WARNING(S): Mentions of injury, bullying

A/N: Can I say just how much I adore badass mama wolf Sakura? And subtly "That's my smoking hot badass wife" guy Sasuke? Best dynamic, don't fight me.

"Thank you for coming in, Mr. Uchiha, Mrs. Uchiha." The principal tapped his fingers against the desk, an exhausted note to his aged face.

"You said Sarada was facing suspension," Sasuke began, eyes narrowing as the child on the other side of him squirmed in her chair at the reminder. "What happened?"

"My daughter's never been a troublemaker in her life! I don't know how it happened, but this is not how we raised her." Sakura added with a glance of concern to the little girl.

"Ah, yes. Well." Clearing his throat, the older man pulled a sheet of paper out from the little stack on his desk and turned it so they could read. "Today at recess, she got into an altercation with a boy from another class. There are several witnesses as well as the recess monitor herself, who can verify if needed."

"Yes, but what happened?" Sasuke pressed, leaning closer to the desk. "That can't be all. Sarada doesn't pick fights unless provoked."

Here, the man paused. He glanced towards Sarada, who up to this point had been quiet. "Sarada? Would you mind telling your parents what happened?"

All eyes on the dark-haired girl, her face flushed with embarrassment and a twinge of upset. "He called Chocho fat, Mama. I had to hit him."

Sakura's brow furrowed. "Your friend, Chocho? Chouji and Karui's girl?"

"Yes." Sarada folded her arms across her chest. "He's a bully. He always picks on her and I'm tired of nobody doing anything about it."

"... So you hit him." Her father deadpanned, his face unreadable.

She pouted. "I didn't hit him hard…"

"Sarada, I get that you were upset for your friend, but you have to understand that hitting others is wrong." The principal persuaded, a frown wrinkling his face. "You needed to tell Miss Kuroi-"

"Miss Kuroi knows he's been bullying Chocho and she doesn't do anything about it!" The little girl exclaimed.

"Hold on. Wait." Sakura held up a hand, a stern look directed towards her daughter. "You've tried telling an adult."

"Yes."

"You told your friends."

"They saw everything."

"And your friends told the adult."

"She just told him to 'play nice'." Sarada's stare was almost as searing as her mother's as she air-quoted it.

Slowly, she turned her burning stare on the principal. A bead of sweat trickled down his face. "Why are you allowing your staff to overlook obvious signs of bullying? This is ridiculous. We pay you a good sum of money for a good education for our daughter and this is what you call 'teaching'?"

"U- um, well, Mrs. Uchiha, Miss Kuroi is new here, and isn't quite used to our code of conduct…"

"So instead of taking the time to teach your staff how to deal with this, you would rather be content to wait until someone gets hurt - like my daughter punching a bully because he's hurting her friend - to reap the consequences?" She scoffed, folding her arms, brow pinched. "I am a licensed children's psychologist, Mr. Hamada. I've seen firsthand how abusive behavior between children will lead to emotional and mental issues later in life. I've been that bully before. I know how damaging that can be to a young mind."

"This is unacceptable," Sasuke agreed, irritation in his voice. "What about the boy? Has he gotten consequences for what he did?"

"Not for being punched, he hasn't!" The principal balked. "My staff has had to discipline him once or twice for bad behavior, but he's done nothing to be suspended over."

"According to the student handbook, repeated abusive behavior is liable for suspension, regardless if it's a student or staff member. So you would rather let him bully other students and cause them harm than admit you messed up somewhere?" Sakura's voice was very close to raising, but a hand on her shoulder from her husband made her take a steadying breath. "Mr. Hamada, I will not be accepting my daughter's suspension. In fact, if you do suspend her for fighting, we will personally take her out of this school and find somewhere else for her education. I will not allow adults to be bad influences for my daughter in a place preparing her for the adult world."

"Bad influences? Mrs. Haruno, surely-"

"You will reverse the suspension." The mother's voice was a deadly quiet.

"I- I can't just veto a decision that my staff and I have come together to make," he protested weakly, shrinking under the father's glare. "The best I can do is reconvene and- and have a parent-teacher conference with the Akimichis as well…?"

"And the boy's parents," she firmly added.

"And the Garous," the principal said quietly.

"Make a date, then we'll talk about suspensions." The pink-haired woman grabbed her purse and her husband's arm, rising from her chair. "We'll be taking Sarada for the rest of the day."

"Of course, ma'am." Mr. Hamada nodded rapidly, dabbing at his forehead with a handkerchief from his pocket. "You, uh, you have a wonderful day now."

"We'll certainly try," Sasuke flatly answered, taking Sarada's hand and leading her out of the room behind his wife.

As soon as the door was shut behind them, Sarada looked up, worried. "Am I in trouble?" She asked quietly.

Almost immediately, Sakura's fierce expression melted into something soft, and she knelt before her. "No, Sara. In fact, I'm very proud of you. You did the right thing."

"But… but I got in trouble for punching him."

"Well, yes, but you did everything I told you to do in that situation: you notified an adult, you got witnesses to tell an adult, and you tried to de-escalate. You only used force as a last resort, not a first."

"You showed restraint." Sasuke chimed in, making her look up at him. There was a strange sort of amusement in his face. "Had it been your mother, the kid definitely would've kept a wide berth after that. You really would've gotten suspended."

"Anata," Sakura groaned, cheeks burning red. "I'm not that hotheaded anymore..."

"No," he agreed with a chuckle in his voice. "You're fierce."

Sarada giggled at her mother's embarrassment, stepping closer for a hug. Her perfume tickled her senses pleasantly, as did her soft pink hair against her cheek.

"C'mon," the dark-haired man gestured towards the door. "Let's get some ice cream."

The joy in his daughter's face brought a smile to his own as he walked with his good hand pressed gently against Sakura's back, the little girl's arms wrapped around her mother's.