The morning after that cold, starlit night came with an eerie stillness.
Aiko sat by the window, wrapped in her faded shawl, her hands clutched around a chipped ceramic cup filled with lukewarm tea. Outside, the mist still hovered above the treetops like an unfinished dream. The fire from the previous night had died down, leaving behind a scent of soot and damp embers.
She hadn't slept. How could she? Not after the words Sasuke had whispered into the dark words not of love or warmth, but warnings. Promises of danger. Of the darkness that would forever chase his shadow.
Aiko remembered his eyes as he stood by the door before disappearing into the forest again those deep, haunted Sharingan eyes. They weren't cruel, but they held centuries of grief. Regret. A lifetime of war, betrayal, and guilt. And yet, when they looked at her, just for a second, she saw the boy that could've been. A boy longing for peace.
"Don't follow me," he had said.
But how could she not?
Sasuke moved through the forest like a phantom, his black cloak fluttering soundlessly. He had sensed a chakra signature nearby, one too close to the village for comfort. Perhaps it was just a stray traveler or a rogue shinobi who had picked up whispers about the Uchiha hiding in the mountains. He couldn't take that risk.
As he landed silently on a tree branch, he let his Sharingan activate. The forest shifted into a clearer form, every movement, every flicker of chakra illuminated in stark red clarity. He saw no immediate threat, but he felt a presence. Watching.
He turned.
"You're here," he muttered, not surprised.
Aiko stood on the forest floor, breathless from the chase, her hair loose and tangled, eyes shining with defiance.
"You said not to follow," she panted. "But I can't stay behind wondering if you'll come back."
Sasuke dropped to the ground in front of her, his expression unreadable.
"You don't understand what's following me."
"Then explain it to me," she snapped. "You think I'm afraid of your past? I married you knowing who you were. Knowing what you carry. I didn't ask for comfort. I asked for honesty."
He looked away. The forest was quiet, but the pounding in his head was loud. Memories of Itachi, of Konoha, of blood and betrayal and silence. All of it screamed in his mind, but Aiko's voice somehow cut through it.
"I see you, Sasuke," she whispered. "Not just the Uchiha, not the Avenger. You. The man who saved a child in the rain. The man who helped an old woman fix her roof when no one was watching. The man who chose to come back to me even when he could have disappeared forever."
He finally met her gaze, the red of his Sharingan slowly fading into his natural onyx.
"Why do you love me?" he asked, almost in disbelief.
Aiko stepped closer. Her hand reached for his, trembling slightly. "Because when you look at me like this... I forget the world outside. I forget the wars and the clans and the titles. I remember only us."
They returned to the cabin together. Silence accompanied them, but it was no longer hostile. It was heavy with shared emotion, with unspoken truths.
As the fire crackled back to life and rain began to fall again, Sasuke sat beside her on the floor.
He took off his cloak, folded it carefully.
"I'm not a good man, Aiko. I've killed. I've betrayed. I've hurt even the ones I loved."
"So have I," she said quietly, surprising him.
She took off her mask the physical one she wore when helping injured travelers, pretending to be just another healer from the woods. Beneath it, scars decorated the left side of her jaw, faint but telling. Memories of the night her village burned.
"I survived by pretending. By hiding. So when I say I see you, it's because I know what it's like to be seen as a ghost."
Sasuke reached out, touching the scar gently.
For once, his eyes softened completely.
No words passed. But something shifted. A bond no longer just rooted in secrecy, but in pain and trust.
Later that night, as Aiko lay against his chest and the storm howled outside, Sasuke spoke softly.
"If anything happens to me… if they ever find you…"
She pressed a finger to his lips.
"We'll fight together. If I fall, I fall by your side. If I run, I run with you. But don't you dare talk like you're alone anymore."
For the first time in years, Sasuke felt something he didn't recognize at first.
Hope.
And in that quiet cabin, in the arms of the girl who saw beyond the mask, Sasuke Uchiha finally let himself breathe.
Even if it was just for one night.
A night with no stars, but filled with a light neither of them expected.