For eleven months now, my sleeping pattern had been all sorts of fucked up. 9:49pm, 12:52am, 3:32am, every night was something different. No one said being a single mother was going to be easy. Now, I know what you're thinking… Isn't Sasuke supposed to be around? Hadn't he come back to the village after the war and after his long journey of trying to forgive himself for all his sins? Well, yes, Sasuke came back and we married on a beautiful June day almost three years ago. We lived together for a few months before I got pregnant. The day I told him, it was almost as if he had seen the pregnancy test before me.

"Sasuke, I'm—" I tried to say before he cut me off and cross his arms with a smirk on his face.
"Pregnant?"
My eyes widened and I nodded my head with the biggest smile ever. He walked over and hugged me gently before placing his chin on my head.
"How did you know?" I asked.
"You act like I can't hear you throw up in the morning… You're typically a very healthy person and it's not usual for you to throw up so often during the day."

He read me like an open book. To him, reading me was like reading a children's book. He knew me all too well. He knew what I liked, didn't like, how I felt about certain things and he knew how I hated when the house was a mess. Anyways, Sasuke wasn't around.

Three months before I was due, he was a sent on a top secret mission. I didn't know where he was going or what he was doing; all I knew was that it was dangerous. I waited a month like a good wife and had faith that he'd return home in time for the birth of our daughter. But, a month later I heard a knock on my door…

My heart beat like drum. My eyes widened as I kept a gaze on the door to make sure that no one barged in. I felt like I was always in danger with Sasuke gone. There were people after him, after me, and after our unborn child. I quickly walked to the kitchen and grabbed a knife off the rack hearing the blade cling a little. I walked with the knife behind my back. My breath staggered and I didn't really think before opening the door. When I did, it was a familiar face. Shikamaru Nara. He looked the same as ever, only maybe a little bit tired than he'd been last time I'd seen him. He was always working closely with Naruto which could be tiring to say the least. He stood there in the sunlight with a straight face that didn't look so good. Shikamaru looked sick to his stomach showing up here. But, at least I knew I was in good hands.
"May I come in?" Shikamaru asked, walking inside and slightly pushing past me.
"Of course,"
He looked around the living room until he saw a picture of Sasuke and me on a nearby coffee table. He walked towards it and placed the picture face down. I raised my eyebrows at this and felt a little suspicious of him now.
"Are you okay Shikamaru? Is it something with Temari?" I asked walking closer to him. He took a few steps back from me just as I went to the coffee table and picked up the picture frame. I studied the picture closely and smiled. Sasuke was holding me with a light smirk and dark eyes.
"Sakura, there's no easy way of saying this," he said as I looked up. "Sasuke is dead..."

It took me a while to process what I had just been told but once my brain finalized what he had said, I dropped the picture frame at me feet, which sent small shards of glass flying, almost cutting Shikamaru's feet. I could hear so much regret and disbelief in his voice when he said that. He didn't even look at me, but only out my window.
"They found his body somewhere near Amegakure with no pulse," he said, sitting me down on the couch nearby. "When they went to find someone to help and they came back, the body was gone… Orochimaru is still out there and I know you don't like the sound of this but perhaps Orochimaru found him and took his body once and for all."
Just before I could let the tears leave my eyes, I swallowed the huge lump in my throat and looked up to Shikamaru. "Where's Naruto," I asked, afraid to know the answer.
"He's slipped away to grieve on his own. He found out maybe twenty minutes ago,"
It was at that moment that I took a deep breath in before letting out my emotions. I let out a loud scream before throwing myself down. I hit the floor with a fist, letting the tears stream down my face. I screamed his name until Shikamaru picked me up and put me back on the couch.
Other than that, I don't remember much of what else happened. It took me a few days to go outside but when I did, I had flowers and letters of condolences. I hadn't seen anyone until I allowed myself to stop crying. The strange thing about losing someone you truly love is that you don't really believe it until you have actual proof that they're gone.
Well, I still hadn't had proof that my husband was dead.

Sarada, my beautiful baby girl, had finally fallen asleep. She wasn't a bad baby, she rarely cried and hardly ever threw fits, and she just can't develop a steady sleeping pattern. But, she's learning. Lately, she's been going to sleep around 3am, which is consistent enough for me. No matter how hard I'd try, if she wasn't tired, then she would not sleep. Often times, we'd stay up and watch a movie until she began trying which signaled that she was ready to dream the night away.
I lied her down in her crib and gently stroked her soft raven hair as she took small breaths in and out. I adjusted the pastel pink blanket over her and tucked her in to make sure she slept sound through the night. I watched her for a few moments and smiled to myself knowing that she was safe with me. I leaned over her crib and gave her a light kiss on her forehead before turning on a lamp with a dim light and walking out of the room. Eventually I went to the bathroom just examined myself in the mirror. I examined the dark circles under my eyes and how my once emerald green eyes had shined, had now faded into a deep gloss. As tired as I was, I knew that I was doing the right thing by quitting my job at the hospital and becoming a fulltime mother. Sarada, the light and my reason for living, was the only thing that kept me going.
Finally, I decided to rest and get some sleep for the night before Sarada would wake up in a few hours. I lied down on my bed and crawled under the fluffy white sheets before finally resting my head on the pillow. I stared up at the ceiling and let my mind consume me before I just couldn't handle it anymore. I turned over and let the sleepiness envelop me. The last thing I remember at that moment was the time—3:37am.
That night I dreamed vividly. I dreamed of me tied to a chair, hands, feet and all. Then there were snakes. Violet, black and blue snakes with gleaming red, malicious eyes all coming towards me. I could feel the bites and the excruciating pain.
I woke up to a cold breeze and sweat on my body. When I quickly sat up and examined the room, I grabbed a kunai that was hidden in my nightstand. At that moment, I saw the white curtains flowing gently with the wing. My window that was behind the curtain was broken and shattered.
I don't remember my exact thoughts, but I remember jumping out of bed and quickly running to my baby's room to find the door had been kicked in and everything was a mess. Her windows were broken and worst of all, Sarada was missing.
I ran to the windows that were broken to try and see if I could find any clues or see anything… But there was nothing. It looked as normal as ever outside. I let out a harsh scream for Sarada but heard nothing. Almost everything in her room was broken and trashed. I ran to my room and checked for anything in there that I didn't catch the first time when I took a close look at my wooden desk.
I closely examined it and realized that the lock where I kept important papers such as my medical records, Sarada's, Sasuke's old medical records and his certificate of death along with Sarada's birth certificate. I opened the drawer and gathered all the files in a hand and threw them on my bed, searching if there was anything missing—and there was of course. Sarada's medical and birth certificate was missing along with Sasuke's thing as well. All that was left was my things that were all nearly torn and wrinkled. I slammed my fist down hard on the desk just before I threw the papers. I cracked the desk nearly in half before I ran down stairs and turned on all the lights. It didn't hit me that my child went missing until I had a moment of peace inside me.
Not only had my husband "died", but now someone had abducted my child. I fell to my knees and screamed again before I stopped to catch my breath. I breathed in and out weakly before I heard a bang on my door.
"Sakura?!" a voice said on the other side.
It was a concerned voice. I ran to it and unlocked the door, letting in whoever was calling out to me. It was Tenten. She stood there in front of me wearing a long pink robe and sandals with her long hair let down.
"M-My… Sarada!" I screamed, holding myself and trying to gather my thoughts.
"What happened!?" Tenten exclaimed, walking inside my house and coming close to hold me.
She held me in her arms while I cried and screamed. Tenten ran her gentle hands over my head and tried her best to calm her down.
"Don't worry, Sakura. We're going to find Sarada."

Tenten stayed with me throughout the entire night and as soon as we could, we went straight to Naruto to report the incident.

"What!?" he said, getting up out of his chair and looking straight into my eyes.
"Look, we don't know the severity of it, but judging by the scene at her house, I would say it's pretty severe. You could tell it was planned and well thought out. They caught Sakura at her most vulnerable time," Shikamaru told Naruto.
Tenten and I called Shikamaru early in the morning and when he went to go investigate, he brought the whole Konoha forensics squad with him examining my house.
He crossed his arms and leaned against the windowsill looking at Naruto with hooded eyes. I could tell they all felt pretty bad for me, but tried their best not to show it as a way of sympathy. Naruto leaned his elbows on the desk and placed his head in his hands, looking at the picture on his desk, which was of his one year old son, Boruto. I could only imagine how he felt, probably wondering if his son could be taken as well since he did have a Hyuga gene. Something in the room felt very tense and strange. There was a strange nervousness throughout the room, because depending on who took my child, not only would it lead a huge search throughout the land that would have people like Orochimaru on the lookout, but it could start a war. Someone could have been just simply trying to take the sharingan or so worse damage. All I cared about was getting Sarada back.
"Okay, well, Sakura," Naruto said to me. I looked up and straight into his blue eyes. "We're going to get her back and find her…"
It wasn't like I didn't believe Naruto; it was that it was hard to believe him. He wasn't doing anything wrong and it wasn't going to be his fault that we didn't get my daughter back. It's just that after so many false promises, it's hard to believe what can and can't be done.
"We can either do a small search squad or do a nationwide search. Both have its positives and negatives so it's up to you to do whatever you want," said Shikamaru.
"I think that doing a search squad would be best… As long as Tenten goes with me…" I said, turning to Tenten. She looked at me and nodded with a fortunate smile.
"I'm in," she said.
"I can possibly go, along with a few others. Head home for now and I'll assemble whoever is available," Shikamaru said with a stern look on his face, beginning to head towards the wall with filing cabinets all lined along each other. Soon he started pulling out all sorts of papers before Tenten finally led me out of Naruto's office.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Tenten asked me.
I stopped dead my tracks half way down the hall before turning back and nodding to her.
I probably had more determination in my eyes than I ever had before.
"I just don't want you to be disappointed if,"
"If what," I interrupted. "If we don't find Sarada? Like how they weren't able to find Sasuke's body?"
Her tone came down and I could tell she was trying to find the right words to say to me.
"Look, no! Not like that!"
"But it's true Tenten… What if they're not able to find Sarada? I'll at least find out if she'll be dead or alive.."
I swallowed my own words and tasted how vile it to say those things. I needed to know if Sarada was dead or alive… I couldn't live a life like that. I hadn't gone to look for Sasuke myself, but now was my chance to do something. I was going to look for Sarada and I was going to find her.
"I see what you're saying and I think what you're doing is right…" Tenten said to me with a sincere smile.
I turned back to her and nodded. "Thank you."

After we were lead out of the building there after and decided to eat something at her house. She knew my nerves were at its peak. I couldn't really do anything about it. My child was gone and until Naruto and Shikamaru got back to me, I couldn't really do anything. I walked by Tenten's side, not looking at her until I noticed something about her. I honestly never noticed how beautiful Tenten really was. Her hair was silky and straight, her skin was flawless and her eyes were a beautiful. Her long, curly eyelashes only added to her beauty. Neji was so lucky. It hurt to think that she lost the love her life only a few years ago and they had never even had a real relationship. It was rare that she opened up with me about Neji because it hurt to talk about him. But when she did open up, it was amazing. She had so many stories of them and she told me all the wonderful things about him that I never would have imagined. I never once thought she lied because of the way she spoke about him. You just know.

"Sakura!" someone shouted ahead of us. I turned my head and looked to Temari, who was walking down the road with her son, Shikadai in a stroller. I smiled seeing them.
"Good morning, Temari! And good morning to you, little one," I said, kneeling down to the small child.
He had Tamari's gorgeous teal eyes, but resembled Shikamaru in every other way possible.
"I heard…" Temari said to me in a saddened voice.
I nodded then looked away sighing.
"Shikamaru told you huh?" Tenten responded to her.
"Yes, he had the nerve to ask me if I could help on the mission to find her. But as you can see I'm busy with this one…" she said, walking up to me and giving me a strong hug. "It's nothing personal, but"
"No, I understand. Mothering takes up all our time. I'd do the same thing if I was asked… And if I had a child to mother at the moment…" I said to her, feeling a tinge of heart ache in me.
"Don't say that, Sakura! We're going to get her back!" Tenten said proudly. She came over to me.
Temari gave me a warm smile before looking back to Cicadae who looked like he was getting a bit fussy from the heat.
"Well, we best be on our way… It was good to see both of you…" she said before beginning to walk off with her son. But before fully left, she turned back and have a half smile. "Good luck, Sakura… You're going to get her back…"

I smiled and hoped for the best. Everyone kept telling me and telling me that I would get Sarada back, but the more I heard it, the less I believed it.
Soon we came down to the part of Konoha where Tenten and I lived. She only lived a little while away from me. I still lived in the new Uchiha district part of Konoha, which was small but quaint. It was built for Sasuke, but was never finished because of his "death".
Naruto and I decided that instead of it being a part of the village that only Uchiha's could live in, that a good way to connect the village as a whole without segregation, would be to build apartments and rent them out to anyone in Konoha who wanted. So that's that they're doing now.
We passed down my house to see that forensics were still there investigating and trying to find any evidence.
"You're welcome to stay with me, Sakura. I have a guest bedroom and I know my home isn't nearly as big as yours but," she spoke.
"I'd like that… And don't worry about the size. I'm grateful for anything, Tenten. You're a good friend."
She smiled again. I smiled back of course.
We ate that evening before Shikamaru got back to us and told Tenten and I who would be joining us on the mission—Himself, Kiba Inuzuka, Sai, and Shino would be accompanying Tenten and I on our search for my little girl.
"We're leaving at midnight and everything will be ready. I think Shino and I have a plan that's going to get back Sarada."
Shikamaru spoke over the phone determined and lazy as ever. I felt bad making him leave Temari at home all alone with Cicadae, but it was his choice and I couldn't stop him.

I walked home alone just before we were about to leave just in case I needed something. This part of the village was lonely, quiet and quaint, not to mention dark. Maintenance still needed to put up lighting, which was crucial now since our only source of light out here was the moon if it wasn't hidden behind clouds. I walked down the long dirt road, looking around and feeling my heart rate go up. Something wasn't right. As I looked up to a nearby rooftop, I saw a pair of red, glowing eyes. When I blinked, the eyes were gone and a loud crying soared throughout.
"Sarada!" I yelled, looking around only to realize that it was nothing and that I just imagined it. I swore that the cry I heard belonged to her.

My walking pace had moved faster and faster as I neared the house. Forensics were gone and I ran inside the house after unlocking it. Everything was tidy and neat. I felt a panic rush through my body and my breathing cut off. I swallowed a dry, hard lump in my throat before trying to calm myself down and sit on the couch. My mind felt like it was spinning and I felt nothing at this point besides the spinning of the room and the confusion. My chest soon came to a clutching pain, as if I were being stabbed in the heart. My head felt like it was going to explode.
Then the phone rang.
I let out a scream before looking at it and quickly grabbed it.
"Hello?" I said into the phone.
"It's Shikamaru, are you ready? We're waiting on you to meet us at the gates. Do you need someone to go get you?"
"No! No… I'm fine. I can walk there. Just give me a few minutes and I'll head out…"
"Okay… Just call if you need anything."
"Yes, okay. Bye."

I hung up the phone fast before running upstairs and grabbing a necklace that Sasuke had given me. Suddenly it hit me that I was forgetting something—Sarada's Uchiha necklace that I always had on me. It was Sasuke's that he had found in the wreckage of his home and had decided to save whenever he had children. Just as I grabbed it, the phone rang again. I formed my hands into a fist, pissed off at the fact that Shikamaru was calling.
"I'M COMING! I'm walking out the door already!" I rudely said over the phone trying not to yell that much.
It was then that I heard a crying on the other line. It was Sarada's cry. It was a cry like no others and the exact same one I heard as I was walking back from my house. My eyes widened before I nearly dropped the phone.
"Sarada! Hello? Who the fuck is this?!" I yelled into the phone, the tears forming in my eyes.
"She's with me… She's going to be just fine…" a sinister voice said over the phone. It sounded like the person I dreaded the most—Orochimaru. It had a snakelike spin to it.
The line went dead and I let the tears fall before giving out a scream and throwing my phone against the wall.
"FUCK YOU!" I screamed out before curling up into a ball and began to cry harshly now.
It was Orochimaru who had my child and it was Orochimaru who was the hardest to find.

Orochimaru had my little girl.

Message from the Author:

Thank you so much for reading! Please check back in for new chapters, I upload new chapters every Wednesday or Friday!

It's the first chapter so it's a little rough, but please like and review! I'd greatly appreciate it.