Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto.
Sasuke was a man of denial. He denied emotion for power. He denied friends for foes. He denied happiness for hate. He denied love for the loathing of his brother and what he did to their family. He denied many things for his ultimate goal, but it was over. He had won against his brother and what he gained was a life without friends, a life without love, an empty life with endless time.
Now that Sasuke had time, endless amounts of time to think and ponder, he came upon things he had buried in his mind while he thirsted for power.
He would admit that going with Orochimaru was a stupid thing to do.
He would admit that he was wrong; power was not the only thing that mattered.
He would admit that Kakashi was right when he told him he wouldn't be happy with revenge.
He would admit that during the time he was with Orochimaru, he missed the old days.
He would admit that when he first met Sai, he was hurt at the thought of being replaced.
He would admit that Naruto was a better friend than he ever could have ever hoped for.
He would admit that Team 7 was a surrogate family for him.
He would admit that Sakura wasn't as bad as he originally thought.
He would admit that Sakura was stronger than he gave her credit for.
He would admit to having dreams about her and her smile.
He would admit to having thoughts of having a family with her.
He would admit to playing with her hair when she was asleep.
He would admit to being scared to death at the thought of hurting her.
He would admit he was a cold-hearted bastard towards her.
He would admit that he felt like smiling when he was around her.
He would admit that he was touched that she cared enough about him to try and stop him from leaving.
He would admit that when they were older and he was still a missing nin, he'd sometimes find her while he was looking for his brother and give her a chaste kiss just to know he wasn't dreaming and she was actually there.
He would admit to Sakura being beautiful.
He would admit to loving her.
He would admit a lot of things, but as he stood before the memorial stone, the rain sopping his hair and chilling him to the bone, he wouldn't admit to himself that Haruno Sakura was dead because it would hurt too much.
The truth always did.