Four
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
Chapter One
I'm heading home from school. My hands, like always, are in my pockets, and my heads tilted downwards slightly. Not all the way down, but just enough so no one can see my eyes as I walk down the street. I must look pretty solemn, but it's better that way. I prefer to be by myself, I prefer solidarity to anything else. Others in my school, they can't stand being alone. I don't understand why. Everyone in my school is whiny and loud, always complaining about their love lives and that kind of shit. That's not for me. I keep to myself, I don't talk, and I don't socialize. Just the kind of shit the others are afraid of.
I live alone. My brother and I were orphaned when we were young. I'm not exactly sure what happened to our family, and my brother would never tell me. We had a pretty large family, but they all somehow died or disappeared. So my brother and I were left as the last remaining members of our once-great family, alone in this huge world. My brother began to work to support us. He was old enough so that the authorities and the school didn't ask too many questions about it just being the two of us, they just let us be. My brother worked very hard to keep us fed and in our tiny apartment.
I wasn't quite sure how he supported our life. He was attending university in Tokyo, and I knew he had a full scholarship, but that just meant he had less time to work. I was curious, but I didn't inquire as to exactly how we had enough money to live. I figured he had a high paying internship or something along those lines. My brother was intelligent, very intelligent. Genius, in fact. I've been called a genius, but I never could quite reach his level. Top of his class in high school and full scholarship to Todai. An internship for him would be easy to acquire, and sometimes they paid pretty well.
He was also a brilliant martial artist. It was the tradition of my family to train from the time when we were very young to be excellent fighters to prepare us for the police force. Before my clan was decimated, I learned the basics. But my brother… well he learned it all. He far surpassed anyone in our clan, regardless of their age or experience in fighting. There were none that could beat him.
After the tragedy, I asked him to teach me. He taught me everything he knew. That was probably the happiest time I can remember since the tragedy. I never felt more alive or closer to my family than when I was in training. We trained whenever I didn't have school and my brother didn't have work, which actually wasn't that much time. On my own, I trained everyday after school. I toned and conditioned my body to handle the severe physical stress the fighting caused. Six months, and I had learned our clan's entire martial arts form. My brother said I was very adept at fighting. For the first time in a long time, I felt something close to happy.
One day, about a year and a half ago, my brother was arrested. I found out that he had been dealing in illicit affairs for years to support us. As the case was investigated deeper, suspicion was thrown on him for the conspiracy of the murder of our family. Eventually he was convicted on three counts of dealing in illegal drugs, two in illegal arms, and one count of conspiracy to murder.
That threw me for a bit of a loop, finding out that my brother had killed my entire family. Needless to say, I hold a bit of a grudge for him now. One might be confused as to why I don't sound more outraged. One would think that I should be shouting my deep hatred for the cold-blooded murderer I once called my kin from the rooftops. At first, I was like that. But as my hatred grew, my heart grew cold and my nerves steeled. The hatred is there, stronger than ever, in fact, and I will have my revenge on him one day. But letting my emotions control me is not smart. I prefer the calm, intelligent persona. It makes things much simpler.
If you're wondering, my brother isn't in jail. I don't know where he is, as I've told the Japanese police numerous times. He escaped from jail about a week after being incarcerated. It doesn't surprise me (I did previously mention he's a genius unlike anyone before him), and it doesn't bother me. People have asked me if I'm afraid of him returning to finish what he started. I don't respond (I never respond when spoken too except by a teacher) but I figured out long ago that if he wanted to kill me, he would have finished me with everyone else, not supported me.
I'm in my last year of high school. I support myself with the money that my brother left me. He put it in a secret account that the police never found and left me the account number when he left. I never could make sense of why he supported me even though he conspired to kill our entire family. Either way, it doesn't lessen my hatred of him. I suppose I should have some sort of sentimentality, him being my brother and supporting me for years. But I don't. As a child, I was very different than I am from now. I loved my parents, I laughed, I had fun. I was also very proud of my family, being the son of a police family. My brother took that away from me. When my family died, part of me died.
I became cold and lonely. Although we lived together, he didn't speak much. We went about our individual business. I used to cry a lot, too. I wondered why this happened; why my family was killed. To avoid that pain, the pain of loss and the pain of isolation, I locked my heart and my emotions deep within myself. I can never recover those. That is why I hate my brother. He killed a part of me; he made me the way I am. I know I will never know true happiness again, but at the very least I may feel the joy of revenge; the ecstasy that will fire from every pore of my soul as I drive a blade through his heart. No, I won't just kill him with a gun. That wouldn't be satisfactory. I may injure him with a bullet, but I want to be as close to him as possible when I end his wretched life.
"Hey, kid."
I look up. I'm surrounded by a group of large men. A gang, it seems to be, probably between 20 and 25 years old. Four of them. None of them are holding guns, but a few have knives. Interesting… I think to myself. I lower my head and keep walking.
"'Ey. I'm talkin' to ya, kid," the man says in a menacing tone. I can see out of the corner of my eye that the man has a sinister grin on his face. He puts his hand on my shoulder. I stop but I do not raise my head. "I'm talkin' to ya. Now pay yer' elders a little respect and look me in the eye. And while yer' at it, give us your wallet, your money, and anything else ya have of value on ya."
I don't respond.
"C'mon, kid. You don't wanna mess with us. Just cooperate and no one has to get—"
"Putting your hand on my shoulder was a bad idea," I say coolly. In a flash I lift my arms up, grab his wrist, and twist his arm straight out behind him. In a reflex, he drops his knife. Before he even knows what's happening, I have him on his knees.
"Ah, kid! Stoppit! Yer' gonna break my arm off!" the man cries out in pain. "Boys, what're you waitin' fer? Get him!"
Not wanting the attention of a full fight, I snatch the man's knife from the ground and hold it to the back of his neck. I press just enough to make him bleed, to show I'm not just making an empty threat, and I'm not. I'd prefer not to kill anyone, but I would do it if I had to.
"One move and your boss dies," I tell them.
"Don't listen to him, boys. This kid's too young to kill; he doesn't have the guts," says the man beneath me.
"You're right," I tell him, "I am young. But don't think for a second I'd hesitate to kill you if… well I just don't want to see you anymore. So ask yourself: do you really want to press your luck today for the miniscule amount of yen in my wallet?" I actually don't have a wallet on me. I don't find much of a need to carry one with me to school.
The man is silent for a few seconds, then groans and says, "Alright, boys, back off."
"Walk straight down the street. When you're at the very end of the street, I'll let your boss go. Now I'm tired of you wasting my time so I'll give you fifteen seconds. Go," I order them, and they turn and dash for the end of the street. When they're at the end, I let the leader go and he runs to rejoin his crew. I pocket the knife and start walking towards my apartment again.
I get home and go through my daily routine. First, I work out. Pushups, sit-ups, pull-ups, squat jumps, everything. I get my blood flowing and strengthen every part of my body to make sure I'm at top strength. Situations like today dictate that I have to be strong, or I'll be killed. I live in a very shaky part of Konoha, and medium sized city not too far from Tokyo. If I'm weak, this place will eat me alive.
After my workout, I do my homework. I don't much care for school or any of these subjects, but I grudgingly accept that I need scholarship money to get into university. If I'm to track down my brother, I'll need money to do it. I've heard rumors and seen police reports that suggested he's in a high-ranking ring of the yakuza called the "Akatsuki." To infiltrate the yakuza, you need money, and to get money, you need to go to university. So far, it's working. I get nothing but A's and my test scores are near the highest in the school, just behind Haruno Sakura. God, I hate that girl.
After my homework I practice my martial arts. Two hundred kicks, eight hundred punches, and then an hour of practice on the pole in my apartment I padded with old carpeting. I had to put a lot of padding between the outer carpeting and the pole because when I used to beat the bare pole my landlord yelled at me for bothering the other tenant. There's only one other guy living in the whole building and he lives 3 floors down so I don't understand why he complained, but I can't get kicked out of this place. It's the only place I can afford.
After my training I go to dinner. I always go out to dinner, always to the same place. It's a food bar that serves a variety of things. I always order white rice, sashimi, and vegetables with hot tea.
I eat and pay my bill. I go to this place mainly because of its cheapness. It's actually cheaper to eat here every night than buy groceries and pay the bill to run a stove or the electricity it costs to run a microwave. I walk out of the food bar and start towards my apartment.
Wow, I think to myself, these guys don't know how to properly follow someone. For several blocks now I've been being followed by a group of four men. Probably the same ones from this afternoon. Anticipating this, I brought the knife from earlier today. Instead of lowering my head like I normally do, I walk with my head up, alert and ready for the ambush just up ahead.
As I pass the next alleyway, two of the men jump out at me. I'm ready for them. I nail the first man in the throat with a swift kick, knocking the wind out of him and putting him on the ground instantly. The second man lunges straight at me swinging wildly with his knife. I dodge each swipe with ease, angering my assailant. Pivoting on my front foot I give him a powerful kick to the side. Hurt but not maimed, the man grabs my leg.
"Now I got ya," he says, very proud of himself. My face curls into a slight smile as I flip over and give him a hard blow with my heel, causing him to release my leg and sending him to the cement.
I stand there, waiting for the other two. They're here somewhere, but I can't tell where. Then, I hear a cry from above as one of the men jump down at me from the fire escape. Surprised, I barely avoid the falling attacker. He gets up and begins his offensive. He's quicker than the other one, and a better fighter at that. He's able to block a few of my punches and the ones that connect don't harm him much. With his ferocious attacks he pushes me back into the alley and I find myself trying to regain ground.
Suddenly, I feel two large arms grab me. The fourth man, the leader from earlier today, caught me. I try to struggle free but the man is bigger than me and his grip is too strong. I can move my arms below the elbow, but it's not very helpful.
"Not so tough now, are you?" he laughs. "You took my favorite knife, kid. And ya disrespected me. I think its only fair we beat you half to death and then rob you."
"No thanks," I say coolly, and pull the knife from my pocket. I stab the leader in the leg, releasing me from his vice-like grip. He screams in pain.
"Get him!" he yells to the other man. That man comes at me, but this time I'm ready for him. I sidestep his charge and grab the back of head, directing it into the wall. Bloodied and in pain, the man quickly loses consciousness.
"Now listen carefully," I tell the leader. "If I ever see you again, that knife is going through your heart. Got it?"
"Who… who are you?"
"I'm no one. I'm the person who lives alone, lives only for himself, and has only one purpose in life. My name is just the fan that feeds the fire of my hatred and my drive towards that purpose and is of no significance to you. I promise you, though, that if I ever see you again, I will tell you my name, just before I kill you."
My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I live alone, I live only for myself, and I have only one purpose in life. That is to kill Uchiha Itachi. To make him suffer for his crimes and to avenge the deaths of my kin. My name is Uchiha Sasuke and this is my life.
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A/N: First chapter, so kind of short. Interesting enough, though. I don't really like Sasuke, but I've never really gotten his side of the story. So this time, I decided to write that side. I've never read a Sasuke fic in the first person. For those interested, this story will have romance, though no intimate descriptions of anything Sasuke does. I can't imagine Sasuke ever wanting to discuss that and I don't really like describing straight sex, especially in the first person. Too much use of the word 'cock.' So, please review, let me know what you think. Oh, and for those of you who are waiting for said update on Pendant, I'll be updating that soon. Keep track of updates on fics in my profile. By the by, I call this Four because in Japan, the word for four is avoided, apparently due to its closeness in pronunciation to the Chinese word for death or something like that. So I felt it was an appropriate title.
