"Hello! I just want to say, thanks for reading my story! I just want to let any of you know that I'm so happy that you gave me reviews. Also, I'm sorry for my grammar and my way of writing, English is not my first language. But don't worry, I'll do my best!" – AUTHOR SHINJUCHI
The news about the children had spread widely already among the shinobis. Some were surprised about it but some saw it coming. Especially around Team 7's generation mates who had always knew about Sakura's undying love towards Sasuke. Ino was enraged though, how can that billboard brow steal her Sasuke-kun. Rock Lee felt really defeated, but in the end he decided to let it go. Naruto on the other hand, when he heard about it, without denying it he sure became a little bit jealous. He had always love Sakura ever since their academy days, had always protected her and cared for her but no matter what he did for her, Sakura never saw him as a romantic partner. Never did he fail to show her how perfect he can be for her but she only saw him as a brother.
It was a bright day in Konoha; Naruto was sitting on his hospital bed. He is already healed but he still needs to stay for more check-ups. He looked outside the window, birds are chirping and children's playful laughter can be heard. He looked down, staring at his fully bandaged hands. He was reminiscing his genin days, during the time where he, Sasuke and Sakura had the bell test. He smiled at the thought of it. 'Ah, time sure flies so fast.' He thought.
A knock was heard and the door opened. It was Kakashi with his bandaged left eye. Naruto remembered how his Sharingan was taken by Madara. "Yo, Naruto." Kakashi said, lifting his hand slightly as he walked closer towards Naruto's bed.
"I heard you're going to be discharged tomorrow afternoon. How are you feeling?" He asked, sitting on the chair beside the bed. Naruto chuckled lightly, "I'm doing great Kakashi-sensei. I'm excited to finally get out of this place!" He rubbed the back of his head, smiling widely. Behind his mask, Kakashi smiled, "Ah…that's good to hear. Anyway, I'm sure you've heard about it right?" Kakashi abruptly asked. Naruto's eyes soften, looking at his sheets he answered, "Yeah, I sure did. Hinata told me about it when she visited me yesterday." Kakashi nodded and pat Naruto on his shoulder, "We have work to do when you are discharge Naruto." Naruto, with a confused look, "What mission?"
"It is to help those children. We need to send them back to their original time. Tsunade-sama already assigned certain people to do the research about the swirling light that sucked those kids into this time." Kakashi explained as Naruto listened carefully. "Tsunade assigned Shikamaru on that team too. Hopefully as soon as possible, there will be results." Kakashi added.
"Kakashi-sensei, where are the kids' at right now?" Naruto asked. Kakashi smiled, "At Sasuke's place."
(At Sasuke's Place)
When the hospital discharged Sasuke, Tsunade decided to let him stay in the village. Sasuke, being known as a missing-nin and an enemy of Konoha, some of the villagers are still afraid whenever he passes by their shops and their homes. But of course, some people also considered him as a hero, who fought alongside Naruto.
Junnosuke, Keisuke and Shinju were standing awkwardly at the corner of the apartment. The kids looked around closely, "Father…why are we staying here?" the eldest, Junnosuke asked his younger version of a father. Sasuke looked at him and replied, "It was the Hokage's decision to place us here." Sasuke walked towards the fridge and took something out. Shinju ran towards him, gripping Sasuke's leg tightly. Sasuke was taken aback, still not used to these kids' touchiness towards him.
"But father! This place is so tiny. Let's just go back home! Mother is definitely worried!" Little Shinju cried. With a worried face, Keisuke added, "I miss mother too. Can we just go back home?" Sasuke sighed in frustration.
"Can you both stop whining? Go home where? You are stuck in the past. I'm sure Tsunade is working on this already. So you must wait patiently!" He told them, raising his voice. The younger kids cried and Shinju ran towards her older brother. Junnosuke comforted the two and turned to Sasuke, "They meant, go home to our house. Not this apartment father." He said. Sasuke raised his right brow, "House? What house?" he asked. "Uhm…the Uchiha Compound." Junnosuke replied as he caressed his younger siblings. Sasuke was surprised how they knew about the compound. How he missed that place. He remembered how he used to wait for his older brother Itachi to come back home. He remembered his mother's cooked food and even his Father's strictness. Sasuke narrowed his eyes to the boy. "How did you know about the compound?" he asked in a serious tone.
"It's because we live there of course. You, Mom, Me, Keisuke and Shinju." He explained. Sasuke was slightly surprised. He gathered too many information from the young boy. First, he thought about the restoration of his clan. He had thought about that if ever he will survive the war. Second, Sakura as his wife. He had always known that she liked him but never did it cross his mind that they will end up together. Thinking about that, Sasuke can feel his cheeks slightly burning. Sakura's smiling image flashed into his mind.
"Sakura, huh?" he said softly. Junnosuke looked at him curiously, "Father, where is mother? Why isn't she here?" Sasuke slightly taken aback turned away, quite embarrassed, "She will not be with us. She has her own home, with her family."
Keisuke grabbed his older brother's hand gently, "Onii-chan, I wanna see mother." Junnosuke pulled him closer and smiled, "I wanna see mom too. But we need to obey father." He told him. Shinju on the other side pouted, "But I'm hungry." She said. "I want to eat mother's cooked food." Junnosuke bent down to their level, "I'm not sure about that Shinju-chan. I can cook for the both of you though. I'm sure mother is really busy right now. We should just listen to father okay?" he said as Keisuke and Shinju gave a sad face but they both nodded anyway. Sasuke felt something warm inside as he watch the siblings' interactions.
Deep inside him, he felt proud to see Junnosuke acting so mature around his younger siblings. He was so caring and protective towards them. He knows that Junnosuke will always be there for them no matter what. For some reason, he felt secured. Seeing Junnosuke like that, it reminded him of Itachi. After all, everything that Itachi did was for Sasuke.
Junnosuke stood up and called for Sasuke's attention which cut him off his deep thoughts. "Father, can I cook for tonight's dinner?" he asked. Sasuke opened the fridge, "Then we must go out and buy whatever ingredients you need." He said as he closed the fridge.
"Yay!" Keisuke and Shinju shouted happily as Junnosuke smiled at them lovingly.
Sasuke still feels weird whenever they call him father. After all, he is still sixteen. Whenever they call him father, something triggers him to act all mature and full of authority. He feels weird because all of a sudden, he became a father.
At the market, they wandered around looking for meat and spices. It also seems like they got his taste in liking for tomatoes. Sasuke kept a closer eye on the little girl, she runs around a lot and it's probably her third time falling on the ground. "Shinju, behave." Sasuke said as he grabbed her arms, trying to make her stop running. Junnosuke smiled at what he saw, "She is really like that father. She always made it hard for mother whenever we go to the market." Sasuke picked up the little girl and carried her on his arms. Shinju insisted on going down, trying to get down. "Tsk. Stay still. We need to go home as soon as possible. Didn't you say you were hungry?" he asked looking at her, she pouted and gave a sad face. "But I wanna play…" She replied.
Looking at her closely, Sasuke started to study her face. She has such dark onyx eyes similar to his. Her hair is also silky black similar to his mother, Mikoto. 'She looks like…me?' he thought. He turned around to look at the boys. They look at him back, giving him a curious look. 'They look like me too, I wonder what they got from Sakura' he thought again.
On the corner of Junnosuke's eyes, he saw a pink haired lady a few stalls away from them. "Ah. It's mother!" He said pointing at her. Sasuke turned to where he was pointing at and saw Sakura. Sakura heard a familiar voice and sprung around to the voice's direction. "Ah!" Sakura said, quite surprised to see them there. Keisuke ran up to her, hugging her. "Mother!" He said loudly, gaining a few head turns to look at them.
"eh…did he said mother?" "but she's still so young!"
"I thought she's dating Naruto." "no way! Is that Uchiha Sasuke?"
Hearing the people's whisper made Sakura a little bit worried. She walked towards them, holding Keisuke's little hands. She saw Sasuke carrying the little girl, it made Sakura blushed a little. 'Sasuke carrying her…how cute.' She thought.
"Sasuke-kun… you guys came here to buy something?" she asked, awkwardly looking around. She's still uncomfortable in making eye contact with him. "Aa. They were hungry, and nothing is in the fridge so we decided to buy something to cook." He replied, trying to calm down. They can still hear whispers around them.
"Sakura-san is with the Uchiha." "Does that mean, they are together?"
"Who are those kids?" "It can't be…right? I mean, they are still both young!"
Sasuke sighed in annoyance. He really wanted to shout at these people for being so nosey. Junnosuke noticed the people too, but he decided to ignore them. "Mother, I wanted to cook for dinner tonight, do you think you can…" he stopped and looked at Sasuke. Sakura turned to look at Sasuke who looked back at Junnosuke. "What?" Sasuke asked, a bit annoyed. Junnosuke chuckled a little, "well…I wonder if it's okay to invite mother over tonight for dinner?"He replied. Sakura blushed, "I-invite? B-but…" stuttering as she waved her hands in front of them nervously. Sasuke looked at Sakura and turned away, "Well…if Sakura wants to."
"Eh?" Sakura was surprised. "Are you sure it's okay Sasuke-kun? I mean… I don't really mind if you don't want me to. I mean… I don't want to interrupt you or anything. Plus I can just cook for myself and –" she was cut off by Sasuke. "Shut up Sakura. Just have dinner with us. It's fine."
Sakura blushed so much, "O-0kay."