He has me by the shirt and is about to fling me into the wall behind us. I could easily try and stop him; but why bother? He yells out not in exertion but in pure frustration, and it isn't over me. 'Why do you care! You've never brought this up - why now, Naruto?!' My head makes contact with the solid concrete before falling slightly forward into his chest. There's a dent in the wall, though I felt nothing. 'Answer me!' He grabs a handful of blonde hair and forces me to look at him. My blood stains his hand and slowly trickles down his arm. Drip, drip… patter: as it falls to the light packed dirt at our feet.

'Sasuke…' I wonder if he heard. 'You're pathetic, Naruto. How can you possibly expect to help me when you can't even help yourself!' His hands fall to his sides and without the support I'm too weak to stand. I sink slowly to the ground as I watch his feet move step by step away from where I sit. The pain is not physical but almost close to it, immobilising the part I need most to help him.

I place my bloody hand behind me, bracing myself against the damaged structure as I ease myself up. Sasuke, a few paces away with his back towards me, shifts uncomfortably as he hears my steady movements. 'You go on…' I manage through gritted teeth, '…thinking you're the only one that's suffered.' I spit blood out, wiping at the side of my mouth with a fisted hand. 'Well you're wrong.' Searching for the gash on my head I lean hunched and grateful against my support. 'You know, Sasuke - you're pretty pig-headed to think so. There's easily over one hundred ninja in this village that have experienced things even our nightmares couldn't create; and I'm telling you… not one ninja in this world hasn't felt the pain of loss.' Wincing, I lower my hand to my side and find my own feet again. 'So don't ever think you're the only one; that no one can help you!' Sasuke raises his head now and turns to face me. His mouth turned down at the sides in a deep frown. 'So tell me, Naruto. How do you plan on helping me? How to you plan to kill my brother if not even I can't do it!' To an outsider, we stand as if in battle; facing off. But to me, to us… we stand already in defeat, having not lifted a finger to induce it.

'You're not strong enough.' He whispers the words, repeating them as he had heard them once, long ago.

We're silent for a moment as we burn this moment into our memory. This minute of acceptance.

'Sasuke.' His frown eases but his eyes remain dark. 'You don't have to fight.' In that instant, he's already killed me a hundred times over.

'You idiot! He killed everyone I ever loved, he deserves to die!' His breathing catches in rage, both hands balled into fists beside his trembling figure.

'How can you even say that? You've never tried to love anyone else!'

'That's not true.' He spits in blind fury.

'What about Sakura, Kakashi… all the others!'

'I don't care about them! This is about avenging my family; it has nothing to do with love, Naruto.'

'Then what other reason is there? You're nothing without the love of your friends, your family!'

'He killed my family, and what time is there for friendship! It does nothing. It means nothing.'

'That's why you're wrong. That's why you can't fight him! He showed you only hate when he took away all you loved; but you're not deprived of it, Sasuke.'

I hear his teeth clench shut and he looks away from me for the first time.

'Urgh! Just stay out of it, Naruto!' His form appears to flicker, and in the same instant is gone. The leaves stir with his absence, and I'm left standing alone in my broken suite of armour.