Kei-Kei Yuki: You guys, we really reached it! Ch.60! Gotta say I'm very emotional that I even made it this far as there were many times I thought this story wasn't good enough and wanted to give up, but I didn't cuz it's always been my goal to write a Naruto fanfic in my own image. So thank you for all the support and love thus far! Getting close to the Fourth Shinobi War chapters! I can't wait to introduce the First Lady Hokage~!
My Path
Unaware of Kakashi's and Sakura's fretful concern, memories that did not belong to Naruko tormented her mind and soul. The people that flashed before her were complete strangers, yet she shared a connection with them. She could feel the heavy emotions that clouded their hearts, such as heartache, betrayal, and sadness, with which she was familiar with.
Suddenly, the scene of two women made her pause. Both were similar in appearance, but only one of them she recognized. The location and their state of dress put them at two different timestamps. Naruko could hear the clanging of metal and shouts of jutsus being released. She watched the intense battle play out before her eyes. A veil of long brown hair trailed down their backs as they panted to catch their breaths, but the look in their eyes was what caught Naruko's breath.
Determination gleamed in them, prepared to follow through with their decision despite the painful consequence that would lay in store for them. Naruko could feel it in her heart that coming to this conclusion was not easy, but there was no turning back for them. "Indra/Madara!" both women yelled, eyes glaring at the man standing across from them that Naruko could not get a good look at.
"From this point on... I sever this bond between us." For a breath of a second, their voices broke, but their resolve was unbreakable.
Out of nowhere, the worst pain assaulted Naruko like a hundred kunais stabbing into her body and ripping out her heart. The blonde kunoichi screamed bloody murder. Like firecrackers, surrounded by thousands of red strings, she watched with terrified eyes as each string began to snap in half, tearing a piece of her soul.
In the end, only one red string remained. When Naruko finally regained her breath from the broken red strings, human-shaped figures appeared, all of whom were women surrounding her and shouting at random.
"He cannot be trusted!"
"He is a lost cause!"
"He has hurt us too much!"
"He does not care about us!"
Naruko lay prone on the ground, ears taking in the hatred and grief that filled their voices. From the half-open lids of her eyes, she saw the shadows of two women appear before her.
"Are you willing to risk it all despite everything he has done?" said the shadow of a woman, hair strung up in a long floor-sweeping ponytail.
"Despite knowing the chances of saving him are small and that he may never revert to the person he once was? Do you still wish to save him?" said the long-haired shadow on the left before they spoke in union.
"Is he worth the pain and the sorrow? Isn't it best to give up this bond? Why must we sacrifice our happiness for him? Give up!"
"Give up! Give up! Give Up!" Their chant was joined by the other shadows, rattling Naruko's resolve, who, through the pain, began to stand on her feet, covering her ears with her hands to block their voices. She could feel temptation seep into her soul.
In the darkness of her heart, a guilty piece of Naruko did want to give up. She was tired of the constant crying and the gut-wrenching feeling in her chest! She wanted to be happy again! A sinful part of her wanted to walk away and try to live a life without Sasuke.
"I... I... I..." Naruko struggled to find the right words to say as the darkness clouded her mind. But before it could overcome the light, a flash of memories of her and Sasuke and the bond they shared rekindled Naruko's iron-clad will.
"No!" Naruko glared at the shadows. "Unlike you, I won't forsake him or give up on him! I'll continue fighting and save him from the darkness that threatens to take over him. Because he means everything to me, and I'm not ready to lose him yet. So shut up and get out of my way!"
Naruko almost lost herself in the darkness lurking deep in her heart, but she was stronger than that! She believed in the bond she had with Sasuke and refused to give up on it. Even though she sympathized with the shadows, recalling the joint connection they shared, Naruko wasn't them, and the person who hurt them wasn't her Sasuke.
The long red thread stood firm and unyielding, just like Naruko's will. The shadows said nothing and, to Naruko's amazement, began to fade except for two.
"You are different from us, Uzumaki Naruko," said the one with the ponytail before disappearing.
"Don't let your story end the same way ours did," said the voice of the other woman before she too disappeared, but right before she did, Naruko could've sworn she saw a ghost of a smile on her face, encouraging her on this path she chose for herself.
Omake:
Sasuke's experience was similar to Naruko's, which only worsened the hatred and loneliness in his heart. But unlike Naruko, who became surrounded by shadows and red strings, Sasuke only saw a man's figure hidden in the shadows. A heavy air of gloom and solitude clung to him.
"You're just like the others. A failure consumed with hatred. Unless you give it up, our souls will never be reunited with {...}, and this wretched spell will never break." The name the man spoke was muted, much to Sasuke's confusion and frustration—wondering who this man was and what connection he had to him? But just as the shadow of the man appeared, he disappeared.
Remembering the memories shown to him, Sasuke contemplated the man's existence and why he had a strange feeling that all of this was connected to Naruko somehow.
End of My Path