Soul Searching

Chapter 89

"G'morning" Sakura mumbled. I felt the bed shift as she stretched her arms and legs out, groaning a sigh of relief.

"Hn" I replied from under my pillow. I didn't feel like I drank too much but my pounding head said otherwise. I was not a regular drinker by any means so it honestly didn't take much. I'm sure it was a mixture of alcohol and the fact I got very little sleep the last night.

"You okay under there?" Sakura said with a laugh as she lifted the corner of the pillow. I peeked out of the corner of my eye to look at her, trying to feign annoyance.

She playfully rolled her eyes and laid the pillow back over my head. All the years I called her annoying as kids has built up her tolerance for me. I haven't called her annoying once since then but she still liked to joke about it.

"How are you so- so-"

"Not hung over?" she asked noticing I couldn't think of a word to convey my thoughts.

"Yeah. You drank way more than I did."

"Sasuke, we may be older but we aren't that old" she teased. "You're just out of practice."

"I was never in practice" I groaned. This immediately took me back to when we were traveling and I had one too many drinks at a tavern we stopped into. I was so drunk Sakura carried me back to the inn over her shoulder. Thankfully we were in a town where no one knew us. That embarrassing moment was only known by Sakura and myself. I don't think I left the bed until the sun went down the next day.

"I'm going to go make breakfast. Join us when you're ready" and she clicked the door shut behind her.

I could hear her footsteps fade down the hallway and I was left in silence. It was wonderful. I settled down into bed and closed my eyes planning to get a few more minutes of sleep in.

"Papa!" Sarada called from downstairs. It didn't sound urgent or like she was scared so I chose to ignore her. Her mother was with her, whatever she needed Sakura could handle.

"Papa!" she called again. I remained silent, hoping she would give up but then I heard her footsteps coming up the stairs and getting closer to our room.

"Papa?" she asked right outside the door. I pulled the pillow back over my head.

I heard the door open slowly followed by the soft tap of footsteps. The bed shifted as she crawled into bed and laid next to me. She cuddled close, just like she used to as a child.

"Yes Sarada?" I asked.

"Why are you still in bed?" Out of the three of us I typically was up first.

"Why are you trying to wake me up?" I retorted.

"Because it's your birthday" she said. I squeezed my eyes shut tight and groaned because yes, it was my birthday, but I disliked my birthday. Sakura always did something small to celebrate and I went along with it because I knew she put a lot of love and effort into it but honestly, I wouldn't care if we treated it like any other day.

"Papa come on. This is your first birthday back that I'll be able to remember, I planned something fun!"

Fun was the last thing I needed right now. But, with the same as Sakura, I would appease my daughter.

"Can I have five more minutes?"

"No."

I sat on the side on the bed, elbows resting on my knees, desperately trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes.

"Papa I think if you rub any harder your eye balls are going to be in the back of your head."

"That's the plan" I mumbled under my breath. She grabbed my hands and pulled me into a standing position and then out of the room. The hallway was filled with the smell of breakfast and I felt my stomach do a somersault.

I sat heavily at the kitchen table, slumped in my chair. Sakura was as chipper as ever while she finished up making breakfast, Sarada was setting the table. Every clink made my head pound.

"Sakura can you-"

"Yes. Give me one minute" she said as she wiped her hands on her apron. She walked over to stand behind me and held her hands out on each side of my head and began to heal. The pressure in my head slowly dissipated over the course of minutes and I felt much better.

"Feel better?" she asked.

"Much."

"Good. Happy Birthday dear" she whispered in my ear before kissing me on the cheek.