Torn Apart
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything associated with it. Including duckbutt angst.
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He wasn't pulled into the world of black-market, ill-begotten power.
He was dragged, kicking and screaming.
Like Itachi, he never wanted to leave his precious ones.
Ironically, the very thing Orochimaru was forcing on him was what he needed to stop the snakelike san'nin.
Power.
Power to protect.
But he wasn't strong enough.
He would never be strong enough.
Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, Ino, and every girl in his precious Konoha… They would tell him that he was strong enough already.
They were wrong.
They were so very wrong.
The only way to become stronger was to join Orochimaru; to be trained by a master.
If the Uchiha Clan – his clan – was still alive, he could've been trained by them. By his family. But, ironically, if Itachi hadn't killed them, he'd never have needed that power in the first place.
He'd never have been called a genius, either.
Well. Maybe by civilians, but definitely not by Uchiha standards. They'd have counted him mere chuunin level.
And yet he was being hailed as one of the second generation of San'nin, along with Naruto and Sakura.
He knew he didn't deserve it.
Maybe in public he could pass it off as his leftover Uchiha mentality, this feeling of not deserving… But he knew.
It was his failure.
His failure as a ninja.
His failure as an Uchiha.
His failure as a teammate.
His failure as a friend.
His failure as a protector.
He had failed to protect and support his friends, and now they were dead.
These thoughts had been running amok in his head for weeks now, and he had finally reached a consensus with his emotions.
Sliding the chakra-infused blade out of its sheath and holding it above his neck, whispered three almost-silent words before he brought the blade down and all conciousness faded.
Peace.
At last.
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A/N: Wow, I can't believe I wrote this. Completely spur-of-the-moment, considering I don't even like Sasuke. Too duckbutty and prideful for me. I suppose I enjoy reducing him to a mentally broken dead body, huh.
But just because I don't like Sasuke, that doesn't mean you have to as well. So I'll give you a recommendation: If you like SasuSaku, check out ObsidianSickle's epic fanfic Blind (When I say epic, I mean epic. It's 517,000 words and still going). It's the way I wish the story would've gone for Sasuke. It really reduces him, but also props him up and puts him through a big change, emotion-wise. Great fic.
Reviews are RIP Sasuke love!