Naruto

I Will Always Be With You

Disclaimers: I do not own Naruto…

Chapter 12: Forgotten Revenge

The legendary Sanin gaped out her window, her eyes were fixed on the three young students as Sakura and Naruto chased after a fuming Sasuke. She took her gaze from the window and glanced at the scroll on her desk. The fifth Hokage clenched her teeth, "Why are you doing this, Itachi? Why did you allow yourself to get caught?" Tsunade bit her lip, "What is Akatsuki planning to do now?"

--

"Sasuke," Sakura called, "Sasuke!" the young girl repeated trying to catch his attention.

"What!" he furiously demanded as he abruptly turned around to face his two comrades trailing after him.

"Teme!" Naruto shouted back, "Don't talk to Sakura-chan that way, you know she's just worried about you!"

Sasuke glared at Naruto and gave Sakura a stoic look, "I'm going home," he replied adamantly. As Sakura was about to ask if he would like her to accompany him, he suddenly cut her off, "Alone."

Sakura immediately stopped dead in her tracks, she watched as Sasuke turned his back on her and walked down the street towards his home, without her, "Oh, Sasuke-kun," she whispered as she watched him disappear through the crowds of people, "I'm sorry…"

Dark eyes had witnessed this whole argument and finally saw this as a chance he had long awaited for, "Beautiful Sakura-chan!" the voice cooed as he jumped out from behind the bushes, "I have sworn to protect you at all times! And now it seems like you are in need of someone to protect and keep you happy!" he swooned.

Naruto's eyes widened in disgust, "Eew, it's fuzzy eyebrows!" he scoffed.

"Naruto!" Sakura scolded, "Don't be too mean to Lee-san," the young girl stated as she faced the weirdly dressed boy, "Ano, Lee-san, I'm terribly sorry for Naruto's actions."

Tears flowed down Rock Lee's eyes like waterfalls as he posed in joy, "Sakura-chan wants my forgiveness and acceptance!" he happily thought, "I must not miss this opportunity!" he planned, a huge fire was blazing within his eyes.

Just when he was about to glomp the poor girl, a fist made contact with his face, "Don't even think about hugging Sakura-chan," Naruto threatened, an irked look occupying his face. The young blonde somehow felt obligated to protect her, throughout these years she had become the sister he never had, just as Sasuke was like his brother. They were the two important people in his life he couldn't afford to lose, no, he didn't want to lose. He had still loved Sakura, there was no doubt in that, he just loved her in a different way.

Naruto continued to glare at Lee especially when he saw hearts appearing in his eyes, and before he knew it, he was engaged in a fury battle with the bowl-cut boy.

"Stop staring at Sakura-chan like you own her!" Naruto screamed.

"Naruto, I know it's hard for you to accept this for we are rivals, but Sakura-chan wants my acceptance more than yours!" he jubilantly replied.

Naruto was about to scream something back at Lee when a feminine voice interrupted their argument. "Stop this!" he heard Sakura cry out, "Sasuke-kun is hurting right now, and we're not even trying to help him, instead we're standing here acting like fools."

Naruto and Lee immediately stopped as they heard the sad tone in her voice. They watched as her eyes remained on the far side of the street, where Sasuke had passed, and as they stared at her, they couldn't help but notice the emptiness within her beautiful emerald eyes.

"I hope," they heard her whisper, "He doesn't forget what he has finally become just because of his brother…I hope he doesn't forget who he is now, because of one forgotten revenge…"

--

Sasuke took one more sip of sake as his back was leaning on the cold wall of his apartment, his entire lower body sat still on the kitchen's chilly tiles.

"Itachi," he growled as he thought of his brother's name.

He gripped the cup within his hands tighter, adding more pressure on it as the seconds passed.

"Foolish little brother… hate me, detest me…"

Cracks started to show on the cup as Sasuke clenched his teeth.

"Live, until you're finally strong enough to kill me… to accomplish your imprudent revenge… "

Sasuke looked at the picture above the kitchen stove and saw a portrait of his family, with his brother, smiling, as if nothing had happened.

Sasuke gave the picture an apathetical look even as his blood started to ooze down his hand and soon onto the once clean floor.

"Sasuke, I can't help you train today, I have a mission… be a good boy until I come home," his brother instructed, "I'll help you when I get back, okay?" he assured him.

Sasuke furiously threw the nearly broken cup at the portrait in front of him, "That's bull shit, brother… You never cared…" he muttered incoherently. "Itachi! Damn you!" he shouted at the picture, as if it was his brother he was talking to, "I hate you for ruining my life! For taking everything that was important to me!" he fumed as he stood up and kicked at anything he could, he broke anything he took his hands on.

When there was nothing he could let his anger out on, he slowly plopped himself on the broken couch, and jabbed the seat beside him until he got tired of it. As he finally calmed down, he gazed out the window and watched as the clouds drove out the blue sky and the sun's light. When he saw a streak of lightning appear from the skies, he slit his eyes, a determined look was planted on his face, "I'll kill him."

--

As the humid wind blew through her hair, Sakura couldn't help but think of Sasuke once more. It was then she decided, she would go to him; he needed her. No matter how much he denied it, he needed her to help him know that revenge isn't the only way he could fix things with his brother. As Sakura looked up at the cloudy skies, she wondered what fate had planned for them all. Why now, of all times, just when everything was perfect; it was as if the gods were pleased to bring tragedy into their lives, as if they decided that no one deserved to have their happy endings. Sakura sighed. She couldn't give up now. She wouldn't allow this to change Sasuke back into the cold, stoic person who pretended he didn't care.

"I won't let you take Sasuke away from me, Itachi, I won't," she swore to herself. Just then, Tenten came running down the road, a pleased look was planted on her face as she had spotted the person she was looking for.

"Sakura!" the girl called as she made an abrupt stop in front of her, "I've been looking for you all over town," she said between gasps, "Who who'd have thought that I'd find you here," she grinned.

Sakura, surprised to have seen Tenten, wondered what was so important that she had to run around town just to find her, "What's wrong Tenten?" she asked.

Tenten caught her breath before answering her friend's question, "Tsunade-sama's looking for you, she said she wanted you and your teammates to meet her right now, in her office."

A perplexed look occupied Sakura's face, "But, we just saw her a few hours ago," she stated.

Tenten shrugged, "Well, I don't know why, either, Sakura-chan. But when she called us a while ago to meet her, right after she asked me to find you and that she needed to speak to your team immediately," she replied.

Just as Tenten was about to say goodbye to Sakura, the young kunoich suddenly called her, "Hey, Tenten?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"What did Tsunade call you for?" the pink-haired girl wondered.

"Well," Tenten replied, "She told us the retrieval mission with you guys, I'm sorry that Sasuke heard about it."

Sakura tried to let out a small smile, "It's okay," she muttered, "I just need to get through to him, that's all."

Tenten nodded, "Well, I've got to go, Neji must've been waiting for me for a while already, I promised him I wouldn't be too late for our date this time," she chuckled.

Sakura couldn't help but giggle along with her, she knew what Tenten was feeling right now, she understood it all too well, "Bye, Tenten, have fun with your date!" She called as Tenten walked down the street.

The young brunette turned around and waved back, "Bye Sakura-chan! Good luck in handling Sasuke!"

Sakura sighed. She wondered what Tsunade wanted with them this time, and headed for Sasuke's apartment.

--

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura knocked on the door as she called out his name, "Sasuke-kun," she repeated hoping he would answer her.

A worried look occupied Sakura's face when no answer came. She then turned the doorknob and noticed it wasn't locked. Sakura braced herself as she entered the young Uchiha's home.

"Sasuke," she called once more as she entered the door and walked through the hallway, "Are you home?"

When she entered the living room, the sight she saw in front of her took her by surprise. Everything in the house was broken. From vases to couches, plates to tables, and paper was scattered on the floor. Sakura entered the chaotic room, it looked as if a war had just taken place right here in this very room. As Sakura saw the papers scattered around the room, her curiosity brought her to take a peak of what the papers contained. When she flipped a piece of paper over, she placed her hands above her mouth and immediately dropped it. She ran upstairs to his room only to find it empty, she immediately understood what was happening and ran out the door, hoping she could catch up with him before it was too late.

Sakura ran towards the village entrance as fast as she could, the image she had seen in Sasuke's home, haunted her.

Sakura lifted the piece of paper. She noticed it was a picture and gazed at it, her curiosity level escalated when she saw that the pieces contained yellow, black, and pink colors. She desperately tried to put the picture back together, hoping it was not as she had thought it to be. Sakura placed her hand above her mouth, shocked from the content of the picture. The picture portrayed an image of her, Sasuke, and Naruto, taking a pose in front of the camera. However, a line was cutting the unity of the picture as it had been ripped into pieces. Beneath the picture was spilt blood, and as Sakura read the words, she knew it meant one thing, and she couldn't afford to lose Sasuke, not now of all times.

"From this day forward, we'll all be walking down different paths…"

By the time she got there, Sasuke was a few meters from leaving the village he had loved so much.

"Sasuke-kun, stop!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Sasuke turned around as he heard the voice, a deathly look was seen in his eyes.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura panted as she ran up towards him and pulled him into a warm embrace, "Please Sasuke-kun, don't leave me. I know how you're feeling right now, and believe me, I understand you. But, revenge isn't the only way, Sasuke-kun, it isn't, please, don't do what you're planning to do now!" she pleaded.

"You don't understand me Sakura," he objected, "You don't know the pain I've been through, because of him. You've never been alone, so don't you pretend you've experienced it just as much as I have just to make me stay! I don't want any of your fake assurances, cause you don't understand what I've been through! So don't you try to stop me! For someone like you can never understand what I'm going through!"

Sakura was taken aback, and at the same time, hurt. "How dare you say that, Sasuke!" she scoffed, "Don't you ever say I don't know what if feels like to be alone, because I do! Don't go thinking that you're the only person alive who's lost his family! Many people everyday lose their families because of missions, and you know that as much as I do. But you don't see them pitying themselves or getting stronger for revenge! If you want to get stronger do it for yourself, dammit!" she shouted.

Sasuke looked away from Sakura, she was somehow right. But his pride wouldn't let her get through to him. "The day you see your brother kill everyone in your family, that's the day you'll fully understand me, Sakura. But until then, you have no right to compromise my decisions!" he replied.

"I've seen my brother get killed in front of me, I saw those people tear niichan's body into pieces!" she told him in a softer voice, "My parent's blamed his death on me! They hated me for loving you; they stopped talking to me and acted as if I hadn't existed! If that's not enough for you to be alone, then you're an idiot Sasuke!"

"You were never alone, Sakura, they were still there despite the fact they hated you, they still supported you, just like parents would," Sasuke pointed out, "You were never like me."

"Why," Sakura asked him, "Why do you think you've been alone, when I've always been here for you, Sasuke-kun? I gave up everything for you, isn't that enough for you to think you're not alone, that someone out there actually cares for you?"

Sakura brought her gaze to Sasuke. It hurt her to see him hurting like this, especially because of his brother, "I love you so much, Sasuke-kun. Isn't that enough for you to stay?" Sakura locked her eyes onto Sasuke's, hoping she would get a sign that she was getting through to him, "I'll do my best to make you happy everyday, to help you accept what's happened to your clan, I'll do everything for you, so please, please don't continue on with your revenge, it would do you no good at all! You'll only feel emptiness in the end!"

The young kunoich looked at the ninja she loved so much, a pleading look was seen in her eyes, "Please, don't take away the part of you that I love so much! It took me so long to get you to come back to me," she spoke her heart out, "I already lost you once to your brother, I'm not going to lose you again…"

"Sakura," the raven-haired boy whispered, looking away from the young girl he loved, the girl who he had hurt so many times over and over again, "I'm sorry."

Sakura's heart skipped a beat, she didn't expect him to give her this answer, and it tore a hole within her heart. For when he spoke those three words, she immediately knew what he meant. She wasn't worth enough for him to stay, her life didn't have as much impact on his as his did to hers. Sakura stared at the ground, a sigh of defeat made its way out of her mouth, "I'm sorry too, Sasuke."

A loud sound could be heard as the large gates of Konoha immediately closed. Sasuke noticing this, tried to reach it in time out of the village, but failed. Before he knew it, some of the jounins, including his sensei, had surrounded him, determined to stop him from leaving the village.

"I'm afraid we can't have you leaving the village, Sasuke," Kakashi simply stated, "Tsunade-sama would be very disappointed in us if we allowed you to escape, so just be a good boy and come back with us, okay?"

Sasuke clenched his teeth as glared towards Sakura's direction, "How could you do this to me, Sakura?!" he growled.

Sakura looked away, she couldn't bear to look at him, especially at those eyes that once trusted her, but were now pained with betrayal. "I love you Sasuke-kun," she whispered so only he could hear her, "Please remember that, and understand that I did this to save you from yourself."

Sasuke bit his lip as the jounins started to close the gap between them, he had no choice but to fight them, and he did.

--

Tsunade was about take a drink of her favorite sake when a knock on the door interrupted her short time of haven. "What do you want?" she asked, an irritated tone was present in her voice.

"Ano," Shizune nervously called, "Tsunade-sama, team seven is finally here."

Tsunade let out a sigh of relief, "That's good, so Sakura was able to stop him in time," she thought.

"Very well," the Hokage replied, "Send them in."

As Team 7 entered, Tsunade couldn't help but notice the two jounins that accompanied the team enter, with Sasuke firmly within their grasp; fearing the young boy would escape.

"So Sakura wasn't able to get through to him," the Hokage thought. The Fifth Hokage brought her gaze to the three students in front of her, it was the only choice she could make to assure their safety and less complications with the mission.

"I have decided," the legendary Sanin stated, "Uchiha Sasuke will not accompany the rest of rookie nine to bring back the S-class criminal Uchiha Itachi, and you will be under watch by the jounins until your brother is safely back within Konoha gates."

"What!" Naruto exclaimed, "But baa-chan!"

"Shut up, Naruto!" the Hokage ordered, "My decision is final, now go and pack your things for tomorrows mission!"

"Hai," the two ninja's nodded.

Sakura and Naruto stared at Sasuke as the two jounins brought him out of the Hokage's office and led him back to his home. This would be a long mission, for all of them.

--

Sakura immediately shut her eyes as the first rays of sunlight seeped through her curtain windows and onto her face. "Mm" she grumbled, as she was too lazy to get up from bed, it was after all a Sunday today. It was then she realized that today was the day their mission began. After Sakura got out of bed, she gathered everything she needed for this mission and headed out to Sasuke's residence. This was the first mission she and Naruto would go to without Sasuke. They were a team after all, every time they were assigned a mission, they would always accomplish or even fail together. But today was different, it was going to be a different mission indeed.

Sakura was amazed at how much jounins were guarding Sasuke's apartment. They were everywhere just like ants who had just found a pile of food lying around in one area. Kurenai-sensei was the first to spot her and greeted her good morning, "Ohayo, Sakura-chan."

"Ohayo, Kurenai-sensei," the pink haired girl replied. "Ano," she asked, "May I see Sasuke?"

The teacher thought about it for a while and eventually agreed to let her in, "But just for a few minutes," she ordered.

Sakura nodded and entered Sasuke's apartment. Sakura remembered the last time she was here. On that day, many things had changed, and the one person she cared for the most changes his perspective of her, one she wasn't pleased about at all. But hey, one must always make sacrifices for the one they love, right?

Sakura knocked on Sasuke's bedroom door and when she didn't hear an answer, she decided to enter on her own will.

"Sasuke-kun," the young girl called, "I'm leaving for the mission now," she told him, hoping she could at least get a small response from him.

Nothing but complete silence surrounded the room, and when she looked to up to see what he was doing, she noticed that he was asleep on his bed. Sakura sighed and walked towards his bed. She sat down beside him and watched the steady breathing of his chest. She slowly caressed his cheek trying not to wake him up, "I love you, okay?" she whispered, "Don't ever forget that… I would never betray you just to hurt you, Sasuke-kun." With that, she kissed him gently on his cheek and left his room, and left his house.

As Sakura stepped out of Sasuke's apartment, she took one last look at his window and ran towards Konoha's gates.

As Sasuke watched the pink-haired girl run down the dusty street, he couldn't help but remember the words she told him a few minutes ago. His hand rubbed the part of his cheek where she had kissed him and eventually let gravity pull it down his side once more. As he watched her disappear through the trees, he couldn't help but feel emptiness starting to form within his heart. Little did he know that soon, everything would truly be taken away from him.

--

Author's notes:

Hey to everyone! I hope you like this chapter, it's kinda long for me… hehe… I'm not very good at writing long things… but I did this all for you!!! 33333

Oh yeah and for those who are confused, Sasuke wasn't leaving to go with Orochimaru, he was going to leave Sakura to go to Sand Village and kill his brother while being held captive under the Sand's guards. He decided to leave a day before his fellow ninja's left so that he would have killed Itachi by the time Sakura and them arrived…

Yeah… that's all… and if you're confused about things… don't be shy to ask me…

I hope you liked this chapter!

R&R please!

ShamanShadow

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