Journey of Discovery

Chapter 10 - Conflicted

Sasuke and Sarada were both standing back on the dock after releasing the Jutsu. She now realized what she thought would be a simple conversion held so much more than she expected. She felt the anger in her throat, the confusion in her head, and the hurt in her heart.

'This just keeps getting worse and worse.'

She understood the weight of her questions and her curiosity when it came to her father's past, the clan, and the Sharingan. It was hard to admit but Orochimaru was right when he told her she would only find more questions instead of answers.

"Sarada-"

"I don't think I want to talk about this anymore today" she said softly. Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes, "I just want Mama."

Feeling lower than the ground he was standing on, Sasuke guided them back home in silence.

"Welcome home! Did you-" Sakura's words were cut short when Sarada crashed into her, burying her face in her mother's shoulder.

Sakura met her husband's eyes and she could see the depth of the pain he was trying to convey to her silently. She was hoping since they had been gone so long they had made up but she sees now that that isn't the case.

"What's wrong Sarada?" she asked.

"I don't want to talk about it" she said softly averting her mother's gaze. Sakura let out a deep sigh and looked to Sasuke in the hopes he would fill her in on the situation.

"She knows" was all he said. Sakura sucked in a breath and her whole body tensed. All the things she wanted to keep from her daughter ran through her mind in a flash. She gently pushed Sarada back at arm's length, "You know what Sarada?" She made sure to stay calm, she didn't know what it could even be, there wasn't a reason to panic before knowing anything.

Sarada looked up at her mother with tear filled eyes, "I don't want to talk about it" she said again before breaking from Sakura's hold and running up the stairs to her bedroom.

"Let her go" Sasuke told her as he grabbed her hand. "We need to talk."

Sasuke guided Sakura out into their backyard to sit. It was a cool evening, wind gently blowing all the flowers Sakura had planted. He motioned for her to sit across from him.

"What happened today Sasuke?" she asked calmly.

"You're not going to like this" he said as he rubbed his eyes with his finger and thumb. He let out a deep sigh before continuing. "I found out Sarada has gotten a hold of a Forbidden Justu."

"How did-"

Sasuke held his hand up, "It's been dealt with."

Sakura wasn't pleased in the slightest, "What was the Jutsu?"

"A time traveling Jutsu. One that had safeguards to prevent changes to the timeline."

She felt her jaw fall open in surprise, "Did you say time travel?" Sasuke silently nodded his head.

"What did she see?" she asked quietly, her chest was tight with anxiety.

"She saw every key moment in my life that led to me obtaining these eyes. She saw the night the clan was massacred and saw everything up until the point when I caught her, which was when I tried to kill you after the Five Kage Summit."

Sakura held her face in her hands, this was exactly what she had wanted to hide from their daughter. She knew that she would have to learn about her heritage one day, but she didn't want her to know everything she and Sasuke had gone through in their lives, all the terrible things.

"How could we let this happen Sasuke?"

He leaned forward and took her hands in his, pulling them from her face, "You didn't let anything happen Sakura. This falls to my shoulders."

"She has seen everything I wanted to hide from her" she said softly, "I thought I was protecting her."

"She needed to know some of this Sakura. I should've been here to tell her. It's not your fault" he reiterated.

The couple talked for a little while longer; Sasuke filling her in on the specifics of what moments in time their daughter saw. With each story Sakura become more and more stressed.

"Sakura, let's stop for now. We can talk more about later." He stood and held his hand out to her, which she took. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and walked with her inside and upstairs to their bathroom, "Take a bath and relax" he told her.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to talk to Sarada."