Novel 1

Sasuke opened his eyes and stared at the darken sky that were filled with stars. Then a deep frown wrinkled on his forehead as he looked around his surrounding.

"Where am I..." There was nothing but an empty field around him. He stood up to take a better look. He looked left and right confusingly, unsure as how he even got there. He turned around and spotted a figure of a man in a long red jacket sitting still gazing at the sky above.

Curious, Sasuke led his feet towards the mystery man. He had his guard up, not knowing what to expect. As he approached closer, the man spoke with his back turned.

"It's been a while Sasuke. I've been waiting for you." He simply said.

Sasuke's eyes widened at the familiar voice, "Itachi?"

"Come and sit down little brother."

He lowered himself next to Itachi, unable to remove his eyes off him, a little surprised still, the surprise expression soon turned to confusion...

"Is this a dream?" Sasuke asked.

"I guess you can call it that."

Itachi hadn't looked at Sasuke once since he arrived there. He finally looked at him. A gentle smile played on his lips. "You look good little brother...all grown up."

"Why am I here, Itachi?"

"I wanted to see you and I want to know how you've been doing all these years."

"Well, what do you want to know?"

Itachi thought for a moment, "Tell me about your adult life...such as what do you do now, where do you live, do you have friends?"

A deep sigh escape Sasuke, "I still live in Konoha with my family. I work for Naruto now. He's taking care of the business from the inside of the village, while I travel to make sure that nothing lurks around out there and try to create war again. As for friends, I don't have many friends, just work related ones."

"I see...you were always a loner even when you were younger. I guess that hasn't changed much. Did you say family?"

"I'm married, my wife's name is Sakura..."

"Sakura huh, beautiful name. Is that the girl from your Team?"

"Yeah."

"Are you happy with Sakura?"

Silence surrounded the air around them for a moment, Sasuke's gaze shifted to the ground, making Itachi frowned at him.

"Is everything alright with you and Sakura?"

"Well, I'm happy with my wife...she's the reason that keeps me going. The highlight of my exhausting journey is the thought of coming home to her. She understands me more than I can understand myself sometimes."

"Then why do you sound dissapointed if you're happy with her?"

Another sigh escaped Sasuke, "Because she deserves better...Naruto tells me that she's lonely when I'm not around. Sakura never complained nor guilted me for my duties to the village but I haven't been the best husband to her...sometimes I don't even know what she sees in me."

"She sounds like a very strong woman...and from my perspective, Sakura must have been able to see the bigger picture."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke frowned.

"She has lived through war, and that made her realize the importance of your contribution to the shinobi world. She maybe understands that it's not just about her needs, that everybody else also depends on you for a brighter future."

Sasuke looked amazed, "I didn't think of that..."

"I would have loved to meet her."

"There's someone else who would have loved to meet you as well..." Sasuke couldn't help but smile as he said it.

"Who might that be?" Itachi got curious.

"Sarada, my daughter."

Itachi adjusted the way he sat, he was pleasantly surprised. "I'm an uncle...so tell me about my niece, what's she's like?"

"She looks like an Uchiha, black hair and black eyes. But beside that, she looks just like her mother. Even her personality. Sarada is fearless so that's worrying sometimes. But she's a smart girl and she's proven that she can handle herself."

"So, what does it feel like to become father?"

"Terrifying but also rewarding. I missed out on a lot of Sarada's growth, but I am trying to make it up to her and be more there for her now."

"Do you plan on having more children?"

"Sakura and I talked about giving Sarada siblings when Sarada was about two years old...so they wouldn't be too far age wise. But many things happened and it became impossible for us to have more children with our tight work schedule."

Sasuke realized something, that they had only talked about him. "What about you Itachi...are you happy wherever you are?"

To that Itachi suddenly stood up. "I've done what I came to do...it's time for me to go."

"What do you mean?"

"I came to make sure that you were alright, and it seems like, you will be just fine..."

Sasuke stood up in a hurry, "Couldn't you stay a little longer? I've missed you, Itachi...and I have questions I need answers from you...."

To that Itachi only smiled warmly as he looked at his brother, he took a few steps closer as he placed his two fingers onto Sasuke's forehead. "Maybe next time, little brother..."

Itachi soon turned away and began walking. Sasuke stood frozen as he stared at his brother slowly fading from his sight. He wanted to chase after him, begging him to stay...but he knew it wasn't possible. Now he stood there all alone with no one around.

"Sasuke?"

He quickly turned around to see who it was but he saw no one...

"Sasuke?"

Someone called again, he kept looking around in confusion. He suddenly opened his eyes and saw Sakura towered over him. Sasuke rubbed his eyes like a tired toddler.

"Sasuke kun, I just got home and you were making strange noises in your sleep, so I got a little concerned..." Sakura told as she placed a hand to her husband's forehead to feel his temperature.

"It was so real..." Sasuke mumbled.

"What was? Your dream?"

He looked at Sakura and his mind slowly drifted back to reality, it seemed like he had fallen asleep on the couch. "I must have been tired..."

"Are you hungry? I'll go fix you something to eat." Sakura smiled. But suddenly a cold breeze flew by when they both shivered.

Sakura frowned, "That's strange...all windows are closed, where did the wind come from all sudden..."

But she didn't make any more big deal of it and proceeded towards the kitchen to prepare food for her husband.

Sasuke looked towards the window for a moment when something caught his eyes...a crow that was standing on the window sill staring back at him. Soon after, it flew away. He then walked towards the window and stared at the sky above.

"I hope you're happy wherever you are, big brother..."

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