Please Don't Leave Me

Farewell?

(Kazumi's P.O.V.)

The four shinobi that surrounded us were still smirking. From the looks of it they were looking for a fight but if so we would have to be careful, Sasuke already used some of his chakra since he was fighting Naruto and I don't think he's up to his full power just yet
"Ok, who are you? Out with it" Sasuke demands
"We're the sound ninja four. I'm Kidomaru of the East gate" one of them says. He had the same fashion style as Orochimaru, all of them did, but he had the biggest smirk crossing his arms in a superior way but what stood out the most about him was he had 6 arms. Normally I would be a little curious about something like that but he works for Orochimaru, my guess would be all the experimentation they may have done with him. I can't say for sure but that's what it seemed like to me
"And I'm Sakon of the West gate" the next introduces. He had black eyeliner and lips with light purple hair that barely came to his shoulders
"I am Jirobo of the South gate" another states. He had very little orange hair that came in to his face but he was... kinda big. Whether it's muscle or fat, I have no idea, but all in all he looked really big
"And I'm Tayuya of the North gate" the final one introduces. She lost her smirk and instead replaced it with a deep scowl, there wasn't a lot that was significant about her. She had red hair that came out from under her hat slightly hanging in her face
'Are they looking for a fight?'
No more than a second later they had all jumped out of the way each going in different directions rapidly making it hard to keep up. Kidomaru was the first to appear and ran right at Sasuke, I was about ready to step in until I saw out of the corner of my eye Tayuya coming at me head on. She goes to punch me and I duck under her fist kicking her in the face with my right foot, she sees this and grabs my foot with her left hand keeping me in place. I bring up my other foot and she grabs that one too leaving me hanging upside down, I twist my body 360 degrees and it forces her to let go of my feet almost falling off her tree trunk. Then came Jirobo from above me smashing the branch I was standing on. I jump away in time and the branch falls to the ground, as I land he goes right for my face almost quick enough that I couldn't make it. I flip over his body and grab his shoulders keeping me in place. I smirk at him when he looks up and use all the force I have flipping him onto his back to another tree trunk. Tayuya goes to his side to lift him up when both Sakon and Kidomaru went flying right at them until they crashed into each other creating smoke. When the smoke cleared there was nothing more than a pile of logs
'Damn it, substitution jutsu'
I turn around and they were all standing on the platform of the building behind us with their hands on their hips
"Before we go another round I should warn you. You might want to think about it. I'm in a really bad mood" Sasuke states glancing at them from the corner of his eye
"Stop your pretelling you little weakling" Sakon says. Sasuke finally turns around to face them and Sakon is motioning with his finger to come
"Come on kid. I'm waiting. I want to play do-re-me on those ribs of yours until they crack" he taunts, this pisses off Sasuke further and jumps at him and Sakon jumps at him at the same time. I stand on my branch in a ready stance waiting for one of them to make the next move to come at me. Kidomaru sees this and jumps at me with a huge smile, he comes with his first fist and aims for my stomach. Jumping in the air I leap over his body and aim my own punch at his head while he was still turned around until I felt a slight pressure on the tree's branches and when I turn around there was Jirobo coming at me again. I duck under Kidomaru's punch when he finally turned around and leaped off the branch landing on the ground but Jirobo was persistent and jumped right after me, I ran around the tree summoning chakra to my feet and jumped off the side of the tree bouncing back to the one next to me until I was at a good distance for now. I ran again when Kidomaru leaped from the branches below me going for my feet, I didn't even think about him but jumped out of the way and landed on the roof of the building next to me.
"Do!" Sakon yells and there was a slight vibration below me
"Re!" Sakon says and I saw Sasuke flying back into the tree hitting his back hard on one of the trunks
"Sasuke!--" I felt a powerful punch to my face and I was forced back to the tree landing painfully on my back. When I could finally sit up Tayuya standing where I was with her arm still extended from when she punched me until my vision was blocked and I was forced down to the branch being held down with a foot on my abdomen keeping me down. I open my eyes and there was Jirobo staring at me coldly with his arms across his chest. Sasuke suddenly came flying at us where Jirobo was waiting holding one of his fists in his hand and forcing Sasuke back with his shoulder sending him flying once again to the roof where he once was with Sakon patiently waiting. The pressure on my abdomen keeps coming harder and harder each time he pressed his foot further down. My hands grasp his foot and I try my hardest to push him off and he's trying to push down harder, I swing my left leg at his face and he stops to grab my foot still in the air, he was distracted enough so that I was able to slide out from underneath his foot twisting my body falling to the branch below me.
"I've had enough!" Sasuke's voice says and there was a loud crash from the roof next to the tree
'Alright!'
When the smoke clears Sasuke was hanging upside down with his feet being held up by Sakon
"What does Lord Orochimaru even want with this kid? I don't see what the big deal is. Kimimaro would do much better" Sakon asks to no one in particular. I rush at him shoulder first and he narrowly avoids me swiping my feet beneath me, while I was in the air he let go of Sasuke's feet kicking him in the stomach flying back at me and we were both thrown back against the wall. Sasuke's elbow had accidentally hit my stomach knocking the wind out of me making it very difficult to breathe
"And you're no better. You don't even give it a chance, you could have the most amazing power you could have ever dreamed of and yet you choose to throw it away? Orochimaru must be desperate for a new vessel if he's willing to chose someone who doesn't even give it a chance. But I suppose that means it'll be even better when he takes it by force" Sakon points to me
"Ah well, you spent your whole life in a village dump like this place and you'll turn out mediocre at best. Never realizing your strength. If you just keep playing ninja with all of your friends here you'll continue to rot on the vine" Sakon taunts
"You're acting like fools, you should come with us. Lord Orochimaru offers you power. He said there would be no point in taking you by force. You need to decide" Tayuya says walking towards us along with Jirobo and Kidomaru until they surrounded us from every angle
"This is turning out to be a real pain. Lets go, what's it going to be? Are you in or out?! What do you say kids? This runt makes me wait any longer and I'm going to wring his little neck" Sakon says impatiently
"Come and try it" Sasuke dares starting to stand up. I still don't have the energy just yet to stand up. While Sasuke starts standing up he's summoning the power from the curse mark
"Not a curse mark, kinda hurts doesn't it?" Sakon asks. Sasuke ignores him and rushes at him but was quickly pushed back forcing him to hit the wall again. I was finally starting to breathe easier and it didn't hurt quite as much to move but I wasn't at 100 percent.
"Come on now, you didn't really think you were Lord Orochimaru's only pet did you? One shouldn't use the curse mark so recklessly kid. Although, it doesn't look like you've got much of a handle on it do you?" Sakon says removing the hair from his face so we could see the same black marks on his face but in a different pattern. All 4 had activated their curse marks so they were all showing off
"If you unleash it for too long your curse will start to eat away at your body. You're in the early stages of it, it shouldn't sink it's teeth into you too quickly. But once it spreads through your body your former self will be gone never again to return" Sakon says letting his hair fall back into his face, at this Sasuke quickly tries to force his curse mark back until it was gone
"In exchange for the curse's power you will be tethered to Lord Orochimaru, all freedom will be lost to you. To gain one thing, another must be left behind. What is your purpose in this life? To stay here in this backwater village hiding with your little friends? Surely you haven't forgotten Itachi Uchiha" the second the name leaves her mouth I could feel myself and Sasuke, who was sitting beside me, freeze. The same look in his eyes when we last met were still fresh in my memory and it was nothing I would have ever hoped to see from him. Sasuke's face immediately turns to anger and hatred.
"You mustn't lose sight of your purpose. Life in this village is no more than bondage to you, sever your ties to this pathetic place. If you can do that, there will be no limit to the power you can wield. Remember your purpose!" Sakon says and all four finally jump away disappearing into nothing more than leaves falling to the ground silently.


It felt like hours we sat there staring at nothing. All Sasuke did was sit quietly gritting his teeth in anger, but I was no better, I only sat in the same spot holding my stomach looking at Sasuke waiting for any sign for me to get up. When he finally stood up he didn't move from his spot, standing again for what felt like a long time with the same look in his eye. He finally calmed down after a couple minutes and wiped any trace of emotion from his face looking at the moon blankly, when he turned back around he offered me his hand to stand up and I took it gratefully.
"Lets go home" Sasuke says and starts walking off. I follow behind quickly. We continued walking through the streets of Konoha in silence, I don't mind silence but on the way home it just felt like it was an off silence. Nothing was said but the atmosphere was tense and almost creepy. By the time we had gotten home and opened the gate Sasuke was walking straight to his room. I followed his example and went to my room, when I open my door the first thing I do is reach for my headband tied securely around my head but I could hear shuffling from next door. When I step out of my room I head straight to Sasuke's room where I could hear him walking and mumbling to himself. I open the door and the first thing I see is Sasuke with a handful of his clothes and he's packing them into a small bag
"What are you doing?" I ask somewhat expecting what he was going to say
"I'm packing up my things" he says simply turning around to grab his weapons from his drawers
"You're really going to Orochimaru?" I ask him and he doesn't reply
"Sasuke?" I ask him and this time he turns to me
"Yes. I'm leaving the village tonight" he says. It was silence for a few seconds as we both just blankly stared at each other
"And I don't want you to come with me" Sasuke says
"Why?" I ask
"Because this is my path and I don't want you to get involved. I am an avenger and I seek vengeance from the person who did this to us, I was almost convinced to stay here and be with you guys but that can't happen now. That was the only reason I was put on this earth, was to kill the one responsible for our suffering and misery. And if you come with me you will try to get me to come back to the village and maybe even try to direct me away from my destined path" Sasuke says finally finished with his packing. He looks at the nightstand next to his bed and stares at the picture of team 7. Sasuke was on the left with a bored but yet annoyed look on his face with Naruto on the right glaring at Sasuke, Sakura was on the right with Naruto happily smiling at the camera with her eyes closed. I was on the left standing next to Sasuke looking away with a faint, but not very noticeable smile on my face and Kakashi was at the top of the picture with his hands on Naruto and Sasuke's heads smiling sheepishly through his mask. With a final sigh he takes the picture and puts it down so he couldn't see it and proceeds to walk out the door. I'm not just going to let him go like that, not now. I place my hands on either side of the door frame so he can't leave without going through me first, he sees this and stops to stare at me while I stare back
"Move Kazumi" he says
"No"
"Kazumi. I'm not going to do this right now, move out of the way Kazumi" he says in a more demanding voice
"I said no" I repeat
"Kazumi" he says sternly
"No!" I raise my voice
"Kazumi, this isn't the time to stand in my way. Move!" he raises his voice too glaring at me now
"Sasuke, I'm not going to let you leave now. And I'm not going to give up so easily" I say
"This is a really bad time to start lecturing me Kazumi. I don't want to hurt you, so move out of my way" he simply says
"Sorry. Maybe I wasn't clear the first time, I'll say it again, no"
"Kazumi!" he says
"No! It doesn't matter how many times you tell me to move, I won't do it" I say
"Kazumi, this is what I was destined to do. What I was put on this earth to do, to be an avenger. You and I both suffered at the hands of that monster and it's up to me to get even. To take what's left of him in return for what he did to us. If I go to Orochimaru I will learn everything about the curse mark and I will master it, I'm not going to turn into one of his puppets. I will overpower him and his curse mark, and I don't want you to get in the way. You aren't going to change your opinions any time soon and I don't intend on being held back just because you think he's innocent" Sasuke says putting his hand on my arm
"But I'm not going to let you go to Orochimaru's just because you think this is going to do anything for us. I'm not going to stand down and I want you to rethink what you're going to do. If you go there's no coming back, you will be a rouge ninja and you are going to become one of Orochimaru's pawns to use for when he needs a new body"
"And that's why I don't want you to come. In case you've forgotten he bit you too, he marked you as one of his potential targets for a new body. If only I show up you aren't going to be in any danger for the next time he thinks he's ready to move on. And who says I'm going to turn into his pawn? He doesn't own me and he never will"
"I haven't forgotten that. But did you not hear what Sakon said? It will slowly eat away at your body if you force the curse mark and you know Orochimaru will force you to and you won't be the same as before. You will be nothing more than a mindless servant for him to exploit until he wants to change his body" I remind him
"And did you not hear what I said? I said I'm not going to become one of his pawns he can just use whenever he needs me. And if he did do that he would do the same to you and you may not be strong enough to fight it" he counters
"And what makes you think you would be any better than me? We don't know what could happen and there's no way you can see that far into the future. Who knows what could happen?"
"And that's why if I go alone and something does happen you won't be in danger"
"And what makes you think I'm just going to sit behind and let you do this on your own? And there would be no guarantee that they wouldn't try to come for me too if I'm not there with you. I was one of the chosen people too and they aren't likely going to let that go very easily, whether or not I'm there I'm not going to be completely safe if I just stay back in the village while you go off to Orochimaru!" I was starting to get angry. Sasuke has no comment but he's still glaring at me
"If I don't go who is going to take care of Itachi?! To pay him back for doing what he did to us!" he asks
"There are other ways if we really wanted to get that accomplished! You don't need Orochimaru's power to do that!" I shout
"There are no other ways! If we just left him alone or just asked him flat out he would try to kill us like he did last time! Do you remember what he did to you?! That look in his eyes, he isn't the same person he was and he never will be! You are letting yourself get manipulated by him and he doesn't even have to do anything! I'm not going to forgive him, I'm not ever going to forgive him!" Sasuke shouts back
"Who says you have to go on this path?! You were so close to going the other way, what happened to that?! What would it take to make you stay here and forget about Orochimaru once and for all?!"
"To become stronger than I could ever hope to be! That isn't going to happen if I just stay here. In fact, if I don't go I would probably only get weaker by staying here. I would be wasting my breath to just stay here and learn from these people"
"Then what about the people you care about?!" I ask and he stops for a second
"What about them?" he asks simply
"What about the people who live here and have been with you for so long? Naruto and Sakura may not have been as close before as they are now but what about the people who care about you and would risk their lives for you?"
"That's up to them. I didn't ask for them to protect me"
"But what else were they supposed to do? They're your friends! That's what you're supposed to do when you have friends, you stick by them and do what you can for them until there's nothing more you can do"
"I haven't forgotten anything about the people I met in this village and how much time we got to spend here. Not one memory of that will be erased but I have to move on, to keep going until I'm ready. I don't need friends trying to get me to stay here, they would only get in the way"
"Then what about me?!" I shout at him. He stops again