notes: typos fixed! (12/28/2018)
rating: K
disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
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10. doll
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Baby Sarada plays with her doll, a mini tyrannosaurus rex—its paws stick outward, almost as if it were in need of a hug and every time, Sarada complies. Her wondrous big eyes twinkle with glee as she tosses the doll up and down in the air, catching it in her chubby hands each time. She gurgles and lets out mirthful giggles; Sakura, in the background, stops folding her laundry to offer a roll of her eyes coupled with a humored smile. She hadn't remembered how the doll came to be. Sasuke had came up one day, all tired and dirtied and covered in dust, with it clutched in a hand and when he gave it away to her, Sakura mused on how bad it must've been rummaging through the old, old boxes of memories for it.
("It needed a new home," he'd told her once, giving one shrug. Simple and short, and then he poofs away, to who-knows-where.)
Uchiha Sarada loves this doll. Sakura bets she would've gone after it if she'd tossed it to the distance like a toy for a puppy.
A few hours ago, she'd given up warning the gurgling baby about the dangers of tossing things so instead, she takes out her iPhone to snap some pictures of her baby playing with her husband's favorite childhood doll—she might use one of them as her phone background later, forward one to Sasuke when he's napping later too.
She thought about it—Sakura contemplates on how Sasuke even kept such a thing safe and clean from dust after all these long years. He must have his reasons. Sarada enjoys the doll, and Sakura couldn't help but hug her little baby close to her chest as Sarada plays with it. "Selfie time!" comes a delighted yell, Sakura's thumb already pressing the button and Sarada squeals in return.
Sakura decided to send Sasuke the picture a little bit after Sarada's bedtime.
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Sasuke fondly smiles at his lock screen picture of a one year-old Sarada astoundingly gazing into the camera as she hugs his—her doll tightly. He hasn't changed that picture from his lock screen for a few years now; it meant too much. Surely, Itachi was fine with his old present to Sasuke being handed down to someone else who'll love it in his stead—Sasuke's much too old anyways.
