𝑾𝑰𝑻𝑯 𝒀𝑶𝑼 | 𝑲.𝑰𝑵𝒁𝑼𝑲𝑨

|I{•------» [50] «------•}I|

"In the darkness of the night, the only Uchiha exited the compound with his backpack on his shoulders, but no headband on his forehead. He walked forward slowly, with his hands inside his pockets, but stopped after taking a couple of steps.

'It's the middle of the night, what are you doing here?' he asked, his gaze focused ahead.

Leaning against the wall behind him, Ruka narrowed her eyes at him. 'I could ask you the same.'

'You should go to bed,' he stated. 'I know you haven't been sleeping.' He started walking again.

'Do you think it's a good idea to go to him?' she asked, causing him to stop. 'And here I thought you were smart.'

'I need to get stronger. I need power,' he stated plainly, to which she instantly replied, 'So you can finally have the revenge you wanted?'

Sasuke turned around, standing in front of her, only a few inches apart. Her deep blue eyes stared into his onyx ones that held old misery, a deep longing, and a tiny hint of regret.

'This is a new beginning, Ruka,' he spoke calmly. 'Each of us has a new path lying before us.'

'I'm not like you.' He lowered his head and rested his forehead on her shoulder, making her breath hitch. 'I know that the five of us have worked together, and for a while, I thought that I could take the same road as you, but in the end, I've decided on revenge. That's always been my reason for living.'

'Revenge is not going to change anything.' She closed her eyes. 'The only thing that can change is yourself.'

She opened her eyes when she felt his head lift off her shoulder. 'I can't let you leave.'

'I hate that you remind me of him.' Before she could say anything, she felt something sharp like a needle piercing into her shoulder where his hand was.

Instantly, her vision started getting blurry, and she fell down to her knees. Not letting go of her shoulders, he knelt down in front of her. 'You—'

'Even you... cannot stop me... no one can.'

Ruka's eyes snapped open, and she sat up with a jerk, breathing heavily. She looked around at the somewhat familiar surroundings. Her eyes widened when she found herself in his room, in his bed, covered in blankets.

The light coming through the window told her that it was already daytime. Her heart instantly sank into her stomach when she realized that he was already long gone.

She pushed the blanket away and jumped to her feet. She rushed out of his room and his house.

She ran as fast as she could and reached the village gates, where she found Sakura and Ino sitting on the bench. The pink-haired girl was crying, while the blonde seemed to be consoling her.

'Guys...' Ruka stopped in front of them, capturing their attention.

'Ruka?' Sakura stood up, her eyes puffy from crying a lot. 'Where have you been? Sasuke... He...'

'I know.'

Ino stood up and narrowed her eyes at the heiress. 'Where have you been this whole time? Kiba was asking about you before he went on the mission. You and Shikamaru were supposed to lead them.'

'What mission?' Ruka asked in surprise.

'Sasuke's retrieval mission,' Ino explained. 'Naruto, Choji, Kiba, and Neji were on it, with Shikamaru leading.'

'It's been almost a day...' Sakura sniffed, which Ruka immediately turned around to leave. 'Where are you going?'

'After them.' Ruka looked over her shoulder at the girl. 'Ino, I need you to inform Lady Tsunade that I need some backup quickly because I assure you that none of them could survive with Orochimaru and his pets out there.'