Chapter Text
Sasuke woke up early.
He opened his eyes slowly and, for a few seconds, remained staring at the ceiling, completely still; the only visible movement was his breathing—slow, controlled, as if he feared breaking the silence with anything else.
He tried to remember what day it was. The silence of the room felt heavy, almost oppressive, with only his breathing filling the space. He stretched slowly, feeling the stiffness in his muscles, and reached for his phone on the nightstand beside the bed, as if that gesture were part of a routine that no longer fully belonged to him.
6:00 a.m.
He sighed.
He had woken up much earlier than planned, for no apparent reason, as if his body refused to keep resting.
Three years earlier, the first thing he would have done was extend his hand to the other side of the bed, worried and yearning, wanting a caress or a bit of warmth, looking for Karin, his wife. That gesture, almost unconscious, had gradually become automatic—a silent habit. However, never finding a body beside him, always running into emptiness, he eventually stopped doing it.
He turned to that side of the bed.
Obviously, there was no one there.
He extended his hand anyway; his fingers touched only cold sheets, perfectly smoothed out, a clear sign that no one had lain there—not even for a moment.
It wasn’t strange anymore. Not as strange as it should have been. He closed his eyes for an instant and sighed, resigned, letting the thought settle in his chest. He assumed she must be in another room, occupying a larger bed, recovering from a hangover. Karin used to do that—more and more often, with fewer and fewer explanations.
He got up with the vague hope of finding her in the kitchen or some other room. He walked barefoot through the house in silence, going from room to room with soft, almost careful steps. Nothing. No trace of her. Not a cup, not a light left on, not the slightest indication that she had been there that morning.
That, however, struck him as strange.
Karin could come home late, even at dawn, but she didn’t usually disappear until the next day. And today… today wasn’t just any day.
It was his best friend’s wedding.
His wife’s cousin.
The same Naruto who had introduced them years ago, during those summer vacations that felt like they belonged to another life.
“Sasuke! You came after all!”
Naruto practically threw himself at him when he saw him. The blond was genuinely happy, as almost always, but at the same time clearly puzzled; Sasuke had said he wasn’t coming. His brother was going through a complicated situation and they had had a serious fight—very serious. The kind that leaves marks even when no one else can see them.
In the end, he decided to give himself a break… and accept the vacation.
“Hn.”
“Can I know what made you change your mind?” Naruto asked as he cheerfully loaded the suitcases into the van, never stopping smiling.
“I needed time away from my family.”
Naruto nodded. He didn’t ask anything else, but Sasuke noticed how his friend pressed his lips together, as if he wanted to say something and chose to keep it to himself. He appreciated that silence more than he would ever admit. He didn’t feel like explaining anything; he didn’t even fully understand what he was feeling.
“Sasuke…”
Shikamaru’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. The brown-haired man was walking over calmly, arms crossed behind his head, relaxed, smoking a cigarette as if nothing were truly urgent.
“Naruto said you weren’t coming.”
“I know,” Sasuke replied, shrugging slightly.
“Everything okay?”
The question lingered a second too long, suspended between them. Sasuke hesitated. He could have lied easily, as always, but he didn’t even have the energy for that.
“I just needed to get away from my family for a bit,” he repeated.
Shikamaru understood immediately. He didn’t ask anything else, and Sasuke silently thanked him. He didn’t want to burden the start of the trip with discomforts he didn’t know how to explain—not even to himself.
Suddenly, a shout broke the calm.
“Son of a bitch, give that back!”
Sasuke turned his head on instinct. Sai came shooting out of Naruto’s house, laughing shamelessly, a towel in his hand. Behind him, a red-haired woman with a scowl on her face, holding onto her glasses, caught up to him with surprising speed and yanked the towel away in one sharp pull.
“You’re an idiot,” she said, still annoyed, gripping the fabric between her fingers before shaking it as if it were contaminated.
“And you’re very, very beautiful,” he replied, with a blatantly sarcastic smile.
Sasuke watched them for a few seconds. He didn’t know either of them, and yet the scene stirred a strange feeling in him, hard to define—like a memory that refused to fully take shape.
“Ah, Sasuke,” Naruto said, interrupting his thoughts. “Speaking of family, let me introduce you to my cousin, Karin.”
The red-haired woman looked up when she heard her name. When her eyes settled on him, Sasuke immediately felt that kind of attention that had always made him uncomfortable. Karin recognized him at once.
“Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Karin,” she said, with a smile that tried to be charming—too practiced.
Sasuke merely inclined his head.
“Naruto already said your name.”
Karin’s smile tightened for just a second—almost imperceptibly.
“Oh…”
The silence that followed was uncomfortable; brief, yes, but heavy. Sasuke looked away, not quite sure why the situation bothered him more than it normally would.
The others began to arrive little by little. Voices blended together in front of Naruto’s house, overlapping greetings. Kiba appeared running, followed by Shino, Chōji, Gaara, Kankurō, and Lee, who greeted everyone with far too much energy for that hour.
“We’d better get going,” Kankurō said, checking his watch. “Or we’re going to be late.”
Everyone started moving, arranging backpacks and suitcases. Sasuke approached the van without hurry, as if he had no real urgency to get in. He felt that strange discomfort that had been following him for some time now: being surrounded by people and yet feeling completely alone.
Just as Naruto was about to climb in, he felt someone stop him. Karin had grabbed his arm.
“Cousin…” she said quietly, looking at him with a hint of insecurity. “Can I ask you something?”
Naruto turned to face her.
“What is it, Karin?”
She hesitated. Lowered her gaze for a second, as if it were hard to organize her thoughts—like she hated having to ask.
Naruto frowned. He hadn’t expected that request. He glanced at the guys, then looked back at her.
“Karin…”
“I know it’s a guys’ trip, with your friends,” she rushed to say, “but… I want to try to socialize. I don’t have friends here, you know that. I just want to try. If they don’t want me around for some activity, that’s fine—I’ll step aside, find something else to do. I promise.”
Naruto fell silent. From the van, Sasuke watched the scene. He didn’t know why, but something about Karin’s expression felt familiar: that mix of need and wounded pride he had seen far too many times in others.
Naruto thought about his cousin, about her father, about everything that had happened. In the end, he sighed.
“All right, Karin. Come on.”
Her eyes lit up immediately, as if she hadn’t really expected that yes.
They seated her in the front so she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. The van had seven seats, but there were far more of them. The back ended up cramped, full of laughter, complaints, and playful shoving. Shino took the wheel.
Sasuke ended up sitting all the way in the back, next to Naruto. Beside them, Lee and Gaara were arguing about something trivial.
The engine started.
For a few minutes, Sasuke stared out the window, letting the scenery pass before his eyes without truly seeing it, lost in thoughts that refused to fall into order. Then he spoke, breaking the silence.
“I thought your best friend would come.”
Naruto turned his head toward him, resting his elbow on the seatback as he studied him.
“Sakura? She couldn’t come. She’s sick.”
The name hung in the air for a fraction of a second, as if it had been spoken with special weight.
Sakura.
Sasuke blinked once, saying nothing at first, letting that single word settle into his mind in an uncomfortable, persistent way.
“She helps out at her grandmother's hospital de” Naruto continued casually. “She caught some virus. I don’t remember the name… something complicated.”
Sasuke clenched his jaw slightly, the gesture almost imperceptible.
“Is she okay?”
The question came out dry, direct, unadorned. He didn’t even have time to think about it. Yet inside, something stirred sharply—an odd, unjustified unease he couldn’t explain or rationalize. Naruto glanced at him sideways, a teasing smile forming on his face.
“Well, well… Sasuke Uchiha,” he said provocatively. “Worried about a woman you don’t even know?”
“Shut up,” Sasuke snapped immediately, uncomfortable, turning his gaze toward the window.
“Don’t tell me that’s not why you came,” Naruto insisted, clearly enjoying himself. “You wanted to meet her, didn’t you?”
And then he started singing—exaggerated, childish—drawing even more attention from the others.
Several looks turned toward them. Sasuke felt heat rush to his face, a mix of irritation and embarrassment.
“No, damn it!” he growled, losing patience.
He pulled his headphones from his pocket and plugged them into his phone with rough movements, putting them on immediately. Music filled his ears, isolating him from the rest. It wasn’t just embarrassment; it was that irritating feeling of being exposed, analyzed, when he didn’t even understand what was going on inside his own head.
Naruto watched him from the corner of his eye for a few seconds. He considered saying something else, maybe apologizing later, but decided to leave him alone.
From the front seat, Karin had heard everything. Her eyes slowly lifted to the rearview mirror, meeting Sasuke’s serious reflection. She watched him carefully, analyzing every gesture, every tension in his posture.
She thought that maybe they shared something.
The abrupt way of reacting.
The almost desperate need to build walls before anyone could get too close.
Maybe—she told herself—someone broken could understand someone broken.
But Sasuke wasn’t thinking about her.
He was thinking about Sakura.
About the way Naruto spoke of her, how his voice changed when he mentioned her, the almost unconscious smile that formed on his face. He thought about the image he had built without ever truly knowing her—made of stories, laughter, and other people’s memories.
And once again, he wondered what might have happened if that camp had actually taken place.
Sasuke finished getting ready with mechanical movements. The shirt was perfectly pressed, the jacket aligned to the millimeter, every crease in place—as if outward order could compensate for the chaos inside him. He stared at his reflection in the mirror a few seconds longer than necessary.
The dark circles under his eyes were faint, barely visible, but they were there—silent witnesses to long nights and thoughts that refused to leave him alone.
He picked up the gift he had prepared in advance and left the room without looking back.
Before meeting Naruto, he decided to stop by his parents’ house. He didn’t want to go to the wedding alone, though he would never admit it out loud. There were things that simply felt less heavy when Mikoto was nearby, even if Fugaku was in the same room.
He left the mansion and got on his motorcycle. As soon as he started it, the air hit his face hard, and for a few moments he could breathe more freely. In his own house, he always felt short of oxygen, as if the walls held unspoken arguments and broken promises.
The drive was short.
Exactly twenty minutes.
He parked in front of his parents’ house and walked through the wide, perfectly kept garden. He rang the bell. The door opened almost immediately.
“Sasuke…” Mikoto smiled widely when she saw him. “Sweetheart!”
She stepped out to greet him without a second thought. Sasuke barely had time to react before his mother wrapped him in a tight, warm hug—the kind that seemed to want to put everything back together, if only for a few seconds.
“Hello, Mother.”
His voice was neutral, as always, but Mikoto knew how to read between the lines. She knew her son was happy to see her, even if he never showed it the way others might.
“I’ve missed you so much!” she said, pulling back just enough to look him over. “How have you been? Are you eating well? And Karin?”
Sasuke lowered his gaze slightly, taking a deep breath.
“I’ve been fine. I eat well. Karin… didn’t come back last night. She wasn’t at the house when I woke up.”
Mikoto frowned sadly. She didn’t need further explanation; she had known for some time that something wasn’t right.
“Don’t worry, Mother,” he added. “Maybe she already left with Naruto.”
“Yes… maybe,” she replied, though her voice didn’t sound convinced.
She let it go.
As they walked through the house, Mikoto watched him closely. He looked tired. Distant. Unhappy. Nothing like the son she had imagined when she saw him get married.
“My son…” she said at last, stopping. “I know you appreciate Karin for what she’s given you, but I also know she’s taken a lot from you. I don’t see you happy. And that… that shouldn’t be.”
Sasuke didn’t respond. He kept walking, listening to every word.
“If you want to be happy again,” she continued, “distance yourself from her. Look for a second chance. I’m sure there’s someone out there waiting for a man like you.”
Sasuke clenched his jaw. Not because he didn’t want to hear her, but because deep down he knew she was right. And accepting that meant accepting his own mistake.
He sighed when Mikoto walked away to call Fugaku.
His father came down the stairs without greeting him. The tension between them was palpable. Fugaku had always known what kind of person Karin was, and he had never forgiven his son for it.
“Father,” Sasuke said firmly.
Fugaku barely glanced at him.
“Let’s go,” Mikoto intervened, trying to break the atmosphere. “We’ll be late for the ceremony. I don’t want to disappoint Naruto and Hinata.”
They left quickly. Mikoto took her bag and got into the car. Fugaku started the engine.
As they walked, Fugaku spoke.
“Sasuke.”
He stopped, surprised.
“Listen to your mother. She only wants what’s best for you.”
Sasuke stood still for a few seconds. He didn’t understand how his father knew about that conversation. He decided not to ask.
He got into the back seat. The gift rested beside him.
As the car moved forward, Sasuke thought that maybe the time had come to change his life.
Divorce?
Just like that?
He didn’t know.
Then it happened.
A truck suddenly appeared coming the opposite way. Fugaku tried to swerve, but there was no room. Either they crashed… or they went straight into the ravine.
Everything happened in seconds.
Sasuke reacted on instinct. He lunged forward, extending his left arm, trying to pull his mother back, trying to protect her, even though he knew it wouldn’t be enough.
His hand reached Mikoto’s face.
The impact was brutal.
A deafening noise filled the air. The world went black.
And then… silence.