Every day you thank god he didn't ask.
You don't normally thank that particular being given how he's screwed you over so many times, but you aren't sure that this alone doesn't make up for all of it, so you are grateful.
You stay grateful as Jiraiya knocks you down again, but you say nothing aloud because you know that even he will not understand your feelings on this subject, especially as you are so divided over it yourself. Only one thing remains clear; you are grateful he didn't ask.
You are not happy, necessarily, but that is no surprise; you have been happy precious few times in your life and one of the four people who caused those beloved moments has left, and god, but you are so grateful he didn't ask.
Sometimes, when you are allowing yourself to think instead of merely acting, reacting, you think he wanted to ask, and it's a strangely bittersweet thought. All your life you have wanted someone to want you, and the one person you think might have been capable of it left.
And he didn't ask.
You don't let yourself think about what it would have been like had he asked, just as you do not and have not ever allowed yourself to think about what it would be like to have parents or to live with out the Kyuubi. You have always known that dreaming of things that could never come true only makes reality worse; so you dream only of those roads that have not been burned, and ignore the ghosts of what could have been.
Because he didn't ask, and you thank god for that.
Because if he had asked- if he paused in between trying to kill you and trying to get away, and on second thought he would never abandon a battle like that, so you were wrong, he didn't want to ask- if he had asked, you don't know what you would have said.
You shove yourself to your feet again and block out all traces of that day, hiding the memories from yourself with every breath, the only way you know how to survive, to continue, and you have far too many things to do before you die to lie here.
In the second before you attack, however, you pause and thank god he didn't ask.
Because if Sasuke had asked you to come along you don't know how you would have answered.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.