The Uchiha Clan Survivors

Only Reye-Nhi reviewed...-tear- Yea...-waves halfheartedly- I'll...see you at school...Nhi...-tear-

Chapter 14 - The Hardest Thing

"Satsuki?" Sasuke was searching his house for his half sister. He'd come back to find she was nowhere in sight. "Satsuki!" he ran into his room and saw that the beads were parted and Satsuki's stuff was gone. "Idiot." he ran into the kitchen and saw the paper.

"Dearest brother,

I am so sorry to put you through all this trouble. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have had to face your brother until you were stronger. You'd still be the famous solo man with no family. Your fridge would still be stocked full of left overs that you could eat later. Heh.

Please forgive me. To leave...is the hardest thing. Please forgive me. But as far as the world is concerned, I don't exist anymore. My name will soon be erased from everyone's memory, and only those I met personally will know I was ever here. I'm sorry.

To leave would indeed be the hardest thing, but I'm sure it is the right thing. I shall still help and protect you as I can, I promised I would...but now I'll do it from a distance. 'Leave the fate of the youth, in the hands of the youth.' Hokage said it, right?

Sasuke, I pray that we meet again someday. I wish I didn't have to leave. But sometimes the right path, Is the hardest. Stay with your friends; Naruto, he cares for you as if you two were brothers, and he's not to bad a guy. Sakura, she either loves you or has a silly fantasy of the perfect guy in her head.

And yourself mostly Sasuke. You have to be alive for us to see each other again, right? Take care, for I chose the hardest path...Wish me luck. Then try to forget...As I will...try.

Signed,

Uchiha Satsuki"

"Dammit." Sasuke ran into the living room, crumpling the letter as he went. Suddenly he stepped on something and looked down.

He had stepped on a package. Inside was a jacket with the Uchiha fan symbol on it. The wrapping was slightly wet, so he knew Satsuki was really sad to go. But why did she go? She was running from something. From becoming too attached.

As Sasuke had learned, so had Satsuki. They had learned to never become too involved, or become too attached. Because it can be taken away in the blink of an eye. Nothing lasts forever. But why did she leave?

Sasuke sat on his bed, against the wall. In his hands he held the jacket he'd given Satsuki. His knees were drawn to his chest and he wrapped his arms around his knees. The jacket he laid around his shoulders, and he pretended that this was all a nightmare.

"Sasuke? Saasuukee" a voice called.

Sasuke opened his eyes and looked around. He was laying in his bed, leaning against the wall. His legs were out straight and someone was laying in his lap. It was a younger version of Satsuki. The way she looked the first time he saw her, as a child.

"Hi Sasuke." she said in a slightly sad voice, she was soooo cute!

"What are you doing here?" he asked her. She trembled.

"I had a bad dream. You were gone. There was this...empty feeling right here." she put her hand over her heart. "It hurt...and I thought I'd never see you again." she began to whimper, but not cry. Sasuke ran his right hand over her head, then held her close.

"Don't worry. It was just a dream. It wasn't real. Just...a dream." he opened his eyes again and realized what he'd said. "It was all...just a dream?" he asked himself in a hushed voice.

"To chose the hardest path...turns it all upside down. Dreams become nightmares, comfort becomes pain. Friends become enemies, or even worse...strangers. Memories haunt you and though they can't remember, those dearest to you fall to pieces. Help to pick up the pieces, and the world is born anew."

Sasuke looked down at the girl he was holding. She was the older version on Satsuki, the one who had found him in the woods only a few weeks ago it seemed.

"Nothing can last forever, but everything can last a while. Pick up the shards, and forget your pain. For the world is a wonderful place, and all ends meet. Never, ever let go. Sasuke..."

She had begun to fade away. Her voice became like a distant memory...a memory from some dream...

"Never forget...Sasuke...never forget...the past" her last two words echoed around him.

His eyes opened and he scanned his room. Her last words still echoing in his head.

"I will never forget...the past." He said softly, pulling Satsuki's discarded jacket closer around him as he laid down in bed and slowly drifted off into an uneventful and dreamless sleep.

-

"Sasuke!" Sakura called, running at the bridge where they all met. He glanced at her, then looked back at the ground. "Are you still sad? Satsuki'll be fine. Don't worry!" she pat Sasuke on the back. He scoffed softly.

'She's still gone...' he thought. Sasuke looked to the sky. 'It's been almost a half a year Satsuki. Where are you?'

"Stop being so moody, Sasuke. From personal experience I know that Satsuki can take care of herself." Naruto said, jumping from somewhere below the bridge, onto the bridge. "Good Morning Sakura."

"Yea yea...morning, though how good it is is all your own opinion." she said with a frown. Naruto frowned.

"What'd I do?" he asked. Suddenly there was a 'pop!' as Kakashi appeared.

"Morning!" he said cheerfully. "Today's lesson is easy."

"Better be. I've been here since 8. It's 11." Sasuke said angrily.

"8? Alright then. I'll get on with it. All you have to do is run around the town about oh...5 times." he smiled again.

"5? Can't we go 4?" Naruto and Sakura asked at once.

"What? I had you running around the town 20 times last week. What's 5?" Kakashi asked, amused. Sasuke had already taken off. "Sasuke goes around 5 times, you two go around 6. Just for complaining." he laughed and vanished.

"Damn." Sakura muttered. Naruto and her then took off.

-

Satsuki paused in her walking. She had long since left the forests around Konohagakure village. But still, she felt that she was so close, close enough that is she were to step just beyond those trees...She'd be in Sasuke's house once more...

She shook her head. Why was she thinking of that again? It had been almost 6 months since she left. Sometimes she wished she hadn't left. But as she had written to Sasuke, this was the right thing to do...right?

"Come on. Snap out of it. Huh?" Satsuki looked at her hand, where a drop of water was. "Rain?" she took off in a direction, not caring where she went, as long as it meant shelter.

She found shelter in a small cave in a hillside. Satsuki sat against the wall after making a small fire.

"What's with the weather? One second it's sunny and cloud free, then it's pouring rain...I hope Sasuke isn't outside training right now..." she paused, realizing how random that thought was. "I will still help and protect you, I promised I would, I'll just be doing it from a distance." She remembered saying something to that effect.

The world was laughing at her. Mocking her. Or maybe it just mocked he name of Uchiha...She hoped that Itachi was hurting right now. A pain in her heart suddenly caught her attention, and a thought passed swiftly through her head.

"Never forget...the past?" had she ever said that? Satsuki didn't remember saying it...but the words were so familiar. "Sasuke." she stood up, put out the fire, and ran out of the cave into the pouring rain.

Preview : "Hello. Were you waiting for me?" the girl asked. He nodded. "Yay! Let's play a game, okay?"

"Game?" he asked.

"Yep. Let's play tag!" she took off into the woods.

...Confused, yea, thought so. I laugh at your confusion! -evil laughter- -cough-