the time he brought a good finger to her, she grasped it with her itty-bitty plump hand. That was when he felt the experience was anything but worth it.

Before returning her to her mama and papa, he did not miss the chance to introduce himself.

"Hello, Sarada," he cooed. "I am your Uncle Itachi."

Author's Note:

*internally screaming*

P.S.: 'Of Dango and Salad' is marked as 'complete' as it is a collection of one-shots.