Chapter Text
Sasuke Uchiha had always believed that Naruto Uzumaki was simply his best friend from university.
The hyperactive idiot who sat next to him during lectures because, according to him, "if you don't help me study, I'll fail and it'll be your fault."
The very same one who would show up at his apartment door unannounced, carrying bags of fast food and a smile that was impossible to ignore.
The same one who insisted on walking him home when it got late, who sent him absurd messages at three in the morning, and who seemed to possess the strange talent of turning the most ordinary days into unforgettable memories.
It was Naruto—just Naruto. His best friend and his companion since childhood.
The single constant that had remained by his side since kindergarten, through elementary school, middle school, high school, and now university as well.
He was the person who knew all of his quirks, the only one capable of making him smile when he didn’t even know he needed to, becoming the only presence Sasuke had never questioned.
Until that accident. It was something absurd; an unexpected rain started that day, and while I was crossing the pedestrian walk, the sound of screeching brakes echoed. Then, everything went dark, and after that, a flood of memories hit me. Thousands of them.
Memories that didn't belong to this life. I could see a village hidden among immense forests, mountains carved with stone faces, and a ninja headband resting on a blond forehead. I remembered the name of a city that had never existed, yet I knew it better than any place in the world.
Konoha...
Then more memories began to flood in, many more that belonged to the blood of the Uchiha clan: Itachi’s back fading away under the moonlight, the sound of the Chidori piercing through the air, and a battle at the Valley of the End.
The weight of vengeance, the darkness, the war, the pain, the guilt—and Naruto, always Naruto.
Naruto chasing after him when he fled, Naruto extending a hand when Sasuke only knew how to push it away, Naruto refusing to give up even when the whole world had, Naruto saving him time and time again, Naruto crying for him... and he could also see him smiling just for him, fighting for him, and waiting for him even after all the pain and suffering—especially after all of that.
Sasuke woke up in the hospital room with tears in his eyes and a single certainty tearing through his chest. He had lived another life, and in that life, he had made far too many mistakes.
He remembered the Fourth Shinobi World War, he remembered the peace, he remembered the years that followed, and above all, he remembered even that which he never dared to utter out loud.
Because among all those memories lay a truth that was impossible to keep ignoring.
He had never loved Sakura—at least, never in the way she deserved to be loved—and instead, Naruto...
Naruto had always occupied a place for which he could never find the proper name.
He had only just realized it was something too vast to be called friendship, too painful to be rivalry, and above all, too important to be explained with words.
For years, he had believed that destiny, reincarnation, and the connection between two souls condemned to find each other over and over again were impossible.
But now, staring at the white hospital ceiling while the memories of two distinct lives blurred in his head, he understood something terrifyingly simple.
It hadn't just been destiny. It had been Naruto, it had always been Naruto, and he realized he had lost him.
Not to death, not to war, and certainly not to time.
He had lost him because he never had enough courage to fight the way Naruto had fought for him his entire life.
In that life, he had arrived too late to understand it, but this time... this time was different.
Because destiny, for some incomprehensible reason, had handed him a second chance.
A new life, a new world, without wars, without clans, without prophecies, and without ancient gods manipulating their choices. Just the two of them, Sasuke and Naruto.
Two normal university students trying to survive exams, group projects, and impossible professors—and Sasuke had no intention of wasting it.
However, there was a small problem: Naruto didn't remember absolutely anything.
To him, Sasuke was still simply his best friend. The quiet guy who helped him with notes, the companion he shared coffee with after class, and the person he called whenever something important happened in his life.
He was also the first person Naruto looked for in a crowd, and the last one he said goodnight to before going to sleep.
Naruto still smiled the same way, still looked at him the same way, still occupied his entire personal space without asking permission, and Sasuke was beginning to discover that trying to act normal while remembering a whole other lifetime was going to be much harder than it seemed.
Especially when Naruto fell asleep on his shoulder during lectures, when he beamed upon seeing him arrive, and when he hugged him for no apparent reason.
Because Naruto had always been affectionate, but now Sasuke remembered too much. He remembered the warmth of his chakra, his promises; he also remembered losing an arm right beside him and being willing to die by his side.
For the first time in any of his lives, Sasuke realized he wanted something selfish: he wanted to keep him. Not as rivals, not as brothers, and definitely not as comrades in battle.
He wanted to be the person Naruto chose at the end of the road. But changing destiny had never been easy, because the more time passed, the more questions began to surface.
Why did only he remember? Why had they been reborn?
Why did some places and people feel strangely familiar even though he had never met them in this life?
Above all, he wondered: what would happen when Naruto began to remember too?
It was then that another problem arose for Sasuke to face: fear.
Destiny was incredibly generous and had given them the chance to meet again, but he realized that even though the world had changed, Konoha had disappeared, chakra had never existed, and the wars now belonged solely to dreams...
There were things that remained exactly the same. Naruto kept running toward him, and Sasuke kept turning around to look at him.
The difference was that this time he didn't plan on running away, he didn't plan on leaving, and he certainly didn't plan on waiting until the end of their lives to understand what had always been right in front of him.
Because this time there were no prophecies, no enemies, no obligations. There was only one question, and Sasuke was determined to answer it.
Because if destiny really had granted them a second chance, and the universe had been capable of returning what he once lost... then maybe, just maybe, he could allow himself to be selfish for the first time.
Maybe he could reach out his hand, maybe he could stay and choose, because this time he intended to fight for Naruto Uzumaki the exact same way Naruto had fought for him for an entire lifetime.
That was why, as he watched his best friend laugh under the lights of the university campus, Sasuke Uchiha made a choice.
It didn't matter how many lifetimes it took, how many times the world changed, and it mattered even less how many universes existed between them.
Because if destiny insisted on tearing them apart, then he would insist on finding him again. Because in this life, he does not plan on losing him again.