Bonded Souls

Chapter 1: Escape

Hello wonderful readers! If this is your first time finding my content, please note that this story is a SEQUEL to another of my stories by the name of Happy Accidents. If you have not read Happy Accidents yet, I highly recommend it! Bonded Souls is the continuation of Sasuke and Sakura's journey in the Naruto Modern Crime AU.

Please also note that this fic happens simultaneously with both Who Am I and Purpose and Expectation, two other fics that follow Ino/Sai and Naruto/Hinata, respectively. Much of their plot and investigations led to the current events in Bonded Souls, and their events will be necessary to portions of Bonded Souls' plot.

Happy reading!

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"No matter what decision you make, Sakura, I will never stop fighting for you, and I will never stop loving you. I promise."

Sasuke's words echoed in Sakura's head repeatedly as she stood there and tried to comprehend what he was saying. She watched in shock as he rushed around the house, shoving things into a duffel bag: clothes, his extra weapons, anything sentimental he had. Sakura couldn't decide what she wanted to do; she was frozen in place, faced with one of the worst decisions in her life.

She could run with him, or she could let him leave her behind. And it was tearing her in two.

Seeing the shock and tears welling in her eyes, Sasuke stopped his rushing for a moment, coming over to her with a soft, caring expression. His hands, bare from his gloves, reached up to cup her face, wishing he wasn't putting her up to this decision.

"Listen to me, Sakura," he said softly, rubbing his thumbs over her cheekbones. "I want you to know that no matter your decision, I will love you the same. Nothing is going to change that, do you understand me? Nothing." He had a sinking feeling in his gut that he was going to have to leave her. That he was going to have to go, leaving her behind, unprotected. He hated that. He would have to make sure someone looked after her while he was gone if she wasn't coming. But he couldn't make this decision for her. It had to be her own. He had to trust her judgement. He knew he had no choice. If he got caught up in prison, it was likely the other inmates would kill him. He had too many enemies in there, and if he knew anything about Akatsuki, if he'd learned anything about the enemies they were facing, they would do everything they could to kill him. They'd make sure he wasn't in protective custody. They'd ensure he was in the general population, where he could be beaten and killed by any number of his enemies and out of the way.

Gently pressing his lips to her forehead, Sasuke rushed down the stairs to the basement, looking for more things he needed to pack.

The moment his hands left her cheeks, Sakura let her tears fall. She couldn't let him do this alone. He needed someone to look out for him, to be there for him... and like him, she was a sitting duck in a prison cell. Sure, she'd be in a women's prison, but that wasn't to say they wouldn't have heard of her or that they wouldn't try to take care of her on behalf of someone else. She couldn't survive prison. She was too soft, too gentle, and too kind. But on the run, with him? That she could survive. She could survive anything as long as they were together.

Triumphantly wiping the tears from her cheeks, she tore up the stairs and began stuffing things into a bag of her own, carrying it down the stairs. She locked gazes with Sasuke just as he threw the last few things into his bag, their eyes having a silent conversation; he understood that she was coming with him no matter what. With a nod, he zipped the duffel bag closed and grabbed her bag, directing her to fill one more if there was anything else she needed. She ran up and filled one last bag, scrambling down and tossing it in the back seat. It was most of her electronics and files she needed; if they were going to be on the run, she wouldn't leave without offline versions of her files that they could work on. Her work was important. She made sure to disconnect them from any wireless services she had; she'd deal with the technical aspects of ensuring they became untraceable later. She took her phone and turned it off, intending to deal with it at a later point when they were somewhere untraceable.