Pairings: SasuNaru

Warnings: Shounen-ai and Yaoi (boy x boy love). Mature content, crude language, cursing and sexual references.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters. This story is a work of fiction based on the Naruto manga and anime series.

Thoughts are represented by italics.

Chapter Eighteen - The truth comes out

Not long after Sasuke had left the Hokage Tower, he had decided to go back and get permission to see his brother. Now he stood staring down at his brother who was lying, chained, on a cot in a cell. Even though Itachi had his eyes closed, Sasuke knew he was awake and aware that his little brother had come to visit him. This is the first time I have ever seen him helpless. I hate him, but I also have a lot of questions I need answers to.

"I know you are awake, Itachi."

Itachi opened his eyes and stared up into Sasuke's eyes. He didn't say anything, he just stared.

"Why? I know what you told me back then, but that was not a real answer that you gave me. Why did you kill our parents?"

"Will the truth make any difference, now? I will be executed soon. I have no regrets."

Sasuke shouted at him. "How can you say that? What you did was unforgivable! But I need to know why! Was it really just to measure your container?"

"Foolish, little brother. You were always so blind to everything that happened back then. You saw me as your rival. The one you hated and had to beat. Didn't you?"

Sasuke remembered instead, how he had idolized his brother. Yes, I wanted to be like him. I did resent that Father showed him more attention, but what I most wished for, back then, was for my brother to acknowledge me and to spend more time with me. I loved our father and wanted his acknowledgment and attention too, but I wanted it from my brother even more. "I didn't hate you back then." Sasuke sighed heavily and looked away. "I wanted you to spend more time with me and train me. I wanted to be like you. But then you killed everyone." Sasuke looked back at his brother again, with anger in his eyes. "Why did you have to do that? Why couldn't you have just been my brother? Was I such a burden to you? Did you hate me?"

Itachi was the one to look away this time. What do I say? The truth or just let him keep hating me?

Sasuke glared at his brother and shouted. "Answer me, dammit! Tell me the truth!"

Itachi looked back and fixed his eyes on his brother's. "I'm not sure you can handle the truth. But if you insist...you never saw me kill them."

"You showed me with your Mangekyou Sharingan!"

"You should know, that I can control what you see with it. I showed you what I wanted you to see."

Sasuke was shocked. What is he saying? "You're lying to me!"

Itachi smiled sadly. "No, I have no reason to anymore. You saw what I wanted you to see and what you saw was a lie."

No! It can't be true! Is he now saying he didn't murder our parents? Our clan? Sasuke looked with uncertainty at his older brother. "Are you saying..."

Itachi interrupted. "That's right. I didn't murder our clan. I came home from a mission right after it happened, and the killers were already gone. I do know who did it though. I joined the Akatsuki to get revenge on the real murderers."

Sasuke was confused and angry. "If that is true then why didn't you tell me? Why did you make me believe it was you?"

"I had seen you running home, when I first came back, but I had also noticed all the bodies in the streets. So I went to look for our parents. That noise you heard that brought you to that room...I made that because I had just found our parents dead and had hit the wall in my anger and grief. When I felt your presence outside the room, I realized I had to save you...by making you believe I had killed everyone. I would never kill you, little brother, but the ones who murdered our clan would, if you had known the truth and had gone after them."

"Who? Tell me who did it!"

"No, you are not strong enough to beat them. You would die for nothing. You are the last of our clan and as long as you don't know who they are and they don't feel you are a threat to them, you will live on. You will be the one to revive our clan."

"Avenging our clan is more important! If you can't do it, then it's up to me!" I need to tell the Hokage about this. If Itachi is telling me the truth, then he can't be executed. I need him.

"No, you will not be the one to get revenge."

Wait. He still killed Shisui-san, didn't he? "If what you have said is true, then why did you kill your closest friend? You did that to get the Mangekyou Sharingan!"

"I didn't kill him to get that. He was working for our clan's killers. He was the one that betrayed the clan, for power. I had overheard him talking to one of them about kidnapping me. I went to confront him about it, then we ended up fighting. I held him under the water too long and he died. I faked the suicide note, because I didn't want his employers to know he had been killed by me. Before he died, I was able to get him to tell me who he was working for, but he didn't tell me what they were planning to do. I thought that they were only after me, to get the secrets of the Sharingan. I should have told Father about it, but I was very proud and arrogant and I believed I was strong enough to protect myself. He never wanted to see any weakness from me, anyway. Everyone always expected me to be perfect, so I wasn't going to ask for help. When I attacked those policemen, I was so angry with them for thinking I was a murderer, and hating me because of how strong I was. They judged me without knowing me and talked about Shisui as if he was better than me, so I attacked them. Then Father came home and talked like he was disappointed in me. I ended up saying things, out of pride, arrogance and anger, that made me look guilty. You were a witness to all of it. Remembering that day, must have made it easier for you to believe that I had killed our entire clan." I can't tell him that it was the Akatsuki that did it. At least, Orochimaru is dead. He was with them then. My little brother would never be able to kill all of them. They are too powerful for him. Even I am not strong enough to do it, yet.

Should I believe Itachi's story? It makes more sense than believing my brother was capable of doing it. Despite what he had shown me with his Mangekyou Sharingan, I still had a hard time understanding what could make him kill everyone. He was anti-social and had problems with our father, but it wasn't enough to make him a mass murderer. I want to believe him. "You came after Naruto. Was that just for your job or did you really want to capture him for power?"

Ah. He won't like my answer, I'm sure. "I had to have you keep hating me, so that was part of it. As long as you hated me and was after me for revenge, then the real murderers would continue to believe that you didn't know about them. Also, I wanted his power. If I had him devoted to me and working for me, I would have used him to destroy our clan's murderers. With him, I knew I had a chance at revenge. He would have lost his demon after I took him back to the Akatsuki headquarters, but from the research that was done on his bloodline limit, I figured he could survive that and I would then ask for him to be handed over to me as a reward for capturing him."

Sasuke glared at his brother. "You would have used Naruto as a tool? How would you have got him to cooperate with you?"

"My first plan had been to befriend him and then turn him against all his other friends. I thought that he would then turn to me as his only friend and I could talk him into leaving his village and helping me. But time was running out, and he wasn't cooperating with my plan. I had a backup plan though. I was going to give him a drug that would erase all of his memories. Then I would take him to the Akatsuki headquarters and get him to become dependent on me. But he must have finally been able to see through my genjutsu."

"You were pretending to be Amano Sudai. Where did you discover a genjutsu that Naruto had trouble seeing through?"

"It was from a forbidden scroll I bought in the Hidden Rock village. I wasn't sure that it would work on Naruto, but he never saw through it until I was fighting someone from another team in the exam. I think that is when he noticed."

"He told the Hokage that he saw something suspicious about you before then. But he finally was able to figure it out, during that fight you were involved in. Now, tell me who murdered our clan."

"If you had been able to obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan and come to me as I asked, then together we could have killed them. I would not have told you the truth until you were strong enough to be able to help me. You are still too weak now. But since I have been captured and will soon be executed, there was no reason for me to keep the truth from you any longer. But I will not tell you who they are."

"They will get away with it if you don't tell me!" Unless I can get the Hokage to let him go. But I still want to be there with him when we avenge our clan.

"Better that, than all the Uchihas be dead. You have to live. You have to stop trying to get revenge."

Damn him! How can he think I would ever give up on avenging our clan? Sasuke activated his Sharingan, then his Mangekyou Sharingan in front of his brother.

Itachi stared in shock at his little brother. "How?"

"Naruto used his bloodline limit to get it to activate. I didn't have to kill him or anyone else." Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan. "When I see you again, I hope you will be ready to tell me who murdered our clan. I'll be back later." Sasuke turned and knocked on the door. When the door was opened for him, he looked back at his brother and saw him still staring at him. Sasuke turned his face back to the front again, then walked out of the cell.

While Sasuke was visiting his brother, Naruto was in his house sitting on his couch with Gaara. Does Sasuke still love me? I guess I should have realized his revenge was more important to him, than me. I don't think Sasuke will understand why I had to do what I did. Naruto felt depressed. He loved Sasuke, but was afraid that it was over between them now.

Gaara felt useless. He didn't know how to comfort his friend. I wish I could have been wrong about Uchiha Sasuke, for Naruto's sake. Gaara put his arm around the blond's shoulders. "You want to go get some ramen?"

Naruto shook his head. "I'm not really hungry right now." He looked at the red head. "I'm not very good company right now either. I'm sorry, Gaara."

Damn that Uchiha for breaking his heart! "Maybe he justs needs some time to accept what has happened. Just keep yourself busy, Naruto and then see how he feels later." I can't believe I'm actually encouraging him to give Uchiha Sasuke a chance! But I know Naruto loves him and his happiness is more important than my own feelings about it.

"You're probably right, Gaara. I'll just give it some time and try to find something to take my mind off this. But right now, I think I just want to rest. You don't mind, do you?"

"No, I understand. If you need to talk with me though, you know where to find me." Gaara got up from the couch and walked to the door.

Naruto got up too, and followed him. "Yes, I do and thank you, Gaara."

Gaara turned and smiled at the blond. "That is what friends are for, right? To help each other."

Naruto remembered when he had said those same words himself. I'm Sasuke's friend. Even if he doesn't love me anymore, I will still try to help him. "Right, Gaara." He smiled at the red head and after Gaara left, Naruto closed the door and then went upstairs to his bedroom. I'll go see Sasuke later, after he's had some time to think over everything. I feel exhausted right now anyway. Naruto undressed down to his boxers and then got into bed. I'll just rest for awhile. Maybe things will be better later.

"You damn Uchihas with your arrogance and thirst for revenge!" Tsunade was very angry after hearing Itachi's story from Sasuke. "He should have went to the Third and told him everything! He should have told his father about Uchiha Shisui too!"

"I agree, Hokage-sama about what he should have done, but he didn't and we can't go back and change that. What matters now is that we force him to tell us who the murderers are so I can go after them. I could use his help though."

"You're just as bad as him! First you spend over eight years of your life hating your brother and wanting to kill him, now you want to go after a group of powerful killers. If Itachi couldn't kill them himself, you won't stand a chance either, brat."

Sasuke glared at her. "That's why I could use his help! With him, we should be able to do it."

Tsunade glared back. "I'm not so sure I want him released. Even if he didn't kill the clan, he was trying to hurt Naruto. I won't forgive him for that."

"I'm angry about that too. But I can understand why he did it. He was desperate to avenge our clan. That is why we should both do it, together."

Tsunade sighed. I will have to tell the council and the clan leaders about all of this. But, Itachi could be lying. The Yamanaka clan could help to find out though. Someone from that clan could find out if he's telling the truth or not, then if it's true, get the information out of him on who did do it. If Itachi wants revenge so badly, he would agree to let us do it, in order to gain his freedom. "Sasuke, I will see what I can do about finding out the truth and if Itachi isn't lying, then he will be able to go with you. But it won't be just the two of you alone. You will have others in your team, because Itachi will not be allowed out of this village without strict supervision. He committed crimes while working with the Akatsuki and he's going to have to pay for that."

"Alright, I agree." I have to, it's the only way to get this done. "I want Naruto to be part of the team. I also think Neji and Shikamaru have skills that will be needed."

"Kakashi and Gai will go also. You should have a medic-nin along, too."

"Sakura."

Tsunade nodded. "Yes. I believe I can spare all of them. This mission is long overdue. Don't tell your brother yet. I will be meeting with him later, in order to get the information we need from him, and to tell him his punishment. If it turns out that we can trust him, I will make sure he's healed of his injuries completely, as soon as possible. Wait until tomorrow to visit him."

Sasuke nodded. I need to see Naruto anyway. "Thank you, Hokage-sama." Sasuke bowed his head.

"You're welcome, brat, and thank you for telling me about this, Sasuke." She smiled at him, then watched as he left her office. I hope you are going to see Naruto to kiss and make up.

Naruto woke up from his nap, to the sound of loud knocking at his front door. He got out of bed and pulled on his pants and shirt, then walked downstairs and over to the front door. When he opened it, he saw Sasuke standing there.

"Can I come in, Naruto?" Sasuke felt a little nervous. He wasn't sure if Naruto was angry or hurt about how he had acted earlier.

Naruto was surprised to see Sasuke at his door. He doesn't seem angry. Naruto stepped back and opened the door wider. "Sure, come in." When Sasuke entered, he closed the door and turned around.

The raven haired boy walked into the living room, then over to the couch and sat down. He looked up at the blond with a serious expression on his face. "Can you come sit down by me? I have something I have to tell you."

He's probably going to tell me that he doesn't love me anymore. Naruto walked over to the couch and sat down. He forced himself to look at the other boy.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted before. You were right to do what you did."

Naruto couldn't hide his surprise at hearing an apology from Sasuke. He didn't know what to say though. "Alright."

"Because of what you did, I got my brother back. He finally told me the truth about what happened to our parents and clan. He had lied about being the one that killed them."

Naruto gasped in shock. "He didn't kill them?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No, he didn't but he knows who did. And the Hokage said that after she gets the information from him about who did it, then we will go on a mission to capture them or kill them, if capture isn't possible." Personally, I want to kill them.

"B-But Sasuke! Itachi was so mean to you and told you to hate him!"

"Yes, he did that for a reason though. He wanted me to think he was the killer, because he didn't want me to go after the real killers. Instead, he went after them himself. He wanted to capture you to use your powers in order to help him kill our clan's murderers. At first, I think he wanted to get the fox demon to use for that, but then he found out about your bloodline limit."

Well, I guess I can understand a little more about him now. He's not evil, he just wants revenge, like Sasuke does. Now that I think about it, that time when he attacked me and Sasuke, he didn't hurt his brother. He even left the battle without fighting anymore. He just grabbed that shark-like man and left. Whenever I had to fight Itachi, when he was alone, he never tried to seriously injure me. Why didn't I realize this before? But still, he was very mean to Sasuke, even if he didn't try to kill him. "He was still very cruel to you, Sasuke, by making you believe he killed your family."

Naruto cares more about how Itachi treated me, then how Itachi treated him. This is one of the reasons why I love my dobe. Sasuke moved his hand over to grab one of the blond's, so he could hold it. "I love you, Naruto."

Naruto smiled and squeezed the other boy's hand. "I love you too, Sasuke. So who's going on the mission?"

Sasuke wasn't in the mood to talk about the mission, but he decided to get all the news over with now, so that he could then do what he really wanted to do. "You, me, Itachi, Neji, Shikamaru, Sakura, Kakashi and Gai. I think that should be the right type of skills and numbers we would need."

Naruto's smile got wider, as he realized he was being included in helping Sasuke avenge his clan. "I agree."

Sasuke couldn't wait anymore. He leaned over and kissed the blond on the lips.

Naruto kissed back and moved himself a little closer to his love.

Sasuke let go of the other boy's hand, then wrapped both of his arms around Naruto and pulled him even closer. I would love to claim my dobe right now, but I still want to wait until after I've avenged my clan. Then I can give myself totally to him with nothing else to distract me.Itachi can be the one to revive our clan by having children. I'm going to be selfish and have the person I love. Sasuke thrust his tongue inside of Naruto's mouth and felt very aroused when he heard and felt the blond's moan of pleasure.

Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke's neck and started playing with his silky raven locks. I love kissing Sasuke. I never want to stop.

Sasuke's hands started roaming Naruto's body and his kisses became more passionate. But after a couple more minutes, he had to force himself to stop. He put his hands on the blond's shoulders to push him back a little, as he pulled away from the kiss. He rested his forehead on Naruto's and stared into the most beautiful blue eyes he had ever seen. "I'm hungry, Naruto." Sasuke grinned inside as he thought of the fact that he wasn't just hungry for food. "Let's go get something to eat."

Naruto had still been in a daze from their kissing, but hearing about food, got his attention. He grinned. "Ramen?"

Sasuke groaned. "I'd rather go to the barbecue place."

Naruto frowned. Well, I guess I could give in this time. He did apologize and he's letting me go on the mission with him. Plus, he's a really good kisser! Naruto smiled. "Alright."

He's not going to argue about it? Well, I'm not going to ask him why, because that could make him change his mind. Sasuke got up from the couch. "Good. Let's go."

Naruto got up too. He grabbed Sasuke's hand before he could walk away, then held it and just smiled at the other boy.

Sasuke smiled back, then lead Naruto to the front door.

TBC