"How are you doing Noval?"

He looked over at him. "I'm fine sensei." He threw some more senbons as his sensei came to stand beside him.

"I noticed you haven't been talking much to Rukia since the mission." Hattal smiled. "You haven't been talking much to Gorno either but that's not exactly new."

Noval shrugged. "Haven't really had anything to say." He kept throwing senbons at the target.

Hattal simply stood there and watched for a bit. "It's hard isn't it?" He said quietly.

Noval stopped and looked at him. "Sensei?"

"Killing someone," Hattal clarified. "It's a hard thing to end someone's life. To look down at a body and know you did that." He sent his student a considering look. "This was your first time wasn't it?"

Noval looked away and nodded. He felt embarrassed, ashamed, what kind of ninja was he? He focused on the target. "It wasn't a big deal; I did what I had to." From the corner of his eye he could see Hattal-sensei nod.

"Just so you know it's all right that it bothers you." His sensei spoke quietly. "I've known a few who let the guilt drive them to ruin and a few who actually liked it. What you're feeling now is normal and Rukia and Gorno are feeling the same." He paused. "Gorno is actually getting drunk right now; he thinks I don't know, of the three of you I think he took it the hardest."

That got his attention; he looked back over to his sensei. "Gorno took it hard? Are you sure he's not just celebrating? The whole way back all he wanted to talk about was how he did it."

Hattal shook his head. "That's his way of coping. He thinks that's how a ninja should behave and so he acts that way around you two. But right now he's alone in a bar trying to deal with it. Rukia will be ok, and I'm sure you will too in time. I'm a bit worried about what direction Gorno is headed in though. Drinking alone is a bad sign."

"How is he doing that in a bar anyway? He's thirteen!"

Hattal shrugged. "The rules are different for shinobi; there are places in Konoha that will serve you if they see the hitai-ite. He is having a hard time dealing with the reality of what he did. Having someone to talk to would help."

"Well why don't you go?"

Hattal frowned. "I'm his sensei; if he sees me he'll immediately put up his guard and probably think I'm testing him somehow. Besides…" he reached out and took a hold of Noval's hand before he could toss some more senbons. "He's not the only one having trouble with this. Talking about it with someone else who is going through the same thing might help."

Noval looked up at his teacher. He let out a long sigh and put the senbons away. "Does it ever get easier?" He asked in a quiet voice.

"Yes," Hattal answered immediately. "It's like anything else in life, the more you do something the easier it becomes."

Noval frowned at the reply. "I don't like that. I don't like to think it would ever be easy to kill."

"Whether you like it or not Noval the fact remains that if you are a ninja you are going to have to get used to it. You must kill without hesitation or second thought. Otherwise you will not last long in the field, and even worse you'll put your teammates at risk."

"Doesn't it ever bother you sensei?"

"No, I am a ninja and killing is my art. We do what must be done to keep our village safe. Remember always that when you are on a mission you are acting to keep Konoha and all its citizens and shinobi safe. When you kill in the line of duty there is nothing to be ashamed of or regret. It is only when you kill without cause that you have reason for shame."

"So that's it?" Noval had to question it. "So long as we have our orders it's all right?" Hattal nodded. "But what if we question the orders?"

"Then it's time for you to stop being a ninja." Hattal began to walk away from him. "If you're interested Gorno is at the, 'Copper Cellar,' in the east end of town."

XXXXXXXXXX

The three of them were standing in Sasuke's living room. Both he and Kabuto had taken off their masks. He grudgingly had to give the Uchiha some credit. He was calmly standing there and even seemed just a bit annoyed. Not upset by the possibility of all the things that might happen both good and bad. But rather simply annoyed that the expected routine had been upset. Noval suspected that if a traveling salesman had come knocking on his door he would have received the very same reaction.

"You know I never saw the Uchiha compound before it's really very nice. Very roomy, ever think about renting out some of the empty buildings?" Kabuto asked with a happy smile.

Sasuke gave him a frosty glance. "What do you want?"

"Oh, just in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by to say hello." Sasuke made no response at all. Kabuto shook his head wearily. "You know Sasuke I do believe you'll die without a single ounce of humor in your body. My lord Orochimaru has no intention of being denied the sharingan. His greatest wish is to have you returned safely to the Sound village."

"I'm afraid that would be impossible now."

"Oh? Why is that? Do you no longer wish to gain greater power?"

"No you idiot, I've been tagged." He actually lifted his shirt up for a moment to reveal some of the intricate seals. "Along with suppressing my chakra and abilities Jiraiya added a tracking seal. Even if you could get me out of the village Tsunade would send every Chunin and Jonin in Konoha after us and there'd be no way to hide."

Kabuto frowned at the news. "Maybe that was just a bluff…"

Sasuke pointed to two of the seals on his belly. "This one and this one are tracking seals. I did some research in the Uchiha library." He dropped his shirt. "If I thought there were any chance at all I'd go with you. If you tell me you know how to suppress these seals I'll go with you and take my chances." There was actually just a tiny bit of hope in his voice.

But Kabuto shook his head. "I don't know anything about seals. Well this is an unfortunate turn of events. So you really can't come with us?"

"No."

"I see. Listen Sasuke I wanted to ask you about something. You were privy to quite a lot of information while you were Orochimaru-sama's apprentice. Just how much have you shared with Konoha?"

"Everything." Sasuke replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

Kabuto stared at him with an open jaw. "Everything?"

"Everything." Sasuke repeated calmly.

"The location of prison camps, research installations, and military bases?"

"Yes."

"Information about jutsus and other classified research?"

"Yes." Sasuke sounded a bit annoyed.

"Names of agents and their locations?"

Sasuke let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes, what part of, 'everything,' do you not understand?"

Kabuto took one step and viciously backhanded the boy across the face knocking a very surprised Sasuke to the ground. "Watch your smart mouth! Orochimaru isn't here to protect you now and you don't have any of your power anymore! You had best smarten up to your situation." Kabuto took a deep breath to calm himself. Sasuke glared up at the older boy but said nothing. "How did they break you so completely and quickly? What did they use? Torture, sodium pentothal, mind jutsus?"

"They asked me their questions and I answered them." Sasuke got back up to his feet and looked at him defiantly.

"You just answered them without any sort of compulsion at all?" Kabuto made no effort to hide his anger. "You gave away all of Orochimaru-sama's secrets!"

"So? I don't owe Orochimaru anything."

"You deserted Konoha to serve him and you don't feel any loyalty at all?" Noval spoke for the first time.

Sasuke sent him a bored expression. "Orochimaru helped me for his own reasons. Nothing he did was done for my sake. Why would I feel any loyalty for someone who was just using me from the beginning?"

"Well you betrayed Konoha so just who do you have loyalty for?"

"Myself," Sasuke replied. "My loyalty is to myself and to my mission as an avenger. Nothing else matters to me."

Noval felt a wave of contempt. "I see, you're just a complete mercenary huh?"

Sasuke smirked at him. "I notice you still have your Leaf hitai-ite even though you're here with Kabuto." He looked him up and down. "Who are you loyal to?"

XXXXXXXXXX

The Copper Cellar was a dingy little bar on one of Konoha's busiest streets. When he walked in all he could smell was a stale combination of alcohol, sweat, and cigarette smoke. He stayed by the door for a moment to give his eyes a chance to adjust to the gloom. There were no more than six or seven people inside. He had no trouble spotting his teammate. He was sitting on a stool at the bar sipping on a bottle of beer. Quietly approaching he sat down on the next stool.

"Hey."

Gorno looked up at him with bleary and surprised eyes. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Noval shrugged. "I just thought I would say hi and see how you were doing."

"Since when?" Gorno asked with one of his typical belligerent tones.

He frowned. Maybe this had been a mistake after all. He hadn't been here thirty seconds and the guy was already getting on his nerves. "I was thinking we could talk."

"About what?" Gorno asked suspiciously.

"Well… I thought maybe we could talk about what it was like having to kill."

Gorno gave him an arrogant smile. "Oh what? Was it too much for you? I knew you weren't a real ninja. A real ninja doesn't think twice about killing."

"You know what you jerk, forget it." He slid off the stool. "I don't know why I actually thought I could talk to you."

"Yeah, why don't you go run off to Rukia and sob to her for awhile?"

"Maybe I will. She actually listens to me." He began to walk out. As he did he heard Gorno mutter something. He halted and turned back. "What was that?" He asked sharply. He had made an effort only to have Gorno do what he always did, treat him with arrogance and contempt.

Gorno looked down at his beer. "I said if you want to stay I'll buy you a beer." The boy said quietly.

That was a surprise. Gorno actually behaving like a civilized human being was not something he saw often. Despite his better judgment he sat down again. "All right."

The bartender brought him a bottle of the same brand as Gorno was having. He'd never had any alcohol before. He took a very tiny sip, the taste reminded him of rye bread, he didn't much like it.

"So what did you think of killing?" Gorno asked while staring at the half empty bottle in his hand.

"Well, I didn't think about it at the time. I guess I was too scared about myself and Rukia. But since then I've been thinking about it a lot. I killed someone. Yeah, he was a hired thug and he attacked us. But he was a living person and I killed him. I don't know, it kind of scares me the kind of power I have. It scares me to know I can kill people and get away with it. That I can end someone's life and it's all right somehow."

Gorno listened and took a sip of his beer. "I killed nine." His voice was quiet and thoughtful. Nothing like the boisterous shouts and shrieks Noval was used to. "They didn't all die cleanly either. Some of them took awhile. One of them was crying, he was maybe eighteen or so, he sounded like a little boy while he was crying. I didn't try to help him, but I listened."

Without really thinking Noval took another sip. It tasted a little better this time. "I think being a ninja is a hard thing."

"Yeah," Gorno agreed. "I never imagined it would be like this. But even if it's hard I'm not giving up."

"Why'd you want to be a ninja?" Noval took another sip. It occurred to him that he didn't really know his teammate at all. He had no idea what motivated Gorno.

"I wanted a life of adventure. I wanted to travel and do cool things with my life." For just a moment he sounded like an innocent thirteen year old. "What about you?"

"I wanted to protect everyone I cared about. I grew up with the stories about the Yondaime and the heroes of the great ninja wars. I wanted to be like them and to protect everyone, to protect the village and everyone in it."

Gorno smiled. "Well I've heard worse reasons." He lifted his bottle up off the bar. "A toast; to protecting Konoha and everyone in it, no matter what."

Noval lifted his own bottle and clinked it against his teammates. "No matter what."

He stayed there with Gorno for a couple hours and for a couple beers. The two of them talked and got to know each other a bit. They did not become close, they did not become friends. But they at least learned that there were times when they could call a truce and be teammates.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Don't worry about his loyalty." Kabuto cut in. "His loyalty is to the Kage and the village that will treat him the way he deserves."

Sasuke smirked and Gave Noval a knowing look. "Oh I'm sure; Orochimaru always gives his followers what they deserve. But a lot of the time it's not what they expect or want."

Kabuto smiled. "Speaking of which." He moved and struck three blows in quick succession on Sasuke's neck and back. Sasuke immediately collapse to the floor and stayed there unmoving. "Since I can't take you out of here I'll have to move on to plan B." From one of his ouches Kabuto pulled out a scalpel and knelt down beside Sasuke.

"What are you doing?" Noval moved to stand right behind his friend. "I thought the mission was to get Sasuke out of here."

Kabuto nodded. "That was the best case scenario. But unfortunately with those seals that isn't an option now. But the primary goal was never Sasuke, it was the sharingan." He looked down at the conscious but helpless Uchiha. "To bring my lord Orochimaru-sama the sharingan is the task I have been charged with. Orochimaru also ordered me to deny the Leaf village your information, either by taking you or killing you. Now I was planning to kill you and then remove your eyes. But since you've already done so much harm I think I'll reverse the order." Kabuto smiled down into his face.

"You bastard."

Kabuto chuckled. "Are those your last words Sasuke?" Sasuke glared up at him with unrestrained hate.

"Kabuto," Noval said softly. "Are you really going to just cut his eyes out and kill him in cold blood?"

Kabuto looked back over his shoulder frowning. "Noval, you truly are a good guy and I know how much you like walking the straight path. But these are my orders from Orochimaru-sama; you need to understand that once we get to Sound you'll need to obey orders without question. Otherwise you won't survive long even if you are my friend." He turned his attention back to Sasuke and got ready to begin cutting.

But what if we question the orders?

I know about loyalty and friendship, but you must decide if your greatest loyalty is to your friend or your village.

I wanted to protect everyone I cared about… to protect everyone, to protect the village and everyone in it.

And suddenly Noval finally understood what was important and what was not. Deep in his heart he felt a terrible ache. Because he knew what had to happen now.

"I'm sorry."

Before Kabuto could even reply he felt a sharp pain in the base of his neck and shoulder. He dropped the scalpel and tried to get to his feet. His legs failed him and he fell to the floor next to Sasuke. His system was fighting the poison but he was having trouble moving. He could see the senbon sticking half way out as he struggled to get back up to his hands and knees.

Noval was amazed that his sempai was still moving. Normally one red tipped senbon would cause complete paralysis in a handful of seconds. Kabuto must have had a healing ability he'd never even suspected. Noval took a second red tip and jammed it into his friend's shoulder. Kabuto quivered for a moment but then collapsed back to the floor.

Kabuto could barely feel his body beneath the neck. He turned his face towards his friend. "Why?"

Noval took a deep breath to try and keep his voice steady. "Because I finally realized I love my home too much to betray it. My greatest loyalty is to my village and the people of it. I am so sorry Kabuto-sempai." He switched on the radio communicator all ANBU carried. It was already set to the general frequency. "This is Mohichi Noval declaring an emergency. Yakushi Kabuto is in the Uchiha compound main house please send ANBU units as quickly as possible." He shut off the com link, it was done now. In less than one minute there would be ANBU swarming over this place.

Kabuto didn't look at him with hatred or anger, but with understanding and affection. He sent him a grin. "I guess you finally learned how to embrace deception."

He wiped the tears from his eyes. "I am so sorry."

"I know, I really am your friend Noval."

"I know that, and I am yours Kabuto-sempai."

"Then do me one last favor as my friend, please kill me before the ANBU get here."

"No! I could never…"

"Please, I beg you. I have too many secrets and I will not betray Orochimaru-sama, I have my own loyalty. Please Noval, if our friendship ever mattered to you, do this for me now."

He looked at the pleading form of his best friend. He could feel his heart breaking in half and the tears leaking down his face. In each hand he took out three red tipped senbons.

"Forgive me."

Kabuto's smile never wavered. "There's nothing for me to forgive. I should have known you would follow the straight path no matter where it led. I only wish I could have walked it with you." He shut his eyes. "Good bye, and thank you for your friendship."

"Good bye my dearest friend and teacher." He threw the senbons into Kabuto's chest. He watched as his friend's breathing came to a stop.

He fell to his knees and began to cry. The ANBU would be upset with him that he hadn't taken Kabuto prisoner but he didn't care. He'd done what he'd had to, and he'd done what he could for the person he admired.

"Thank you." Sasuke said.

Noval rounded on the boy. "Shut up! I didn't do it for you! I did it for my village! You know what Uchiha? You're pathetic; you really think nothing else is more important than you and what you want? I pity you, a ninja without something greater to believe in and follow is nothing but a simple killer no matter how great his skills. Is that really what you aspired to be?"

Sasuke reacted the way he always did when someone questioned him. "You don't know what I've suffered!"

"Good." He said contemptuously. He looked away from the boy. He could hear the ANBU squads approaching. It was over. And at the thought he looked to the body of Kabuto and shed fresh tears.