THE PATH OF LIFE || U. SASUKE

CHAPTER 1

Hi, Rell here!

A Christmas gift to all of you lovely readers who have been waiting oh-so-patiently! 🎄✨

So, thank you. THANK YOU. For waiting. For reading. For putting up with my wandering brain. For being the wonderful, supportive, beautifully chaotic community that you are.💖🎁

I know, I know, I took a million years to update. Cue me dramatically apologizing while crawling on the ground. 

Life has been a lot, I've wandered a bit from my Naruto phase (blame the ever-expanding, rabbit-hole of fandoms pulling me in with their siren songs), this story still holds a piece of my heart. I've been exploring other worlds, falling headfirst into new obsessions, but THIS—this one? I must finish it. For me. For you. For the chaos that is my brain demanding closure.

AND GUESS WHAT? We're not stopping! 🚨 This isn't the end—it's just the beginning of the Shippuden arc! Yep, I've officially moved this fanfic train into the Shippuden station, and I couldn't be more thrilled.

Here's to the chaos, the feels, and the never-ending ninja drama. 🎄✨ Merry Christmas, and welcome to the Shippuden arc!

Rell, out!🖤

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The wind howled through the desolate landscape, sweeping across the barren rocks and dry earth. A figure stood at the edge of the cliff, her hair whipping behind her in the ferocious gusts. Her amethyst eyes gleamed with a cold, unyielding light, scanning the horizon as if searching for something unseen.

"Oi, the Akatsuki had abducted the Kazekage of the Sand, you know the one with the jinchūriki," Enya muttered lazily, his brown hair tied back in a loose ponytail. 

He cast a sidelong glance at the amethyst eyed girl, gauging her reaction, though he wasn't really expecting much. 

Not anymore. 

Not from her. 

The news would have rattled anyone else, but she barely twitched, her stance unflinching as if the words hadn't even reached her. Her eyes remained fixed on the distance, cold and unreadable, like the eyes of someone who had long since stopped caring about the fates of others.

Enya sighed. "Seems like they're stepping up their game," he added lazily, still testing the waters, still probing for any crack in that impenetrable exterior.

Still no response.

The figure in front of him stayed silent, her back still turned. The person she had become—strong, unyielding, and dangerous—exuded an air of power that was almost tangible. 

Her long black hair, so dark it almost seemed to absorb the light around it, cascaded down her back in untamed waves. The once gentle glint in her purple eyes had been replaced by a distant, hardened gaze, the kind that came from seeing too much, suffering too much, and losing far more than any one person should bear.

"Not even a flicker of interest? After all, this could complicate things for your... goals."

At that, her lips curved faintly—a shadow of a smirk, devoid of warmth, as though the gesture were a ghost of something long dead. 

Slowly, deliberately, she turned her head to face him fully, her amethyst eyes narrowing with quiet menace. It wasn't just a look; it was a calculation, a razor-edged balance of indifference and veiled warning. For a fleeting moment, it felt as though she was dissecting Enya with her stare, weighing his words not for their truth but for their value in her world—a world that had left kindness behind long ago.