Chapter 47

"This was the last place I wanted to be when I woke up here; I hadn't planned on returning until Itachi was dead—and then I wasn't sure even then if I'd come back at all," he told her seriously, to let her know that he still firmly held that belief, "I didn't want ties with Konoha, and I still partially don't, but I don't really have a choice right now. Don't think that things can go back to the way they were. Even if I do stay, there will be those who will not accept me."

There was a pause from Sakura, and when she spoke, her words were gentle and sad, "You know, I think that really, deep down, you wanted to come back here—you were just afraid to. I can't say that I know what you've been through, but I think that you're afraid to let anyone get close to you because you're afraid to lose everything again."

"I don't want to lose everything close to me," he stated coldly—again she was trying to understand him, "That's why I don't have anything close. It's easier that way."

"I think you're wrong, Sasuke," she replied quietly, "You really do have people you care about—even if you won't acknowledge it, or don't know it. Remember when you fought Naruto as you left for Orochimaru? He told me that you had been so intent on killing him, but you didn't. Even as he lay unconscious, you let him live. You could have killed him then Sasuke, but you didn't. He's your best friend, isn't he? Doesn't that count as a tie? Ties like that can't be broken, even if you try to; you're just basically ignoring them. You can't really break the bonds of friendship, especially when the person you are trying to sever them with won't let you."

A silence blanketed the room for a minute as he forced himself to deny the words she was speaking to him. They were true, he knew… He had left so that none of them would get hurt, yet Naruto and Sakura refused to give up on him, refused to leave him alone. He had told himself over and over that he was no longer connected with Konoha, and even helped plan the attack that Orochimaru was going to initiate on the small village to try and convince himself. But even if the ties could not be broken, he could still ignore them.

"And besides," she continued after the silence had been laid on a little too thickly, "Wouldn't you like to rebuild your clan here, in Konoha, where the Uchihas originated from? Why bother building it in a place far from here, with no historical value or meaning? You would be a group of Uchihas out in the middle of nowhere, no culture or history—just the Sharingan and a patriarch who betrayed his home."

She really did talk too much.

"Sakura—you're annoying."

He was sure she was smiling.

"Sorry," she said mildly, "Shall we start then?"

Instead of responding he reached up and untied the bandage that was wound around his head, then undid the forehead protector knowing that it was in the way of where she placed two of her fingers. Handing her the bandage he held onto the protector while she did whatever she did with the long strip of gauze fabric. His eyes were already open, and she did not need to request him to open them.

He didn't really pay any attention to her laying her fingers on his head, but focused on the Leaf Headband in his hands. The metal was warm from the heat that had been released from his forehead, and it was slightly scuffed from use—he was surprised that Naruto even had it; it had been so long, yet the baka had kept it all this time. Running his thumb over the deep scratch that had been etched into it, he thought about the things Naruto had told him while Sakura had been absent from the room.

Sakura had taken his leaving the hardest, Naruto had told him; everyday she waited, hoped and prayed that he would somehow come back, or that someone would find him. Her spirit had been broken for the longest time, though she refused to let it show. She eventually became Tsunade's apprentice, in hopes of being more useful, having developed an inferiority complex, causing her to think that she had been absolutely useless. Having a goal to achieve, she worked harder as a medical ninja than any other had, Naruto recounted to him, complaining that he had hardly seen her between missions because of her determination.

Of all the villagers, only Sakura never gave up hope on him, she had always trained her hardest as a medical ninja so that she could perhaps one day aid him and return him to the village.

She told me once that she wanted to find a way to extract Orochimaru's soul from your body. She was that determined to save you, teme—but you never acknowledged her back then, you always pushed her away. You didn't deserve her devotion, and don't make me think that you don't deserve it still.

Yet now, as Sakura sat before him, healing his eyes, he could not detect, or recall, any indications that emphasized that she had been missing him for so long. She had worked tirelessly over him, true, but would she have done it if she had not been assigned to the task? She still cared for him, but she did not seem so fanatical as she had been before, and while it was obvious that time had changed her, he couldn't help wondering if she held a touch of resentment towards him for leaving her behind.

As the chakra flowed from Sakura's fingers again, his thoughts once again became detached, a slight guilty feeling seeping into him as he thought of the how he had left her—a feeling he hadn't felt before, a feeling he had refused to feel. He tried to clear his head, but found himself unable to, as images of a smiling Sakura kept floating across his mind. The chakra flow was gentle and soft, he noted dimly—like Sakura's personality, he added. Sasuke blinked his eyes, trying to brush the thought away, but again he felt the urge to rest his hands against hers.

He clenched his fist into the fabric of his shorts, forcing his mind awake, letting the forehead protector dig into the palm of his other hand; he was not going to let himself do anything stupid. He stiffened up a little, but did not move enough to let Sakura notice his change in position, trying instead to think of how he was going to train in order to defeat Itachi, and what he would do afterwards. That last thought caused him to think of what Sakura had said—restoring a clan in an unfamiliar place, no culture, no history, only the Sharingan…and a patriarch who betrayed his village.

"Sakura," he said after a moment, still holding the Konoha forehead protector, "I have decided that I will stay in the village."

He didn't know how, but he could always seem to tell when she was smiling at him, "Welcome home."

.

.

.

‼️If you want to access to more than 400 advanced chapters, wait no more and subscribe to my Ko-Fi, where you can buy books in completely downloadable PDF format.‼️

☕️ko-fi.com/skyarc☕️