Sasuke woke up when it was still dark outside. His vision blurred at first, then focused. Squinting at the clock in the far corner of the room, he could barely make out the time. 4:27 a.m. He should be able to get at least 2 more hours of sleep. It wasn't as easy as it sounded, though. After repeatedly trying and trying again, falling back asleep seemed out of the question. Sasuke decided to go the bathroom to wash his face and clear his mind. As he got up from the couch, he realized he didn't even know where it was. Whatever. I'll just look around for it and make sure I don't wake anyone up in the process. This house isn't huge, so I should be able to find it quickly, Sasuke thought. He walked around and eventually found the bathroom. After splashing cool water on his face, he then wondered how he would make up with Sarada (and perhaps an angry Sakura). Sure, letting her cool off would kind of fix things, but he knew he had to cough up some apology. Maybe he could buy her something. No, that would seem to superficial. Perhaps he could make her something. But what? As he thought about these things, he opened the door to the bathroom and quietly made his way back to the couch. His silent journey was soon interrupted by an inquisitive Boruto.
"What are you doing Mr. Sasuke?" Boruto asked.
"Oh! I was in t-the bathroom," Sasuke replied nervously, "Did I wake you?"
"I mean, yeah, but I don't really care. Do you mind if we talk in my room?"
"U-um, okay." Sasuke stuttered. Are you really intimidated by a child? Jesus Christ, Sasuke. This has got to be an all time low.
—
The both sat on the bed in Boruto's room. The glowing moon peeked through the window, so they didn't have to turn on any lights.
"My father talks a lot about you." Boruto said, matter-of-factly.
"I see." Sasuke said, smiling on the inside.
"Yeah. He always looked up to you, you know. He also told a lot of stories about the 'good old days'. I could care less about those stories if I'm being honest. They were quite boring."
There was silence on Sasuke's end.
"Whenever he talked about you, he always got this strange look in his eye. Weirds the heck out of me."
Sasuke was still silent.
"So, why did you want to talk to me?" He finally asked.
"I wanted to know what you were going to do to make up with Sarada, and if I could help. When I saw you moving around the house, I decided now would probably be the best time to talk about it since no one else is awake." Boruto said.
"Well I...wait a minute...how did you know I got into a fight with her?"
"I listened to your conversation from the stairwell," He replied, "My dad was pretty rough with that joke. He has such a stupid sense of humor."
"It's fine, really."
"So? What are you going to do to make it up to her?" Boruto asked impatiently.
"I was thinking about making her something, but I wasn't sure what." Sasuke said, rather embarrassed.
"Let's see," Boruto said, tapping his chin, "She likes to wear scarfs when it's cold out. Maybe you could make her one of those."
"That's a good idea," Sasuke said, "Except I don't know how to sew."
"Oh, my mom could teach you. But she promised to spend the day with Himawari tomorrow and if you wait to long to apologize that might make things worse..."
"It's fine, I'll just-"
"Wait! My father could teach you! Mom taught him how to sew a few weeks ago." Boruto said, cutting him off.
"Isn't he the Hokage?" Sasuke asked, visibly confused. He had never thought the words "Naruto" and "sewing" would ever be in the same sentence.
"I'm sure he will make time out for you," Boruto said with a wink, "I mean, he has blown of several family occasions in the past, but I'm sure this the least he could do, especially to welcome you back home."
"Uh, alright." Sasuke said, still confused. Surely Naruto was too busy for him.
"Well, I'm going to go back to sleep. I can barely keep my head up. I'll talk to my dad about teaching you to sew tomorrow." Boruto said, trying to be as friendly as possible. He hoped he had made a good impression on the guy his father, the Hokage, looked up to so much.
"Okay. Goodnight," Sasuke said, and got up to leave. "Oh, and thank you for the advice. It was very helpful."
"No problem."
—
As Sasuke tried to fall asleep on the couch, multiple thoughts kept bouncing around in his head. Were Boruto and Sarada close friends? What were his other friends from childhood doing now? And just how much of his daughter's life had he missed out on?
