Sasuke and I were not in speaking terms. I hated it. The bond we once had was no longer the same. We'd only see each other during breakfast and school. The house always seemed to feel empty whether or not he was there, so I was never home much. I'd usually train and eat dinner by myself of or with Kakashi-sensei. They do always say, 'Practice makes perfect.' When I first started saying out late, Sasuke would be waiting for me in the dark. He'd try to interrogate me, threaten me into telling him where I had been and I would give him pure silence night after night. After a while, he either gave up or stopped caring... Life seemed to drag on for a while, but the day I had awaited so long had finally come.

I was going to leave today.

Why today of all days? I wanted to meet my new team sensei before going away. I had my headband already, I just wanted to leave without too much regret. I could take care of myself now, it would all be alright. I saved money. A lot of money. Enough to take care myself for a couple of weeks. Though, leaving Sasuke the way he is now... I knew things weren't going to go so well. I knew he's was going to hate me for it but, I had to do it! Staying here, I would only be a burden.

Knock, Knock.

My brother had tapped his knuckles against the door, signaling it was time to go. I tied my headband around my neck and walked with him to school. I kept my emotions in check, I didn't need anyone getting suspicious.

We sat in class as we usually did. Next to each other and practically ignoring everyone that came our way. The boys tried to impress me with their newly achieved forehead protector. The girls practically throwing themselves on Sasuke. Thankfully, as soon as Iruka-sensei walked in, they all sat in their seats. He started if with explaining how we would meet with our new teachers after lunch in certain classrooms. Then, he got to the good stuff and called out the team numbers and names.

"...Team seven: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura." The blonde's face brightened up as the pink haired girl grimaced. "Uchiha Sasuke..." Naruto's happy mood fell as Sakura's rose. "Uchiha Ichigo." The blonde's eyes seemed to sparkle.

Someone decided to take it upon themselves to complain about the team. "How come they have four in their team?!" A girl in purple yelled out. All stayed silent expecting an answer.

Iruka-sensei sighed. "Due to the uneven number of students, one team got four members. It just happened to be this one." He explains. I listened for the room we would need to stay in after lunch and tuned out the rest.

Lunch came by and I left the class to eat my lunch. I couldn't afford to skip a meal today. I hurried into the class, waiting with everyone else, as soon as lunch ended.

Five minutes...

Nothing.

Ten minutes...

Nothing still.

...Fifteen minutes.

I walk out, leaving the room.

"Hey! Ichigo-San, Where ya going?" Naruto calls out. I keep walking.

"Let her be dobe." I hear my brother's dull tone.

"No one was talking to you teme!" The blonde yells.

"Don't talk to Sasuke-kun like that Naruto!" The fangirl screams. I am out of range now, on the roof top. I thought looking at the sky would be nice.

Two and a half hours later...

"Hey old man." I call out to Kakashi-sensei, feeling his presence.

"Hey kiddo." I turn to look at him.

"What are you doing here?"

My brother, Naruto, and Sakura appear. Kakashi-sensei points at them. "That's why." My eyes widen.

"Ichigo-San, this is our new sensei." Naruto smiles at me. As Kakashi-sensei came to realization his eyes widened. I did what no one had anticipated.

I laughed.

It was more like a giggle that I couldn't hold in. They all stared at me wide eyed in surprise. I calmed down and cleared my throat. "Continue."

"Right." Kakashi-sensei continued. "Okay, I am your Jounin Instucter for today., so lets start things off by introducing yourselves; likes, hobbies, dreams, and so on."

"Why don't you start first sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Alright," he says,"My name is Hatake Kakashi, my likes and dislikes are for me alone, my hobbies..." He trailed off,"and for my dreams, they are none of your concern."

Everyone sweatdropped. I did this with him long ago. His answer was still the same.

"Now you, pinkie" Kakashi pointed at Sakura.

She gasped at the insult before starting, "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like.."She glances at my brother and blushes,"My hobbies are.." This time she giggled and blushed even a darker red. Then she continued,"I hate Ino-pig and Naruto!"She exclaimed. That remark seemed to have made Naruto depressed.

"You next, Blondie" Kakashi sensei stated.

Naruto glared before starting,"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I like ramen, I dislike the ramen that takes 3 minutes to cook because, I mean, who can wait that long? My hobbies are eating ramen, and my dream is to become the next Hokage, so people would start to acknowledge me. Believe it!"

He then pointed to Sasuke,"You the brooding one"

Sasuke started "I'm Uchiha Sasuke, I have very few likes and many dislikes. My hobbies are none of your business and my dream... No ambition is to kill a certain man and revive my clan." I knew he was talking about Itachi. This made me a little gloomy but what else was I to expect from him?

"You." He pointed at me. By this time I was back to my usual self.

"I am Uchiha Ichigo. Likes? Training. Dislikes? Many things. My hobbies... I don't have any. My dream?" I pause, "I have no dream."

"Okay, you are to meet me at training ground 7 at 7am. Tomorrow we're going to take a little test." Kakashi tells the group.

"What kind of test?" Sakura asked.

"A survival test."

"What?! But we already did that during the academy!" Sakura shouted.

"That that was supposed to separate the people who can actually become gennin and those who have no chance. The test I'm going to give you has a 66% chance of you failing." He stated.

"WHAT!?" Naruto and Sakura yelled out.

"So don't eat breakfast because when i'm through with you, you're going to puke." With that, Kakashi-sensei left with a poof.

When Kakashi-sensei was gone, Sasuke and I left home. Usually we would depart half way, but I needed to get my things.

"You're not going?" I shake my head 'no.' We walk in the house and I head straight for the food. I start eating, I need to last until tomorrow morning.

"I'm leaving. I just came to get money for the groceries." Sasuke speaks up. I wave him bye, and he leaves.

I finish up my food and head into my room. I get on my knees and lift the false floor. In there was a backpack filled with clothes, supplies, and money along a katana. I took them out and laid them on the bed. I change my dull Kunai for new ones.

"It's time.." I grab my things and leave, heading for the village gates. Half way there I didn't run into anyone I know.

"Ichigo?" That familiar voice calls out to me.

"What?" I stop walking. He was the last person I needed to see.

"Where are going?" Sasuke begins to interrogate from behind.

"Why do you care?"

"I don't."

"Then let me be."

"Why do you have your backpack?"

"I thought you didn't care." I start walking away. I would guess he saw the direction I was heading towards. He ran in front of me. He wasn't carrying any groceries.

"Don't do this to me Ichigo." He looked so angry and pained.

"Move Sasuke." I glared at him.

"I won't let you leave me!" He spoke as if he had authority.

"I'm sorry Sasuke. I can't stay here any longer." I embraced him.

"You're not leaving me." He held me in place. Four years ago, he could have stopped me like this. But now, I was no longer in his reach. He had lost me.

"Goodbye Sasuke. I love you." I get ready to knock him out. His eyes widen as he realized he could not stop me.

"Why Ichigo?"

"It's my time to leave..."

I hit the back of his neck, laying him on the ground as his body went limp. I walk away, jumping from building. I reached the top of the village gate and glanced back at my home.

"Goodbye Konoha." I began to run. I would not go back.

It was no longer an option.