Goodbye

The rain continued to fall. Sakura and Seirei ran every where in the weather looking for Sasuke. So far, they haven't had much success.

"Mom, do you see him?" called Sakura. She was standing outside an alleyway close to the markets. Seirei was inside looking round.

"No," she replied sadly. Seirei came out of the alley and held her umbrella over her and Sakura. "Where could he be?" she wondered, looking off into the distance.

Sakura thought for a moment. Then she suddenly said "I think I know where he is!" then raced off.

Sasuke ran through the rain. He went to the Uchiha residence and to his old house. When he was inside, the first place he headed for was his parents room

He approached the spot where his parents died, and fell onto his knees. He pounded the ground, cursing and crying at his parents. He cursed them for the will and cried because of their deaths.

When he was done, Sasuke left the house and went back into the rain. He went to one of the columns on the bordering wall, sat there, placed his knees under his chin and buried his face in his arms.

Sakura headed towards the Uchiha clan residence. She ran in and started calling Sasuke's name. She ran all the way to the Police force building and went behind the building towards the house behind it.

"Sasuke!" She called out again. When no answer came she went inside the house still screaming Sasuke's name. No answer came from the house inside, so she went outside towards the wall.

She saw Sasuke by the column. "There he is," she said and rushed over to him.

"Sasuke, are you all right?" she asked.

"Leave me alone," was all he said.

"We have to get out of the rain," Sakura looked towards the house for shelter. "Come on, let's go," Sakura said, trying to help Sasuke to his feet.

He responded angrily to this. "I said leave me alone!" he bellowed and pushed Sakura to the ground in a small puddle.

"Sasuke," Sakura said, with a feeling of hurt.

Realizing what he had done, Sasuke held out his hand and helped Sakura stand up. "I'm sorry Sakura," he said. "I'm just so mad that I didn't know what came over me. I would never hurt you like that."

"It's okay," Sakura said. Seeing Sasuke shivering she unzipped her rain coat and held it out to Sasuke. "Here, take it."

"Sasuke looked at her, then said "No it's yours. Besides, I can handle a little rain."

"But ―" she tried, but Sasuke still didn't accept the rain coat. Sighing, Sakura placed one half of the rain coat over her and the other half over Sasuke. "Why don't we share it?" she suggested.

Sasuke accepted this offer. Together the two walked away from the Uchiha wall and headed towards the rest of the village. They searched for Seirei but could not find her. So they went to one of the restaurants for shelter.

The two sat by one of the columns and waited. As time passed, Sakura became sleepy. She leaned her head on Sasuke's shoulder and slept. Sasuke stayed up longer, but eventually his eyes became heavy and he started to doze off.

Just when he was about to join Sakura in her sleep, he saw Seirei running towards them.

"Sakura! Sasuke!" she called, waking up Sakura. Sakura immediately lifted her head off of Sasuke's shoulder and called back with a wave. When Seirei reached the children, she hugged them with all her might, with a little tear hear and there.

She finally released them but only at an arms length. "Don't ever run away like that again," she said towards Sakura. "Same goes for you, Sasuke."

Seirei stood up, followed by Sakura. Sasuke however hesitated. "Are you coming Sasuke?" asked Seirei.

Sasuke looked up at the two. He thought of how nervous he was around Seirei when he first met her, and how he eventually loved her as a mother. Then he thought of Sakura. He thought of how she had saved him from committing suicide, how much she has comforted him in his sadness, and how much she had been his closest friend. With a pang of sadness, he thought of how he would be separated from these two who had been his family since the massacre.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Sakura.

Slowly, Sasuke stood up. He approached them, and with tears starting to form, he threw his arms around Seirei. "I wish they wouldn't make me go," he cried.

"'Go'?"repeated Sakura. "Where are you going to?"

"It's not easy for me to say," said Seirei quietly. "But Sasuke will be leaving us."

Sakura gasped. "Why would he be leaving us?"

"It's because of a stupid will my parents made!" came Sasuke. "Because of this I can no longer stay with you guys."

"Will you be able to take him back, Mom?"

"I can't," replied Seirei. "The will states that for the sake of the clan, no one can adopt him, or else those who do," she took a deep breath and bit her lip, "will be put to death."

Sakura looked down and clenched her fist, for a long moment. Then she looked back at Sasuke then said "Then it would probably be better," she began. "If we no longer talk to each other." She turned away and headed back to the house.

A week passed. The silence between Sasuke and Sakura didn't cease. Once or maybe even thrice, Sasuke tried to have a conversation with Sakura, but it all ended in failure.

Seirei wasn't doing to well either. Every time she brought the children to bed, she would hug Sasuke longer as if it was his last night. And whenever she went to her room, she would cry herself to sleep.

Finally the day came for Sasuke to leave.

Sasuke and Seirei packed Sasuke's clothes slowly, hoping to keep the deadline at bay. Sakura was at school, concentrating hard in her studies, so as to keep her mind off of him leaving.

When Seirei and Sasuke were done, they looked at their work in sadness. This was the last time that they could spend time together.

A knock came upon the door. Seirei strode over and opened it. A man stood there. He told Seirei that he was to be Sasuke's escort.

The man took hold of Sasuke's luggage and headed out the door. He beckoned for Sasuke, but Seirei asked if she could say goodbye first. The escort nodded in agreement.

Seirei kneeled down to Sasuke's level. "Sasuke, you be good there okay," Seirei began. "Finish your food, listen to what they say, and always do your ―"

"Mom ― I mean Seirei," Sasuke interrupted. "I'll be fine there."

"I know you will be. But that's just how a mother thinks when she is separated from her children."

Sasuke smiled, then let his face go serious. "Seirei, I want you to promise me something."

"What is it?" she asked.

"I want you to promise me you'll spend more time with Sakura," he said. "She is a good person and great to be with. When you're on your missions, Sakura is left alone here with no one else around, so she hides her loneliness. Can you promise me you'll be with her more?"

Seirei, touched be what he said, closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were shining with tears. "I promise," she said. Then Seirei hugged Sasuke one final time, and watched him walk away with the escort, still looking at the house.

Meanwhile, at school, Sakura had her head in her arms. She sat alone in her seat waiting for when the rest of the class would finish their work. Behind her, two people were having a conversation.

"Hey Shikamaru," said on of the boys. "Did you hear what happened to Sasuke?"

"Yeah and it's so troublesome," complained the boy Shikamaru. "People make a big fuss out of him leaving, that they start to get irritating."

"It's sad though," said the other boy.

"What?"

"How Sasuke regrets the fact that he didn't make any friends."

"Choji, you still don't know, do you," said Shikamaru. "Sasuke already has ― or rather had ― a friend."

"Who was that?" asked Choji.

Sakura heard Shikamaru whisper her name into Choji's ear.

"Really? I didn't know that Sasuke was friends with Sa ―" he was cut off abruptly by Shikamaru's hand clamping over his mouth "Shut up! She's right in front of us!" Shikamaru snarled in a whisper.

"Sorry, I just didn't know they are."

"Well not anymore."

"Why is that?" Choji asked again.

"Oh how troublesome!" complained Shikamaru again. "You know, it's really a drag explaining things to you sometimes! But since you are wondering," Shikamaru took a deep breath then said "I don't know why they seem not to be friends anymore, but I can tell. Because the two haven't been talking to each other for a week. Man that's a bad way to say goodbye!"

"Hey take it easy on her," Choji said, in a defending voice. "She must be really hurt anyways."

"Yeah, but if I were her, I would spend what little time I have left with my friend, instead of stay away from him and feel very guilty about it later."

Sakura thought about the words Shikamaru said. And surprisingly, she found out that did really feel guilty about how she acted in the last days she had with Sasuke. She got up, and asked Iruka if she could be excused. Instead, he told her to wait the last five minutes until lunch

Sakura sighed and returned to her seat. She waited for what seemed like hours, and thought that every passing moment, Sasuke could be leaving the gates of Konoha.

Finally lunch came and Sakura was the first one out of the doors. Quickly, she ran all the way to her house. Seirei was sitting by the window, wiping her eyes with her hand.

Sakura continued all the way to the Konoha gates. To her relief, Sasuke was still within the border, and waiting for when they would be allowed to go.

"Sasuke!" she called.

Sasuke turned around to see Sakura running towards him. "Sakura? What are you doing here?" he asked when Sakura stopped.

"I . . . came . . . to say . . . goodbye," she panted.

"But I thought you didn't want to talk to me anymore," said Sasuke.

"I was wrong. I actually did want to talk to you. But I was so upset about you leaving, I thought that it would make me feel even more sad than hearing that you're going away."

Then the escort ninja called Sasuke and said they could go.

"Well I guess this is goodbye then," said Sasuke.

"Wait, I want to give you something," Sakura reached up to the red ribbon in her hair and untied it. "Here," she said, holding it out for Sasuke. "Take it so you can remember me and Mom."

Sasuke took hold of the red ribbon and felt its silky texture. "But ―" he began.

"Don't worry. I can always get another one," Sakura reassured.

Sasuke closed his eyes and placed both hands into his pockets. Reopening his eyes, he said "Close your eyes. I have something for you to."

Sakura closed her eyes and waited for whatever Sasuke had. She felt a cold metal go around her neck and a small weight hanging from a chain.

"You can open your eyes now," she heard Sasuke's voice say.

Sakura lifted her eyes open and looked at what was put on her. She saw a gold heart-shaped pendant hanging down from a gold chain which was hanging around her neck. The pendant had a small lock on its side. Sakura opened the locket to find it bare. She closed it again and turned it around in her hands.

There on the back were words written in slanted handwriting:

As two friends grow, their love for each other becomes more and more.

"I know there isn't a photo," said Sasuke. "It belonged to my mother, and I thought you could have it."

"It's really beautiful," Sakura remarked. She looked again at the words inscribed on the back and traced her finger over the locket. Her face turned a slight color pf pink. "I have another present for you," she said, not daring to look up.

"What would that be?" he questioned.

"Well . . . um. . ." and with each word she stuttered, Sakura's face turned redder and redder, eventually making her twiddle her fingers.

Finally, perking up enough courage, she kissed Sasuke on the cheek, making him turn as red as Sakura's ribbon.

When she removed her lips from his cheek, Sasuke placed his hand on the spot where Sakura's lips touched. Still blushing, he stared straight at her with wide eyes. Sakura, however, could not even look back up.

"I guess that was a little to much," said Sakura. "For both of us." she chuckled.

"But thank you anyways," Sasuke bowed, then smiled. Sakura did the same.

The escort, getting very impatient, called for Sasuke again. Sasuke gave Sakura a small hug then headed towards the gates. Before he disappeared off the road, he waved back to Sakura, as she did the same and watched him go.

"Until we meet again," Sakura whispered, looking at her locket. "My beloved friend."

End

Long chappie, i think.

So how do you like it? i would like a review. I guess most of it will be on a certain topic.

This story turned out even better than how i first imagined it.

Damn it! What happened to the font of the necklace.

thank you for reading.