Sasuke abruptly awoke the next morning to the sound of the door being knocked on repeatedly, he peered over to the clock and saw that it was already half past nine. He knew that it had to be Mebuki dropping Kiyoshi off, but Sakura was still fast asleep and he didn't want to wake her.
So he gingerly got out of bed, careful not to jostle Sakura any and gave himself a look over in the mirror before going to open the door. "Good morning Sasuke, I wasn't expecting you" Mebuki said, with a surprised look. "Ah good morning, Sakura is still asleep and I didn't want to wake her up yet" Sasuke informed her, feeling slightly intimidated under her stare.
But he was saved by Kiyoshi yelling, "Saaa" and reaching his arms out to him, so Mebuki placed a kiss on Kiyoshi's cheek before handing him to Sasuke. The little boy wrapped his arms around Sasuke's neck, feeling safe and content in his grasp. "Has he had his bottle yet?" Sasuke asked, as he began walking towards the kitchen. "No not yet, he kept asking for you and Sakura once he woke up so I brought him here first" Mebuki replied, as she watched Sasuke place Kiyoshi in the highchair and start making his bottle.
"Did you and Sakura have a good time last night?" Mebuki asked, genuinely curious to hear about the date from his point of view. "Yes we did, it all went well. But I was wondering if I could come speak with you and your husband about her and I sometime" Sasuke asked, not leading on too much. But Mebuki could understand the hidden meaning in his words, "Of course, come by anytime Sasuke. But I must be going, I'll see you all soon" was all Mebuki said as she headed out the door with a wave.
"That wasn't too bad" Sasuke thought to himself, as he handed the bottle to Kiyoshi who gladly accepted it. "Do you want to see your Mama?" Sasuke then asked Kiyoshi aloud. The little boy's face lit up at those magic words and he tried to get himself out of the highchair before Sasuke picked him up.
He then padded into the bedroom, where Sakura was still laying down but was now awake and stretching. "Mama!" Kiyoshi squealed as soon as he saw her, so Sasuke set him down next to her in the bed. And Sakura immediately scooped him up into her arms, realizing how much she missed the feeling of holding him. "I missed you so much baby, did you have fun with Grandma and Grandpa?" Sakura asked, while sitting up but still keeping Kiyoshi in her lap.
Kiyoshi then began telling Sakura everything they did together, through broken sentences and babbles. But Sakura encouraged him throughout the way, never getting upset when he couldn't say certain words or when she couldn't understand him. She just helped him sound out the words and kept asking him questions so he could practice his words more.
Sasuke watched and admired her patience and maternal instincts, she truly was just like his own mother. He could only hope that he could find where he belonged with the two of them, where he was needed the most.
"Sasuke-kun, should we start breakfast?" Sakura asked, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Ah, I'll start the coffee" Sasuke answered back, as he headed to the kitchen first.
Sakura went to Kiyoshi's room and changed his diaper and dressed him in a comfy, soft yellow jumper. She then placed him in the playpen and went to the kitchen and began cooking breakfast with Sasuke. "This is nice isn't it?" Sakura remarked, while cutting up some vegetables. "It is, I look forward to this every morning now" Sasuke said honestly, as he skillfully tossed the rice in the pan with one hand.
Sakura was happy hearing his words, but they brought on thoughts that she had been trying to push away. "You're not leaving anytime soon right?" she suddenly blurted out, needing to get it off her chest. "I don't plan to at the moment, why do you ask?" Sasuke wondered, as he switched off the stove and turned to her. "I just know you get restless being in one place for so long. So I just wanted to know if you were, so I could prepare myself" Sakura explained to him, hoping he would understand. "I was only restless in Konoha before because I felt like I had nothing keeping me here, which isn't the case anymore. But if any emergencies come up and I'm assigned to it, then I will have to go" Sasuke told her, even though he was sure she already knew.
"I understand Sasuke-kun, we'll just have to make the most of the time you're here" Sakura declared, determined not to let the thought of him leaving ruin their morning. "Ah we will and speaking of that, I have something that I've been meaning to give you" Sasuke said with a smirk, as he walked to his cloak and pulled a flat rectangular box out of one of the pockets.
He then went back to Sakura and handed it to her without a word, but with anticipation written all over his face. Sakura met his mismatched eyes with suspicion but proceeded to open the box, and then gasped when she realized what it was. "It's the anklet from Kirigakure! Thank you Sasuke-kun, it's so cute!" Sakura exclaimed, as she wrapped her arms around Sasuke's waist. "I'm glad you like it" Sasuke replied, while draping his arm over her shoulders and kissing the top of her head.
Sakura then crouched down and clasped the anklet on, gushing about how she was never going to take it off. To which Sasuke just rolled his eyes even though he wasn't annoyed at all, just glad that she liked it so much.
From there the trio fell into a comfortable and very domestic routine together in the months that came. Sasuke made breakfast every morning and spent a majority of his time with Sakura and
Kiyoshi. But when he wasn't with them, Sasuke was training with Naruto or Kakashi, and slowly cleaning out and rebuilding a large two story home in the Uchiha District.
Sakura had been enjoying all the time with Sasuke and truly getting to know him more than she ever had before. And watching Sasuke and Kiyoshi bond together had been incredibly heartwarming, especially when Sasuke made Kiyoshi laugh without even trying to.
Kiyoshi was also enrolled in speech therapy with Tsunade and Shizune since he was still far behind for his age. And due to this, he had taken a great liking to calling Sasuke "Papa" ever since he learned the word. He also learned the words "brother" and "sister" as well as their meanings, and began asking Sakura for one everyday. Which always caused Sakura's face to heat up and the tips of Sasuke's ears to turn red, but Sakura just assured Kiyoshi that he would have a sibling someday soon.
Sasuke and Sakura had been discussing growing their family but they both agreed that waiting until they were married and moved into the Uchiha District home was the right thing to do. Sasuke had also purchased an engagement ring for Sakura without her knowing, but hadn't found the right time to propose yet.
Sasuke had received Mebuki and Kizashi's blessing to marry Sakura a few weeks back after a very lengthy discussion. He told them all about his past and how it had molded him into who he was today, and that he had no intentions of leaving again unless it was for short term missions. Both of them were very impressed with his words and any doubts that they had about Sasuke completely vanished.
Sakura was also getting ready to go back to working at the hospital with her leave almost being over, and she was busy planning Kiyoshi's second birthday. She wanted to make his first birthday with a family as special as possible and she had enlisted Ino, Temari, and her parents for help.
Sakura decided to hold the party at the park Kiyoshi loved to play at everyday, and made sure to invite the children he always played soccer with. Mebuki had baked a strawberry cake with blue icing and multi-colored fish as decorations, and "Happy 2nd Birthday Kiyoshi" written across the top with white icing. Ino and Temari had helped Sakura decorate the picnic tables and make the goodie bags for the kids to take home.
And Sasuke had the most difficult job of all, which was keeping Kiyoshi occupied until his party started. "Papa, where Mama?" Kiyoshi asked for what felt like the hundredth time, while Sasuke changed him into his party clothes. "Mama is at the park getting it ready for your party" Sasuke explained to him gently. "Yay party!" Kiyoshi said happily, while putting his little fists in the air.
The two kept talking as Sasuke finished dressing Kiyoshi for the party, Sakura had picked out the outfit and was very excited to see him in it. The outfit was a matching set with dark green cotton shorts and a short sleeve shirt, with a black baseball cap and his usual sandals. "Are you ready to go?" Sasuke asked, since he was dressed and it was nearing the time Sakura had told them to be there. "Yes Papa" Kiyoshi said with a giggle, while reaching his arms out to Sasuke.
So Sasuke picked him up and kissed his forehead before heading out the door and walking to the park. As they got closer Kiyoshi started squirming in Sasuke's arm, when he saw all his friends and more importantly his Mama. So Sasuke placed him on the ground and Kiyoshi ran towards Sakura, hugging her legs in excitement.
"Hey honey, you look so handsome!" Sakura said with a smile, while picking him up and twirling them around in a circle. "Papa dress me" Kiyoshi replied back, while looking at the party set up and all the people. "He did a great job, do you want to go say hi to everyone?" Sakura asked, noticing his wandering eyes. Kiyoshi nodded back so Sakura set him down and watched him run over to his friends and then the rest of the Konoha 10 to talk to them.
As Sakura watched her son, she felt an arm wrap around her waist from behind and an all too familiar voice say, "It looks great" while pulling her closer. "Thank you, I couldn't have done it without everyone's help, but how was it keeping him busy for so long?" Sakura asked, while turning to face him. "Not too bad, he kept asking for you towards the end though" Sasuke informed her.
No matter how much Kiyoshi bonded with Sasuke, the pair knew that he would always be a Mama's boy. Which never got Sasuke down since he knew Sakura was the first person to love and care for him. But Sasuke was now there to fill in all the gaps that only a father could, and he was perfectly content doing that for him.
The party began with Kiyoshi playing soccer with his friends from the park, while Sasuke watched carefully from afar to make sure that no one hurt themselves. Then everyone sat down at the long picnic table, with Kiyoshi at the head of it and Sasuke and Sakura on each side of him. Mebuki brought out the cake and lit the candles and then everyone sang Happy Birthday for Kiyoshi, who took a deep breath to blow out the candles and then smiled brightly as everyone clapped.
Sakura then cut and served everyone a slice, and she even got Sasuke to take a bite of her piece. Which almost made his face wrinkle up in revulsion due to the sugary taste, but he stopped himself when he saw Kiyoshi looking at him for approval and gave him a thumbs up.
Once everyone was done with the cake, Kiyoshi began opening up all the presents everyone had gotten him. He got enough toys and books to last him a lifetime, but what stuck out most was a small fishing rod and tackle box from Sasuke. Kiyoshi's eyes lit up when he saw it, "Teach me Papa?" he asked in front of everyone. "Of course buddy" Sasuke said back, while ruffling his hair.
Kiyoshi finished opening his gifts and then went and played on the playground with all his friends. Sakura then began clearing off the tables and Sasuke reverse summoned all of Kiyoshi's gifts into a scroll to make them easier to get home. While they did that, Ino and Temari placed out all the goodie bags for the kids since they were all starting to get tired.
About twenty minutes later everyone started saying their goodbyes and all of Kiyoshi's friends gave him a hug before getting their goodie bags and leaving with their parents.
Once everyone was gone and the area had been cleaned up, the couple made their way home with a sleeping Kiyoshi in Sakura's arms. When they reached the apartment Sakura laid Kiyoshi down in his bed for the rest of his nap, while Sasuke sat down on the couch.
"That went well, don't you think?" Sakura asked him, as she went to the kitchen and started making them tea. "Ah he looked very happy the entire time" Sasuke said, thinking back to Kiyoshi's face when he opened the fishing rod and tackle box. "He did, thank you for everything you did today Sasuke-kun. Kiyoshi really loves you, he's always looking to you now" Sakura pointed out, as she brought over two steaming cups of black tea.
"I'm just trying to do for him what I always wanted from my Father" Sasuke murmured, while taking the cup from her. "You're doing that and so much more for him" Sakura assured him, as she kissed his cheek and sat down next to him.
The two stayed on the couch together and talked quietly while Kiyoshi slept, discussing the day's events and what the future would bring. As they spoke, Sasuke felt like the engagement ring was beginning to burn a whole in the pocket his cloak, but now wasn't the right moment. Today was Kiyoshi's day and Sasuke wasn't going to take that from him, he also wanted to ask Kiyoshi for his approval. Even though asking a two year old for his permission to marry the woman he loves might sound ridiculous, Sasuke felt it was only right.
"I'll ask when we go fishing" Sasuke decided in his head, while placing his cup down and wrapping his arm around Sakura. "You sleepy too Sasuke-kun?" Sakura teased, as she cuddled into his side. "Ah I am, so let me sleep you annoying woman" Sasuke teased back affectionately, while finally closing his eyes after the long day.