Uchiha District.
Uchiha Sasuke gazed up at the bright, clear moon in the starry sky. It was strange; whenever he looked up at the starry sky alone, Uzumaki Naruto's figure would inexplicably surface in his mind. Their true acquaintance had only lasted about half a day during the initial formation of Team Seven. Perhaps it was because they were of the same kind, Uchiha Sasuke mused inwardly.
[It's about time…]
After a final glance at his parents' memorial tablets, Sasuke no longer lingered and left, closing the door behind him.
[How ridiculous. Clearly an avenger, yet still harboring such superfluous emotions.] A nameless feeling of sorrow at parting welled up in his heart, and Sasuke secretly hated his own weakness.
"Sasuke-kun, where are you going?" Sakura's voice suddenly sounded by his ear.
Sasuke looked. Sakura, with her long pink hair, stood on the road, looking at him with a pitifully endearing expression. For some reason, seeing her like this only filled him with a sense of irritation.
"…"
After a moment of silence, Sasuke didn't answer but chose to walk around her.
"Are you leaving?" Sakura asked, as if she had expected it. Or rather, ever since that encounter with Orochimaru, she had an inexplicable premonition that Sasuke would leave her. "Why would you choose to leave Konoha? To leave everyone? To leave me…" As she spoke, Sakura gradually began to sob.
"Sakura, do you still remember Naruto?" Sasuke suddenly asked.
"That rogue ninja?" Sakura wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand. Although the village had not yet officially issued a wanted notice for Naruto, those of them in the know understood that Naruto had already become a rogue ninja, no longer a ninja of Konoha.
"Rogue ninja, huh…" More and more, Sasuke felt that in the entire village of Konoha, perhaps only that long-departed Uzumaki Naruto could understand his current feelings. Perhaps for people like him and Naruto, leaving Konoha was inevitable. Whether it was the Uchiha clan or the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, both were so utterly incompatible with the "loving and harmonious" Konoha.
"Sakura, goodbye." Sasuke turned his head to look at her. "Perhaps the next time we meet, I will be the so-called rogue ninja you speak of."
"No, it's not the same," Sakura said, shaking her head. "You're different from Uzumaki Naruto. He's the son of the demon fox; without parental guidance, how could he possibly be like you?"
"What do you know!!" Sasuke suddenly roared.
Sakura stared blankly at his incomparably ferocious face. Had she said something wrong?
"…Heh." Looking at her expression, Sasuke laughed self-mockingly. That was right. How could unloved children like them possibly be the same as 'them'?
"Sasuke-kun, take me with you!" Seeing Sasuke about to leave again, Sakura suddenly grabbed his arm and pleaded.
"…" Sasuke forcefully pulled his hand free.
"Sasuke-kun, if you take one more step forward, I'll shout for someone!" Sakura threatened, her eyes filled with tears, her voice stern. She didn't understand why, after she had given so much, Sasuke was still unwilling to take her with him.
Suddenly, Sasuke's figure vanished from his spot.
Thump!
After placing the unconscious Sakura on a nearby bench, Sasuke abruptly accelerated, rushing towards the agreed-upon rendezvous point.
Atop Konoha's outer wall.
The Sound Four, who had participated in the Konoha Crush Plan alongside Orochimaru, waited quietly. When Sasuke's figure appeared in their line of sight, their feelings were a mixture of emotions: relief at having completed their mission, and dejection at someone else gaining Lord Orochimaru's favor.
"Lord Sasuke!"
The moment Sasuke landed on top of the wall, the four of them knelt on one knee, lowering their heads.
"Lord Orochimaru has instructed that if you choose to leave Konoha, the four of us are to be your subordinates," their leader, Kidomaru, explained, noticing Sasuke's puzzled gaze.
"Is that so." The carrot-and-stick approach, though cliché, was remarkably effective. Seeing the Sound Four, who had trampled and humiliated him not long ago, now kneeling beneath him, even the proud Sasuke couldn't help but feel a surge of anticipation towards the still-distant Orochimaru.
"Let's go." Time was pressing; they needed to leave the borders of the Land of Fire before dawn.
"Is that Rouran over there?" Gazing at the faintly visible, dilapidated tall tower under the moonlight, Naruto was filled with surprise.
"A ninja trained by Sunagakure, one of the Five Great Hidden Villages, wouldn't stoop to deceiving their own client," Temari huffed, clearly displeased by his doubt. After spending these past few days together, they had gained a preliminary understanding of this Uzumaki Naruto. He was powerful, not bad-looking, and possessed a wealth of strange and unusual knowledge. Though a bit aloof, he wasn't cold-hearted; in fact, one could even say he was the kind of person who was amiable towards others.
Naruto was quite dissatisfied with her behavior of refuting her client but was too lazy to say much. Temari, the eldest daughter of the Fourth Kazekage, the princess of Sunagakure—of noble birth, beautiful, well-versed in knowledge, and powerful—a true noble lady from a prestigious family. Her only flaw was a bit of a spoiled young lady's temper. But there was nothing to be done about that; she truly was a young lady of high status, and not just any ordinary one. In Kankuro's words, the number of men who wanted to be his brother-in-law was if not a thousand, then at least eight hundred, ranging from the scions of noble families in the Land of Wind down to talented commoners—all sorts were included.
"Isn't Rouran a bit too close to the Land of Fire?" Naruto asked, puzzled. The reason for his surprise just now was entirely because, a month ago, he had entered the Land of Wind through a border crossing not far from here.
"There's a theory that the reason Rouran declined back then was precisely because it was too close to the Land of Fire and accidentally got caught up in a war between the two countries," Temari said. "Let's rest here for the night."
"Hmm??" Naruto estimated the distance between their current location and Rouran. Even taking the long way, it would be at most a journey of about ten minutes, right?
"Rouran only declined; it wasn't destroyed. Approaching the Rouran ruins on a dark and windy night, you'd better be careful the Rouran remnants don't treat you as invaders," Temari said irritably. Although she didn't think the Rouran remnants could defeat the two monsters in their group, it was always better to avoid trouble if possible.
"I'm the client," Naruto suddenly stated. "The kind who paid money."
"So?"
"Be a bit more polite to your boss."
Temari: "…"
Pfft! Kankuro silently lit a campfire. Among the four of them, he had the lowest strength and status, so for the past two days, the dirty and tiring work had basically all fallen to him.
"Kankuro," Gaara suddenly called out. "Above."
"Huh?" Kankuro was taken aback. He looked up to see an eagle circling above them. "Emergency contact? What happened?" Kankuro's expression changed slightly. He quickly took out a strangely styled whistle from his mouth and blew a peculiar frequency.
The eagle circling above received the signal and flew directly towards them. After retrieving the secret letter from the eagle's leg and deciphering it, Temari and Kankuro looked at each other, nonplussed.
"Do I need to step aside?" Naruto asked from beside the campfire.
"Not really. This matter might also concern you a bit," Kankuro said, looking at him with a strange expression on his face.
"Oh? Let's hear it then." Naruto tossed the twigs in his hand into the fire and looked at him curiously.
"The last scion of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Sasuke, has defected. Coincidentally, his direction of escape is towards the Land of Wind. Didn't we just re-sign the alliance treaty not long ago? Konoha has sent us a request for assistance."
After hearing this, Naruto finally understood why Kankuro had such a peculiar expression. He himself was a Konoha rogue ninja…
"This mission is conveniently completed as well. Let's set out," Temari said, standing up.