A/N - This is a Long Chapter folks! ENJOY!
Saukra's face paled. Sasuke's eyes powered down as he looked at his son's face. So curious and yet so sure. It's like his eyes were searching Sasuke's soul. There was pin drop silence in the room. All the adults looked guilty as hell. There was a sudden noise and couple of Jounin came in saluted him "Commander Sasuke!" Sasuke blinked and looked away "here…" He said handing off the prisoner and walking out of the room to speak to rest of them about how on earth this happened.
Daisuke saw him leave and turned to his mother "Oka san?" He asked his voice breaking a little. Sakura's heart broke as he picked him up and hugged him and said "enough excitement for one night… time for bed come on…", "But Oka san!" Daisuke protested as Sakura carried him away "Not now Daisuke…" She snapped and walked up the stairs
"Right…" Ino said taking charge "This has been fun as always… Come on Inojin, time to go home" She grabbed her son's hand and handed him to his father. "I'll see you at home" said seriously to Sai who nodded and stepped out of the house after wishing everyone goodbye.
Meanwhile Boruto who had been momentarily shocked by Daisuke's exit from the room had come out all chatty "What happened? Did Sasuke Shishō get him?! Where's Daisuke?" Naruto grabbed him and said "Put on your jacket… time to go home…" Himawari and Shikadai had walked out and were already in the process of wearing their shoes. "But I want to say by to Daisuke…" Boruto said. "Put on your shoes Boruto" Naruto said seriously and Hinata took her sons hand and dragged him out. "But…" Boruto protested and Hinata put a firm hand on his shoulder. A gesture so rare, Boruto shut up instantly. Tenmari grabbed Shikadai and had already said their goodbyes and were on their way.
Naruto looked at Shikhamaru who said "I'll get Neji and meet you at the station… Keep him there…"
"Station might not be the best idea, let's meet on training ground 5…" Naruto responded and asked Ino "You'll be okay?"
Ino nodded and they went their separate ways.
—
Once sakura had gotten upstairs Daisuke had started all the questions again
"Is it true? Is Sasuke Sama my father?
Are my eyes his bloodline limit?
When did you get married?
Why did he leave?
Why didn't I meet him when he came back?
Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't he tell me?
Oka San?! Say something! Please!"
Sakura had just handed Daisuke his night clothes and setup his bed in silence as the boy bombarded her with questions in between getting ready for bed. Once he had gotten into bed he asked her "Oka San? Did he leave because he didn't want me?"
"No!" Sakura said seriously sitting next to him "No… that is not true… Him leaving was not your fault… Okay… Never say that…"
"So it is true?" He said sadly "he is my Otu San…"
"Yes… I'm sorry I…." 'Never wanted you to find out… ' was what she thought but said "…I didn't…. I just… Daisuke, you're my son and I love you so much and I want you to just be happy okay… Just be happy… It's your birthday! I'm so happy and proud of you my son…. Now have beautiful dreams and go to bed "
"Why didn't you tell me Oka-san" he asked again with those big eyes brimming with tears
"That's hardly a bed-time story…" Ino said walking in smiling "Now go to bed Daisuke, I need to talk to your mother and then tomorrow once you are awake and not tired, we'll answer all your questions okay?"
"Why can't I know now?"
"Because it's bed time…" Ino said touching his forehead and using a little bit of Chakra to make the little boy fall asleep. Sakura just stroked her son's hair lovingly.
"Take your time… I'm here all night when you're ready to talk…" Ino said walking out of the room. Sakura nodded as her eyes began to tear up.
Sakura just sat by the Daisuke's bed and cried for while releasing all the hurt, guilt, pain, sadness, anger and stress she didn't know she had been holding in. When her eyes finally dried up. She washed her face and walked down stairs. As promised Ino was sitting there with a an unopened bottle of Sake and two cups. "Ready to talk about it?" She asked Sakura and the green-eyed kimchi sized and sat down on the futon on the floor "Yes…"
—
Sasuke had gone back to the station. Naruto had followed him. Once he had explained the situation to the jounin, they had wrapped up the body to be returned to the mist village. The Hokage would be apprised of the situation in the morning and the politics of it would have to be dealt with as well. Naruto assured Sasuke that he would speak with Tsunade himself to find the best possible way to resolve this debacle. Once they were alone at Sasuke's desk Naruto said
"Come on… we're going out…"
"I'm going to Sakura's house…" Sasuke said putting away his things
"No, you are not… You're coming with me…"
"I'm not in the mood Naruto…"
"Maybe, but I know you care about Daisuke even if Sakura means nothing to you anymore" Sasuke snapped the pencil in his hand in anger "Okay, so you care about Sakura too… perfect… Since you do, don't go there tonight… Just give her.. give them…some sp.."
"Don't talk to me about space… I have known for almost 1 year now and I have said nothing… I have given them all the space in the world, I have listened to her abuse me every chance she gets… but enough is enough… my son wants answers and I want to give them to him…" Sasuke whispered venomously
"Listen to yourself! You're foaming at the mouth! Is this how you want to meet your son and tell him the most amazing thing in the world? Or would you rather have Daisuke see you and Sakura yell and fight with each other till the house collapses?" Naruto whispered back "You need to calm down… so shut up and follow me…"
—
It was nearly daybreak by the time Sasuke was exhausted. Naruto, Shikhamaru and Neji had sparred against him as a team. He had kept going until he had worked out his rage, frustration, helplessness and stress. When he finally sat down Neji was the first to speak "Ready to talk about it?"
Sasuke looked at the sky that was beginning to lighten "Yes…"
Shikhamaru looked at the 3 of them and said "Good, so my work is done… I'll be off…"
"Cheh… That guy…" Naruto smirked to Neji who smiled back
"What did that mean?" Sasuke asked
"Shikhamaru came to ensure that you don't end up harming yourself… He was supposed to stop you with the Kagemane no Jutsu if you tried to hit yourself with one of your chakra attacks…" Neji explained
"I'm angry… not suicidal…" Sasuke mumbled
"Could have fooled me…" Naruto said nursing a particularly bad bruise on his arm
"Shut up… besides! It's not even my fault! The way Daisuke was looking at me was like I had been lying to him all along! I told sakura, several times, he's not stupid… This is what I was worried would happen and it did! And now he hates me! My own son. Hates me. Just like I…." Boom he let our a huge Katon leaving a large space on the ground charred.
"In her defence, she wasn't sure if you would take off if she told you…" Naruto said
"WHAT?! Why on earth would I take off! I wouldn't have left in the first place if I had known!" Sasuke snapped
"You sleep with a woman, you know…" Neji said to the sky in a calm voice
"It was one time! Just once! I never touched a woman before her or after her! The gods have a fantastic way of punishing me for my good deeds!" Sasuke collapsed on his back looking up at the sky
"Leaving her after the first time, without a note… that's not a good deed…" Naruto said wagging a finger at him.
Sasuke pulled Naruto by the collar and punched him "Ow! Enough violence already…"
Neji looked at them and smirked "Way to strike a man when he's down…" He mumbled. Then he put a hand on Sasuke shoulder and said "I may not understand what you are feeling, but I do understand everything going through your head… You want to protect Daisuke… Even if it is from yourself… If you tell him about you, then your story becomes the story of his father, not just the story of a clan in the village… he becomes an Uchiha… he becomes the seedling of a clan we never thought could be revived… He will be burdened with the duties of the Uchiha and keeping their way of life alive… It's not something you want for him. I understand that… However, what you need to remember is that he has your blood flowing through his veins… He has the Sharingan too and in time, Daisuke will be ostracised and feared because of it… do you really want him to go through that alone? Especially since the both of you know exactly how it feels to be whispered about behind your backs" Neji said gesturing to both Naruto and Sasuke "Think about that before you think of anything else… and think about the other thing… from the last clan meeting…."
Naruto and Sasuke shared a look before staring at the ground both of them wondering what to do next. Neji left and the two friends sat in silence till the sun had risen completely and they were sweating in heat of it.
—
Sakura had spent all night ranting about how she was the had left her, taken her purity and honour with him. He had not once cared about the consequences. Not even once. After he had found out, he had just assumed everything would be okay. He had tried to weasel his way into their life with things like training Daisuke in his free time and cooking him food and trying to steal her son away. She had progressed from ranting to crying as the dawn broke
"The worst pa…. aart…." She sniffed "It was my first time a… an…. and that was my only time… I mean who even gets pregnant they easily!" Sakura wailed "I mean it's not my fault entirely is it! I bet he's been with loads of women during his travels! He should have known when to… You know… so that I didn't have to get pregnant… Sometimes I hate myself for thinking that beac…. Because…. Because Daisuke is perfect and I can't imagine a more perfect child but god! Why him! Why is it his! It's like the gods made him for me like a punishment! No matter how hard I try, he won't stop punishing me…" Sakura blew her nose in the tissue Into had provided as tears kept streaming down her eyes
Ino smiled a little on the inside but tired to keep her face very straight as she asked "Was it good?"
"What?" Sakura sniffed
"The one time… was it good? Cause I don't hear any complaining about that…" Ino Sid smirking
"You are a horrible friend…" Sakura said but her crying stopped instantly
"Got you to stop bawling didn't I…" Ino said handing her a glass of water "Drink this, don't need you to turn into a dehydrated shrivelled hag…"
"Shut up…" Sakura. Said taking the water and emptying the glass down her throat
"Look Sakura… I hear you, I really do, but have you stopped to think about how Daisuke feels? All I've heard you say is that Sasuke hurt you and he left you, but the truth is he didn't know and from the moment he found out, he's been trying to make amends… A man can only have so much patience… You hate him, and you are right to hate him… What he did to you was horrible… but don't project your hatred of Sasuke onto your son…"
"So what? Have Sasuke tell Daisuke about who his is? About the Uchiha clan massacre? About how his father murdered his own brother?"
"He will learn about anyway. They will start history in the coming year… Right now no one says anything about his Sharingan because it's only just awakened and only few people even know about it… once word gets out, you think he won't have to face the world. Sharingan users were feared even before the massacre… and your son is practically the prince of the Uchiha…" Ino said calmly
"Daisuke is just…. No! Sasuke has a history of running away! He always leaves! I'd rather Daisuke hated him and me for a little while instead of opening up to Sasuke only to be shattered when he leaves!" Sakura snapped
"It's been almost 2 years since he came back… and 1 since he's known… He had plenty of opportunities to run… He's not going anywhere Sakura… We can all see that…"
"He's stayed for 2 years before too… he leaves Ino… He always leaves "
"You can be mad at him all you want… No one asking you to trust him or be with him… All I'm saying is that don't take away the chance for Daisuke to get to know him… and worst case scenario, even if he hurts him… we'll all be there to help Daisuke and hunt down Sasuke and kill him for it…" Sakura gave Ino a smile in spite of her mood "Besides… Sasuke knows what it's like to be abandoned… I doubt he'd ever do that to his own son… also, Sasuke is being quite patient Sakura… By clan laws, Sasuke has more right over Daisuke than you do…" Ino said matter-of-factly
"What! No way! Shut up! I'm his motherrr! MOTHER!" Sakura bellowed
"Yes, but Daisuke is Sasuke's HEIR… by blood, by law of the clans, the heir of an household, especially of a head household, legitimate or otherwise will be adopted into the clan… The child belongs to the clan Sakura… always…"
That made Sakura stop breathing for a moment…"So you want me to talk to him?" She said with as much venom as she could muster
"That's a start…" Ino said "I'll take Dai for the day, I'm not Hinata so he won't badger me with too many questions…"
Sakura flopped onto her back staring at the ceiling that was getting brighter as the sun rose higher…. She was not ready but then again, when had life ever been that kind to her
—
Ino had sent Sasuke a telepathic message to meet Sakura at her house at 10:00 am to talk before they tell Daisuke anything.
Sasuke stopped by Neji's house to let him know he wouldn't be coming in to the station today. Neji was mildly surprised to see him in the formal Uchiha robes instead of his regular Konoha police uniform.
"Too much" Sasuke asked as Neji walked out a with him
"Better sooner rather than later…" Neji replied clapping him on the shoulder as Sasuke smiled and walked away.
Since his first day as the Commander when he had gone to the clans requesting help, he had not worn the Uchiha robes. That day he had been nervous. Today he was clam and focussed. As he walked through the town, Sasuke felt an air of silence. For the first time, there were no murmurs, no comments, no assumptions, nothing. It was as every member on the street. Man woman and child was silently paying their respects to the Uchiha who had saved them all… For the first time in several years, he felt pride, proud to be Itachi's brother, proud to be a part of his nearly extinct clan.
When he reached Sakura's doorstep, he took moment to compose himself and then knocked
—
Sakura had taken a long hot bath to clam her nerves and put her anger away. "It was the same as treating a criminal" she thought to herself "all those horrible nin's from the bingo book who get captured near death and have to brought back to life. They are despicable but they have to be saved. Saving them is important for the greater good…" Her thoughts drifted to what Ino had said "your son is practically the prince of the Uchiha… By clan laws, Sasuke has more right over Daisuke than you do… the heir of an household, especially of a head household, legitimate or otherwise will be adopted into the clan…."
Sakura like everyone had heard about clans and clan politics, but being a regular citizen not affiliated in any manner, everything she knew about it was from the outside. She had seen a little of it with Hinata and Ino. However Ino was not a member of the head family and Hinata chose to speak as little as possible about it. Sasuke in relative terms had been a prince. If the clan was still alive in fact, she was sure Sasuke would have been told to marry Hinata or Himawari or maybe even someone from Suna depending on the bloodline limits…
There was a knock on the door. She walked up to it, closed her eyes for a moment to stay calm and unafraid.
As she opened the door, her breath was caught in her throat. Sasuke stood there looking every bit the head of the clan. Clam, stoic and regal. "He's here" she thought as fear creeped in "he's here to claim his heir"
A/N: Please reviewwwww!
See you day after!