---28---

Sasuke and Naruto stayed with me all that morning, as I drifted in and out of sleep. We didn't talk much but it was just comfort for them both to be there. I passed out for a while longer and woke up to only Naruto, sometimes, a nurse cleaning my room but no Sasuke. I was confused, it didn't make any sense to me. Where was he?

One lunch-time, a nurse came brought me some lunch. I sat up slowly and ate most of it. My head still pounded slightly and I discovered a bandage wrapped around my head and some other parts of my body that must've been injured during my fight.

After lunch, the nurse returned.

'Kasumi, you have a visitor,' she smiled. My face lit up with a grin.

'Really? Who?' I asked. The nurse opened the door and in walked Sakura. I almost didn't recognise her with her hair short. I smiled at her and she grinned back at me.

'Hey there Kasumi,' she smiled. 'How are you?'

'I'm better, yep. I'll be out soon I'm guessing. And then we can get back to the Chuunin exams,' I said, fixing my pillow. Sakura shook her head.

'Afraid not Kasumi, you've been out for a long time. The Chuunin exams finished a couple weeks back. But don't worry, you didn't really miss much, it went a bit downhill from there. Lee-kun was badly injured in a fight against a Shinobi from the Sand Village,' she told me sadly.

'What?! Lee-kun's hurt? How badly? Is he okay?!' I asked, jerking forwards. Sakura gently pushed me back against the pillow.

'Careful now Kasumi, you need to rest. Take it easy,' she said softly. 'Unfortunately, Lee's injuries were bad enought that he won't be able to become a Shinobi again,' Sakura looked at the floor sadly.

'What?! That's rubbish! Lee is an incredible Shinobi! He can't not be a ninja! Who said that Lee would never fight again?!' I demanded, angered.

'Lady Tsunade,' Sakura said sadly. I looked at her, confused.

'Who's Lady Tsunade?' I asked. Sakura blinked at me.

'Oh right, I haven't told you everything yet. Lady Tsunade is the grandaughter of the First Hokage and is now the Fifth Hokage. Lord Hokage was killed by his former student, Orochimaru in a violent attack against the Leaf. And then,' Sakura sniffed, as if she was unable to continue.

'Sakura?' I asked. 'What's wrong?'

'Kasumi, it's Sasuke. He left the Leaf,' she sobbed. I tensed all over, frozen and sank back into my bed, staring into space. What? Sasuke had left the village? Impossible. Lee-kun was never going to be a Shinobi again. We had a new Hokage. The Third Hokage had died, the Leaf had been attacked and I'd missed the Chuunin Exams?!

I jumped out of the bed, my head racing, my anger rising. Sakura looked surprised and a bit jumped.

'K-Kasumi? What are you doing?' she asked. I pulled on some clothes that I found near by. Some blue shorts and a kimono vest. I pulled on a pair of sandals and stormed towards the door.

'Kasumi!' Sakura yelled, making me stop in my tracks. 'Where on earth do you think you're going in a state like that? You're not well enough! You need to rest or you'll never get better! Storming off ins't going to make anything better, it's hard I know, but you have to stop over-reacting and go back to bed and rest! Do you understand?' she yelled. I felt my lip trembling. She was like Mom, so much like Mom. I bit my lip and turned around.

'Sakura, please, I'm well enough to go out now, even if it's just for a little while. But I have to go. I need to see if Lee's okay, I need to see the damage done to my home, I need to meet the new Hokage, I need to see if my friends are okay and I need to know if my brother is safe,' I told her.

'Kasumi, Naruto's gone after him,' she said. My eyes widened. That was it. I turned my back to her and ran out. They were both in danger now?! I had to do something, I wasn't going to sit and do nothing. I sprinted down the corridor and was about to arrive in the main waiting room when I stopped. An open window beside me let in a cool summer breeze. Sakura would've told one of the nurses by now and they'd be expecting me to come through the lobby. I rushed to the window and looked down. I was still up pretty high but it was a risk worth taking. I knew I had to be careful as my ankle had only just healed. I put both hands firmly on the window ledge and hauled myself up and out the window.

I held one hand out to grab the edge of the roof just below me. My hand gripped it with a stinging burn at the impact but I clung on and gripped both hands onto it and hauled myself up. I continued until I made my way down, then took off again. I ran to Sasuke's first, not expecting to find anything. I made it there in minutes and ran to his home. I slid the door open and saw everything the way it was last time I had been here. I walked around, looking at everything. I went up to his room and knocked before going in. I wasn't expecting a reply and neither did I get one.

I walked in and felt a sudden pang of guilt. I left and closed the door behind me. Then I remembered the room I'd stayed in. I rushed down the hall to find it, the door slightly ajar. Someone had been here, I could sense the old presence of someone's chakra. I walked in, cautious and saw a white envelope on the bed with my name on it. I recognised the handwriting and reached for it.

Carefully opening it, I read:

Kasumi,

I knew you'd be told about my sudden departure from the village and of all places, you'd rush here first. The truth is, Konoha offers me nothing here, nothing that will help me achieve my goal. It was my own choice to leave. I don't want anyone to come after me, especially not you, it's a dangerous and risky trip and I'd never forgive myself if you were hurt for my sake. Everyone I met here in Konoha were just an annoyance to me, but not you. The day I met you smething inside me changed. You're the only thing that has really hurt me to leave behind. Don't do anything stupid and stay safe. When I'm strong, I'll come back for you, I can promise you that. I won't ever forget you Kasumi-Akane Uzumaki Namikaze, I wanted to tell you this face to face but obviously I can't, but I want you to know that I love you, and that there isn't ever going to be anyone else. I will be back for you one day, until then, stay safe Tomato, love you.

Sasuke

I folded the letter away and put it in my pocket. My heart was broken. He really had left. I rushed out of the house, as it hurt so much to be there and ran to the Hokage heads, where Sasuke had had our first arguement at Christmas. ((Kasumi's Christmas One-shot))

I sat up there till dark, reading the letter over and over until I couldn't look at it anymore. I turned to look up at the starry sky when I heard someone behind me. I turned, to see Kakashi Sensei.

'Kakash Sensei,' I mumbled. He gave me a closed eyed smile and walked over to me. He stood behind me and I turned back to face the village.

'They're all looking for you down there, since you just rushed off like that,' he sighed.

'Sorry,' I mumbled, sitting with my arms wrapped around my knees, my chin resting on my knees. He sat down beside me and looked out over the village with me.

'It's big isn't it? I remember the first time I came up here, it was with my Dad,' he said. I looked at him.

'Really? That's funny, the first time I came up here was with my Dad too,' I said. He smiled again.

'I wanted to ask you something Kasumi,' he said.

'It's big isn't it? I remember the first time I came up here, it was with my Dad,' he said. I looked at him.

'Really? That's funny, the first time I came up here was with my Dad too,' I said. He smiled again.

'I wanted to ask you something Kasumi,' he said.

'Sure Sensei,'

'Naruto is going to be training with Lord Jiraiya and Sakura will be training with Lady Tsunade, do you know where you'll be training?' He asked. I thought about it, realizing that I hadn't planned anything. By the sounds of things, everyone was going their separate ways.

'Um, Sensei?'

'Hmmm?'

'Would it be okay if I stayed in Konoha and trained with you?' I asked him. He looked suprised at first but then gave me another closed-eyed smiles, as if he was pleased.

'That sounds good. We can get that Blind State of yours up to Jounin class. I'll teach you everything I know,' he grinned. I smiled weakly.

'Thanks Sensei, sounds great,'

He ruffled my hair and stood up.

'We should get back before they send out the ANBU for you,' he laughed. My eyes widened.

'Wait, are you serious?!' I gasped. He shurgged and laughed.

'Let's just head back, Kasumi,' he said, leading the way. I got up and followed him, stopping to turn back and look out over the village and past the giant gates that were being repaired.

'Naruto,' I whispered. 'Don't worry if you can't bring him home, just return to me safely, Brother,' I turned back and ran after Sensei.

-----Back in the Hspital-----

Kakashi Sensei had walked me all the way back to the hospital, just in case I did another runner. There'd be no way that I'd ever stand a chance of out-running him.

I was back in my room now, resting again. I'd gotten a chance to visit Lee, he was awake and he didn't look as bad as I thought he would have. He grinned when he saw me and reached out his good arm to me. I gave him a gentle hug which he returned and then apologised for not being much help.

'No Kasumi, I am sorry. I shouldn't have let you stand in front of me. It was not youthful. I should have been more careful. It is not you who is to blame but me. It's not youthful to blame yourself for other people's actions,' he told me. I smiled weakly at him. We talked some more before I had to go back to my room.

'Lee?' I asked, turning before I left.

'What is it?'

'When you get better, how about we have a match?' I asked. Lee's face lit up.

'Yes! It will be the most youthful match! With a very youthful opponent!' he grinned clenching his fist on his good arm with excitement.

I lay in the bed thinking about the letter. I waited until the lights outside my room went out before I walked across the room and fished for the letter out of my shorts which lay on a chair across the room.

I grabbed something else, with a sharp and silver blade and walked over to the window. It was open and the moonlight came in, faintly lighting up the room. I gritted the blade between my teeth and held onto the letter. I clambered out the window and climbed up onto the roof. I stood up as a cold breeze blew my hair back behind me. I stood looking up at the giant moon. My mind crammed with thoughts.

I took the blade and the letter and lay them down for a moment. I remembered Sakura. Maybe she was moving forward, but was I? Naruto was moving forwards and Sasuke was twice my brother's strength. But I had come to a stand still. I'd missed the most important exams of my life. I picked up the letter and opened it.

Don't do anything stupid.

Sasuke's words from his letter tumbled over and over in my mind as I reached for the blade.

'I'm sorry Mom, Dad,' I whispered. I took my long hair in one big clump and sliced through it with the blade. I couldn't feel my hair hanging heavily around my shoulders or down my back anymore, it was short enough that I was sure people would mistake me for a boy. A cold breeze blew stronger now, I shivered and took a deep breath.

'I live here now, the old Kasumi is gone, until I see you guys again,' I whispered, letting go of my hair in my hand and watching the cold night air carry it away in the wind.

The tears rolled down my cheeks and I looked back up to the moon. My hair will grow back, over time. It was carrying too many painful memories with me, from my old life. If I wanted to move on, I'd have to get rid of them for now and let it grow back and carry my new memories. But until then, I would become stronger. Now I move on, to become like my parents...

The End

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So this is the end of Beyond Konoha - Different Dimensions, there will be a preview published tomorrow for the second book which will be up sometime next week. It's gonna be called Beyond Konoha - The Red Kunoichi I hope you enjoyed it ^^ what did you think of the ending? How did you think it was going to end? Tomorrow I'll post the preview for Book 2 ^^ 

On a serious note, tomorrow is the 1 month anniversary of my Mama's death, so this last chapter is dedicated to her. Rest In Peace Mama <3 xx

Thanks for all the suport minna and I hope you enjoyed this book and are looking forward to Book 2, which I hope is as successful as Book 1 ^^

ARIGATO READERS!!

-Georgie ^^