On to the last few events before the Timeskip. And I am so glad I've finally gotten to this point.

Stuff;

Scarease; Danzo's in some serious shit. As for him in Akatsuki, no way Konan or Pain would willingly work with him.

FlawlessMirage; All in good time... Seriously, I can't do it pre-timeskip, I'd feel like a jerk splitting them up for three years or skimming over three years' worth of relationship development.

Happyguest; Thank you so much! It means a lot to hear people are enjoying what I put out! I have a plan for Sasuke over the course of the time-skip.

tarrangar; Capturing the bandits means more reputation for Konoha, too. "Killing you would be easy, we're deliberately taking the harder option. We're that good."
I agree with you on the Hyuuga; maybe not killing, but they definitely need taking down a few pegs. Team 7 just assumed Orochimaru hadn't passed on the Snake summons, because of his ego. And of course Danzo made ROOT subservient to the Hokage, he plans to get the hat himself at some point.

...

Hiruzen clutched the cane Tsunade had given him tightly, his voice raspy as he finished recalling the events that led up to the Uchiha Massacre. "...Had Itachi not carried out the mission, the entire village would have been pulled into a civil war. At the time, we were too vulnerable to risk it. We had no idea whether Iwa or Kumo had enough resources to bring about a new war, but a weaker Konoha would have been too big a risk, a temptation for the Raikage and Tsuchikage to take advantage of. And with Danzo's manipulations, as well as the grievances the Uchiha had with the village, there was no chance for a peaceful resolution."

Sasuke hadn't spoken throughout the entire story, avoiding meeting anyone's gaze as Hiruzen spoke and Itachi clarified the details. Tsunade had fixed the injuries he'd received from ROOT's agents, taking the survivors to Ibiki for information under his orders. Jiraiya had followed her out, intent on unravelling the seals Danzo had placed on them.

He hadn't bothered sending anyone after Danzo. His former friend wouldn't have stayed in the village when his assassins had failed to report in.

"So Itachi was working for you the whole time." Sasuke whispered, his voice still managing to fill the otherwise-silent room.

"He fed Jiraiya information on Akatsuki's movements, and delivered warnings to us when he discovered the group were hunting the bijuu. He's been protecting Konoha from the outside for these last five years. His sacrifice-"

"Don't bullshit me about sacrifice!" Sasuke exploded, Sharingan blazing as he glared at the Hokage. "You sacrificed my family! For a chance that they'd turn on you!"

"Sasuke-" Itachi tried to interject, only for his younger brother to turn that hate-filled gaze on him, instead.

"How long? How long was it, that you were spying on our parents and their plans?" he pressed. "How long did you wait around, for things to get worse?"

"I-" Itachi actually stammered, unable to formulate an immediate response. That seemed to incense the younger Uchiha even more.

"A revolt wouldn't start out of nowhere," he forced out through gritted teeth. "You had literally years to try and stop it happening, and you didn't. You failed. Both of you."

"I had hoped that peacetime would thaw relations-"

"SHUT UP!" Sasuke growled out. "I thought my father was wrong when he called you weak. I thought you were a proper leader, that you cared about us, Sarutobi-san," he spat the honorific like poison, deliberately not addressing the old man by his title. "Thank you, for proving me wrong."

He stood up and marched past them both, only stopping briefly at the door. "...You didn't just kill the ringleaders. You killed everyone. You left u-the children alone. I can't forgive that." he said without looking back, his voice cracking before he vanished in a silent Shunshin.

Itachi looked more stricken than Hiruzen ever remembered him being. The old man looked at the spot where his village's youngest clan head had stood. "...Nor can I, Sasuke. Nor can I."

OoOoO

He could hear voices somewhere above him, garbled and indistinct. He tried to open his eyes to see who was there, wincing at the bright light overhead. Bad idea, especially with how much effort it took to do that.

His entire body felt weighted down, his arms and legs heavier than Lee's training weights. His mouth fell open, emitting a strangled squeak, before he noticed a shadow hovering over him.

"Iru-sens..." he slurred, recognising the profile as it slowly came into focus. He felt someone grab hold of him, firmly but gently, and pull him up to a seated position amidst the pillows of the bed. "Wher'm'I?"

"Easy, Naruto, you've been through a lot," Iruka said softly, his smile threatening to split his face. He held out a glass of water, gently tipping a small amount into his student's mouth. "How are you feeling?"

The Uzumaki paused, holding back his instinctive 'I'm fine' response and actually considering the question. "I'm... I'm tired, but... I feel, I guess, just better? Like, I don't feel bad?"

"That's a good sign. You're probably just exhausted from your transformation-"

"Sasuke!" Naruto jumped, coughing harshly as his body protested the sudden movement. "Is he okay? Did he get out of my head? What happened with Itachi and the Snake Bastard?"

"Easy, easy," Iruka pushed him firmly back down to a resting position. "He's fine. Itachi's been captured, and Orochimaru retreated before anyone else turned up. The others are doing fine, as well."

"Others?" Naruto rasped out, just as the door opened.

"... so Lee should be out by tomorrow," Shikamaru was saying to Hinata and Neji as they walked in. "Hey, Naruto. Good to see you're up."

"What happened to Lee?" Naruto's voice was a whisper, sounding guilty at the thoughts of a friend getting hurt, especially one who had been sent to rescue him.

"Wrecked his body using the Eight Gates, but he's fine," Shikamaru drawled. "We got some help from that Suna team from the exams, so the puppet guy stopped him from taking it too far."

"So... everyone's okay?" the Uzumaki ventured. "Where're Sasuke and Sakura?"

"Sakura's at the compound, we needed someone to keep an eye on the kids," Iruka answered him, fidgeting slightly. "Sasuke's... he's dealing with... with Itachi."

That prompted Naruto to jump up again, almost flopping straight onto the ground before his teacher caught him. "Itachi?! He's-"

"A prisoner, held up by seals that Jiraiya designed specifically to stop him escaping. Tsunade stabilised him, and once he's awake, we're going to get some answers," Iruka pressed on, eyes flicking over to the chuunin and genin also in the room. "I'd imagine both of your fathers will be involved in that. The entire Council will want to weigh in, probably."

"Oh..." Naruto exhaled, turning to the trio by the doorway. "I- I'm sorry you guys got hurt looking for me," he mumbled, wincing when he saw the bandages around Neji's head and arm, as well as the faint marks of chakra burns on Hinata's hands. "I-"

"Naruto, please tell me you're not trying to apologise for being brainwashed into leaving the village?" Shikamaru sighed, scratching at the back of his leg as he spoke. "Sasuke gave us a quick rundown of what was happening with your seal - you were dealing with Orochimaru and the Kyuubi in your head for weeks. Hell, I can't handle having Ino in my head for more than a few minutes..."

Naruto surprised himself by snickering at the Nara's haunted expression. "Still, I-"

"Uzumaki, I owe you a lot," Neji interrupted him. "It's only because of you that my family has a chance to heal the rift that's divided us for so long. I was too caught up in my own issues to see a way out... You proved that my fate is mine to make, and I needed a chance to repay you for that."

Naruto opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, trying to formulate a response. The trio of his peers were looking at him with open respect in their eyes, maybe even something stronger than that, that he couldn't quite place. "I just... Thank you, guys. Really." he managed, his voice stronger than he'd expected.

Iruka cleared his throat after a moment. "If one of you wouldn't mind bringing Naruto up to speed, I promised I'd tell everyone when he woke up. Hinata, would you mind?"

"Ah, m-me, Iruka-sensei?" the Hyuuga heiress stammered, reddening.

"Good idea," Shikamaru nodded, lips twitching with a repressed smirk. "I can help you find everyone. Neji, maybe you should find Shizune-san, let her know her patient's awake."

"Agreed, Nara-san," Neji stated tonelessly, turning and bowing to Hinata. "I will return as soon as I can, Hinata-sama. I trust, Uzu- Naruto," he continued, placing his good hand on Naruto's shoulder and squeezing it firmly. "I trust that nothing untoward will happen between the two of you?"

Naruto blinked at the sudden blur of motion, as the three shinobi left him and Hinata alone in the room. "Hey, Hinata-chan?"

"Y-Yes, Naruto-kun?"

"What the hell just happened?"

OoOoO

Sasuke came to a halt at the gate of the Uchiha compound. The villagers were all chattering excitedly about the Hokage's miraculous recovery, which wasn't helping his mood.

How dare they? How dare the village be so happy about the man who'd destroyed Sasuke's chance at living a normal life-

'Would you really? How long did you spend in Itachi's shadow? Would that have ever changed? What would that life have been?'

The voice sounded familiar, his own voice, but somehow changed, the tones and pattern to it unfamiliar, like-

Like the other him he'd met in his mindscape.

"Sasuke!" Daiki's voice cut through his introspection. "Thank Kami, you're okay-!" The genin stopped short at the expression on Sasuke's face. "Oh. What happened?"

"...Too much," the chuunin managed, his voice strangled. "I can't..."

Daiki hesitated, looking... afraid of his cousin. "Take as much time as you need. I- I'll tell the others you need a few minutes alone."

'Alone...' the sound echoed in Sasuke's mind as he walked into his office. His father's office. The place where the Uchiha clan head had planned a coup against the Hokage. Against the village.

A hawk-patterned mask sat on the desk, white and red and black eyeholes staring up at him. He hadn't realised he'd picked it up until it was hurtling across the room, impacting against the far wall with a crack.

He wrenched the hitae-ate from his forehead and stared at it, the swirling leaf pattern swimming in front of him as his vision blurred. That, too, he threw away, not even looking to see where it landed.

Paperwork covered the desk, important notes for the running of the clan, obscuring the clan symbol engraved into the wood. A roar of jumbled feelings, ones he couldn't name, ripped its way free from his throat as the papers were swept aside and his fists slammed down on the Uchiha fan.

"Sasuke..."

"Leave me alone, Sakura," he choked out. "This has nothing to do with you."

His teammate silently closed the door and marched over to him. "Let me see your hands."

"I told you to leave." he pressed, forcing away the wetness in his eyes and activating his Sharingan. She met his gaze unflinchingly, a hint of steel in her usually bright green eyes.

"No. Not when you're hurting yourself like this," she shot back, yanking his hand into hers and making him wince. "I thought so. You've re-broken at least two fingers. Give me a minute."

Sasuke allowed her to examine him, the surge of anger in his gut fading into an empty pit. "Aren't you going to make me tell you what happened?" he muttered, his voice dull and flat. He couldn't put any emotion into it- What emotion would have worked?

"No," she replied, her hands glowing with green chakra. He flicked his eyes back up to hers, understanding shining in the bright green. "If you want to tell me, you can, but I understand if you don't. You don't owe me anything, Sasuke." There was no hint of deception in what she said, just trust and...

"The Hokage made Itachi kill my family," he blurted out, impulsively. Sakura blinked, not having expected him to say anything. Especially not something like that. "He... Five years, I've wondered why they died, and it's all because of two old men who never even tried to fix things with the Uchiha."

"What?" she breathed, a hand hesitantly resting on his arm. Huh. He hadn't realised he was shaking.

"I mentioned Danzo to you before, didn't I? He manipulated the Hokage, told him the Uchiha were a threat. I don't know how much Sarutobi believed, but..." Sasuke screwed his eyes shut, leaning heavily on his hands. "I... I hate this."

"Maybe... Maybe start at the beginning? I feel like I'm missing a lot of this..."

Sasuke looked into her eyes, his own fading back to onyx.

And he started from the beginning.

OoOoO

"Itachi, we won't be able to send you back to Akatsuki after this," the Hokage sighed, as Tsunade checked his vitals. "Have you given any thought to what you're going to do?"

The Uchiha bowed his head slightly. "I'll still be able to co-ordinate Aozora as a counter unit. I may have to-"

"Yeah, that's not going to work," Jiraiya interrupted. The sealmaster was perched on the windowsill, looking stern. "I got the memories of what happened to my clone, but I'm still a little out of the loop. Your kid brother knows what happened five years ago, doesn't he?"

"Closer to six years," Itachi swallowed down his emotions. "And... yes. He does."

"Damn. How're you two holding up?"

Sarutobi sighed. "About as well as can be expected. It... maybe I should have told him earlier. If he had more time to come to terms with-"

Tsunade snorted, obviously unimpressed. "That's bull, sensei. He'd react the exact same way if you told him right away, or if you told him twenty years from now. There's never a good time to tell a story like that one."

"Tsunade-"

"She's right, sensei," Jiraiya interrupted. "No matter what way you put it, it's a betrayal of his family. I get you had your reasons, but..." he shrugged, changing the subject. "I ran into Umino outside, he's going to check up on the kid. In the meantime, we better deal with you and your minions." He smirked as Itachi blinked dumbly.

"What happened to them?"

The Toad Sage relaxed his posture, sitting cross-legged on the wooden sill. "They're fine. Headed out to Nami no Kuni to a nice little base I put together after Gato got arrested. It'll keep them out of the way until we know what we're doing. Speaking of..."

"If I'm executed, they have enough information on Akatsuki to defend against most of them, aside from Madara and Pain." Itachi offered. "You already have all my notes on them."

"Itachi, you're a great soldier, and an even better spy, but just let me talk for a minute, alright?" Jiraiya hummed softly to himself. "The way I see it, our problems are fairly simple. First, Akatsuki and Danzo. Can't do much about either of them, we can't pretend you didn't betray Akatsuki, and not a chance in hell of Danzo coming back to the village. Second problem is what to do about Sasuke. Now he knows the truth, it's only a matter of time before that story comes out, and that'll undermine sensei's entire cabinet, call every choice he's made in the last decade into question.

"And that leads us to the third problem, which is what the hell we do about you. If we execute you, like the clan heads are demanding, then we look a hell of a lot worse when the story comes out. If we don't do anything, or if we keep you in 'prison', then the council's going to kick up a riot until the story comes out. Either way, we lose."

"Jiraiya," Sarutobi interrupted, hesitantly. "You wouldn't be saying this unless you had some kind of plan."

"Good catch, sensei. But you're not going to like it," Jiraiya rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "What if we tell the truth?"

OoOoO

Danzo came to a halt, breathing deeply to try and alleviate the ache in his side. He'd neglected his training in recent years, one of the perils of living in peaceful times.

"Danzo-sama," Fuu called to him. The Yamanaka was one of the few personal guards he'd brought with him. With Torune dead, and Konoha lost to them, the list of high-ranking ROOT agents was depressingly sparse. None of his retinue were jonin-level; even Fuu would need the element of surprise to defeat anyone above chuunin level without assistance. "We've officially left Konoha's territory. Should we begin setting up a temporary base?"

"Do it. Gozu, you and Hinoto construct a shelter. Mizunoe and Terai will gather supplies from the forest. Fuu, you will remain with me. I just need a few moments to catch my breath."

Danzo's breath slowed as he willed himself to relax. His exhaustion eventually won out over his anger at being forced out of his home, his mind drifting into a hazy half-sleep...

-He awoke mid-movement, drawing a kunai to block the short sword lunging for his head. He allowed his feet to slip, deliberately getting himself pushed backwards to gain some distance from his opponent, a man in Akatsuki robes with an orange-spiralled mask. "Who are you?" Danzo demanded, taking in the sight of his attacker hoisting Fuu off the ground.

"You don't know me? Really?" the voice behind the mask was cool, utterly relaxed. "Don't you recognise this symbol? The group you joined forces with Hanzo to destroy?"

"I've been studying Akatsuki. You're not one of them." Danzo pressed, weighing his options. Due to the long recovery process, he'd barely had any opportunity to train with his transplanted Sharingan, but if the assailant forced his hand...

"Hn! Shows how much Konoha knows... Does it grate at you, Shimura Danzo?" the assailant twisted his sword in his hand, calmly driving it through Fuu's throat and dropping the Yamanaka carelessly to the ground.

"What?"

"I asked whether it grates at you, knowing that Konoha thrives because of you, but none of them will ever appreciate it? Knowing that you would have made a difference, made them stronger, if they hadn't thrown you aside as soon as it was convenient?" The cloaked assassin cleaned the blood off of his blade absently, re-sheathing it with a soft 'click'.

Danzo's dagger flew through the air, landing in his opponent's heart, and then slipping through his body without any resistance, without any sign that it had even touched the man.

"I know how it feels, Danzo. And I have a plan that will, in the end, leave Konoha far better, despite all its suffering. You, and those borrowed eyes of yours, could be useful."

"Who. Are. You?" Danzo bit out, more than a little shaken. He channelled chakra to Shisui's eye, attempting to impose his will on the masked assassin-

"I apologise, of course," the man laughed softly, Danzo feeling a chill run down his spine at the sight of a Mangekyou Sharingan gazing out through the single eyehole in the mask.

"My name is Uchiha Madara."

...

So, lots of stuff in play, and 'Madara' still has one more piece to bring into play...

Sasuke knows the truth, and Jiraiya proposes the most dangerous thing any politician can do; admit their mistake. Not that every detail is going to be shared with the public.

Anyway, let me know what you think!