Survival II (A Naruto Fanfic) [Completed]

Part 21

I laid down beside Sasori and gazed up at the night sky. It was dark... and cold. Merciless.

The night was moonless.

"I don't understand why you like it up here," I muttered as I rubbed my eyes. We've been working on one of Sasori's multifunction arm for the past day or so and... believe it or not, 30 hours without sleep isn't pleasant at all.

"It's something different," Sasori replied quietly, looking around at the empty rooftop and I jolted slightly. His voice had returned to normal, no longer the puppet's raspy voice. I peered over, through the darkness, and saw his brilliant red hair. He was no longer in Hiruku's form.

His red hair was everywhere as he ruffled it slightly... he looked like a kid then, not some 30 years old man searching for eternal beauty... Sometimes, I wanted to believe that he was who he looked to be. 16 and young. Young like me.

"What are you thinking about?" Sasori asked as he turned to meet my gaze, his face was covered by the night.

"Nothing particular."

"We're bad guys, we always have something plotting in the back of our minds," Sasori said in all seriousness and I let out a laugh. Bad guys. It was true enough.

"We would be villains in our own story," I mused and Sasori shrugged. It was also true enough... too true for him to deny.

"You still have redemption. You can betray the whole Akatsuki and turn all of us over to the shinobi villages. Konohagakure. You would be a hero."

"If that was the case, it would be same for you."

He paused for a second and chuckled a little, almost bitterly.

"You don't belong with the dark side, Yoru."

I snapped my head up and glared at him, letting my eyes blaze, breaking the darkness as it's eerie, red glow lit up my face.

"I've done things that you don't know. Bad things. Evil things. You don't know what I'm capable of," I said slowly, forcing the message to sink in. I couldn't see Sasori's face but I hoped it was moulded into something like fear.

"You always force people away from you. You hide from people. You don't have to, you know."

"I'm n—"

"There's no use denying."

Sasori crawled up from the concrete ground and shuffled to the stairs leading back down to his lab. He had reverted back to his puppet form, his face unreadable again. Inside the puppet, Sasori pressed his hands onto his chest and stood there for a moment before descending. He had never gotten a chance to tell her...

"You're not a villain, Yoru. No villain would persuade me to keep my heart."

I widened my eyes and almost smiled. Almost.

Sasori kept his heart.

At that moment, it felt nice. A warm, syrup filling up my chest as I strained to keep the smile from showing. That moment, some part in me knew that maybe... maybe I could've become the person Kakashi wanted me to be. What kind of person would I have been if I had turned around and taken Kakashi's hand?

What I didn't know was that what I did and that happiness would cost Sasori his life.