"You look pensive, Uchiha."
"Hn."
Tsunade huffed a laugh through her nose and was silently grateful when Sasuke ignored the way her breath shuddered on the exhale.
"And yet, nothing's changed." She remarked as she stopped a couple of feet away from where the last Uchiha sat, crossing her arms over her chest with a wince.
"Everything's changed." Came Sasuke's unexpectedly vehement reply, and Tsunade narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.
"Is that the reason for your thoughtful brooding?" she asked bluntly, surprised for the second time in as many minutes when the Uchiha brat merely scoffed and shook his head.
"Only an idiot doesn't change plans when the situation changes." He announced, oddly solemn, then snorted. "That, and Naruto."
"I'd have thought your hard-headed stubbornness would render any attempts at changing strategy moot." Tsunade pointed out honestly, and Sasuke glanced up at her for the first time, flat onyx eyes seeing more than Tsunade was entirely comfortable with him seeing, then he sighed.
"Maybe once." He replied simply, and hung his head.
"Everything's changed, indeed." Tsunade echoed thoughtfully, then steeled her expression and gave voice to the thought that had been plaguing her mind since she learnt that she'd been left alone, again.
"I'm going to resign as Hokage."
Sasuke visibly startled, the muscles of his shoulders tensing further if at all possible, and Tsunade wasn't sure what jarred him more: her words, or the fact that she was saying them to him.
"Why?" He asked at last, the word almost torn out of him.
And Tsunade finally gave in to the weariness that tugged at her soul and sat heavily where she stood, not quite next to the Uchiha, but close enough to be almost companionable.
"I never wanted the hat." She said simply. "And Hyuuga's basically ready to take over. When victory was announced, nobody mentioned what we'd lost. Once I found out...well. I first thought I'd transferred my bad luck to Jiraiya and Orochimaru, but...do you know what it's like, to be the last one left of a unit that had once been hailed across the Nations as legendary for its teamwork?"
Silence reigned between them for a few seconds, then Sasuke let out a small, wry sound that maybe once could've been a chuckle.
"You're walking away."
"I'm surprised you didn't say running." Tsunade bit out, because while the remark stung, she realised that, for this Uchiha in particular, the phrasing was almost charitable.
As if reading her mind, Sasuke shrugged.
"I know what it's like to outgrow a place." He studied her for a few more seconds, and there was that piercing, oddly heavy look in his eyes again. Then he said something that shook Tsunade to the core: "Take me with you."
"I-what?" she managed at last, eyes wide and disbelieving as she rounded on the teen.
"Orochimaru's dead." Sasuke pointed out flatly, and there were many conflicting emotions swirling behind his eyes, much the same as what Tsunade experienced every time she thought of her teammate's passing.
"There's nothing keeping me here. My brother's dead. I have no purpose anymore." A pause. "Besides, where else would I go? Konoha?" He scoffed derisively. "Please."
Tsunade studied him too, looked for the lie in his words and found none. "What are you asking, Uchiha?"
"Whenever you leave the Leaf," Sasuke repeated, slowly, as if speaking to someone particularly slow on the uptake, "take me with you."
YOU ARE READING
Pulling My Weight
Fanfiction!NOT MY BOOK! (from itsthechocopuff on ao3) During their mission to Wave, Sakura realizes how behind she is in her training and decides to do something about it. She vows to become a shinobi her Village and her teammates can respect and depend on. B...
