Chapter 16 — Fragments in the Quiet
The pale afternoon light filtered through the hospital window, drawing long bars of gold across the wooden floor. The room was quiet except for the faint rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor and the gentle rustle of sheets when someone shifted.
Naruto sat propped up on his bed, one arm resting on his knee, gazing absently at the sunlight as though trying to remember something just beyond reach. Across from him, in the other bed, Sasuke leaned back against the pillows, silent as always, eyes half-lidded but not asleep.
The two had been placed in the same room since neither had injuries severe enough to require isolation, but their mental state… that was another story.
The door creaked open.
Neji stepped inside, followed by Kiba and Chōji. All three wore bandages from their own recent mission, the one to bring Sasuke back from Orochimaru's grasp. Their steps slowed when they saw the two boys — both looking oddly distant, as if their minds were somewhere far away.
Neji's sharp eyes scanned Naruto first, then Sasuke.
"You both seem… different," he said finally. There was no malice in his voice — only a measured curiosity.
Naruto blinked, turning to face him. "Different? I'm the same as always, believe it!" But even he couldn't make it sound convincing.
Kiba crossed his arms. "Yeah, right. You've been spacing out since we got back. And Sasuke—" he jerked his head toward the Uchiha, "—is even quieter than usual, which I didn't think was possible."
Sasuke didn't reply immediately. His gaze was fixed on the light streaming in, a subtle flicker passing through his eyes. It was the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, though only for a heartbeat before fading away. He hadn't meant to activate it — it just happened.
Naruto caught the flicker. Something in his own eyes stirred in response, a golden glow flashing before dimming again. He turned away, jaw tightening.
Choji, sensing the tension, tried to lighten the mood. "Well… at least you're both still in one piece." But his words didn't reach them. They were somewhere else entirely.
Neji stepped closer to the window, his tone calm but probing. "You fought each other at the Valley of the End… and yet here you are, back in the same room. Something happened there… didn't it?"
The room fell silent.
Naruto looked down at his hands. Sasuke's gaze shifted to him for just a second, and in that brief exchange, an unspoken understanding passed between them. They remembered the battle. They remembered the clash. They remembered… him — the figure they once called a friend, the betrayal, and the ancient battlefield drenched in light and sorrow.
But after that? There was nothing but fragments, as if someone had torn the rest away.
Naruto forced a laugh, but it was thin. "We just… fought. That's all."
Neji didn't press further. He knew there was more — but whatever it was, they weren't ready to share. He exchanged a glance with Kiba and Chōji, and the three quietly stepped back toward the door.
Before leaving, Neji looked over his shoulder. "Just remember… no one fights alone. Not anymore."
The door shut softly, leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone once again. For a long moment, neither spoke. The air between them was heavy with things they couldn't say — memories they couldn't touch.
Finally, Sasuke broke the silence, his voice low. "Do you… ever feel like we've been here before?"
Naruto turned his head, meeting his eyes. "Yeah. But I don't know when… or why."
Outside, the sun dipped lower, the bars of golden light stretching, then fading into the slow approach of evening.
The quiet between them remained — not cold, but weighted.
They didn't know it yet, but this was only the first ripple of something much larger.
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