Chapter song: "Find Your Way" by The Afters

"There is nothing you could do to turn my back on you."

"You're never too lost to know where the road is—it could be dark, you could be hopeless, but I'll wait until you find your way."

"With my heart still hoping and my arms wide open, I'll never give up this fight. I know we'll talk like we used to, and we'll walk like we used to... it's just a matter of time."

Set in Stone

The wind whipped past Sasuke's ears as he and Karin fled the scene at the speed of light. He was exhausted. So much had happened within the same time frame of each other.

Orochimaru. Itachi. Ruman.

How he managed to kill two people who cared immensely about him so quickly, he didn't know.

Sasuke's teeth clenched together as he closed his eyes, trying to shake the memories of her away.

The way she was so much taller than the last time he'd seen her. The way the light in her eyes still remained the same way after all these years. The way she wanted him to return to Konoha so earnestly.

The way she stood before him, unwavering, as her blood quickly soaked his shirt and stained his hands red.

What have I done?

"Sasuke! What's wrong?!" Karin gasped frantically, breaking his train of thought. Sasuke turned his head to Karin, not sure what she was talking about, but, frankly, he didn't really care.

It was then he realized his face felt so cold because of the wind blowing against the wet trail going down each cheek.

Are these... tears?

Sasuke simply returned his gaze back to their escape route and said coldly, "I'm fine."

Perhaps he was a little disturbed that he just killed one of the only people left on Earth that truly cared about him, that he maybe cared about in return, with his bare hands. Perhaps killing her was unnecessary, but there's no doubt that she brought this all upon herself.

Sasuke didn't ask Ruman to chase after him. He didn't ask her to protect Sai. He didn't ask her to be so naive.

But none of that mattered anymore—Ruman would die. Hell, maybe she had died already since the time Sasuke and Karin fled the scene. Perhaps her death would be a mistake, but it was a mistake set in stone. There was nothing he could do about it—there was nothing anyone could do about it.

The wind roared in his ears as Sasuke picked up his pace.

He could only focus on his revenge now. Ruman was dead, and he would destroy the rest of Konoha to go with her.

There was no turning back.

He had no choice now.

Goodbye, Ruman.

"Ruman-chan, get a hold of yourself!" Naruto screamed into Ruman's face, voice cloaked with desperation.

Naruto... is that you?

"She's going into shock," what seemed to be Kakashi's voice said.

"Hurry, Naruto," she heard Kakashi's say urgently. "Bring her back to the village, Tsunade-sama may be able to help her if we get her back in time. I'll carry Sai."

As Ruman felt her body lift off the cold cave ground with Naruto's arms beneath her, she heard Kakashi's voice again.

"Carry her on your back," he instructed. "If you carry her with your arms, she'll choke on her own blood and die before we even get to the village."

Naruto obeyed without a moment's hesitation, and Ruman felt herself placed onto Naruto's back. It took all the strength she had left in her body to wrap her arms around Naruto's neck, but she suddenly felt so tired.

"I just want to sleep..." Ruman murmured lazily into Naruto's neck, blood dribbling from her mouth onto the black collar of his orange tracksuit.

He was so warm.

"Hang in there," Kakashi's voice rang in her ear. "Everything's going to be okay, but you can't give up yet. Think of all the people you have to stay alive for."

The dying fire in Ruman's heart rekindled at these words, as her eyelids fluttered open and she tried her best to stay awake.

But she still couldn't fight the overwhelming pain searing throughout her whole being, originating from her stomach area.

Being stabbed hurts like a bitch, she thought to herself. Her whole body was starting to go numb and cold, as she felt like she'd just been punched a hundred times in the gut.

Ruman's body lurched up and down with the momentum of Naruto's body running and jumping as fast as he could through the forest to get back to the village. It was quiet for a few minutes, but no one could ignore the anxiety and tension in the air as Kakashi and Naruto gave it their all to save Ruman and Sai.

"I don't think I'm going to make it," Ruman sighed quietly into Naruto's ear with a soft smile. Her brown eyes were brimmed with small tears, and the dried blood on her lips made it a little hard for her to speak.

"Don't talk," Naruto growled. "Use your energy on staying alive. I won't let you die."

Sasuke...

Naruto tightened his grip on Ruman's legs as he picked up his pace, sweat beads forming on his forehead. His jaw was clenched so tightly Ruman could feel his veins popping out.

"I won't let you die," he vowed again.

Ruman was so tired she couldn't even tell if there was anger, sadness, or desperation in his voice. Tears threatened to fall out of the corners of Naruto's firey eyes as Ruman just gently tucked her head into the crook of his neck.

Even Sai was still in shock—he wasn't sure what to do. People die on missions all the time, and as shinobi, they should all have been prepared to lose comrades in battle.

But Sai couldn't comprehend why Ruman would die protecting him. It didn't make sense to him. But for some odd reason, it felt like someone was squeezing his heart so tightly he couldn't breathe, thinking about it.

"Hang in there, Ruman-chan!" Sai cried in vain, seeing Ruman's head droop.

Ruman's head perked up slightly as she struggled to keep her eyes open. She was dancing with Death at this point, but she wouldn't let him take her.

Ruman murmured something to Naruto to the best of her ability through the dried blood, almost clogging up her throat.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, not being able to comprehend her slurred words.

"I said I love you," Ruman exhaled.

The teardrops that had initially threatened to fall took no mercy at these words. A little wheezing sound emitted from Naruto's throat as his eyebrows crinkled together, hot tears streaming down his face.

Ruman turned her head slightly to look at her sensei, with Sai on his back, also huffing from a surely-tiring fight with the masked man from earlier.

"I love you all," she murmured to them, doing her best to mouth the words in case they couldn't hear her.

Kakashi just nodded in acknowledgement, putting a finger to his lips, telling Ruman save her energy.

Thank you all for doing so much for me, she thought.

You guys are my only family.

Thank you for being a part of my life.

Thank you so much.

Author's note:

Ahhhhh hello everyone! Yes, I'm back! I couldn't stop thinking about Unwavering after writing it, and although the last chapter was a bit sad, I couldn't just leave it at a one-shot. So I've decided to make it a full story instead! I hope you all will continue to support me and read my updates (as well as leave me comments, nothing makes me happier than reading comments ^^), so please do enjoy! Sorry this chapter was super short, I just wanted to reinforce the emotions everyone was feeling, and refresh your memories before I come back to the actual plot, haha. Let me know what you think! I hope you're all ready for what I have in store ;)