• Dark Dawn •

Ep 31 - Care

(Arc 5 - Timelapse - pt 2)
I feel like this story needs a lot more worldbuilding/relationship development. I want to write all of that, but I also feel like it would just make this story stupidly long. What do you guys think about this?
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Sasuke

He sat on the floor of his bedroom, arms and crossed as his legs were folded neatly under him, his face skeptical and deep in thought; it was around midnight, and he was still staring at the orb Naruto had handed him a week ago, as it laid on the ground.

It was just sitting there, emitting a soft glow, as if mocking his obliviousness.

"Find me."

Sasuke dragged a hand across his forehead.

How am I supposed to do that when I don't even know where to start?

//

"My name is Sai, I will be on your team from now on." The boy short, straight black hair and black eyes said, bowing.

Sasuke was too occupied with his thoughts to really process the fact that he had a new member on team 7, replacing the cool, level headed (and sometimes funny, but Sasuke's never gonna say that) blonde and teammate that they had grown very close to but hadn't noticed that they did.

Kakashi offered Sai a closed-eye smile, "We're glad to have you."

Sasuke's mind nowadays were preoccupied trying to decipher and piece together the message that Naruto had left behind that he was sure was for him.

He knew Naruto. If he really wanted people to believe that he was dead, then he would've been a lot more careful.

//

"What is it that you are always thinking about?" Sai suddenly asked on one mission. They were camping out in the forest on a simple guarding mission. Sasuke was sitting on a rock at a ledge, watching the sunrise. The previous night had been a full moon and there had been nothing to illuminate the dark sky before the sun's rays peeked out from the horizon. 

But the sky was clouded, as if it didn't want the sky or the people on the ground to see the light. The light from the sun caused the clouds to appear pink in color, almost as if it was red.

Strangely, the sky felt like an appropriate analogy to describe it as his current situation.

The clouds were blocking the light from the earth. Blocking Naruto from the Leaf village. He couldn't quite grasp what that cloud was. Was it death? Or something else?

Sasuke let out a small laugh as he stared into the distance, his eyes unfocused, not really trained on anything. "It's truly a dark dawn, isn't it?"

Sai stood by, attempting to trace what Sasuke was seeing, eyes landing on the horizon. "But the light is starting to appear, and a dawn is not usually described as 'dark' but 'bright'. Could you elaborate on what you meant by that?"

An amused expression passed over his face as Sai asked his question. Before, he would have been annoyed by a question like that. He never would have found it funny. But now, it was different. A soft, gleeful laughter filled the clearing, Sai still looking genuinely confused. 

Damn. Naruto was rubbing off on him.

He stood up and slipped his hands into his pocket. "It's philosophical. Don't dwell on it too much." 

Sai had his notebook open, writing down notes furiously. He looked up briefly and nodded to Sasuke, as if to ask him to continue. "What exactly is philosophical?"