When Sasuke was six, he learned the Fireball Jutsu. It took him what felt like forever, and for a while he was scared he might have permanent blisters around his mouth from practicing the cumbersome jutsu over and over again. But when he finally managed to do it- produce a huge ball of fire from his mouth- it may have been the happiest day of his life.
The fire was hot- it always was. That's how fire is. That's the whole point of fire. He didn't particularly mind, because it was never hot enough to burn. To hurt. So he deemed the Fireball Jutsu his favourite jutsu. His favourite move.
He never consciously thought of fire being anything that hurt- which made just about zero sense, but half of the things Sasuke thought made zero sense- because he was never hurt by fire. Fire had never hurt him. He used fire to hurt other people, but other people had never used fire to hurt him.
Maybe that's why he was so stricken with- confusion? Shock?- when Yosuga looked at him with fire in her eyes. The warmth she normally looked at him with was far gone, replaced with this burning that Sasuke had never seen before. Not from her. Never from her. It scorched him, and it left him confused. Shocked.
Fire had never hurt him, but when Yosuga looked at him like that, Sasuke swore it hurt.
When Yosuga kissed him, Sasuke swore it burned.
When Yosuga touched him, Sasuke swore her fingers were scalding. Blistering. Searing.
She had no idea- and she never would- how much she did to him simply by existing. Maybe that was why he found himself unable to get enough of her. Because, even though she was so perfect it hurt, he needed something- anything to keep him warm. To keep him grounded.
And he felt that it went without saying that the hottest object also shined the brightest.
He was sick of the cold. Sick of the darkness.
She was so hot it burned just to look at her. So bright he might go blind.
He needed her. Above all else- above want, above crave, above lust- he needed her.
But she was smiling now.
He had never seen her smile that wide.
And she was laughing now.
He had never heard her laugh that hard.
And he supposed that, as much as he needed her, she didn't need him. In fact, she was better off without him. Better off without having her light dimmed and tainted by a past like his. An attitude like his. A temper like his.
He wanted to leave Konoha. So he did.
He didn't want to leave her, but he knew there was no way she would come with him. She was loyal. Honest.
She was everything he wasn't. And where she only ever brought him happiness,
He only ever brought her pain.
---
lol I literally never write Sasuke and Yosuga living happy, loving, spappy lives like wit Naruto and Sakura. But writing them like this just feels so... right?
Because let's be real. Yosuga would never forgive him for leaving and hurting her lol