[ Sasuke's quiet for longer than is probably comfortable. He knows opening up at this point is the only way to defeat this thing, he can feel the demon's grip on him fading, but... There's a fear in being honest. In spilling the motives of his past and the things he'd done. Maybe his long-term friends who had known him in Konoha had understood, but how would Shoyo see him as anything other than a monster?

He'll have every right to, every reason to stop taking lessons from him, to stop talking to him altogether. Sasuke's convinced himself he doesn't need anyone, but the idea of losing the connections he's gained here is apparently as terrifying as this nightmare has been.

The only thing that pushes him forward is he can tell that this demon would win in the end. It would kill him, and he promised Sakura he'd do everything he could to not die. ]

They loved me. [ Sasuke's voice is quiet, almost flat, and he can't look up at Shoyo from where he's still kneeling in the water. Meeting his eyes is an impossible task. ] Seeing your loved ones die or... Or killing them yourself... It makes my eye jutsu more powerful. And I wanted power. I wanted to become strong enough to destroy the village. I wanted to make them pay for everything they did to my family. I wanted to— I just wanted to be alone.