The pain hit me in waves, each pulse of the curse mark sending fire through my nervous system like molten metal poured into my veins. I collapsed against the wall of the destroyed clinic, my body convulsing as memories I'd buried deep began to surface with violent clarity.
Orochimaru's laboratory. The sound of my own screaming. The feeling of my body being reshaped, corrupted, turned into something inhuman.
"Sasuke!" Yuki's voice seemed to come from very far away, though I could feel her hands on my shoulders, her medical chakra trying to soothe the chaos raging through my system. "What's happening to you?"
I couldn't answer. The curse mark's power was burning through me like acid, and with it came the memories—not just of the experiments, but of every time I'd used this corrupted strength. Every life I'd taken while under its influence, every village I'd helped destroy, every moment when I'd chosen darkness over light.
The Sound Four's final lesson. The feeling of my humanity slipping away bit by bit. The intoxicating rush of power that made everything else seem insignificant.
"Don't," I managed to gasp out between spasms. "Don't touch me. It's dangerous."
But Yuki didn't pull away. If anything, her touch became more insistent, her chakra working to counteract the curse mark's violent awakening. I could feel her healing energy struggling against the corruption in my system, like light trying to penetrate absolute darkness.
"I'm not leaving you," she said firmly. "Whatever this is, we'll get through it together."
Together. The word triggered another cascade of memories, but these were different—older, more painful. Itachi's hand on my forehead the night he'd murdered our clan. The weight of loneliness that had defined my childhood. The desperate hunger for connection that had made Orochimaru's promises seem so appealing.
"You don't understand," I said, my voice distorted by the curse mark's influence. "This power... it changes you. It makes you into something else, something that only knows how to destroy."
"Then don't let it," Yuki said simply.
Don't let it. As if it were that easy. As if willpower alone could overcome the fundamental corruption that Orochimaru had woven into my very cells. But even as I prepared to argue, I realized something had changed. The curse mark's power was still flowing through me, but it felt... different. Muted somehow, as if being filtered through something I didn't understand.
I opened my eyes and saw Yuki's hands glowing with an intensity I'd never witnessed before. Her medical chakra wasn't just healing my wounds—it was actively working to purify the curse mark's influence, transforming destructive energy into something that merely hurt instead of corrupted.
"How?" I whispered.
"I don't know," she admitted, sweat beading on her forehead from the effort. "I just... I focused on who you are now, not who you used to be. And somehow, that made a difference."
The curse mark's flaming pattern was still visible across my skin, but the overwhelming urge to destroy everything in sight had faded to a manageable level. I could feel the power there, ready to be used, but it no longer felt like a drug demanding to be consumed. It felt like a tool—dangerous, certainly, but controllable.
"The memories," I said, struggling to process what I'd experienced. "When the curse mark activates, it brings back everything. Every moment of pain, every choice that led me away from the light."
"Good," Yuki said, surprising me.
"Good?"
"Pain means you haven't lost your humanity," she explained, sitting back but keeping her hands ready in case the episode returned. "Monsters don't agonize over their past mistakes. They don't feel remorse for the damage they've caused."
I thought about that as the last tremors of the curse mark's awakening faded from my system. She was right, in a way that was both comforting and terrifying. The fact that using Orochimaru's power still caused me psychological torment was evidence that I hadn't completely surrendered to its influence. But it was also proof that some wounds might never fully heal.
"It will always be part of me," I said quietly. "The curse mark, the memories, the temptation to take the easy path and just... let the darkness win."
"Yes," Yuki agreed. "But that doesn't mean it has to control you."
She gestured toward the bodies of Orochimaru's servants scattered around the clinic. "You used that power to protect me and grandfather, not to satisfy your own desires for destruction. That's a choice, Sasuke. Every time you use it, you're choosing what it becomes."
The idea was radical in its simplicity. I'd always thought of the curse mark as an external corruption, something imposed on me that inevitably led to evil actions. But perhaps it was more complex than that. Perhaps the power itself was neutral, and what mattered was the intention behind its use.
"When I was younger," I said, testing the thought aloud, "I craved the curse mark's strength because it made me feel invincible. Untouchable. Like nothing in the world could hurt me anymore."
"And now?"
"Now it just feels like another responsibility," I realized. "Another aspect of my past that I have to be careful with, another reason to think before I act."
Yuki smiled, and I was struck by how different her expression was from the fear or disgust I'd expected. She looked... proud? As if I'd just passed some test I hadn't known I was taking.
"You're stronger than you think," she said. "Not because of any inherited power or curse mark, but because of who you choose to be when that power is available to you."
I wanted to believe her, but doubt lingered like smoke in the back of my mind. "What if I'm wrong? What if the next time I use it, I lose control completely?"
"Then I'll be here to help bring you back," she said without hesitation.
The casual certainty of her statement took my breath away. Here was someone who'd just witnessed me transform into something inhuman, who'd felt the corrupt power flowing through my system firsthand, and her response was to promise that she'd help me find my way back to the light if I ever lost it again.
When did I become someone worth saving? I wondered. When did I start believing that I might deserve this kind of loyalty?
"Yuki," I said carefully, "there's something you need to understand about me. The curse mark... it's not the worst thing I carry. The memories it brings back, the guilt and regret—those are the real curses. And they're not going away."
"I know," she said softly. "I've seen the way you look sometimes, like you're carrying the weight of the entire world on your shoulders. But Sasuke... you don't have to carry it alone anymore."
Alone. Another word that triggered a cascade of memories, but these were different than the ones the curse mark had summoned. These were memories of choosing isolation, of pushing away anyone who tried to help, of convincing myself that solitude was strength rather than weakness.
"I'm not used to having help," I admitted.
"I'm not used to offering it to someone like you," she replied. "But maybe that's the point. Maybe we both need to learn something new."
As we began the grim task of cleaning up the clinic and preparing to search for her grandfather, I found myself reflecting on what had just happened. The curse mark had awakened more violently than it had in months, but instead of consuming me, it had ultimately become just another tool in my arsenal. The difference wasn't in the power itself—it was in having someone beside me who believed I could master it rather than be mastered by it.
This is what having bonds means, I realized. Not just someone to fight alongside, but someone who sees your potential for good even when you can't see it yourself.
The path ahead would be dangerous. Orochimaru's servants were still out there, still holding Dr. Hayashi captive, still planning whatever twisted experiments they intended to conduct. But for the first time since the curse mark had been placed on my neck, I felt like I might be able to face that darkness without being consumed by it.
Because I wasn't facing it alone anymore.
And perhaps that would make all the difference.