A/N: Oneshot inspired by a match between me playing as Sasuke and the computer as Ino on Hard difficulty.

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't make profit, etc

--

It was almost disappointing. Despite Sakura's heartfelt speech about her love for Sasuke, it had taken next to no effort to put her out of the way. Sasuke's feelings had been wavering in a hazy dreamlike state--he decided that he would seek Orochimaru for power, the power to kill Itachi and avenge his clan, but if someone strong enough came to stop him and prove him wrong, that he didn't need to leave Konoha to gain strength, he would stay in Konoha. He was taking a huge life altering step, a change he was almost frightened of. Sasuke didn't like change. He liked things to stay the same as they always were.

But Sakura, for all her passion, had not tried to stop Sasuke by force. Actions spoke louder than words. Sakura had not taken action to keep Sasuke from leaving, so he surmised that she did not really mean what she said. Sakura was just as afraid of change as Sasuke was, and without Sasuke to fawn over like she had ever since the age of eight, Sakura herself said that she would be lonely. Lonely as Sasuke. At that Sasuke felt amused--the only ones who could understand his loneliness were Naruto, Iruka sensei, and Kakashi sensei.

Kakashi had put up a more effective argument than Sakura ever could, but once again Kakashi was content to only preach, not act. His only action was tie Sasuke to a tree to keep him from running away while the jounin spoke. That said more to Sasuke--that Kakashi at least valued Sasuke not just as a student, or just a comrade, but a friend. But Kakashi had not taken any more action than that. Words had not taught Sasuke Chidori.

So Sasuke kept moving. He was in the forest of the Hidden Leaf now, the moon still shining strong on the otherwise dim forest floor, splotches of silver on dark green. The Sound Four were supposed to come and pick him up--perhaps to protect him from any pursuing Konoha nin--but they had yet to show themselves. Sasuke had to give a bent smile at that. Orochimaru would not want a useless, incapable burden to shelter and train, and eventually possess. It must be one of Orochimaru's tests, to find the Sound nin to guide him to their lair.

So be it, Sasuke thought wryly as he continued leaping from tree to tree. Now that he was getting steadily farther and farther from Konoha, the reality of the situation sunk into his very marrow, and he even twitched with excitement--he was finally going to make definite progress on his goal to kill Itachi! So lost was he in his euphoria that it took him a few moments to detect the sound of someone following him. He stopped on the next branch thick enough to support him, turning toward the noise of his pursuer.

"Who goes there?" he called into the otherwise silent night.

When he didn't see or hear anything more to suggest a follower, Sasuke began to think he might be just a little too giddy--or paranoid--about his decision to leave. He must have been imagining things. That was all. He turned on his heel to resume his journey--

"Y'know, a young girl in love is a powerful thing."

Sasuke slipped in surprise, rolling over to land on the forest floor on his hands and feet instead of his back. He jumped to his feet, chakra already flowing to the soles in case he had to move quickly--he drew a kunai from his pouch, keen shinobi ears listening intently for any more noise to betray his definite pursuer. He heard a shuffle not far from where he stood, at the base of another massive Konoha tree trunk--he darted forward at the source of the noise, swinging his arm to attack his pursuer--only to have the kunai thunk deep in nothing but bark. Sasuke knit his brow together. There was no way anyone would have moved fast enough to dodge that attack. Unless there was nobody in this particular spot to begin with.

Genjutsu?

Millions of possibilities shot through his mind as he slipped through the shadows of the trees, avoiding holes in the canopy marked by almost obscenely bright splotches of silver light on the forest floor. Shinobi employing genjutsu had to be at least moderately intelligent. His first thought was Sakura--perhaps she released the sleep inducing genjutsu Sasuke himself cast on her in the park and followed him. But as he maneuvered throughout the trees, he heard his pursuer and came close enough eventually sense his or her chakra. It was not Sakura's. His brow knit in frustration as he tried to snuff out his pursuer and intercept them, to no avail.

Who was following him, then? Kurenai was a jounin who specialized in genjutsu, but the hallucinations he experienced just now were just sound--Sasuke could concoct more complex genjutsu than that. Why would a master of an art use only the basest techniques to bag a runaway shinobi? So it wasn't Kurenai.

He heard another sound, attacked again, and once again came up with nothing. Whoever it was, they were playing with him. Like cat and mouse. Grouching silently, Sasuke summoned his chakra from his feet--thereby reducing his speed--in order to release the genjutsu that still shrouded him.

Kai!

The attack came from the left. A shadowy blur charged him--Sasuke had to focus to properly release the genjutsu, lest this be just another hallucination--and he took a hit to the face. He staggered back, choking; his attacker had just shoved something in his mouth. He tried to spit it out, but his attacker rushed again, delivering a kick to his midsection.

Sasuke flew onto his back, the air knocked out of him--and his jaws clamping down, breaking the stiff stems of the strange plants that had been shoved into his mouth. A strongly bitter and burning liquid seeped into his mouth, filling it in quick succession. He tried to wrench his teeth apart to spit the accursed things out, but the thick broken stems' blood acted as a glue to keep his teeth from moving quickly. Sasuke leapt onto his feet, struggling to breathe through his nose, refusing to ingest the plant liquid--attacking with it meant bad news.

Activating Sharingan now, Sasuke searched for the attacker. He found her huddling behind another tree. He rushed forward, the chakra accumulating in his left arm changing to an electric nature as he prepared Chidori. Kakashi's explanation of the invention of Chidori as an assassination technique echoed in his mind--once he killed a Konoha nin in pursuit, there truly would be no turning back.

But instead of connecting with his target, the kunoichi grabbed his wrist and redirected the attack to a tree trunk and delivered a high kick to Sasuke's chin. He reflexively swallowed in an involuntary bid for air, and to his horror he swallowed the burning liquid the plants in his mouth oozed. With a burst of chakra flowing into his jaws he wrenched his teeth free, spitting out what he could of the plants. In the dim moonlight he saw crumpled flower petals slick with saliva.

Sasuke tried to yank his arm from the kunoichi's grip, but to no avail. It seemed as if the strength in his arm just up and left him. He blinked, not comprehending it. There was no way Chidori could have done that ... Chidori never exhausted him that badly, even after he used it twice. Then he noticed his other arm and legs beginning to shake, slightly at first, then more violently as moments passed. His vision swam in a haze, he lost his sense of balance. Suddenly he recognized the plant he had spat out.

"Ninja wolfsbane," the kunoichi voiced, as if she had read his thoughts. "One of the more potent poisonous flowers used in the Yamanaka shinobi arsenal."

Sasuke's eyes went wide as Ino closed the distance between him and her, taking hold of his rapidly weakening body as his legs refused to support him any longer. As he began to fade, he heard Ino's voice.

"Don't worry, Sasuke, I'll take good care of you."

Then she closed the remaining gap between them with a chaste kiss.