So, full disclosure: This scene has been written for about three years, just sitting on my hard drive and waiting to be used. It's the first thing I wrote for this story, back in early 2021, and has remained more or less the same (aside from minor edits) ever since.

I'm so excited to finally be able to share it with you all.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything associated with it. All rights to Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto and the other proper entities.

Summary: Sakura had been by his side since he lost his family, following him around since they were seven years old, trying to ease his loneliness in whatever way she could. He didn't even know why he allowed it. He just silently allowed her to claim the seat next to him at the beginning of every term.

Rating: M

Genre: Friendship/Romance

Pairings: SasuSaku

Rays of Spring Sunshine

Chapter Twenty

Sasuke hadn't anticipated this.

Which was stupid, because he anticipated everything. But he hadn't anticipated this.

"What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night."

Sakura met his gaze, unwavering. Her mouth was still bruised from the rooftop. He ignored the twinge of guilt. "Waiting for you." When he didn't say anything, she said, almost accusingly, "This is the road that leads to the only open gate at night."

"It's after midnight. Go to bed."

"No." Sakura grabbed his wrist as he tried to brush past her.

He fought against the automatic impulse to throw her. If she were anyone else, he would have. Instead, he growled, "Let me go, Sakura."

"No."

It would have been a simple thing; break free of her grip, push her away, keep walking. Use more physical, violent means of escape if she pursued him. He could have. He was stronger than her, at least.

"I know what you're trying to do." Sakura's voice had that scolding tone she used on Naruto, and he bristled at it. "And I won't let you."

He glared at her, finally meeting her gaze. A small part of him was startled to see the expression mirrored in her own features. Maybe Naruto was right. Maybe they spent too much time together. "Stop getting in my way. This is my choice." He reminded her.

"And it's a bad one." She argued. So far they'd kept their voices down; Sasuke had wanted to slip away quietly, and Sakura obviously didn't want to get him into trouble, or she'd have gone to someone else. But now, her voice rose a fraction. "I'm not letting you throw your life away!"

He broke free of her grip, slapping the hand she'd held over her mouth. "Shut up!" He hissed.

Sakura jerked back, away from his hand. "No!" She continued at a normal volume. "This is stupid, Sasuke-kun! You're supposed to be smart—"

He shoved her, unwilling to listen to her scolding. He wasn't a child—she had no right to talk to him like she was his mother. The only person who he'd allow to talk to him like that had died over five years ago; had been cut down in her own home by her eldest child. An eldest child who was still out there, and getting stronger by the day. He needed to go, to get stronger, to deal with him before he could move on with his life. "What kind of life am I throwing away?" He demanded. "I have nothing!"

Sakura had caught her balance before she fell over, meeting his deadly glare with something akin to betrayal on her face. "You have me." She said, firmly. "And you have Naruto. And Kakashi-sensei, and my parents. We all care about you, Sasuke-kun. You're just too stubborn to care back."

He was stung at the accusation that he didn't care about his friends—even if he was leaving because he cared too much, to the point where it had become a weakness. "Of course I care." He snapped, irritated at himself for admitting it. He forged on, regardless. "But that doesn't—"

She shoved him, and he nearly fell over with the shock of it. It was only years of training that stopped him from falling flat on his back. She'd never been angry at him before that he could remember. She had always been patient and forgiving with him. Apparently, he'd found her limit. There was a sick sort of satisfaction in it.

"No you don't!" She hissed, narrowing her eyes at him. "If you cared, even a little bit, you wouldn't even consider—if you cared about anything other than your stupid self," he glared at her words, "you wouldn't put people through this!"

"Through what?" He demanded.

"This!" Sakura stomped her foot like a child. "You're trying to disappear in the middle of the night to train with an international criminal! An enemy of the village!" She ranted. "I know you want to be strong, Sasuke-kun, but this is the wrong way!"

"This is the only way!"

"No it's not!" They had barely managed to keep from shouting. Sakura, though, was bordering on the hysterical. "There are plenty of people who got strong in Konoha. You're just too stubborn to let people help you!"

"Who can help me?" He demanded. "Who the hell in this village can go up against him? You saw what he did to Kakashi! I'm going to train with someone who's stronger than anyone in this damn village."

"That's why we're a team, Sasuke-kun! We're supposed to help each other!"

"This has nothing to do with you!" He snapped. "Don't stick your nose where it's not wanted!"

Sakura looked like he'd slapped her; the sudden defeat in her posture startled him. Maybe, he thought, he'd finally convinced her to let him go.

When her voice came, it was suddenly laced with sadness. "And you're going to leave everyone behind? Just like that?"

Sasuke leaned away from her and crossed his arms. He hated it when Sakura cried. "I have no choice." He said, firmly.

Sakura shook her head. "You always have a choice." She met his gaze, and his heart squeezed at the sadness in her eyes. She hadn't yet begun to cry, but she would. Soon. "You don't get it, do you?" She almost mumbled. "I love you, Sasuke-kun. More than anything in the world. I wouldn't be able to stand it if you left."

She may as well have punched him in the gut.

Of course, other girls had told him that they loved him; ones that had managed to find him on the rare occasion that he was without Sakura's company. He'd gotten notes and gifts and valentines chocolates from girls who didn't know he disliked sweets, accompanied by offers for dates and professions of love. He had rejected them all. Who were these girls that claimed to love him? None of them knew him. They didn't know his struggles, or his pain. All they saw was a handsome face and brooding stare, and his skill as a shinobi. They didn't know him to love him.

But Sakura did.

Sakura, who had been by his side since he lost his family, knew him. She had seen him cry and throw tantrums and struggle and fail. She had been there, with him, in the hospital when he was seven. She had sat with him every day at the Academy, had done her homework with him in her family's living room on Friday afternoons. She had been with him in the first few moments of his time with the cursed seal, when he had nearly killed three people in cold blood, and had not been afraid of him. It had been her that had helped him suppress the seal in the exam. It had been her that he had been unable to save from Gaara, and she still had not turned away. She had seen him at his very worst and still cared for him despite everything. Even after he'd almost hit her earlier that day. Enough that she was getting in his way for the first time ever, that day. Because she cared.

She reached out, at that moment, and gently grasped the front of his shirt, staring at her own small fist in the dark blue fabric.

"I love you so much I can't stand it." She whispered, tears brimming in her eyes. "If you left, I… I don't know what I'd do. Everyone would be so hurt." He made no move to reply, still hardly daring to breathe. "Please stay. Or, if you can't," she sniffed, voice tremulous, "then take me with you. I'll help you get your revenge. I'll train hard! I'd do anything for you, Sasuke-kun." And here she looked up at him, tears spilling over and rolling down her cheeks. "I promised myself when we were little that I would do everything I could to make you happy, so you wouldn't have to be alone." She admitted.

He was struck with the thought that it had been a very, very long time since he'd believed anyone who told him that they loved him.

His heart picked up speed. He remembered the way she'd flinched from him on the rooftop, and felt ashamed.

"You can't come." His voice was hoarse.

"I'll just follow you." She lifted her chin. "I know how to track. If… if you don't let me come, I'll just follow behind you and demand—"

"You can't!" Sasuke's hands grasped her shoulders, holding her away from him. She refused to let go of his shirt; it stretched out between them. He could feel it pulling him inward. "They'll kill you!"

He stared her down. She was serious. She really would try to follow him, and he knew it. The thought of her anywhere near Orochimaru turned his stomach. She was too good—too innocent to be put anywhere near a man like him. Sasuke wasn't under any illusions as to Orochimaru's character. Kakashi had warned him very specifically what Orochimaru was like, back when he'd sealed the curse mark. He used people as he saw fit and threw them away when he was done with them. He could easily see the man using Sakura to control him for a few years, and then discarding her when he decided that Sasuke was sufficiently under his thumb.

He couldn't let that happen. Not to her.

"Then I'll scream." She tugged on his shirt. "I'll tell everyone what you're doing! And then—then the Hokage will send someone to bring you back!"

"Sakura…"

"Please." She begged, voice cracking as she shrugged off his hands and stepped forward, pressing her forehead into his shoulder. "Please don't go." He stiffened as her arms slowly wrapped around his sides. They slipped under the fabric of his pack to encircle his waist, shoulders shaking as she pressed against him.

All at once, his breath left him in a whoosh.

Damnit, Kakashi was right. He and Naruto and Sakura—they were Sasuke's family. The only family he had. Even Sakura's parents had come to mean more to him than he was willing to admit, over the years, looking after him in some ways while respecting his independence in others. Was he really strong enough to lose all of that a second time?

But… if he stayed…

Briefly, he imagined his future after leaving; alone, isolated, his brother dead and Sasuke dying of his wounds or simple exhaustion soon after, because he didn't really expect to survive his brother anymore. And if he did kill his brother and survive, he would be truly alone; he'd have no place in Konoha anymore, after turning his back on it. There would be nothing to come back to.

He hadn't truly been alone since that awful week after he'd woken in the hospital; Sakura had wormed her way into his heart and rooted there like a weed, tenacious now even in the face of his attempts to cut her out.

Suddenly, Itachi's words from that awful night taunted him in the back of his mind as he stared at the head of pink hair just below his eye line. "To gain the mangekyō sharingan, you will have to kill your dearest friend."

He felt sick. That was no option; he could no more kill Sakura than he could himself.

The mark on the back of his neck throbbed. The promise of the power that Orochimaru could give him was tempting. So tempting. It would give him what he needed, and he would be able to save Sakura in the process—save her from himself, and the darkness he was slowly suffocating in.

But…

He couldn't do it. He couldn't leave her behind. If he left without her, she would just hurt herself trying to follow him. And having her around Orochimaru wasn't an option.

Gently, he pried her off of him, avoiding her eyes. He refused to examine why she held such sway over his decisions. Heat crept up the back of his neck as she stared at him, and he shifted uncomfortably. "Come on, I'll walk you home." He turned away and headed back toward the centre of the village.

"S-Sasuke-kun?" She stared after him, confused.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, looking back over his shoulder with a frown. "We have training in the morning." He barked. She jumped, startled. "Stop being annoying and let's go."

"Er—right!" She scurried to keep up with him. Sneaking a glance at his face, she asked, "Does this mean you're going to stay?"

"The village gates are in the opposite direction." He pointed out, a little gruffly.

A smile broke out on her tear-streaked face, bright and dazzling. He couldn't look at it. "Okay." She hurried to his side; he matched his stride to hers to avoid overtaking her.

He hoped he wouldn't regret this. He had just passed up the opportunity to train under one of the greatest shinobi of all time, all because of a girl.

Fuck.

Sasuke woke with an epiphany the next morning.

Kakashi had always stressed the importance of teamwork. To leave one's comrades behind was to be worse than trash.

Fine, then.

He'd barely gotten any sleep, tossing and turning and second-guessing himself most of the night. In all honesty, the only thing that had kept him in his bed through it all had been the idea of Sakura discovering him missing in the morning and setting out to find him, getting herself hurt in the process. He didn't doubt that Naruto would be hot on his heels, too, if he were honest, but that idiot was at least tough. He'd probably have survived whatever Orochimaru's lackeys could dish out.

Sakura was another story.

She was weak. And while she had heart, she had nothing to back it up with.

Sasuke wasn't stupid. He knew Kakashi favoured the boys over their female teammate. Sakura had confided to him on more than one occasion that she felt like she was dead weight on the team, and he knew she could do more. He was sure of it. Her mind was sharp and she had a good grasp of the fundamentals, but without someone to actually teach her, she was falling by the wayside.

Fine.

If Kakashi wasn't going to do anything about it, Sasuke would. He would need help in tracking his brother down, after all, and the man apparently had comrades now. Teamwork. If Sasuke was going to stay in this godsforsaken village, he would mould his own allies. And there was no one he trusted more than Sakura.