To Love and to Love Again Chapter 5: Small World After All

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER AND AUTHORS NOTE: I do NOT own Naruto. The awesomeness of the Naruto Manga and World is the creation of Masashi Kishimoto. This is Purely Fanfiction. All things Medical in this entire fanfiction should not be taken as serious medical advice or facts. PLEASE CONSULT AN ACTUAL DOCTOR FOR ANY MEDICAL INFORMATION/QUESTIONS. THANK YOU AND ENJOY!

After the meeting with Sakura, Sasuke spent the rest of the day in his office getting the usual paper work done. He would have to leave soon to pick up Suki from her ballet practice. Normally, his mother would do that but since she was out of town, he would have to get her himself. He was just finishing of an employee review when his intercom went off.

"Mr. Uchiha, Naruto is here," his secretary announced.

Sasuke pushed the button and told her to send him in before Naruto came bursting in through the door.

"Hey Teme, what's up?" asked Naruto as he flopped down on one of the armchairs in front of Sasuke's desk. Even though Sasuke was his boss, Naruto still opted to treat him the same way he always has since they were kids. That included calling him "Teme" in front of anyone and everyone and acting as if Sasuke didn't have the power to fire him.

"I have a name Dobe," Sasuke muttered.

"So do I but that doesn't stop you from calling me "Dobe" does it?" he retorted. "Anyway, I heard some of the nurses went ahead and nagged about me not getting the paperwork done on time. I'm a Physical Therapist. My time is spent with the patient and getting them back on their feet, not sitting in front of a computer and inputting data."

"None-the-less, that paper work has to be done and until we can find someone else to fill in the secretary position at the billing center, you're the only one that can do it. The nurses have their own patients to deal with and a little down time wouldn't kill you," Sasuke explained as he placed the remaining paper work into their proper files.

Naruto waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah yeah, I just wish they would lay off me. Seriously, it's like they've got nothing better to do than nag all friggin day."

Sasuke stared at him in a questioning manner. "You do know that you're married to a nurse right?"

Naruto smiled thoughtfully. "I know. But Hinata's different. She doesn't harass the hell out of me for useless junk. You know how nice and soft-spoken she is. Her voice is like music to my ears after listening to the nonstop nagging here. They could learn a thing or two about patient care from my wife," he said with pride in his voice.

"She's a competent nurse," Sasuke agreed. "By the way, are you and Hinata busy this weekend?"

"We're pretty much free. Why?"

Sasuke leaned back in his chair. "Suki wants the two of you to come to her ballet recital. My parents won't be able to make it so she's got two extra tickets. Plus, she hasn't seen you in a while. This place has been busier than usual."

"Tell me about it. I've been cramming sessions with two patients at a time with all the work I've got. Hinata and I will definitely be there. After all, she is our goddaughter," he said grinning. "Speaking of Suki, aren't you supposed to be getting her by now?"

Sasuke looked at the clock and cursed. "I have to go," he muttered as he quickly gathered his things and walked out of his office.

"Don't even bother rushing it. Traffic is a nightmare at this time of the day," Naruto pointed out as he gunned it toward the elevator with Sasuke.

Sasuke pushed the button to go down. After the doors opened, they walked in and pushed for the first floor. Naruto got off on the seventh floor, claiming that he wanted to see Hinata, who should have been working in the neonatal ICU.

After Sasuke got into his car, it was already past 5:00 pm. He cursed again before deciding to call Suki to tell her he'll be late.

"That was fun. I'm glad I got to make my own wings," Suki said happily. She held up her wings and couldn't stop giggling over how pretty they were. Since she couldn't wait until the glitter dried, some of it kept chipping off and falling in her hair.

"Suki, you have to let your wings dry properly if you want all that glitter to stick," Ino explained.

Ino Yamanaka-Nara was her ballet teacher as well as Akio and Akira's mother. She was a beautiful woman with long straight blond hair that was tied in a bun at the moment and light blue eyes; the same eyes as both Akio and Akira. She was pretty tall and very fit. She was wearing a black leotard with black drawstring pants over it and pink ballet shoes. At first glance, you would never guess that she was a mother of twins.

Ino took the wings away from Suki. "Let's just put them here for the time being alright?" She placed them on the counter near the entrance where it was out of Suki's reach. "This way, the glitter will stay on your wings instead of getting in your hair," she said as she dusted some of it out of Suki's hair. Akira came up to the two of them while holding her wings as well.

"Mommy, what do you think of my wings?" she asked as she held them up for her mother to see. Ino and Suki looked over at Akira and observed the wings.

"Nice work honey. Here, let me put them by Suki's wings. Yours doesn't look quite dry either," she noted while taking Akira's wings and walking over towards the counter.

"I can't wait until the recital. We're going to look so cool!" Akira squealed.

"I know. I want my daddy to see the wings I made. That's why I put extra glitter on mine," Suki explained.

"Yeah, you got it all over your hair too. It looks all gold and sparkly," Akira laughed as she tried to help Suki brush off the remaining glitter.

It was almost time for class to be over. One by one, girls were getting picked up by their mothers. Everyone was showing their mom the wings that they made that day and relaying all that had happened during practice. Ino was also talking to some of the moms that she had gotten to know while teaching their daughters.

Suki watched from afar. Normally she would have her grandma pick her up after practice and she would tell her all that had happened today. But her grandma wasn't in town this week and her daddy was supposed to pick her up.

After watching all her friends with their moms, Suki couldn't help but feel a little sad and jealous. She never knew the feeling of having a mother, but she could feel that it was definitely missing. There was a space in her heart for a special lady that was supposed to make her feel loved and cherished. She was the person that's there to help you get dressed in the morning and makes breakfast, lunch and dinner for you. She was the lady that helps you with your homework and kisses your scrapes after you fall down. She was the lady that your daddy was supposed to be in love with.

Suki loved her daddy with all her heart. He was the only parent she ever knew. But he just wasn't a mommy. To a girl, a mommy is a very special lady and her daddy just couldn't do some of the stuff a mommy could. Suki was even a little envious of Akira and her mother. They could dance together and even go home with each other after. And Akira had a brother too. It was times like these when Suki felt extremely alone. Although she would never show it and try to hide behind smiles and laughter, she couldn't hide the fact that she didn't have a mommy or a brother or sister and sometimes she even felt like she didn't have a daddy because she didn't get to see him as much when he works late.

Her cell phone ringing snapped Suki out of her thoughts. She took out her phone from her backpack.

"Hello?" she answered into the little pink phone. Sasuke insisted that she have one for security.

"Hi Tenshi. It's Daddy," Sasuke spoke through the phone.

Suki smiled. "Hi Daddy! Are you coming to pick me up? Everyone is leaving now and I want to show you my wings."

"I know Tenshi, but I'm going to be a little late. I'll be there in fifteen minutes I promise. Stay with your teacher until I get there alright?"

"Okay," she agreed.

"Bye Tenshi, I'll be there soon. Hang on," he promised before hanging up.

Suki sighed. She went up to Ino and told her what her father said. Ino nodded in understanding. Akio, who was sitting by the window to watch the clouds disappear, came over and started to complain about staying here longer.

"You mean we have stay here even longer? This is such a pain," he huffed unhappily.

"Put a sock in it Akio!" Akira screeched. "If you don't want to be here then find somewhere else to go after school. Why don't you go to work with Daddy?" she suggested.

"Because that's even more boring than this," he retorted. "And last time Dad forgot about me and went home. Then Mommy made him come back for me," he said remembering the bothersome event.

Akira and Suki laughed at this. "Oh yeah, Mommy was so mad when Daddy came back without you. And I've never seen Daddy run so fast before," Akira said, giggling.

"Whatever," Akio sighed. "But watching you girls and your dances is so troublesome."

Ino was finished seeing all the other students off and came back to join her kids and Suki. "Well Akio, I keep telling you you're welcome to join the class if you want. We could always use more male dancers," she offered as she patted his spiky brown hair.

"Boys don't dance Mommy," Akira stated matter-of-factly. "Akio's too lazy anyway."

Ino sighed. "I know honey, he's just like your lazy father," she mumbled, hugging Akio despite his protests.

Suki smiled at them. Akio and Akira had no idea how lucky they were to have both parents. Being twins, they also had each other regardless of how much they bickered.

"I wish I had a mommy…or even a brother or sister," she thought. Ten minutes had passed by and a car could be seen pulling up in front of the school. Sasuke stepped out of it and came into the school.

Suki saw her dad and shouted "Daddy!" as she ran up to him. He picked her up and gave her a hug.

"Sorry I was late."

"That's okay Daddy. You wanna see my wings? I made them today," she told him as she pointed the counter near the entrance. Sasuke pulled out her wings and examined them.

"They're nice Tenshi. You got some glitter in your hair," he noted, eyeing all the glitter that was falling from her hair onto his black suit. Ino and the twins came over to them.

"Hey Sasuke," she greeted. "I see that you got a sneak peek at Suki's costume."

"Hn," he replied. "It's going to be pretty hard missing her on stage with all this gold falling off her," he added as he put the set of wings back on the counter. "By the way, do you know when Shikamaru said he would be able to send in those research files?"

Shikamaru Nara was head of research and development for the Tokyo Research and Development Center. He was in and out of KMC often and would attend the occasional board meetings regarding the newest advancements and progress on pending trial runs for new medicine. Naturally, as with Naruto and Neji, Shikamaru was also a very good friend of his and the Nara children were really good friends with Suki.

"Actually he said he would call you at home about that. He's been working on a few other cases for a while but he said that you should have them by the end of this week," Ino answered.

"Alright then" he said before focusing on Suki. "Uncle Naruto and Aunt Hinata said that they could make it to your play."

"Yay! That means that were going to go out for ramen after the show," Suki beamed.

She absolutely loved her godparents. Her Uncle Naruto would play any game that she asked him to and her Aunty Hinata made the best double fudge cookies in the world. Suki had quite the sweet tooth so that really meant something.

Speaking of aunts and uncles, Suki remembered Sora and her Uncle Neji and Aunt Tenten.

"Hey Daddy I met a boy today!" she announced excitedly.

That innocent little comment was like the sound of a record getting scratched abruptly—interrupting his thoughts. It wasn't the most welcoming thing he could have heard.

"What does she mean she met a boy? She's five!" he thought.

"He told me something. He said that he also has an Uncle Neji and an Aunt Tenten. Does that mean that were cousins?" she asked eagerly.

"Who was this boy?" he asked monotonously.

"He said his name is Sora Arisugaki and he's a new kid at our school," she answered. "He has really dark hair like me and you and really dark eyes too. He said his mommy is a doctor. Does she work at your hospital Daddy?"

At the mention of the name Arisugaki, Ino suddenly became interested.

"That can't be Sakura's kid that she's talking about can it?" Ino thought out loud.

Sasuke heard her and then started to put the pieces together. Sakura did say that she had a son that went to Suki's school and that Neji and Tenten were his godparents. But how did Ino know of her?

"Sakura Haruno?" Sasuke asked. Ino nodded. "How do you know her?"

"She's my childhood friend," she said smiling. "We used to take ballet lessons together. I haven't heard from her in years though. Last time I talked to her she was in college and engaged. That surname sounded familiar. I never knew she had a child though. We lost contact after freshman year in college. But man, what a coincidence that our children know each other. I should call her and see what she's up to. From what I know now, she's a doctor. Does she work for you then?"

"She does now," he replied. "I had a meeting with her this morning. She's going to start work tomorrow. Go ahead and call her at the hospital if you want."

"You bet I will. This really is a small world isn't it?" she mused.

"Hn," he returned. "And Tenshi," he said while facing Suki, "Sora isn't your cousin but supposedly you guys share and aunt and uncle. So let me get that straightened out with his mommy and then I'll let you know."

"Okay" she said smiling. Just then Suki's tummy growled. "Daddy, I'm hungry!" she pouted.

Sasuke chuckled and tickled her belly. "I heard your stomach say so," he teased before turning to Ino. "We'll get going then. Tell Shikamaru to give me a call when he gets the chance."

Ino nodded and after saying their goodbyes, Sasuke and Suki left to go and get some dinner.

"What do you want to have for dinner?" he asked Suki as he drove downtown.

Suki thought for a bit. "I want some beef Ramen!"

Sasuke resisted the urge to sigh. She sounded just like Naruto at lunchtime. "The Dobe would be so proud."

They went to Naruto's favorite ramen stand called Ichiraku's. They stayed for an hour before heading home. After Suki had showered and gotten dressed in her princess nightgown, Sasuke tucked her in bed.

"Daddy?"

"Yes Tenshi?"

"… What was my mommy like?" Suki asked hesitantly.

Sasuke tensed. He never really spoke of Aya that much and since Suki never knew her, he figured it would be easier to just not talk about her. But he knew he couldn't avoid the topic forever. Suki was at that age when she's going to start to notice more and more about family structure and how the world really works.

But in all honesty, what should he tell her? That he married Aya out of duty? That she was in love with someone else and he never knew what love was? That Suki was conceived in a test tube and not from love? These things were just way too much for a child to handle. Things like that could emotionally scar her for life but he couldn't lie to her. He knew this day would come eventually.

He told her to wait for a minute as he got up left the room. He went to Aya's old room—that was turned into a guest bedroom over the years—and shuffled though the closets until he found what he was looking for. He grabbed the picture frame and walked back to Suki's room. She was still in bed but wide-awake at the same time. He knelt down to her level.

"…This is your mommy," he told her as he handed her the picture. Suki took it, her eyes scanning the person in the frame. She had never actually seen her mother's face before. In her almost five years of life, Sasuke has never once brought her up and he never kept any pictures of Aya in the house. Suki looked onto the face of her mother; the woman she would never know.

The picture was of Aya in her wedding gown. She was standing in the garden of the church that they got married in. Suki's eyes widened at the sight.

"Her name was Aya," Sasuke said after Suki's still didn't say anything. Her eyes were glued to the picture.

"My mommy… she was so pretty. She looks like a princess," she thought out loud. She thought the picture was beautiful. Her mother had her brown hair down and tied in the back. She had a friendly face and the most amazing green eyes. She looked happy.

"She does look like a princess, just like you. And that's not all. You have her eyes Suki," he pointed out. Suki looked at the picture and couldn't stop the tears that welled up in her eyes. They slid down her face and fell on the glass of the picture frame, startling Sasuke who quickly wiped the tears off her face.

"What's wrong Tenshi?" he asked while bringing her closer to sit on his lap. Suki furiously wiped the tears from her face.

"… (sniff)… nothing… I just really miss her. Even though… (sniff)…I don't know…her… (sniff)…I still miss her…" she wailed before finally cracking and crying on Sasuke's shoulder. "I wish she was here… I want my mommy!" she cried. She buried her face in his chest and just cried her eyes out. All the times of getting ready for school, having dinner, coming home, dancing in the recitals and watching other girls with their moms just came out in Suki's tears.

All she wanted was to have a mommy. She wanted someone to help her shop for clothes and do her hair and make her dinner and bake cookies with; a mom that can help her get ready for recitals and watch her dance on stage; a mom that can take care of her when she's sick and be there for her daddy because she knew that he was lonely too.

Sasuke held her tightly as he stroked her short black hair. He gently rocked her back and forth until she finally cried herself to sleep. He laid her back into bed and tucked her in again. He pushed the strands of hair out of her face and placed her favorite stuffed pig Tonton next to her. She was still sniffling a bit whenever she breathed in and out.

It absolutely killed Sasuke to see her like that. It was made clear—now more than ever—that she would need a mother and that was up to him to make it happened. At the same time he knew that he couldn't rush into something like a relationship. That involved commitment and this time around, he had a daughter to think about. He didn't want her getting attached to someone only to have in not work out between them and have her experience a loss once again.

But he had to do what's best for Suki, and that included finding her a mother that will love her as if Suki was her own child. That in itself was a challenge. Sasuke had received plenty of attention from women over the years but he never paid a second of attention to them. He was not a relationship guy. He had never been in love before. It's why Aya's death wasn't as hard as it should have been. She was a friend to him and even though he was affected by her death, it wasn't how a husband should be affected.

In this world that held much pain and was often times unfair to those that don't deserve it, Sasuke vowed that he would do everything in his power to make the effort to find a woman fitting enough to be Suki's mother. His daughter deserved the love a mother has to offer. She was barely five years old but already she was hurting and it was a pain that even the most loving of fathers would never be able to heal.

"Suki…I promise you I will find you a mommy. I will do anything it takes to give you the love you deserve."

It was a silent promise, but it was a promise that he was determined to fulfill.