The raven-haired boy took note of his surroundings after letting the force gently place him down onto what seemed like mid-air, his cape slowly starting to dissipate from its rapid flowing from the strong wind. His pupils darted from side to side, observing nothing but white space all around him. After taking a few moments to absorb the air around him, he shut his eyes triumphantly and grinned.
"I should've known this whole time-travel thing was yours." He calls out into the nothingness with a defiant tone.
"Nice to see you too." As expected, he earns a reply from the anonymous voice inhabiting the white space.
"I'd say the same, but I can't see you." Sasuke states nonchalantly with a hint of sarcasm. He continues. "I've seen this scroll before. You sent it somewhere, right before our battle."
"You should be proud of yourself, Sasuke."
The onyx-eyed boy opened his eyes, raising an eyebrow. "It's not that hard to connect."
"Not that." The voice says, continuing on after a slight pause. "She looks like you."
Oh, Sarada.
".. And she called me a creep."
He couldn't help but display a small smirk at that remark. It did seem like something she would say.
"Who's the woman?"
"Haruno Sakura."
"Ah.. The girl who managed to defeat Sasori." The voice says. "Why am I not surprised?"
The two of them were comfortable with the following silence of acknowledgment, until the raven-haired boy remembered to speak again. "So what, you live in here now?"
"You know better than to show up here, Sasuke. But I assume you came to seek out some answers as well."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, revisiting the events during their dinner that led to this whole time-travel gimmick. "What has she seen?"
"Well," The voice started with no hesitancy. "Your insane ass almost killed her."
Immediately, he felt his heart drop. Even though he knew this was bound to happen if she continued travelling.
"What did she see?" He repeats, instigating for more details as he furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't get a reply this time, so he continued on.
".. Is there any way I can see her?"
"You're worried." The voice confirms. "That's good. Means you finally have people to protect."
The smiling faces of his daughter and the pink-haired girl immediately popped into his head; the family he never had as an adolescent. "Answer me."
"You can't. You should know better how screwed up things could get if you suddenly appeared."
"I almost killed her." Sasuke emphasized, this time directing his statement more to himself. He reminisced his dark past, the countless times he's met with his teammates fallen to the point where there was barely any return. He couldn't bear to think about the harm he was able to do to his daughter.
"It's not like you can go back and change how you were. You were fallen, Sasuke." The voice says, reading his mind. "What matters now is that she's safe, from the past you. She'll be okay."
Sasuke pulled an expression of disbelief. Even so, he knew better than to trust his past self. "How do you know that?"
"Do you think she's going to go rogue or something?" The voice says. "She may look like you, but she's nothing like how you ever were."
The onyx-eyed boy displayed a light sigh and closed his eyes, be it in annoyance but more so in acknowledgment. "She gets it from Sakura."
"Well then. Good to know she inherited more from the better of you two."
Sasuke scowled at the bold statement.
"More importantly.. She's come to find out about the truth, right?"
"She's 15."
"She looks stronger than that." The voice said. "Her dad almost killed her and she's pulled herself together to find out more. She's not giving up."
Sarada did? Sasuke thought, unable to imagine what she could possibly be thinking at this moment. He remembered the time when he himself had found out about everything- his clan, his brother.. "She's not.. ?"
"Of course she's shaken over it. It's not something light."
He had to admit, the Uchiha's were quite the sociopaths. But if there was anything Sarada could do that was different from the rest of his clan, it was this. Almost immediately, his thoughts wandered back towards his wife, and suddenly he felt a surge of rightness that she was the one he married. She never gave up on him either, after all.
"You should go back, Sasuke. I'll take care of her.. and she'll come home to tell you all about it." The voice said one last time in attempt for reassurance.
"In fact, I'll be meeting her soon."