Disclaimer: Naruto, his friends and the universe they live in don't belong to me but to Masashi Kishimoto. I write this story solely for my own pleasure and don't make any money with it.


Thanks go again to eowyn unquendor, who has beta-read this story. Without her comments and encouragements I would not have managed to finish the story.


Chapter Seven: Conclusions

He had outwitted me. I had thought that I had been confusing him, making him question the truths he had always believed in, and at the same time distracting him and gaining his trust by making small talk with him – and he had never forgotten that I must have had something in mind when I had saved his life and taken him in.

I desperately sought for an answer, even for a lie, though I have never been good at lying. To my horror I realized that I did not even know which direction to take with a lie – with Akatsuki I had always been good at deceiving and manipulating them because with each of them I knew exactly what they dreamt of, what they feared, and what was the motivating force behind all their actions. With Sasuke I had no idea – sure, there was his revenge, but now he had achieved it, and besides, I had just spent a whole day trying to make him doubt this aim (most of all because I would have been his next target.) I did not know what else was important to him – I had not even cared to find out – how could I have been that stupid, forgetting what was most important of all if I wanted him to follow my plans!

He still waited for an answer, and there was no choice but to be honest:

"I have already told you", I said. "I want you to revive the clan, and to restore its honour."

"I take it that your definition of honour is different from the one of the clan leaders whom you killed together with Itachi."

"It is. I don't believe in keeping to the letter of the law, so that no one can blame you for anything. I don't believe in a perfect surface, and in not being noticed. I want the clan proud again, as it was before the foundation of Konoha, I want it to believe in its own values, to set its own rules, instead of always being concerned about other people's opinions. I want it strong and independent, and not afraid of anything, least of all of its own strength, or of other people's hatred and fear."

"And as you are too old to marry and have children, and anyway don't want to marry because of that perfect woman you once loved, you want me to do it. What if I don't find a woman who will marry me, or whom I want to marry?"

"But you will", I said. "You are young, handsome, intelligent, righteous, and a strong fighter in the bargain. There is no doubt that you will find a wife."

He smiled knowingly, and I saw the foolishness of my words.

"You will still have to learn to make a woman laugh", I added.

"I won't be used for anything", he said.

It would be difficult to convince him, I realized, and to persuade him to make my dreams come true. I had made a lot of mistakes, talking from my heart without thinking, and I could not undo them now.

"I don't want you as a tool", I tried to convince him in spite of everything. "I want you as my partner who shares my dream, the resurrection of the once proud clan of Uchiha. It's your dream as well, isn't it – you still wear the clan's crest on your back – you have always dreamt of reviving it. You don't have to share my values, or my idea of honour – we will decide together about the values of the renewed clan – you will decide on your own, if you insist – I don't care."

Again he smiled knowingly. "If I ever have children, they will decide about their own values", he said. "Anyway it's unavoidable. Your nephews didn't share your values, even though you cared for them as if they had been your own kids."

I had definitely talked too much.

"What about Akatsuki?" he asked suddenly, and I wondered whether there was a system behind these sudden changes of subject. I had always taken it for granted that he was just following the ideas that came to his mind, making his thoughts – and his questions – go in this or that direction, as it would happen – but maybe I had underestimated him from the very beginning. I should have remembered that he had survived three years at Orochimaru's place, and in the end defeated him.

"What about Akatsuki and the bijuus?" he asked again.

"Don't worry about them", I answered. "Most of them are dead anyway. You killed Deidara and Itachi; Sasori, Hidan and Kakuzu were killed by the Leaf, Kisame has been defeated by your own companion." I did not mention that Kisame had surrendered, not to Sasuke's team Hebi, but to the Konoha team, and that Hebi as well had joined the Leaf, seeking protection and orientation now that they were without leader.

"There are only three of them alive now", I continued. "One of them is a clown, or rather a plant, and the other two are fighting the Konoha team at this very moment, and though they are rather strong there is no doubt that they will be soon defeated. Don't worry about them. It will be only you and me who will revive the clan."

The news about the Konoha team and his old companions startled him, but he got himself under control again.

"Me, you mean, as you are too old", he corrected me. "What about the bijuus?"

"Akatsuki stored their chakra in a huge statue in a hidden place. There they have lost their individuality and merged into a huge amorphous mass of chakra. We will send it to the world of the dead – you and me together. We have the necessary power."

"You still have not got the kyuubi", he said.

"No, of course not, and we won't send it to the underworld. We'll keep it - it is the very symbol of the power of the Uchiha clan, as we can control it. We won't use it – I know you are against it – we will just keep it, so that everyone knows that the Uchiha are no longer afraid of their own strength, that they are again a clan that has to be feared and respected. We won't be intimidated by anyone."

He seemed unimpressed. "You know that there's a jinchuuriki", he said. "What about him?"

"He is, at this moment, fighting the last surviving members of Akatsuki, together with his team. He'll soon defeat them, and then, when he is exhausted, we will capture him."

"The jinchuuriki was my friend – or he still is – I guess he is still trying to save me. It was only me who was a bad friend."

I remembered the jinchuuriki's odd reaction to the news of Sasuke's victory over Itachi – how his only concern had been to find him before Zetsu and I did. I had not thought of it: another mistake of mine.

"I won't allow you to use him as a tool", Sasuke concluded. "Or to harm him in any other way."

It was a no to all my plans – a final no, as I did not have any argument against it, at least none that would sound sincere. Blindly – or seeingly – I had walked into the trap he had set up for me. I had been defeated by a fifteen-year-old boy, and nothing remained but to admit my defeat.

"I have to thank you though", he continued in a more thoughtful voice. "For saving my life, and for taking time to talk to me and to tell me your stories about myself and my clan and my brother, and of your own past, even though I doubt they were all true."

"My pleasure", I answered. He had forgotten the coffee, I thought.

"Still I will kill you in revenge for the clan", he said.

"You will turn yourself into Danzou's weapon if you do this", I replied.

I could not belief myself: Was I really pleading for my life? But that was not all – I had hoped that he had grown some affection for me, just as I had for him, maybe not as much, but still enough to not kill me.

"Maybe I will", he said, and I wondered what he was referring to.

"Anyway, what was the name of the woman you loved?" he again changed the subject. "I might have heard of her. She must have been well-known if she was the ancestress of the clan."

"Probably not - she did not like to be in the centre of attention, and even among her own grandchildren, not to speak of her great-grandchildren, few knew her", I answered. "But I will tell you her name..."

I did, and his reaction was rather unexpected.

"I knew her", he said. "Personally, I mean. She was very old, and my mother looked after her, helping her wash herself, and with the household and everything. She took turns with some other women, and sometimes she took me with her. I was very small then, you know. She seemed strange to me, unbelievably old, all tiny and wrinkled and very weak, barely able to walk by herself, if it was for more than a few steps. Her mind was more in the past than in the present, and most of the time I did not know what she was talking about, but she was still clear-minded, never confusing past and present, always greeting me by my name and giving me some toy, not as a present, but so that I would have something to play with while my mother was helping her, and sometimes she made me sit next to her and showed me some old pictures and told me stories of the past in a way that they made sense to me. I think I can understand why you loved her."

"You clearly cannot", I replied.

He was silent for some minutes, then he asked his next question: "What happened to her?"

"You can answer this question yourself", I returned.

He lowered his eyes. "I am sorry", he said. "I should have figured it out. I did not want to hurt you."

The memory hurt indeed – still his apology had soothed me, and I told him the full story: "She lived at the place of one of her grandsons, who happened to be among the clan leaders whom Itachi and I wanted to kill. Their meeting was at his place... We thought that they were all on their own, and we had no idea about the very old woman who remained in the house in the next room – few people knew about her. She had indeed difficulties walking more than a few steps, but she managed to come in to see what was going on. She could not hinder us, of course, but she could scream, and call for help. Itachi killed her on the spot – he was too quick for me, as I was still in shock from meeting her again. I could not do anything to help her, I just saw her die in a moment, struck down by Itachi's Tsukuyomi. I fled in despair, using my Space-Time-Ninjutsu... If I had only known that she was still alive! I might have made up with her again! She might have accepted me again as her lover."

"But she was all old and tiny and thin and wrinkled", Sasuke remarked.

"You still have not understand anything, have you? And stop imagining things – you are too young for it."

To my surprise he obeyed me, turning his thoughts to another matter: "You would not have won her heart by killing the clan", he said. "But you might have prevented Itachi from killing all the rest, even though you could not protect her. You are really egocentric, thinking only of the one person you loved, and not about all the others who died as well, and a coward in the bargain, fleeing from everywhere with your Space-Time-Ninjutsu."

He seemed strangely content with this conclusion, and peaceful – as if it was neither necessary nor honourable to kill a coward as myself. I poured myself another glass of wine – Sasuke's was still almost as full as when I had filled it. Now he took a sip.

We were silent for some minutes, watching the sun sink under the horizon. Yet in spite of our momentary truce I did not feel at peace, or at rest, so I broke the silence.

"What are your plans?" I asked. "As you won't share mine."

"Go back to Konoha. Find out which of your stories are true."

"It's not that easy", I said. "You cannot just invite Danzou to a cup of coffee and make him tell you everything he knows." Maybe he can, I thought, considering what he had done to me. "And if you find the truth, do you plan to stay there, and serve them again as a shinobi?"

"I am not sure yet. I depends on the truth I will find." He paused for some seconds, then he continued, sounding much less certain than before: "What's been troubling me most since you told me that Itachi was in league with some of the village leaders: You know, I told you, the kyuubi's jinchuuriki was my friend – the best friend whom I would have had to kill to obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan. Did they know this – did they plan this – did they put us into one team on purpose, so that we might become best friends, so that I would have to kill him, and thus help them get rid of the kyuubi once and for all"

"Maybe they did", I answered out of habit, as I always did when I had no idea at all, but wanted to encourage someone in believing something that I found useful. Then I corrected myself: "Honestly, I don't know. They might, or they might not. You will have to find out yourself." I touched the back of his hand, in a way that I hoped would be comforting, and he took mine and pressed it. Again I realized that in his eyes I was a very old man.

"But if I may advise you, Sasuke: Don't waste your time with it. Don't burden your mind with too many questions, least of all with questions that will never be answered, as they are all about other people's thoughts and intentions and motivations, and they will never answer them truthfully. Keep to your own knowledge, your own values, and your own aims. Whoever wanted you to kill him and whatever their purpose was: You did not do it. This is what counts."

He pondered my words. "But I have to know whom I can trust and whom not."

"But you do know, don't you?" I said, pressing his hand. "Sasuke, I am probably not the most trustworthy man, with all the evil I have done, but I care for you, and not in the way Itachi did. I don't want you to be a murderer, or a cripple, or an innocent child forever. I want you strong and intelligent and mature and warm-hearted. I don't want you as my tool, I don't even want you at my side, but..."

My voice broke – what I was about to say would be to admit utter and complete defeat – but on the other hand I had indeed been defeated, and nothing was left to me. I pressed his hand, my heart reached out to him, I would have done anything to gain his trust, not for this or that purpose, but for its own sake.

"But I would be glad if you accepted me at your side", I completed my sentence.

He sat unmoved and seemed far far away, in spite of the physical contact. His mind was elsewhere, and his look was directed at the horizon, where the sun was no longer visible, but the sky was still illuminated from below and shone in a deep red – a strange red, rather orange than pink...

I disposed of the same power as Sasuke, and just as him I knew what was going on. Zetsu's return confirmed my suspicion:

"The jinchuuriki has been overcome by the kyuubi. When he learnt that Jiraya was killed by Pein he completely lost control. The demon is out in its full form, with all its nine tails, and its on a rampage, threatening to kill friend and foe alike."

"We have to do something", Sasuke said before I could. "And quickly!"

"Can you use Space-Time-Ninjutsu?" I asked him.

"Yes."

"And get the kyuubi under control?"

"Yes."

"I will still give you another power that you might need. It will just take a few seconds."

He was off guard, so I easily caught him in my Tsukuyomi. The four-eyes head appeared that represented me in that world, two of its eyes now dead from the cataract, and there was another head that represented Sasuke, also with two extra sockets for these extra eyes that would raise the power of his sharingan to its ultimate level. I tore out my eyes – my true eye, but also the two eyes of that skull – one of them my own, one my brother's – and inserted them into the empty extra sockets of the skull that represented Sasuke in this world. He let it happen – still stunned from the surprise.

"Go and save your friend", I said, realizing that Sasuke's face, most beautiful in its openness and vulnerability and confusion, had now been the last thing I would ever see – not the worst choice, after all. I would remember it for all my life.

"Save him and then return and bring him with you. Don't let me die here all alone!"