(Naruto) Embers
Title: Embers
Author: Agent Kuma-chan (smakn)
Summary: There’s always one last smoke before you die.
Rating: T
Prompt: July 1st // Conversation
Warnings: Allusions to death, post-canon fic
Note: This one was hard to end, but other than that, I liked the short experiment. This takes place in the future, after Sasuke’s back in Konoha
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It’s dark. Oddly so, considering the bright room she left behind when she closed the door. A sliver of light falls through the window and only that allows her the faintest impression of his cell. The silver edge of a bed, the small shape of a bowl-half of the room is covered in shadow and she knows he’s somewhere in there, watching her.
She doesn’t need to see to know the chains on his hands and feet, the steady clink of them falling as he shifts slightly on the floor.
“You know this is your last chance.”
He doesn’t reply. She purses her lips slightly, her eyes at the spot she last heard him. “You’ll die tomorrow otherwise. If you’d just...tell us...” She ends in a whisper. The words, so often said, jumble in her mouth and she stops.
Stops and sighs and breathes, for she knows just as well as he does that this is a futile attempt. He hasn’t talked in over a month, has barely eaten beyond the basic needs to live.
Sasuke is just waiting to die and this is the quickest way possible.
She looks down, blinking away her tears as her shoulders droop. Closing her eyes, she counts to ten in her head, waiting for her trembling fingers to steady. Even in this light, she’s sure he can see her clearly.
Does he still think her pathetic, to see her lose composure like this?
It doesn’t matter either way. This is the last he’ll see of her. The last opinion he’ll form of her. The last conversation he’ll not have, the last night he’ll spend-
“You know,” her voice is surprisingly strong and she hopes it won’t crack. “Naruto was determined to break you out. He was going to, but we drugged him.”
“No, I drugged him.” At this, her voice cracks, and the shame she’s been avoiding coats her. “He won’t forgive me for that.” Her fingers dig into her arm and she regains control of her voice. “But you don’t want to be saved, do you?”
It’s at this he finally replies. “No, I don’t.”
It’s a small consolation. Small, because Naruto could talk a mountain into moving. Naruto can do almost anything and she doesn’t want this to be the first time he fails.
She’s glad it’s dark, for the shadows that cling to the room. His face is hidden and she knows if she saw it right now, it’d be her rescuing him.
As it is, she turns and goes, feeling his eyes watch her long after she leaves the building.