Hanging by a Moment
Chapter Twelve: Interrogation Techniques

Friendship must never be buried under the weight of misunderstanding. (Sri Chinmoy)

Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget. (G. Randolf)

We all lose friends . . . we lose them in death, to distance and over time. But even though they may be lost, hope is not. The key is to keep them in your heart, and when the time is right, you can pick up the friendship right where you left off. Even the lost find their way home when you leave the light on. (Amy Marie Walz)


Hogwarts School
December 22nd
1:41 AM

Dumbledore's office was surprisingly empty when Naruto and Severus arrived. Naruto looked around uncertainly, frowning when he saw that the only other person there was McGonagall, who looked anxious and worried. She still hadn't changed out of her costume. Naruto turned to Dumbledore, who was also dressed in finery.

"I suppose it's finally time for the great reveal, huh?" he said, trying not to sound bitter. They needed to know. It didn't matter how much Naruto wanted to keep these secrets to himself.

"If you would sit, Naruto," Dumbledore said kindly, ignoring Naruto's snipe. Naruto was half-glad, half-irritated. He slouched heavily in his comfortable armchair. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Severus disdained the armchair and instead chose to lean against the wall. Naruto wasn't surprised.

McGonagall stepped forward, her mouth pinched and her eyes suspicious. "What is this all about, Albus?" she asked, looking at Naruto in confusion. "Why is Mr. Uzumaki here?" Her eyes darted to Naruto, as if checking to make sure she hadn't revealed too much.

Naruto sat up straight in surprise. "You haven't told any of the other teachers?" he asked, wondering at Dumbledore's actions. He hadn't thought the entire staff would know, but he'd seen how much Dumbledore liked and trusted McGonagall, and he thought Dumbledore would've told her, at the very least. But it seemed not.

Dumbledore looked unruffled. "She knows, Mr. Uzumaki. They all do now." He looked at Naruto. "I announced to the school that you are a shinobi."

Naruto felt a brief moment of panic, brought on from years of being taught to keep as much in the shadows as possible, but he quickly squashed it. He turned to McGonagall instead. "Why are you protesting me being here then?" he asked in confusion.

McGonagall regarded him with narrow eyes and a pursed mouth. Naruto read all he need to know in her face. She didn't trust him. He guessed he couldn't blame her after the night's attack. He sighed heavily.

"I'm your friend, Professor," he said wearily. McGonagall's lips pursed. "Those people that attacked this school—" Naruto shook his head. "I know them. But at the moment, they're my enemies just as much as they are yours."

"Forgive me, Mr. Uzumaki," McGonagall said steadily, an icy edge to her voice, "but students have died tonight because of your people. It is not something I can easily forgive." Her voice broke on the word died.

Naruto's heart tightened and he leaned forward unsteadily. "How many?" he asked in a raspy voice. "Who died?"

McGonagall turned away. It was Dumbledore who answered, his voice sorrowful. "Ten students died, and many more are injured. The fire did most of it, but there were a few students who were killed by the other members of the infiltration team while they moved to attack the teachers." Dumbledore's face was full of pain and he sighed heavily. "I have already sent letters to their parents. I sent letters to all of the parents actually, to inform them of what happened tonight, and to let them know why their children won't be coming home tonight." He met Naruto's eyes. "It is a sad business."

Naruto's heart hurt. Ten people—no, ten children, dead because he had failed in getting Sasuke to stop, because he hadn't been able to stop Sasuke from leaving and joining that bastard. If he had just managed to knock Sasuke out that day at the valley, if he had managed to talk Sasuke out of attacking him tonight—

But Naruto couldn't think like that. He'd go insane.

"I'm so sorry," he said, his voice thick with emotion. I'm sorry I'm not good enough, I'm sorry I can never stop him. He wished he could say it out loud, but the words clogged up in his throat, unable to be let out.

Dumbledore nodded. "I know you are," he said, "but we need to know what's going on, Naruto. I have allowed you to keep what secrets you want until now, but I can't do it any longer. Students have died." He met Naruto's eyes squarely. "That boy, the one leading the attack – it seemed as if you knew him better than as a random enemy."

Naruto tensed. Sasuke was still such a huge, tender bruise in his heart that just thinking about him hurt, and trying to talk about him out loud was nearly impossible. Naruto bit his lip, wishing he could just run. But he couldn't, not now. People were dead because of him and Sasuke. He couldn't just walk away.

"His name is Uchiha Sasuke – Sasuke Uchiha in your language," Naruto said shakily. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Severus sit up sharply, and he knew that Severus recognized the name Uchiha. "He's my age and probably one of the best shinobi I know. At the moment, he is my enemy. But for a time, when we were children—he was the best friend I ever had."

Silence reigned the room.

"That man—" McGonagall said with disbelief, "you were friends with him?"

Naruto closed his eyes. "We grew up in the same village," he said slowly. "We were in the same age group—we went to the Academy together." He opened his eyes and looked at Dumbledore. He didn't want to see Severus' or McGonagall's expressions. "Shinobi form teams of four after they graduate – Sasuke was on my team."

"Obviously something changed," Severus said, heavy sarcasm in his tone. Naruto flinched.

"Yeah," he said. "Orochimaru happened."

Dumbledore frowned. "Orochimaru?"

Naruto smiled bitterly. "Orochimaru is like the Voldemort of my world," he said. "He's an evil psychopath who wants to destroy my village—hell, he wants to destroy all of the villages, as far as I can see." Naruto shook his head. "It looks like he's moving his sights outward if he's banding together with Moldy Shorts."

"You think he's allied with Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked with alarm.

"Impossible," Severus said, though Naruto could hear a ring of doubt in his voice. "If there had been such a large alliance, I would've heard about it—"

"Not necessarily," Naruto said, turning to meet Severus' eyes for the first time since they'd entered the room. He flinched back at the coldness in them and immediately turned back to Dumbledore. "Voldemort probably didn't tell many people about this, especially since he was planning such a large invasion."

"This is worrying, Severus," Dumbledore said. "If what Naruto says is true, then it is possible that Voldemort is losing trust in you."

"That is, if it's true," Severus snapped. "I still have no proof that it is."

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Sasuke is Orochimaru's student," he bit out. He heard McGonagall gasp and saw Severus stiffen. "That's what happened to him – he went to Orochimaru for more power. If Sasuke's here, I would bet my life that Orochimaru has made an alliance with Voldemort. More than that, the shinobi that were with him – did they have the tattoo of a music note somewhere on them? Or a headband with the same symbol?"

Dumbledore exchanged a look with McGonagall and nodded slowly. Naruto let out a long breath. "Orochimaru is the leader of a village called Oto. In your language, it means sound. Their symbol is a music note." He turned toward Severus, ignoring the coldness in his eyes. "Enough proof for you?"

Severus' mouth narrowed into a thin line.

"Why form an alliance?" McGonagall said, sounding puzzled. "If this Orochimaru is as powerful as you say, why does he want to fight in a war that doesn't concern him?"

Naruto smiled bitterly. "Orochimaru wants to gain control of the Elemental Countries, sure—but his first goal is to destroy Konoha, my home. It's where he grew up and he's bitter that they didn't make him the leader of it when he became an adult, instead passing him over for an orphaned man from a bastard clan. He hates Konoha, but right now we're more powerful than him. That's why he wants Voldemort. He wants his army." Naruto closed his eyes, heart tight at the images racing behind his eyelids—images of the war that would come, of the shinobi that he'd grown up with dying at the hands of magic-users. "He wants an extra weapon in his belt—magic."

"Ah," Dumbledore said, and Naruto knew that he understood exactly how Orochimaru worked—for Voldemort worked in a very similar way. The invasion had been a risk. Voldemort had put his entire secret weapon on the line because he wanted Dumbledore dead. Naruto sighed. Revenge blinded people, and it made their hearts bitter.

"Can he win with the shinobi?" McGonagall asked in a half-whisper, looking horrified. "Is he that much more powerful now?"

Naruto frowned. "I don't know how many shinobi he has," he said honestly, "but it's possible. What we need to do now is prepare for him."

"While it's fascinating to hear you try and order us around," Severus said, "I do believe that there are some other questions you need to answer."

Naruto turned to meet Severus' eyes. "What else do you want to know?" he asked, tension in his voice.

"Tell me about Kyuubi."

Naruto froze. He remembered only vaguely meeting Kyuubi in that dark cell of his consciousness and instructing him hysterically to make sure that no one else interrogated Sasuke, that they left the task to him and him alone. He hadn't been sure if Kyuubi would give his message or not – his memory of his time there was hazy. But it seemed he had. And it seemed like he'd told Severus more than just a simple message.

"What about him?" Naruto asked, trying at nonchalance.

"What is he, Naruto?" Dumbledore asked, looking sympathetic. "Why are you hosting his spirit?"

Naruto bit his lip. "What do you know about hosting?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "I have learned some during research, but not enough to boast a complete knowledge on the subject. Severus?"

"I know only what Voldemort and the Dark Arts have taught me," Severus said, his eyes still fixed on Naruto.

Naruto sighed. "Kyuubi is a demon," he said, "and I mean that literally. His full name is Kyuubi no Kitsune – roughly translated to the Fox of Nine Tails. He's one of the most powerful demons in the Elemental Countries. The reason he's sealed in me is that he attacked my village and, seeing no other way, the leader of my village sealed him into my body so that he could be stopped. I've been his host ever since. They call my kind jinchuuriki."

Silence reigned supreme again. Naruto was beginning to sense a theme.

"You're hosting a demon in your body?" McGonagall asked, looking skeptical. "How is that even possible? How are you still sane?"

Naruto frowned and then stood. Carefully, he removed the loose white shirt that Promphrey must have put him in.

"No need to strip, Uzumaki," Severus sniped from his corner of the room.

"Guess I'll save it for when we're alone, Severus," Naruto snapped back.

He heard McGonagall gasp, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Instead, he brought his hands in front of his bare torso and focused his mind. He could always feel the seal – in the same way that he could always feel Kyuubi, who was a constant tickle at the back of his mind. He hadn't been aware of them when he was younger, before the—incident that increased his knowledge of Kyuubi and the seal, but now he was always sensitive to them.

He heard McGonagall gasp and Dumbledore murmur and he knew from the way that the hairs on the back of his neck began to rise that Severus was staring intently. He opened his eyes and looked down at his stomach, where the seal tattoo was glowing against his skin.

"This is the seal," Naruto said quietly. "It is the strongest of its kind and nearly unbreakable. It keeps Kyuubi locked away deep in my mind, but it lets me use his chakra and communicate with him when I need to." Naruto smiled sadly. "It's been called a work of art by those who've seen it."

"I can see why," Dumbledore said, his eyes drinking in the seal greedily. Naruto saw a thirst for knowledge behind those eyes and his smile turned a little happier. Dumbledore really did remind of him of Sandaime. It was almost uncanny. "It's marvelous."

"I agree," Naruto said quietly. He looked at McGonagall, who looked narrow-eyed and thoughtful. "The seal is what makes it possible for me to house Kyuubi and stay sane." Carefully, Naruto let the chakra build-up drain away harmlessly. The seal faded from sight and Naruto replaced his shirt, sitting back down. "Any more questions?"

"How can he communicate through you?" Severus asked immediately. "How did you heal so quickly?" Naruto sighed.

"Kyuubi heals me," he said tiredly. "Demons heal amazingly fast, and usually most of my wounds fade quickly unless they're serious. As for how he can communicate through me . . . It only happens when I'm extremely emotional or allow him to. I allowed him to because I didn't want any of you to attempt to interrogate Sasuke."

"Why not?" McGonagall asked sharply. "We already have an Auror team here – they've been chomping at the bit to question him. Do you think we can't handle him?" She sounded scornful of Naruto's doubt in them.

Naruto shook his head. "It's not that," he said truthfully. "But I know Sasuke. I've been getting under his skin for a little over ten years now – I can manage him better than even your best Aurors can." He met McGonagall's eyes squarely. "I understand your lack of trust, Professor, but this is really a job only I can do."

"You're very arrogant, Uzumaki," Severus said. "You two have been estranged for how long?" Naruto didn't say anything. "How do you know that you even can get under his skin anymore?"

Naruto thought about last night, about what he had read in Sasuke's face. Sasuke had been gone for years, had been doing things that Naruto didn't dare think about, and was now allied with two evil lords bent on conquering all, but deep down there was the boy who had been sitting on that dock, alone and thoughtful. That boy didn't disappear – he'd been buried, just as Naruto had buried his seven-year-old self – the self that still learned to get revenge on the villagers who'd hated him. While Naruto would never wish to resurrect that part of himself, he was self-aware enough to realize that it was entirely possible for someone to pull that anger out of him, if they knew him well. He would apply that same technique to Sasuke. Naruto knew Sasuke. Not just because they'd been teammates – but because, in the end, Naruto knew what Sasuke had gone through and understood it intimately because of his own experiences.

Naruto turned and looked at Severus, his face calm. "I know him. I can handle him. It's not arrogance, it's confidence." He looked at Severus' dark eyes. "No one will be able to get to him, Severus. And we need to know what he knows. I need to do this."

Severus' face revealed nothing, and he didn't open his mouth to speak his unreadable thoughts. But Naruto thought that he might've seen something soften in Severus' expression.

"Alright," Dumbledore said, and Naruto tore his gaze away from Severus to look at him. "You have one chance to get him to talk to you, Naruto. If he doesn't, we let the Aurors take over." He peered at Naruto over half-moon glasses. "Understood?"

Naruto bowed his head, knowing that everything rested on his ability to read Sasuke. "Yes," he said, already determined to succeed.


Hogwarts School
December 22nd
3:02 AM

Sasuke was awake when Naruto came back to the Hospital Wing.

He was sitting up in his bed, staring out of the window. Naruto stopped in the doorway, struck by how much this Sasuke looked like his Sasuke – the Sasuke of the days of Team 7, when laughter was okay every once in a while and revenge could be tempered by friendship. He's not that Sasuke anymore, Naruto reminded himself. His heart still ached.

Then Sasuke turned and met Naruto's eyes. His eyes were very dark and blank, revealing nothing. Naruto took a shuddery breath and took a step forward.

"Sasuke," he said, proud of his even tone.

Sasuke didn't greet him. Instead, he turned his eyes onto Severus, who had followed Naruto into the room. One of Dumbledore's stipulations to allowing Naruto to interrogate Sasuke was to allow someone to sit in with them, and Naruto had instantly chosen Severus, if only because he knew that was going to have to explain his relationship with Sasuke at some point to Severus, and it would be easier to do if Severus had already seen how they interacted.

Naruto sat down at a spare chair next to Sasuke's bed. He looked around and noticed that the Hospital Wing was emptier than it had been before. More students had been healed and sent to their dormitories to await their parents with the other students. He gave Severus a look.

"Do wizards have any spells for privacy?" he asked quietly. Severus nodded sharply and began casting. Naruto turned back to Sasuke, who was watching him with those dead, black eyes.

After a moment, Severus said, "You may speak freely." He pocketed his wand and leaned against the nearby bed, sharp eyes taking in everything.

Naruto took a deep breath. "Why did Voldemort send you here tonight?" he asked.

Sasuke didn't answer. He just kept watching Naruto. Naruto felt uncommonly flustered by that steady look.

"Sasuke," he said, inwardly cursing the way his voice broke over Sasuke's name. "Tell me why you're here. There has to be a reason. Something that Voldemort wanted done."

Sasuke just stared at him some more. Naruto cured and stood up, pacing by Sasuke's bedside. There had to be something he could say to get through. Sasuke couldn't be lost to him forever. Think, Naruto. Slowly, an idea occurred to him. Naruto didn't like it – he never liked underhanded things – but it might get Sasuke to react. He turned on his heel and faced Sasuke.

"I saw Itachi last month," he declared and, just as he'd thought, Sasuke leaned forward in interest before he could stop himself, his mouth narrowing into an angry line at the mention of his brother. Naruto smirked, casting as much smugness as he could into his attitude. "He tried to take me again, but he didn't ask about you. Does it hurt to know that your brother doesn't give a damn about you?" Inwardly, Naruto winced at his cruelty. He didn't let the weakness show on the outside. "Does it hurt to know that you can chase after him as much as you want, but he'll never show that he even knows you're after him?"

Sasuke's eyes were narrow. "Shut. Up," he said.

Naruto smirked. "I don't think so," he said. He leaned forward so he was inches away from Sasuke's face. "Itachi doesn't care about you, Sasuke. He never did. You can chase after him your whole life, you can even kill him – but you'll always be the brother he forgot."

"Shut. Up." Sasuke's hand came up in a flash and wrapped around Naruto's neck. Naruto didn't show any fear. His smirk widened instead.

"What're you going to do, Sasuke?" he asked softly, digging under the crack he'd made in Sasuke's shell. "Kill me?" His smile turned sharp. "You tried that already, remember? And you failed." Sasuke's hand tightened around his throat, but Naruto didn't stop talking. "Besides, killing me won't change anything. But you knew that already, didn't you, Sasuke? It won't change your clan's murder, it won't change how much Itachi ignores you and it won't change how much you've fucked your life up." Naruto took a gasp of air and half-whispered, "It won't change a thing."

"Don't pretend you don't care, dobe," Sasuke said suddenly. "You don't want to die."

"No," Naruto gasped, "I don't. But I know you won't kill me." He met Sasuke's eyes calmly. "Or are you going to be prove me wrong?"

For a moment, Naruto thought Sasuke would do it. He could feel his hand tightening, and Naruto's vision went black at the edges. But then the hand released him and he could breathe again. Naruto sucked in the air hungrily and rubbed at his throat. Sasuke was staring at him.

"I won't tell you anything," he said sternly.

Naruto smiled. "Yes you will," he said calmly, re-taking his seat. He leaned forward. "How about you start with why Voldemort sent you here."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Why even ask?" he asked archly. "You're ANBU, dobe. Surely you've figured it out by now." He smirked. "Or are you still an usuratonkachi?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Teme," he said, and for a moment he felt a huge sense of déjà vu. He shook it away. "I know you were here for an assassination that much is obvious. The question is who."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Not. Telling. You," he said clearly.

Naruto spread his arms with frustration. "Why not?" he asked. "What oath do you have with Voldemort? With Orochimaru? You're better than both of them, so why do you follow them? Why do you keep their secrets?"

Sasuke frowned. "You know why," he said sharply.

Naruto growled at him. "There were other ways, Sasuke," he said roughly. "There's always another way."

Sasuke's face turned angry. "There was no other way," he spat. "This is the only way."

Naruto stood again and whirled around, unable to look at Sasuke. Instead he met Severus' eyes, which were narrow and thoughtful. Naruto wondered, for a brief moment, what Severus thought of him and Sasuke, but he didn't take the time to examine that thought. Instead he turned again, unwilling to keep his back to Sasuke for very long.

"Who did Voldemort send you to kill?" he asked, keeping his voice soft. Sasuke turned away from him. "Sasuke!" Naruto cried, taking Sasuke by the shoulder and forcing him to look Naruto in the eye. "Tell me."

"No," Sasuke said evenly. "You already know, dobe, unless you're stupider than I think you are."

"Of course I already know," Naruto said harshly. "But I want to hear you say it."

Sasuke met his eyes coolly. "You can't break me, dobe. No matter how long I'm here, I won't give you anything."

Naruto's heart felt heavy and sore. "Why do you do this Sasuke?" he asked softly, his hand still clasped tightly on Sasuke's shoulder. "We were friends. I would've died for you."

Sasuke's jaw clenched. "You don't get it, dobe. You'll never get it, because you've never had a family."

Naruto leaned forward until he was nearly nose to nose with Sasuke. "And you'll never understand me because you were never hated from birth," he said, soft and dangerous. Sasuke's eyes were lighter up close – almost a charcoal grey, instead of black. "Sasuke, I may not understand what it's like to lose family, but I understand loss and I understand grief, better even than my twelve-year-old self did. The one thing I know is that getting revenge on the people that caused that pain – it never helps. The pain may soften and in time you may forget it, but it never goes away." Naruto leaned back. "And even if revenge is the right way to go about this . . . Is this really the way you want to do it?"

"Dobe," Sasuke said warningly, but Naruto ignored him.

"You'll be Orochimaru's puppet. Don't fool yourself Sasuke – he's using you, just as much as you're using him. Only he's had more practice and he's still more powerful than you. Do you think he'll ever let you go? No. He's your puppet-master. If you destroy Itachi like that, you won't really have destroyed him. Orochimaru will be the one that did all the work, his hand will be the hand that killed Itachi, not yours. In the end, you won't be satisfied, because you'll know that you didn't do it yourself."

Naruto leaned back, breathing heavily. That speech had taken a lot of him. Sasuke was staring at him, his eyes narrow and thoughtful. For a moment, Naruto felt a moment of hope. Maybe he had gotten through to him, shown him that there were other ways—

"Your babble has just gotten more pointless since we last saw each other, dobe," Sasuke said, his sneer sharp and hurtful. Naruto's heart shuddered and for a moment he felt like crying.

"You're lost to me forever, aren't you?" he asked softly. "The Sasuke that smirked at my jokes, who trained with me, the Sasuke who fought beside me, the one I considered my best friend—he's gone, isn't he? And he's never coming back. You won't let him." Naruto stared at Sasuke's painfully familiar face, the face that was unfamiliarly blank and dark. His eyes were dry, but he could feel the build-up of tears behind them.

"Go, dobe. This interview is over," Sasuke said.

Naruto's heart ached. "Did it ever mean anything to you, Sasuke?" he asked, standing, staring down at the man who used to be his friend. "Do you ever regret leaving? Do you miss us?" Do you miss me?

Sasuke just turned away. With a lump in his throat, Naruto turned away, hiding his face from Severus' frank stare. He hurried to the door, just wanting to get away, to leave, when Sasuke's voice stopped him—

"Hn," he said, so soft that Naruto nearly couldn't hear it.

Naruto's heart tightened. He'd learned a long time ago to differentiate between Sasuke's yes hns and his no hns and that had most definitely been a yes hn. For a moment, he considered turning back and trying again. But then he remembered Sasuke's blank face and his words and he rushed out of the door, Severus at his back.


Hogwarts School
December 22nd
4:05 AM

All Severus really wanted to know was what the fuck was going on.

He slammed his portrait door behind him, knowing that he'd get hell from Salazar tomorrow about it, but not caring. All of his attention was focused on the blond slumped on his couch who looked like he'd just had heart stampeded on and then torn in two and set on fire. Naruto wasn't crying, not yet, but he looked about two harsh words away from it. Severus bit his tongue.

Naruto looked up at the slamming door. "Severus," he said wearily, trying to gather himself together. Severus frowned and stepped forward until he was standing at the end of the couch.

"That was him, wasn't it? Your best friend—the one you couldn't talk about," he said quietly.

Naruto laughed. It was a humorless sound. "Yes," he said quietly. "That was him."

Severus considered it. "He's a traitor and a jackass," he said. Naruto started and then smiled. His smile was as humorless as his laugh.

"Yeah, he kinda is," he said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. Severus sat down across from him.

"What did he do?" he asked. "What made him do it?"

It had been hard to contain his curiosity when he'd been listening to their conversation. There had been so many points where he'd wanted to interrupt and question them on what the hell they were talking about. But the whole conversation had felt strangely intimate, and Severus didn't feel that it was his right to cut in, for some reason.

Naruto opened his eyes. "His entire family was murdered," he said softly, almost emotionlessly. "They were killed by his older brother, Itachi." Severus raised an eyebrow. That was a rather gruesome back-story. "Itachi left him alive because he wanted Sasuke to become an avenger." Naruto shook his head. "Sometimes I think Itachi's insane. Other times . . . well, other times it seems like he's a person who's had to deal with a shitload and has come out of it all worse for wear. Some days I think Sasuke is the only person he cares about anymore." Naruto shook his head. "And other days, I swear he'd love to kill him."

"So what you said in there, about this Itachi not caring—it wasn't true?" Severus asked curiously. It certainly had sounded true.

Naruto shook his head. "Not entirely. Itachi and Sasuke have a complicated relationship." He paused for a moment, then added, "Itachi was the perfect son, the perfect soldier, the perfect everything. Sasuke has always been chasing after him. Being told that Itachi doesn't care about him is worse than knowing that Itachi hates him."

Severus frowned and felt an unexpected spike of sympathy for Uchiha. He shoved it down immediately. The brat had tried to kill not only him, but also Naruto and Albus, the two people that he actually gave a damn about, and it seemed to Severus that he'd also done quite a bit in the past to hurt Naruto. He didn't deserve any sympathy, even if his relationship with his brother was particularly twisted.

"Sasuke wants to kill Itachi," Naruto continued. "He has ever since his clan was murdered. Everything he's done since he was eight years old has been for the goal of killing Itachi. When we became teammates, he said his goal was to kill a certain someone." Naruto chuckled humorlessly. "We had no idea how deep his need for revenge ran."

"We?" Severus interrupted curiously.

"My teammates and I," Naruto said quietly. "Sakura was the third member of our team, and we were led by an older shinobi named Kakashi. All three of us—well. Sakura and I had very little information about Sasuke's revenge or why he wanted it, but we didn't think that he needed it so much. Even Kakashi didn't think he did, and he knew much more than we did."

"When we were twelve, Orochimaru launched a mission against our village. He infiltrated it, all for the purpose of giving Sasuke the option to join him."

"Why would he want a twelve-year-old?" Severus asked, nonplussed. Even a twelve-year-old shinobi was still a twelve-year-old.

Naruto tensed. "Sasuke has a rare power," he said slowly. "It's called the Sharingan. It's an eye technique – it gives him the ability to copy other techniques, the ability to immediately memorize everything he sees . . . and a host of other things, once he develops it further. The Sharingan is what made the Uchiha clan so deadly, and their power gave Konoha power. Orochimaru wanted that power for himself, and since Itachi was out of the running and Sasuke was vulnerable to offers of power . . . ."

"He decided to take the chance," Severus finished. "This eye technique, is there any block for it?"

"There are ways to stop it from copying techniques, but for the advanced techniques, only a strong mind can stop it." Naruto shook his head. "Like I said, it's a deadly bloodline. Sasuke can be nearly unstoppable with it."

"Why didn't he use it last night then?" Severus demanded. "Would it have defeated you?"

Naruto smiled bitterly. "Probably," he said. "But Sasuke chose Chidori because he wanted to remind me of something." Naruto paused for a long time, staring into the fire.

"What?" Severus prodded, too curious to even try and restrain himself.

Naruto looked up at him. "He wanted to remind me that he'd nearly killed me once before and he can always do it again," he said softly. "He wanted to remind me that our fights usually ended with him winning, and that I should keep that in mind when trying to defeat him."

Severus stared at him. "He's almost killed you before?" he asked in a low voice.

Naruto smiled sadly. "Let me finish my story," he said. "It comes later." He turned his gaze back to the fire. "Sasuke accepted Orochimaru's offer, obviously. He wanted more power more quickly so he could kill Itachi. He left the village, but our leader sent a team to try and bring him back. I was among them."

"The people who were guarding Sasuke fought my teammates until I was the only one left to follow Sasuke, who was also on his own. We met at a valley – it was a valley that friends turned enemies had fought before. Poetic, huh?" Naruto laughed humorlessly. "I asked him to come back and he refused, so I told him that I'd break his legs and drag him back home."

"Pleasant," Severus said dryly. Naruto smiled a little.

"I was a lot ruder when I was younger," he said.

"That's hard to imagine," Severus said.

Naruto laughed. Severus was pleased that it didn't sound as broken as his previous laughter had. "Yeah, I guess it is," he said. He sobered again. "So, Sasuke and I fought. We were pretty evenly matched, but Sasuke was a genius and he'd always been better than me. Eventually he got me by the throat and he—" Naruto broke off, sounding choked up. Severus' hand twitched and he resisted the urge to put it on Naruto's shoulder. "He shoved a Chidori – the technique he used last night – into my chest, straight into my heart."

Severus felt a surge of anger. What kind of child had Sasuke Uchiha been, to try and kill someone like Naruto, who had likely been as bumbling and kind as a child as he was as a young adult. No doubt Naruto had given Uchiha all sorts of chances that Uchiha had just turned around and stabbed him in the back like that. Severus' fists clenched.

As if sensing his emotions, Naruto looked over at him and smiled sadly. "Don't be mad at him, Severus," he said. "Sasuke—well, he was going through a lot back then."

"That doesn't give him an excuse to try and kill his best friend," Severus said, soft and dangerous.

Naruto shook his head. "He wasn't really doing it because he was angry or hurt, although those were reasons," he said. "He was doing it because he'd been told that if he killed his best friend, his Sharingan would advance to one of the highest levels it has, making him that much more powerful."

"He tried to kill you for power?" Severus asked incredulously. "That just makes it worse."

Naruto shook his head. "I can understand why he did it," he said. He paused, then asked, "Do you have family, Severus?"

Severus froze, struck by the unexpected question. "Do you mean blood relatives?" he asked quietly.

Naruto didn't look at him. "Yes," he said.

"They died when I was a teenager," Severus said quietly.

"Would you do anything for them?" Naruto asked. "If they were murdered, wouldn't you want to avenge them?"

"My father, no," Severus said without thinking. Then he paused and said, "My mother—yes, for my mother I would." He already had.

"Sasuke's entire family had been murdered," Naruto said, all intensity. "Think about how you felt about your mother and multiply it tenfold. Sasuke would have done anything to get revenge on Itachi. I've never—never had a family, so I don't really know that feels. But when I think about anyone killing Sakura or Kakashi or any of my friends that I consider family—" Naruto broke off, looking miserable. "Maybe I wouldn't have done it the same way Sasuke did, but if anyone hurt or killed someone I loved, I would've gotten revenge. So I can't condemn Sasuke for what he did to me, because who's to say I wouldn't have done it to him, if the situations were reversed?"

"You wouldn't have," Severus said firmly, before he could stop himself. Naruto turned to look at him with wide eyes. "I don't know Uchiha, but I can tell you right now that you wouldn't have hurt him like he hurt you."

"I did tonight," Naruto said.

Severus shook his head. "Uchiha woke up after a few hours of being unconscious and he was perfectly alright. If you had been aiming to kill him, I'd have to assume that he'd still be in a coma now and close to death." Severus raised an eyebrow. "Or are you that bad of a shinobi?"

Naruto glared at him. "You don't know what I've done, Severus," he said. "You can't know that I wouldn't have done the same thing to him."

"I know the important things," Severus said seriously. "I don't need to know more than that to know you wouldn't have gone that far." Naruto turned away from him sharply. Severus eyed the tense line of his body and sighed. "Why are you still alive, if he was trying to kill you?" he asked wearily.

Naruto didn't answer for so long that Severus thought he wasn't going to. Then he said, "He decided not to."

Severus was startled. "He chose not to kill you?" he asked with surprise.

Naruto turned to look at him, his eyes bright. "He left me there to go to Orochimaru, but he chose not to kill me. I still don't know why he left me alive, but I can guess." Naruto sighed. "Itachi did the same thing to his best friend, when they were children. Sasuke didn't want to become him."

"So he didn't leave you alive because you were his best friend and he couldn't kill you because of that," Severus said flatly. "He left you alive because he didn't want to become his brother." He sneered. "What a good friend."

Naruto flung himself to his feet. "I know you don't like him!" he said sharply. "But whatever you think, there is good in Sasuke. There always was. It was just buried deep down, underneath the revenge and the grief."

"I know those two emotions, Naruto," Severus said, glaring. "They take you over. Trying to get the goodness underneath it is impossible."

Naruto froze. Then, slowly, he turned to face Severus. Severus flinched back from the sympathy in his face. "Is that what happened to you?" he asked.

Severus' glare deepened. Slowly, he got to his feet. "I think that's enough conversation for tonight," he said.

"Severus—" Naruto said, looking troubled.

"It is nearly five o'clock in the morning, Naruto," Severus said haughtily. "I do believe it is time for sleep."

"Severus, I'm sorry—" Naruto tried, grabbing Severus' arm.

"Good night, Naruto," Severus said sharply, taking his arm back and sweeping past Naruto, leaving him looking forlorn next to the fire.


Hogwarts School
December 23rd
5:34 AM

Sasuke stared out of the window as dawn slowly approached. He frowned when he thought of the tantrum Voldemort would throw when the morning paper came and there was no announcement of Dumbledore's death – and then the one he'd thrown when he received the news that Sasuke and his team had yet to return.

Sasuke turned away from the window. The colors yellow and orange always seemed to remind him of a certain someone – someone he didn't really wanted to be reminded of at the moment. He didn't want to think about Uzumaki and the things he'd said. He didn't want to feel anything that their conversation had made him feel. He shoved those thoughts down. He couldn't afford to think about Uzumaki. He had to think about his escape instead.

He was confined to the bed by some sort of spell. Sasuke could feel it buzzing over his skin. He'd activated the Sharingan and had seen shimmering lines over the bed, forming a sort of dome around him. He couldn't go farther than a foot from his bed without running into an invisible wall. It made escape that much harder, because not only was Sasuke still recovering his strength, but he also didn't know what technique to use to try and break that invisible wall down.

Sasuke settled into his bed and stared at the wall, his mind running at its full speed to try and solve this problem. He didn't even notice the door opening until he heard footsteps approaching him. Sasuke tensed and looked up.

He blinked in surprise when he saw a witch standing over him. She looked vaguely familiar. Sasuke searched his memory and remembered that she had been standing next to Dumbledore, defending him from the attacks of his teammates. She was a tall, thin woman with hair pulled back severely in a bun. Sasuke didn't think he'd heard anyone say her name.

She had a wand in her hand. Sasuke tensed further and prepared himself for whatever spell she was going to cast on him. To his surprise, she didn't point it at him, but at the air above his head. She muttered a few words and the buzzing feeling on his skin disappeared. Sasuke immediately was on his feet. Where before he couldn't go further than a foot, he now could go as far away from the bed as he wished.

"Why?" he asked the witch. She had seemed quite loyal the night before. Why would she go against Dumbledore now?

"I am being controlled by another," the witch said in a crisp voice. "These actions are not my own."

Sasuke blinked and then stared closer at her. Her eyes were glassy and unfocused. Sasuke had seen that on other people's faces when Voldemort used a curse that controlled their actions. He thought the name was Imperious.

Well. That explained quite a bit.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked. Another thought occurred to him. "How can you hear me?"

"I am nearby," the witch said. "But we cannot meet yet."

"How are you in the castle?" Sasuke said, glancing around the seemingly quiet Hospital Wing. "No wizards supporting Voldemort can enter here."

"There's a loophole," the witch said, an unnatural smirk lifting her lips.

Sasuke stood straight up in attention. "What is it?" he asked.

"Figure it out," the witch said. "Now, you must go. They'll realize the ward has been disabled in a few minutes."

"My teammates," Sasuke said.

"They're at the Ministry, where I can't reach them," the witch said. "If you want them back, you'll have to rescue them yourself."

"I won't need to," Sasuke said, thinking of the poison pills they'd all placed somewhere on their person where they wouldn't be taken. It was likely they were already dead, or would be soon. They knew what a risk being captured would be.

The witch didn't show any understanding, but Sasuke heard it in her voice when she said, "I see. No matter, you must go."

Sasuke started towards the window, then stopped. "Do you have a name that I can give to Voldemort?"

"You call him by his name alone?" the witch asked, sounding amused. Sasuke didn't respond, only stared at her. "Never mind. Just tell him he has a friend in the shadows here at Hogwarts." Then, suddenly, the witch's body crumpled to the ground. Sasuke stared at her body for a moment, frowning. Then he sighed and turned back to the window, disappearing in a flash.


Hogwarts School
December 22nd
6:00 AM

Naruto woke up blearily with Severus looming over him. He scrambled back into his covers, startled by Severus' sudden appearance.

"Why are you looming over my bed like a pervert?" he demanded, his voice thick with sleep. Naruto heard a chuckle to his left and turned to see several wizards and witches dressed in purple robes staring at him. He thought the one that had laughed was the witch with the bright pink hair. She looked like the sort of person who would laugh at that.

Severus, however, didn't look amused. "Uchiha has escaped," he said.

Naruto's good mood disappeared.


Author's Note: Yey, another cliffhanger~ Sorry this one took so long, but real life hasn't been giving me much time lately. I'll try to update once more before November, but during November I probably won't update at all due to NaNoWriMo. Sorry! Please leave a review!