Hey Guys,

Sorry I was not able to update last week. I had a test and was studying all day. Anyways, here is chapter 3. Chapter 4 will probably be up by Wednesday or next Friday.

Chapter 3- The Uchiha Massacre

"The Uchiha Massacre? What are you talking about Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said with a hint of fear in her face. Is he going to read her thoughts all the time?

"Sasuke-kun? Where are you?" Sakura said as she looked around for Sasuke, but found him to be missing.

Panicking, Sakura asked once again, "Where I'm I?"

"You are in the Infinite Tsukuyomi, Sakura," Sasuke stated as he appeared right next to Sakura. "In this world you would be able to see everything that I wish to show you…in this case, my memories."

"Your memories?" Sakura said as she once again looked around. She could smell something rotting and for some reason had a very heavy pressure on her chest.

"Well, shall we began?" Sasuke said as the door with the Uchiha crest suddenly opened. Revealing what was inside.

Sakura almost vomited at the site.

Bodies. Bodies everywhere. Bodies of men, women and children were spread all around the Uchiha compound. There was blood everywhere and even though Sakura was a medic, she couldn't stand the sight or smell of the scene.

She knew she was in a genjutsu, but it felt so real. She felt lightheaded.

"Sasuke-kun, let me out of this genjutsu! I don't want to see anymore!" Sakura said as she quickly took her eyes away from the scene. This was too much.

"You wanted to know my reasoning behind leaving the village, right? This is it. The show has not even started, yet." Sasuke said with a bored expression on his face.

"Aniki!"

Sakura suddenly turned to Sasuke with a questioning look on her face. That voice was…

"Aniki! Ka-san, Oto-san! I passed! I'm in the academy!"

"Ah, so the show has finally started," Sasuke said nonchalantly, however Sakura registered a flash of pain in his eyes.

"Aniki?" A young Sasuke said as he finally reached the compound. A stench of blood had reached his nostrils, but he decided to ignore it.

Looking around, he noticed all the bodies on the ground.

"What-what is this? Who did this?" little Sasuke said as he started to shiver.

Walking around, he noticed his aunt and cousin on the floor, dead.

"Oba-san? Itoko?" little Sasuke asked as he leaned on the floor and started to shake them.

"Oba-san! Itoko! Wake-up, please!"little Sasuke screamed as his pleads were in vain. Deciding trying to wake them up was useless. He removed his hands from his boding and wiped the inshed tears in his eyes. Standing up, he quickly remembered his own family.

Aniki, ka-san, oto-san…

Running, he quickly went in the direction of his own home which was in the middle of the compound.

Sakura was in too much of a trance to even notice she was moving on her own.

"What is going?" Sakura asked as she snapped out of her trance.

"We are going to follow him of course" Sasuke said as he walked along side Sakura.

"When they finally reached the compound, she noticed little Sasuke hesitant to open the door.

"Oto-san…Ka-san…Aniki…please, please be okay," little Sasuke pleaded as he held on to the door and leaned his head on it. Closing his eyes, he pleaded one more time before finally opening it.

The sight before him horrified him and Sakura who was looking on.

His parents, were laid on the floor, dead, after being sliced with a katana.

"Oto-san, Ka-san!" little Sasuke screamed as he started to approach his parents.

"This-this, can't be happening," Sakura said as a few tears started to form in her eyes and she hugged herself.

She finally let her tears fall when she heard his voice.

"Ah, otouto, you finally decided to come home" A dark-haired man said as he suddenly appeared from within the shadows to step over his parent's corpses.

That- that voce is of- Sakura thought as her thoughts were interrupted by the scene before her.

"Aniki! What happened? Oto-san and Ka-san were…"

"Killed? Why, yes Sasuke, they were indeed killed" Itachi said as he mocked little Sasuke.

Sasuke unaware of his brother's mockery keep rattling on as tears started to form on his eyes.

"Aniki, who did this, do you know?"

"Why, yes, little brother, I know who did it."

"Who did it Itachi? Who killed mother and father?"

"Why foolish little brother, it was me," Itachi said without a care in the world.

A loud sob was heard from Sakura

"Sakura?" Sasuke said as he looked over at Sakura who was slouched down and holding her head.

"I- I don't want to see this! This is too much, please…" Sakura said as tears cascaded from her eyes. She was not only able to see all of Sasuke's memories as if she was living them, but she could also feel the emotions and pain little Sasuke felt and…what the current Sasuke was feeling. It was too much for her.

Unaware to her, Sasuke was looking at the scene between him and his brother with clenched fists. No matter how many times he told himself his brother had been doing this against his will, he can't help but feel hate for him whenever he remembered this memory.

Looking down at Sakura crying brought a pain of guilt and nostalgia to him. He remembered how he had caused her a lot of pain during their genin days.

"Sakura, just…just wait a little bit longer. I need you to see this," Sasuke said as he looked on. He didn't want to cause his teammate anymore pain that he already had, but…he needed somebody to know exactly what happened that night. Naruto knew the details, but he has never shown anyone, but Sakura, what happened that night.

"I'll try…"Sakura stated with a defeated look on her face as she composed herself. She looked back to the scene.

"Aniki…why are you lying? Mother and father were killed by someone!" little Sasuke screamed.

"Are you really that foolish, little brother? Well, I guess I'll have to convince you," Itachi said as he activated his sharingan.

The whole scenery changed to that of the Infinite Tsukuyomiwithin Itachi.

What Sakura saw horrified her and she was sure was going to haunt her for the rest of her life.

Itachi was shown killing all of his clan without a trance of guilt or mercy. What made it even worse, where the constant screams of little Sasuke…and the constant sounds of pain coming from Sasuke to her left.

As soon as it came, the Infinite Tsukuyomi was over and they were both back in the compound.

"No- I" Little Sasuke started, but was interrupted by the sickening feeling in his stomach. He looked at his older brother and suddenly emptied his stomach.

"Aniki…why? Why did you do this?" little Sasuke asked as he laid on the floor next to his mother, letting all of his contained tears out.

"Why, to test my strength of course. I'm an ANBU captain, considered the strongest in Konoha. If I'm able to massacre the most powerful clan in Konoha by myself, then nothing can stop me," Itachi said as a smirk formed on his face.

Sasuke, overcome with immense fear for his own beloved older brother, stood up and started running out the compound.

Of course, Sasuke and Sakura followed suit.

"Why, why would he do this? Your own brother-" Sakura was suddenly interrupted as she came to a halt due to the younger Sasuke tripping and falling to the ground.

"Ouch," little Sasuke said as he began to stand up to continue running, but was stopped as his older brother jumped in front of him.

"Otouto, where are you going?" Itachi said in a sickly sweet voice.

"Why! Why did you kill them? Why didn't you kill me if you wanted to get rid of the whole clan?" little Sasuke demanded.

"You? Why would I waste my energy in killing someone as weak as you? You couldn't even put much of a fight," Itachi said as he looked as his younger brother with a smug look on his face.

That looked was quickly replaced with a momentary look of shock as his eyes widened.

Sasuke had stood up and he had, he…

Activated his sharingan

So it's true…those files in Tsunade-sama's office were correct. The sharingan is a kekkei genkai that is awakened by the Uchiha when experiencing strong emotion…The jutsu that conveys feelings…Sakura thought with a solemn expression on her face as she went back to the scene before her.

"I will avenge them!" Sasuke said as he looked at his brother dead in the eyes.

"Really? You really think you are strong enough to take on me otouto? Don't make me laugh, you are pathetic," Itachi said in a mocking tone.

"I will become stronger to defeat you," Sasuke said as he glared at his older brother with all the hate he had developed for him

"Then…become stronger Sasuke, fight, cling to life and live, so that one day, you can kill me and avenge the clan," Itachi said as he looked at Sasuke with a hint of guilt that both the young and current Sasuke failed to detect. Sakura, however, quickly noticed it.

Sasuke-kun, did you really lived through this? Sakura thought with a saddened expression on her face.

"I will become powerful, so that one day…I will avenge my clan," Sasuke said as venom driped from his voice. Looking up at his older brother, he quickly threw a shurinken that managed to know off his Konoha forehead protector.

"I will avenge-" little Sasuke was interrupted as he closed his eyes and fainted due to the mental exhaustion he went through.

Before the scene ended, Sasuke and Sakura saw how Itachi turned around to pick up his forhead protector and slashed through it. Once Itachi placed it on himself once again, he turned around and shed a tear. Then he left the compound without another word.

He was crying? Sakura thought as she looked at the scene, unable to shed anymore tears.

Sasuke was too occupied in his own thoughts to notice his only female teammate next to him thinking.

Itachi…he looked guilty because of what happened. He shed tears for his brother's démise…a monster does not cry for his actions or the pain he has caused others…maybe he had another reason to do what he did? Sakura thought as she went over the possibilities of Itachi acting the way he did.

Then she remembered how the third Shinobi world war was started by Obito who turned out to be a misunderstood man who have only done what he did due to love and manipulation.

"Sasuke-kun, Itachi didn't commit those crimes in order to test himself, did he?"

Sasuke's eyes widened as he turned to look at her. How did she?

"Based on the fact that he was crying, he must have had a very strong reason to do what he did and sparing you only means you were the only thing he couldn't kill. Advising you to cling to life and kill him one day, almost…almost as he wanted you to bring him peace and closure to the clan," Sakura said as she analyzed the situation.

Sasuke, still shocked just looked at Sakura. She was able to see right through Itachi in one minute.

It took me 7 years of my life and Itachi telling me the truth to even believe the story, but you Sakura, are able to understand people's feelings just like Naruto. I wonder…were you able to look through me as well? Sasuke though as he looked at Sakura with awed.

"Sakura, I really do lo-" Sasuke stated, without thinking, only to be interrupted.

"Sasuke-kun did Itachi tell you anything else?" Sakura said as she looked towards Sasuke with slight worry in her eyes.

Sasuke, suddenly aware of what he was about to say, nodded and changed the scenery once again with his sharingan.

The scenario changed to that of a coughing Itachi with a Susanoo and weak Sasuke leaning against a wall with an Uchiha symbol on it.

"This is-"

"It is when I fought my brother in one of the Uchiha clan's hideouts" Sasuke answered before Sakura could finish her question

"ack, ack, huh"

Sakura suddenly looked up to Itachi as he started to cough blood

Tuberculosis? Sakura thought as she furrowed her eyebrows. He was sick?

Itachi started to walk towards a hurt Sasuke as his Susanoo quickly banished due to his lack of chakra.

With short steps, Itachi finally reached Sasuke and with a poke to his forehead and smile on his face, he said

"Sorry, Sasuke. There won't be another time"

With that Itachi fainted and hit the fall behind him, falling to the floor as his eyes lost their life and became dull.

Sakura could only look with a hint of pity in her eyes at Itachi. When she looked at the smirking Sasuke, however, her pity turned to anger. Why did she have the feeling Itachi was also a victim?

After a few minutes, the Sasuke in the genjutsu also fainted and fell to the floor.

"Sasuke-kun?"

Once again the scenery changed to that of Sasuke tied up and looking up at a man with an orange, swirling mask.

"Obito?" Sakura asked shocked as she looked at the man

"At the time I did not know who he was nor did I care, he…showed me the truth," Sasuke said next to her.

"Do you want to hear what happened to the Uchiha clan, Sasuke-kun? After all, it is too weird that the brother that loved you for so long suddenly decided to kill his entire clan, right?" Obito said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Tch, just tell me whatever you want to tell me, I could care less, anyways…" Sasuke said as he had an indifferent look on his face.

"Very well, what if I told you Itachi did not massacre the Uchiha because he wanted to, but because Konoha ordered him to?" Obito said. Unaware to both Sasuke and Sakura, a small smirked had formed on the men's face.

Please, no, Sakura thought as she looked at the scene before her. Konoha...the third hokage would never-

"What are you talking about? My brother massacred my entire clan because he wanted to prove himself that he was strong enough to do so!" Sasuke said with irritation as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No, Sasuke, Itachi was given a mission to kill the Uchiha clan after the Uchiha wanted to start a coup'et ta after being isolated from Konoha for so long."

"Liar, Liar!" Sakura yelled, Konoha would never do such a thing.

To her left, Sasuke was silent. He was so naiver back then and even though he would not try to destroy Konoha, he can't stop the feeling of anger that suddenly consumed his heart at the sight before him. Even he couldn't believe the cruelty the village had towards one of their own.

On cue, the old Sasuke responded, "don't make excuses for him! Konoha would have never ordered such a thing!" A tired Sasuke screamed as he looked at Tobi.

"Ah, but they did. You see, Konoha was afraid of the Uchiha clan and what they were able to do. They were the most powerful clan in the village. Not to mention, the Uchiha were in charge of the Konoha police force. They were deems too powerful and thus, a threat. Konoha needed somebody from the inside to keep track of what the Uchiha were doing at all times. And of course, there was an Uchiha ANBU captain that was very loyal to his village…"

No, Sakura and old Sasuke thought in unison.

"They used Itachi's love for the village and had him as a spy towards the Uchiha. The Uchiha's had already forced Itachi into doing the same. Once the village ordered Itachi to be a spy, he told his father about it and acted as a double agent. However, Itachi was pretending to be a double spy in his father's eyes when in reality, he was spying on the Uchiha clan more and was helping the village. Itachi was a pacifist after witnessing the horrors of war. The village elders used this to their advantage. Thus, Itachi knew that if the Uchiha decided to attack the village, Konoha would end in ruins and would remain vulnerable to attacks from other villages. A civil war would have turned into a full scale world war and many people would have died. "

"My father ordered him to be a spy?" He would never do that!"

"Your father was the one in charge of the attacks. He was the one who convinced the whole clan of going against Konoha. After all, he was the head of the Uchiha clan."

Sasuke widened his eyes, his father...No, it couldn't be

"You really think I would believe that? My brother wanted to test himself," the old Sasuke said as his heart started to beat really fast. It just didn't make sense.

"Oh, yeah? Then tell me Sasuke why he never killed you when you met him? Sure he beat you, but he wanted you to hate him and despise him so that one day you could redeem him and the Uchiha clan. Itachi carried the hate of the Uchiha and the village on his shoulders. However, he didn't care. He didn't care that everyone hated him, he didn't care if he died being a villain. Itachi only cared about one thing, the person that he could never kill, the person he loved until the day he died-"

No, old Sasuke thought as he looked at Tobi

"It was his precious little brother, Sasuke. He couldn't kill you," Tobi finished with a tone of- sympathy?

"How do you know? Did he tell you this?" old Sasuke said with exasperation in his voice.

I know because I lived through it. During the third shinobi world war, the Uchiha were blamed for the Kyubii attack. After all, the nine-tails was being controlled by a sharingan. The ANBU Black OPS ordered the Uchiha to relocate to the outskirts of Konoha. Isolating them completely and placing them under strict supervision. This lead to the Uchiha hating the village. As the years went on, they decided to start a coup d'etat. Itachi at the time was an ANBU captain and the clan used his position in order to spy on the village without realizing he was already spying on the Uchiha and giving his intel to the village elders. Itachi's suffering began then."

"The village…ordered him to kill them?"

"Konoha was the reason your brother suffered so much. Despite that, however, he could never get rid of his precious little brother"

"Why would he do that? Why didn't he fight with his own clan?!" old Sasuke screamed at Tobi, he just couldn't understand Itachi's motives to go against his own clan.

"Do you know the horrors of war, Sasuke? Like I said, Itachi was a pacifist and decided it was better to protect the millions of people in the village who were not at fault then to protect a couple of hundred Uchiha ninjas who knew what was going on, well as least most of them knew…" Tobi finished.

Sakura quickly flinched at his implication. The children… Sakura thought with a sorry expression on her face.

With that, the Sasuke in the memory looked down and Sakura could have sworn that his eyes watered.

"Sasuke-kun, Itachi was-" Sakura started only to be interrupted by Sasuke next to her.

"-Innocent, yes, Konoha was behind the Uchiha massacre," Sasuke finished her sentence for her with a hint of anger in his voice.

"That is why you wanted to destroy the leaf?"

"Yeah, my brother and my suffering were due to them" Sasuke said as he clenched his fists.

"Then why did he join Akatsuki? Why was he in a criminal organization?" old Sasuke asked.

"He joined Akatsuki in order to spy for them and give the intel to the village. All he did was always for the village and…you," Tobi said.

"How did he help me when he was in Akatsuki?"

"Do you really think that Danzō was going to let you live? Itachi knew Danzō was going to against his word and thus decided to threaten the him. He threatened to reveal secrets from Konoha to foreign villages if you were hurt in any way. That is why you were always safe in Konoha, Sasuke," Tobi said with slight irritation in his voice.

"Itachi…he was always protecting the village despite of what they did to him…" Sakura said as she looked down at the floor. He was truly the best ninja in existence, Sakura thought with a sad smile on her face.

To her left Sasuke had a small smile at reading her thoughts.

Once again the genjutsu changed to that of a reanimated Itachi showing Sasuke what happened during the Uchiha massacre.

"Sasuke-kun, when are we-"

"This is the last thing I want to show you, Sakura."

"But, Sasuke-kun- " Sakura interrupted by a voice.

"Why are you pushing me away? Why did you follow the orders of the village?" the Sasuke in the genjutsu said as he looked at his brother with confusion in his features.

"Sasuke, what Madara told you is not the full truth, let me show you what really happened" a reanimated Itachi said.

With that Itachi activated his sharingan.

Once again, the genjutsu changed to that of Itachi's memories that were shown to Sasuke.

"Your eye is-" A young Itachi stated before being cut short by a dark haired teenager.

"Itachi, Danzō took my right eye from me as I attempted to place him under my Kotoamatsukami, but I was able to escape before he took my other one. Take my left eye, Itachi and use it to protect the village" Uchiha Shisui said before looking down the waterfall.

"Itachi, I trust you, my dear friend…" Shisui said as he closed his eyes and with a small smile let himself fall into the waterfall.

"Shisui…" Itachi said as he looked at his best friend die before his eyes.

The memory quickly vanished and was replaced by another

"We should try to reason with them, the Uchiha's have been our allies for many generations," a tired looking hokage said as he looked at the rest of the village elders.

"The Uchiha are obviously people who we cannot trust, it is best to get rid of them, even the children!" Danzō said with a serious look on his face.

Sakura could have sworn the Itachi in the memory flinched and clenched his fists.

"Danzō, do not say that in front of Itachi!" The third Hokage, Hiruzen, said as he looked at Itachi who was bowing to them.

Once again the memory changed to that of Itachi meeting with Danzo next to a water fall with the status representing right (yin) and wrong (yang).

"You realize that the coup is inevitable? The Uchiha would not give up in their quest for power," Danzō said as he looked at Itachi with a serious look on his face.

"Did the hokage sent you?" a young Itachi said, he knew where Danzō was heading with this.

"No, I came on my own, but listen Itachi, the Uchiha will cause a civil war and despite their strength, they will all be taken down by the Black Ops units, even your little brother."

At that Itachi widened his eyes and clenched his fists lightly. Not Sasuke…

He must really love Sasuke-kun if he has that reaction, Sakura thought as she abandoned her crying demeanor and started to analyze the situation. She was also developing strong feelings of anger towards her own village…

"So you have the choice Itachi, do nothing and die along with your clan or prevent this civil war and save your little brother." Danzō said as he handed Itachi a scroll and teleported away.

Itachi decided to walked to his own home, passing the yang symbol statue, until he thought it would be better to teleport to his location. Once in his room, he read the mission reported given:

"The village of Konoha gives Uchiha Itachi the mission of eliminating the whole Uchiha clan to prevent a potential civil war. This is an S-rank mission and this mission is to be destroyed once understood" Itachi read quietly. After a few minutes, of re-reading the mission, Itachi put aside his mission scroll in his own carrying scroll and placed them away.

Itachi was about to fall asleep, when a quiet knock was heard outside his door.

"Aniki! Open up, I want to play" A young Sasuke screamed from the other side of the door.*

Itachi, quickly brushed a small tear that had escaped his eye and stood up to open the door.

Opening the door, Itachi saw his little brother holding a green, stuff dinosaur in one hand and a shurinken in the other.

"Aniki! Do you want to practice aiming? Or we can play something else if you want!" little Sasuke said as he looked up at his older brother with admiration in his eyes.

"Sorry Sasuke, maybe next time," Itachi said as he poked Sasuke in the forehead.

That poke, what does it mean? Sakura thought with a confused look on her face.

"Sasuke-kun-"

As if reading her mind, Sasuke answered her question.

"My brother was always pushing me away because he did not want me to get in the way of his plans, the poking signifies that he loves me, but…he cannot be with me at the time," Sasuke said as a small smile appeared on his face as he went back to looking at the memory before him.

"Ouch, Itachi why do you do that? You know I-" Sasuke was interrupted as Itachi brought him into a hug.

"I love you Sasuke, don't forget that, okay?" Itachi said in the verge of tears as he hugged Sasuke.

Even though 8-year old Sasuke was very confused at his older brothers acton, he let Itachi hugged him.
"I love you too, brother!" Sasuke said as he let go of Itachi and went back to his room.

Itachi, once again went to his bed, but instead of sleeping, he heard a knock on his windowsill…

"So there is someone roaming the village..." Itchy said with suspicion as he looked into the eyes of hi black crow.

"So you are alive, Madara-san."

The memory changed to that Itachi talking to a man in a swirl mask

"What are you doing in this village? You are not to be here if the homage is not aware of your presence," Itachi said as he looked at the older man before him.

"I cam here to look, obviously, and anyways, it is not of your concern," the dark-haired man said.

"Who are you?"

"Uchiha, Madara"

"You expect to believe that?"

"Do as you wish, I came here to take revenge upon the village for turning their back on me"

At his statement, Itachi came up with a plan.

He can't defeat Madara by himself, but he can help me if I give him something in return.

"Do you want revenge on the Uchiha? I can help you, after all, they were the one's who betrayed you."

"Hum...Alright, but what are conditions?"

"You have to leave the village...and Sasuke Uchiha out of this plan."

"Your little brother, huh? Alright"

The man looked at the young Itachi with slight amusement, it was obvious he was not sure about his plan.

"You sure about this?" the man in the mask said to Itachi.

"Yes, I will take care of most of them, especially Sasuke" Itachi said with a serious look of his face.

"Obito…helped Itachi?" Sakura said as she looked at the man before him. She helped and healed a man that not only started the war, but helped in killing the Uchiha clan…Sakura was suddenly overcome with a wave of guilt. Was it right that they forgave him?

"It is not your fault, Sakura. Obito, like Itachi, was driven by the people they love…" Sasuke said as he sensed Sakura's feelings of guilt.

With a small nod, Sakura smiled lightly at him in thanks and went back to the scene.

Even though Itachi looked pretty convincing, the man in the mask did not believe him.

Obito read right through him.

"You could always fight the village instead, it's obvious you don't want to do this."

"I made my decision and it does not matter to you my reasoning behind them. Don't forget your promise of leaving the village as soon as you get your revenge on the Uchiha" Itachi said to the older man as he turned around.

With his back faced to the older man, Itachi said "We start tonight" and left the man.

The memory once again changed to Itachi behind his parents with a katana.

"I see, so you have taken their side" An older looking Uchiha men said.

"Father, I –" Itachi said before being cut off.

"Do not fear, our pain will only last a minute unlike yours" Fukagu said as he looked towards his wife.

"Just make sure to take care of Sasuke…" Fugaku said to his elder son.

"I will," Itachi said as a small tear ran down his cheek.

"You know even if we have different ideologies, I'm still proud of you…"

"You really are a kind child," Fukagu said as he could hear his elder son loudly sobbing behind him.

Itachi continued to cry and hold the sword in his shaking hands until he felt the chakra of Madara. Almost as if he was warning him to carry his mission to the end.

With a twitch of his hands, Itachi slashed Fugaku in the heart.

"Mother, I-

"Itachi, do not fear, like your father said, I'm proud of you and… I love you very much my dear son" Mikoto said as her voice cracked towards the end. "Please take care of Sasuke…"

With one final tear, Itachi slashed through his mother's chest.

"I will. I love you took, Oka-san"

Sakura could only cry silently at Itachi's sorrow. From the corner of her eye, she could see Sasuke's unshed tears.

After that memory, Itachi was showed once again walking towards Sasuke as the edo tensei started to vanish.

A shocked Sasuke could only look at his older brother.

"Maybe if I should have told you things from the beginning, everything could have been changed…perhaps you could have been the one to change the Uchiha," Itachi said as he started to walk towards Sasuke as he gently lifted his fingers.

"But no matter what you decide to do from now on, little brother-" Itachi started as he lowered his hand to bring his and Sasuke's forehead together, a smile appearing on his face,

"-I will love you forever" Itachi said as the edo tensei finally took effect and he completely vanished, but not before giving Sasuke another smile.

With that Sasuke's genjutsu vanished and Sakura suddenly found herself back in training ground #3.

"Sasuke-kun, I'm so sorry, but...why did you show me this?"

"Sakura, I wanted to show you why I left the village, all my life I was lied to. It wasn't until later that I killed my brother that I was aware of the truth. I was confused on what my role should be in the war. I had to even speak with the past hokages to ask them about the importance of a village and ninjas…"

Even though Sakura understood the reasoning behing his attitude towards her and her team, she wouldn't forgive him based on that. Naruto also had a rough childhood and yet they were nothing alike.

Why I'm I even comparing them…Sakura thought with a confused expression on her face. Finally looking back at Sasuke, she just couldn't just shake the pain he brought her and Kakashi-sensei, but most importantly, she couldn't shake the fact that Sasuke had caused Naruto so much pain.

"If you want me to forgive you for this, I will-"

"I do not expect you to forgive me based on pity, Sakura. Come on, I need to show you something else," Sasuke said as he walked deep within the forest.

Sakura decided to follow him figuring out that even though it was already around 7 pm and dark, she wanted to know what Sasuke-kun wanted to talk about.

I wonder where he is going, it seems he is going within the exteriors of the village, Sakura thought as a small smile appeared on her face as they both passed through a spot she and Naruto used to hang out regularly before the war started.

She kept walking thinking of the day she and Naruto had sat down under that tree to eat lunch.

Flashback:

"Naruto! Sorry I'm late, I brought the casserole, did you bring the refreshments?"

"Ah, Sakura-chan I only brought one soda…" Naruto said as he looked at his only female teanmante. He hoped she wouldn't beat him up too much.

"Naruto, damn it. It's fine. Let's just eat, you can keep the soda."

"Neh, Sakura-chan, why don't we share it?

"What-what?" Sakura stammered as small blush formed on her face.

"Come on Sakura-chan! Hey are you okay? You look a little red, are you getting a fever?" Naruto started as he was about to place a hand on Sakura's forehead before she stopped him with her own.

"I'm fine, baka- Naruto, let's just eat."

The rest of the afternoon, the two friend just ate and shared their food and memories, well into they realized something.

"Naruto, it this *hiccup* sake? Sakura said as she felt like she was light-headed.

"Shit, sorry Sakura-chan *hiccup* Pervy-sage said it was a special type of soda that would help us 'let go' or something…I thought he meant it was going to relax us *hiccup* not get us drunk, Naruto said as he mentally started to cuss at his teacher. Looking at the bottle, he scratched the label until it peeled off. Naruto removed the fake tag to reveal a sake tag. After inspecting it for a few minutes and realizing they had been tricked by his teacher, Naruto looked deeply into Sakura's eyes with a sheepish smile on his face.

"Damn you Naruto, you did this on *hiccup* purpose…"

"Sakura-chaaaan I would *hiccup* never do that…" Naruto said as he started to sway.

"Why you-" Sakura started only to be interrupted.

"Sakura-chan, have you always been *hiccup* this beautiful?" Naruto started as he looked at his female friend. He swore she was the most beautiful women he has seen in his life.

Sakura, unable to respond, was only able to blush intently at his question, "Well, I-"

"Sakura-chan, you know you are the most beautiful women *hiccup* I have ever seen" Naruto said as he sluggishly crawled closer to Sakura and slugged his arm over Sakura's shoulder.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Sakura asked as her chakra started to dilute the alcohol in her blood. Her heart started beating faster at Naruto's words and actions.

"Sakura, do you love me? Do you *hiccup* want to be with me?" Naruto said as got closer to his female friends face.

"Naruto, you baka-"

Before Sakura could finish her sentence and punch Naruto into a comma, Naruto gently placed his lips on hers.

Unsure on what to do, Sakura just closed her eyes and allowed him to take control of the kiss.

It was sloppy, that was for sure, but... it felt, right.

After a few minutes, Naruto parted away, panting and looked at her with adoration in his eyes that made Sakura's heart beat increase. She was light-headed and also panting.

"Sakura, I-" before he could finish his sentence, Naruto fell on top of her. He had passed out.

"You baka, why did you kiss me?" Sakura started as she looked at Naruto and placed him next to her. She started to brush his hair with a small smile on her faces as he slept soundly.

"You didn't seem to be complaining."

Sakura jumped at the sudden voice that came from the tree behind her.

"Jiraiya- sama! Why are you doing here?" Sakura said as she looked up at the perverted teacher sitting in a tree.

"I was here to see if I could use anything for my novel, but it seems that it didn't get very entertaining. That fake soda did not work. Although, maybe I can use some of this little interaction between you two and 'expanded'. But I still need a name for my main character, Jiraiya said as he looked at the burning gaze Sakura was giving him. Men, this girl reminder her so much of Tsunade and Kushina...

After trying to think of names for the protagonist in his novel, he looked at Sakura once again and came with a brilliant idea. Hey, would you mind if I name my main character after you, Sakura-chaann?" Jiraiya said as he mocked the way Naruto said Sakura's name. He jumped off the tree and landed next to Sakura with a pen and a small notebook in his hands.

"Your novel? You mean that perverted book Kakashi-sensei is always carrying with him?" Sakura said as she suddenly stood up to look at the man.

"Hey, It's not perverted!" a silver-haired man said as he also jumped off the tree and landed next to the perverted sannin.

"Kakashi-sensei, why were you-" Sakura said before she cut herself off.

"You know what, do what you want! I'm taking Naruto home," Sakura said as she was suddenly grateful that her medical ninjutsu diluted the alcohol within her system fairly quickly.

As Sakura walked away with the picnic basket on one hand and Naruto on her back, she failed to listen to the two perverted ninjas as they talked while looking ahead at the two.

"Jiraiya-san, I thought jinchuurikis couldn't get drunk because their bijuus diluted the alcohol content in their blood," Kakashi said as he momentarily lifted his head from the orange-colored book he was reading.

"Heh, you are correct Kakashi, that is true…" Jiraiya said as he kept looking at the two young teens walk away with a small smirk on his face.

"It seems Naruto has been learning more than just jutsus from you, Jiraiya-san," Kakashi commented as he once again went back to his book, but with a small smile on his face.

"Indeed, he did."*

Flashback ended

Sakura kept smiling at the memory. When she arrived at Naruto's house, she made him a cup of coffee and dilute his blood of the alcohol. After he woke up, she was about to beat him to a pulp for kissing her, but he didn't seem to remember anything, so she simply pretended it never happened. She concluded his words and actions did not mean anything and he only said them because he was drunk.

Although she wasn't quite sure why he kept grinning at her from time to time.

Sakura was too busy thinking that she failed to notice Sasuke coming to a stop.

As Sasuke's sudden stop, Sakura snapped out of her trance and also stopped in order to prevent bumping into him.

Her smile quickly dropped when she realized where Sasuke had taken her.

It was the same exact bench that he had left her in 3 years ago when she tried to stop him from leaving the village.

"Why are we here, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said as she looked at the bench with embarrassment and slight anger. How pitiful had she been back then.
"Sakura, don't you want to know what happened that night?" Sasuke said as he looked intensely at Sakura.

As much as Sakura was dying to know, she didn't want to seem eager to him.

"I- You left me in this bench after knocking me out and then left to train with Orochimaru…What else it is to know?"

"Well, Sakura, let's just say that I left more than just you in this place," Sasuke said as a sad smile appeared on his face.

"What else did you leave?" Sakura said with confusion written all over her face.

And with that, Sasuke grabbed Sakura by both her arms and crashed his lips into hers.

Too shocked to respond, Sakura simply let him kissed her until her eyes eventually closed and responded to the kiss.

Breaking apart after a few minutes, Sasuke licked his lips and looked at Sakura who had half-lidded eyes and was panting.

Closing his eyes, Sasuke finally responded.

"My feelings"

This is my longest chapter, yet! I'm so proud. Anyways, I'm sorry for not updating in so long, it's just life, you know.

Like I said in my note at the beginning of this chapter, chapter 4 may come next week on Wednesday or Friday, so please comeback around those days to check it out.

*I kept thinking of FMA when writing this sentence, haha.

*Just so people don't freak out about this, Naruto did not know the soda he was given was actually sake. He just rolled with it when he realized it and used the excuse to talk to Sakura more boldly and kiss her.

Also, as you can see, this story is going to have Sasusaku moments as well.

Anyways, please review to let me know what you think! Reviews drive me to update quicker!

Thanks,

Lady Nela