An Uchiha At Heart || SasuSaku

11. My Own

The three days of packing were the longest three days of Sakura's life. She couldn't stop going on to her parents about how she was going to break out of her shell and see the world with Sasuke-kun. Her parents were stoked that things were finally going well with her and the Uchiha, but they warned her to take care of herself nonetheless.

It was finally time. The pink-haired ninja carried her bag and left her house, heading for the Konoha gate to meet Sasuke. She hugged her parents and told them she'll see them soon.

When she got to the gate, Sasuke had just arrived. He looked up and saw her, and a smile appeared on his face.

Stay cool, Sakura. Don't freak out and fangirl like crazy.

"Ohiou Sasuke-kun," she greeted. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah. Are you sure about this?"

"More sure than I've ever been," she said with a bright, wide smile. "Do you know where we're going?"

"Yes I do. Come on, let's get out of here."

****************************************

After hours of getting through the trees engulfing Konohagakure and walking for miles without rest, the two ninjas saw a village coming into view from a distance. As they got closer to it, Sasuke started to recognize the architecture. "I've been here before," he told Sakura.

"Really, you have? What was the town called?"

"Akaigawa. Its people were generous, but they were going through an economic crisis at the time."

"I hope things got better, though it doesn't look like it.." she added.

"Yeah, me too."

The small town felt dead and gloomy under the sunset, the high buildings that were once colorful and lively now had their paint chipping off. There were houses that were torn down, and others that were under construction.

Even in the market place, there was barely anyone buying and the vendors looked sad. There were homeless children in every corner, some digging in the trash cans and others sleeping on the ground, seemingly waiting to die.

Sakura's eyes softened at the sight, her eyebrows furrowing at the thought that people were barely surviving here. Sasuke was bothered too, but of course, his expression was unreadable as always.

Suddenly, Sasuke's fist was moving towards Sakura, and confused as she was, she didn't move until she realized Sasuke was trying to punch someone behind her.

The man fell on one of the fruit stands, then scurried to his feet and tried to aim the large wooden stick in his hand at Sakura. Before he could, the Uchiha was already in front of her breaking the stick in half like it was nothing. Suddenly the man took notice of the Uchiha's Rinnegan eye and quickly turned the other way.

"Wait!" Sakura yelled at the escapee. "Stop running!"

The man looked back at her and slowed down but didn't stop completely, so Sakura had to jog after him. "Why were you trying to attack me?" she called after him.

The man came to a halt and turned around, his eyes solemn and tired. He looked down, as if ashamed of himself, and started speaking in a low voice.

"I can no longer afford to put food on the table for my family," he explained. "So I was trying to steal your pack."

Sakura wasn't surprised, but her heart still hurt nonetheless, and it showed on her face. Sasuke watched her closely as she took out her wallet and handed the man a large amount of money. "Next time, just ask for help nicely old man," she told the stranger with a smile. "I hope things get better for you soon."