Shadows are a shinobi's best tool. Therefore, night must be their best friend.

It was for this reason that the midnight of a warm summer found two of these shinobi sharing their last farewell within the walls of the village, quite close to the closed north gates. Or so they thought.

"Please don't go! I- I love you with all my heart, Sasuke-kun! If you... if you stay, I'll be there for you. I'll make you happy, let you live a nice life. Just... please don't... leave me... Sasuke-kun..." these last words were spoken in naught but a whisper filled with desperation. The girl's eyes were bright as tears began trailing down her cheeks. But as she saw the blank expression on her beloved's face, she felt compelled to say one more thing, make one more offer, "And... If you don't want any of that, let me at least come with you. I swear I won't be a nuisance! I'll pull my own weight, you won't have to worry about me getting in the way. Please... just... take me."

"... You really are annoying." He turned around and took a step forward.

No. No. No no no. Nononononononononononono. No.

"Don't go! If you do, I'll scream-" but her desperate attempt at convincing him has suddenly interrupted when he vanished from her sight. She shivered as she felt him breath down her neck.

"Sakura," he said in his usual monotone voice,although there was something else there, almost like...longing, "...thank you."

What happened next was something that she wouldn't be able to explain to herself for years to come, as she had been quite the pathetic kunoichi back in her genin days. Perhaps it was the extra training that she had done with her other teammate. Perhaps it was a strength and speed born out of desperation. She didn't know, but whatever it was kicked in the moment she felt his hand approaching the back of her neck at high speeds – and she caught it with her own.

Sasuke's startled expression was a mirror image of her face, but when she finally realized what she had done, her surprise turned into determination as she held tightly onto his wrist, unconsciously adding chackra to her muscles to strengthen them. She looked him square in the eye and asked, "Thank you for what?"

He stared at her, as if seeing her for the first time. Then, regaining his composure, he reluctantly answered, as if not having planned to do so at all, which he probably hadn't, when she thought back to it, "... For actually, honestly caring."

Her eyes widened a fraction, but she squashed any false hopes before they could form. She looked at him with saddened eyes, her tears having already dried up, "Judging by what you just tried to do, I'm taking you won't let me come with you."

He regarded her with a peculiar gaze as she stood there, drowning in sorrow but refusing to budge. So she had the right to be utterly befuddled by his next words.

"Fine." Scratch that. His next word.

Her head shot up so fast that she felt slightly dizzy, not daring to believe her ears. When she spoke, it was in barely a whisper, "... You... you mean it? You'll let me come with you?"

He gave her an indifferent, slightly irritated gaze, "Aa."

Five months ago, news like this would have sent her directly to cloud nine, grinning like a maniac. Now though, when pain, suffering and a clearly unrequited love had cracked her heart so often that she had had to steel it and give up on a maiden's soul, she just gave him a small, honest smile.

"But," he said, looking sharply at her, "The moment I consider you deadweight, I will leave you behind."

Her smile didn't falter in the slightest. After all, she had been expecting something like this. "Hai." she simply said.

"Well, well. That's not very nice, is it? Surely not the proper way to treat a lady." said a distinctly familiar voice from the trees a few feet away. Both their heads snapped to side as they took in the sudden appearance of an orange-wearing, blue-eyed, blond girl.

Uzumaki Naruko, their teammate, had just found them.

The blonde glared at Sasuke, though it lacked the vehement accusation and dislike that usually accompanied such an expression. "So, you did decide to leave the village, huh? Somehow, it doesn't surprise as much as it probably should. But Sakura too?" she directed this last question at the other girl.

"Yes. I'm going too. I'm sorry Naruko, but-" she was interrupted by the girl's raised hand. Then, Naruko did the last thing she had expected her to do in this situation: she smiled at them. A true, unmasked smile.

"Maa, don't apologize, Sakura." she said as she approached them. Then, her demeanor turned serious. "I can't blame you for doing something I'm doing myself."

"You- Wha-?" she stuttered, confused.

Naruko glanced at her two teammates and sighed resignedly. "I'm going to Kumo. There's two people there that I really need to meet."

It was Sasuke's turn to look utterly confused, "You're leaving Konoha.?"

She in turn looked icily at him, "Don't take me wrong, teme. I'm not abandoning my home. I'll come back for sure. But there's something I need to do that I can't do here, sadly."

He glanced at her sceptically. "You do realize that you'll be labeled as a missing-nin the moment they realize you're gone, right?"

She sighed, "I know." her face fell, only to be quickly replaced by her infamous foxy grin, "But that won't stop me. I swore I would become Hokage and I never go back on my word!"

Sakura smiled at her teammate's antics. Even Sasuke had a microscopic, almost undetectable smile tugging at his lips. Then an idea hit the pink haired kunoichi. "Hey, Naruko. Why don't you come with us?"

"Huh? Why would I want to get within ten miles of that snake creep?!"

"No, no. I mean, since all three of us are heading north, we could travel together until the borders of the Land of Rice Fields. Then we'd separate: Sasuke and I would go on to oto while you can head off to the Land of Lightning. As a group, it would be easier to fend off the hunter-nin while we're still in the Land of Fire."

They both stared at her. None of them had even thought that far ahead. Even though Sasuke knew that they would have the company of the Sound Four, but still. Accepting the idea, he just sighed and shrugged, which, for anyone else, would have been a clearly spoken "Yes."

Naruko's smile grew when it became evident that Sakura's plan had been approved of. "Team 7's last few hours together, huh? Sounds good to me."

"We should leave soon. Dawn will come in a few hours." said Sasuke, to which his two teammates promptly agreed.

And so, they set off to their respective journeys, blissfully ignorant of what the future would bring.

And, for the next few years, Team 7 was no more.

Author's Note:

So, finally got around o writing the prologue of this thing. Though I must warn you. As I wrote on my profile, all my stories are just plotbunnies. There's no guarantee that I'll keep updating.

Well, with that said, i hope you enjoy the idea at least :)