On The Same Path [SasuxSaku]

Chapter 2: The Journey

~Sasuke's POV

He was walking for a long time now and decided to take some rest under a tree. The sakura season used to annoy him in the past. Too many colors... he would think. But now he had made peace with nature. Now that he was not blinded by revenge and power, he was seeing more of life every day. Two years after the war, Sasuke has learned a lot about life - his and others. There were still many questions left unanswered and he was aware of the darkness in the world but somehow, over the years,  he has grown calmer, more thoughtful, and more like a... man. And being alone all this time, he could notice all these changes in himself.

So this time when he decided to take a rest, he didn't mind taking a rest under a tree that was surrounded by sakura trees. This time, he didn't mind taking a look around, lost in thoughts again. Night had taken its toll after the twilight and he couldn't help but notice the beautiful moonlight falling on the cherry blossoms...

In this peaceful state, usually, his thoughts would go back to his family, before his sharingan was forcefully awakened for the first time. But these days, after his last two visits to Konoha, he allowed his thoughts to wander on a certain person.

She was family after all.

The first time he went to Konoha (after starting his journey for atonement) was to report the Hokage - his former sensei - about the Kanamarishki clan's plan to attack the 'Fire Temple' on the next New Moon day. He was leaving for the Hidden Village of Cloud after this so he could not wait to deal with the clan himself, besides apart from the fact that they were highly cautious about their attack, the Kanamarishki clan was hardly a challenge for the Konoha shinobis'. After giving the information, Kakashi noticed that he was still standing there as if waiting for someone to say something. Kakashi, keeping his tone casual, informed him that since the war many villages have asked personally for Sakura to aid the people who suffered long term injury or illness from the war. Since she was a medical ninja, it was the duty of the Hokage to always send a ninja to escort her even if it was unnecessary. This time, Naruto was her escort.

Kakashi also offered him to stay in the village for a few days if he wanted to wait for them. Sasuke didn't say much and just told the Hokage that he has to leave. But while going back, he felt a little empty... The feeling you get when you travel all the way to see your family only to find out that you won't be able to see them.

Before he left the village, he noticed a similar window on his left which was surprisingly open given the fact that the resident was not in the house. He was well aware whose house it was. And before he could help himself, he was inside her room.

Of course, she would not mind...

And there it was, the same old Team 7's photo. He suddenly realized that he has lost his copy long ago. He was still looking at the photo when he noticed.. an Uchiha Symbol? After a few seconds, he realized what it was. It was the Uchiha symbol being stitched on a t-shirt, the same t-shirt he used to wear in his Genin days, only this one was big enough to fit a man...

The stitching was still incomplete and it was then when he thought about his promise for the first time. 'Until Next Time'.  Not that he had forgotten his promise but after leaving the village, he was busier searching for his unanswered questions.

So, she's still waiting...

And that realization brought thousand different thoughts to his mind. He has been nothing less than a monster towards her.

If only he was a bit nicer to her...

But forget about being nice, he had tried to kill her! And yet, even after that, even after everything, she wanted to be with him. Sometimes, Sasuke would wonder... the miseries in his life were somehow destined to be. Even if Itachi would not have killed his clan, there would have been a war and what war brings... he knows now very well. He was aware of the war casualties. He lost his family once but there were many people who lost their families in the war.

But the misery he brought to her...

It's true that he did not ask her to love him. Nor did he ever make any promise to her, in spite of her and Naruto being the closest people he could call family. And yet, she continued to wait for him. He realized now that the person he has become now is a lot because of his teammates.

They never gave up on him.

Since then, his feelings for her only grew with time. He would often hear the rumors of famous Konoha medical ninja and he knew she was still growing... still becoming better every day. He had learned to respect her but he was always afraid whether he will ever be able to reciprocate the feelings she had for him...

Then there was this second time. This time he visited Konoha because Sakura was kidnapped by some guy named Kido. Somehow, he did not even think twice before leaving his own mission to save Sakura. He was well aware of the fact that it was a trick to lure him but he could not bear Sakura being used like this. It was during this journey that he realized that he had started to care about her, a feeling which was still new to him. By the time he reached, Sakura had already taken care of everything, so he dealt with the remaining Kido's Anbu which he found along the way. He was really impressed with Sakura and realized that she might not need his help after all. He was still there when he sensed a few similar Chakras advancing towards the scene. He knew that if he stayed he would have to meet them all and he was not ready for that. More than that, he was afraid that Sakura might ask him to take her with him and he was not ready for that either. He knew that this time he won't be able to say no to her. So, he went away. But he waited just enough to get a glimpse of her. However, he realized his mistake as he knew Sakura had noticed him leaving the place. But still, he got a chance to see her. Why he wanted to see her, he still hadn't figured out... maybe he just wanted to make sure she was alright.

But he had this little guilt feeling that he disappointed her again. She had waited long enough. So, after a few more weeks of figuring out, he decided that maybe it was time to visit Konoha again. He had already missed Naruto's wedding (the news of which kind of surprised him a bit). He decided that he would not really stay there for long, but just to visit the people... the place. And so one day, he finally headed towards his village after sending a hawk to the Hokage, informing him of his arrival.

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A/N: How many of you are catching up with Boruto! It's not great but kind of... Mendokuse :D :D And no Sasuke again.. not yet at least :/ Don't they know that People love the Uchihas'! <3 <3