Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did Sasuke would be at least somewhat likable in canon.
Chapter 2: The Aftermath
After the Sasukue Retrieval Mission ended in success, Kakashi sped through the trees with his summon Pakkun and the lifeless Sasuke on his back. Sasuke stayed mostly unconscious throughout the trip back to Konoha, only waking up when they were within a five mile range when the medic-nin began to descend upon them from the trees "Kakashi, what's Sasuke Uchiha's condition?"
"Just some exhaustion, he should be fine by tomorrow if I had to guess." Kakashi explained to the medics.
"There was another one of your students on this mission, Naruto right? Where is he?"
Kakashi's somber expression had already given the medic-nin a good idea of what had happened to Naruto, but he felt the need to explain anyway "Naruto was captured by the enemy before I could make it there. The rain washed away his scent, so there's nothing I can do to follow him now."
"...I see..."
"How are the other genin?" Kakashi asked, worried about the state of the rest of the Retrieval team.
"Tsunade-sama already sent out the medical corp for them. Chouji Akimichi and Neji Hyuuga are in critical condition, but aside from that everyone else should pull through just fine. Kiba Inuzuka has some serious injuries but they're not life threatening, and Shikamaru Nara only has a broken finger." In spite of his inability to move or even speak due to the events from the prior day, Sasuke did hear everything that his classmates went through because of him and remembered all of the suffering he'd put them through turned out to be for nothing. Orochimaru had used him, and now there was no way to undo what he did.
'Naruto, I should have listened to you. This is all my fault.'
In spite of their mortal wounds, Chouji and Neji managed to pull through due to the expert medical treatment of Tsunade and Shizune, along with a few of the Nara clan and Akimichi clan files on the Red Food Pill. Those who were conscious were currently awaiting the results of the mission in heavy anxiety. At the moment, Shikamaru felt at fault for Chouji and Neji's injuries at the hands of the Sound Four due to his status as squad leader "Some leader I am, I couldn't even prevent my friends from getting hurt like this."
"Hey there's no point in getting all worked up, remember our missions come with sacrifices that have to be made." Temari tried to console Shikamaru in her own harsh way
"Don't you get it? As the platoon leader I'm responsible for the safety of my men, and half the squad's been put in the emergency room. It's pretty clear I'm just not cut out to be a shinobi." Shikamaru growled in frustration as he sat in the waiting room "I relied too much on everyone else and look what happened. If I had been stronger, maybe things would have been different."
"You men have such fragile egos you know." Temari rolled her eyes.
Feeling the conversation was over, Shikamaru walked away with intention to Tsunade and resign as a ninja, despite this being a gamble with how intensely focused on her medical work she was at the moment. However, he was stopped a few steps down the hallway by his father "Someone talks down to you like that and you just walk away?"
"Hey, I'm not the type of person who likes to sit around arguing. That's what girls do."
"Well you're not exactly a man yourself. All I see is a coward." Shikaku mocked his son "Even if you quit, missions will still come through. Some will end in success and some in failure, and your comrades will be sent out on these missions with someone else leading them but with the same risks. Everyone knew the risks of this job, but they never even thought about giving up even when the risks finally caught up to them. People will be captured and killed all the time, that's the life of a shinobi. And who's to say your comrades won't suffer the same fate, and this time you could have prevented it if you were there to lead them. Use this chance to reflect on your failures and do better next time. That's how you become a better leader. You won't be helping by running away like this Shikamaru."
Shikamaru looked deep in thought at this for a moment, but he didn't have much time to think as Tsunade came out of the operating room Chouji had been going under the knife in "Don't worry about your friend Shikamaru, he's safe. I found an antidote to the food pill that was eating away at his cells, with the help of the Nara clan of course."
"Don't mention it Hokage-sama." Shikaku said with a smile, only for his and the others attention to be brought to a dower looking Shizune.
"Shizune, did Neji not pull through?"
"No Tsunade-sama, he's out of the danger zone. But we just got word that Kakashi Hatake has retrieved Sasuke Uchiha and returned with him a few moments ago." Shizune barely managed to hold back sobs as she said this "But…Naruto wasn't with them."
This news shocked the others nearby, as Tsunade went dead silent and Shikamaru immediately snapped to attention "What do you mean Naruto wasn't with them? Did the Sound shinobi kill him?!"
"No, he should still be alive. But he was taken prisoner by Orochimaru and taken across the border to the Land of Rice. We have no way of tracking his or Orochimaru's whereabouts right now."
"No…" Shikamaru had been worried about something like this happening just moments before hand, but now that it had actually happened the reality of the situation hit him like a ton of bricks "And there's nothing we can do is there?! We used up all our man power just to bring back Sasuke…DAMNIT!"
Shikamaru punched the nearby wall with his good hand hard enough to cause instantaneous bruising and scratches on his knuckles, while Tsunade paced away from the hallway like a zombie, too horrified to even say anything "Why does this always happen…every time I give that damned necklace to someone important too me…'
"Shizune, make sure this gets written down. The Sasuke Retrieval Mission was a success."
Minutes after Kakashi arrived with the semi-conscious Sasuke in tow, news had begun to spread in limited detail about what happened to the other shinobi of Konoha. Currently, Sakura was staring aimlessly at the water under the bridge where Kakashi would always have Team 7 meet, waiting for any news that would come from the mission. This would come in the form of her old rival Ino, who excitedly ran up to the bridge "Sakura! They're all back! Everyone's waiting at the hospital right now!"
"Really?" Sakura immediately livened up at this news "Do you know what happened?"
"I'm not entirely sure, I just now that Kakashi-sensei brought Sasuke into the hospital about 10 minutes ago!"
Hearing this, Sakura immediately ran off to the hospital, leaving Ino behind in a trail of dust "Hey, don't forget about me Billboard Brow!" Sakura ignored her and kept running in the direction of the hospital. It only took her about five minutes to get there at her speed, and it took even less time to make it to the waiting room she'd become accustomed to seeing during her time as a kunoichi.
As she took a moment to catch her breath, she noticed that Kakashi had been on his way out of the hospital "Kakashi-sensei!"
"Oh, hello there Sakura."
"I heard that you and the boys brought Sasuke-kun back to the village. Is it true?" Sakura asked her teacher with pleading eyes. Realizing she'd only heard part of the story, Kakashi gave a sigh before speaking.
"Yes, Sakura, he's in Konoha's custody and is in the recovery room over there. But I wouldn't recommend bothering him now while he's rest-" Kakashi didn't even finish before Sakura had begun sprinting towards Sasuke's room. Knowing she needed to know everything before going in there, he yelled in a stern tone of voice that make Sakura stop in her tracks "WAIT! There's something else you should know about the outcome about the retrieval mission."
"Huh? What's wrong Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked worriedly, already not liking his tone of voice.
"The mission may have been a success, but only because Sasuke was just bait for Orochimaru's real target. He captured Naruto." Kakashi told Sakura, earning a look of disbelief from her in response.
'He…stole Naruto?!' Sakura's horrified expression turned to one of an awkward smile of denial "You've gotta be joking with me sensei! Naruto's got to be right in the next room over or something and this is just one of your stupid pranks! Besides, why would Orochimaru want an idiot like him?"
In response to this, Kakashi spoke in the same stern voice as before "I would never joke about a matter like this. Whether you want to accept it or not, Orochimaru set this whole mission up to lure Naruto to the border and take him." Knowing he was completely serious filled Sakura with dread, as her thoughts turned to the one person she thought could clear the situation up for her.
"I have to talk to Sasuke-kun!"
After dipping in and out of consciousness for the entire trip back to Konoha, Sasuke awoke to find himself in a hospital bed with multiple bandages covering the injuries he'd sustained over the course of the past several days. He tried sitting up straight in the bed to get a better view of his surroundings, only to his movements restricted by a pair of handcuffs tethering his left arm to a bar on the side of the bed. It was then Sasuke noticed both of his legs had been shackled to the hospital bed, and he wasn't the only one in the room.
He was currently being watched by Shikamaru, who glared him down with a look that could kill "Wakey wakey, Traitor." Shikamaru stood up from the chair at the other end of the room and let out a venomous growl "Let me ask you something, do you have any semblance of a clue what you just did? Or were you just thinking about yourself and how to make yourself more powerful?"
Sasuke didn't have a response to this question and weakly croaked out "Where are the others?"
"Neji and Chouji just got out of operation and are in intensive care. Kiba and Lee are also hospitalized because they thought you were captured. In hindsight, we should have known you were beyond saving, especially after what you did-"
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura suddenly barged into the hospital room, not even noticing Shikamaru's presence, instead turning all her attention to her crush "Sasuke-kun, I was so-"
Before she could move any further towards Sasuke's bed, Shikamaru had her restricted by his jutsu and was dragging her out the door "Visiting hours are cancelled Sakura! You can't be in here!"
"What do you mean, we're on the same team! and why is Sasuke chained up like that?!" Sakura brought attention to the cuffs and shackles confining him to the bed.
"You know damn well why! Now get out of here before I have to throw you out!"
"Shikamaru. Sakura." Sasuke interrupted them with another strained croak "Where's Naruto?"
Shikamaru looked at him in disbelief for a moment, before reaching over and grabbing Sasuke by the neck of his hospital gown "YOU BETTER REMEMBER WHERE HE IS UCHIHA! LOOK ME IN THE EYE, AND TELL ME YOU DON'T REMEMBER WHAT YOU DID!"
"Shikamaru, what are you doing? What happened?!" Sakura stood back, shocked by the normally docile Nara being infuriated to this extent, while at the same time being annoyed by his treatment of Sasuke.
"What happened? What happened Sakura, is this idiot betrayed our village, willingly left to join forces with the freak who killed the Sandaime, let the Sound nin nearly kill all of our friends, and oh yeah, got Naruto captured by the exact same freak! I think it's pretty damn clear that Naruto has been surpassed as the biggest idiot in our class now, because this is a whole new level of stupid."
Hearing enough, Sakura did what she normally did when angry and punched Shikamaru upside the head "Stop calling my Sasuke-kun an idiot Shikamaru! You don't know what you're talking about!" She reared her fist back to land another punch, only for Shikamaru to grab her fist and grip it tightly enough to sting. It was then he gave Sakura an even more evil look than before.
"Let's get one thing straight Genin Sakura, we are not just kids playing ninja anymore, and this is not a fairy tale. Sasuke committed a crime of treason and will be treated as such. I am your and for the time being, his superior officer, and I will not tolerate this disrespect. Hit me again, and I can promise I will have you court-martialed so fast that you'll be sweeping street corners in a millisecond. Have I made myself clear?!"
"But-"
"Have I made myself clear?!"
"Yes! I understand!" Sakura squeaked out in fear, as Shikamaru let go of her first before turning to the shell shocked Sasuke.
"Now, I've been given orders to allow you 2 minutes outside in the hallway to get water. If I see any funny business or any attempt at escape, I'll make sure that your hospital room will be turning into a prison cell." Shikamaru undid Sasuke's shackles and cuffs while putting the handcuffs around both wrists before leading him out of the room and into the hallway. All the while Sasuke's face and mind were blank, trying to deal with the reality of what his actions had caused. After taking a few sips from the water fountain that Shikamaru led him to, Sasuke suddenly heard loud yelling and stomping coming down the hospital corridor in his direction. He looked down to see a bandaged up and furious Kiba charging down the hallway, with Shino following after him.
"Kiba wait!
"Screw that!" Kiba yelled before punching Sasuke square in the nose and knocking him to the ground. "YOU FUCKING TRAITOR! I'LL BREAK EVERY BONE IN YOUR BODY, YOU SCRAWNY DUCKASSED LITTLE-"
Before he could land anymore blows however, Shikamaru and Shino grabbed onto the enraged Inuzuka and held him back "Stop Kiba! I understand you're upset, but neither of you are in any condition for this!"
"CAN IT SHINO, HE DESERVES WHAT'S COMING TO HIM! HE BETRAYED OUR VILLAGE AND SOLD NARUTO UP THE RIVER! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?! NARUTO WAS OUR FRIEND! HE WAS YOURS! AND BECAUSE OF YOU HE'S PROBABLY DEAD RIGHT NOW! THIS IS UNFORGIVABLE!" Kiba yelled at the top of his lungs, and mix of pained despair and unbridled rage coating his voice.
It was then that Kiba began coughing up blood on the hospital floor "I told you that you shouldn't be running around like this! With your injuries you're lucky you didn't come out like Chouji or Neji. You need rest Kiba!"
"I…don't…CARE!" Kiba threw Shikamaru and Shino off of him and raised his fist at Sasuke once again, only for the fist to be suddenly caught by a livid looking Hinata.
"Kiba-kun, please. No matter how much he deserves it, we won't solve anything through anymore violence." Hinata shook, her voice holding an uncharacteristic amount of venom.
"How could you say that Hinata?! Don't you even care that Naruto is probably dead because of this asshole?! I thought-"
"KIBA!" Shino immediately silenced his teammate in a louder volume than anyone was used to hearing from him. It was Kiba noticed that tears had started to come from Hinata's eyes.
"I'm sorry. I forgot you're probably taking this harder than anyone right now. You're both right, I should probably be getting rest right now." Kiba stood back up with some difficulty, before turning back to Sasuke "We're not finished with this Uchiha. You better stay out of my sight once we're out of here, or claw your fancy eyes out!"
Sasuke and Shikamaru watched Team 8 walk down the hallway, the former breathing heavily as he tried to comprehend what just occurred "Well, that happened. We should get you back to your bed now, you'll need plenty of rest for your trial tomorrow."
"TRIAL?!" Sakura had eavesdropped on the entire confrontation and felt her heart drop when said trial was mentioned "What do you mean trial? They can't be charging Sasuke-kun with anything! He didn't do anything wrong!"
"Seems like you and the founders of the village have different definitions for treason." Shikamaru rolled his eyes at the pink haired kunoichi.
"B-but he was being controlled by Orochimaru! Tsunade-sama has to understand that! Anyone could have-"
"SHUT UP SAKURA!" Sasuke loudly interrupted her, not wanting to hear any more of her defenses of him. He then spoke in a rare pleading tone, weary from the day's events "Please, just go. I'm tired. I want to rest. Please, go."
"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura reluctantly followed his wishes and walked away to the hospital's exit. This left Sasuke alone in the hallway with Shikamaru.
"Come on Uchiha, you've got a busy day of legal proceedings tomorrow. You'd better hope that the council is feeling somewhat merciful towards you." Shikamaru lead Sasuke back into the hospital room by his cuffs, shackling him back to the bed and leaving him alone with his thoughts.
Naruto awoke to find himself in a dimly lit room that looked like the workshop of a mad scientist, with tools, scalpels, and scrolls laid out on a table nearby "What the hell? Where am I?" Naruto's eyes quickly adjusted to the limited lighting or the room, and he realized he had been strapped to what seemed to be an angled operating table, with his jacket and undershirt missing.
Confused and scared, he unsuccessfully tried to pry himself from the table "If this is a joke it's not funny! Now let me off this stupid thing!" Naruto yelled in anger and frustration, which only got worse when Orochimaru came into the room.
"It seems you've finally woken up Naruto-kun. I suspected that with your injuries you'd have been up by now. It's rather late at night you know." Orochimaru said with his usual nefarious smirk, now with a completely different appearance which meant Naruto had only recognized him due to the distinct markings on his face.
"Orochimaru!" Naruto began trying to free himself from the restraints to throttle the Snake sannin "WHAT DID YOU DO TO SASUKE YOU BASTARD?! WHERE IS HE?!"
"Considering his actions, he's probably back in Konoha being punished for treason and getting one of his comrades captured by the enemy, assuming he didn't bleed out."
This answer surprised Naruto "Wait, but-"
"You see Naruto-kun, I had an epiphany after seeing you use the rasengan on my dear subordinate. How could someone considered so weak and useless possibly master such a difficult jutsu in a week. The more I thought about it didn't make sense. That's when I realized, you're not a dead last dobe after all, but an untrained basket of potential who could be molded into one of the most fearsome shinobi of all time. And yet, Konoha squandered your talents."
"Wait, you mean you're gonna steal my body?!" Naruto began to panic, remembering what Kimimaro had mentioned about Orochimaru's body swapping.
However, his fears stopped when Orochimaru seemed to balk at the concept "Oh goodness no, remember the Kyuubi? I'd be destroyed in seconds if I tried. But that doesn't mean you can't be a great apprentice."
This visibly shocked Naruto at first, but he quickly scoffed at the offer "Hah! Yeah right creep! I'd never be your apprentice after you killed Jiisama and tried to take Sasuke-teme from us! I'm a Konoha ninja, believe it!"
"Hn, I had admittedly considered Sasuke for his body at first, true. But then I realized you have something very important that he lacks Naruto-kun: Loyalty!" Orochimaru explained.
"Huh, loyalty?"
"Allow me to explain if you will. Sasuke would have been a great apprentice…" Orochimaru said wistfully, before it turned to a look of resigned frustration "…but he would kill me the moment I was no longer useful to him. You on the other hand, have remained loyal to a place that treated you like garbage the moment your umbilical cord was cut. A ninja with talent like yours and undying loyalty is every daimyo's dream. Konoha doesn't know what they missed out on! Once I turn you around to my perspective, I have no doubt you will become my most valuable subordinate in no time at all."
"You're wasting your time if that's what you want! I'd never serve a crazy freak like you!" Naruto stuck his tongue out at Orochimaru, who returned with an amused smirk as he ran through a scroll on his table.
"Poor deluded little fool. No matter, I'm sure you'll see things my way soon enough. But for now, I have a gift for you Naruto-kun." Orochimaru suddenly began focusing chakra into his new body's arm and put his hand on a specific part of the scroll. He then ran through a simple series of hand seals before suddenly running up to Naruto and slamming his bare palm into the boy's chest. The next thing Naruto knew he felt unbearable pain searing his chest as he felt his chakra system being attacked by an invader. He screamed in agony as Orochimaru leered at the seal now on his chest in anticipation, before everything went black.
"Cursed Seal of Earth"
Around this same time, Sasuke lay awake in his bed thinking over the events of the past few days. How he left the Hidden Leaf in pursuit of the power to finally achieve his destiny and kill his kin-slaying older brother. How he sided with the Otogakure shinobi who fought and maimed those who he once went to school with and had considered comrades. How he threw Naruto's attempts to reach out to him back in the boys face, and attempted to kill him with the Chidori during their fight. How the Snake Sannin had utterly played him, the Genius, the last Uchiha, the top of his class, and made him look like a fool. How the person he'd thought was his best friend had been taken before his eyes by the man who offered him power in the first place, and how he'd been utterly helpless to stop it. How it had all been his fault.
In his pursuit of greater power, he'd committed horrible actions with the idea that it would all be worth it once Itachi was dead and his clan was avenged. He threw everything away and ended up with less than what he'd started off with. Because he'd committed an act of treason, he knew that it was extremely unlikely that he would keep his position as a Konoha shinobi, and he'd probably be thrown in prison for who knows how long. While Sasuke rotted in jail for what could be life, Itachi would live out the rest of his days growing stronger and free of retribution for his sins. He doubted that anyone without the Sharingan could ever stand a chance against the rogue Uchiha after all. Even on the off chance that he was allowed to stay a Konoha ninja, Sasuke would be trapped in a nearly insurmountable rut, as Kakashi would certainly disregard him as a student after he'd turned the jutsu the Copy-nin had taught him against the village.
Yet in spite of everything, every awful consequence he had faced and would face for his betrayal, every thought of his hated older brother, nothing made him feel more sick to the stomach than the fact that Orochimaru had taken Naruto. Ever since they'd first met, Naruto Uzumaki had been an ever present annoyance in Sasuke Uchiha's life. The fool had always tried to challenge his position in the class, and had the inane idea he could surpass him. But despite his hate for the orange wearing clown, Sasuke relied on him in a way, as he'd been the only one in his class to understand the pain of losing everything. As much as Sasuke hated to admit it the two of them were similar, with only their different coping mechanisms for dealing with their pain setting them apart. While Naruto desperately sought attention and acted more a fool than he actually in a bid to hide his despair, Sasuke focused only on his revenge and built up walls to keep everyone out. But Naruto had managed to forge a bond with him against all odds, and started to tear down his walls.
And somehow that scared him. Especially after Naruto had run after him on his way to achieve the power necessary to achieve his ambitions, foolishly trying to stop him, trying to warn him of Orochimaru's foul intentions. He decried these warnings as the ramblings of an idiot who couldn't possibly understand what he'd lost. But he had been wrong. Naruto was the only one in Konoha who could really understand him, and Sasuke could understand Naruto as well. And because he had foolishly chosen to trust Orochimaru, Naruto was gone. He'd succeeded at breaking his hated bond, and felt more powerless than ever.
"Damn dobe..." Sasuke gritted his teeth in frustration, fighting back tears as he did so. After a moment, Sasuke released his anger on the metal bed frame he had been confined to, his movements still restricted by the cuffs around his wrists "DAMN DOBE! WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST GO WHEN I TOLD YOU TO! WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE! I NEVER WANTED YOUR HELP! YOU'D HAVE NEVER GOTTEN CAUGHT IF YOU'D JUST GONE HOME!"
Sasuke yelled at the top of his lungs, his throat scratched and dry from the strain of it afterward. He'd sure the noise would have woken up other patients in the hospital had the Hokage not kept him in a secluded wing of the hospital for security purposes, but he didn't care. All Sasuke cared about was venting his frustrations to the empty room and his rival that was no longer there to listen. That is, until he noticed a feminine figure standing in the dark doorway of his room; as his eyes adjusted to the dark, he recognized the figure as the proctor from the Forest of Death, Anko Mitarashi.
"Well, if it isn't the great Uchiha Prodigy, Uchiha Sasuke! Forgive me for not bowing in your mere presence, I'm sure you're used to that from all the little groupies in your class." Anko growled, sarcastic venom practically dripping from her voice as she leaned against the wall "What's the matter? Don't feel like talking to me brat? Cat got your tongue?"
"...What do you want..."
"Simple, I want to know what the hell you were thinking. Anyone with any common sense would be able to tell that Orochimaru can't be trusted, especially after he sent an army to attack the village. Yet here you are, in all your infinite wisdom running off to become his new fuck buddy or whatever. Because he offered you power? A drunken hobo living under a bridge married to a possum could offer you power, and it would mean just as much as him doing it." Anko mocked the Uchiha sitting in the bed before her, though he looked disinterested and irritated by her words.
"You wouldn't understand. I was falling behind, and this village didn't have the means for me to get stronger anymore. I couldn't just sit around eating ramen and doing children's exercises while Itachi is still out there learning better techniques and getting stronger." Sasuke struggled to convince both Anko and himself that he was justified in his actions "Why are you even here, acting like you know better than me? Konoha was holding me back and I couldn't just keep growing weaker! You wouldn't understand what it's like to lose everything, to see everyone you care about die!"
"I wouldn't understand?" Anko practically laughed in disbelief at Sasuke's words "Kid, maybe you weren't aware of this, but I'm a fucking shinobi! Loss and death are all apart of the job, and if you'd stuck around long enough without getting bored of it and rage quitting you would have realized that! Pretty sure Kakashi tried to tell you that before you ran off with the Oto shinobi, but you told him to fuck off! So what if you're an orphan? You think that makes you special? Between all the Shinobi World Wars and the Night of Kyuubi, half of every generation that came from this village was an orphan! I'm an orphan! At least two of your teachers were orphans! Hell, the Yondaime was an orphan! And none of us went off the rail and betrayed the village! But we both know that's not what this is about you little brat! You can act like you turning traitor is about Itachi, or your daddy issues, or your clan being wiped out. But I'm smart enough to tell why you really did it: plain and simple envy. You were jealous and scared of guys who aren't ultra-talented pretty boys from birth like Uzumaki or Rock Lee catching up with you. You lived your whole life being the best and you couldn't handle the fact that you were a little fish in a big pond, or that normal people could catch up to you through hard work. So when the little idiot started showing progress without the one eyed idiot, you had to do something to assuage your ego and convince yourself you were still hot shit. And lo and behold, you throw a tantrum like a massive baby to get what you want. When it comes down to it, you're a pathetic jealous little bitch."
Though Sasuke tried desperately not show it, Anko's words effected him deeply as most of it is what he'd been subconsciously telling himself since he arrived back in Konoha. As the jounin tore down his walls completely and he was forced to face the cold reality of his choices in full, Sasuke turned away from her as the tears he'd previously been fighting off began spilling out like a burst dam "Why do you even care. You only met any of us once or twice. This shouldn't even matter to you." Sasuke choked out, still trying and failing to hide sobs from Anko.
"Two reasons: That stupid kid you lead into Orochimaru meant a lot to the man I found myself falling in love with, and Orochimaru played me too a long time ago." Anko pulled back the collar of her trench coat to reveal a cursed seal identical to the one on Sasuke marking her neck "This is an experimental version of the one he stuck you with that he used to manipulate me to his bidding. I should consider myself lucky that he plays for the other team orientation wise, but I was still stuck being his guinea pig for who knows how long, and the reputation he left me as the "Snake Whore of Konoha" has never gone away. I want you to fully understand you were an utter fool for ever trusting him, and never go walking into something similar again."
"It doesn't matter, I wouldn't even get the opportunity to anyway. I'm a traitor to Konoha remember? A captured missing-nin; I'll be lucky if I don't spend the rest of my life rotting in dungeon in the middle of nowhere like some jail rat."
"That's up for the Hokage and the Council for to decide tomorrow; your fate is in their hands. I think the only thing everyone will be able to agree on is that it's a damn shame that a kid with your potential as a ninja had to throw it all away like this." Anko said as she walked back towards the doorway of the room "With that said, you should reallly get some sleep. Your life will never be the same after tomorrow, so you'll need all the energy you can spare."
Anko left the room after saying this, not realizing that Sasuke had already passed out from exhaustion before she'd ever stepped out the door.
(A/N): Since I'm reviving my Fanfiction account, I've decided to revive one story that's been left on the dusty old back burner for a very very long time. Like, since my freshman year of college long time. Yeah, it's been a while. Technically speaking this way supposed to be a bit longer, but I decided to move the actual trial of Sasuke to the whole third chapter and expand it a bit.
The concept is a bit simple, but if I put some elbow grease into it I feel it will allow me to get back into the groove of the other dust covered works on my profile. With that being said, I'll keep this short and sweet. Follow and favorite if you want more, and I'll post as soon as I come up with something presentable.
