Chapter I:
"U-chi-ha…"
Sarada sounded out the name slowly, paying close attention to each syllable as if trying to find some hidden meaning behind the word. She searched desperately for a key, a clue, anything capable of unlocking answers to the million questions living in her head.
What was so important about the name? Why did its stamp bring her such reverence from her peers? Why was it so significant? Was it the reason her father couldn't be with her? What was it?
"U-chiha…Uchiha Sasuke…who are you, Papa?"
Sarada cast away her thoughts with an exasperated sigh before directing her attention toward the rowdy blond-haired boy fumbling his way onto the dock across the lake. Not far behind him was his equally blond-haired father clearly amused by his son's unconstrained enthusiasm.
"Hurry up old man! I'm going to catch the big boss fish today dattebasa!"
"Not if I catch him first dattebayo!"
Sarada immediately recognized the enthusiastic pair to be Boruto and Uncle Naruto just in time for their Sunday evening fishing trip. Although their playful and childlike spirits were the very antithesis of Sarada's quiet and reserved nature, the pair never failed to amuse her. Sarada couldn't quite explain her attraction for the pair, but the joy she felt from observing them together was something she couldn't mask. It was clear that they really cared for one another and she cherished the bond between them almost as if it was her own. Perhaps it was because she yearned for the same kind of intimacy with her father.
Sarada had no doubt that Boruto adored his father. He admired him like a hero but not in the way the rest of the villagers revered him. Boruto admired the mundane aspects of his father's personality: his giddiness, his playful sense of humor, his simplicity, all the things that made him his father. He loved the simple man underneath the hero suit and Uncle Naruto loved Boruto. His eyes said it all. The tender way in which he looked at his son was a testament to the unconditional love a parent is said to have for his child. It made Sarada wonder about the way her own father would look at her.
Although Sarada was happy for Boruto, she couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of their relationship. She was embarrassed to admit it, but her father's absence had taken its toll on her. Anxiously awaiting his return was beginning to feel exhausting. Sarada began to wonder if he would ever return or if his "special mission," was just an invention of her mother's meant to help her ease the pain of his abandonment. Whatever the case, she wanted nothing more than to know him.
With that final thought Sarada gave one final glance at the pair before hopping down from the tree branch she was nestled on and began to make her way home. Tomorrow was a very special day after all; Uncle Naruto would become Hokage and soon after she would begin her studies at the Ninja Academy.
Ninja huh? I wonder…