"How...? How do you know Naruko...?" Sakura asked with eyes that spoke fear.
I didn't have time to keep beating around the bush. I had questions and I needed answers. "Where is she?" I repeated.
She began to move away from me in panic as I mentioned her best friend. "Y-You're acting really s-strange, Sasuke-kun...Y-You don't even know her, so why would you-?"
"Naori used to talk about her all the time, " I fabricated swiftly.
"Naori...? I thought you guys never spoke-"
"The few times we spoke it was about her," I lied sincerely.
She looked at me, still unconvinced. "I don't believe you-"
"Please!" I yelled desperately, "Please...tell me where Naruko is...Please..."
I was on the verge of tears, but I couldn't allow myself to show the sorrow that I held. I missed Naruko, and Naori was missing because of me. I had no one to turn to for help but her. I was desperate.
"Sasuke-kun..." Her eyes turned away from my direction as she held her arms nervously at the subject. "I don't know what's going on... You're acting strange."
She sighed, keeping a safe distance between her and me. "For starters, you're actually talking to me; you're concerned about Naori, and now you're asking me about Naruko. You haven't even met her before yet you're acting as if you've lost her...Sasuke-kun, what's really going on...?"
It was time to come clean. All the sin, the guilt, the bagged, everything I carried I shared with her. From the information of my past timeline to my future, and back to my present.
I couldn't tell if she believed a word I said, but I continued to talk. I needed someone to help carry the weight of the world.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I'm sorry that all happened...but you had no right to have Naruko involved in all this bullshit."
She turned to me angrily, tears streaming down her face as she yelled at me. "I realized there was something wrong with my best friend back then, and it was all because of you!"
My expression quickly turned into confusion at her reaction. There was something wrong with Naruko...?
"It all makes sense now," she chuckled sarcastically, "When you showed up she began to ask me strange questions about time travel. I didn't think much of it because I thought it was her just being random as usual. But then we went on that stupid field trip and everything changed!
We had spent the whole day having fun together. Then later that night, she came back to the hotel with the saddest expression I had ever seen her do in my entire life. Throughout the night I would hear her crying to herself, and that was the first moment I had ever heard her cry... I didn't know what was wrong. She wouldn't tell me, and now I know why..."
She glared at me, burning daggers into my soul with her hatred. Her outburst surprised me as she defended Naruko. I had always thought she wasn't a true friend to my wife, but I had been wrong.
She wiped her tears from her eyes, never softening her glare. "Because of you, her personality changed as the years went on. She never smiled; she never wanted to be around me or any one of her friends; Her eyes were always so gloom, and the color began to drain from her skin...By the end of our senior year, it was as if she was a completely different person! You changed her! You destroyed her!"
My heart sank as I realized I had caused the same pain to this times Naruko. No matter what I did, I managed to find a way to hurt her.
I replied with a heart full of guilt, "I didn't mean for this to happen...I just wanted her to be happy..."
"Who are you to decide what makes her happy?"
I didn't know what to say. It was as if the words of both Naori, Naruko, and even Orochimaru, came back to haunt me.
I was a hypocrite. I wanted to make her happy, but all I was doing was finding a way to take my guilt away. I blamed myself for everything that happened between us the first time. The guilt I held began to eat me alive, and seeing my wife hurt because of me made it worse. I wanted to find a way to make her happy, and take the pain away for both of us.
I was selfish, not selfless. All I thought about was finding a way to make her happy, and not once did I ever listen to her. This timelines Naruko had told me the same thing as my wife: "I'm happy as long as I'm with you." I should have listened and tried to find a way to save us then to completely give up on us.
The emotional torment began to hurt me physically. I was in pain, and it was probably the same pain Naruko had felt when I forced her to stay away from me.
"Sakura," I asked weakly, "How is she...?"
"I haven't heard from her in over a year. After we graduated, she moved back to Sunagakure to live with her grandfather... We lost touch over the years, but the last thing I knew about her was that she was dating some guy named Gaara."
My eyes widened at the unfamiliar name. "Gaara? What happened to her senpai...?" I asked nervously.
"Naruko broke up with Kakashi that Monday after the basketball game. She never told me why, but maybe it was for the best..."
My heart dropped knowing that nothing had turned out as planned. Naruko had changed and was now dating some man I had never met. Naori was missing, and I was living the very nightmare I dreaded.
"I don't understand..." I mumbled, "I did all this to make her happy, and nothing turned out right...Because I love her, I gave her away-"
"Stop," she spat, "Stop blaming all of this on your quote-on-quote love. You didn't really love her."
Anger consumed me as she made little of my affections for my wife. "I love Naruko..." I retorted harshly with a glare.
She crossed her arms, return the glare I sent her, "Then you didn't love her enough."
I clenched my fists angrily, wanting to hit her. "You don't know what you're talking about," I stated angrily, "You don't know the lengths I went to, to try and make her happy!"
She sighed, expressing her disappointment. "Sasuke-kun...If you loved her, you would have stayed with her till the bitter end. Isn't that what being married is all about? Facing all obstacles together until the end?"
She looked at Naori's grave with a sad expression. "'Till death do us part...' that was the vow you made when you married her. She didn't die, Sasuke-kun, yet you parted from her..."
I stared at my left hand as I saw the mark my ring had left after wearing it for seven years. Naruko...
"Sasuke-kun...She chose to continue being with you no matter the circumstance because she loved you, but you ran away."
"No, I didn't run away!" I yelled in denial, "You don't know what you're talking about!"
She shrugged her shoulders. "You like to say you sacrificed all your happiness so she could be happy, but in reality, you ran away because you were scared. You didn't know what to do or how to help, so you blamed yourself and ran away."
"No-!"
"You made a mistake Sasuke-kun."
"No-!"
"You should have stayed with her."
"Stop-!"
"You shouldn't have left-!"
"I know!" I yelled in tears, "I know this was all a mistake!" I had broken. My spirit broke as I finally accepted my mistake.
"I-I came into this knowing I wouldn't be the same, but n-not once did I-I think a-about what it would d-do to everyone else. I j-just assumed N-Naruko would be h-happier without me, and I ne-never listened to h-her b-because I thought s-she was just s-saying "I made her happy" because she was my w-wife..." I stuttered between breaths.
"I-I was insecure as a husband...A-and even w-when your Naruko s-said the same th-thing, I still left because I-I was scared I w-would hurt her again...I was scared to keep lo-loving her..."
She sighed, turning to grab her things. "I'm sorry Sasuke-kun..." She said while preparing to leave. She gave me a sympathetic look before turning to walk away.
"Wait! I-I need to f-find Na-Naruko to make things r-right!"
She turned to face me one last time. "Look Sasuke-kun, I can't let you see Naruko. You and she had your time together, and now it's time for you to let her go for good. She seemed happier the last time we spoke, and it was thanks to Gaara...
Look...I'm her best friend. And now that I know about the past, I can't let her see you. You'll just make her miserable again. She's in a better place right now...So I beg you...don't take any more of her happiness away..."
Her words stung as she left me behind in tears.
That night, I spent the time staring out my bedroom window in despair. I ruined Naruko, I ruined myself, and I even ruined Naori's future.
Sakura was right. Who was I to determine what would make her happy? All I did was make things worse. This was my punishment, and I had to take it.
The sky was dark, and only the moon shined through the city lights.
I would watch this same view from Naruko's apartment rooftop. We would sit together, holding hands as Naruko tried to find the stars in the sky.
As I relieved the memory of Naruko and me, it slowly began to fade away. The star we found that night, the promises we made to each other, the hair ties that linked us together for life, it was all gone, and I couldn't stop it. I placed my hand over my heart in pain. Don't leave me...
The clock stroke 12, removing the magic to show me my reality.
"Naruko..." Her name slipped from my thoughts and out of my mouth. Even now, the way her name left my tongue sent chills down my spine.
However, in a few days, I would forget her name and everything she did for me.
That night, I dreamt about my wife and the future we wanted to have together. The endless conversations of baby names and future homes made us smile. We wanted a family together, but it never happened.
"What do you think of this one?" she asked with a smile. She passed me her phone in excitement, talking endlessly about the future of our family.
I smiled at the two-story house, excited for the future my wife spoke of. I passed the phone back to her in content: "It's perfect."
"Right?!" she shouted happily while sitting beside me on the couch. "Just imagine: The first floor would be where all the family magic happens! All the laughs, the arguments, the tears, the bonding-all of that will take place in our living room and kitchen. Then upstairs, we'll have our room and the kids' rooms."
"Kids?" I asked playfully while looking at my wife lovingly.
"Yes, kids, with an S. We're not stopping at one. Our baby is gonna need someone to play with," she replied with a smirk.
"Fine, no more than two-"
"Three!"
"Okay, three-"
"Four!"
"Naruko..."
"What?! I want a big family!"
I placed my hand on top of her belly and leaned in to place my forehead against hers. "Let's just focus on baby number one for now...We need to make sure he doesn't get your tiny brain, Konoha's loser."
"At least she won't be a tsundere like you, Uchiha snob," she spat back.
"How do you know it's a she?" I teased.
"How do you know it's a he?" she spat back.
I rolled my eyes playfully. "You just wanted to bet against me."
"Maybe~"
The two of us began to laugh at our childish conversation. As I watched my wife laugh, my body moved on its own, kissing her upon her lips. "I'm betting it's a boy," I whispered into her ear.
"Then I'm gonna bet on a girl," she whispered back.
We slowly entered an embrace, taking in each other's warmth.
"Loser pays the bill at Ichiraku's," she whispered playfully.
"You better start saving up then," I teased.
Her giggle echoed through my ear and into my heart. "I love you, dummy," she whispered while kissing my cheek.
"I love you more, loser."
A few weeks later my wife began to grow a bump, and soon we found out that our baby wasn't a boy but a girl.
"We're having a girl!" she shouted happily as she passed me pink dyed onigiri.
I stared at the food in shock. "I lost," I said in disbelief.
"Mhm, so get your wallet ready, cuz we're going for dinner!"
My wife left to get her bag from the room in excitement. I followed behind her with a smile. I walked into the room to get dressed and ready. As I looked in the mirror to fix my hair, I saw the photo of my wife and her grandfather on the frame of the long mirror. My wife loved her grandfather, but she chose to keep our life a secret from him.
"Naruko..."
"Yeah?"
"Are you going to tell Jiraiya-san that you're pregnant?"
She remained quiet for a second, hesitant to answer. "Um...I don't think so...I'm scared of how he might react to all of this...He doesn't even know I'm married."
"Don't you think you should tell him about all of this...?" I asked in concern.
She shook her head. "No. Knowing him, he'd come all the way to Konoha and make a big deal out of everything. He'd probably even start sending me money again, and I don't want to keep relying on him...Besides, we have each other and that's all that matters! We can do this together- just you and me!"
Naruko always believed it was us against the world. We didn't need anyone as long as we had each other. But because of that mentality, there were moments when we felt stuck. We had no one to turn to but ourselves.
The morning light grazed my eyes, causing me to awaken. I sighed as remembered the bittersweet memories of my past. Even though my memories were slowly starting to fade, it had stopped right before my 20s, for now.
What do I do...?
Sakura had told me that Naruko was happy again. Maybe it was best to leave her be. Maybe instead I could begin to correct the mistakes that this time's Sasuke had committed.
I still didn't know of all the bad that this Sasuke had committed, but I knew I owed Naori's family an apology.
I stood before Naori's home. My blood was running cold from fear. I didn't know how her parents would react, especially since I was no longer the Sasuke of this timeline.
I knocked on the door hesitantly and waited for her parents to answer. In moments, the door slowly opened. Naori's mother peeped through a small crack, asking me timidly why I was there.
I bowed in respect, trying to correct my wrongs. "I'm sorry for coming unannounced, but I came here to talk to you."
"Talk...? Haven't you done enough of that already?"
"I wanted to talk to you about Naori-"
"Did you come to disrespect her name again? Dishonor our family again? Or maybe you came to rub in the fact that you've managed to kick us out of the estate?!" Her eyes watered as she yelled at me in frustration.
"You're being kicked out of the estate...?"
She opened the door wider, allowing her annoyed body language to be shown. "Why do you sound so surprised? You're the one that manipulated the Council to kick us out the estate."
My fists tightened at the thought of my heartless behavior. "I'm sorry..."
"What?" She spat in disbelief.
I bowed again, asking for forgiveness. "I'm sorry for all that I've done...I know nothing I do can change what is being done, but I'm truly sorry for everything I've done..."
"Sasuke...?" she whispered, "What's going on...?"
I stood up straight and stared into her frightened eyes. "I wanted to make peace with your family...so I came here to talk about Naori."
I sat on the couch, waiting for Naori's mother to return from the kitchen.
"The day before Naori disappeared," she began while walking from the kitchen, "She began to say some crazy things about you." She placed a cup of tea before me, then took a seat on the couch across from me.
"Naori never once spoke bad about you, but I hated the way you treated her...You...You acted as if my daughter was nothing but trash. Like if she were the world's greatest filth...I couldn't stand it...so I finally spoke up.
The day before the wedding, while her father was away, I spoke to her. I told her not to marry you. I was willing to help her run away, yet she refused. She had always tried to find a way to escape the estate, but one day, that all changed. She wanted to stay...She wanted to stay by your side because she believed you would change...
In my eyes, however, you were nothing but scum. An Uchiha monster birthed with hatred. I told her you could never learn how to love. You would never be happy. You were just another Uchiha...Selfish, hateful, and starved for power...
I thought she would agree...but instead, she yelled at me. She defended you. She started saying things like, you were lost, or that you needed her so you could find your way back to some girl named Naruko."
"Naruko...?"
She nodded her head. "The things she was saying sounded so ridiculous. I thought she had gone crazy. That same night after we argued, she left the house to find you, and when she came back, it was almost as if her soul had broken.
I don't know what you did or said to her, but she never showed up to the wedding. There was a search party sent out to find her. And a month later, we found pieces of her hair in the river..."
She began to tear up. She crossed her arms in a way that made it seem as if she was trying to comfort herself. "My daughter...she was gone...and I think she may be dead, but we never found a body..." she sighed, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I can't believe the last thing we did was fight..."
She wiped her eyes again, apologizing for showing her grief. "Never did I think I would be talking to you this comfortably...It's like you're a different person."
"You could...say that," I replied weakly.
She took a deep breath, passing me an envelope.
"What is this," I asked while reaching to grab the letter.
"I found that in Naori's room about a month ago. Her anniversary had just passed, and I began to miss her more than other years, so I went into her room one last time.
That envelope was on the floor by her bookshelf. I never opened it because it was addressed to you."
I placed the letter into my pocket, anxious to read it.
"Sasuke...if there's anything in there that I should know, please tell me...I want to know why she disappeared."
"I will."
I sat on my bed, holding the envelope anxiously in my hand. My hand was trembling, and sweat began to roll down the sides of my head.
I slowly opened the envelope and began to read her final words.
Dear Sasuke-kun,
If you're reading this, you've come back to your present and realized you've made a mistake. Everything that you hoped would happen never came true. After you left, Naruko swore she would keep her promise to you, but the pain of her broken heart began to change her for the worse.
As she got worse, you did as well. Your hatred continued to grow, and I become victim to it.
I wanted to stay with you, so when you would come back in the next 6 years, I could tell you about all that had happened, but I just couldn't. I couldn't take it anymore.
I'm sorry for being weak, and I'm sorry I couldn't stop her from leaving. But mostly, I'm sorry for you. I'm sorry that it may be too late, and you can't undo what you created.
I told you, you were making a mistake, but I didn't understand how big of a change that this would all cause.
Naruko no longer lives in Konoha. She moved to Sunagakure with her grandfather 2 years ago. She swore to stay loyal to you until the bitter end and told me to take care of you; however, I couldn't keep my promise to her, and I hope she doesn't keep her promise to you. She deserves to be happy, even if it's not you.
If you're reading this, and you still have time to make a change, go to her. Go to Sunagakure, and look all around the countryside. I don't have her address, but the same way you guys found each other 10 years ago, you can find your way back even now.
Good luck Sasuke-kun. Please don't make the same mistake a third time. Stay with her.
Sincerely,
Naori
The tears I shed stained the page. Even after her disappearance, she was still pushing me to be with Naruko. In my first timeline, she pushed me to marry my wife. When I met her again in this world 10 years ago, she wouldn't let me forget my love for Naruko. And even now, she was pushing me to find my wife one last time.
Thank you, Naori...
I quickly stood up from my bed and rushed to pack a bag. I stuffed her letter in my bag and took out my wedding ring. I placed the ring on my finger one last time, hoping to never take it off again.
I was going to find Naruko and make sure to never let her go again.
Hey guys!
So like last time, updates are gonna be almost impossible until April because of my uni classes, and my new job. I may be able to get a chapter in between now and April, but I'm not 100% sure.
Sorry for the slow updates, but school comes first.
But besides that, the story is reaching its conclusion very soon! I hope you enjoyed this story thus far and will continue to support my books in the future :)
Your author,
Lucky-chan