Day 2 - No Filter
As he peers at his daughter's bedroom from his post at her door, Sasuke takes a deep breath. He feels tense on this day every year, but this time, it's different. Standing there, Sasuke debates the merits of waiting another year before discarding the idea. Who knows where he'll be in a year, and, anyway, it's better Sarada gets the story from him now than wait any longer.
Still, it was never going to be an easy story to tell.
As he tarries at the door frame, a warm hand lands on his shoulder. It's soft, deceptively so, but betrays a strength that has broken mountains and men as it turns him around, dragging his gaze to his wife. Sakura's bottle green eyes shine with understanding and support, and he wonders for the millionth time how he got so lucky as to have her love.
Unlike Naruto, she didn't throw herself at his walls like a wrecking ball until they came crumbling down. She was just there, slipping between the cracks until she became so embedded into him until it feels like she will never come out.
He hopes she never does.
Her voice, like her hands, is deceptively soft, hiding the steel in her soul as she speaks.
"It's going to be fine, darling."
He tenses, denials ready at his teeth, and she gives him a look. A look that says, Sasuke Uchiha, I have known you since we were the same age our daughter is now, do not try to hide things from me. The look makes him smile and question his fortune in life again, and he figures today might as well be a day for honesty.
"Ah," he says quietly, "I hope so." The smile dies, and the anxiety comes back like a familiar friend that never really left.
"It will." She entreats him with her eyes to believe him, and he almost does.
Seemingly ignoring the unconvinced look in his eyes, his wife pulls him close and presses up to her toes to whisper, "Go," into the crease between his eyes. She kisses him lightly on the lips before turning him around and giving him a light push into their daughter's room.
He takes a deep, steadying breath. He's faced the snake sannin and the rabbit goddess, but this has got to be the scariest thing he's ever done. As he sits on the side of Sarada's bed, the thought briefly crosses his mind that he's too dark, too tainted to be in this place of childhood memories and warm dreams. He hears Sakura's denial in his head as if she had said it out loud.
"Papa," Sarada begins, smiling, "are you going to tuck me in?"
She looks so excited about something that should be so mundane, and his heart once again clenches painfully at the idea of what he's missed. Somehow, he manages to nod.
"Ah. And to tell you a story."
Her excitement changes forms at the words, to that of a child excited for the learning of new things.
"Really?" She asks. "What about?"
This makes him smile, because he thinks that the sight of her this happy is the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. He reaches up, and pokes her squarely in the center of her forehead.
"I'm going to tell you a story about your Uncle Itachi."
A/N: Welcome to my take on SSmonth2015, and thank you for taking the time to read my work! As is pretty obvious, I was a little late to the party. I will also not be posting each chapter on the day of the prompt, as I will be taking the time to edit and proof-read my submissions first. That being said, reviews are most appreciated, and I hope you all enjoy my little contribution to the SS fandom.