I know I know I went absconding! I am extremely sorry. But more about that at the end, we will get straight to the chapter after the thank you's, I have made you wait long enough as it is.

Thank you for the reviews Hatake Jie, Mononoke-hime x sukai kurora, koko-yarou, cari, Jokerisdaking, TMjR, Silent Hero 13, deguchi, NALU-ROCKS323, JohnPeacekeeper, darkchocol8807, Pixie07, grandshadowseal.

Also thanks to everyone who added Road to Parenthood as favorite story, story alert and added me under author alert, favorite author. I really appreciate it!

Also just a heads up! I had mentioned I will be uploading a bonus chapter next, well this is not it. But it will be uploaded soon. I thought we should start the New Year with Itachi's blessings instead! ;)

See you in the end! Enjoy!

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto.

Road to Parenthood : Forgive me Sasuke…

The Uchiha family were relaxing after having a hearty dinner. Sakura was busy washing the dishes while Sasuke switched channels on the television hoping something might interest him. Sarada on the other hand was surrounded by photo albums, her eyes beamed as she went from one page to another observing her daddy dearest back when he was the age Sarada would be turning tomorrow – five years old.

Sarada would often go through the Uchiha albums in order to fill their void in reality. Sasuke hadn't quite gotten to explain the truth behind why she had no Uchiha grandparents, how did her uncle who her dad says was the strongest shinobi there ever was die out of an incurable disease, or as to why she had no relatives whatsoever from the Uchiha clan. All she was told was that the Uchiha clan sacrificed themselves in a battle which was fought for the betterment of the village and that her uncle was completely against getting Sasuke involved in the matter. And since Itachi was the strongest only he could survive the battle. This left only Itachi and Sasuke as the survivors from the Uchiha clan. And eventually Itachi succumbed to his disease.

Sarada being the inquisitive kind would bombard Sasuke with all sorts of questions about her relatives. And he would dutifully answer them truthfully as long as it had nothing to do with the massacre. She knew everything about her uncle. Sarada preferred going to bed listening to tales of her dad and uncle instead of the unrealistic fairytale stories.

Sarada picked up her next album and placed it on her lap and started flipping pages. Most of them were of her daddy and her beloved uncle Itachi. She stopped flipping the page when one particular photo caught her attention.

"Daddy do you not like cats?" Sarada asked.

Sasuke stopped switching channels and turned his attention to Sarada.

"I don't mind them." Sasuke responded.

"So why are you holding up this cat like you killed it?" Sarada asked as she held out the wide album to face him, which covered her face in the process. She stretched out her neck to look at her dad from over the album.

Sasuke squinted his eyes to look at the photo, but in no vain. He lifted his right hand and waved it towards him gesturing for her to come to him. Sarada followed his instructions and dragged the rather heavy album to get to her dad. Sasuke took the album from his struggling daughter and placed it on the table ahead of him. He picked up Sarada and placed her in between the space of his folded legs. She snuggled in and adjusted herself until she fit in comfortably. Sasuke then looked at the album from over Sarada's head. Sarada placed her tiny finger on the photo and looked up at her dad for answers. She saw his expression widen and then turn into a faint smile. Sasuke's eyes beamed as he saw his Nii-san and himself posing for a photo. Itachi held out a paper with a cat's paw print and Sasuke had a wide smile as he held a cat which hung from his hand.

"Daddy?" Sarada run her hands across his eyes to catch his attention. Sasuke snapped out of his thought and caught hold of Sarada's hands and held it inside his own. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer giving her a tight squeeze.

"Daddyyy stooopp!" Sarada gave out an amusing yelp as she pretended to get suffocated with Sasuke's rather light grip.

Sakura looked around at the Father Daughter duo and gave out a small laugh. She placed the dish in her hand over the counter, wiped her wet hands on her apron and made her way next to her husband.

Sasuke gave out a smile and pointed his finger at the said photo.

"That.." He pointed at the cat "..is not dead. That.." He pointed at the paw print Itachi held out. "..was my mission."

"To get a paw print?" Sarada asked with a raised eyebrow looking rather unimpressed.

"Well in my defense I was only 5 years old. And cats can be a…" Sasuke ran his fingers in the air thinking of a good replacement for the word 'bitch'. "..can be pretty sly." He finished.

"Oji-san had to accompany you for this? Where these cats that dangerous?" Sarada asked as she took a closer look at the cat.

"I would tag along Nii-san for his errands and would get bored and throw tantrums. So Nii-san made a game to collect paw print from fast and nimble cats, and I took it up as a mission." Sasuke narrated. Sarada still looked disappointed.

"But Daddy did fight a big grumpy monster like cat with Naruto and me." Sakura intervened hoping to impress Sarada.

"Three genins for one cat?!" Sarada asked shock evident on her face.

"Let me show you." Sakura's eyes searched for a particular album. Her hands reached out for a pink album which read Team 7. She ran through the pages, some with Team 7 group photo, one at wave country with Tazuna and Inari, one taken right before chunnin exam and so on. She finally found the page she was looking for.

"There." She said and placed the album on the table in front of Sarada to see. The photo had Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto standing along with an old lady with grey hair who looked a lot like a cat. What did catch the little Uchiha's attention was the long sheet of cloth hanging behind them with a red paw print imprinted on it, the height of which was as much as her dads at the time.

"WOW!" Sarada looked at the photo astonished. "You really caught this daddy?" She turned around to face her dad.

"Well…" Sasuke hesitated to agree as it was a team mission.

"Yes all by himself." Sakura interrupted and gave out a smile.

"That's amazing!" Sarada turned her attention back to the photo and placed her palm over the paw print to measure the difference. "Wow." She continued. "Daddy looks so cool like it was no big deal."

"Daddy always looked cool." Sakura said as she moved ahead to reach the album on the table. "Compared to Naruto there." She pointed at Naruto standing next to Sasuke with hands behind his head. Sarada gave out a laugh, "Usuratonkachi."

"Sarada!" Sakura exclaimed. If Sasuke hadn't followed up with a chuckle Sarada would feel bad for offending her mom, but with her dad's supporting laugh she instead just adjusted herself more close on her dad's lap.

Sakura sighed at the teamwork and made her way back to the dishes.

"But I like this one more Daddy." Sarada said as she moved the pink album aside and got her attention back to the photo of Itachi and Sasuke. "I wish Itachi oji-san could come to my birthday tomorrow." Sarada said as her fingers ran over the photo.

Sasuke's face softened at her words and he wrapped his arms around his daughter's tiny stature. Sasuke placed a kiss over her hair and rested his cheek over her head as she turned the pages to more photos of the Uchiha brothers.

xxx

Sasuke tucked Sarada in her bed and placed the blanket over her. He placed a light kiss on her forehead.

"Daddy can you tell me a bedtime story?" Sarada asked.

"Which one?" Sasuke asked as his hands ran through the books placed below the side lamp. "Will Cindrella do?"

"No daddy! Tell me some other story about you and oji-san!" Sarada pleaded.

Sasuke sat on the bed and Sarada shifted to make space for his to lie down next to her. He did just that thinking of a story he hadn't already told her.

"Have I told you about the wild boar?" Sasuke asked.

"No!" Sarada exclaimed in glee as she wrapped her arms around her dad's prosthetic left arm.

"Okay so long ago Itachi oji-san had a wild boar mission…"

Sasuke continued with his story until Sarada struggled to keep her eyes open and finally gave in as her eyes shut and she dozed off to sleep. Sasuke slowly slid his hand out of Sarada's grip and made his way out of the bed. He tucked her in and placed a kiss on her forehead. Her switched off the side lamp and walked towards the door. He took a last glance at his daughter, smiled and quietly shut the door behind him.

Sasuke walked towards the master bedroom. His right palm wrapped around the knob but he didn't turn them around to open the door. He absent mindedly looked at the knob as his mind wandered off to his thoughts. He slowly brought his left hand toward his face and let the index and middle finger tap his forehead. He felt the sensation with his palm and took a deep breathe. His hand slid down his face and reached his chest, he clenched his hand into a light fist. He took another deep breathe and smiled at the thought. He turned the knob and opened the door. Sakura turned around in their bed to see her husband walk in.

"Something wrong?" She asked concerned.

"I'm smiling." Sasuke said.

"Exactly." Sakura taunted.

Sasuke tucked himself inside the blanket.

"Funny aren't you?" Sasuke said as he placed his head on the pillow. Sakura gave out a small laugh and snuggled under his left arm and she placed her head over his chest and wrapped her left arm around him. Sasuke kissed his head in response.

Sakura soon found her eyes closing at the comfort of her husband's beating heart. Sasuke however looked at the ceiling and blankly observed the rotating fan, his mind elsewhere.

Sasuke was perfectly happy with his life right now. He really couldn't have asked for more, what he had now too was more than what he deserved. So it really isn't in his reach to ask for more. However, he couldn't help but wonder or rather wish if only his Nii-san was around to witness it all. If only Sarada and Sakura had the privilege of knowing a man like him. If only Sarada was fortunate enough to experience her oji-san pamper her to death. And selfishly, if only he could just once get to see his Nii-san again so he could thank him for everything, thank him for the life he now leads.

With such thought Sasuke's eyes closed and he was fast asleep.

xxx

Next morning Sasuke was as usual sipping on his morning tea as he read his newspaper. Sakura was preparing their special breakfast with all of Sarada's favorite dishes, after all it was her birthday.

Suddenly they heard a knock on the door.

Sakura looked over at Sasuke and tilted her head over to the door gesturing for him to answer to it. He in return rose his tea cup gesturing he was busy and gave her an air kiss. Sakura narrowed her eyes and grunted her way towards the door. Sasuke smiled and thought he was being rather cute to be himself.

His attention went back to his newspaper till he heard Sakura give out a happy screech. He placed the newspaper on the table and tried to see who it was. 'Couldn't be Naruto, she wouldn't be this happy to see him. Oh no..what if it is her hyperactive parents! Dear lord it had to be, it is Sarada's birthday.' He thought to himself as a fake smile plastered on to his face to greet his in-laws.

"Sasuke-kun, guess who is finally back!" Sakura said as she walked back to the room as a figure slowly emerged from behind her.

Sakura moved aside for Sasuke to get a full view of the person in question. Sasuke's fake smile dripped off his face. His eyes widened in disbelief when they met with his beloved..

"Nii-san…"

A.N : DHUN DHUN DHUN DHUN! That's my cliffhanger sound effect!

Yes yes the story has not ended, it is to be continued. And I do know this story wasn't entirely humor but hey it is family like I sub-categorized it so you can't hold it against me *evil* In my defense it was to create a strong enough plot for the next chapter which will have humor.

Also a few things, the cat photo I mentioned is actually from a filler episode from the anime series. If any of you don't follow the anime it is fine too, it has no relevance to the story. But if you do want to check it out its Naruto Shippuden Episode 189 : Sasuke's Paw Encyclopedia (Warning : Rather random) or you could just type the name of the episode and you will get the images of the said photo.

Oji-san : Uncle

Nii-san : Big Brother

That being said, to get back to as to why I went missing, December was completely hectic - Weddings, Exams, Christmas, Vacations, BIRTHDAY, New Years! So yes I do apologize for having too much fun to not pay attention here.

I will try my best to upload soon, you guys are being really supportive and I do want to return the favor.

Happy New year to one and all! I hope 2015 kicks 2014's ass!

Lastly let me know what your views are about this chapter! Itachi is BACK! How? Well you will have to wait and find out.

Any views, suggestions, ideas are appreciated.

REVIEW PLEASE!