Sasuke's POV

I'm not a monster anymore. But I used to be. I used to hate everything. I used to think love and happiness were make believe. I thought rage was the source of my power, and revenge was the only way to prove myself to my family. I turned against everything I had learned as a young shinobi to become an emotionless shell that murdered for the hell of it. Yes, I've killed people before. Some were complete strangers. Some were enemies. Some were comrades...and even family.

But one.

One murder I wish I could take back forever. One person that saw the good in me no matter what. One that I pushed away so hard, yet had faith in me every time. The one that makes me regret ever leaving Konoha. Because if I had stayed...she'd be a live today.

..She..

She brought back the memories of our childhood. She made me feel like a real person. And when I left, she was the one who said good luck, and confessed her love to me. But I ignored her words of devotion, and thanked her while she cried. I had treated her horribly, but she still continued to love me. And according to Kakashi, she never stopped.

Team 7 was my family. My older brother killed my parents and ran off to be a rogue ninja. I was blinded by my hatred for him that I never once looked at all the things she did for me. I was sworn to revenge, and that was all that mattered. If I could go back into the past and tell my younger self something, it would be that slaying Itachi wasn't worth it. Because when I did kill my brother, he told me he loved me right before he died. And everything made sense. Two fingers tapping the forehead. That's what it meant.

Kakashi, Naruto, and..her...they were genuinely concerned about me focusing on revenge. But they did support me, and Kakashi made me a lot stronger. I almost killed him too. I almost killed everyone on team 7. I tried to, because I used to think that they were worthless and had no meaning to me once so ever. I still hate myself for that.

And I hate myself for killing the one Team 7 member that I should have never done. She begged me to let her come with me, telling me that she had become a rogue ninja. So I told her to kill one of my comrades, who I was about to end anyways. Karin was weak in my eyes. In fact, she didn't even stop me. She just closed her eyes and waited for my chidori.

But then...she came.

Her words of "Sasuke-kun!" reached my ears, and I stopped what I was doing. I questioned her, and even when she told me about being rogue ninja, I didn't believe her for a second. I knew her way too well. Team 7 was her family, even if the new guy Sai replaced me. But she begged me. She begged me to let her tag along on whatever journey I was about to do. So I told her to kill Karin.

Of course she nodded and pulled out a kunai, but she was shaking horribly. I knew that she wasn't going to do it. So...I used chakra to conjure up chidori, ready to strike at any time. But then, Karin said it.

"Don't..do..it.."

She turned around, just as I plunged my chidori into her heart. It was too late. I couldn't have stopped myself in time. The one thing I remember the most was the look of betrayal in her beautiful green eyes...I watched her heart shatter into a million pieces. Because I killed her with a smirk on my face.

At first, she was stunned. But tears leaked onto her paling cheeks, and as soon as I removed my hands, she slumped down to the ground. There was no hesitation. And I remember smiling, proud that I killed my own teammate. Karin bursted into hysterics. I wanted to finish her off right there. I was sick of her.

But She spoke to me. "So...this is...the...price...of love...sasuke-kun..." I flipped my head towards her as she was bleeding out.

"Annoying." I had muttered to myself.

She smiled weakly. "As long...as...your...hap..py.."

She died with a smile on her face.

At that point, I didn't care. I didn't know that I would regret that decision in the future. Naruto and Kakashi watched her die. Because as soon as the last breath left her body, Naruto ran at me, a kunai in hand.

He called me a bastard, and that I had just murdered my own teammate. I calmly explained that it wasn't the first time I betrayed my own. Kakashi nearly killed me on spot, but I got away in time. Madara was by my side the entire time. It didn't matter to me she was gone. I was happy, pleased with my actions.

It didn't hit me until I was returning to Konoha for the first time. Hinata ran to Naruto with open arms, and a pang of jealousy made me scowl. I was here only to talk to Tsunade as requested. And as soon as I stepped inside, all eyes were on me.

They hated me.

I was used to it, even though some of the ninjas were okay with me being there. I did assist them in the final battle, and they had seen me fight against my own again. My talk with Tsunade was short. What surprised me was that there was someone else waiting for me.

A young girl, maybe 2 or 3. She had black hair like myself, and her eyes.

"Her name is Sarada. She's yours."

That was when my world came crashing down.

Never had I felt so lonely before. Never had I regretted something so much. I regretted killing Itachi, but this was different. Itachi turned on me. She...she had never done something wrong to me before. She was the only one who believed in me, the only one who had tried to help me even when I was fighting against her. The only one that loved me.

And I had murdered her with my own hands.

I had forgotten what it felt like to cry. I hadn't cried since I killed Itachi. And that was because I also realized he loved me as well. I had killed two people that loved me, one more than the other. She would have dropped everything just for me to be by her side again. And I forgotten that we had done previous fornication. This resulted in Sarada.

That's what I wanted in the first place. And she had given me the only thing I wanted more than anything in the world. She had given me a child. A Uchiha. An Heir to my family's name.

"She chose the last name Uchiha for the girl." Tsunade had told me. Sarada was a beautiful child. And she was mine. This girl would be my duty to take care of, even though I had a personal mission I needed to take. I would be gone for a while, and surely she didn't need me if she survived this long.

But it dawned on me that in the future, I would have to explain to Sarada about her mother and her fate. I would have to tell her that I murdered her own mother. While Naruto had Hinata, I had no one but this little girl.

So I walked to her grave. It was under a magenta blossom tree, the one that reminded me of her every time I saw it. You could see the circle that symbolized her clan. I sat there, legs crossed. I was heading out on my personal mission, leaving Sarada to Tsunade for the time being.

I bowed my head.

"I'm sorry...Sakura. For everything."