Disclaimer: Masashi K is the dude with the credit for the Naruto plotline…I just play with it

Watch me walk away

Pink hair dances in front of a pale face. Emerald green eyes focus their blank stare on the ground. Small hands absentmindedly fiddle with a blue head band, the metal plate glinting in the light from the street lamp a few feet away.

Midnight. The stars are out and shining. The moon is blocked by eerie clouds that come in light gray wisps. A lone figure sits on a bench not far from the exit to one of the strongest shinobi nations in all of Fire Country. She is not planning to take the exit route though. In fact, in a few minutes she'll probably sigh and head back to the village, as she always does. This routine happens once a year, a few days into July-the night he left.

Nineteen-year-old Sakura Haruno shivered as the cold night wind slowly shifted her hair around in front of her face. Despite her thick sweatshirt, she still felt the cold. The same cold, sick fear that had engulfed her when her teammate and possibly love of her life had left her unconscious on a hard cold bench, disregarding everything she had said to him, even her proclaimed love, swirled under the surface of her skin, holding a soft threat. Living in fear had been hard on her, and in the six years it'd been since the day her life turned around, she had grown skinnier, her hair had lost its shine and her eyes didn't glimmer like they used to.

It's time to say good-bye, Sakura thought, pulling the gray sweatshirt a little closer to her body. I can't wait forever and besides, I'm ruining my health. As a medic, I should know better.

She was making excuses and she knew it. But she also knew that the excuses were the only things that would jolt her out of her self-pity and hopelessness. It was painful for her to think of all the things she had probably missed out on while in her narrow-minded stupor. The memories she carried were perfectly preserved, but held no sentimental value. And that was not the way she wanted to live.

Shifting from foot to foot as she stood up to leave, Sakura took one last glance around at the place where her life had got off track. Nothing had changed. Nothing would change. Except for her. Because she was moving on.

You were something rare and you attracted me like a firefly, which is probably all you ever thought of me as, she reflected, sadly, staring at the empty bench. It almost physically hurt as I watched your life spin out of control, as I watched your hatred consume you. You lived for the sake of a goal better forgotten. I wished you'd listened to me and stuck around. We, your teammates, aren't completely useless. Even I, the weakest link when you were here, have obtained the rank of a fully accomplished Jonin.

Almost subconsciously, Sakura clenched her fist as traces of hurt and betrayal stirred under her carefully arranged features. The moment of anger passed and she relaxed, sorrow overtaking her once more.

Maybe this was my path. Maybe I was meant to get stronger as a result of your absence. Maybe it was better that you left to seek your own path. Maybe….maybe fate was trying to set me free to pursue my own.

She groaned softly as the multiple 'maybes' filled her mind, pushing aside the facts. "There's no such thing as fate," she whispered to no one. "This happened because of his own selfish desires. No question about that."

With a sad smile on her face and tears clouding her eyes, she sighed and started to turn away. At the last moment, she looked back and her expression changed slightly into melancholy acceptance.

I guess I always knew it couldn't stay in that happy place forever. And yet, it still hurt to watch you walk away, knowing that neither my tears nor my words could change your mind. But when time allows us to meet again, I won't make the same mistake as before. When we meet again, it's gonna be different.

Shimmery green eyes look up to the starry sky, hardened with determination, but laced with sorrow.

Watch me, Sasuke. Watch me walk away.

Wow that was…eh…I don't even know where that came from…Anyway, if you liked it let me know and if you didn't, do what you will it's not the end of the world. I might add more chapters, but I really think it's better off as a one-shot...and well, I'm lazy.

ChasingAutumn17