Sarada knew absolutely nothing about her clan. She knew the Uchiha were a clan that had descended directly from the elder son of the Sage of Six Paths with immense power and eyes that see all. She knew that her dōjutsu was called the sharingan, and could only be awakened due to strong emotions. Sarada had awakened hers as a when she was very, but ended up with permanent damage to her eyes as a result of the strain. She didn't know the circumstances, and all she remembered was crying over her mother's shoulder and seeing clearly, then not much after that. It's her earliest memory, and she remembered being sick after that event. Mama explained the sharingan to her, then made her promise to never use it without Papa or Uncle Kakashi with her, to which she agreed.

A then four-year-old Sarada concluded that if Grandpa Kakashi could help with her eye, he knew something about the Uchiha, right? Unfortunately that was a useless trail. Sarada realised he wouldn't tell her anything early on. However, he did tell her about his deceased teammate, Obito Uchiha. The late bloomer in her clan who had a very powerful sharingan and died to save the life of his teammate. Very noble, in Sarada's eyes. How tragic, yet inspiring! If a member of her clan didn't sacrifice his life for the legendary Sixth Hokage, she maybe wouldn't exist!

At the time, five-year-old Sarada was very curious. She asked a lot of questions, and got logical answers. Mama always answered her and cited her sources, until it came to her clan. It was at the age of five when Sarada realised that she would never get to know anything about her clan. The same answer was given every single time. "Wait for your father to come home."

And wait she did. Sarada waited. She waited 8 years in fact! Then everything blew in her face when she left the village after Uncle Nanadaime because he was meeting with her dad. Almost all her questions had been answered, except the biggest one.

What happened to the Uchiha Clan?

Sarada, a twelve year old genin now, had no answer. Papa is home now, but there's no answer to her question. She tried to ask but he gave her the look that he makes when he's uncomfortable. Anything in the village records regarding her clan requires clearance from Papa or Uncle Naruto, and neither would say anything. Why won't anyone tell her anything? What's so bad about the Uchiha that she can't know? It's so unfair…

︎

Sarada sat alone in her cold, dreary bedroom. The curtains fluttered and danced as the breeze moved them. It was like watching a child play with puppets. Her room reflected her sombre mood. Mama was at the hospital and Papa was training with Boruto, so Sarada was home alone. Completely unattended. She was in white silk pyjamas with little Uchiha fans on them, gifted to her by her Grandfather. She normally wouldn't have anything to do with Mama's parents, but she had forgotten to wash her night clothes before her last C rank and this was all she had that was clean, unluckily.

Her Mama's parents didn't like Papa very much and they made that clear. The first time Sarada had met them, she was eight years old and it wasn't a very pleasant meeting either. Tension filled the room, and shouting ensued once Sarada had left with Uncle Naruto for a sleepover. Sarada had connected the dots. They didn't like her because of Papa, who had apparently abandoned Mama. It made her scoff at the time; why would Papa abandon Mama when he loves her? They called him a "criminal" too, but Papa was doing an important mission for the village!

Just thinking about that day made her blood boil. Her grandparents tried to remedy what they had done once they realised how cold she became with them, but Sarada held on to that grudge for years. It did lessen over time, but for it to go away completely? They'd have to fully accept her father and her. Since he had come home, they have yet to show genuine kindness towards Papa and Sarada was not having any of it. Papa did nothing wrong to deserve their treatment.

Sarada was seated on her neatly made bed, reading a medical textbook with her sharingan on. Mama had surrounded her with medical texts since she came out of the womb, so this was information she had already known. However, all she knew well was the basics and how to form medical chakra and Mama had trained her too well in chakra control for Sarada to not learn medical ninjutsu. She also had interest in genjutsu after being told that it was a speciality of her clan, but anytime she asked Papa or Grandpa Kakashi about doing genjutsu with her eyes, she would get similar reactions. Papa would freeze up and his mood would change completely, while Grandpa Kakashi would change the subject after pausing. Another thing that had been kept from her.

The whistle of a senbon being thrown at her head shook her out of her thoughts. Lodged in the wall exactly where her head was, stuck a thin, long senbon tinted with green. Poison. Again, seriously? The assasination attempts were rare, mainly because she was hardly ever alone. The kidnapping and assasination attempts only happened during the occasional visit outside of the village and they were normally missing-nins or bandits who saw the fan on their backs. All because of her prestigious bloodline, Mama said.

"Ah, the Uchiha Princess can defend herself? Good. You'll need to."

A low voice whispered in her ear, sending a tingle down her spine. The hairs on the back of her neck had risen and she stood tall, battle stance ready.

"Who are you?" Sarada asked the question with a strong air of authority and confidence. Mirroring her Mama's tone was easier than she thought.

The owner of the voice grabbed her hand with their own strong, calloused hand.

Sarada's stomach shot up and lurched violently, then nothing.

︎

Sakura came home from the hospital, wrecked as usual. The dull ache in her bones as well as her low chakra levels tag teamed to make it as difficult as possible for her to reach her final destination: her soft, memory foam mattress with a topper and memory foam pillows in the well insulated room she shared with Sasuke. The large room with blackout curtains was calling her name!

Silence. Sakura knew something was up.

"Sarada?"

Sakura stood there, waiting for the routine, "Mama, you woke me up!" or, "Mama, I left you dinner!"

It never came.

That's when Sakura knew something had happened. Sarada would never leave this late, nor would she have stayed over at a friend's house without telling at least Ino first if she couldn't reach either of her parents. No, something was wrong.

Sakura tiptoed slowly, suppressing her already low chakra. Her footsteps were silent as she walked to her only child's room. Sakura closed her eyes and tried to sense her daughter's chakra, but she couldn't. There was a faint secondary signature, but the trail stopped in Sarada's room.

Staggering backwards, the pink-haired medic put her hand to her mouth as tears streamed down her face.

Her daughter was gone.