Sasuke muses if the great Uchiha name still means anything, or if its vanished into just a hollow echo. The blood that once stained his hands is fading, turning into a myth, something whispered on the lips of those too afraid to speak truth. He wonders, too, what it means to betray—if the weight of it is heavy enough to crush the heart, if it turns one’s bones to ash. Does it burn through every fiber of his being like this? Can you feel it? Can you feel it, Kakashi? His eyes are cold when they meet his old teacher's, but it’s not anger that fuels them. It’s something darker. It’s the shattering of a boy who thought he knew loyalty, who thought he understood family. But the clan? The clan is nothing but a shattered mirror now, and he’s the only one left standing, alone, staring at the pieces.
“I asked you once,” Sasuke’s voice trembles on the edge of something sharp, something close to breaking. “Did you ever understand me? Did you ever see what they did to me?” His chest tightens, a quiet scream clawing its way up his throat. He forces it back down. He doesn’t need pity. Not anymore. “I have found a new path. One I intend to stay on. ” A flash of something in his eyes, something painfully human, and it’s gone, swallowed by the emptiness in him. His chest feels hollow, like a space carved out by everything he’s lost, everything that’s been taken from him. “You failed me, Kakashi.” The words are final, like the final page of a book meant to be forgotten. Never opened again. A hidden scroll left to burn. “You didn’t see it. You didn’t understand. And now there’s nothing left but ashes.”
His eyes close for a moment, and when they open again, it’s as if they are seeing the world for the last time—one final glance before it all falls away. There’s nothing here for him anymore. Not the village. Not the bonds. Not the promises. "Tell Sakura I will not be coming back. Tell her to stop coming after me. Tell Naruto to give up. This chase grows weary. Their attempts futile. Tell them how you failed me."
@senascence
