At first this was going to be a multi-chapter fiction, but I think that I might just leave it at this. It's more of a look at what could've been, you know? It's AU, real world, and that's about it. You add in almost all of the rest. Thank you for reading. :)

Disclaimer: Naruto=NOT OWNED MY ME (sadly, cuz the owners are screwing themselves up. :P)

"Naruto?"

"…Sakura? H-hey!"

A smile. "Hey yourself. What on earth are you doing here?"

"Having lunch, wanna join me?"

A laugh. "No, I meant here, in this city. I haven't seen you in…how long has it been?"

"Eleven years. I just moved here for a job."

"Really? What do you do now anyways?"

A shrug. "Nothing special, it's really boring stuff that a fly could manage."

"I'm sure it's not that bad."

"Aaah, not really, I actually really love my job."

"Well, tell me what you do!"

A grin. "I'm a teacher for the district middle school."

"Really? Hm, I can honestly say that I never expected you to be a teacher." A laugh. "Those poor kids."

"Hey! I'm a good teacher! The kids love me!"

A smile. "What do you teach?"

"I teach anatomy."

"Anatomy? I can't believe it, you're still a pervert!"

"What? I'm not a pervert! I'm a darn good teacher!"

A laugh.

"Ugh, fine, what's your job?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, what do you do?"

"I'm a doctor at the hospital. Usually I deliver babies."

"You mean you reach your hand up some lady's butt?" A grin. "Who's the pervert now?"

A smack. "Idiot! What I do is important!"

"Ow! Aha, ok, ok! Geez, I'm sorry."

A smirk. "You never grow up, do you?"

A wink. "Never."

"How old are you now, anyways?"

"Thirty seven, you?"

"Thirty seven."

"Oh, that's right; it was your birthday recently, wasn't it? Happy birthday."

"Hmph, thanks. Not sure how happy it is. We're both old now, you know."

"Yeah… How's it been?"

A pause. "Good, I suppose. Fast. What about you?"

"Some good, some bad. About half and half."

"Are you still married?"

"No. She left me."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"heh, don't be. It happened seven years ago."

A pause. "Why'd she leave?"

"Because she wanted a baby, and she miscarried three times in a row. So I didn't want one, but she did. And she left me over it." A laugh.

Silence. "I am so, so sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

"Nah, don't worry about it. What about you and your boyfriend?"

"Heh, what boyfriend?"

"Oh. Sorry. Well, what happened? Why aren't you married?"

"What do you mean, 'what happened'? Nothing happened, it just wasn't meant to be."

"Well, didn't you ever love somebody?"

"Of course,"

"Then why didn't you get married?"

"Why does anyone ever not get married? It wasn't meant to be."

Silence. "Are you happy?"

A pause. "I don't know. Are you happy?"

"Hmm, yeah. I guess. It's too late to be really happy, don't you think?"

Silence. "I don't know. Should we be happy?"

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure that you can live without it."

Silence.

"You cut your hair. I didn't notice."

"Hm? Oh, yeah. It's not that much shorter, but it still make it easier when I'm working. But you don't look different."

"Really? I still look like a cute teenager?" A smirk.

"Yeah, right. You lost your baby fat, finally, and your eyes look a little darker, but you still look almost exactly the same."

"Lost my baby fat? What's that supposed to mean? I lost that like twenty five years ago!"

"No, more like ten or so. Last time I saw you, you had put on some weight."

"Ah, that's what married life does to a man. It wasn't baby fat!"

"Trust me, it was baby fat."

"Was not."

"Was too."

"Was Not."

"Fine, you win. It was just all of that ramen catching up to you." A laugh. "Do you still eat it?"

A laugh. "Yeah, not as much as I'd like. It was my first true love."

"Well, I'm sure that you could find a nice ramen chef and get yourself married again."

A pause. "Nah, I don't know how I really feel about getting married again."

"Hm? Why not?"

"Well, it's just that I've already had that chance, you know? Been there, done that. Not sure it'd be so happy and dandy the second time. Wasn't so great the first."

Silence. "Sorry."

A grin. "No need. You and me, we're just not meant for marriage, I guess."

"I guess not," A half smile.

"And that's a tragedy on your part."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Nothing. What time is it?"

"12:45,"

"Crap, I've got to go."

"Oh right, I do, too."

A pause. "Hey,"

"Yes, Naruto?"

"It was really great to see you again."

A smile. "I'm glad that we got to catch up a bit."

"Me too, I really mean it."

"Me too,"

Silence.

"Hey, let's do this again, ok? I don't want it to be eleven years before I see you again."

A grin. "Yeah, that's a great idea. Good friends need to keep in touch with each other better."

"Well, we've always failed in the good friend department."

"You're telling me,"

A pause. "Ok, here you go, call me and we'll do lunch again sometime."

"Ok great. Thanks,"

"No problem. But seriously, call me, ok?"

"Believe me, I will." A pause. "I've got to go now, though."

"Right, sorry for keeping you up."

"Are you kidding? You could've kept me up all week."

A smile. "Goodbye, Naruto.

A smile. "See you later, Sakura."

Silence.

A phone rings.

"Hello?"

"Would tomorrow be too soon?"

Author's Note: It's weird; you can almost get the feeling about what's really going on with taking out everything but the dialog. I love writing pieces like this, and they're almost more unique to me because it'll be a little different for each person who reads it. Also, its really hard for me to get a firm grip on Sakura and Naruto's characters if I add everything else, for some reason. So this helps haha :)

As always, I love thoughts and opinions on my work! Thank you for reading!