Chapter 13

Naruko dragged her feet as she returned home after a long and hard shift at Kubikiriocho. It was late, almost past three am, and the sky was covered by dark clouds, making the usually dark and poorly lit alley even more intimidating. The horrid smell that came from abandoned trash cans was nauseating as usual, but she was used to it by now.

She had been working all day and she was really looking forward to going home and taking a nice long shower to finally get rid of the smell of smoke and alcohol that was reeking from her hair and clothes.

As she reached her home, she noticed a figure standing in front of her door, enveloped by darkness, making it impossible to make out who it was. Naruko paused her steps, reaching for her phone just in case she needed to make a quick call for help.

"Who's there?" she called out, unconsciously lifting her hand and folding it in a punch. If someone was going to try and attack her, she wasn't going to go down without a fight. Not again, not after having finally recovered from the hell she had lived through all those years, not when she was finally free to live as she wanted.

She didn't receive an answer, so she decided to take a few careful steps forward, trying to be mindful of her surroundings just in case the person in front of her door wasn't alone.

"Who is there? Show yourself" she wished she knew how to work the damn flashlight on her phone, but she felt too agitated to even try and fiddle with it in that situation.

"Naruko? Is that you?' the blonde recognized the female voice and looked in the direction the voice came from with stupor.

"Sakura?" her voice was uncertain, wondering why the girl would be at her place at such a late hour. Confident now that it was safe, she rushed to where the other girl was standing, and immediately recognized the girl's pink hair.

"Hey Naru" Sakura's voice sounded faint and sad even in the deserted quiet alley.

"I'm sorry for showing up so late, it's just that...I...I really" She bit her lip as she tried to hold her emotions in and hid her gaze away from her friend who immediately noticed her off behavior.

Alarmed, Naruko ran to her to check she was all right, unfortunately, the darkness was not of any help, but she could tell that, at least physically, Sakura was okay. Deciding against asking all of the questions that were passing through her mind she took one of her hands in hers, pulling her towards her apartment.

"Come on Sakura-chan, let's go inside. You can tell me what happened once you've calmed down"

Sakura could only nod, incapable to speak any further as she was afraid her voice would be broken by the sobs she had been keeping in for all that time. Her eyes filled with tears as she relished in her friend's comforting touch. She was glad she could rely on Uzumaki.

Naruko had immediately gone to make tea, leaving Sakura to rest on her couch and wrapping her up with her favorite comfort blanket. Sakura was grateful to the blonde for her kindness

They had been sitting in the living room for over thirty minutes. Naruko did not dare to say anything as she observed her friend's tear stricken face, waiting for her to tell her what was going on. As curious as she was she wouldn't pry, aware that Sakura would speak when she was ready.

Kurama was sitting next to the weeping girl, and she moved her hand to pet his ears, lifting her lips in a small smile. The huge feline was having a soothing effect on her nerves. The apartment was quiet, the atmosphere was making the blonde feel a little uncomfortable and she cleared her throat trying to fill the room with any sound. It was pathetic how bad she was at comforting people, especially when she didn't know what had happened to make them sad in the first place. Sakura noticed her friend's awkwardness and left out a small breath as she tried to sort out in her head the right words to explain the situation.

"Sasuke-kun...he decided to join the special forces. He leaves for Oto in a few days"

Naruko looked up from the floor, surprise clear on her face.

"What? When did he tell you?"

Sakura sighed again, she knew the blonde wouldn't take the news well, but she couldn't help but tear up again as she thought about the last conversation she had with the Uchiha.

"It's because of him, isn't it? because of what happened with the bastard" Naruko stood up, her hands balled up in fists. Itachi would pay for all the pain he caused, she would make sure of it.

Sakura nodded, drying the tears from her cheeks with her right wrist, as she tightened the fingers of her left hand in a fist, aware that she couldn't do anything less but look miserable. That was why she had always felt a pang of jealousy towards her blonde-haired friend. Naruko would have probably beaten up Sasuke to make him see reason instead of crying her heart out hoping he would change his mind moved by pity. She admired Naruko, she really did. She had overcome worse things than that and still, she had been capable to overcome them as a true fighter. Deeply, she wished she could be as strong as Naruko, instead of the sobbing mess she was reduced to.

"It's always about Itachi. It's become an obsession for him. Sasuke desires to become stronger so that one day he can finally make him pay for what he has done to their family"

Naruko snorted, it wasn't new to her, after all, the Uchiha had never hidden his desire to get revenge on his brother.

"I don't understand, why join the special forces though?"

"Itachi used to be in the special forces he faced years of training before deciding that it wasn't for him and left to join Konoha's police force" Sakura explained sadly, pausing for a moment. I

"I always knew this day was going to come." she laughed without humor, choking up on a sob as she rested a hand on her forehead.

"I knew that one day he was going to leave me to go and pursue his dream." she sighed, aware she probably looked pitiful in Naruko's eyes.

The blonde was silent as she took in Sakura's words, realizing that she didn't know the Uchiha's heart as much as her friend did. She had been wrongly under the impression that Sasuke was changed, that he might have finally set his desire for revenge to the side, and finally realized that he had all he needed to be happy. A family that despite their problems still cared for him, a girlfriend that loved him with all her heart, and friends he could rely on. She had assumed that all that could overcome even the rage she had seen in his eyes the day of the fight with Itachi.

"He's a fool! a damn blind fool! what does he think he's going to obtain with revenge? he already has it all! so his brother is a damn rogue criminal, why does he want to waste his life running after him! it's not worth it! I will go and knock some sense into his thick skull!" her hands balled into tight fists and an angry expression marred her features, Sakura though stood up, as if she would physically try to stop her from running out the door.

"No. That is not the solution"

"But...Sakura, don't you want Sasuke to come back to you?" The blonde was confused as she looked at her pink-haired friend with eyes wide with surprise. She had promised herself that she would never let the Uchiha hurt Sakura, as she had suffered enough because of him already.

The Haruno looked down at the floor biting her lip as if tempted to accept the offer but then shook her head, her eyes glistening as she gave one of her best smiles to the stunned blonde.

"I think the best we can do for Sasuke right now is to let him follow the path he has chosen"

"But...how can this be the right thing to do Sakura? Sasuke is going to destroy himself for what? revenge? I understand that what Itachi did to their family was horrible, but he has to get over it and let go. Nothing will ever bring things back to the way they were"

"It's not easy for him Naru, he is not as strong as you are"

The blonde froze at the words, it was true, Sasuke was very similar to her, but, differently from her he still hadn't made peace with it, and the reason was, that the cause for all his suffering was still roaming around free and unpunished.

Sakura walked closer to her leaning her hand on her shoulder in comfort.

"You went through a lot and were able to overcome it all on your look at you, you're blooming Naruko. You are becoming the strong woman you had only hoped to become. You found your own way and Sasuke is finding his the only way he thinks it's right for him. That's why I think we should not interfere. Not this time."

Naruko sighed, she didn't completely agree with her reasoning, but decided to just leave it alone for the time being. It wouldn't do any good to interfere in Sakura's decision, and, she thought, she didn't have any right to. It was between Sasuke and Sakura, and she didn't have any place in it. It hurt, because if anything, the Uchiha was planning on leaving without telling her, but, again, she couldn't march to his house to let her feelings know or to punch him in the gut for his stupidity because she would be going against her best friend's wishes.

In reality she wanted to yell at Sasuke, tell him to get over it, and realize that revenge wouldn't solve anything, because nothing could ever erase all the hurt that Itachi had caused to his family. He had to accept it and move on.

"I understand. I promise I won't say anything." Her smile faltered for a second, but before Sakura could catch her she was able to put it back in place.

"I'll go get you some blankets, you can sleep here tonight, Kurama will keep you good company"

Sakura battled her eyelashes, confused by the blonde's quick change of behavior. It wasn't usual for her friend to just accept something as difficult and tempting like the chance to yell at Sasuke.

"Sure, thank you."

Naruko nodded and disappeared in the small hallway where a small walk in closet was situated, returning quickly with the needed objects.

"Are you okay? you seem...very quiet?"

"Yes! of course, I just remembered that I have to go and throw the garbage out. You know it's such a pain! I will be back soon okay?"

Naruko headed to the kitchen and quickly pulled the half empty garbage bag from the dumpster in a hurry.

"I think some of the leftovers I threw out were starting to smell bad! I will be right back!"

"Are you sure we're okay?" Sakura asked, a doubtful look in her face. Naruko knew she couldn't hide her bad mood for very long, but maybe a little fresh air would help calm her nerves.

"Sure! I'll be right back!"

The blonde ran out the door as fast as she could and ran down the stairs, taking a deep breath as soon as she felt the cool air of the night on her skin. It had a calming effect on her and it gave a nice feeling on her skin.

She walked slowly towards the trash cans, regretting her brash decision but knowing that if she had stayed she would have probably got in a fight with Sakura, and in the condition that her friend was in, it wasn't a good idea.

She reached the big smelly garbage cans that were placed between her houses and Kubikiri and threw the bag in one of them very quickly, deciding that the quick walk had the soothing effect that she had hoped for, and it was probably safe to go back inside. A few seconds of fresh air to clear her head was all she needed after all.

She was heading back towards her house when she noticed a tall dark figure standing in front of the main door, as if waiting for her.

"Sakura, you didn't have to come check on me" she said with a lighter tone, convinced that her friend had come down to make sure she was all right. As she got closer though, she noticed that the person standing there wasn't her friend, as she halted her steps staring at the figure as if she had seen a ghost.

The man smirked, and walked closer to her, stopping only a few feet from her, just enough for her to recognize his face.

"Don't you know that you shouldn't go out on your own this late at night, little girl?"

Author's note:

I'm really sorry for all the delay, and for not updating any of my stories during this time, but unfortunately I had a lot going on and I didn't have the chance to write or dedicate any time to anything else that wasn't my family and my schoolwork. I hope you understand, and I promise that I will try to update more often!

Enjoy this chapter and let me know if you like it, leaving me a review, they make me happy!

Stay safe!

love

Darkshadows92