Chapter Text
“Papa doesn't like women.”
Then why were they married for over a decade?
The thing was, when Mama told her that Papa and her were getting a divorce, that Papa was gay, that Papa and Lord 7th were moving in together, she couldnt find it within herself to actually be surprised.
Ever since that time she, Boruto, and Mitsuki had seen the two of them walking together that one night, Mitsuki smiling the way he did, saying “They really look perfect together,” she had known. She had ignored it, for the most part, but she knew.
It felt like everyone in Konoha knew, besides maybe the two women they had married. Sometimes, she thought that they had known more than anyone, but had married them just because they didn't want to believe it.
If anything, the weird thing was that her father was actually around. It wasn't that he never went on missions anymore, as there were certain things that only he could accomplish, a shinobi of his level, but more often than not, he was in the village.
She had taken the divorce quite well, unlike Boruto, who seemed distressed and confused, even though they never showed it in front of either of their parents. Boruto kept on grumbling, kept whining and complaining. Himawari was a bit more quiet than normal, but did not seem actually upset about it.
Her father and Naruto had bought a house together. It was a bit different than the ones she was used to. It was a traditional one, and her father told her it was the kind he had grown up with. Naruto told her her father was secretly hoping that she would like it.
She didn't dislike it, that was for certain. Walking on the engawa to get around to different rooms had taken some time to get used to, but besides that, she quite liked it. She realized that this was how all Uchihas houses used to be, and felt she should learn to like it.
It was somewhere between the house she had grown up in, and the house Boruto and Himawari had grown up with, but far off to the side, near one of the forests. There were four bedrooms, one of each of the kids, and the last shared by their fathers.
There was a kitchen, bathrooms, and all the other normal rooms a house had. There was a garden too, a garden that, more likely than not, she came home to to find her father in it, poking around his tomato plants. He grew a lot of other things too, but he seemed to give them special attention.
The whole house was spick and span, never a particle of dust on anything, never a plate in the sink, never a muddy footprint on the engawa, never a mess in the living room. It took her some time to realize that it was her own father that was picking up around the house, since Naruto was, as her mother put it, one of the messiest people to ever live.
Coming around to see him almost everyday, when she wasn't at her mother's house, had taken more time to get used to than the actual divorce.
They had cats now too. Two of them. They lounged about the engawa or in the garden all day long, and regularly changed which one of the kids rooms they slept in by the night. They were both black, one of them a little older and a little fluffier, the other one sleek and shy, and her father told her they were brothers, but from different litters. Boruto had warmed up to them quickly, and did not seem as angry about life once he had. Apparently, his mother had been allergic to cats.
She didn't seem to have the same issue with dogs though. Boruto had complained to her several times about all the hair Akamaru left around the house.
Being at her father's home was slowly becoming to feel more normal to her than being at her mother's house. It wasn't that she suddenly disliked her mother, or being with her. It was that Rock Lee, of all people, was suddenly around all the time. It was that, suddenly, Metal was sleeping in the guest room and he and his father were spending the night on the weekends she was there, and probably when she wasn't there too.
It was six at night, the sun was halfway set, she had a mission tomorrow, she, Boruto, and Himawari were sitting around the low table, and her father was making them dinner. Her father was making her dinner.
Sarada was used to cooking, and she often did it for herself when her mother was working late, and she still did it when her father and Lord Seventh were off working. But she had come home from training, and her father was bringing in carrots from the garden, and telling her that he was making stew.
The whole house smelled like stew and black tea, Himawari was poking at a half asleep Boruto, and her father was serving them tea and apologizing for dinner running late and she honestly felt like she had fallen into another reality.
“Did your dad grow this?” Boruto said with a frown, sipping on the cold tea once her father had returned to the kitchen. It was a hot summer day, and though she preferred tea warm, she did think it nice that he had thought of them to take the time to make the tea in advance and then chill it for them.
“Papa,” She called into the kitchen, inspecting her own glass. It was really a lovely color, like the expensive kind her mother bought her when she did exceptionally well. “Is this from your garden?”
“Mmm,” He called back after a slight pause. “Is it bad?” There was tension in his voice, as if he feared the answer. But that couldn't be it, right?
She took a sip. It was rich and smooth and went down easy. “It’s good!” She called back.
Her father hummed, and that seemed to be the end of that. Boruto was still staring at his glass
Boruto leaned close to her, looking confused. “Does this mean your dad is the woman?”
Himawari punched him so hard he went flying into the wall.
“There is no woman,” Himawari told him once he came crawling back to his place. “That's the whole point.” Sarada nodded along firmly.
Boruto whined, rubbing his side. “Right, right, sorry.”
There was a period of silence, only occupied by her father moving around the kitchen, separated by them by half a wall.
“But...you know, he does everything mom used to do around the house.” Boruto said after a moment, keeping his voice low. Sarada really hoped her father wasn't hearing any of this.
“Daddy doesnt know how to cook or clean.” Himawari reminded him. She had a look of concentrated patience on her face, as if she had dedicated herself to explaining these things out to her brother. Sarada didn't have that same patience, and Boruto’s words were starting to test her temper.
Boruto winced. “Oh...yeah. You’re right.”
Sarada glared at him. “Boruto,” She whispered angrily. “You know the whole point of the divorces is that neither of them actually like women, right? Men should know how to cook and clean anyways, it's not just a womens job.”
“I know how to clean.” Boruto whined, looking away from her with a pout.
“Then what's the issue?” Sarada pressed.
“Nothing!”
“Do you really hate them just for loving one another?”
“No!” Boruto yelled, eyes wide. The noise from the kitchen stopped for a moment, and then picked back up again when no more shouting followed. Sarada let out a sigh of relief.
“I just don't…” Boruto trailed off, frowning so hard he made a ditch between his brows.
“Just don't what?” Sarada asked, rolling her eyes faintly.
“I just don't...get it.”
‘
“What's to get?”
“I’ve just...never seen two guys together, I guess.”
“So?”
“So that kind of thing...is okay?” Boruto was suddenly looking at her, and she saw something in his eyes that was something more, something deeper.
Sarada inhaled deeply. “Yes, Boruto. That sort of thing is perfectly okay. It's fine for two women to like one another too.” There was much more she could tell him, but she figured this was good for a start for him.
“Oh.” Boruto suddenly looked much more relaxed. She stared. Had his parents really never explained this to him before? Neither of his parents seemed to be the kind to be judgmental about it, especially not Lord Seventh.
Had he really been thinking and worrying about it for this long? They had lived in this house for three months already, and both of their parents had been divorced officially for five months now, and separated for even longer. Had they really not talked about it with him?
Just then, the door slid open, and Lord Seventh came in, leaving his sandals out on the engawa.
“Hey, kids!” He greeted, raising his hand and giving them a broad smile.
Boruto stared at him in shock, mouth hanging open. Himawari happily jumped up from her seat and went to hug him. Sarada and Boruto watched from their seats as he picked her up and swung her around a bit, her happy laughter filling the room. Sarada reached over and snapped his jaw shut for him as Himwari returned to her seat.
Lord Seventh was smiling wider than Sarada had ever seen him.
“Sasuke, I’m home!”
“...I'm in the kitchen.”
Naruto quickly walked past, ruffling Boruto’s hair and waving to Sarada as he did.
Boruto was still staring after him.
“He’s home?” He asked Sarada.
She nodded. “It looks like it.”
“It's not a shadow clone??” He looked ready to go running into the kitchen and test it for himself.
“Papa said if Lord Seventh ever sent a shadow clone home he would slaughter him.” Sarada told him pensively. She still remembered the Hokage going extremely pale at those words. Then he had clung to her father's waist and promised him he never would.
Himawari took a sip of her tea, her face scrunching up.
“You don't like it?”
“Too bitter.” She pouted.
Sarada laughed. “I’ll get you some honey. Papa probably doesn't know you don't like bitter things.”
She grabbed the younger girls glass and got up to her feet. She quietly patted towards the kitchen, coming to an abrupt stop in the doorway.
Lord Seventh had her father pressed up against the counter, one hand underneath his shirt, the other resting on his bottom, and her father's hand was caught in the Hokages blonde hair, twisting it between his fingers.
She must have made some noise of surprise, because next thing she knew, the Hokage was being shoved almost across the room.
“Sarada-”
“It's okay.” She smiled. “Parents can kiss in front of their kids, you know?” Though she would prefer if it wasn't so...intense. At least she could say for sure they really loved one another.
She walked past her quiet father, and Lord Seventh who, for some reason, was looking at her like he was going to cry.
“Naruto.” Her father said softly.
She quickly added a good helping of honey and left the kitchen.
“Help me bring the food out?”
“Of course, Sasuke!”
The way Lord Seventh said her father's name filled her with an undeniable warmth.
It made her happy, knowing there was someone who loved her father that much, to say his name so comfortably, as if he was the most precious thing in the universe, and his name was sacred.
The two came out a moment later, placing the food out quickly. The three kids had set the table up otherwise as soon as her father had told them he would be making dinner for them.
A meow came from the door and Ita, the older, fluffier cat came into the room, curling himself up against Sarada’s leg.
This was different than what she thought her family would be like. But her mother wasn't so lonely anymore. And her father was happy, and he smiled a lot more, and though it was different, she felt warm in this home, and could say for certain that she was surrounded by nothing but family.