Papa's Baby Girl

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Sarada looked the newborn baby in the bassinet with a less than impressed look on her face. The baby boy had hair as dark as hers, with pink cheeks and pale skin that matched as well, but she still didn't get what the big deal was.

So her Uncle Itachi and Aunt Asuna had a baby. Why was that so important to people? It's not like this was the first baby ever born. Sarada had met Bolt's little sister two years ago, and didn't understand it then either. She still didn't understand, not after meeting her newborn cousin and seeing he was just laying the bassinet, sleeping while sucking on a pacifier she somewhat remembers Sakura bringing to Asuna one day as a gift.

When Sarada was asked what she thought about getting a cousin, right after Asuna announced her pregnancy, Sakura was met with nothing but a disgusted look from her almost five-year-old (Sarada had just turned five in July, while her cousin was born on Christmas Day). Sarada stated she didn't understand why everyone was so obsessed over Asuna having a baby, when babies were born every day.

It surprised Sakura that her daughter was so against having a cousin, as she and Sasuke were planning to try and have another child later that coming year, but this worried her. If Sarada wasn't excited over her cousin, would she be excited to have a little sibling?

Sakura's worries eventually disappeared, as she spoke to Sasuke, Itachi, and Asuna about it, and became sure that Sarada would fall in love with her younger sibling one day.

Still, Sarada wasn't the least bit impressed with her cousin Reyke. He was only a few days old, but all he did was sleep, cry, and eat. Asuna had been watching her as she stared at Reyke for the last twenty minutes, smiling in amusement as Sarada made face after face of disgust and, every now and then, awe at the three-day-old. After a few more minutes of watching her, Asuna moved from her seat on the couch to right beside Sarada, crouching down to her level to look at Reyke as well.

"What do you think, Sarada? Isn't he cute?"

Sarada scrunched up her nose, shaking her head after a moment. "He's fat."

Her statement caused Asuna to laugh a bit too loud, waking Reyke and making him whine for a few moments before he calmed down and opened his black eyes, blinking a few times before cooing and staring at Sarada and his mother.

"Hello, darling," Asuna whispered and picked Reyke up, holding him close and taking Sarada's hand to lead her over to the couch, taking her place once again and helping Sarada sit next to her. "Yes, Reyke is a chubby baby, but that's how he was born."

"But why is he fat?"

"He made me eat a lot while he was growing inside me, Sarada."

"Hmm..." Sarada pursed her lips, staring at Reyke as he looked around, blinking. She still didn't understand why having a new cousin was such a big deal. He was just a baby.

Why was he so important?

"Why is everyone so obsessed with him?"

"What do you mean?"

"Mama and papa have been talking about Reyke since you said he was gonna be born. He's almost all they talked about and he's all uncle Itachi will talk about," Sarada pouted, poking her little cousin's cheek as she thought. "Is he special?"

Smiling softly, Asuna passed Reyke to Sarada, knowing she'd had some experience holding newborns, and hoping that Sarada would start to like Reyke if she got to hold him.

"He's very special; to Itachi and me, he's a precious little blessing... we weren't expecting him to come along immediately after we got married, but that's ok..."

Sarada watched Asuna as she rubbed her thumb over Reyke's forehead before kissing it.

"We love him very much."

+!+

On the way home later that day, Sarada watched her parents' from the back seat of their car. Sakura was telling Sasuke something Asuna had told her, and he was listening attentively and nodding every now and then, giving responses as well.

After spending the day with her aunt and cousin, Sarada had somewhat come to understand that, while Reyke was an unexpected, very sudden surprise, he was very much loved and quite special to her aunt and uncle, simply because he was their first child.

She did wonder if her parents felt the same when she was born, but didn't want to ask that when she had a different question, more of a request actually, in mind.

Once they got home, Sasuke got Sarada out of the car, carrying her in their house and taking her right to her room, as she had started to fall asleep on the way home. When he tried to lay her down, though, Sarada wouldn't release her hold around his neck, making Sasuke sigh and Sakura giggle before trying to help him out.

Sarada, however, was not going to let go, and started whining a bit when she was woken up.

"No... papa, no."

"Yes, Sarada," Sasuke whispered, trying to get her to fall back asleep. "You need to sleep."

"No... I wanna sleep with you and mama."

Sasuke looked back at Sakura, who smiled and shrugged. She didn't mind when Sarada when slept in their bed, she fit perfectly between her and Sasuke without a problem.

"All right, Sarada. You can sleep in our bed."

"Thank you... papa?"

"Yes?" Sasuke quietly and quickly passes Sarada to Sakura, who started for their bedroom with him following right after.

"Can I have a brother?"

Sakura stopped, looking at Sarada and turning around to look at Sasuke. He looked as shocked as she felt and they didn't do anything but look at each other for a few minutes, obviously thinking about an answer before Sasuke shrugged this time, letting Sakura make the decision.

Taking in a breath, Sakura nodded at Sasuke, turning back and heading for their bedroom once again with Sarada.

"Yes, Sarada. You can have a brother."

Or... sister, perhaps.