Sasuke sat on the edge of the balcony rail, overlooking the city. It was past midnight and the city was asleep, a perfect time for a wanted criminal like himself to be sneaking around. He admired the lights of the city he had once called home, as memories swept over him. His heart was heavy in conflict as he felt his eyes linger down at his empty hands. What could he say to Sakura to excuse his absence from her life? How could he express to her all of his inner conflicts? He didn't see himself as worthy of Sakura's love. He has ruined her so many times, over and over again. Yet, here he stood again on the same balcony as many other nights, hoping to find the courage to step in through her doors again and apologize.
His thought was interrupted as he suddenly felt the tiny soft sting of something being thrown at his back. He lifted his head up slowly and turned back around to survey what just happened with minimal interest. A small figure caught his peripheral vision as he did a double take.
It was a child. A four year old pink haired boy with spiked hair and sharp bangs standing at the balcony door. He stood boldly at the doorway of the dark apartment with a black shirt and green sweats. He held an armful of hard raw beans piled into his shirt that he secured with his arm to his chest. With one arm up holding a handful of beans, he stood there fearlessly glaring at the dark brooding intruder on his balcony. Sasuke looked at the anger and resilience in his small green eyes, it was like watching a reflection of himself as a child. He gave no comment to the boy as they considered each other in silence.
"Demon out!" Sageki yelled as he threw a handful of beans at Sasuke from the balcony door. Sasuke didn't even flinch at the few beans being tossed his way. He looked down at the boy in annoyance.
"You don't even recognize your own father?" Sasuke said to him with irritation filling his voice. Sageki in return grew irritated at Sasuke's words and decided to throw a handful of beans at him again.
"You're not my father" Sageki yelled at him.
"What about respecting your elders, you little brat?" Sasuke replied sharply.
"Demon out!" Sageki continued chanting as he threw another handful of beans at him. And another, and another.
Sasuke quickly turned around to face Sageki in a crouching position on the rail of the balcony, daring him to throw another handful of beans again.
Sageki was not phased and quickly grabbed another handful of beans, holding them up in revolt from Sasuke's threat.
Sasuke flared his nostrils in anger before deciding to activate his Sharingan to scare off the boy. The red in his eye glowed brightly in comparison to the dark night around him.
Sageki immediately froze in fear. The dark outline of Sasuke crouched on the balcony with his cape flapping gently in the air, his bright red eyes staring at him. It was the thing of nightmares to a young boy. The figure felt like a large pitch black demon, four times his own size, about to attack him. He took a step back while he held his arm up. He wanted to run. He had to swallow his fear, he had to protect his mother from the demon.
Hands shaking, he inhaled and summoned all his strength. He bravely threw the beans at the demon with all the force he could muster. In the span of a mere second, Sageki dropped all the beans cradled in his shirt with his other arm and reached up for the glass door handle- slamming it shut. His timing was spot on, as Sasuke jumped up to reach out for Sageki, the door slammed on his face- making a loud thud sound before hitting the balcony floor. Sageki stood on the other side of the glass door in sheer terror. He looked at the black figure on the balcony floor and shot his arms up as the victor.
The sound was loud enough to wake Sakura from her sleep. She ran out from the bedroom in her shirt and underwear in a mad dash. She picked up Sageki before catching her eyes on the black shadow on the floor outside the glass balcony door. She looked up and down at Sageki in panic as she walked away from the balcony door holding him in her arms.
"What happened! What is that?" Sakura asked her son frantically as she was assessing if he was hurt or not. Her bare feet stepping hard on the little objects, she looked down at the floor covered in beans.
Sageki pointed at the figure on the balcony, "DEMON! I killed the demon!" He shouted victoriously. "Momma I did it!" He continued with a smile across his face. Sakura looked over at the balcony, once her eyes adjusted to the dark she noticed the figure was Sasuke sitting down rubbing his head next to the glass door. Shock overtook her for a moment.
"S-Sa-SASUKE!?" She yelled out in surprise. She hadn't heard a thing from him in many months, yet here he was on her balcony in the middle of the night. She quickly paced over to Sasuke, placing Sageki on her hip as she opened the glass door.
Sasuke looked up at her as he rubbed his head. Relief overcame him as he saw her face, it was all he wanted- the reason he came. Unfortunately, his eyes were caught by the jeering little pink haired three year old on her hip, glaring at him with his arms folded.
"What happened, are you okay? I heard a loud crash" Sakura asked with worry. The two boys both flared their nostrils in the same manner at each other with irritation.
"When was the last time you disciplined that kid?" Sasuke growled as he glared at the boy. Sakura was speechless at the sudden comment. The first words out of Sasuke's mouth after months of a long-awaited reunion? She looked down at Sageki on her hip and noticed the electric tension between the two. She turned her hip away from Sasuke, protectively placing Sageki behind her.
"Since when have you ever cared about how he is being raised? You're never here!" she snapped at Sasuke, trying to control her outrage. Sageki nodded, prodding his head out from behind Sakura to stick his tongue out at Sasuke.
Sasuke opened his mouth to respond to Sakura, but his words fell short. The truth in her words stung hard. He stood up in silence, carefully contemplating his next words with his mouth open in shock. He looked at the Sakura, angrily standing before him like a lioness defending her cub. A cold sweat hit him as he sensed her chakra was elevated for battle. He didn't come here with the intention to fight her, he actually had a long speech he had been working out in his head for weeks. He had come to her balcony multiple times, trying to find the courage to tell it to her, but now was obviously not the time for that. He ruined his introduction already, instead, he settled on trying to simply calm her down.
"Can I come in?" He asked apologetically. Sakura noticed the change in his voice and dropped her defensiveness. She looked him up and down with worry.
"Are you injured?" She asked softly.
"Internally," he told her with a sad tone in his voice. He looked up at her to lock eyes.
Sakura looked at him, understanding what he meant. He was lonely and he missed her. Her eyes got a little watery, she was happy to know that he missed her. She missed him every moment she looked at her own son's face, the spitting image of him. She choked on her words and looked upward to stop herself from tearing up.
She slowly nodded, allowing Sasuke to come in. Sageki sternly shook his head in disagreement as she opened the balcony door wide enough for him to enter. Sasuke lowered his head slightly with respect as he entered into the dark living room.
"Mooomm" Sageki whined in her arms.
"Clean up these beans, you little brat" Sasuke huffed at Sageki as he entered the living room rubbing his head. Sageki huffed at him in return, crossing his arms, refusing to comply.
"Sasuke!" Sakura snapped quickly. Sasuke rolled his eyes after turning away from her, placing his sword on the couch and taking a seat in the dark.
"Why is the living room covered in beans?" Sakura questioned as she looked at the floor. She closed the glass door and looked at Sageki accusingly. His big green eyes returned her gaze innocently as his eyebrows rose up. He mustered his best pouty face. Sakura instantly knew he was the culprit. She marveled at the absolute resemblance he had to Sasuke at the moment. He knew he had her around his little finger, how could she be upset at such a face?
"Never mind" She shook her head, "I don't even want to know, just clean it up and don't think of doing it again," she said defeatedly as she placed Sageki down on the floor. She walked to the kitchen to grab the trash basket for him to throw the beans into.
Sasuke sat on the couch, looming at Sageki in the dark. The stare was returned back to him as Sageki slowly picked up a few beans in his hand. He looked over his shoulder at Sakura walking away towards the kitchen. Knowing she wasn't looking, Sageki quickly threw a single bean, with amazing accuracy, at Sasuke's forehead- right between his eyes. Sasuke shook his head in disbelief.
He grabbed the same bean that just fell on his lap and chucked it back at Sageki, hitting him right in between the eye as well, but with more force. Sageki dropped all the beans gathered in his hand and let out a squeak as he got knocked onto his butt. His eyes watered up as he rubbed his own forehead with two fingers. The two glared at each other in the dark.
Sakura turned on the lamp as she entered the living room with the trash basket for Sageki to collect the beans. She placed it next to him, instructing him that he couldn't go back to bed unless everything was picked up. She walked over to Sasuke on the couch and sat down next to him, kicking her legs up comfortably and leaning on his shoulder.
Sasuke was rather shocked at Sakura's casual acceptance towards him. No speech, no apology from him, Sakura simply accepted the worst of him without so much as a second thought. She deserved better than him, he thought to himself. He looked over at her affectionately, she caught his gaze for a moment before turning her eyes back to supervise Sageki. Sasuke placed his hand on her thigh as he also turned to watch Sageki.
Sageki ran back and forth around the living room collecting the scattered beans and throwing them into the trash with frustration. His anger rising as he turned to face the two watching him from the couch every once in a while. He didn't take defeat well as his furious little self marched around, glaring at the demon cuddle up to his mother on the couch. He swore his revenge with each bean tossed into the basket.
Sasuke couldn't help but watch in awe. The boy could barely mutter a few words out as he ran through the apartment screaming when he last visited just a few months ago, now he was like a completely different child. His personality was apparent now, and it amazed him how much of Sakura and himself he saw in the boy. So much anger pent up in such a small figure. He rose his fingers up to his forehead to rub the exact spot where Sageki hit him with the bean a moment ago. One hell of a shot too, Sasuke thought to himself. Suddenly, Sasuke noticed he had his two fingers on his own forehead, just like his brother would affectionately do to him. He gave a small inhale in shocking realization as he lowered his hand and continued watching Sageki collect the beans.
….my own son, Sasuke thought to himself proudly.
I don't own Naruto.
Story inspired by Komai's illustrations; please visit her deviant art at: komai69i