Chapter 22
The words hit him like a ton of bricks.
Naruto stared at the red fox in silence and unmoving. He had spoken the words with such confidence, like it was something he had to know, and it took Naruto a moment to realize what it meant. It felt like a punch to the gut
His eyes were on the sun.
The day wasn’t over yet, the sun was still in the sky.
Without a second thought, he ran.
The gates, the demon world, nothing mattered – even the power to break the curse. He was driven by fear alone; The fear and despair of being too late.
As fast as his legs carried him, he ran back to the portal that had led him into this world. He could do it. No, he had to do it. He had to see him again.
He had to see that it was a lie.
It couldn't be true. It couldn't be!
He had promised to come back and show him the world.
The fear inside him pushed him further. Fear and regret. Why? Why had no one told him that time passed at different speeds in their worlds?
"SASUKEEEE!"
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He didn't know what it was that made him climb the mountain all the time; Taking on the road only to realize that Naruto hadn't returned.
The blind man remembered that his friend hadn‘t retuned no matter how long he had been waiting for him.
Not that evening and not in the many, endless hours afterwards.
Days, weeks, months, and finally years had passed. All that time he had been waiting for him; Waiting for something that would never come, leaving him to his own gruelling thoughts - thoughts that still occupied his mind.
Why did he let him go? Why hadn't he told him that he wanted to be with him? Had he been too scared? Was he afraid to let him get too close and finally too deep inside his heart?
The pendant Naruto had given him comforted him, and yet it was as if a part of his heart had disappeared with the demon that day.
What was he thinking to believe the demon would come back?
Maybe there was a reason why he didn't come back. Maybe it was the power that overwhelmed him or maybe, had he ... forgotten him? He’s gone through the same thoughts countless times already. He would never get an answer.
It was an icy, snowy winter day on which the Uchiha made his way to the summit again. His slender body was pale and the wrinkled face was now surrounded by white, stray hair. A light beard encircled the bony face, which was already slightly sunken and the once gray irides shimmered almost as white as the snow that covered the vast landscape.
It took all of Sasuke's strength to climb this path. A path he had climbed for the first time almost a hundred years ago. A path that had given him so many years of pain, suffering and lost hope, and yet the blind man refused to give up the hope that his friend would return; Hope that seemed to be demanding it’s price after all this time.
He had stopped counting how many moons and seasons had passed by. All this time he had hoped that the fox's loud, even obnoxious voice would pull him out of his sleep and his warmth would envelop him. A voice he hardly remembered after all these years. It faded slowly from his memory, like the warmth Naruto had given him all this time ago.
Breathing heavy, the old man sunk into the snow.
It was time. His time had come.
Sasuke's bony fingers closed tightly on the now almost colorless talisman that Naruto had left him.
The demon's energy that had protected him all this time had been used up.
Like a magical hourglass, it seemed to have extended his lifetime by half a century, because humans didn't even live half as long as he did. The warmth emanating from Naruto's jewelry faded between Sasukes fingers, like the time it had given him.
Sasuke leaned back thoughtfully, his back pressed against the icy stone on which the white fox spirit had once sat. He felt it. His time had come.
A thin, sorrowful smile settled on his lips before he slowly tilted his head back and turned his blind irides toward the sky.
"I'm sorry, Naruto but I think ... I can't wait any longer."
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Pain. A dull, stabbing pain throbbed in the chest of the fox demon when he saw the memories of the man rushing past. In his mind he had called for Sasuke, wanted to see his life. The time Sasuke had spent alone; Time that even a demon could not bring back.
>> He’s not coming back. Maybe he got lost? Probably. He is an idiot. He's probably lost. <<
Sasuke smiled with amusement at he thought of Naruto wandering aimlessly through the demon world. As usual, he hadn't thought it through properly.
Slowly he rose from his place on the hill and hiked back home. He would come back tomorrow. The blond had probably lost track of time.
>> He’s not coming back. Why am I still walking this path? He won't come back. Surely he has already forgotten me. <<
Sasuke shook his head as he climbed the hill again after two years; Years in which he had waited so desperately, in vain. Would he come back today? Would he ever return?
>> Naruto. I'm here. I am waiting for you and I will ... not stop waiting. Why won’t you come back? What happened in that world? It's been ten years now. The people around me are already starting to die. I don't know how much time I have left. <<
„Sasuke! Sasuke! Wait for me! I'm coming! I am so sorry! Please ... please ... just give me a little more time! I‘m coming back!"
>> I wanted to tell you. All that time I wanted to tell you, Naruto. I wanted to tell you what you mean to me. I wanted to tell you to stay with me and now you've been gone for fifty years. I should never have let you go, because now I can neither hear nor feel you. If I hadn't wished to see you, you would still be here. <<
The adult smiled wistfully and leaned his head against the small rock behind him. Another day had passed. Another day the demon hadn't returned.
He regretted so much, and yet it was impossible for him to change anything about these things.
He was gone, his beloved demon.
Naruto's muscles and lungs burned, seemed to be on fire. The blond had been running back the winding paths until the portal that would return him to the human world appeared before his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Naruto but I think ... I can't wait any longer."
"Open up!"
The blonde screamed at the gate from afar.
With a long, powerful jump he broke through the portal and felt the icy, soft snow beneath him the next moment.
Tumbling over, he crashed into one of the huge piles of snow, sticking his head out and looking around panicked.
"Sasuke!"
His clear voice echoed through the cold atmosphere and echoed back just as cool.
His heart in his throat, his eyes darted around in terror.
"Sasuke! Where are you? Sasuke! Sas- "
Naruto paused.
The snow crunched under his feet as he approached the pale body that leaned motionless against the stone on which he had last seen him.
The talisman was empty.
Naruto's blue soul mirrors vibrated in shock as the image burned itself into his mind and the icy wind of that cold winter night whirled around him, making him realize that there was no turning back.
A desperate tremor seized the demon's body before the wet regret ran down his cheeks and the loss finally brought him to his knees.
It was too late.
In this deadly silent night
snow falls on my outstretched hand
and as the snow melts on my skin
you fade
Once more, only once
Say my name
Even if I scream now
my voice cannot reach you anymore.
Forever trapped in a world,
in which I cannot even say "I love you"
I quiet down as the snow falls down on me
like on this day
Wishing that I understood earlier,
that time is not endless.