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Chapter 29: Parting ways (Chunin Days)

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“It’s rather late for you to be requesting a meeting,” Hiruzen muses as he meets with the young Uchiha 

“Hn, I need more power and Orochimaru can offer that. I want to strike a deal with you. My actions that I take next are of my own and my family should not be punished for what I may do next. The Sound Four will be waiting for my decision in an hour. They threatened to kill my mother and brother. They beat me pretty soundly and while I have no doubt that my mother is a capable fighter. I do not wish to put her in harm's way. I doubt they could find Haruno and if they did I have a feeling they wouldn’t live to report anything back to Orochimaru. Not to mention Haruno left a week ago for his one year sentence in Kirigakure. Let me go to Orochimaru and learn from him. Once I know all his secrets I will kill Orochimaru taking out a threat to the Leaf,” Sasuke says with a demanding and pleading tone

“You do realize this would be an S-rank mission if you succeed, right?” Hiruzen questions 

“Hn, I know and it’s why I wanted to ask before fleeing in the middle of the night,” Sasuke says with a head nod 

“I will give you a five hour head start after you part ways at the main gate, but I will be sending a team of your comrades to try and bring you back come day break. You will be labeled a missing ninja from Konoha to the public and your actions once you leave will be reported as criminal against the Leaf, this is until you either succeed in your mission or fail and die. The only person who will know of your loyalty is myself and whoever is my predecessor,” Hiruzen says with serious head nod 

“Hn, I understand, thank you,” Sasuke says with a scowl hating to bring shame to his clan name further and potentially making his mother worry  

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Sasuke loved his mother and knew that Haruno would take care of his mom. Sasuke wasn’t sure if the Sound Four planned for it but Saku was already in Kirigakure when they found Sasuke. Sasuke wanted to be stronger and while Haruno taught him various things Sasuke knew that Orochimaru could offer him more power. Sasuke knew that Saku had been right about the issue with Itachi and how Sasuke had to fight Itachi on his own. Sasuke respected Haruno and felt that Saku would be the only challenge for the Sound Four if Haruno had been home. Sasuke knew it was now or never when it came to making a break. While Sasuke had some fond memories with team seven he felt Kakashi was reluctant to teach and Haruno was untouchable with the Flying Thunder God Technique, not that he used it often. Sasuke needed to move on and gain more power and Orochimaru offered that. Sasuke was sure Haruno would support him in leaving the Leaf Village and Sasuke was even tempted to ask Saku to join him, but Haruno hadn’t been home when the Sound Four offered to escort Sasuke to the Sound Village. Sasuke also knew that Haruno wouldn’t be home unless it was an emergency and Naruto, Kakashi, or himself, sent for him to come back. 

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“Times up bastard,” Naruto says with a joking smirk as his eyes start to shut hopeful that his pink-haired teammate could talk sense to Sasuke 

Barely a second after Naruto shut his eyes in exhaustion does Sakura appear behind Sasuke a kunai in hand

“Tch, so he called you,” Sasuke grumbles at feeling the edge of a kunai at this throat as he was kneeling over the unconscious Naruto 

“Hn,” Sakura grunts saying yes and now while lowering her kunai 

“Hn, now you are going to let me walkway. I need to become stronger, so this is the part where we part ways brother,” Sasuke comments determination in his eyes as he gets off and away from Naruto’s unconscious form 

“Hn, I agree. … You need … strength,” Sakura pants out as words were tricky and she had just come back from a mission and hard training just to be summoned by Naruto 

“Tch, quit straining yourself, you are only going to end up in an early grave! Also, you agree with me and yet you won’t let me walk away will you?” Sasuke grumbles with a scowl

“Hn, first,” Sakura grunts saying yes before making Naruto’s body disappear back to Konoha hospital 

“Hn, ever the diligent medic, fine, but I don’t want to fight you, I want you to join me. We could do great things and learn so much with the Snake, don’t you want to be stronger?” Sasuke argues 

“Hn,” Sakura grunts with a tired expression saying come at me all while getting into a fighting stance 

It doesn’t take long for Sasuke to note that Haruno is not fighting him with everything that they have. This irritates Sasuke greatly since it was the same with Naruto. While Sasuke found Naruto a loveable idiot he found Saku a wise caring sibling. 

“Tch why aren’t you going all out?!” Sasuke shouts in anger as he his nearly at his limit in terms of chakra 

“Your chakra low,” Sakura grunts back as a reasoning and she really didn’t care to fight Sasuke in both their current states 

“Forget that, I need to become stronger, fight me!” Sasuke shouts in anger 

“Hn,” Sakura grunts saying I understand with a head nod as the two of them clash kunai in close combat fighting 

Swoosh Splat! A kunai finally hits its target, slashing at Sakura’s chest spilling blood onto the river the two were fighting on. Making Sakura take a step back to hold at the wound with one hand the other still out stretched to defend themselves. 

“Tch, don’t be foolish Haruno, go home, you promised to protect my mother,” Sasuke says with a glare clearly conflicted at having injured his friend slash brother 

“Protect her …yourself,” Sakura grunts as the blood loss was getting to her before charging at Sasuke 

Swoosh Splat! Squish! Sasuke’s aim is true and his kunai buries itself deep into Sakura’s gut, shocking Sasuke who’s Sharingan immediately evolves into a Mangekyo Sharingan with his eyes bleeding. 

Squish Splat! Sakura’s body hits the water sinking a bit in the shallow river 

“Hn?! No, no damn it! You know I’m not as good at this healing! I…. I don’t have the chakra to perform the jutsu! Y… You can’t do this to me! Damn it!” Sasuke says as he drags Haruno’s body to the shore opening his bloody shirt to try and assess where to stop the blood flow 

“Hn,” Sakura groans saying it’s okay as her breathing is shallow and all she wants to do is sleep 

“Tch, It’s not okay! Y… You …it was supposed to be you and I fighting Itachi in the end and g… getting justice for the Uchiha Clan,” Sasuke cries in anguish 

“Hn,” Sakura grunts saying I know, now you have the power her breathing becoming more difficult 

“These eyes mean nothing without your support!” Sasuke continues to cry with heartache 

“Go … now,” Sakura huffs out having senses a chakra signature coming their way 

“Hn, don’t die, please don’t,” Sasuke says with tears in his eyes before he takes off knowing his brother was warning him of someone coming and his Mangekyo Sharingan fading with his chakra source draining from the long two fights he took part in 

It takes 5 more minutes in the pouring rain, but Kakashi and his summons find Sakura near death’s door. 

“Boss the trail ends here, it looks like the brats parted ways in the harshest of ways,” Pakkun comments as his nose can’t pick up Sasuke’s scent past the river 

“Mm?! He has a pulse! We need to get him back to Konoha. There’s no telling what direction Sasuke ran off to. It’s unfortunate that Haruno and Sasuke came to blows but we need to get Saku to a hospital fast,” Kakashi comments as he checked Sakura’s pulse to find a weak pulse 

“Kakashi, Naruto is back at Konoha Hospital! …Oh, poor pinky,” Might Guy says at seeing Kakashi pick up Sakura’s unconscious bloody body 

“Good, it means we have to worry less about him and more about Haruno,” Kakashi answers securing Haruno’s unconscious form to his back to carry the boy 

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Sasuke was devastated at having to leave Haruno dying on the ground but he knew that if he got caught he would never get the chance to become stronger. Sasuke hates Konoha for making him have to fight his brother and for making him have to leave Saku for dead. Sasuke also to a degree hated that Konoha had sent Naruto to fight him while Sasuke had wanted to test his skills against his teammate he could tell that Naruto held back. Sasuke vows to become stronger so that he could demand answers from the Hokage and those who allowed Haruno to cross paths with him. Haruno was supposed to be busy in Kirigakure and while Sasuke couldn’t control his knuckleheaded teammate Naruto, it just went to prove that Naruto had some smart moves despite his goofy antics. Sasuke also hated that Saku never used his Flying Thunder God Technique during the fight. Sasuke should have lost the fight and yet Haruno gave him the win and with it unlocking the Mangekyo Sharingan. Sure Sasuke could tell that Saku was tired probably from hard training and a mission but he knew that logically Haruno still could have beaten him. Sasuke would pray to any god that Haruno made it and that he wasn’t dead since Sasuke hadn’t really wanted to kill his pink-haired brother. Sasuke would learn all he could from Orochimaru and then kill him since it was because of Orochimaru that Sasuke nearly killed Haruno. Sasuke would also yell at Naruto if he ever saw the bright haired idiot for forcing Haruno to be back up. 

Kakashi ran as soon as he heard that the Hokage had sent a team to retrieve Sasuke. Kakashi had gone with Might Guy to find the group and hopefully catch up to them and Sasuke. Kakashi and Might Guy found Shikamari, Temari, Choji, Akamaru, Kiba, Kankuro, Neji, Rock Lee and Gaara who all directed them towards the Valley of the End. Gaara had led the group of heavily injured Leaf Genin back to the Leaf Village with Might Guy accompanying them. Asuma had met the group apparently half way telling Might Guy about Naruto being back in the Leaf and to run after Kakashi. Kakashi was disheartened that Sasuke would go so far as to critically injure both of his former teammates. Kakashi knew already that Jiriya was planning to take over as Naruto’s full time sensei but this failure to protect Naruto and now Haruno weighed heavy on Kakashi. Kakashi thought Haruno would have been spared any injury being away in Kirigakure and based on what Saku was wearing the kid had teleported to where Naruto had most likely summoned him for back up. Kakashi would pray for his charges' recovery and then berate them after they recovered. Kakashi felt Naruto should have known to not drag Haruno into what was a Leaf Village issue as Haruno was technically for the year a Kirigakure shinobi. Kakashi understood why Saku came back to help Naruto and thought it endearing but it didn’t get Haruno to be back in Konoha sooner. Haruno was supposed to spend 365 days serving Kirigakure, if he missed a day then he would have to make it up so Saku being in the Konoha Hospital counted against his return home in Kakashi’s eyes. Of course Haruno would have to pull through the blood loss and recover before heading back to Kirigakure to then eventually come back home. 

Sakura had finished with a mission and a heavy training session with Kirigakure forces when she felt the call of Naruto’s marked kunai. Sakura wasted no time in transporting herself to where Naruto was located. Sakura wasn’t all that surprised to see Naruto critically wounded and Sasuke looking battle worn. Sakura didn’t want to fight Sasuke, but knew if she didn’t it would be treason against the Leaf village and potentially against Kirigakure as she was currently wearing the Kirigakure forehead protector. Sakura knew that she could have easily incapacitated Sasuke and yet she knew Sasuke needed to part ways this particular way. Sakura didn’t want to die per say but she did want to help her brother and what better way than helping Sasuke unlock the Mangekyo Sharigan. Sakura was glad that Sasuke unlocked the evolution to the Sharigan but she was losing a lot of blood. Sakura barely sensed the incoming chakra signatures as she could tell she was fading. Sakura didn’t want Sasuke to get caught and told him to leave. Sakura knew she would be alright when she felt the familiar chakra signature of her Jonin Sensei Kakashi. 

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“Well I guess this is it, us parting ways. … Don’t worry Saku-kun, I'll train super hard with the pervy sage. You’ll see next time we meet up we can go after Sasuke together,” Naruto says enthusiastically 

“Hn, take care Naruto-san,” Sakura says with a quick polite head bow 

“Hey what did I say about talking brat?!” Tsunade says with a frown and a scowl glaring at the pink-haired Chunin

“Hn, sorry,” Sakura grunts 

“Pfft, come on you pink-haired menace the Hokage still wants to talk with you now that team seven has been officially dissolved. Not to mention you still need to go back to Kirigakure since your sentence with them isn’t over. I sent word to Mei that you were here and recovering from parting ways with your brother, she seemed reasonable about it. Speaking of is she going to be the next Mizukage if so I want the details pinky, I would rather have an ally then an enemy when I take the hat in a month or two,” Tsunade says in a ramble dragging Sakura way from Naruto and Jiraiya at the gate 

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Author’s Note: Sasuke meets with the Hokage to inform him of his plan. Hiruzen gives Sasuke his blessing with a five hour head start. Naruto calls for Sakura’s help just before passing out thanks to critical wounds. Sasuke and Sakura fight with Sasuke noting that Haruno is going easy on him. Sasuke’s aim is true and he accidently hits Haruno in a critical spot. Sasuke unlocks his Maygeko Sharignan and tries to stop the bleeded. Sakura urges Sasuke to run saying someone is coming. Sasuke runs with tears in his eyes and Sakura is found by Kakashi, Pakkun and Might Guy. Naruto takes off with Jiriya and vows to become stronger. Sakura is dragged by Tsunade back to the Hokage office. 

Note that it took me a ridiculously long time for me to write this since I started back in 2015 and then kept not liking where or how I wrote the story. I also got writer's block and got interested in other fandoms so yeah this took me a while to get back to and then write. I do plan to have a second part to this story but I am not sure when I will get around to writing it. I try to have half or more of my stories complete before posting the first chapter so that I avoid writer's block. So it will probably take me time to type up the second story, not to mention like everyone else I get distracted easily. 

Anyways I want to say thank you to those who have read this story, left a comment, a bookmark, a subscription, and or a kudos. It has been much appreciated. I love getting feedback to know that people are enjoying the chapters I put out. I also enjoy talking about the stuff from the fandom. Anyways I hope you all have a great day, night, or whatever time you read this. Sincerely, Adopted_Dyslexic