Black Zetsu: I won't be deceived, will I?

Young Sasuke sat dazed on the cold, hard concrete. The spot on his cheek where Gaara's fist had struck burned fiercely, and a clear swelling quickly rose there, but he seemed not to feel the pain at all.

His entire mind had been seized by Gaara's blood-raw roar from moments ago, and by that face under the dim yellow streetlight, streaked with tears and filled with immense pain and compassion.

His mother—had been missing him every moment of every day?

There were clearly so many Uchiha clansmen living in the Land of Stars, yet because of that man, because of the tragedy that night, she did not even dare set foot in the Uchiha clan grounds?

He had always thought he was the one who had been abandoned, an orphan forced to struggle alone in hatred.

He had resented her. Why had his mother not taken him with her?

Why had she left him alone to face those nightmares and the strange looks from the villagers?

Why—could she begin a new life in the Land of Stars with a clear conscience, and even adopt other children?

But Gaara told him that his mother had troubles she could not speak of, pain she could not face, longing and guilt a hundred, a thousand times stronger than he had imagined.

Two completely different truths clashed violently in his mind, making his already chaotic thoughts even more lost and helpless, almost tearing him apart.

He stared blankly at Gaara, at that tear-streaked face, and for a moment he forgot to get up, forgot the pain on his face and in his heart.

Just then.

Creak—

A faint sound broke the heavy, frozen atmosphere on the street, instantly drawing the attention of everyone outside the door.

The sound came from the tightly shut iron