Chapter One
Returning to Konohagakure

Author's Note: "Hi everyone. MAN, have I been wanting to write a Sasuke/Sakura fic… Ah, but still, this isn't my break! Ahaha, made you jump there. XD Anyways, this story does not have a Sakura/Sasuke couple in it, though it may seem that way because-- Oh, well, you'll just have read and find out. But I assure you that it is NOT a couple. If anything, just a twist to make you think that way but, really, there isn't any COUPLE-couples in here, just twists. Oh yeah, and there isn't any main characters either; It incorporates all the Shinobi from Konoha, including our three friends from Suna. It's not JUST a genre either. It's all!… Or so I'm attempting to make happen. Either way, I hope to hear of what you all have to say in your reviews. Please do review, too, because I truly appreciate every single one, as well as every single hit received. I anticipate in what you have to say. n.n Oh… And just so you know… This chapter is more or less an introduction. So it'll be different from the others. Very, I hope! Well, I might as well shut up and let you read this so you can say yourself, so, enjoy! -- Oh, and I just wanted to add something… See bottom, either when you've finished reading or when you just… Want to. Even now you can. Now, enjoy! "-

-

"Hey, Granny Tsunade, I hear you got a mission for me!" Naruto grinned, the door whipping open. Eagerly, he stepped up to the Godaime's desk. Still wearing bright, orange colored clothing (that could probably blind anyone in a brightly light-filled room), the seventeen-year-old Jounin leaned over on her desk with a riotous grin. "So, what is it, this time? Finally, do I get to do an assassination against a rouge ninja, or what?"

Tsunade rolled her navy eyes. "Of course not. Do you truly think I would trust you to go and do something like that, with the way you do simplistic tasks? Anyways, ANBU can take care of things of that sort," As Tsunade flashed a smirk, Naruto pouted, his cobalt eyes returning slit after being widened with enthusiasm. "Don't sulk. This mission, I suppose, is precisely as important. Just wait for your teammate to arrive."

"A teammate? Can't I do this mission by myself?!" Naruto exclaimed irately, and as he did so, the door opened inaudibly, revealing his associate.

"Oh, Sasuke, you've finally turned up," Tsunade folded her hands as she watched carefully for Naruto's priceless expression. Luckily, she caught it, as his face twisted and he pointed a finger objectionably towards the Uchiha.

"Him?!" Naruto scowled, giving a growl deep in his throat. Sasuke approached the Hokage's desk, next to Naruto, not looking pleased either, though his character wouldn't express it as Naruto's would… Well, not in front of the Fifth Hokage, at least. "Only him?! No one else?!"

"There was going to be one more person," With raised eyebrows, Tsunade lied and shrugged to the both of them. "But Naruto, since you seem so excited about being alone with Uchiha Sasuke, then I guess I won't summon them down here."

"I-- Euh--- What?! No! Old Lady, you can't do that!" His oceanic eyes expanded coarsely as Tsunade snickered. Sasuke gave a glare to Naruto, sickened that he would have to be alone with that unbearable idiot.

"I can and I will," She replied simply, brushing the fading goldenrod hair from her shoulder. "Anyways, for this mission, you wouldn't need more than two people… And it wouldn't matter if you did, because everyone else is busy. We've been getting a lot of demands for Shinobi from Konoha lately… I'm not sure why; If only they actually knew them… But still."

"How come this is my first mission request, then?" Naruto asked suspiciously as his nose crinkled. Tsunade contemplated for a moment and scratched behind her head. Instead of answering that awkward issue, she sighed, then decided to change the subject and speak about the operation the two of them would be doing.

-

"Where… Where am I?" Naruto asked as his cerulean eyes opened wearily, his eyes focusing up at the rose color above him. As his blurred vision cleared, he noticed the glorious pink being Sakura, and he gasped, nearly choking from shock. "Sakura-chan! It's been over a year since you went on that mission! Where were you all that time? Where are we now?!"

Sakura gave a smile and her head tilted sanguinely. "Yeah, it has been some time since we last met up, hasn't it? And out of all places, it just had to be here; A Shinobi's most hated place, hmm?" After Naruto looked around, he found that he was propped up in a hospital bed, in a light room with only Haruno Sakura at his side. "We're still in Kumo. You got pretty battered around on that mission you were on with Sasuke."

"Erg…" A sudden headache wracked his brain as his hand drew instantaneously to his forehead, feeling the bandage wraps that covered his entire head, including his hair, from the brows up. Damn, that must have been some brawl. How come he didn't recall any of it, or even what the task was, in the first place? 'Must have been a dreadful concussion he established! "…Where is that idiot, Sasuke?"

"You don't remember?" Sakura asked, rather amazed. "You were conscious last night for a little while, and you told him to go back on his own. When he kept saying 'no,' I told him that I would return to Konoha with you, since you felt that strong about him parting… After all, I'm free to leave now, too. You know, that mission…? Can your mind induce at least that much?"

"Yeah, yeah…! Why did you take so… Ugh… Long?" On the third quarter of his final sentence, pain jabbed at him making him groan and hold his head. Sakura frowned sympathetically.

"…Well… I was supposed to do some things… Hospital wise… And then, before I was finished, I found that I, myself, was drawn in more with the hospital than before… A few days later, I finished my work and everything else, but didn't want to go back to Konohagakure. After about three months, you and Sasuke came (which was a few days ago), and now I find this to be my perfect opportunity to go back home. Especially since Sasuke is no longer here…" She flushed and scratched behind her head nervously. Naruto looked no longer in pain, but baffled and troubled in what happened to Sakura.

"You were in the hospital yourself a few months ago?! Why?! Did you get sick from the people you were treating? Damn them!" Before the loud Uzumaki could continue to ramble on, there was a faint wail from down the hall.

Sakura jumped out of her seat, looked to Naruto with an, 'I'll be right back!' and ran off. With a shrug as he sank into the pillow, Naruto wondered if what his old teammate meant was just her working there. It would make sense… It seemed like there was a maternity ward down the hall, and she seemed rather rushed to go there. Yes, that was it! Haruno Sakura just worked here, that was all.

She returned moments later with a child over her shoulder, with pale skin and darkly ruddy hair, almost black. As she sat back down in the chair, her expression towards Naruto spoke volumes, however, since that Uzumaki was awfully dim, he didn't quite get it.

"So you have a job at this byoin, now? Is that why you couldn't come back? … But, that doesn't explain why you wouldn't want to see Sasuke… Oh, you finally realized that he is a selfless jerk! Yeah, 'attagirl, Sakura-chan!" He gave an obnoxious grin as Sakura rolled her chartreuse eyes. The infant sniffled and looked towards Naruto with a familiar idiom, and after a pause, Naruto exclaimed, "Oh my Gawd! That kid looks like Sasuke! Hahaha, what a loser, what a loser!"

"Don't call her a loser," Sakura instantly turned protective as the child looked away. It seemed when Naruto spoke so inanely, everyone else in the room gradually became denser. "This baby didn't do anything, fool!"

"I'm not talking about the twerp," His appearance wasn't as spiteful as before, Sakura noticed, as he looked towards the child on Sakura's shoulder. "I'm talking about Sasuke! Haha! Is that his kid? If so… Oh my Gawd… Getting chicks pregnant 'cross borders… Hehheh…"
Sakura flushed. "Whatever, Naruto." Her tone was sharp and it was evident she wanted the subject to change, ASAP.

"Hmmf… When do you think I'll be able to get out of here?" Naruto asked, as Sakura's blushing faded into the standard paleness of her skin. "And you will come back to Konoha with me?"
"Of course I will!" Sakura almost looked determined. "And, it depends what the doctors here think. However, if I were to take a guess, I'd say… Maybe in a few days. Your injuries are dreadful, Naruto. Do you know how you acquired them yet?"

"No," Naruto frowned he shook his head weakly. "Did you ask Sasuke? Or did he get wiped out, too?" The thought of that brought a grin to Naruto's face. Man, how he would love to catch sight of that!

"He had bruises and a few cuts, but otherwise… No… Sasuke was alright…" She shrugged as her eyes focused on the troubled Uzumaki patient. "…He didn't want to say," As she saw Naruto growl heatedly, she added, "But I'm sure he forgot as well."
"Hrm…" Naruto folded his arms with a slight wince that followed (for his arms had many bruises and scrapes).

After an uncomfortable silence, the infant in Sakura's arms started to fidget. Before Sakura could tell Naruto she was going to leave, she found Naruto fast asleep before her eyes.

-

A few days anon, Naruto was permitted to leave the hospital, now that the thoughtless dupe had recovered. What shocked him when Sakura met him up at the gates of the village, was that she was still carting around that infant; And for the record, the child she was hauling around was a girl.
"Why are you still carrying that kid around?" Naruto asked stubbornly, his arms folded as he and Sakura walked out of the city alongside. Sakura cradled the sleeping being, as she looked at him with a glance of revelation. She paused before her answer.

"I have take care of her," Sakura replied rather stiffly, yet abruptly, brushing pink hair off her shoulder as she held the child in one arm. "Why?"

"Well… Just 'cause I don't want some little kid just crying and whining all the way back to Konoha; And then we'd never get any sleep. The kid'll just get in the way… But since you have to look after her, I guess I'll bear with it," Naruto shrugged with slit eyes as his nose crinkled. Sakura looked as if she had been criticized.

"This kid would never be finicky like that," Sakura pouted, her verdant eyes narrowing. "She's a quiet sleeper and she doesn't whine all the time, so lay off her! It won't be long before Konoha, anyways… A day or two's travel… There's lots of small towns along the way, so we can stop there for the nights…"

Naruto sighed as he gave up on the case of the kid. It didn't really matter anyways; It would just be another concern, but nothing big. Either way, though, Sakura was right. The infant (who's name was Kitai, meaning 'hope,' mainly because of the fact of her troubled birth) was actually very quiet, and whined only once or twice because of a time increase between her meals, maybe even having to skip at times.

After a day, Naruto didn't really appear to be irked at Kitai any longer for her being there, and they almost seemed to bond, as Naruto would always ask to hold her, or to try and feed her with the bottle. It was adorable. However, Sakura faked her laughs and smiles, and her overall atmosphere; Naruto didn't quite perceive this, because after all, he is quite a ditz. It was palpable why when they reached Konohagakure, after an additional two days.

The two walked down the main street, heading back up to where the Godaime took her office. The way there, many people looked awry out of their stores and homes, seeing that Sakura had been gone for over a year when she should have been back a month afterwards, and Naruto had been 'ill' for a while in the hospital, because he ostensibly had the crap beaten out of him. Plus, the two returned with a baby.

No one was really surprised about Naruto, though, since this happened often. He was really too reckless for his own good.

Either way, when they got to the Academy where Tsunade's office was, they were encountered by Shizune, still the old lady's assistant, holding a piglet in her arms with a little brown bow on its head. This surprised Sakura, because this pig was a caramel color, and was much more puerile than Tonton, who was now fairly aged and stout.

"Sakura-chan! Where have you been for so long?" Shizune asked, her grip on the pig tightening a little, for the piglet, annoyed already, seemed even more peeved. "You were supposed to be back ages ago! And… Who's that you have there?" She motioned to the baby, now awake in Sakura's arms. Kitai blinked up at Shizune with her temporarily blue eyes.

"It's a long story…" Sakura seemed unhappy as she spoke, with Naruto then giving a concerned blink towards her. They hadn't spoken for a while, maybe a few hours, and her façade was always expressionless to him; He was impractically unaware of how miserable she was since they left. "…I'll tell you later, Shizune… But first of all, who's that? Where's Tonton?" She knew how much Shizune cared for Tonton, so it stunned her to see Shizune without Tonton and with another pig.

"Oh… Tonton wasn't doing very well, and she got really sick; Kinda' hard to hold her, too, when she's that big. But either way, Tonton's being well taken care of, maybe she'll get better soon, but for now I have Aruheitou. She's just like Tonton! I'll get adjusted to the change soon, I suppose…" She gave a sigh, then shrugged. "Oh yeah, Naruto, are you feeling better?" Naruto nodded and tapped his foot almost indistinctly on the ground. He wanted to get going. "Well that's good. So I guess you guys want to see Tsunade-sama. She's in her office, like usual. See you guys later." And with that, she and her little brown piggy were gone.

Finally, Naruto and Sakura were free to see Tsunade.

Concluding her bottle of sake, Tsunade thumped the bottle down on her desk loudly as she looked towards Sakura and Naruto. They could tell she had a lot to drink, but wasn't yet drunk; It took a lot for that old woman to get totally plastered.

"Oho, Naruto, you've returned at last," Tsunade twirled around once in her wheeled-chair as she went to face the two of them again. Then again, maybe she was a little inebriated. "Uchiha Sasuke didn't tell me what happened, and no one else but him knows, I assume," She glanced to Sakura, who shrugged. Then, she asked a question that didn't make quite sense- proving she was drunk. "Hm. So Naruto, what exactly happened?"

"'Don't know, 'don't care, just give me another mission! A good one, this time!" He hit his hand to his fist. "I know I can do better! I just kinda' messed up this time! It was Sasuke's fault, though, I can just tell! I don't screw up on missions unless he's there!"

"Right," Tsunade searched her desk for another bottle of sake. Soon she found one, popped it open and took another swig. "Okay, Sakura. Now your story. First; What's with the kid? And second; Why were you gone so long? This could almost be considered abandonment from being a Konoha kunoichi…"

Sakura frowned. Kitai tried turning around from being propped on Sakura's shoulder so she could take a glimpse at the Hokage. "I know… I'm sorry, but nevertheless… Can you give me another chance? I won't mess up again."

"Yeah, Granny, she has her reasons!" Naruto shouted in Sakura's defense. Tsunade rolled her fogged, blue eyes towards him.

"Yes, of course, Sakura," Tsunade folded her hands on the table, then planted her head on them. "Just make sure not to ditch Konoha again. Oh. And what's with the kid?"

"Er…"

"Sakura has to take care of her," Naruto recited what he remembered Sakura say of why she was with Kitai. "She was sick or something, and Sakura was, like, the best worker there or something, so she has to take watch on her until she grows old enough to take care of herself… Or something like that… Right, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura gave him a bizarre look, then glanced to Tsunade. "Uhh, sure… That's one way to put it…"
"Alright. I'm glad to see you both back in one piece. I have a meeting with a few others, as you can see," She motioned her hands for Naruto and Sakura to turn around so that her other guests, Neji and Tenten, would be revealed to them. "I'll talk to you both sooner or later. Missions these days are very demanding." Sakura and Naruto both nodded obediently, walked past a rather awed Neji and Tenten, and left.

-

"Sasuke-kun! Saaaasuke-kun! Agh…" Ino growled and folded her arms as Sasuke ignored her once again. Chouji and Shikamaru, who were hanging out on the ground outside the Yamanaka Flower Shop, squinted their eyes down the street to the sight they saw.

The sun, today being large, bright and searing just like any other day, was shining down and illuminating the 'exclusive' colors of Sakura's hair and Naruto's vivid outfit. Sasuke was heading towards them, as if to greet them; It was probably just a diversion either way to get out of the "Boring Threes'" company.

"Is that Naruto and Sakura?" Chouji turned to Shikamaru and inquired, a piece of licorice sticking out of his mouth.

"'Seems so. Who else in the village has pink hair? Or wears abhorrent orange garments?" Shikamaru had his head resting on his hands, which were on his knees. Sitting against the uncomfortable wall of Ino's store, the Nara spat, "How bothersome. They're back."

Ino gasped, stepping out from the counter and to the door near her companions. "Did you say Sakura?" Her indigo eyes broadened. "She's been gone for so long! And… What's that she's got?" The distraught blonde glared intensely at Chouji, as if waiting for him to answer her beseech.

"Uh! How should I know?! I just pointed it out! I don't know!" Chouji blurted, stuffing more of the red stringed candy into his mouth as his position against the wall sank.

"Sasuke!" Naruto spat as he blinked up from Kitai and glared ahead at the Uchiha, folding his arms reluctantly as he did so. Sasuke continued on towards them, unhesitant, even with Naruto's body language conveying that he didn't want Sasuke near. Sakura flushed and shifted the conscious baby in her arms, then started to fix Kitai's auburn hair.

"It took you a while to--" Sasuke's arms folded also as he approached, then his sentence came to an abrupt halt as he set his ebony eyes on Kitai. He paused for a moment, and Sakura looked as if she was going to be sick. "What's this?" He glanced at the Uzumaki and Haruno each.
"Huh, Sasuke, even I know this one. Obviously this is-"

"--Naruto…" Sakura interrupted with warning, as Naruto gave a naïve blink towards her. He zipped his mouth shut. "Umm… Sasuke…." Sakura flinched, then held out Kitai to the Uchiha. "…Here."

"Hahaha!" Naruto laughed obnoxiously as he pointed with his finger right in the bemused Sasuke's face. "I knew it! You knocked up a Kumo chick! Hahaha! I knew it, I knew--"

Disregarding Naruto, Sasuke looked from the little girl to Sakura. "Sakura, what's this?"

"Are you retarded? That's your kid, Sasuke! Oh man, I knew it from the beginning! Isn't that right, Sakura?"

Her face flushed. "I'm so sorry, Sasuke, I didn't know until…" Sakura stopped abruptly when she felt the tiny weight leave her hands. Sasuke had picked up Kitai from under her arms, both his hands fitting unnaturally around her. It was obvious the infant was much smaller than she was supposed to be. As he glanced the baby girl up and down, he grinned. Both Sakura and Naruto were bowled over; Sasuke always seemed to be withdrawn, and the one time they ever saw him smile was this, when his hands held a baby.

"Don't be sorry, I should be; I should have known. I only feel bad about not being there for you and--"

"What are you talking about?" Naruto's closed eyes evolved into a squint, for he was the one starting to look like an idiot when he was trying to make Sasuke seem like the fool.
"Obviously, you're still the town's idiot, even after that concussion; You'd think it'd have an effect on you, but clearly that's not the case," Sasuke glared at the blonde haired Shinobi. "I thought you knew better. This was the first time I was in Kumo for a few years, and a child isn't born in less than three days. Figure it out for yourself."

"Well, if Sakura was taking care of Kitai, and if someone else was the mother, but everyone there is from Kumo, that doesn't make sense, considering you're the dad. So then…" He paused. After a moment, with large, horror stricken eyes he turned to Sakura. Her entire face was crimson and her verdant eyes were focused on the ground. Her hands were clasped tightly together, anxiously. "Sakura-chan… It would have to be you right?"

Sakura, scared to even peek up at her two friends beside her, hid towards the ground as pink hair swept into her reddened façade. "I'm sorry," She squeaked, and the trio plus little Kitai stayed silent.

-

"Eh, so did you find out why Sasuke turned down all those missions? Ever since he came back, people all over have been requesting him for some pretty good stuff but… He hasn't been accepting them…" Ino glared conscientiously towards the lazy Shikamaru as she leaned over on the main desk in her family's shop.

"Okay, then?" He made a face. "It's not any of my business, so no, I didn't find out why. This is so troublesome."

"I'll show you 'troublesome' if you don't go and find out!" Ino squirmed and tried to get over the large desk so she could grab 'hold of Shikamaru's Jounin vest. Motivated from fear of Ino (For he would precisely be the one to know the extent of the kunoichi's rage), he jumped to his feet and backed up against the wall. "You, being a teacher, can find out! Go ask Tsunade and say it's because you want to assign him a mission, and you're concerned! Go do it!"

"Agh!" Shikamaru growled and waited until the Yamanaka calmed down. Then he put his hands in his pant pockets and, with a slouch, began to leave. "All right, all right…" As he left, Shika was heard grumbling quietly about something with the verbs 'troublesome,' 'stupid,' and 'tired.'

…

"What?" Shikamaru's charcoal eyes opened wide, like a deer caught in headlights. "What do you mean, Sasuke has a baby?!"

"What it sounds like!" Tsunade laid her head on her hand and leaned over on one side, slightly intoxicated, like she usually was nowadays. "Do I need to explain any further? I said this like, three times already… I thought you had an IQ high enough to know how little brats are born but I guess--"

"No, no, no!" Shikamaru shook his head rapidly, his high ponytail nearly coming loose. "That's alright… Troublesome, but alright… I know that already… I was just shocked, that's all… I guess I don't need him for…" He paused, wondering what it was again he 'needed' Sasuke for. "Oh. The mission? Yeah. How bothersome. I'll find someone else." And with that, a traumatized Nara, shaking slightly with the rumor he now held in his hands, left the room, then ran over to the Yamanaka Flower Shop to spread the news.

…

"A baby?! What?!" Ino's bright blue eyes darkened, with astonishment and a invidious disturbance. "How?! With who?!"

"I don't know! I don't know," Shikamaru repeated twice so that the enraged young woman wouldn't be a nuisance anymore than she was already was. "But all this happened when Sakura returned… I would just guess that she bore his child. How wearisome. Only seventeen."

"Haruno Sakura!" Ino screamed, her eyes flaming. "Gah! Gaaah! How could she get pregnant with an Uchiha, let alone Sasuke?! This is an outrage! Where is that giant-forehead-ed ugly cow?!"

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows. "On a mission. She's checked out."

"Oh my Gawd, I swear, when she returns she's in a hell of a lot of trouble!"

"Don't you think she's been through enough?" Chouji, who was eating quietly in the corner, presumed. "She just had a kid, Ino, give her a break."

"What do you know?" She snapped, shooting the Akimichi a fierce glower.
"Well, I have been listening for… Let's see…" Popping another mouthful of chips in his mouth, followed a swig of a fruit drink (highly caloric, of course), he replied, "…About ten minutes. Probably more. Didn't you know I was here?" Chouji shrugged and continued to eat.

"Whatever… I want to go see Sasuke. Maybe I should close the shop for the day. It's not like anyone comes here anyways," Slipping up a closed sign, Ino ripped off her work-apron and started off towards the door with a jog in her step. Shikamaru and Chouji glanced to each other and trailed her, involved now with Sasuke and this inexplicable baby, though it wasn't any of their sphere.

…

"It was an accident," Sasuke repeated for the tenth time, looking somnolent as he lay out on the floor in the main room of his newly rented home. Everything was plain, no furniture as of yet, and it was small. It seemed almost a crowd with just him laying on the ground, Naruto sitting beside him, and Kitai quiescent for once, snoozing out on Sasuke's stomach/chest.

"Yeah, right," Naruto snorted as he shifted his folded arms. "I don't believe it. I don't think Sakura is stupid enough to make an 'accident' like that."

"Well, she did. We both did," Turning his head to see Naruto's grimace, still going steady against Sasuke since he found out Kitai's paternity, Sasuke decided that he would renounce that there was no gratifying the tenacious Uzumaki. "Whatever. I don't care anymore. That business is over and done."

Before Naruto could fume any extra at the Uchiha, there was a rather imperative knock on the door, followed by tens of others. Kitai awoke, (fortuitously) silent and puzzled, as she and her daddy went to the door with fatigue and answered it.

"Sasuke! Oh! Hi!" Ino gasped in revelation, since she wasn't exactly expecting for him to answer the door right away. "Ohh, cute, who's that you have there?" She put on an act as she brushed sunlight colored hair from her shoulder and batted her dark eyelashes. Sasuke didn't look amused.

With a sigh, Sasuke said, "I'm sure you already know," Then looked to Shikamaru and Chouji, also looking at him with intent. "Is this the only reason you're here?"

"Basically," Shikamaru blurted, for he assumed that Sasuke would tell them to go. Sure, Ino would never let him hear the end of it (well, for the day, at least), but he was prepared to be beaten than to get into the Uchiha's affairs any day.

"Shikamaru!" Ino growled, then elbowed him in the stomach. Shikamaru griped his gut and fell over, Chouji blinking at him and continuing to eat his ongoing assortment of snacks. "No… No… That's not true, Sasuke, it's just… Uh…"

Gawping down at the ground so that she could think, Ino glanced up nervously without a pretext towards Sasuke, but then found him standing there without the child in his arms. Perplexed and looking around, she found the little girl in Chouji's arms, poking his cheeks with charmed eyes.
"Her name's Kitai," Sasuke was now right next to Chouji, looking over the large Shinobi's shoulder at his daughter.

The Akimichi nodded. "She looks like you."

"You think so?"

It was remarkably evident that Sasuke was tremendously pleased and satisfied with his daughter. The four (Naruto included) hadn't ever seen him so fervent about anything, really, in all the years they knew him. It was kind of overwhelming, in a way. That, or annoying… Maybe even both.
The others in Konohagakure seemed to notice this change in Sasuke as well. But eventually they would get over it.

For example.
"So... Sasuke…" Hatake Kakashi wasn't tickled as he sat, hand on mask, per say, looking fixedly at Uchiha Sasuke as he blinked in return with dark eyes. "…Rumors say that--"
"I know what you're getting at," Sasuke sporadically interrupted, yet mildly, as his hand instantaneously drew to his pocket.

Kakashi exhaled deeply, relieved. "Thank Gawd. Oh. Er-- Well… I just…"

"My daughter, right?" Kakashi was incredulous of Sasuke's zest. He nodded slowly. "Well," The Uchiha started again, acquiring a photo from his pocket. Kakashi's pupils (though only one would be seen) shrank. "This is her; Uchiha-Haruno Kitai. This is what you wanted to see, right?" With a hiatus, Sasuke decided to scrap the susceptible side and return 'cool.' "Uh. Whatever. Now you don't have to bother me anymore." Leaving the picture of the little four-month-old (at the time) with his old sensei, Sasuke took his departure down the street.

Kakashi sat there for a period, absorbing that atypical interaction. Running a hand through his hoary, Alfalfa-like hair, the Hatake decided it would be best to just disregard that that ever happened. He kept the picture, however, because the little burgundy haired girl was appallingly endearing.

…

After this event, Sasuke had spoken to other populace like that as well. It was an alien experience for the entirety of Konoha to have their own Uchiha survivor acting like a pansy over his 'little darling.' But they did get used to this little change of character as Kitai grew older, and as Sasuke calmed down a bit over his indulgence… Somewhat. They did get a smidgen of infuriation of when Sasuke would gloat, 'She took her first step yesterday!' or perhaps, 'Kitai made a noise that almost sounded like 'dad!', but ultimately, they got over that, too.

The story continues when Kitai is a year old. Uch… And so that Sasuke won't hog the rest of this Fic: Yes, Uchiha-Haruno Kitai can speak names and amiable phrases such as 'daddy' like Sasuke would brag, she can also waddle a bit, but that's not exactly what this Fanfiction is about. Not the whole thing, at least.

-

NOTE:

This first chapter is mainly an intro. This isn't what the story is all about. Just introducing you and shnack… I was going to add onto the story with the actual first chapter, but I think that would be a really strange twist to the first chapter with Sasuke acting like Hughes (See FMA, lol), then going to a mission with (yes, I owe it to you to tell you what the next chapter is about) Tenten and Naruto. Um. No couple intended, just so you know…. So it would be something cute and fluffy going to something more serious… Not exactly a perfect mix. So I guess you'll all just have to wait until the next chapter to get to the actual Konoha Shinobi part. Haha! Well, don't get too mad at me… Enjoy, though… xD