What If?

...Sasuke didn't return after his travels?💖

A NEW BEGINNING

He met Boruto today and the rest of Naruto's family. He couldn't believe that the same idiotic teammate of his was a father of two now. He was happy for him though. As both of them shared the same pain of loneliness, Sasuke was glad that Naruto had a family to call his own.

That also made him wonder if he would have a family to return home. Maybe a little girl, he would love to have a daughter. That made him think of his old teammate Sakura. He pushed those thoughts away immediately. It was impossible now. He was too late for that. His life was outside the village doing missions and fighting the enemies. Maybe he was bound to be alone forever.

It was late at night, and Sasuke decided to go find a place to eat dinner. He hadn't been to his old apartment for a long time so cooking wasn't an option today. Few restaurants were open 24/7 for the people working late. Sasuke found one that held a special memory for him. It was an old establishment that served traditional foods. This one was Itachi's favorite place. This place had private booths which he favored.

He entered through the door and smelled the nostalgia this place gave. The smell of food and the vibe were still the same. Sasuke wasn't a person to usually enjoy stuff like this but sometimes he let himself relax.

He looked around to take a place in his usual seat but he saw someone else already there. Someone familiar. "Sakura," He called her name. She looked at him, first she was shocked then she pulled a smile on her face to greet him.

"Sasuke, hi I didn't know you were back, How are you?" She didn't know what to feel at this moment. She was happy to see him but also there was hurt in her heart to see him after so long. It reminded her of the promise he didn't keep. She was hopeful when he poked her forehead and promised to see her soon but that soon became almost 13 years.

"I just got back, and I'm doing well. How about you?" He replied, still couldn't believe she was standing in front of him. He felt the guilt and regret for not coming back sooner. But it was for her own good. He couldn't stand between her happiness.

"I'm great too. W-why don't you join me for dinner? I wanna know what you've been doing these past years."

"Are you sure it's ok?" He asked.

"Why wouldn't it be? C'mon take a seat," Sasuke took a seat in front of her. It was quite awkward to be here. There were lots of unresolved feelings for each other. The food came pretty soon and they started to dig in.

"So how were your travels?" Sakura decided to break the ice cause if she didn't it was going to be pure silence for the rest of the dinner.

"It was eye-opening, I've seen things that I wasn't able to before," Sakura smiled at that. She was glad he was doing better. She could see it in his eye that he was at peace. The last time she looked at it, it was filled with pain and guilt.

"That's nice. You must have traveled to every place the world has to offer by now."

"Not every but most. These days I'm mainly travelling to other dimensions," He said that a bit softly. She knew that he was searching for Kaguya's traces from around the world. He's been dedicating his life to the mission.

"What about you, I heard you got engaged?" Sasuke asked surprising Sakura. She had no idea he knew that. Maybe Naruto told him.

"Yes, I did. Kenzo and I used to be coworkers in the hospital. That's how we met. He was a single dad and his son was one of my patients in the children's clinic," Sakura shared, "We were quite good friends and I liked him. I waited for you but it was time I moved on."