“From here on, our paths diverge,” he said quietly, almost gently.
Prompt: Day 2 of SasuSaku Month, Side by Side
Sound track: “Sadness and Sorrow” by Toshiro Masuda–the best composition from the anime, IMO.
A/N: Canon divergence from Chapter 181. No real content warning for this post, but it’s a bit dark.
Sasuke could have fled the village that night in stealth and in haste, without alerting a soul to his movements. He could have gone off the beaten path, simply avoided Konoha’s main thoroughfare. He could have circumvented me as I waited on those old, cobbled stones, worn so smooth from decades of padding feet and cartwheels. He could have left without disturbing a single blade of grass…. Yet he hadn’t. He hadn’t done any of those things.
And he hadn’t told me no.
–
“He will come to me, seeking my power….”
My feet took me toward the place I knew I’d find him, some sort of bizarre, celestial prescience guiding my steps.
I’d felt him slowly slipping further and further away, ever since the Snake first crossed our paths in the Forest of Death. But how was it I was the only one who could see him being eaten alive? How was it those on whom we depended most in the world—our friend and teammate, our sensei—were so blind to his descent, even after the savagery that had hospitalized him…after what had taken place only hours ago?
They hadn’t experienced Orochimaru’s inescapable will like Sasuke and I had, hadn’t heard his screams, hadn’t held him as he writhed, hadn’t seen him rise like a reanimated demon to gleefully wrench a transgressing arm from its socket….
Somehow, I had pulled him from the darkness then, hadn’t I? Perhaps just once more… He’ll listen, he’ll come back to me.
A/N: Hi. 🙂 I know I haven’t posted any writing on here in awhile. But I had bit of time to myself this evening and in honour of SasuSaku month and the lovely prompt today, I couldn’t resist putting a quick, short story together. I may edit and post this on ff.net sometime. Hope you like it. 🙂 Happy to contribute to this event that makes my dash so beautiful. ❤
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the great Masashi Kishimoto Title: Heartbeats Prompt: Side by Side Genre: Romance with a splash of angst Context: Blank period Words: 2040
Sasuke never considered himself a hero. At first he was an avenger, when there was nothing left to avenge, I realized he just had been an idiot.
Today he is a father, fathers are usually seen as heroes by their young ones for the first few years of their innocent existence.
But Sarada barely knows him, she’s 2 now and she cries whenever her mother tries to hand her over to him on the rare occasions they have to be together.
It hurts not to be able to mend a bond with his daughter the way his wife is, but he knows that his task is to be a hero in another way. His heroic act consist of making sure that the world his daughter is supposed to grow up on is safe.
He may not be the conventional daddy-hero-type, but he is the greatest hero to her and their daughter, Sakura reassures him, caressing his cheekbone and hair, whenever they lie in bed, sweaty and tired, but in a home full of love.
Sasuke woke up sore and busted, wincing as he sat up in the boy’s guest room of their current protectee’s home. His eyes immediately searched the area for any possible dangers or signs of anything moved.
There was nothing and no one but him and Naruto sleeping side by side in their individual mats. Well, not really side by side. Since Naruto liked to fail around while he slept Sasuke usually took it upon himself to drag his mat to a corner somewhere whenever they were forced to sleep in the same room together.
The blond-haired boy several meters away from him snorted in his wide-eagled position on top of his mat, smirking at something in his dreams. A snot bubble grew to the size of a rubber ball from one nostril before giving a wet pop. Naruto must have felt the tickle because he laughed a little.
Sasuke rolled his eyes, silently calling him a dimwit, and forced his muscles to move.
While the team took some downtime during their mission to protect a bridge builder and his family, Kakashi had them training to control their chakra. Putting enough chakra under their feet, the team was supposed to walk the tree to the top. If they lose control on the tree before they fell they had to mark the place on its bark that they managed to reach.
Easier said than done.
Like him, Naruto was banged up with scratches and bruises from the climb up his individual tree. He remembered how much the idiot had kept up trying to beat him with the highest mark on its bark. Neither would stop, trying to gain the top point before the other. It was nightfall when Sasuke dragged both of them back to Inari’s home. Unlike them, however, Sakura was the only one who got to the top of her tree that first day.
Sasuke smirked to himself when he thought of the twinge of jealousy he felt when their eyes met and he turned away from her. Annoying… he’d thought when she called his name and waved down at him, then looked saddened when he gave no reaction.
Naruto wouldn’t even tell him what Sakura whispered in his ear then, not that it mattered anyway. He finally made it to the top that night, but it was hard won.
SasuSaku Month 