To Gain Power
Sasuke's next healing session was with Grandma.
How this blind lady'll heal me is beyond me. he thought.
"You can stay seated." she said when she walked in, "I'm here for mental health."
"There's nothing wrong with me mentally."
"No, there isn't. But, if we are to beat Him, then we must ALL trust each other, this includes you. I'm here to prod and poke around and see what it is your hatred thrives on."
"How do you plan on doing that?"
"Well, half of my work is already done."
"What?" Sasuke asked with raised eyebrows.
"I already know the...connection you and my granddaughter have." she answered with a smile.
"What connection?"
"Oh don't give me that I can see through your lies like a glass window. I also know about you and your brother, in comparison with her and her sister."
"What would that be?"
"I deduce that your quest for power is fueled by the desire to kill your brother. At first it was, then it wasn't, until he returned and rekindled that surging hatred. You believed you weren't gaining power, while Naruto surpassed you in everything you do, so you left to join Orochimaru, which he did give you a good amount of skill. Though, I guess it didn't seem that way when you fought her did it?" she said with a smile.
Now Sasuke was getting suspicious. "Have you been watching us?"
"No, but there are many things that these blind eyes witness." she said cryptically.
"I don't get it. I've gotten stronger, yet I was beaten again, by a girl!"
"Don't be so hard on yourself. The moves she learned greatly outclassed your own."
"How?"
"Because dear boy, I taught her those moves, therefore I should know their power."
"Can you teach me any of these moves?"
"In your current mind frame no." she said simply.
Irritated, Sasuke asked, "Why not?"
"Because dear boy, the jutsu I taught her can only be used for the good of others, not anger. She was able to use it on you because she was concerned about your physical condition. There wasn't a trace of anger in her if she was able to do it."
"Then I don't want to learn anything from you." he sneered.
She gave a small chuckle. "Yes you do. I feel your desire for that kind of power emanating from your very being. You hunger for power, like she used to."
"She used to?"
"Oh yes...I remember about three years ago she was just like you; cold, distant, wanting nothing but power and revenge to kill Hanone. It wasn't until I showed her what type of power she could wield if she let it all go did she try to kill her sister. It always ended with her coming close, then being defeated. When she finally listened to me, and Hanone showed up again, she was able to beat her."
"Didn't seem that way in that psychic exercise."
"That's because she wants nothing more to do with her sister."
"Well I still want to kill my brother."
"Ah yes, your 'bond of hatred.' I know all about that. Bonds can also serve another purpose besides the darkness you give them."
"The reason why I suffer is because of those bonds I had with my family before he slaughtered them!" Sasuke yelled.
"True, with attachment does come despair when it leaves. That is why you make other attachments to keep yourself up. One string of bond can be enough to heal any pain in your heart my dear."
Sasuke scoffed at the idea.
"Oh, ridicule my idea if you want, but know that I am correct, and she is my proof. When I turned her into the smiling pacifist you see now, she came up to me telling me she's never felt so powerful. At the same time, her thoughts about revenge vanished, even when she narrowly beat Hanone, her choice to be caring to others stayed with her."
"Your point?"
"Continue this path, and you shall not find the happiness you want at its end."
"I don't care about happiness."
"Yes you do, because you will be happy if you kill Itachi."
Sasuke glared at her for a moment. "So what? Do you plan to make me as pathetically happy as she is?"
"She is not pathetic, nor is she happy. And no, I don't. I'm here to rekindly your trust in your fellow leaf shinobi."
"What do you mean she's not happy? She smiles every two seconds."
Grandma raised an eyebrow. "Oh-hoh."
"What."
"So you do have feelings for her."
"No I don't."
"Yes you do, here's how I know. I merely said she's not happy, then changed the subject to the konoha ninja. Had you been as cold as you'd wish, you would have went with the subject and not asked about her. That is showing cocern."
"No I'm not. She's been smiling since I met her. I found it strange that you'd say that."
"I see." she said with a disbelieving smile.
"What're you smiling about?"
"Because I know you like her."
"No I don't."
"Sasuke, I saw you two kissing outside that night, as well as when you were embracing each other in the forest last night. Admit it."
She sounds like that voice in my head. he thought.
"I don't like her and that's that!" he yelled.
"Why do you find it so hard to admit to yourself that you do?"
"Because-"
"Is it because you are fearful of forming a bond with this girl, only to know that she one day passes on and leaves you like your family?"
Sasuke froze and looked at her again.
In the back of his mind, that was the answer.
"But, how did you?"
"Dear child remember, she was just like you. She being female, I know I could stray her from that path. With you, I think you would find power easier to gain if you had at least one person in your life that understood everything that was wrong with you."
She got up to leave.
As she walked to the door, she turned back to him and said, "I will leave you with this offer though. Think about what I've said and weigh it in your mind. If you choose her over your vengeance, come back to me."
She hurried out the door and Sasuke heard her footsteps down the hall.
Without thinking, he jumped out of bed, put on his pants and shoes, and ran out the door.
It was night time when he left the hospital.
He searched around frantcally for Bara, and found her sitting in a field of flowers.
As she admired the beauty of the flowers in the moonlight, he was admiring hers.
As he walked up the hill, she didn't notice him until he was a few steps behind her.
When she turned to look at him, she squinted her eyes.
His are different. she said.
"What brings you-"
"Sh." he said putting a finger on her lips then replacing it with his.
She was dumbstruck, but also happy he did it.
He leaned forward, a bit too much, and they both fell over into the flowers.
She was too tired to complain, or wonder, so she went with it.