title: snapshot
prompt: #2 - no filter
summary: sakura noticed a new picture frame in their living room, sitting proudly in place of the old one sarada had despised.
a/n: you all should read the latest chapter of gaiden if you haven't already!

Sarada loved to watch her parents. After a lifetime of not knowing how they interacted with one another in the flesh, it was warming finally being able to experience how home felt with all three of them there and together.

Naturally, Sarada's relationship with her father was rather strained at first, with pieces having yet to be put in place, but it was coming along nicely. They were quick in learning each other, and although he still had a ways to go in terms of hugs, the Papa that Sarada had so often imagined had finally become hers.

On the other hand, Papa's relationship with Mama had not faltered in the least: they were as together as she had always dreamed they would be. Mama and Papa, Sarada sometimes whispered, under her breath when they could not hear. The phrase made her smile. Uchiha Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke.

As much as possible, they ate breakfast together. Mama and Papa took turns cooking, but they sat and ate the meal together, as a family. During Papa's earliest days back home, Sarada often stayed quiet, carefully testing the waters before she spoke, and instead, she watched Mama and Papa talk, learned how their voices sounded together, how their smiles looked side by side.

They balanced each other, Sarada thought at once, bringing her hands up to her cheeks as she leaned her elbows against the surface of their kitchen table. Mama's voice was bright and lively, and Papa's was low, on the softer side. Papa leaned toward Mama when she talked, always listening and watching intently. Mama sometimes reached for his hands, and Sarada watched with rapt attention as he always let her. Mama's smile was sunlight, and Papa's was fleeting, quiet, and if Sarada blinked she would miss it—but she never did.

Sarada felt a grin blossom on her face. The Seventh had said she was a combination of her parents, and now that meant more than ever. She stifled a soft laugh from behind her fingers, and Sakura looked to her immediately, her eyebrows raised in question at her daughter's strange behavior.

"Sarada-chan? What's wrong?" Mama asked, studying her expression. A knowing smile captured her lips. "Bo—?"

Sasuke's chair creaked from across the table as Sakura trailed off. His eyes flew to his wife, to daughter in turn, and though he didn't say a thing, Sarada was alarmed at the fire his irises spun. (Boys? Sasuke thought. Boruto?!)

He placed his hand at his chest, making a face, and Sarada waved her hands at him, attempting to dismiss her father's thoughts. "That's not it, Papa!" she exclaimed, and Mama laughed.

Sometimes Mama and Papa fought over trivial things, and such sights were entertaining to Sarada as she patiently stood by and waited to see who would arise victor. After breakfast, they took to bickering outside, in the growing garden behind their home, under the white sunlight that played across the shapes of their faces.

Sarada sat at the top of the stairs leading down the door, with a few packages of seeds in her lap as she watched them. The package of tomato seeds almost fell from her grip as Sakura shoved her husband over, her teeth gritted. "You've always had such bad judgement, Sasuke-kun!" Sarada heard her exclaim, as she snatched the shovel from him. "Clearly the strawberry plant will look much better over here!"

With her hand, Mama gestured vaguely to an empty patch of dirt to the left, and Sarada easily glimpsed Papa roll his eyes since Mama had tied his hair up before they went outside. Sarada watched as he bent down to stick his hand in the large watering can at his feet before leaning over to Mama and flicking her in the face with droplets of cool water.

Mama screeched.

Papa lifted the back of his hand to cover his mouth, laughing at her reaction. "I don't think so," he told her. "I mean, I married you, didn't I? That wasn't 'bad judgement'."

The shovel slipped from Sakura's fingers, and she quickly stooped down to pick it up. Sarada nearly doubled over from laughter—she could see the redness of Mama's ears as she bent over, muttering beneath her breath.

When she stood straight again, there was a smile on Papa's face, and a laugh escaped Mama's lips, despite herself. "I guess not," she said, reaching for him.

Mama embraced Papa, and Sarada jolted, fumbling for the small digital camera she had come to carry around with her. Holding it up to her face, she quickly took a snapshot of her parents, before hiding it back in her pocket by the time Mama's voice carried to her.

"Sarada-chan, why don't you come help us?" Mama called, and Sarada stood up immediately, taking inventory of the seed packages she had as she descended the steps.

"Coming!"

A few days later, Sakura noticed a new picture frame in their living room, sitting proudly in place of the old one Sarada had despised. It showed a beautiful picture: she and her husband outside on a hot, clear day in the heart of the summer, and the sight brought the warmest of smiles to her face.