The wind howled like a whispering spirit through the highlands. The cold night air brushed against Aika's skin as she stood in front of the old cabin, her arms wrapped around herself not because of the chill, but because of the lingering presence of the man who had just disappeared into the shadows once again.
Sasuke was gone.
Not gone in the way she had feared not forever but in that infuriating, secretive way he always left. No goodbyes, no explanations. Just silence, like he was a phantom who never truly belonged to her world.
Aika closed the door behind her, the creak of the wooden hinges echoing through the small space. She glanced at the cloak hanging on the wall his cloak. Dark, heavy, and worn, yet meticulously folded. He had left it behind, intentionally or not.
She approached it like it was a sacred object. To others, it was just a piece of fabric. To her, it was the shield that had hidden so many truths the cloak that had concealed the infamous Uchiha from the world, and simultaneously concealed her from his.
She ran her fingers over it slowly, breathing in his scent. Earthy, faintly metallic, and something unnamable. Her heart ached at the memory of his warmth the night before.
The night had begun with tension and ended in vulnerability.
She had waited with a stubborn fire in her chest, prepared to confront him about the secrets he kept about the distance that always found its way between them. When the door opened just past midnight, she had turned to see him, cloaked in moonlight, with blood staining the edge of his gloves.
"You're hurt," she had said, the words sharper than she meant.
"It's not mine," he replied, always so calm.
But she had had enough of half-truths. "Then whose is it? You promised no more fighting."
"I promised to protect what matters," he said simply, walking past her.
"And what exactly matters, Sasuke?" she whispered then, her voice trembling. "Because sometimes it feels like I don't."
He had stopped then, frozen for just a second before turning back to her. In his eyes, there had been a storm.
"You think I would come back here, to you, after every battle, every shadow mission, if you didn't matter?"
Her knees had nearly buckled under the weight of his words. And when he reached for her, pulling her against his chest, her tears betrayed her strength.
Now, she stood there alone again. And the cloak his ever-present barrier mocked her with its stillness.
Aika turned from it and walked to the fire pit, feeding the dwindling flames. The silence in the room was deafening. It made her feel like a ghost in her own home.
She thought back to how it all started…
They had met during one of his wanderings, far from the known paths of the shinobi world. Aika had been a healer in a small, hidden village near the base of the Northern Mountains. She hadn't known who he was at first. The world whispered tales of Uchiha Sasuke like he was a myth. But when he staggered into her care, bleeding and silent, she had seen no legend only a man trying desperately not to be seen.
And he had stayed.
Days turned into weeks. Healing turned into quiet companionship. And quiet companionship turned into glances, small smiles, nights spent under the stars not speaking but understanding.
She hadn't needed to know his past to fall for him. She had only needed to see the way he avoided mirrors, the way he flinched when she touched his scars, and the way he softened when he saw her with children.
He had asked her to marry him not with a ring, but with a look a silent vow made beneath the sakura tree behind her family's home.
But it had to be a secret.
"You know who I am now," he had said. "They would never allow this."
She had agreed. She didn't care about the rules of the shinobi world. What mattered was the man who came back to her, again and again, no matter how far he roamed.
The door creaked open suddenly.
Aika turned sharply, heart in her throat.
But it wasn't Sasuke.
It was Kuro, a hawk used for urgent messages. The bird flapped its wings once before dropping a scroll at her feet and flying off into the cold.
Her hands trembled as she unrolled it.
"You must leave the cabin by nightfall. They are coming."
No signature. But she didn't need one.
Her breath hitched. She looked at the cloak.
So the day had come.
She moved quickly, packing essentials scrolls, herbs, chakra pills. She removed the false floorboard where Sasuke kept backup weapons and disguised documents. She never asked questions about those things. That was the rule.
She had just finished lacing her boots when a soft knock came at the back door.
Her blood turned cold.
No one ever used the back door.
She reached for a kunai from under the table.
"Who's there?" she called out, her voice calm despite the racing of her heart.
No answer.
She crept toward the door and opened it a crack
"Sasuke?"
He stood there, dripping wet from the rain that had started falling, his face unreadable.
"Get your things. We have to go. Now."
She opened the door wider, eyes scanning his face.
"What's going on? Who's coming?"
"They found out," he said shortly. "A group of rogue ANBU. They believe you're a weakness."
She froze.
A weakness.
He stepped inside, closing the door behind him, his eyes flicking to the packed bag near the table.
"You knew?" he asked.
"A message came."
"Good." He reached for the cloak on the wall and wrapped it around himself in one swift motion. Then he reached for another cloak the lighter one. Hers.
He stepped closer and draped it over her shoulders, securing it gently beneath her chin. "Stay close. Don't speak unless I say so."
She nodded.
Then he kissed her quick, intense, desperate. Like it might be their last.
And they vanished into the night.
The forest was thick and wet. Every leaf glistened with rain, every shadow seemed alive. Sasuke moved silently ahead, but never too far from her. He led her through hidden paths she didn't know existed.
Once, he paused and turned to her, placing two fingers on her forehead his silent way of saying "I'm here".
But the silence didn't last.
By dawn, they were surrounded.
Aika saw them first black masks with blood-red symbols, appearing from the mist.
She stepped back instinctively, but Sasuke stepped forward.
"I told you," he said coldly, "stay behind me."
The fight was fast, brutal, and over in minutes.
Sasuke didn't hesitate.
He was a shadow, a blur, a force.
Aika watched, breathless and horrified, as he dismantled the attackers one by one. But then
One of them slipped past.
And suddenly, there was a blade at her throat.
Sasuke froze.
The last masked man pressed the edge tighter. "Drop the sword, Uchiha, or she dies."
Sasuke's eyes changed. Sharingan. Then Mangekyō.
And then… he disappeared.
The man holding her gasped. "What—?"
A moment later, his grip loosened. He dropped like a puppet with its strings cut.
Sasuke stood behind him, his blade dripping.
Aika could barely breathe.
He turned to her slowly, his eyes still glowing.
"You okay?" His voice was rough, almost broken.
She nodded shakily, tears streaming.
"You… killed them all."
"They were going to kill you."
She reached for him, her hand pressing against his chest.
"I don't care about this world's rules," she whispered. "I just want you."
He closed his eyes, forehead leaning against hers.
"I will burn this world to the ground before I let them take you from me."
And there, beneath the cloak that had hidden so many things his shame, his past, his name he let her see everything.