Unexpected
by Wicked Child
It was clearly unexpected and wholly devastating. No one would have ever suspected, not even their elder counterparts.
He had deserted Konohagakure no Sato, leaving in his wake a broken team; a girl with a broken heart, a brother with a broken bond, a teacher with broken confidence. They were just obstacles in his need for more power. He left them all, determined to make his life goals complete, to achieve what his family could not, to break his own boundaries and create new ones.
The broken team dedicated themselves to bringing him back, becoming stronger themselves in order to help him redeem himself if he so wished for such a thing.
They all knew they would meet again, on the opposite of enemy lines, prepared to do the worst. Three against one. The betrayed versus the betrayer. He stared them down, arrogance and power emanating from his very being, prepared to kill if he had to.
The others stared back, hope, fear, and determination warring in each. Power of their own leaking and bursting forth alternately between them.
It was about to begin, and when the battle finally happened, the end result was devastating.
Three to one it remained, all breathing heavy, decisions playing on all their minds.
The difference this time? The girl and the brother joined the betrayer, leaving the teacher alone.
A part of him understood their decision and that was the part that didn't attack but warned them all. They could never return to their home, lest it be their dead bodies. There would be no second chances for them, none at all. When next the teacher would met his students, it would end in someone's death or all their own.
The three teammates turned, their backs to the past, and leapt through the trees to begin their journey anew. The boys positioned the girl between them, for that was how it would be between them and she understood that better than they did and accepted her new role.
When the betrayer asked the others later that evening why they had defected their answers confused, amused, and appeased him.
"We're teammates bastard and we look out for each other no matter what."
"We always new we were destined to be together in one way or another, the three of us. Your goals are our goals."
"What about your own goals? What about becoming Hokage?"
"What are our goals worth if not shared with those most important to us?"
It was then that understanding dawned upon two of them. They were destined three.
They all knew that if she didn't join, their wounds may not have healed. Their combined arrogance could have gotten them killed. The three of them were complete together. They completed her and she completed them. They belonged to her and she, she certainly belonged to them.
When their teacher arrived back home empty handed it sent shockwaves through the village. Many thought it might be part of some elaborate plan to finally capture the betrayer and bring him to justice along with his blood brother and his legendary teacher. By the next morning they all knew the truth and it was cemented when their village leader said:
"Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura are hereby declared missing-nin's of Konohagakure no Sato. They are traveling with Konoha missing-nin Uchiha Sasuke. None are to be taken lightly. If any of you meet them while on a mission do not engage as they are highly skilled and dangerous. Proceed with extreme caution until we are able to neutralize."
When the Godaime went inside her office, she finally let herself succumb to her misery as she cried for her former student and the boy she loved like a son. She wasted no tears on the other boy for she hated him and the loyalty he commanded. She crumbled a note in one hand begging forgiveness for future actions.
The other hand shook, a necklace clutched within.
For
now we stand alone
The
world is lost and blown