His life was a lie, all a lie.

Everything he'd worked for, strived for, hated and loved, was all a lie.

Itachi was no murderer.

It had been a lie. A complete lie.

Who was to blame?

Konoha.

So Sasuke had to destroy it.

Sighing, Sasuke bent his head against the rain, bringing his hand up under his chin, palms together, and closed his eyes.

On his knees, he bent at the shrine he had made himself for Itachi.

Silently, he apologised to his dead brother, for being so stupid and playing into his hands, as Itachi knew he would.

Even going out of his way to go against Itachi, he still ended up doing what Itachi planned him to do.

And now his only remaining family was dead. By his own hand.

Madara hardly counted.

Sasuke wanted revenge. It seemed to him like his life depended on him having something to destroy or kill for revenge.

For he had had no plans of what to do with himself after he had killed Itachi.

Finding out the lie gave him a new target, a new reason to live.

"Is this what I am to become then?" Sasuke murmured to himself, eyes opening, staring down at the framed photo of his brother. "A demon fuelled by hatred?"

Sasuke felt movement beside him, but he did not move.

At this moment, he felt no hatred, no need for the darkness growing in his soul. It was odd, and it made him feel empty, weak, incomplete.

He needed hatred. It gave him strength, without it he had no will to even move against a threat.

Luckily for Sasuke it was no threat next to him, just a blonde shinobi named Naruto.

"Itachi?" Naruto asked glancing at the photo.

Sasuke merely glanced upwards at his old comrade, before looking back down at the shrine, still in his prayer position.

"He is dead. All because of a lie." Sasuke said.

Naruto didn't answer, just knelt down beside Sasuke, closing his eyes in prayer.

Sasuke watched him, looking exhausted and weary.

Naruto finished his prayer, and his eyes met Sasuke's. For a long time, they simply stared at each other.

They had always shared a scary connection, one that meant they never had to say much to understand each other, but one that also had a wall between them, stopping them from understanding each other completely.

"You know," Naruto said after a while. "There's more to life than hate and revenge."

Naruto stood, the rain pouring down, as Sasuke watched wordlessly. Naruto turned to the monument to all ninjas who died in battle for the village.

Sasuke watched him as Naruto pulled out a kunai, and carved away at the stone carefully.

When he was done, he turned, and went back down to the village in silence.

Sasuke got up and went to inspect his work.

'Itachi Uchiha – died protecting his village and his beloved brother'

Sasuke clamped his mouth shut it a tight line, glancing back in the direction Naruto had gone.

"More than hate and revenge he says…" he murmured. He looked back at the stone. "What would you do, nii-san?"