DISCLAIMER: If I owned Naruto, Kakashi Hatake and I would be married. And Sasuke would be dead! (Sorry Sasuke lovers, but he betrayed everyone and tried to KILL Naruto!) Props to Misashi Kishimoto, the ORIGINAL creator who I adore, and I hope he never stops making Naruto awesome! Warning, there are some major spoilers in this.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both.
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could

He sighed, the dusky sunset lowering in the sky.

"Please, Sasuke, don't leave, not to him!" Sakura begged him, with the worst pleading look in her eyes.

It wasn't supposed to happen like this. He was supposed to go by unnoticed, not run into Haruno. And most likely, he didn't expect to tell her what was happening. But, with remorse, it had happened, and she begged pathetically at his feet. Like it would do any good. A decision was made, and it didn't matter if it was the right one or not.

What good was revenging his clan if a class clown, Uzumaki Naruto, was better than him? It was a weak, insufficient effort that he hadn't pushed himself far enough. Sasuke tried all he could, but nothing could prevail— not even the many gifted blessings from the Uchiha clan.

To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

There was a long trial of questioning. Should he just train harder, fight with blood, and maybe win? But it ended up working to little efforts. Still, could he betray the closest thing he had to friends? Disgrace his village? Become a mindless want of another? They swam through his head day in and out, and never left. Everything that could be right and justice screamed what was best, what he was foolishly thinking, should never possibly happen.

Then again, deep down in the pit of his stomach, he knew there was only one answer. The bitter truth evened out the deception. There was never a choice for him, not since the first chuunin exams, where a burning mark left him condemned. He was, since then, Orochimaru's, no matter what he said against his mind. With no one more powerful, there was no one to stand up for him, to challenge his problems, to win against his damned life. When he thought about it being possible for him to triumph, he'd scoff, almost laughing. There was no winning.

And perhaps, farther along the road, it would work out. He'd be only the best, and there was nothing left under it if he planned to kill Itachi. Sasuke wasn't stupid; he knew what he'd have to gain in order to achieve his goals. And when you plan to gain, you must first plan to give something of equal or greater value. This was definitely a time where he lost much more than he conjectured. Then again, he was pretty much used to it by now.

Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that mornings equally lay

And then Sakura, in last feeble attempts, cried out something he most certainly wasn't expecting.

"If this is your decision…." She paused. "Sasuke, I love you, let me come with you. Then we can still be together!"

Was it possible to feel violated, understanding, and shocked at the same time? He just stared at her. How stupid was she? Sasuke slowed the angering thoughts. She didn't know. No one knew. And with a simple nod of no, he turned around.

In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

And yet again, Sasuke thought everything other thoroughly. Was this really a way to leave things? Blank, subtle, and overwhelming? It was the last thing he ever wanted to do, and it was the most foulest thing he could do. He didn't want one more thing to be piled into everyone's hearts. He didn't want them to think he didn't care, he didn't want them to believe he did it in his own vain, but most of all, he didn't want them to think, ever, that it had been their fault.

The words were soft, with the first real smile he'd ever given.

"Thank-you Sakura."

I shall be telling this with a sigh;
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

The Road Not Taken; By Robert Frost. This is what happens when I don't write for a bloody week. Quick simple thoughts on Sasuke's departure from team 7 to Orochimaru's side. What he was feeling at the present time and a brief back past one the troubling turns he had to face. Still, Sasuke's a stupid bastard. I'm twelve and could have picked the right decision…NOT HIS.