Merry Christmas
By: Rise of the Blossom

"He's not coming, is he?"

Reluctantly, Sakura looked down at the young girl staring up at her, at the young girl who was trying so very hard not to show how disappointed she actually was. It was so painful seeing that look on her face and Sakura couldn't blame her for feeling that way.

It was Christmas Eve, after all.

"I'm sure your father will be here, Sarada. You know what he's like."

Yes, they all knew what Sasuke was like, but Sakura had tried so hard to believe it would be different this time. She had tried so hard to believe that he was actually coming home.

"Can I stay up until he's here?" Sarada asked, though Sakura could see the very little amount of hope in her eyes. Either she knew her mother would never allow it, or she believed her father wasn't turning up.

"No, it's way past your bedtime now and Santa won't come if you're not asleep."

At the age of five, Sakura had had a strong feeling that Sarada had already found out about Santa not being real, but continued to say she believed in him just for the sake of some normalcy. Being shinobi – or shinobi in training – was difficult and it made you see that the world wasn't so black and white after all. Of course shinobi didn't believe in Santa! However, it made them feel like a normal, average family to say that they did. At least, that was the reason why Sakura thought her daughter hadn't just outright told her she no longer believed in Santa.

Sarada turned away and headed to the stairs, keeping her back to her mother. "It's more likely Santa will turn up than father will."

With that, she stomped away to her bedroom upstairs, unknowingly leaving her mother with tears in her eyes.

Don't get her wrong, because Sasuke could be a good father. He provided for them, he protected them… But that's pretty much where it all stopped. And for a while, Sakura had thought that maybe it was because of his past, because he had been so young when the tragedy of The Uchiha Massacre had happened, leaving him unable to truly remember what it felt like to be in a family. So, she went with it. She gritted her teeth and tried to bare with it.

But then Sarada became old enough to start asking questions, such as why he wasn't around as much as the other fathers where. One time, she had even asked why she saw Kakashi more than her own father, as the man was hardly one to be punctual or even there half the time, meaning he missed a lot of things. That had broken Sakura's heart. However, she once more let it slide. Not only was Sasuke struggling, but Sarada was only a kid. She wouldn't know that asking such things hurt her mother.

If Sasuke didn't show up tonight, though – no, actually. Even if he did show up tonight, Sakura was still going to say something. She was sick and tired of having to look into their daughter's eyes (their daughter, not only hers) and come up with one lousy excuse after another. Sarada was an extremely bright and intelligent girl, scarily so at times, and she saw right through them all. After all, Sakura had never been the best of liars.

Then again, to bring it up now, on today of all days, would only cause tension. She wanted Christmas to be great for her daughter, as it wasn't always celebrated in Konoha. Those in Konoha were more for Christmas Eve, which was a time shared between lovers and thought of as a more romantic day than anything. Sadly, Sakura didn't even get that. Just that morning, Ino had been telling her of how Sai was treating her to a night out. Sai!

And that was when the front door opened, making Sakura's breath catch. There was no sound, only the feeling of one of her genjutsu traps being released. Sarada also knew how to do it, but Sakura could feel her chakra upstairs.

Slowly, soundlessly, she stood up, making her way over to the large cabinet and opening a drawer. It was where the katana were kept. Sasuke had wanted them to be on show in case of emergencies, but after the incident when Sarada was a curious four year old wanting to play ninja and be more like her father, Sakura had demanded they be kept away.

When she sensed somebody entering her home, she clutched a tighter hold of the katana and whirled around, bringing it down on the attacker, only to be stopped by another katana.

"Planning on killing me with my own katana?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes as she met the hard eyes of Uchiha Sasuke.

Of course this was his katana. They were all his. Well, except for the two on the far left. One was his mothers, the other, was Itachi's. The one Sakura was currently holding onto, was the one Sasuke had carried around with him when he was a rogue–nin.

"You actually came, then."

This time, it was Sasuke's eyes that narrowed. Taking a step away, he lowered his katana and sheathed it once more, though didn't make another move as he watched Sakura do the same with his old katana, returning it to its rightful place next to Itachi's.

"I told you I would."

"You said you would be back for this morning, before Sarada woke up." Sakura's eyes snapped back to his once the cabinet was closed. "She was up almost all night learning one of the jutsu you left behind for her."

"I was held up."

Sighing, Sakura walked over to the kitchen and poured two glasses of water, Sasuke close behind her and accepting the glass once it was handed to him. "You upset her earlier, Sasuke."

He scowled in confusion. "I wasn't even here."

"Exactly."

Silence. And then, "You know why I'm–"

"Enough with the crap about redemption, or revolution, or whatever the hell your problem is now!" Sakura snapped angrily, though made an obvious effort to keep her voice down, even though the slamming of her glass against the counter was rather loud. "You have a daughter upstairs who truly believes you don't like her."

Sasuke's stomach dropped as he also placed his glass down, no longer thirsty. "Sarada thinks…?"

"Yeah." there was a pause, one where Sakura folded her arms over her chest and looked away. "And I'm starting to think the same, too."

"Sakura–"

"You're never around, Sasuke! How many times do you come home and actually stay with us? This year, that's only been twice. Twice, you've stayed longer than two weeks. We're your family. How do you think that makes us feel?"

The only eye on show hardened, but Sakura knew that the other would be doing the same. It didn't intimidate her the way it used to, though. "You know why I can't stay in Konoha for so–"

"Your clan would want you to face these things!" she yelled, though quickly lowered her voice. "Sarada needs her father around. I need my husband to be around. When you asked me to marry you, I honestly didn't believe it would be like this."

"No, you probably had some perfect fantasy in your head."

"Actually, I didn't. I just didn't think it would be like this. I accepted many things, but you never being around for us? It's too hard."

Sasuke's scowl deepened. "I'm here when I'm needed."

Oh she was going to swing for him and then probably explode. Sakura could feel it in her gut. "When the village needs you. You're never here when your family needs you. Sarada is only eight years old, Sasuke. Eight! She's hearing things around the village that I can't explain to her because that explanation should be coming from you!" tears filled Sakura's eyes, her bottom lip trembling. "And do you want to know what she asked me earlier, what she wrote on her Christmas list to Santa?"

A Christmas list to Santa? Wasn't Sarada a little old for that? "What?"

"All she wanted for Christmas was for her father to come home and be with us, like we're actually a family. No presents, no fancy gifts, just you. And when you didn't come home when you said you would? Sarada asked me if it was because you don't like her. She asked me if it was because of her that you never seem to come home."

For the first time since their argument began, Sasuke looked away and swallowed hard. His daughter thought that he didn't like her. She thought that she was the reason why he was never around. Sasuke wasn't going to lie. It hurt him. It really did. "I–"

"Don't go giving me that 'you know why I…' crap again, Sasuke. This is our daughter. Stop living in the past and join us in the present, where we seriously need you. I know you can't just shove away everything that's happened to you, or that you've done, but please try. For me and for Sarada. Because…"

His eyes reluctantly met hers once more and seeing the hardness of them had his gut twisting. "Because?"

It was hurting her, seeing that lost look in his eyes, the look that reminded her of the little boy who had just lost his entire clan, but Sakura knew she had to go through with it. For the sake of their daughter. "Because I honestly don't know how much more of this we can take. You either stay with us, or you go. It's not fair to keep messing with Sarada's head like this even if you're not doing it intentionally. It's confusing the hell out of her and it's hurting me that I can't help her understand."

It felt like hours had gone by before Sasuke eventually spoke again, and as Sakura took a glance at the clock, she realised that it had been hours. Five, in fact. They'd merely gone from standing in the kitchen, to sitting at the table, where Sakura allowed Sasuke time to digest her words. That was one of many things she'd learned in their relationship. Patience. With Sasuke, she had to be incredibly patient. "I'm away so much…"

Not this again. "Sasuke–"

"Let me finish." he cut her off, then sighed. "I… want to be the best I can for her." seeing Sakura's frown of confusion, Sasuke took a deep breath and sighed again. "Like you said, my past can't just be shoved aside and ignored. I have to learn to accept it. Sakura, Sarada noticed the looks I receive whilst here in the village long ago. It hasn't only just started. Sure, many of the villagers have accepted me since I was part of the war and saved them all, but there are still a lot who dislike me and would gladly kill me if they could." leaning back in his seat, his hand tapped against the table. "My path to redemption is still a long road for me, and lately, I've been starting to think I probably won't ever reach the end of that road. Some of the things I've done can never be forgiven."

There was a long pause as Sasuke thought over his next words, his eyebrows knitting together ever so slightly. "Sarada… I don't understand why she thinks I don't like her." he gave a small, arrogant smirk. "She's an Uchiha. She's mine. I – we created her. I just… because I tried so hard to block it all out, all I can really remember of my own father was how hard I tried to be better than Itachi for him. I don't know how a father is supposed to act with his children and I simply thought that staying away and allowing her to keep up her ideas and dreams of what she thinks I'm like, would be better than accidentally hurting her." his eyes met hers slowly, a frown on his lips. "You yourself know what that's like, what I'm like."

That she did. But… "You're hurting her now, Sasuke. Every day you're away and not with us, every morning she wakes up and finds out you're still not home, it hurts her. She's trying to be like you, trying to be all stoic and whatnot, but I can see it in her eyes. She's got a long way to go before she pins down that expression of yours and even then, yours isn't perfect." Sakura sighed, rubbing at her eyes. "Sasuke, none of us are happy with the way things are going. We're not happy and you're not happy."

"I wanted to learn how to be a better father."

Sakura's hand stilled, her eyes slowly opening and glancing up at him as the hand finally moved. "What?"

"When I was away…" there was a very faint blush on his cheeks. "Yes, I had a mission from Naruto, but in my spare time, I… researched."

"Researched?" Sakura's eyes narrowed. "You mean like Jiraiya–sama did his–"

"No." even though he had never really met the man, Sasuke had still heard about his 'research' from his time with Orochimaru. "Definitely not. I mean more like… I watched how fathers interacted with their children."

This was yet another reason why Sakura had fallen in love with her husband all over again. "And?"

Sasuke sighed. "I can't see myself being as open as they are. Or as loving."

She gave him a soft smile, reaching across the table and taking his hand. "We don't want you to change who you are, we only want you to be here with us, Sasuke. Having you here with us… That's more than enough."

He looked away, though turned his hand around and accepted it being held by Sakura's much smaller hand. "Sakura, I can't guarantee that I'll always be here."

The smile on her lips dimmed sadly. "I know."

"Konoha needs me to protect it, just like the hospital needs you." Sasuke muttered. "There are missions that only I can go on because of my eyes. But…" Sakura's head snapped up, mouth parting ever so slightly. "I want to be there for you both. I want to be there to witness all the things my own father missed out on with myself."

Her smile returned, one of the brightest smiles Sasuke had seen from Sakura in quite a while. "You mean it?" Sasuke nodded. "Well, given the fact that it's almost five now, I'd say you have about ten minutes to come up with a perfectly good speech to give to our daughter."

It was amusing seeing Sasuke's eyes widen the way they did. "You said she didn't sleep–"

"It's Christmas, Sasuke!" she giggled. "Plus, despite how well spoken she is and her intelligence, Sarada is still only a kid. She's excited about her presents!"

"Presents." Sasuke repeated, glancing up at the ceiling. They both knew that it was their own bedroom that was right above them and not Sarada's, but the thought wasn't lost on her.

"It's okay if you didn't–"

"No, I did." he frowned and the hold on her hand tightened ever so slightly. "I'm just not sure how to go about handing them over."

Feeling much lighter than earlier that night because of everything being off her chest, Sakura gave a teasing smirk. "Usually, you just hand them over."

"You might not like the gift for Sarada."

Her eyes narrowed. "Explain."

That was something Sasuke liked about his Sakura. Not the pre–teen who had obsessed over him and hadn't dared to speak out of place, like she was nothing more than his lapdog, but this version of herself. His Sakura. She took no shit from him.

Hearing a soft thud of somebody jumping out of bed, Sakura glanced over at Sasuke as he stood up from his place on the sofa. She followed a second later. Neither of them had had any sleep, but that hardly mattered. On missions, they'd gone days without much sleep, if any at all.

"Mama!"

Sakura couldn't help but chuckle at the sound of the door to the bedroom she shared with Sasuke being slammed open. It also made Sasuke smirk. "Your strength and inability to control herself."

"Of course." she smirked proudly in return before calling more loudly, "Down here, Sarada!"

Both turned in the direction of the stairs, listening intently and growing more uneasy as the sounds of feet running down the hall grew louder until eventually, those feet met the stairs and took two at a time.

"Merry Christmas!" Sarada grinned brightly as she jumped off the last step, but that smile was soon slapped right off her face at the sight before her. Slowly, unsurely, Sarada took a step forward, though forced herself to keep some distance. "You're home?"

Sasuke refused to show how much it hurt. Usually when he returned, even if he smelled bad from the many days of travelling and being unable to find a safe place to shower, Sarada would always throw herself at him. Now, she was keeping her distance. What Sakura said was really true, then. "I am."

She nodded, looking away.

Sakura nudged him.

"Sarada," he sighed, making his way over to her. When he reached her and placed his hand on her shoulder, Sarada's eyes widened and snapped straight up to his. "I'm sorry that I'm not always around. I never meant to make you feel like I don't like you."

Her lips turned downward, an obvious sign to Sakura that she was about to cry. "You said you'd be here yesterday morning, or at least before I went to bed – and I stayed up three hours later than my bedtime!"

"There are things you don't know yet about my past," he paused when she bit her lip, "or maybe you do. I haven't celebrated Christmas like this since I was around your age and sometimes it's difficult being around like this."

When Sarada glanced over at Sakura, her mother gave her a saddened look and nodded. "Is it because of your family, papa?"

Sasuke sighed. "So you have heard."

"Yes, but… I don't understand it. Mama always tells me that uncle Itachi was a good man, but the villagers don't say the same. They always say bad things about him."

That wasn't surprising. Like Itachi had wanted, Sasuke chose to keep what really happened a secret. "I will tell you the full story when you're older, Sarada. I'd rather you not be tainted by my past."

"W–What?"

He gave her a smirk, his hand moving from her shoulder and up into her hair. "You and your mother are my life now. That is partly why I'm never home. I keep watch of Konoha from the shadows."

Just like his brother had.

"I think it's time for presents." Sakura smiled brightly, her heart warming at the smile Sarada was sending Sasuke. All was forgiven, in their daughter's eyes. "Don't you?"

"Yeah!" she exclaimed, rushing over to the tree. "Which ones are mine?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "I know you were looking at them last night, Sarada. Pretty much all of them are yours."

She smirked.

Noticing out of the corner of her eye how Sasuke lingered in the back, Sakura grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the tree, sitting down to the side of, yet slightly behind, Sarada. He seemed unsure, but Sakura gave him a smile and gestured to their daughter with her head, mouthing that he'd want to see her face.

"This one is for you, mama." Sarada murmured, handing over the present without really looking at it.

"Is it from you?" Sakura asked her.

"No."

"It's from me." Sasuke said just as quietly and immediately, Sarada was whirling around and watching Sakura.

"Open it, mama!"

Well now she kind of felt like the entire world was watching her! Sakura opened the present carefully, already feeling that it was rather heavy and once the wrapping paper was gone, she saw that the box was incredibly detailed with many different patterns. Also seeing it, Sarada leaned forward on her hands and knees, frowning at the box.

"Is that the sharingan design?" she asked curiously, looking up at her father. "It looks a little like yours, papa."

He nodded once. "Open the box."

Sakura did so slowly and seeing what was laying inside had her heart skipping a beat. "I've seen this somewhere before…"

There was a very short pause. "My mother had one that was exactly the same. It signifies the matriarch of the Uchiha Clan." another pause. "I would have given you the one she had been given by the matriarch before her, as it was put away after her death by the Sandaime, but…"

When Konoha had been destroyed, the necklace had also been destroyed. That must have been painful for her husband, having any last mementos of his family and clan destroyed. Carefully picking up the necklace from the box, Sakura smiled gently at the sight of the Uchiha insignia. The one time she had seen it had been when she was a really young girl, and had seen the matriarch herself walking around Konoha. It had been like being in the presence of royalty, even though that probably seemed like an exaggeration. "It's beautiful, Sasuke. Thank you."

"Let me help you put it on." Sarada smiled, understanding from Sasuke's simple explanation and Sakura's tender smile that it meant a lot. When Sakura handed the necklace over and lifted her hair up, exposing her neck, Sarada fastened it behind her neck and moved back to the front of her mother so she could see it again. "It's so pretty." glancing up at her father, she asked, "Will I ever be the matriarch?"

Sakura chuckled. "You're just saying that now because you want the necklace!"

A pretty blush swept over her cheeks and Sasuke couldn't even deny that it was endearing. "Not for a while." he told her with a smirk. "You still have a lot to learn, which brings me to my gift for you." Sarada nodded quickly, eager to learn something from her father. "Go to the cabinet."

Frowning, she glanced up at Sakura. "Mama said I'm not allowed near the cabinet."

Sasuke raised a brow at his wife, making her sigh. "Just this once."

Not even a second later and Sarada was beside the cabinet, waiting for her next instruction. "Open the largest door." already knowing what was behind it, she did so, her palms sweating ever so slightly with excitement. "Choose one."

Her heart stopped. "Really?"

Oh she sounded just like her mother did at that age, barely even capable of hiding her emotions. "I wouldn't say it otherwise."

Sarada grinned, carefully looking over the contents before reaching for one and pulling it out, closing the door behind her and going back to Sasuke and Sakura, who watched her carefully as she sat down before them. "This one, papa."

"Do you know who that belonged to?" Sasuke had honestly thought she would have gone for the first one, or perhaps even the last one, since she knew the last one was his. When she shook her head, he gave her a small smile. "It was your uncle Itachi's katana. As heir to the clan, he was given the katana. I was planning on giving it to you like it had been given to him at the age of thirteen, but if you want it now and you plan on taking care of it, then you can have it now."

Her grin faded and her eyes went back over to the cabinet. "Do you want me to pick another one?"

"Why would I want that?"

She paused, her palms sweating once more. "It's precious to you, papa." seeing that they wanted her to continue with her explanation, she did so slowly. "People in the village… They say bad things about uncle Itachi if he's brought up, but… If you still keep this, then that means he meant a lot to you, right?"

His wife was right. Sarada really was a smart girl. "He kept it with him all the time." Except for the night of the massacre, he recalled quietly. For that, he had used his standard–issued ANBU katana. "Up until the end. It was whilst I was away from Konoha after the war that I came across it. You remember Neko–baa, don't you?" Sarada nodded, handing over the katana to Sasuke when he reached for it. "Itachi asked her to keep it safe for him and to pass it on to me when she heard that I was once again on the right path."

A hesitant smile pulled at Sarada's lips as she watched him examine it. "Like… A final gift to you?"

"Yeah. Like a final gift to me."

That had to be the most open Sasuke had ever been with their daughter, Sakura noticed, a smile of her own pulling at her lips. He really had been trying hard to be the best for her.

"Did you know uncle Itachi, mama?"

"Not personally." she answered. "I came across him once and he terrified the hell out of me, but he had one of the most calming auras…" Sakura shook her head. "From the things your father has told me, Sarada, I'm certain that Itachi would be honoured for his niece to have this."

Sasuke nodded once when young, innocent eyes looked up at him. "Make sure you take care of this, Sarada." he told her seriously. "Itachi… He was a man who, despite everything, had a pacifistic and caring nature. Don't use it wrongly. The sheath was destroyed which is why it doesn't have one, so I will have a replica made." He remembered it perfectly anyway.

She nodded, looking equally as serious as it was handed back to her. Slowly, carefully, she ran the tips of her fingers down the length of the blade, though made sure to keep them away from the edge of the blade just in case she cut them. No doubt her mother would be angry with her for that. "Do you ever miss him, papa?"

Once again, there was silence until Sarada looked back up at Sasuke, only to find that he was already looking at her, the look in his eye one of the most intense she'd ever seen it before. "I do."

"Sarada?" Sakura murmured, taking the katana from her daughter. "Why don't you go and get your father's presents from us while I put this back in the cabinet? You don't want to ruin the blade, do you?"

Looking utterly horrified, Sarada quickly shook her head and handed it over without complaint, but then nodded as she ran in the direction of the stairs.

Sasuke gave Sakura another blank look. "And your inability to choose what emotions she's actually experiencing."

Rolling her eyes, Sakura placed the katana into its rightful place, her fingers lingering on it for a moment before she was closing the cabinet and turning back to her husband, sitting by his side with a warm look in her eyes. "That was really generous of you, Sasuke. Allowing her to have Itachi's katana."

He nodded. "I trust her with it and… I want Itachi to be a part of her life, too, even though he's not here. There are many things she could learn from him. From his mistakes, from his way of thinking…" Sasuke gave her a small smile. "When the Hokage were all revived, Sarutobi told me that at just the age of seven, Itachi already thought the way a Hokage was supposed to think. I never truly realised how selfless he was when we were that young."

Sakura took his hand and gave it a soft squeeze. "But please don't teach her how to have an aura like his. It really did scare me." it warmed her heart how Sasuke actually chuckled, though she put on a pout. "I'm being serious! I couldn't tell whether he was going to attack, or offer us tea!" his chuckling turned into laughter, just the thought of his older brother doing such a thing amusing him greatly. "You Uchiha are so unpredictable, so the last thing I need is an eight year old girl, who is half yourself and half me, with that kind of aura."

Understanding what she was talking about, Sasuke's laughter calmed down and he gave her a smirk. "On one condition."

Eyes narrowing, Sakura said, "Depends on what it is."

His smirk widened until his expression was serious. "We've talked about this before, but never really came to an agreement on it. When Sarada activates her sharingan, should I not be in Konoha, I want her to go to Kakashi." Sakura nodded. That, they had already agreed on. Even though he no longer had Obito's sharingan, he knew enough about it to help her out. "And when I return, I want her to come with me." Sakura grimaced and seeing it, he sighed. "We won't be leaving for months, Sakura, I'm talking days, maybe even two weeks at most. Just so I know she can handle it. I had a tough time figuring everything out about my eyes and after first activating them, I had Kakashi there."

With a sigh of her own, Sakura nodded, even though her stomach was curling with unease. "Fine."

"I get to leave with you, papa?"

Sasuke glanced over his shoulder, surprised that Sarada had managed to sneak up on them both, but him especially. It just went to show how relaxed he was when home, and how much he trusted his family. "Only when you've activated your sharingan."

Both women smirked.

"You mean, these?" Sarada smirked, her dark eyes bleeding red.

The sight of her father's expression had her smirk widening, especially as it was stored to memory.

"When did you…?"

"Last month." Sakura told him as Sarada came closer, allowing her father to take a careful look at her eyes. "She wanted to surprise you, but I guess the excitement got the better of her."

There was only one tomoe in one eye, and two in the other, but that was how most Uchiha started out. Sasuke honestly couldn't deny that his stomach was flipping. His daughter… This was his daughter.

She was going to be a prodigy. He could see it already. At just eight years old, she had already activated her sharingan.

Raising his hand, Sasuke cupped her cheek, enjoying how soft and small and fragile she felt and enjoying how her eyes widened with shock, the tomoe spinning – a sign she was storing everything to memory. "I'm proud of you, Sarada."

"Here!" she smiled nervously and trying to hide her blush, raising her own hands and showing the gifts. "These are for you!"

"Open them for me." Sasuke told her, dropping his hand.

It was moments such as these that the loss of his left arm got to him. He would have liked to open the presents himself, but some things just couldn't be helped. Instead of taking the fake arm Tsunade had created, Sasuke had adjusted and learned how to live with only one arm. Taking a fake one just seemed like the easy way out.

Sarada did so without a word, knowing that it would be difficult for him, whilst Sakura shifted closer and gave him a smile. "We know that you don't like gifts–"

"Unless they're tomatoes." Sarada smirked.

"Yes, unless they're tomatoes." Sakura also smirked, enjoying the look on Sasuke's face. "So we got you something that's meaningful. It took us a while to get hold of a copy for one of them, but we had a little help from a certain Hokage."

Sasuke frowned. "Naruto?"

She shook her head, laughing. "Like he'd be able to find something like this when he can't even find his brain half the time!" Sasuke huffed with amusement. "No, Kakashi–sensei helped us out."

"For a price, though." the young girl added, pausing in her movements just as she was about to unwrap the two gifts.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "What price?"

"Mama had to replace all the books she destroyed!"

"Books? What–" Sasuke cut himself off, realising just what books his daughter meant before sending Sakura a proud smirk. "You finally managed to get hold of them, then? How?"

Tapping her nose, Sakura winked. "You should always look underneath the underneath, Sasuke–kun."

"Anyway!" Sarada said loudly, handing one of the gifts over that she had just unwrapped and demanding her father's attention once more. "Here you go, papa!"

It was a picture of them. A family picture. Sasuke accepted the frame, holding it in his hand and looking the picture over with a warm look.

"It's for when you're travelling." Sakura told him softly. "We took the picture on Sarada's birthday–"

He gave a smile. "I remember."

"When we miss you, papa, we just look at the picture! So if you ever miss us, you just look at that picture, too."

Sasuke lowered the frame. "And the other?"

The hesitance in Sarada's movements was obvious until Sakura told her to go on, that it was okay. And once it was unwrapped and she handed the next frame to her father, Sasuke felt all breath leave him at the sight of the picture and shook his head.

"Where did you find this?"

All of his belongings, all of his clan's belongings, had been destroyed when Pein attacked Konoha. Everything. Stumbling upon the odd thing here and there was a miracle, but pretty much everything had been wiped out, so unfortunately there wasn't much to find. Sasuke had always shrugged it off, had always muttered that they were only material items, but… But when was the last time he saw his mother's face? His father's? After the massacre, it had been too hard looking at those pictures, so he had stored them away in–

Sakura gave him a smile. "As Hokage, even if he's retired, Kakashi has the right to enter vaults if he believes there may be something suspicious in them." Sasuke didn't need her to mention the fact that it hadn't been too difficult convincing some of the higher ups of that. "With a little bit of gentle persuasion–"

"You threatened to beat him up." Sarada cut in, raising an eyebrow.

Why did that not surprise Sasuke? "Always so violent."

The picture was of his family. Of his father, mother, Itachi and himself. It had literally been decades since he had seen their faces. Maybe not Itachi's, as it had probably only be a single decade, but his parents? Two decades, at least. It felt like a small weight had lifted from his shoulders as Sasuke took in the picture.

"Thank you." Sasuke told his wife and daughter genuinely, lowering the picture so that he could look at them.

"I'm glad you like it, papa!"

"You've always told me you don't like meaningless gifts." Sakura murmured, leaning forward and looking down at the picture from over his shoulder. Then, noticing something she reached out for his hand and lifted the frame, peering at the matriarch. "The necklace looks exactly like your mother's."

"Of course it does." Like he'd have it any other way. "You're the matriarch now, Sakura."

"Do you think they'd like us, papa?"

Sasuke looked down at the picture again. "…Yeah."

Perhaps being home wasn't as bad as he had thought it would be, and Sasuke merely had to learn to stop being so wary of facing things.

Leaning just that little bit closer as Sarada went back to opening her own presents, Sakura whispered in his ear, "There's another present from me."

Hearing the tone in her voice, he smirked. "Oh?"

"You can't have it until tonight, though." Sakura teased, pressing a kiss to his jaw before moving away and joining Sarada in opening her presents.

Sasuke's smirk widened.

It definitely wouldn't be easy permanently staying in Konoha and only taking missions instead of travelling, but Sasuke was willing to try harder for his family. He wanted to be there and witness all the things his father couldn't whilst he was growing up. Birthdays, Christmases, graduations, making chunin and jonin… Things such as that.

And as Sarada looked up at him, grinning brightly and looking so incredibly happy, Sasuke knew that it was the right decision.

It was a new start.

A/N - It's officially Christmas here so Merry Christmas!

Kind of mushy and cheesy, but I wanted to try and write Sasuke and how he'd act with his family. Bit difficult considering he's a closed book, so I'm sorry if he's OOC!