Soul Searching

Chapter 40

"When did you get back in the village?" he mumbled through a mouthful of ramen. As usual he had about three bowls stacked on one another beside him on the table. This meant he had been here for awhile.

I rolled my eyes, "yesterday." Now that I've been noticed Naruto wasn't going to let me escape that easily. Hopefully by time the food was done he will be done talking.

"Did Sakura come back to the village with you? I really wanna see her, you know." He raised the bowl to his lips to drink the remainder of the broth before sighing with satisfaction.

"You can see her later. She's a little- preoccupied right now." If I mentioned Sarada he would most definitely end up at our house tonight which I did not want.

"It's okay. I need to get home to Hinata anyways. Hey! You should come by with Sakura soon! You haven't gotten to meet Boruto yet. It's weird being a dad now" he said as he scratched the back of his head and plastered that same sheepish grin on his face. We might be adults now but he sure didn't act like it.

You have no idea I thought to myself. "I'll mention it to Sakura."

After getting my food from Teuchi, Naruto and I went our separate ways. I was able to sneak away from him easier than I thought thanks to Hinata. Now that he has a wife and kid at home he seemed a little more calm. I never thought I would use calm as a descriptor for Naruto.

I entered the house as quietly as possible. Sakura was waiting for me at the kitchen table, reading a book to pass the time. She put a finger on the page to hold her place and looked up, "That smells delicious."

I sat the food on the table and she began to take it out of the bag and sort it on the table. "I ran into Naruto."

"I'm not surprised he was at Ichiraku but I am surprised you got away from him so easily." We both knew him way too well.

"Agreed. He does want us to come over soon to meet his son."

Sakura nearly choked on her food. "He has a son?" she stammered out between coughs.

"Kakashi told me about it earlier. He's a few days older than Sarada."

"Wow. I didn't think I'd ever be able to imagine him as a father."

But she was grinning, happy for our old teammate and friend. He and Sakura have always been close despite their bickering as children. She was always concerned for his well being and he always protected her. Even from me. I shuddered at that thought and pushed it from my mind, I was a different person then.

"I'm sure he would think the same about me."

"Did you not tell him about Sarada?" Damn. I didn't think she would pick up on that but she was as perspective as ever.

"Not yet. I didn't want him coming over while she was sleeping."

"You're going to have to face him soon. Should've told him there so he could get some of his excitement out."

While she did have a point I just didn't think it was a good idea at the time. We would cross that bridge when we came to it. For tonight I just wanted to enjoy dinner with my wife.