Chapter Text
Sakura emerged from the room Naruto had stayed in since the battle that had claimed the life of the Nine-Tailed Demon two weeks earlier. She was disheartened by Naruto's attitude and lack of motivation. Sakura had believed that the demon's death would be a liberation for the blonde, yet Naruto acted as if someone - a human - close to him had died. She didn't understand him at all and from the conversations she had with Hinata, she didn't understand what was going on with her husband either.
After all, Naruto had been bullied and isolated because of the demon within him. All his youth, he'd known nothing but loneliness and contempt. Things had improved after the war, but that didn't change the fact that he was 'possessed ' by the Fox Demon. Sakura would have been relieved if she had been in Naruto's place and not acting as he was now.
Naruto was carried back to the village by Sasuke. Sakura had never seen her husband as panicked as he was that day. And she hadn't seen him since, which was just like Sasuke disappearing like that.
Sakura was lost in thought as she walked to her office.
Naruto had only spoken once when Hinata and she were there. And he only said one word.
' Sasuke.'
The expression on Hinata's face had been one of sadness, but also a brief glimmer of anger.
From then on, these visits had become less frequent and shorter.
Boruto had come alone a few times, trying to get his father to talk, react, but to no avail. And the frustrated teenager stormed out of the room, never to return.
But Naruto didn't seem to mind. He hadn't tried to argue with any of them and the only time he had opened his mouth was to say ' Sasuke '. And their wives were annoyed by this..
Sakura had always known that Sasuke and Naruto had a different relationship than most of the other ninjas in the village. But the fact that the blonde only mentioned Sasuke's name was annoying.
Sakura clenched her fists once in her office before collapsing into the chair. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily.
Over the years, she had learned to live without Sasuke, to raise her daughter alone and to expect nothing from him in return. Because she knew her husband always came home in the end. Not as often as she would have liked, but at least he came back.
Sasuke had not been the husband she had hoped for, dreamed of. Nor the father Sarada deserved. After all, they'd only slept together once and that was how their daughter had been born.
When she tried to have sex with her husband in the past, Sasuke had always pushed her away. Gently, kindly, but firmly.
He always had a good reason, 'I'm tired', 'I don't have time', 'I'm dirty' and so on. Each time, Sakura wanted to scream in frustration, but instead, she smiled and pretended to understand.
She opened her eyes when there was a knock on the door. The doctor straightened in her chair before answering.
"Come in."
One of her nurses entered the office with a huge pile of files. Sakura sighed again.
As hospital director, she had a lot of paperwork and sometimes it felt like that was all she did.
"Thank you, Inoue."
The young woman smiled before leaving the room, closing the door behind her.
Sakura braced herself and started to work. She had to stop thinking about Naruto. She decided to entrust his care to one of her nurses. After all, she had a lot of work to do and Naruto was not in any danger. He was only acting like a child who had broken his favorite toy, and he might stop acting like that if everyone ignored his attitude. So Sakura decided to have a word with Hinata. She wanted to ask her to stop visiting Naruto for the time being. She hoped it would do the trick and Naruto would eventually stop acting like this. She was determined to stay focused on her work and not let him distract her.
Sasuke walked along Konohagakure's border, not daring to return to the village. The fight against Isshiki Otsutsuki had been much, much harder than he and Naruto had expected...
They had done everything they could to eliminate Isshiki. Unfortunately, Naruto had to go even further and sacrifice even more to defeat the monster that was threatening their world.
Sasuke felt guilty. He hadn't been strong enough to fight Naruto on equal terms and this time he had almost lost Naruto foreverl.
He was partly responsible for Kurama's death and Sasuke didn't know if he could ever look Naruto in the eye without being overcome by guilt.
Flashback.
Seconds before the end of the battle, Sasuke had been transported to Kurama's side. He still wondered how the fox achieved such a feat.
The encounter lasted only a few moments. Kurama had seemed at peace and even his attitude towards him had been less arrogant than usual. The fox had told him something that Sasuke had never thought possible. However, he also knew that Kurama would never have lied to him about it.
'Listen carefully, Uchiha. Naruto has not many regrets in his life. In fact, he only has a single one.'
The demon narrows his eyes and looks at him for a moment without moving.
'Even though I don't understand it, I can't leave knowing Naruto will be alone, sad and unhappy. So I've decided to break my promise to him and tell you his only regret.'
Sasuke tensed at this statement, dreading the explanation to come. Even now, he believed his best friend regretted saving him. He closed his eyes for a moment before returning his attention to the demon in front of him.
'Naruto has feelings for you that go beyond simple brotherly love. He never wanted to tell you because he didn't want to lose your friendship, no matter how much I tried to tell him. He's known since your fight in the Valley of the End. He only married Hinata because of the pressure from those around him.'
Sasuke stared wide-eyed at Kurama but tried his best to keep a straight face. What the fox had just told him couldn't be true.
'And I know you have the same feelings for him, even though you married Sakura.'
Kurama seemed to be losing his solidity. Sasuke could almost see through him and knew the fox didn't have much time left.
'All I ask is that you tell him how you feel about him... And please, always look after him.'
Suddenly, Sasuke found himself surrounded by dust and could see Naruto's motionless body in the distance. He rushed to help his friend. Sasuke grabbed the blonde's limp body and teleported to Konoha.
Sasuke had been about to freak out about his wife's carefree attitude when she discovered Naruto in his arms. As if the blonde's health wasn't that important. With a terrible effort, he had managed not to lose his temper with his wife and demanded that she take care of Naruto herself.
End of Flashback
Sasuke had been avoiding returning to Konoha for two weeks and for once, it wasn't because of his wife. It was because of Kurama's declaration.
How could he address the issue with Naruto?
Sasuke had made peace with his unrequited love years ago. He'd married Sakura to ' do' the same as his best friend, to feel less empty. But marrying the pink-haired woman was the worst idea he'd ever had. To make matters worse, he'd let himself be 'convinced ' to sleep with her, and that one time had been enough for Sakura to get pregnant.
For many years, Sasuke had been uncertain how he felt about Sarada. After all, she was his daughter. But he... didn't have a fatherly streak, not like Naruto had with his own children.
Well, maybe Hinata wouldn't agree with him. Naruto worked a lot and spent hardly any time at home, but his children had grown up with him, they knew him. Sarada couldn't say the same about him.
Strangely - unfortunately - Sasuke could not feel guilty about not being there for Sarada. He had been angry with Sakura for a long time because of the birth of their daughter. He was convinced that the young woman had orchestrated everything to make sure she got pregnant the first time they slept together.
Sasuke tried to think as little as possible about those days. He hadn't felt any pleasure and the only reason he had managed to keep his erection was the images of Naruto naked.
He would never, ever admit this fact to anyone. Even under torture, he would take this secret to his grave.
Now, everything was different and Sasuke resented Kurama for telling him how Naruto really felt. His life wasn't idyllic, far from it, but at least he could spend time with Naruto when he felt like it. Of course, he would have spent a lot of time with the blonde if it hadn't seemed strange to others.
Sasuke didn't know what to do. Usually, he just acted, acted ahead and did what needed to be done. It wasn't like him to hesitate, but this time it was different.
Kurama had told him that Naruto had realized his feelings for him a few years ago and Naruto had done nothing.
So Sasuke told himself that he would take care of the blonde like Kurama had asked, but that would be all.
After all, Naruto had to know that he was the only person who mattered to Sasuke. He returned to Konoha only for him. Naruto wasn't stupid enough to believe he came back for Sakura, was he?
Frustrated because he still did not know what to do, Sasuke turned his back on Konoha and decided to leave for Kumogakure. He had made peace with Killer Bee a few weeks after the war ended - Naruto had insisted on it.
The jinchûriki of the eight-tailed demon had forgiven him without difficulty, and during his many travels, Sasuke visited him periodically. And Killer Bee had an undeniable talent for distracting him, which was exactly what he needed at the moment.
Without a moment's delay, Sasuke dashed off towards Lightning Village.
Naruto sighed as the door closed behind Sakura.
He'd had enough of her visits, her condescending tone when speaking to him and of her insistence that he stop acting like a child.
He blew hard through his nose to calm the ball of anger that was growing inside him and threatening to explode.
None of the people who had visited him had understood the depth of his pain and grief. On some level, Naruto had believed that his wife would have supported him as she usually did.
After a week in the hospital, Hinata's true colors had been revealed. And that had broken the last barrier that kept him from divorcing her.
Naruto realized too late that he should never have married Hinata. He loved her as a friend, but not as his wife. But she was pregnant with Boruto when he finally opened his eyes.
But he yielded to the pressure of the people around him, especially Sakura, who insisted Hinata was in love with him and would be the ideal wife.
Naruto should have refused because he loved someone else, but he didn't have the courage. He knew that the feeling he felt was a one-way thing and he didn't want to live alone anymore, so he had agreed to marry Hinata.
Since the end of the war, Naruto had known he loved Sasuke. However, he hadn't acted because he didn't want to lose the bond he had with him.
Now, at the age of thirty-two, he realized all the bad choices he had made. And the most painful part for him was that he had made those choices for others to be accepted and included. Today, he realized the stupidity of his actions and regretted having acted like a coward.
With the death of his oldest companion and the reaction of the people around him, Naruto realized that none of them truly wanted him to be happy. And they never really had. They all had pushed him in a direction they considered right for them, regardless of how Naruto really felt.
And today, this bad joke will end..
Naruto had planned to leave Konoha tonight. In the drawer of the bedside table, there was the letter of resignation as Hokage, a letter for each of his children and the papers for Hinata asking for a divorce.
Naruto still hadn't decided where he would go, but that detail was not important. What was important was that he was finally leaving, and doing something for himself.
He hesitated for a long time, but then added a letter bearing Sasuke's name to the rest. He sealed it so only his friend could open it. What he had written was for Sasuke and only for him.
Naruto had prepared a bag of spare clothes that Hinata had brought him during the first days of his hospitalization. Thanks to the clones he'd sent home overnight, he'd filled his frog pouch with money and put a few extra bills into a transport roll.The clone also brought him divorce paper. He'd worked hard to put money aside so that he wouldn't deprive his family of anything once he was gone.
Naruto was finally at peace. His decision to leave Konoha, to leave behind this hypocritical world, was the best thing he could have done for himself.
Of course, he didn't put everyone in the same basket.
Shikamaru, Kakashi, Iruka, Kiba and Lee had always been good friends to him and he would miss them, but not enough to stop him from leaving.
The only person who could have convinced him to stay never stayed in Konoha himself.
Sasuke.
But right now, Naruto also needed to put some distance between himself and his best friend.
Naruto had almost lost Sasuke in their fight against Isshiki Otsutsuki and if that had happened... On top of losing Kurama, he didn't know what he would have done.
It was too late to open his heart to Sasuke. His best friend was married to Sakura and they had a daughter together. There was no way Naruto was going to break up a family as well as his own.
Naruto felt guilty about leaving Konoha and abandoning his children with their mother, but he no longer had the energy to pretend to be happy in the current situation.
He loved Boruto and Himawari. But with the realizations of the last few days, Naruto could not stay in Konoha and he hoped that his children would forgive him in time.
In any case, Naruto knew he was not a good father. He was absent too often and spent most of his time in the Hokage Tower.
Over the years, this situation had become normal for him and his family. But in hindsight, Naruto realized he was running away from a family situation that didn't really make him happy.
And the worst part? If he had dared to open his heart to Sasuke, maybe all of this could have been avoided. Because he probably would have turned down the role of Hokage to be with Sasuke, and he wouldn't have had any children.
He regretted the sadness, anger, and disappointment he would cause his two children. But he did not regret his decision; it was the first time in his life that he made a decision for himself.
Naruto waited until late in the night before he left his room. He had studied the nurses' shifts and realized that after one in the morning, the nurses only came every two hours. This would give him a good head start.
When the nurse left Naruto's room a few minutes after one in the morning, the blonde stood up from his bed without a sound.
He quickly changed his clothes, making sure he hadn't forgotten anything and that the letters were in the right place.
Then Naruto silently climbed out of the window and jumped from roof to roof until he reached the Hokage monument. He landed softly on his own head and stared at the sleeping village for a long moment.
Naruto smiled sincerely for the first time months before he turned away from the village and without a backward glance, dashed off into the unknown.
He was ready for a new life and to finally live for what HE wanted and no one else.
The image of Sasuke flashed behind his closed eyelids as he crossed Konoha's border. But Naruto shook his head violently to banish the image of the only person he had ever truly loved. He had to move on and forget everything about Sasuke.
He had to rebuild his life and forget that he ever knew a man like Sasuke. And Naruto wanted to create something for himself and he would do it. All he needed was time and that was all he had. It wasn't like Sasuke would come looking for him.
With a more powerful jump than the others, Naruto covered almost half of the distance before reaching the border. On the other side, everything would begin anew for him.