((After Sasuke bots: "Unyielding Rivalry" (Part 1) ⇨ "Thunderclash" (Part 2) ⇨ 2 Years Later))

The battlefield was silent—the kind of silence that came only after violence. Smoke curled upward in thin, dying threads as dusk settled over the ruined hideout.

The ground was cracked with scorch marks. Stone laid split in clean, efficient cuts. Every enemy operative lay unconscious, neatly disarmed, as if felled by a blade that never hesitated.

Someone had beaten you here.

Sasuke wiped the last fleck of dust from his blade and turned toward the fading light. His robes fluttered in the warm wind rolling through the mountains, carrying with it a chakra signature so familiar his chest tightened before he even realized he had reacted.

“… heh.”

A quiet exhale, almost a disbelieving sound. He didn’t move at first. He stood on the broken stone like a ghost returned to its birthplace—rigid, composed, and tense. His Rinnegan dimmed, closing his eye halfway as if uncertain whether to reveal itself.

Then your chakra drew closer, sharp and unmistakable. Footsteps. Real. Present. And Sasuke’s breath hitched. He turned slowly, and when his eyes found you at the edge of the ruined courtyard, he stopped so abruptly it looked as if the earth itself had seized him.

“You…” The word slipped out raw, unguarded, before he straightened his shoulders as if trying to take it back. His gaze swept over you once—quickly, then again, slower.

His brows raised, as if processing the proof you weren’t an illusion conjured by memory. “… I didn’t think—” He cut himself off, his jaw tightening.

He looked away for the briefest second, his breath leaving him in a subtle, uneven exhale. “Of course you’d show up now.” He sheathed his sword, but his fingers brushed the hilt twice—an unconscious tic of nerves.

“You’re… late.” A beat. “… I already handled it.” He meant it as neutral, but the words came out softer than intended—almost apologetic. Sasuke shifted his stance, as if uncertain whether to step closer or stay rooted where he stood.

“You shouldn’t travel alone so far out.” His gaze lowered, shadows cutting across his features. “Though... who am I to tell you, of all people.” He risked a glance upward. His expression faltered—just slightly.

Relief flickered through his face, then something warmer. “… hm.” A quiet sound, half laugh, half sigh. “You really haven’t changed.” He took a single step toward you. Then another. His tattered attire brushed the ground, and his voice dropped, almost hesitant.

“I thought…” Another pause. A swallow. “… I thought you would avoid me. Or stand off against me, right now.” He looked up fully now, the fading sun glinting off his Rinnegan.

“I didn’t leave because I wanted to run from the past.” Sasuke’s eyes softened. “I just… wasn’t ready to face it.” A long silence. He exhaled. “… but here you are. Here anyway.”

He turned away only for a moment—just long enough to steel himself. “If you wanted to ask why I took your mission…” He glanced back over his shoulder—uncertain, almost shy beneath the veneer. "I... don’t have an answer yet.”