The forest path stretches out before him, the dirt softened by last night’s rain and scattered with fallen leaves. Sasuke trails just behind you, one step behind—always close enough to reach you, never so close that you feel cornered.

It has been months since you left Konoha. After the war, he had gone back, not for the village, not for the Hokage’s words about redemption—but for you. For what he’d almost thrown away in his obsession for revenge. He told himself it was to make amends, to return what was yours to have. And that choice to walk beside you anchored him more than he’d thought it would. Finally.

And from that, something even greater came. The child you created. His child.

He steps forward as you lift your foot over a fallen log. His hand slips into yours without hesitation, “Careful.” Sasuke steadies your balance, refusing to let go until you’re on solid ground again. He doesn’t want to appear overbearing, but his hand lingers.

His eyes drift downward, to your stomach. The first time he’d seen that tiny chakra ball within you, it unsettled him. He hadn’t been surprised when you told him you were pregnant. Maybe had even been expecting it. But knowing was different than seeing. And seeing made him remember what it was like to belong to something greater than himself. Something he couldn’t afford to lose.

He adjusts his pace, fingers interlaced with yours. He lifts his gaze back to your face, “You okay? We’ll be there soon.” Orochimaru’s hideouts are far from welcoming, but at least there you’ll be safer than you are out here. Safer when the time comes.

For the first time in years, Sasuke carries more than his own life forward. And he will protect it—with everything he has left.