The ruins of Sound stretched outward like a scar across the land. Shattered villages, long-abandoned outposts, and hidden burrows beneath the earth. For most shinobi, it was a place to avoid—too many ghosts, too much poison left behind by Orochimaru's legacy.
But for me, it was a beacon.
I found the entrance easily, a half-buried passage cloaked by genjutsu. My Sharingan cut through the illusion, revealing a staircase spiraling downward. The scent of damp stone and old blood greeted me, familiar in a way that made both halves of my soul recoil.
At the bottom, the corridors stretched wide, torches flickering along the walls. Not Orochimaru's main laboratory. No… this one was smaller. A branch base.
And at its heart, waiting with arms crossed and eyes sharp, was a woman with vivid red hair and glasses glinting in the torchlight.
"Karin."
Her name slipped from my lips like an echo from two lives.
She froze. Her chakra flared in recognition, hesitation, disbelief. Then her fists clenched at her sides, fury written across her face.
"Sasuke…" Her voice trembled with both venom and something softer. "You have some nerve showing your face here."
I didn't respond immediately. My gaze lingered, analyzing her aura. Uzumaki blood, pure and potent. A reservoir of vitality that made even my sharpened senses ache with envy. In another timeline, another set of choices, she would have been more than an ally. More than a tool.
But the Sasuke she knew had cast her aside.
"I'm not here to fight," I said at last, my voice steady, colder than I intended. "I need a place to rest. Nothing more."
Her eyes narrowed. "And what makes you think I won't throw you out? Or kill you myself?"
I almost laughed. Karin's spirit was fierce, but even she knew better. Instead, I stepped forward, letting my chakra spill freely for the first time since awakening in this world. The air thickened instantly, the walls trembling with the weight of my presence. Sharingan spun. The Rinnegan flared.
Her breath caught.
"…Tch." She looked away, adjusting her glasses, though her hands trembled. "Fine. You can stay. But don't think for a second I've forgiven you."
That night, I lay in one of Orochimaru's sterile beds, staring at the ceiling. The silence of the underground base pressed down heavy.
The fusion of memories, the storm of power within me, the whispers of the Gotcha System at the back of my mind—it all churned together.
Sleep did not come easily.
And yet, for the first time in this new life, I wasn't alone.