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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

"Every time I get it, I throw it away

It's a sign, I get it. I wanna stay

By the time I lose it I'm not afraid

I'm alive but I can surely fake it

How can I believe when this cloud hangs over me?

You're the part of me that I don't wanna see."

Chapter 9

Sasuke took a moment to organize his thoughts. Where was he supposed to start? How much did he want to tell her? How much could he tell her? Sasuke stole a glance at Sakura, her eyes questioning. He sighed and decided it was best to start at the beginning.

"When I was younger," he began. "I wanted to be exactly like Itachi. No, I wanted to be even better than him. He was just so . . . strong, and it always felt like I was five steps behind him. Chuunin at 10, ANBU by 11, and captain at 13. You could see how proud my Otou-san was of him; it was just so hard to keep up. But Itachi always encouraged me to train, to become stronger, to beat him. Itachi was my biggest obstacle," Sasuke looked at the sky. "But he was my idol.

"That's why when I came home after training that day, I couldn't believe it. The Uchiha grounds were the quietest I'd ever heard it. And it didn't take too long for me to find them. Dead. All dead. Everyone," Sasuke paused, his fist involuntarily clenching at the memory. "Except one. At first, I didn't want to believe Itachi would do such a thing—of all people, it couldn't be him. I was adamant about it, and my insistence was what prompted him to use his Mangekyou Sharingan. He showed me everything. I saw every single death; I heard every single scream. And by the end I wanted him to kill me, too. But he didn't. He said I wasn't even worth the effort. Instead, Itachi gave me these specific instructions: hate him, hate him enough to kill him. And then he left." Sasuke paused. "I don't think I have to tell you the rest of my experience in Konoha after that."

"No," Sakura said softly and shook her head. "You don't."

Sasuke continued, "Every choice I made after that night was based on the need to gain enough power to kill the man who took everything from me. And when I thought Konoha couldn't do it anymore, I left. Those years in Sound were the loneliest years I ever spent, but that didn't matter. I could feel my power growing every day, and I was that much closer to exacting my revenge. But I knew Orchimaru didn't care about my goals; he only wanted to use me as his next vessel. So when he couldn't teach me anything more, I killed him. After that, I formed Team Hebi and left Sound to search for Itachi."

Sakura shivered at Sasuke's words. But it wasn't just the words that sent the chills down her spine; it was the way he said them. It was so nonchalant, so calculating.

But whether he noticed her reaction was a mystery to her, wasting no time to continue his story. As Sasuke explained his final encounter with Itachi he relived every kick, every punch, every word. He remembered the momentary sense of relief he felt when he saw Itachi fall to the ground, dead, only for Sasuke to follow suit not a few minutes later. He remembered waking up, not even allowed five minutes to process what had just happened when Madara made his appearance.

Sakura gasped, "Madara? But he's—"

"I know," Sasuke interrupted her, "but it was him. And he told me everything. The things I had been fed as a child suddenly became lies. Itachi never wanted me to know, but Madara told me the truth anyway."

"Truth?"

"Itachi was nothing more than a pawn," Sasuke spat and thought about Itachi's last gesture before he died. A poke on the forehead and a smile. At the time, it seemed so out of place, but now Sasuke could only feel remorse for his fallen brother. "He acted as a spy for the Third Hokage and the elders and discovered that the Uchiha clan was planning to take over Konoha. Danzo couldn't allow such a thing to happen, so he ordered Itachi to eliminate the whole clan. Itachi valued peace in the village more than he valued his clan, his own blood, so he did it."

Sasuke had concluded his tale, but Sakura couldn't believe it. This was so much to process. Itachi was a good guy? For as long as she'd known Sasuke, she had always blamed Itachi for his suffering. Her whole life Itachi had been the worst traitor of them all. But to find out that Itachi was just following an order from the village at the expense of his honor was too much. It seemed impossible. It was so much easier to blame one man than a whole village.

"That's why," Sakura said, putting the pieces together, "you killed Danzo, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"And why you came back to destroy Konoha a second time?"

"Yes."

Sakura looked down, the corners of her mouth turning upwards into a sad smile. "But you didn't."

"No, I didn't."

Sakura nodded her head slowly. Sasuke didn't bother to tell her that he had the full intention of destroying the village. He didn't bother telling her that it was the voice of his dead brother that commanded to him to stop his 'foolish behavior' and stay in Konoha. But he hadn't heard his brother's voice since he woke up in the hospital, so there really was no point. He was still here, wasn't he? Besides, he knew that telling her would only make him sound crazy.

"Your brother," Sakura broke the silence, "he was a brave man."

"I know."

"Is this what you meant," Sakura said, remembering their conversation from what felt like so long ago, "when you said you were trying to understand what Itachi saw in Konoha?"

Sasuke sighed, "Yes."

"Well," she asked carefully, "do you?"

Sasuke thought about it. Although he initially didn't want to stay for longer than a few months, there was no reason for him to leave. And if one were to arise, then what? He had been in Konoha for almost four months, and he'd be lying if he said he finally understood why Itachi did what he did. But Sasuke knew there was something there; he could feel it. He looked at Sakura. Konoha didn't feel so strange to him anymore. "I think I'm starting to."

He wasn't lying; his words were genuine. And Sakura's solemn expression disappeared, replaced with a smile. She remembered how Sasuke rubbed his hand over her back only a few moments before, and she decided to return the gesture—only this time she took his hand in hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Thank you for sharing that with me, Sasuke-kun."

She almost expected Sasuke to take his hand back, but was pleasantly surprised when instead, he gave a small squeeze back. And for the rest of the night, they stayed like that, hand in hand, looking at the stars, waiting for tomorrow.

"What do you know of the pain I've felt?"

"Just because it's not the same pain doesn't mean it doesn't hurt just as much."

The following morning Sakura rose early to walk to the Hokage's office to give Tsunade a debriefing of her last mission. But as she made her way through the streets of the village Sakura couldn't help but yawn, even as various citizens greeted her. She was more tired than usual on account of the previous night's meeting with Sasuke. It was the most they'd ever said to each other in one sitting, especially on Sasuke's part.

Even though she was exhausted, Sakura couldn't help but smile. Ever since she and Sasuke reconciled, she hoped that one day he would feel comfortable enough to confide in her. She never wanted to force him into talking—she tried that when she was twelve and that went so well—so she patiently waited. If he never said anything to her, she told herself, she'd be okay, as long as he knew that she'd always be there if he ever needed her. And last night, it finally happened.

Granted, it took her a broken arm and a rehashing of her first experience losing a patient, but that was okay. He trusted her enough to tell her about his past, and that was enough.

In ten minutes, Sakura was finally in front of Tsunade's office. Unsure whether or not Tsunade was in the middle of a meeting, she knocked on the door three times, but no one answered. Sakura knocked again, and still nothing. Placing her ear on the door, she listened for any sign that she may be interrupting something important.

It sounded quiet enough, so Sakura slowly turned the doorknob and entered the office only to find Tsunade asleep on her desk of sprawled paperwork, a bottle of sake not too far away. Sakura smiled and shook her head before she went over to the mini fridge by the wall, ignoring the other bottles of sake and taking out a water bottle. After finding the aspirin in one of Tsunade's desk drawers, Sakura felt prepared enough to wake up the Hokage.

"Tsunade-sama," Sakura said softly as she gently shook her mentor. "It's 8:30; I think it's time for you to wake up now."

A soft groan escaped from the sleeping Hokage.

Sakura shook her a little harder. "Uh, Tsunade-sama!"

"Go . . . away . . . "

"But you told me to come see you when I was out of the hospital."

"Ugh," Tsunade finally lifted her head of the table and rubbed her temples. She looked over to the bottle of water and aspirin left by Sakura, took two pills, and thanked her. "Alright, I'm awake. Let's talk about your past mission."

"Hai, Tsumade-sama!"

"How are you dealing with your injuries?"

Sakura looked at her arm and said proudly, "It's just a broken arm. It should heal in no time. And soon, I'll be back to training."

"And Yuuto?"

"Still in the hospital. He should be released in a week or so."

"Good," Tsunade wrote a few notes in a folder. "Now tell me about whatever information you gathered during your mission, and then we can talk about Shou and the ambush."

Sakura took a deep breath and began to recount all the details of the mission: the espionage, the ambush, and Shou's death. Although the pain was still fresh, Sakura kept her composure as Tsunade scribbled all the details in the file.

After Sakura was finished, Tsunade closed the folder and filed it away. "Thank you, Sakura. That is all I need. You are dismissed," Tsunade said and went back to the paperwork left all over her desk. However, she noticed that Sakura hadn't moved from her spot. Tsunade raised her brow. "Unless there something else you want to tell me?"

She hesitated—what if this was a mistake? What if Tsunade didn't know? What would this mean for Sasuke? More questions swirled in her mind before she decided to just let it out. "Actually Tsunade-sama, it's more of a question. I was told something that was very . . . interesting, and I wanted to ask you to confirm its veracity."

"O-kay," Tsunade said slowly and squinted her eyes, her suspicion growing, "what is it?"

Sakura began to tell Tsunade everything that Sasuke told her. It felt weird coming out of her mouth, but the more she told her, the more it sounded like the truth. Sakura ended her speech by explaining that it was because of this that Sasuke killed Danzo and attacked Konoha. Whether or not Tsunade knew of this, Sakura felt that this was an important detail to add to her query.

"Hm, that is interesting," Tsunade finally said, amused. "And Sasuke told you all of this?"

She nodded slowly. "Even more interesting," Tsunade said to herself. Sakura looked at her questioningly, but she brushed her off. "Well, I can tell you, Sakura, that everything Sasuke told you is fact. I had found the file a while back that confirms it."

"So Itachi wasn't a traitor!"

"No, he wasn't."

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed in frustration. "But his name will forever be disgraced by the village because they don't know what really happened. He's not a traitor! He's a hero! It's not—It's not fair."

"What do you expect me to do?" Tsunade agreed with Sakura, but she had a village to think about. "I can't just reveal the truth to the village like that. Can you imagine what would happen? People would lose their faith in the government. It might even incite more clans to plan their own rebellions."

"I know that," Sakura said, defeated. It wasn't like she had her own solution. "I just wish—I don't know. I just wish it didn't have to be like this."

"Maybe the village isn't ready to learn this now," Tsunade said soberly, "but one day it will be. One day Konoha will realize Itachi's sacrifice, but unfortunately, that day isn't today. The only thing we can do now is try to prevent anything like this from ever happening again. It has caused too much pain and suffering. There are better ways to attain peace, and that is my goal as Hokage."

There wasn't much left to be said after that. But Sakura saw the passion in Tsunade's eyes and was immediately reassured. As long as Konoha had leaders like her—and hopefully, Naruto one day—the future of the village seemed bright. Sakura finally bid a farewell to her mentor and left her to her duties. However, before she made her way back to her apartment, Sakura made detour to the memorial stone. Even before she reached it, she knew Kakashi would be there.

"Good morning, Sakura," he greeted her.

"Good morning, Kakashi-sensei."

"I thought I told you—"

"And I thought I told you that you will always be my sensei."

Even though he wore a mask, Sakura could see the shadow of a small smile form on his lips. They were silent after that, leaving each other to their privacy. Sakura looked at the newly added name and traced the letters of her fallen teammate, etched clearly on the black stone.

Song: Forget It – Breaking Benjamin

All right, that is the end of Chapter 9 for you! I think this was kind of like a filler/transition chapter because I think it really sets up for what I'm planning next chapter. So be excited for the next update. But that aside, I hope you still enjoyed this chapter!

Don't forget to review! Thanks!

GhostofYou