[A/N] It's been a while since I wrote something in the canon Naruto world (not AU). Hope you enjoy~

for the better | chapter 1: and then he was gone

The village is essentially destroyed. Broken homes and shattered realities decorate Konoha's roads; ninja struggle to rebuild their lives, and while there is a simmering joy of victory in their hearts, they cannot ignore the fact that everything they once knew is no longer as it was.

Naruto works alongside the others to clean up the rubble, grinning, his jocularity contagious. He never takes a break unless it's to check up on how everybody is faring. Unanimously, he is acknowledged as something beyond the Hokage level, yet he still loudly proclaims every chance he gets that he's going to be the Hokage, dattebayo! Hinata is always somewhere close by the blond, and sometimes the two exchange secret glances that express much more than words ever could.

Sakura repairs broken bodies with an intense concentration. Her delicate fingers create miracles as her chakra dives in and heals seemingly irreparable injuries, and the look of relief she wears when her magic is done tugs at men's heartstrings. A few men have approached her, probably courageous on the high from the Alliance's victory, but she'll smile sadly and give them an apologetic bow, and then continue right on with her healing, not allowing her emotions to stunt her work.

Sasuke watches his two teammates, silently, warmly. Three weeks have passed since the final fall of Uchiha Madara. I'm going to change Konoha, he said, but people still do not trust him, and even he isn't perfectly intent on this goal of becoming Hokage anymore. He had been so sure, so focused, but now that he can see the effect of Naruto on the others, spreading joy and hope, he knows that his rival can create the most change in this village for the better.

Things are changing, and things will continue to change. His heart, too, is changing.

The war is over, but there are still many things that need to be resolved.

"Why?!" Naruto's hand lurches forward, and the tan fingers curl into the cloth of Sasuke's black kimono. "Why are you leaving again?! Sasuke!"

The last Uchiha remains cool, the inky eyes gazing straightforwardly back at the piercing blue of his best friend. "There are still a lot of things I need to resolve, dumbass."

"But why do you have to leave?" cries the blond. "Where is this coming from? Do you still think you don't belong? Everybody will accept you—they just need some time to get used to the idea—"

"It's not a matter of belonging," cuts in Sasuke impatiently.

"Then what is it?" Naruto's anger dissolves into a melancholy. "Do you really not think of Konoha as home anymore?" The nasally voice cracks as the words are spoken.

Sasuke wants to look away from that hurtful expression on his rival's face, but his pride will not allow him to.

"I'll always be here to welcome you, Sasuke-kun, if you ever want to come home," the voice of their other teammate quietly says.

Both the boys turn their heads sharply to peer at her, surprised at her sudden interruption when she had otherwise been silent during their exchange.

She smiles at them, takes a breath in. "If you want to go, then go. Live your life." She meets the inky eyes of the boy she loves, the boy who wants to leave. "Not for revenge, or to protect other people. For yourself."

He looks at her, the inky gaze cloudy. Her green gaze, staring just as frankly back, is hard, determined, yet there is a gentleness there reserved only for those closest to her. Who is this woman standing in front of him, so willing to let him go? Where did the desperate, twelve-year-old Sakura disappear to? Her love for him is different from what it once was.

Things are changing, and things will continue to change. Sakura's love for him is not an exception to this fact.

"If you say it like that..." Naruto drops his hand from Sasuke's shirt, and scratches the back of his head. "I can't tell you not to go. But..." He grins, and if Sasuke hadn't known him so well, he wouldn't have noticed the sadness hiding in the twinkling blue eyes. "Just know you can always come back here, alright?"

Uchiha Sasuke looks at the blond standing beside him, who gave up so much to drag him back. His dark eyes flicker to the girl wearing a sad smile, who loved him for who he was and loves him for who he is.

And he smiles.

"Yeah."

He is surprised at the amount of people who send him off at the gate. Originally he planned to leave in the middle of the night, so no one would be there to watch him go. But he remembered the last time he had left in such a manner, and the girl he hurt so much doing so, and decided against it.

Things are changing. He, too, wants to actively make change.

Still Sasuke is a little uncomfortable with all the eyes on him. He's aware that some of them are relieved that he is leaving; others are confused. But regardless of how they feel, they are there, to tell him farewell and good luck. He sweeps a glance over the small crowd. Kakashi stands somewhere near the back, nonchalant, holding his favorite orange book. They make eye contact, and Kakashi smiles, his sleepy-looking dark eyes, now both visible and lacking the Sharingan, crinkling.

Good luck, the jounin mouths at him through his mask. Sasuke offers a tiny nod in response.

The inky eyes continue to travel through the crowd. Naruto stands at front and center, Hinata to his right and Sakura to his left. The blond takes a step forward, offering a hand, the first to give his farewell.

"See you, Sasuke."

Sasuke takes the proffered hand. "Hn," he mutters, as his teammate grins at him.

"Good luck, Sasuke-kun," says Hinata.

"Bye, Sasuke-kun!" Ino cries.

A couple of the other Konoha former rookies shoot him hesitant smiles. Kiba's looks feral, as usual. Shikamaru's is cocky but genuine. Chouji looks unsure. Shino hides behind sunglasses and a high collar, but raises a hand in salute.

"Please find a path in which you can truly blossom, Sasuke-kun!" shouts Lee, as Tenten rolls her eyes beside him.

"I'm sure Neji would also wish the same for you," Tenten says warmly. "Best of luck."

Gaara, having silently stood behind Naruto, now steps up as well and offers a hand. "Farewell," he says simply. Sasuke takes the Kazekage's hand, and they share a brief handshake.

Sasuke pulls on the strap of his backpack before he looks up to meet the stormy green eyes of his other teammate. "Sakura," he murmurs, as she wordlessly steps forward and wraps her arms around his neck. It's a tight hold, warm and a little desperate, and everybody and everything seems to grow quiet and faded out around them.

Then she pulls away herself, the little moment over. As she steps back, their surroundings again come into focus. "Good-bye, Sasuke-kun," she says, smiling, and he realizes that she is crying.

He nods.

"You can always, always come back here. This is your home."

There's a moment of silence, as everybody watches on. He can feel their eyes on him, weighing him down, as he struggles to form words. "Thank you," he finally says, and Sakura breaks into a grin. Just like that, all the tension dissipates.

"See you," she murmurs.

He turns with a hand raised in farewell. He's leaving.

(He's leaving to find a life for himself. He's leaving so that he can discover what it is to be his own person, with no expectations, no presupposed discrimination. He's leaving because for far too long, he's been depending on others to create meaning for his life instead of him creating that meaning himself. He's leaving because he needs to live.)

As he finally walks away, the fading voices behind him yelling wishes for luck and waving at his retreating back, he lets a small smile curve his pale lips. He has a goal, now: to find his purpose, his own nindo. And maybe, after that he discovers what that is, he will come back. But for now, he doesn't turn his head to glance back; he has a path to walk forward on, heading away from what he's known.

After all, things are changing, and things will continue to change—for the better.