Chapter 12
Sakura walked through the halls; having decided that her bedrest at this point was bullshit and wanted to hold her daughter. It was not easy to accept that she didn't get to hold her baby, Sarada and now she was slipping through the halls looking for her husband and whichever member of Team Taka who had her baby. Hopefully it was Juugo who had Sarada because then she could get her baby back without having a war break out; and Sasuke would be close if it was Juugo who had Sarada. Biting back her smile she walked around the corner and groaned.
It was Karin who had her daughter and was…in a lab! Sakura ran into that lab then to grab her baby. Karin yelped as Sakura stepped back as far as she could while keeping Sarada with her.
"What are you doing to my daughter!?" Sakura demanded. The redhead looked around bewildered then looked at her and then Karin sighed.
"I wasn't experimenting with her! I have work to do and why are you out of bed!?" Karin demanded sharply.
"I'm fine!" Sakura snapped as she hurried out of the lab with her baby held close to her. Once out of the lab she ran, where she'd go she didn't know but she never wanted her daughter exposed to that lab again! She had seen what being an experiment of Orochimaru's was like and she would never allow her daughter to be that snake's test subject. No, her baby would not be a thing for Orochimaru the way her husband had been. Sakura walked right into a chest then, she looked up at Sasuke who was watching her with curious black eyes.
"Sakura," he said her name as he touched their daughter then. She just stared at him, he looked her over. "What's wrong?"
"Karin took her to the lab! They were going to use Sarada as a test subject!" Sakura informed him in a near panic. Of course she'd panic, Orochimaru was the man who had single handedly ruined her Team and her family. She wouldn't let her baby be hurt or tainted by that snake and she would not let her baby be a thing ever again! She wouldn't let her innocent baby be like her father and be used like her father had been. It was not happening! Her baby would not be Orochimaru's lab rat or new toy.
"Sakura," Sasuke grabbed her shoulders then. She stared at him with wide eyes as she held her baby closer to her breast; the baby began sucking on her breast through the material then, she winced slightly at the baby's actions but didn't dislodge her daughter. "Karin was no running experiments on our daughter; I would kill all of them before I let Sarada be used that way."
"Then why did Karin have her in the lab?" Sakura demanded.
"Because Sarada's eyes…I don't want her to be like Itachi," Sasuke mumbled and Sakura's eyes widened.
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked carefully. Over the years she had learned that the topic of Itachi was a touchy topic and if she were to approach it then she'd have to be careful because of the memories Sasuke would experience. She didn't want to pain her husband, she loved him too much to hurt him with those memories.
"He was ill in the end, going blind, even if I hadn't killed him…he'd have died. Genetic, that's what I learned; his illness was genetic and I asked Karin to run a test to see if Sarada would be ill with it or if she was healthy. I don't want her to suffer," Sasuke murmured. Sakura stepped closer to him so she stood on his inside, she tilted her head back then and studied him closely.
"Next time, talk to me before you ask Karin to take care of our daughter. She's mine too, Sasuke, and as her mother I have not only the desire but the right to know everything about her. She's mine; I gave birth to her and I carried her, she's mine just like she's yours' and because she's ours I should've known that you were trying to know if she was healthy or not." Sakura said firmly but gently because he looked uncertain as he studied her. She smiled slightly.
"And next time, talk to me about your worries before you go about trying to cure our daughter. I'm a fantastic medic, a hell of a doctor and I'm a bit offended that you wouldn't trust me to take care of our daughter," Sakura said lightly. He nodded. Before she knew what she was doing she reached up and cupped his cheek then smiled.
"I'll check to see if Sarada's healthy with Karin's help and if she's ill like Itachi then you and I will find the solution but no more leaving each other out of the loop. Alright?"
"Yes," he said softly then his brow rested on hers'. She smiled softly as she let him hold her and Sarada; he was lucky she understood him because if she had been any other woman and seen her baby in a lab with Karin she'd have killed him and run away with her baby. Those black eyes which were usually carefully guarded only expressed concern and worry for their daughter as both she and Sasuke stood there in silence.
"I'll test her with Karin now," Sakura said softly as she pulled away from him then walked towards the lab to apologize to Karin.
"I'm sorry for my reaction Karin," Sakura said as she walked into the lab. The red head smiled a bit.
"It's alright, I think that if I had a daughter and I walked in on you in a lab running experiments I'd freak too. Did Sasuke tell you what we were doing?" Karin asked. Sakura nodded.
"I want her to be healthy but I don't want Orochimaru to have the test or her genes." Sakura said firmly.
"Alright, well I just ran the first tests would you like to see the results?"
"Yes."
"Here, can I have her back?"
"She's mine!"
"You're worse than Sasuke," Karin grumbled and Sakura smiled. Sarada was her baby and she was never letting her baby go again.
"You'll understand one day when you have your own," Sakura said happily as she sat on a stool, arranged her daughter so the baby could suckle and looked over the results.
"I doubt that, I'm not having one since you took the last Uchihas," Karin announced.
"What about Suigetsu or Juugo?" Sakura suggested; she thought that Suigetsu was sweet on Karin.
"Too childish," Karin snorted, Sakura smirked. Sasuke was plenty childish; he just hid it well.
Sasuke had been worrying about the health of his only daughter since Sakura had woken up. He was terrified that she'd be like his brother and be ill with that disease which would rob her of her life. Sasuke couldn't lose anyone else; never again. He was terrified of losing his daughter and losing Sakura could paralyze him with fear. Not that he would admit that to anyone. To admit his fear would be admitting weakness.
Still he didn't want to burden Sakura with his fears, he didn't want her to be worried about their daughter's health. He didn't want her to know that her daughter might not live a long and fruitful life after all the hell he and Sakura had gone through to have Sarada. Granted they hadn't known they were going to have her but he still worried about it. If he hadn't killed Itachi when he had then Itachi would have died soon after. It was a regret he would live with for the rest of his life.
But he wouldn't lose his daughter prematurely. He'd sooner slay himself than lose Sarada and he'd sooner rip out his own heart than hurt Sakura again. But he had been afraid; terrified to tell Sakura that Sarada might be ill, she might die before she was twenty. Sasuke didn't want Sakura to worry needlessly about their daughter. He was hoping Sarada wouldn't be ill, but he hadn't thought about this for years until he had a daughter. There were reasons; which despite his claims to the contrary; he did not wish to have children.
Though he had craved to have a family again, to have those ties again he didn't want to lose them ever again. He liked having Sakura in his life but she terrified him because she was so important to him. And while he had married her under the guise of rebuilding his clan he hadn't always been too certain about that. He wanted children, he also didn't want them. He didn't want to risk a child of his being ill, or cursed with the hatred he had felt all his life, or them being hurt by him.
Now though he had an unplanned daughter and he was terrified for her.
Sasuke didn't know what to think about having a daughter who could possibly be terminally ill. Then again, like Sakura had pointed out she was the best healer so there was a hope for his daughter if she was ill. Sakura could probably heal their daughter, and she could probably be able to find a way to cure this genetic illness that was in his family. Or perhaps his daughter had the Strength of a Hundred's healing abilities with in her. He hoped she did.
He had written Tsunade a few questions about if a woman bore a child and she had the Strength of a Hundred Seal but Tsunade had said she didn't know what would have happened. No other women in history had ever achieved the Strength of a Hundred Seal aside from Sakura and Tsunade. And Tsunade hadn't had a child, and he hadn't said that Sakura had because he didn't want his daughter in danger.
Perhaps the seal would have an effect on his daughter, perhaps it wouldn't, and perhaps it would aid or kill his daughter. All of this terrified him. But he couldn't ever admit he was terrified because then he would be admitting weakness. Now he was watching his wife and daughter with Karin from afar. The women worked well; well Karin followed Sakura's instructions. Sakura just held Sarada to her and didn't look around to see him there. His heart was twisting painfully with worry as he listened to the women as they worked.
Hours later Sakura walked into their quarters with Sarada sleeping soundly in her arms. He was laying on the bed and trying to act like he had been reading his book for the last few hours when he had been on the same page for the last hour. Sakura placed their daughter in her dresser drawer; yes there was no crib for their baby but a dresser drawer. He felt horrible about this but he didn't voice that because as soon as Sarada was old enough for traveling they were leaving.
"She's healthy, no anomalies in her DNA for the illness that Itachi had," Sakura said as she sat on the bed then turned to face him.
"You're sure?" he asked as he pulled Sakura close to him. She straddled his hips as she leaned over him. His hand slid over her back then.
"Yes, she's an unusually healthy baby with a strong chakra and unusual regenerative abilities. Sarada's a very healthy baby with the genetic potential for the Mangekyō Sharingan one day," Sakura said happily. He frowned.
"That's good news right?" Sakura whispered softly when she lowered herself to him. Her mouth was a breath away from his and he so desperately wanted to pull her down to him but he was focusing on the issue at hand.
"No, I don't want her to hate that much," Sasuke said firmly. Sakura smiled a bit then.
"She can't hate Sasuke; babies are taught to hate. Besides she's half me and I don't hate so I don't think we have to worry about her hating anyone if she takes after me." She leaned down to him and kissed him. Sasuke would finish talking about this with her later; for now he wanted to have his wife all to himself.
