The Reason why
Summary: Post Canon AU. The war is over, the shinobi world is at peace; Naruto and Sasuke have both started their own families as well as come to terms with the bond between them. All is as it should have ended. Then why does something feel missing. Rated M
Disclaimer: I didn't own Naruto then, and I don't own it now.
Prologue:
Naruto sensed the chakra signature as soon as it entered the village. He wasn't a sensory type, and the user did not try to hide themselves, but regardless he would have been able to know that specific trace from anywhere.
After all, he had spent a majority of his life searching for it.
However, he was surprised when the chakra signature quickly made its way towards the hokage tower after letting itself be known, and soon after the presence of its wielder came forth through the window.
Sasuke looked good, and had changed so much from the last time he had seen him nearly four months prior. His hair had grown longer, yet somehow was able to still retain the spikes in the back. His face had also aged, now having distinctive marks under his eyes similar to Itachi, that showed the wear of his features caused by his latest travels. He wore a long cape like jacket that concealed most of clothes, sword, as well as missing arm.
Sasuke chose to leave the village before Tsunade could finish his new Zetsu arm. He went on a quest of redemption to atone for his sins, as he so claimed, but to also go out in search of new information regarding Kaguya and why she had wanted to create a Zetsu army in the first place. After fighting Toneri it made more sense for Sasuke to go out on this quest, so this type of power wasn't again revived. However, Sasuke did return to the village, just months after Naruto's wedding. This was before the advent of portable computers, so Sasuke was a bit surprised to see his former rival married and in the process of becoming the seventh hokage, which was the reason Sasuke had returned at all what with this type of news spreading all over the five great nations. As for the wedding, Naruto wished his best friend could have come, but things had gone so fast in those moments and he supposed he had made Hinata wait enough, or at least everyone told him as such.
However, Sasuke did return, and he and Sakura got close, with Naruto being so busy. Apparently the two ninja got really close, and when Hinata announced that she was pregnant, Sakura called the same day to tell the new Uzumaki the same news, that she too was pregnant. Shortly after, the two shinobi got married and moved in together. Having pregnant wives was a trying time for Naruto and Sasuke, but they were surprisingly able to bond together over this new dilemma, for neither of them realized how ill tempered the two kunochi could turn when their hormones were out of whack.
Naruto had to mourn the loss of ramen for nine months because the smell apparently made Hinata sick, and when Naruto jokingly assumed that the kid probably wasn't his due to that fact, Hinata became so saddened that Naruto spent the next two weeks on his couch instead of with his wife in bed. Naruto then had to ask Sasuke how to make amends on how to reconcile with his pregnant wife, for although he was incredibly romantic when he wanted too, pregnancy was completely out of his element. Sasuke was good to ask, since apparently he constantly had to make amends. Sasuke then was consistently seeking Naruto's council on how to be the slightest bit romantic and caring, for although he did love his wife, his people skills were what really made him exceptionally stupid. The two shinobi were always there for each other when the other needed help.
If Naruto could give any advice to Sasuke now in regards to his marriage it would be to stop leaving his family behind for such long missions.
It was perfect for awhile. Both of the village outcasts had two healthy children. Naruto and Hinata a boy named Baruto, whose middle name was Ramen, at least to Naruto. Sasuke and Sakura had a beautiful little girl named Sarada, whose middle name was Tomato, at least Naruto had a very feeling Sasuke would have placed that as her middle name if possible. Besides that, Naruto had become Hokage. His lifelong dream had come true. He had gotten the villages respect, and trained from becoming the dead last to the village hero. He had formed amazing bonds with some incredible people, he had saved his very first friend, and now he had a family. Also the village was at peace, and it allowed for a change in economy to rely less on the income of ninja and more on technological advancement. However, this took a lot of time and was changing the ninja world into a different age. It wasn't the revolution Sasuke was going for, but for now, after the fourth great ninja war things were going well.
Well for the village, but not really his family. Being Hokage ended up taking more time then he would like to admit. Okay, it took up enough time for Baruto to write "Shitty dad" on the face of the mountain a few days ago for the world to see. Naruto guessed, he couldn't really judge Sasuke for constantly leaving his family, since Naruto neglected his family by living in the village, and he was the one who granted permission for such long missions. But the damn Teme was the one who kept asking for them!
Why didn't Naruto ever try to stop Sasuke from continuing on this quest of knowledge. It was very much necessary, and Sasuke was able to bring a lot of intel for the village. Although at times it seemed as if he just left for these villages in order to stay away from his own village. Not his family but the village itself. That's why he refused to have an arm made for him, because he was still bitter and would never truly forgive it. Maybe he was plotting to still find his revolution through different tactics of pretending to cope with the system that ended up taking so much from him.
Maybe Naruto was just upset at seeing someone else be the one to save Sasuke and make him finally happy. NO! Naruto mentally shook his head. He trusted Sasuke, and more was that Sasuke was like a brother to him, and all he wanted was for him to finally find his peace. For sure Sasuke felt the same about the former jinchuriki; in the valley of the end he even compared to seeing Itachi when he thought of Naruto. Someone to look up to. He would want Naruto to be happy and not alone as well, he wouldn't leave the village just because Naruto now had a wife.
Right. Of course definitely. It's not like Naruto ever went down this line of thinking anyway.
That's not the point though. Things were going so well that first year of the two families raising their children. Of course Sasuke was sent on missions, even Hinata and Sakura were as well on occasion, after their maternity leave. Although the two preferred to work in the village. Naruto was working in the village as Hokage, nonstop trying to make sure the peace that was established had stabilized along with the changing city. Sakura eventually was promoted to head medic and started working full time at the hospital. Sasuke and Naruto grew closer at these times oddly enough. Finally getting the chance to develop their bond after such chaotic lives. They loved their children dearly and were continually meeting up outside of assigning missions, for their kids to meet, just like their own mothers had wanted for the two boys. The four of them also met up for Ichiraku Ramen, but more often than not Sasuke and Naruto just ended up coming together alone because the two of them were just more comfortable together then as a group of four. Their wives saw no issue with it as they too were always together and close. Besides they understood of the past and subsequent bond the two shared. Now Naruto rarely went to Ichiraku with anyone, claiming to have too much work and surviving on ramen noodles instead. The two women understand the connection that Sasuke and Naruto had, for the women had taken them years to build the bonds after struggling to truly understand what the heroes had had to endure throughout their lives. They were alone in so many ways, and their families had only recently been able to come and fill some of that void.
However, everyone in the village did find it odd how the two outcasts had grown closer with their subsequent growing families. It is reminiscent to how they would meet to figure out how to deal with their wives, always ending with mindless chatter between the two of them until they realized they had families to care for. Now they met to talk of happy times and their children, again just enjoying finally being able to appreciate their lack of loneliness and thus fully realize each other's company with nothing else in their paths to worry them.
Hinata found out she was pregnant again by the end of that first year and had decided to stay back in the village and go over the Hyugga disputes regarding the branch and main families. She said it was something she finally needed to start on for Neji. It was during this time that Naruto started spending more time with his family and Sasuke requesting to resume his search of Kaguya.
After that, the perfect world Naruto saw started to dim.
He has never regretted any of the decisions in his life, except for not reaching out to Sasuke when they were kids. So he was happy with his wife and children, but when Sasuke started to leave the village again and again his home somehow started to feel incomplete, It wasn't like he saw the bastard every day, and he trusted that Sasuke had finally found his path, but he truly felt the loss of not having Sasuke near.
Sasuke would travel to places where internet would be rare, however he frequently checked in with his family through the communication of laptops and reported back to his Hokage when necessary, but that always ended up taking longer than either man expected. A part of Naruto wished though Sasuke would stay for him if nothing else. The same way Naruto would chase after Sasuke to bring him back home. Although, now that just seemed incredibly selfish.
Naruto knew Sasuke was happy now, with Sakura and Sarada. He knew Sasuke was an incredible shinobi seeking to right the wrongs of this world. Why was it then, that right now, when they looked upon each other, they couldn't help realize that they were here in the middle of the night alone again, instead of with the families they now had.
"Sasuke. " It was good to see him, he would admit it always was. It was a type of good that made him feel whole. Something within him that caused him to search for his friend for all those years. It was what made a life without Sasuke in it feel incomplete, a life that he never could contemplate. They would either both die or save him and bring him home. It was an emotion he was scared to admit that he hadn't felt with anyone else, something that he refused to admit to himself was solely with this sharingan wielder. "Why are you here?"