I do not own anything concerning Naruto.

"Thank you."

Those two damned words. Who could have guessed that such small words could hold such intense and emotional feelings? For years those words had plagued her. The meaning behind them leaving her confused, hurt and ultimately sad. Usually when someone expresses their thanks, it's a positive experience resulting from an act of kindness. However, not in this case. When she heard him speak those words, there was a brief moment of hope in her heart. Hope that perhaps he was going to let her join him on his journey, or better yet, that he would stay there in Konoha, that he would stay home. But no, not in this case. Her feelings of hope were crushed when she woke up alone and cold on the same bench she had sat and waited for him on. She had begged him that night to please stay with her, that she loved him and would do anything to make him happy. Suddenly he was behind her, and as she felt his warm breath on her neck, she heard him utter those heartbreaking words. Crushed couldn't even begin to describe her feelings when she woke up with the realization that he was gone, and he had left her there alone to suffer with his absence.

Despite all of those feelings, the pain and agony of chasing him, finding him, and losing him multiple times, she still loved him. She still ached and yearned to be with him no matter of the crimes he had committed against their country, but mostly, against herself and Naruto. He had tried to kill them both on more than one occasion. Sakura was no fool. She was not going to lie to herself by saying he wouldn't have really gone through with killing her. She knew he would have, and she knew she must be crazy to still love him. She must be even crazier to be sitting on the same bench she had once sat on, several years ago, waiting on him. Waiting on Sasuke.

To say that he was surprised to see her sitting there would be an understatement. Of all the people Sasuke had anticipated running into while leaving the village, Sakura would have been the last on his list. So much had happened, and so much damage had been done since he left, that he was certain not a single person would object to him leaving again. Technically he wasn't allowed to leave Konoha. After the war with Obito and Madara was over and Konoha came out as the victor, peace slowly settled into the village. People went to work cleaning and rebuilding, and everyone was happy. Everyone except Sasuke though. Tsunade had offered him a deal, that as long as he stayed in Konoha and worked for the village, he would be forgiven of his crimes and not be subject to prosecution. Sasuke thought her to be a fool. Why was she letting him off that easily? He assumed Naruto had talked her into it, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the deal was too good to be true. Sure enough, it was. It didn't take long for Sasuke to notice the glares aimed at him or to overhear the rumors spreading like wildfire about him. Rumors that Itachi was the innocent one, and Sasuke had murdered him in cold blood. Rumors that Sasuke had framed his brother for the annihilation of their family, and that Itachi had fled in fear of his younger sibling. Rumors that Orochimaru had even feared him. Rumors that he was only staying in Konoha because he was still secretly planning his revenge, and would slaughter them all when their guards were down. So many rumors, none of which were true, but people still feared and hated him. At one time in Konoha he was the most popular boy. All the girls loved him, all the boys wanted to be him, and even his own sensei even seemed to favor him over his other teammates. At the time all of that attention was annoying and he didn't care for such treatment. But now as an outcast his only wish was to be treated with just a little bit of kindness. He knew he had done too much harm for anyone to ever be able to appreciate what he had done for the village during the battle, but he expected a little recognition for the fact that he helped save the same village that he held responsible for his entire family's demise. Shortly after things had settled down, he joined Naruto for some ramen. It was the first time he had ventured out Naruto's apartment since his meeting with Tsunade, and he felt slightly excited to be going back to one of the places he used to visit when he was young. Any feelings of warm nostalgia vanished though, as he entered the restaurant. All eyes were on him, and they were not friendly ones. He quickly shrugged off the irritation and sat down beside Naruto to order his food. Before he could even open his mouth to speak though, the cook stopped him. He told him he refused to serve a traitor to their village, and that Sasuke was not welcome in his establishment. Sasuke was stunned silent but showed no emotion. Of course Naruto spoke up loudly in his defense, only earning him more hateful stares from the rest of the customers. Without speaking a word Sasuke stood up to leave, but on his way out the door something truly humiliating happened. Maybe he was too distracted by his own thoughts to notice the rotten tomato flying through the air at him, but whatever the reason, he was left defenseless. He slowly turned to find the culprit, but everyone sat silent, glaring at him with pure unadulterated hate in their eyes as tomato slowly dripped from the back of his neck. Sasuke was so consumed with feelings of regret, anger and humiliation that he barely noticed Naruto screaming at some guy in the corner…

So everyone hated him or was afraid of him. Whatever they felt didn't matter to Sasuke. Had he really expected any different? Honestly though he hadn't really had a chance to think about things like that. Everything had happened so fast. The battle with Obito and Madara, the decision to join the alliance, the deal he accepted from Tsunade, agreeing to stay with Naruto until he was able to get his own place; all of that had happened so fast. No wonder her deal seemed too good to be true. It was. Tsunade knew how everyone was going to treat him and she figured that would be punishment enough. So for a brief period of time Sasuke took his punishment. He knew he deserved it, so he decided he would just ignore everyone. He supposed it would pass eventually. After all, he was Naruto's best friend, and everyone adored Naruto now. He was called a hero, and it was well known he was next in line for the position of Hokage. In his youth Sasuke had been jealous of him, he could admit that now. They had both grown though, in every way possible. So much had happened, and he had caused Naruto so much pain, that he was surprised when he offered to let Sasuke stay with him. It was no secret that Naruto had trained to become strong so he could bring Sasuke home one day, but still, it surprised him how easily Naruto had forgiven him. Hell, he didn't even really get to say he was sorry. One night at their apartment, after a bit too much sake, he had tried to apologize to his friend, mainly for trying to kill him before. But of course with Naruto being, well Naruto, an apology wasn't allowed. He told Sasuke to shut up and stop acting like a girl. After that things were pretty much back to normal for the pair.

So he told himself that he could just ignore everyone until they got tired of being cruel to him. It was just rumors after all, and any attempts to throw food at him were now anticipated and averted. But then one day he heard a rumor he couldn't ignore. It pertained to Naruto, and how he might not be the best choice for Hokage if he could defend such a traitor like Sasuke. The person saying this wasn't alone in their feelings. There were 6 of them standing by the fruit stand whispering, all agreeing. Sasuke wondered how long it would take for the rest of the village to come to the same agreement. So he tried to put things into perspective. Naruto was a hero now, and everyone loved him and looked up to him. If anything, they should trust Naruto when he defends his friend. They should believe him when he says Sasuke just wants to live in peace. But no, their thoughts and feelings and ideas were going in a different direction. As much as everyone loved Naruto, they were the same people who had once hated him and treated him like a monster when he was only a child. It was really no surprise that they would so easily revert back to those feelings, and turn against Naruto once again.

Sasuke couldn't allow that to happen. Naruto had done everything in his power to save him and bring him home. He wasn't going to be the reason Naruto wouldn't be able to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming Hokage someday. He'd be damned before he ever let that happen.

So that's why he is leaving, why he is breaking his deal with Tsunade. It has only been 6 months, but his leaving isn't about not being able to take his punishment. He was doing this for Naruto, and he hoped the formal letter he left for Tusnade would explain that properly. He had personally told Naruto his decision, and as expected his friend got upset, claiming Sasuke was just being a sissy and needed to toughen up. He left out the part about leaving because he wanted to ensure Naruto's position of Hokage, but he didn't think it was necessary to share that bit of information. If it meant it was easier for Naruto to think he was leaving because he cound't handle the hatred towards him, then so be it. Whatever it took to get Naruto to accept that he was leaving, and this time, for good. It wasn't going to be like last time though. This time he would keep in touch. This time, he was leaving to help someone, not to find someone and kill him.

These past six months had been rough with the way everyone had treated him. He could handle all of that though. All of his old friends were even a little weary of him, with none of them truly accepting him back into their circle again. There was a distance between himself and everyone else. Everyone, including Sakura.

Sakura. Now there was something that got his attention. They had had little to no contact since he had been back. Right after the battle was over, she had been the one to help heal his wounds. When she noticed his eyes on her as she healed him, she smiled at him, but not the smile he had seen in his youth. This new smile of hers was forced, almost as if she was really in pain, or as if she was trying to act like everything between them was alright. He didn't expect Sakura to forgive him, especially since he had no intention of apologizing to her. If she didn't want to speak to him, that was fine. It was her right after all, to not associate with the man who had tried to kill her more than once. Surely, she knew, he would not have actually done that. He would have missed any vital organs. He knew how to kill, and he knew how to injure someone without killing them. He never wanted to hurt Sakura, but she was the one to come after him in an attack. He had no reason to apologize because he was merely defending himself. He would not have killed her, but he wasn't going to let her kill him. He had to stop her somehow, right? So he owed her no apology. At least, that's what he told himself at first. Then one day when he passed her on the street and she greeted him very curtly and commented on how lovely the weather was being that day, he started to reconsider his stand on not apologizing to her. Even Naruto noticed one day that Sakura hadn't come to visit him in a while, so he suggested they pay her a visit.

When they showed up at her home that night unexpected, Sakura greeted Naruto with a hug and true joy at his presence. She didn't make much of a show upon seeing Sasuke though. He wasn't surprised. Dinner that night had been awkward, for him anyways. Sakura and Naruto laughed and joked about old times, and a lot about times that didn't include him. For a moment he felt sadness. Sadness over the fact that he had missed what appeared to be some good times, and anger over the fact that they were rubbing it in his face.

After that night Sasuke didn't leave the apartment much. He only left when Tsunade assigned him some tedious task around the village. He would spend his days doing whatever she asked, but he would spend his nights lying in bed, with too many thoughts racing through his mind. Thoughts of what his life would have been like if his family was still alive, if they hadn't planned to take over the village. What would his life been like now, if those things hadn't happened. He would still be a ninja, that's for sure, but would his personal life be any different? It was at this point in his thinking process that his mind would wander to Sakura. Would he be with her? Would they be living together at this point? Perhaps they would have decided to just be friends after a failed attempt at a relationship. Who knew? But one thing was for sure, Sakura didn't want anything to do with him now. She did not seem to hate him, she just didn't seem to feel anything at all for him. Very well then, he would think to himself. Life might have been different had things not played out the way they did, but he couldn't change any of that. The only person that wanted him in this village was Naruto, and that was exactly why he had to leave.

So, after all that had happened, all the things said and done, and of all the things he didn't say or do, but should have, she was there. She was sitting on the bench, with a small bag on her back, head bent down, twiddling her thumbs. He knew she was waiting for someone. He knew she was waiting for him. He didn't know why she was there, but in that moment he realized that she still loved him, and nothing else mattered. Reasons why, didn't matter. Leaving without permission, didn't matter. The past didn't matter.

The only thing that mattered to him at that moment in time was Sakura.

As he walked up to her, she lifted her eyes to meet his. He could see fear, hope, and even something he might consider forgiveness in them. They stayed that way for a moment, neither one moving, both barely breathing. Time stood still as they silently came to an agreement.

He was leaving, and she was going with him.

Sasuke extended his hand out to Sakura, and without hesitation she gently placed her own within his. As she stood, he felt a heavy weight lift from his heavy heart. She smiled at him then, the same smile he had seen so many years ago. She noticed the corner of his lip tilt upwards as he gently squeezed her hand. With that, Sasuke and Sakura left their childhood home behind them, and set off towards their future…..together.

~End