[Naruto AU, angst, fluff, comfort]
"Did you sleep well last night?"
Sarada didn't speak.
"Okay, listen." Karin walked up to her, "you've been looking so depressed for the past week since Sakura died. Why can't you just move on and live your life? It's what your Mama would've wanted, isn't it?"
"I wouldn't know... I never had much time with her."
Karin crossed her arms, groaned, and leaned her head back, "well, we need to go or we're going to be late."
"For what?"
Karin winked, "it's a surprise. Sasuke and I've been keeping it a secret for a few days now. So come on, we're heading out."
"Uhm..." Sarada hopped down from the high chair she sat on, "okay..."
Karin swung her arm around Sarada's neck and scratched her head, "c'mon, lighten up. It's a beautiful day out, and the cherry blossoms are in full bloom."
"Yeah..."
The two walked down the dirt path until they spotted a group in front of the Hokage's office.
"Mom..." Sarada blinked a few times, "what's going on?"
"Hey, Sarada!"
She turned to the far side of the group and spotted the oh-so-familiar Uzumaki, "Boruto."
"Hey, so, uh." He scratched the back of his head, "my dad had this entire thing planned just for you and Uncle Sasuke. He and Grandpa Kakashi thought she deserved it."
"Who's 'she'?"
"Welcome, everyone!" Naruto walked out of the Hokage's office, followed by Shikamaru, "sorry we're late. Let's go!"
Once Naruto and Shikamaru took off, the group followed them.
"Hmm..." Sarada glanced around. She recognized Inojin's parents, his mom was still crying, then she recognized some of her other classmates' parents. Then she looked back at Boruto, "so what is this?"
"Wait and see." Boruto smiled, "my dad was really excited. He says he knows you'll like it. Do you remember that empty plot of land that those contractors were trying to get rid of a few months ago?"
"Yeah..." Sarada rose a brow, "but then they started putting up the skeleton for a new building there. Why?"
"Well..."
They turned a corner, and instead of a bare, skeleton building frame, there stood a brand new building.
"What the...." Sarada stared, "when did it..."
"Just the beginning of this week." Boruto grinned, "this is your Mama's."
"What?"
"In her will." Boruto explained, "she set aside more than half of her money to your family, then the rest went to the completion of this building. Turns out, she owned this plot of land all this time."
"She..." Sarada smiled, "she did this?!"
"Basically." Boruto watched as the group of people all gathered in front of the building, applauding its completion, "it's the Sakura Hospital for intensive care."
"A hospital...." Sarada pursed her lips as tears formed in her eyes, "then what's that?"
"Oh?" Boruto looked in the direction she pointed, then smiled, "my dad said he wanted you to be the one to cut the ribbon and remove that cloth."
At the front was a large figure covered in canvas.
"Sarada!" Naruto called from the front, and soon, all eyes were on her.
"C'mon, Sarada. This is your part." Karin walked over to her and walked her to the front, Boruto trailing close behind her.
"She wanted this." Naruto smiled sadly as he handed Sarada a pair of scissors.
She looked down at the ribbon he held in her hand, then at the scissors. She brought them up and cut the material as the crowd clapped.
"Sakura..." Ino wiped her eyes as she turned to her teammate, "who knew she would leave a legacy here?"
"Never saw it coming..." Shikamaru smiled, "she's a legend, now."
"She is." Naruto grinned.
"Ah..." Sarada looked around, "where's Papa?"
"Um..." Naruto pursed his lips, "I'm not sure..."
"I need to find him!" Sarada started away from the hospital.
"Wait, Sarada!" Naruto called after her as he gestured frantically towards the large canvas-covered figure, "you need to help unveil this thing!"
"I can't! Papa has to be here!" She yelled as she ran as fast as she could back to her house. She burst through the door and looked around, "Papa?"
No response.
She continued on through the village, looking to and fro for the dark-cloaked man. Her eyes caught sight of the stone bench that always sat outside the village, and she froze.
This is... She immediately remembered the story Karin had told her a few days ago.
"Your parents weren't always close... Sasuke left the village when he was younger, you see. So every time I walk past that bench in front of the village, it only reminds me of those two." Karin smiled sadly, "how she tried to stop him, and how he knew he didn't want to leave her. He really tried his hardest to put her in the back of his mind, but he tells me every day, he hesitated. He always hesitated when it was Sakura..."
This bench... Sarada wiped her eyes. I need to find Papa.
She continued a little bit out of the village until the hideout was in sight. She threw the door open and leaned on her knees in order to catch her breath. The door slamming against the wall behind it echoed through the empty halls.
"Papa!" Sarada peeked her head into the room Sakura had stayed in and looked around, "Papa..."
Sasuke sat on the edge of the bed staring at the floor.
"How long have you been here?" Sarada wiped her eyes and approached him, "you haven't been home..."
"Hey..." Sasuke looked up at her as he wiped his own eyes, then wrapped his arm around her, "I'm sorry..."
"It's okay..." Sarada pursed her lips, "I've felt miserable, but I guess I never really imagined how you'd be feeling right now."
"Heh." Sasuke shut his eyes and sighed, "She... I found this under her pillow." He pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to her.
"What's this?" Sarada started reading, then covered her mouth.
Dear Sarada,
Thank you for the happiness you gave me since the day you were born. Even though I couldn't be with you to watch you and help you grow, I still couldn't imagine you any happier than you were with Papa and Mom. I knew you'd grow to be like me, though. I've made that bet with Sasuke so many times. In ways, you actually turned out like him, though. But mostly me. I trust you'll continue to live a happy life, and although I may be gone, don't worry about me. You still have a long life to live ahead of you. Get stronger and continue my legacy. Now it's your turn to be the living legend.
Dear Karin,
I wanted to say thank you to you as well for taking care of my child. I'm sorry I never really helped you out, but it really meant the world to me to know someone like you. Without you, Sarada wouldn't be here today. Sasuke and I appreciate and love you more than you could ever imagine.
Dear Sasuke,
Be a good boy. You're no longer my responsibility, so do what Karin tells you to do, okay? I'm just kidding, Dear. But I really am partially serious. I know you'll continue to be a good papa to Sarada, you've done a great job at something I could never do, haha. Oh, and--
There was a small portion of the paragraph that was scribbled out by Sasuke before letting her read the letter. Sarada made out a few words then understood why. Papa and Mama, with their dirty inside jokes... They're married, after all...
I love you all, and please don't ever forget about me.
Love, Sakura
Sarada wiped her eyes and set the letter back down on the bed, "Papa..."
"That's not all." Sasuke crumpled up another sheet of paper and tossed it onto the bedside table.
"What?" Sarada took the ball of paper, opened it, smoothed it out, and squinted as she tried to make out the words.
PS: I have a final surprise for you, Sasuke and Sarada. Please go find Lady Tsunade, she has what you gave me, Sasuke. Remember that night?
Sarada blinked a few times, then looked back up at Sasuke, "I don't get it. What did you give Mama?"
Sasuke stood up, clearing his throat, "nothing. Let's go pick it up."
"Hmm..." Sarada murmured to herself as she followed him out of the room then out of the hideout, "where's Lady Tsunade?"
"I have a hunch..."
_____________________________
"Bring us out another round!"
"Lady Tsunade, don't you think you've had enough?"
"Of course not, Shizune! I know I'm drunk, therefore I'm not drunk enough, yet."
Shizune chuckled uncertainly as she watched her teacher downing another bottle of Sake. She scanned the bar, then smiled, "hey, it's Sasuke and Sarada!"
"Hm?" Tsunade set the bottle down and watched as the two Uchiha made their way over to them, "Eh? Sasuke, what are you doing bringing an under-age child here?"
"We're not here to drink." Sasuke muttered, "were you at the ceremony?"
"Of course I was." Tsunade wiped her nose, "where were you?"
"That's none of your concern." Sasuke cleared his throat, "I learned from Sakura that you have something I gave her."
Shizune pursed her lips and glanced at the woman as she burst out laughing.
"Yeah, I have something you gave her." Tsunade chuckled, "it may have changed a bit, but you bet it came from you. At least that's what I hope."
"Just get it for us, please."
Tsunade smirked at Sasuke's demand, "sure. You'll have to come with us, though. It's not here."
"Fine."
The two women got up and left the bar, Sasuke and Sarada following close behind.
Sarada tugged on his sleeve, "do you know what this is?"
"I honestly don't. Sakura never told me anything and I never gave her anything, either."
"Hmm..." Sarada rubbed her hands together anxiously. Seeing the new hospital dedicated to Sakura was one thing, but she didn't think anything could top that.
"Here." Tsunade handed Shizune her bottles of Sake once they approached an abandoned hospital just outside the village and not too far from the hideout. She pulled out a key and opened the door to her guests, "come on in,"
Sarada glanced around the sketchy building, afraid something might jump out at her and that all this was a prank, "why are we here?"
"Well..." Tsunade smiled, "don't get mad at me, but there's something Sakura never told either of you."
"Hm?" Sasuke looked at her, "what are you talking about? Something you know that we don't?"
"Yes." She led them down a dark hallway, then came up to a shut hospital room door, "Shh..."
Sarada blinked a few times at the command. Tsunade turned the handle and pushed the heavy door open, and what Sarada saw brought tears to her eyes, "P-Papa... Is that..." She turned to look at him, but he was just as speechless as her. If anything, he was even more shocked than her.
"Sasuke..." Shizune smiled, "we ran DNA tests. It's yours."
"M-mine? But..." Sasuke swallowed hard.
"Well?" Tsunade walked up to the small bed that stood by the window, the room's only source of light, "don't be shy. He's not going to bite."
Sarada covered her mouth, but both of them were too shocked to move.
"Th-that's..." Sasuke's voice cracked, "I didn't know that I'd make Sakura..."
"Well, you did. She never told you because she didn't want you to have so many unnecessary burdens. She said it happened because of her, so it was her duty, not yours. Actually, Sakura was supposed to live another whole year, but she spent more than half her chakra taking care of him."
Sasuke slowly walked up to the bed as tears ran down his face, "and... It's a..."
"Yep."
He lifted the cloth and laying there was a baby boy with black hair.
"It's a boy."
Sasuke leaned over the baby and cried, his tears fell onto the baby's sleeping face, "she... She was pregnant and she never told me?!"
"Papa..." Sarada ran to his side and wiped her eyes, "I have a little brother?!"
Sasuke looked at Tsunade, "how long has she..."
"We found out she was pregnant during that time period that you three left the village to the Hidden Grass Village last year. If you remember clearly enough, you were gone for about a month. The night before you left, you spent it with Sakura. She told me that you made up for the time you spent away from her in that single night. A week later, I decided to check up on her, imagine my surprise when she started throwing up. She wound up going into labor extremely early, due to her low chakra supply and weak chakra center. She went into a coma for another week but luckily woke up just before you returned. I've been taking care of the baby at this hospital since then, and I took him to Sakura to be nursed and to spend time with her. He's about a year and a half, now." Tsunade sighed as she glanced up at Sarada, "Sakura always told me you'd help your Papa in taking care of this little guy, and I don't doubt that at all."
Sarada chuckled as she wiped away her tears again, "wow... He's so cute!"
"His chakra levels are normal, now." Shizune informed, "since he was born early, he was really weak and frail. But we helped him enough so that he could grow to be a normal boy."
"That's good." Sasuke sighed as he looked down at the baby. He poked his chubby cheeks and held the baby's tiny hands in his large one, "did Sakura name him?"
"She said you'd know the name."
"What do you want to name our child?"
"Well..." Sasuke leaned his head back as his hand rubbed Sakura's large stomach, "if it's a girl, I think Sarada. The first character of her name is from both our names, the second is from yours, and the last..."
"Yes?"
"In honor of Itachi."
"I see." Sakura grinned, "well, I think that's a wonderful name! And... If it's a boy?"
Sasuke looked at her and smiled, "Daisuke. The first character of his name means 'great' and the second character means 'help'. If anything, I know that our child, boy or girl, will help revive the Uchiha clan and, overall, help the Shinobi of the ninja world, in the same way you do, Sakura. They will carry on our legacies when we're gone, mostly yours, and help millions."
"I like that." Sakura grinned, "they'll be living legends."
"I know they will be."
"His name..." Sasuke smiled, "is Daisuke Uchiha."
"Daisuke..." Sarada looked down at the boy, "it suits him. "
"It does." Sasuke wiped his eyes as he picked the baby up carefully, "because when he grows up, he'll help you, Sarada, carry on the legacy of the Uchiha name, but overall, will help you carry on Sakura's legacy as a living legend. You both will."
Sarada smiled and nodded, "I'll do my best, then, to make sure Mama's dream stays alive... Stays alive with us."
Sasuke shut his eyes,
Sakura.
If you can hear this, I'm sorry for everything.
For not being there when you needed me,
For not being with you when you went into labor,
For putting you through so much when I could've easily done it all for you.
I'm a failure as a husband...
"Don't be silly."
Along the plane of Sasuke's mind, he stood in a pool of darkness, and illuminated in the dark was Sakura.
"You've been there for me when I needed you most, and you gave me the most precious gifts of all: Two beautiful and healthy children that will grow to be just like us."
"I know..." Sasuke smiled sadly as she walked up to him, then wrapped her arms around him in a hug.
"I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer."
"It's alright. But really..." Sasuke wrapped his arm around her and kissed her head, "you'll continue to be with us, forever. Right here with Daisuke and Sarada."
"You know I will." Sakura smiled as she shut her eyes and kissed him, "I love you."
"I love you too." Sasuke smiled as he kissed her back just before she vanished into a billion particles, and Sasuke snapped back into reality.
"Mama is right here..." Sasuke looked down at Daisuke, "and she's here to stay."
Sarada smiled and nodded as she glanced out the window, and a few miles away, she could see the Leaf Village, and among the buildings stood the Sakura Hospital, and in front of the building stood a statue of Sakura, built in loving memory of the legend that saved thousands of lives.
"She is," Sarada said finally. Sasuke turned to see the statue, and in turn, he smiled as well.
"People could say otherwise..." Sasuke smiled sadly, memories moving through his mind, "but I know with all my heart and soul that Sakura Uchiha was certainly a living legend."
---
Written by xX_Fang_Xx
This was the final part of the OneShot series, Legends! I'm glad many of you enjoyed it, and I really did enjoy writing this one! I'm sorry to have made many of you cry. If it makes you feel any better, I probably cried as I wrote every single one of these chapters. We really appreciate your support for our SasuSakuComm OneShot book and hopefully, you enjoy the rest of our stuff!
Thanks again!
Author-chan ❤️🌸
Here's another Nightcore video. Don't worry, it's more lighthearted this time. 😂
This is a Naruto AMV with the Nightcore version of Legends Never Die by League of Legends ft. Against the Current