Chapter 10

New sights, new thoughts

Traveling fast and without stopping was an easy task for someone who could manipulate his energy. For exactly twenty nine hours and forty seven minutes, Sasuke had run through the country, entering the neighboring country before dawn.

It didn't matter where he went, it didn't matter that his body was exhausted, it didn't matter how much distance he put between him and the Kyuubi's castle, because all his thoughts were either blank or permanently fixed on…

No! This was not about him. It was about finding his brother; any place was a good place to start, and the farther it was the better. A far away town was his best chance for finding his brother. So what if it had the added advantage of also being far, far away from Naruto?

Out of sight out of mind, right?

He just needed time to get over those unrequited, useless, troublesome feelings. Humans are all like that, having changes of heart all the time. He was the living proof of that: he had hated demons; he never thought demons had feelings, or any remotely human trait except the appearance they faked. The irony of all ironies was that he had fallen for one of those vile creatures.

But Naruto wasn't vile or despicable, only a dobe, an usuratonkachi not even worthy of the title demon.

Naruto was…

I'm a mess! Why does he make me feel like this? Love is the obvious answer but… why do I even love him? Stupid heart. Stupid love! Stupid Naruto!

At the very end of that thought, Sasuke's body decided to collapse. The raven fell flat on his face, not even bothering to protect himself.

"Stupid me" the Uchiha heir muttered softly into the sand.

The slayer had been running for two hours now since he entered the Sand territory. Like the name suggested, it was nothing but a vast desert of gold-like sand shimmering in the blazing sun. It was a dangerous zone, bandits apart; the desert held hidden quick sands, venomous animals lurking underneath the sandy paths, and ridiculously high temperatures. The landscape was also tricky, you wouldn't even notice a cliff until you fell off of it.

The temperature was still cold, since the sun hadn't risen yet. The dark sand was cool, almost feeling soft to the touch. But Sasuke knew that it would be burning once the sun made its way over the horizon.

Forcing his body to get up, the Sasuke knew he had to get to the nearest village soon. He brushed the sand off his hair and clothes, wishing that his thoughts would remain blank. He quickly headed off, leaving his thoughts behind like footprints in the sand.

The sun rising off the horizon was almost too beautiful to be described by words. The slow moving yellow orb casted its light on the sky, giving it all the colors of the rainbow while the ground remained dark. Light and Dark, coexisting in perfect harmony at the same point in time. The land, however, was not ignored by the light for long. The light spread like an ocean, scaring off even the darkest of the shadows. Even though Sasuke had not stopped to admire the phenomenon, he was still well aware of it. Nature had mysteries all its own. All of them were breath taking, be it for better or worse. As the onyx eyed teen remained in the shadows far away from the light, he kept wondering if this was some kind of omen.

Arriving at a strange looking village, at least to the raven's opinion, he walked slowly to the entrance. The village, as it seemed, had been built inside of a ravine. It was protected all around by high red rocks, just like a protective wall. The houses were also strange looking compared to what he was used to, they were light red and reminded him of decorative pots. The Uchiha had never set foot in another country, so he was rather curious about this peculiar looking sight.

The market was located in the main street; some of the stores consisted of tents, while others were located inside those funny looking pots. And to his surprise, some local merchants had the store on their backs. Not literally of course. The merchants had their goods in a huge backpack while carrying the sign with the name of the store in their hands. Sasuke observed a group of children buying candy from one of those merchants.

The clothes were also different in shape and colors, brown and beige as well as other ochre colors seemed to be the most popular. Back at his village, green, grey and black were more frequently seen. Besides the children, some elders were also out of their houses, talking and observing the people in the street.

At that moment, the Uchiha heir realized that he was standing out in the crowd. Besides the clothing, Sasuke was afraid to even think of what he looked like after running nonstop for hours. He felt a layer of dust and dirt weighing on his skin. Just now he was feeling particularly sticky. It was rather uncomfortable, especially for someone who took two baths per day.

He had to find somewhere to stay, urgently!

But that meant having money.

The raven headed to one of the merchant men.

"Do you buy weapons?"

The merchant man stared at him, analyzing him from head to toe. If any other dirty looking brat had asked that question, the man wouldn't have hesitated to 'shoo' him off. However, this particular youth had a disturbingly regal poise, and he would be damned if he didn't say the brat looked like he could kill him with that glare.

"What do you have?" the man asked with spite.

The Uchiha showed him his kunai and shuriken; his katana would never be for sale. The man took a look at the weapons. He had never seen anything like them.

"I'll give you six pieces of silver."

The raven immediately turned his back to the man, walking to another one.

"Wait! Wait! How about ten? Twelve pieces? Fine fifteen, but that's my final offer!"

"Make it thirty and we have a deal."

"Fine."

The man was quick to hand over the pieces of silver. Sasuke gave the kunai and shuriken with no complaints, although he tripped and bumped into the man.

Apologizing, the raven left, leaving the man with a sly grin on his face.

Sasuke however was not born yesterday, and not even all the exhaustion in the world would make him blind to the merchant's trick. He knew at the exact same moment the man handed over the bag with the money, that the bag had stones. Too bad for the man; if he had been honest in the first place, he wouldn't have been left with nothing but rocks in a bag. The raven had switched the bags the moment he bumped into the man. That would teach him not to be dishonest.

The Uchiha heir was quick to disappear from the merchant's sight without anyone noticing him. He was the best demon slayer after all. Vanishing into thin air was his hobby.

Later that afternoon, Sasuke had already found a nice inn, where he was finally able to get rid of the dirt and sweat, and rest for the entire morning. He decided to buy new clothes and food, so he went outside, although he avoided walking on the main street. One could never be too careful.

The raven bought simple beige clothing, similar to kimonos, which covered most of his body. The food, however, was harder to find. Not that there wasn't plenty in the market, but it looked strange, and he swore he saw it move! He decided to buy fruit instead, with luck they would be normal fruit… he had no such luck. At the end the only thing he ate was oranges. He was really starting to dislike this country. The onyx eyed boy would make sure he would leave that night, to somewhere nicer, less weird, and most importantly, with edible food!

"SASUKE!"

His heart stopped.

The sound of his name had left him stuck to the ground like a statue.

The Uchiha heir had a weak smile on his face, which was quick to vanish.

For a moment, he had mistaken the voice that called his name with another person…

He had hoped that had been another person…

Wanted it to be that person…

Sasuke was rather confused when he woke up in a stranger's bed. The feeling alone made him want to cry for some reason, although he didn't let the tears show.

A pink haired girl was just beside him, giving him a worried smile.

Indeed he felt like crying.

"How are you feeling?"

Like crying.

"Fine. Did I lose consciousness?"

"Yeah, it's perfectly acceptable since you over exhausted your body, as usual. And the heat is not healthy for you either."

"Where's Lee?"

"Oh! Hum… he's somewhere… doing his business. "

Sasuke didn't need any more words; he knew how 'youthful' that weird guy could be. However, he gave her an accusing look that meant 'If he goes youthful on me I'm out before you can even blink an eye!'

"I know, I know. Anyways, what happened after I left? Did you fight the Kyuubi?"

"NO!" the raven shouted on a reflex.

He didn't mean to shout but enough was enough! Couldn't he be left alone? Did he have to be tortured like this, just now when he was finally dobe-thoughts free?

"Ok, you don't need to yell. What happened?"

Sasuke remained silent, he didn't trust himself enough to talk. He was afraid his voice would betray him, or worse… he was afraid he would start sobbing like a child.

This didn't go unnoticed by the girl.

"Sasuke?"

The raven haired boy sighed before telling Sakura the events of the night she had left.

"I really don't know what to say. Danzo-san tried to kill you, and Itachi is… are you going to look for him know?"

"Yes."

"Then what about the Kyuubi? Did you meet it?"

"No. The demon never showed up. It probably sensed me and never showed up or forgot. Demons don't have the same sense of time we do."

Liar! How can you lie about the person that saved your life? The person you love? Have you no conscience at all?

"I guess… I'm really thankful though. It may not be our village but I like it here. They have a greenhouse with plants I've never seen before. I work with venoms to make new antidotes. I help a lot of people. And I'm happy with Lee."

The Uchiha simply nodded. He was happy for her, but that really didn't change the fact that he was still feeling miserable. The raven hadn't even noticed that Sakura was hugging him, he was so lost in those feelings and thoughts.

"I hope you find happiness soon. You need it more than I do" the green eyed girl whispered.

I was happy there, why did I ever leave? Oh yeah, because I fell in love. It ruined everything. I hate it.

"I don't need happiness, I just have to find my brother, and somehow it will work out."

"Did something happen? I know something so terrible is hard to take in, but I'm sensing something else happened."

Naruto happened. He's the one making me feel this miserable and lonely. I hate him. I HATE HIM!

"No Sakura. I'm just… really, really tired."

"Go back to sleep" she said smiling. "You'll feel better."

"Hn."

I'll never feel better.

Hey there! Sorry for the waiting. I promise you'll have another chapter sooner. Please continue to read and reviewing, it makes me happy. In the next chapter you'll find out Naruto's reaction and if Tsunade, Jirayia and Kakashi will remain alive. If you thought Kakashi would have run by now, your clearly mistaken.

And finally a big thank you for DiscordiaCruentus for revising my grammar.