Naruko P.O.V

I ran into the apartment in hope that I wasn't too late; I needed to see him one last time before he left. I turned the corner and saw a blue light shining from Sasuke's room. Without a second thought, I placed my hand on the doorknob and swung the door open in a panic. Before I could even shout his name, my mouth shut in pain as I saw my husband crying into his hands.

Sasuke...

I slowly made my way to where he was, not saying a single word. My breath began to steady and the feeling of panic slowly began to calm. I had to be calm for what was about to happen. It was my turn to handle him at his worst.

"I see...Naori couldn't keep you out..." he whispered between breaths while still holding his face in the palms of his hands.

I didn't respond. I simply stared and waited for him to look up at me. He wiped his face and took a deep breath

"N-Naruko...I-"

I wrapped my arms around him, not giving him the chance to finish. He dug his face into the nape of my neck, indulging himself in my touch as he cried.

"You promised me that you wouldn't leave without telling me, you big idiot," I teased with tears running down my cheeks.

"Shut up, loser..." he whispered back.

My embrace began to tighten around him as I heard the sound of the time machine counting down for his departure. "Sasuke, I don't care about what happens in the future. I don't care that our future is tragic or miserable. I just want to be with you. You make me happy and no one else...So please let me stay by your side. Let me love you and never let you go."

He slowly raised his head to deny my request. "I can't let you Naruko. I can't let you love me."

"Why? Why can't we work around the problems? I'm sure there's some way to make everything work!"

He shook his head. "No. There isn't..."

"Come on Sasuke, there's no way that's true. We can work out the kinks now so we won't have to worry about them later-!"

"Naruko, please stop!"

My eyes widened at his harsh tone of voice. "Sasuke..."

He removed himself from my arms and stood at a distance from me. He looked around the room and then sighed. "Do you know what this room becomes in the future?" He asked.

I shook my head.

"It was a nursery. The nursery we painted lavender for our first child that never came. Then we waited for the second one, and he didn't make it either. The third one bearly survived a month, and the fourth one is currently holding on for dear life. This room was never used in the seven years we've been married and it never will."

I sat on the floor, trying to process what he had just told me. Sasuke and I were trying to have a family and couldn't, but that didn't mean we couldn't try adopting or some other options. There are ways around that, and for us to give up just because of that is simply ridiculous.

I opened my mouth to protest, but Sasuke held his hand over my mouth in pain. "I know what you're going to say I can't bear to hear that again...Please Naruko, you need to let me go."

I removed his hand from my mouth with a sigh. "Sasuke, tell me everything that happened."

"I can't-"

"You need to. How am I suppose to just let you go without having a real reason? 'I won't make you happy.' Tch, that's meaningless if you don't have proof to back it up. So Sasuke, tell me everything that happened or I'm going to choose to make my own happiness by finding you in this time."

He clicked his tongue angrily as he paced around the room. "You're as sly as ever, huh?" he remarked sarcastically. He then groaned loudly in frustration before grabbing his bag and placing it over his shoulder. "Fine...I'll tell you."

I sat up to listen to him, anxious to hear the truth about our future.

"You and I...We were very happy together, and the moment I knew I wanted to spend my life with you was the moment when everything went downhill...10 years ago, I asked my family to allow me to marry you. In the Uchiha estate, marriage was seen as a type of business contract. You only ever got married if it benefited the clan or continued our bloodline. That is why I was supposed to marry Naori.

Naori was kind of like you: free. She never let the ordeals of the Uchiha block her morality, and I use to shame her for that, but after I met you, I began to understand her.

We first met at your school trip, I saved you from thugs and you pepper-sprayed my eyes. Because you tried to help clean my eyes, we ended up talking. There was something about you that drew my attention, but I tried to ignore it. That same day, we shared an unexpected first kiss when a man shoved you into me, and the same thing happened a year later when I met you again at a party.

Soon after we began to date, then fall in love, and finally wished to get married; however, my family forbade me from marrying you. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to lose you or my family. Then, Naori spoke to me and convinced me to elope with you. Once my mind was made up, I never returned to the Uchiha estate. I never regretted my decision. I was happy with you. Being with you brought me more joy than the life I had within that hell of an estate.

A year passed and we both had been working small jobs throughout the week. We were saving money to move to the countryside so you could show me the stars, but you went behind my back and used the money to buy me a restaurant. You gave up on your dream to allow me to pursue my dream of cooking as you stood by my side with a smile. The restaurant was always packed, we were living happily in our small apartment, and then the greatest news came: you were pregnant.

We spent about four months building the nursery into this room. All the tips we earned went into buying items for our little girl...the little girl that never came...You miscarried five months in, and there was no chance of saving her. You were crushed. Your skin became pale and your personality grew dim. It was almost impossible for me to cheer you up. But one day you came back, and we agreed to try again.

The second time it was a boy. He was growing strong and healthy when the universe took him away from us. Hospital bills were piling up, and the restaurant was beginning to lose customers because of a new restaurant that opened up across from us. The stress began to pile on us, yet somehow we managed to stay happy. You kept me sane in those moments of darkness, and the arrival of our third baby kept us hopeful.

Two years passed and we had lost both the restaurant and our baby again. I was jobless and you were breaking before my eyes. You begged me to try one last time to conceive and we did. However, I still couldn't find a job and you had to stop working because of a complicated pregnancy. We had no money to pay the bills and we were about to lose our home.

We had nowhere to go. My family disowned me and your grandfather didn't even know that you were married. You were scared to confront your grandfather so we stayed in our apartment, trying to figure out what to do...We were facing a dead end, so I did the one thing I could do: save you from ever meeting me.

Naruko...in only seven years I had managed to ruin your life. You never had a family, you never had a house in the countryside like you always wanted, and you were slowly becoming lifeless. You were dying before me and I could do nothing. Everything was my fault! Because I loved you, I made your life miserable.

Currently, we have a week to move out. We have nowhere to go, no money to eat, and your pregnancy has slowly been killing you. Because of me, you're dying...you're unhappy...you're miserable!"

His loud cries filled the room. I remained silent, shocked by our future that truly was unfortunate, but it wasn't his fault or anyone's fault. It was just like being a dick, and he took the blame.

I shook my head, slowly walking towards him with open arms. I took him into my warm embrace again, holding him silently.

"Naruko...Everything is my fault..."

"No, it's not Sasuke. None of that was your fault, so stop blaming yourself."

"No Naruko, your misery is my fault...You would always tell me it wasn't, but I couldn't help but feel as if it was. You rarely ever smiled anymore. Your laugh stopped echoing through the apartment. Your expressions became dull and forced. I couldn't find a way to make you happy anymore. I failed as your husband the moment I couldn't support you the way I vowed to when I married you...

You need to be with someone else. Someone who isn't broken or comes from a hateful family. You need someone who can always make you smile, provide for you, and make you feel like the Queen you are. I couldn't do that for you...But maybe your senpai can..."

He tried to hide his pained expression by lowering his head to the ground. I shook my head, grabbing ahold of his face in my hands, forcing him to stare into my eyes. "Look at me Sasuke, " I whispered as his eyes averted mine. "Look at me...Please," I whispered again.

His eyes slowly met mine, tears still streaming down his cheeks. "Sasuke...Kakashi will never make me happy because he's not you. I want you. I don't care that we're miserable as long as you're still by my side..."

He bit his trembling lips, shaking his head in disagreement. "No...you can't be with me..."

"But I want to be, and I know my future self feels the same way."

"Naruko please...let me go...I want you to be happy..."

"And I told you I can't unless I'm with you!" I shouted angrily with tears streaming down my face. "A life without you is no life at all...No other man can make me as happy as you do...Not even if he gives me 4 kids, a famous restaurant, and a big house in the countryside...I only want you."

As I held his cheeks in my hands, I slowly began to dry his tears with my thumbs. My fingers slowly caressed his face, remembering his features before I was no longer able to touch him again. "Sasuke..." I whispered while leaning in, "I love you..."

Our lips slowly touched, sending goosebumps throughout my body. My heart skipped within my chest as our lips continued to dance. With each slow kiss came an ocean of affection, drowning me in love.

This was only our second kiss, yet it felt as if I had kissed his lips a thousand times before.

He slowly parted from my lips, allowing the sensation to linger before pulling away forever. He then placed his forehead against mine, staring into my eyes with a bittersweet smile. "You really are my wife..."

"Of course I am, silly..."

He kissed my lips once more before holding me in his arms. "I love you, Naruko...and because I love you, I have to let you go..."

"You don't have to, " I whispered desperately in his ear.

"But I want to...I want to give you a better future..." His tears were now dry and his sobs were no longer present. He had finally come to terms with the situation. He was ready to let go.

The time machine was finally ready; it was time for him to go. He walked towards the blue portal that had opened up in the middle of the room with a pained smile.

I couldn't accept the fact that he was finally leaving. He was my future, my happiness, and he was leaving me forever. Yet, it had to happen. According to him, there was no way for us to ever become happy again in the future. He had finally let go, and now it was time for me to do the same.

As I watched him prepare to leap through the portal, I quickly shouted at him one last time: "Sasuke! You're an idiot!"

He looked back at me with a genuine smile. "And you're a loser..." He walked back towards me, raising two fingers before tapping me playfully on the forehead as he did once before on the day we first met. "I love you, dummy."

My eyes began to water again as his smile beamed at me. "This is really what needs to happen...?"

He nodded his head.

I sighed, knowing that nothing I said was going to change anything. "Okay...I'll stay with Kakashi then...and I won't try and find you..."

"Thank you..."

We kissed one last time before he entered the portal. Never again would either of us ever feel the warmth of each other's kisses. The moment he walked through that portal there would be a different future. A future where we're both supposed to be happy.

I placed a hand over my heart, taking in the final moment as he disappeared along with the portal. In an instant, he was gone. He was finally back where he belonged and so was I. I made a promise to find happiness without him, and as his former wife, that was the least I could do for him.

I sighed again, walking out of my room to see Naori sitting at the kitchen table.

"He really left, huh?" she asked sadly.

"Yeah..."

I took the seat from across her, slouching as I hit my forehead against the table. "Naori...he made me promise to never find him..."

"Well...are you going to follow what he says, Deviant Princess of Konoha High?"

I gave a small giggle at her attempt to lighten the mood. "I think I am gonna follow his wishes at least this one time...Out of respect for him, ya know?" I picked up my head from the table with a loud groan. She stared at me, chuckling at the bizarre sound that left my mouth.

"Hey, Naori?" I asked, "What kinda future do you think he left to?"

She folded her arms, sitting back against the seat as she thought about my question. "You know Naruko, we can only hope that he didn't make the biggest mistake of his life."

I nodded my head in agreeance. And I can only hope I'm not helping him make that mistake...

"But I guess we'll never know."