I ran around the town looking for Sasuke. I spoke to every person I could and searched the area of my grandfather's favorite bar multiple times. I didn't know where he was, but I had to find him before he did something stupid.

I took a seat at the roof-covered bus stop, exhausted and soaked from running across town in the rain. I had looked everywhere, and no one had seen him. I sighed, angry, and both him and myself for being back in this chase. But I had to find him no matter what. Something inside of me was causing me to worry.

Think Naruko...If I were Sasuke, where would I go?

I thought for a while, and then it hit me. When I came back from Konoha, I was at my lowest point. I spent days locked up in my room, crying as I thought of how broken my life had become. I hurt all of my loved ones, and Naori had to suffer back home while I ran away from Konoha.

All the baggage I held onto was beginning to affect me mentally, and I had no one to talk to about it. I distanced myself from Sakura, I stopped going to Ichiraku's, I never fought with Kiba again, and I avoided Kakashi-senpai due to guilt.

Naori had her own problems with the Uchiha estate, and I couldn't keep imposing my troubles on her. So I bottled everything inside until I broke.

I was alone. I was sad. And I wanted the pain to go away.

I sighed, thinking of the actions of my past. If it wasn't for Gaara, who had walked by the bridge that day, who knows where I would be right now...

Suddenly, it hit me. The uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach grew as I thought about Sasuke. I need to find him now!

Sasuke P.O.V

I shouldn't be here anymore...

I stared at the water that ran at the bottom of the bridge with lifeless eyes. I was tired. I was tired of ruining everything. I was hurting everyone, and the only way to stop my destructive cycle was to disappear forever.

The loss of emotions from this timeline's Sasuke was beginning to engulf my heart. In just an hour, I would no longer remember Naruko, and that was for the best.

My hands clenched the rail of the bridge as I felt the pouring rain touch my skin. I cried, knowing that I had hurt the one person that meant the most to me and there was no way of fixing this. Time-traveling was a mistake and a burden I was not prepared to hold. I should have never left...I'm sorry I did this...

I began to lean over the railing of the bridge, hoping to fall peacefully. Everyone would be better off without me...

"Sasuke!"

As I began to fall over the rail, I glanced in the direction of my name. My eyes widened in shock as my tears continued to flow. Naruko...?

She ran desperately in my direction. "Sasuke!" she cried while trying to reach me. Her body leaned over the rail, and her hand stretched over, signaling me to reach for her.

No matter what timeline I was in, my wife always appeared when I needed her the most. She first came into my life and saved me from the Uchiha curse, and now, she's trying to save a worthless life like mine. But I couldn't let her do that.

I shook my head as I grew closer to the water. 'I'm sorry,' I mouthed in her direction.

She bit her lip angrily before hopping over the rail to save me. "Stop running away from me, Sasuke!"

My eyes widened at her reckless actions. "No-!" In seconds, my body hit the water aggressively, causing my breath to slip and my body to sink. This is it-

I allowed myself to be taken by the water, but fear consumed my heart as the water began to suffocate me. One last time, I began to pray, hoping my wife would leave here alive and forget about me. No one needs me. I ruin everything.

Accepting the end, I began to close my eyes. Yet, the feeling of my wife's warm hands and her desperate touch awoke me. She closed her eyes and kissed me, filling my lungs with air. Why can't she stop coming after me...?

She then wrapped her arms around me, pulling me to safety above the water.

"Are you stupid?!" she yelled angrily as I coughed up water.

"Why would you even do that?! What would have happened if I wasn't here?! It's raining, the waters going crazy, and you-you jumped! Why?!" Her eyes pored with tears with every yell. "Why would you try to end your life-your precious life!"

"It's not precious-"

"Yes, it is, damn it!" She kneeled before me, wrapping her arms around me. "Your life means so much, Sasuke."

I rested my head on her shoulder, keeping my arms away from her. "My life is meaningless, Naruko...I ruined everything. I hurt everyone, including you and Naori. I lost everything that was good in my life because I thought I was being selfless, but I was just another selfish Uchiha..."

I cried softly, "I just want the pain to away..." I clenched the dirt in frustration. I wanted to hold her, but I couldn't. If I were to feel her warmth in my arms one last time, I wouldn't be able to let go again.

"Sasuke, doing that won't take the pain away. Trust me, I know..."

The pain in my heart began to intensify at the thought of the pain I had caused her. "I'm sorry Naruko...I didn't mean for any of this to happen...I just wanted you to be happy."

"I know..."

I began to melt in her arms. The sound of her heartbeat sent shivers down my spine. Despite everything, I couldn't help but feel grateful to be in her arms again. Closing my eyes, I took in the moment. I missed you...No-!

My eyes shot open, and I quickly pushed her away. I can't-I can't let myself get attached again!

"What's wrong?" she asked in shock. "Why did you push me away-?"

"Please, just let me go!" I yelled frantically. Tears began to escape as the rain began to pour down even heavier than before.

Her shocked expression quickly turned into a menacing glare. "I did let you go, idiot! I even left Konoha so I wouldn't see you again, you stupid jerk!"

"Then why are you even here?!"

"To stop you from doing something stupid!"

"I didn't need you to save me. You should have just moved on-!"

"I did move on!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "You're the one that couldn't truly let me go! If you could, you wouldn't be here right now!"

I was taken aback by her remark. She was right. If only I was truly able to let her go, I wouldn't have been searching for her the past week. She was able to let me go, but I couldn't. I was the one who wanted for us to never be together again, yet here I was, being a selfish and hypocritical Uchiha.

The sound of the thunder and the crashing waves broke the silence between us.

I couldn't look her in the eyes. I was ashamed, guilty, and angry with myself. I'm a fucking hypocrite...

I raised my hands to my eyes, crying at my idiocy. My clothes were soaked, my heart was broken, and my mind was wounded. But the warmth I abruptly felt broke my spirit even more. I could feel her body against mine as she embraced me again.

"Naruko, let go..." I muttered.

"No!" I heard her yell. Her embrace tightened. "Not this time, Sasuke! We're gonna do this my way!" She pulled my hands away from my face with a frown. "It's time you listened to your wife for a change."

She then took my hand and pulled me to shelter underneath the bridge.

The two of us sat beside each other, leaning against the concrete foundation of the bridge. She sneezed, shivering from the cold.

"I can't believe I'm gonna catch a cold," she complained while rubbing her arms.

I stayed silent, keeping my distance from her. The rain continued to pour, and the water began to slowly rise.

"It's a good thing I saved you when I did...I wouldn't have been able to do anything now," she spoke, breaking the silence.

The atmosphere was tense, almost unbreathable. Sitting next to Naruko after everything we had gone through was hard. Just hearing her voice was enough to break me. I just need to forget her...When I do, maybe I won't be in pain anymore-

"Stop," she said. She slowly looked at me with a frown. "Whatever you're thinking about, I need you to stop."

She then shifted herself towards me, yet I moved away. She grunted, shifting again in my direction, but I moved away again. She sighed, taking my hand and pulling me in her direction.

"Naruko-?!"

She hugged my arm with one hand and held my hand with the other, keeping me close to her.

"Naruko...I can't-"

"Five minutes," she sniffled while laying her head on my shoulder, "I just want to hold you one last time..."

I looked away, allowing my tears to fall as I intertwined my fingers with hers. "Five minutes," I mumbled.

It was cold, yet the warmth of her hand was enough to warm my heart. This time, I allowed myself to cherish our moment. I moved closer to her and rested my head over hers. Just this last time...I want to be near you before I forget...

"I missed you, ya know?" she whispered.

I squeezed her hand lightly while nodding my head.

"Still as silent as ever, huh?" she chuckled.

A small smile crossed my face as I heard her small laugh.

"By the way," she started, "Naori wanted me to tell you something if I ever saw you again."

I jumped at the mention of her name. "Naori...?"

"Yup."

I looked at her anxiously, hoping it was a clue to her sudden disappearance six years ago.

"She wanted me to tell you...'I told you so.'"

"Huh?"

Naruko began to laugh at my annoyed expression. "If you could only see your face!"

I let go of her hand and crossed my arms. "Is this some sort of joke? I hear she's been missing for six years, and this is the message she left me. Hn..."

She pushed me gently with a smile. "Relax, Sasuke. Naori's fine!"

My eyes widened in shock. "She's...okay...?"

"Okay?" Naruko asked sarcastically, "That deviant princess is thriving!"

"Really?"

"Mhm! I helped her escape on the day of her wedding. I went back to Konoha for the first time in almost two years just to help her. I dyed and cut her hair and even let her borrow some of my clothes. I told my gramps the situation, and he helped us arrange everything!"

I sighed, feeling at peace with Naori's disappearance. However, the fact that she had asked Jiraiya to help her caused my heart to sink. She asked Jiraiya-san for help when it came to Naori, but why didn't she let me call him when she needed him the most...?

"Naori's traveling the world now! She sends me postcards every other month, and-Sasuke...? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I replied while trying to hide my bitterness.

She frowned, seeing through my lie. "Sasuke, I know when there's something wrong. You make that stupid face where you look like an angsty teenager."

My cheeks flushed pink in embarrassment. "No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do!" A smile crept onto her face. "Come on, just tell me."

I sighed, knowing I couldn't say no to her. "Remember when I told you that in our previous future, you were dying?"

"Yeah..."

"When you were sick, I wanted to ask Jiraiya-san for help. We were about to be evicted from our home, we had no money, and you needed to be on bed rest because of your complicated pregnancy. We needed a place to stay; we needed help. But you didn't want me to call your grandfather. You wanted us to figure out the situation on our own, but we needed the help..." I clenched my hand into a fist from frustration, but the touch of my wife's hand over mine softened my heart.

I watched her shake her head with a sigh. "It's funny...You blame yourself for everything that happened to us, but it's also my fault..."

For the first time, I began to think of my wife's faults. The whole time I was blaming myself for everything that happened, but I never once thought that she was also to blame. We were both making destructive decisions that brought our future to an end. "I...I never thought about it like that..."

"Of course not...You were too madly in love with me to think I was anything but perfect," she replied with a truthful joke.

I turned to face her, staring into her eyes as I smiled weakly: "For once, I think your small brain is actually onto something."

We both smiled, and our hands slowly went back to each other's hold.

"You know," she began, "I don't think your time's Naruko was being truthful with you."

Started by her sudden confession, I looked at her in shock. "What do you mean?"

She squeezed my hand nervously before sighing. "I had left for Konoha for high school because my gramps wasn't doing too good. Granny Tsunade had gotten married, and he broke down from a broken heart. He was rarely home, and when he was, he was drunk...I had always blamed myself for his lack of a love life because he was busy raising me and working, so I left for Konoha so he could have the life he never had.

I had stopped all my contact with him because I was determined to live independently so he could do the same, and if I hadn't gone back to Konoha after graduation, I don't think our relationship would have ever been fixed. Heh, I mean, we hadn't brought up our past until now! But I'm glad we finally talked about it...

But yeah, my past self probably kept avoiding her gramps because of guilt. That's probably why she never wanted to reach out for him." She shook her head in frustration. "I was so stupid...I should have just talked with my pervy grandpa."

I gripped the hem of my coat in anger. I was married to her for seven years, and I didn't know about this...I was only focused on myself-

"It's not your fault," she said, "It was mine for never telling you."

The two of us sat in an awkward silence when she suddenly called out to me. "Sasuke...?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry..."

I raised a brow in confusion. "For what?"

"For finding happiness without you..."

I gave a weak smile before letting her hand go. "I heard...His name's Gaara, right?"

"Yeah, but-I swore to myself that I would never date anyone unless it was you, but he grew on me...I'm sorry-"

"Don't be sorry for being happy again, Naruko. Your happiness is mine, so it doesn't matter if I find any or not."

She moved her hand away and slowly began to move away from me. "Don't say that, dummy. You deserve to find love again too."

I chuckled sadly. "I can't." This timeline's Sasuke is too far gone...

She was about to protest when I brought up her current boyfriend. "So, Gaara...what's he like?"

She squinted her eyes in annoyance. "Hmm, well, he's the sweetest, most wholesome guy ever; He has a nephew named Shikadai, and he's the cutest lil human in the world! His siblings are also a blast to be around, especially his sister. She's actually married to a guy from my high school back in Konoha. Haha, it's a small world-Oh, and-!" She began to play with her frizzy wet hair, "I'm getting married."

A sincere smile crossed her face as she thought about her new lover. As my heart began to ache, I quickly looked away before my expression gave away my emotions. "That's great."

"Mhm...But you know what would have been even greater?"

"A ring?" I asked sarcastically. She didn't have on a ring, so her sudden marriage announcement caught me off guard.

"I do have a ring!"

"Then where is it?" I asked while turning to frown at her.

She laughed awkwardly, tugging on her hair. "It's on my desk..."

I shook my head. "Might as well have said no."

"No! It's just-I was scared and-Ugh! I swear I love him!" she yelled in a fluster.

A laugh escaped from my mouth. I raised my hand and gave her a pat on the head. I'm glad that you're back to normal.

"I wish you two the best," I whispered with a smile.

She returned my smile and wrapped her arms around me. "Sasuke...I love Gaara, but I still care for you. You were my soul mate," she breathed. "My biggest regret was listening to you. I wanted to believe we could still work, but you didn't even want to try...I ...I just hope you're happy as well. You deserve to be happy just as much as me..."

"I don't matter-"

"Oh my gosh-Yes, you do! Why can't you see your happiness is just as important as mine?! Why can't you just be selfish for once-?!"

"Because my selfishness started all of this!" I yelled angrily with tears in my eyes. "My selfishness and my insecurities as a man all lead to this. I don't deserve to be happy after all I put you through-!"

She glared at me angrily before slapping me across the face. "Get over yourself!" she yelled angrily.

I held my hurt cheek in my hand in shock.

"Why do you keep doing that? Yeah, sure, you made a freakin' huge mistake, but time has continued to move, and all of this should be ancient history. It's time to stop blaming yourself for something you had no control over. Anyone who was in your place would have been feeling scared or even insecure, but you chose this, and now you need to live with it.

It's passed. Everyone's moving on, and now it's time you do the same...You need to let this go...You need to let me go..."

"I did-"

"No. You didn't."

I looked at her and then at the ground. "I...I don't want to...but I don't have a choice." I wiped my eyes quickly before any more tears left. "Once it's midnight, I will finally lose all my memories of you..."

Her hand slowly reached for my cheek. She held my face in her hands, bringing my gaze to her. "Because I Love you, I had to let you go and move on so you could be happy. You had told me the same thing 10 years ago, but you still haven't been able to completely let me go...Maybe...Maybe it's best if you do forget about me..."

"But-"

"I'm the reason why you can't move on...Maybe that memory wipe thing isn't so bad? This way, you can have a clean start."

Her words stung but told the truth. Suddenly, the time machine that remained in my bag began to vibrate. I slowly reached for the gadget and took it out. I stared at the small machine that lay in my hands. Then, Naruko placed her hand over the gadget.

"It's time to let go," she whispered.

The rain began to let up, and soon it stopped. I looked over at the water and then back at the machine. It was time to move on.

Naruko P.O.V

We watched the small machine sink into the bottom of the water. It was over. The time travel, the pain that came from the consequences, us-it was all over.

"I can't believe it's gone," he said in awe.

"It's for the best...all that machine did was break things instead of fixing them."

He nodded his head, still unable to take his gaze away from the water.

The sky was dark, yet the stars tried their hardest to illuminate the sky. No matter how hard the stars tried to help brighten the sky, the moon was what was needed to bring light to the sky, but it hid behind the storm's clouds. The stars-no-I could no longer be Sasuke's light. He needs to find his new moon.

I grabbed onto his hand and pulled him away from the shore. "Let's dance!" I stated while trying to change the mood.

"Naruko-"

"It'll be like our small dance from 10 years ago. I was wearing the pretty orange dress, remember?" I began to hum a random tune and swing our arms around.

"Naruko, I'm not in the mood..."

I continued to hum, hoping to lighten the mood, but instead, tears began to run down my cheeks. I stopped moving. The strength I presented disappeared, and all I could do was cry. I'm never going to see him again...

As I cried, I felt his arms embrace me one last time. "It's your turn to cry," he whispered.

Ten years ago, I thought I would never see him again. I spent the last few years trying to better myself, and Gaara was the person who stood by me no matter what I had put him through. He was patient and caring, and he taught me how to love again. Unlike Sasuke, he really stayed by my side through thick and thin.

If only Sasuke and I would have communicated more, we could have still been together, and none of this time travel crap would have happened. Maybe we were just too young at the time, or we just met at the wrong time? Either way, it was too late.

"You're so stupid!" I cried angrily, "Why couldn't you have trusted me?"

He held me tighter, allowing me to shout all the pent-up anger I had held in for the last 10 years. When I had finally run out of tears and curses to yell, he wiped the tears from my eyes. "Stupid Uchiha," I whispered.

He chuckled while tucking my hair behind my ear. "I'm sorry for being selfish."

"You're an Uchiha," I began, "You were made to be selfish." I raised two fingers towards his forehead and tapped him. "Dumb jerk."

We shared a bittersweet smile before engaging in our final embrace.

"I love you, Sasuke..."

"I love you, Naruko..."

I hope you find your moon.

I whispered one final time, "I hope in our next life, we'll be together."

He brought me in closer, never wanting to let me go. "I know we will...I was born to be with you..."

As I took in our final moment, I was suddenly pushed away. There was a coldness to his eyes that sent fear into my soul. "Who are you?" he asked in disgust.

My heart dropped as I realized that he no longer remembered me. "I-"

"Where am I?" he asked coldly while looking around in disgust. He pinched his nose, looking completely repulsed. "What is that smell? And why am I soaked?!"

My heart trembled in pain. Sasuke...

I shook my head, knowing I had to play along. I then gave my best smile before smacking his shoulder playfully. "You sober up quick, huh, mister?!" I laughed.

"Sober up?"

"You were as drunk as a sailor! You even came up to me and hugged me like a weirdo," I added while rolling my eyes.

He stared at me, unconvinced. "Why am I here?"

"Beats me, mister. I came down here because you accidentally fell into the water. You should be glad I saved your life."

His brows began to furrow as he dug into his pockets in a panic. "Crap, my phone-! What day is it?!"

"Day-?"

"Tell me now!"

I panicked while trying to remember the date. "I think it's the 7th-?"

He yelled angrily before running away. "I have a meeting in Amegakure today!"

"Y-you can take the bullet train there! Suna isn't that far from Amegakure," I yelled as he got farther away.

"Suna?" he asked in confusion while stopping. "Why am I in Suna?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Beats me, mister."

He rubbed his temples in frustration before asking me for my name.

I blinked a few times in confusion. "What-?"

"Your name."

"Oh uh, Naruk-I mean, Naru. My name is Naru."

"Naru?"

I nodded my head. "Yup!"

"Th-thank you...Naru..." With those final words, he ran off.

As I watched him run farther away from me, I wanted to call out to him and hold him again, but I knew I couldn't. A bittersweet smile crossed over my face, knowing there was no way to go back. Goodbye, Sasuke.

I sighed loudly while looking at the water. "He doesn't even know my real name." And that was for the best...Knowing him, he would try to find me because I'm so stunningly beautiful, heh!

Tears began to slide down my cheeks again. "Ugh, I th-thought I was d-done crying!"

While I wiped my tears away, I saw a strange blue light coming from the water. What is that...?

Curiosity grew, so I began to approach the water. But as soon as I looked down, everything went white.