Third Person's POV

Vests are going off, people are running, and little kids can be heard screaming. Sakura is trying her best to try and find a good spot to hide and fire people, but is having a difficult time because someone is shooting at her with their laser gun. Finally finding the gun that is shooting at her, she realizes that Sasuke is the one targeting her. Once she notices him, Sasuke smirks and disappears into the dark.

So far Sasuke is beating Sakura in their competition while Sakura isn't even in the top five. 'I need to find a good spot fast,' Sakura thinks. Sakura goes to the ramp that leads to the second floor. Here, there are less people and a smaller space.

There, Sarada is trying her best to fire at people with the biggest smile on her face. Sakura then gets an idea, she moves behind a wall hiding herself from everyone, crouches down, and aims towards Sarada's left shoulder. The vest goes off and the gun is no longer working.

"Sakura!" Sarada whines in a bit of a joking manner. Sakura laughs at Sarada's expression on her face, but quickly stops when her vest goes off and her gun stops working. Sakura turns to find her dark-eyed friend smirking with his gun pointed directly at her.

"Hey," Sakura whines, not in a joking manner.

"Revenge for Sarada," he says.

They both can hear Sarada's giggle from behind them, and she points her gun at Sasuke, but he is able to move before she fires at him. Soon, more people from the opposing team show up on the second floor, and start to attack.

Sakura and Sasuke both hide behind the same wall and Sarada hides behind a wall farther back. "I think you and I are going to have to put our competition on hold until we take them down," Sasuke whispers into Sakura's ear, giving her a bit of a chill.

Sadly for Sakura, she knows she has to agree. Sakura gives him a nod. Sasuke looks out to check where the other people are. "Okay, on the count of 3, I will jump out and attack, and you stay back here and try to shoot. There are only five of them so I think we can take them." Sakura nods at him again and prepares her gun, which is now working.

"One," Sasuke lifts his gun to his shoulder. "Two," Sakura sits up. "Three!" He then comes out from the wall and fires at the other team. He is able to disable one of the people's vest right at the start. Sakura is able to disable one of the vests too from behind the wall. However, the other three are able to react quick enough and fire at Sasuke.

Sasuke fires at one of them and their vest goes off, but he isn't fast enough to take down the other two. One of the guys disables Sasuke's vest, making him hide behind the wall again.

When Sasuke is back behind the wall, Sakura's competitive side comes out. "I refuse to let them beat us," and with that, she jumps out from the wall and fires at one of the guys. The vest goes off. She aims at the other. The other vest goes off too. They got them.

All the people from the opposing team leave to go back to the first floor leaving Sakura with her head up high and a smug look on her face. "Yeah!" Sasuke jumps up. "Nice job Sakura!" At that moment, he looked like a kid. His eyes had a gleam of joy and determination. This Sasuke is different from the one she always sees at work. The more the day goes by, the more Sakura learns about Sasuke and who he really is, and every time she learns something new, her heart skips a beat, and she feels butterflies in her stomach.

Ten minutes later the game of laser tag ends. Thanks to taking down those two people, Sakura got her confidence and groove back, and was able to beat Sasuke, along with the rest of her team by scoring the highest, making her the winner for her team.

The prize for winning is a free ticket for the summertime and you get to pick one of the prizes in the arcade. One of the prizes is the gray stuffed elephant. "I'll take the elephant," she says. Saying that is an eye-opener for Sarada, because of the conversation they had earlier. The worker behind the counter grabs the stuffed animal aggressively and hands it to Sakura. "Here you go ma'am."

"Thank you."

All three of them start to walk towards the exit when Sakura stops. "Here you go Sarada." Sakura tries to hand the stuffed animal to Sarada, but she doesn't take it.

"No, it's okay. You don't have to."

"I got it for you. Besides, I don't need anymore stuffed animals. I have a closet full of them."

Sarada hesitates, but takes the elephant. "Thank you," Sarada mutters. She then wraps her arms around it and smiles, trying not to show it though.

They finally exit the arcade and are welcomed with the bright sun that is going to set in a few hours. "The sun is going to set soon. Should we go on more rides before that?" Sasuke asks.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Sakura starts to run ahead of them, and Sarada follows her, still carrying the stuffed elephant.

Sasuke's POV

A ride that I immediately suggest is one that is just like a ski lift, but instead of being taken up a mountain, you are taken across the whole park. Surprisingly, Sarada agrees.

All three of us are able to fit into one of the seats. Sarada goes into the middle, and Sakura and I are on the outside. We sit down, and the worker pulls the bar down on us, and off we go.

Sarada can't take her eyes off of the views. Sakura pulls out her mint colored Polaroid and takes a picture of the lake. The sun is touching the top of the lake, making the water shine. "How does it look?" I ask her.

The photo slides out of the camera. "It takes a couple of minutes for it to show." Ah right.

"What's that?" Sarada glances at the picture that hasn't been shown yet.

"A Polaroid. I got it for Christmas. You want to try taking a picture?"

Sarada's face lights up. "Sure!" And she takes the camera from Sakura's hands and looks through it to find a picture to take.

"Don't waste a picture. Those things are expensive," I say.

"I won't Papa."

"I don't mind Sasuke." I peer at Sakura's face for the first time since we got on the ride and I feel my heart flutter. Is it me, or does she look different today? The sun, like on the water, touches her eyes, making them shine. Her cheeks are a little red giving her color in her normally pale face. The wind blows through her short pink hair that is now fully dry. And her lips... they are red and plump. And so...

Click. The noise of a camera interrupts my thoughts. "I think I got a good one!" Sarada explains.

"We will have to wait and see," Sakura smiles.

"We still haven't gone on that one yet."

"That's another spinning one, I don't think my head can take it," I say to Sarada. Sakura giggles.

"Want me to ride with her and you sit out again?" Sakura asks.

"Could you?"

"Um..." Sarada focuses her view to the ground and skims her foot across it while her hands are behind her back. "We don't have to if you don't want to, Papa."

This kid. I find myself smiling and walking in front of my daughter. I lift my arm, and poke Sarada's forehead gently with my index and pointer fingers. "Don't worry about me. Just go have fun."

Doing that makes her sorrow disappear. "Okay!" Sarada starts to sprint in front of us.

"Hey, don't ru-!" Too late. Sarada trips on a crack in the pavement before I get the chance to finish my sentence. "Sarada!" Both me and Sakura run to her as she tries to stand again. Both of us get on our knees and grab Sarada from under her armpits. I can feel my heart pumping out of my chest from fear and worry of her being in pain. "Sarada, are you okay?!"

Her knees are scraped pretty badly, along with her elbows. I hear a sniffle come from her. When I look at her face again, her eyes are glossy, and she is trying her best not to cry. I place my hand on her right cheek and turn her head to get her to look at me in the eye. Then, a tear slips out.

"I'm... so-rry I didn't lis-ten Pa-pa." My heart aches when I hear her trembling voice.

Sakura interrupts us by saying, "We should patch up the cuts. Come on, let's go sit down."

I decided to pick up Sarada so she doesn't have to walk. I grab her under her armpits and wrap one arm around her back and the other under her bottom to hold her. Sarada reacts by resting her head on my shoulder and clenching my shirt.

We then find a patch of a garden that has a small stone wall around it and decide to sit there. I sit down on the stone wall with Sarada on my lap while Sakura searches through her bag. Next, she pulls out another water bottle and a miniature First-Aid kit. How much stuff does she have in there?

Sakura takes out a singular cloth from the kit and pours some water on it. "This may sting a little, Sweety." Sakura then gets on her knees in front of us and starts to clean scrapes on her knees. I hear Sarada wince a little, making me rub the top part of her legs for comfort. Sakura continues to clean the other scrapes on her elbows and places band-aids on them. "Here,"

After Sakura runs off I say to Sarada, "Do you feel better now?" Sarada nods while taking a sip of the water. I don't feel completely convinced since she didn't say anything.

I protectively wrap my arms around her stomach and pull her closer to me. She responds by resting her head on my chest. "... Are you mad?" she asks.

I tighten my grip. "Of course not. Just... don't run again. I know you're excited, but you have to be careful."

"I won't." In order to make her feel better, I kiss the side of her head near her temple and tickle her side. I hear her giggle and squirm in my grasp.

"I'm back." Both Sarada and I scan up to see Sakura holding a vanilla ice cream with rainbow sprinkles. "This is for you Sarada." She gives her the ice cream and I can tell that Sarada is surprised from her body language.

"Th-thank you." Sakura moves next to us and sits down.

"Thank you," I say. Sakura looks up from putting the kit in her bag and smiles.

After two hours of riding roller coasters, the sun sets and night comes. The lights on the rides are on, making you feel like you are in one of those summer romance movies. The park is closing soon, so we decided to have dinner. It's simple food. The kind you can find at an amusement park. Unhealthy and overpriced, but this is a one time thing for Sarada, so I should keep my mouth shut.

As we eat, Sakura examines the park while chewing on her beef teriyaki on a stick. She then stops chewing and exploring when her eyes land on the biggest ride here with the brightest lights.

"Hey, when we finish eating, let's go on the Ferris Wheel."

Sarada stops drinking her water and looks up at the Ferris wheel and a light bulb goes off in her head. "Hey, it looks like the one that was in one of my books!"

"You like reading?" Sakura asks.

Sarada's eyes light up again. "I LOVE reading!"

Sakura smiles. "I love reading too! What kind of books do you read?"

"All kinds. Mostly mystery and fantasy."

"You know, I have a bunch of books I read when I was a kid. Would you like them?"

"Really?!"

"Sure!"

"Thank you!"

I finish up my food and throw away the wrappers. "If you want to go on it you need to finish up. The park will be closing soon."

"Okay." Sarada finishes her water and Sakura slides the last part of the beef off the stick and throws it away. "Let's go." I grab my bag and start to walk, having Sakura follow from behind, and Sarada grabbing my hand.

"Enjoy your ride," says the worker, and with that, we start to move. Sakura, across from me and Sarada has her camera out again, and Sarada is holding the stuffed elephant again while looking out to the side.

"Look, you can see all the stars," Sarada says with a huge grin.

"Can you spot any constellations?" I ask.

"No, not right now."

"What kind of constellations are out during this time of the year?" Sakura asks.

"Some that come out are Cancer, Leo, Hydra, and Crux. Some of them can't be seen with the naked eye though, like Cancer, even though it is really big. Speaking of big, did you know that the Hydra constellation is the largest constellation? It is part of the Hercules family from Greek Mythology. According to the mythology, Hercules took down the Hydra which was a giant creature with many heads. Oh, also, Crux is part of the Hercules family, and is the smallest constellation..."

Her astronomy obsession is coming out. Every time it does, she talks nonstop and fast. I wonder if Sakura can keep up with what she is saying because I sure can't.

"You know a lot about constellations."

"I LOVE stars!"

"You also love planets, comets, asteroids, and anything related to space," I sneakily say. Sarada turns to me and pouts.

"That's really cool. Hey, can you tell me the difference between a comet and an asteroid?" Sakura asks.

Sarada continues to explain the difference. I don't listen because I have already had this conversation with her at least five times. Before I know it, we are at the highest point on the Ferris Wheel and are stopped.

"Hey, Chatty Cathy, look," I say to Sarada pointing towards the view.

"Oh!" From this view you can see the lake, along with the city in the distance. With all the lights on and the moon and stars shining on the city, it looks really beautiful. On my side I can hear Sakura taking a picture, and I don't blame her.

"Never thought an annoying city could look so pretty," I say.

"Right?" Sakura says. I glance at Sakura again. She is looking at me rather softly. Why is she looking at me? Especially like that? Maybe she is just tired.

I clear my throat to end the silence. Then the ride moves again. "Well, looks like the ride will be over soon. We should go home now."

Sarada whines a bit. "Ah, I was having so much fun today." Even though she said that. I can see she is struggling to keep her eyes open now.

"Um... can we stop by the bathroom before we go?" Sakura mutters.

"Sure."

"What's taking her so long?" I anxiously ask. As time goes on, more people are trying to leave before the hell that comes when the park closes, and I don't want to be a part of that mob. Sarada responds with a grunt. She is resting her head on my side, and is trying to keep her eyes open, but failing to do so.

I check my phone to see the time. Shit! We only have thirty minutes left before this place closes. Sakura, where are you?

"Sorry I took so long." Speak of the devil, there she is finally. "Ready to go?"

"Yep. Come on Sarada." Sarada opens her eyes again and grabs my hand as we exit.

Once we get in the car. Not a lot of talking happens. Sarada leaned on the side of the car door and fell asleep with her stuffed elephant in her arms, and Sakura and I were too tired to say a lot.

The traffic is pretty bad. Why didn't I think about that? It's a late Saturday night. We should have left earlier. "Sorry about this. It looks like I won't be able to get you home until past midnight."

Sakura with eyes barely open says, "Don't worry about it. I don't have to work tomorrow, so I can sleep in."

I internally groan. "I just realized that I have to work tomorrow."

Sakura chuckles. "Do you have to open?"

"No, thankfully. But still, after today, all I want to do is eat and sleep for three days. I am burned out of energy."

Sakura laughs this time. "Yeah, that's exactly how I feel right now. How did Sarada have so much energy today? After the water park, I started to feel sleepy."

"I mentally checked out after the first hour."

"But despite how tired I feel, I had a lot of fun. Your daughter is so cute!"

"Yeah. I had fun too. It's not bad to do this every now and then. Besides, if Sarada is happy, I am."

"You're such a great dad." Saying changed the mood around us from being goofy, to a serious one.

"I'm really not. I can't give her want a kid should get. I could never afford to do what we did today without you. Plus, I'm not around a lot. I'm constantly dropping her off at my best friend's house, or having him, or someone else baby sit, and when I'm not doing that, I am putting her in after school clubs so I can work later and pick her up." I tighten my grip on the steering wheel to avoid breaking down. "She doesn't have a mother, and I can't be a mother to her. What will happen when she gets older and starts to get her period, and experience all those problems? How am I gonna-"

"You don't give yourself enough credit. Despite the unfortunate circumstances you are in, you try your best to be the best you can for her. You step out of your comfort zone for her. You work to the bone for her. And even if you can't be with her all the time, when you are with her, you treat her like the most important thing in the world. Also, being unable to give her everything may suck from your point of view, but because of this, you taught her how to appreciate what you guys have, and to make the best of what you have. That lesson is very difficult to put into someone's brain, but you did it. You lead her by an example. So, don't ever say that you aren't a good dad. You're a wonderful dad. I know it, and Sarada knows it..."

I'm speechless. I... just...

After a minute, I finally am able to speak. "Thank you."

Sakura smirks, now her eyes are closed. "You don't need to thank me. It's the truth."

No more words are spoken to us for the rest of the ride.

"Thank you for dropping me off." Sakura opens the passenger's door.

"No problem." Before Sakura steps out, she stops herself and reaches into her tiny bag.

"Oh, before I go, here." Sakura hands me a candy apple and a key chain with a red and white fan and a throwing start dangling from it. "The candy apple is for Sarada. I know how you hate sweets, so I got the key chain. It took me forever to find one you might like. Well... do you like it?"

I observe it some more before I answer. Was this what was holding her up before we left? "I do."

"I'm glad. Well... goodnight Sasuke." She then steps out of the vehicle. "See you at work."

"Yeah, bye." After closing the door, Sakura holds her bag in her hand and walks to the entrance of her house, which causes her hair to bob up and down. When she gets inside safely, I don't drive away yet.

I squeeze the key chain in my hand. Am I just tired, or?

"Papa?" I turn my head to the back of the car in shock. There, Sarada's head is still leaning on the car door but her eyes are open.

"How long have you been awake?"

"I just woke up." she rubs her eyes tiredly.

"We'll be home soon, you can go back to sleep. I will carry you to bed."

"Okay." She yawns and closes her eyes to fall back into her dreams.

Finally getting home, I carry Sarada to her room and tuck her in. I then take a quick shower and lay in bed not bothering to dry my hair. I try my best to sleep, but I'm unable to. Why? Why is she in my mind? All the things that happened today are replaying in my head. Sakura giving me medicine, the water park, competing with her in laser tag, her helping Sarada and making her feel better, the ride home, her face. That face. It's stuck in my head. Why can't I get it out of my head?

Could it be... that... no... impossible. Of course not, what are you thinking? But...

"Oh fuck."