"I'll accept the courage and jump in soon!"
S T A R T
He laid in his bed with his hand under his head. Sasuke's usual white robe was tossed to the end of his bed, leaving him shirtless. His onyx eyes gazed up at the ceiling, tracing the intricate patterns with his gaze.
He was younger. About seven.
His chest felt heavy, running to the place where his best friend resided, knowing that she would be there to cheer him up.
When he got to her door, he knocked on it rather gently, hiding the emotions he was feeling. Truth was, he would've banged on the door with all his might, yelling Sanae's name if he could.
The door opened to reveal Mika. She saw him and smiled.
"Hi, Sasuke!" She grinned, gesturing for the boy to come inside.
He slowly strode in. "Hello, Mika-san. Is Sanae-chan here?"
The woman nodded. "She's in her room."
The boy nodded. "Thank you," He responded, running down the family hallways and into the room of his closest friend. He turned the knob, bursting the doors open.
Sanae, bewildered, looked up from her puzzle to see a distraught Sasuke running into her room and face-planting into her bed. "You're so lucky you have a real bed Sanae! I have to sleep on a futon!"
His voice was muffled from his face being stuffed into her sheets, which smelled like her. He couldn't pinpoint the scent exactly, but it was fresh and floral. It suited her.
"Futons aren't that bad, Sasuke," Sanae assured, slightly dazed by whatever happened.
"Anyway, what brings you here?" He could hear her grin from the tone of how she spoke.
He was silent for a moment, before muttering, still face-planted into her sheets. "I'll never be like nii-san."
Sanae sighed. "You don't need to be like Itachi-nii, Sasuke. You just need to be like... Sasuke!"
Weirded out and confused by his friend's answer, he looked up at her. "What does that mean?"
Yeah, he was the top in all his classes, but when it came to this girl and her whole self, he just became confused. Half of what she usually says to him just flys way over his head.
The girl giggled softly, causing his senses to fire alive.
"It means you have to be you! That's what momma says to me all the time!" The mocha-haired female grinned. His darted to her completed puzzle, which formed a picture of a butterfly perched on a flower.
"I don't get it..." He mumbled, sliding off her comfortable bed and onto the ground, where he crawled closer to her.
"You're Sasuke, right?" She questioned, messing up the puzzle and slowly putting its pieces back into the box.
"Yeah..." He trailed off uncertainly, if he wasn't Sasuke then who was he?
"But you wanna be Itachi-nii." Sanae stated, catching Sasuke off guard. She held this expression that was matter-of-factly, but also gentle. Her eyes were shining.
"Well, yeah," A crimson dusted his cheeks. "Nii-san's so strong!"
"You can't be Itachi-nii-strong," Sanae told him, now finished with putting the pieces back into the box. She put the lid on the box and stood up, bringing it to her shelf, where she tucked it.
"You have to be Sasuke-strong! Itachi-nii is strong, but if you copy him, then that's not you. You could be stronger than Itachi-nii, you know?" He was beyond confused.
Sasuke-strong? What did that even mean? Stronger than his elder brother? Impossible.
"What..?"
The cerise-eyed girl sighed, turning to face him. "I'm saying you could be even stronger if you didn't try copying Itachi-nii."
That memory was from about a decade ago. He remembered he didn't understand a word she was saying.
Now that he was thinking back on it, it did make sense. But with his circumstances now, he wondered exactly just why that memory resurfaced. Training under Orochimaru was more than enough to make him stronger. Stronger to defeat Itachi.
He had his own way now. The crimson that coloured his onyx hues intimidating people whenever he brought it out.
He prided himself in that.
Sanae, he subconsciously thought. Everything she'd done for him passed by his eyes in a daze. It was then he realized he'd never done anything to repay her.
A shocked expression settled on his features for just a moment before he brushed the guilty feeling aside, swinging himself up and out of his bed.
He ran a hand through his hair, grabbing his white robe, and in one swift movement, his arms were through the sleeves, the shirt was magically tucked in, and he was heading out of his room.
The raven-haired male was met by Kabuto, who was pushing his glasses up his nose.
"Sasuke," He spoke, adorning a smirk on his face. "You appear to have some visitors."
::
There was an explosion. He wasn't bothered by it, solely making haste to the direction of where the explosion took place.
He stood at the top of the newly made crater, the shadow made by the sun concealing his face. His silhouette made it quite easy to tell who it was.
His onyx eyes trailed over the rubble scattered all over the inside of the crater. In the middle, stood a pale man wearing a cropped black shirt, who looked up at him with calculating eyes.
Just a few moments after, a certain pinkette came rushing in, followed by a familiar blonde. His famous smirk took place on his face when he saw his childhood friend appear from out of the shadows. He took in her appearance.
He was surprised, arching an eyebrow at her new look. His eyes traveled down to where her hair now ended. He'd never seen it down before.
Sasuke swiftly went straight for Naruto, trying to rid of the female that now clouded his head. He wasn't surprised when Sanae was the only one who reacted quickest, having followed his every move.
When he began drawing his blade, he was taken aback when Sanae appeared right beside him, her red hues gazing at him with no hint of remorse, sadness, or nostalgia. It kinda hurt.
"Sanae," He smirked. "You've gotten faster."
"I'm aware," Sanae gave him a closed-lip smile, before her eyes darkened. "You're not gonna do anything with that blade of yours, yeah?"
He narrowed his eyes, trying to find a trace of something in those cerise irises he never imagined he'd miss. But alas, there was nothing.
She moved on.
She turned her pain into her fuel to become stronger, Sanae didn't dare to look back at her past, her only focus was doing what others wanted her do. Sakura loved Sasuke. Sanae had no right in taking her love interest.
Sakura wanted Sasuke. She'd have him.
Sanae had other plans for herself.
At least, that was what she thought.
::
The breeze ruffled her hair and cloak. Standing tall at the top of the Hokage Monument, she gazed down at the sleeping village.
The fourth shinobi war was over. Sanae wasn't the biggest help, but she contributed in healing the injured and she played in offence and defended. She did everything she could do.
And after seeing everything around her take place, she found a dream she wanted to pursue.
In the world, there's still a lot of places that are being haunted by war. The people are affected, the place itself. It's not only the Five Great Nations and smaller villages inside of it that exist.
There's still a whole different world that's filled with so much.
I want...
I want to discover the world.
Asa Sanae, our lovely female protagonist departed from Konohagakure that very night.
No one was aware of her departure, besides the current Hokage — Hatake Kakashi... who had secrets of his own... and he wondered if Sanae would find her somewhere along the way.
::
When Sasuke found out about Sanae leaving, he embarked on a journey of his own, as a punishment and after some time... as a way to find her.
Sanae, he thought. Looking back on our life as children, it's safe to say I wasn't the best of friends.
I'll find you... no matter where you are.
E N D
Messy, eh?
And I wanna say thank you for supporting me on this smol journey!!! thank you so much!
<3