Nurses didn't usually let fathers into the nursery but when the Hokage comes calling they make exceptions. Takara being the only baby in there helped with their decision to not stop his single minded goal. He took her sleeping form gently from her newborn crib. Looking at her blond hair and angelic face, he was sure one day he'd be scaring boys off in droves. He marched her back to her mother's room and if it wasn't clear of ANBU he had ordered out there was going to be hell to pay. Opening the door he scanned the pristine room for unwanted guest and found only the current resident of the room occupying it. He smirked to himself, they did know how to listen. But the room was almost too peaceful, he wasn't sure of what to think of a quiet Sakura.

Takara let out the briefest of little cries, signaling it was her feeding time. He handed his hearts greatest treasure to her mother and let her deal with what he couldn't. Watching as Sakura's maternal instincts took over, he moved to the chair at the side of the bed to drink in the sight of the two. Sakura was intently watching her newborn when she glanced over to see her husband's blue eyes riveted on her. She felt like he was weighing her soul with the way his eyes were trained on her. She didn't want to over react but he was making her nervous by the way he seemed to be calculating. She decided it was best to pursue a conversation with the man rather than let her own thoughts drive her mad with frivolous worries.

"What?" she asked with an innocent voice not betraying her nervousness.

"Sometimes its still hard to believe you're home, with me, and had my child," he confessed.

"Naruto, I," she started but his quick words cut her off.

"We agreed to start over, I shouldn't bring that up," he stated, eyes moving off of her to the white speckled floor that just became vastly more interesting than it was moments ago.

"I think there is some stuff we need to air out in case of the worst happens in the future," Sakura commented, watching for his reaction.

"What do you mean?" he questioned, his eyes back to hers as her words sounded almost like despair.

"If something happens to me, I need to know you'll take good care of Takara," she answered, its every mother's fear to not get to watch her baby grow. In the back of her mind, Sakura was thinking of Naruto's own mother and father and the way he grew up with no one.

"Why would you think I wouldn't?" he asked, slightly put out she would have any doubts about his ability to raise their daughter.

"Sasuke said something about how you were while I was gone," she replied, cringing waiting for the explosion of emotion from the man in the chair. It didn't come, and the calm was almost more terrifying than the outbursts.

"I'm going to kill him," mumbled the man, blue eyes darkened as the thought of how best to carry out his former friend's demise for his big mouth.

"Oh stop it, I get to kill him first, but he had a good point if what he said about you is true," she half scolded half whispered.

"And what point would that be?" he sneered, wondering what that jerk could have possibly said to bring this conversation out of his wife.

"That you weren't the same after I left, a hollow shell, were his words," she growled, unimpressed with his attitude.

He thought back to the days without her, he didn't think he acted all that different. His action had changed while she was gone but he contributed it to maturity rather than a shattered heart even though he was lying to himself. Cutting out women was about the only thing that had really changed. He had done that after a few failed attempts at dating. His expectations were never met by any of the women he went out with because they weren't Sakura.

First of his failures at a relationship was with Hinata, she had been such a strong influence on him during crucial moments in the war. She had confessed to him and he though she was more than deserving of a chance for them to have a something special together. Personal experience had taught him how painful it was to be turned down by the one you love. He had started out the relationship wrong by thinking of his rejections from Sakura when he asked out the gentle fist user.

He was always expecting the wrong response when he said something wild, insane or perverted around her, usually it was to get hit, not monster send you through a wall hit but at least a slap, sweet Hinata would blush or giggle or both. He felt he was just too much for her with his behavior and she claimed to not mind but the quiet girl became practically mute around him, he knew it wasn't working for her either. The realization that she deserved to be with someone whose love rivaled her own was the driving point of his break up with her. It should have been common sense that the beautiful, courageous, and amazing woman warranted someone who didn't have a tattered heart. If he hadn't given his away long before they might have stood a chance.

Next was after he became Hokage, Jun was sent by her father to win him over. He ran into the same problems. His loud obnoxious ways were too much for the prim and proper girl. But Granny had pushed him into accepting the woman for political reasons and he thought he had nothing to loose in a political marriage. Two dates in and her life was saved by one of his ANBU when someone was out to kill him. She fell in love with the masked savoir without ever seeing his face. Naruto was fine with it, Sasuke won a girl over without his looks for once. He couldn't bring himself to stand in the way of that when he didn't love her.

His last straw was a pretty little ninja who was a couple years behind them in the academy. He can't even recall her name now. He had really put himself out on a limb by dating her, trying to move on. But she had just dated him so she could say she was the Hokage's girlfriend and try to gain popularity. She had been sweet and kind when she was with him. She also had a fiery side that appealed to him but he found out what she was really like one night at the bar, him and Sasuke were having some drinks and she was there claiming some ridiculous things about him that he was less than appreciative of. She was lucky Sasuke was there, or he would have demoted her back to the academy rather than just break up with her.

Then he swore off women and focused completely on all his different kinds of work. He trained his students, did his paperwork, and looked to building the future of the Leaf. All his days were the same, different stuff but always the same. Each day he followed its pattern with little thought to his heart and just did his duty as the Hokage. The never ending papers that flowed through his office were the bane of his life but he got through them. As a sensei his team had a wild card with her loud mouth and crazy antics. The other students were more normal borderline boring and it balanced the team out. He was living but he didn't have a real life.

When Sakura left she took a part of him with her, he could only describe it as his drive. Everything seemed duller without her vibrantly pink hair floating about and her sometimes shrill voice yelling at him. Even sparing with Sasuke had lost its appeal because she wasn't there to put their broken bodies back together. The void she left couldn't be filled by another person and it was wrong of him to even try. Nothing eased the loss except slowly stopping his thinking about her. Everyday was a push to stop wondering what she was having for breakfast, to stop using any excuse to go into sage mode to look for her, and to stop missing the part of him that was gone.

Telling her that everyday without her was like a slow march to death was the last thing he wanted to do, sitting there watching as she held their baby. Saying that Sasuke was right, he was hollow after learning that it was easier to live with part of him shut down, the part that loved her more than his own life. Helping her understand that his only true regret in life was letting her leave would only add to her guilt. The silence in the room stretched on and Sakura was almost to a breaking point of finding something close to her to throw at the man. A vase full of flowers was starting to look tempting but pained filled eyes looked back into her green ones and she did her best to remain calm.

"I guess that is an accurate description but it didn't start out that way. It was progressive, as my hope for your return faded, part of me did too," he sighed, that was the best way he could sum up his life without her in words.

Hearing it right from him and not from Sasuke made it pull at her heart strings even more. She wasn't the same girl she was when she left. Nor was she the same person when she came back to into the lives of those in the Leaf. Simply telling him how sorry she was wasn't going to justify the years of heart ache she caused. Confessing that she spent half the time she was gone crying because her heart hurt so bad was not the way to mend his. Saying that if it hadn't been for her bloody pride she would have turned around and come home wouldn't change the fact that she didn't. Reminding him he should have come after her long ago or even that they should have never had that ridiculous fight wasn't going to heal any old wounds.

"I now understand why Sasuke was so protective of you when I came home, I guess I figured you would stay the same whether I was here or not," she explained eyes closed to hold back the brimming tears.

"Sakura," he called softly.

She opened her eyes to look at him. They didn't need words for her to know he understood that she was sorry or that he would forgive her for anything because that's the kind of man he was. Words couldn't express how they felt. There were going to be stand offs, small disagreements, probably some verbal abuse, and mistakes made by both involved. His slow persistent ways had stolen a big part of her soul and when she realized it and told him he had panicked. It was their shared memories and they couldn't be washed away with time but time was moving them forward to give them a second chance. A beautiful chance with blond hair, blue eyes, and her mother's smile.