"I Won't Leave" Chapter 1
Her words that night shook him to his senses.
Just what was he doing anyway?
Power was all he had been craving and he knew that Orochimaru was the only one who could give it to him.
But this village... Was it really worth leaving in the long run?
When he had turned and seen Sakura's tears he felt a pang in his heart. For some reason, his mother's voice became his conscience in that moment.
Sasuke, look at what you've done! You should never ever be the cause for a girl's tears! Now apologize.
Of course, it was from a memory of when he had refused to play with one of his cousins, but in that moment he realized that Mikoto would probably be even more disappointed in his actions than she was back then.
He swallowed hard and looked over his shoulder at the open gate that he was so determined to pass through and never look back just moments before.
But she stopped him.
"Sasuke, please," Sakura took another step forward. "Let me help you. You don't have to do any of this alone."
His heart panged again. Being alone was all he had known from the time he was eight years old, and it was now his choice on if he wanted it to remain that way.
Sasuke bit the inside of his cheek and gave in to his teammate's pleas.
"I won't leave."
It had been five years since then.
Sasuke stood at the top of the Hokage Estate looking out at the village.
He had soared through the ranks and had just been promoted to Special Jonin. All that was left for him was to become ANBU and take on special missions to track down the Akatsuki and defeat them.
He would achieve his revenge that way.
"Hey Teme." He heard his best friend call from the stairs once he made his way up. "What're you doing up here?"
Sasuke looked over his shoulder then went back to watching the village without answering the blonde's question.
"Did you and Sakura have a fight?" Naruto asked as he leaned on the railings next to Sasuke.
"No," Sasuke stated flatly. Sakura was known for her temper and frequent outbursts, but Sasuke was patient enough to not let anything that the pinkette said during her rampages get to him.
"Then why so glum, chum?" Naruto beamed, causing Sasuke to roll his eyes.
"Do you know what today is?"
"Tuesday?"
Sasuke shook his head. "It's the day that she brought me to my senses."
Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "You mean Sakura?"
Sasuke gave him a small nod.
Naruto beamed. "Oh right! The night you were going to leave the village to join that Orochimaru creep! I'm sure glad that Sakura caught you before you could do such a stupid thing. It would have been a huge dick move on your part."
Sasuke grunted in response.
He didn't really like talking about it, but he did sometimes wonder what would have happened if he had decided to take off that night in stead of listening to his conscience.
One thing was for sure, he knew that Sakura's heart would have been shattered. He could already see it breaking in front of him when she cried out to him that night. The pang within his own heart made him realize that he didn't want to see that happen.
He didn't want to ruin the Uchiha name, either. After learning so much about why the village was established, knowing that it was made for the Senju and the Uchiha along with other clans to come together in harmony... He knew that the Uchiha name would become the surname associated with traitors.
His whole family would have been disappointed in him, and that made power seem so trivial because of it.
Though he still wanted power, he had been convinced that there was another way to achieve it.
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Kakashi all agreed to mentor him when they had come to know what could have happened on that night.
Sasuke found that being trained by two of the three Sannin was better than going down the path of being taught by only one. It surprised him at just what they could do.
Sasuke did find himself becoming jealous over Tsunade dropping him after a few lessons of medical ninjutsu, though. He let it go when he found out that it was to take Sakura on as a student. She apparently had the aptitude for medical ninjutsu that he did not.
He was okay with it, though. She would become his healer, and as they got older, he found that he didn't mind that one bit.
Especially after he kissed her for the first time.
They were fourteen at the time, and Sakura had mellowed out when it came to her crush on him. Sometimes it seemed that she was able to ignore his presence altogether, and Sasuke decided that he didn't like that as much as he thought he would.
Sasuke was seriously injured after taking on a group of ninja that Orochimaru had sent after him. Kakashi had sensed that something was wrong when the Uchiha hadn't made it to the rendezvous point so he, Naruto, and Sakura split up to search for him.
By the time that they had found him struggling in a three on one battle, Sasuke's chakra was almost depleted. The curse mark was threatening to overtake him and he was doing his best to keep that from happening.
Kakashi stepped in and literally threw Sasuke from the battle after he refused to back down and let him and Naruto defeat the goons. The young man was surprised, to say the least when Sakura slid to catch him before he could hit the ground.
She dragged him to safety so she could heal him. Her jutsu wasn't perfected yet, but it was able to stop the bleeding of his major arteries that the Sound ninja had nicked.
Sasuke felt warm and fuzzy from her chakra running through his system. He wondered if he possibly had a concussion because when he was finally able to look up into her worried green eyes, he felt himself smile like an idiot. It was completely uncharacteristic of him, but he was relieved to see her face.
He could tell that she was becoming embarrassed by the way he was looking at her and watching her every move as she worked to heal his cut up body.
Once she had finished and he was able to sit up and prop himself against a tree, he suddenly tugged her down to him and embraced her.
It could have been from the possible concussion or the blood loss, but he had decided that he needed to feel her next to him. They weren't even sure how the kiss happened after the fact. They just knew that it happened.
And to Sasuke's disappointment, Sakura pretended that nothing happened in the forest after that.
It wasn't until recently that he admitted his feelings for the pinkette out loud. He had been bottling them up for so long, and it felt like the more older and mature they became, Sakura seemed like she was slowly losing interest in the Uchiha.
It was after their team had gone out to eat for her birthday. Naruto had invited Hinata to come along so he walked her home, and Kakashi had to disappear to the Hokage's office that he was starting to spend more time in since Tsunade had named him her future successor.
Which meant that Sasuke and Sakura were left walking the village streets alone.
"You don't have to walk me home, Sasuke," Sakura said as they passed the way he would normally turn off to get to his own residence.
"I know."
They walked a few more blocks in silence until Sasuke saw her house coming into view. He reached out and grabbed her wrist to stop her.
She turned and looked at him in confusion. "What's up? Is everything okay?"
Sasuke nodded. "I was just thinking... I didn't get you a present for your birthday."
Sakura shook her head and laughed. "Don't worry, it's no big deal."
Sasuke looked around them to make sure that no one was around. "Sakura..."
He could tell that the way he said her name had an effect on her. It was reassuring that he might still have a chance.
"I want to court you."
A few moments of silence passed, and Sakura's laughter finally bubbled out of her chest as she threw her arms around him.
"Oh, Sasuke. You're so old-fashioned sometimes."
Sasuke stiffened at her words. Was that a no?
"Tch. Forget it." He said, shrugging out of her embrace and turning to walk the opposite direction.
"Where are you going?" Sakura frowned as she pulled his arm. "Isn't a boyfriend supposed to walk his girlfriend home?"
Sasuke turned and narrowed his eyes at her as he scanned her face to make sure she wasn't playing some sort of joke on him.
She leaned forward and kissed his cheek to reassure him that she was being serious.
Sasuke nodded his head and offered her his arm and continued their walk to her house.
It had been a few months since then, and things were going rather well with the two of them. Aside from the fact that Naruto had opened his big mouth to Kakashi about everything, causing Kakashi to let it slip in front of Sakura's parents, which now had Sasuke pressured to meet with them.
He had actually come to the rooftop of the Hokage Estate to strategize how he was going to make that happen.
They had asked him to come to dinner today of all days. It was a sentimental day for Sasuke and Sakura, so he had to make sure that things were executed perfectly when he met with her parents for the first time.
"Naruto, have you ever met Sakura's parents?"
"A couple of times." Naruto beamed and put his arms behind his head. "Her dad is a pretty cool guy and her mom can be a little scary like Sakura is sometimes, but I know it's because she means well. Why do you ask?"
Sasuke let out a breath. "I'm having dinner with them tonight to celebrate my promotion."
Naruto's eyes widened before he started laughing. "Oh yeah! I forgot you haven't met them yet!"
"What's so funny?" Sasuke scowled.
"I'm just thinking about the time that old man Kizashi said that he didn't care what clan you came from. He said he'd take your manhood away if you ever made Sakura cry."
Sasuke swallowed hard. That was just a dad being a dad, right?
The young man shook his head fast and regained his composure. "Like I'd ever do that on purpose." He grumbled and rested his chin in his hand as he leaned against the roof's railing.
"Just ask Sakura if there's anything you need to prepare yourself for if you're really that worried." Naruto scoffed. "You're picking her up from the hospital later, aren't you?"
"Yeah." Sasuke sighed.
"Look. I get you Sasuke, and you get me, so I know what it's like being unsure about meeting with someone so important. When I met Hinata's parents for the first time, I nearly shit myself because of how intense her dad is. You're lucky, though. The Haruno family isn't like the Uchiha or Hyuga clans. They're really laid back when it comes down to it."
Naruto was right. Being part of a clan meant that there were certain rules and rituals that you had to follow when it came to courting an individual. He was lucky that he was the sole survivor of his own clan so he didn't have to worry about stupid traditions of the past.
He kind of felt sorry for Naruto after he thought more about it.
"Anyway, I only came up here because I was on my way to see Grandma. I'll see you around, Sasuke."
The blonde gave his best friend a light punch to his shoulder and left him alone again.
Sasuke sighed and kept looking down at the village below.
What would have happened if I hadn't turned back that night?