"Obviously, saying yes was not an easy decision to make." The young children leaned forward in anticipation. Sakura was a mix of bemused and exasperated with their lack of patience. Had she been like that when she was their age?
"I agreed because I had come to see Sasuke as a brother. He had never asked anything of me since Naruto dragged him home."
"What about his second team?"
"Bringing Team Hebi to Konoha was something I did for him, but not something he had approached me for," the once rosette corrected. "He wasn't one to ask for help."
"I, on the other hand, wanted advice before I agreed."
"Sakura, dear, it's been ages. I was starting to believe Hokage-sama had locked you in that hospital."
She knew of no better person to ask for advice than her mother. From an outside, Sakura supposed her family situation was a little unusual. It wasn't often that a ninja settled down with a civilian. But her mother had never been a combatant type shinobi. Before the war she Mebuki had been a courier nin, running messages the Hokage and Jounin Commander and the like. Now she was an instructor at the academy. Sakura had been outside the village more than her mother.
"What's it like, being pregnant?" Sakura had asked as mother and daughter washed and dried the dinnerware.
The sudsy bowl slipped from Mebuki's grasp, dropping into the sink with a loud clank, as the woman whipped around to stare at her daughter. "Are you saying you're pregnant?"
Sakura had nearly choked. "NO. No I'm not. I'm just—"
Her mother cut her off with a crushing hug. "Just finally considering making me a grandmother. It's about time I tell you. I didn't even know you were seeing anyone. Who is the lucky guy?"
"I'm not seeing anyone," blurted Sakura unthinkingly.
Mebuki's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Oh?"
"Surrogacy." Kami her face must be as red as a tomato. It certainly felt hot enough.
And before she could think it might be a bad idea to share, Sakura had spilled her guts to her mother. How she realized she didn't love Sasuke, not romantically anyway, and that she never had, but now she thought she might be in love with Naruto but didn't think he still liked her like he had when they were gennin. Not that it wasn't what she deserved, for being so cruel to him. And she only realized it because he had kissed her while back. But he hadn't meant it romantically and probably had no idea Sakura had feelings for him.
The pinkette realized her mistake when her mother had forcefully pushed her away.
"Like everyone in the know at the time, my mother had viewed Naruto as the Kyuubi in human form. The village would eventually come around to seeing the sacrifice he had had forced upon him, but my mother never forgave him."
"Forgave him?" several students echoed.
"What did she have to forgive him for?"
"As you all know, the Akatsuki decimated our village. Pain had level it into the ground, sparing neither shinobi nor civilian. Naruto managed to talk to him, and Pain used a jutsu which revived everyone who had died that day. My father was amongst them. Irrationally, my mother blamed Naruto, and continued to hold onto the grudge even though my father was brought back to life.
"She had made my choices clear. I was either her daughter or Naruto's whore." Sakura ignored the stink eye Michi-sensei gave her. She wasn't here to tell a sugarcoated fairy tale to inspire the next generation of ninja. The exact opposite in fact. Innocence was well and good, until it cost themselves their life or that of a comrade.
"I chose Team Seven. They were a part of me and I was a part of them. I chose Sasuke, who after all the grief and betrayal and lies he had faced deserved a family and the security that his clan would not die with him. I chose Naruto, who was the only member of our team who deserved everything, because he had the greatest heart of anyone and had never once considered abandoning those that were responsible for his suffering.
"Most importantly, I chose myself. This was something I could do for Sasuke, and I wanted to do it. I don't think I ever saw him as happy as when I told him yes."