Kei-Kei Yuki: Everyone please enjoy the next-

Naruko: Author-san, the teme wants to know rather are not there will be a smut chapter?

Kei-Kei Yuki: Umm... Let me think about it-Wait! What are you doing interrupting my author introduction?!

Naruko: I missed your old style-So sit back ladies and gentlemen, and enjoy the chapter, dattebayo!

Kei-Kei Yuki: She totally just stole my line...

Pairings: Naruko x Sasuke, Fem!Iruka x Kakashi, Sakura x Lee, Hinata x Kiba, and the rest are canon.

Beta: Ana-DaughterofHades

Misunderstanding

After spending a few relaxing months with his family, it was time for Sasuke to get back on the road and continue his investigation concerning the Ōtsutsuki Clan. The silent raven-haired man was ready to walk out the door until a small pale hand reached out and tugged on his lower left pants leg. "I wish to accompany you, Papa!" Pointing his eyes down, Sasuke saw Satsuki standing next to his leg, eyes pleading for him to agree.

Sighing, Sasuke sadly had to reject Satsuki's request with a simple forehead poke. "Not this time. Stay with your mother and be a good girl until I return," Sasuke promised Satsuki before walking out the door, unable to get the image of those sad blue eyes out of his head.

'Maybe I should get her a gift, and one for Hinako as well.' Sasuke was always weak when it came to the twins, unable to stop himself from spoiling them.

The next time Sasuke got ready to leave, Satsuki was determined to follow after him this time. Sasuke tried to let Satsuki down easily, but this only earned himself water-works, which broke his heart in two. The sight of his precious little moon shedding tears all because she wanted to tag along with her father was too much for the Uchiha. This resulted in Sasuke staying an extra week before he was finally able to sneak out during the night.

Sasuke continuing to sneak out during the night only lasted for a short while. Unable to fool such a smart girl as Satsuki, Sasuke was ready to head to the door after kissing his wife good-bye when he froze at the sight of Satsuki waiting for him with her bags packed, her favorite stuffed owl in her arms.

Once again, Sasuke had to put his mission on hold and tried to find yet another way to sneak out, only for Satsuki to find out and insist on tagging along with him. The girl even hid herself in his luggage, and it was only an hour after Sasuke had left when Naruko sensed her husband's chakra, opening their door to see him holding out to her a pouting Satsuki.

"Satsuki-chan, your papa has an important mission he must go on, and even though he loves you very much, he needs you to stay here so that he can concentrate on his task." Since Sasuke wasn't good with words, nor did he have the heart to let down Satsuki, he pushed it all into Naruko's hands.

His wife was not pleased with him, but Sasuke would make it up to her later. Satsuki was a smart girl to understand what her mother was hinting at but was stubborn, just like her mother. Clenching her fist, she pointed her firm blue-eyes up at her parents. "I understand, but I want to accompany Papa! I promise not to be a burden on him! Since nii-sama has been helping me with my kunai target practice, my aim is perfect. Papa has also been teaching me how to handle a sword. I can fight and won't hold Papa back!" Satsuki was desperate, showing an expression her parents rarely ever saw from her.

When it came to the twins, the girls were the polar opposite of each other. Hinako was bubbly and very outspoken, Sasuke's sweet little ray of sunshine. Satsuki, on the other hand, was Sasuke's little shadow. The girl was very polite and well-mannered, a true introvert at her core who rarely liked to socialize and preferred solitude. Currently, Satsuki was enrolled at the academy and was starting to show interest in kenjutsu.

Knowing the profound skills her father possessed, Satsuki asked him to teach her. Sasuke so far had only demonstrated to Satsuki how to hold and defend using a sword properly—viewing her as too young to learn how to correctly use a sword for combat.

Before she even thought about picking up a sword, Satsuki first needed to perfected her skills using regular kunai and shurikens. Something which didn't take Satsuki long to improve, having overseen one of her training sessions with Ryustuki. Like her older brother, Satsuki was starting to show prodigy talent, and it was beginning to scare Sasuke. Familiar with the road all prodigies tended to travel, it wasn't sunshine and rainbows.

Now, Sasuke felt proud of seeing his children excelling. Still, he didn't want them growing up too fast but rather enjoy these peaceful times before understanding the real responsibility that came with being a shinobi. A duty that came with its series of difficulties, putting one's life on the line to protect that which was most precious to them.

For their mother, it was the village and all those who resided within those walls. But their father was a different story; Sasuke wasn't pure like Naruko, nor did he share the same love for their village as strongly as she did. Because even after he returned, Sasuke's home was never the village but was the one person who embraced him and showed him that beyond all the filthy layer of deceit, betrayal, and death...

That beyond the horizon, the world was beautiful if you looked in the right direction and to Sasuke that was Naruko and the family they created. Sasuke would go through hell and back to protect every one of them because they were the light that guided Sasuke into becoming not just a better husband but a better father.

Hardening his heart, Sasuke pointed Satsuki with a firm look and said, "Not this time," before getting up from his seat and strolling out of the house. Not once did he look back because if he did, the guilt would eat at him, and honestly, Sasuke couldn't afford it.

The last time Satsuki mentioned anything about accompanying her father was when Sasuke had decided that Ryustuki could accompany him. Something which profoundly angered Satsuki when she found out. "Why?! How come you requested Ryustuki-nii-sama and not me?!" Sasuke had never before seen Satsuki this upset. The girl was normally calm and level headed, seeing as Daisuke was the one who usually vocalized his thoughts of displeasure concerning their father's constant disappearance.

"Satsuki-chan, your brother is older than you. Not to mention, he is no longer in the academy. You can't just go skipping classes to accompany your father." After hearing Satsuki's outburst, Naruko walked into the living room and tried to smooth things down. Yet Satsuki was having none of it, narrowing her blue eyes to her older brother standing at their father's side. Seeing the look of jealousy in Satsuki's eyes, Sasuke walked over and said to her,

"Use the time given to you to train. Once you're strong enough, I'll allow you to accompany me." It was not the right time for Satsuki to accompany him, plus it was time to show Ryustuki just what threat the next generation would be facing. Sasuke wasn't going to live forever, and it was time for him to start preparing his children, starting first with his eldest. In due time, when Satsuki had gained enough strength and experience, she was next on his list.

His intentions weren't for Satsuki to think of herself as weak or inferior to her older brother, but Sasuke was never good with words nor expressing himself. 'Only by growing stronger would tou-san acknowledge me.' Sasuke's words ended up leaving the opposite impression on Satsuki, who, since then, continuously trained herself for her father's approval.

It was funny how the past somehow unintentionally found a way to repeat itself. When he was a child, Sasuke worked hard to earn his father's approval, and now his daughter was following in his footsteps.

End of Misunderstanding!