Because I Love You (SasuNaru AU) ✔

Chapter 26: One Last Time

I ran around the town looking for Sasuke. I spoke to every person I could and searched the area of my grandfather's favorite bar multiple times. I didn't know where he was, but I had to find him before he did something stupid. 

I took a seat at the roof-covered bus stop, exhausted and soaked from running across town in the rain. I had looked everywhere, and no one had seen him. I sighed, angry, and both him and myself for being back in this chase. But, I had to find him no matter what. Something inside of me was causing me to worry. 

Think Naruko...If I were Sasuke, where would I go?  

I thought for a while, and then it hit me. When I came back from Konoha, I was at my lowest point. I spent days locked up in my room, crying as I thought of how broken my life had become. I hurt all of my loved ones, and Naori had to suffer back home while I ran away from Konoha.

All the baggage I held onto was beginning to affect me mentally, and I had no one to talk to about it. I distanced myself from Sakura, I stopped going to Ichiraku's, I never fought with Kiba again, and I avoided Kakashi-senpai due to guilt.

Naori had her own problems with the Uchiha estate, and I couldn't keep imposing my troubles on her. So I bottled everything inside until I broke.

I was alone. I was sad. And, I wanted the pain to go away.

I sighed thinking of the actions of my past. If it wasn't for Gaara who had walked by the bridge that day, who knows where I would be right now...

Suddenly, it hit me. The uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach grew as I thought about Sasuke. I need to find him now!

 ***

Sasuke P.O.V

I shouldn't be here anymore...

I stared at the water that ran at the bottom of the bridge with lifeless eyes. I was tired. I was tired of ruining everything. I was hurting everyone, and the only way to stop my destructive cycle was to disappear forever. 

The loss of emotions from this timeline's Sasuke was beginning to engulf my heart. In just an hour, I would no longer remember Naruko, and that was for the best.

My hands clenched the rail of the bridge as I felt the pouring rain touch my skin. I cried, knowing that I had hurt the one person that meant the most to me and there was no way of fixing this. Time-traveling was a mistake and a burden I was not prepared to hold.  I should have never left...I'm sorry I did this...

I began to lean over the railing of the bridge, hoping to fall peacefully. Everyone would be better off without me...

"Sasuke!"

As I began to fall over the rail, I glanced in the direction of my name. My eyes widened in shock as my tears continued to flow. Naruko...?

She ran desperately in my direction. "Sasuke!" she cried while trying to reach me. Her body leaned over the rail and her hand stretched over, signaling me to reach for her. 

No matter what timeline I was in, my wife always appeared when I needed her the most. She first came into my life and saved me from the Uchiha curse, and now, she's trying to save a worthless life like mine. But, I couldn't let her do that.

I shook my head as I grew closer to the water. 'I'm sorry,' I mouthed in her direction. 

She bit her lip angrily before hopping over the rail to save me. "Stop running away from me, Sasuke!"

My eyes widened at her reckless actions. "No-!" In seconds, my body hit the water aggressively, causing my breath to slip and my body to sink. This is it-