Until Then

Chapter 22~ A Martyrs Death

"Selfless." He said simply.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I wish I knew then all the things I know now."

The pinkette had realized before when Sasuke had joined forces with them, that something had changed. There was something that seemed to be omitted in the way things happened up to that point.

Waiting for him to continue, he appreciated her patience.

"Itachi had always wanted to protect me, even if it was in his own way."

"What was it like growing up together?" Not wanting to overstep, she was as careful as she was curious.

"Hmm, I always looked up to him. Father prided Itachi above me no matter what I did. If I had learnt something new, my brother had not only done it already, but perfected it much earlier than I had."

"But Itachi, he had recognized my efforts and always made time for me. I wanted to get better, stronger so that my father would see that."

Sakura recalled the time when Itachi had come, and left the younger Uchiha hospitalized. Naruto and him had almost killed each other with their rasengan and chidori on the rooftop if Kakashi hadn't intervened.

Or how shocked Sasuke had been in the forest of death at how strong Naruto had gotten. His face when he had bitterly told her it was the blonde who had saved her.

She had put it to being power hungry and competitive, not noticing it was him once again feeling inferior, as if his hard work was overshadowed just like it had been with Itachi.

Something as such had to have a psychological effect on a mere adolescent at that age.

"I wanted to be like him. But then..." He trailed off, and Sakura knew what came afterwards. Everybody knew what came after that, except they didn't know the real reason why.

Touching his arm reassuringly, expressing he didn't need to go on. She was there to listen to whatever he wanted to say, or even if he just wanted to stay in silence.

"I began to hate him for what he'd done, but I didn't know it was for me."

Sasuke had transferred his hurt into hate, while Naruto had turned his to love.

"I thought I was doing what was best for me, and I guess he thought the same."

The brothers definitely had different ideas on what was "best" for each other, more due to the fact that most of it was caught in a spiral of surface lies.

"When I found out the truth, it was like everything I had done was erasing what my brother had fought for. What he'd died for.

"But you can't change the past."

Sakura didn't realize she was crying until her eyes glassed over from tears. Quickly wiping it with the back of her hand, there was an ache in her chest. How could he have held on to this for so long? She realized he was letting her in, into the cold world he let consume him. This wasn't his to carry alone, and he wasn't alone. Even though they'd shouted it so many times before, he was finally seeing that it was okay to let go.

"I'm sorry." She began, but before he could interrupt her to say she had nothing to be sorry for- it wasn't her who had mercilessly asked a young shinobi to pick his village over his family, or even her who pushed him down a path of darkness- she went on.

"From what you've told me, I can tell your brother loved you more than anything. Maybe it wasn't the most ideal way to go about, and you've probably already thought of it a more than I could even imagine, but at the end you've gotten to know the truth.