Daylight

Cosmos Pt.2

"I'll continue overseeing his training," Sasuke assured. Thank you for overseeing Sarada's childhood. 

"Heh, thanks Sasuke. I know he can be a bit of a handful, but he has his moments..."

"No. He's as annoying as you," Sasuke delivered with a deadpanned face, causing the Hokage to bristle at his words and a flux of emotions pass over his friend's face. Sasuke turned and left the office. In his heart, he knew that because Boruto was in a few ways like his father, it meant that he was a good kid, and it was that thought that imprinted a small smile on Sasuke's face. 

But those endearing thoughts about his student did nothing to soothe his worries over his own relationship with his daughter. At times he felt relief when he did not have the time to seek her out and spend time with her, as there were still so many unresolved feelings to unpack, and time was of the essence as it was any day now that the Otsutsuki's could trace Sasuke's trail back to their own realm through the myriad of dimensions and portals that Sasuke had unravelled. There was too much at stake, and as much as a part of him wanted nothing more than to rebuild a solid relationship with his daughter, that was not his priority as of yet. And so it goes, that him and his daughter were still but mere strangers to each other; they were only ghosts of the other's memories, and Sasuke couldn't help but make his interactions with her feeling nothing beyond awkward. 

But the most minuscule of moments could have a large impact at bringing father and daughter closer; it was the moment that he had realised that the original byakugan wielders had made his daughter their target that Sasuke had intervened and made sure that she was out of harms way. He lost everything once, and he would tear up the sky until all was left were the particles of the cosmos before he let anything harm his precious daughter. For that very reason, he did not task her with the burden of joining himself, Boruto and the Kages in going after the other-worldly beings. Instead, to ensure she understood that he recognised her strength, he imparted with her the importance of the sharingan, and how she could be of use to her village if the need ever came to pass. The longing look in her eyes as she pleaded up at him to take her with him reminded of all the times Sakura had asked the same thing too... and also of the conversation he had with Sakura only a few nights before:

Sasuke had sauntered into the bedroom to find Sakura feigning sleep dressed in her nightgown. As soon as he sat upon the bed her hand slunk around his wrist and she kissed his index finger. 

"You're awake," he observed. 

"I can't sleep knowing you're so close by, but not beside me," she murmured into his palm as she nuzzled her cheek into it. 

"It's 4am. Your shift starts at 6."

"So? Come home earlier  if you're so concerned." 

Sasuke sighed. "You know that's not up to me. I have to-"

Sakura raised a finger to his lip to silence him. "I know, I'm just teasing." But then her half-lidded eyes opened fully and she removed herself from him and propped herself up on an elbow. "But... Sarada... she still doesn't get it. She's been asking of you. She..." Sasuke noticed how her words faltered and how her gaze left his, unable to speak her worries. 

"Tell me," he prompted. 

"She still wishes you were home... As in, she wishes you could spend more time with her." 

Sasuke looked at his feet as he felt the patches of the small bonds he had forged with his daughter come undone. Those days where she would find him and coax him into teaching her the fireball jutsu unravelled before his eyes, as if every little gesture was not enough. She deserved a better father, but all she had was him.