#also orochimaru's dead (definitely this time) all the snakes finally came for his ass or something. dies offscreen lol

[semi-imaginary-place]

I'm never reading Boruto and am just going to continue to ignore its existence, Boruto manga's existence really is to the detriment of the series, so I'm going to write a better epilogue to Naruto.

Other people have talked about it before and better than I can so go look it up but Naruto and Sasuke are obsessed with each other, I don't see it as necessarily romantic but those two definitely have something going on. Naruto chooses a double suicide with Sasuke where they can be free of the circumstances and hate of their current lives and reunite in the next life over a life of living without Sasuke and becoming Hokage. And Naruto is the mover in Sasuke's life, he's what breaks the hold hate (borne of love) has on Sasuke. After everything and as shown by the choices they've made for each other, those two would continue to be for each other the person they think about most. But after the events of Shippuden those two need sure need therapy. Some time for self reflection about actually be good for Sasuke since he's spent the last 4 years doing zero self reflection and zero thinking. Seriously Sasuke's an idiot, he doesn't think, he's all emotion and there is zero filter on that emotion he just immediately acts on whatever emotion he's feeling and throughout Shippuden that dominant emotion is this mix of grief, and anger, and hate because he loved so much that the loss of that love hit him twice as hard (not that Itachi helped with his little plan). But in the ensuring years I hope that Sasuke and Naruto can help each other grow and in turn grow their relationship into something healthier given how much they mean to each other.

I do think Sasuke spends a good few years wandering the continent (5?), he finally gets to process all that grief he's been repressing, all the people he has wronged, he gets to expand his world view after the years he spent with revenge tunnel vision. Being in Konoha is also probably painful after the events of Shippuden, when he revisits with Orochimaru to Edo Tensei the Hokages he seems to have complicated emotions about the village, after all it has all he loved and all he hated. Naruto also joins him in backpacking around the continent like a couple of college dudes on a gap year. I can see Naruto just flat out leaving with Sasuke, but at the most Naruto would lose patience after a year or two waiting for him to come back. Naruto would join Sasuke on his travels because he misses Sasuke, and it would be good for Sasuke to have a little push and who better to give that push than Naruto, otherwise who knows how long it would take Sasuke to figure things out and get his shit together. Time away from the village would soothe the pain and especially with Naruto there other parts of his life could grow around that pain.

This is very in character for Naruto to go wandering with Sasuke, he chose Sasuke over the chance to become Hokage once, he'll do it again. Naruto said he would accept all of Sasuke's hatred so that his friend could live free of that burden. Naruto still wants to become Hokage but Kakashi is doing fine and Sasuke needs him, what's a couple years in the long run, and really Naruto needs it too the space and time to process everything he's gone through since he too has tunnel visioned on chasing Sasuke the last 4 years. A major theme of the second half of Shippuden and the Fourth Shinobi War in particular is the importance of relying on others and not taking on burdens by yourself. Itachi learns this from Naruto and after Naruto has his powerup he himself needs to reminded to not try and do everything on his own, that his friends and comrades are there with him, its not just Naruto saving the world on his own its all shinobi together saving the world. And so through this I speculate that Naruto no longer feels like he needs to be Hokage because he can rely on others now. As a kid Naruto clung to the idea of becoming Hokage to cope with the village hating him, it was his way of sticking it to all those that had sneered at him and his way of proving to himself that he belonged. As is repeated in the manga a person isn't acknowledged because they are Hokage, they are Hokage because they are acknowledged. By the end of the main story Naruto is acknowledged by Konoha he no longer has to fight for recognition the way he did at the beginning of the manga where he acted out and played pranks. And so becoming Hokage becomes a way of helping heal Konoha and the shinobi world instead of something he did for himself. Studying by the book to be a jounin or being slacker Kakashi's secretary would also probably drive Naruto up the wall.

Traveling together I hope that they can relearn each other and form a new foundation for their relationship. They may have had a heart to heart with their fists but they haven't really talked and neither are 13 anymore, they've both changed and now can process the old and the new. They can meet each other halfway without all the jealousy, inferiority-superiority complex, hatred, revenge plots or pressure to be better weighing them down. They will probably always be at least a little competitive with each other but it comes from a place of appreciation and awe ("Sasuke is so cool", "Naruto is amazing"), pushing each other to be the best versions of each other instead of the mess the had before. Traveling gives them the space to be the weird awkward freaks all teenagers and young adults are and explore their adolescence and early adulthood without the looming threat of war or responsibility over their comrades' lives. And maybe they fall in love or maybe not, but either way this gives them the privacy to figure out themselves and their relationship.

Naruto eventually pulls Sasuke back to Konoha in their early twenties, and if Sasuke though dealing with his angst and turmoil was hard before now comes the truly hard part, living with the reminders of your actions and making amends, but its worth it especially with Naruto by his side. Maybe Sasuke can motivate Naruto to actually study too since just like Naruto Sasuke never got chunin nor jounin certification. Between no one forgetting for Sasuke tried to wipe the Hidden Leaf Village off the map, his general behavior in Shippuden, his status as a rouge ninja for several years, and all the people he's killed and ninja laws he's broken I don't think Sasuke is climbing any ladders any time soon. Even any formal promotion like jounin would likely be months if not years behind Naruto as few trust him or would want the village to claim and acknowledge him in that way. But the fact remains that Sasuke is one of the strongest ninja out there and Kakashi at least would want to help him prove himself to the village, let him take on missions to slowly build credibility whether that be missions for genin or those too dangerous for others to take on. It probably takes a couple years but things do eventually stabilize and the two even start to have burgeoning careers. They probably rarely have missions together since the two of them together is probably overkill, but they cherish the missions they do get together (also an opportunity to show off), and their shared down time. Now with Sasuke at his side Naruto isn't quite as restless and does prove himself worthy of jounin as well as coming to terms that the job of Hokage is a lot of bureaucracy and paperwork especially in peace times. EA little headcanon I like is that the Uchiha kept raptors as ninja animals and messenger birds in a private forest and so Sasuke changing team names from Hebi to Taka and using hawk summons isn't just him breaking ties with Orochimaru, its him reclaiming a part of his clan heritage that he had discarded in his pursuit of power. He returns to that raptor forest this time with Naruto, ready to revive the Uchiha clan in his own way.

Any marriage they had would likely be very small and private and possibly just the two of them privately exchanging cups given how famous they are, the distrust of most people towards Sasuke, them much like the rest of shinobi society trying redefine old customs to create something better, and it also just being very personal promise and commitment to each other and no one else. What I do wonder is if Naruto changes his family name or they both keep their clan names unchanged. While it would be an interesting character development for Sasuke to give up the Uchiha name I think it is the least likely option. Naruto never really had any ties to the Uzumaki clan but at the same time that and the seal are the few reminders of his mother that he has so I can see him being attached. At the same time Naruto would really like the idea of formally joining the Uchiha clan, having that tangible proof that he's a part of Sasuke's family would mean a lot to him.

Family is central to the characters of both Naruto and Sasuke, it is thus incongruent with their existing characterization, counter to the heart of their themes and character development, and frankly ridiculous that they are both absent fathers in Boruto. Naruto's entire thing is that he grew up along without a family, watching his classmates with their families while never being able to be a part of that. That was what initially drew him to Sasuke, that they both were alone without families and why it bothered him so much that Sasuke got so much positive attention while he only got negative attention when he and Sasuke seemed to Naruto to be in the same situation. That's why Iruka taking him under his wing meant so much to Naruto, that's why Jiraiya's death meant so much to him, these two men changed the course of his life, Naruto knows he would not be where he is without the two of them and not for the jutsu he learned but for the mentoring and familial roles Iruka and Jiraiya were for him. Minato and Kushina showing up and the whole introduction of ying Kurama was classic Kishimoto bullshit but you can see how much meeting his parents meant to Naruto.

Everything, everything, everything Sasuke did was because of love for his family. He loved his family so much, that's why their loss hit him so hard, his love of his brother is why Itachi's betrayal destroyed him. All that love turned to grief and he could not process it so he convinced himself that all that pain was hatred and anger. And he had no one to help him through that, Itachi was encouraging it, Kakashi has the delicacy and emotional intelligence of a rock (he's also like so repressed) and didn't really understand the depths of his love, and part 1 Naruto is part 1 Naruto. Sasuke never had a "goal" so much as he was just acting out on his emotions, but he always thought his goal was the revival of the Uchiha clan and you can see how his interpretation of his changes like he wanted to kill Itachi because he saw him as a traitor of the clan to him trying to destroy Konoha to eliminate all those who had thought badly or hated his clan and thus erase the sullied memory of the Uchiha clan. None of these really make sense and that's because Sasuke isn't thinking like at all. Family is they most important thing to both Sasuke and Naruto, its always been the desire closest to their hearts, its something they would shape their lives around.

Sasuke does eventually figure out how to turn off the Rinnegan. In the series we really only see 2 other sets of rinnegan: Hagoromo who is a special boy and the originator, and Madara's. All other Rinnegan users we see like Nagato and Obito had transplanted Madara's eyes and transplanted Sharingan can not be turned off. Even considering how Sharingan transplanted from one Uchiha to another can be turned off (Eternal Mangekyo), the only times we see Obito with the Rinnegan are in battles. Since the Rinnegan evolves from the Sharingan (one of the worst writing choices in the manga just so Kishimoto could pull another sudden powerup out of his ass), the Rinnegan should have similar properties to the Sharingan like the eyes reverting back to normal when not in use. It would be very in character for Madara to always have them active as it's a show of power and he is a very prideful man. Hagoromo is a mythological demi-god so he gets a pass at needing an explanation, maybe he's just like that. All other instances we see of the Rinnegan are in battle or with transplanted eyes.

It's probably not until like their mid-twenties at least that the boys get their lives together and are in any situation to consider introducing a child into the mix. And then there's the discussion they would need to have of what family means to them, after everything he has gone through what does the Uchiha clan now mean to Sasuke, and how do they navigate this without repeating the mistakes of the past, how to break the cycle of hatred. Up until this point and even after returning to Konoha Sasuke has refused a new left arm. Living with one hand, performing ninjutsu with one handed seals, has been Sasuke's way of punishing himself. The loss of him arm is tied up in his past actions and also how Naruto saved him in their final battle. Of course it is Naruto that convinces him to finally get that arm, after all Naruto forgave him years ago it was Sasuke that needed to forgive himself and instead of focusing on punishing himself turn that energy outward towards making a positive impact. Its also for practicality, managing a baby is difficult enough as is without being down an arm. It's important that Sasuke and Naruto match, they share a pair of gloves with moon and sun marks. Or alternately Naruto never gets the Hashirama-White Zetsu arm because let's be real its kinda weird, and both Naruto and Sasuke live with the reminder of what they have done to each other and the consequences of their actions. The two of them forming hand seals together would also be cute.

Naruto and Sasuke have several options for children, they could adopt and they could find a egg donor. Of all the people they know they'd trust Sakura the most, like Sakura was always there for Naruto throughout Shippuden. We don't get nearly the amount of information on Sakura's views of family like we do with Sasuke and Naruto but she seems like the type to like kids. Let's be real Sakura for quite a while is the only functioning adult of the group, she got her life together immediately, and while the boys were off finding themselves in the woods she was on the ground rebuilding Konoha. Sakura's probably going to like revolutionize medical standards and like form fantasy World Health Organization or fantasy Médecins Sans Frontières or something. Really after all the boy drama maybe she stays single, maybe she and Ino spark something, maybe she meets someone who finally appreciates her. Sakura deserves to be free of her cringe middle school crush and if Kishimoto won't do it I will. And that's how Team 7 ends up co-parenting a baby. I don't know if they did like IVF or like they just handed Sakura a sperm sample but let's be real Naruto and Sasuke probably don't understand the details either they leave it to the medical specialist. It's Sasuke's by the way, you think they're let Naruto reproduce? I imagine for custody its usually 3 days at Sakura's and 4 days a week at Sasuke and Naruto's home, but the exact balance may change depending on if Sasuke is away on a mission for the week or not. Kid might also spend a couple days at daycare a week, does Konoha have daycare?

Given Naruto's repeated and consistent characterization as a compassionate person, and the overarching themes at the end of Naruto of acknowledging the ways in which people have been hurt, but breaking free of the cycle of hatred, healing and growing beyond the sins of the past, and the friendships he's cultivated with the bijuu, Naruto would absolutely not allow the jinchuriki system to continue as is, and where better to start than himself. The whole 10-tails arc was about how humans have denied the tailed beasts their person-hood and treated them as weapons, and with the end of the shinobi system treating humans like weapons, it logically extends that the bijuu too should be given dignity. Even before becoming Hokage this becomes Naruto's personal project as he's traveling with Sasuke. (Kurama probably hates Sasuke and isn't that a fun dynamic). I can see Naruto taking an interest in fuuinjutsu, both because Kurama is sealed inside of him and because its a way of connecting with his parents. There's enough bullshit and asspulls in this series so I don't see why Naruto couldn't modify his seal and give Kurama like a fluffy pillow to sleep on or like make a shadow clone and give Kurama free reign.

I am unsure of the timeline but eventually sometime after becoming Hokage, Naruto and the fuuinjutsu specialists find a way of unsealing bijuu without the host dying and they are finally given their freedom and bodily autonomy. After so long with Naruto and the two really cultivating their ride-or-die broship Kurama worries about Naruto now that he has lost Kurama's chakra and abilities, like they can still use all those abilities but Kurama has to be there, so Kurama is worried and sticks around for a while despite Naruto urging him to take advantage of that new freedom. It is a lot of Naruto to adjust to, he no longer has practically limitless chakra so he actually has to learn chakra control and molding something he never had to learn, he can no longer shrug off any injury either so he has to learn to fight in a way that avoids injury another thing he didn't have to worry about before. Naruto's creative and persistent though so he does adjust eventually and Kurama mostly stops worrying that Naruto is going to get himself killed and he does begin exploring his freedom after so long being able to go where he wants to whenever he wants to. Naruto makes it clear Kurama is always welcome with him and so Kurama does come back to visit often as a small mostly normal looking fox.

I'm leaning towards their first kid being a daughter but it's not decided yet. Between Naruto being a trouble magnet and Sasuke and Naruto being just so normal (sarcastic) I imagine their household is chaotic. Their kid is going to grow up to be so chill, like nothing is going to phase them after seeing Naruto catch his hair on fire or seeing their dads use ninjutsu to solve basic problems. Naruto totally uses Kurama as a babysitter when everyone is busy. Sakura and Kurama definitely are the stabilizing elements of this family. A family can be one function adult, two idiots, a baby, and a really weird talking dog that's a god/demon. This kid is going to grow up, go to the academy and realize her family isn't normal like "oh what? you don't ask your talking dog for help with your ninja homework?". In terms of appearance I imagine black hair and dark green eyes. Naruto and Sasuke definitely cry their eyes when their kid is born and many times afterwards too.

Naruto does become Hokage eventually! Timeline wise this would be like last-twenties. Boruto is wrong Naruto would never neglect his kids. When asked if he would chose to protect Konoha even if it meant killing Sasuke or if he would choose to save Sasuke, Naruto responds that he would have both: protect Konoha and save Sasuke. Naruto's going to Hokage and he's going to be a dad if anyone can do it it's him. Its a shame they made Boruto instead of the more interesting idea of following adult Naruto in a workplace drama (Tiger & Bunny did fine). A lot of people do struggle finding a work-life balance, especially for a job that's high pressure or one they're passionate about. But if Naruto has to pull out 3 shadow clones and set up a play area in his office, work and do childcare at the same time, he would. With the custody schedule they have, Naruto is probably really only forced to do this for the couple days that would have been Sasuke's when Sasuke is out on missions. Sasuke acts as the left hand to Shikamaru's right. After Itachi and talking to the previous Hokages Sasuke's pretty driven to overhaul the shinobi system and this time neither himself nor Naruto have to do it alone, they can share in the burden of hate. Sasuke is given the missions that require a high level of skill and power that Naruto would not be able to trust anyone else with, this also means he does still travel quite a bit, but the two are secure in knowing that Sasuke will come home. While in Konoha Sasuke probably sets up shop in Naruto's office, taking care of their child and offering advice and opinions for whatever comes across Naruto's desk. After becoming a father Sasuke also likely begins scaling back his traveling so that most of his time is spent in Konoha. Hanging around the Hokage office this kid is going to be so desensitized about new people.

After their daughter starts primary school/the ninja academy, Naruto and Sasuke would be relieved they aren't tripping over themselves keeping up with a kid anymore but also kind of sad that they don't spend as much time with her anymore and they start thinking about expanding their family again. I also think it'd be cute if at the academy their daughter see's a lot of her classmates have sibling and decides she wants to be a big sister. The world of Naruto has always been vague about its technology level, in some ways its behind the real world and in some ways it's ahead of the real world, really its as advanced as the aesthetics and plot demand. So things not quite possible yet can happen like genetic recombination with two sperm cells though they're probably still need a donor egg cell for the cellular machinery and mitochondrial DNA. The wonders of ninja medicine mean that by the time they're about 35-40 they try for kids again that share both their DNA, Naruto surprisingly ended up being a competent adult. Because its difficult to control the number of embryos that survive multiple are implanted into the surrogate so even if you try for just 1 or 2 you can get more and that's how Sasuke and Naruto end up with triplets. Sasuke's immediate family all have dark hair and eyes so for some of those genes he probably is carry two dominant alleles while Naruto's light hair and eyes would be homozygous recessive, so if this were Mendelian genetics you'd expect all their kids to have dark hair and eyes. However the Naruto series seems to run on fantasy genetics so I can do whatever I want. One would have dark red hair with some of Kushina's genetics showing through and black eyes, the second would have Sasuke's black hair and medium blue eyes, and the last would be a dark blond or light brown hair with gray eyes. Sakura probably isn't the surrogate this time around because she'd be at the height of her career and extremely busy saving lives on a massive scale and one kid was all she wanted. I like the idea that their firstborn awakens their sharingan as they're holding one of the triplets. And I am just now realizing the triplets could naturally awaken the Rinnegan since the Uzumaki clan like the Senju are descended from Asura.

Or maybe they do adopt some kids, the origin of the children do not matter so much as the act and choice of parenthood. Narratively adopting kids would be in line with Hashirama's vision of Konoha and the Will of Fire not being physically hereditary or of any one clan but a cultural heritage of the whole village. As much as Naruto and Sasuke value their contributions to the ninja world they would feel that their greatest feat and the thing they are most proud of is raising their four children. Both of them were disconnected from their family's legacies and traditions during their childhoods, Naruto through the secrecy around Konoha's jinchuriki and Sasuke through the Uchiha Massacre. So raising children and being able to pass on their life lessons, jutsus, clan secrets, and legacies is also a way for and Sasuke and Naruto to rebuild what they lacked in their childhoods.