Disclaimer: I guess I don't own this.

Ch. 11

At first Sasuke didn't know how to respond. He had rather stupidly thought that after the one incident with the red chakra years ago it would never reappear. Clearly, he'd been wrong. So, how to begin explaining?

He'd found out the truth approximately four years ago when after suffering from chakra exhaustion, he had gone to see the Sandaime. He remembered the day vividly.

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After being attacked by the mysterious ninja, the red chakra was still hanging over his head. Where had it come from? Why did he have it? Had his mysterious parents had the strange chakra, too? Was that why he was hated?

All he could think of was Ami asking over and over, "Did your parents do something?"

Had they done something? Had someone tried to kill him because of whatever his parents had done? Were they criminals? What if they weren't even from the leaf? These worries plagued Sasuke as he trudged towards the Hokage tower. What did it all mean? Was the red chakra the source of the hatred he received from the villagers?

Before he could ponder that thought more he found himself at the entrance of the red tower. The Hokage would have the answer, but Sasuke wondered if he actually wanted it. Wouldn't it be better not to know? What if the secret was terrible? However, the idea of finally knowing the truth was too compelling. Sasuke took a deep breath before propelling himself through the door.

The Sandaime looked like he had been expecting him. His tired, wrinkled eyes looked Sasuke up and down with a sense of sadness.

"Sasuke," he asked, "What brings you here?"

For a moment Sasuke stared at the old man. This was the moment of truth. He could still turn around and leave. There was no need to know. But, he squared his shoulders, set his feet, and mustered up all the courage he could. He stared past the Hokage at the monument in the background. If he looked at the Sandaime's eyes he might lose his resolve.

Shakily he asked, "Why do I have red chakra?"

His voice cracked on the last word and he found he couldn't continue. He bit his lip and he could feel tears forming in his eyes. He willed them away. His hands clenched into fists with his fingernails digging into his palms. He stared desperately at the floor waiting for his answer. Please, oh kami, please let it not be a bad thing, please, he begged silently in his mind.

"Sasuke, sit down. Let's have a talk," the Sandaime told him before continuing, "I didn't think I'd have to have this conversation with you until many years to come."

Sasuke slid forward before plopping down on the ground. His eyes shone with faint hope.

"One of my anbu informed me that you accessed the fo- red chakra," the Hokage told him before pausing. His eyes slowly scanned Sasuke as if he was judging him, trying to come to a decision. Sasuke frowned slightly. An anbu had informed the Hokage? For a couple moments the room was filled with a tense silence. After staring at Sasuke, the Hokage seemed to come to a decision.

His eyes were grave as he continued, "This red chakra is the reason the villagers…"

He didn't finish the sentence. He had been picking his words with care and seemed uncertain how to continue. Luckily, Sasuke finished the sentence for him.

"Hate me?" Sasuke asked. The Sandaime frowned before blowing a puff of steam out from his pipe.

"I wouldn't go that far, but yes. The red chakra is…" the Sandaime started, but again he stopped. He continued to look Sasuke over. His eyes stayed particularly long on Sasuke's black hair and pale skin. Sasuke leaned in to hear the answer, but the Sandaime made no move to continue the sentence. A frown appeared on the old man's face and for a moment he looked out the window and surveyed the village.

The Hokage took another puff, collected himself and continued, "The red chakra is… a unique chakra. It is based off of rage. As long as you control yourself it should never appear. I trust you can do that, Sasuke? For when it appears it destroys everything."

His eyes burned into Sasuke's and all Sasuke could do was nod and agree.

"Never get angry. Got it. But where does it come from? Am I the only one with it?" Sasuke questioned. Had his parents had it, too? Again the Sandaime paused as if trying to collect himself.

He looked older than ever before as he told Sasuke, "It is a bit like a kekkei genkai. Discuss it with no one. Never use it. It will only lead you astray. It is a curse, not a blessing."

There was a clear warning there. Perhaps it had led Sasuke's parents astray? Whatever it was, it was bad. Sasuke was too cowed to mention the voice he had heard. He would make sure he never ever used it again, though.

As more of an afterthought before Sasuke left he casually asked, "The kyuubi's chakra was red, too, wasn't it? It doesn't have anything to do with that, does it?"

For a moment before the Sandaime composed himself, a look of pure shock and panic crossed his face. However, Sasuke who had been staring at the floor didn't notice. By the time he had raised his head to look at the Hokage's face, the man was wearing a look worthy of a politician. Nothing was revealed.

"No, Sasuke. It has nothing to do with the Kyuubi," the Sandaime told him somberly. Sasuke nodded in relief. At least that was one plus.

A thought occurred to Sasuke and he asked, "So red chakra represents rage? Is that why the Kyuubi was red, because he was a being of rage?"

The Hokage seemed relieved by Sasuke's explanation and merely nodded his head in acceptance. As Sasuke left the Hokage's office he realized he had a lot to think about. The Sandaime hadn't expressly stated it, but it seemed like his parents had been some sort of criminals corrupted by the red chakra. It was sort of relieving to finally know why he was hated by the villagers. Maybe he still had family out there somewhere looking for him who weren't evil? It was an interesting idea, but Sasuke didn't want to get his hopes up.

As the Sandaime watched Sasuke leave his office deep in thought, he picked himself up and stretched his weary bones out. No matter how much he wanted to, he never could quite trust the boy. Even when the boy was a mere child his worries about the boy's suitability to contain the Kyuubi had made themselves known in little nuances. His slight preference of Naruto to Sasuke, his insistence that Jiraiya check the seal, the constant anbu guard on the boy was all part of that mistrust.

It was hard to forget that the boy was an Uchiha. If Minato's son had been the jinchuuriki Sarutobi could have rested easy, but instead it was an Uchiha. When he knew he contained the fox who knew what he might do? He could destroy the village that had scorned him. It was better that he never know. Still watching Sasuke walk out of his office hurt. For some stupid reason, the Sandaime felt he had betrayed the boy.

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Fuki was still waiting for an answer and Sasuke wasn't sure exactly what to say.

"It's a kekkei genkai," he finally muttered. Neither Fuki nor Kota looked at all convinced, but Sasuke refused to add more. The Hokage had told him not to talk about it.

Kota helplessly shrugged before saying, "I've never heard of it. And Sasuke, you felt all weird. Like not you."

He looked a little scared as he said it as if he was afraid Sasuke would lash out at him with the strange red chakra. Fuki said nothing, but her eyes remained as cold as the arctic. She had never even looked at the fake Tsunade with such harshness.

"You've had to have noticed that the villagers don't like me too much. It's because of this. I think my parents had it, too, and did something really bad with it. If you get angry it turns you into a monster. It's like a curse. But, I'm not really allowed to talk about it. Hokage's orders," Sasuke explained after the silence had become too long and unbearable. For a moment his teammates stared at him before Kota jumped upwards with a smile.

He turned to Fuki with a grin and said, "See! It's not so bad! I'm glad you told us Sasuke! It's just a kekkei genkai gone wrong."

Fuki did not look so convinced. She seemed to be weighing his words for truthfulness. Sasuke flinched under her coldness and even Kota's happiness was dampened a little.

"You… you just demolished that guy Sasuke. There was no remorse… no guilt… no anything. It would have been fine, but then… then you turned around. You were gonna do the same thing to me. You turned into a monster like flipping a switch. How do we know that's never going to happen again?" Fuki questioned her voice breaking throughout. Sasuke shrugged. Guilt was worming its way down into his stomach making him feel ill. He didn't know that it would never happen again. For all he knew it could happen tomorrow. Fuki sat down on the floor looking tired and upset.

"I thought you were gonna kill me," she finally said raggedly. They sat in an awkward silence for a couple of minutes. The clock ticked in the background.

"I thought you were gonna kill me," she repeated it again as if she couldn't quite believe it. Kota looked unsure of what to say or do. Sasuke just shrugged sadly. The silence rolled on.

Finally Kota spoke up, "You said it was caused by anger right? So just don't get angry."

Sasuke stared at him in disbelief. Don't get angry. What great advice. Not. But Fuki had looked up from the ground and she looked hopeful.

"Kota has a point. Sasuke you're our teammate and friend, I don't want you to hurt people. Whatever your parents did I don't want you to end up like them. You just can't get angry," Fuki told him. Her voice sounded stronger and more sure of itself.

Sasuke sighed before telling them, "I've been meditating ever since I found out, but how am I supposed to stop from getting angry when something like Kota getting murdered happens?"

There was a note of hopelessness in his voice as he said it. It seeped into his two teammates who both seemed at a loss. Again they sat in silence, but this time the silence stretched on. Eventually Fuki slowly pushed herself up so she was standing.

"I don't know," she told him sadly before she took Kota's hand and they both left the room. Kota sent Sasuke a pained look as they exited, but Fuki didn't turn around. Sasuke remained laying in his bed. As they walked away all he could hear where the echoes of their footsteps, leaving him all alone.

He had never told anyone else before. Not Ami or Naruto. He didn't know what to feel. He knew he should feel sad, or uneasy, or even, kami forbid, angry, but he didn't. He just felt empty. He lay in his bed and he stared up at the white washed ceiling and willed himself to feel something. Instead, a voice spoke.

"Nice friends, you got there, brat," the voice told him with a laugh. Sasuke panicked and fell out of his bed. He hadn't heard that voice in years.

"What are you? Where are you?" he yelled into his empty hospital room. He was greeted by the voice's laughter.

When the disembodied voice had stopped laughing it claimed, "My name is Kurama and I am your spiritual guide."

Sasuke looked around the room desperately searching for a sign of this so called spiritual guide and finding none. His spiritual guide merely seemed amused by his actions.

"Don't be stupid. I live inside of you," it told him before continuing, "I can help you control your anger, so you never lose your temper again and hurt your little friends. All you have to do is give me a little something in exchange," the voice promised. Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

He crossed his arms before asking, "What exactly would I have to do?"

"Oh, nothing big. Just a favor or two here and there. And in exchange, you can get as mad as you want with no unfortunate repercussions. That'd be good wouldn't it? All your little friends are going to ditch you just like your teammates if you keep turning into a monster, aren't they? Imagine what Ami would think of you. You'd go back to being all alone. You could disappear and no one would notice. Do you want that? Do you want to lose everyone's acknowledgement that you've worked so hard for?" the voice asked. Sasuke bit his lip. When he put it like that how could he not agree?

"You can really make it so I don't turn into a monster?" Sasuke asked.

The voice cackled before responding, "Oh yes. I can ensure that you never turn into a monster ever again."

Sasuke closed his eyes. He saw Fuki and Kota walking away from him.

"I agree," he told the voice. The voice screeched with glee and Sasuke wondered if he'd made a deal with the devil. He dismissed easily such a ludicrous thought. After all, his spiritual guide couldn't be evil, could he?

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Three hours later Sasuke had met up with his teammates and explained his situation. Fuki had seemed a bit skeptical, but Kota had wholeheartedly embraced the theory.

"Come on, Fuki. So what if you've never heard of a spiritual guide! It could be part of Sasuke's kekkei genkai. Sasuke get mad so she can see! Look! The problems solved!" Kota argued. However, it took Sasuke paying for a fan, buying Fuki food, and the plotting of a vengeful prank against their blond sensei for when they returned home for Fuki to reaccept Sasuke back into the fold. Sasuke knew, though, that he'd be on eggshells around Fuki and even Kota for a long time. Luckily Fuki was at least capable of joking about it.

When Sasuke refused to pay for the ridiculous face paint she had bought she jokingly argued, "You still tried to kill me."

It was a relief. Clearly his spiritual guardian had come through. Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all.

As they walked around Suna, Sasuke couldn't help but notice how different it was from Konoha. Even though they were allies, the desert ninja still sent cold dark looks at them that promised future bodily harm. Frankly, it was pretty scary. Of course, Fuki met them glare for glare no matter how much Sasuke tried to get her to stop. Kota, who would have been pissing himself in fear if he'd noticed, luckily remained oblivious of the glaring ninja.

But it wasn't just that. Even the civilians were harder and colder. The haggling was taken more seriously. Their faces had more wrinkles and less laugh lines. No one idled in the streets. They were all busy going from place to place. They didn't stop to talk. Instead, there was a constant rush to get to the next place. It made the slow moving, idling Konoha ninja stick out like a sore thumb.

It made Sasuke's skin crawl. He'd thought he'd enjoy being out of Konoha for the first time, but this atmosphere was just unsettling. It didn't help that the sand kept getting in his sandles and he could feel a nasty red burn spreading on his unprotected neck. And there was a slight undercurrent of something bad in the air. Sasuke couldn't put a finger on it, but he knew it was there. Was it fear?

He was interrupted by Kota who told them, "You know the chakra feels different here. Not bad different, but just strange different."

Fuki ignored the comment, so Sasuke pretended to be interested. Although Kota's sensor abilities were useful he was always talking about other people's chakra which got a little old after a while.

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It had been strange to see everyone in the village clear the streets the minute it got dark out. The three ninja had been confused. In Konoha the streets were busy at all hours no matter how late.

"I wonder if it's part of their culture," Fuki had questioned. Kota had nodded.

Sasuke had added his two cents, "It did get really cold out. Maybe they went in to escape it?"

It was true. Without the sun to heat up the village the temperature had plummeted. Fuki who wore a scarf was fine, although she'd been burning during the day, but both Kota and Sasuke were freezing. Sasuke was only wearing shorts and a short sleeved shirt while Kota although he had a sweater was wearing shorts, too.

"Maybe we should head in?" Kota asked. Sasuke chimed in his agreement. Fuki looked disappointed, but glancing at the deserted streets agreed.

As they walked to the hotel Tsunade had given them, Sasuke felt sure he was being watched. The undercurrent of something bad was back and his skin was prickling. He turned around in a rush and for a moment he thought he saw a trace of red in the sky before he dismissed it. There was nothing there. He was merely being paranoid. Kota glanced at him to see what he was up to as Fuki led the way. Sasuke shrugged.

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Two days later, they were preparing to leave Suna. Tsunade had seemed pleased with how her talks with the Kazekage had gone and had refrained from further traumatizing her fragile genin.

She had briefly taken Sasuke aside on the second day and asked him, "You do know what the red chakra was, don't you?"

Sasuke had glanced at his teammates briefly before nodding and telling her that the Sandaime had already explained it to him. Tsunade looked relieved that she didn't have to deal with it and happily sent him on his way. Sasuke had rolled his eyes. Even the fake Tsunade knew about his kekkei genkai?

As they prepared to leave the village, though, the prickling feeling came back. He'd felt like he was being watched on and off during their stay. It would be a relief to return to Konoha where everyone tried not to look at him. Turning around, Sasuke scanned the sand village looking for the perpetrator. Expecting an angry ninja covered head to toe in black, he was surprised to find himself staring at a boy who looked his age with dark red eyes and burning cold eyes that glared through him. This was the kid who'd been stalking him the whole time? It seemed ridiculous. The other boy reminded him so much of Fuki, with her reddish auburn hair and angry glares, that he couldn't help laughing. He didn't know what possessed him at the time, but he cheekily waved at the other boy, who could have passed for Fuki's twin.

The other boy did not wave back.