Third Person's POV
Sunday got here faster than Sasuke thought. As soon as he woke up this morning, he found himself cleaning every spot in his house from the floors and furniture, to the closets and cupboards that most definitely won't be opened when Ino comes. In his mind, if Ino notices how clean and put together everything is, she would think that Sasuke and Sarada are doing better than her. Clean house means more success.
While Sasuke makes a third vacuuming trip, Sarada puts on her more formal dress. She never wears it, so might as well. After changing, Sarada makes an attempt to french braid her hair like Sakura would, but fails multiple times. 'If Sakura was here, she would be able to do this in five minutes, maybe less.' Trying one more time would end the same as all the other tries, so Sarada takes her hair brush and gets out any knots in her black hair that is a little past her shoulder blades now.
With the background noise being the obnoxious vacuum, Sarada rolls her eyes again since her father has already cleaned the floors. She then exits out of her small room and to the living room where Sasuke is, speedily swapping the loud cleaning machine across the hardwood floors and rug. "Papa!" Sarada shouts to him once, but he doesn't hear. "Papa!" Again, Sasuke continues aggressively cleaning. "PAPA!" At the third call, Sasuke lifts his head up a bit from hearing someone shouting his name. When he turns his head around to where the voice came from, he sees his daughter giving him the Uchiha glare that she got from him, along with her arms crossed over her chest and hip out in a sassy manner.
Sasuke then shuts off the vacuum and turns half way to Sarada. "What's wrong?"
"Do you have to vacuum AGAIN?" she whines. "The neighbors are gonna get mad."
Contemplating what Sarada says, Sasuke lets out a chuckle and rubs the back of his neck. "I guess you're right. There probably isn't any more dirt on the floor."
As Sasuke goes to the outlet where the loud machine is plugged in, Sarada returns her stance to normal. "Why are you so twitchy Papa?"
Sasuke being Sasuke, takes out the plug and tries to nonchalantly deny her accusation. "Twitchy? When have I ever been twitchy?"
His response doesn't convince Sarada in the slightest bit. "Right now."
"You're just imagining things." After saying that, Sasuke wraps the cord around his hand and rolls the vacuum down the hallway to place it in a closet. Before she can say any more, a knock is heard by the door.
Hearing it makes Sarada's heart jump up into her throat. Realizing that her mother, the woman who gave birth to her, the one that left when she was a baby, is standing right outside the wooden door, ready to meet her. When Sarada first woke up this morning, she thought she was ready, and wasn't going to be surprised, but that soft rhythm like noise makes her mouth dry up. Maybe she isn't ready.
A few seconds after someone knocks on the door, Sasuke appears from the hallway right behind her, looking just as shocked and nervous. "She's here earlier than I thought," Sasuke mumbles. With everything all set up and clean, the only thing left to do is open the door. Both Uchihas slowly walk to the door, until Sasuke suggests Sarada to stand by the couch to give all of them some room. Sarada does just that and sits on the edge of the couch with a tense back and hands fidgeting in her lap. Sasuke grabs onto the doorknob, and before turning it, he whispers to Sarada, "Are you okay?" then the said girl gives him a small nod while holding her breath, and then opens the door, feeling the cold wind and seeing the tall blonde.
Unsurprisingly, she is wearing expensive clothing, consisting of tight black pants, a dark brown leather like dress coat, golden necklace and hoop earrings. In her arms was the same purse she had when she showed up earlier that week, along with a plastic bag filled with some kind of rectangular shaped box. "Hey," she mutters.
Sasuke says a quick hello before opening the door fully for Ino to come inside. As soon as she takes two steps in, she discovers the small girl on the other side of the room, standing up from the couch, her face filled with many emotions like shock, confusion, a little anger, and a tiny bit of relief. Ino too feels a wave of sentiment coming over from seeing her. With both of the girls staring at each other in the silence, Sasuke clears his throat and says, "Ino, this is Sar-" only then is stopped by the thud of Ino's purse and bag hitting the floor, and Ino rushing over to their daughter.
"Oi! Don't just-" it's too late for Sasuke to finish what he was about to say, since Ino is already crouched down, hugging Sarada as hard as she can. Sarada stands stiff in her arms. Uncomfortable and unsure of what to do. Sasuke, seeing this, attempts to step in one more time. "Ino, let go of Sarada. She is disturbed." The tall blonde listens to Sasuke's command, and lets go of the hug, but keeps her hands on the small child's shoulders.
With tears forming in her eyes, Ino softly speaks to her. "You've gotten so big. And you have glasses," she then lifts her right hand and caresses Sarada's cheek. "And you are even more beautiful than before." After saying that, Ino gives her a gentle smile. Sarada's eyes widen from hearing everything. While she has been unsure as to what will happen when she meets her mother, she never expected this.
"Ino," Sasuke interrupts more sternly and threateningly. Immediately Ino releases her hands from Sarada and stands back up to her normal height, towering over her daughter.
"I'm sorry. I got a bit carried away," Ino exhales as she twirls her bangs embarrassingly. As Ino then tries to avoid eye contact with Sarada, a light bulb goes off in her head that's about the bag she brought with her today. "Oh I got you something."
Sasuke and Sarada look at Ino curiously when she walks back to the things she dropped on the floor. Ino bends down and grabs the plastic bag, and then pulls out a fancy pink cardboard box with many designs and a dessert company logo on the top. "I got you macaroons!" she says as she shows Sarada the box. Instead of seeing Sarada smile brightly like she hoped, Ino sees Sarada raising an eyebrow in uncertainty. "Do you like macaroons?" Ino asks nervously.
"I've never had them," she mumbles.
Shocked by her statement, Ino asks, "What! You've never had them?! How?"
"Macarons aren't exactly cheap," Sasuke fills in with an obvious attitude. Hearing Ino getting so surprised by that fact that they haven't ever had an expensive treat really set him off since she seems to be able to buy them all the time along with other pricey non necessities while he still struggles to pay bills and rent sometimes.
Ino realizing this, mutters guiltily "Oh," and quickly changes her mood. "Well, why not try them now! I know you'll love it!" Rapidly, Ino places the box down on the coffee table and both her and Sarada take a seat on the couch, then she opens the box, showing rows of colorful macaroons. The colors consist of light green, pink, yellow, white, and light brown. Sarada gazes at the desserts amazed at the colors she has never seen on a dessert before.
"Wow!" she exclaims.
"I'll get some tea," Sasuke claims and walks into the kitchen to grab three cups, but not without keeping an eye on the two. Even though Sarada has relaxed a bit once she saw the sweets, a part of her is still on edge.
After filling two plain white mugs and Sarada's ladybug mug with tea, Sasuke walks back into the living room with the mugs and napkins for Sarada to eat the macaroons.
As Sarada reaches into the box and grabs a green macaroon, Sasuke pulls one of the dining table chairs to the living room and sits across from them. Then, the little girl takes a small bite of the sweet, chews it for a minute, and suddenly, her eyes light up.
"It's good!" she shouts excitedly. She takes a bigger bite into the macaroon. "Very sweet! Kinda reminds me of almonds too!" Both Ino and Sasuke smile at the precious child getting so happy at a dessert. "Papa, you should try it!"
"I'm all set," he says while holding a hand up like he is stopping her.
"Still not a fan of sweets, Sasuke?" Ino asks. Hearing that stuns Sasuke at first.
'She remembers my dislike for sweets?' he thinks to himself.
Once Sarada finishes that first one, she takes a pink one to try, and Ino then follows along and grabs one of the macaroons while Sasuke sips his tea and watches Sarada happily eat. Quicker than the first one, Sarada eats the pink macaroon, and reaches for one more. "That's the last one for today," Sasuke urges. "You shouldn't have too much sugar, you'll get a stomach ache."
Sarada nods at Sasuke before eating one more macaroon and wipes her hands on a napkin. "Thank you for the macaroons... ma'am," Sarada hesitates at the end, wondering what she should call her. Ino smiles again at the girl, and then closes the box so no one would be tempted to have another. As Ino does that, Sarada slides herself off the couch and says, "I'm going to brush the sugar off my teeth," and walks down the hallway, leaving the two adults alone.
Sasuke doesn't speak. Instead, he just keeps drinking. Ino also sips some of her tea with an uncontrollable smile on her face. "I think it's going well."
"Yeah well don't get your hopes up. Bringing Sarada some dumb dessert doesn't make up for the fact you abandoned us for seven years. You broke any trust that we had, and if you want to be a part of Sarada's life again, it's gonna take a long time for you to gain it back... Unless, you aren't planning on staying-"
Before Sasuke continues, Ino stops him from making that accusation. "I'm not planning on leaving. I want to be part of Sarada's life." While Sasuke is still mad at Ino for even wanting to meet Sarada, a part of him feels very relieved to hear that Ino doesn't want to abandon Sarada and break her heart.
"Well then you will have to work for it," Sasuke replies, taking one more sip from his mug.
"While that is true, I will need to be able to have chances to gain that trust." Sasuke raises an eyebrow at her sentence. "It was hard enough to get the opportunity to meet her. I know I probably don't deserve it, but I need you to give me a chance to prove myself. What do you need me to do in order for you to start to trust me? Do you want to see where I live? Do you want to see where I am working now? I recently quit my old modeling job that had me constantly traveling. Now I work only locally, so I won't be away."
"Maybe another time," Sasuke mutters. After speaking, both Sasuke and Ino sit silently. Sasuke thinks about what she has said, and pinches the bridge of his nose. "I won't let you and Sarada hang out alone just yet..." As the man talks, Ino's posture straightens and she listens more intently and hopeful. "But we can all spend time together. The three of us."
At the end of Sasuke's statement, Ino's smile widens even bigger than it was before. "Thank you thank you thank you" she shouts quickly. Sasuke only grunts as a response before their daughter walks back in.
As time goes by, the three of them talk a little, and even play a board game to lighten the tension. While playing, Sasuke contemplates what he said before. His mind then goes to a pink haired girl who he hasn't seen that much. 'I should tell her about today.' As he continues to think of her, he finds himself smiling at the memories they have shared, and the times he has seen her cheerful smile. 'I really miss you, Sakura.'