Can't wait for feedback on this chapter and the next. Now, here we go, chapter fifty three, please read, enjoy and review.

Sasuke shot up in the bed he was lying in, beads of sweat rolling down his face, he frantically looked around, trying to figure out where he was. He was in a small room, with grey walls, and the Uchiha symbol on one of them, in front of the bed he lie in, were two sleeping men. One was, Jiraiya, one of the the legendary Sannin, and the second one Sasuke recognized, he just didn't know his name. He took a few deep breaths, trying to figure out exactly what happened, he remembered fighting Naruto, then, after he was knocked around for a bit, things became fuzzy afterwards, all he could remember after things became fuzzy, was what Naruto had said before he lost complete consciousness. "Just stop it! Why can't you see it Sasuke, we're like, no, we are Brothers!"

Those words were still ringing in his ears, they sent a chill down his spine, but they also made him feel...content. Sasuke wouldn't deny that he wanted his family back, he wanted a family. But most of all, he longed for the companionship Brotherhood brought. He had a relationship like this once, with his big brother, Itachi, but that was a long time ago, before he betrayed the entire Uchiha clan. Sasuke shook his head of these thoughts, whether he had just woken up from a dream, or it was a vision, or he was just going crazy, he had chosen, and he was going to live with his choice.

He had no clue what it was, but he could remember the whole thing, vividly.

"I have to...choose...one...or the other?"

The small four year old Sasuke, and the sixteen year old, second stage curse mark Sasuke, spoke in unison, "Yes!"

The one in the middle, still a bit confused about what was going on, spoke once again, "And what exactly does that mean?"

The two other Sasuke's spoke in utter unison, once more, "You must decide, how you want to spend the rest of your life."

The four year old Sasuke, then began speaking on his own, "You can choose me, your compassion, and live a life dedicated to making a family, and protecting them."

Images of what appeared to be, a possible outcome from choosing compassion, then began flashing before Sasuke's eyes.


Sasuke sat in a stool at Ichiraku's Ramen stand, Naruto sitting beside him, and them both, devouring their meal.


Sasuke stood at the altar, in a fancy tux, waiting as his soon-to-be-Bride, was walking down the aisle. Naruto stood behind him, also wearing a tux, for he was the best man.


Sasuke had his arm around his Wife, posing for a picture, his two kids, who resembled him quite a bit, standing in front of them. Naruto standing beside Sasuke, his arm around his Wife as well, while his other hand, hid behind Sasuke's head, and he did the old bunny ears trick, as they all posed for what looked like a picture.


Sasuke shook his head, as the three images disappeared from his view, he suddenly felt light headed. The sixteen year old Sasuke, who was in the second stage of the curse mark, then spoke by himself, "Or, you can choose me, your hatred, and live a life dedicated to revenge, and power."

Images of what appeared to be, a possible outcome from choosing hatred, then began flashing before Sasuke's eyes.


Sasuke stood over Naruto's lifeless body, a smug smirk on his face, as Hinata cried over his dead body.


Sasuke stood several feet away from Itachi, a sword in his hand, they were standing in the middle of the Hidden Leaf Village, ready to begin their battle.


Sasuke stood in the middle of a desecrated Village, that used to be the Hidden Leaf. He held Itachi's severed head within his right hand, blood gushing from his body, where his head used to be, that lie limply on the ground, a few feet away. But his body wasn't the only one, there were dead bodies everywhere, some burned down to the bone, some had bled out from loss of limbs, and others had just been in the way of a jutsu. Sasuke had the most smug looking smirk on his face, blood lust in his eyes, he had enjoyed every minute of it.


As the images came and gone, Sasuke felt extremely woozy, he thought the other images had an effect on him, but these, were...horrendous. They made his stomach turn in disgust. He took several deep breaths, he was still unsure about what was going on, all he knew, was that this was serious. The other two Sasuke's that stood to the middle Sasuke's right and left, spoke in unison once more, "No more procrastinating, you must choose, now!"

Sasuke's vision became unfocused, his head began hurting severely, and the shouts made it worse. His head just kept increasing in pain, it felt like it was going to explode, so he finally screamed out, 'Okay, okay, I get it! I'll choose! Compassion, I choose to live my life with compassion, and give up my hatred! Just stop it, leave me alone, it hurts so fucking much!"

That's when Sasuke had snapped awake. Sasuke slowly got off the bed and stood up, his legs felt numb, but he would walk anyway, he was shirtless, and his pants were torn up as well, first of all he needed a change of clothes. He walked over to the closet within the room, and began changing, he changed into, ironically, a pair of grey sweatpants and plain blue shirt. After he was changed, he glanced at the full body mirror to his right, and he noticed something, or rather the lack of something. He quickly got closer to the mirror, and tilted his head to the side, examining where his curse mark, used to be. "It's gone, I am no longer under Orochimaru's curse mark of heaven. That could only mean one thing, Naruto actually did it, he killed Orochimaru. And he beat me, back to back, while he was injured..."

Sasuke couldn't help but sigh in exhaustion, "How did he become so strong? Why is he so much stronger then me damn it? I did everything I thought I could, perhaps I made the wrong choice going to Orochimaru..."

"Just stop it! Why can't you see it Sasuke, we're like, no, we are Brothers!"

Sasuke sighed once more, this time in defeat, "No, I did make the wrong choice when I decided to go to Orochimaru. I should have been there to help Naruto, when he was exiled. To think, of everyone, only Hinata came to help him, he desperately needed a friend then, but I wasn't there for him."

Sasuke, was thinking aloud, but he had no intention of stopping, he was silent for several seconds, before he came up with his resolve. "But, I'll make it up to him. I will, be there, for him. Like a Friend, no, a Brother should. I can't believe I'm saying all this, but at least everything is clear to me now."

Sasuke sighed once more, and made his way out of the room. When he was in the hallway, there was no doubt in his mind, he was in the Uchiha hideout. His head began spinning, he had never actually been here before, it was the most well kept secret, of the Uchiha clan. So how had Naruto and the others found it? He quickly sprinted down the hallway, almost tripping over his numb legs, and checked around, it seemed mostly empty. So that meant, Itachi probably wasn't here. Sasuke was unsure of what would have happened if he was. He then slowly began checking room after room, looking for Naruto.

He would question why they were here, and how they had found the Uchiha hideout, later. For now, he was going to find his, Blonde, knucklehead, dweeb of a brother. Soon, he found the room he was looking for, and came inside. What he saw was, Naruto and Hinata snuggling, in their sleep. That's when Sasuke realized, something was going on between the two. Not wanting to wake Naruto or Hinata, since they deserved some sleep, he pulled up a chair, and sat down, waiting for them to wake up.

A few hours later, Hinata began to stir, she was surely waking up. After a few seconds, her eyes fluttered open, the first thing she saw, was of course, Naruto, who lay right in front of her. She smiled, and snuggled up closer to him, just enjoying where she was. But then she heard someone clear their throat, she quickly looked towards the front of the room, where Sasuke sat, in a chair, staring at her and Naruto. At first she wasn't sure how to react, but she quickly got to her feet, in a fighting stance. Sasuke put his hands up, trying to show her he meant no harm, "Hey, wait, I mean no harm to You, or Naruto. I just came to talk, with Naruto, in private."

Hinata had been trained to tell if a person was lying or not and how to read their intentions, by Itachi, but Sasuke had acted emotionless for a long time, which impaired her ability to read his intentions, or even if he was telling the truth or not. But now, she could see, he was speaking the truth, the way he was acting, it was slightly reminiscent of the younger Sasuke, the one who seemed to care for Naruto, at one point or another. Hinata stood from her battle position, and switched to a neutral position, but, just in case, she still had her guard up, she was watching Sasuke, carefully. But several minutes past, and he just sat there, doing nothing but staring at Hinata and Naruto, occasionally looking around the room, focusing intently, on whatever Uchiha symbol he could find.

But soon, rapid footsteps could be heard from outside the room, and the door came flying open, Jiraiya and Brandon burst in, frantic looks on their faces, as they spoke in unison, "Sasuke's gone! We need to hide Naruto!"

Hinata quickly brought her index finger to her lips, and made a hushing sound, "Shh! Be quite, or you'll wake him up!"

Jiraiya kept his lips closed after that, at least for a few seconds, she didn't seem to happy. But Brandon, Brandon began to sweat, he knew what Hinata was like when someone tried to disturb Naruto when he slept well, it wasn't pretty. She didn't intend to let anyone wake her Naruto up, when he was sleeping so soundly. He had a lot of nightmares, and it was good to see him sleep peacefully every once in a while. Which wasn't very often either, in fact, in was so sacred to Hinata, that the last time Brandon had tried to wake him up, he was scared she was gonna bite him. To Him, she looked like a vicious guard dog when Naruto was sleeping soundly, one he was actually slightly frightened of.

"And actually..."

That snapped them out of it, Jiraiya and Brandon quickly looked to their left, following the familiar voice, until their eyes fell upon Sasuke, in some new clothes, sitting in a chair, finishing his statement, "I'm right here."

Jiraiya and Brandon looked as if they were going to say something, but Sasuke raised his hand, as if blocking himself from them. "Save me the dramatics, and just leave me alone. I'm not moving from this spot, until Naruto wakes up."

Hinata sighed, she had asked them to be quiet, and it looked as they weren't going to do it, but she still hoped they would.

Brandon and Jiraiya then, actually managed to speak, in unison, even, "And what exactly do you plan to do, when he wakes up, huh?"

"I don't intend to fight him, if that's what your concerned about. But beyond that point, it's between Me and Him."

Hinata felt her right eye twitch, as she quietly asked, "Didn't I tell you three to be quiet?"

Jiraiya and Brandon were about to say something else, but before they could Hinata shushed them once more, "You guys are being too loud! And so help me god, if one of you wakes Naruto up, I will castrate you!"

When her Byakugan flared to life, it made the threat all to real for the three in front of her. Jiraiya began to sweat, just as Brandon, both of them had looks of slight fright on their faces. Sasuke's left eyebrow was quirked, as if he didn't believe what was happening before him, but he could see, all to clearly, she wasn't kidding, and kept his mouth shut. Jiraiya and Brandon looked as if they were trying to calm Hinata down, but before they could speak, Hinata, her gaze all too focused on them, her Byakugan making her look slightly scary, and combine that with her tone, what she said next, had Jiraiya and Brandon out of the room, in two seconds flat, "I said, be quiet. Your not, being quiet. Get. Out. Now."

As Jiraiya and Brandon left, Sasuke sighed, which caused Hinata to lock her gaze onto him, almost causing him to flinch. Her Byakugan deactivated, and she quickly left, heading for the bathroom, wanting a shower. Sasuke sighed once more, as Hinata was gone, he couldn't help but think, "Being with Naruto has changed her, a lot. I'm not sure if I can get used to this kinda thing, but I guess I'll give it a shot. If it doesn't work out, then I'll just have to accept Naruto as the only one I can hang around with. Because he probably hasn't changed very much, at least I don't think he would. But considering everything, anything is possible. I guess, I'll just have to wait and see, I'll find out soon enough, when he wakes up, and I talk to him."