R E S I S T A N C E

K I S A M E H O S H I G A K I

Sasuke's POV

If that's what you want, then that's fine with me.

Those heart wrenching words were burned into my memory, scarring my brain like an branding iron for cattle. But it wasn't her tone of voice that forced that sentence to repeat over and over in my head, it was her painfully disappointed eyes. The way they scanned my face, silently begging me to say something, anything to prove that I didn't mean what I said, probably hurt me the most.

I grimaced, hoping that Jugo was far enough behind me to not see my face.

What was I supposed to do now? As ridiculous as it was, I actually felt bad for causing her grief. I needed to focus on the task at hand, I absolutely needed to. But this girl, this kunoichi, just would not vacate my thoughts.

Ayuka Yuna.

There had to be some way to turn off my odd attraction to her. There had to be some switch that I could flick or some door that I could bolt shut, but as hard as I tried I couldn't make it stop.

I don't think that I ever experienced a fascination quite like this before. For as long as I could remember, I only ever thought about exacting my revenge, reestablishing my clan and altering the Uchiha's reputation. But now that I was so close to completing my first and most important goal, I found myself thinking more about her everyday. I was drawn to her in an almost unhealthy way in my opinion, and I had no business busying myself with thoughts of her well being when I should be planning how I was going to take my brother down.

But... she was like me now. She no longer had a family or a clan; she was the last of her kind, as was I.

Maybe I was only focused on her because of her strength, I reasoned with myself. The Yuna were a very powerful lineage, with generations and generations of incredible chakra control and the skills to manipulate the earth from right under an enemy's feet. If the Uchiha and Yuna Clans were brought together, then that combination of kekkei genkai would be almost unstoppable.

I paled and almost stopped running when I realized what I was insinuating.

No, I absolutely couldn't waste time thinking about that now.

Shaking my head, I cleared my mind of all things except one, resolving to cast a genjutsu on myself if this stream of consciousness persisted any longer.

I had to kill Itachi. There were no other options.

~~~~~

Ayuka's POV

"I promise, I'm alright," I lied through my teeth as Suigetsu continued to grill me at the back of our formation.

"I don't believe you, but okay," he sounded disappointed. "I'll just wait until you decide to be honest with yourself."

I glanced at him and sighed. He was right. I was lying to myself, trying not to care that my heart felt as if it was torn open. Such a confusing feeling this was, not knowing whether I wanted to cry or punch something or go on as if nothing had happened. I almost didn't know what to make of it. Is this what rejection felt like? Did the fact that it bothered me mean that I actually had feelings for Sasuke?

I really hoped that wasn't the case.

As we continued onward, we finally escaped the trees and began sprinting over rooftops of several abandoned buildings. I had no idea where we were in relation to the hidden villages, but before I could wonder about that further, I felt a very powerful chakra signature approaching us.

"Sasuke, someone strong is closing in on us from ahead," I reluctantly called to him, keeping all emotion from my voice.

Just as I spoke, a man shrouded in an Akatsuki robe landed on a wooden post in front of us. His face was blue, with small beady eyes, and he carried a pretty sizable sword on his back. As he stood in our way, our group halted all at once. I glanced over at Karin who was panting quite a lot to my left.