"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."

Andre Gide

Standing in her apartment, the true weight of the situation seemed to fall on her. She would be leaving everything she'd ever known behind, no more visits to Ino's flower shop to gossip, no more late nights working at the hospital, no more going broke at Ichikarus because Naruto forgot his wallet. Really, that boy could eat more than the entire village combined and her wallet had suffered more than once because of him.

Now, none of that mattered. All that would matter, all that she could afford to think about now was what she could and couldn't afford to take with her. How long would she have before they started hunting her? She would forever be looking over her shoulder.

Maneuvering around the couch she strode to the hallway closet, where she kept most of her equipment. Reaching in, she yanked out one of her bigger packs. Unzipping it as she headed to the kitchen she pulled open a drawer and took pack upon pack of soldier pills out, stuffing most into the pack while setting aside a few to put into her vest pocket later. They weren't healthy to use repeatedly, but with what she would be facing in the next month she would just have to deal with the negative effects. Opening one of her cabinets she took out the ramen packs Naruto had insisted that she keep for when he came over to visit.

'Thank you Naruto!' She grinned; his suggestion had finally come in handy.

Next thing to go in... Medical kit! A good medic never traveled without a kit and it was the one thing she was truly anal about. It had to be organized a certain way, so much so that someone could blindfold her and she would still be able to find anything she needed.

Flitting through the apartment she entered her bedroom, moving to the dresser she started pulling out several sets of sturdy clothes. Those tucked under her arm she moved to the bathroom and gathered her necessities.

Turning back into the kitchen she shoved her newly gathered items into the pack. Grabbing the gear she had tossed on the counter after her last mission she shrugged them on. The Jounin vest had already been restocked with more smoke bombs, scrolls, and exploding bells. Unzipping another of the many compartments she pushed in the soldier pills that had been set aside earlier. The kunai pouch was next, strapping it firmly across her thigh she made sure the flap was secured. The last thing she needed was those sharp little buggers falling out during her travels. Securing her final pouch, the one around her waist she filled it with the things that would be most vital in her journey, a map and compass.

Picking up the backpack she put it on and after turning off the lights she strode towards the front door. Taking one last look around a glint caught her eye.

It was the congratulatory katana she had received from Tsunade after completing her training and being promoted to jounin. While she had received standard training in how to use one, she had never adapted her fighting style to fit a katana and thus had just hung it on her wall as a display of her accomplishments. After a moments hesitation she walked over and grabbed it, shrugged off her pack momentarily while she secured the instrument on her back. Putting the pack back on, she walked again to the door.

One last look, what was she seeing? Her life up to this point? Once she stepped out of her home she would never again be the same person. She could never come back, could never see this place again. The pictures of her family and her friends would have to stay behind. They would never be able to withstand the journey, heck they'd probably be ruined within the first week. Those momentums would be left behind but she would never forget.

Sighing at the loss, one lone tear slid down her cheek as she walked out of her apartment, walked out of her home, and soon to walk away from her village forever.

How ironic. Once upon a time she condemned Sasuke for willingly leaving, did everything within her power to force him to come back. Now look, here she was doing the exact same thing. Walking away forever. In some small way she could understand now what it was like to leave. Sometimes people had to leave for the betterment of those they cared about. Yes, it would hurt and yes it was dangerous. But if you cared about someone you did everything you could to protect them right? Or was that something people in her position told themselves so they wouldn't feel guilty?

Should she feel guilty for leaving instead of revealing the truth?

Pushing the thought aside she maneuvered through the side streets and alleyways of the village. She had to do her best not to be seen so she could prolong the confusion tomorrow morning would bring. Within ten minutes she had reached the wall along the back end of the town.

Crouching behind a building she peered up at the shinobi that were patrolling the wall. Only two of them, and from the bits of conversation she was picking up, they seemed more interested in talking about who was screwing who than actually patrolling.

Casting a quick genjutsu she held her breath, waiting to see if the shinboi would realize what had happened.

Nothing. Not being able to resist the grin that spread across her face, she quickly scaled the wall landing within an arms length of the man closest to her. When there was still no reaction, she let out a breath and pushed off the wall running into the dark dense forest ahead.

A/N

Sorry it took longer than I thought it would to get this chapter up. My desktop went all crazy on me and I had to do a PC Recovery which erased all of my word documents. That means this chapter (which I had almost finished) got deleted and I had to redo the entire thing.