The Last Night

Summary: Sasuke finds a way to alleviate the darkness in his mind for a few moments. Tomorrow is the time for seriousness but here and now he is allowed to let go for one last night.

Also: This fic was written for DateMe's sasuhina contest of December, theme? Fairytale.. Their link is on my page, you should check it out if you're interested in more sasuhina love. Hope you like it :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Breaks my heart....

Night had fallen in Konoha and most people were safe and warm inside their houses while others were patrolling the walls of the hidden village from any would-be intruders. It was a dark night, there was no moon and the stars had been obstructed by the dark clouds that were passing overhead.

It was the perfect night to slip through undetected.

A shadow, only visible briefly thanks to the flames on the rampart, was seen flickering over the wall by a guard but was immediately shrugged away by the tired shinobi and written off as fatigue as he continued on with his patrol. Waiting a few moments, the shadow continued on, thankful in the lax care that some of the guards had towards their duties.

Soon the shadow found himself walking a familiar route.

It was familiar because he had been walking, sneaking and leaping this same path for the last couple of nights; always to the same destination and always with the same due care. So far he had never been seen or caught and it wasn't till tonight that his teammates had finally caught on to what he was doing every night when they went to sleep. As the shadow walked along, keeping to the sides of the road and avoiding every person that had ventured out of their homes, he remembered how they had reacted when they had woken up to see him leaving.

~~~*~~~

"Sasuke?" He groaned when he had heard his name from the lips of his female teammate, aware of where this conversation was leading to and not caring for it at all.

"Sasuke where are you going?"

"Out."

Did he really need to say more? He wasn't accountable to any of them and it wasn't as if they were going to stop him.

Suigetsu was looking up at him from his bed roll on the ground, smiling at the Uchiha's misfortune of being found out by Karin. Sasuke fought the urge to just take off. The sun had set an hour ago and if he didn't hurry off in the next few minutes he'd miss his window of opportunity. Unfortunately he knew that if he did just leave without an explanation that they would follow him - and that would not do at all.

"Is this why we've had to make camp earlier than usual for the last three nights?"

The dark haired ninja didn't offer any information and simply shrugged his shoulders whilst looking over to the side and watching the camp fire flicker against the ground. It was true that Karin was a formidable ninja with exceptional skills that were put to use quite frequently. She was the best tracker he'd ever seen and was capable of a number of things that other kunoichi and indeed, shinobi just couldn't do...but that didn't mean he had to like her.

He suppressed another groan when he saw her mouth open and a blush spread across her cheeks, "I- We care about you Sasuke, what if you get hurt?"

Sasuke decided against listing the number of dangerous missions he'd been on and the amount of 'undefeatable' people he'd been up against and instead gave another shrug. He really didn't need to delve into the reasons why he was an almost invincible force right now, especially to her.

"Oi Karin, leave Sasuke alone," The Uchiha almost smiled at the Kiri nin, he was finally doing something helpful. Fortunately, he managed to suppress the grin that threatened his credibility at the last second, Suigetsu never failed to remind him of the friend he had left behind-, "if he got beat now by some passer-by then he'd definitely lose any respect I hold for him," -especially the way he was so blunt.

Looking up at the sky, Sasuke realised that he had better get going before time ran out and he missed his self appointed time slot.

"Suigetsu, Karin, Juugo," the latter directed at the mound that still slept by the fire, it shifted in response, "I'll see you when I get back."

The woman huffed and the white haired shinobi smiled a teethy smile at her, ready to give an insult as the Konoha nin left the camp.

As he ran towards his old home, he noticed a small bird flying to his right, stopping in his tracks he simply stared at the bird which fluttered above him and watched till it flitted back the way it had come, bearing an unheard message, 'don't follow me.'

Hopefully they'd obey orders for once.

~~~*~~~

Coming back to the here and now, Sasuke was still keeping to the shadows as he walked along the old walkways he used to pass by when he was younger and he reflected quickly on how he had gotten here. With age had come a whole heap of twists and turns in his life. Everything had been so simple when he was twelve but now that he was seventeen, life couldn't seem to stop making life extremely unsimple. Facts had become fiction, legends made real and secrets unfurling from every angle. The dark haired nin didn't know who to trust, what to listen to or how to do anything anymore. His mind was slowly turning black and he wasn't sure he could stop it completely.

The Uchiha shook his head, attempting to rid himself of those thoughts and continued on his way, this was why he needed to do what he was about to. The last three nights had had a calming affect on him and had allowed him to drop his ever present facade of calm and go back to that simple place where bad things remained bad and good always good. All he could do now was hope that his team would stay at camp and wait for him like he'd asked them to.

He knew that they'd be tempted but the four of them were moving out of this region tomorrow and hopefully they'd just write this off. This was the last time that he could come here, probably for a very long time, and all he wanted was one more night where he could escape the coming events for a few minutes.

Seeing the wall that he had jumped over for the last few nights, the Uchiha activated his Sharingan and scaled it noiselessly while keeping watch for any guards who happened near. Dashing to stand under an eave and in the shadows again, Sasuke espied the open window and the welcoming light that he had first seen three nights ago when he had come sneaking into his old village, at first to only see that everything was alright with his old friend. He kept no pretences up now though, he was here only for this open window and the voices that lay inside, more particularly, her voice.

Creeping further along in the shadows he came to rest right outside the open window. Not able to hear anything, Sasuke crept as close to the open window as he could but found that there was no noise from inside. Assuming that he'd come too late, he silently cursed his teammates for letting him miss this important time.

Suddenly a door slid open and two pairs of feet entered into the room, one pair rushed and excited while the other was more stately and calm. He immediately crouched down further under the window sill while placing which pair of feet belonged to which person.

"Onee-chan, are you going to finish the story tonight?"

The higher voice belonged to a little girl of about ten years old and the dark haired nin deactivated his Sharingan knowing that now the two were in this bedroom he'd be free from prying eyes.

"Hai, tonight will be the last night. After this I'll be going away."

Sasuke knew this as she'd been reminding her sister for the past few nights that she'd be going away but he wasn't sure how he felt about that. Apparently it was an arranged marriage that both the little girl and the older one didn't want but family came first, and didn't he know all about family.

"I wish the story didn't have to end."

The shinobi, from outside, couldn't help but agree with the younger sister, the end of this story heralded the true beginning of the responsibility and the pain that was coming for him and he wished that he could stay here, at this point forever.

But time waits for no man.

"I know imouto-san, I feel the same but life must go on."

The dark haired avenger settled himself down on the grass outside the young girl's window, trying to get comfortable for the coming tale. He became at ease when he was sure that no one would find him but he wasn't stupid, while one ear was fixed on the story about to unravel, the other ear was alert and ready to pick up and intrusions with a few escape routes marked and ready to go.

"Ok, scoot over, let me sit down. Now, where did we leave off?" The older sister could be heard sitting on the edge of her sister's bed as the covers were moved to the side.

"Oh I know!" Sasuke couldn't help but let the ghost of a smile spread across his face when he heard her excitement. Quietly he plucked at the grass at his feet and wondered at how one woman's voice could almost make him revert to a childhood he thought he didn't even have.

"The evil stepmother, who was a witch, had just been killed and Yuki was going back to their town to make sure everything was safe before he and Ai came back to get married. Ai turned herself into a red stone so that he could find her easily again. So what happens next? He comes back for her and they live happily ever after?"

Sasuke nodded, that seemed right, everyone knew that fairytales always had a happy ending, he just wished it wasn't so short.

"No."

"What?"

The Uchiha almost echoed the same question. He stopped plucking on the grass and listened very hard to what was going on inside the room. Ai and Yuki had already been through so much, couldn't life deal them an easy card for once? Ai had almost been killed by her stepmother but had managed to get the stepsister killed instead and then Yuki and Ai ran away with the evil stepmother after them, making them have to turn into different objects just to escape her for a time. In the end, Yuki managed to kill her, so...shouldn't this be the end?

"Yuki certainly went back to the village, imouto-san, but he never came back to Ai."

"He died?"

"Just listen, everything will become clear soon enough."

Sasuke heard the little sister rustle around in her bed and could imagine her wide eyes staring at her older sister as her one-chan unravelled this new world for her and for him, her unknown guest.

" 'Yuki,' said Ai to her beloved," started the sister, " 'I will turn myself into a red stone so that you will see me and recognise me when you get back.' 'Hai,' replied her sweetheart, 'I will be back soon, wait for me dear one. Wait for my return.'

With those last few words Yuki left her to go back to the village to organise their wedding.

Minutes turned to hours, hours to days and soon enough the maiden came to the awful realisation that her sweetheart was not coming back for her. You see, unbeknownst to Ai, Yuki had been ensnared by another woman in the village and that woman had made him forget all about the poor little red stone sitting in the big field by itself.

After a few days of waiting, the maiden turned herself from a little red stone into a drooping flower. Her only thought being that she would surely be trampled on in this form.

But it so happened that at that time a shepherd was tending to his flock in that field and happened across the flower. Bending down he smelt it and because it was so beautiful and smelt so fresh he plucked it from the ground and put it near his chest as he walked home with his sheep.

Soon, strange things started to happen around the house during the night. When the shepherd awoke he would find that the dishes were all cleaned and put away, the floor swept, the cobwebs gone and his clothes neatly pressed and folded.

At first the man let these things continue as he had no wife and no money to hire someone to clean his house but after a while he became scared and concerned of these unnatural occurrences so, seeking help, the man approached the wise woman of his village.

'Please, please help me,' begged the shepherd, 'there are strange things happening in my house and I'm not sure what to do about it.'

After he had explained all the events that were taking place the old woman turned around and opened an old chest, taking out a white cloth she turned back to him. 'There's magic afoot,' she told him, 'that much is plain. Stay awake tonight and when you see anything that moves in your room you must quickly cover it with this cloth. Only then will the magic stop.'

Thanking the old wise woman profusely the poor shepherd made his way back home with the white cloth clenched in his hand.

Upon returning home, the man acted as if nothing was amiss and went about doing his normal routine just in case whatever was doing the magic would notice and run away before he could catch it.

Finally nightfall came and the shepherd went up to his room and lay in his bed with his eyes open and the white cloth in his hand, waiting for any kind of movement.

After a few hours of keeping still the man spied some kind of movement in the corner near his clothes and saw the flower he had plucked jump down from his bureau where his shirt laid, to the floor and start to waddle to the door.

After the man had gotten over his initial shock he quickly jumped out of bed and threw the white cloth over the flower. After a few seconds of waiting in fear and excitement the man almost gave up hope when suddenly the cloth twitched. Kneeling down to see the flower, it twitched again frightening the man and making him fall back on his backside.

He stayed on the ground and could only watch in awe as the flower beneath the cloth twitched and then twirled and twisted around and around until it was but a blur, steadily rising higher and higher. The white cloth grew with the flower and soon the flower was gone and instead stood a beautiful young woman, clothed in the white cloth which had turned into a lovely, shimmering white dress, with layers of lace and frills beset with diamonds as pretty as stardust.

The maiden looked around her for a moment, completely unaware of the man sitting before her, who was utterly gobsmacked by this gorgeous vision before him.

When Ai and the shepherd finally realised what had happened Ai admitted to being the one who had cleaned his house. She also told him of the story surrounding how she had gotten there and the shepherd, falling almost immediately in love with her, asked her to marry him since her sweetheart had left her.

Ai said no."

"Why would she say that?" The younger sister broke out of the tale that her older sister was spinning for her and voiced her objection, "Sure, it's not happily ever after but it's a damn sight better than being alone for the rest of her life."

The Uchiha, also breaking out of his reverie had to agree, what good was waiting for the one if the one had left you?

"Because she loved Yuki, no matter what he had done to her and she couldn't just forget that," explained the sister, her voice patient and filled with wisdom almost unbecoming in one that really was quite young, "you'll know one day imouto-san."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," grumbled the young girl.

"Alright, now where was I, ah yes.

Ai said no.

Even though Yuki had never returned to her she could not betray him by marrying another. She agreed though with the shepherd to continue to keep house for him and help him in any way in return for shelter and food.

The shepherd seeing that this was the best he could hope for, readily agreed and bought her some workable clothes at her request, boxing away the beautiful white dress.

And so they lived for a few weeks, happy in their own way, doing their own thing and helping each other in the only ways they really knew how.

It was a sunny and beautiful day when news came to the shepherd's house that a marriage ceremony was to take place that same night. Being part of the village the shepherd and the maiden were both invited and asked to wear their best clothes for the occasion.

Having nothing else to wear the young woman donned the lovely white gown but covered it with a brown cloak so as not to be too conspicuous or outshine the bride, being a young woman raised with proper manners and etiquette.

The night fell much too quickly and Ai and the shepherd arrived at the ceremony, him in his best breeches and hat and her in her shining white dress covered by her brown cloak. Arm in arm they entered and indeed they were the better for that when Ai almost fainted on the spot when she realised who the groom was.

It was none other than Yuki, her beloved.

The young woman begged with the man by her side to leave but he would have none of it, thinking that if she went through this she'd finally accept that her sweetheart was lost to another and that she might be able to marry him.

The shepherd was not evil mind you, he just thought that going through this would be the best thing for the young maiden.

So Ai stayed and wept in her heart for the horrible event she was witnessing.

Now it was a custom back in those days that the young women of the village would all sing to the bride and groom, wishing them well for their journey together before the wedding and so this was to take place at Yuki's wedding.

All the maidens lined up in a semi circle and started singing one by one to the happy couple. Ai was prompted to go a few times but each time she shook her head, unable to even look at her sweetheart with the other woman. Finally Ai was the last to sing and she could not put it off any longer, slowly raising her head she sang out with all her heart and tried to convey all her love for her beloved in her voice, hoping against hope that maybe, somehow he would come to know of her.

Slowly, almost against his will, Yuki's head turned to face her and his eyes, which seemed almost dimmed before, lit up. 'Wait,' he said, his voice ringing out across the room, 'I know that voice.'

Suddenly all his memories that had vanished came back and his heart was full of love for the young maiden again. 'Ai,' he called out. But it was at that moment that the shepherd, realising what was happening, took Ai by the arm and started to drag her out of the church and away from the man that could ruin his ideas of his perfect life.

Yuki, fully aware by now of the singer's identity and realising that the woman he was about to marry had completely ensnared him, ran after the two.

Down the aisle, they ran and out the door, down the street and across the field where the shepherd had first found Ai and finally to a small river. Jealousy and lust now crowded the shepherd's heart and made it black with evil thoughts. The young maiden cried at the change in her friend's demeanour and tried to get out of his grasp by any means necessary but unfortunately the blackness in his heart held the grip in his hand and he would not let her go.

Running forward, Yuki grabbed Ai's outstretched arm and the shepherd, seeing the lovers together, drew a knife in anger from his coat and tried to stab the young man.

The knife cut into Yuki's arm and fell from the shepherd's grip with a harsh clank it fell on the stones and was taken by the river to its depths. Losing his footing, the shepherd flailed his arms about till he grabbed onto the cloak that Ai wore and tore it from her shoulders, revealing the stunning the gown that was underneath. The diamonds, caught by the sun's bright rays blinded the shepherd for a moment, reflexes making him put his hands to his face which put him off balance and made him fall into the river.

As he fell he hit his head on the rocks by the water's edge and drowned, going down where his knife lay.

Yuki, still bleeding but happy now that he had his sweetheart, took Ai back to the church and proclaimed that he would have no other but her and they were married that same day.

So Ai finally found her sweetheart and her happiness. The dress she had worn on her wedding day turned back into a white cloth the very next day except for the diamonds which they kept and were able to live very comfortably on. Yuki wore the scar on his arm till he died, always reminding him of the cost of forgetting the person that meant the most to him. And they lived happily ever after."

The room was silent for a while until the young girl lying in bed spoke up, trying to understand the moral to the story, "So Ai got her happy ending because she stayed true to her sweetheart?"

Her sister laughed softly before answering her, "No little sister, Ai got her happy ending because it is a fairytale. Life doesn't work out like that even if you do everything right."

"Are you talking about Naruto-san, onee-chan?"

The room became silent for a moment until the older girl sighed and the Uchiha could hear a kiss come through the window, "Good night Hanabi, I'll see you in the morning."

"But can't you tell another story, after tonight you won't tell me any more stories because you'll have to marry him."

The young woman inside sighed again and walked to the window, Sasuke knelt further into the shadows trying to remain inconspicuous to the kunoichi that now stood above him, "It is not my choice to marry him Hanabi, you know that, it's for the clan."

After another few moments of silence the littlest Hyuuga spoke up again, starting to sound sleepy, "I wish someone could save you Hinata," the older Hyuuga went back to the centre of the room leaving Sasuke churning in his thoughts, "you're pretty like a princess, I wish someone could take you away."

"Goodnight imouto-san, I'll see you in the morning."

The light turned off and the door slid open and then closed. The dark haired ninja waited in the dark a little bit longer until he finally rose to his feet. Looking down at where he was sitting he rolled his eyes at the amount of grass he had plucked while sitting and listening to the story that the Hyuuga wove for him though she had no idea and would most likely faint if she ever did find out.

He rolled his shoulders and tried to stay where he was for just a little bit longer, this was the last night after all. He wished he could stay in this moment but now was the time for action. Not just for him but also for the seventeen year old kunoichi. They both started new lives tomorrow.

She had given him something that he had been looking for and he couldn't even thank her. The dark haired, lavender tinted eyed kunoichi had saved him from complete darkness by the telling of fairytales. If only she knew.

Searching around with his Sharingan, Uchiha Sasuke leapt away from the Hyuuga compound, trying to get to his team before they put it in their minds to come after him.

Thank you Hyuuga Hinata, he threw out the thought to her, knowing that this was the only way to thank her for now, maybe someday I might be able to save you, he jumped over the wall and jumped from tree to tree, racing to his team, just like how you saved me.

A/N: Ahh, it's done. I must also say that the fairytale is called "Sweetheart Roland" and it was collected (not written but I guess you could say that as well) by the Grimm brothers. I embellished the story a bit, the shepherd was much nicer and the white cloth never turned into a dress and there were no diamonds and Yuki never got stabbed and their names weren't Ai and Yuki, they were 'maiden' and Roland. Why do males always get names in the Grimm stories? I own the complete Grimm fairytales so the only problem was finding a fairytale out of all the choices...The contest was sasuhina-fairytale.

This was also written with another fairytale in mind, that of Peter Pan. Sasuke listening to the stories that Hinata tells her little sister and wishing that he could stay as he was now.

Anyway, I really liked writing this...thought I'd let you know as well, I'm going away for over 2 weeks, coming back on the 7th, with no internet. Woe is me. Buuuut this gives me time to work on Tomorrow. So I shall remain,

Yours,

Jaggarte x