For Day 1 (Far from Home) and Day 2 (Patterns) of SasuSaku Month 2019

Rating: K
Summary: Sarada has a specific routine every afternoon, but there was something different about today that caught her mother's attention.

————

At first, Sakura thought everything was just like the usual – Sarada would go out upon waking from her afternoon nap to play in her treehouse, return inside the house happily to help her prepare dinner, and then eat dinner with her while rambling about her new discoveries for the day. It's been like that for more than a week now, but today was quite different than expected.

A loud thud was heard from the front door while she was slicing some tomatoes in the kitchen, followed by stomps of little feet that were becoming louder as it approached her earshot. With a raised eyebrow, the Uchiha matriarch turned and caught a glimpse of her daughter's scowling face as she ascended the stairs, avoiding the kitchen in the process.

Sakura could've opted to cook their meal first and then deal with her daughter later, but if there's one thing she and her husband have become accustomed to, it's having a positive ambiance while eating together for it was very rare for them to even be in the same table all at once. So after putting the knife down, she wiped her hands with a small towel and then made her way to her daughter's bedroom.

"Sarada?" She knocked lightly, entering the room only after hearing the approval in her daughter's small voice. "Is everything okay, sweetheart?"

But what she saw already confirmed the answer to that.

It was both amusing and heartbreaking to witness how her daughter was just stationary on her bed, with her arms crossed and a pout plastered on her face. Amusing because the sight was reminiscent of a young Sasuke, making her heart skip a beat for the reminder that indeed, she has married her childhood crush and this was her beloved child with him. On the other hand, it was heartbreaking because she has done everything that she could to keep Sarada happy and fulfilled; so seeing her like this now, Sakura knew she was ready to punch to the ends of the earth whoever or whatever was making her daughter lonely.

She sat beside Sarada on the bed, pushing some strands of her black locks away from her face. "Want to tell mama what's wrong, Sarada?"

"Mr. Hawk never came."

"Mister...hawk?" Okay, she was kidding. She wasn't ready to punch a little bird to the ends of the earth.

"Yeah. I saw you meeting with him sometimes."

Sakura could only blink at this, not sure if her six-year-old daughter was merely imagining things or she has already outsmarted her.

Sarada gave her a look as if she was supposed to understand things in a snap because she was actually the mom here. Then she added, "Whenever you meet with him, it's either there's a new letter from Papa or you've sent him one."

Ah. So that's Mr. Hawk, huh? The Uchiha matriarch stifled a laugh at the realization. She didn't know that her daughter was a witness to her encounters with Sasuke's hawk.

And for Sarada to give him a nickname? Ain't that cute?

She cleared her throat before speaking again, "I see. Can you tell me why you're expecting Mr. Hawk to come to you?"

Sarada bit her lip, and for a moment, she looked as if she was hesitating on something. Then, she hopped off the bed and tugged her mother's wrist as she made her way outside her bedroom and towards their backyard.

Perplexed, Sakura simply followed Sarada's footsteps, until they reached the tree house that Sasuke had built for their daughter a few years back.

With a glance, Sarada told her to climb up its small steps after her. And once her mom was already seated beside her in her play area, she bashfully handed her a small box that has no lid.

"What's this, Sarada?"

"Uhm...I've seen you meet with Mr. Hawk at around four o'clock thrice before, so I...uh...I thought that when I leave something here for papa, Mr. Hawk would get my letters and bring them to wherever papa is." Then she pointed to the box on her mother's lap. "I've been leaving a letter daily, at first I was sad that he didn't get my first few letters. So I thought that maybe Mr. Hawk only comes weekly, but it's been nine days now and my letters were still untouched." She pouted once more, looking away to blink back the tears that were now brimming her eyes. "He never came, mama."

With a hand on her mouth, Sakura stared lovingly at her daughter and then to the box she was holding. She never realized how difficult it was for her daughter to not have her dad around. She wasn't able to take into account that just as she was missing her husband, Sarada was surely missing her dad too.

The fact that she tried to reach out to him with her own means (and understanding of how summoning works) warmed her heart and made her convinced that from now on, she would tell Sarada when she would send letters to her father so she could write her own too, with the assurance that Mr. Hawk would come and deliver them to Sasuke.

Smiling, Sakura lifted her two fingers and gently tapped Sarada's forehead, surprising her and getting her full attention. "Ne, Sarada, do you still want to send these letters to your papa?"

The sparkle in Sarada's black orbs was enough to brighten her own day. Upon her daughter's excited nod, her hand made the seals needed to summon the black bird that Sarada called Mr. Hawk. It was originally Sasuke's summon only, but it eventually became hers as well, a result of their connection that was visible even to the hawk and the rest of their summons.

The feathered summon appeared beside them then, making Sarada's eyes widen in amazement. "You came! Mama, you made Mr. Hawk appear!"

Sakura chuckled. "Yes, sweetheart. So, are you ready?"

Sarada was too thrilled as she nodded once more, staring in awe at her mother while she made quick hand seals that stored nine letters in a single scroll.

"Alright. Garu, please bring this to my darling husband." Sakura attached the scroll to the hawk's foot before turning to her daughter. "Why don't you say goodbye to Mr. Hawk, Sarada?"

Slowly, Sarada reached out to touch the summon on its head and grinned widely when it leaned to her hand. "Bye, Mr. Hawk! Please bring my letters to my papa, okay?"

And then Mr. Hawk took off.

-

Miles away, Sasuke thought everything was just like the usual as he ventured to another unnamed forest in search for a spot where he could stay the night, but the familiar sound of a feathered animal made him look heavenward.

With a raised eyebrow, he waited for the hawk to land on his left shoulder before getting the scroll it was carrying. "Thank you," he muttered, but the hawk didn't leave as if it wanted to watch his reaction with the news he was about to receive.

This slightly made him nervous while unsealing the scroll. Did something happen to my family? Was Konoha attacked and Naruto wasn't able to do anything about it?

He then furrowed his brows at the sight of nine colorful papers carefully folded in different shapes. He tilted his head to glance at the bird on his shoulder, as if asking where these came from because these were definitely not from Naruto nor Kakashi, and his wife was not childish anymore to send him some cute stuff.

Childish. Cute. And then it dawned on him.

With widened eyes, he opened the pink shuriken-shaped letter and what he saw made his heart burst:

Dear papa,

I miss you. I honesly don't remember your face so much. Please know that I still love you even though you're far away. I hope you teach me some ninja stuff when you come back.

With love,
Sarada

P.S. I'm not sure if Mr. Hawk would deliver this today but I finished writing it anyway. See you soon, papa!

After staring at the colored paper long enough, he gave the hawk another look, but this time, with a smile on his face. "So, Mr. Hawk, huh?"

And then Mr. Hawk took off.

————

July 2018 | AriannJS

————

This was a day late! But here's my drabble combining the prompts for Day 1 & Day 2 of SasuSaku Month 2019! It's my first time joining SasuSaku Month and I hope you'll enjoy my works! You could check my other fics here and on FF or AO3 with the username AriannJS.

It you like what I do, kindly consider supporting me on ko-fi or patreon. I'm also saving up for a special post-birthday trip this November so your support would mean a lot to me!♥️

Thanks & God bless!
– A