Promises Remembered

Chapter 22

A/N I forgot to mention this with my last updates. lol So I watched this adorable freaking anime called Buddy Daddies. 10/10 recommend, adorable Three Men and a Baby meets Leon the Professional? Adorable best friend hit men raising a sweet little girl together because trauma and found family. Anyway, one of the main characters is named Kazuki. Due to me not speaking Japanease and trusting the shit read aloud program I use to help me write, I have been pronouncing it wrong this whole time lol. It is obvious now. I was saying and hearing KaZUki but it is KAzuki. lol just like the rest of the names are pronounced correctly. Now it bugs me every time I listen to the doc, I keep correcting it in my head. So distracting. Well just in case anyone else didn't realize that either lol ALSO only one chapter left after this for part one!! WOOO Yeah for heartache! 

Chapter 22

Sakura

Six-hundred and eighty-three days into the past

"So, let's see." Mebuki looked thoughtfully down at the list they had put together over lunch while Sakura packed their most recent purchases into a storage scroll. "We've got almost everything you'll need." She smiled over at Sakura. "Now let's do the fun stuff."

"Fun stuff?" Sakura questioned.

"Baby clothes and toys!"

Sakura smiled back at her mother. "What do babies do with toys, Mebuki?"

The older woman chuckled. "Well, not much at first. But they won't be a newborn forever. And even when they're small, an eye-catching toy can help with tummy time and entertain them when they're fussy."

"Oh, that's true." Sakura had made sure to highlight the section on tummy time in the parenting book the Hokage had given them. She'd spent one of Kakashi's last missions skimming through it and highlighting the most important parts. He was probably one of the smartest people she knew, so he didn't need her highlights and notes. But it made her feel like she was somehow a part of raising him.

They spent the next couple of hours cooing over tiny outfits and socks. Sakura was positive she'd bought more clothes than Kazuki would ever be able to wear. His first pair of shoes and three different kinds of pacifiers—one just because it had a pug face on it—were also purchased.

"What's wrong, Hana?"

"Hm?" She looked up at her mother from the plush frog she'd picked up. Only then did she realize how hard she was holding the poor thing. "Oh. I... nothing. I'm fine."

Misunderstanding her distressed expression for nerves, Mebuki gave her a knowing smile and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You're going to do just fine, sweetheart. And if you ever need anything... advice, or just someone to hold him so you can shower, I can be there."

Turning into her, Sakura hugged her mother. She knew she had meant every word. Mebuki didn't know that the baby in question was her grandson, but she and her husband would be sources of invaluable support to Kakashi and love to their son. If she was going to go back to the future, Sakura knew she wouldn't be able to thank her enough.

"Thank you, Mebuki." Pulling away, she turned back to the stuffed frog, picking up another. She knew another little boy that needed one too. "I'm going to get these, and then I think I'm done."

<KSK>

Seven-hundred and five days into the past

After coming home from her shopping trip with her mother, Sakura had begun a serious phase of what Mebuki called 'nesting.' After washing heaps of baby clothes and sanitizing three different kinds of bottles—because apparently they were all different and some babies like different ones, so she couldn't just get one kind, what if Kazuki didn't like the first one he tried and Kakashi didn't realize that was a possible problem—she cleaned and organized everything.