WARNING: spoilers. 400-ish.

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'We've all been sorry,

We've all been hurt.

But how we survive,

Is what makes us who we are.'

—Survive, Rise Against

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Uchiha Sasuke blearily opened his eyes.

Where am I?

He was in a small cot that smelled of detergent. The room was dimly lit, but his nose twitched with the sterile smell and he could make out the vaguely white walls.

…hospital? Why…?

Memories accompanied by extreme anger came crashing down on him like a tidal wave.

killkillkillgottagetstrongKILL—

But why--?

Mom.

A memory of his mother lying on the floor—dead.

Dad.

The once proud man, strewn over his wife.

I wasn't strong enough…

Sasuke wearily slid out of the hospital bed and pushed back the curtain. As he made his way through the halls he heard two nurses talking.

"Yes, he was the only one to be spared. To think that the illustrious Uchiha Clan has fallen…"

Sasuke slowly padded away.

So it wasn't a dream.

Sasuke felt the pressure of tears building in the back of his eyes, but found he could not cry. He was numb. He heard more whispers,

...gone…

…all dead.

…last one…

He couldn't take it. The young boy quickly dashed through the halls. He passed the cafeteria in a dash, avoiding doctors and nurses desperately. His feet were clomping up stairs and his hands were pushing on a door, and soon his eyes were blinking away the blinding white light of the moon.

It was smaller than it was then. It had been a few nights since that night.

Those memories seemed to become sharper, more intense, under the light of the moon. He had to get away; he had to—!

There! The young Uchiha scrambled into a metal box just big enough for him. He curled into a tight ball against the farthest wall, trying to shrink away from the glowing light of the moon.

It was quiet for a moment. He could hear the chirping cicadas and the whistling of the cool summer wind blowing through the trees. The cold metal he was sitting on felt reassuring, this little spot of his was safe. It was his and his alone.

The natural sounds were interrupted by the low murmur of voices. Sasuke's anger flared. Someone was intruding on his box—his spot. With a scowl the young boy crawled backwards, trying to get closer to the owner of the voice so he could tell them to go away. He paused when he thought he was close enough to the voice. When he could actually hear part of their conversation.

An old man was speaking. His tone was regretful. "…still think we could have resolved this with diplomacy. To have a child kill his family…"

Sasuke's heart skipped a beat. He held perfectly still. The voices seemed to drift towards him like in a bad dream.

The next voice was rough, gruff, most definitely old. "Don't fool yourself. That clan was asking for it, trying to take over the village. Nothing will happen to the leaf as long as I am head of ANBU."

The next voice was an old woman's. "Your worries will not be over until every Uchiha is dead. Including that brat." Sasuke's breath hitched. They wanted him…dead?

"Koharu!" It was the first old man's voice, regret replaced with a fierce sharpness. "How can you even think of such things? Itachi chose to spare his younger brother; can you not give him one thing in exchange for sacrificing so much for his village?"

…he…what?

A new voice was speaking, another old man. "Feelings aside, if we so much as attempt anything on the boy, we can say goodbye to this peaceful era. You know that boy will keep good on his promises."

What promises?

The woman was speaking again. "We can take a war. Konoha is strong."

The rough, bitter voice whispered out just barely loud enough for Sasuke to hear. "So soon after the war? The battle against Kyuubi? And now losing an undeniably powerful clan, I do not think we could bear it. Our ninja forces are already low. We would be seen as a joke. We might be able to go to war in a few years, but now is not the time."

The sharp voice was back. "Would you really risk war on one boy?"

It was quiet for a moment.

"Itachi will die one day." Spoke the third old man's voice.

The woman clucked her tongue. "Did he not want his little brother to be the one to kill him?"

The sharp voice turned back to regretful and sighed. "And for Sasuke to not know a thing. I do not know his motives, but he wanted Sasuke to live probably the biggest lie in the history of Konoha. He will grow up an avenger. He will undoubtedly leave the village in search of his brother one day."

The woman scoffed. "Good riddance. That boy will bring nothing but trouble..."

He didn't want to hear any more. With shallow breaths, Sasuke slowly backed away from the voices. He was soon back into the bigger hollow of his cool box. It was chillier than it was before. The cicadas suddenly sounded menacing; the wind was like a thousand hidden enemies.

Who were those people? Why did they order Itachi to—

His heard clenched. His brother…his brother wanted him to hate him? He easily could, and Itachi probably understood that. He had planned on it. He wanted Sasuke to kill him.

But why?

Maybe he was ordered to do that too. By those people who wanted Sasuke dead, but couldn't kill him because Itachi wouldn't allow it.

After doing so much to him…his brother still wouldn't let anyone hurt him.

No…, Sasuke thought, that's a lie. His hand ghosted up to the bandages on his left shoulder, where under lay a scar from Itachi's shuriken.

Why did he have to follow orders?! Who orders to kill of their own, anyway? What had his clan done to deserve this? Why had Itachi let him live? Didn't he know that he would be so, so alone?

He missed his family. He missed his brother. He missed feeling safe.

That night, as Sasuke crawled back into his hospital bed, he felt like the weakest, most pitiful thing on the face of the Earth.

He decided he didn't like that feeling.

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For once and for all:

I do not own Naruto or Survive by Rise Against.

Author's Note:

I've wanted to do a story centered on these two for awhile now. I've tried a few, but this is the first to actually make me desperately want to post it. (Others have come close, but plot ran away from me.)

So basically, instead of Sasuke running to his house, he ran to the roof, into an air vent, and eavesdropped onto a conversation that will change his life as we know it…

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