What Could've Been

Chapter 31

Boruto looked away from Sasuke's stare. "Hey, Uncle Sasuke?" Frowning, Sasuke kept a wary gaze on the blonde. "I'm not your uncle." Ignoring the raven's deadpan, Boruto continued. "Have you ever heard of time travel?"

... What? All at once, everything clicked into place. Boruto showing up out of nowhere, with no memories, Boruto calling Naruto his father, the fidgety glances at Naruto when he thought noone was looking. All the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Yet... Sasuke couldn't bring himself to believe it.

"You- are you?" He barely managed to choke out. The younger blonde did nothing but grin sheepishly. "It was pointless trying to hide it from you. I know you probably already had a bunch of suspicions about me."

Yes, but nothing concerning time travel. Sasuke wanted to say. Instead, he looked to the stars, taking a deep breath. "Well. That's that." Boruto nodded, letting out a dry laugh. "Yea, that's that."

But if Boruto came back from the future... "Why are you here?" He turned to the boy who was apparently Naruto's son. "Did something happen? Is the world at war again? Is Naruto dead? Why would you go through the lengths of..."

The couple fell silent. The faint chirping of crickets could be heard ringing through the sound of the night. "Noone was in danger. Everyone was happy, for the most part. I just... I was being selfish." Sasuke let a grim gaze sneak onto his face. "Go on."

"I- I just wanted a perfect family. But dad was always gone, and mom could barely take care of us by herself, and I can see the way she looks at the picture of him on the nightstand. Like some sort of sad longing, as if she's lost him. And in a way, I guess she has."

Stray tears slowly slid down Boruto's cheek. Ignoring them, the boy continued, voice cracking. "Himawari, that's my sister by the way, she cries herself to sleep at night. Dad and I get into screaming fits and I miss him so much but he's never home, and I just got tired of it and so I flipped."

He took a shaky breath, concluding, "And then Kurama, he showed me another way out, where I could change something, where I could make a difference. And I took it. I took the chance and now I'm regretting it because what if I screw up? What if I erase my friends out of existence, what if I erase myself out of existence?"

"Oh kami." Outright sobbing now, Boruto made a futile attempt at wiping at his tears. "I'm so sorry Sasuke. I just, I can't-... Maybe I wasn't the best person for this job."

The boy looked to his left, not sure what he would see. Sasuke's face was unreadable, like always, but this time there was a tint of softness to his gaze.

"What'll happen? When you go back? You can't stay in the past forever, right?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I think I'll probably still exist. As long as either mom or dad decide to have a kid, Kurama says I'll be born. My name might change, and I might look different, but I'll still exist."

The raven nodded. "Ok."

"...Just ok?"

Sasuke gave him a blank stare. "What did you expect me to say?"

"I dunno, that I am crazy? That I'm a spoiled brat? Maybe beat me up some more?" The other boy frowned. "Why would I call you a spoiled brat?" The blonde swung his legs around, eyes glued to the floor. "Future you called me one."

That eased a short, breathy laugh from the Uchiha. "Well if I said it you probably deserved it." Boruto snorted. "I really did, didn't I?"

A comfortable silence settled between them. Sasuke seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, eyes hesitantly flickering between the blonde next to him and the branch they were on.