J A D E

Chapter Forty

"What are you doing?" I look at Itachi as I jump down in front of him. I stare at his red eyes, anger flaring inside of me. I prevented Massacre, I prevented Coup and yet, he is still leaving. He does not say anything, but he does not need to.

"I am leaving." His voice is cold. Colder than I have ever heard. We have been teammates for last couple of months. Four months to be exact. Ten months since Naruto left.

"Why?" I ask once again. I know that he does not have a mission. Being Hokage's apprentice has its own perks. Like knowing when someone is supposed to leave. But he does not try to lie, he knows that is has no point.

"This village has nothing more to offer me." He states bluntly. Something snaps inside of me, clenching my heart. I take a small step towards him.

"Nothing to offer you?" I raise my eyebrow, irritated. "What's about Sasuke? Shisui? Your parents?" I ask again, agitation dripping in my voice. "Are they nothing? What about your clan, Itachi?" I ask again, this time more demandingly.

"They are just nuance in my path of becoming stronger." Itachi lies to me. I clench my fists, wanting nothing more but to lounge at him and attack him. But even now, I am not stronger than him. I don't think that I will ever manage to achieve that. "You know what it means to become stronger, don't you, Sakura-chan?" I freeze on my place.

"Where are you going?" I whisper with wide eyes. I can't let him go. If he leaves, Sasuke will run, too. And I can't lose him now. Not when I am so close to keeping him here, from protecting him.

"I am going to join organization." My eyes widen. "And I will kill you, Sakura-chan if you stand on my way." I gulp, taking out my kunai.

"W-where is Shisui?" I ask with fear. The last time, he joined Akatsuki, Shisui was already dead.

"I don't really care." Itachi shrugs his shoulders and activates his Sharingan. And it seems that history loves to repeat itself as once again, I am lying on the bench, not able to move as I watch Uchiha depart from the village.

***

"What?" I shout, my whole body trembling. "What do you mean Sasuke left for Orochimaru?" I shout once again, anger raging in my blood. "Tsunade-sama!" I shout loudly.

"He departed while you were on a mission." Tsunade mumbles. "We sent Kiba, Choji, Neji and Shikamaru after him." She sighs. "I contacted Jiraya and Naruto and Naruto ran after Sasuke as well." I gasp.

"Why... Why did not you contact me?" I whisper, hurt.

"We could not risk the mission, Sakura." Tsunade looks down, sad. "They could not bring him back." I nod, already waiting for something like that. I sit down on the floor, staring at the wooden table in front of me with tears streaming down my face.

Sasuke left.

Sasuke left for Orochimaru.

He left Village.

He left me.

Again.

***

"Ugly, you should be careful." Sai shakes his head and smiles at me. His smile is still creepy, but slowly he starts to act like the Sai I knew.

"Yeah, I am sorry." I whisper as I heal my wounds. Shisui does not say anything, as he is guarding us. I finish healing the large wound in my back and sigh. "I am fine. Guys, you need to rest." I shrug and look around. "Shisui."

"Yeah, I know." He nods as we start fire and sit around it. Usually, a ninja should not be so careless, but we killed everyone. And if someone is to come after us, I will kill them, until there is no one left. "Are you okay, though?" Shisui turns to me, concerned. "You have been beating yourself up, Sakura... Ever since they left the village."