Welcome to my first prompt of Sasusaku Twitter Festival! I'm so excited to write more about this pair!

Prompt: Time travel; Under the same sky

Note: I change the actual storyline a little and I have my own reasoning on why I did it. I'll explain at the end of this one-shot.

~~~

His rinnegan swirl. He was determined to not give up. At least not until he finds her. She's been gone for way too long. The Fourth Great Ninja War ended a month ago with the alliance finally defeating Kaguya Otsusuki. In another world, the war was supposed to last for two days, but this isn't that world. Instead, the war lasted for more than a year. The alliance was supposed to be happy that it ended but it doesn't feel like it. They've lost too much. Nonetheless, the end of The Fourth Great Ninja War had gained them a momentary peace. A momentary peace as bodies are retrieved and counted. A momentary peace as each village starts mourning for their loss. A momentary peace as Team 7 mourn for the loss of their pink-haired teammate. Her absence was reported to the rest of Team 7 one day during the war shocking everyone. It was said that she went out to the front line and never return. No sign of her anywhere. Some say she got crushed by the Zetsus but Sasuke knows otherwise. She crushed them. He has seen it before. Others say she ran away, a coward they say but Sasuke knows Senju Tsunade did not just simply take on a coward girl as her apprentice. He knows a coward wouldn't have rushed in attempting to kill him.

He knows but he said nothing. He knows she's not dead like what everyone was saying. He doesn't know how to explain it to anyone else other than it just being a feeling. Her body was never retrieved too. It gives him hope. There's been a lot of theories on where she had gone.

"Sasuke," He recognises that voice. There was desperation underlying in that tone. He spends his whole life being rivals with that idiot. Of course, he'd recognise it.

"Bring her back, please," Naruto begs and Sasuke nods.

Their friendship with one another was still tensed, strained, and awkward without Sakura being the mediator but they make do. Both remember the day where they fought and had almost cost the life of their pink-haired teammate. She had ran in without any concern of herself that day so they wouldn't kill one another. She was willing to sacrifice herself for them. The least they could do for her now was to postpone their fight. They do not want her to return with no teammates after all.

The portal he created swirls and Sasuke enters it with no hesitation.

::

When he opens his eyes again, he scans his surroundings. It was familiar but different. The air and surroundings look much cleaner, fresher, and don't reek of the war that took place. He doesn't waste any more time. He flares his own chakra searching for her chakra signature. There wasn't any. He was disappointed to say the least. Something in him had actually felt Sakura was here but it looks like he was mistaken. His rinnegan swirl once more, ready to open another portal but 3 new figures had appeared beside him.

"State your name and business." One of them spoke up. He was obviously the leader among them. They all wore Konoha's forehead protector but with a weird armour Sasuke did not recognise. Sasuke tenses up. He wonders if this is Konoha's Root. He inwardly shook his head. No, Root had disbanded after the death of Danzo. Kakashi had made sure of that.

"Uchiha Sasuke, I'm looking for someone." He states. Surely they would have recognised him if they were Konoha-nin. But to his dismay, there was no sign of recognition.

"Who are you looking for?" The leader pressed on

Sasuke sees no use in lying. They clearly do not recognise him so they probably wouldn't recognise her either. "Haruno Sakura."

To his surprise, one of the ninjas muttered, "Sakura-sensei?"

It was enough for him. Sakura was here. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and approach the one who called out for Sakura's name.

"Halt, Uchiha Sasuke if you use your Sharingan against us, we will report this to Madara-sama and the appropriate action will be taken." The leader warned, the tanto in his hands ready to retaliate.

It wasn't long for him to realise; He was in Konoha but it was the wrong Konoha. Suddenly everything makes sense. The familiar surroundings, the weird armours and now Madara Uchiha.

Sasuke had travelled to the past.

"Take me to Haruno Sakura." He orders the man,

But the leader only shook his head. "Haruno Sakura is only to be seen by Konoha nin. Although you are an Uchiha, we cannot let you in. Where is your forehead protector?"

Sasuke is an impatient man. He doesn't like to waste more time than he needs. His Sharingan swirls and the three nins drops to the floor. They are unconscious and they will forget his existence once they woke up in a couple of hours. He has waste enough time here. He knows where Sakura is now. He had seen her in the man's memories.

He sneaks into the newly founded village with little to no effort. Their defence wasn't as strong as the current Konoha. Sasuke makes his way around the village, ignoring the face on the newly build Hokage mountain.

He finally stops in front of an ordinary-looking building. A village clinic. Of course, she'd be here.

He enters the clinic, his chakra still masked.

"Mizaki, can you fetch me the next patient?" He froze at the new voice. It was her.

No words could describe the sense of relief that he felt. She's here. Alive and healthy.

"Um, excuse me, sir?" A squeaky voice calls for his attention. Sasuke spares the woman a glance. It was a nurse.

"Have you register?"

He shook his head. "I'm here to see Sakura."

"Ah, you know Sakura-sensei?" Mizaki paused and take a look around the now empty clinic and the clock on the wall, "Well since we have no patients and it's now lunch break, just head right in. She's right in the second room." The woman, Mizaki told him

He gave her an appreciative nod and stood in front of the room. His palms were sweaty but he clenches them and raises them. He knocks on the door.

"Come in," Sakura calls out and Sasuke slides the door open.

He enters the room and he sees her. He sees Sakura with her doctor robes and her pink hair tied up messily into a high bun. He sees the stress lines on her forehead. She doesn't notice him yet.

"Welcome, I'm Haruno Sakura, how can I-" Her words got caught up in her throat because when she looked up, her green eyes lock with his onyx ones. She visibly gasped because it has been so long since she met him.

The last she heard of him was during The Fourth Great Ninja War when she heard he had decided to join the alliance side with vague reasons. And the last time they met was when his hands glow a shining blue with the sounds of chirping bird in the background aiming for her back. Sakura visibly tensed up. She doesn't know what happened to the war, which side had won or which Sasuke stood before her now. As far as she is concern, Uchiha Sasuke is like an unpredictable bomb ready to blow anytime. As far as she is concern, this man who stood before her could also be an impostor.

"Sasuke-kun." She greets curtly, her hands reaching down for the kunai Madara had gifted her that she always keeps in her pouch. She inwardly curses for the slip suffix she added to his name. It was a bad habit of hers.

"Sakura,"

"Who was promoted during our chunin exam?" She questioned him, her green eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Nara Shikamaru." He replies and her theory of him being an impostor is thrown out of the window.

Uchiha Sasuke is actually standing in her clinic, in her office, in front of her a few hundred years in the past.

"What are you doing here?" She questions him. Her hold on the kunai never once loosen. Her chakra swirl dangerously ready to be let out if needed.

She only had one question in mind. Was he here to finish her off?

"Sakura, I- we've been looking for you." He replies, his eyes told her he is a changed man and maybe he is, but her brain supplies her with many memories of him and the blue chirp of Chidori and it's enough of a reminder that she cannot let her guard down with him despite how much she loves him. Fool her once, shame on him; fool her twice, shame on her.

"We?" She asked hesitantly. Were there others who had look for her?

"Naruto and I."

"Naruto is alive? You didn't kill him?" Her blunt question even shocks herself but the damage was done. Genuine hurt flashes through Sasuke's eyes but he hardens them again. They haven't met for so long so it was only natural that she assumes the worst of him. Sasuke knows this, but it still hurt to be assumed the worst.

"He is too stubborn to die. Especially without you being there." He told her honestly and for a moment she smiles. Sasuke's breath caught within his throat. He hadn't seen her smile for so long. The way the sun hits the window and engulf the pair only makes Sakura even more beautiful. It was baffling for Sasuke.

"Sakura," He calls out for her, and like a trance, her smile was gone and replaced with a more neutral expression.

"Everyone thought you were dead. There was no sign of you anywhere. How did you end up here?"

"I'm not so sure Sasuke-kun. I was in the field fighting the zetsus when there was a sudden flash of light and I got knocked out. When I regain my consciousness, Hashirama-sama and Madara found me. They took me back to Konoha and here I am now." Sakura recalled unaware that Sasuke had tensed up immediately after hearing Madara's name.

"Uchiha Madara. You are close to him?" He tries to hide the edge on his voice but he fails.

"He's a nice guy, Sasuke." Sakura shrugs her shoulder in defence of that man and Sasuke scoffed.

He wasn't sure if he was hearing this right. That mad man literally wanted to gain peace by starting a war that lasted more than a year. Hundred thousands of lives were lost in that war. Sasuke doesn't know how that could be ever considered peaceful or nice.

"Sakura, he was the one who started the war."

But Sakura only shakes her head in disagreement, "Not in this world. His brother is still alive."

"His brother? Uchiha Izuna is alive?" Sasuke was baffled once more. Uchiha Izuna was supposed to die at the hands of Senju Tobirama and that was the catalyst to Uchiha Madara's curse of hatred. Well, at least according to the history they were taught. Was it all lies or did Sakura's presence change everything? His eyes flash towards her once more.

"Sasuke-kun, this is not our past. Have you not realize that yet?"

Sasuke paused in his tracks. Not their past..?

"Sasuke-kun, the moment I arrive, the timeline splits into two. We're in another world. In this world, the war between the Senju and Uchiha ended after the death of Madara and Hashirama-sama's father. Madara and Hashirama-sama both agreed for a peace treaty and surprisingly Tobirama-sama and Izuna-sama agreed." She explains and calls him to approach the window behind her desk. Sasuke raises one eyebrow curiously but nonetheless approaches the window and Sasuke's eyes widen in shock.

Low and behold, Uchiha Madara's face was sculptured into the Hokage mountain as the First Hokage.

"In this world, Uchiha Madara is the First Hokage."

::

"So what is going to happen now? Are you leaving?" Sakura questions him as she fidgets. She has kept her kunai back in her pouch after determining he has no intention to hurt her.

"I can take us home, Sakura." He turns to her and squares his shoulders. It was time for them to return.

Sakura blink, "Home?" It's a foreign notion to her because after so long, the Konoha she's in now already felt like home.

Sasuke nods. He could sense a little hesitation from Sakura. "Konoha. Our Konoha. Don't you want to return?"

Sakura bit her lip, hesitating, and Sasuke notice this. He frowns.

"You do plan to return right? To our world? To us?" Dark traitorous thoughts wander in his mind and he starts to doubts if she had even put some effort to try to return home. Had she not missed them? Had she not missed him?

"Sasuke-kun, I miss them, I truly do." She starts but Sasuke could see where this was going.

"You want to stay." He states it out and it tastes like a bitter truth and Sasuke has a hard time swallowing it.

"I've made a name for myself Sasuke-kun. Plus, I can protect both you and Naruto this way. I can make sure the same thing doesn't happen again." She flashes him a soft smile and it makes his heart soar but also angers him. It was confusing. How could someone be so selfless? While the thought of her preventing Naruto and his anguish was very heartwarming but for him; The now current him that stands before her, to lose her forever in his own world is not an option. He had travelled all this way for her. He can't possibly lose her again.

Sasuke doesn't like begging so he doesn't. Instead, he uses logical retorts. "You said it yourself. This world is different. You don't need to do this."

"My presence will ensure it will stay different. Sasuke-kun, I want to make sure history doesn't repeat itself." She told him and he doesn't like how what she said is actually logical and makes perfect sense. She was being selfless again just like Itachi. And just like Itachi, he will lose her. And just like Itachi, when proper reasoning had gone out the window, anger swarms in.

"Can you stop being selfless for once?!" He lashes out in anger. His Sharingan swirls red automatically. He expects her to flinch but she doesn't.

Instead, Sakura calmly shook her head and her smile grows a tad wider, "Sasuke-kun, all my life I've been selfish. I've always burden the people around me. But now..." She paused and Sasuke finds both of his hands interlinked with hers, "Someone or something put me here for a reason, Sasuke-kun. Now, I have a role to play. I want to take care of your future, Sasuke-kun."

At this, Sasuke's frown only deepens. The future is unpredictable. There would be many dangers lying ahead waiting for her. She's not safe, especially in this time where there are not as much development or respect for female shinobis. Sasuke knows that, and it only makes his heart heavier.

The troubled look in his eyes must have been so obvious because Sakura squeezes his hands in reassurance. He tries not to think of the warmth he feels in the pit of his stomach. "Sasuke-kun, I'll be okay."

"You don't know that." He points out her flawed logic but she only beams.

"I'll have you know that I have the great Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara by my side. Sasuke-kun, I'll be fine. They are like older versions of you and Naruto except Hashirama gets sulkier or depressed when Madara doesn't pay him any attention, wait, that actually sounds like Naruto but anyway Madara has nicer hair and—"

"Sakura," He cuts her off mid-sentence. It has nothing to do with the fact she finds Madara's hair much nicer and doesn't want to find out what else did she find about Madara that is nicer than him. "Naruto will miss you." He continues, and he also wants to add I'll miss you but doesn't.

And suddenly, Uchiha Sasuke wasn't an unpredictable bomb to Sakura anymore. She can understand his concern. Her eyes only soften, glad to see the man before her as a changed new man yet all the same at the same time. She misses him. She truly do.

"I'm sure Naruto will understand. But will you?" Sakura glance at him and she really looks at him for the first time in many years.

"I can't lose you too." He confesses and his onyx eyes met her green ones. At that moment something changes. There was a different look in her eyes.

"Then, don't." She replies. Her green eyes are now filled with determination and confidence as she utters her next words, "Stay with me, Sasuke-kun."

🍅-END-🌸

So what Sasuke replies depends on what you guys, the readers, think!

Do you guys think he said yes or no? Or perhaps something else happen?

At the start of this one-shot, I said I change something. I later then pointed out that this itself is a different world than the original canon timeline when I mention the War lasted longer than it would in the 'original canon world',  and if you squint it and realise I  was already foreshadowing the multiverse in a different timeline. So, I change the war and make it last for a year instead of two days. Two days for a war to start and end feels too short and I feel like I needed to give time for Sakura to make a name for herself in the 'past' of a different world.  I hope even if it's a multiverse world this still counts as time travelling. I wasn't sure if I could insert the Under the same sky prompt but I hope I fulfil it with the ending (hopefully?). 

Anyway, I enjoy writing this for Sasusaku Twitter Festival. Life has been pretty hectic here and there but reading fanfictions always gets me in a better mood so that's one of my goals. I hope that by reading these one-shots your mood can improve just like mine did. 

Also if anyone wants to make fanarts for this one-shot just tell me, I'll gladly add the fanart in here and credit you! I have a few scenes in mind so I might create my own fanart too!

Thanks for reading!