"WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME?!" Naruto glared at Jiraiya, who's face was conflicted. Kakashi stood nearby, while Tsunade pinched her nose. "I spent my whole life alone, wondering who my parents were- I didn't even know I was a Jinchuriki until someone else-one of Orochimaru's goons- told me! My father is the Fourth Hokage, and nobody ever told me?! Kakashi-sensei, Granny-Tsunade... Pervy-Sage you guys knew, this whole time..." Naruto collapsed on the bed, his brown scrunched up and his face contorted in a look of betrayal.

"The Third Hokage knew to, didn't he?" Naruto asked, and the following silence answered his question. "It was an SS-rank secret, we were forbbiden to speak of it, for your own protection. The Fourth Hokage had a lot of enemies, and the village was still recovering from the Nine-Tails attack..." Kakashi tried to explain, but Sakura, who was present to hear the outburst spoke up.

"That was twelve years ago, Kakashi-Sensei... even if the Fourth Hokage had a lot of enemies... Naruto still had the right to know for himself." Kakashi looked at Sakura, and then at Naruto, before letting out a sigh. "Yes, I suppose your right about that, Sakura."

"How did Sasuke even obtain that information?" Tsunade asked, concerned about a possible security leak. "Sasuke... has always known things he shouldn't. He's incredibly perceptive... he's shown the ability to keep a level head even during situations where a normal genin wouldn't be able to handle. He's faced three Akatsuki, and Orochimaru on his own..."

"What?" Tsunade interjected. "Kakashi, your going to have to elaborate on that."

"During a mission to wave, originally a C-rank, we encountered one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Bloody Mist, Zabuza Momochi who had been hired by Gato to assassinate the bridgebuilder we'd been hired to protect. Sasuke actually managed to convince Zabuza not to attack us, and later, Sasuke ended up in confrontation with an additional Shinobi Gato had hired, Hidan. Hidan is an Akatsuki with a jutsu that allows him a form of immortality. Sasuke actually managed to defeat him. Then, according to Naruto and Sakura, Sasuke managed to figure out Orochimaru was both in the Chunnin Exams, and targeting him. He was left alone with Orochimaru after being separated from his team- during that time he received the Curse Mark. It appears as thought their was a struggle, as the majority of the area was destroyed. Sasuke also managed to intervene when Itachi and Kisame were after Naruto, tracking them down just in time... how he managed this information..."

The room was silent for a moment.

"The fact that he's gone to Orochimaru puts the entire village in danger." Tsunade assessed.

"It doesn't make sense!" Naruto said, suddenly, and everyone looked at him. "It doesn't make any sense for him to go to Orochimaru! I know Sasuke- when we fought, he could have killed us. He didn't have to show us anything. He could have killed us, but he didn't... So it doesn't make any sense for him to go to Orochimaru! He knows that Orochimaru only wants him to take over his body, so why go with him!? I don't get it!" Naruto exclaimed, frustrated. Sakura frowned in silent agreement. This was completely out of character for Sasuke.

"I agree." Sakura said, and Kakashi glanced at the two of them, and nodded. "Yes, it does seem very out of character for Sasuke. Is it possible Orochimaru is controlling him?"

"I don't know." Jiraiya admitted. "Orochimaru's abilities have grown since we were a team, and even I don't know what he's capable of at this point... he killed the Third Hokage and the Fourth Kazekage, so we could assume anything is possible."

"It's... it's possible he's not actually deserting the village.." Sakura said, and everyone looked at her. "What?" Naruto blinked, and Sakura squirmed under the scrutiny of the room. "Sasuke knows Orochimaru wouldn't stop trying to get him... so what if he went with Orochimaru in order to protect everyone?"

"That... makes more sense to me actually.." Naruto said, and Kakashi thought about it for a second, before agreeing. "Yeah, it's possible he thought that was his only option, and left to protect everyone."

Tsunade sighed. "So he's trying to play self-sacrifice now, and we don't know that for sure."

"He didn't kill us. He could have, and he didn't." Sakura said, and while this was true, it wasn't enough evidence. Jiraiya knew they wanted to believe in Sasuke, it was a hard thing to accept this kind of betrayal. Before he could voice his opinion however, Naruto spoke up, a look over determination in his eyes.

"I'm going to bring him back, and ask him myself. I'll bring Sasuke back, no matter what." The blond declared, with his usual conviction. Jiraiya knew that look to, and he knew he wasn't going to be able to convince Naruto otherwise.

"Yeah, me to. We're going to discover the truth of this, no matter what is takes." Sakura chimed in, agreeing with Naruto, mirroring his expression. "We're gonna bring Sasuke back, we'll get stronger, and just you watch! He won't beat us next time!"

One Month Later

"Tsk, Sasuke-kun, your such a fussy patient." Sasuke flinched, once again, as Kabuto was healing his wounds, internally cussing out his previous actions and decisions to come to the hell hole.

It made him angry at and in aw at the boy who would have originally come here, with the full intention of killing his brother. He was literally a child. Sasuke might appear to be a child now, but he'd had a life before. He wasn't a child, mentally.

"Oh excuse me for expressing pain." He snapped back at Kabuto. He'd been very snappy, lately, particularly at Kabuto at first, but after the first time Orochimaru decided to "teach" (beat the ever living hell out of him more like) him, he'd decided to be a more liberal with his words. You'd think he'd want to do the opposite, but for all he was worth, he was not loosing his sass or sarcasm.

He'd die before that happens- oh wait no, he'll still keep it because he's totally died before. He was a girl then... biologically. Sasuke wasn't exactly particular about gender, he'd consider himself gender fluid or perhaps non-binary... something along those lines. The point is, he doesn't care about his gender. He goes by 'he' pronouns specifically because it would be annoying to correct everyone, and it just wasn't something he cared enough about to address.

If he feels like being a girl again, after he's not living with Orochimaru then he'll cross that bridge when it gets there... although now he's already pretty feminine. He's kept his hair long, and usually pulled up in a pony tail or kept in a braid.

He learned to pull it up turning fights, or else someone might be inclined to grab it... so he added needles to his pony tail.

Training was intense and grueling. Then there was the other stuff... if Orochimaru wasn't evil and clearly exploiting him, then he'd actually be a pretty decent teacher... but of course, there was in end game and Sasuke had no intention of succumbing to that fate. No way in hell. But he would take the training, and whatever he could use for power. It was difficult, hiding his emotions, he was certain he wasn't doing it as well as Cannon Sasuke had.

No, while his cannon self had remained emotionless with an angry disposition, he was more... sarcastic. Snarky, and a bit sassy. The remarks had him sweating and he had to keep reminding himself not to just start something, because Orochimaru would totally repay him for those comments.

His expressions then, did the talking. He developed a look whenever Orochimaru expected him to do something he was totally not comfortable with doing-which was quite often- something between "are you shitting me" and "how the fuck did this end up my life". His expressions usually got a laugh or chuckle, before he was forced to comply with whatever it was.

Needless to say, he couldn't wait until he could get out of there... he only had... two years and five months left...

Sasuke cursed to himself and his past decisions.

Six Months Later

Deception was getting easier, he was getting better at hiding his true feelings- but kept the expressions of utter disgust. They were fun, and made Sasuke laugh internally with glee. That was good, because he rarely laughed now.

He finally worked up enough courage to pull a prank on Kabuto. He stuck a tag on the four eyes back that said "Smart Ass" with an arrow pointing down. It was a total of two hours before he noticed. Even Orochimaru didn't comment, and simply glanced at Sasuke upon seeing it. Sasuke remained there with a neutral expression, while innocently shrugging his shoulders.

Perhaps he wasn't very good at deceiving Orochimaru, but Sasuke took that as a good sign. Deceiving the master manipulator would mean he's become something worse, and that's not something he was willing to become. At least not on purpose.

One Year Later

Sasuke decided before coming there that he wasn't going to be like the previous Sasuke, and there were a few obvious distinctions, aside from what was already glaringly obvious. That is, Sasuke here didn't shy from killing because of his brother. He refused to kill anyone younger than him, but grown adults?

Sasuke did this gradually, and made no vow not to kill. Then, the body count grew. Sasuke made sure he wouldn't kill anybody he would regret killing. He did his own "mental health" checks, that is, he would sit down and analyze his own emotions and feelings. He did keep count, as well. He would make sure not to forget that number.

Orochimaru noticed that he would not kill unless his Sharingan was activated, and asked him about him one day. Sasuke just looked at him blankly, and said "I prefer to remember those I killed."

Of course, the Sannin found this pointless, but it was the Uchiha's own preference. Sasuke figured it was better than going full Stefan Salvatore, and writing down all the names obsessively. Now that would definitely get him in the "fucking weird" category.

He might have also developed a level of sadistic behavior towards people he thinks are fun to mess with.

Sasuke grinned at the pale boy who accompanied Orochimaru and Kabuto. Almost instantly, he placed him under a genjutsu when Sai met his eyes, in which the room would twist and turn with spiders crawling up and along the boy.

Sai flinched violently, and shook. Kabuto scolded Sasuke, who grinned. "His fault for looking me in the eye. I mean, come on." He gestured to his activated eyes. "He was asking for it at that point."

"You are Sasuke Uchiha... Naruto's friend?" Sai said, and Sasuke actually laughed. "Sure, let go with that. You know him?" He was curious about his teammate. "Tell me how are my old teammates? Are they still sore about me ditching them?" He probed, and Sai responded in the typical monotone voice.

"They are determined to bring you back." Sasuke smirked at this response.

"So just as clingy as usual then. Well that's great, but have they gotten strong?" He glanced at Orochimaru and Kabuto, surveying them for any damage. He noticed Kabuto's glasses had a dent in them, and one of the lenses was fractured... his clothing also looked a bit torn up, like he'd been tossed through dirt and kicked around. Orochimaru looked relatively normal.

"Ooh... let me guess, Sakura?" He asked, and Kabuto winced. "She's become quite strong... her strength is almost monstrous... I'll admit she gave me a hard time... and Naruto..." Kabuto paused. "He's gotten more and more like an actual Jinchuriki."

Sakura fought Kabuto? Oh that's totally awesome, she's gotten stronger than her cannon self! Shit... ow that is gonna hurt if she manages to hit me. Damn, I don't have the Sasuke crush going for me either.

Sasuke debated on telling them guests were coming, but decided it wasn't worth his time. They can find out on their own.

No, he's going to prepare to reunite with some old friends...

Well, this took longer than I thought. Let me know what you think in the comments. Just so you know, Sakura is going to be different than cannon- unlike Kishimoto, I can actually write female characters. Sakura will be the Sakura we all wanted but never got.