Prologue: A Scene After A War
'It's finally over...' Sasuke sighed in relief. Taking deep breaths as he slowly looked around him.
There was nothing much left of the once scenic land. Piles of earth and rocks are everywhere. Trees, tall, thick and ancient are lifted off the ground like twigs. Craters adorned the ground, transforming the whole place into a ragged terrain. And the worse, people… dead shinobis, thousands of them lying around, bathing the ground with their blood. A few of them he knew but most, he didn't. To him, they were faceless shinobis who had given their lives in the line of duty… But still…
He bit his tongue and grimaced not in pain, but in guilt. He knew that he was partly to be blamed for the war. If only he has taken the right path and not the path of vengeance… This may not have happened.
'No more of that… It's over...' he told himself again as he started to leave the battlefield.
Wobbling a little with each step, he still continued walking with no particular direction in mind. He just wanted to get as far away as possible from that place.
He pressed his left hand on his right side as he walked, putting pressure on a deep wound to stop its bleeding.
'Damn it...' he cursed as he felt blood continue to trail down from his wound.
He tried to walk still, taking smaller steps as he went on. But each step felt heavier than the last for him until finally his feet couldn't go any further.
'This is it for me...' he grimaced as he slowly fell on the ground.
To him, it was like the world slowed down or even stopped for a moment. He could barely breathe. He could barely see.
"SASUKE!" Naruto's high-pitched voice echoed in the war-torn terrain. He saw his friend falling but was too far to catch him.
"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura cried out. Her voice was full of worry as she too had seen Sasuke.
The two ran to their friend, both hoping that all will be well now that Sasuke has finally come back to them.
"SASUKE!"
"Sasuke-kun"
Sasuke could not answer back even if he wanted to. He was far too weak even just to speak.
Seconds felt like hours, and finally, he felt someone by his side. A trembling hand caressed his hair and then removed the dirt that soiled his face. He then felt the same hand, giving off warm chakra, trying to close the wound that was slowly taking away his life.
Seconds turned to minutes but the wound could not be healed. 'Why do they even try... It's hopeless...'
"Don't leave us now, please…" the healer choked out and Sasuke could hear her continued sobbing.
Sasuke focused his gaze at her. 'Sakura' he recognized her unique pink hair despite his vision becoming more blurry.
"Get up, teme…" Naruto growled as he knelt beside Sakura. "We won the war, damn it... We should already head home to Konoha…" his voice trembled. It was clear that he was trying not to cry.
"I'm... s-sorry, N-naruto… Sakura… I-It seems... That all I... All I ever did was to disappoint you..." Sasuke said. His voice soft as a whisper and held regret as tears ran down his face. It was the end for him. This would be the last time he would say those names.
Darkness gradually consumed his vision. Even the sound around him is fading as the last thing he heard was Naruto's voice shouting his name.