Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in it.

- Epilogue -

Sakura was almost frustrated to tears now. Both of them hadn't seen a minute of sleep in the last days and Sakura was starting to sink in despair. There was nothing wrong with her, she wasn't sick or cold, or hungry. Or anything. Yet her cries didn't stop. Even when she held her in her arms as she did now.

"What should I do…?" Sakura whispered in the silence of the bedroom, her caresses seemingly doing a good job of calming the baby in her hands. She paced to the window and peeked behind the curtain and into the darkness of the night. The streetlamps cast a faint, cold light onto the frosted pavement as her eyes skimmed over it with worry. Why was he still not home? He promised… Sakura looked down at Sarada's tiny form and decided to leave her back in the crib, as she had now calmed down a little.

This new house was as small as her apartment, but she loved every bit of it. The tender colors, the coziness, the modernistic tint, it was all perfect. Almost perfect. Sometimes she really needed him and she knew it was selfish of her, but it was stressing her out. Those night shifts, through times that were still dangerous… she never knew whether he'll come back. She never knew what the day will be like for him, what he'll have to face.

Her only hope was that he's seen battlefields and he was well aware of what his loss would cause her, so she just reconciled with waiting and shuttling between those rooms like a ghost until he's back. He had never been so late. It was long past midnight and he promised to be home before ten since today's shifts have been reversed. He didn't pick up his phone, hasn't sent a message or any information whatsoever. Her nerves were tensed so much that she couldn't possibly fall asleep, despite the dense darkness, laying in the bed and staring at the ceiling. Again.

Using the current moment of peace, Sakura slid out of the room and went straight to the kitchen, to drink some water.

Dread settled in her heart every time he was late and with every passing minute she could feel her hope slipping through her fingers. She thought it'd be better if he's away from the field fights, but here… in the city, where all kinds of insanity whirled, where every night someone died from an attack, assassination, accidents, robberies. She had to choose whether to watch or listen about the casualties, pretending that she's not shaking with fear as they announce victims or hurt police officers, or ignore everything and shut the TV off, convincing herself that the silence was better than all of that. Either way, she often found herself teared up because the love of her life was somewhere out there and she had no idea where or with whom, whether he was ok, whether he thought about his home, or just tried to survive the next disaster.

Sakura flinched when she heard a click coming from the front door and forgot to breathe for a second. Her feet moved on their own as she left the cup in her hands and stopped a few steps ahead of the door. Sasuke came in, a bit surprised to see her standing there, in the half-dusk, with heavy shadows falling on her face from the distant light coming from the kitchen.

Sakura barely let him close the door before dashing in, to kiss and hug him.

"I missed you so much," she whispered, hands tightly enveloping him as he hugged her back, lips brushing against hers lightly.

"I've been away for just a few hours."

Sakura pressed him closer angrily, with her fingers in his hair, feeling the amusement in his tone. Did he really think it was funny? She died a little bit with every hour he wasn't at home, and she was left waiting. He reversed their places and pushed her back against the door with a feverish kiss that took her breath away, hand tracing her body down her waist and stopped at her lower hip, about to lift it—

A muffled cry interrupted the moment and they both fazed, backing away from each other. Sakura let out a tormented sound, her forehead leaning on his. "She hasn't slept the whole day. I don't think she has any intentions of doing it through the night."

Sasuke slowly parted from her and silently shifted to the bedroom, followed by Sakura. She stopped at the room's threshold, curious of what he was up to. Nothing she did has worked by far. He switched on a reading light and she could finally see him, in his police uniform, and furrowing intently thanks to the high-pitched cry that currently echoed in the room.

His judgmental gaze upon Sarada was getting a little comical when he stopped next to her crib and watched her for a while as if developing a strategy. He slowly took her in his arms. It attracted Sarada's attention for a brief second before she went on with her screaming. Sakura pursed her lips, leaning against the door's frame without interrupting. She loved when he tried to create the impression that he knew exactly what he was doing without having a clue what to do.

"Sarada," he spoke quietly in her hair. "Don't cry. I'm here now." Sarada hiccupped through the continuous crying, hands rubbing her dark eyes drowsily while Sasuke took her blanket and enveloped her in it carefully. "It's alright," he breathed out, and then she suddenly hushed, leaning on his chest, despite the tears in her eyes. Sakura's mouth dropped open as she came off the door's frame, astonished. What kind of magic did he use and what was the way to acquire it?

Sasuke kissed Sarada's forehead and unexpectedly a small giggle came out of her as she shrunk deeper into the fold.

"Are you serious?" Sakura hissed. "She's hyperactive these days." She reached to take her from him, but he absently stepped away, eyes on Sarada with some strange, magnetic adoration. Alright... maybe her presence only broke the momentary intimacy there. The smile on Sakura's lips widened.

He didn't want to give her. Likely for good. It was the first time in hours that she's calmed down like this and neither of them wished that state to change. Sasuke took his shoes off and carried her to the bed, relaxing back on a pillow as Sakura hurried to join him, climbing on. They observed their daughter, reveling in her, until she finally decided to crawl out of the wrap, scrambling her way up and raised a lock of Sasuke's raven hair only to slam her lips on his forehead, then quickly hiding in the curve of his neck with a snicker.

Sasuke stood as if hit by a bolt of lightning and Sakura couldn't help but laugh out loud. "I haven't taught her any of this," Sakura leaned on his shoulder. "That's all you."

Sasuke looked at her, then back at Sarada, who was now staring up at him with curiosity, with two sparkling onyx beads. Her black hair hasn't grown much, but it was enough to remind her to whom she belonged.

Sakura smiled at her. "Alright, sweetie, time to sleep." She reached out, taking her away from Sasuke with the idea of lulling her back to sleep in her crib, but Sarada had something else on her mind. Her shrill squeak echoed in the room, her face turning into a sorrowful grimace, and she gripped Sasuke's cloth with all the strength she could find. "Okay, okay!" Sakura dropped her back in Sasuke's lap and backed away, hands in the air. Sarada calmed down, her head leaning on her father's chest with renewed composure. Sakura scanned Sasuke incredulously, noticing the small smile that quivered on his lips. "This is so weird."

Sasuke met Sakura's eyes and shrugged with visible satisfaction. "Still popular with the ladies, I see," Sakura let out a breathy laugh at the miraculous sight, hands pulling the blankets over her body. "Good for me. I can get some sleep from now on. Oh, and good luck with all her boyfriends," Sakura adjusted herself to sleep, shutting the light off, but Sasuke had frozen in place.

She had her back on him, but even with her eyes closed, she bit back a smile. There was a storm coming. Three, two, one—

"What boyfriends?" Sasuke's grim voice in the dark had her covering her head with the sheets again, in desperate attempts to suppress her laughter. She was absolutely not telling him how Naruto's firstborn didn't take his eyes off her today, forgetting all twelve toys he had around. Not for the world.

"Good night, Sasuke."

The End

A/N: Thank you so, so much to all of you for being inspirational and supporting me throughout this story, even though I often thought it's better if I abandon it. Love you! I am aware that the start was not what it had to be and I might get back to it sometime, for a rewrite, but in the meantime, I should make my best to update other ongoing fics. THANKS again, for sticking around and granting me a favorite, follow, or a review, couldn't have finished this without you! Anyway, have a great weekend!