Chapter Text
It still hurt sometimes, the spot where the cursemark had been. Despite the fact that during the events of the war, Sasuke had gotten it removed. In a way, the pain was like losing a limb in some ways. The thing that had fueled him since the tender age of twelve when Orochimaru had inflicted the curse on him. It was this cursemark that was what cost him everything, and he couldn't forget that. Sure, Konoha had forgiven him, but he hadn't had the courage to go back.
Instead of going back to the village, he had written Kakashi and simply asked to be left alone. He would quit being a ninja. He would fade into obscurity and, like the rest of the Land of Fire, pretend that Konoha and its organization did not exist, only taking notice of it when major military events occurred. He had told Kakashi he would be fine with having a tail, as long as that tail did not interfere with his personal life.
He did return to the village once, a few years after the war, to visit his former teacher after Kakashi had tried to convince him to become a ninja again. Unlike what Naruto had told him, Sasuke knew that it would never work if he chose to live in the village, and this visit had proven that. After a few days, he had disappeared once again.
He did eventually find some hope however, in a small village near the border between the Lands of Wind and Fire. Hope in the form of a dark haired female civilian named Kiko. She was his age, but had no idea about the world of ninja, only knowing that ninja were probably the worst kept secret in the world. For the first time, Sasuke was seen as a man with no past. Just a man wanting to find a home to settle down for awhile, and Kiko provided that. They lived happily for about a year, until Kiko announced her pregnancy.
Sasuke had only ever wanted children from the perspective that they would revive his clan. Beyond that, Sasuke knew he would be a terrible father. He was worried that he would make the same mistakes his own father did. Kiko did her best to tell her lover otherwise. That was the other thing too, Sasuke and Kiko never married, and Sasuke wanted to keep it that way. He loved her, but was worried about the damage that it would cause if their daughter took his name. However, his lover had insisted.
-_-_-
"査等妥 うちは"
Sasuke looked at the name written in front of him.
"No." He told Kiko and the woman glared at her lover.
"Your whole existence for the past few years has been about reviving your clan, and now that you're being given the chance you say no." Kiko growled at him. Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"She'll be a girl. She's going to lose her name once she marries anyway." Sasuke replied and Kiko only sighed.
"However, she will have your- your- what's it called again?"
"Kekkei Genkai."
"Kekkei Genkai. Right. Wouldn't it make you feel at least a tiny bit good to know that you had a relative carrying your name and genetics somewhere in the world?"
"No. Just go to sleep Kiko." Sasuke told her. "Besides, its tradition to not use kanji when spelling names in the Uchiha clan." He told her again as she laid down beside him.
"If i don't use the kanji, will you let her have the Uchiha name?"
"Sure. Whatever."
-_-_-
Kiko did eventually have the baby, but it did not end how either of them had expected. Both mother and child had passed away during the birthing process. He looked at the graves in front of him. The graves of his daughter and wife.
'Here lie the remains of Uchiha Sarada & Narahashi Kiko'
There wasn't much else Sasuke was able to put on the grave stone. His life with Kiko had been incredibly short lived, and he had barely gotten to know her before she had gotten pregnant. As for Sarada, he had patronized Kiko in what he had written on both the birth certificate and the tombstone. Her name was in the kanji that Kiko had suggested, but in honor of what his wife had wanted, he had decided to give Sarada his surname.
All of that had been about a week ago, and the wounds were still fresh. He had sold the home he and Kiko had lived in, and was wandering the Land of Fire aimlessly. He had no legacy to pass on to the next generation, now that his only offspring was dead. And really, was that such a bad thing? The Uchiha clan would die out, and all of the hatred and suspicion along with it. What was so wrong with that?
Even though being alone was driving him towards suicide, especially after the death of his lover and child, he was still too self-centered to go back to the village on his own, now that his attempt at a life outside the village had ended in failure. He needed them to want him back. He desperately wanted them to fight for him to come back like they did that time so long ago, when he didn't want to go back.
A few days after his final visit to the grave of his lover and daughter, he stepped through Konoha's gate. It was the middle of the night. Peace had left the village gate mostly unguarded, one guard sat in the booth. The guard stood when he heard the shadow approach.
"Who goes there? Please present your ID." The voice ordered with a yawn. Sasuke stepped into the light. His raven colored black hair had grown out, and he was dressed all in a long black cloak. A sword in its hilt sat on his hip, a small Uchiha creast was on the hilt. Sasuke recognized the guard as he handed him the paperwork, and the guard recognized him as well before even looking at the photo ID. "Sasuke? Uchiha Sasuke?" The guard, who Sasuke now recognized as Nara Shikamaru, asked.
"Yes. I've returned." Sasuke replied and Shikamaru groaned lazily as he got up from his chair.
"Well Sasuke, I think you know what I need to do." Shikamaru told him as he produced some handcuffs from within the dark booth. "Out of respect for Naruto though, I'm not gonna report your appearance officially." Shikamaru explained as he handcuffed Sasuke. Once that was done, Shikamaru made a sign for a shadow clone to appear. "C'mon. We're going to the Hokage tower." Shikamaru told him. Sasuke nodded. The two walked through the village in silence. As they were mounting the stairs to the Hokage's office, Shikamaru finally spoke. "How long has it been? Thirteen years?" Shikamaru asked him. Sasuke nodded.
"Yeah..." Sasuke replied. Shikamaru opened the door to the Hokage's office. Sasuke looked around. It looked about the same as it did the few times he had been here before, except there was one section of the room cordoned off, with a flimsy door leading into the area. Shikamaru led Sasuke towards this area.
"When Naruto started to spend a lot of time here, he had this area created." Shikamaru explained. "Of course, we lucked out in that this was one night that I was able to convince him to go home early." Shikamaru said as he opened the door. In the small section of the office, there was a cot, similar to the collapsible ones that some escort teams would bring along when they had an important client, as well as a collapsible wardrobe which held some changes of clothes and a set of pajamas for Naruto. "Sleep here. I'll have a messenger go by Naruto's place in the morning to let him know what happened." Sasuke sighed as he collapsed onto the cot. He felt his eyes closing and he was soon asleep. He woke up with a little kid in his face shortly before daybreak. A kid who looked an awful lot like Naruto.
"Do you want something?" he asked the little boy.
"What are you doing in 'tou-chan's office?" the boy asked. Sasuke sighed.
"The better question is what are you doing in your father's office without him?" Sasuke asked the boy. The boy's face turned pink.
"I-I...I wanted to play a joke. I got up early so I could sneak into his office and play the joke. I'm only in the academy still, but I could sense your chakra in here." The boy explained. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I'm Uzumaki Boruto, and you look an awful lot like that one guy who was on my Dad's genin team. The weird dark one who betrayed the village." Sasuke cringed at this. As the saying went, out of the mouths of babes...
"Boruto! How many times must your mother and I tell you. The Hokage's office is not a play area." A familiar voice rambled from the hall. A few seconds later, there was the sound of rushing footsteps. Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw Naruto in the doorway of the section of the divided office. "Sasuke..." Naruto said. "Shikamaru told me you'd be here, but I didn't think you'd actually stay the night and wait for me to get here." Naruto said to him. Sasuke got up and looked into the eyes of his "best friend."
"It's time to come home. For good this time. Will you help me Naruto?" Sasuke asked. Sasuke was not prepared for the sudden embrace from the other man. He heard his voice, thick with joyful tears.
"Always Sasuke. Always."