Chapter XI: Of the Sorrows of Loss
Sasuke walked without any purpose.
He kicked stones on the road, and tried to get his mind off of Nari.
"You imbecile! I can't belielve you passed up that opportunity! She loved you, you stupid excuse of an Uchiha!" Inner-Sasuke fumed at Sasuke from inside the safety of Sasuke's head.
"Don't piss me off!" Sasuke shouted at himself, but he felt the anger toward himself as well.
He couldn't believe that he had just walked out.
It was late, and the weather was starting again.
"Why did I ever leave Konoha?" He thought, kicking a stone so hard that it splintered a large branch off a tree that was ten feet away from him.
He walked on in sulky silence.
Then he heard a yell, and turned to see Nari running towards him.
"Sasuke! Wait! I have some things for you!" Nari ran up to him and stood before him breathing hard from running.
"What Nari?" Sasuke looked at Nari with a slight smile.
"Here." She handed him a small package, and a necklace.
The necklace was a thin gold chain, with a small symbol as a pendent on it; the symbol meant 'love'.
"But... Nari? Isn't this yours?" Sasuke stammered as he eyed the necklace.
"Yes. My grandmother gave it to me before she died. She told me to give it to the person who takes my heart. I want you to have it... So that you can remember me, even if we never see each other again." Nari said.
"But..." Sasuke started, but Nari interrupted by kissing him quickly on the lips, and then she backed away.
"Good luck Sasuke. I hope you can avenge your family!" She said, and then turned and disappeared into the darkness of the early morning.
Sasuke stared after her, his heart wrenched at the idea that she was giving the necklace to him, even though she would never see him again.
"She really means it. What did I do to make her like me? What did she do...she saved me... That is why I like her... But I've done nothing to make her like me..."
Sasuke thought over the events, and decided that he should just keep going.
He slipped the necklace over his head, and found that it fit quite well, and he opened the package, he found small cookie like things, with a note that said,
'Eat one a day, and you will gain back some of your muscle and weight, I thought you might like these.'
"Wow... This is nice." Sasuke said, taking one, and eating it carefully, finding them to be scrumptious, and very filling for something that was so small.
He finished it quickly, and continued on, intent on finding Itachi and ending this whole thing for good.
His eyes flashed red briefly as he thought of Itachi.
"You'll pay for what you've done... And I'll be the one to give you the punishment you deserve." He thought, walking on in the rain, not caring that his clothing slowly became sodden with water.
He would head to Akatsuki's layer, and get rid of the rest of them too.
He would be a hero, and maybe then he could return to Konoha, and feel at home again.
He continued to walk away from the only place that he had been accepted, feeling a little worse for wear, knowing that he would have quite the fight ahead of him.
He furrowed his brow, and walked on, heading generally eastward, his mind drifting back to the times of his youth.
"What I'd give to go back home." He thought, shaking his head.