Sasuke was at a loss.
He was one of the most powerful shinobi to ever walk the earth, alongside his friend Naruto. He had battled a Kage and several S-class criminals before his eighteenth birthday, created numerous new jutsu in the span of three years, and he had helped end the Fourth Shinobi War and bring peace to the five great nations.
And all of that paled in comparison to the challenge of getting his daughter to stop crying.
He adjusted his grip to settle her in his lap while she cried. His mother had enjoyed teasing him about his propensity to ask her for back rubs when he'd been a child.
Maybe Sarada was the same? She was his daughter after all.
Sasuke brought up his arm and slowly rubbed it up and down her tiny back. Gradually, Sarada's wailing began to quiet, and her scrunched features relaxed into her typical look of curiosity.
He still marveled at how small she was. Sarada was a healthy as any other four month old child, probably more so given that her mother was the medical ninja who had apprenticed under Tsunade herself, but he still couldn't help but be surprised every time he held her.
It had been so long since he had spent any time around children. Not since before the loss of his clan, and that might as well have been in a different universe for everything that had changed since then.
The world was a different place. He was different. As a child he had been more similar to Naruto of all people then to himself as of now.
Even without the rage and hatred that had defined him for so long, he didn't seem like the type to have a child with anyone. Kakashi had certainly been surprised about it, and even Naruto had seemed a bit shocked that he of all people had actually procreated.
He couldn't blame them really. Restoring his clan had always been a distant goal, there was always something more important, more pressing to deal with before he could even think about any of that.
And here he was, with a baby in his lap. Life truly was more unpredictable than the ocean.
A sudden splotch of cold dampness on his shirt had him look down at his lap. Sarada had gotten tired, and was resting against him, a bubble of drool inching out of her mouth.
Sasuke sighed. He wanted to move her, but with one arm, he wouldn't be able to without waking her up, and he wasn't interested in another round of screaming.
He closed his eyes, and his chakra thrummed to life under his skin. A skeletal arm of glowing purple chakra manifested out of the stump where his right arm had been, and as easily as if it were flesh and blood, Sasuke maneuvered it along with his left to gently pick up his daughter and lay her against his chest where her head could rest on his shoulder.
Sarada wiggled a bit as she lay against her new perch, but thankfully stayed asleep. She nuzzled his shoulder, clinging to the fabric of his cloak with her stubby fingers.
Sasuke secured her with his real arm, and let the Susano'o fade away.
Sarada sighed in the way babies did, and her father smiled.