Sasuke sat still in her bindings, silent as a tomb.
“So,” she finally said, voice devoid of weight, “if I refuse… I die. That’s it, right?”
“Yeah,” Kakashi replied quietly.
There was no dramatics, no softening of the truth.
He knew better than to insult her with lies.
Sasuke tilted her head back slightly, visor pressing into the wall behind her.
Cold stone against her scalp, cold steel wrapped around her pride.
It should’ve made her feel something.
Anything.
But there was just… stillness.
It made sense, in a way.
She hadn’t planned on living this long anyway.
She had lived her life by the edge of her blade, in shadows and vengeance.
She had gutted every joy she might’ve had with her own hands.
She killed the brother who died with a smile on his face, not for his own peace but for hers.
And even after knowing the truth, what did she do?
She waged war on the very people he protected.
She’d turned her back on everyone—Kakashi, Sakura, the entire village.
Even Naruto.
Naruto.
She tried to kill him too.
More than once.
And still… he came after her.
Every.
Single.
Time.
He lost his hand in their final fight.
If it weren’t for Tsunade and Naruto’s own relentless spirit, he might’ve been disabled forever.
And what had she done to deserve that loyalty?
Nothing.
No, worse than nothing.
She had spat on his friendship, thrown his love back at him, laughed in the face of every hand he extended.
And now they wanted to give her back a life?
She wasn’t blind to her sins.
She wasn’t deluded enough to think herself worthy of mercy.
And even if she survived, married, freed—what then?
The world would whisper behind her back.
Some would shout it out loud.
The murderer.
The traitor.
The monster Uchiha.
There would be no peace.
Only tension.
Only suspicion.
And Naruto… he deserved someone radiant, someone kind.
Someone who hadn’t drowned the world in blood.
Not someone like her.
She wasn’t even that pretty.
She was scarred.
Emotionally twisted.
Riddled with regrets and guilt.
Her body was lean and sharp like a blade, not soft and inviting like the girls Naruto could easily have if he wanted.
And emotionally?
She didn’t know what love even looked like anymore.
Let alone how to give it back.
As if reading her mind, Sakura leaned forward, voice clear and cutting.
“You’re thinking too much,” she said.
“We all know that Naruto’s always been obsessed with you.”
Sasuke flinched.
That word—obsessed—landed like a stone in her gut.
“Who else,” Sakura continued, “would chase a friend across the world? Get beaten by some random Rain shinobi while already bleeding out—just because he wouldn’t give up on you?”
Kakashi’s voice followed, calm as ever.
“Who else begs the Raikage on his knees not to kill a friend? And almost starts a war just to keep you alive?”
“You didn’t have anyone,” Sakura said softly.
“But he was always there. Even when we gave up, he didn’t.”
Sasuke’s mouth twitched.
“That doesn’t make it love. He’s just a fool.”
“T-that was an accident!” Sasuke snapped, actual heat rising to her cheeks for the first time in… gods, she didn’t even know.
“In the Academy, yeah,” Kakashi said, amused.
“But it still counts. And you were his too. I’d bet my pension.”
Sasuke grit her teeth.
“That means nothing.”
“Then why do you care?” Sakura said gently.
“Why haven’t you just told us to get lost?”
Sasuke had no answer.
And in that silence, the weight returned.
Thicker.
Heavier.
Kakashi’s voice was no longer playful.
“We don’t have much time. The Union wants a decision. What is your answer?”
The air in the cell turned brittle.
Sasuke turned her face away slightly, the side of her cheek pressing to the inner lining of the visor.
The quiet stretched out until her voice finally reached them, steady and soft.
“Give me a night.”
Kakashi nodded.
“Alright.”
“But remember,” Sakura added, kneeling slightly closer, her hand ghosting near Sasuke’s restrained fingers, “if anything happens to you, if you give up now… everything Naruto endured for you, every sacrifice—would become meaningless.”
“He’ll suffer more than anyone else,” Kakashi said, solemn now.
“Again.”
They stood, their footsteps echoing as they retreated.
The cell door creaked closed behind them, locking the silence back in with her.
Sasuke sat there, still swaddled in her bindings, alone in darkness.
And for the first time in years, she felt something crawl into her throat.
Not regret.
Not fear.
But something small.
Something tender.
A flicker.
And it sounded just a little like… Naruto.