Finished picture of Sasuke! I'm kinda proud of this one:)

Sasuke's POV

Sasuke stood there, waiting for Kakashi to begin his story. Kakashi was quiet for a couple minutes, before finally beginning.

"It's actually quite unbelievable, really. It was ten years ago that this all happened. Do you know of a man named Obito Uchiha?"

Sasuke sucked in his breath. "Do I know him? He was one of the most renowned ninja of our clan! He died mysteriously...you're not saying you had something to do with it, are you!?!"

Kakashi blinked his lone eye. "I had no idea he was so prestigious."

"How do you know about Obito? Were you involved in his death?" Sasuke felt anger beginning to bubble up inside him. "You stole his eye?"

"Easy now," Kakashi said. "I haven't even begun my story yet."

"Then talk," Sasuke spat.

"I was returning from a solo mission when I found Obito. He was badly injured, and about to die. This scenario was actually much like the one with you and Sakura." He paused.

"Go on," Sasuke urged.

"I was shocked at first, upon seeing his wings, but I went to him anyway. He was in a panic, telling me that he needed to keep his left eye safe from someone who wanted to steal it because it had...special powers. He gave it to me, saying he couldn't bare to destroy it."

Sasuke frowned. Someone who wanted to steal it...that was obviously the Mizuno clan.

"He died shortly after telling me his name and warning me not to speak of the encounter to anyone. Then these...white-winged ninja appeared. They were insanely powerful, and had abnormal shape-shifting abilities. They attacked me, and I barely escaped with my life. One of them changed into a massive lion and clawed out my left eye."

"How did you escape them?" Sasuke cut in. "They are not easily beaten, much less by a human."

"They were preoccupied with Obito's body," Kakashi informed him. "And I also used my summoning dogs as a distraction. I returned back to Konoha, where the medics planted Obito's eye into my damaged socket. I...wanted to honor Obito's last request, to keep the eye safe and in good condition."

Sasuke stared at him for a moment. Then he exploded. "THAT IDIOT! WHAT WAS HE THINKING?"

"Sasuke, be quiet!" Kakashi hushed him frantically. "Don't make a stir! People are sleeping!"

Sasuke ignored him. "He gave his Sharingan to some--some--human! He should have destroyed it first!"

"Please Sasuke--" Kakashi entreated.

Sasuke rounded on him. "The Sharingan is not something to be taken lightly. If it falls into the wrong hands, you have no idea what might happen! How could Obito be so foolish as to grant a mere human that kind of power! The Mizuno could easily steal it from you, in fact, I'm surprised they haven't done so already!"

"You mean the white-winged ninja? I don't think they know I have it," Kakashi said, unfazed by Sasuke's ranting. "It's been ten years. I doubt they'll ever come."

Sasuke glared at him. "You'd better hope so."

"WOW!!!" A loud voice above them exclaimed.

Sasuke and Kakashi jumped in surprise. Naruto, Sakura, and Sai were leaning out the window above them.

"So that's how you got that super-cool eye!" Naruto said in awe.

"Y-you've been listening?" Kakashi said weakly. "Oh, great."

"Yeah, we heard voices, so we snuck real quiet-like to the window and spied on you guys!" Naruto grinned proudly.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Well, you might as well come down now. You've already heard most of it."

"Alright!" Naruto cried, jumping out the window. Sakura and Sai followed suit.

Sasuke glared at them all angrily. "This was meant to be confidential."

"It still is, teme," Naruto said. "Only five people know. So Kakashi-sensei told you his story, now it's your turn to tell us yours."

Sasuke frowned. "I don't think so."

"You have to, Sasuke," Kakashi said. "That was part of the deal."

He sighed. What Kakashi had told him...it was a lot to take in. He couldn't believe that Obito had given a human his Sharingan. He could understand that it was difficult for him to destroy it, but if the alternative was giving it to an incompetent earthling, then he should have just gone with the first option. But the fact was, Kakashi had it now, and he couldn't change that.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi said, breaking into his thoughts. "We're waiting."

Sasuke looked up at them. He might as well tell them now. Obito had obviously trusted Kakashi enough to bestow him with such a gift.

"I am...not a human," he began slowly.

"We figured that much," Naruto snorted.

Sakura elbowed him to shut up. "Continue, Sasuke," she said.

"My clan, the Uchiha, was a superior race that resided in the sky." He began, bitter memories surging up again. "We were known as Angels of the Night. Our clan brought the end of the daytime, merging it into night. We controlled that area of the world. The other clan, the Mizuno, are the Angels of the Day. They do the opposite."

"You're an angel?" Sakura gaped. "You make the night come? And the other clan brings the day?"

"More or less," Sasuke stated. However, with his clan gone, he wasn't sure how the world would be affected...

"Why do you speak of your clan in the past tense?" Sai questioned suddenly.

He winced internally at that. Sasuke took a deep breath, struggling to keep his composure as thoughts of that day resurfaced. Had it only been five days ago that it had happened? It seemed so long ago, yet the memories were still fresh in his mind. "When Sakura found me...the day before she did...my clan was wiped out. The Mizuno clan attacked us. We were caught off guard, and the whole of my people were massacred."

"Why?" Sakura asked, her eyes round. "What reason did they have?"

"The Mizuno have shown interest in our Sharingan. Not the normal kind, like your teacher has, but an evolved state. It's called...rinnegan, if I recall correctly. That's why they went after Obito."

"But why would mine be normal if Obito had the advanced type?" Kakashi asked.

Sasuke glanced at him. "Humans cannot sustain the evolved state. It would destroy them. The Mizuno desire the rinnegan, but they also fear it. I believe that the reason they killed my clan was because they were afraid it would be used against them. You see, they had no idea which of us possessed that specific eye, and once Obito was no longer an option, so they decided to wipe us all out, rather than risk facing that power."

"So your entire clan is...dead?" Naruto said softly.

"Yes...no. My brother may still be alive. I need to find out." Sasuke said quietly.

"And how will you do that?" Kakashi asked.

"I need to return home, and see if I can find any leads. My brother was powerful enough to escape, and if there's the slightest chance that he's alive, then I won't rest until I find him." Sasuke said determinately.

"Why wouldn't you tell us this earlier, Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

"...I didn't trust any of you. And you shouldn't trust me. I'm not the kind of person who believes in "friendship" or "bonds" or stuff like that. I left Sakura to die today. I'm practically heartless." Sasuke said bluntly. "All I want is revenge. You shouldn't try to get close to a person like that."

"Listen to yourself, teme, going on and on about that. You're obviously not heartless. If you were, you wouldn't be hell bent on finding your brother." Naruto grinned. "Look, you go through hard times in life, but you know what the best thing to have is? People who care about you. Trust me, I'd know."

Sasuke shook his head. "Emotions and ties will only get in the way of my goal. Nothing can distract me from that. I don't care if it takes a lifetime, I will keep going until the Mizuno have thoroughly paid for the destruction they've caused."

"Well you know, we can help you," Naruto replied.

"No." Sasuke said shortly. "It will be me and me alone who will bring them to justice. No one else will interfere."

Kakashi sighed. "Well, no one will be going anywhere tonight. Let's all go inside and get some sleep."

As they trudged back up the stairs, Kakashi spoke again. "And you know, Sasuke, I'm aware of the fact that you still want to escape. However, if you wait until this mission is complete, you won't have to."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I will willingly let you go. And we will all assist you in finding your brother. Just please, Sasuke, let us trust you. Our only aim is to help you."

Sasuke considered for a moment. "Then...can you at least remove the restraints from my wrists?"

A long moment of silence ensued. Finally, Kakashi spoke. "Come with me."

They followed him back up to their room, where Kakashi extracted a key from his bag.

Sasuke's eyes widened. If only he'd known about that from the beginning! He would have been gone a long time ago!

Kakashi chuckled, seemingly reading his thoughts. "Too bad you didn't knew about this before, eh Sasuke?"

"Hn."

The cuffs fell to the floor moments later. Sasuke flexed his wrists, rubbing them. "How do you know I won't just leave now?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "I'm not that gullible. Someone will keep watch."

"Huh. Fair enough," Sasuke muttered. He lay down on his futon and shut his eyes.

"Naruto, you first, okay? Wake me up second."

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto complied.

Sasuke let his thoughts drift long after the others had fallen asleep. He'd learned quite a bit today. And the others had found out some things about him as well. He was actually surprised that they hadn't questioned him further. But he supposed they were giving him time to adjust, not rushing him into anything.

He smiled to himself. His teammates...so naive and foolish, yet also so...understanding. They were exactly the opposite of him.

I guess that's why I like them.

Sakura's POV

She awoke later on that night when Naruto switched with Kakashi. Rolling over in her side, she turned to look at Sasuke's sleeping form. He seemed so much more vulnerable in sleep, no longer the hard, tough warrior he was when he was awake.

His forehead was smooth, unlined by the usual scowl that accompanied him in his wakefulness. His lips rested in a straight line on his face, the edges turned down only slightly, as if he was dreaming something unpleasant. No wonder, after what he'd told them.

Sakura had the strangest urge to reach out and comfort him, whisper happy words into his ear, drive out all the painful thoughts that plagued him.

No, she thought, I'd have to be crazy to do that. He'd just push me away.

Sakura was surprised, actually, that he'd told them as much as he did. Perhaps, he just needed to let it all out. It must hurt to keep it bottled up like that all the time.

She didn't know she had fallen back asleep until Sasuke shook her awake.

"Huh?" She mumbled blearily. "Whatimeisit?"

"7:00," he answered, avoiding her eyes. "Kakashi said we're eating breakfast then leaving. Get up." He sort of extended his hand towards her, as if to help her up, but seemed to change his mind and pulled back.

Sakura yawned and slowly sat up. Seeing she was awake, Sasuke quickly turned and left the room. "Um...don't be late."

Her eyes followed the back of his spiky head out the door.

He held out his hand, she thought. Could he be feeling...guilty? For what happened yesterday? It's possible...

Sakura felt a small smile curved up the corners of her mouth. "I know you've got someone good inside of you, Sasuke." She whispered to herself. "You just don't realize it yet."

She dressed quickly, and went to join the others in the dining room. Sitting down next to Naruto, and across from Sasuke, she picked up her chopsticks. "What's the plan?"

"We'll be leaving right away. There's a short cut that I know of, so we can cut down the length of the trip by a day," Kakashi responded.

"Good!" Hana chirped cheerfully. "I can't wait to get home! This walking is doing horrors to my delicate feet. Plus, I don't want to get attacked by anymore ninja." She shot a glance toward Sasuke.

Sakura sighed. Sasuke had set himself up in such a position so that he wasn't easily trusted. So she was surprised when Sasuke spoke up.

"I wanted to say...that I'm sorry...for what happened yesterday. I won't do anything like that again."

Everyone stared at him. Then Naruto walked over to him and grabbed his shoulders. "Who are you and what have you done to the real teme?"

"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke grumbled, his face red from embarrassment.

Sakura felt delight welling up inside her. He really was making an effort to be more open! Or it could just be a ruse, and he'd betray them all in the end, but she refused to believe that.

Hana gave Sasuke a bright smile. "Great! Then let's get together some time, kay? We can do dinner, my treat," she purred flirtatiously.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You women change your tune so easily. I didn't say that so you could start flirting with me again. I'm just apologizing, though I'll take it back if you keep this up."

Hana stuck out her tongue. "Rude!"

The rest of the meal was eaten in silence except for Naruto occasionally poking Sasuke, teasing him about how much his "stuck up ego just got deflated."

He eventually stopped when Sasuke put him in a choke hold and threatened to squeeze until his eyes popped. Sakura chuckled at their antics, all the while wondering if this was the same Sasuke as yesterday. Maybe he was changing. Maybe it was Naruto who sparked that chance, like he'd done for so many others.

Naruto was that kind of person, one who worked his way inside you, always made you smile, made you feel happy. He'd helped so many people, like Garaa,the kazekage of the Sand, Zabuza, who had been a rouge ninja, and even Lady Tsunade herself.

Sakura remembered what her sensei had once said. "I owe my title to him," Tsunade chuckled. "If it weren't for Naruto, I wouldn't be sitting in the seat of Hokage."

Well, maybe Naruto was working his magic on Sasuke now. If anyone could do it, he could.

She looked at Sasuke again, who was busy twisting Naruto's arm for poking him, and smiled. He was so cold normally, but when he opened up, he was the kind of person you'd always want to be around.

I guess that's why I like him.

Another chapter finished! Thank you so much for 200+reads!