Okay, one thing that I really don't like is a person that asks a bunch of questions in their review and doesn't have sign in that I can respond to…don't get me wrong, I'm totally cool with anonymous reviews, but since I do like to reply, especially to long ones…

So this one was from () who reviewed on chapter 2, I think this chapter explains better why it couldn't be defended as being self-defense

For those of you that didn't get a response it may be for two reasons, either it was just saying that you liked it or I thought I responded but didn't…but to all of you that did say you liked it but I didn't respond my response is: Thank you, you're all awesome!

As always, I (unfortunately) own nothing…

Song of inspiration: Sorry by Art of Dying

If you haven't heard the song I highly recommend the song…if you don't look at it as being romantic then I think it really fits for this story…

Chapter 25: Sorry

She hadn't been back in town for many years; too many years in her opinion. In her heart she felt it was right to come back, but her head said that it might be a mistake. She wasn't sure how her sons would react to seeing her, especially her youngest. Uchiha Mikoto stood in front of the university Sasuke was attending. Mikoto had been keeping tabs on her sons ever since she left and it pained her to know that Itachi had taken the blame.

Mikoto had been living in a neighboring country where no one would know or find her. She found a job and a small house and made herself a new life. While she never forgot about her old life, it felt good to create a new one. Her new life helped to let her not think about her sons. She knew that Kakashi would take care of Sasuke and she wished that Itachi hadn't taken the blame, but he did and once her son did something she knew that he wouldn't go back again. She told herself that even if she came back Itachi would try to take the blame.

Despite leaving her past behind she was never able to make a new family. She didn't date, nor form truly close relationships. Work was her concentration, it had to be so that guilt wouldn't eat her alive. She knew that it was selfish of her to let Itachi take the blame, but the thought of prison scared her into leaving. All of the evidence pointed to first-degree murder. She knew that the gun case was unlocked. She knew that the gun was loaded. It was her that made sure that those things were in place. She would never let her sons take as much pain as she endured, it was her plan that if things ever got too out of hand she would end it. End him. The fact that she planned it, that she put so much hate into it, and that she definitely knew what she was doing would have made her instantly guilty and charged with murder in the first degree.

Her reasons were definitely not good excuses for her actions. She knew that it made her a bad mother, perhaps a horrible mother. In the moment it felt like the right thing to do. She was following what her son ordered, but that should never be the case. She was supposed to be the mother, the one to tell her sons what is wrong and right. She was supposed to tell her sons what to do, but in the moment she couldn't.

Mikoto was about to walk to Sasuke's dorm room when he practically ran out of the building and right past her. At first she was too shocked at her son's actions to do anything. She soon came to senses and quickly followed the young man. "Sasuke," she called, trying to get him to stop. After calling after him a few more times he stopped, but she wasn't sure that it was because of her.

He appeared to be tuning out the entire outside world. Sasuke was pacing, talking to himself under his breath. She could only hear the words "fucking stupid" come out of his mouth. While she knew that he had grown up, it was still shocking to hear her youngest son cuss. He stopped pacing and let out a deep breath while running his hand over his face in frustration and a little humiliation. "Sasuke," she called once more, pulling him out of his own mind.

He turned to look at her, at first annoyed. Girls always annoyed him and his first thought was some fan girl. He thought that he had shaken most of his admirers by repeatedly reminding that he was gay. When he saw the woman in front of him he stood frozen. No words came to mind when he saw his mother in front of him. It had been years but she hadn't changed. The emotions he had already been feeling went into overdrive. Sasuke stepped back from her as if touching her would kill him. It was as if he had seen a ghost. "What," he started but the words would form. For one of the very few times in his life, Sasuke was finding talking to be a very difficult task. While he didn't talk much, it didn't mean that he didn't have opinions and couldn't voice them, it was that he chose not to. That moment wasn't one of those times; in that moment he was truly speechless.

"I know, it must be a shock to see me," she said. She took a chance by stepping and reaching for him. He quickly stepped away causing some tears to form in her eyes. It was exactly the reaction she deserved and she knew it. "Please Sasuke," she begged, causing him to wince.

"Don't say my name," he ordered. His voice was shaky and he thought that he would breakdown at any moment. Sasuke wouldn't look her in the eyes. He could hardly look at her at all, not wanting to believe she was standing in front of him. "Just don't say anything," he said, trying to remain strong. He wasn't ready to see her and his reaction showed it. "Just leave," he pleaded, not wanting to see her ever again.

"I can't do that Sasuke," she said, trying to reach for him again. "I've been gone for too long already," she said. All she wanted to do was talk to him. She didn't think that he'd ever forgive her completely, but she still wanted him to listen to her reasons. Even if she had no good excuse, she wanted him to hear her side of the story. "Please just listen to me," she begged.

"You're the one that left," he painfully reminded her. "You made that choice," he added, his voice cracking a little. He was a mix of emotions, ranging from anger, to heartbreak, sadness, and confusion all at once. "Why would I listen to anything you have to say?" he asked, it was a rhetorical question, but still one that she wished she could answer.

Mikoto knew that she had no good reason why he should listen, but she wanted him to understand. "I was a young mother," she told him, telling him even if he didn't want to listen. "I had been abused and just shot my husband, I didn't know what to do," she quickly tried to explain, all of the emotions flying back. He tried to walk away from her but she just followed. "I was scared and so I left. I listened to what Itachi told me to do and never thought about what he was going to say to the police," she said. "I never thought he'd take the blame," she started to cry.

"But he did and you were still nowhere to be found," he hissed. He wouldn't forgive her. He would never forgive her and they both knew that. "I don't want to see your fucking tears," he angrily said, "and I don't want to hear your stupid excuses." His anger was boiling over as he felt she was trying to explain her actions. Sasuke wouldn't forgive her actions and he didn't want her to even try to make him. "You can't make me forgive you because I never will be able to," he told her. "You can't go back and fix what you did," he reminded her as he started to feel all of the emotions from that day rise to the surface. "You can't change the fact that Itachi's been in prison," he said, knowing that it was the biggest reason that he couldn't forgive her.

"I know that Sasuke," she said timidly. "I know that I can't fix anything and I know that I did the worst thing I could do," she admitted. She still had tears pouring out of her eyes, not to try to make him forgive her, but because she couldn't even forgive herself. "I wish I could, but I can't. I can't take back pulling the trigger, I can't take back leaving, and most of all I can't take back staying away. As much as I wish that I could, I know that I can't," Mikoto cried.

Sasuke stopped, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He wanted his words to come out right and not shaking because of all of his emotions. "I could have forgave you for killing him," he told her honestly. "He was a horrible father and an all around terrible man. He was a monster and even then I knew that," he said, trying to stay calmly. "But I can never forgive you for letting Itachi take the blame. I can never forgive you for what happened in the aftermath of the shooting," his voice grew sadder as he talked.

"I know that, but I want you to know why I did it. I want you to understand why I did what I did," she told him. She knew better than to reach for him. She knew that it would only make him run again.

"You know what I don't understand?" he asked, though she remained silent. "I don't understand how you could let your thirteen year old son take the blame," he said, his anger building again. "I don't understand how you could just leave," he continued. "I don't know how you could leave your eight year old son alone with no real family," he said. "I was eight," he said, "I was eight and you left me with no family to turn to. All I had was a guardian that wasn't ready to be a father. I want to know how you slept at night knowing what you left behind." When she remained silent he said, "That's what I thought, you have no real explanation for that." Before she could say anything else he said, "I'm done talking to you." He quickly left and she knew better than to follow him.

NS

Naruto lay on his bed as he looked up at the ceiling. Ever since Sasuke bolted from the room he had been reprimanding himself. "I am so stupid," he huffed in frustration. "How the hell can I fix this," he asked himself, knowing how difficult it would be to Sasuke to listen to him. He sat up in surprise when the dorm room swung open. He was even more surprised when he saw that it was Sasuke, "Sasuke?"

The dark haired man didn't say anything. Naruto could see his emotions written all over his face, which was odd for Sasuke. Tears were threatening to fall and it worried Naruto. While he could see his emotions, he could also tell that Sasuke's walls were up in full force. "Are you okay Sasuke?" he asked.

"Leave me alone," Sasuke ordered as he started to throw some things into a bag. It was clothes and the essentials like a toothbrush. He wouldn't say much else no matter how much the blond tried.

"Please just talk to me," Naruto said, still worried about Sasuke's state of mind. "Is this because of earlier?" he asked, hoping it was something he could fix. "Because if it is then you've got it all wrong," he started to explain, "Please just tell me that you aren't like this because of me."

"Just stop," Sasuke said quietly. He was already an emotional rollercoaster; he didn't need Naruto to add more. He had pushed the incident with Naruto to the back of his mind. Bringing Naruto into the picture again was going to push him over the edge and he knew it. He didn't want to breakdown, especially not in front of Naruto. He hated showing any weakness and he was at his weakest point.

"Sasuke, you're almost in tears," Naruto's worried voice was clear. "I just want to know what's going on," he moved to comfort the other man but Sasuke quickly moved. He was sick of people that were part of the cause of his emotions trying to fix him. He just wanted people to shut up.

"Just stop it," Sasuke yelled. When he saw the slight fear in Naruto's eyes he forced himself to calm down a little. "Not everything is about you," he said, trying to make it clear that it wasn't completely about what happened between the two of them. "Just give me some space," he grabbed his things and quickly make his way out of the dorm room. Sasuke didn't have the emotional ability to deal with Naruto at that point. He wanted to get away from it as much as he could, which meant he definitely couldn't stay in his room. He was going to one of the few people he knew that he could count on.

His actions left Naruto stunned. "What the hell just happened?" he asked himself as he looked at the door. He wasn't sure if it had been something he did, if Kyuubi showed up again, or something entirely different. Either way it left him confused and wanting to know more. "Space," he sighed as he repeated Sasuke's words. That one word made him think that he was at least partially to blame. "Damn it," he said under his breath as he collapsed onto his bed again.

NS

All of Sasuke's emotions had reached their peak when he showed up at Suigetsu's door. He knocked several times, waiting impatiently. "Open the door Suigetsu," he called, his voice weaker than he'd like.

"Sasuke?" the man answered as he opened the door. When Sasuke shoved his way through the door the light haired man didn't say anything. It wasn't just Sasuke being rude like normal, he could tell something on a completely different level had occurred. "Sasuke, are you okay?" he asked, though he knew the answer.

Sasuke just shook his head no as he sunk onto the floor. The tears started slowly but as he let himself think through what had happened they started to pour. He curled into a ball, breaking down, but not saying any actual words. With all of the emotions finally coming out he was finding that he couldn't find any words to say. All of the emotions about Naruto, Kyuubi, and his mother were starting to come to the surface and they were showing in the form of tears.

"What the hell happened?" Suigetsu asked, sitting next to his best friend. He hadn't seen Sasuke in this state since when the murder happened. Even when Yukio hurt him, he wasn't in as bad as a state as he was in that moment. "Tell me what happened," he said softly, not wanting Sasuke to explode with anger.

Sasuke just shook his head and leaned against Suigetsu. The light haired man just wrapped an arm around him, letting Sasuke find some comfort. Sasuke was showing weakness and vulnerability, two words that were rarely associated with the man. He knew that all he could do at that point was be there for his friend. He couldn't make him talk, but he could give him a shoulder to cry on. "It's okay," he said, but Sasuke kept crying. Suigetsu frowned; knowing that what ever had happened must have been bad. What scared him the most was that he couldn't think of anything that would make Sasuke come to him crying.

TBC…

Let me know what you think :) Good or bad? Like it or hate it?

As always, reviews are appreciated…

This chapter kind of wrote itself…

Before people review saying that this is a short chapter I'll tell you right now, it's only short if you skim the long paragraphs…other than that it is shorter than the last chapter but it's about the same as most chapters in this story…