Yeah, sup? I'm glad that I had some reviews for the brand-new first chap, it means that this is worth something :)

king & lionheart

If only things had been different.

(for Xero and YeahWhatever)

"What would happen if history could be rewritten as casually as erasing a blackboard?"

—Michio Kaku

"You don't understand a thing!" Sakura yells, frustration layering itself on top of sadness in her eyes. She fists her hands, tears chasing each other down her cheeks.

She's right. He doesn't understand. He doesn't understand why she is going to throw away two years of her life, two years that the three of them had shared, in a quest for something she could easily attain here. "Sakura… "

"No!" she slaps his hand away, shutting her eyes tight and messily pushing her hair back. "I'm leaving, okay?! I'm leaving and I'm not going to come back!"

It was dark, the moon's glow spiderwebbed between the trees. There is a gentle wind that ruffles the wispy hairs around Sakura and Sasuke's faces. They prick at their eyes, tangling with lashes and adhering to eyebrows.

Sasuke looked up to the sky, his heart feeling heavy enough to stop.

"…Why?"

She takes in a sharp breath, the question piercing through her like an arrow. A simple question, really, that envokes a tornado of emotions—anger, sadness, confusion. Her lungs tighten and twist, dysphoria clutching her heart in it's hand. It's a simple question, really, that makes her head pulse, vibrate, makes her sight blur.

The answer comes out rancorously.

"…Because I'm not enough."

It's a simple answer, really, but the power hits him in a flux. "What?"

Sakura swallows, gritting her teeth so hard it makes her ears ring. Nails dig into her hand. "I have never been strong enough. Since this team was formed I have stood on the sidelines, being nothing but a cheerleader—a bystander. I'm done. No one takes me seriously in Konoha, which is why I'm leaving. I'll find someone willing to train me and I'll become strong. I'll be strong, just you wait."

She doesn't wait for a reply, instead shouldering her bag and letting her legs move towards the gate. Her ears are too full of the bloodrush to hear much else, to hear Sasuke follow her.

"Sakura… don't leave. You can become strong right here in Konoha. Lord Hokage can train you—I know Naruto is already under his tutelage, but he would be willing to take another." he pleads, his eyes wide and blinking rapidly to avoid tears slipping from his eyes.

"No, Sasuke. I'm going to look for Tsunade, the most powerful woman in the world."

"But, Tsunade left the village—"

"For power. She did it to get stronger, and with her help, I will become strong as well. For too long I've been all alone! I'm sorry I'm not like Naruto, whose mom and sister help him with everything, or even like you with your brother! My parents died a long time ago, I have no family and don't you dare be like Naruto and say you are my family because that's not how it works that's not a real family it's just a pity party. I want parents, I want siblings, I wanted those blood ties. A family couldn't help me get strong but this—this will."

By now, she is screaming, her mouth simply verbalizing the innermost thoughts of her heart. At the end of that sentence, though, her voice drops, almost inaudible. Taking in a shaky, feathery breath, she feels that twisting sense of dread—or is it anticipation?—in her abdomen, lurching forward into a gallop.

Sasuke is silent.

He cannot empathize with her, or even pretend.

WHY WON'T IT STOP CRYINGGGGGG—

You know those fake babies? They cry ALL THE FUCKING TIME.

Btw, the next... three? chaps will be basically flashbacks, in order to explain how Sasuke got to where he is the first chapter ^-^