d/c: naruto does not belong to me

-Let Me-

"I am Hanazaki." The blue-haired man said, with a silence that glued Sasuke's attention to him.

"Okay, Hanazaki. Tell me what you want, and also why the hell you happen to be in my house. How did you get past the shinobi night guard?" Sasuke demanded angrily in one long breath.

Hanazaki chuckled. "Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun." Sasuke bristled, but Hanazaki continued, unaware of the condescending nicknames he was throwing at Sasuke, "Do you honestly believe the shinobi guard could stop anyone?"

Sasuke froze, then said flatly, "They're jounin. Of course."

"You don't believe that."

"How do you know?"

"Because I can see, like this light in my hair shines into your thoughts. I can see."

Sasuke gave a brittle, cold laugh. "See, that's just bullshit, that's what that is. Enough talking. You haven't proved your point, so get out." So talky, lately, Sasuke thought, I've been talking too much.

"Or else?"

"Just get out." Sasuke's hand twitched, and a kunai glinted there. But before he could move, Hanazaki spoke again, and with a growing alarm, Sasuke listened.

"You think the jounin are weak. Only several shinobi have captured your respect. The one they call Naruto, a jinchuuriki who has gone off training for several years, the Godaime, who you have a quiet respect for, Kakashi, your teacher who has demonstrated his considerable abilities, and your girlfriend, Haruno Sakura, who is currently upstairs, asleep, and who believes you no longer have these vengeful thoughts."

Sasuke was stiff, his hair prickling on his neck. "How-" Sasuke interrupted himself, and had Hanazaki pushed up against a wall, the cold steel of the kunai against his throat.

"You. You've been following me." He hissed, but his breath caught suddenly, as he found himself thrown back against the floor, several feet away from Hanazaki. The man's blue braid was hovering in front of him, apparently the force which had knocked him away. His followers, Naoko included, glared malevolently at Sasuke, apparently loathing him for such an unneeded act of violence.

"Sasuke-kun," Hanazaki growled, the calming pitch of his voice now a solid, strong and undefeatable flow. "Do you know what light can do?"

Sasuke began to speak, but Hanazaki interrupted,

"Have you ever seen a group of people such as mine, do what they are doing now? Do you really know, really know… what light can do?

Do you think, for a second, that darkness and the confused, narrow view of your mind, is the best representation of your determination?

Do you think that light represents simple-minded purity and pretty things that are only as pretty as they look?

You have now seen what light can do. But, do you believe it?"

Hanazaki paused, then continued in his light whispering tones. "I tire of your incessant childishness. I am offering my help, because you have strength, and you know it. You are strong, but you are trapped in this pitiful shinobi village. Let me help you. If you become wiser, and realize that my help is what you want, leave your village with the true intent of leaving… and I will be there waiting."

This was too much.

"Leave Sakura?" Sasuke said, hoarsely, as if it didn't register.

"She is of no use."

A crackling ball of blue electricity roared into life in Sasuke's hand, and he leapt to his feet in a blinding rage. They could keep their damn light, he thought, furious. Indeed, the glare of his Chidori made theirs look like flashlights, and children's things.

"THEN YOU ARE OF NO USE TO ME." Sasuke screamed, and flew at them, bringing up his Chidori to plunge into all of their bodies, and rid himself once and for all from Naoko and her flirtatious poison, from Hanazaki, and from the bloodied shadows of his past.

"… Sasuke?"

Sasuke's eyes snapped open. The room was empty, but as he turned, he saw Sakura in the doorway. His unused Chidori sputtered into emptiness, and he could only keep turning in bewildered circles, looking for Hanazaki.

"Where… where…" he kept muttering. Sakura watched him, her brow furrowed, and hands uncertainly tracing the doorframe. What was he doing, up at this hour, and attacking air like a crazy man?

"Where… what the… where'd they go… hell." Sasuke was muttering angrily, and his eyes blazed red as he frantically tried to find their damn chakra. If he didn't catch them, they'd come back to annoy him. He knew it. He didn't know whether this was in his head or not… they had disappeared… why couldn't this entire vengeance crap stop?!

Arms tightened around his waist, and he froze. He could feel Sakura's head against his back, cushioned by her soft hair. Gently, she turned him to face her, and kept her arms around him, resting her chin on his chest, and looking up at him. She had an odd look on her face. Kind of like the one a mother gave her child when he was scared, except filled with the other sort of love. The reason why Sasuke was sane. Because of Sakura, Sasuke was happier than he had been in a while.

"Bad dream." She said, matter-of-factly.

"Y-yeah. Yeah. Bad dream." Sasuke mumbled, and dipped his head so she could kiss him on his nose.

"Come on." Sakura led him back upstairs, careful, as if not wanting to surprise a twitchy fox.

The next morning, they awoke, and it was as if nothing had happened. Sasuke went downstairs to make breakfast, and Sakura cleaned the house. They attacked Jiraiya, reported to Tsunade, and then went to training. The same thing that they had been doing for the last few weeks.

But Sasuke couldn't stop thinking about the blue-haired man. Hanazaki. The pure power that had thrown him back on his ass was waiting just outside the village… and he would only wait so long.

And so, one morning when Sakura raced off to the Godaime's office, Sasuke acted. He had made himself avoid planning, because seeing Sakura would black them all out again, and he couldn't afford to back out. As he strode purposefully from room to room of his mansion, gathering his things, he persuaded himself why this was the right thing to do.

Kunai packs. She's the reason why I haven't gotten much stronger. Temporary food. Medicine. I haven't avenged my family. This is what I have to do. Bandages. Some message scrolls, for no good reason. Remember the ninja rules. I'm not supposed to grow attached. Extra set of clothes. The shinobi who develop relationships weaken themselves. They break the rules, and the bosses don't reprimand them because they are just as weak. Damn, how could he forget another box of shuriken? Get that too. Developing my skills as a ninja is the first priority. It's good for village relations. Well that was a stupid reason. No… whatever works. If I don't do it now, I won't get another chance. Exploding tags.

I love her.

He winced, then paused. He shouldered his backpack, straightened his shoulders, and with a stone face, walked out the door.

Not anymore.

"Sasuke?" Sakura walked into the kitchen, closing the door. There had been a lot of work, and she was home late.

"Sasuke??" She went into the closet to hang up her kunai pack. As she unclipped it from her thigh and put it up on a hook, something hit her. The hook next to her bag was empty. A few months ago she would have though Sasuke didn't hang it up, and that it was probably lying somewhere in the bathroom. But something told her this was different.

She bolted, and sprang up the staircase, throwing open all the doors.

"Sasuke?"

"SASUKE?"

There! A piece of paper was pinned to a door, flapping idly in the small breeze when it had swung open. She ripped it off, and read it, frantic.

Haruno, (Haruno?! Sakura's eyebrows furrowed, and she checked: there was no way that this was anyone else's handwriting.)

I've realized these past months are a mistake. We are shinobi, meant to hone our skills and defend the countries. My brother is still a large risk to all the nations, and I have failed to kill him, yet. So, I've left. You don't need to know where, but I am safe, or as safe as any person may be. I've left so that I can get better, and I ask you to do the same. Become stronger for Tsunade-sama, and for yourself. I may return to the village, I may not. But I will live for myself, and my skills now. Our love was a foolish, puppyish thing between two adolescents, and you and I are both otherwise mature. It did not exist. It wasn't real. So you will not follow me. You will let me go, let me be myself, let me be who I was made to be. Let me.

The writing trickled off at the end of the page, and Sakura flipped it over. A brilliant red paper had been slapped onto the back. Startled, she realized it was smoking. Under it, two words were written.

Forgive me.

It exploded.