Title: Hatred breeds hatred.

Summary: Atoning for your past wrongs is hard. Sometimes, people aren't so forgiving.

Prompt: There was no warning.

Warnings: T for swearing

Comments: Not romance yet, but it's building up to something a little fluffier.

There was no warning. Sasuke's eyes snapped open the instant he inhaled a lungful of ashy smoke. He was out of bed and throwing on clothes. He threw open the window, preparing to leap out of the burning building when an object came hurtling towards him. He dodged. Barely. But by the flapping sound that had accompanied it as it flew past him, he knew it had to be a paper bomb.

More bombs were coming his way. Instinct took over, and he ducked away from the window and further into his apartment just as the paper bomb went off. A deafening boom and the accompanying shock wave momentarily disoriented him, and he stumbled into his living room.

"UCHIHA!" A voice bellowed from below. "Prepare to go to hell, you fucking bastard!"

More paper bombs smashed through the windows, , thudding against the opposite walls. Sasuke ducked as they detonated.

Smoke engulfed the tiny apartment, blinding his sharingan and invading his windpipe. Oxygen refused to enter his lungs, and he choked, working desperately to get sufficient air. All around him, flames were beginning to lick up the front door, consuming wooden table in the kitchen.

Sasuke heard rather than saw a body sail through the broken window, landing lightly. Gritting his teeth in anger, he closed his eyes, drew his katana, and waited. For once the smoke acted as an equalizer; within moments, he'd run into a piece of furniture—the side table, Sasuke guessed, judging by the earsplitting crash of the lamp that followed, and immediately, Sasuke was on him.

The poor bastard didn't stand a chance.

With a single downward slash, Kusanagi bit deep into the shinobi's shoulder, wrangling a blood curdling scream from him. He drew the blade out with a sickening squelch and prepared to deliver the killing blow.

The other shinobi laughed weakly.

Centimeters from its target, his blade paused. The other man continued to laugh, unaware of how closely he had been to death. "Go ahead, traitor," he whispered. "A life for a life."

And suddenly, Sasuke understood. As part of his probational sentence, the counsel had mandated that should he kill a Konoha citizen, he would immediately receive a death sentence.

With a flick of his wrist, Sasuke reversed the direction of the blade, driving the butt into the man's neck and knocking him out. More bodies came hurtling into the room. Sasuke cursed quietly before quickly leaning over the unconscious man and grabbing his breathing device.

The difference between air quality was astounding. He took deep, grasping breaths, beating back the fog that had pervaded his mind and lungs.

Perhaps too deep because the next instant, kunai shot out towards him from several directions, just missing him as he fell to the floor instinctively. He rolled as another volley of kunai rained over his head.

Mind racing, he knew he needed to escape. The fastest way was to jump through the broken window and fly off on a summon. Sasuke hesitated, eyes flickering to the smokey outline of his bedroom. But there was no time; muffled footsteps were fast approaching. He flipped himself onto his stomach, preparing to make the dash.

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no jutsu!"

Sasuke had never been so relieved to feel the spray of water against his back as the water dragon ripped through his destroyed apartment momentarily catching the enemy off guard. Above their discordant cries of dismay, he heard yet another beautiful, absolutely perfect sound:

"SHANNARO!"

A shadow, like a bullet sailed through his poor, misused window and connected hard with a foe to his left. The man flew backwards into the kitchen headed towards the kitchen sink. The sickening crunch as his spine broke was barely audible over the crash of metal and concrete as kept going, making a sizable crater by the time his momentum had halted.

By then, Sakura had moved. Fists connecting again and again with her opponents, she sent them flying around the apartment, crashing into furniture or walls. Within the time it took the first man to make a dent, no one but Sasuke and Sakura were standing.

"Sasuke-kun, we need to get out of here. The apartment is about to collapse," she said urgently, striding towards the window. "Kakashi-sensei has the ground neutralized. Let's go!"

"Wait," Sasuke said shortly, causing Sakura's face to snap up sharply. He sprinted back to his bedroom and made a beeline for his rucksack by his bedside. Bag in hand, he returned to Sakura who wordlessly nodded before jumping out gracefully with Sasuke following close behind.

From his position underneath a nearby tree, Kakashi straightened, book snapping shut as he made his way to greet them. "Good to know you're safe, Sasuke."

"Aa." Sakura shoved him with a shoulder, and he bit out however reluctantly, "Thank you for your help."

"Anytime, Sasuke," Kakashi said, giving them his one-eyed smile. "Now, let's see what we have here."

Sasuke counted twelve bound shinobi, all bearing Konoha headbands, all glaring daggers at him. "These men tried to lure me into attacking and killing one of their members in the hopes that I might be sentenced to death," Sasuke noted quietly.

One of the men nearest Sasuke spat on his sandals. "You don't deserve to live, Uchiha scum."

"They even picked a night when Naruto wasn't around to defend him," Sakura commented, just as lightly. "Obviously, you guys forgot he has other teammates too."

"Or they underestimated our ability," Kakashi added. "But, it does tell us that there's a mole in the Hokage's office. We'll be sure to investigate. I'm sure Tsunade-sama won't be too pleased by that."

"Mm, she really hates spies." The captured men were beginning to look worried, although Sasuke couldn't tell if it was from the smoke, the mention of Tsunade, or the casual way Kakashi and Sakura were talking about the whole ordeal. "Ino told me the last one they caught refused to leave Ibiki-san's office because he was so ashamed of what they'd done to him."

"Well, it's getting late, and it looks like Sasuke's going to need a place to stay. Sakura, why don't you take him to your place. I'll drop these useless sacks off at the prison."

"Okay, Sensei. Let's go, Sasuke-kun. I'm sure your tired. My apartment isn't that far away from here—"

"How could you side with him?" A voice demanded from behind them. "He's killed our friends, our families. That man is nothing but a monster, and yet you protect him, treat him with respect, coddle him even. Have you no shame?"

Sakura paused in the middle of taking a step. Her face was hidden in shadow, much to Sasuke's great disappointment. But just as she turned around to speak, a great groan emanated from behind them. All eyes looked up to see the ceiling to Sasuke's apartment give out. It was like watching an over stuffed sack bursting as all the above apartment's furnishings poured out onto Sasuke's floor. There was a shriek from within, reminding everyone there briefly that men had still been in that room, and then deadly silence.

Sakura cocked her head to one side, eyebrow raised with incredulity. "You are so fixed on killing one man, that you never considered all the other lives you put in danger. So tell me: how does it feel to be a monster yourself?"

All the color drained from the man's face, and when Kakashi tried to drag him along, he obeyed easily, like a limp doll, vacant of any soul.

"Come on, Sasuke-kun. Let's go."

~dydshark