Unplanned

Sarada

Dad looks like he might want to say something to that, and as amazed as Sarada would be to see her father get overprotective, she refuses to get sidetracked.

"So no apocalypse and no fatal diseases," she interrupts. "What is it then? What aren't you guys telling me?"

Her parents go quiet and look at each other. Dad raises an eyebrow in question, and Mom gives a tiny little half-shrug before nodding.

She smiles at Sarada. It almost looks like she's embarrassed as she tries to find the words, which makes total sense when she finally declares, "We're having a baby."

There's a moment of ringing silence.

Actually, there's several.

"A baby," Sarada repeats.

"Yes."

"A...a tiny human."

"That's usually how our species' offspring start out, yes," Dad says dryly. Despite the sarcasm, he looks more amused than he has any right to be.

Another pause.

"Tell me you're joking."

"When have you ever known your father to joke?" Mom questions.

"But that would mean...you'd had to have and when...?" Sarada falters in her thoughts. Her parents share what anyone with normal parents might call a sheepish look, but which she knows can't be that because Dad never looks sheepish. "But you guys are old!"

Mom's eye twitches. "Sarada, darling, I love you to bits, please don't make me commit prolicide."

"And you!" Sarada rounds on her father. "You're supposed to be the less impulsive one! You're supposed to think things through! Didn't you tell me how important it was to use protection at all times?!"

If possible, a light dash of colour crosses her father's cheeks, but there's barely any time to remark on that before Mom interjects. "Hold on – you had the talk with her?"

"Mm."

"Sasuke, I covered that with her ages ago, when Hinata was pregnant with Himawari."

"Yes. Sarada informed me. The biological aspect, not concerns of a more practical nature."

"It wasn't exactly an issue back then! She was five!"

"It's never too early. I was younger than that when I was given an explanation about sexual responsibility."

"Yeah, but you're a guy! Boys should have that talk earlier."

"Which is why she needs to know of it too – so that she can bludgeon any boy who tries to convince her differently."

"No one would ever try that. They know you would kill them. And that I would kill them. And that Naruto would kill them and –"

"The point is, she's now on a genin squad with two boys, and she needs to think about these things –"

"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU! YOU'RE GETTING OFF TRACK – SHANNARO!"

Sarada doesn't know what's most disturbing about all of this – that her parents are having another baby or the fact that they are talking about her potential sex life. Or the fact that they are bickering the way Dad and Uncle Naruto do sometimes.

She jabs a finger in Mom's direction. "So...you being sick all the time is...?"

"Morning sickness. Well, with this one it seems to be all-day sickness, which is a surprise." Mom sighs. "I had none with you. But it should be cleared up in another month and a half. Then everything will be back to normal."

"Except you'll be incubating a tiny human," Sarada points out because that point needs special reiteration.

"Yes."

Sarada stares at the floor, trying to come to terms with the sudden shift in everything she has ever known.

There are no words for everything she feels, and until she sorts it out, there's no point in saying anything.

"Sarada?" her mother ventures. "Are you...unhappy about this?"

"Of course not," she says at once, pasting a smile on her face. "You're not dying, Dad's going to stay, and I'm going to get a bigger room. It'll be great!"

Mom frowns. "Hold on. How do you figure that?"

"What, are you planning to put the baby on the roof? Because I'm so not sharing my room. It's small enough as it is."

"Hm." Dad considers. "She might have a point."

Mom lets out a groan. "But...but we just paid off the loan on this house!"

Her head falls into the cradle of her arms, and she mutters under her breath; Dad awkwardly pats her shoulder.

As her parents' attention shifts from her, Sarada's smile fades. She can already imagine what the future brings, and a new house is the least of her worries.

つづく