Phases (Naruto AU)

Descendant

Lost And Found
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At the time, asking Sasuke to take her with him when he left Konoha seemed like a great idea. The outcome of that decision, though, throws Sakura into a predicament which leaves her at the mercy of someone she would have never expected – and triggers a chain of events that nobody saw coming. ItaSaku AU.

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She had walked down that road, the only one that led out of the village, and prayed that she was just being irrational and that nobody would be out there on that dark, cold night but herself.

But then Sakura had seen him, hands in his pockets, slowly and almost casually making his way down the path – but it definitely wasn't just one of the average late night walks that she knew Sasuke indulged in every now and then. At once, the pink-haired kunoichi's gaze locked onto the simple green pack slung over his shoulders, and even though it had just been for a few seconds, the sight was traumatic enough that it felt like a hard physical blow to the face.

He was going to do it. He was serious. He was going to leave them – leave her – and Sakura's terror was immediate and nearly paralyzing. She couldn't let it happen. She just couldn't. She was absolutely, completely sure that she could talk him out of it; this was probably just a temporary fit of mild insanity, and if there was to be a verbal confrontation, her logic would certainly win out.

But then Sasuke stopped right in front of her, glancing her way completely dispassionately, and all of her reserve just about flew out of the window. "What are you doing, wandering around here so late at night?"

Once, she would have been stupid enough to mistake the question as being motivated by caring or concern, but now, it just made Sakura's fingers clench into tight, nervous fists. She didn't want him to see how frightened she was – she didn't want him to see her as an obstruction weak enough to be simply tossed aside before he continued on. "Because...this is the only road you can take in order to get out of the village," she replied, fighting to keep her voice at some semblance of calm and even.

For a fraction of a second, she could have sworn that Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her. "Go home and sleep," he countered dismissively, before walking past her and continuing on down the path.

For a second, Sakura was lost. Her chest hurt fiercely, with the strain of repressing sobs of mixed despair and confusion, her hands were shaking slightly, and she had a pounding headache. Her throat was raw and clenched, and her eyes burned, and she had never felt so damn helpless before – and that really was saying something – because, what could she do? What could she possibly do to keep him from leaving? The majority of her was just tempted to give in to her emotions and try to convince him like that; telling him that revenge just wasn't the right path and that he would be better off staying and being happy in Konoha with her and Naruto, but the one part of her brain that was still functioning intelligently and logically told her that would have no power over Sasuke. None whatsoever. He would tire of listening to it, and subsequently incapacitate her somehow and leave.

"You can't do it alone."

Sakura had raised her voice loudly enough for it to carry through the still air, and even though it had seemed like a good idea in the split second before she had said it, she still experienced a moment of numbing fear as Sasuke turned back toward her very slowly. "What?"

The expression in his eyes and the look on his face were both a little frightening, but she had his undivided attention now – focused solely on her and not on leaving – and Sakura swallowed bravely, taking a few steps toward him. Rationally, she knew that she could never, ever convince him to stay. The next logical step? Convincing him to let her go. "Take me with you."