Naruto's Apartment

Sasuke and Naruto were making out on his couch when suddenly Naruto pulled away.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked. He wasn't exactly used to people rejecting him.

"I was thinking…maybe tonight we could…. you know, talk and get to know each other better?"

"So you don't want to have sex?"

"No! it's not like that! It's just you always leave right after and we never talk…. Maybe tonight we can talk and then have sex?"

Sasuke thought about it. Naruto was acting strange. He wasn't as aggressive sexually and that made Sasuke thinking he was brooding over questions he couldn't answer. But, there was no way they were going to have sex if he didn't talk so he agreed.

"OK."

"OK, I'll start first."

Sasuke had already studied Naruto's background and probably knew more than the blonde himself, but he let him talk.

"During recess at the academy I would always sit on the bench myself. I didn't know about the Fox, all I knew was that everyone around me hated me. If they weren't trying to pick on me they'd stay as far away as possible, while still staring. It was like I was surrounded by people but I was completely alone…. Can you imagine how that felt?"

"…"

"Sasuke?"

"Yeah. I can definitely imagine."

"I know now that they weren't bad people, that they were just scared because I literally had a demon inside of me. I was dangerous. All I ever wanted was to be noticed, in a good way, you know. Like, if I was the Hokage, everyone would have to notice me and respect me. No one would try to hurt me or say mean things because I would've proved to everybody that I was the strongest, and the bravest person they ever knew."

"Why are you telling me this?" Sasuke deadpanned. He had a hard time believing that Naruto suddenly just wanted to open up to him. 'It has to be some kind trap. He's trying to make me feel for him so I won't kill him.'

"Because I really like you and I want you to know me, and for me to know you."

'So he wants Akatsuki secrets then? If he wants to know me then he'll have no problem not being told a single thing about the organization. Let's see how far I get before his temper starts up again.'

"Well, I guess it's my turn then…Where do I start?"

"I don't know when you were born, what's your birthday, how were your parents before…you know-"

"Before my brother killed them?" When Naruto didn't reply, he continued.

"I was born July 23. Yes, I am a Leo. Yes, I know what that means. Then Itachi killed my family and I left with him to the Akatsuki."

"So you chose to leave?"

"What was I gonna stay for? My entire family was rotting in the street the only person left was leaving, what would you have done? Stay in a village that hates your entire existence? Starve in an orphanage or get abused in foster home? There was nothing here for me but pain…so excuse me if I thought there was only one option."

"…. So, do you like it there?"

"It's better than the alternative. For a group of criminals, they're actually some…OK guys. Everyone is pretty much looking out for themselves, which means they're too busy to bother me."

"So do you go out with them and…like kill people?"

"Itachi wouldn't allow it."

"Why?"

"He didn't bring me with him to become an evil killing machine, he just didn't want me to stay here where I might be killed by people over my last name."

"People in Konoha aren't that bad."

"Oh yeah they were so understanding and nice to you."

"…I guess you got a point there."

Sasuke could tell Naruto was deep in thought. He was probably doubting himself and the lies he'd been raised on in Konoha. He decided to leave and let him think, he had some thinking to do himself. After a quick kiss, Sasuke went to the outskirts of Konoha to find Shun.

When Shun opened his door, he was completely surprised to see Sasuke standing there, but that was overshadowed by his excitement.

"Sasuke! Come in, come in, sit down. Can I get you something? Snack, soda, water?" Not waiting for an answer, He frantically moved around the kitchen to grab all three.

This was his first time having Sasuke in his house in years and he wanted him to be comfortable. He didn't want him to run away again.

"Shun, can you just sit down. I didn't come over here to be pampered. "

"Of course, I'm sorry." His anxiety painfully obvious.

Once he sat down Sasuke leaned on him, startling him, but he enjoyed the contact.

Sasuke didn't know exactly why he came. Talking to Naruto actually made him feel lonely. He'd been so emotional lately. It was like going to Konoha sparked all these memories he hadn't thought about in years. He thought if he could drown in psychical pleasures it would keep him grounded. Now he's feeling emotions when he'd rather feel nothing at all.

"Sasuke…I need to say something."

"You don't have to-"

"Yes I do…. Sasuke, I am SO sorry…. I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect you."

"It wasn't your job to protect me."

"But, I made it my job and I failed."

"…" Sasuke decided to let him speak.

"I couldn't keep him away from you. I don't blame myself for Fugaku, I blame myself for Shisui. The more I tried to help you the worse it got. I didn't realize that until it was too late. And then the whole pedophile thing made everyone hypervigilant, I tried so hard to get back to you. I just wasn't good enough…. six years of not knowing if you were dead or alive, not knowing where you were, if you needed me. And this isn't me using you as retribution for the atrocities I've committed, nothing will bring them back…. I let you down and I am so sorry. I'm so sorry."

Sasuke sat in silence as Shun cried into his shoulder. He didn't know how to respond. He wanted to say something that would make him feel better, but he had no idea what to do or say. His mind was racing with memories, thoughts, and emotions he hadn't felt since he was broken. Yet, he couldn't say that, it would hurt Shun more.

"He can't know."

"What." Shun looked up in confusion as he wiped his face.

"Itachi doesn't know anything, he can't know anything."

"You never told him? That explains why he still thinks I'm a pedophile. But, Sasuke, how could not have told him? How did you manage to hide this for six years?"

"The Akatsuki knows a little and they keep him in the dark. As long as they can use my abilities, they won't tell him."

"Don't they ever wonder where those abilities came from?"

"I'm sure they do and just don't to ask."

"That's why you don't talk about the past, to keep him from asking the difficult questions."

"I have difficult questions I want to ask too, but I don't want to know the answers to them."

"About Shisui?"

"About everyone…After we left, for two years, Shisui still haunted me…every time I was alone, in my bed at night, he would stand over me…smirking with his left eye…a constant reminder of my torment. It wasn't until Itachi started watching me sleep that I felt safe…. But if he ever finds out the truth of what I really am…"

"He'll love you no matter what-"

"You didn't see him. The night he walked in on me killing his parents, the shock…and then the hatred. I hid my shame and used the sharingan to make him think he killed them…He hates me…he just doesn't remember."

"…Even if he does, I'll still be here. There's nothing you can say or do, that'll run me away. I've seen your worst."

"There are things about me even you don't know."

"Tell me, I can take it."

"I can't tell you what I don't know."

They sat in silence for a few hours until they fell asleep on the couch.

"AAAAHHH!" the five-year-old child screamed as he thrashed around widely on his bed. Fugaku was trying his best to hold him down and wake him up. It seemed like these night terrors were coming more frequently every week. Whatever was attacking Sasuke in his dreams was relentless. It had gotten so bad that he would forcibly sedate him to make him sleep, but that didn't stop the screams.

The next morning, Sasuke sat in the corner of his room. He trembled as his eyes darted around the room in fear of being attacked from any direction. Fugaku couldn't get him to move, he wouldn't eat, sleep, as worst of all he wouldn't go to school.

"I'm so sick of covering for him." Mikoto yelled. "I can't leave the house for fear of running into Iruka and asking who watching Sasuke? I'm not staying in this house all day so that thing you call your son can waste my time. He's probably got crazy genes that are making him loose his damn mind!"

"Will you calm down. I'll handle it." Fugaku said.

"You've already "handled" It, now it's time to call someone who actually knows what they're doing!"

"He's unstable! We can't just call a doctor; they'll take him away!"

"Well you better think of something."

Sasuke heard all this from his room. He felt terrible for causing this much trouble. He climbed out his window. Maybe being outside his room would stop his hallucinations. While walking, he came near an open field where some older kids were hanging out. They saw him and immediately recognized him.

"Hey isn't that the Fugaku-same's son?"

"That's not Itachi."

"No it's the one nobody care's about."

Sasuke barely dodged a shuriken that was thrown at his head. He turned around to run back home, but the boys followed him. He got to the outer wall of the compound and tried to climb it, but was forcibly pulled down and thrown onto the ground. He didn't try to beg for clemency, he knew it wouldn't work. One of the kids picked a brick and threw it at his head. He screamed and cried as the other kids laughed.

'why are they being so mean to me?! Why does everybody hate me?! What did I do?' he cried but was silenced by a punch in his mouth. The kids closed in on him as the one that hit him held him down. He closed his eyes and screamed. When nothing happened, he opened them, only to scream again when he saw the carnage. The kids were dead. Each of them were disemboweled with their guts ripped out and thrown across the ground. One kid was trying to get over the wall and it appeared that only half of him did. Another looked as if he was strangled by another kid's intestine, while the one that punched him had one of the bricks shoved down his throat. Sasuke tried to stand to run but slipped and fell, that was when he realized that he was covered in blood too.

He looked at himself and looked at the kids and could only wonder if he did this. He didn't remember but nothing else made sense. He frantically looked around to see if anyone was around and climbed the wall to his backyard. As he walked through the yard he saw his reflection in the lake and froze. He couldn't move, he could only stare the monster in the water. That wasn't him, it couldn't be. He didn't know how long he'd been standing there but eventually Fugaku ran outside and grabbed him. He hastily cleaned the boy and buried the clothes. He said something to Sasuke about him never leaving the compound but he couldn't register much. He was just put back in his bed. He laid there for three days, he heard yelling but no one ever came into his room. On the fourth day, Shisui came in.