Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto.

Severed

You need to move on.

Chapter One: Where you are, I will Follow

What do I deserve? Was do I need? Need…? Deserve…? They are the same. They are the truth when you could be stronger. Without strength you are nothing. Born with power, born with a gift, you were born with strength. This gift is yours and no one else's. No one can claim it, no one can use it. Just you. This is called a talent. You are talented.

When you are so alone and you have no one. That you are the only one left. When you are all alone in the world, and there is no one left to understand you. You realize that this misery and sorrow is brought to you by your gift, by your talent. You can't bother crying, because it's useless. There is nothing for you to do to change it, you lost everything because you are talented.

Now that talent means nothing.

Because of him. You know his name, Naruto.

Say the word friendship and remember. Remember that day when you were all alone, and you met his eyes. He's the same as you. Alone.

But you're not the same as him. You're not the same because you had someone, because you were once loved, and you know what it is like to be loved. He… He is different. He doesn't know it. He has never had anyone. He is not talented, but he is diligent. You can't lose to that diligence. You can't lose to him because you're different. While he relies on his diligence and perserverence, you have your talent. That is your everything.

That is why you go to him. You need Orochimaru. You need the power, because your talent isn't enough.

Sasuke walks by the bench in silence. His decision was absolute and there is nothing left to hold him back. There has been too much suffering to leave him any doubt. Resolve as thick as his is unbreakable, even when he, himself, knows the consequences. He has chosen to give up all else for this one single cause, not a noble cause nor a righteous cause.

He disappears without a sound.

Sakura opens her eyes and looks to the stars. Warm tears start to flow down her face as she lays upon the cool bench. She feels like she has died. Sakura allows the sorrow to consume her, and she embraces her legs instinctively.

An old couple walk down the park and seat themselves on a bench. The old woman stands up and feels her dress. It was wet. She wonders what the substance was, and hurries the man up to return home. She didn't know they were Sakura's tears.

Nothing makes sense as she runs. Would she even be able to catch them? Logic didn't matter anymore. The only thing that circulated inside Sakura was the longing. She was different from Sasuke. She knew that. Sasuke had been alone his entire life. He had lost his parents, he desired no friends. Sakura however, she had everything. Her life was far from perfect, but there was nothing for her to complain about compared to him. Perhaps it was because she had been spoiled that she had made such a rash decision.

But she loved him.

Nobody would ever be able to explain what love meant. Some people say that when you love someone, you need to let them go, but the feelings were so deep in her heart that she couldn't.

Sasuke.

Every moment Sakura could think of was for him. Just him. She would give up everything for him.

Sakura jumps from tree to tree, with mechanical movements. She knew where they had gone, where they had taken him, and she had to follow. If she didn't, then she would have nothing. She would be a shell. Worse than a shell.

"Sasuke!" She shouts, though he was nowhere in range to hear. "Sasuke I won't let you do this alone!"

The village was far behind her, and they wouldn't realize that she and Sasuke had disappeared for days. There was no time to alert them. She didn't want to bring him back anymore, she wanted to go with him. The 'where's didn't matter anymore. When did they ever matter?

The morning comes as a bit of a shock, but Sakura is still following. They're not in view, and they probably don't know she's behind them, but Sakura perseveres. Her breath was hot and heavy as she remembered all those moments she had shared with Sasuke. She remembers the first day she had met him, and how obsessed she had become over the years. She knew Sasuke was broken, and all she wanted was to fix him.

Sakura followed until the Valley of the End, where Sasuke stood standing alone against the sun. His hair was a sparkling blue, and Sakura realizes that he'd waited for her. Why? Was there a chance? Could he see who she was and how she felt? Would he return the burning emotions?

It takes her too long to get up to meet him, but she does in time.

"Sasuke." She murmurs on the cliffside. The sun was just rising, and she could make out every strand of hair on his head. He was so perfect, and she couldn't imagine a world without him. She would rather perish than do so.

He turns to her, and she notices that he is different. Chakra swirled around him in energy she could hardly fathom, had he always been so powerful?

"Sakura. Why did you come?" He asks, it's a simple question. No assumptions, no prejudice.

"I had to. I couldn't…" Sakura began, but decided to go in a different approach. "You know how it feels. To lose everything. You must think I'm horrible, wanting more when I have everything you've lost, Sasuke. I'm spoiled and selfish, I know. But you've become my everything! I can't give you up… I can't let you just throw me away. I can't lose you."

Sasuke's expression hadn't changed. It was unreadable, but she knew he was listening. He had to feel something.

Sasuke holds out his hand, and reaches for her face. Sakura pulls back a little, thinking it was too good to be true. And it was.

He slapped her to the side.

"Go back Sakura. This is for your own good."

"Was that what your brother said to you?" Sakura snaps, angry and frustrated by the lack of emotional response. "Was it good to lose everything in your life? Was it fun being so empty? Are you happy now?"

"You don't know what you're doing. Sakura, you can move on."

"No. I. Can't." Sakura stammers. "I need you. Sasuke… don't leave me."

Sasuke's expression softens, and Sakura believes for a second that he was going to accept her, and then she finds herself in the air. Time seems to stop as she falls into the Valley of the End. She looks at Sasuke as she falls back. His hair, his face, every feature. She would remember it in death as well as she remembered it in life. This man in front of her was her everything. If he wanted to kill her, then she would happily accept her fate.

Sakura closed her eyes as gravity took its course and she began to drop like a stone.

Sasuke watches as the girl falls. He'd expected her to save herself and find her way back home one way or another, but she had closed her eyes to accept her fate. It was pitiful, but there was nothing he could do. Sasuke turns from Sakura and makes a leap. Otogakure was waiting for him. That was where power would come from, that was where he would get what he needed to take out everyone in his way. There was nothing left in his heart anymore, just revenge.

Sakura woke up in the presence of a strange man. She flings herself up against the wall and recognizes Kabuto. The man smiles maliciously, and she stiffens in fear.

"You're a pretty girl." Kabuto notes idly. He turns away to place something in a dim desk area. The entire room is lit up by a single torch beside the door.

"How did I get here?" Sakura demands, and she notices that her body was surprisingly functional. She remembered quite clearly giving herself up when Sasuke had thrown her, she had been waiting for death, not Kabuto.

"You were quite fortunate. Zetsu had been following Sasuke closely behind you. He saved you from that fall, and delivered you here, he said this was where you wanted to be."

"No." Sakura denies. She'd been saved by a strange man, why did he bother?

Kabuto gives a small laugh. "You didn't want to be with Sasuke? You were murmuring his name the entire time."

Sakura's eyes widens. "Sasuke is here?"

"He is with Orochimaru." Kabuto corrects. "They're discussing some important matters. He doesn't know you're here yet."

Sakura took in the information quickly. "What are you going to do with me?" She immediately demands. She knew she was at the man's mercy.

"You're in love with Sasuke aren't you?"

Sakura stares at the man. She wasn't sure what to make of him, or what to say in reply. It was an odd question, and she couldn't see where he was going with it.

"I do." Sakura murmurs, barely loud enough to hear.

"Then you shall be loyal to Orochimaru, won't you?"

Sakura's eyes widens in understanding. So that was where the conversation was going. Sakura looks Kabuto firmly in the eyes. "I will do whatever it take to stay by Sasuke's side."

Kabuto examined her for a moment, testing her resolve, then nodded. "I trust you will endure what Orochimaru has planned for you. He has no taste for weaklings."

to be continued...

Author's Note

I felt like writing a sappy, mushy, overly-sentimental scene to make it up to a dear friend of mine. This Naruto idea came from another friend of mine who's guilty pleasure is reading Naruto fanfictions (her real GP is Winx Club), so I did it on Naruto. This story came to me on a whim, when I was reading a 'Just-In' story about Bella following Edward into doing something stupid. Then random thoughts collided in my head, and I thought of every character pair, where the girl would do something stupid just to follow the guy… and that was when this story emerged.

If this story plot appeals to you, then leave a review. Anything is fine, I just like to feel appreciated.

-creativename

Next time on "Severed':

Sakura tries to find her place in the situation she thrown herself in. Away from the home she's always known, where she's always accepted. But now, she's on her own. She watches Sasuke stand his own, while she still trembles with doubt. She's different now though, and she knows that.