This story is based on a story that we had to read for English called The Lottery. It was also made into a movie. If you don't know the story, then that's ok…just enjoy it anyway!
Chapter 1: The Ritual
It was nearly dawn. The Uchiha Genius slowly readied himself for his daily training. Gathering all his things, he set out into the forest and set up all his targets. It was a deathly calm morning and he wasn't going to waste it. Wearing a blindfold, he held out 9 kunai and began his daily routine. Nailing each target right on the bulls-eye.
Then, to his left, he could feel a pair of small onyx eyes watching his every move. Smirking slightly, he kept on with his training. Then he paused and said, "I know you're out there little brother. You should work on controlling your chakra better so your opponent won't be able to find you."
Guiltily, a small Sasuke came out from his hiding place in the bushes. "Itachi-nii-san, I want to be a strong shinobi like you someday! Teach me the secrets of Sharingan! Dad won't teach me…" He pouted with his lower lip sticking out and he gave his brother the sad puppy eyes.
Damn, almost NOBODY can resist the puppy dog eyes. Well, nobody except Itachi that is.
"No. Sasuke, go inside and eat your breakfast. Mother is calling you," Itachi replied.
"Aw, come on, Itachi…. PLEASE?" Damn, EXTRA sad puppy eyes.
"Oh fine, since you won't stop bugging me about it," Itachi mumbled.
"Yay!" Sasuke shouted in triumph.
Itachi sighed. Well, at least he'll be able to learn something.
"Ok, I'm going to teach you a Katon jutsu. You know what those are Sasuke?"
"Yes Onii-chan!"
He sighed mentally. "All right, I want you to focus your chakra towards your chest and let it circle in your lungs for a few moments."
Sasuke did exactly as he said, still excited about being taught by his big brother.
"All right, now I want you to copy the hand signs I make ok?"
"Ok, Nii-san."
Sasuke copied the signs with such a determined look on his face and Itachi smiled.
"Relax, Sasuke. You're not going to collapse. Now, simply blow out, like you'd be blowing out your birthday candles," Itachi said.
Sasuke, once again following his brother's instructions, blew out. His eyes widened when he saw flames burst out of his mouth.
"Excellent. Now just relax and let all the air out," said Itachi. Sasuke felt like he couldn't breathe anymore and he stopped his mini flamethrower.
"Am I done, Nii-san?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes," was his reply.
"Awesome! Now I can show kaa-san what you taught me!" Sasuke yelled punching a fist in the air. That brought on one of Itachi's rarest smiles.
Itachi picked Sasuke up and set him on his shoulders. Sasuke, still happy that he had learned something from his brother laughed and kept thinking out loud, what the other people in their family would say if they found out that he had learned something new from Itachi.
Itachi just smiled and they both went home.
((($&$&(&$#&(&$#&(&$#&(&$#&(&$
It was in the middle of the afternoon when Itachi and Sasuke got home. Itachi let Sasuke down from his shoulders. As soon as he did so, Sasuke ran around looking for his mom to tell her about the new move that he had learned from Itachi.
"Kaa-san! Kaa-san! Where are you? I have something new to tell you!" Sasuke yelled as he went searching for her all around the house.
Itachi sighed. Sometimes his brother could be just a little too hyper. He went over to the refrigerator and saw the note:
Itachi,
Your mother and I have been preparing for this year's festival. Meet us at the left corner of the town square.
-- Your Father
By the way, both your and your brother's outfits are hanging in your room. I expect you to help him, considering he still is a little boy after all.
With love,
Your Caring and Highly Unappreciated Mother
Itachi laughed, amused by the greeting left by his mother. She could be WAY too worrisome sometimes.
He sighed. Well, regardless, he had to take care of his brother and bring him to the festival.
"Sasuke, let's get going!" Itachi called as he went to his room. Immediately, Sasuke appeared.
"What's wrong, onii-chan?"
"We're to get ready for the annual festival today. We have to get dressed and meet mother and father there immediately. Now let's get a move on," Itachi said.
"Ok!"
&(&(&&((()&&$&$#&(&$#&(&$(
Itachi and Sauske arrived at the festival and met up with both of their parents.
"Sasuke, Itachi, WHERE HAVE YOU BOTH BEEN?" bellowed their father.
Itachi just looked calmly at him, "We were training father."
"Well, you both are late. You already missed the first half of the festival. Now it's time for the lottery drawing."
Itachi stared at him with cold eyes. Not that he would admit it to anybody, but he had hated the second part of the festival. It was a lottery choosing a sacrifice so that the Kyuubi would stay away from their village for another year. Deciding from the beginning that the Kyuubi was a folklore, he thought the whole sacrifice ritual as pointless. Even though some of the people agreed with this philosophy, they decided to go along with tradition anyway because it was part of their village's history for years.
This is how it worked:
First, the head of each family would choose a slip of paper from the black box on stage. Then after every head of the family had a slip of paper, they would open them on the count of three to see if they had the black dot on their piece of paper. If they did not, then they didn't win. If they did, then the head of the family has to call up to the stage each member of his immediate family in his household.
Then, when each member of the household was on stage, they would put the paper with the black dot in the box and several pieces of paper for each of the family members. Then each family member would draw a piece of paper. Whoever had the black dot in the family was the winner.
The winner then would be pelted with rocks until he/she dies. Then the body would be given to the Kyuubi as a sacrifice.
The lottery began with the Hokage of the village Konoha calling out each head of the family. Then it was Itachi's father's turn.
"Uchiha!"
Itachi saw his father walk up on the stage with a stoic expression, but slightly shaking hands. The last sacrifice had been his great-grandfather whom was previously head of the clan. Before he died, Itachi's father was told to take over the responsibilities of the clan.
Soon the first round of drawings was over and everybody opened their papers.
"Who's got it?" many of the townswomen whispered to each other."I think Uchiha has it!" yelled a random woman from the crowd.
Itachi stared with wide eyes at his father. Again? He thought. Two years in a row?
His father looked back at him with expressionless eyes, and showed him the paper. Indeed, there was a small black dot in the center of the paper.
His mother sobbed silently, then looked to her husband and sons. She whispered, "No matter which of us it is, know that we always loved you…"
"Uchiha, once again, it is from your great family that the sacrifice must be made. Who are the immediate family members?" called the Hokage's voice from the stage.
Itachi grabbed Sasuke, who was staring intently at the crowd wondering what was going on. Itachi pulled him toward the stage, following his mother and father. When all of them were on stage, the Hokage place the black box in front of them.
"All right, Uchiha-san, you're first. Then the missus, then your sons, Itachi and Sasuke."
Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha picked a paper from the box and didn't open it at the same time. Everybody was readying their rocks.
It was Mr. Uchiha who opened his first. Mrs. Uchiha sighed in relief. It wasn't going to be her husband. She had hoped it was her who received the black do so that she wouldn't have to see her sons nor her husband suffer in front of her eyes.
It was her turn. Opening her paper, she wailed. "No! They're too young! NO!" She began to scream loudly in sad sobs crumpling her blank piece of paper in her hand.
Itachi began to grow nervous. He looked at Sasuke sadly, knowing that the sacrifice had to be one of them.
Then Itachi was pulled to the side by his father where nobody could hear him.
"Listen, I will not let you, the Uchiha Genius, die here. If you are to be the sacrifice, I can and will easily make Sasuke take your place," Mr. Uchiha whispered.
At this, Itachi's eyes flashed red. "No…" he said to his father. "You wouldn't …"
His father smirked. "You know just as well as I do, Sasuke isn't strong enough to uphold our family name. He will NEVER be strong enough. But you, you are definitely fit to lead our family to be the strongest in Konoha. Therefore you WILL let Sasuke take your place."
"And if I refuse?"
His father's smirk slipped away and was replaced by a scowl. "You WILL do as you're told. I'm the head of this family and what I say goes, understand?"
Itachi suppressed his anger and replied under clenched teeth, "Yes father."
"Good. Now go pick for us already, before it gets dark out," Mr. Uchiha commanded as he all but pushed his eldest son in front of the box.
Itachi put his hand in and took out the smallest piece of paper. He knew that it would be the one with the dot on it. He then opened it and smirked. He held it up in front of the crowd. There it was, the big black dot.
"The sacrifice preparation will begin tomorrow. Until then, please enjoy the rest of the food while you still can!" announced the happy Hokage.
Itachi then picked up a silently sobbing Sasuke and put him on his shoulders.
"Let's go home, Sasuke."
"H-hai, Onii-chan," was the sniffling reply.
$&()&$#&())&$#&()&$&()&$&()&$#&()&$&(&&(&
"Sasuke," Itachi called softly as he went into his brother's room. Then, suddenly, he felt a pair of small arms wrap around his legs.
"Onii-chan, I don't want you to go," Sasuke sobbed on his knee.
"Stop it," Itachi commanded and Sasuke immediately stopped crying and let go of his legs. Itachi faced him and kneeled.
"Now look, you're an Uchiha aren't you? Be strong. Now," he said as he took a package from his pouch and handed it to Sasuke. "I want you to take this package to the House of Haruno. Tell them it's urgent, do you understand?"
"But that's all the way on the other side of Konoha!" Sasuke whined. Itachi growled.
"Stop your whining and listen to me. This is your first mission. I want you to go straight to the House of Haruno and not stop and talk to anybody on the way. GO STRAIGHT THERE, UNDERSTAND ME?" he stressed the last part. Itachi knew that Sasuke liked to talk to his grandparents in a shop on the corner of their property, which was why he was late for almost everything.
"I SAID, Do you understand me?"
"Yes, onii-chan," Sasuke whispered nodding his head frantically.
"Good," Itachi replied. "Now hurry along now."
Sasuke gave his brother a determined nod of his head and started running in the direction of the Haruno House. Itachi smiled. Great, now his plan was just getting started.
#$&()(&$#$&()(&$#&()(&$#$#&()&$
Sasuke came back to the house, panting. It was quiet. Too quiet for his liking. Then he went into his parent's room to see if they were still sleeping. That was when he saw it. His big brother Itachi, standing over two bloodied bodies with a rusty looking kunai in his hand. Sasuke then took a closer look at the bodies and saw that they were his parents.
"W…why? …Itachi-nii-san?… Why did you-- what did you--?"
"I was testing my abilities," Itachi growled primally as he smirked. Then he disappeared as he left Sasuke sobbing quietly on the floor.
"WHY!" Sasuke screamed.
(&$#&()&$
TBC
