A/N: Hello, guys. I welcome you all to my newest fan fiction, Le Tueur Triste (in English, The Sad Killer). This time, I tried using a flashback POV narration style because it's the best style that would capture the feelings of the main character (at least for me) who is, in this case, our beloved Sasuke.

Anyhow, I wish you guys love this one. :D

LE TUEUR TRISTE

By withered-soup

Prologue

It was one cloudy afternoon—an afternoon so magically the same with the countless cloudy afternoons he encountered in his life. A bit of the rare sun touched his white skin while the rest of the shadows of the clouds darkened his already black eyes. The wind played with his raven hair and slightly moved the collar of his trench coat. He was in black from head to toe except for his fine cotton turtle neck inner shirt.

He was a teen if judged by looks alone. His mind, however, was sharpened by the hundred years that passed him. Despite the fleeting years, he remained a patron of a particular park where he was that afternoon. He always sat on the same bench located under the same tree…alone during most of his years.

Sasuke was seated silently with one leg crossed over the other. He was watching two grandmothers chatting away at a far bench when a ball flew to his direction. Catching it with both hands, he maintained his poise as he leaned forward and watched a red haired boy approach.

"Yours, I presume?" Sasuke handed the smooth ball and then leaned back.

"I'm Gaara." The boy suddenly introduced himself though Sasuke smiled dismissively instead of replying.

"Do you want to play?"

"Go play with someone else." Sasuke said with a small smile.

Gaara was silent for a while, studying the man with round eyes. "But," Gaara climbed up the bench with some difficulty, "you seem lonely." He paused and looked into Sasuke's eyes. "And you seem have a lot to tell."

The way those words played in his ears and the way Gaara looked at him both had an eerie effect on Sasuke. The boy stirred something within him…something deeper than memories. He stirred Sasuke's volition to hide his damned soul under years and years of terrible abstinence.

Sasuke unconsciously drew back an inch or two away from the child who was dusting the ball with small white hands. He looked away to suppress the odd horror he sensed from the boy. He was calmed, however, by the wind of that afternoon and slowly, he regained his inner composure.

"…Any story may do, right?" Sasuke said more to himself than to the child. "…any story…" he repeated, clasping his chest.

It was as if a whirlwind of the past trapped Sasuke by his feet and gradually, he drowned back to one of the many scenes that were very much vivid in his mind.

"It all started that night of spring when I awoke hearing the shrill cries of children downstairs. I came to realize, seconds after my awakening, that the orphanage was burning and it was instinct that hauled me off the bed and into the nearest room across mine. I heard a boy cry 'aniki' over and over again from there. The poor boy was cowering near the bed, worse, immobilized by panic. I had to drag him away from his spot to wrap him with a wet blanket and to get him out of the room.

"The fire was already lapping at the ceiling when we ran through the corridor. I grabbed as many children as I could and guided them downstairs.

" 'Sasuke!' came a shout.

"I turned and saw Sister Anji was carrying a small child on her bony arms. 'Two boys and a baby are left at the last room!'

"As soon as I led the other children out of the house, I darted back into the flames and headed for the room at the end of the hall. I remember the heat and the glare of the flames as I held one boy with one hand while I carried a wailing baby with my other arm. I recall running to the doorway only to jump back when it collapsed, trapping us in that room that glowed with fire.

" 'Aniki!' the boy cried and tugged helplessly on my shirt. The baby was even louder than the boy. Coughs, wails and noise of crashing wood piled up and stressed me as I stood there, eyeing the place for a possible path. And suddenly, I remembered that Sister Anji said there were two boys and a baby."

"You didn't find the boy?" Gaara asked.

"I think I saw him." Sasuke said after a long pause.

"That means you saved him!"

Sasuke sighed. "I…I didn't get to save even one of them." He passed two of his fingers across his left temple.

Gaara watched Sasuke's brows meet then relax as if trying to retrieve a vivid picture from the deepest recess of his brain.

"I knew I lost my faith in salvation from the flames and in finding the boy but the moment I turned around, I saw him. I don't remember his face for his back was turned to the flames. He was just standing there while the fire danced behind him as if it was under his control.

" 'Come!' I yelled but the boy stayed on the same spot. His expression was unreadable.

I repeated what I said just when another burning wood crashed to the floor. The moment I turned to see what happened, I felt something latch against my neck. I lost strength even before I could grab whatever it was off me and seconds after, I blacked out."

Sasuke stayed silent for a few seconds before shrugging and uncrossing his legs. The little sunlight lightened his young face as he sat there, contemplating about what happened. Gaara was quiet as well as he waited for the next words.

"I should have died." Sasuke smiled. "But…such a mystery it was because the morning after, I found myself sleeping against a tree meters away from the burnt orphanage. I was like a baby, curled against the protruding roots when a familiar touch woke me. It was Sister Anji embracing me like I was a child once more. She 

pressed her lips against my forehead and cheeks before asking if I was alright. I was in a daze so I only stared at her. I think I wanted to smile then but I was still in shock that I survived. And perhaps, there were contrary feelings that both wanted to be manifested on my face. Both happiness and pain was in me: The joy survival and the guilt of not being able to save the children.

"It was no sooner that some authorities came, holding a man whose face could only be painted with loathe.

" 'Do you know this man?' One of the apprehenders asked Sister Anji who immediately clasped both her hands.

" 'My God,' she whispered, 'he is—'

" 'All of you are damned!' he spat, particularly to our nun. 'You killed my wife!' The man had to be held back before the authorities could explain that they caught him near the orphanage and that he was holding a torch and containers of oil. Moreover, the man admitted proudly that he burned the structure.

" 'Yes!' He spoke again with a smile belonging to a maniac. 'I burned the demon's lair!' His eyes turned to everyone. 'You are all demons!'

"I couldn't handle any of what he said and I found myself yelling, 'you murderer!' before running to him with both hands outstretched. I grabbed him by the collar and I managed to punch him hard on his face before the others were able to restrain me. I continued shouting, cussing and reaching out for the shocked man with another punch—which I successfully did once more—before Sister Anji cried for me to stop.

"I felt like I was a madman myself. I slowly lowered my arms and as I turned, I was surprised to see seven men panting behind me. They appeared to be the ones who held me back."

Gaara stopped rubbing his ball. "Seven men?"

"I was actually surprised myself." Sasuke said with a glance at his open palm. "That was when I started thinking of myself differently." He crossed his legs again. "It was a different strength—unearthly, actually. I even thought I was capable of killing then. I was became afraid of myself.

"The children who watched me walk away…I could feel their fear. They had never seen me like that before. When I looked up at Sister Anji, I saw pity and the desire to help me. When I looked at the man, I saw pure shock."

"It was then I said to myself, I'll take a walk.

Sasuke cocked his head to the side, slightly disturbing Gaara because of the abrupt stop in the story.

"Walk?" Gaara murmured.

Sasuke laughed to himself and the gloom of his face gave way for the young face to shine. One could never deny the beauty he possessed that moment. It was as if his skin reflected the radiance of the sun.

"A walk…that kept me from returning home—them, for I never saw them again." He smiled a fanciful smile before continuing. "And it was the same walk that led my life…of being a vampire."

A/E/N:

Please give me comments or critiques. I know the prologue didn't work that well. Anyway… Haha. Thanks for viewing this fic. :D