Daylight

Flicker

Three days had passed, and Sasuke's small little family had finally departed, onward towards a stable environment. Their farewells with their friend-become-midwife had consisted of Sakura thanking Karin for all she had done, including healing her after her strenuous labour, with gifting the Uzumaki something tangible, to signify her bond to the Uchiha family: Sakura and Sarada's umbilical cord. Sasuke thought the transfer of the cord was queer, but he didn't voice his opinions on his delirious wife's or the redhead's decision - after all, his wife was known to be unrelentingly stubborn, and Uzumaki's were known to be of a strange breed. 

With his arm around his wife's waist, Sarada bounced within the makeshift sling which was slung over Sakura's shoulders so that Sarada rested just above where she had slept inside her mother before drawing her first breath, head faced towards Sakura's bosoms, tying mother and daughter together. They tread at a slow pace through the jungle of trees. The leaves were a deep green, and hanging from the edges were droplets from the night before, tiptoeing onto the the gravel beneath it. Above them rested a blinding orb, floating up in the heavens shining down on them with blessings. The warm air of spring embraced the Uchiha family as the soft breeze of the wind tickled their hair, whispering secrets of love to pink and black. His child and his wife were the coolness of his eyes, and the fire that lit up his heart, thawing the icicles that had formed from past trauma. He kept a close eye as the flesh of his newborn fascinated him - she was no longer a ball of chakra within her mother, but a being of her own. She was a flicker of light that would only grow brighter as the days shifted into weeks, into months, into years... She had opened a new chapter in his life, and had given him another million reasons to stay true to the path of daylight. She was his daughter; she had made him a father. She was an Uchiha. 

They would rest periodically, listening to Sarada's cries and studying her body language to signify when to take naps, eat, and to continue on with their journey. It was still only five hours after midday when Sarada has drifted off to sleep within the sling. Sakura yawned and her feet came to a stop. Sasuke took that as a sign to roll out a sleeping bag and took Sarada from his knackered wife. Sakura curled up into a fetus position and was swept away into a land of dreams... Sasuke stayed awake, watching over the two rays of light in his life. Chasing away temptations of sleep was a small sacrifice he could make to keep them safe. He cradled his child in his arm, closing her in towards his chest and hummed a lullaby he had often heard from his own mother when he himself was an innocent boy. He studied his child, and adored the way her soft hair felt beneath his fingertips, the way her lips curled up baring her gums whilst she slept. Sasuke was curious as to what his daughter could be dreaming about, and silently promised her with a kiss on her forehead that he would do anything to keep those blissful dreams a reality for the rest of her life. He would give his other arm for her in a heartbeat. He would do anything. 

Another hour had passed before a small moan escaped from Sarada's lips. The moans soon transitioned into soft cries causing Sasuke to test different methods to still her cries, as Sakura was still entranced in a deep sleep. He stood up and lightly bounced Sarada in his arm, then paced around light on his feet, in the end he found that a kiss on the forehead worked like a charm. He lifted his lips from her smooth skin, slowly straightening his head when he was halted by a tiny fist clenching his hair that he had grown to cover his purple ripples. He stared into the tiny black orbs that was studying his own face, before she started cooing at him as she tugged his hair again. Sasuke had no way out of this, with only one hand, there was no way to gently pull his child from himself. 

His eyes lifted upwards as he heard muffled laughter. Sakura was sitting up, her hair tied as it fell behind her, with a hand over her mouth. 

"I never thought I'd see you lose a fight... and to a baby!", she said with hints of laughter in her tone.