Chapter 161: Sasuke’s Departure

*Author Note*

Four stickers made by hikari_izuki: https://***.pixiv.net/en/artworks/89792718

*End of Author Note*

It was a few minutes past midnight in Konoha, but despite it being so late into the night, two people could be seen in one of Konoha’s parks. One of these two people was Uchiha Sasuke, who had a conflicted expression on his face and a kunai in his hand. The other person was Sakura Haruno who coincidently met Sasuke when he was about to leave the village and was consequently knocked out by Sasuke after she tried to stop him from leaving.

‘I should kill her. After she wakes up, she will certainly tell someone that I left, resulting in people chasing after me. If I kill her, it will cause a commotion, and it will take much longer for people to notice that I left the village.’

Sasuke clenched his teeth while looking from the unconscious Sakura to the kunai in his hand and back to Sakura.

“Oh my, what do we have here~ Considering how much she likes you, I don’t think there was a reason to knock her out. Or maybe…you have a fetish for unconscious girls?”

A shiver went through Sasuke’s body when he heard a carefree voice speaking to him. He turned around and looked towards the source of the voice, but he could only see two purple eyes looking at him from the darkness. Another shudder went through his body, as he activated his Sharingan and got into a fighting stance.

“W-Why are you here, Yuna!”

“Hehe, I had some business in the Hokage residence and was on my way back to the Uzumaki compound, but who would have thought that I would witness such an interesting scene? The last Uchiha betraying the village, how naughty, hehe.”

Sasuke paled when he heard that Yuna actually knew what he wanted to do. Considering how easily Yuna defeated him in the chunin exam, he was under no illusion that he could actually defeat her, and considering her massive stamina and movement speed he didn’t think he could run away either. Nevertheless, he gritted his teeth and prepared himself to fight. He had already resolved himself to leave Konoha and he will do everything he can to do that.

“You can try to stop me, but I am not going down without a fight.”

While Sasuke got ready for combat, Yuna only shrugged her shoulders in indifference.

“Sorry, but I’m not interested. If you want to leave, then leave.”

Sasuke was, naturally, surprised by Yuna’s words.

“Not interested? I am betraying Konoha and you are not interested? Why?”

“Why would I? I have not the slightest bit of interest in you. Whether you leave or stay, why should I care? You are neither a friend who I would like to be close to nor an enemy who I would like to keep close to observe his movements. Although I don’t think that leaving the village is a good idea, it is your choice, so I won’t bother you about it.”

Although Sasuke was surprised by Yuna’s statement, after a few moments of thinking about it, he nodded his head in understanding. Yuna and Sasuke barely knew each other and from what he has seen, Yuna doesn’t have much goodwill for the village either.

“Oh, but I should probably tell you, that if I get the mission to bring you back then I will do so without question.”

Yet again, Sasuke nodded his head in understanding. He was just about to answer Yuna when she said something that caused him to freeze up.

“Since you understand my point of view, I suggest you kill Sakura right now. I won’t bother reporting you, but she certainly will.”

Sasuke stared at Yuna in disbelief when he realized what she just said. He looked into Yuna’s eyes with his Sharingan and could only shiver in fear when he saw the total indifference Yuna had to Sakura’s life. A frown appeared on Yuna’s face when she saw that Sasuke was hesitating.

“Why are you hesitating? I am not saying that you are weak, but when Konoha sends a jonin to catch you, you are pretty much done for. Killing Sakura is the best way for you to have a safe getaway. This is the best way to reach your goal, mister avenger~”

Sasuke clenched his fists when Yuna mockingly called him an avenger and he could feel hatred flooding his body.

‘That’s right, I am an avenger. We might have been teammates for a while, but if I have to kill her to reach my goal, I will do so without hesitation.’

Sasuke shakily lifted up the kunai he still held in his hand and after quite a while of hesitating, he roared and stabbed downwards, straight towards Sakura’s heart.

However, the moment his Kunai was about to pierce Sakura’s skin, it stopped. It hovered there for quite a while before Sasuke tossed it aside with an angry roar.

“So what if a bunch of shinobi will try to catch me!? No matter how many come, I will defeat them all! I AM SASUKE UCHIHA AND I DO WHATEVER I WANT!!!”

Yuna nodded in approval when she heard Sasuke’s resolve. In her opinion, Sasuke can play avenger as much as he wants. As long as he doesn’t start killing people he, to some degree, became friends with, Yuna didn’t care about what he does. If Sasuke had actually gone for the kill, however, Yuna would have sent his head flying. Sakura would deliver the perfect alibi for Sasuke’s disappearance, so no one would even consider her to be the one responsible.

“Haha, well said! There is no reason to always walk the easy path. Take the path you want to take, only then can you truly reach your goal.”

Before Sasuke could answer, Yuna vanished and appeared right in front of him while putting a hand on his shoulder. Yet again, Sasuke shivered in fear, because despite having his Sharingan still active, he couldn’t see Yuna’s movement at all. If she attacked just now, he wouldn’t even know what hit him.

“Good luck, Sasuke. As I have already said, I do not think the path you want to take is a good one, but I won’t stop you. It is your decision, after all. You should also remember, that as long as you don’t do anything outrageous, Konoha will very easily forgive you for betraying the village and welcome you back. Those retarded civilians are suckers for the Uchiha name, after all, hahaha.”

Without another word, Yuna disappeared, leaving a dazed Sasuke behind. After thinking about Yuna’s words for a while, he nodded his head.

‘That’s right. I will do whatever I can to get stronger, even if it breaks me, I will continue walking the path I want to take to get my revenge.’

Sasuke couldn’t help but respect Yuna for her opinion. When he told people about his aspiration, they usually looked at him with pity, but Yuna was different. Although she clearly stated that she doesn’t think that living just for revenge is a good thing, she also said that she wouldn’t try to stop him or convince him otherwise.

‘That’s right, it is my own path. It is the path I choose and no one has the right to interfere with it. Despite acting rather outrageous on occasions, Yuna DOES occasionally say something reasonable. Her words, after all, were clearly spoken so I could walk forward with confidence in my decision.’

After confirming for himself that he made the right decision, he started walking towards the Land of Sound, to finally leave Konoha for good.

Yuna, meanwhile, was walking towards the Uzumaki compound with a satisfied smile on her face.

‘Hehe, what a sucker. I am sure Anko will be rather happy if I provide her free access to Orochimaru through the [Flying Thunder God Seal] I put on Sasuke while touching his shoulder.’

[Do you think I am stupid? I clearly saw you messing around with that seal on his shoulder, as well.]

‘Now, now, Kurama, no spoilers. That will be a special surprise for Sasuke, hehe.’

[*Sigh* To think I could actually feel pity for an Uchi…No wait, it’s not pity, it’s schadenfreude, HAHAHA!]

While Kurama was busy laughing, Yuna entered the Uzumaki compound with a small smile on her face, while wondering who will be the one that has to chase after Sasuke. She hoped that whoever it was would fail, so her [Flying Thunder God Seal] would be safely delivered to Orochimaru.