Selfish.
That's what Sakura decided she was. Though she gave up her chakra everyday to heal others or protect them with her monstrous strength, through she gave up her time to the hospital and missions to protect her village, she knew deep inside the real Sakura was selfish. She was trying to keep Sasuke for herself, for her and Naruto and Konoha. But if he really thought they weren't good enough then she knew she could do nothing more and she wouldn't try any longer. She was over this and decided she had had enough as a slight frown etched her beautiful face.
The new team 7 watched as Sasuke appeared from Orichimaru's lair and stood on the rock above them. His appearance had changed quite a bit; he had grown quite a lot taller and he now showed off his well tone chest while wearing the hideous purple bow, Sakura could not only see but feel the coldness in his eyes. She peered over at Naruto who was clenching his fist in anticipation that they had finally found Sasuke and would take him home, to Konoha. Sai was ever so emotionless except maybe the look of confusion in his eyes as the mixed feelings clashed in the tense air. Yamato watched the teenagers and they battle their inner conflicts in pity of the broken past. Sakura caught the look and her frown deepened. It was then that she made her decision.
"Enough." Sakura whispered to Naruto.
He looked at her in shock and confusion. What did she mean by that? Hadn't she been just as eager as him to get back Sasuke?
"This is stupid." Sakura murmured as she turned around and jumped out of the crater beneath the rock below Sasuke. She turned back to Naruto with the emotionless face of a shinnobi. Something had snapped in her and it was at that time she realized that Sasuke's life was none of her concern anymore. He would always be her past teammate, but nothing more she decided. She looked at Sai who raised an eyebrow and her actions. That's right he was not Sasuke's replacement but her teammate, there was just simply no more room for Sasuke in her life.
Sasuke just stood there secretly curious of his former pink-haired teammate's action though he would never let it show on the outside. He studied her short pink hair that framed her face and the great change in her overall appearance. She was older; though still petite he couldn't believe how much she'd changed without him. Even the dobe looked more mature and they even had a new sensei. What angered him the most though was their new replacement who somewhat resembled himself; how dare they try to replace him with some fake who looked like him! No, what? He was not angry at all. He cared nothing for these people, who were always getting in his way trying to reattach the broken bonds between them, if he really had let them completely go. He smirked at the thought that they would always be begging for him to come back and humored silently over their stupidity.
Sakura looked back at her teammates and sensei and spoke once more, "We have wasted enough time, and I need to get back to my patients at the hospital." And with that she left and began walked away to the underbrush around them, back to the direction of Konoha.
Wasted.
Wasted?
Sasuke was truly confused now. How had someone like Sakura, who had confessed her undying love for him, have been able to claim she was wasting time on him? A look of hurt glazed his eyes before they returned to their cold emotionless look once again.
Sai looked at Naruto and then Sasuke before making his exit with a wave and a very fake smile. Sasuke scoffed and glared at the said boy.
Naruto sighed and looked up at Sasuke one more time. He knew deep inside that Sakura was right. He knew how hard it must have been for her to perform her previous actions, to finally let Sasuke go. It was this look that made Sasuke realized how tired Naruto look. His 'brother' was stressed he could tell and lacked proper resting, but he stood there unfazed by everything around him, well it appeared that way. Naruto finally turned around and left with Yamato leaving behind a lone Sasuke.
He was alone. He could now continue on to achieve his goal of killing his brother and avenging his clan. But as he watched the retreating back of his teammates, it almost seemed not worth it. Something twitched in his mind as he though about them moving on, without him. Naruto, finding a new rival and 'brother' in that replacement ninja and Kakashi moving on to do other things and sending a replacement of him in his place. And Sakura, the once weakest link of the team, finding better things to do then chasing him, and though it pained him to think it, most likely being suited by other males around her. His anger only grew when he thought of the replacement and his Sakura associating in any way, shape, or form. He would admit that she had grown into a beauty, with her distinct cherry blossom hair and emerald green eyes, the very ones that turned away from him with such coldness it made him want to shiver. And then there was him, Sasuke, once again alone with no family. For a fleeting moment he thought about running to catch up with them, to embrace them and tell them he was planning to come back all along and how much he missed them. He would then give Naruto a good punch, push that replacement out of the way, and finally he would give Sakura a long over due hug.
But as quickly as the thought came, it left, and Sasuke turned around with one thought in his mind. He had to get stronger, find his brother and kill him as fast as he could so he could get back to his 'family' as soon as possible, especially his little cherry blossom.