Flashback - Begin
Kabuto just stood there trapped in Itachi's Izanami. Itachi invaded Kabuto's mind once again to retrieve the hand signs that would end the Edo Tensei. He called them out as he performed them with Kabuto following in near perfect unison under Itachi's ocular direction. All Sasuke could do was watch and tremble. He knew that this was going to be good-bye forever to his brother.
A slight glow started to emanate from Itachi and Sasuke knew the moment he dreaded was imminent. He was thankful that he was given this second chance to talk to Itachi, but sometimes even second chances have to end.
"Sasuke, I am now going to share with you what really happened that day," said Itachi. "As well as a few other things you need to know."
In an instant, Sasuke was watching Itachi and Tobi murder all the Uchiha clan members. He saw the moment Itachi attacked his parents – it wasn't a surprise at all…in fact, they had seen it coming and even talked with Itachi beforehand. Itachi was in tears as he ran both their mother and father through with a sword.
Sasuke also saw that the Uchiha coup d'etat was a real threat to Konoha as well. That was not a made-up story to ease his thirst for revenge….and it had not been blown out of proportion by any means.
Flashback - End
Naruto and Sakura sat speechless as they heard the story right from Sasuke's mouth. Everything that they had heard and assumed had turned out to be true.
"Oh Sasuke…," Sakura muttered. "I'm…so sorry."
Sasuke didn't reply at first to Sakura. "I don't need your pity," he finally said more under his breath than anything.
"What?" yelled Naruto. "Don't you dare say that to her. She feels bad for all you've had to go through. Y'know we aren't exactly sure how we should act around you either. If you don't like what she said, just let it slide off your back. You don't exactly have many friends left by your side so you should make more of an effort to keep those that you do have."
"It's ok, Naruto," said Sakura, cutting in. She turned back to Sasuke. "I-I hate to ask, but I'm still a little unclear. So what about the story you just told makes you come back to our side again? W-was it the coup d'etat that your clan was planning? Was it justification enough for you to forgive the Leaf for their order to attack your clan?"
"I will never forgive the Leaf for the order…," said Sasuke.
"Then why…?" started Sakura.
"Would you mind…," Sasuke started by interrupting Sakura. "Can you leave? I would like to talk to Naruto for a minute. Alone."
"Um, ok," said Sakura. She didn't quite know how to take that request, but thought it best under the circumstances not to push the matter. She got up from her seat on the bed and quietly left the room. Naruto noticed that Sakura's face looked a little stunned when she left.
"Sasuke, what can you tell me but you can't tell her?" asked Naruto.
"I want to get the whole story off my chest," said Sasuke. "I just don't think I'm ready to tell her yet. I know what I'm saying doesn't make sense to you guys."
"So why did you come back then?" asked Naruto. "Seriously…why?"
"In that final genjutsu that Itachi performed on me, he asked me to ponder several questions. He showed me a few more things as well," said Sasuke.
Sasuke paused to collect his thoughts. Naruto could only see that Sasuke had stopped talking so he prodded him on. "What? What did he show you that made you come back?"
"I-I could almost feel him, Naruto. His thoughts and feelings and why he did the things he did. What he thought he would miss out on because of the life he chose. He wanted a family. He wanted to grow old. He loved me so much...and he wanted to protect me," said Sasuke. "He was a proud Uchiha and despite the plans for an uprising, he wanted the name and the clan protected. And I went and spent the next 6 years destroying that name again. Perhaps…perhaps I can make amends. Perhaps I can live my life as he wanted to live his."
"Well, you are correct. The name 'Uchiha' isn't exactly a welcome name anywhere anymore," added Naruto.
"I know why Itachi did what he had to do. To be honest, I am just happy that I didn't have to make the decision that he was forced to because I don't know what I would have decided if I had been in his shoes. I do blame those who gave the order in the first place, however, two of them are already dead. Only two survive. I want to see what can be done about the two elders who are alive. But I want to do it officially," said Sasuke.
"Fair enough," said Naruto. "What they did was not illegal, but definitely immoral."
"I still want to talk with the Hokage about it," said Sasuke. "It is the last issue I have with the Leaf and what happened."
"You sure are being surprisingly calm and collected about all of this…as if you had thought about this for a while," noted Naruto.
"Actually, it's quite the opposite. You have no idea how much effort it takes for me to be civil these days," said Sasuke. "If not for Itachi…."
"What else did he show you?" asked Naruto. "Wait…you said he asked you questions?"
"He asked me what I intended to do with my future. About what I would do even if the Leaf were destroyed. He asked me about the Uchiha name and my opinion about how my choices would affect the clan – or lack thereof – in the future. He showed me glimpses of our classmates and our sensei's and asked me what they did to bring about the massacre of the Uchiha. He asked me if I ever considered them my friends and if I'd rather go back to having a normal life. He re-emphasized that he did not want what I was doing – and again asked who exactly I was doing it for."
"Oh, is that all," said Naruto under his breath.
"Finally, he showed me a few flashbacks of you and what you said about me. How you never gave up on me and how you considered me a brother. He asked me to justify why I wanted to cause you harm," said Sasuke.
"And?" asked Naruto.
"I couldn't justify it. That's just it. I knew the answer to everything he asked me to think about. I don't like the life I've led these past six years. I've been led about and manipulated by others most of this time anyway. Sure, I've become strong – but every time I held a grudge and made a decision, it ended up being the wrong one for the wrong reason," said Sasuke. "Like I said, I'm tired. I just want to go back to what we had before."
"I'm not sure we can ever go all the way back, Sasuke. Too much has happened," said Naruto.
"That is true," agreed Sasuke. "But at least I can change the path on which I move forward."
"So just so I'm completely clear….you would like to come back to Konoha, right?" Naruto asked.
"If Konoha will have me," said Sasuke.
"Aaand those are the words I needed to hear," said Naruto, getting up from his chair and making his way to the door.
"Naruto, where are you going?" Sasuke asked.
"Sakura and I have a plan to bring you back," he said and winked. "You may not see us for a few days, but don't worry about it. It'll be fine...trust me."
OlOlOlOlOlO
"So are you going to tell me what he said?" asked Sakura as the two shinobi flew through the trees on their way back to Konoha.
"No," said Naruto.
"Baka!" shouted Sakura. She took something out of her pouch and threw it at him.
"Hey!" he shouted back, deflecting whatever it was that she threw at him with his forearm.
"I didn't throw a kunai or anything deadly," said Sakura, thus thinking it was still alright to throw a tantrum since Naruto wasn't telling her any details.
"I'm sure he'll open up to you eventually, Sakura. He seems a little…oh, I don't know…vulnerable right now. He's made some big decisions and changes in a very short period of time and I don't think he's willing to open up to just anyone yet," explained Naruto.
"But why you?" she asked.
"I have no idea. Perhaps it was because Itachi said something about me," said Naruto.
"He did?" she exclaimed back still desperately wanting to know what was said.
"Can you just drop it for now?" he said. "Just focus on the fact that he is on our side again and he does want to come back to Konoha. We need to go see Kakashi and Tsunade about this, just like we planned."
"Oh, alright," said Sakura.
OlOlOlOlOlO
After two days of constant and furious travel with very little sleep, the two shinobi finally made it to the front gate of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The gate was open and one shinobi sat at the desk by the gate waiting to check on everyone who entered or left the village. Naruto made his way towards the desk.
The shinobi at the desk knew who these two were and immediately filled out their names on a chart as was regulation. At the end of the shift, the paper would be collected and analyzed for any intel that it might provide including any village with high numbers of visitors, any names that might stick out as significant or wanted, or any messages that might need to be sent to the higher ups in the village.
Naruto turned to Sakura as they neared the desk. "I'm exhaused," he said.
"Me, too," she replied.
When he reached the desk, he saw that the shinobi sitting down was a genin and looked to be only about 13 years old.
"Hey, I need to get a message to the Hokage," said Naruto matter-of-factly. "Can you tell her that Naruto Uzumake and Sakura Haruno are back and need to meet with her at 8pm tonight?"
That should give us enough time to get a few hours of sleep and take a shower before seeing her, he thought to himself.
"Naruto, I thought I was going to meet with Lady Tsunade and you were going to meet with Kakashi," noted Sakura.
"I was thinking it would be better to have them both in one room together," said Naruto. "So the four of us can figure it out together."
"So how will you contact Kakashi?" asked Sakura.
"Oh, he'll be there when he hears that we're back and requesting an audience with Granny," said Naruto.
That's true, Sakura noted to herself. He knows everything that is going on in the village.
"Um, I'm not sure I should send your message...," started the genin behind the desk meekly. After all, this was the Hokage they were talking about.
"What?" said Naruto. "Do you not know who I am?" Naruto was going a bit overboard, as usual.
"Are you here with someone of a higher rank?" asked Sakura politely.
"Uh, yeah. Hold on a second," said the genin who proceeded to get up from his chair and disappear to a back room in the guard house.
"Wait, wait, wait!" came a voice from the next room.
It's Akane, thought Sakura recognizing the voice. The chunin on duty then appeared.
"Well, well. If it isn't Sakura Haruno Sakura. What's the problem here?" Akane asked not really paying attention to the shinobi who was with Sakura.
"We need a message sent to Lady Tsunade. We need to meet with her at 8pm this evening," said Sakura.
"And just what makes you think...Naruto Uzumake? Is that you?" Akane finally noticed who Sakura was with.
Naruto smiled broadly and gave Akane the thumbs up with one hand.
"O-of course. We can definitely pass the message along to the Hokage for you. She's quite busy with the continued rebuilding of the village and the fact that she has only been back for a few days since the war ended...but I'm sure she'd want to see you Naruto," said Akane.
Sakura rolled her eyes.
"We'll be in our respective quarters until the meeting in case any messages come for us," said Naruto. "You can pass that along to her, too. Thanks."
Naruto and Sakura walked into the construction-heavy center of town on their way to their small homes.
"They've gotten quite far since I last saw it," said Naruto speaking of the rebuilding that was still ongoing.
"You have been away for quite a while with the mission to the Land of Lightning and all," said Sakura. "But at least it looks unharmed from the war."
"I'll meet you at Granny's office just before 8pm," said Naruto when it was time to go their separate ways.
"Ok, I'll see you then," said Sakura