2: Chasing Shadows

All of all the time he could've come back..?

Why now?

The thought of him wanting to do something horrible to the leaf village flashes my mind.

His eyes crossed mine as he walked past the rest room with a black shadow lingering on his shoulder down to his steps.

Naruto was speechless as to what have happened to Sasuke in the past 7 years where he had gone missing. Could Orochimaru had cast a curse on him?

Quickly turning his shoulder back to face Sasuke's back, Naruto grabbed his shirt while still on the floor unable to stand.

Sasuke looked back with a glare.

"Fuck off." As he said with a cold tone.

Cold breeze stroke Naruto's hand.

I didn't remember him being this cold, he pondered.

Naruto's fingers trembled against the fabric of Sasuke's shirt. His grip was weak—his body still reeling from the shock of seeing him again, of feeling that overwhelming presence standing in the same space as him after seven years.

Sasuke had always been cold, distant. But this? This was different.

This was emptiness.

Sasuke's glare burned into him, his expression unreadable. He didn't yank his shirt away, didn't strike Naruto's hand off—he simply stood there, the dark shadow clinging to his frame like an extension of himself.

A curse? No. This was deeper than that.

Naruto swallowed, his throat dry. "Sasuke…" His voice was hoarse, uncertain. "Where the hell have you been?"

Sasuke scoffed, turning his head forward again. "That's none of your business."

His voice was sharper than the kunai Naruto used to carry in his pouch as a kid—cutting, final.

But Naruto didn't let go.

He gritted his teeth, forcing his legs to move. His knees ached as he struggled to his feet, still gripping the back of Sasuke's shirt like it was the only thing keeping him grounded.

"Like hell it isn't," Naruto snapped. "You were gone, bastard. For seven years! You vanished! No word. No trace. You think you can just waltz back in and—"

Sasuke twisted, grabbing Naruto's wrist in a movement so fast Naruto barely saw it.

The air shifted.

Naruto stiffened, feeling the ice in Sasuke's touch, the unnatural cold that seeped through his skin and ran down his spine.

It wasn't just the years that had changed Sasuke.

Something else lived inside him now.

"You're still the same," Sasuke murmured, his fingers tightening just enough to make Naruto's pulse jump.

His Sharingan flickered to life, glowing dimly in the low light of the hallway. "Still chasing after ghosts. Still clinging to things that should've been left behind."

Naruto's breath hitched. His gut twisted at the way Sasuke looked at him—not like a rival, not like a friend. But like something distant. Something already lost.

Naruto clenched his jaw. "Then tell me," he demanded, his voice low, rough. "Tell me what the hell happened to you. Or do I have to beat it out of you like last time?"

Sasuke's lips curled slightly at the edges, something resembling amusement—twisted, dark, unreadable.

"You couldn't touch me even if you tried."

And then, in an instant, Sasuke let go, stepping back, letting Naruto stumble forward from the sudden release. The cold that had wrapped around Naruto's wrist vanished, leaving only the memory of it behind.

Naruto looked up, but Sasuke was already walking away, the black shadow still following him like a whisper of something unnatural.

"You should've let me stay gone."

And with that, Sasuke disappeared down the hall, leaving Naruto standing in the silence, heart pounding, mind racing.

Because for the first time in his life, Naruto wasn't sure if the person who came back was really Sasuke at all.

Naruto stood frozen, his pulse hammering in his ears. Sasuke's words still clung to the air between them, but it wasn't just his voice that unsettled him—it was the way he moved, the way the darkness coiled around him like it was alive.

This wasn't the Sasuke he remembered.

But he still couldn't let him walk away.

With a sharp breath, Naruto pushed forward, grabbing Sasuke's wrist this time—firm, unyielding. "You think I'll just let you leave again?" he growled.

Sasuke stilled. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, he turned.

And before Naruto could react, Sasuke was there—close, too close, their faces barely inches apart.

The air between them crackled, charged with something neither of them spoke aloud.

Naruto's breath caught as Sasuke's hand moved, fingers ghosting over his throat. A touch so light it sent an involuntary shiver down his spine.

His fingertips traced the faint scar there—the one Naruto had gotten in their last battle, the one Sasuke had given him.

Naruto swallowed hard, but he didn't move away.

Sasuke's lips parted, his breath barely brushing against Naruto's skin. "You always do this," he murmured, voice low, unreadable. "You always chase me, no matter how far I go."

Naruto's fingers tightened around Sasuke's wrist. "Because you always run."

Sasuke huffed a quiet, humorless chuckle. His fingers trailed higher, brushing along Naruto's jaw, tilting his face just slightly. His touch was ice—cold, foreign, but deliberate.

"And what will you do," Sasuke whispered, "if I don't stop running?"

Naruto didn't hesitate.

He grabbed the front of Sasuke's cloak and pulled—closing the last bit of space between them. Their foreheads nearly touched, breaths mingling.

"I'll chase you," Naruto swore, voice rough with something raw, something real. "Again and again. No matter how far. No matter where you go."

Sasuke's fingers twitched against his skin. His eyes searched Naruto's—something flickering in their depths, something fragile beneath the walls he had built.

Then, just as quickly as he had closed the distance, Sasuke leaned in even closer, his lips brushing the shell of Naruto's ear as he whispered—

"You really are an idiot."

And with a sharp, swift movement, he was gone, slipping from Naruto's grasp as if he had never been there at all.

Naruto sucked in a breath, his fingers still curled around empty air. His heart pounded, his skin tingling where Sasuke had touched him.

He clenched his fists.

Sasuke could run.

But Naruto would find him again.