Chapter Ten

Daddy's Girl

"What about Benjiro?"

"No."

"Dai?"

"No."

"Juro?"

"No."

"Damn it Sasuke, are you going to shoot down every name I pick?"

"Only the bad ones." Sasuke replied from behind his newspaper, not at all seeing Sakura's eye twitch.

"Are you saying every name that I've chosen is bad?"

Sasuke lowered his paper, answering Sakura with just a look. Sakura growled. They had discovered not too long ago that she was having a boy. Needless to say Sasuke had been ecstatic. She hadn't seen him that happy since their wedding day and that was saying something. While it made her happy for him to be happy the whole naming the baby business was going to result in Sasuke's untimely demise. She really didn't want to be a widow…but sometimes you had to do what you had to do.

"Fine! Then you pick a name."

"Sasuke." Sasuke replied, a smirk alighting his lips mischievously. He knew she wasn't going to agree to it…but on the off chance he had to mention it. His name was a good one; his father's grandfather's grandfather had been named Sasuke, and the man had been known as the Flame Warrior. He had been Sasuke's hero when he was a child.

"Absolutely not!"

"It's a good name."

"No. Your name sucks." Sakura leaned back in her chair in a huff. Actually, she liked Sasuke's name-she liked it best when she was calling it out in the throes of ecstasy, but she just felt that their child should have something different. She wouldn't tell him that, though.

"Why'd you ask if you didn't want my answer?"

"Because I thought you should at least have some input, but if you're just going to be ornery you can just hush and agree to whatever I decide upon!"

"Fine, what have you decided on besides the sorry names you've mentioned already?"

"Why should I tell you now when all you'll do is try to talk me out of them? You'll find out the day he's born."

"Tch."

"Tch, right back at you!" Sasuke smirked and grabbed his very pregnant wife pulling her into his lap to steal a kiss.

Although, you can't exactly steal something that is given freely….

:::

The time had finally come. Sakura had been having contractions all day long, but hadn't bothered to tell Sasuke about it. The last time he even suspected she was in labor he had dragged her to the hospital and hadn't listened to a word she said otherwise. Needless to say the baby was overdue. Such an occurrence wasn't unusual for a first child, but Sakura was glad the wait was over. She was as big as a whale, and no matter how many times Sasuke kissed her belly and proudly stated that she was just perfect, she knew she waddled.

She had never in her life seen Sasuke as anxious about anything as he was the birth of their first born. At times he reminded her of Naruto with his pacing, constant pestering and tripping over her from being so close. She told him that once and the look that he sent her had made her erupt into peals of laughter. He hadn't appreciated the humor of the situation-which made it so much funnier.

Sakura paused in cleaning the kitchen when she felt another contraction hit her. The soon to be mother placed her hand on the counter and bowed her head as the pain overtook her. Unfortunately, Sasuke chose that moment to walk into the kitchen.

"Sakura, what's going on? Are you alright?"

Sakura raised her head and looked at Sasuke with pain-filled eyes and watched as his face went from pale to bleached in two seconds flat.

"Shit! Sakura, how long have you been in labor?" Sasuke rushed forward and pulled Sakura up into his arms. "You're heavy as hell." He grunted, making Sakura momentarily forget her pain and focus on hitting him.

"Put me down then, you ass! I can walk!"

"You can barely stand you little idiot." Sasuke groused as he started heading towards the door. "I bet you've been in labor all day and didn't tell me."

"…"

Sasuke paused at the door, realizing that he was in an awkward position. His arms were full and the door was closed. He could either put her down and open the door or kick the door down. He didn't think Sakura would be too happy with the second option nor did he think it would be wise to put Sakura down. If he did that there would be no way in hell she'd let him pick her up again. She'd march down the streets of the village, determined to get to the hospital on her own even if she had to crawl there.

Sasuke kicked the door down.

"The hell? Sasuke why did you kick the door down? What's wrong with you?" Sakura panted.

"We had to get out didn't we?"

"Why the hell didn't you just open the door?"

"Like hell I'm picking you up twice. Once was ordeal enough." Sakura began to struggle feebly in his arms rather predictably but Sasuke tightened his hold.

"It would be rather bad if you fell at this point. Don't you think?"

Sakura glared at Sasuke, who only chuckled in response. After all, she stopped wiggling.

Sakura was well and thoroughly pissed when they finally reached the hospital. Especially after she found out that it was too late to give her an epidural. Her childbirth would have to be natural and Sasuke was certain that before all was over and done with his wife would be breathing fire as if she was an Uchiha by birth and not marriage.

He antagonized her on purpose. It kept him from pacing back and forth within the birthing room, filled with worry and fear. Her screams terrified him and at certain points he was so afraid she was going to die. The thought itself was too much to bear.

"You call that pushing? I could do better than that with my eyes closed. "

"I'd like to see you try it you egotistical pompous jack-"

"Uchiha-san, please, don't antagonize her during the delivery." A nurse said, looking back and forth a the couple nervously.

"Yeah!" Sakura shouted as she struggled to deliver her newborn.

"You sure there's only one kid in there? She's awfully big."

"Sasuke, I swear I will kill you!"

"Uchiha-san!" The nurse said sternly.

"It's a legitimate question!"

"One last push, Sakura! I see the head." Tsunade called out.

Sasuke reached out and grabbed Sakura's hand, squeezing it tightly. She looked tired and in a heap of pain. He hated to see her suffer so. Sasuke lowered his head so that his lips were right next to Sakura's ear. "You can do this." He whispered encouragingly. Sakura tossed him a smile and gave one final push. It would not be until later that he would realize she'd broken three of his fingers in that final moment.

:::

"What name did you decide upon?" Sasuke asked, looking at the tiny infant nestled in Sakura's arms. A tuft of dark hair lay upon his head and his eyes were tightly shut. Sakura's eyes gazed down at the child adoringly.

"Raiden. His name is Raiden." Sasuke's brow furrowed. He didn't dislike the name. He just didn't understand why she had chosen it. Before he could open his mouth to ask why, Sakura spoke. "Because his name means thunder and lightning. You my dear, wonderful Sasuke, are my lightning. This little miracle is our thunder." With those few words Sasuke decided that he liked her choice very much.

Sasuke wrapped his arms around his small family, completely content.

:::

"Sakura! Sakura where are you?"

"In the kitchen." Sakura called out, only to see Sasuke come rushing in the kitchen with Raiden in his arms. Sakura immediately moved over to them, fearing something was wrong because of the wild look in Sasuke's eyes. "Is everything alright?" Sasuke just smiled at her and handed Raiden to her. Sakura took the child willingly running her hands over Raiden's hair as she often did Sasuke's. "Okay, so what's going on?"

"Watch this." Sasuke said and then reached for Raiden who immediately called out, "Da da." as he reached back for his father.

"Sasuke! Did he just say…?"

"He did!"

"His first word! I have to write this down. Oh my goodness! Sasuke, he's talking!" Sakura laughed and clapped her hands gleefully. Sakura peered into Raiden's face. "Can you say Mama?" Raiden only looked at her blankly with his dark eyes, looking every inch the Uchiha. "Ma ma." Sakura tried again, but the silence was deafening until she heard Sasuke begin to chuckle. Sakura glared at him since he looked entirely too smug.

Incidentally, while Raiden's first word was Da da, his second was Grand-pop, which sounded more like 'Grapop'. He, of course, was addressing Kakashi. Fugaku would never let him call him anything but Grandfather so until he could say it he didn't really address Fugaku at all except with imperious grunts that Sakura sometimes thought served him right.

:::

Her life had completely changed. Not that it was a bad thing—it was just different. Life as the wife of an Uchiha was rather restricting. Her career as a kunoichi almost died a horrible death. Her job—according to the Uchiha-was to continue the Uchiha line. She wanted to be angry about it, she wanted to fight it. In actuality it was something that Sasuke was fighting his father tooth and nail on, but Sakura told him to let it go.

Her dreams had changed. Maybe it was something that came with age or maybe she was just fickle, but her dream to be a great kunoichi seemed so pointless. She now wanted to be a good mother and wife to her husband. However, Sasuke felt that she was essential to the safety of their team. She couldn't argue that she wanted them all safe—and as the team medic and friend she knew that they would be better off with her with them than without. So a compromise was formed. The amount of missions she partook of were cut back and her teams were to report to her immediately after every mission so that she could look them over and make sure they weren't hiding any injuries because they didn't want to go to the hospital.

The main one to commit such a heinous crime was walking with her through the village. Since her marriage to Sasuke, Sakura had formed a bond with Kakashi that grew tighter with every day that passed. While Sasuke was her husband and Naruto was her best friend, Kakashi was more like a father to her and she couldn't express how happy she was that he had taken up that role.

"It doesn't bother you that Raiden calls you Grandpop?" Kakashi reached out and ruffled Sakura's hair. He snagged Raiden out of her arms, smiling rather happily at the little boy.

"Don't be silly," He replied while tossing Raiden in the air lightly, delighting in the joyful screams that he emitted. Sakura hesitated a moment before continuing on. "Although it does make me feel a bit old." Kakashi said, giving Sakura a wry grin but it wasn't returned. That worried Kakashi a bit and he asked her what was on her mind.

"Would you mind if I called you Dad?"

Kakashi paused and looked at Sakura, mulling over her words. He would have been very…precocious if he was indeed her father.

"Never mind. I shouldn't have-"

"Sakura, I don't mind at all." Kakashi tossed an arm over her shoulder and squeezed slightly. They walked like that for a while looking like quite the happy family.

Raiden dug his fingers into Kakashi's hair, pulling on it in a way that reminded him of someone he couldn't quite put his finger on. He gently pried the slightly sticky fingers out of his hair and chuckled. Pakkun had complained of this same treatment, but Kakashi could understand that feelings of love and protection that the pug showered on Raiden. Perhaps Sakura and Sasuke wouldn't mind if he got Raiden a summoning pup. He handed the boy to Sakura when she reached for him. It wasn't unusual for the two of them to play pass the baby. It was a wonder that the boy wasn't spoiled rotten.

"Are you happy, Sakura?"

Sakura glanced at Kakashi, surprised that he had asked the question. She had been married to Sasuke now for a year and a half and Kakashi's main concern had been Raiden and herself. He never asked her questions about how she and Sasuke were doing and she honestly never offered the information—because she just assumed that he already knew. She shifted Raiden onto her hip as he began to fuss.

"You have to ask?"

Kakashi reached for Raiden, once more ignoring Sakura's irritated grunt and took the small child out of Sakura's arms just as he was about to tug viciously at Sakura's hair. Sakura's hair was Raiden's favorite target. Sakura thought it was because of the color. The Uchiha, for the most part, were a dark haired lot and Raiden was no exception. So to see his mother's vibrant hair color was something of a favorite to him and he was generally itching to get his hands on her locks—in order to chew on them.

"Am I the type to ask a question with an obvious answer?" Kakashi retorted and then proceeded to grab Raiden's hand with his mouth as he made an attempt to pull on his mask. Raiden giggled causing both Sakura and Kakashi to smile. It seemed the obsession with Hatake Kakashi's mask had been passed on to another generation.

She loved to see Kakashi and Raiden together. It was something of a pleasure to see how well Kakashi handled her son. She had always thought that kids and Kakashi didn't exactly mix but he proved her wrong a thousand times over. Raiden and Kakashi may not share blood but it wasn't something one could tell given the strength of their bond.

"I suppose not. I'm very happy. I couldn't have made a better choice," Sakura replied, then dismissing the subject she asked, "So where are we going for lunch?"

"Anywhere you decide to take me." Kakashi smiled, shifting Raiden so that he dangled over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"I wish you wouldn't carry him like— I am not 'taking you' anywhere. You can buy your own damn food. And stop carrying him like that!"

Kakashi chuckled. "He likes it." Raiden giggled, proving Kakashi to be anything but a liar. "And you wound an old man. How often to I ask to be treated?"

"Every single time we go out."

"Lies. All lies."

"You may not ask but you skip out on the bill and you better not do it today!"

Kakashi chuckled once more and used his free hand to tug Sakura into a friendly hug, ignoring the glare she sent his way.

"Fine, fine. I suppose I could find it somewhere in my heart to perhaps treat you for a change."

"I'll believe it when I see it," Sakura grumbled, folding her arms over her chest. Kakashi chuckled once more.

They made it to a restaurant of Sakura's choosing and were escorted into a booth. Kakashi placed Raiden in the provided highchair and soon thereafter they both ordered their food.

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you,"

Kakashi said, causing Sakura to arch a brow. He had been behaving oddly that day. First, his inquiries about her and Sasuke and now this.

"Go ahead. I'm listening."

"Who is Raiden's father?"

Sakura immediately broke eye contact and looked down at the table. She hadn't expected the question, but she should have. Somehow, she had managed to bury the truth in her mind, even though every time she looked at Raiden all she saw was Itachi.

"Why are you bringing this up now?"

Kakashi sighed. "Because there's no doubt in my mind that he's an Uchiha. Just looking at him attests to that. In fact, I say even at this age he's a genius, and there's only two people in the world could create a child like Raiden. You and-"

"Genetics are a funny thing. You can't predict how things will wind up."

"You're right and yet people still tend to inherit the traits of their parents—whether they know it or not." Kakashi then proceeded to pull out a senbon and throw it directly at Raiden.

Terror flooded Sakura's veins. It was all so sudden that there was nothing she could actually do to stop it. Yet she worried for nothing. Raiden plucked the senbon out of the air as if it were nothing. Sakura stared at Raiden as he laughed and waved the senbon around like it was some grand toy. Sakura took that moment to snatch the senbon out of Raiden's hand and throw it at Kakashi. He dodged with ease.

"You make it seem like it was poisoned."

"You just threw a weapon at my baby!"

"You're missing the greater picture, Sakura."

"What's greater than the fact that you're insane?"

"He caught it." Kakashi said with a shrug. Sakura blinked, Kakashi smiled, and Raiden began to cry. Kakashi picked him up immediately and Sakura saw that his cry was a ploy to get into Kakashi's arms and grab the senbon that he couldn't readily pull out of the booth that it was currently stuck in.

Yes, he caught it. Her baby caught a senbon. Sakura ran her hand over her face. "How long have you known?" She whispered.

"About Raiden or about Itachi?"

"Both. Either."

"Not long about Raiden. The last baby sitting detail you forced on me—" Sakura snorted. He practically broke into her home and stole Raiden out of his crib. If Sasuke hadn't stumbled upon him while he was packing Raiden's stuff they might not have known what happened. As a matter of fact, Sakura realized she was still angry about that. "While I was feeding him he became a bit overzealous and knocked over his bowl. It should have fallen but he caught it, leaning over the side of his high chair in mid air."

Sakura's eyes widened a fraction in fear. "Kakashi, you can't tell anyone. Don't tell anyone about Raiden." Kakashi frowned as he detected a note of fear in her voice.

"Why?"

"Because we're a part of the Uchiha clan. Fugaku will make him a killer before he can talk. I won't let that happen to my baby."

Kakashi immediately knew she was right. Fugaku would put Sasuke through hell because of Raiden and Kakashi wasn't sure Sasuke would be able to fight him on it. Since Mikoto had left him and refused to come back the man didn't even try to suppress his outrageous impulses.

"We'll keep it between us. You shouldn't even tell Sasuke." Sakura opened her mouth to argue but Kakashi wouldn't allow it. "It's not a matter of not trusting Sasuke. It's a matter of the less people that know the better."

"And what if Raiden does something while he's visiting Fugaku? If Sasuke isn't forewarned he won't be forearmed. It will only lead to a mess."

"And how often does Sasuke take Raiden to see Fugaku? I see him more often than he does."

"He doesn't do babies, not really. I don't even think he's even held Raiden."

"Then you're worrying for nothing, but if you feel it's best to tell Sasuke then do what you wish but the two of you need to be careful. No one else needs to know."

"We'll be careful. Don't worry-Dad!"

Kakashi blinked. He knew they had discussed her calling him Dad but something about the way she said it just then made Kakashi turn around. Over his shoulder stood a man. He was roughly six feet in height and his face showed signs of age. His hair was still a dark black and fell down to the middle of us back. Kakashi couldn't tell whether or not his eyes were blue or green something about the way the light shown on them made it difficult to tell. On his lips was a smile that was welcoming but Kakashi didn't trust it not one little bit. His voice was gravelly as if he didn't speak very often but as Kakashi turned his attention back to Sakura he could see that the man's voice had more of an effect on her that she would probably be willing to admit.

"Are you going to come give your old man a hug, baby girl?" He asked.

And Raiden began to cry.

My thanks to BlueArcticWolf for betaing this story for me.

FYI: I wasn't supposed to update this story so soon but because I'm moving and I don't know when I'll be updating anything in the near future I give you this chapter.

X's and O's

-Juniper