Sasuke is only in the desert for another day before he wakes to find a bento box with fresh food steaming in front of his small campsite.
He can smell the package, and it smells like...Gaara. The Kazekage's scent lingers in the desert, even though he's clearly long gone, but he picks it up startlingly easily. Sasuke doesn't know when he got familiar enough with the man's scent to recognize it so quickly and with so little effort, but he has, and he can smell the omega's scent all over the small box left by his campsite.
There's food, and then there's a small case of bandages and antiseptic, some other medical supplies and herbs. A thermos. Blankets are folded under the box.
Gaara.
Usually Sasuke wouldn't accept it, but he knows who it came from so he has no reason to be suspicious. That familiar rosy scent sets him at ease, and he has no idea why. He doesn't know what to think about anything that's happened lately, but he finds himself reaching for the box and storing the contents in his pouches, wondering why he has the strange urge to inhale as much of that flowery, earthy scent as possible. It confuses him, and Sasuke doesn't even really have a similar experience or feeling to compare it to.
Sasuke chooses not to think about it for the moment.
The food is delicious.
By the time Sasuke actually faces the threat in the desert he's been out there for three weeks, and his camping supplies consist mostly of the supplies Gaara's left for him. He rationalizes his quick acceptance of the Kazekage's help because he's been keeping watch and unable to retrieve supplies from Suna himself, but he also feels like that is only half of his reasoning for letting Gaara get this close. He contemplates it for a few days at a time, but he hasn't come to any concrete conclusion, and he finds himself more confused by his thoughts and emotions than ever.
And he finds that endlessly frustrating. Just like Gaara himself.
He'd woken every morning since that day to new supplies left outside his camp, and he could tell they were all from the same place. Everything smelled like a rose garden, and by the second week Sasuke is even more frustrated and confused by the fact that he sort of hopes that one day the man comes around when he's awake so he can actually interact with him.
The thought comes to him when he's picking through the things Gaara's left one morning, and he immediately freezes and wonders where the hell that came from. Sasuke hasn't actually wanted to speak to anyone in ages. He used to look forward to mission debriefings with Naruto, but now he dreaded seeing the blond. He was always behind that desk, and always giving Sasuke that blankly cheerful look, like he expected Sasuke to be just as content with things as he was. Haruno was a nightmare to deal with, and he spoke to no one else in Konoha - often opting to leave the village to avoid seeing anyone else he didn't know how to talk to - but for some reason Sasuke caught himself regretting that Gaara only came around when he was asleep - when he was unable to speak to him.
What the hell was it? Curiousity? Confusion?
Sasuke has no idea, and he's getting just a bit fed up with himself and these strange thoughts that seem to be coming from nowhere.
But one morning he doesn't have time to have his usual crisis regarding the Kazekage, because he senses the strange chakra closer than ever before, and he jumps to attention - his hand on his sword, like it's instinct - as he feels his rinnegan swirl to life. The desert is deathly quiet, but the Uchiha can feel the dark, sharp and oppressive aura of the Otsutsuki clan's power. His skin crawls, just like it did battling Kaguya way back then. Sweat begins to pool under his collar, the sun high in the sky and already beating down on Sasuke's neck.
He follows the trail, lightning fast and on high alert - ready to strike at the threat as soon as it's within eyeshot.
When he finds the figure standing in the desert - not too far from where he's set up camp - Sasuke doesn't hesitate. He never does, and finds no reason to. His sword is drawn in less than a second and he's striking at the being that he can sense the concentration of chakra from, and he only gets a glimpse of a smug grin before he's struck the figure head on.
The man has snow white skin and lavender eyes, like the Hyuga woman that Naruto married. Sasuke distantly remembers learning that the Hyuga are descendants of Kaguya and her ilk.
The byakugan, then.
He's dressed in a white robe, his grin grim and smug. He moves fast, and launches himself away from the Uchiha, landing gracefully a few feet away.
Lavender eyes narrow at him and Sasuke feels that familiar swell of irritation when his hit doesn't land, but he steadies himself as his sharingan eye activates.
"And who are you?" The man drawls. He looks at Sasuke like he's a particularly bothersome insect, and it immediately grates on his nerves.
"What do you want with this place?" Sasuke snaps, ignoring the question.
Lavender eyes blink at him.
"You mortals are very interesting." His enemy spits, grinning nastily, "Maybe I'll take those eyes of yours."
The Uchiha doesn't flinch. It's not the first time someone has threatened to do so. He vividly remembers Itachi in that moment, his brother's fingers digging into his eye socket...
"I would definitely like to see you try." He says easily, leveling his blade at the man, "I'll ask once more, and only once more. What is your business here?"
The man takes a step, casual and not at all fazed by the sword in Sasuke's hand.
"Reconnaissance. I wished to see the world that Kaguya couldn't bring to its knees." He says, grinning wider and showing off rows of sharp teeth, "Quite an interesting world you all have hereā¦"
Sasuke strikes again, quick as light. The man dodges, grin widening - looking manic.
He tilts his head in thought, blinking at Sasuke.
"But I came across the most interesting thing!" He licks his lips, "There's a very...alluring smell of... omega in this desert. The scent is on you, too."
Sasuke glares.
He laughs, "Maybe I'm hoping I'll run into whoever that delicious scent belongs to. I would enjoy having a human omega. I hear they break so easily."
Sasuke grits his teeth.
"I can't say I know what you mean." He spits.
The man's grin widens, "Really? No idea?"
He uses his rinnegan to teleport close enough to attack, building his chakra and summoning Susanoo's arm to grip the man and hold him steady.
Sasuke's sword is a blur, and in a flash of silver and blood the man is wailing in pained rage, swinging wildly at the Uchiha - smug, casual air long gone.
It's only when Sasuke stumbles back can he see the damage he's inflicted.
He manages to slice into the man's leg and take his arm clean off, wounding and crippling him in a single strike, and it happens so quick that Sasuke doesn't notice the enemy's remaining arm summoning a weapon that looks suspiciously like a hook. In a second every bit of reflex training kicks in, and he forgoes shielding himself to instead summon the black flames from his sharingan eye to envelop the enemy.
But the hook in the man's hand is buried in his stomach before he can even blink, and Sasuke feels a sharp dig into his ribcage. Pain rocks through him and the world explodes in white for a moment.
The feeling of having one's chakra ripped out wasn't pleasant in the least. Especially with as much chakra as Sasuke had. It was a sharp, burning pain and a sickeningly shocking yanking feeling from the center of his core, and then he saw the sun, the sand and the world go black.
Maybe he falls, maybe he doesn't, but he can't tell. All he can hear is his own blood in his ears and all he can see is the encroaching darkness around him.
It wasn't all bad. Maybe he'd die. That'd be...something, wouldn't it?
But he... smells something - someone - familiar. It's earthy, like the desert he's been surrounded by for weeks, but there's a sweetness to it that the desert itself didn't usually carry. Rose...? The scent fills his senses, and then Sasuke is slumped and unconscious.
He hears nothing.
Sasuke is in and out of consciousness for days.
He thinks maybe he hears a voice, but he can't completely be sure. It's talking to him, or...around him? A few actually, but the only one he recognizes in his borderline comatose state is quiet, even, and familiar. And yet he still can't quite put his finger on it.
Sasuke can't exactly place it, but he feels like he knows who it is, even distantly.
But for some reason that voice sends him drifting, and he can't tell which way is up or down, but the lack of direction is peaceful, for some reason. Quiet.
There's that familiar scent that wraps around him and relaxes him, settling him into a comfortable unconsciousness. The world softens and fades away, and he's left floating.
