Through the Darkness To You (Sasuke x Reader)

Chapter 11: Shadows of the Mist

Sakura hesitated. "I just meant... sometimes parents are annoying. Always telling you what to do. I didn't mean—"

Sasuke scoffed. "You don't know anything."

The weight in his voice made even me stop walking.

"You say it'd be better without them." Sasuke's voice was cold, distant. "But you've never woken up knowing there's no one left. No one to scold you. No one to care if you're even alive."

Sakura's eyes widened.

"You think Naruto acts like that because he never had parents?" His voice was dangerously low now. "He's still standing. He never gives up. And you—" He turned his glare on her. "You have a family. And yet you take it for granted."

Sakura looked frozen.

"And Y/N," Sasuke continued. "You say she's pretending to be strong?" His tone was unreadable now. "She's stronger than you'll ever be."

My breath caught in my throat.

Sakura opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Sasuke scoffed. "Stop talking."

The air was thick with silence.

Sakura lowered her head, guilt flashing in her eyes. I kept my gaze forward, pretending not to care—but my chest felt tight.

A moment later, Sasuke caught up to Naruto and me, walking beside us.

I glanced at him. "What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing," he muttered.

I didn't press further.

Once we arrived at the bridge, the mist on the bridge was thick, swallowing the sunlight and casting a ghostly silence over the unfinished structure. The ocean waves crashed below, but even their roaring seemed distant—like a warning of what was coming.

As soon as we arrived, everything went wrong.

The workers were gone. Tools abandoned. No sign of anyone. Just emptiness and an uneasy stillness in the air.

Kakashi's shoulders tensed. "It's too quiet."

My grip tightened around my kunai. I could feel it too—we were being watched.

Then, a voice broke the silence.

"Well, well," came a deep, menacing chuckle. "Looks like you made it, Kakashi."

The mist swirled violently, and in an instant, two figures emerged—Zabuza, with his massive executioner's blade resting on his shoulder, and beside him, the masked ninja, silent and motionless, his presence sending a chill down my spine.

"It was obvious you'd show up here," Kakashi replied, activating his Sharingan. "But we're not the same as last time."

Zabuza smirked. "We'll see about that."

Without hesitation, Kakashi lunged at Zabuza, their weapons clashing in a deafening explosion of steel. Sparks flew as they fought, their movements blurs of deadly precision.

That left the rest of us.

Naruto and Sakura positioned themselves in front of Tazuna, ready to defend him.

And then the masked ninja moved.

His eyes locked onto Sasuke and me. "You two..." his voice was soft, but the weight behind it was terrifying. "You're mine."

Trapped in the Ice Mirrors

I barely saw him move. One second, he was standing before us. The next, he vanished.