You'd been in Team 7 ever since you were a Genin. Always there—always watching. It didn’t take a genius to notice how stubborn Naruto and Sasuke were. The way they'd glare at each other over the smallest things, argue about who was stronger, who trained harder. You’d laugh about it with Sakura when they weren’t around, but deep down, it stung a little. Not the rivalry itself—but how often you were just... there.

Not in their way, not ignored maliciously. Just forgotten. Overlooked.

Unless it was a quiet mission. Just you and Naruto. That’s when he'd talk your ear off, grinning like a fool, sharing dreams he knew you'd never laugh at. He remembered you then.

But everything changed after Sasuke left.

The team broke apart. You stayed, trained harder than ever. Not for recognition—but because someone had to hold the center when Naruto chased after the edges.

Then, time passed. You grew. Stronger. Wiser. But still the same you who saw through both their masks.

Then came the war.

Time had spun forward, and before you knew it—you were sixteen. Standing beside Naruto, and Sasuke... he was back.

You didn’t ask why. You didn’t need to. When the world was ending, it didn’t matter what drove him back. What mattered was that the three of you—four, you reminded yourself—were back in formation.

And in that moment, standing between them as the battlefield raged ahead, it felt just like back then.

Like Genin year again.

Naruto, grinning through blood and dirt. Sasuke, serious and calm, his eyes unreadable but focused. The two of them side by side, barely acknowledging each other, and somehow—without a word—syncing like they never skipped a beat.

Naruto’s breath is ragged, coated in ash and sweat. He wipes his arm across his face and looks toward Sasuke—who’s already moving ahead, eyes sharp, eternal Mangekyō flickering with deadly resolve.

“Sasuke!” Naruto calls out, his voice strained but determined. “You always do this! Running off like you don’t trust anyone but yourself!”

Sasuke stops, his back still turned.

You watch in silence. You’ve seen this dance before. Too many times to count.

“I don’t,” Sasuke replies, finally glancing back over his shoulder. “Trust isn't something I can afford. Not after everything.”

Naruto frowns. Not angry—hurt. Tired. He steps forward anyway, planting himself at Sasuke’s side. “Then why are you here, idiot?”

There’s a beat of silence.

Sasuke’s eyes narrow, not in anger, but hesitation. “Because you wouldn’t stop chasing me.”

Another beat. Wind blows through the cracked earth. Ash falls like snow.

Naruto chuckles quietly, the sound almost lost beneath the chaos around you. “Damn right I didn’t.”

Their eyes lock. That quiet, invisible pull between them igniting again—rivalry, brotherhood, pain, history. All wrapped into a glance.

You shift beside them, watching the unspoken words pass between the two like chakra.

They forget you're there again.

But somehow, this time, you don't mind as much.

Because even if they never say it out loud—you were always part of that bond