Log: Complete

[relimited.livejournal.com]

When; 14th December
Rating; PG
Characters; Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke
Summary; Finally free from Itachi's clutches, the two friends meet up for the first time since Naruto's arrival. Now with added emo-ness.
Log;
Sasuke sat in his apartment, waiting for Naruto to come since he couldn't exactly get some rest after what his brother did to him over the last week. Even after Shizune has come to heal his injuries, sure he wasn't physically hurt anymore, but mentally he still felt a bit unstable.

The moment he'd been able to get away, Naruto had been off. Itachi had told him that he'd release Sasuke, and judging from the sight of his hitai-ate, he'd been right to ask Shizune to help. Hovering outside the building, it'd taken all he had to keep himself from just bursting inside to see the other. However, the moment Shizune appeared, he was heading inside and straight toward Sasuke's apartment.

After Shizune has left, he stood up and made his way to the kitchen to get something to drink. The only reason he even went to his brother was to get answers and it turned out like this. He should have guessed that would happened, but he was too caught up in everything to realize it. Through all of it, he hated how his brother made him feel so helpless against him, among other things which he didn't want to think about.

He did learn a few new things about his future self in Itachi's time period, but he wasn't sure if he should believe his brother or not after what he did. He sighed, realizing he told Naruto he would decide if he was going to stay in Konoha when he came back. Even before he left, he knew he was going to end up agreeing with Naruto. However, now he wasn't sure what he thought anymore.

Up the stairs and toward the apartment, Naruto didn't stop moving until the door loomed into view. His feet paused themselves at the entrance as he took a moment to catch his breath. Or at least, that was what he was passing it off as. In truth, he was feeling more uneasy by the second. He only knew as much as Itachi had told him, the rest had been just a guess. What if things were worse than he thought?

Well, there was only one way to find out.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto slowly raised a hand to the door and knocked gently. "...Sasuke?" Now, he had no choice but to see for himself.

Shaking his head of his thoughts, he just barely heard the knock on the door. He put the glass of water he was drinking in the sink, and headed to the door. Arriving in front of it, he hesitated a bit before reaching for the handle and opening the door to see Naruto standing in front of him. It was the first time he'd seen the other since he had come to the city, with Naruto being both older and even taller than him now.

"Hey Naruto...come on in" he managed to say, trying to make it seem like things weren't as bad as he felt right then.

If it'd been under any other circumstances, Naruto would've laughed at their differences in height. As a kid, he'd always been the shortest of the three. But now, things were different. Instead, Naruto looked to Sasuke with a note of hesitance. He wanted nothing more than to help Sasuke get better. The trouble was, he didn't have a clue where to start.

Stepping inside, he glanced round the apartment briefly, before turning his attention back to his friend once again. "How're..." He shook his head. Why was it so hard to just talk?

Shutting the door behind Naruto, he walked further into the apartment with Naruto standing beside him. He turned to look at the Naruto as he began to speak, but the moment his friend stopped, he paused trying to think of something to Naruto, but he wasn't sure what to say either.

It shouldn't have felt this uncomfortable. Sasuke was still his best friend, whether he was a younger version or not. It was still the same person, no matter what everyone else told him. So why was it so hard for him to just say something? "...I'm sorry," was all he finally managed to say, his voice quiet as he did so.

He swallowed hard, trying to find the words to actually say something. It was just Naruto, he should be able to talk to him and act like he always does around him and just make it seem like really was fine, but he just couldn't seem to pull that off. Suddenly as Naruto began to speak again, even though the other's voice was just barely above a whisper, the fact he apologized to him, it surprised him.

"...sorry?" Sasuke finally spoke, this time he avoided looking as Naruto as he continued "It's...not your fault though"

He frowned to himself, knowing that the other could take his next words in two different ways. It didn't mean he could just not answer though. "...he hurt you because he...he wanted to use you" against me. He left the last part off, hoping to himself that Sasuke wouldn't overreact to his response.

Sasuke clenched his fist, it took all he had to keep his frustration to himself. "You...You think I don't know that now?! What he did...it's my own fault, not yours"

"Sasuke..." He sighed, turning to face the other properly. "None of it is your fault. It's Itachi's. He...he did all of that." He knew he should be listening to his own advice, but right now, that didn't matter to him. The only thing that did was the boy who stood in front of him. "...it's all his fault..."

Sasuke shook his head, "You're wrong....it is my fault, I'm the one that went to him..."

He turned silent, studying the other for a few minutes. Sure, Sasuke had gone to see Itachi, but that didn't mean that the rogue Uchiha had a reason to attack the other. As much as he hated to admit it, the differences between their skills were too great. Sasuke wasn't strong enough to hurt his elder brother. So why would Itachi need to actually hurt him? "...and he was the one that did all of this to you." His expression turned pleading, wishing that Sasuke could see things from his point of view.

Sasuke sighed, "Yeah, I know Naruto...and that's why I should have known better"

He looked away, his shoulders slumping. "You..." A sigh. "For what it's worth, if I'd been in the same position, I would've done exactly the same."

Sasuke paused. From what Itachi told him just before he released him, it was because of Naruto that he was here right then, as much as he hated admitting it to himself, he was thankful for that, though it made him curious as to what Naruto did to make it happen. "Right....is that why you went to see him too then, Naruto?"

So he knew then? Well, considering who his captor had been, it would've been a shock if he hadn't known. Shaking his head lightly, he smiled weakly in response. "I...I went to...get you back." It was the exact same thing he'd been doing in his own time too. Doing whatever it took to be able to get Sasuke to return to where he belonged. "It had nothing to do with him."

Sometime he really didn't get Naruto. The fact that he went to all that trouble to get him back, both here and in his time where he leaves Konoha, it surprised him at how much the other seemed to care enough to do all of that. Especially when he didn't even think he was worth the effort since hardly anybody else he knew seemed to do that.

"To...get me back?" Sasuke asked, " Other than what I told you about going to see him, you couldn't have know that he had me when you went...so if it is didn't have anything to do with him, why did you go in the first place?"

He had no reason to lie. Especially not about this. It was either explain himself, or let things come back and bite him later. "He threatened you and the others." The last three words were added quickly. Itachi had mentioned a threat against his friends, but it had been the constant mention of Sasuke that had pushed him into the meeting. He was the one person that Itachi would've had no problem in getting to, especially when the other actually wanted to meet him in the first place.

"That's...why you went to meet him? You...could have told me that before I went, you know...then I...he wouldn't have--" Sasuke shook his head, looking down as he wincing at the sudden flashes of memory of what his brother put him through.

"I...thought you'd be pissed if I did." Swallowing dryly, Naruto slowly lifted an arm, his hand opening and closing a few times, before being placed down on Sasuke's shoulder. His voice turned quieter, gentler, as he finally asked the question that'd been plaguing him since he'd found out Itachi had taken him. "...what did he do?"

"...Maybe I would have, but you should have at least said something" Sasuke said slowly, "Especially since you..." He was just about to admit to Naruto that he'd actually convinced him to stay, at least that was what he was originally planned on admitting to the other after his meeting Itachi,...until things didn't exactly turn out as he'd planned; however, the moment Naruto put his hand on his shoulder and asked him what Itachi did, he stopped midsentence. "He...it doesn't matter now..."

Looking back seriously at the other, Naruto frowned. "You don't have to hide things from me, yanno. Not...not if it'll help." It may've been a case of the pot and the kettle, but all that mattered to him was that Sasuke felt...better. "You can...tell me anything. I'm not gonna tell anyone else. I just want to help."

Sasuke knew Naruto wanted to help, but he just didn't feel up to talking about it what Itachi did right then. "I...yeah. I realize that" he began "Maybe later, I just don't feel like talking about it at the moment..."

Nodding once, Naruto pulled his hand back, giving a weak smile. "You're feeling better though, right? Your wounds I mean." The rest, he was pretty sure he already knew the answer to.

"Yeah, I wasn't hurt too badly, I only had a few wounds, which Shizune healed when she came over" Sasuke replied, "Right now...I'm as okay, as I can be for now, I guess..."

So at least one thing had gone to plan. His physical wounds had been healed up, so that was one less problem. They'd all been injured at one point or another, so a few cuts and bruises were never too big a deal.

But it was the "as okay as I can be" part that stopped him from smiling. It brought back a reminder yet again, or what had happened to him. "...is there...anything you want to do?" Something to take his mind off of what happened at least.

Sasuke shrugged, "Not really...you have anything in mind?"

Sighing to himself, Naruto tried to relax the mood a little. If he could at least make things more...normal... "Well, we could go find something to eat. Or we could go explore the place. Or we could train. Or go build more snowmen!" Anything would be better than standing there in relative silence.

Sasuke stared at the other momentarily, then he smirked at the other, and as much as he tried to hold it back, he couldn't help but laugh. "I...sure, I guess we could do that. I'm not that hungry, but anything else is fine though..."

He smiled in response, the first the usually cheerful boy had given in days. "We could head out then and see what there is." Pausing for a moment, he glanced to the window, noting the, still white, ground. "You have something to wear though, don't you?"

"Sure, that's fine." Sasuke paused, looking thoughtful for a moment, "Yeah. I have something in my room, I think"

It if had been any other time, Sasuke would have replied differently to Naruto, but he knew the other was trying to help me feel better, plus he really didn't feel up to arguing with the other either. He headed to his room and picked up a jacket to wear, and put it on and headed back to where Naruto was standing.

Watching as Sasuke left, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, glad that the tension seemed to have finally drained away. Or at least as much as it could do, given the circumstances.

The moment he reappeared, he turned to face the other again, shifting almost excitedly. This would be the first time since he'd gotten there that he could spend some time with Sasuke. Even back home, it'd been a matter of years since he'd just been able to stay around the other without worrying about being attacked. "Ready to go?"

Sasuke nodded, opening the door for both of them to go. "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go..."

Heading out of the door, Naruto waited for Sasuke to close up, before heading down the stairs and back outside. The moment they left the building, he tugged his jacket tighter around himself, his hands stuffing into his pockets. As much as he really enjoyed the snow, it was still too cold. ...though that may've had something to do with his lack of warm clothes. "How long have you been here for?" Start off nice and easily~

After they left the building and started to walk outside, there was still a silence between them until Naruto suddenly began to speak, and he turned to look at the other, "Oh. Well...I think it's been almost two months now, being back, I mean. I'm guessing it's been more than that, since I remember being here for quite a while before, though I don't exactly remember what happened during that time though."

"You were here before?" It wasn't so much that he'd been there before that surprised him. More the fact that he remembered it. He himself had been told he'd been there before too, but he couldn't remember any of it. "Have you done anything interesting while you've been stuck here?"

"Yeah, I was. Everything else I don't remember, so I have no idea how I remember that though" Sasuke shook his head, "Interesting? no, I can't say I have...it's been kind of boring"

"Boring?" His grin only grew bigger at that. "I guess it's a good thing I turned up then." Kicking at the snow, Naruto watched as it scattered along the path ahead of them. He faintly registered the fact that his feet were getting cold again. "Have you been hit by those curse things too?"

"Yeah, boring" Sasuke nodded, "Hn. I guess so..."

As Naruto kicked the snow in front of their path, he turned to look at him again as he asked him another question, "Those curses? Yeah, I've been hit by a few."

"Well, you're gonna be stuck with me 'till we all find a way back." Though for a while, that'd probably mean more than he was letting on. Until Sasuke was feeling...more himself again, Naruto wasn't going to leave him alone if he needed to talk to someone.

"What's happened to you so far?" He'd only had a few affect him so far, though he'd seen a fair few in his short time there.

"Yeah, Whatever. Isn't that how it always is though?" Sasuke sighed, "Besides, you forget that I'm not from your time even if we find a way back..."

"One were I turned into a kid, one where I switched personalities with someone..." He paused for a moment, "And the rest I can't remember"

A mock pout... "Does that mean you don't want me around then?" ...which lasted all of a few seconds. "Yeah, but, well...you're still the same Sasuke. Just from...before." It made absolutely no difference to him.

"So they were pretty big ones then." He grinned at the idea of Sasuke running around as a kid. "At least they only last a day though.”

"And you're still the same as always, Naruto - even if you're older now..." Sasuke shook his head, not sure what else to say other than that. "Yeah, well, it is lucky they only last a day, otherwise it would just be weird"

"I'm not exactly the same." Which was something he couldn't exactly prove. The things that had happened, the time spent away from his friends, not to mention being stuck with a pervert for a sensei, had changed him more than he'd care to admit.

"Have you been staying here alone all the time?" Despite everything that had happened in his own timeline, Naruto found it hard to believe that the others would turn their backs on him. Especially a younger version of himself.

"Oh, really?" Sasuke smirked slightly, "Well either way, you're still you"

"Since I've come back, yeah I have. Though from what I've been told when I was here before I was staying with both you and Sakura" he shrugged, "Didn't you ask me this before?"

"Well, yeah, but it just doesn't make sense. You could've moved in with some of the others, couldn't you?" ...and possibly things wouldn't have gone the way they had. No. No thinking about the 'what if's.'

"...come and move in with me and...and the Yondaime." Well, once he was set to move back in himself.

"I could have, but I guess I didn't want to..." Sasuke sighed, "Okay, fine...I'll think about it then"
Smiling slightly, Naruto nodded his head. If Sasuke stayed with them, then they could at least make sure he was safe. Of course, he wouldn't ever say that aloud to Sasuke. If he did, the Uchiha would undoubtedly get annoyed and leave. "You're going to have to put up with ramen a lot though," he added, grinning.

"Yeah, knowing you, I figured as much," Sasuke smiled slightly, "That's if I agree to it, after all I did say I was going to think about it"

His expression wavered for a moment as he glanced sideways at the other. "You know...if you don't want to..." A sigh. "...I don't want this kind of thing to happen again." A hand raised unconsciously to rub the back of his neck. "...I want you to be safe," he finished quietly.

"I didn't say that..." Sasuke looked down, he didn't know whether to be annoyed at the fact Naruto was worrying about him so much ever since he came here or relieved, he paused momentarily trying to figure out on how to respond. He sighed, "I...know. I don't want it to happen again either, but even I move in with you, that doesn't mean it won't"

"But if you're with us, then...you don't have to be alone. If you need anything, there'll always be someone there." Or more precisely, he'd make sure that he was there when he was needed.

He sighed again, it was no wonder the had managed to convince him to stay before, from being so persistent about it. He knew he shouldn't even now, but he could feel was just something that just kept him from deciding or even arguing with Naruto right then to him agree with the other instead, though he wouldn't actually admit to him just yet. "Well...okay, fine. I'll move in with you two..."

He blinked, a grin slowly erupting onto his face. Sasuke had agreed. He'd actually agreed to it. "You mean it?" Not that he doubted the other at all, but perhaps he was just hearing things. Wishful thinking and all that. "We can go there whenever you're ready. It's not a rush." He of course still needed to try and work out what to do about everything that had happened between them first.

Sasuke nodded. "Yes, if it'll make up shut up about it, already. Just...not yet though"

Nodding his head slightly, he turned back to the front, relieved. Though that only lasted for the few moments before his brain kicked into gear. "Take as long as you want." He wouldn't force him into anything.

His expression softened, nodding in response, as he looked towards Naruto. "...Thank you, Naruto" he said, quietly.

A brief glance to the other and Naruto smiled gently. "That's what friends are for." No matter which 'Sasuke' it was, he was still his friend, and that wouldn't ever change.

"Hm. Yeah, I guess you're right..." Sasuke smiled back. Even if he was feeling a bit mentally unstable because of what his brother did, he was thankful that the other was around and actually wanted to help him, which partly made him want to go through with his original decision of not leaving and just tell him already, but figured right then it was best to wait till the other brought it before actually saying these things all of a sudden.

A smile. That was all it took for relief to flood through him. As long as Sasuke knew he wasn't alone; that he had friends, people he could talk to and trust, then things would be alright.

Looking around, Naruto suppressed a shiver as the cold that seemed to continue seeping into him. He couldn't speak for Sasuke, but he himself was getting colder by the moment. Which was partly why he ended up changing the subject with an idea. "Let's go get a hot drink somewhere!"

"Yeah, sure. That sounds good," Sasuke said, "Where should we go?"

"Uhh..." Now that was a hard question. He hadn't really seen much of the City beyond the trip out with Hinata and Shikamaru. Other than that, it'd just been the few things he'd found while wandering. Well, may as well head to the centre and see. "Let's go find somewhere, unless you don't want to?" He was referring more to the fact that they'd be heading off around others as opposed to not wanting the drink.

"Sure. I don't really feel up to drinking anything, but if you want something, I don't mind" Sasuke shrugged "It helps keep my mind off other things..."

Nodding his head, Naruto began to lead the way toward the centre. There would be something around there somewhere. There had to be. Even if it was just a stand. "Sasuke..." he started, folding his arms behind his head as they crunched their way through the snow. "...yanno, if there's anything you want to do, or don't want to do, I'm not gonna be upset if you tell me."

"Yeah, I know that. I would have told you already if there was something that I did or didn't want to do," Sasuke replied. Honestly, he was just find with Naruto deciding what they should do, because if he thought too much into things he would only end up back in the state of mind he was right after Itachi released him.

And he'd trust him on that. He doubted he could really ever make Sasuke do something he didn't want to. He wouldn't really ever be able to bring himself to anyway. "Then let's go get something warm to drink, and then we can umm...go find something for dinner tonight." He could be normal if he tried...hopefully.

"Yeah, sure. Dinner?" Sasuke paused, "Yeah, sure I guess we could try and find something, hopefully my appetite will be back later"

If he had any say about it, then it would. Even if it meant having to get Hinata to cook something again. He said he'd take care of Sasuke, and that included making sure he ate. "I'll bet we can find something you'd like!"

"It's not a question of finding something I like,..." Sasuke shook his head, "It's that I don't feel up to eating anything"

His smile faded for a moment. "But...I don't want you to get sick." He paused, instead deciding to change his tactics. It'd be better to know "...why not?"

"Believe me, I know that. I don't want to get sick either but I just can't help it..." He trailed off, avoiding eye contact with the other, trying to avoid answering his question, even though he knew he should probably tell him.

"You know..." A sigh and his voice turned serious. "...I'm not gonna force you to tell me anything. I wont even ask about things until you want to talk about them. But...if it'll help, then..." He stared down at the snow covered ground. "...then you can talk to me anytime about anything."

"It's...not that I don't want to tell you" Sasuke swallowed hard, "I don't know...remembering what he made me see, and what he did, it's kind of hard for me to say..."

He paused in his tracks, turning to look over at Sasuke once again. "Everything he showed you...it...it wasn't you." Oh, he'd gotten a very good idea of what it was that Itachi had shown his brother, and considering what he'd already known about the situation... "It was all him. ...you're not to blame for anything."

"I...but he made it all seem like it was. Like I killed them, even if I know it wasn't me...no matter how hard I tried to fight it, or find some way to make him stop. It was me they were blaming, not him, over and over again. Just...like he did to me before..." Sasuke said, his eyes refusing to look at the other as he spoke.

Before? Now that part he hadn't know. Then again, Sasuke hadn't ever spoken about 'that day' before. Especially not to him. But regardless, he had to try and make him...no, try and help him to get through it all. He may not've had anyone to help him before, but this time... "That wasn't real. None of it was. He...he wanted to hurt you in the worst way he could." Hesitantly, his hand reached out in a copy of the previous time, moving to rest on Sasuke's shoulder once again. Squeezing lightly, he smiled weakly. "He made you see things that you should've have ever had to see. But none of it was you. Your memory of them was twisted to what he wanted you to see."

This time when Naruto put his hand onto his shoulder, he didn't push him away, he just sighed. "I know that, I keep telling myself that, but...it just doesn't seem to be working"

"I wont start lying to you and say that it's gonna be easy. It wont be, and I'm sure you know that too." Moving round to try and catch Sasuke's gaze, he gave the most reassuring look he could muster. "It'll take time, but I know you can do it."

Sasuke nodded, "I'm not so sure about that...but I hope you're right"

"You will!" He knew that for a fact. Even if Sasuke's faith in himself wavered, Naruto would be there to supply his own. "...I wont let you fail."

"You know, I really don't get how you can have so much faith in me,..." Especially when no one else did, is what he intentionally left out. Sasuke finally looked towards Naruto before he spoke again, "Like I said...I hope you're right"

"Because you're my best friend, and I know you. You're not the kind to just give up on something." That was true to the point of him having left behind everyone who cared about him in favour of pursuing his goal. It couldn't be said that Sasuke ever quit anything. Even if he failed a first time, he'd go back as many times as he needed in order to do what needed to be done.

"Hm. Yeah, I still don't get how you can even say that after especially after what I do in your time too, but suppose you're right about that, but still right now...I'm just not sure if I'm capable of moving beyond what he did do" Sasuke sighed, "I'll try though..."

"Even in my time, you still...you don't give up on things." It wasn't something he wanted to dwell on, instead wanting to focus on the main problem right then. "Is it because of what you saw, or because he did it?"

"No, I meant what you said before that--never mind," Sasuke thought about what Naruto said, before answering his question next ,"...I think it's probably a bit of both"

"Huh?" Thrown a little by the half-sentence, it took a moment before Naruto registered the rest. "...you said...he did it before?" It was a question he both didn't want to ask, and yet needed to know the answer to.

Sasuke nodded, sort of glad the other didn't really catch what he meant by what he first said, being the part where we was referring to him as his best friend, even now. "Yeah he did, and it was the same night that he killed them, along with the reason he let me live. The first time I was able to get past it, but this time, it was much worse than what he did before..."

He frowned at that news. From what he'd heard, Sasuke had arrived onto the scene. That in itself was bad enough. But for Itachi to have shown it to him again, after all of that... "....." He didn't know quite what to say. He knew he should give Sasuke time. But that was before he knew all of this. He'd been through it once before already, and now... "It wasn't you though. He...he showed you things that...that happened to him..." Or at least, that's what he thought.

"Huh? You mean from the first time or what he just did to me?" Sasuke looked at the other, surprised, "....I know it wasn't me, but it was...different this time"

"This time. He...showed you his side. ...didn't he?" Of course, he was stuck simply with knowing what Itachi had told him. Sighing to himself, he finally ended up asking the very same question he'd hoped not to ask. "...what happened?"

"Yeah...I guess you could put it like that," Sasuke said, slowly, "He made it so that my family was there, all of them....I knew it wasn't real, but my brother he was there too, I told him that, I tried to fight it and to get him to stop, but he denied it, and asked me to kill one of them to prove him wrong and--" He stopped midsentence, kind of hesitant about continuing trying to remember the rest.

He couldn't help it. He knew that, no matter what Sasuke said, it wasn't going to be what he expected. Which was why all he could do in response was to stand there in silence, the hand on the others shoulder there as proof of the support he would give. It was up to Sasuke as to how much he wanted to explain.

Noticing Naruto's hand still on his shoulder was enough for him to feel like he should continue, after all, even though Naruto may not know what it actually felt like, he knew he could tell him, even if the other didn't know what to say in response. Taking a deep breath he continued "...I couldn't. I told him I couldn't even if they weren't real, yet my arm moved on its own and I threw the kunai, and it was like I was the one to kill them off one by one. Even when I tried to get him to stop it, he just kept making me and he accused me of killing them because I hated them, because he was the only one to care about me, the one who kept me alive--"

He paused, and looked over at Naruto, "...Hey. Are you sure you want to hear the rest? Because I thought you wanted to go get something to drink?"

Still, he couldn't bring himself to say much. He managed a quick shake of his head, accompanied by a weak smile. "This is more important." He would listen to as much as the other would tell him, and more if he could. It all depended on the boy in front of him. As long as he wanted to talk, Naruto would always be there to listen and offer as much as he could give.

What he was hearing was another thing altogether. Itachi had done more than he first thought. He'd believed that he'd simply made Sasuke witness the massacre from Itachi's point of view. Not that he'd actually turned him into the murderer. Things were going to be harder to fix than he'd thought.

Sasuke nodded, "After that...even my family is accusing me of killing them, it all seemed so real. The look on my parents faces and--the next thing I knew there was just so much blood around me, I was the one wearing his ANBU uniform, with a blood-drenched sword in my hand, the same as him that very night he killed them. Then he suddenly knocks me unconscious and takes me hostage for that week and pretty much made me relive the same things over and over again. After why he was accusing me of killing them, and why he left me alive....I'm starting to think he was probably right about that"

A scowl formed in response to the last of Sasuke's words. He was starting to believe what Itachi had said? Or what he'd shown him? "...that wasn't you. He made you see things that never happened." Though if Naruto was ever given the chance, the pool of Uchiha blood would be happening. It would just be a certain mangekyo-wielding bastards. "He was the murderer. He did all of it. You had nothing to do with any of it." The more he continued, the more he realised that it probably wasn't the part that was concerning Sasuke. It seemed to be... "...why he left you alive?"

Sasuke shook his head, "No...it's not that. It was because when I was younger, my parents...I was ignored by them, especially my father, who always compared me to my brother. Back then...Itachi, he was the only one who would protect me, and defended me when my father would just push me aside, convincing him to let me do things. He said the fact I was the one to do kill them in what he made me see, was because I hated them. I don't actually believe that, but from what he said involving what happening when I was younger, that was all true, which make is seem believable, even though it isn't..."

He sighed, "As for the leaving me alive part? Though he was saying it was because he supposedly cared - it was because even then he thought of me as some pathetic kid who couldn't do anything, that I wasn't worth killing, to make me suffer by being the one he did leave alive..."

So despite the fact that Sasuke knew it wasn't real, he found some sembelence of truth behind the fact that he'd been the one to do it. That thought alone was enough to cause his grip on Sasuke's shoulder to tighten, his scowl growing deeper as he almost glared back at the boy. "You cared about them, didn't you? I don't think your parents would be stupid enough to not see what you thought about them." He took a deep breath, retrieving his hand as he forced himself to calm down a little. There was no point in making things worse.

"Itachi is nothing more than a complete bastard. He did all of that for his own amusement." Though he wasn't going to complain about the fact he had left the other alive. "I guess...it kind of explains a lot." About why Sasuke had been so set on revenge in particular.

At that he just shoved Naruto away, rather forcefully, out of habit more so than anything else "You're right. I know you're right, that was what I thought at that time and from the fact he kept doing it over and over again, it's really no surprise that that happened to push those thoughts in my head, but do you honestly think I don't know that myself? But having to go through that just...hurts, okay?"

He didn't know what to do. Everything Naruto could say to try and help, he knew already. The others had said to just give him time, but that would mean leaving the boy to suffer for the time inbetween. That was something he just couldn't bring himself to do. But other than that, he was stuck. "I'm sorry," for more than he could really explain just then. "Things...will get better. I know it." The 'when' part though...

Sasuke let out a sigh, nodding in response. He knew Naruto was only trying to help him, and from his actions of shoving him a few moments ago, taking it out on him wasn't going to help things either, no matter how much he was used to doing that, when it came to Naruto. "I...yeah. I guess you know everything now" he began, quietly, "Sorry...didn't mean to shove you like that. I know you're just trying to help..."

He shook his head lightly, a weak smile on his face. "It doesn't matter." As with everything this Sasuke did, or would do, Naruto couldn't ever find himself angry with what he did. Not for long at least. His future self was another thing entirely. "I'll help however I can, but..." He looked away, his expression dropping. "...I don't know what to do either."

Sasuke smiled slightly, looking towards Naruto. "Thank you...though, just the fact you want to help me, it's....enough"

His words alone were enough to sate Naruto. Looking back at the other, his smile slowly began to return. If it would help Sasuke, then he would do whatever he could. Even if it was at a cost to himself. It was just the way he was. "I'll be there, whenever you need me to. You know that, right?"

Sasuke nodded, "Yeah, I know..."