:Chapter 13… hmm…well, here it goes.

Chapter 13: An Avenger's Life

The leaf-nin have finally made their way to Konoha. The gigantic gates of the village towered over them, it was a sight all of them welcomed.

"I'll take Sakura to the hospital. Thank you Kiba for letting Akamaru carry her." Sasuke said, and carried Sakura again.

"No problem." Kiba answered.

"I'll help you." Ino offered.

"Me too!" Naruto exclaimed.

"No Naruto. We can't have too many of us there. Besides, Hinata just got rescued. You should take her home." Ino said.

"Okay then. Come on Hina-chan." Naruto said, and they went off.

"Let's go Ino." Sasuke said, and he leaped off for the hospital.

"I'll be fine Kiba, see you later." Ino said to Kiba, and followed Sasuke.

"Kiba, hurry and inform the Hokage. I have to do this… thing." Kakashi said.

"Fine then." And Kiba made his way to the Godaime.

In Konoha Hospital…

They had already got Sakura a room, and Ino was checking on Sakura.

"How is she doing?" Sasuke asked Ino.

"She's alive, but that's about it… she's not doing too well." She answered.

"This is all my fault." Sasuke thought.

"Don't worry, let's stay on the bright side. She'll wake up. I just know it." Ino said.

"I certainly hope so." Sasuke said, staring emptily at the window outside.

"You're not thinking of going away again are you?" Ino asked worriedly.

"It's just that, I don't want this to happen anymore."

"Just think of how Sakura will react if she wakes up, and you're nowhere to be found!"

"At least, she's safer here…" Sasuke said, glaring at the kunoichi's body on the hospital bed.

"But… you know Sasuke, I DID use to really like you. But, after what you did to her 3 years ago, I hated you for it. I can't bear to see Sakura like that again. You had to see it. It was like she would never be happy again. It took her months to recover. Was it worth it Sasuke? Was it?"

"I know what I did. I left her here. She's grown stronger because of it. She learned to let go. She was safe, and I didn't want anyone in my way. You know I would never take her with me. Life with Orochimaru isn't exactly pleasant, but I needed it. I needed power. I did wonder why he would 'volunteer' to train me and wanted me to get stronger. I found that out soon enough, he just wanted me as his next body, because of this accursed Sharingan. To think, even my brother killed my clan and left me as the only one alive, just for these eyes. Sometimes I wish I never had them…" Sasuke sighed. "You were asking me if leaving Sakura to train with the snake-sannin was worth it. I'm not so sure myself, but he had managed to teach me a few things. But still, why wasn't it enough to kill my brother? Maybe because he could never properly teach me how to use my Sharingan… I wonder how strong I would be if I stayed, with Kakashi training me, since he has a Sharingan of his own, but I guess I'll never know. If I could go back, I think I still would have left."

"Well then… it's been a long night. Let's get some rest." Ino yawned, and fell asleep on the chair.

Sasuke stood up from his seat, and stared at Sakura's pink hair, and the terrified expression on her face.

"I'd hate to see whatever it is my brother is making you see. But I hope you wake up soon. I probably won't be here by that time… but still. I don't want my brother taking another important person from me. Please Sakura… please… don't…die" Sasuke smiled lightly and said, "Goodbye, Sakura. Thank you."He leaned down and gave her a light kiss, and went out through the hospital window, and disappeared into the darkness.

"This time, I will kill you Itachi. Even if I die trying. I have nothing more to lose." Sasuke opened the gates to the Uchiha compound, and walked straight to the Uchiha armory. He took kunai, shuriken, scrolls, and a few other weapons he thought he might need. "I'm bringing these weapons for the Akatsuki, I'm taking as many of you as I can, then I'll kill you with this." Sasuke held his sword, and glared at his eye's own reflection. "These eyes, caused me all this pain." Sasuke then put it back in it's case, and made his way out of the armory.

As he walked towards his own home in the compound, memories of his childhood filled his mind.

He could se him, sitting on the porch, watching jealously at his father training his brother, as his mother tried to comfort him. After his brother and father were done with training, he asked his brother to train with him, all he did was poke him in the forehead, and say "I'm really sorry brother, but I have this thing dad told me to do. Maybe tomorrow I could help you train."

The memory vanished. Sasuke smirked and thought "I guess you really did take everything from me. My family, father's attention, the only woman I ever loved, and even three years of my godforsaken life. You're going to pay for all of that brother, you'll pay, with your life."

But then he thought of Naruto, and how far he had come to try and make him stay in Konoha the first time he left. He made him think for a moment, that revenge isn't that sweet after all. Sasuke tried his best to put those thoughts to the back of his mind, for this was such a crucial time. He had to focus. "If I don't get my revenge, I'll regret it for the rest of my life, he'll take more from me, if that's even possible." And at this moment, Sasuke had a stunning realization. He not only wanted revenge, he needed it. His pathetic life had no other purpose, all he was, was a tool for death. With Sakura gone, he had no more hope of restoring the Uchiha clan, so revenge was the only way to go. Ha realized that restoring the clan, and killing his brother was one goal too many. He made himself believe that the life of an avenger was all he had left. He chose that path, and made a promise to fulfill the promise that came with it.

He opened the door to his house, and made his way to the kitchen. He packed some food, and went on his way. He passed by the room with the Uchiha clan symbol for the last time, and smiled. "This is for you." He muttered, and the door to his home closed behind him.

"Goodbye Konoha." Sasuke said, and locked the gate to the compound.

"Hey, Sasuke, not so fast." The masked jounin suddenly appeard in front of a very surprised Uchiha.

"What… how did you--?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, teacher's intuition. Is it what you really want Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes. I'm sure. I have nothing left here."

"Remember, Sakura isn't dead yet. There's still a chance-"

"Even though, if I don't go and kill my brother now, she'll never be safe. He'll just hurt her again, and maybe even kill her. I can't let that happen, not anymore. I need to do it, for her."

"Come on, Sasuke. Don't try and make this look all noble. All you want is to kill your brother, your revenge. This isn't really about Sakura now is it?"

"Hmm… I know you won't believe me, after all, you do know me best. But sensei, I have to do this. Revenge is all I have left, and when I do kill Itachi, I can finally be free, and like I said, Sakura will be safe. After I kill him, I can have a life of my own, I don't even know what a life without all this hate and suffering, and my brother's shadow hovering over me is like. This… pathetic… life of an avenger is all I have ever known. I know I can never be anything else without accomplishing my goal of killing my brother."

"If that's what you really want, I know I can't stop you without killing you first."

"Exactly. Just please make sure not to let anyone follow me. I don't want any more trouble."

" You better get going, they've probably found out you left."

"Thank you very much Kakashi-sensei."

"No problem. Just make sure you come back alive, I'll have a spot on the ANBU waiting for you."

"Hn." Sasuke smiled and set off for his brother.

"Good luck Sasuke, I hope finally getting your revenge makes you happy." Kakashi smiled through his mask as his gaze followed the dark shadow of his most favorite student. "Now, how will I convince Naruto not to follow Sasuke, and make sure that Sakura will be fine?... Nice Kakashi, you just landed yourself into a big pile of trouble…" Kakashi then went of for the Konoha hospital.

Sasuke was moving fast, and he was alone with his thoughts again. "The life of an avenger… I wonder if I truly chose this life for myself… or just part of my brother's big plan for tearing the eyes off of their sockets once he thinks I'm strong enough." Sasuke smirked. "Wow, my brother really needs to get a life. All that work for a pair of red eyes… sometimes I think he had an even more pathetic life than mine." He laughed at the thought, and was glad that once again, he would face his brother, and this time, he had no fear. He wasn't sure if he would even make it out alive, but that wasn't important anymore.

:Well, that's it… sorry if I kinda repeated my points over and over… at least you got it.

:PLEASE REVIEW!!