Sasuke and Boruto had gone back in time using Sasuke's space-time jutsu to fight an enemy recking havoc on the Leaf Village of the past. Once they were able to stop the enemy it was time to go home. Before Sasuke had to take himself and Boruto back to the present, Sasuke sat down with the younger version of his wife from that period in front of the river.
"Sakura, I wanted to talk to you. I have to leave. But I wanted you to know that I am Sasuke Uchiha."
"What are you talking about?" She asked. "You're much older than Sasuke."
"Boruto and I are from the future. I used a space-time jutsu to get here. I was tracking a villain who was seen here." Sakura looked over at Sasuke and compared his face to the one she knew. He wasn't lying, it really was Sasuke. His voice hadn't changed, but was warmer than in the past. He was older and for some reason only had one arm. She could feel the connection to him though. There really was no doubt about it. He was the older version of the guy she loved. Sakura didn't know what to say, so she blurted out whatever came to mind first.
"Who is Boruto. Why did you bring him?"
"He asked to be my student. He's actually Naruto's son."
"With who?" Sakura asked surprised with a wide-eyed confused expression.
"Hinata. They have a daughter too, Himawari. She's not even old enough to enter the academy yet."
Sakura sighed. "Thankfully it's not me. That's good for Naruto though. I'm glad he found love." She thought.
"Alright. Are you going to explain this letter to me? It was signed "love, Sarada." Sakura felt tears welling in her eyes while she pulled out the letter and handed it to Sasuke. "She must be very important to you."
"She is." He said opening the letter and remembering what it said.
"Is she your girlfriend? Wife?" Sakura said as a small stream of tears fell from her eyes.
"She is my daughter." Sakura was nervous to find out who Sasuke had a child with. She knew she was about to have her heart broken. Should she even ask. It couldn't possibly be her… could it?
"Since you have a daughter… that means you're probably married… You have a family now." Sakura looked away while the small stream of tears got bigger.
"Yes. I am married. I have a beautiful wife. She is very precious to me. Both of my girls are." He smiled teasing Sakura. "My wife and my daughter's mother is you."
"What?" she asked looking over at Sasuke.
"In the future you, Naruto and Kakashi save me. Bring me back to The Leaf. I leave again, but this time to repent for what I've done. A couple years later I come back. You were still waiting for me. We started dating. And you join me on s- ranked missions to track these same people. While we are on these missions we were engaged and got married in the village. 2 years later we welcomed our daughter, Sarada." Sakura blushed and wiped the tears from her eyes. She couldn't believe it. She marries Sasuke and has a child with him. She tried to wipe those thoughts from her mind and ask more questions.
"What did you do? What are you repenting for?"
"If you knew that now... I don't think you would stick around to hear the rest."
"Is that how you lost your arm and eye?" Sasuke moved his hair out of his left eye and lifted his eyepatch revealing the Rennigan.
"Actually, I'm covering my Rennigan. Unlike the Sharigan, I can't turn it off and on. While in this time period if someone would have seen it, my identity would have been revealed. My arm, I lost it in battle."
"To whom?" Sasuke went quiet. "Sasuke, who took your arm?"
"It's hard to explain, Sakura. I don't know what your reaction would be."
"If the me in your time knows and still loves you then it won't change me either." Sasuke sighed.
"After the 4th Great Shinobi War, Naruto and I go to have one final battle. It was a hard-fought match. The last thing we did was come at each other with full strength. Chidori vs. Rasangan. We both ended up losing an arm. Tsunde made Naruto a new arm. She was working on one for me, but I decided to live the rest of my life like this to atone for everything."
"Wow… so, why are you telling me this, Sasuke?"
"I have to wipe your memory anyway. I'm hoping to bring some peace to you. Maybe not fully, but in the back of your mind and heart. Maybe you'll know everything is going to be fine. I've already troubled you so much."
"What else can you tell me? Are we happy?"
"Very. Our wedding was perfect. We grew closer and closer. You helped my heart heal. I'm now much happier than I ever have been... Sakura, don't give up on present time Sasuke. Keep trying to save him and you will. You become strong and powerful. I'm actually afraid of you when you're mad." Sasuke smiled.
"Why?"
"You're strong. Very strong. Your punches... no one has anything on you. Even me. I came home after a long mission and well... you knocked down our house with one punch." Sakura smiled.
"Can I apologize for that in advanced?" Sakura asked embarrassed.
"It's fine. It was probably my fault. I was gone... a long time... too long."
"Do I want to know how long?"
"Long enough that Sarada followed Naruto out of the village to find me and try to bring me home."
"Did it work?"
"The mission got... interrupted. You found out about it. When you got there, we had been attacked. I was protecting Sarada. You took out the enemy. But you were transported somewhere else by another enemy lying in wait. Naruto, Sarada and I went to find and save you. First, we had to get information from Orochimaru. I figured he may know what was going on because of the nature of the enemy. Orochimaru tried to convince me you were dead. I told him my wife isn't weak. We figured out where you were then Sarada and I helped you. You and I made a good team in that fight. As we did on all of those missions. We can read each other. And know the other one's next few moves. Sarada is a Genin and she was a big help. It was great seeing how well you had trained her. Afterwards, I took you guys back to the village, stayed with you over night and left the next afternoon. We hadn't been a full family in a while. It was nice. You and I... well, you don't need all the details."
Sakura blushed having an idea what Sasuke may have been about to say.
"Are you actually in love with me, or did you just take pity on me."
"Sakura, you were always precious to me. Even before I left. That's why I always protected you. Leaving that night was hard because I knew I was starting to fall in love with you. At that time, it was the last thing I wanted. After everything was over and I was no longer under the curse mark's control I found myself falling in love with you again. To this day, I still am. Our emotions are connected. I can feel your heart in my present time. Right now, you're worrying about me."
"Do you actually refer to me as your wife?"
Sasuke nodded and looked up at the moon. "I'm sorry, Sakura. I have to leave soon. I have to wipe your memory now."
"Sasuke wait!" She called. Wrapping her arms around him with tears in her eyes. Sasuke put his hand on her back.
"Sakura, thank you for everything you've done and will do..." Sakura let go of Sasuke and backed up a few steps.
Before erasing her memory Sasuke lifted his hand and gently poked her forehead with two fingers.
"Sa... Sasuke..." she blushed. Sasuke used the distraction, activated his Sharingan and used his jutsu to wipe her memory. As soon as she started falling Sasuke caught her and gently laid her on the ground.
"I'm sorry, Sakura." Sasuke walked back to Boruto, Naruto and Jirirya. "Boruto, it's time to go."
The group said their goodbyes then Sasuke wiped their memories as well and used the space-time jutsu to get them back to the present. Sasuke dropped off Boruto at his parent's house and walked into town to go back to his own family. On the way there he was about to cross the bridge and found who he was going to see. His wife, Sakura. Sakura was looking out over the river dreaming.
"What I wouldn't give for Sasuke to come home… I just hope he's safe… wherever he is." She thought.
"Sakura!" He called walking up to her. Sakura turned to him.
"Sasuke. You're home!" She smiled as he caught up to her.
"I was just coming home. I was hoping you were still awake. I need to talk to you."
"What is it? Are you okay?"
"It's about the mission I went on with Boruto. We used the space-time jutsu to go back in time. I saw some things I missed while I was gone. I saw you and Naruto. I was trying to hide from you and dropped this letter Sarada wrote to me." Sasuke said pulling out the letter.
"It's smudged… if I found this… I can only imagine my reaction… but I don't remember this." Sakura said facepalming in embarrassment.
"I had to wipe your memory before I left. But that's because you figured out who I was. Since you did, I let you ask questions, but one question… I knew my answer… but I wasn't sure what you would have said."
"What did I ask?"
"I told you about Sarada, our marriage, wedding, you and Naruto saving me. But then you asked if we were happy. I said "very," but Sakura, I don't know if you are happy being my wife, since I'm gone so often."
"I get asked that a lot," Sakura said looking out at the full moon shining brightly over the river. "I see all the happy couples in the village. And happy families. I wish we could be like them. You're my husband after all. These are the times I think about how my life ended up. I became a powerful shinobi that the village needs, I married the man I love and have a beautiful daughter… but I miss being able to spend time with you, seeing your face, talking to you, your touch, your smile, kissing you and spending time as a family. Then, I think about what you're doing. How you're out there tracking Kaguya, doing what you can to protect the village. No one could be prouder of their husband than I am."
Sakura's words hurt more than a kunai through the heart would. Sasuke felt like the worst husband ever.
"Then we have moments like this when you come home, standing on the bridge overlooking the river, looking up at the moon and stars and talking about our marriage. You asked me about my feelings, something that years ago, you wouldn't have asked or thought about at all. These moments make me happy. And seeing you try so hard with Sarada… I am happy in our marriage. Do I miss you? Everyday. But the time I get with you when you are here is precious to me. I wouldn't trade my time with you for anything."
Sasuke sighed in relief and held out his hand to her. Sakura took his hand in hers. "I love you, Sakura. Thank you, for everything."
"I love you, Sasuke." The couple looked into each other's eyes and smiled. Sasuke slowly leaned down and kissed Sakura's forehead.
"Now why don't we get home so I can look at your wounds."
"Sakura, you've used enough chakra on me today. You don't have to." Sakura understood. Her past self must have partially healed him.
"I'll just use some medical supplies. I just want to make sure you don't have any serious injuries or anything that could get infected." Sasuke knew this was a battle he was going to lose, and it wasn't worth trying to stop her. Sakura was determined to take care of him, just as she always had.
"Sure," he said as they started walking home. Sasuke wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him pulling his cloak around her.
"Is Sarada awake?" Sasuke asked when they arrived.
"Probably not. When we aren't expecting you, she goes to bed early." They walked past their daughter's room and to their's.
Sakura got out her medical supplies while Sasuke took off his cloak, vest and shirt and sat down on the side of the bed. Sakura sat behind him and opened up her medical kit. The first thing she noticed was the heaven curse mark on his shoulder blade that Orochimaru gave to him during the Chunin exams. Something she wished she could get rid of. Sakura carefully leaned down and kissed it.
Sasuke smiled and looked into the mirror in front of them to make eye contact with her. Sakura examined her husband. Most of the wounds were pretty much healed. She applied some antibiotic ointment to the cuts and scratches on his back, neck, arm and chest and applied a few bandages after promising to do no more than that.
Sakura was just happy to have Sasuke home again and to know at least for tonight he was safe and sound at home with her. This night, as darkness swallowed up all light and left its chill all around the village, she would be kept warm by her one true love.