Guiding Hands.
Summary: Sasuke never felt like he moved at all, trapped in the past and all that existed before.
Grabbing the offered hands, he felt like a child again. Needing to be guided and led by the hand.
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Uchiha Sasuke looked forwards and saw two offered hands. Connected to those hands were equally offered arms and offered lives.
Connected to those hands were desperation and hope. Desperate for those hands to make it and hopeful that the other would take them.
The Madara dead. The Akatsuki over. The village whole. Uzumaki Naruto safe.
Sasuke had finished what Itachi had started. With a lot of explosions and dramatic declarations. He finished what Itachi had secretly started with a bang worthy of the blonde clay artist.
The fighting had been carefully prepared. The speeches had been carefully sorted. The plot had been ingeniously executed.
Sasuke was starting to think that the Uchihas had a genetic knack for clandestine plans and backstabbing.
Looking back, he could only see his proud parents and approving brother. Looking back, he could still see the darkness.
But the two hands offered right in front of him shone stunningly. Each the brilliance of a thousand suns.
Looking beside him, Sasuke could only see loneliness, regret, and death. The corpse of the Madara and the dead Elders.
There was no life behind him where all his dead relatives and family resided. There was no life beside him where all his enemies lay dead beneath his sword.
There was only a chance in front of him where they were.
Naruto. Sakura. Kakashi.
And he'd be damned to ignore it.
Grabbing the offered hands, he felt the kiss of cherry blossom petals on his cheeks and the embrace of burning sunshine on his skin.
Even though for the past three years, all he's ever did was walk without looking back. Sasuke never felt like he moved at all, trapped in the past and all that existed before.
Resisting a smile, Uchiha Sasuke moved forward. And he felt like a child again.
It felt like Mom and Dad had to support him again. It felt like Itachi had to lead him again.
But instead, a crying Haruno Sakura and smiling Uzumaki Naruto held his hand while a relieved Hatake Kakashi led the way.
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A/N: Another speculation on Sasuke's character. Instead of making him all "oh-yes-I-will-die-with-my-past," I tried to present him as willing to move forward as long as what behind him was finished.
Okay, okay, I know this isn't the most feasible theory, but I always had high hopes for Sasuke. I really hope that what Itachi died for won't wither away. Everyone will protect Konoha and Team Seven will always support Sasuke. But I wanted to see Sasuke save himself.
Ah, the mutterings of an Uchiha brothers fangirl.
Thanks for reading! Please review as well!
~sodesne