A/N: Alright, I haven't really posted anything in awhile. I've actually got quite a few stories written down, I just need to type them up, and this is one of them. I thought the idea for this was pretty interesting when I first thought of it, but it didn't really turn out the way I wanted it to…. Anyways, hope you all had a good New Years and an even better Christmas/Kwanza/Hanukkah!
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I would be living in a penthouse in Japan instead of a one-story house in the least recognized state in the U.S.
To Take a Life
Uchiha Sasuke didn't believe in a God, or gods for that matter. He was the kind of person who followed his mind, not his heart, and a "God" just didn't make sense to him. No one had ever seen this God, and Sasuke wasn't going to believe it until he laid eyes on it.
Now, this didn't mean he sided with the scientific view of things. Sure, science may focus more on knowledge than religion did, but it also relied heavily on hypotheses and testing. That just didn't work for Sasuke. He liked solid, definite facts, not testable, 'we're-pretty-sure-it's-right-but-there's-a-certain-percent-chance-it's-not' facts.
However, one of the few things Sasuke did believe in was the devil. This didn't mean he was a Satanist; no, it was simply hard not to believe in Satan when he was standing right in front of you with piercing golden eyes, with his scheming lackey next to him, asking you to sell your soul by doing an unbelievable act of cruelness.
"Kill this infant, Sasuke-kun."
Uchiha Sasuke was cold, but not cruel. He didn't have beliefs, but he had morals. He would kill Itachi, but he would not take the life of a baby.
"No," he said firmly. It's not like this was the first time he'd disobeyed the Sannin's orders in the two and a half years he'd been here.
As he expected, Orochimaru's smirk only widened. "No?"
"I won't."
"You won't? Or you can't?"
Sasuke was so tired of hearing those words. He wished this weekly ritual would just end.
"I won't."
"Why ever not, Sasuke-kun?" Orochimaru asked, and the Uchiha replied with the same words he'd spoken many times over.
"He's not the one I want to kill."
"Ah, I see. You want Itachi's blood to be the first to stain your hands. I understand." Is what Sasuke expected his sensei to say, and let the conversation drop, like always.
However, that's not what he heard.
"But surely, a mere infant's life would not weigh that heavily on your conscious, would it?" Orochimaru asked casually, causing a flicker of surprise to light up Sasuke's eyes. The snake was deviating from the usual pattern, and the young Uchiha was curious and suspicious as to the reason why.
"I never said it would," Sasuke replied.
Orochimaru continued, not seeming to have heard his pupil. "Human lives are so fragile," he muttered, stretching out a long finger to stroke gently down the soft skin of the little baby whom Kabuto was holding none too lovingly. "People always say life is the strongest force on Earth, but how can that be so? I could end this infant's life with merely a flick of my wrist." His finger paused on the baby's neck and the gentleness vanished as his nail dug sharply into the skin. The abnormally quiet child whimpered softly as a bead of crimson liquid streamed down his skin. This seemed to snap Orochimaru out of his reverie and he turned on Sasuke. "Or you could."
The raven-haired boy glared at the snake with glowing crimson eyes. "I said no. I don't have a reason to."
"I ordered you to. That's your reason."
"I meant I don't have a good reason."
"You ungrateful little-"
"Kabuto," Orochimaru said, silencing his right hand man. "That's enough."
"Hai, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto reluctantly said, shooting a distasteful glare in Sasuke's direction. The Uchiha returned the glare with a 'bite me' look.
"Sasuke-kun, you do realize that if you do not kill this child, Kabuto will do the job for you. Just like all the others."
Sasuke didn't say a word, choosing to stare defiantly into the reptilian eyes of his sensei. He wouldn't give in to the snake's wishes.
Orochimaru sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. Sasuke's decision was quite clear. "You couldn't kill an elderly man, nor could you take the life of a middle-aged man, a teenage girl, a toddler, and now you're telling me you want this infant to join the list. Whatever will I do with you?" Sasuke remained silent and Orochimaru sighed once more. "Go ahead, Kabuto."
The medic nodded and took out a kunai, positioning it at the child's throat. As if sensing what was to come, the child broke out in loud, echoing wails, which rang much too clearly in Sasuke's ears. I'm about to watch a baby who's probably not even a year old get murdered, and I'm not going to do a thing about it, he realized, disgusted with himself.
Kabuto began to plunge the weapon forward, and Sasuke's feet were moving before his brain sent the order to do so. Pain shot through his hand as the kunai ripped into it and the baby's sobs were quieted as Sasuke wrenched him out of Kabuto's arms and into his own.
"My, my, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said, chuckling darkly. "You're actually going to take action this time? Are you tired of watching people die one by one? Can you not handle it?"
"Shut up." The teen glared, cradling the infant gently in one arm as blood dribbled slowly down his other.
"You're soft, Sasuke-kun. You'll never take a life; you don't have it in you."
"I will kill Itachi!" he growled harshly.
"Oh really? What if I were to tell you that baby is Itachi? What if I were to say that I transformed him into a child temporarily?"
"He isn't, and you wouldn't."
"No, but what if he was, and what if I did? Would you kill him?" Silence was the only answer he received. He smirked at his pupil in triumph. "That's what I thought."
"What is all of this about, Orochimaru?" Sasuke whispered, feeling very tired all of a sudden.
"I thought that would be obvious by now. I'm testing your hardness, and you did exactly what I expected you would do-you failed."
Sasuke graced his sensei with a weak glare. "Leave me be."
Orochimaru observed him for a moment before nodding. "Very well. Come, Kabuto." The two turned to leave. "Oh, by the way, Sasuke-kun," he started, glancing over his shoulder. "The child is carrying a rare poison in his system. Kabuto injected it into him earlier today. He has but a few hours left to live. There is no cure. So if you think you've saved him, you're terribly mistaken."
That was how Orochimaru and Kabuto left the Uchiha prodigy-on his knees, crying out in frustration, clutching the dying infant tightly. Not broken, but breaking. Not insane, but slowly losing control. And Orochimaru knew exactly what would push him over the edge.
When Sasuke took his brother's life, ended his existence, he would inevitably shatter, and Orochimaru would be there to grind the shards into dust.
A/N: Yeah…this is one of my darker stories…Anyways, what I was trying to prove with this story was that it's not easy to take a life. To actually kill a person, take away all their memories, all their chances to make more, to take a friend away from a friend, a daughter or son away from a mother and father, a husband away from a wife, a father away from children….it would kill you. I believe that only people who are truly heartless can actually kill someone and not regret it. So if you'd like to discuss it, I'd be more than happy to. Just message me or review. Thanks! ^_^