Footsteps echoed off the concrete walls as Sasuke traveled through the passage. It was dark, but there was only one short hall before the main room, and that was fine by him. As the young boy approached the door at the end, his anxiety began to build. Was he strong enough? Could he do it? The Uchiha shoved these thoughts aside. It didn't matter at this point. He was going to win, and that was all that mattered. Taking a deep breath, Sasuke pushed the doors open, feeling a slight breeze on his face as he did so.

The room was vast, and looked as though it was used as a dojo for any Uchihas to settle their differences in.

'Fitting,' Sasuke thought. At the end of the room, a lone figure sat on a throne. The young Uchiha began walking forward, when a voice cut through the oppressive silence encompassed the room. It was Sasuke's older brother, Itachi.

"So you're finally here… foolish little brother." Itachi called, "Now, I can claim your eyes for myself, and become the greatest Uchiha who ever lived, greater than even Madara Uchiha himself! I will become so powerful that the nations will-!"

"Shut up." A sword penetrated the elder brother from behind, and blood began seeping from the wound. "You don't know a thing about me, Itachi. Revenge isn't worth the cost. I used to think I was prepared to pay for it, but…" Sasuke's headband felt like it weighed much heavier, now. He unconsciously touched his headband, reflecting on how he got here…

Three and a half years earlier

Sasuke was escorted to the Hokage's office in chains. Everyone who saw the young prodigy looked at him in shock, disappointment, or any one of various ways similar to the two. He squeezed his fist tightly. When he got his hands on that dead last, he was so going to kill him. All the power that he had gained… and it still wasn't enough. It didn't help that he was still sore from all his wounds and use of the curse mark.

The Uchiha had woken up in a hospital with two ANBU units blocking the door to prevent any attempts at escape. The Black Ops ninja had sought to inform him that his trial would take place as soon as he could walk. That was about a week ago. As they were walking, a girl from the crowd looked at Sasuke, eyes wide, and starting shouting at one of the ANBU units about how they should leave Sasuke-kun alone, or something to that effect.

It hurt like hell to move His muscles were still sore from his fight with… him. The thought of him angered Sasuke, to the point of infuriation. He would kill him… he would kill Naruto Uzumaki, the idiot who knew nothing of Sasuke's pain, his suffering… for this, the blonde would suffer. The raven-haired criminal was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't notice when he was in front of the fire shadow herself until the ANBU knocked him down on his knees.

"On your feet, scum! Look at your Hokage when she addresses you." He was about to say something, but held his tongue when he saw the blade in the ninja's hand. Grunting, he stood as best as he could with the chains restricting his movements, and faced Tsunade. It was only when Sasuke saw her face that he began to fear for his life. Though he hadn't seen the Sannin much in her time as Hokage, but of the hand full of times that he had, the Sharingan wielder had never seen her so angry as she was now.

"Sasuke Uchiha. For crimes against Konoha, you are on trial to determine your fate. Your charges are as follows: Abandoning the Leaf in a time of dire need, the near-deaths Choji Akimichi, Kiba Inuzuka, Neji Hyuga, and the confirmed death-" Tsunade's breath hitched for just a second, "-of Naruto Uzumaki."

Sasuke's eyes widened. He died? There's no way… Naruto knocked Sasuke out, that's why he wound up back here in the first place.+ They clashed with their attacks, and… and then he woke up here.

"There's no way someone like him is dead! Good god, he healed from the Chidori I hit him with-!" Sasuke bit his tongue, realizing what he had just said.

"So you have nothing to say in your defense, then. You seem awfully calm for finding out that one of the only people you consider your friend is dead." He narrowed his eyes. He didn't trust himself to speak. And yet…

"He understood nothing." Now it was the fifth's turn to narrow her eyes. Cracks began to spider-web from where her hands were on the table. Her dark-haired assistant was sweating bullets.

'Is he insane?! Lady Tsunade's going to kill him! She saw the people she loved more than anything in Naruto, and Sasuke killed him!' If things continued like this, Sasuke was going to die, there was no doubt about it. Prisoners weren't supposed to be killed before a trial had concluded, but… well, who was going to stop a provoked hokage that could make punching craters look like it took no more effort than tearing a piece of paper in half from killing a traitor to the leaf?

"Is that so?" Tsunade asked, "Well, you want my opinion? I think the one who understood nothing is you, Uchiha." Sasuke's handsbegan trembling, he was glaring at her, and his eyes stung fiercely. Against his better judgement, he spoke against her, his voice rising.

"How could I not understand?! He was alone from the start! Since the very beginning, he never had anyone that cared, so there was no way he could understand what it's like to lose people that are precious to you! How could he have understood the first thing about my loneliness?! About losing the people that you care ab-!" Sasuke was interrupted by a knee that was firmly planted in his stomach. He coughed violently, and keeled over while clutching his stomach. Suddenly, he was hauled up by his shirt, and found himself so close to Tsunade's face that he could feel her breath, a snarl set on her face.

"Listen here, you brat. Yes, you lost your family, and we're all sad about that, but you never had to be alone. If you had just looked around you, you would have immediately seen all the people that adored you, would have taken you in, had you expressed an interest." Tsunade threw Sasuke back down to the ground, just in front of the window, just in front of the window facing the desk. "Get out of here, this conversation needs to be private."

Shizune's eyes widened. "Lady Tsunade-" She looked back at Shizune, before speaking.

"I won't kill him, Shizune. But there are things we need to talk about, and I'd rather not have a crowd here. Now get out." Her assistant didn't need to be told twice. All of the ANBU had already left, quiet as ever.. There was a long moment of tenseness between the two, both of them staring at the other, one in wide-eyed fear, the other having a deep scowl set on her face. Sasuke was sure he was dead, regardless of what the fifth hokage had said. But, surprisingly, she just sighed, and turned around, leaving her back facing the prisoner.

"Do you know what a jinchuriki is?" She asked, confusing Sasuke.

"What?" Tsunade sighed

"A jinchuriki is a person who is used as a human sacrifice to contain a tailed beast, such as the one tailed beast that Gaara contains… or the nine-tailed fox that attacked the Leaf twelve years ago." Sasuke was confused. How did this relate to the matter at hand? "When the fourth hokage sacrificed himself to slay the nine-tails, he didn't exactly kill it. Killing a tailed beast is impossible. Instead, he had to seal it inside a young baby, as children that age haven't developed their chakra coils fully, and can handle the stress of such an act. Unfortunately, jinchuriki have a tendency to be loathed inside of the village they're raised in, because they more or less represent the beast itself."

Sasuke's eyes widened as he realized where she was going with this. The only person that was seemingly ostracized by everyone in the village, that was hated and shunned. That person was…

"Was Naruto the jinchuriki?" He asked.

"Figured it out, huh?" She replied, voice softening a bit. "Yes, Naruto was the jinchuriki. And do you know what that means, Sasuke? It means that he was hated. He was hated by everyone. However, according to his medical history, he'd only been to the hospital a handful of times as a child, and even at that, it was for failed prank attempts mostly. Meaning that, for the most part, people left him alone." Tsunade turned back to Sasuke, who was still scowling at her.

"Got something you want to say, brat? Your ass is grass either way, so what is it?" Tsunade snarled.

"What does that matter? So no one liked him because of his prisoner, he's still never lost anyone." For a second, Sasuke thought she would smash him again, but instead, she stood there, trembling, but still.

"But that's the thing, Sasuke. He never had a chance to. Before Team 7, the only person that ever gave a damn about him was Iruka. Could you imagine how that must have felt? He could have hated so much more than you do, now. Honestly, I'm surprised that he was as dedicated as he was to the Leaf…" Silence fell between them once again.

Sasuke's head was hung. 'I knew he was alone, but… was it really that bad? Then how…?'

"How did he stay so damn cheery all the time?" He wondered.

"Beats the hell outta me. If I had to guess, it was because of the people he fought for, and his purpose." Sasuke's eyes widened,

"His… purpose?"

"To protect those close to him, no matter the cost." The fifth cut herself off, her breath hitching again. But Sasuke payed no attention to that, and he began recalling what he had said back during his and Naruto's fight with Gaara.

Sasuke, had his eyes locked on Gaara spoke to the Blonde standing next him.

"I lost everything once. I don't wanna have to see that again; my trusted comrades, falling right in front of me."

And then again, in his last fight against the same blonde, facing him while he was completely cloaked in what he now knew as his tailed beast's chakra

"I've had enough of this! What the heck are you?!" The Uchiha screamed in anger.

"I'm your friend! That's why I'm telling you, I'm not gonna let the likes of Orochimaru get his hands on you!" Naruto exclaimed, his voice getting louder and louder with each word. "And if you won't listen to reason, then… I'll break every bone IN YOUR BODY!"

The memories flooded back to Sasuke. All of the times Naruto came out appearing stronger than Sasuke. All the times that Sasuke felt the pang of envy that came about every time Naruto defeated someone he couldn't. Sasuke never understood why before, but now…

"I think I get it. The reason that he was so strong; why he was always doing things that he shouldn't have been able to do. It was because he always fought to protect those who were important to him. He said that his bond with me was the first one was that he had ever had…" Sasuke let out an empty, soulless laugh.

"I'm a damn fool." Was all he said, and he meant it. Naruto Uzumaki, the one person who had understood his pain, even if it was a different kind, the one who he had called his best friend, was dead. And it was all his fault. Not Orochimaru's, not Itachi's.

His.

"That you are, Sasuke. ANBU!" Tsunade called. Several cloaked figures appeared in the room in mere moments.

"What is it, lord fifth?" Tsunade turned her full attention onto the shinobi.

"Take him back to the hospital, and keep him under constant surveillance. I think that some of his wounds may have reopened. Sasuke Uchiha, your trial is being temporarily suspended until I see fit to resume it."

Tsunade turned back towrds Sasuke, but what she saw made her widen her eyes.

"God dammit."