Sasusaku: The Road Back To You

Now He Knows (Took Him Long Enough)

══════ஜ 𝚂𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚔𝚎'𝚜 𝙿.𝙾.𝚅: ஜ══════

I focused my eyes on the boulder in front of me and shot Kirin through the center of it.

At this point, I was bored and wanted something more to do. I had already perfected this new technique of mine, along with everything Orochimaru had shown me.

I was getting frustrated with the snake Sannin. I came here to get stronger, but I hadn't learned anything new in months.

I wanted to hurry up and kill Itachi already. I hated the fact that he was walking around living it up with the Akatsuki when his own family was in the ground, and his supposed younger brother was left to grieve alone.

My jaw clenched at the thought of him being happy. He didn't deserve it, not when he'd stolen every single bit of happiness from me. Even past taking Mother and Father, he left me alive. But not before he made sure I would have no choice but to make myself unhappy for the rest of my life. I had already cut ties with everybody who brought me happiness, so now the only thing I had left was killing him. That and that alone would be my source of joy.

At least, that's what I thought.

My thoughts of revenge were cut short, however, as Kabuto came flouncing into the training site, Sakura following grumpily behind him.

I bit back a snort. Sakura's pouting face hadn't changed a bit.

She was the one thing that had always been able to bring me true joy. Thoughts of revenge didn't really bring me happiness- after all, at one time he was my brother. All it did was temporarily soothe the grief in my chest. It was a temporary relief from the constant pain eating away at me.

My rivalry with Naruto did more, giving me something better to drive towards, and it was a longer lasting reprieve. But even while competing against him, I think somewhere in my mind I saw Itachi- the brother that I was always chasing, not the stranger that murdered his family- and how he was always better than me. And when Naruto would improve, I would be reminded once again of him, always bringing that pain back into my heart.

But Sakura...

She also reminded me of someone, but unlike with Naruto, the memories weren't about failure, or inferiority. They were memories of warmth and love. They were memories of my mother.

Sakura reminded me of my mom so much. Every time she would smile at me, I saw my mother holding out a rice ball with that exact same smile. Every time Sakura talked about something she was passionate about, her eyes lit up just like Mom's would when she talked about her boys to random people on the streets. Whenever I got hurt during training, she was there. All the times I skipped meals, she knew and she would bring extra food for me.

Whenever I needed help, she was there. She was always there for me. Just like Mother used to be.

But, I reminded myself as I realized I was staring at her, I can't be selfish.

"What?" I asked in a flat tone, pretending to be annoyed at the interruption of my training.

Well, I was annoyed - with Kabuto, but not Sakura. Never with Sakura. No, more like the way she made me feel was annoying...

Kabuto ginned in that mischievous way of his and I immediately groaned, knowing I wasn't going to like this.

"You and the lovely doctor over here-" he reached over and took a strand of Sakura's pink hair between his fingers, and I had to hold myself back from just rearing back and punching his lights out, old-school style.