Disclaimer : I do not own any characters or the story of Naruto or Boruto.

A/N : Thank you to everyone for the wonderful reviews so far. I expected much less interest to be honest. I realised that there were some issues with being able to read the story. I have taken some steps to address that. Hopefully, it wouldn't be an issue anymore. You'll notice that the title is changed. It wasn't intentional, I was forced to do it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the quick update and I will address some questions at the end of the chapter. Please read and review if you enjoy. Thanks!


Chapter 2

"You love her?", Naruto whispered back the words he had heard. He hoped he had heard wrong, but how could that be when they reached his ears so clear even though Sasuke had spoken so quietly? He could only stare at the man in front of him, dumbly, with his eyes wide and his jaw hanging as the events of the evening kept getting stranger by the second. "What do you mean?", he asked in a whisper at Sasuke's nod of affirmation. At this point, Naruto was thankful that he had decided to sit down before starting this line of questioning. He knew, nothing good could possible come out of his former teammate's mouth about this subject. But this, he certainly did not expect this.

Sasuke stared at Naruto, carefully watching his reaction to his confession. From the looks of it, it seemed like Naruto was in shock, still processing the information he had given him. So, he decided to repeat himself once again. The second time around, the words flowed out of him easier. "I am in love with her." "With whom?" Naruto asked, yet again. "Hinata", came the stoic reply.

Naruto could not believe what was happening right now. His best friend is confessing his feelings for his wife. His married-with-a-kid best friend had feelings for his also-married-mother-of-two-kids wife. Sasuke has feelings for Hinata. His wife. His Hinata. And this was Sasuke. The guy who has had no romantic interest in anyone as far as he could remember. Sasuke, whose feelings for his own wife was questionable at best. That Sasuke, in love with the mother of his children. There had to be joke in here somewhere. 'That's it. The bastard is trying to get a rise out of me with this sick joke', he thought. He laughed out loud at that thought, it lasted only for a couple of seconds though, and he looked at Sasuke again with a threatening glare.

Sasuke had been silently observing the range of emotions that quickly flickered through Naruto's eyes, searching for the one he was afraid of. Betrayal. At first, it was obvious shock, then came disbelief, followed by anger, next wonder, then mirth as he gave out a short, loud laugh and lastly threatening rage as he felt his glare quicken his blood pressure, triggering his instinctual impulse of flight or fight. However, he stood his ground. He had decided to let it all out today and the least he could do for the man, who had saved his life, was providing him a decent explanation. He patiently waited for the questions which followed shortly after.

"If this is your idea of a joke, it really isn't funny, Sasuke", Naruto spat out. Sasuke sighed and replied, "I am serious." Naruto once again found himself dumbfounded. He didn't know what to think at this juncture of the conversation. How did he never notice this about his friend? Arguably, there was nobody alive who knew Sasuke better than him. They were brothers in every sense of the term, except by blood. Their rivalry was stuff that legends have been written about that spanned over several generations and involved the fate of the entire world. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. 'Could this just be another rivalry issue?', he wondered. Maybe, that could explain it. He braced himself and asked, "Since when has this been going on, Sasuke?" He figured, when he got married to Hinata and started his family, it just made Sasuke jealous, which in turn must have triggered some sort of infatuation with her on his part. In the end, both of them were the same, they both grew up isolated without any family to speak of. Neither of them were strangers to the abject loneliness that their childhoods had been and the kind of darkness that could seep into the hole of lonely hearts. He could understand the negativity one could find in himself when witnessing another lonely soul finding happiness and starting anew. He didn't like it but he could understand if that was the case.

Sasuke looked at Naruto and wondered yet again, how much of himself he should reveal to the blond in front of him. This was his best friend, his brother, the person he was closest to, one he would happily die for. 'No, I owe him at least this much', he realised. He decided he had to be completely honest about his feelings for once. He took in a deep breath to relax his nerves and answered without hesitation. "I don't remember a time in my life when I didn't have feelings for her. I have been in denial for a long time though."

Naruto felt his eyes widen in disbelief once more at this answer. A few moments passed by as the implication of those words sunk in. He abruptly stood up as his chair fell backward with a loud thud. He braced his arms on his desk, leaning towards Sasuke with a hard glare, to stop himself from leaping at him to punch his teeth out. "What the hell are you saying, Sasuke? You've always loved her? How the hell can that be possible? I don't think I have ever seen you even look at her, let alone talk to her ever in my entire life!" he shouted in his righteous outrage. This was his wife they were discussing here! He couldn't just let this one slide as another one of Sasuke's quirks.

"What has talking got to do with being in love?", Sasuke asked confused. Nevertheless, looking at the Hokage, he realised Naruto wanted a detailed explanation. He wasn't willing to let this one go otherwise. He sighed yet again and continued, "I didn't know what it was at first. I was too young to realise back then. I thought it was just mere fascination. She just so… different, unreal. But I knew she was special since the first time I saw her. The Uchiha district used to be right by the Hyuuga compound." He closed his eyes briefly as the ethereal image of a doll-like tiny Hinata walking in the snow at night, dressed in her purple kimono, staring at him with ghostly pale eyes full of kindness and innocence came to mind. Her bangs softly blowing in the chilly winds, her cheeks and nose rosy from the cold, her fingers clasped tightly in front of her for warmth as clouds of vapour released in front of her face with each tiny, soft breath. He quickly opened his eyes to dissipate that enticing image from his mind. "After the massacre, there wasn't much I could think about except for revenge. Since then, I had been in denial of my feelings for her. I was hungry for power and that's all that mattered to me back then. That's why I never seeked her out. I even refused to look at her, it would have only distracted me from my goal." Sasuke paused for a moment to gauge Naruto's reaction to everything he had revealed so far. He was relieved to find Naruto listening intently to him and had his undivided attention focused on him. He continued to look to him with disbelieving fascination as a child would, listening to a particularly engaging fairy-tale.

Content with the reaction he was getting so far, Sasuke continued, "This, however, changed after the Chuunin exams. I always knew about her infatuation with you at the Academy. I did notice her staring at you from time to time but I had ignored it so far. However, I couldn't ignore it anymore after you defeated her cousin at the exams. I was personally witness to the transformation, as her infatuation with you turned to admiration and love in her eyes. The way she would look at you…" Sasuke felt the familiar stab of pain in his heart as he recalled the image of Hinata looking at Naruto with unadulterated love with her beautiful eyes. That's how he wanted her to look at himself. Pushing that image to the back of his mind, he explained further, "I couldn't have taken it anymore. I had felt useless and unworthy at that time. The time we met Itachi at the motel, only proved to further solidify my beliefs about my powerlessness in my mind. Shortly after, I had decided to leave Konoha. It's true that I was never close to her but she did play her part in the decisions I have made in my life. When I left, no one could have stopped me, not even you. Specially because you were… you. I forced my mind to forget about everything else and singularly focused on my quest for revenge. At that time, I didn't have any other way of dealing with the emotions I was going through. I am sure Orochimaru's curse mark didn't help either."

Sasuke paused again to give both of them time to process the wealth of information he had just spoken out loud for the first time. He took a deep breath and released it, hoping it would ease the slight shaking in his hands. It didn't help though. He felt light headed as his drumming heart started faint palpitations with the torrent of emotions swirling around in his being. Nevertheless, he recalled the years of hard training he had gone through as a shinobi and steeled himself to stand upright to finish what he had started.

"It was finally after I saw her during the war that I allowed myself to acknowledge my feelings for her. She had… changed quite a bit but her eyes were the same. She was part of the reason I abandoned my intentions of destroying Konoha. She was also why I foolishly declared that I wanted to become Hokage in the middle of a war. I couldn't help it, I wanted to know what she would think of it", he continued, chuckling sadly to himself remember the time his angsty hormonal teenage self wanted to impress the girl he loved. He closed his eyes as he continued speaking, "She was obviously shocked as were the rest of you. I didn't know what I had expected to happen. By the time the war was over and our fight came to an end, I was done with all the bullshit. I was done with revenge, fighting, the regrets pilling up and all I wanted was to see her, maybe one last time. After I was pardoned, I had every intention of pursuing her. What else would I have done? I had nothing else left in Konoha. But just like all those years ago, the love she had for you shone bright in her eyes. Anybody who wasn't blind could see that. Well, except you obviously. Oblivious as ever. She continued to look at you as her knight-in-shining-armor, but this time she wasn't alone, the whole village regarded you as the hero of the war. I had nothing of the sort to offer her and yet again the feeling of being unworthy dawned on me. So, I left again, this time to redeem myself, to grow and become a better person. For her, so she would find me worthy of her respect at least." Sasuke stopped as another deep pang of hurt reverberated through his heart. His chest tightened as a wave of sorrow washed over him. He allowed it to reflect in his eyes as he looked at Naruto.

Naruto could clearly see the pain Sasuke was going through, looking into his dark eyes. He felt his anger melt away a bit as sympathy glimmered in his own eyes for his dear friend. He kept silent as he waited patiently for him to continue with his story. Sasuke turned his eyes away from Naruto and looked out the window, watching the last rays of sunlight disappear from the dark sky as the sun set behind the horizon.

"When I came back to Konoha and stopped the meteor from destroying the village, I was finally ready to confess my feelings to her. I thought I had done good, I had grown to become a better man. I had even saved her father's life." A self-depreciating smile touched Sasuke's lips as regret filled his being. "But I was too late. By some miracle, you not only acknowledged her love for you but also returned it. She later thanked me for my service to this village. I couldn't live with watching the both of you together, so I left yet again. When I received news of your upcoming nuptials, I thought I was surely going to reach the limits of heartbreak that I could possibly bear. I couldn't bring myself to attend your wedding either." Sasuke finished with a heavy sigh as his head and shoulders sunk down. The tension coiled tight in his muscles since the start of this conversation, finally seeping out of his frame, leaving behind deep hurt and ache.

Naruto stared at Sasuke in quiet understanding as all the pieces of the puzzle finally fit together in his mind. He couldn't stop himself from feeling empathetic for all his best friend had gone through silently all these years. He, himself, was no stranger to unrequited love. He had been young when he experienced the pain of loving someone who never returned those feelings regardless of how hard he tried to prove himself worthy. An image of a teenage girl with pink hair and bright green eyes crossed his mind. He had loved Sakura at one point of his life. He had also been able to move on finally after many rejections when he realised how deep her own feelings for Sasuke went in her heart. If he could find in himself to love another person again, surely Sasuke could do the same. They weren't so different, after all. 'Sasuke just needs a push in the right direction', he thought as his eyes shone with determination to help his friend do just that.

As if reading the thoughts swirling in his mind, Sasuke looked up at Naruto with sorrow-filled eyes and spoke, "Look, Naruto. I have already given up on her. I can see that you make each other happy. I would never do anything to jeopardize your marriage. I have already chosen a different path for myself. My life now belongs to Konoha. To protect this village, the.. people in it, is the only thing I care about now." Naruto understood exactly what he meant to say with those cryptic words. The truth of it was plain to see in his eyes. This was the only way he could devote his life to her. Specially since he wouldn't be able to bear seeing her everyday belonging to another man if he lived in the village himself. Even if that meant not being present in his daughter's life.

Again, Sasuke seemed to read his mind when he responded, "She always belonged to you, Naruto. Even before you realised it. And she always will." The raw pain behind those words reflected back at him in his dark eyes as Naruto felt all the residual anger drain out of him leaving behind only sadness. Naruto knew the truth behind those words. He couldn't deny it even though he hated seeing the pain in Sasuke's eyes. Hinata has always loved him. No matter how annoying, oblivious or disappointing he had been over the years. She always found it in herself to forgive his shortcomings, there has never been a day when she didn't look at him with complete devotion in her eyes.

"Thank you, Sasuke. I appreciate you telling me about this. I know it couldn't have been easy." Naruto said with a kind smile. "However, I don't want you to ever talk about this with Hinata-chan. No matter what the circumstances", he added. Sasuke solemnly looked at the Hokage and nodded his agreement to this request. He would gladly never speak of it to any soul regardless. He could live his entire life without having to relive through this experience again.

"I will need to speak to her though", Sasuke said. Naruto understood immediately which 'her' Sasuke was referring to in his request. Although Sasuke never needed permission before to visit his home, after the revelations they have had today, he was grateful that he is at least requesting to be allowed in, with his wife present. Naruto smiled at that and nodded, giving his approval. "You can come by tomorrow at noon. I'll make sure to be there when you do", he clarified.

With his plans for tomorrow set, Sasuke nodded at the blond and quickly left the Hokage tower to find a quiet place to think and spend the night. Naruto watched his friend flicker off as he went Kami knows where, attending to whatever business he had. He sighed deeply and picked up his fallen chair to sit back down at his desk. Pushing all the excitements of the evening to the back of his mind, he started off with the piles of paperwork on his desk once again. 'No sleep tonight either', he thought sadly as he called for his aide to prepare him some instant ramen for dinner.

The next day, Naruto finally looked up from his desk, as he finished the last of the paperwork, out the window to see the sun had risen quite a bit further than he would have liked when he finished with work. He stretched his arms above his head to loosen his tensed muscles from sitting at a desk overnight. 'Now, to deal with the issue at home', he thought warily as he made his way towards his home, drowsy and sleep-deprived.

When he reached the front door of his house, he noticed how uncharacteristically quiet it was for two boisterous children to be living there. He would have thought that there was something wrong if not for the chakra of an unnecessary number of ANBU stationed in and around the house that he could sense, quietly guarding the place for attacks from outside as well as within. He knocked twice on the door and entered, muttering a "Tadaima", as he sat by the step to take off his shoes. He heard soft footfalls behind him which he recognised immediately, as well as the softly spoken "Okaeri, Naruto-kun."

He got up and turned to look at his wife who was looking up at him with concern and worry etched on her delicate features. He knew he probably looked like hell, what with all the stress and lack of sleep. He also knew she wouldn't complain or nag at him for it. She never complained. She understood him so well, it still managed to surprise him after all these years they have been married. She would keep worrying though, quietly, as was in her nature. He couldn't have chosen a better person to share the rest of his life with. At that thought, he inwardly sent his gratitude to Kami once again for his amazing family and smiled at his wife.

"I had Ko-san pick up Boruto and Himawari to take them to the Hyuuga compound this morning, anata. I didn't want them to get scared of all the ANBU around the house. I thought it would be for the best", she said, silently asking for her husband's approval with her eyes for this decision. Naruto felt relieved at his wife's thoughtfulness and replied, "Thank you, Hinata-chan. You made the right call." Happy with his approval, Hinata followed behind her husband as he walked into the living room to find Mikato sitting at the dinner table, quietly eating breakfast.

"We were just having breakfast. Please join us. Mikato was telling me all about her siblings", she said softly and looked at the girl with a kind smile to make her feel at ease. Naruto noticed how the young girl calmed down in his wife's presence from being tensed when he entered the room. He gave the girl a small smile as well, as he pulled up a chair and sat at the table. Hinata brought another plate from the kitchen counter and placed it in front of him. She sat down at her chair and the trio continued with breakfast.

The conversation at the table was definitely one sided, with Mikato explaining to Hinata her entire life, it seemed. From her family, to her training, to her hobbies, her friends and everything else. Naruto quietly ate his breakfast but kept an ear on the ongoing discussion. Hinata hummed and nodded at the right places as she listened patiently to everything Mikato had to say with a gentle smile on her face, her eyes interested. She knew the girl, barely a teenager, had to be scared. She was among strangers in another world. No doubt, she was strong but still a child. She could tell, the child didn't trust to be around anybody but her at this point. She had been skittish around her children as well this morning even though they could hardly pose any threat to her.

After they finished breakfast, Mikato got up and sat herself on the sofa, farthest from the dinning table. This action did not go unnoticed by either of the adults present in the room, specially Naruto who kept a close eye on the girl from his position at the dinning table. Hinata felt obligated to release the tension in the room, so she dropped off the plates in the sink and walked towards the sofa while drying her hands on her apron. A knock at the front door stopped her and she promptly turned around to go answer the door, sparing a glance towards the other two still occupying the room.

A few seconds later, she entered the room again with a visibly brooding Sasuke behind her. She continued walking across the room till she reached the sofa where Mikato was sitting, just to be near her, hoping having her closeby would offer some comfort to the nervous child. As soon as Mikato saw the new guest enter the room, she stood up feeling like she should do or say something at the newest arrival but not knowing what. So she kept silent. Naruto turned around to look at the guest Hinata had invited into the house and his eyes narrowed when he realised it was the Uchiha.

"I thought we agreed on noon", Naruto said, annoyed. Sasuke turned his eyes from Mikato to the Hokage and answered, "I had nothing better to do." Pushing aside his annoyance, Naruto stood up as well and looked at the two on the other side of the room just as Mikato inched slightly closer to Hinata, clearly intimidated. Naruto looked to Sasuke, waiting for him to start with whatever questions he had for the girl.

"Why were you looking for me?", Sasuke started off with the question foremost in his mind. He had a lot of time last night to think about everything that had happened so far. He has had enough time to come up with all the questions he needed answered to satiate his curiosity. This morning, he found himself getting impatient by the second as soon as the first rays of morning light had spread across the sky. Finally, he had had enough, so he made his way here.

"Looking for you?", asked the girl back, confused. "Before you found me, back at the forest. Why were you looking for me?", Sasuke clarified further. "Because I thought you were my Otou-san. That's what I always do", Mikato replied simply. "You always look for your father when travelling through different timelines?" asked Sasuke, his curiosity peaked. "Yes, that's what he asked me to do. Or Okaa-san. Whoever is closer", she explained. Mikato stared at the man questioning her, the look in his face was the same her father would give her when he knew she was lying by omission. Her father always knew when there was more to the story, it has gotten her into trouble enough times for her to know what exactly that look meant. She realised he was waiting for her to explain further, so she did.

"I have been training my dojutsu for quite some time now. I have been to several different timelines so far. Every time, all I had to do was find my Otou-san or Okaa-san in that world. Once they see me, they recognise me and then help me get back home to my timeline. This is actually the first timeline I have visited where you didn't recognise me. Nobody recognised me. This is the only timeline so far that I haven't met a different version of myself", she explained hurriedly. She had learnt growing up that it was always a bad idea to annoy her father with beating around the bush. Her father always liked everyone to be straight forward and to the point, specially when it was a serious matter. She didn't need to know this version of her father to realise he was the same and he took this matter very seriously.

Sasuke found his already rapidly beating heart give a loud thump as the implications of her words registered in his mind. He had thought he was ready to have this conversation up until a minute ago, now he suddenly felt ill equipped to deal with it. He could only stare at her blankly as his mind refused to cooperate, yet again. Naruto noticed Sasuke freeze, before the meaning behind her words settled in. Once they did though, he felt the familiar envious anger pumping into his blood with every heartbeat. 'So my Hinata-chan is married to Sasuke in every other known timeline?', the thought crossed his mind and he swiftly clenched his fists at his sides of his already tensed body.

Nobody dared speak as a few moments passed by as they all stared at Mikato. Mikato felt all eyes in the room on her and felt her nerves getting frazzled bit by bit as each second passed. Unconsciously, she looked down and hunched over on herself in a futile attempt to hide behind nothing, wondering in her mind what had she said which caused the room to become so tense and the air so thick and heavy. She didn't have to wonder very long though as the silence in the room was broken by a crackling sound.

All eyes turned towards the strange noise and widened as the space in the middle of room seemed to tear itself apart as a portal of dark purple hue opened for just a beat longer than a second and then closed back up as if nothing really happened. Everyone would have assumed they hallucinated that event, if not for the newest arrival standing in the middle of the room. It was a man with a dark head of hair that only lightly touched his shoulders in the back. He had his back towards Naruto and Sasuke while facing Mikato, who was standing beside Hinata. Naruto could see Hinata's widened eyes and slack jaw, while her hand slowly rose upto her mouth to stifle a gasp, as she stared at the man whose back was all he could see. He immediately activated his Kyuubi Mode, ready to defend his home. That's when he finally noticed the Uchiha fan on the back of the black haori this man wore. He also noticed the familiar Kusanagi sword in his right hand. He felt his eyes widen as well in disbelief as he realised who this person in front of him was.

This man seemed to look over the young girl in front of him as she exclaimed, "Otou-sama!" at him. He finally turned back giving the two men, now in front of him, a good look at himself. Sasuke felt his eyes grow wider as he took in the appearance of the man who decided to suddenly arrive in the room. His face looked exactly like his own, the same eyes, the same mouth, the same nose, only his hair was styled differently. While he preferred to hide his left eye with the Rinnegan behind his bangs since it helped him keep his identity hidden in faraway lands on spy missions, this man apparently felt no hesitation to proudly display his powerful eye for the world to see. His dark spiky bangs served no practical purpose, as they hung loosely at the sides of his face which had a grim, determined look to it. Sasuke vaguely recognised the haori that the other version of him was wearing. It was a special haori, reserved only for the Uchiha clan head, as he vaguely recalled his father wearing one similar to this a few times during special occasions of the clan. He also couldn't help but notice that the man in front of him had his left arm intact, wrapped in bandages just like Naruto's right one.

"I'm here to take back my daughter. If you wish to cause problems, it won't end well for you", the man said without hesitation, in the same monotone that everyone in the room was familiar with. He raised his sword in a defensive stance, keeping Mikato strategically behind him, shielding her. He turned his face slightly and seemed to notice, for the first time, the other figure beside his daughter from the corner of his eye. "What the hell have you done to your hair? I thought I made it clear that I didn't want you to have it cut short", he asked in a decidedly irritated tone as all three adults in the room could do nothing but stare blankly at him.


A/N : Onto some of the questions I received : One kind guest reviewer asked if there will be cheating involved in this story. I am happy to let my readers know there won't be any. Another lovely guest reviewer asked for the story of Sasuke falling for Hinata. I am sorry but in this, the best explanation for Sasuke's feelings will be this chapter. As far as updating goes, I feel pumped with this idea and would like to get it out into the world as fast as possible. So, it would be fair to say that updates will be reasonably fast, if all goes well. As a general clarification, I would like to put it out there that this story will be canon compliant(to the best of my abilities), even Boruto as far as the characters are concerned. But, SasuHina fans need not worry. I have another story planned(much much more racier than this will be) which will be kind of a part 2 to this story, where the pair do end up together. I will explain better at the end of this story. Next chapter, we will see some more interesting developments as well as some more angsty Sasuke moments. See you next time!