Two weeks had passed since Uchiha Sasuke had been returned to Konoha. According to reports, he should be waking up from extreme chakra depletion any time today. This was but one of the many topics of gossip floating around the city.

"Did you hear that Uzumaki Naruto is back?" One villager would say.

"Yeah, did you hear that he brought back both Uchihas, and killed the older one?" Another would say.

"I heard that Hyuuga Hiashi attacked the Hyuuga council, because they did something to him."

"No, no, it was because they married his daughter off, I think"

This form of banter would continue for a while, until all parties would become bored, or something else would come up. In the days after the mission to return Sasuke, those who had been there, were constantly hounded with questions surrounding the death of Itachi, and the return of the youngest Uchiha. One person was noticeably absent from the questioning. Hyuuga Hinata had, upon returning, gone immediately to her father's bed in the hospital until he regained consciousness. He had awoken, the day after the parties return, and was dismissed from the hospital a day later. Tsunade had asked him about the fight during his day of rest. Although, she had a good idea of what had transpired, she needed to have some kind of a record. Hinata sat in a chair, during her father's testimony. She was shocked to hear that he had taken on the council, for her. After Tsunade left, there was a moment of awkward silence as Hinata pondered over her father's actions.

Flashback

"Hinata," Hiashi broke the tense silence "I… I wish to apologize, for the way I have been treating you. The council had convinced me that you would be able to use the power inside of you to fight. When you couldn't I made the incorrect assumption that you were weak. I believe that the council had wanted me to disown you, so that they could brand you with the Bunke (Hyuuga cursed seal) and control you. I was blinded by their words, and was unable to see you as I should have…as my daughter. I am truly sorry that you have had to live your life as the pawn of old and decrepit men, and myself. I…I hope…that you can forgive me for my atrocities."

Hinata was quite surprised by her father's admission. The first thing she had learned under the Nibi was how to read people based on their posture and mannerisms. Her father was sincerely sorry for what had happened to her.

"I…it's all right, father." She said.

"Thank you, Hinata, I know it must be difficult to comprehend right now, but I only wished for you to achieve your highest potential." Hiashi stated, his head bowed slightly. "Now, I heard from Hokage-sama that you defeated the head of the council by yourself. Is that true?"

"H-hai, father, I did beat him, although I was forced to call on the Nibi's charka. Tsunade-sama changed the seal, so that I could draw off some of its chakra, like Naruto-kun."

"That is very impressive, even though you had to use the demon's chakra. You did a good job, Hinata."

End Flashback

Since then, Hiashi had been very supportive of Hinata and Hinata had become more confidant in her abilities and in herself as a result. Which was how she ended up on a date with Uzumaki Naruto. Well, a date might be a bit of an exaggeration. Although he had become closer friends with the Hyuuga heir, Naruto was still clueless as to her feelings. As much as she loved him, he was oblivious. In fact, as the two were eating ramen together, waiting for Sasuke to awaken, Naruto was clueless to everything around him. Over the past two weeks, he had slowly begun to drift away from Sakura. He still felt love for her, although, it seemed that she was very happy with Lee, and he wasn't one to pry them apart, simply for his own gain. 'A hokage must put the good of the many before the good of themselves' he repeated in his head. As he slowly drifted away from Sakura, he was beginning to gravitate towards, a certain indigo haired, white eyed girl. He just didn't realize that she shared his feelings.

They finished up their ramen, (Hinata had one bowl, while Naruto ate six bowls.) and headed towards the hospital, to check on Sasuke. When they arrived, Tsunade and Kakashi were entering the room.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, is he awake yet?" Asked Naruto from across the hallway.

"Yo," replied Kakashi with his usual greeting "he just woke up and Hokage-sama is going to figure out his punishment. You two should stay outside, we don't know how he will respond if he sees you right now.

With that Kakashi entered the room, leaving the two to wait. Naruto and Hinata sat down in uncomfortable hospital chairs in silence. After a while, Hinata had to leave to join her team for a short mission. Naruto wished her luck and waited for Tsunade to finish up with Sasuke.

Inside the room the mood was tense. Tsunade had inspected the seal that Itachi had sacrificed himself to place over Orochimaru's cursed seal, and was surprised by it. It would keep all influences, mental and physical, from tainting the boy. Sasuke was awake and waiting when the two entered his room. He was scared of the Godaime and felt a sickening sensation when he looked at Kakashi.

"Uchiha Sasuke, you are charged with treason for fleeing this village and joining the ranks of Orochimaru, you were branded an A-class missing nin, for fleeing with an important bloodline limit, and were to be captured or killed were any shinobi of this village to see you. As I am sure you are aware, the penalty for treason is death." Tsunade stated. "However, due to the insistence of a number of your former comrades and friends, I will offer you a chance to explain your actions to me and if I find something reasonable in them, a new punishment may be handed down."

Sasuke was surprised at the news. He was sure; he would be killed for abandoning Konoha, and was even more shocked to find, that he still had people in the village that counted him as a friend.

"I…I can't shed any blame for my actions. After the mission to tea country, I saw how powerful Naruto had become, and it … angered me. Well, not anger really, more like, I was mad because he did something that I couldn't. It didn't make any sense, he's supposed to be the dead last, not… he can't do…" Sasuke stumbled over his words as he continued on, not sure what happened, now that he was looking over his actions.

"Can you tell me what made you hate Naruto?" interrupted Kakashi.

"The fight on the roof, after you threw our attacks into the water tanks, I was sure that I had won, because the hole around my arm was bigger, but then I saw the back of Naruto's tank. I..it had been completely demolished, like something had blown up inside of it. That's when it hit me, that he had gotten stronger than me… and IT WASN'T FAIR" Sasuke yelled those words so loudly that Naruto heard them outside.

'It's my fault that he left.' Naruto thought sadly. 'Maybe I should tell him, if he knows about the Kyuubi, then maybe he won't hate me anymore.'

Back in the room, things weren't looking good for Sasuke. He hadn't told them anything that they didn't already know, and his actions, were completely his own.

"Sasuke, I'm ashamed that you did this because, Naruto was stronger than you. Just because he was branded as 'dead last' doesn't mean anything. If you thought that loosing to the rasengan was some kind of travesty, you should know who created that attack. That is the Yondaime Hokage's signature attack, and even the chidori is not as powerful as the rasengan." Kakashi said, a tint of sadness marring his voice.

That struck home with Sasuke. If it was really the fourth Hokage's attack, than there was nothing to be ashamed about. The fourth is the greatest Hokage that ever lived, and if it was his signature attack, than there is way that a chidori could ever beat it, probably. It was at this point that a knock came at the door. When Tsunade gave clearance for who ever was outside, to enter, the door opened, and revealed an old man with white spiky hair.

"Oh, so he's up now, good thing too. If he was out any longer, I might have thought he was dead." The man exclaimed.

"Sasuke, this is Jiraiya, another of the sannin, like Orochimaru and I." said Tsunade. "He has been training Naruto for the past three years, and knows him the best."

"So was the gaki right?" Jiraiya asked Tsunade, still eyeing Sasuke.

"From the looks of things, yes. Sasuke got jealous of Naruto after a fight they had, and well, you know the story from there." Replied the Hokage.

"You're lucky kid." Jiraiya said, directing the remark at Sasuke. "That idiot apprentice of mine spent the last three years training with me, and the last year of that was spent on seals, partly for his own gain, but mostly for yours. He figured out that the seal you had was blowing you're emotions out of control. It turned, relatively innocent jealousy into hate, and that made you leave. How much of the second fight you had, do you remember?" asked the old man.

'The seal was affecting my mind?' thought Sasuke. 'But I thought that the seal Kakashi placed over it should have stopped it.' "I can remember fighting Naruto and Lee, and then Itachi stopped my attack, and did something. After that I can't remember anything." Replied the boy.

"Itachi, used a variation of the Fuuja Houin (Evil sealing technique) that was originally placed over the seal. But instead of relying on the will of the person, to whom it is attached, it relies on another source, and stops all influences of the seal from spreading to you." Jiraiya explained.

"My brother…WHERE IS HE… where is my brother?" demanded Sasuke.

"Uchiha Itachi was killed during the fight, and was returned to Konoha the same as you were. In case you were wondering, it is impossible to tell who killed him. There was so much damage to his body, that it was impossible to tell who gave the fatal blow. Due to your previous history and the fact that, and we agree, you had the right to avenge your clan, credit will go to you for the kill." Replied the Godaime, in a calm voice.

Sasuke was shocked to hear that. Mostly he was shocked, that even as a traitor, he was given credit for killing his brother.

"Due to the seal's influence on your mind, you will not be executed, however, you will be suspended as a ninja for a while, you will be supervised by Kakashi, and will have ANBU making sure that you don't attempt to repeat your earlier stunts." Explained Tsunade. "Now, I believe someone outside is here to see you."

With that, she opened the door, and went to find Naruto. After a few minutes of silence, the Hokage returned with the blonde boy, who had a rather dejected and sad look on his face. Upon seeing his former team mate, Sasuke immediately decided that the look didn't suit Naruto. He shut the door behind him and just looked at Sasuke.

"Naruto…I'm sorry for what I did to you, a-at the Valley of the End. I was just so angry at you, for being better than me that I snapped and ran." Sasuke said.

"No, Sasuke, I should be the one to apologize, if I could have told you…if I could have kept my power… I heard what you said earlier and I'm the one who is sorry." Naruto tried to explain. "I just want you to know, that to gain power, you really have to give up something. I hope you realize that, now."

Naruto went to leave the room when Sasuke's voice echoed through the room.

"If you don't mind, what did you give up for the power you have? I know that you work hard, but so do I and I can't get anywhere near your level. What did you do?" He asked.

Naruto froze in his tracks. His shoulders tensed up and he looked over at the boy lying in the bed.

"Sasuke, normally, I wouldn't do this, but if it helps you to come to grips with the past, than maybe it should have been done earlier. I just want you to swear to all of us in this room right now, that what ever happens, it stays between us. At least for right now." Naruto spoke in a slow and deliberate tone of voice that conveyed the emotional battle in his mind right now. Sasuke looked around the room at the other three people present. They all had looks of surprise on their faces, and a little bit of pain as well. What ever Naruto had in mind, it must be big. Sasuke nodded to the blonde boy and waited for the answer to the question that drove him away.

"You know the story about the Kyuubi, attacking the village and the Yondaime defeating it at the cost of his own life, correct? That story is just a fabrication of the truth. The Kyuubi attacked and the Yondaime did defeat the demon. But he didn't or couldn't kill it so he sealed it inside of a new born child. H-he sealed it inside me. I carry the most deadly demon known to this world in me, and have since I was born. It wasn't until Mizuki told me that I was aware of it. As a result of the Kyuubi, the people of this village hate me. Since I entered the academy, I have had rocks thrown at my apartment nightly, people glare at me with disgust in public, and I am not welcome in over half of the stores in Konoha. People don't see me as Uzumaki Naruto, they see me as the Kyuubi no Kitsune that attacked fifteen years ago, and cost the Yondaime his life. I haven't given up things, as much as I have been deprived of them since before I can remember."

As Naruto's speech concluded, Sasuke was left dumbstruck. His own teammate was the vessel for the nine-tailed demon and he didn't know. Sasuke was sucked into his own thoughts so deeply that he didn't notice Naruto leave the room. Only when Kakashi spoke up did he return to reality.

"Sasuke, I hope that you can see that Naruto is right. He has had more taken away than all of us for the power he carries inside of him, and as payment for holding the most feared demon in check, he is loathed by the town. Yet he trains and works as much as is possible. He wants to become Hokage so that they will have to respect him. It isn't some kind of childish dream, in all reality, I doubt if the townspeople will ever respect him if he doesn't become Hokage. True strength can only be attained by giving. Naruto has come to realize that over the past few years and I hope that you can learn that too." He left without another word. Soon after Jiraiya left, claiming that there was more research to be done leaving only the Hokage and one confused and puzzled boy.

"He thinks of you like the brother he never had." Tsunade said quietly. "He would protect you until he was dead if it came it. I want you to think about something while I'm gone. You wanted two things when you became a gennin. To avenge your clan and then to repopulate it. You've accomplished one, and thanks to Naruto, your life has been saved so that you can complete your second goal. I hope that something you have heard today has sunk in, and that I made the correct decision in not turning you over to a council to decide your punishment. What Naruto told you is an S-class secret and cannot be told to anyone. If you do, you will be arrested, and my ruling today, will be overthrown. In short, if you tell anyone about the Kyuubi, than you will be killed."

She left the room, and Sasuke was left to ponder all of the things he had learned. There was a lot of information to go through. Sasuke stayed up late into the night thinking about what Naruto had said about how to gain power. As he drifted to sleep Sasuke let his mind come to its own conclusion.

'To be strong is to protect those who are precious to you. To be powerful requires that you give up something. That is how I shall live my life. I will protect that which I care about, and now that Itachi is dead, I can give up on that ambition and focus on my others. I only hope that the others will see me like Naruto does. It will be a long time before anyone trusts me again. That is what I have given up. I gave up my friends trust. I will never do that again. I have been given a chance to atone for my sins, and I plan on taking that chance.'

As his eyes closed, Sasuke found a new peace about his life. Without his brother hanging over him anymore, Sasuke felt a great weight lifted off his shoulders. Tomorrow he would start to regain the trust he had lost from the village.