He saved her.
He swore he wouldn't spare a single soul but,
He saved her.
Hatred, resentment, determination, emptiness. All these things filled Sasuke's soul as he walked headlong into the gates of Konoha. He was going to kill them all.
He would massacre every soul in that godforsaken village and not take mercy on a single man, child, or pregnant mother. He would kill them all.
But as he walked through the quiet streets of Konoha in the early hours of the morning, a little girl with short black hair and faded onyx eyes tugged on his pant legs, stopping him dead in his tracks. Reaching into his kunai pouch, he turned to face the small girl, prepared to slaughter her where she stood.
"E-Excuse me mister," she stuttered out. "I'm sorry to bother you, b-but I lost my mommy. Could you please help me find her?" Sasuke then started to notice things that were… off about this little girl. She wore no shoes on her feet, and was coated in a layer of dirt. Twigs and leaves were tangled into her matted hair and she shook with frailty. He sighed at the cold, clammy feeling scratching at his chest as he recollected a moment lost in time when he was placed in the same position.
"Do you… do you know your way home?" he breathed, pinching the bridge of his nose. She nodded her head vigorously, grabbed him by the hand causing him to drop the kunai, and immediately started to lead him to her home. Sasuke's eyes darted back and forth warily, looking for any sign of someone who might catch him.
This was, by far, not anything close to what he had planned to happen when he returned to this traitorous place. But much to his acknowledged dismay, things never seemed to go the way he planned them to. His intentions, simple and to the point, were to enter as silent as a mouse, take the souls from every single living being, then leave just as silently as he came. But the fear of being seen before he could carry out even the beginning of his task struck him viciously as he stumbled haphazardly through his old home.
He'd been so preoccupied in his tiresome worries of being detected he hadn't realized they'd already arrived at the little girls home. The girl stopped in front of her front door and looked up with fear overwhelming her large eyes to Sasuke. His eyebrows tensed. This all was too familiar to him. Slowly the child slides open her door and stepped into the dark, uninviting home, dragging Sasuke along with her.
Immediately, Sasuke knew something wasn't right. A cold, yet familiar chill rippled down his spine as he slowly walked hand and hand with the girl through the hollow home. "Are you… are you sure this is your house?" She nods her head quickly and tightens her frigid fingers around his. Everything was old and coated in dust, as if nothing had been touched for ages. The air was stale and had a molded scent to it.
"I told you," she whispered, her voice breaking with the misery of it all. "I lost my mommy…" Sasuke looked down at the girl with pity in his eyes and anger in his heart as tears started rolling down her dirt-packed cheeks.
"How long has she been gone?" Sasuke asked slowly, quietly. The little girl lifts her free hand and raises one finger.
"One day?" Sasuke questioned slowly. She shook her head no. "One month…?" She shook her head again. A ghostly pain whispered in his ears as he asked, "One year…?" The girl didn't speak, only began to cry. It was amazing to him, to see this girl's pain. Whenever he'd seen a young child cry, it was always a disgusting sight. Snot dripped from their nose and their tears came like sticky waterfalls. And even worse, was the insensibility of it. They had nothing to cry over except a stubbed toe. But this small, fragile girl… in her cries he could clearly hear the sound of endless anguish. A type of sorrow that haunted her mind and kept her from falling asleep at night. A type of sorrow that would follow her for the rest of his life. He only knew that all too well.
The stoic man, who was idolized as invincible, emotionless, unshakable, and callous simply fell to his knees. Nothing but pure agony filled his face as he enveloped the little girl in his arms and let her cry tears that had been hidden away for too long into the collar of his shirt.
"I'm so scared…" the little girl stuttered out between cries. Sasuke ran his hand comfortingly over the top of her head and whispered,
"I know, I know… I was too…" Sasuke's mind was consumed with memories of times he'd tried for so many years to forget. As Sasuke thought of happier, yet darker days, he slowly felt himself remembering who he was before it all. He remembered when he was still himself and there was still a chance for his savior. As the girl cried painfully into his shirt, soaking it through and through, a tear began to form in the corner of the strong man's eye.
He saved her.