Author's Note: Now for the Moments that I've been waiting for!


Two weeks had passed since Sakura had informed Naruto and Hinata of the existence of Shinachiku, a whole 2 weeks and 2 days since the little bundle of Joy had entered their lives as the Chunin Exams loomed ever closer, Sarada and Boruto becoming busy as Shinachiku was frequently bouncing from the care of Hinata and Himawari to Sakura, his father picking him up once or twice to spend time with him in his office, Naruto getting very attached very quickly to Shina-Chan, but also having a huge load of work always looming over him.

It was after the two week mark Sakura heard a knock on the door while Hinata and Himawari were visiting, Himawari rolling a ball between her and Shinachiku, whom was propped up on Sakura's legs in case he got tired while she was sitting looking over hospital reports.

The knock caught the attention of both women as Hinata paused in her knitting, knitting a red and green blanket for Shinachiku with little Katsuyu slugs lining it to show her talent.

" Who could that be?"

" I dunno..." Sakura stood, careful to prop Shinachiku up on his Slug plushie, though he whimpered when she moved away she got to the front door and opened it.

Standing there, was Sasuke.

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Seeing him standing there, a blank look on his face as he stared down at her, it was like she had regressed to being a 12 year old girl again, her heart hammering as a high enveloped her, taking a shallow breath as she stared to him, " Sasuke-kun."

" Sakura." He acknowledged, " Naruto called me here."

The Pinkette had known that Naruto would do that, but all the preparation she had made of what to tell Sasuke when he finally did come... she couldn't recall it, it just fluttered out of the window.

" Ah." The soft voice of the Uzumaki came from behind her, " Sasuke-kun."

" Hinata." He bowed his head to her. If he was surprised by the other visitor he didn't show it, " Is Sarada and Boruto here?"

" N-No, just Himawari and I." Hinata spoke before looking to Sakura whom was a little frozen in the door, her hand tightening it's grip on the handle without crumpling it as she gathered her courage.

" S-S-Sasuke-kun…" Sakura always found her face flushed and her tripping over her words as she looked to his chest, unable to look him properly in the eye until she could say what she needed to, looking into the cold abyss as it stared back to her, " Did Naruto... Tell you why you should be here?"

There was a small pause before Sasuke shifted a little, " He was being vague about it, but he said it concerns you and Sarada and I should come home immediately."

Sakura wondered how long ago he got that message and how long he took his time getting there, but her inner self slugged that thought down, what was more important was that he was there!

" Come in!" She stepped back out of his way as he nodded and stepped in, the ex-Haruno closing the door behind her as Hinata bowed then, walking back into the other room as she seemed a little stiff, on guard to what Sasuke might do as Sakura hurriedly followed her friend ahead of Sasuke.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The pinkette found Himawari holding Shinachiku's hands as he tried to move his feet, the 8 year old beaming widely in an Uzumaki smile as her sparkling blue eyes looked down to him, Shinachiku looking over to the green eyed woman, gasping softly as he tried to move faster, " Ma! Ma! Mam!"

The adorable forming call from the nine month old almost brought her out of the floaty feeling she was getting with Sasuke finally showing up to a more grounding prideful feeling, smiling as she clasped her hands together.

" Look at you Shina-Chan!"

" He wanted to follow you Auntie Sakura!" Himawari looked up with a large smile before noticing Sasuke, pausing a little as Shinachiku didn't notice until he tried taking a second step forward, tugging on her hands as he whined and looked back to his half-sister.

"... Sakura, what is this?"

Sakura felt her blood chill as she looked back to see the almost dark look on Sasuke's face, as if not knowing how to register this.

" Sasuke-kun… Though you might not believe it... this is Shinachiku. He's my son... from another world." She gripped the loose bottom of her shirt and looked to the side.

There was a pause as Sasuke stared at the little Uzumaki boy, whom finally looked up to see him.

" Sa... Sa..." Shinachiku spoke slowly, all eyes on him, " Sasu!"

Himawari seemed eager to shake off the atmosphere with Shinachiku, " Look he remembers Sarada's Papa!"

Sasuke seemed a little less dark and a little more caught off guard. After all he had never seen this child before yet the little blond seemed to believe to know him, and Sakura's explanation made certain sense, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility with the work he did...

He walked past Sakura and knelt before the tiny thing, Sharingan and Rinnegan activating, searching for any hidden secrets, any cracks in what could be a façade, seeing nothing but a little one whom looked to him with sparkling green eyes as he let go of his half-sister, falling forward as Sasuke caught him with his one hand.

" Sasu! Sasu!" He crowed, excited to see him as Sasuke only felt awkward.

" I'm guessing between you and Naruto...?"

" That's what the letter from the other world said." Sakura nodded in confirmation, her voice light.

" And you...?" Sasuke looked to Hinata, whom was finally sitting down.

" I have accepted this as truth and he is a part of our family, as Naruto-kun insisted." Hinata bowed her head, " The only one we were wondering about was you."

There was another silence as Shinachiku bounced up and down, Sasuke looking down to him, " I see. Is there any other reports of this happening?"

" None other than him. The letter they sent with him mentioned that others may follow, but Naruto's been combing around and there hasn't yet been any surprise visitors." She reported as Hinata slowly took up her knitting again, slower this time in case she had to drop it.

" I see. And the cause?"

" They didn't specify what had caused them to send him over other than it being the end of their world." Hinata spoke for Sakura, whom nodded in confirmation.

" Well then there's nothing else we can do but have you take care of him, right?"

" That is the case. I wasn't really looking to put him on Hinata, but Naruto and Shinachiku's half-siblings all want to be involved with him."

" Sarada?"

" Yes, she seems very happy to have a little brother." Sakura couldn't help but smile before the door opened, as if mentioning her caused her to appear.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

" I'm home!" Sarada called as she unfastened her shoes, Boruto merely kicking them off and jogging in, pausing in the doorway.

" Sasuke-San?"

" Huh? Papa's here?" Sarada looked up as she kicked off her last shoe and ran in after Boruto, pausing when she saw her father kneeling there with Shinachiku leaning against him with the widest little Uzumaki smile, " You're back? Since When?" She smiled as she made her way over and dropped to her knees as Shinachiku squealed and let her pick him up and cradle him even as Himawari pouted that her little half-brother was taken from her.

" Just around now. The Chunin Exams are coming up after all and will be hosted here. That, and Naruto alerted me about something I had to check on here."

" You mean Shina-Chan?" Sarada asked as she offered up the baby.

" Seems as though." Sasuke nodded as Shinachiku beamed to the two of them, Sakura feeling a pang as she wondered if another true Uchiha child would fill that spot, Sarada so happy to be a big sister before Himawari pressed to them.

" Hey! Don't hog Shina-Chan!"

" Himawari, he can't provide you entertainment all day." Hinata spoke as she looked up from her knitting but did not stop moving her hands.

" Then Nii-Chan, play with me!" The purple-haired girl turned to her brother with puppy-dog eyes as Boruto sighed before smiling.

" Alright alright."

Sarada hummed as Shinachiku soon rubbed at his eyes, " Nap time Shina-Chan."

He pouted but Sarada merely chuckled, " Don't worry, I'll take the nap with you, it's been a very hard training day after all..."

She stood and walked away with the little blond as Sasuke watched after her, Sakura smiling softly, warmly, " Will you be staying with us Sasuke-kun?"

" For a while, yes." The Uchiha Patriarch nodded as he stood finally.

" Will you stay for dinner?"

There was another long pause before Sasuke turned around and headed out, " I'll be back."

Sakura watched after him as her heart dropped, saying nothing as he opened the door and left with the small click of the door, Hinata looking to her worriedly.

" Sakura-"

" It's fine. This is... It's fine." She murmured before standing as Himawari and Boruto ran around, looking to Hinata, " I'm going to start dinner, are you guys staying?"

Hinata watched her before bowing her head, " If you want us to stay, we will stay."

"... Please."

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Hinata, Boruto and Himawari were long gone as Sarada and Shinachiku had woken up, had dinner and then went back to bed, snoozing together as Sakura did the dishes as she insisted, silence surrounding her as she clinked another bowl into the strainer.

She had been putting off doing the dishes because she wanted to put off acknowledging Sasuke might not be there that night, but she couldn't put it off anymore if she wanted to go to sleep at a reasonable hour.

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she sniffled, rubbing at her eyes until she heard a knock at the door.

Hope burst inside her.

It was too late in the evening for any sane person to be at the door.

She turned and sprinted down the hallway to the door, grabbing it up and wrenching it open before pausing, stopping completely as she saw Karin standing there.

Her red eyes seemed tired and like they had been crying under her glasses, her shoulders hunched, but it wasn't because of that Sakura felt her heart drop.

It was the bundle in her arms.

" Sakura..." Karin whispered.

" Karin..." Sakura murmured back.

They both knew what was in her arms.

Karin looked like she had been internally battling with herself before she had finally gone to the conclusion to heed her own advice the last time they talked, Karin biting her lip before offering up a letter and picture to Sakura, whom numbly took them, staring at the bundle as Karin held it closer before speaking.

" Her name is Akari. In another world, she is my daughter... but she is also Sasuke's."