Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Let’s get down to business then. We’ve been fielding more and more complaints about people on the outskirts of the village seeing some sort of monster moving through the trees at all hours of the day. A few brave—in my opinion stupid— souls have tried to catch it, but not a single one has even gotten close.”

“Is that where I come in?” You asked timidly.

The Hokage nodded. “I need you to patrol the outskirts and see if you can catch a glimpse of what’s been terrorizing the villagers. You’ll be leaving with Sai and Naruto tomorrow afternoon. But (Name),” the Hokage beckoned you closer, lowering her voice slightly, “you have to promise me that you won’t tell Naruto why you’re in the village.” 

“Yes ma’am.” 

“I’ve told Sai the same. There’s a chance this could provide us with a lead on the disappearance of Sasuke Uchiha, and we can’t have Naruto, well...”

“Being Naruto?” 

“Exactly. I trust you and Sai will be more than equipped to handle this, but still exercise caution and use your best discretion. We don’t want anyone else disappearing, got it?”

“Yes ma’am.” 

“Good.” As you turned to leave, the Hokage spoke one last time. “Be careful, (Name). I hope you’re able to find what you’re looking for.” 

*

Lady Tsunade’s final words rang in your head every sleepless hour that led up to your departure. What you were looking for, what you had always been looking for, was Sasuke. You were the last person to see him before his untimely disappearance, and the weight of it had crushed you ever since. No matter how good of a kunoichi you’d become there was a constant grey cloud hanging over your head—the belief held among many of Konoha’s citizens that you  were the reason its brightest star had suddenly disappeared from the sky. 

You guessed it was why Lady Tsunade had given you the mission in the first place. She and Kakashi were the only people you had confided in about the relentless ridicule you’d been subjected to, so she knew better than anybody else how much it meant to you. It was why now, as you stood at the village gates waiting for Sai and Naruto to arrive, you felt as if the dango you’d eaten for lunch was about to rise back up from your turning stomach.

“Hey (Name)! What’s wrong? Aren’t you excited to be going on a mission? You talked to Granny Tsunade yesterday, right? How’d it go?” 

All you could do was blink in response to Naruto’s rapid-fire questions. Your eyes drifted over to Sai, noting that he looked just as lost as you did. 

“Good afternoon, (Name). You seem to be upset, is there something you would like to talk about?” 

“No, but thank you Sai.” You gave him a kind smile. “We should probably get going so we can get settled before ni—“ Sai shot you a dangerous look. “Before it gets too dark out. We’ll need to find a place to stay for the night before we do anything else.” 

“Good idea, (Name). You and I can take up the rear. Naruto, how about you take the lead and start heading toward the outskirts.” 

“Who died and made you leader?” Naruto remarked with a huff, starting with a leisurely pace toward the treeline in the distance. 

“Thank you, Sai,” You said once Naruto was out of earshot, beginning to bound through the trees a safe distance behind him. 

“Lady Tsunade informed me of the importance of this mission to you. I don’t know what kind of bond you two shared, but it seems that he means a great deal to you. Am I correct?” 

You nodded. “He was my best friend. I...” 

You swallowed thickly, the words dying in your throat. He was more than just  your best friend or your teammate or your partner. For all of your shyness and all of his aloofness, it seemed you two were the only ones who understood each other. When you were young you’d been a calm, united force against the arrogance and unpredictability of Naruto; as you’d grown older you each became powerful in your own rights, but had never entirely abandoned each other. 

Until. 

“You’re much quieter than usual. It said in my book that oftentimes subjects like this can be difficult for people to discuss, even if many years have gone by since it happened. I hope that you’ll be able to find Sasuke again, (Name).” 

The rest of the journey was spent in silence, your mind racing with thoughts. You had never entertained the thought of what might happen once you saw Sasuke again. It was always too painful, the wound always too fresh. Even now you felt a pain stab at your chest, but you couldn’t stop your mind from venturing to the thought. Would he remember you? Would he recognize you? You’d cut your hair since then, gained muscle, learned how to master the water change in chakra nature. You were different now, yet at the same time you felt as if you had remained exactly the same.

Even more concerning, would you  recognize him ? How much had he changed from the boy you’d promised to see tomorrow all those years ago? In your more heartbroken moments you allowed yourself to try and imagine what he would look like now, but what if you’d been wrong? What if he was unrecognizable? Would you still feel the same as you did then? 

“Hey! (Name)!” 

Naruto’s voice snapped you away from your doubts, bringing you to a screeching halt at the village’s outskirts. Sparse houses dotted the landscape, broken up by a few shops and restaurants that paled in comparison to the village proper. Lady Tsunade had arranged for the three of you to stay at a merchant’s house while he was off selling his products in another village, and Sai had been entrusted with the key a day prior to your departure.

He led the way to the modest home near the forest, which upon entering was found to be immaculately cleaned and finely furnished. Naruto immediately threw himself into a plush armchair, sitting back in it while Sai scolded him for disrespecting the house. 

“I think I’ll go rest for a bit if you two don’t mind.” You exchanged a look with Sai, making sure that he understood you’d be sleeping before you departed that night to look for the monster. 

“I’ll let you know when we’ve returned from talking to the villagers. Rest well.” 

* 

You awoke to Sai standing in your doorway, his hand raised and a smile on his face. “You’re awake.”

“Yeah, I managed to wake up on my own, but thank you for checking on me. Is Naruto asleep?”

“He just left for the bath house a few moments ago. I think I’ll join him. I wanted to stop by here and make sure you were awake first, and it seems you are, so I’ll be on my way. Please be careful while you’re patrolling, I wouldn’t want to get on Lady Tsunade’s bad side again.” 

You smiled, thanking Sai once again before he left. You pulled on your shoes and gathered your weapons, taking a deep breath before setting out into the night. The wind that met your face upon opening the door was pleasantly cool, marking the beginning of the shift from summer to autumn. It helped to wake you as you disappeared into the forest, bounding between trees while keeping your eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. 

After an hour of searching all you’d come up with was a spider in your shoe and an overwhelming sense of defeat. You slumped back in a tree and sighed, wondering if Lady Tsunade had sent you on little more than a wild goose chase. As you rested your mind drifted to Sasuke, thinking of the low-rank missions you had gone on together as genin. It had always been the two of you taking care of the actual objective while Naruto got distracted, same as it was with you and Sai now. 

But you knew better than anyone all the ways that it hadn’t been the same for a single second since Sasuke had disappeared. In his wake he had left a gaping absence, a black hole that got closer to consuming you with every day that passed by. You hated it. Hated the feeling of waking up and knowing he wasn’t there, that for all you knew he would never be there again. Hated the way the villagers whispered about you, the way that they feared and reviled you. You who had shot their brightest star right from the sky. You who was no better than the Akatsuki members—why didn’t you just join them? It seemed you would fit right in. 

Yet for some reason you dug your heels in and kept stubbornly defending the Leaf, taking any mission that someone was kind enough to give you. No matter how dangerous it was, you had  to prove that you were better than the rumors. You had to prove that you were strong enough to get Sasuke back. It hadn’t been a mistake that you were the one left behind, you just had to bring him back and—

Something moved beyond the tree line. 

You readied a kunai and slowly crept toward the shadowy figure in the distance. It was still for the time being, resting in what seemed to be a crouch. Its shape was unlike anything you’d seen before, the distance and darkness making it hard to pick out any specific details. Just as its image became clearer it stood up, quickly bounding toward a point in the distance. 

You immediately followed after it, breaking out through the trees to follow it on foot. You tried to move as quietly as possible, hoping that you could stay far enough behind it that it wouldn’t sense your presence. You could now see that it had a pair of massive, grotesque wings that looked like a pair of fleshy claws. It was vaguely humanoid, with a mane of thick black hair that bounced against its back as it ran. You allowed yourself to draw closer to it, making sure your footsteps were quiet enough that it couldn’t hear you. A pang of fear pricked at your chest when you realized there was a chance whatever creature this was could sense chakra, but it was too late now to implement any sort of measures to conceal yourself. 

You matched the creature’s every step, following the winding path it took with a grim determination. It was leading you further and further away from the village, which you could only guess was a deliberate move. The longer you travelled the more you could begin to see the landscape change, the empty grassland giving way to what appeared to be an abandoned village. The creature’s pace began to quicken, obviously drawing nearer to its destination. You took the opportunity to slow down and duck behind one of the empty houses, watching as the creature made its way to an expansive house in the distance.

As you drew nearer to the house you began to realize just how impressive it was. It was built much like any other house you’d seen in the Leaf, though far more elaborate and ornate. It was more well-maintained than it should have been, and as you passed through its front gate you were amazed to see that all the structures of it were seemingly intact. 

You walked along the corridor enclosing the central garden, peering into any doors that had been left ajar as you searched for any sign of where the creature had disappeared to. You could sense a distant chakra somewhere in the house, but every time you got closer to it it seemed to disappear completely. You sighed and stopped for a moment, walking through an open door into a wide, empty room with a few dusty pillows and a shredded tatami mat in it. You took a seat in the least cobweb-covered area of the room, giving yourself a moment to rest and collect yourself before you continued the search. 

Just as you lowered yourself to the ground you heard a loud crash from the other side of the house followed by a sharp yell. You ran toward the source of the noise, ducking into one of the rooms to hide as you looked for the source of the noise. You could hear the wood floors creaking, heavy footsteps drawing closer and closer to your location....

“ YOU !” The growling roar of the creature’s voice filled your ears, making your instinctively shrink back and press your back into one of the corners of the room. 

You hurled a kunai at its chest, watching in horror as the creature deflected it and appeared in front of you. It reached a hand out to wrap around your neck, slamming you back into the wall hard enough to make your teeth rattle. You tried desperately to cast a jutsu that could get you out of its grasp, but before long your vision began to ebb and all you could think to do was claw at its hands in an attempt to grant your survival. 

“Why have you come here?” You continued to grasp at its hand. “Answer me!” 

“You...you’re....” 

Your head swam, blotches of blurred black occupying more and more of your vision. You stared into the eyes of the creature, knowing it would be your last sight before you inevitably died by its hands. And when you looked into them, a single thought occupied your mind:

Sasuke .

*

You could remember the first day you’d met Sasuke Uchiha like it was yesterday. Unlike the rest of the girls in Konoha you weren’t immediately enamored with him—in fact, you’d thought he was a bit of a stuck-up jerk. You were convinced the only reason he’d passed the tests was because of his natural talent, and you resented him for already being regarded as the best. You’d spent months training to pass the test, spending hours upon hours studying your family’s water-style jutsus in order to get a spot on a team. 

It wasn’t until after your first mission that you realized you had more in common with Sasuke than you’d previously believed. On your journey back from the Land of Waves the two of you had gotten to know each other, and you felt hopeful that the two of you would become good friends. 

As the months passed you and Sasuke began to forge a bond that would eventually lead to your current heartbreak. The more he opened up to you the more you fell for him, and the more you believed that you would have a real chance at a future with him.

You were so sure, in fact, that you had made a plan to ask him out on a date the day he’d disappeared. You’d worn your favorite dress and gotten a bouquet of the prettiest flowers you could find from Ino’s family’s shop, deciding you would ask him to meet you at Ichiraku so the two of you could talk. 

You had waited there for two hours. 

The shop owner had given you a free bowl of ramen when you had slumped into one of the seats, barely holding back tears as you picked your way through a bowl of tonkotsu. You wordlessly returned the flowers to Ino on your way back to your house, sniffling your way into your room without a word to anyone about what had happened. You didn’t know how long you laid in bed and cried, but to you it felt like an eternity. 

The sun was beginning to set when you finally dragged yourself out of bed to look for him, hoping that maybe Kakashi had passed him by in the village at some point that day. When you asked him he awkwardly asked if you had been crying, abandoning his inquiry as soon as your lip began to quiver. He’d told you he’d help you look and you made him promise to keep it a secret from Naruto, following him into the village with a heaviness to your heart.

Four hours passed before you concluded that he was simply gone . The last thing you’d said to him was that you couldn’t wait to see him again. Now the words felt like knives buried in your chest, stabbing at you as you fell to your knees and sobbed at the village gates. 

Weeks would pass without any sign of Sasuke, and each day that elapsed more rumors began to spread. You became something of a recluse, burying yourself in your training in order to fill the hole that had been left in your life. You’d barely even cared when Kakashi told you and Naruto you’d be getting a new partner—what did it matter, anyway? You liked Sai well enough but you had to agree with Naruto (something you would never admit to out loud), there was no replacing the empty space Sasuke’s disappearance had left behind. 

And now here you were, staring into the same red eyes whose powers you had once resented, now buried within the face of something you had described as a monster. 

You were surprised to awaken in one of the rooms of the house, watching as sunlight illuminated your surroundings. The door connecting the room to the rest of the house was firmly shut and sealed, and the windows all had paper bombs attached to them so they couldn’t open. Save for a few cobwebs in the corners the room was relatively clean, and it was furnished with a dilapidated futon and a few pillows. There was a small box tucked into the back right corner of the room which held two days’ worth of food and water and what you swore were the shedded scales of a snake. 

Whatever—or who ever—that creature was had forced you to stay here, but it seemed as if it wasn’t doing it out of pure cruelty. You would formulate a way to escape nonetheless, hoping you’d be able to make it back to the village before anyone went looked for you. But perhaps even more importantly than that you couldn’t rest until you saw the creature again. Its eyes....you knew  they were Sasuke’s. You didn’t want to think about how it had come to possess them, but you had to keep grasping onto the hope that he was still alive somewhere in there. 

A day passed before you made a plan, and it wasn’t until night fell that you began to implement it. You were to cast your tidal wave jutsu directly at the door, hoping that one point-blank blast would be enough to break the wood and free you. You took your place at the opposite side of the room and began to cast it, stopping when you heard footsteps approaching. You lowered your hands and sunk down against the wall, sitting as if you’d been there for hours on end. 

The door slowly slid open, and before the creature could stop you you cast the jutsu and bolted for the door. You ran as fast as you could down the corridor, taking a sharp left and landing yourself in the western edge of the house. There was a single room tucked into the corner that you took the opportunity to hide in, flinging the door open as the creature closed the distance between you. 

The room seemed to be in a more severe state of disrepair than the rest of the house, and the sight of it gave you a pause that you knew would surely cost you your life. There was a single dust-covered window in the room whose light shone upon a single iridescent white snake, curled up and sleeping in the room’s center. You saw the shadow of the creature blot out the light, throwing a kunai at it to buy you enough time to escape. 

You ran from the house and into the empty area that surrounded it, heart pounding in your chest as you made your way for the village. You could hear the distant bark of wild dogs growing closer, fear in your eyes as you watched them skid to a halt and surround you. You tried to distract them with shadow clones, but their ferocity made quick work of them. Your hands were shaking far too badly to properly cast any justus, and you could feel in your heart that this would be the place where your story finally came to a close. 

You watched in fear as the creature grabbed you and pushed you behind it, taking a harsh slash to the chest from one of the dogs as its hands moved to cast a jutsu. Your heart lurched as you watched the creature cast a fireball, falling to its knees as the grass in front of it caught flame. With the last of its strength the creature grabbed you and gave its fleshy wings a flap, taking off from the ground and starting back toward the house. 

It began to rapidly lose altitude as its wounds gushed blood until it finally fell just beyond the front gates of the house. You carried it the rest of the way, heart pounding in your chest as you took it back to the room you’d been held in. You sat in the room for what felt like hours, casting a healing jutsu on its wounds until you could no longer physically sustain it. 

You collapsed by the creature’s side, tears prickling in the corners of your eyes as you finally allowed yourself to take a good look at it. In the fading light of the day you could see that scars had formed across its muted brown skin, and that it’s clothes had been torn in the fight. You sucked in a breath before directing your gaze to its face, heavy tears slipping down your cheeks as you took in the sight. Buried under the thick black markings across its face and the strange color to its lips you saw him. 

You saw Sasuke. 

The longer he slept the more his features began to return to their normal state, as if whatever jutsu had been cast upon him was reversing itself in midst of the peace of sleep. The man who laid before you looked as you had always imagined him, just as beautiful as you’d remembered him. The sight made you ache, knowing what would return once he awoke. You had no idea what this curse was or why it had been placed on him, but you were determined to do whatever it took to reverse it. 

You sat with Sasuke until he woke up, hating to see the way his features shifted back into the monster’s as he sat up and looked around the room. 

“You. You’re still here.” He touched the scars along his chest, looking back up at you. “Why did you save me?” 

“I...” Your breath caught in your throat. Why was it suddenly so hard to talk to him? “I couldn’t just leave you to die.” 

“So you carried me all the way back here? And for what? So you can feel a sense of accomplishment? Or was it to ensure that I was wounded and wouldn’t attack you again?” 

Tears welled in your eyes. You reflexively leaned back, pulling your gaze away from the venomous look in Sasuke’s eyes. “I-I healed you best I could—”

He scoffed at you in response. “So what is it then? Have you been sent to torture me with the hope that something might change?” 

Your lip began to quiver. “I just want to help you, Sasuke, please .” 

For a moment, he paused. You shifted away from him, worried for what would happen next. “What did you just call me?” 

“S-Sasuke.” 

“How do you know my name?” He barked, looking as if he were ready to attack at a moment’s notice. 

“Y-you don’t remember me?” 

You could barely swallow back the sob that tore its way out of you, your chest aching as a hand clasped over your mouth. How could he not remember you? Had you just been fooling yourself, childishly tricking your mind into believing that you meant  something to him? Had you honestly thought that you could save him? You, the weakest one among all of Team 7. You who had tried so hard to shine as brightly as Naruto or Sasuke, but who could never even be a star in Konoha’s sky. You who had so naively believed that life was like some kind of fairytale, that all it would take was true love’s kiss to reverse years of heartache and torment. 

You who thought you were something more than what you are. 

“Answer me.” 

You tried to stand up, tried to run away and become the coward you always knew yourself to be, but felt Sasuke’s hand wrap around your wrist and grip it tight. He pulled you back down to a sitting position, holding you so tightly that you couldn’t move. 

“I...” Hot, heavy tears now streamed down your cheeks, and your voice came out as a raspy whisper. “Sasuke you have to remember me. Please.” 

His claws dug into your skin. “Who the hell are you?” 

“(Name),” You stammered, heart hammering in your chest. 

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. He studied you, your chakra, your clothes and everything that sat trembling before him. His scrutinizing gaze bore into you, laying you bare, breaking you down to your simplest of pieces. 

You were nothing more than a foolish girl who had wandered here believing that there was no force in the universe greater than love. 

How wrong you had been. 

Because it was hate that made beads of blood bloom against your skin. It was hate that manifested in two red eyes tearing you apart with more sting than the sharpest kunai. It was hate that had morphed the beautiful into the grotesque. It was hate that had wiped the slate clean, that had erased a life you’d thought you built. It was hate, all consuming and never ending. 

“Please let me go. I’ll leave and I won’t come back. I won’t tell anyone that you’re here, just please...” 

“No.” 

“No?” 

“You’re different. But your chakra is the same.” 

No waves of relief washed over you. Only a sick feeling deep in your stomach, heavy and dark and thick as storm clouds. You couldn’t bring yourself to look at him, too afraid that you might see a shadow of his past self looking back at you. Any hope you’d once had that he would look at you with the same softened look he had before evaporated the moment he’d awoken. All you hoped for now was that you would make it out of here alive. 

He loosened his grip on your hand. “How did you know I was here?” 

How much did you want to tell him? “There....there were reports of-of something on the outskirts of the village....” 

“So they sent you here to investigate?” 

You nodded. “I didn’t want to hurt you, I promise. I-I didn’t even know it was you until...” 

You stopped yourself. Until I looked into your eyes . The curse of the Uchiha clan, always so beautiful to you. How many times had the power of those eyes saved you? How many more times did you think they would? Were you ready to let them destroy you too? 

“Why have you come here?” His voice had softened considerably, though it still held an edge of skepticism. His hand still held you in place, though no longer tight enough to make you bleed. And you, you were still terrified of him. You didn’t believe in any of this, not in the way you should have. Not in the way you had when you’d followed him here. 

To save you, Sasuke. To bring you home. 

Sasuke let go. “Why did it take so long?” 

You finally looked up at Sasuke. You saw beneath all that he had become. You saw that he was still the boy you snuck out to see, dancing across the rooftops of Konoha to the sweet melodies carried on the nighttime air. He was still the person you dreamt of every night, conjuring all manners of fantastical scenarios for your reunion. He was a monster now, yes, but this wasn’t the fate he would be resigned to. 

“I didn’t think I would ever find you again.” Your voice had returned, however small, your cheeks still shimmering with tracks of tears. “But I hoped I would. I never stopped looking for a sign that you were still alive.” 

“But why? I would think by now you would’ve given up.” 

“I-I couldn’t. I guess....” you sighed, “I guess I just couldn’t accept the fact that you were gone. The truth is, well...” 

I love you, Sasuke. That’s why I never stopped looking for you. I’ve loved you since we were kids. Not a single day has gone by where I haven’t dreamed of what it would be like to see you again. How stupid is that? I had always hoped this would be something magical but at this point I just wish you’d tell me to get lost. Please stop being so nice to me, it’ll only make what happens next hurt worse. 

“Well?” 

You couldn’t bring yourself to say it. Your hands fidgeted restlessly in your lap, eyes darting to the ground the second he looked at you. After all that had transpired you couldn’t even open your mouth, the words dying in your throat every time you tried to force yourself to get them out. 

A heavy silence settled between you and Sasuke. Did he know? Did he feel the same? Was he just waiting for you to say it, readying himself to reject you? Would the blow come soft, or would it hit harder than any jutsu that had been flung your way? You weren’t ready for the answers—but then again, you doubted that you ever would be. 

So in a moment of what would prove to either be pure stupidity or shocking boldness, you planted a hand on the floor, leaned forward, and pressed your lips into Sasuke’s. 

It felt as if time had frozen around you. Sasuke was motionless between your lips, so still that you cracked your eyes open to see if he was even there. Each second felt like an hour, ticking by at an excruciating pace. Just as you began to pull away in shame you felt his lips slowly press back against yours, a hand sliding up to gently cup your cheek. 

You leaned into him, his touch like pure electricity against your skin. It was utter bliss; everything you had ever dreamed of and more. When you finally opened your eyes and pulled away there was a moment where you felt as if you were in the twilight of sleep, worried that this was all some kind of cruel dream meant to distract you from the fact that you were still trapped somewhere in the house. But when you looked at Sasuke you knew this was as real as anything, a truth even greater than fiction. 

“Sasuke, you’re...” 

“An act of true love.” 

"What?”

“The person who cast this jutsu on me, the one who trapped me in this form, they said that the only thing that could reverse it was an act of true love. They said I would be stuck like this forever because no one would ever be able to defeat the hate in my heart. But you, (Name), you...” 

“I always did, Sasuke. Every single moment, I never once stopped.” 

Sasuke collapsed into your arms, no longer forced to bear the weight of what his past had forced him to become. You didn’t expect things to go back to the way they were, you knew that was foolish, but you did hope that the future the two of you would forge together would be a brighter one than the one you had long ago forced yourself to make peace with. 

In a few days’ time you would return to Konoha with Sasuke in tow. You knew there would be celebration, but you’d make sure he had time to recover first. You would make a bed for him on your couch or in your room or wherever he wanted to be, and you would go to sleep every night knowing that he was safe by your side once again. You couldn’t know exactly what would come in the weeks and months and years that followed, but you hoped that you would get the chance to spend them by Sasuke’s side. 

For now, though, it was enough knowing that he knew. It was enough to have said it without saying it, despite—or more likely because of—all that had happened. You held Sasuke close for as long as he needed, letting go once he sat up to look at you. 

“I always hoped it would be you that found me.” Sasuke’s eyes couldn’t quite meet yours. “I thought...I thought that you were the only one who could possibly break the jutsu.” 

You blinked. In all this time, had he wished for you the way you had him? Did he dream of this future too? Did it comfort him, or scare him? Had he believed you wouldn’t come, and was that why he lashed out the way he did? Was he scared of what would happen when you saw him not for who he was, but for what he’d become? Was he scared that you wouldn’t love him? 

“I’m glad I found you, Sasuke.” 

“I’m glad you did too.” 

You pressed another kiss into his lips, savoring the taste as if it would somehow disappear again. 

“Let’s go home, (Name).”