Sakura's POV

Warm water splashes into my face that had my acne solution scrubbed all over. I reach out for a cloth as I turn off the sink, and wipe my face dry. Once I drop the cloth I look into the mirror. My eyes look a lot darker than usual. Hopefully I will be able to get some sleep tonight, but after what happened today with Sarada, I doubt Sasuke will be able to sleep, which means I won't be able to as well.

I again place the cloth on the rack and drag my feet out of the small bathroom, turn off the lights, and into the dark hall that has a couple of pictures hanging on it. I pass by the door to Sarada's room. From what I can hear, she is fast asleep. Probably tired from all the crying she did today. The door a little farther is cracked open a bit, and light pours out from that crack. I push it slowly, making it creak, and I am faced with a closet to my right, and a full sized bed right in front of me, with Sasuke laying on his side, facing away from where I sleep.

I can't fully see his face, but from what I can see, he is in deep thought, and it doesn't look like a happy one. The room is silent, only the drops of rain hitting the windows can be heard. He doesn't acknowledge me, just keeps thinking. I close the door completely, hoping to get his attention, but it doesn't work.

"Thank you for letting me stay at the last minute," I say as I walk to my side of the bed. "I thought I should be here tonight." Sasuke only grumbles a little. I open up the blankets to welcome myself into the comfortable mattress, and rest on my side, facing his back. His shoulders are tense and up in his neck, making his body curl a little into itself. "You seem really tense Darling."

I move my hand up to his shoulder to rub it, but Sasuke rolls it away when I make contact. "I'm fine," he mutters.

I mumble into my pillow, "You're not fine..." I lift my head a little off of the pillow so I can try to see his face, but Sasuke turns his body even more away from me, making it impossible for me to see him. "Maybe we should talk about it. We can talk to the teachers at school and inform them about the bullying. We can also talk to that girl Cho Cho, and I'm sure there are more kids who are victims of the bullying. Then the principle can do something about-"

Before I can finish my sentence, Sasuke interrupts me with his angry voice. "Sakura, for the love of God can you be quiet! You're so annoying!" I am unable to say or even move from how shocked I am to hear him say that. Sure, we have fought before, but it wasn't that serious. Also, I've never heard him snap like that to me.

I bit my lip in order to control my emotions. Come on Sakura. You're not a kid anymore. Don't get so upset about dumb things. I eventually turn my body to the other side, making me face the closet and a nightstand. Soon, I feel movement in the mattress and a strong arm wraps around my waist. I also feel Sasuke's chest directly on my back, and his head in my neck as he keeps hugging me from behind.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. I know you just want to help. I just... " I can hear his voice crack a bit as he speaks. "I just hate myself right now. How could I not see what was going on with her? How could I not connect the dots?" His breath starts to move at an uneven pace on my neck. Almost like he is going to cry. I turn over so my back is pressed against the bed, and I bring Sasuke's face towards mine. Once his face is right in front of mine, I place my lips onto his softly.

It takes him a moment to respond, but soon, his lips are moving in sync against each other. I then stick my tongue out and move it across his lower lip to get him to open, which he does. I slip my tongue in his mouth and explore. Soon his tongue starts to move and wraps around mine. We both twist them together and fight inside his mouth. Not roughly, but sweetly. Slowly, causing a little bit of saliva to drop down my chin. I then hear a groan forming at the back of his throat.

We break apart after a while so we can breathe. His head and upper chest rests on my chest and stomach, and I wrap my arms around him, letting him sleep on me like a child. No words are said. Nothing needs to be said. We now know that everything is going to be alright.

Sasuke woke up quite earlier than normal, so when I turned to my other side this morning, he wasn't there. I stayed there in the warm sheets for a while instead of getting up. Once I did, I found him eating cereal alone, still in his sleepwear, and his hair ruffled and sticking up like it always does in the morning, and it always makes me giggle, but not today.

"How long have you been up?" I mummer to him as I go grab a bowl from the cabinets. After getting a bowl, I move a drawer near the sink and grab a spoon.

"I woke up at three and couldn't fall back asleep." While listening to Sasuke, I pour in a bit of the cereal he is eating as well and then open the fridge to get the milk and pour it in. "I think I'm going to take the day off today," Sasuke continues to speak as I walk over to the dining table and take the seat across from him. "And spend the day with Sarada. Go somewhere fun again."

"Will you need some money?" I ask as I eat a spoonful of my cereal.

Sasuke finishes off his bowl and grabs it, along with his coffee and walks into the kitchen. "No, I'll be okay." I continue to eat my breakfast and Sasuke places his bowl in the sink. After doing that, I notice that he doesn't move from the sink, and just stands still. Almost like how he was last night in bed. Frozen, and thinking a little too hard.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke takes a breath and exhales before talking. "About what you said last night, about contacting the school... I think that is probably the first step to solving this, but I want to talk to Sarada first."

Once Sasuke ends his sentence, I drop the spoon in a bowl and turn my body in the seat to face him, only his back though. "Sounds fine to me. You'll let me know how it goes right?"

After only being able to see Sasuke's back, he relaxes more in his shoulders and turns around, letting me see his calm, and soft smile. "Of course."

Instead of carrying on with eating, I rise from my chair and walk into the kitchen to the tall and slim Sasuke. Sasuke gets taken back by me walking in front of him and hugging his waist, but once I kiss him, he eases into me.

One of his hands grabs the side of my face to control where my mouth goes, and the other rests on my waist. We spend some time one each others lips, then Sasuke moves his kisses to my cheek, then forehead, nose, and other cheek. I can't stop myself from smiling and giggling a little. "You're so cute," I say without knowing.

Sasuke makes his way back to my mouth and kisses me more roughly, which surprises me. I try to respond, but Sasuke doesn't allow me by biting my lower lip and pulling. Truthfully, it hurt, but not in a bad way. "Don't call me cute," he pouts.

I giggle again. "But you are cute!" And wrap my arms around his neck. The pout he formed remains, so I go to his cheek and give it a little peck. After that, I drop my arms from his neck and move back to the dinning table to grab the bowl I left. "I need to get going now. I have to go home and get my work clothes." I walk back into the kitchen, ready to put the bowl in the sink, but Sasuke steps in front of me and grabs it.

"I'll take care of this," he says, and puts it in the sink along with all the other dishes that need to be washed.

"I'm going to go get my things. Don't forget to call and tell him you aren't coming to work today," I say as I walk back to Sasuke's room. Sasuke greets with a grunt and turns on the facet, making a faint noise come through.

Third Person's POV

Sarada woke up an hour after Sakura left the apartment. Then, Sasuke asked her about doing something fun, and Sarada mentioned how she wanted to go to the movies again while eating, so that is where they decided to go.

None of the movies that are showing impress Sasuke, or look interesting in the slightest. "What do you want to see?" he asks Sarada.

Sarada continues to observe the screen showing everything, also looking uninterested, but decides on a kids movie about kid ninjas. "This one is fine." Sasuke turns his view back to the screen and clicks on the movie. Doing that makes the times it is showing and the prices. The earliest time starts in thirty minutes, so Sasuke picks that one and pays for two tickets.

"We have thirty minutes before the movie starts. Do you want to go to the convenience store across the street and get some candy?" Sarada gives him a simple nod for an answer. Both father and daughter then walk out of the movie theater together. Once outside, the humidity hits them faster than a car could, and the sun blinds them, but mostly Sarada.

As they walk to Sakura's car that she let them use as she took the bus that morning to get to her home and work, Sasuke holds onto his small child's hand so she doesn't go far.

The car ride is quick and buying some candy is because Sarada already knows what she wants, and Sasuke doesn't like sweet things. In five minutes, they are back at the theater, waiting to enter the theater. Sarada bites on a Swedish Fish and chews slowly to avoid talking.

While today is supposed to be a fun day for him and Sarada, because of all that happened the day before, and the fact that they haven't talked about it since, the whole day has been awkward and silent. 'Maybe I should have brought Naruto or Mother along. At least then it wouldn't be as unwieldy. She's your daughter for fucks sake. Why can't you just talk? Say something. Anything.' Even though Sasuke keeps telling himself to talk, he is unable to, and before he knows it, the theater opens for the movie.

Throughout the movie, Sasuke can't sit still. He isn't a fan of theaters. Always cramped. You can't really move or get comfortable. Plus, the thoughts of Sarada getting bullied, and seeing her cry yesterday, he can't concentrate.

One of the characters on the screen starts to shout at the top of their lungs again, talking to the villain about how the boy that always stayed with him is dead and that he doesn't care, causing the villain to cry. Sasuke would probably feel a little bit of emotion, but since he isn't fond of the loud main character, he doesn't feel anything. Sasuke moves his attention from the movie to Sarada. By the way she is leaning forward and scrunching her face, she looks quite interested in the movie. Sasuke smiles a bit in relief that Sarada is enjoying herself.

After the end, Sasuke brings Sarada to get some fast food. As they sit down and eat their meals, Sasuke asks, "What did you think of it?"

"It was alright. I liked the characters and the fights. What did you think?"

"The main character was annoying." Sarada giggles at Sasuke's opinion, and goes back to eating her wrap. Sasuke sits still, glancing at her as she eats in silence, and stares down towards the table. "Sarada?" Hearing her name catches her attention back to her father. "Can we talk about what's going on at school?" Sarada munches a little slower as she thinks of a response.

Sarada chews once more before swallowing. Then she looks at Sasuke again. "Okay."

"I was talking to Sakura last night, and we were thinking that this bullying issue needs to be addressed to the school, but I wanted to ask you how you would feel about that."

"...Okay...," she mutters.

"Also... why didn't you tell me about this? Am I... am I that bad of a father that you felt you couldn't tell me?"

"What?!"

Sasuke bites his lip before speaking again. "I'm sorry that I never noticed. I'm sorry I haven't been a good dad to you."

"Papa stop it!" Sarada shouts, but not too loud that others can hear the whole conversation. "You aren't a bad dad. I would have told you but..." Sarada looks down at her lap before continuing. "I didn't want to cause you trouble, and ever since you and Sakura started dating, you've been a lot happier, so... I didn't want you to be upset."

"Sarada..." Sasuke reaches over and grabs Sarada's arm, and brings them onto the table so he can hold her hands. "You could never trouble me. You are the most important thing to me and your feelings matter to me. I want you to tell me how you feel."

"But-"

"Don't ever think you are a burden. Promise me that no matter how you feel, you will tell me, and I promise you that I will do whatever I can for you."

For the first time today, Sarada smiles. "I love you Papa."

Sasuke smiles and brings her small hands that aren't as chubby as they used to be, and kisses them. "I love you too."