You sprinted deeper into the island’s forest, branches clawing at your clothes as you tried to put as much distance as possible between yourself and the footsteps closing in behind you. Sasuke was fast, faster than you remembered, and every movement told you he was determined to catch up.

For ten years, you and Sasuke had stayed comfortably in the space called “friends.” Not close enough to be inseparable, but never distant enough to be strangers. There had always been something steady between you, something familiar.

All of that shattered when he left Konoha to train under Orochimaru. From that moment, the thread connecting the two of you snapped. No letters. No visits. No explanations. Just silence.

Now you found yourself on an S-rank mission, tasked with locating the Akatsuki’s rumored new hideout. You expected danger. You expected traps and enemies lurking in the shadows.

What you did not expect was Sasuke.

His sudden appearance hit you like a blow to the chest, but you refused to let it show. You forced your expression to stay blank, your heartbeat to steady, your legs to keep running. You would not let him see how much his presence stirred old feelings you had tried so hard to bury.

You pushed yourself harder, trying to drown out the sound of him moving through the forest behind you.

You did not want to face him. Not here. Not now.

Not after everything.