Daylight

Kindle Pt.1

The December midday sun loomed high above a village hidden in the leaves, every carved rock glistening under the sun as the people of the village huddled along in their scarves, coats and gloves. Somewhere in the village, a crowd of three-year-olds were sitting inside a school building, attempting to learn and understand the twelve different months through a song although a dozen of them had dozed off into a nap after their lunch. A raven-haired girl counted how many months until her birthday, hoping that her father would return and grace her with his presence. For if he didn't, then maybe her mother's words of comfort were all but lies, and she was not loved by a man she barely knew as her Papa... 

Elsewhere in the village, an older man had also dozed off into a nap. Pink hair tickled his cheek and shoulder, and despite the cold air, the man only felt warmth. He stirred awake when he felt the absence of the silky locks. Before him stood his bare wife who was rummaging through her drawers. She turned her head back to face him when he cleared his throat. 

"Oh! Sasuke! I didn't mean to wake you," she apologised. "I'm going to quickly have a shower, and then I can serve you some lunch?"

He stared at her with his infamous stoic expression and asked, "How long was I asleep for?" 

"Just a few minutes," she answered as she took her new clothes and left the room. 

Sasuke looked around the room and then at himself and decided that he also needed to shower. He opened the bedroom door and was greeted with white walls on either side of him. He followed the path the walls and tiles made for him until he found a door with a sign hanging off from it that read in childish red writing, 'Sarada rom. Do nt distab'. He hovered outside the room, his hand hovering over the doorknob, wondering whether he should intrude the room and inspect how much his daughter's tastes had changed in the couple of months that he had not seen her, but then thought better of it. He turned away and continued following the path of the corridor when he came to another closed door. 

He opened it slowly and found hot steam escape onto his face. He could barely see anything due to the cloud of steam which had surfaced and the condensation which had clouded the windows and mirrors. But he could still make out his wife's slim form that  had her arms over her head as she washed her hair. He found his way to herself and ignored her shrieks and pleas. He simply washed himself and left her pink-faced with embarrassment. He made his way back to the bedroom after stealing a long white towel for himself and picked up the book he had thrown earlier. He picked up their clothes and placed his wife's in the laundry basket whilst he folded his and placed them on the night stand. He then turned his attention to the bed and stripped the covers off, and they too found their place in the laundry basket.   

He then made his way around the house, eventually finding the stairs that led him downstairs, and suddenly he was standing outside the living room that his wife spoke of. On the wall opposite, perched above the fireplace was the house-warming present gifted by Sai, an additional member of Team 7: the Uchiha crest. He lost himself in the red curves, his mind flickering to other red curves he loved so much. This crest no longer just symbolised himself or of his late family, or of the rest of his deceased clan; no, now it was also a symbol of life, love and hope. Sakura and Sarada. They were the ones who now proudly wore this crest on their backs, and he couldn't be prouder. His eyes softened at the thought, and he barely registered that his said wife was standing next to him until she nudged closer and circled her hands around his lone arm. 

He looked down and found her smiling up at him, her green eyes ardent with bliss. "You didn't have to do all that. Upstairs, I mean," she said, her voice light with amusement. "I could have cleaned up."

He smiled down at her and said, "Sakura. I'm home." 

He watched as her eyes lit up and a pretty 'o' painted her lips, until she replied with a pleasant sigh, "Welcome home, Sasuke-kun."