Warning: This is a very short chapter, much shorter than the usual 4k words.

Marquies: Wait... you originally shipped Ino and Sai? Also, I believe that the Anko thing was just Kishimoto writing on shrooms or something.

Maaaaaaaa: There's far too many Mary Sue-esque characters in the fandom already. Slow burn is the name of the game here.

Sakura's eyes widened as she realized who it was. She immediately stood up, but found herself unsure of what she would say.

Sasuke, who had been walking at a leisurely pace, lifted his head to see what was standing in his path, not giving any indication of recognizing his teammate. Of course someone like her would show up... maybe the entirety of the village could gather up at the gate, singing him a farewell song as he left them all forever. Rolling his eyes, Sasuke gave his teammate a bored look.

"Strange time to be prowling around the village." He stated, any kind of feeling absent from his tone of voice.

The girl lowered her eyes for a bit, then looked up again. "I had this bad feeling... I guess this is why. You're leaving, aren't you?"

She clenched her fists subconsciously, wishing that she was strong enough to just grab him and not let go. Then he couldn't leave the village... then he couldn't leave her.

Sasuke didn't react. "Go home Sakura, it's getting late."

With that said, he moved to sidestep her, only to see her outstretched arm in his way.

"Why, Sasuke? Why don't ever tell me anything?"

He brought an arm up to push her out of the way, but found that the pink-haired genin was putting up a respectable amount of resistance. He sighed, shaking his head. Did she really mean to stop him? Was she really that stupid? No one was going to stand between him and his goal.

"Why do you always hate me?" The girl asked, her eyes now hidden by her long bangs. She was shaking, tears running from her eyes, but she wasn't moving, not one inch.

"We did all those missions together... you and me, and Naruto and Kakashi-sensei." She began, finding the words she always seemed to be lacking. "Sure, some of them were boring and uninteresting, while others were hard and painful, but even with all that, we still did them together."

She turned her head to her crush... the boy she loved, raising her head and opening her eyes so that he could see her. "Despite everything, Sasuke, I enjoyed it."

"Hn."

He said nothing. But he didn't try to get past her... he was still willing to listen. This might be her last chance to talk to him. Now was as good a time as any to tell him everything she wanted to say. Away from missions and Naruto and everything else. Maybe if he heard it all, he'd come around. Maybe the foolish belief that love conquers all might prove true after all.

"I know about your past, Sasuke. Even if you get your revenge, it won't bring happiness to anyone."

She paused, lowering her arm. "Not even you, Sasuke."

The boy closed his eyes. Why couldn't anyone just shut up? Everyone always had something more to say, something more to add. Everyone always wanted to be like him, to understand his pain. If they could understand it, the feeling that washed over him every day after that one moment when he still wasn't aware of who he was, or what had happened, they would wish they never thought of something so stupid...

"Up until now, we've done everything as a group... But there's something else I want to do right now."

He turned ever so slightly, facing the now puffy-eyed kunoichi. "I can't have you slowing me down anymore. I need to strike out on my own path, and realize my own destiny."

With that said, he motioned to take another step.

"I love you."

He stopped.

Slowly, he turned back to Sakura once more, watching as the desperation in her eyes grew with each second. Did she even know the weight that those words carried? What would a sheltered little girl like her know about love...about hate? Did she really believe that just saying that would be enough to make him stay? What a selfish way of interpreting the world...

Sasuke shook his head, pressing a hand against his forehead - flinching in surprise upon feeling the cold steel of the headband.

His Konoha headband...he didn't remember to take it off?

Konoha... it was a strange place for him. It was the only home he ever knew, but it was also the place where his clan was ridiculed and disrespected, up until the point when Itachi slaughtered them all...all but him. For all these years, he was the last of the Uchiha in Konoha.

When the village was founded, his clansmen and ancestors chose the village as their home. They had obviously seen something in it. But as time moved on, their hatred, much like his own, had driven them away from the village, and further into their own little worlds. Maybe they never actually left it, but the people of the Uchiha clan had long since abandoned the village.

But when it was all said and done, it was his home.

He shook his head once more, turning his head to the girl. It didn't make sense, what he was about to do; He'd be giving up on the promise of power from Orochimaru, and he'd most likely have to fight those four freaks again. But it felt right, and as a shinobi, he had learned to trust his instincts over anything else.

He was going to stay.

"You're annoying..." he began, seeing as the hope in Sakura's eyes quickly drained away. He could walk away, training with the sannin until he was strong enough to kill both him and Itachi. Then he could return to Konoha, or do whatever the hell he felt like doing. But seeing her like that, he felt that the call he had made was the correct one.

He walked around her, taking a seat on the nearby bench. Back when they were first assigned to the team, they sat on a bench just like that one, each thinking about the one thing that mattered to them the most. For him, it was revenge. It always was.

Taking off his backpack, Sasuke motioned for the teary-eyed girl to sit next to him. He had made his decision, and nothing would change that now.

No one would tell him what to do, not anymore.

oOoOoOo

There wasn't any light on the romantic path, the one that led from the village. The only light the two genin had was the bright starts and the shimmering glow of moonlight. Still, they were ninja, so adapting to the dark wasn't much of an issue. For such a turbulent day, the sky was remarkably peaceful, something that amused Sasuke just a tiny bit.

"I know the four of us have worked together... But I'll always be an avenger, Sakura. "

He paused, taking a moment to watch as the trees shimmered in the late night winds. Sakura sat at the edge of the bench, wiping her eyes and focusing on his words. In her heart, she felt that some of what she wanted to say had gotten through to him.

"It's always been my purpose of living - avenging my clan. And I was ready to walk that path...but in the end you... you just couldn't let go."

Her eyes widened as she watched him take off his headband, looking at the engraved symbol with a look she couldn't place. He rubbed the sides of the plate with his thumbs for a while, amused at how stupid he was, trading away the chance to get strong enough to kill Itachi just because of some insignificant attachment to the village.

"Konoha...is my home. I shouldn't leave it behind just because Itachi told me to come after him." He paused. " That's not what a shinobi does, is it? We're supposed to endure."

He smirked, wrapping the headband back around his head. It felt natural to have it there, it felt like something that was supposed to be like that.

"I guess... if I want to realize my goal, I'll have to endure too."

On the other side of the bench, Sakura was once again struggling, being unable to find her words. Finding no answer in her words, she did the next best thing, pushing herself at Sasuke, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

"Thank you..."

Letting her have her victory, Sasuke endured, as real shinobi do, but quickly grew weary of her display of affection upon realizing that she won't let go unless he makes her. Enjoying the luxury of personal space once more, the Uchiha crossed his arms. As long as they were here, they could talk about pretty much anything, uninterrupted.

He didn't feel angry anymore, not in the least bit. He understood the consequences of his choice, and had made peace with them. What remained now was to see if his choice was truly the right one, to see if the hidden leaf could give him what he had refused from Orochimaru. For some reason, Sasuke felt very mellow.

A question came to his mind, one he figured was the appropriate time to ask.

"Why are you so hung up on me?"

She blinked, the sudden question helping her get some of her composure back. This was an intense several minutes, and it had left her almost completely drained. Sakura thought for a long time about what her crush had asked her, only barely nodding her head upon arriving at a satisfactory explanation.

"At first it wasn't much different than it was with all the other girls. You were handsome and cool, and you were the last Uchiha. We were all really petty, we didn't know any better at the time..."

Sasuke stopped his neutral expression from deteriorating into a frown at Sakura's pathetic attempt to justify her past behavior, but gave her a look to warn her not to say something that stupid again. She nodded in response.

"But then we got placed on the same team, and we spent a lot of time together. I started to realize that there was much more to you than looks and an attitude... You were hurting, Sasuke, and despite that, you still did your best to become a strong shinobi..." she trailed off, starting to hate the presence in her mind that was always so childishly glad whenever he gave her some sign of attention.

"It was like a dream come true. I started picturing myself as the one who'd help you get better, to break out of your shell. I started imagining things, falling back on those fantasies when things became too hard in the real world. That was part of the reason I'm so weak."

A small part of Sasuke wanted to argue the point, seeing as she so brazenly tried to prevent him from leaving earlier, but he silenced it, focusing back on the pinkette's story.

"Then the exams happened, and you saved my life... Even with Orochimaru of the sannin there, you pushed through the fear and saved me. That's when I realized it wasn't just a childish crush anymore." There was a tone of finality to her voice, which Sasuke immediately understood.

Hearing all that... it explained why she didn't want to let go, at least. The same part that wanted to argue her words from before felt bad about what he was about to do, but he knew that he couldn't lead her along.

"Sakura...I can't return those feelings."

"I...I understand."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "And it doesn't bother you?"

"If it didn't, my feelings wouldn't be honest... But I think I can wait."

"You'd wait... for me?" He asked, a look of mild disbelief on his face.

The girl gave a vigorous nod, determination flaring in her eyes much like it did earlier in the day, when her teacher told her he believed she deserved to be a kunoichi.

Sasuke sighed. Guess there's no going back on the decision now... it could've been worse, though. Naruto could have come instead. That'd be a pain in the ass.

"We need to get some backup against those sound ninja..." He began, standing up from the bench. He had already picked his bag up, and was now looking over his shoulder at the girl who had professed her love for him.

Sakura stared at him, seeing the grim determination in the boy's eyes. It wasn't quite like the look he had before, on the roof, but all the power, all the anger, it was still there... For whatever reason Sasuke decided to stay with them, she knew that this was only the first step she needed to make in order to help him with the burden he was forced to carry.

The Uchiha cracked a smirk. "Come on, let's go break their arms."

After the next one, I'll be out of quick chapter updates.

So yeah, no more reviews for updates deal in this book :/ Doesn't mean I won't be appreciating every single one, though...