"You're leaving already?" Sakura asked. "Lady Tsunade's almost finished creating your prosthetic arm with Lord Hashirama's cells."
Sasuke hesitated for a second before responding. "I… I need to see how the world looks with the eyes I have now. For the longest time my sight's been clouded by hatred, but I think I'll see a clearer picture now. And if I don't leave now, I might not get another chance any time soon."
"What if I… came with you?" Sakura's cheeks flushed as she asked.
Sasuke closed his eyes. "This is a journey to make up for all the wrong that I've done. You aren't a part of that. So I can't let you join me. Sorry."
"Not a part of that, huh?" Sakura lowered her head in disappointment. She then muttered something in a whisper too quiet for Sasuke to hear clearly. As Sasuke approached in curiosity, Sakura raised and then quickly shook her head.
"If I can't join you, then at least let me give you a present before you go."
Sasuke's eyes sprung open, the Uchiha surprised by Sakura's rebuttal. He could now see the resolve in Sakura's eyes matched the steel in her voice. Sasuke deliberated for a moment, unsure how to respond, but he ultimately decided to answer her plea:
"I… can accept a gift. What do you have in mind?"
Suddenly, Sakura raised her right hand to her mouth, bit her thumb, and slammed her hand into the ground in front of her, with a puff of smoke immediately appearing around her hand. A summoning jutsu? Sasuke thought to himself. Just before the smoke cleared, Sakura scooped something out of it with her left hand.
"It's a tiny piece of Lady Katsuyu." Sakura explained as she stretched out her hands towards Sasuke with a small white slug in tow. "I don't know what you're going to be doing out there, but if you ever find yourself in danger, just combine your chakra with hers. Then you can reverse summon me wherever you are, and I can heal you or provide an extra punch if you need it! Cha!"
Sasuke took the Katsuyu fragment and stored her inside his black cloak: "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks." He started to turn around, heading away from the Hidden Leaf Village. But as he took his third step, Sasuke turned back around towards Sakura. "Oh right. There's just one more thing I need to do here."
As Sasuke said those words, he raised his right hand - his only hand - up to Sakura's big yet beautiful forehead, and pressed his index and middle fingers on Sakura's Hundred Strengths Seal.
"I'll see you when I get back." Sasuke smiled. At that moment however, he felt something squirming around on his upper back. The annoying sensation forced Sasuke to take his hand off Sakura's head and on to his back in a bid to make it stop, realizing the squirming was coming from Katsuyu. "Maybe sooner than that!" He added.
Sakura blushed and let out a faint giggle. "I'll be looking forward to it!" she said as she waved Sasuke goodbye while he turned around in embarrassment and walked away from the Hidden Leaf at a brisker pace than usual. When Sasuke was no longer within earshot, someone spoke up.
"You took advantage of Sasuke's sense of practicality to get a chance to see him again. Nicely played, Sakura." Kakashi winked, having witnessed the entire exchange from beside Sakura but remained quiet through it all.
"Kakashi-Sensei! That's not why I… Well, that's not the only reason why I did that…" Sakura bowed her head in shame once again and slowly walked back inside the village. Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder and walked back in with her.
"It's okay. How about we go find Naruto and we can all have some ramen to celebrate Sasuke's return to the village? My treat."
"It wouldn't feel right without Sasuke-kun. Let's invite him when he gets back. Then all four of us can eat together."
[X-X-X]
Once Sakura and Kakashi were out of Sasuke's range of vision, he slowed his pace and began to think. Sakura… Thank you, but I'm sorry. I appreciate the present you gave me, I really do. But for your sake as well as mine, I hope the moment I need to use it never comes.
And with that solemn thought in his heart, Sasuke set off on his second journey around the Shinobi World.