For the Record: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters.
My very first... is this considered a fic... I'm really new at this. Reviewers (good or bad) are welcomed ( please don't hurt me... I'm fragile) This takes place during Ch. 234. Enjoy...
" Power, Strength, Revenge... these words are the things that have kept me alive all these years. I lived on for these three words. I wonder if someone, who were put in my shoes, would do the things I've done. Although many people know about the tragedy that is my past... they really know nothing about it. They will never know the pain of losing their family and friends in the blink of an eye. They haven't experience the loss and suffering over the years. One minute, you have a family, people who love and care for you, the next, they're being slaughtered at the hands of your own brother. Why did he do it? To use them as a sort of measuring stick towards his power... I don't know if he meant it or not... but there's something I do know... he must die by my hands. This thought has made me push past my limits over the years. I often think about how my life would have turned out, had there not been the tragedy. Would I still be the same? Would I still act the same? If my family hadn't been murdered, would there loving care be there instead of this cold exterior. Would I be more open. I know I must seem cold to everyone. It's hard, but if I wasn't, I would have people getting in my way, straying me away from my destined path. This, I cannot have. I'm an Avenger. My life is different from those around me.
As I walk towards my new path, I think about those I left behind. Kakashi... although a carefree kind of guy, he was a man you could trust. Although some of his actions (and hobbies) were a bit obscure, I came to understand him very much. He was just like me. The ones closest to him were dead, as well. How did he cope with this? What did he do to end up how he was now. Although I hate to admit it, he did look out for me many times. He helped me train to become stronger and better myself in many other ways. In all reality, he was like a second father to me. All he wanted me to do was be a respectable ninja.
Then there is that idiot, Naruto. We were the same but also completely different. He was alone, just like me. It was a rare bond we shared, one that we didn't really talk about. Who knew he could turn out to be my closest friend. However, we could not be friends forever. Although we were both alone, we were still different. Though it can be considered unfair, he never had anyone to begin with. In my opinion, that would be much better than my own life. He never had anyone, he cared for, taken away from him. He never had to experience the horrible images of his family being massacred over and over again... images burned into my eyes at such a young age. No one, no matter who, should ever be subjected to that kind of torture. But I was, by my own brother no less. It's unbearable... the thought of not being able to do anything about your family's death. The guilt I had to face... that I was weak... that I was too weak to save them. This is why I must obtain power... why I had to leave the Leaf... why I had to leave her. Haruno Sakura. The only girl I ever opened up to. Why she feels the way she does for me, I'll never know. At first I thought she was annoying, always clinging to me like the usual fangirl, but somewhere, somehow, I felt her become more and more apart of me. She became someone I had grown comfortable with. This girl... so much pain and heartache I caused her... yet she stayed by me no matter what the situation. She even risked her life to save me, something I thought no one would do for me. No matter what I did to push her away, she became closer to me than ever. It's ironic, to think if I hadn't lost everything, I probably wouldn't have been so cold to her. I might have had feelings equal to her own. But my family is gone, and I can't return any feelings to her. She would only get in the way... this is what I thought earlier but now... now, I just couldn't see her getting hurt. If I had made good on her offer and taken her with me, her life would be filled with nothing but danger. Even though she's willing to risk it for love, I can't, out of the concern for here safety. She had grown to be a precious comrade of mine... and I made a vow not lose my comrades again. This is why I did not kill Naruto. I would not be his puppet... Itachi... the name I hated for so many years now. Even if I wanted power in order to destroy you, I will not do the one thing to obtain your type of power... I will not be just like you. I will not become the thing I hate and have sworn to kill. I will not take the life of my close friend, like you did, Itachi... I will not... As I walk through the leaves, I feel a bit nostalgic... thinking of my memories in Leaf. Walking on the leaves... was this a sign of my betrayal toward my home... my home. As I leave it, I make a promise that I must keep. No matter what happens in the future I must return... I have to return... I will return."