Disclaimer: I don't own anything even vaguely resembling these characters or their true story. They are the property of Masashi Kishimoto.
Summary: Sasuke's thoughts after he has achieved his goal.
You think, perhaps, that it should have been a blur. Arms throwing, blocking, punching, legs kicking, ducking, running. You have trained yourself since you were 8 years old to kill that man. You sold your loyalty, your friendships, yourself to a monster in human disguise. You were prepared for his illusions to bend your mind, for chakra to numb and break your hand, for more blood to spill than should be possible. You were not prepared to look back.
You think, perhaps, that it should be clear down to the most minute of details. The ragged edge of the cave walls, the water dripping in a dark corner you didn't have time to see. You have focused your mind on this one thought so long that you have forgotten how to think of anything, anyone else. You were prepared for the most important day of your life, for everything to come to fruition, for fate to follow its set course. You were not prepared for yours to stand alone.
The blood is still warm, and you want to believe that you feel the hollow in your chest close where your love for this man once resided. Want to believe that you feel happiness, relief, peace where you have held your hate, open to the world to see. In the end all that resides is a numbness that is warmer than anything you have allowed yourself to acknowledge in 4 years. You wonder when it became a dream to feel and reality to exist.
"Teme."
It is a word you have heard often, in a voice you told yourself you had forgotten. You think perhaps, it is over. It was the epic battle it promised to be, but you are still alive, and you wonder at the irony in that. You are the last, and you are almost surprised at how much you don't want to be.
"That isn't my name."
"It was, once."
You can hear part of you screaming, yelling, crying for more of that voice. You know you will fight him, know that he is strong, and you will lose. For a brief moment you allow the part of you that tries to dream to dream. Of going to Konoha, rebuilding your life and your clan the way you had once hoped you could, of rebuilding your bond with the man that never let go. The moment ends, and you are left with the jagged pieces of a life you broke to meet your ends.
"It's time to go home."
"Yes, I think it is."
He never let go, but you did.
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