Unkind Fate

The characters in this story do not belong to me in any way. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

Open to constructive criticism. Key word- constructive.

If fate had been kind to him, he would have been like any other Konoha kid, running around in the streets of his village. He would have been carefree, confident that the one village he loved would forever keep him safe, oblivious of all the dangers taking place outside of its gate. However, future events would prove that fate was not in his favor.

His future could have been changed through the love and support of his two comrades, particularly the girl that had deeply admired him. Although he was too proud to admit it, he had always admired the unique, physical characteristics that only she possessed. Like the sakura blossom, he knew that when she grew up, she would blossom into Konoha's finest women.

Frustrations grew as failures with battles and other outside influences began to stack, especially since the one person he looked down on was actually starting to get on par with him, if not surpass him. And once again, fate would not be kind to him since one particular event would drive him over the edge, leading him away from the village, away from her…

She had wanted to go with him, begged and pleaded. But, he knew this was not the path he should allow her to take. Telling himself that he did not care about her as he strained to remain expressionless, the most he could do was thank her, mercifully knocking her out from behind to make sure she would no longer stand in his way. Although he would never concede to that reasoning, he wanted to not only eliminate his number one enemy, but any other enemy that would pose a serious threat to the one he cared about. After all, how could he start a family when he had two S-Class criminals after him?

As years went by after leaving Konoha, the aching absence of his comrades began to slowly melt away, or so he thought. He steadily kept his spirits up, constantly telling himself that he did not need bonds because it would only make him weaker. Although, he was not't referring to weak as in terms of physical strength. After all, learning under a Sannin, whom he would later kill, had made him more powerful than he could ever imagine. No, he meant emotionally, emotional scars that no medicine in the world could heal. As much as he wanted to, he could not forget her. After all, how could he? No one had hair like that…

When that day would finally arrive for him to carry out his revenge, he would be free to start his own family and fulfill other ambitions he'd always had. With a new group in tow, it seemed absolutely nothing could go wrong. However, for the third time, fate would not be kind to him.

He had always had dreams of seeing her bright face, entranced in a state of nostalgia as she softly cooed "Sasuke-kun". In other dreams, he would be frozen to one spot as she repeatedly kicked him in his shins, or in one dream, his safety deposit box, with the super strength she acquired from Tsunade. And as much as it hurt him, he would have given anything to have those dreams a thousand times than to gaze upon the site that laid before him.

Before him laid the girl of his childhood, clothes torn to shreds and her body parts twisted in ways that wouldn't be humanly possible even for a double-jointed person. Scratches and burns decorated her body; faint, green chakra from her advanced medical ninjutsu looked like it was fighting to heal them up as if there were an ounce of hope left. A large fight had happened, as evidence of split rocks and deep holes in the earth littered the field. However, under a mat of short pink hair with clumps of dirt all about, brilliant green eyes shone half-lidded. The spark in them were gone, evidence to her passing on into the afterlife as she laid in a pool of her blood.

Sakura…he thought to himself, his mind replaying memories of her over and over at top speed as if his mind were a VCR on fast-forward. He wanted to kill whoever had done. He wanted to torture them slowly and twist their bodies into the same shape Sakura's body was contorted.

"Sasuke, why are you still standing there? Just leave the dead body and lets get moving before reinforcements show-"

"I thought I gave specific orders not to kill anyone, Suigetsu. I go away for a half hour and… " Sasuke trailed off. As he turned, his teammates could see that he Sharingan was activated. They could feel the sinister aura of killing intent seeping out from Sasuke's body.

"Hey, I-it w-was not't me! It was that crazy bitch Karin!" Suigetsu replied, scared out of his wits.

Surprised, Sasuke turned towards Karin. He could see that her clothes were torn as well and if she was not't treated soon, she as well would die. Karin's eyes widened a bit when she felt the glare of Sasuke upon her.

"W-well, what the hell was I s-suppose to do?! She attacked me first. 'Said that the villagers said they've seen me with you and wanted questions on your whereabouts. As if I would give that information up…" Then, Karin gasp and grabbed her side.

Sasuke had wanted to kill her on the spot, but he added that on the list of people who would eliminate after he got his revenge on Itachi. Sasuke turned away from and looked back at the body. Even in death, she is beautiful, he thought to himself. And he was right, she had grown into a beautiful woman. If only he could have known her new personality. Was she the same fan girl that would follow him, constantly cooing 'Sasuke-kun'? Or had she grown into a strong, confident woman who no longer chased after because of childish love, but because of a genuine friendship she wanted to so desperately preserve for both her and the sake of their teammate, Naruto?

"Suigetsu, take Karin into town and have a doctor treat her wounds before she dies" commanded Sasuke.

"What?! Why the hell do I…" Suigetsu was cut off from his trail of words as Sasuke flashed him a deadly glare. And without any other words of protest, he bent down and picked up the protesting Karin.

"If you don't mind me asking, who is she to you, Sasuke?" Juugo hesitantly asked.

There was a pause of silence, in which the team waited for Sasuke's response. In a voice almost expressionless voice, Sasuke replied "She was someone I knew from long ago."

Team Hebi could have sworn they heard a hint of sadness in his voice, and his eyes were not helping to disprove their suspicions either. As they turned to leave, Juugo asked "…Are you coming, Sasuke?"

With memories from long ago still swirling in his mind, Sasuke replied "Yeah, just give me a moment". Team Hebi hesitantly turned and went on their way. Sasuke gazed at the body of Sakura, silently cursing himself for not staying at the location he had originally planned for. Every so often, a breeze would pass through the locks of Sakura and he could see how her face had matured over the years. After ten minutes passed, he slowly began to walk away.

Sasuke-kun…

He could have sworn he heard a voice just above a whisper. He spun around to see if there were any chance in the world that she was alive, only to find the same motionless body.

'No' He thought to himself. 'Fate was never kind to me.'

As he walked away from the little humanity he had left in him, a tear rolled down the cheek of the corpse.

Sasuke-kun…