The Seven Sins.
Pride.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I own this story. Isn't it great? Yeah, I know, right? Oh…is that my PRIDE talking?! ;P
Pride was Sasuke's sin.
He had trouble choosing between pride and wrath, but decided on pride in the end- wrath was just too, emotional.
Pride, on the other hand, was perfect. It was a delicate mix of arrogant and cold, which was exactly the front Sasuke had put up for so many years away from Konoha. Arrogance was the air that traveled around him, his head held high despite the chaos and tragedy that had a habit of targeting him. Cold was his favorite stance. Giving off an aura that would be sure to give you frost bite; he turned his head and gave no mercy.
But the emotions, or lack thereof; went deeper than that.
He yearned for the chance to avenge his clan, and he wished he knew the reason Itachi had eliminated them in the first place. Of course, when he had killed his brother, the elder Uchiha hadn't been kind enough to tell him before he had breathed his last breath.
He had once said that he left Sasuke alive because he was weak; too frail and scared, and clinging to life to bother with. Sasuke often wondered why he had killed the civilian women and the infants if that had been really true. Surely he was stronger than they were; babies being helpless and all.
He couldn't understand it, so he decided not to think about it at all anymore.
He knew that returning to Konoha they would flank him and suppress his chakra, and he also knew that they would only catch him if he allowed it. Knowing this, he returned with a large ego, smirking in the faces of many ANBU before appearing in the Hokage's office of his own accord.
He had enjoyed the look of pure shock on Tsunade's face when she'd shaken out of her alcohol induced sleep after he'd slammed an annoyed fist down on her desk. Her head of blonde hair had snapped up; eyes meeting his own.
A look of surprise passed over her features before it was followed by betrayal and then anger. He was expecting this and had gingerly, almost un-noticeably taken a step back when she stood and started shouting.
He had raised an eyebrow coolly, crossing his muscled arms over his equally toned chest in a supercilious manner. She had stopped shouting and stared at him crossly for a moment; and then Shizune, Kotetsu and Izumo had burst in, all ready to attack.
Tsunade had only told them to gather 'the necessary people' and sent them out as she pointed to the chair that now sat in front of her desk. Ever defiant, Sasuke had refused her request for him to sit.
Sakura had been the first to arrive- through the window, bowing respectfully to the Hokage before completely ignoring the Uchiha's presence at all. She had taken his chair and began to speak to the Hokage formally while he stood, leaning against the wall.
Naruto had been second, bursting through the door with a loud, 'YOSH!' and then something about a mission. He had seen Sasuke a second later and tackled him to the ground, shouting obscenities in his face while his fists rained down on Sasuke's head. After a few seconds of this, he pushed Naruto off of him and stood, glaring at the blonde. The blonde had glared back, curling himself at Sakura's side, in the other chair.
Kakashi had been last- late as always and had simply popped out of nowhere. He took one look at Sasuke and raised an eyebrow, turning to the Hokage slowly.
"Is he for real?" Sakura had asked, making Sasuke's eyes want to cross.
"Looks like," Tsunade had replied smugly, and continued to watch Sasuke's expression through hooded eyes.
"Should I alert the council?" It was the first time Kakashi had spoken, and he yanked his book out as Tsunade opened her mouth to respond.
"Izumo and Kotetsu have that taken care of. Several of them are outraged that he had returned but since the debacle with that fool, Danzou was revealed, they're leaving the decisions up to me, Jiraiya and the three main elders. The council only requests that he is punished for his betrayal and does not get off with a clean slate."
"That would be downright unreasonable," Sakura commented dryly to the Hokage, turning to look at him. "It's ironic how he's been running away from us for all these years and now he has returned by choice."
He met her gaze easily, but found it hard to keep it. Her jade eyes studied him critically, taking him in. Her face showed no emotion as she turned away, looking back at the Hokage.
Later that day as he was placed in chakra-infused handcuffs and hauled away, his nose remained in the air. His ex teammates watched him, Naruto more disappointedly than Sakura, who seemed to observe impassively. Arrogance was part of his demeanor now; it was his choice to come back, and he allowed them to take him, and that's what he permitted his teammates to see.
Now, as he sat in the bar, watching the people around him, it annoyed the hell out of him. Most of them had accepted him back, he still had too many fan girls to count, and he was still respected by most shinobi, except those who had grudges against him.
It surprised him to find his pink-haired teammate was one of the people who mainly ignored him completely. It was tonight that she had silently seated herself next to him, which was utterly mystifying. She still hadn't said a word to him, but her closeness was enough.
She was something enigmatic to him. She had obviously grown into a woman. She was beautiful, but that was another thing his damn pride would never allow him to admit. He had been subject to several dreams of children, Uchihas, girls with dark hair and dark eyes, little boys with bright green healing chakra…prodigies.
His prodigies. His and Sakura's.
And it scared him: something he had thought he was incapable of feeling, something that would never happen. He had shut his feelings away in that ninja barrel that had confined him. If he felt nothing aside from hatred for Itachi, Orochimaru couldn't touch him, nothing could, and he would achieve his ultimate goal.
And when he did, and he had looked around him…all he saw was blood shed. He had embraced his sadistic side and enjoyed watching his ice cold brother struggle somehow, aristocratically for oxygen. And once the body had gone stiff, Sasuke had regained his composure and taken in the area of his brother's defeat. Only one member of Team Hebi had survived besides himself, and that was Suigetsu. But he had only survived just barely.
And the first thought that filled his mind was a shady proposal on how to achieve his secondary, now primary, goal. It was like a disease. He hadn't had time to feel anything other than proud of his victory before his tuned mind had started to sketch out a plan of action.
Karin was dead, and finally out of his hair. It was cruel to think, but he had chosen her presence for one reason alone, and she had fulfilled her purpose. Even if she had survived the fight, he never would've chosen her to bear his children- no, he had been clandestinely keeping that position for an old comrade, someone who cared about him for something other than his pretty face.
But he had come to understand that she had transformed into something new, something who didn't feel the same way as she used to, something that resented him.
It pained him to admit that it actually pained him.
But he couldn't deny the pull he had towards the pinkette, she was bright and enticing and terribly funny when she was drunk, but what he could deny was his pull towards Naruto. The blonde boy had accepted him back immediately, showing him that in Naruto's eyes, their friendship had only wavered, never broken. The boy- now man- had shown him something new. He had shown him a feeling of tolerance that he had never encountered before.
And it was odious to realize that he was attracted to the blonde retard. Almost poignant, and Sasuke wasn't someone who liked to feel.
He thought feeling was meaningless, but when it came to those people in Konoha who cared about him, he couldn't push the sensations down. And it was nauseating to think that he was attracted to two people that used to disgust him.
But, you know. His pride would never allow him to admit that.