nom de guerre
SSM21 Day 17: a gentle man
In which some titles are more accurate than others. Samurai-esque AU
It is common knowledge that for a noble title and a swath of land, her mother was sold to a warlord.
Haruno Sakura had the great misfortune of being born as the daughter of a destitute samurai family. Their master had long been vanquished and their lands long sold to make ends meet. And yet still longed for days yonder.
But her mother also had the great fortune of being born a beauty, so when the opportunity arose; a passing hegemon looking for a bride, Sakura’s parents took a chance.
They say that the young warlord was so mesmerized by her mother that he immediately accepted the terms of the expensive bride price and took her as his wife.
On their wedding day, mother was dressed in her finest robes while her father arrived late in a full suit of blood soaked armor.
The ceremony itself was a soleum affair. Her parents pledged themselves before the gods and swear to their union.
And so Haruno Sakura becomes Lady Uchiha no Sakura, the wife of Lord Uchiha no Madara.
----
Sarada has faint memories of her father; more often than not her father is sent to the battlefield and only returns a few days to weeks at a time between campaigns.
The Uchiha clan is one of the important noble families of the Konoha and known for its long history of bloodthirsty warriors. Her father is no exception.
Whenever he returns home, Sarada hides behind her mother’s skirt. Her father is an imposing demon-like man, larger than life, and taller than a mountain. Someone more suited for stories and legends than real life.
They call him a man more fearsome than Susanoo-no-Mikoto itself. So violent, so blood crazed, it is a wonder that Sakura lived as long as she did when a male heir had yet to be born.
Thankfully, it seems that as a daughter, her father pays very little attention to her. Whenever he returns from the borderlands between here and Oto, he barely spares her a glance.
However, whenever his eyes meet her mother’s through his helmet, he beckons her over.
“Sakura,” he commands, voice deep and low, “bring some tea to my quarters.”
Sarada always remembers her mother looking angry but determined then. Sakura dutifully follows her husband into the inner chambers. She doesn’t emerge until late morning.
Sarada is usually having lessons during this time, but one day she sneaks out of her etiquette classes to find her mother.
She searches almost the entire unusually empty manor before finding Sakura in the kitchen brewing tea. Her mother’s clothes are covered in blood and her hands are covering her tears.
Sarada has never seen her mother sob so terribly before.
From then on, she decides that her father must be an especially cruel man.
----
Whenever her father returns from war, her Papa also comes home.
Today she finds him on the engawa overlooking the gardens. He is sipping some tea while looking over some scrolls. He appears injured, bandages wrapped around his torso, but otherwise in good health.
If her father is the devil incarnate, then Sarada’s papa is a handsome devil.
No wonder her Mama is so taken with him. Sometimes when she is supposed to be asleep, she can hear her Mama fuss over Papa. They hold hands when no one is looking and share secrets no other soul knows.
Despite the cold manor they reside in, Mama is an affectionate woman at her core and her Papa is receptive to all she has to give.
And Papa must be someone important too; after all he is allowed to leave and enter from the inner quarters that a normal Uchiha foot soldier could not.
Sarada pads over to him, he looks up and beckons her closer.
“Have you been a good girl, little peanut?”
Sarada scoffs. “ I’m not a nut.” But she holds out her hands anyways.
Her Papa chuckles and pulls out some dried persimmons from his sleeves. “Don’t tell Sakura.”
Sarada smiles at their little secret before taking a bite. “What are you reading?” Her Papa allows her to climb onto his lap and drapes the scroll over her. Sarada squints, only understanding a fraction of the words on the paper. She points and reads aloud the characters she recognizes.
“Good girl.” He slips her another dried persimmon.
That is when her mother finds them.
“Sasuke-kun!” her mama enters the scene in a huff, “I told you to stop that, you’ll ruin her dinner.”
Sarada quickly shoves both persimmons into her mouth. Her papa has the decency to look sheepish.
“You can’t keep spoiling her like that! She is going to get an upset stomach!” Sakura continues.
“Do you want me to spoil you too?”
Her mama sputters, all red and flustered. Her hands move to cover her flaming cheeks.
Sarada meanwhile uses the distraction to hold out her hands for another treat. Her gentle papa instead leans down and kisses her forehead.
---
For the past year, her father and his retainers had been defending the borders between Oto and Konoha. After the dissenters were finally defeated, a grand celebration is held in her father’s honor.
She remembers that her father was hailed as the second coming of Madara, the legendary clan head from the distant past. The comparison is uncanny, both bloodthirsty and merciless but dauntless in the face of adversary. Soon it becomes her father’s mantle; Lord Uchiha no Madara, the slayer of the Orochi.
Sarada hadn't been invited to the banquet due to her age but that night she is much too excited to sleep. She has never seen so many people gathered in one place in her life. And even though her father’s presence makes her nervous, she loves the tales about his exploits.
The banquet hall is rowdy and the envoy’s drunken singing could be heard from down the halls. The fuzzy silhouettes of her father’s soldiers line the banquet hall, she has a hard time making out who is who. Everything is quite blurry even with the multiple lanterns.
The only one Sarada could identify for sure is her mother. Sakura’s features are distinct, like a lone flower against the night sky. Her mother sits obediently at the head of the table beside the man that is her father.
He has forsaken armor this time, but there is still a sword at his side. From the distance, her father doesn’t look particularly like he was enjoying the festivities.
He appears bored. Perhaps his blood is not used to peace, after all a beast belonged in the wild and a warrior to the battlefield.
Sakura every once and a while would refill her father’s sake cup or serve him more of the feast in front of him. Occasionally, when her mother would lean over and her father would whisper something into her ear.
Her mama would stiffen and her face would become strained. At first Sarada can’t make out the expression, until a small smile blooms on her mama’s visage.
Sarada goes to bed soon after, not quite understanding their interactions.
---
Her earliest memory of Papa is halfway past her fourth year.
Father had been back for a few days now, not that she had really seen him. And to be perfectly honest, her father is a scary man and she would rather not run into him.
But Sarada is also curious so she puts on a brave face and finds herself outside her mother’s quarters.
Peering through the crack in the paper screen door, Sarada spots her mother’s figure and a man she doesn’t recognize.
Her mama is leaning on the man’s shoulder while he serves her sake with his free hand. Back then, Sarada found it a strange role reversal that a man dressed in such luxurious robes was pouring her mama a drink.
Sarada has seen some men in her father’s army throw a tantrum when a pretty lady wouldn’t attend to them. Even Sakura during official functions knows to serve her father first before anyone else can even eat.
But this man sat with her mama so nonchalantly and closely, breaking tradition as if it was nothing!
Her shock was audible to where her mother and the man turned to see her crouched by the entryway.
Sarada felt as if she interrupted a private moment, but man’s expression morphed into something soft and Sakura giddily rushes over to pick her up.
“Sarada! Come, come! Papa is here, see?” Sakura hands her over the stranger’s awaiting arms. She doesn’t want to leave her mama’s embrace but the man’s is just as warm.
“Hello little peanut, have you been good while I was away?”
How is she supposed to answer him? She opts for a nod and reaches for the familiarity of her mother.
“Sasuke-kun…”
“It’s alright, she probably isn’t used to my face.” He leans over regardless and kisses her mother’s forehead. Then he looks Sarada straight in the eye. “I am you papa.”
Sarada thinks she likes this ‘Sasuke-kun,’ this Papa. Someone so kind to her mother can’t be a bad man.
----
As she gets older, Sarada becomes privy to the rumors about the current acting head of the Yamanaka clan. How her son looks nothing like her deceased husband but has the same eyes as the court painter.
And Sarada has her own theories about her mama and the man that is her papa.
She just hopes that her father never finds out.
---
Even though her mother is essentially the lady of the house, Sarada still hears whispers of her lineage. Even more so now that Sarada begins wearing glasses.
Before her father leaves for his next campaign, he gives Sakura his inkan.
As the wife of the lord, Sakura officially acts as his surrogate in any official business even if some of the family retainers aren’t happy about it.
Fortunately, many would rather swallow their pride that incur her father’s wrath.
All except one.
Uchiha no Shin, a rather minor branch clan member, always disapproved of her father and even more so now that he left his wife in charge of the estate in his absence.
It all comes to a head when Sakura denies him funding for a rather ill thought out building project.
“You dirty wench! ”
Sarada can hear the screams from her room. She rushes to the scene. Sakura is still standing her ground when she arrives.
“I don’t see any benefit in this strategy and I doubt my dear lord husband would either.”
“What do you know?! You are nothing but a plaything you stupid bitch, I’ll teach you some manners!” Shin chooses that moment to raise his hand at her mother.
Sarada feels the anger seep into her bones but her mother chooses that moment to retaliate and punch Shin square in the face herself.
Shin falls back unceremoniously. Sarada is slack jawed.
“How dare you!” he seethes. Shin tries to get up only for another person to rush to her mother’s aid.
Shin’s screams are agonizing and it takes Sarada a moment to realize that not only had her father returned, but he had drawn his sword and stabbed it clean through Shin’s arm, effectively pinning it to the tatami.
“Sasuke-kun!”
Sarada blinks once. Twice.
“Are you alright Sakura?” Her father, her papa asks, completely ignoring their screaming relative.
Sakura nods and he turns to her as well “Are you okay Sarada?” his voice deep and low but the same kind cadence up close as her beloved papa.
Suddenly her father’s mysterious and distant features that were always hazy to her meld with the papa in front of her now.
Sarada adjusts her glasses. She feels really stupid in that moment.
---
This time, Sarada is invited to the banquet.
It’s an annual harvest festival and her father is the guest of honor. The local leaders once again announce him as ‘Lord Uchiha no Madara’ much to his chagrin.
“I really hate when they call me that.” Sasuke tells them later when the food is being served and drinks are flowing freely. Sakura is on one side while Sarada is on the other. Habitually he is discreetly putting any sweets that make it his way and the tenderest pieces of meat onto their plates.
“Anata,” with time Sarada notices that her mother only ever uses this term in public when her father needed more placating than usual, “they are just just in awe of how great you are!”
“I wish they had chosen something different, Madara was such a pain in the ass.”
“Sasuke-kun!” Her mother tries to be scandalized but can’t help but devolve into a fit of giggles.
As her father continues to look on adoringly at his wife, Sarada can’t help but agree with him.
A name like that is unfitting of her gentle papa.
A/N: Happy Sasusaku month 2021! My brain is mush right now so excuse the multitude of grammatical errors. Thank you for reading!
And just to note in historical Japan, men tended to change their names depending on significant life events. For example, Minamoto no Yoshitsune's childhood name was Ushiwakamaru.
@ssskmonth
