A few days prior...
He was leaving, and he was leaving tonight. This very evening, no goodbyes or fair-thee-wells. They wouldn't let him go had they know, he knew that much. They could stop him too, probably, if not with words then with force. His will was only so strong, he knew. What they didn't wear down with pleas or threats, they could wear down with actions and fists. He would not let them stop him. So he would go tonight, and he would go silently. They would not catch him.
It was not optional, he knew. The choice was already made, made back when he made his vow. Back on that damned bloody night so long ago. It was a mandatory thing, very much required if he had any hopes of gaining the power he so desired. And that was all that mattered. He needed that power; he had to get it if he was to make his dreams into reality. No. They were not dreams. Dreams implied a certain hazy quality, mutable or deniable. Not a dream, but a reality. It was what would happen. He would make it so, however possible.
He had said so many times before. It seemed so long ago that they were meeting with Kakashi-sensai for the first time, sitting next to the loser and the annoying little girl who, like so many pathetic girls his age, fawned over him. He had stated his goals then, plainly and clearly. He hadn't really been sure why. It seemed like the right thing. No reason for secrets, there was no shame in his goal. It was, after all, a very certain thing. He would kill a certain someone, who he had rather purposefully left vague. And his clan, he remembered. He'd vowed to revive his clan.
He idly remembered how that second part had become a rather secondary thing ever since Itachi had entered his life again. Or rather, made it clear he had no desire to truly enter Sasuke's life, that Sasuke did not 'interest him.' His own brother, who had dedicated himself fully to the path of the avenger. Itachi had tossed him away, beaten him bloody, denigrated him and simply moved onto... him.
The loser. The damn loser. The number one knuckled-headed ninja, as Kakashi always called him. The damnable bastard was more interested in a walking fluke then his own brother, a brother who had been shaped by his words? Sasuke's path in life was based upon Itachi. It was a disgrace, something that drove Sasuke nearly mad. He would show his brother, push his head down into the mud and snap his neck beneath his boot. He would make him see the mistakes he'd made. He would.
And then he'd...
Revive his clan. A prospect that seemed... beyond him. It was so strange. Destroying his brother was an image, something he could envision. It was almost tangible to him. But his clan... he did not know. Perhaps he didn't care, or perhaps. He'd simply cross that bridge when he came to it. Sasuke had the first thing to focus on, anyway. After that... anything could be done. He would do it with his own two hands, brick by brick. He'd rebuild his clan upon the foundation of his brother's chilling corpse.
But his mind was wandering, never a good thing he'd found Steps. Small steps, all leading up to the final goal. First step? Leave.
Now.
And so he left.
He met her on the academy road. Despite himself, he was actually suprised to see her, even if he'd never let him on. He had to admit some sort of recognition, that she managed to figure out he was leaving. He knew why she was there, there was no other explanation that made even a bit of sense. But Sakura hadn't always made sense, had she? At least not to him. She was annoying in that way. Well, she was annoying many ways. A true multifaceted example of annoyance, actually. But still, that she had figured out his plans...
Well, let it never be said she wasn't smart.
Actually, he had to admit that while she lacked the practical knowledge that he had, let alone what even the loser could bring to the table, she always had a certain element of book smarts too her. She was doing herself a disservice, in a way, always chasing after him. She could have been so much more. But she squandered herself. What's more, for all her potential and intelligence, she never saw that her fawning was exactly the reason he would not ever pick her. He respected strength, not flattery.
The conversation was... expectant. He had no ill will towards her, in truth. How could he? She was his teammate and, thought he'd never admit it out loud, his friend. And she had, from time to time, impressed him with her determination, small signs she might have finally been uncovering her hidden potential. But she was never going to be like him, and he was never going to be like her. That friendship, and 'the team,' was doomed from the start. His path was one neither Naruto or Sakura could even imagine, let alone walk.
He kept his back turned to her as she spoke. He wasn't sure why he did that...
She said she knew that he must hate her, something that made him wonder if that was truly how he acted. He knew he didn't hate her, any more then he hated the blond loser. He hadn't enough hate for them anyway; he had no hate to waste on trivial people like that. His brother was all he truly hated, and all he could bring himself to hate. He couldn't dillute that feeling with trivialities. But if it's what she thought, he'd let her. He was leaving, there was no need to change her mind. Perhaps she'd learn to use her perceived hate like he was.
He doubted it.
She told him of that day, right here in this place, so very long ago. He'd told her his opinion of her then, an opinion that had not really changed at all. Annoying, he'd called her. How true that was, then and now. He told her he didn't remember that.
He was lying.
She recounted how she'd felt on all those missions, big and small. On the thought of spending time with him. On learning, and growing. She didn't want to lose that.
He didn't know why he spoke back to her, trying to make her understand why he couldn't follow the same path as she or Naruto did. He had no idea why he was telling her that he too thought he could walk that path once. But he had made up his mind that he couldn't, not after what he'd seen about Naruto's growth, not about what he'd seen with Itachi's indifference. He didn't have time to play around here any more. He was losing himself slowly, and he would not let that happen.
That happiness was not his own. It was false, an illusion that only made him weaker. His path was different. His path was revenge.
So why did he feel this way, then? To say these things hurt him, somewhere deep inside that he couldn't imagine or see. He couldn't understand why in the least. He'd chosen this path, and he was walking it. He had his hate, and his anger. A lonely path, but one he would walk willingly if it gave him a chance of crushing his brother. So why did it hurt so much? He hadn't even an inkling that when he spoke, he wasn't only talking to the annoying pink-haired girl who was do desperate to stop him. He was talking to the little boy in him, that wide-eyed kid from before. He was trying to convince himself as much as he was convincing her.
"Don't do this, Sasuke, you don't have to be alone." she said, and he wanted to snap back that it wasn't true. He did have to be alone. Right? That was this path...
"You told me that day how painful solitude can be." she said, and he wanted to tell that pain was something he was willing to live with if he could have his vengeance.
"I understand that pain now." she said, but how could that be what did she know of it?
"I have a family, and friends, but, if you were gone, Sasuke, it would be the same thing for me. As being all alone."
To be surrounded, and yet be alone. It was a strange thing, and yet how real he it was. It was a stretch to say that he was truly alone, even after the death of his clan. Well-wishers, exploiters, and kind souls, they flocked to him. Truthful or not, their desire to help did not bring an end to the loneliness he felt. That crushing solitude he felt, and was all too familiar.
In a way, he was closer to Sakura then he was Naruto, in that way. Naruto had no one now, but he never had anyone either. He knew a pain different from Sasuke's pain, which was a pain of loss and betrayal. Naruto's was a different sort. A pain of true solitude, a pain of rejection. But he could not miss what he did not have, and so he could not feel that pain. The pain of losing something, a part of your very being, and feeling so empty inside. Sakura... was she feeling that pain, too? That hollow feeling that haunted every step? Was it possible she was more like him then he had ever thought? He had not ever truly considered that, and he did not know why he considered it now. He couldn't consider those things.
He told her to stay out of his business. It was forceful, hiding the plea that he was actually making. Please stop, Sakura. Stop or...
"This is a new beginning. Each of us has a new path lying before us." he said, and this time it was more certain he was speaking to himself, not to her. He had to go, he had to leave this place now. He couldn't be shackled by her words. He had to...
"Sasuke! I'm so in love with you I can't even stand it!"
...leave...
"If you would only be with me, I promise, I'd never let you regret it."
...right away...
"Every day would be a joy. I can give you happiness! I'd do anything for you, Sasuke, so please!"
...or else...
"I'm begging you, don't walk away!"
...he never would be able to walk away. He was on his path, there was no changing. She was not going to get in his way.
"I'll even help you get your revenge! I'll do whatever it takes to make it happen, I swear!" she said. He could hear her tears, he could feel them running through him like a river, erroding away at his resolve. He was not going to let that wash out his path.
"So stay here... with me... and if you can't... Take me with you, Sasuke." she finished. Her voice was low, and once again the silence of the night took them. How troublesome this girl was, what a true and complete pain. He spoke without hesitation, turning to face her for the first time. He grinned his practiced grin, an expression he could conjure up at a moments notice.
"You haven't changed. You're still annoying." he said, telling the blatant and complete truth. She was the most annoying thing in the world. She was not supposed to be able to do that to him. He had to go. He forced himself to move, one foot in front of the other.
"Don't leave me!"
She was chasing him now, that same frantic tone returning to her voice. "If you go, I'll scream and-"
He was behind her. He had always been faster then her, faster then almost anyone in their generation. Even if she hadn't been so emotionally wrecked, she would not have seen it, but her eyes went wide all the same. He stood in silence, contemplating his words. She had such power over him that she didn't even know, and that he so loathed to admit. Perhaps she had an inkling of it, which is why she fought so hard for him. Or perhaps it was simple dedication, or fear, or something else that he couldn't know or understand. But she had a part of him, and he could not reject that.
That power he craved even bowed to her. He awoke from that horrible state, when he'd first received the power of the Cursed Seal from Orochimaru. He had let it wash over him, embracing the anger. But why was he so angry? What was it he was seeking vengeance for? He hadn't realized till much later that it was Sakura. He'd asked her who had harmed her, who had dared to touch her. And he had let that anger wash over him, and nearly tore the bastard's arms right off. She had given him a power, in her own way. And then...
She had taken it away. The tears he shed now, those were the same tears she shed when she had thrown herself at him, begging him to stop. And those tears washed the anger out of him.
"Sakura..." he said, slowly... deliberately. "Thank you for everything."
Silence reigned for a short time, nothing but the slow chirp of cicadas and the ruffling of leaves in the wind. He could hear their heartbeats. His so slow, hers so fast. He pressed against her, eyes closed, and he whispered.
"Pack light. Fifteen minutes, at the gate... or I'll leave you behind."
And then he was gone.
She was rushing, a miraculously avoiding waking her parents. That would have been the death knell to this, she knew. She had to go, she was running out of time. But... she couldn't leave them with nothing. Her penmanship was likely atrocious, but she scribbled out the note all the same. She lost herself, trying to explain why she had done what she had done. It was not until she had finished that she realized her mistake. She frantically rushed back, pushing herself as hard as possible to reach that gate.
She arrived twenty-one minutes later. The tears were running down her face as she whispered. "I'm sorry..." more to herself then anything...
"You're late." he said, frowning at her from a tree. "Let's go."
And they were gone.