"Come on! Open the door, you sleepy-heads! Before I break in!"

Naruto impatiently pounded on the front door, "Sasuke! Sakura! Open up!"

After a few more knocks, the door finally swung open.

"Ah! Finally!" Naruto crossed his arms, "I'm coming in. Thanks, Sasuke!"

He stepped inside and walked past Sasuke, who was too exhausted to react or throw insults. He just groaned, shut the door, and followed Naruto into the living room.

"Naruto...." Sasuke sighed as he scratched the back of his head, "what do you want?"

"I just came to hang out with you two. You know, some Team 7 bonding time before... Before you leave, you know?" Naruto chuckled sheepishly, "listen, Sasuke, we really do appreciate what you're willing to do for the village, but... We're all gonna miss you. We've missed you even before you came back to get Sakura, but you're here. You're back, and we're all happy to see you. You have people who love you, you know. I understand, I feel you, it's a feeling we're not used to. But we have to take into account that we have people who care about our well-being, now. We used to just be independent, lonely people. That's not the case anymore."

"Hn." Sasuke smirked, "you figured that out with Hinata?"

"Yeah, actually." Naruto smiled, "so you and Sakura..."

"Yeah." He pursed his lips, "she's okay with it. We came to an agreement... Last night."

"Ah." Naruto rose a brow, "you two were already agreeing even before you two got back. I could tell."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You two got all close, didn't you?" Naruto chuckled, "I can tell."

"Idiot..." Sasuke sighed, "and keep your voice down. Sakura's still sleeping."

"Is Sarada not here?"

"She's at Sakura's parents' house. Did you leave Boruto with Hinata or something?"

"Yeah." He nodded, "she's taking him to a daycare. I think she talked to Sakura about taking Sarada there sometime. Speaking of..."

"Yeah..."

"Sarada's not going to be happy."

"We just." Sasuke pursed his lips, "we're just going to have to keep my mission a secret from her. I don't want her to get involved, and her knowing could put her in danger."

"Yeah, but what if she gets curious?" Naruto looked at him, "she's going to want to know who her father is."

"Then..." Sasuke shut his eyes, "Sakura will know what to do. She always does."

Naruto smiled, "yeah, you're right."

"Naruto?" Sakura called as she came down the stairs, "I thought I heard you... Good morning. What are you doing here so early?"

"Uh..." Naruto looked at her, "'so early'? It's almost noon!"

"Ah..." Sakura chuckled weakly, "oh, I see... Hey, uh, we should probably go get Sarada."

"Yeah..." Sasuke looked down at the ground.

"You... Probably want to spend as much time with her as you can." Naruto crossed his arms, "but can you imagine? The next time you see her, you might not even recognize her. Ha!"

"That long?" Sakura laughed, "I... I hope not."

Sasuke looked at her for a few seconds before smiling sadly and setting his hand on her head, "let's go."

__________________

"Can you say 'Papa'?"

"Mmmf... Ahaha!"

Sakura let out a heavy sigh at a failed attempt to get Sarada to speak, "I was hoping she could learn to talk before you leave..."

"It's alright." Sasuke chuckled as he patted Sarada's head, "let her learn at her own pace."

"Yeah, of course." Sakura leaned her head back to look up at the sky. From where they sat at the top of a building near the Hokage's office, they could clearly overlook the rest of the village, "hey, over there. There's the children's hospital."

"Yeah. I see it." Sasuke smiled as he looked over at one of his wife's greatest achievements, "you've really done well for yourself, huh? I didn't really play any part in that."

"Of course you did." Sakura looked at him, "you were the reason I kept going. The thought that you were out there helping the village from afar inspired me to do more. So I did, and I guess it really did pay off."

Sasuke leaned down to look at Sarada's face as she sat curiously on his lap, "you see that? Your mama's pretty amazing."

"Sasuke..." Sakura gushed as she laughed then looked up at the sky, "I couldn't help but notice... The clouds."

"Yeah?" As Sasuke looked up, Sarada imitated him and looked up as well.

"They're so fluffy." Sakura chuckled, "do you think they'd be fluffy if we touched them? I'm just thinking out loud, now, huh? Heh, I guess..."

"You're just nervous." Sasuke studied her face, "I can tell."

Sakura pursed her lips and clenched the cloth of her red dress, the Uchiha symbol printed on her back, "I didn't want you to worry about me, so I thought this would calm me down..."

"You don't have to act for me, Sakura. I understand." Sasuke took her hand and gave it a squeeze, "I'm... I'm going to miss you both. A lot."

"S-Sasuke..." Sakura shut her eyes, "I want to support you and let you go, but do you really have to go?"

"Yeah." Sasuke moved so he sat right next to her, their legs pressed against each other, "Sakura, I want you to listen to me for a second."

She looked up at him, tears brimmed her eyelids.

"As long as we have Sarada." He looked down at her and set Sakura's hand on Sarada's, holding both their hands in his, "we'll always be together. As long as you two stay together, our family will never be broken."

Sakura chuckled as a few tears fell onto Sarada's head, "that sounds corny... But I believe you." She looked up at the sky as its colors started to change, marking the near of the end of the day, "I'll look up at the sky and think... 'Hey, Sasuke's out there, too. We're just living under the same sky. The stars, the clouds, the sun, the moon, they're all the same. We're in the same world together.'"

Sasuke smiled, "that's one way to think about it. Seems a bit more abstract, though."

"Whatever floats your boat." Sakura laughed as she rested her head on his shoulder and held Sarada's hand.

"Bah?" Sarada looked up at her papa with innocent eyes in happiness and confusion.

"I guess..." Sakura glanced out over the village.

"Yeah...." Sasuke rested his head on hers and shut his eyes.

"We'll walk with you." Sakura picked up Sarada from Sasuke's lap as he picked up his own bag and they made their way off the building and towards the entrance of the village, where Kakashi and Naruto were standing.

"Hey." Naruto called as they approached them, "so... You ready?"

Sasuke didn't answer his question. He only stood looking at the path leaving the village and shut his eyes, "I've... Encountered this path so many times in my life. But... I've never felt this way before."

Sakura pursed her lips and walked up to Naruto, "you don't know how long he'll be gone for?"

"No." Naruto looked at Kakashi, "however long it takes to tie together some loose ends."

Sakura looked at her sensei then nodded, "I'm leaving that up to you, then."

"Sakura..." Kakashi walked up to her and set a hand on her shoulder, "I feel awful about this... I really truly am sorry."

"Don't be." Sakura smiled sadly, "Sarada and I'll be fine."

"Hey." Sasuke lowered his voice as he leaned towards Naruto, "I know I told you all that before, but..."

"No worries." Naruto smiled as he held his hand out, "I know what you said, but I'll take care of Sakura."

Sasuke smiled and gave him a small nod as he took Naruto's hand in farewell.

"Sasuke."

He let out a heavy sigh as he turned to face her one last time, "well... This is it."

"I never thought it'd come to this." Sakura smiled sadly as tears escaped her eyes, "that's... That's a lie. I know who we are. There's not really any room to relax and enjoy ourselves. Huh?"

"We're ninja." Sasuke walked up to her and held her hand, lowering his forehead to rest against hers, "it's what we do."

"Don't ever forget."

"I won't."

"Promise?"

"I swear."

"Don't forget us."

"I would never."

"Good." Sakura pursed her lips when she felt wetness come from his face, too, "Sasuke... Don't cry. You Uchiha are supposed to be strong, right?"

"Heh..." Sasuke chuckled as his hand ran through her hair, "you're an Uchiha too, you know."

"Right." Sakura smiled, "How could I forget?"

"Pah!" Sarada reached up and grabbed the front of Sasuke's cloak. He smiled and took her hand, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"I love you, Sarada. You be good for Mama, alright?" Sasuke smiled sadly using every ounce of his strength to hold back his tears, "I'll see you later."

Sakura smiled sadly as Sasuke looked back at her, "good luck out there. I'll kill you if you die, though."

"I don't doubt it." Sasuke smiled and shut his eyes as tears ran down his cheeks. He leaned down, held Sakura's face, and kissed her softly. Between breaths, they heard each other's faint whispers.

"I love you..."

After about ten seconds, Sasuke finally pulled away, releasing his hand from her touch. Her fingers slipped from his as he slowly stepped away from her and started towards the exit gate.

"Pah!"

Tears ran down Sakura's face as Sarada called out to Sasuke. She looked down at her, shut her eyes, then looked back up at Sasuke's back with a determined smile.

"S-Sakura?" Naruto ran to her side and wrapped his arm around her, "are you okay?"

Sakura smiled as they watched Sasuke walk off, wiping his face from the tears he shed. She knew he felt the same way as her, "yeah. I'm fine."

Kakashi looked at her, "will you be okay?"

Sakura let out a soft chuckle as Sasuke sent her a quick glance from over his shoulder, his Rinnegan making contact with her gaze. They both smiled and gave each other small nods, "I'll be fine."

Without a doubt. Sasuke smiled to himself. She'll make it. They both will.

"I'll miss him so much, it'll be painful."

But we'll remember each other.

"We'll remember this journey we took together, and it'll remind us of our marriage."

The Asekatsu, Akane, Watori, Aoba, Tazuna, Inari, Karin... We'll remember them all. 

"The reminder of all the people that taught us so much, the people that we encountered while we were out traveling, that's enough for us." 

So it'll all be fine. I know it.

"So, Sasuke..."

Sarada... Sakura...

"I love you."

"Thank you for this journey." 

"Until next time."