Naruko P.O.V
I was backed up against the wall of an alleyway. There was nowhere for me to run. In just a matter of seconds, I was about to be beaten and robbed.
As long as Sakura-chan is okay...I can make it through this...
"Heh, I guess it is true, all blondes are dumb," laughed the man before me as he approached with his two minions, "You really outdid yourself by running to a dead end."
I chuckled nervously as I reached into my skirt pocket to hold onto the pepper spray Sasuke had packed for me.
"Who said I didn't plan to end up here?!" I bluffed.
The three men looked at each other then laughed. "Oh please, you're just some dumb kid that can't keep their mouth shut, and now you're gonna get what's coming for you."
As the man lifted his fist to hurt me, I took out the pepper spray from my pockets and used it against the villans. The man cried as he held his eyes in pain. "You little bitch!" he yelled angrily.
The two other men with him quickly came to his aid, giving me a chance to run away. I was almost out of the alley when I felt a hand grab onto my long pigtails.
I yelled in pain as I was pulled back by the force yanking my hair. Falling to the ground, I scrapped my knees. The pain on my knees and the force holding my hair made it almost impossible for me to get back up.
I can't give up, I need to try and escape!
I raised my hand to pepper spray the man again, but he knocked the spray out of my hand with a violent hit. My eyes widened in fear as I saw their menacing stares. I'm scared...Sasuke please...save me!
A tear slowly left my eyes while I closed my eyes, preparing for the impact. Sasuke...
I waited for a pain that never came.
"Don't touch my wife."
Tears rolled down my face as I watched Sasuke defend me. His movements were as elegant as the way he danced, dodging, and hurting those who tried to harm me. In a matter of minutes, he had taken down all three men.
"Tch, I had watched you all day, and the one moment I think you're going to go back to the hotel and that you're safe, here you are causing trouble again like an idiot!" He scolded angrily.
I was speechless and unable to believe Sasuke was actually here. I thought he was at home, yet somehow he was standing right in front of me.
He picked up his black cap and shades from the floor, putting them back on. His face was dirtied by a punch the man gave him, and blood ran from his lip. Instead of asking the many questions I had, I stood up from the floor and hugged him.
I sobbed loudly into his chest, holding him tightly. I didn't want to let him go. This could be the last time I would ever hold him before he returned to the future.
"Naruko...are you okay?" he asked softly while holding me in his arms.
I continued to cry as his hold on me tightened. "Please...just let me stay like this for a while longer..."
I had many questions, but for now, I just wanted to be held by him.
We sat on the flight of stairs that led to the hot spring. Sakura had texted me to know if I was okay. She had been covering for me, saying I went to the hot springs early and that I would meet everyone soon.
"You sure you're a hundred percent okay?" Sakura asked worriedly over the phone
"Yeah, don't worry Sakura-chan, I'll be there soon."
I sighed loudly as I shoved my phone back into my pocket after handing up.
"I'm guessing you have a lot of questions..." mumbled Sasuke while removing his shades.
I clicked my tongue and rolled my eyes. "You guess?"
"Hn, no need to be so rude..."
I was upset by his sudden appearance. He never told me that he was coming to the land of hot water, and for him to suddenly be here meant that he had to be spying on me. Something about this trip must have some sort of connection to the future.
I sighed heavily knowing that the only reason he had come was to protect this times Sasuke-less future, not me. I slowly tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear while trying to calm myself before I said something rash.
"Sasuke, why're you here?" I asked while clearly knowing it had to do with his present self.
"...I had something to do here..."
"Okay...what was it?"
He stayed quiet, staring at the sunset in the distance.
"Hmph, so you're really not gonna tell me..." I stood up from the steps in frustration. He's never told me anything about his great plan of changing the future. It was always me following everything he said, and I hated that. I at least deserved to know the truth of everything; it was my future he was trying to change.
He looked up at me from the steps with puppy-like eyes. "Naruko, you know I can't-"
"-tell me about the future, I know...Just forget it." I placed on my bag with another frustrated sigh. I shouldn't be concerned about this anymore. I have Kakashi now and that's all that matters...
I was about to walk away when I heard him mumble something. I turned back to see him staring at the ground, covering his face with his hat to hide his expression.
"Naruko..."
My heart sank at the way he called my name. It was if you could feel his love just in the way he said it. Please...don't say my name like that...
"...I came here to make sure you would be okay..."
His caring words sent chills down my spine as I watched him speak towards the ground. I held onto the hem of my skirt in frustration as my heart began to skip just for him again. Stop...Stop caring for me...
For the past few days, I had been trying to let him go. I had finally understood that our love was nothing but a sweet poison, so I began to focus on my relationship with Kakashi. My love for Kakashi was slowly beginning to blossom, but if the day ever came where Sasuke would ask to be with me, I wouldn't hesitate to take his hand and love him forever.
But I knew that wasn't going to be possible. We were not meant to be. Only Kakashi and I could truly be happy together and we both knew that. Even while knowing this, my heart could never let go of these feelings for him. It was if I could feel the love my future self held for him, begging me to never let him go, but I had to ignore those pleas. I had to let him go.
I slowly turned my back to him as soon as I felt the overwhelming pain in my chest. If he were to ever look up at me, my expression would be enough for him to tell that I actually loved him. And if he ever found out, all my memories of us would be erased and restarted until our future without each other was set.
I sighed, placing a hand over my heart in pain. "Sasuke...I know that can't be the only reason why you came here, so please, tell me the truth-the whole truth-just this once. Please..."
He remained silent, allowing the tense atmosphere to speak for him.
I rolled my eyes as I felt tears begin to form. Of course, I'm not allowed to know...Why would I ever think he would change that stupid rule just this once for me?
I had enough of the emotional turmoil that I had been put through. The constant back and forth of my feelings; the overwhelming decisions that I had to make for a better future; the constant guilt and fear I had to feel every day because of the two men in my life; the pain of having your heart broken over and over again before having the chance to feel what it was to truly be happily in love. I was tired of it.
I was only seventeen, the age where you're supposed to live your life and make mistakes to learn from them, but instead, I was worrying too much about my future and not enough about my present. Even if my future could be happy, I needed to also feel happy in the present and I wasn't. I was hurting. I was breaking.
"...Naruko...I'm sorry..."
I held onto the hem of my skirt again as my firsts began to roll up. Heat filled my cheeks from the rage and sorrow I felt within me.
"But even if I can't tell you, I do want to make sure that you never get hurt. You are my wife, and I care for your well-being," he said softly, "And I know you know that."
Tears began to form at the edge of my eyes. I do...That's why I'm trying to let you go...
I was still turned away from him, unable to see if his expressions were as sincere as his words. My lips were trembling as I fought back my tears. Every sentence that he spoke would make my heart drop, sending swirls of emotions within me.
"Naruko, I want you to be happy..."
"Sasuke...please...just stop..." I mumbled to myself.
"Your happiness means more to me than my own-"
"Sasuke please..." I whispered a little louder.
"-And everything I do for you is because I love you-"
"I said stop!" I spat angrily. Tears began to roll down my cheeks as his words tore at my heart. "Stop it Sasuke! Stop loving me!"
I turned to face the man I could never unlove. Tears stained my face as I sobbed loudly towards him. "Why...why are you so Selfish...?" I managed to say between sobs.
His shock expression slowly turned into anger. "Not this shit again," he scoffed as he rolled his eyes.
"Oh I'm sorry for bringing back the topic of your selfishness," I retorted.
He dragged his hand against his face in anger before standing up from the steps and making his way towards me. "You don't know the things I had to sacrifice to make you happy."
"Wow, my hero~" I mocked with an eye roll.
His face continued to morph into an expression of indescribable rage. "I came from the future with the intention of ending ever bit of my happiness just so you could be happy. You don't know shit about what I've gone through, Naruko. You don't care about me or what I've been feeling. You only care about yourself and being happy with your stupid senpai! You're the one that's truly selfish here!"
His words sent my blood boiling, and out of rage, I slapped him. "You're a fucking idiot!"
I shoved him to the ground, standing over him so I could have at least one moment where I could feel powerful. A moment where he would be the one looking up to me.
"You're right, I don't know what you've been going through but you don't know what I've been going through either! You've been controlling everything I do since you got here, including my feelings. You want me to love someone else so you hook me up with my high school crush and find ways to keep me away from your current self.
You think you're being selfless by sacrificing your happiness for mine, but in reality, you're just being selfish! You're forcing me to follow your ideas of what could make me "happy," but did you ever ask yourself if that was what I truly wanted?!"
His eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean...? You told me you were happy with your senpai..."
I closed my eyes in defeat, knowing that it was time for me to come clean. "I lied, Sasuke..." I took a deep breath before telling my husband my deepest secret. "I...I love you Sasuke..."
His eyes began to water as he looked at my pained expression. "But...But how could this happen?"
I shrugged my shoulders while I walked to sit beside him on the floor. I sighed loudly, picking up his cap from the floor and brushing off the dirt. "Maybe we're cursed, Sasuke..." I passed him his hat with a weak smile. "I guess true love can really defy time itself, huh?"
He took the hat in his hand, bringing it to his chest to hug it. Tears slowly ran down his cheek as he stared at the ground. "You can't love me...If you love me I'll only make you unhappy," he cried.
I brought my arms around him, taking him into my chest as I ran my hands through his hair. "I already tried that...Everything just happened so quickly. One moment I hated your cold personality and then the next I had fallen for the sweetness that hid within your walls of ice. Once I fell for you, I kept falling. I honestly can't find a way to stop loving you, Sasuke..."
His tears began to stain my uniform as his sobbing began to grow louder. "Naruko...I love you...I always have," he whined into my chest.
"I know..." I whispered while comforting him.
Sasuke and I were going through the same emotional turmoil, but him longer than me. We didn't want to let each other go, but we had to. Romeo and Juliet were star-crossed lovers that couldn't even be saved with a time machine, and the same applied to us. Even if I knew what happened in the future, that wouldn't change the results of what had to happen. It was time I let go of everything.
It's time I go back to focusing on my present self and not the one 10 years into the future. I need to take care of myself and the only way to do that is to let nature take its course...without Sasuke.
I ran my hand through his hair before saying the cruelest words that we both needed to hear out loud: "We need to let each other go..."
His arms wrapped around me like a child scared to leave their mother. "I thought I could, but now that it's happening, I'm breaking..." he whispered, "I spent months trying to find a way to save us, and the only solution I could find was for me to never enter your life...I want you to be happy, even if it costs me my own, but I don't think I can let you go anymore...You're my better half, my strength, my life force, and the only person that can ever make me feel complete. I love you Naruko and no one but you can ever make me feel this way."
I dug my face into his hair as I cried. "But we have to let go..." I repeated in an attempt to convince myself that I no longer needed him either.
I kissed the top of his head slowly. "Sasuke, you deserve to be as happy as me, and if this is the only way, I won't hesitate anymore. So please Sasuke...let me go so I can also set you free..."
I slowly released him from my embrace, helping to wipe away his tears as his eyes reddened. "Heh, you're such a cry baby," I joked, hoping to make him smile.
As I wiped his tears, he placed his hand over mine, pressing it to his cheek. He then closed his eyes as I caressed his cheek for the first and last time. Boundaries were forgotten just for this moment because, after today, we would no longer be the same.
"You know," he whispered while slowing opening his eyes, "I always thought you had the most beautiful eyes...Every time I would look at them, I would get swept away." He chuckled, showing me his last sincere smile. "You would get so embarrassed when I would start to stare at you." He then placed his forehead against mine with a smile. "You were such a dork...You were my dorky loser..."
He slowly began to bring his lips towards mine, but out of fear for my feelings, I pulled away. We needed to let go, and that kiss would be the reason to make us hold on. I quickly dried my own tears, wiping my face clean with my sleeve before standing.
"Are you...are you going to redo this whole timeline again...?" I asked to change the mood.
He shook his head slightly. "No...I think this needed to happen..." He sighed sadly, "This needed to happen for you to let me go...I'll leave by the end of this coming week as planned."
I nodded my head while grabbing ahold of my bag again, swinging it over my shoulder to leave. I then looked at my husband one last time, taking in this final moment.
"Goodbye Sasuke..." He gave me a weak smile and I did the same.
I love you Sasuke...I always will...
That day I heard more than just my heartbreak. Sasuke's fractured heart was finally destroyed along with his will.
Hey guys, so we're finally getting closer to the end! There are about 5 more chapters remaining and I'm excited for y'all to read them!
Thank you so much for reading this story so far (T^T)/