You've injured me, Farshooter, most deadly of the gods;
And I'd punish you, if I had the power.

Naruto was alone, tossing and turning in his bed.

Perhaps if he just lay this way, he could finally get to sleep. No, maybe that way would be more comfortable. Well, then his arm went numb as he lie on his side, so maybe he should sleep on his back or even his stomach instead? But then those would start to ache, so maybe he should try something else...

It was to be expected, he guessed, after Pein's total destruction of the village only to bring it all right back again. So much suffering that Naruto hadn't even had time to process, because next on his plate was a tense conversation that meant the difference between the life and death of thousands. Before the grief of so many lost lives had even fully set in, they were brought back by some miraculous jutsu that had taken his very breathe away in awe. The world would just never stop surprising him, would it? No one should be able to sleep well after so much insanity.

There were other things to worry about, too. Tsunade-baa still hadn't woken from her coma, but Shizune-neesan had assured him the old hag's condition was stable. Under the Acting Hokage, Konoha had already begun to bounce back in just a short week after he and Sasuke had returned from their long talk with Pein. Kaka-sensei was recovering just fine for someone who'd been among the dead, but he was there on Naruto's mind just the same.

But what worried him the most tonight was Sasuke. Not that it was strange to not be able to get him out of his head, but this felt different somehow. They'd stood at each other's sides when they went to confront Pein—or, he supposed, he should start thinking of him as Nagato, now. Sasuke had been serious that day in a way he hadn't been since their genin days. He'd returned from his short trip to demand answers from Itachi shaken and moody—moodier than usual, anyway. Jiraiya's death had impacted the both of them and Kaka-sensei greatly, but Naruto's attempts at prying just what'd happened on the road came up empty.

The memory he kept coming back to was when they had gotten their first good look at the Rinnegan. Despite his uncanny ability to have the least comforting words imaginable in high-stress situations, Sasuke seemed to forego all emotion entirely. The clinical nature of his questioning had shaken Naruto as he watched.

"That eye," he'd said, narrowing his own as if he suspected the man little more than a common thief. "Jiraiya told me it was a thing of legends. What are you doing with it?"

Nagato hadn't given a straight answer, not one Sasuke would accept, at least. It was during his meandering story that Sasuke bristled—a small motion, one Naruto was sure only he noticed—to hear a brief, passing mention of the names Madara and Danzo. These names, though, meant nothing to Naruto, and it had to've been mere coincidence that one of them had been named Acting Hokage.

It was exhausting to think too much on that day. Even for all of his compassion, Naruto was still human; he'd had to fight his nerves to keep from trembling, call upon all of his mentors' teachings just to string together the disjointed thoughts in his head of peace and harmony. He still couldn't really believe he'd pulled it off...!

There was a thump then as he lie in his bed. He shot up, glancing to his window as Sasuke himself pushed it open and ducked through it. Not that it was unusual for one of them to sneak into the other's apartment late at night, but so troubled with these thoughts was Naruto that his stomach tightened in a strange anxiety. He was dressed in ANBU fatigues, which should've been his first clue that something was not quite right—neither of them had been accepted into the village's black-ops division.

It was when he saw the blood splattered on the other boy's clothes that his pulse spiked with worry.

"What the hell is goin' on?" Naruto asked as he leapt out of bed. He immediately activated his medical ninjutsu, his hands flitting all about Sasuke's body to sweep for injuries as he did nothing but stand there with his head down, his long hair undone and spilling over his shoulders. His chakra was erratic and dangerously low, and among his injuries seemed to be snapped ribs, a dislocated elbow, a still-bleeding gash from some jutsu or another, and a few stab wounds and lacerations obviously from kunai and shuriken. But when he was roughly swatted away before he could even begin healing, he swallowed tightly. "You gotta tell me what's happening, y'know?"

When their eyes met, Naruto's anxiety spiked. His Sharingan were activated, a teardrop trail of dried blood streaking down his face. He staggered, reaching out to the wall for balance as Naruto steadied him with his hands on his chest.

"Oi, oi—"

"Danzo is dead."

"What?" He furrowed his brows, peering up into Sasuke's face again. "Did someone attack? What piece of shit village would assassinate a leader so soon after a—"

"I killed him."

Naruto's blood had frozen completely in his veins, he was sure of it. With wide eyes he could feel his face dissolve into a look of horror against his better efforts, quickly attempting to school it and figure out just what the hell was happening.

"No," he said, his light tone the most artificial he'd ever heard it. "That can't be right. Come sit down and tell me what's going on, you know?"

"I met with Sakura," he said hurriedly, but he did not step further into the room nor sit as Naruto had suggested. The more he spoke, the louder he became. "After I went looking for Itachi, she told me the truth of the genocide: Danzo orchestrated it. The Third sanctioned it. The council covered it up, all to keep the Uchiha from rightfully rebelling against years of systemic oppression!"

Were it not for the intensity of the room, Naruto could've scratched his head in his confusion. He knew little of history, admittedly, and even less of the Uchiha Clan. So his family would've begun a revolution, and the Third Hokage got Itachi to put a stop to it?

He knew from his years of medical study that Sasuke was talking so fast because he was nervous and scared. Had he really done something so horrible...?

"That's—will you start over? Slower this time?"

"Quit acting like such a dumbass! Konoha is scum! My brother gave everything to the village—even the lives of our family—and they threw him out like a fucking dog!"

"Hey, hey," Naruto tried, raising his hands as if that alone could calm this growing rage. "Slow down and listen to yourself, y'know? Doesn't that sound a little outlandish?"

"Of course it does to you," he spat, shoving him away. "You've given your life to the village, too. The same village that let you be mocked and ridiculed your entire life until they could find a use for you!"

Naruto fought his wince at that. Of course it was the truth, but Konoha was home. Even through his lonely upbringing, he still managed to find people who loved him and who were worth loving, worth protecting...!

"Yeah," he said evenly despite the massive pit of dread in his stomach, "I know. But this is our home. If it's true that Itachi did that awful thing for the sake of peace...don't you think he'd be disappointed for you to feel this way?"

It was the absolute wrong thing to say, because a rage flashed in Sasuke's red eyes as he shoved Naruto once more, so roughly that he stumbled and fell flat on his ass to the floor of his apartment. It was as if the last three years of progress had been undone in that instant, all of that fury and pain and sorrow boiled back up to his surface and spilling over.

"Shut up!" he roared. "What does it even matter? I just killed the Hokage—I can't stay here even if I wanted to. And I don't. You feel free to lick the boots of Tsunade and the council all you want, but I'm leaving!"

"And where the hell are you gonna go?!" Naruto bit back, pushing onto his feet. He took hold of Sasuke's wrist before he had the chance to turn and leap from the window. "Jiraiya's death fucked me up, too! You're not the only one suffering—I thought you finally understood that we can handle our pain together! You can't just leave, even if you did something like that! We'll explain everything! I'll go get Kaka-sensei and—"

"I knew..." he murmured then, his voice void of all of that explosive energy from just moments ago. "I knew you wouldn't understand." He gave a sharp tug, pulling his hand free of Naruto's grasp. "Don't you dare try to follow me this time. And if anyone comes looking for me..."

Their eyes met once more, and Naruto slumped down onto the floor. In the morning he would remember none of their terrible visit. As far as he knew, he had merely tossed and turned until the latest hours of the night, then fallen into a dreamless sleep and similarly fallen out of bed.