Journey of Discovery

Chapter 11 - Heritage

Sasuke approached his daughter's bedroom door and paused before knocking. He hoped she would be willing to talk to him and listen to his side of it all, not everything is as she saw it.

"You can come in" a quiet voice said from the other side of the door just as he raised his hand to knock.

When he entered the room he saw Sarada sitting against her headboard, knees tucked to her chest with her chin resting on her crossed arms. Her eyes were slightly pink, evidence that she had been crying.

"Is it okay if I sit?" he asked as he stood at the foot of her bed. She nodded to give him permission. He sat at the very end on the edge, he wanted to make sure he wasn't crowding her.

"I know you have a lot of questions" he told her gently, "and I am willing to answer them should you ask."

She met his eyes for a moment but quickly avoided her gaze again. Every time she looked at him she saw a boy with blood running down his face as he tried to kill everyone close to him.

"Give me a chance to explain everything Sarada" he begged. He was gone for almost the entirety of her life. He couldn't afford to push her even further away.

"Why did you try to k-hurt Mama?" she asked. She couldn't bring herself to say to word kill when referring to her mother.

"It was an act of desperation. Your mother always tried to bring me out of the darkness, and she managed to succeed a few times, but I couldn't help but slip back into it. I couldn't have her sway me from my goal, I couldn't let her try and stop me again."

"Why did you want to destroy Konoha?"

"I wanted them to pay for what they did to our clan, to Itachi, and to me. But I see now it was one person who did all that, not the village. I couldn't punish the whole for one rotten one."

"Was the rotten one the man from the bridge?" Danzo.

"Yes."

Sarada slowly felt herself relax. Her guard was coming down but she still hadn't met his gaze again. She was still coming to grips with all the information she was learning but it made her feel better that Sasuke was being so open and earnest with her. She was still slightly intimidated by him sometimes, but she was seeing a different side of him now.

"Will you tell me about your eyes?"

Sasuke turned to look at his daughter, "I'll try my best." He took a deep breath before continuing, "To unlock your Mangekyo Sharingan you have to kill your best friend; that's why you saw me try and kill Naruto."

Sarada sat silently as he spoke.

"I unlocked it when I killed your Uncle. After that I discovered what happened to him and it led to my fight against Danzo, which you saw. I over used my abilities and it caused me to go blind. After that, I was given your Uncle's eyes which unlocked my EMS. Do you understand?"

Sarada nodded her head solemnly. "So, if you hadn't killed Uncle Itachi then you would've stayed blind?"

"Precisely."

"So, I wont ever unlock my Mangekyo then."

She said it with certainty. Sasuke knew she was working so hard to further her Sharingan abilities but now her plans have been derailed. It hurt Sasuke to confirm her words but he knew it would be better if she didn't progress. He wanted to protect her from that pain.

"But that doesn't mean you can't still be powerful Sarada."

She nodded her head and fidgeted with her fingers in her lap. That may have been the hardest piece of information for her to take in aside from her father's murderous tendencies. She had always wanted to be powerful like him but now that seemed unobtainable.

"I'm sorry" he told her. "I never wanted you to have this burden, to be pained by the heritage of our clan."

"It's okay Papa. I'm still proud to be an Uchiha despite all this. I just wanted to know more, now I do."

It warmed his heart to hear her say those words. He was proud too, but the thought often passed through his mind of how much better his life could've been if he wasn't. Having her always reminded him that he should be proud.

"What about your Rinnegan?" she asked as she pointed to her eye that corresponded with his, finally looking at him.

"That's an even longer story, something that doesn't happen until the war. Any other questions for now?"

"How did you get Mama to forgive you?" she asked, referencing to when Sasuke nearly killed her. Twice.

"Did you know your mother has been in love with me since she was five years old?"

Sarada shook her head. It was surprising to learn but she was confused on how this had anything to do with her question.

"Your mother's feelings for me have never faltered when they should have after everything she's been through."

Sarada inched a little closer to Sasuke on the bed, eager to hear where he was going with this. "Even after what happened at the bridge she didn't hate you even a little?"

Sasuke chuckled softly, "She should have but no. I think it made her even more determined to get through to me. Love is a strange thing Sarada; it makes you overlook the bad in people, even when it outweighs the good."

"So, have you loved Mama for as long as she's loved you?"

Sasuke smiled at her and gently poked her forehead with his first two fingers. "I think that question is better suited for your mother. She's in the bath now and you need to get some sleep, it's been a long day. You can ask her tomorrow, okay?"

Sarada rubbed her forehead where he had poked, "One more question?" Sasuke nodded.

"Can I have a hug?"

"Of course" he told her softly.

She crawled across the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, his arm circling her ribs. "I don't hate you Papa" she whispered.

He hugged her even tighter. He didn't let go immediately, he wanted to hold her for as long as he could, he only released his hold when she did.

"G'night Sarada" he said as he flipped off her light.

"Night Papa" she replied before the door closed.

Sasuke made his way down the hall to the bathroom. When he opened the door steam came pouring out. Through it all he could faintly see the pink of his wife's hair.

He made his way through the steam to sit on the floor next to the tub, putting his back to the wall to face Sakura.

"How did it go?" she asked, raising up from the water to put her crossed arms on the edge.

"Better than I expected" he said with a soft smile.