Last Time .....
Sakura's life in the Tsukuyomi continued. She became the head of Konoha Hospital, eventually rising to the position of director. Meanwhile, she raised Sarada alone, juggling work and childcare. The hardship was immense. As a young mother, she lacked experience and was often overwhelmed. Sakura didn't have breast milk, making feeding even more difficult. She and Sarada often broke down in tears, but after crying, they had to wipe away their tears and continue.
Sakura's best friend Ino also had a child and could lend a hand occasionally, but she was too busy to help herself most of the time. Kakashi would help her when he had time, but as the Hokage, he had even more things to deal with than Sakura. He would take time out of his busy schedule to help Sakura, which was already incredibly touching. Minato felt that he might not be able to do that.
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As for Naruto, he wanted to help, but Hinata had also given birth. Although the Hyuga clan sent people to take care of their young lady and Boruto, it wasn't really tiring for Naruto at all. But instead of helping his own wife with her child, he was helping someone else's? That would sound terrible if word got out, and neither Hinata nor the Hyuga clan would be happy. So Naruto could only feel guilty but powerless.
Izuna still held onto those old-fashioned feudal ideas from the Warring States period, believing that men should be responsible for external affairs and women for internal affairs—that was the proper way. Furthermore, as the wife of the clan leader, she shouldn't have to do everything herself. Besides serving the clan leader, the wife also needed to manage clan affairs, and the child's upbringing was mostly handled by lower-ranking Uchiha clan members. Seeing Sakura juggling everything, and comparing it to the relaxed life of the Hyuga clan's young lady as a full-time housewife, he couldn't help but sigh with regret again.
"Our Uchiha clan has truly declined. The clan head's wife not only has to go to work, but also take care of the child herself, without even a helper."
Madara also found it unbearable to watch. Sasuke wasn't acting like a man; was this how he treated his wife after getting married?
Minato hadn't experienced raising a child himself, since he and Kushina died when Naruto was born. But having watched Sakura grow up, he knew how exhausting it was, especially without anyone to share the burden.
"Raising a child alone is really tough. Sasuke is such a negligent husband and father."
Seeing Sakura overwhelmed again and break down in tears while hugging Sarada, even Itachi, who was usually very protective of his younger brother, couldn't help but scold her.
"Where is Sasuke? Isn't the child his? Why isn't he here to take care of the child? When I was little, I often helped my mother take care of Sasuke. When I was born, the aunties from the clan came to take care of my mother and me every day."
Then, they saw that Sakura had actually sent several letters to Sasuke, but received no reply. Kakashi, unable to bear it any longer, directly told Sasuke in their regular official communication to suspend all his missions and return to rest for a while to help Sakura take care of the child. However, Sasuke said he had found an important clue about the Otsutsuki clan and couldn't leave for the time being, telling Sakura to persevere. Moreover, this reply wasn't sent directly to Sakura, but mentioned incidentally in their regular official communication.
Kakashi, looking at his version of himself in the Infinite Tsukuyomi, almost forced himself to take out the official letter, not even daring to look at Sakura's face. Sasuke was the one who had done wrong, yet he looked at Sakura with an expression of apology. Kakashi felt heartache for Sakura, but also anger towards Sasuke.
After reading the letter, Sakura in Tsukuyomi was filled with disappointment, but she quickly forced a smile and said it was okay. She understood Sasuke and knew that this was for Konoha and for the safety of the ninja world. She was fine on her own.
Even Tobirama, who prioritized Konoha above all else and whose personal matters had to give way to public duty, couldn't utter a single word about Sasuke not prioritizing personal relationships over public duty.
Hashirama, however, directly and angrily pointed it out. "But this isn't for Konoha at all! Didn't Kakashi in the Tsukuyomi already stop all of Sasuke's missions? Is he creating missions for himself, and for free at that! Just to shirk the responsibility of raising a child? If that's the case, why did he let Sakura give birth in the first place?!"
Scorpion suddenly said coldly, "Wasn't it to continue the Uchiha lineage? Now that the child is born, his mission is complete, so naturally it's none of his business."
Obito, putting himself in Rin's shoes, thought that if Rin had given birth, he would have been devoted to her every need, never letting her suffer even a little bit, and then disappearing without a trace, leaving his wife to raise the child alone. He muttered to himself, "Only those who don't truly love their partner wouldn't care."
Everyone fell silent, only able to continue watching in silence.
Sarada grew up to be a well-behaved and sensible girl, wearing red-rimmed glasses. Sasori squinted slightly.
"This child doesn't look like Sakura Haruno; she's rather plain. She probably won't be as beautiful as her mother when she grows up."
Everyone had to admit that Sasori was right. Tobirama even thought the girl with the glasses resembled the Uzumaki girl who followed Sasuke, but of course, he couldn't say such things aloud—it would be asking for trouble.
Only Itachi had a natural affinity for his niece, especially since she was Sasuke's child. "Sarada's still young; she hasn't fully developed yet. Besides, she looks more like Sasuke."
Sarada entered the Ninja Academy. Sakura, wearing a blue-green kimono, accompanied her daughter to the opening ceremony. With the passage of time, she had become even more gentle and beautiful. The two took photos together, smiling happily, but compared to the other families attending the ceremony, their pair seemed somewhat lonely.
Sarada clearly noticed this too. She started frequently asking where her father was and why he didn't come to see her. Sakura always explained that her father, Sasuke, was too busy traveling all over the ninja world to come back, but that he loved her. Once or twice was fine, but after a while, this excuse was no longer convincing to the increasingly mature Sarada.
Saraz turned 12 and finally graduated, but she still didn't see her father on graduation day. Standing in the yard, Sakura was folding clothes, but unconsciously rubbing her forehead, looking very tired.
Kakashi couldn't help but worry. "In my memories of the past few years, Sakura always seems very tired. Sarada is older now, and we don't need to worry about her as much, so why does she seem to be getting weaker?"
The others also noticed this, but naturally didn't know why. She should only be 32 years old, still in her prime as a ninja. At least during the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kakashi and Obito, who were roughly the same age, were both strong and healthy. Otherwise, how could Obito have started the Fourth Shinobi World War, and how could Kakashi have fought through it?
Sarada was silent for a moment before finally asking the question.
"Mom, are you really Dad's wife?"
Everyone was shocked. Itachi frowned and disapproved. "How can you talk like that, Sarada? Does that mean Sakura will be heartbroken?"
Sakura wasn't heartbroken; instead, she was furious. She punched the ground, shattering it. As the ground cracked, the house collapsed into ruins. One moment Sakura was enraged, the next she was on the verge of tears, explaining that she hadn't finished paying off her mortgage.
Izuna, hearing this, couldn't bear to watch any longer. He covered his face and exclaimed, "The Uchiha's wife has to pay her own mortgage? We Uchiha can't accept that!"
Madara, equally ashamed, sighed and remained silent.
Hashirama, as the head of the Senju clan, had never lacked money. Mito, being from the Uzumaki clan, had both a wealthy family and a wealthy husband's family, so she naturally never had this kind of trouble.
Izuna grew increasingly uneasy, glaring at Tobirama and Kakashi.
"The Uchiha clan was wiped out. Did they confiscate all their property? Is Konoha exploiting the exterminated?"
Tobirama couldn't possibly accept this blame. "Konoha would never do such a despicable thing! If they did, they would definitely return it to Sasuke!" Kakashi didn't know how the Uchiha's property was managed after the massacre. He might find out after he became Hokage, but he hadn't even become the Sixth Hokage yet, so he could only shake his head innocently.
Unable to get an answer, Izuna's suspicions even turned towards Itachi.
"Even setting aside the assets of other Uchiha clans, the main Uchiha clan was very wealthy when I was in charge. Did you really bankrupt them in the less than a hundred years since Madara and I died?"
Izuna managed all the Uchiha's finances during his lifetime. He knew exactly how much money his clan had. They certainly had the financial resources to buy several towns, if not the entire Land of Fire.
Itachi quickly shook his head. "No, before the massacre, my family and the clan were very wealthy. As for after that, I don't know."
Obito nodded in agreement. He remembered the clan being very rich. His parents had died early, and he was raised by his grandmother. The elderly couple had no income and relied entirely on the clan's support. Even so, Obito never felt inferior to other ordinary families outside the Uchiha clan, demonstrating the sheer amount of support and the clan's wealth.
Minato also asked curiously, "Even without the Uchiha family fortune, Sasuke is an elite Jonin; his mission pay should be substantial, right?"
Kakashi thought about his savings over the years—enough to buy several houses. "Yeah, the commissions should be quite generous; he shouldn't be unable to afford a house in Konoha."
Scorpion spoke up again, coolly. "Perhaps he does have the money, but that Uchiha Sasuke hasn't used it to pay Sakura Haruno? He hasn't shown up for so many years, and he's too lazy to even write a letter. Do you think he'd even think about needing money to support his family?"
Everyone choked again, hoping Sasuke wouldn't go so far as to be completely shameless.
The memories in Tsukuyomi didn't end there. While cleaning up the wreckage of the house, Sarada found a photograph: a picture of her mother and father, and a picture of herself as a baby. From a young age, Sarada only knew her father through this photo.
Sarada wiped it, only to discover that the frame was broken, and what appeared to be a single photo of her parents was actually a composite. Puzzled, she pulled out her father's picture and discovered a red-haired woman with glasses who looked remarkably like herself in the photo with Sasuke.
Although it wasn't Sakura herself, everyone suddenly felt an awkwardness, even more so than Sakura, to the point of being speechless.
To Be Continued...