Chapter 20 – The Rooftop of Memories
The sun was sinking low, painting Konoha's rooftops in amber and crimson. The village looked peaceful from above, but peace never lasted in the shinobi world.
Naruto sat cross-legged on the rooftop of his small apartment, staring at the horizon. The wind tugged at his hair, carrying with it the faint sound of children laughing in the distance. His smile was faint, but his eyes… his eyes weren't the same anymore.
Behind him, Sasuke leaned against the railing, arms crossed, his face unreadable. The shadows stretched long across the roof, and in the silence between them, it was as if the world itself was holding its breath.
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Finally, Naruto broke the quiet.
"...Sasuke. You feel it too, right?"
Sasuke's eyes shifted, the faint red of the Eternal Mangekyō flickering before he suppressed it.
"Tch. Of course. It's not something you can ignore."
Naruto turned his head, staring at his friend—the rival who had become something more, something eternal. His voice wavered.
"When we fought back then… before we ended up here… I thought it was the end. But now…"
He trailed off, clutching his chest as if something deep inside him was struggling to surface. Memories that weren't supposed to exist pushed against the edges of his mind.
Sasuke closed his eyes, exhaling slowly.
"The battle with the Progenitor. The Otsutsuki. The betrayal… and the moment we…" His hand curled into a fist. "The moment we died."
Naruto's eyes widened. The memories slammed into him like a storm—Boruto, Sarada, Kawaki… the war among stars. And the Progenitor's eyes—not filled with hatred, but grief.
He staggered, gripping the rooftop tiles. "Damn it… I thought I'd forgotten. But it's all there. Every fight… every loss… every death. Sasuke, we… we lived through it all. Over and over."
Sasuke opened his eyes, the Mangekyō glowing faintly in the twilight.
"It's not just us. We've been caught in a cycle. Reborn again and again, chasing the same end. The curse of reincarnation."
Naruto's voice cracked. "Then why now? Why do we remember this time?"
Sasuke looked out at the village, his gaze sharp, calculating.
"Because this time… we killed him. Shukuyomi. The Progenitor. That's why we woke up like this. That's why the memories came back."
Naruto's breath caught, and for a moment, the weight of that truth pressed so heavily he could barely breathe. He lowered his head.
"...But, Sasuke… there was something else, wasn't there? Before he turned against us. He wasn't always our enemy."
Sasuke's silence was telling. He too remembered the vision—three figures standing side by side. Not enemies. Not rivals. Friends.
The rooftop was quiet but heavy, filled with the echoes of forgotten lifetimes.
Finally, Sasuke broke it.
"...Naruto. This world, this timeline… it's not the same as before. But the cycle hasn't ended yet. If we move too fast, we'll reveal ourselves. If we stay quiet, we'll lose the chance to change anything."
Naruto clenched his fists, his expression a mix of pain and determination.
"Then we take it one step at a time. Whatever comes, we'll deal with it together. No matter how many times it takes."
Sasuke smirked faintly, though his eyes were deadly serious.
"You always were too stubborn to quit."
Naruto grinned through the weight of everything, the same grin that had carried him through a thousand battles.
"And you always follow, even if you pretend you don't."
The last of the sun disappeared, leaving the rooftop bathed in shadow. The village lights flickered to life below, but up here—only silence. Two shinobi, bound by lifetimes of pain and hope, sat side by side, their eyes carrying the weight of entire worlds.
This time… they remembered.
This time… they would not run.
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Chapter 20 End.
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