A/N: Sasuke always gives me trouble. Having read the latest Shippuden chapter, I feel better knowing I'm not the only one : )

Disclaimer: Not Kishimoto. Don't sue or I'll fling chicken poop at you.

Home 6: Sasuke

As the group passed over a small rise, the imposing gates of Konohagakure came into view. They stood open, welcoming; Uchiha Sasuke struggled to force down the bile that rose to the back of his throat. How had things gone so wrong? The only way he'd ever wanted to see his former village again was in flames, the buildings reduced to rubble and the inhabitants' screams blending together like a thousand birds. He'd wanted to see terror on the faces of the survivors as he strode triumphantly through the streets, Madara at his side, towards the Hokage's palace to finally claim the title for an Uchiha.

He stumbled, and the chakra-suppressing chains that bound his wrists and ankles clinked together. His knees hit the ground and a small cloud of dust rose around him, temporarily blinding him.

"Keep moving," his former sensei, Hatake Kakashi ordered while the doppelgangers on either side jerked him back up onto his feet.

His eyes met those of the pink-haired Haruno Sakura. Physically, she hadn't changed all that much; but where she once gazed upon him with doe-eyed fascination, the green eyes Sasuke currently stared into were as hard and cold as cut jade. He briefly wondered if she was planning to hit him again and whether or not the blonde clones would make any attempt to stop her.

"You should've killed me when you had the chance," he sneered to no one in particular. "But then the only one of you ever known to have any balls was Kakashi-san." He cocked his head towards the Copycat Ninja and grinned viciously, "seems like you've grown soft in your old age ne?"

His comments were meant to rile them. Too late he'd realized how important the members of Team Hawk had been to him, and now with all of them dead the only thing he had left was his barbed tongue. It was the blonde who replied, and to Sasuke's surprise, the former hothead was calm, even smiling.

"When I asked Tsunade-sama for permission to be the one to bring you in she had one condition. I had to bring you back alive. You've hurt too many people, and I finally realized that I can't save you from yourself. You have to stand trial before all five Kages for what you've done."

In a perverse way, Sasuke was pleased to hear Naruto's voice choke up as he spoke.

Once they'd passed through the village gates, Sai, who'd been quietly observing the interaction between the members of Squad Seven clapped the Uchiha on the shoulder smiling.

"Welcome home Sasuke-kun!" He cried.