Disclaimer: I wish it's mine so I can make Kishimoto draw more (evil laugh)


3: Father, Daughter

"Another D-rank mission? Are you kidding? Seriously?" Boruto was almost shouting at the hokage.

Sarada mentally blocked out Boruto's complaint. But it kept flooding in her ears. She looked around, feeling embarrassed. Uncle Shikamaru was standing by the door of the hokage office; he was frowning and mumbling something that sounded like 'troublesome'. Konohamaru-sensei, on the other hand, was smiling a bit stiffly.

"I'm capable of something greater. We're capable of something greater! Say, like a B-rank mission."

"It's the third time this month," Mitsuki whispered calmly. "I'm surprised that Nanadaime put up with this argument."

"You don't look surprised," Sarada pointed out. Mitsuki merely smiled lukewarmly in response.

"B-rank is far out of your league," Naruto said. "Your team is very competent, there's no doubt of that. But you're still genin, those tougher mission shall come in time."

"Whatever," Boruto grumbled. "I'd rather not listen to you lecture. We'll do it. Just give us the mission."

Naruto sighed. "All right…Sarada," he suddenly turned to her.

"Yes?" Sarada was mildly surprised. "What is it?"

"I give you a day off today," Nanadaime said. "I believe that the mission will be successful even with only the boys. Is that right, boys?"

Mitsuki tilted his head and Boruto furrowed his brows.

"Why?" she asked. Not that Sarada loved D-rank missions, but this was kind of unfair to Boruto and Mitsuki (and, she almost forgot, Konohamaru-sensei), wasn't it?

"I know your dad's back in town," was Nanadaime's gentle reply. "You guys should spend some time together, well, before his next mission." When he said that, Sarada dared not look at Boruto's expression.

And of course her father had another mission coming, 'cause, yeah, he was supposed to be a big shot or something. Sarada didn't mean to be so sour, but every time he came back, his stay was always so short that she didn't know whether she should rejoice or feel disappointed.

.:.

Sarada parted ways with the rest of the team outside the building.

Now that she thought about it, she really liked Nanadaime; he was everything her papa was not—tender, considerate, warm, and smiling. Although Boruto complained about his own father twenty-four seven, she didn't think his complaint was justified. At least Nanadaime sent shadow-clones to play with his son. Sarada herself never had any clones to play with.

On her way home, Sarada thought about her father. He had been home for two days now; today would be the third day. Yesterday he almost spent the entire day sleeping, since he had to recover his strength from the previous mission (according to Mama). And when Sarada asked him to teach her advanced shurikenjutsu, he procrastinated, saying 'tomorrow morning'. But this morning he slept in, too. Mama said that he had had too much to drink with Uncle Naruto. But Sarada just met Naruto and he seemed fine. Her dad really sucked.

Sarada pouted.

Some people told her that her dad was a great ninja and was probably the only one that could rival the seventh hokage. They were suggesting that her father was legendary. Just like Sannin of the old times. Sarada knew that her papa was powerful, but she could also see that he had many deficiencies, such as his lack of contact with family, friends, and just people in general, or his avoidance to anything needing to show up under sunshine or in public. Well, from this perspective, her papa was a real ninja.

But was it necessary? Sarada doubted it.

She could remember brooding over the big question of 'what exactly is shinobi'. Actually, she was troubled by it greatly before her graduation from the academy. The question still puzzled her. Sure, ninja was about secrecy. About endurance. About being a tool. A means to an end. And a bunch of stuff besides that. But in her opinion, there was no way that a ninja could be without being human. And being human was about being connected to other people, about having a heart and having feelings. At least this was what Sarada thought.

Yeah, it could be very handy in missions and stuff if you really act like you're merely a human tool. Be cold and emotionless.

Sounds like my father, she thought bitterly, who works day and night for the village and doesn't really have a life.

.:.

"I'm home."

Sarada closed the front door behind her and exclaimed out of habit.

"Welcome back," answered a calm, deep voice.

Sarada was somewhat surprised. Her mother was out working on her hospital shift (she was one of the highest directors at the Konoha Hospital), so she wasn't expecting anyone home. But, "Of course," she thought. "Papa's home."

She took off her sandals and glanced up just in time to see her father strolling out of the living room looking like he had just woke up. He was wearing a loose black shirt and grey sweatpants.

"Oh, you're home," she acknowledged. That was kind of rude; but she was slightly surprised, and she didn't think her dad would care.

"Hn," was his brief reply before trudging back to the living area.

She followed him. "Um...are you alright?"

"It's nothing," he muttered. "Where does Sakura keep all the medicines?"

"What kind of medicine do you need?" Sarada asked carefully.

"Something for hangover," he grunted, sitting down awkwardly on the sofa.

"...I don't think we have that," Sarada said. Since her mother was a medic, medicine box was deemed important in the household; they checked it and supplied it every month. Sarada had been able to recite the contents and their quantities in the box since she could read. They never had hangover pills in their box.

Sasuke didn't seem happy with her answer. He sighed heavily and leaned back on the back of the settee, his head lolled back.

"...How's your day?"

Sarada wanted to roll her eyes, but she held back. "It's only noon, Papa."

"Ah." And then, "Weren't you on mission?"

"I have my day off."

He didn't ask why.

"How about you, Papa?" She regretted immediately, because he was looking rather unwell. He was probably going to spend the rest of the day on that sofa.

But he surprised her. "We can train together, later," he said softly.

"Are you sure?" She asked, didn't want to sound too hopeful. "You don't seem...well."

"I'm fine," he said.

Liar, she rolled her eyes and smirked, but she was happy.

"You can't fool me," she singsonged. "How about some hot tea? Bet that will make you feel better."


Sakura was sitting in her office, checking the reports made by the medic-nins working under her. She knew better than anyone the significance of teacher-student relationship, and what progress it could bring. Being the student of Tsunade Senju, she was forever grateful for the various things her shishou had taught her. And, as a leading figure of Konoha's medical ninja force, she had devoted herself to teaching young people who aspired to become medics much like her in her youth.

She nodded in approval as she read the reports. Just then, there was a series of knock on the door.

"I'm busy," she said.

"…It's me."

Sakura stood up, "Naruto? What are you doing here?"

The door opened and the hokage came in.

"What brings you here?" She asked.

"Several daimyo came to visit; they are impressed with our medical facilities. Shikamaru said I should receive them and show them around for the good of Konohagakure. You know, for money, investment and missions…stuff like that."

"Are you a shadow clone?" Sakura asked dubiously.

Naruto grinned. "Um, yeah, of course."

"That's rude."

"I have more important things to do than being a tour guide."

"'Tis true," she admitted. "But I wasn't talking about the tour guide thing, I was talking about interrupting me at work."

Naruto held up his hands and smiled sheepishly. "Please don't hit me."

"I will if not for what you did yesterday."

"What did I do yesterday?"

"Apparently you and Sasuke had a lot of fun."

"Ah!" Naruto exclaimed. "That."

"Exactly how much drink did he have? He came home with dirt on his clothes and he couldn't even properly speak."

"Did you take a photo for me? I can now laugh at him whenever we meet!"

"Such a child," Sakura scolded.

"Ma, ma," Naruto grinned. "And he wanted to beat me. Ha! Looks like I win this one, too."

"Congratulations."

"I won't bother you further," Naruto said, noting the sarcasm in her voice. "I just couldn't resist paying you a visit when I'm around the hospital."

"Aren't you sweet. Sending a drunk Sasuke to me and now surprise me at work."

"Bet you love it."

"If you mean your surprise visit..."

"I was talking about the Sasuke part," Naruto snickered.

"When will he go on the next mission?" Sakura asked suddenly. She didn't know why she asked; the words just came out her mouth out of the blue.

Naruto looked straight at her eyes, studying her expression.

"I haven't assigned him any yet," he said in a low voice.

"I thought you need him." She meant 'I thought the village needs him'.

"Yes...yes I do," Naruto sighed. "It is true that there are a lot of things only Sasuke is capable of doing."

"I'll see that he's well-rested, even if it's only a little while."

"Sakura..."

"What?"

"...Nothing."

"Now, if you excuse me—"

"Ne," Naruto interrupted her. "We should hold a reunion of Team Seven. When's the last time we did that? Ne, ne, what do you say?"

Sakura smiled slightly. "Are you sure? Do you have time for that?"

"I'll make time," Naruto said. "Kakashi-sensei is almost finished with his current work. We can have dinner. Just the four of us..."

"I wouldn't mind the kids tagging along."

"Yeah, that'd be a great idea."

"I'll tell Sasuke when I get home."

"Awesome."

"Now, Naruto—"

"Alright! Alright!" Naruto stepped back from her. "I'm off! Bye!"

And with that and a loud PUFF, the shadow clone disappeared.


Sarada came back with two cups of tea in her hands; she handed one to her father. The man muttered thank you and took the cup. Sarada turned on the TV and a murmuring low noise filled the room, washing away uncomfortable silence.

"So what are we going to train today? Shurikenjutsu?" She asked. "Are you going to teach me katon?"

"We can go over some basic techniques, yes," he said. "...I've seen your shurikenjutsu usage once. It's not bad."

That was the longest sentence she had got from her dad since he came home. (And when did he see her? Did he stalk her?)

"Well, I've always got the highest grade on shurikenjutsu back at Academy," she tried not to sound smug, but it was kind of hard when you're rather doing that on purpose.

Her father turned to look at her, his gaze direct but gentle; a little smirk dangled on his lips.

"Is that so," he said.

"Mm-hmm."

"It's in your blood, then."

Was he trying to say 'good job' or 'like father like daughter' or something complimentary?

"I don't understand what that means," she said honestly.

"It means...I'm proud of you."

She glanced at him, but he wasn't looking at her; he was staring ahead.

So Uchiha Sarada smiled.

(tbc)


A/N: Hooray! Chapter three! We are making progress here! I love to write about Sarada and her dad; those father/daughter moments just make me go 'awwww' XD. If you like it like I do, behold! There're more to come.

I haven't finished chapter 4 yet but I don't want to keep you guys waiting. So I post chapter 3 a little bit sooner than planned.

I started out writing this story without any particular direction in my mind (I suppose it's a risky thing, but to hell with it!), and I don't usually do that either. But if I wait for plans I'd probably never publish it in the first place. So…sometimes it's better to be a little bit adventurous ;)

BIG THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR WONDERFUL FEEDBACKS! I especially want to thank Theo1987 for pointing out that there is a mistake on character's age. I will correct it~

-Teru

(Hahaha and I'm happy that many of agree with me on Sasuke's nickname for Naruto. XD)

(And Sasuke is a jackass and an asshole...Hehehe, I still love him TAT. I hope he will gradually become more likable as the story progress.)