Disclaimer – Yeah, so…I don't own Naruto, but that would be pretty freakin' rad if I did.
Through These Crimson Eyes
Rated K;Minor Language, but nothing too serious.
Prologue
One, two…
He closed his eyes, allowing the silence around him to encompass all. In doing so, any sound that broke the penetrating silence, however slight…he would pick it up. He magnified his hearing by sending chakra into his ears, in a sense sucking in the sounds of everything around him and thus increasing his hearing by roughly…
"ITACHI!"
He grimaced visibly, wincing. That had hurt…a lot. Especially with such magnified hearing… Baka!
He lept out of the way as a multitude of Shuriken whizzed past him. Still slightly dazzled, he was barely able to react in time to even see the attack before it closed in on him, but Uchiha Itachi was fast, abnormally so, even when in a slight daze. A split-second after noticing the attack, he was already pushing Hikari out of the way…he cursed her mentally. Some ninja she was…this was her third chuunin exam or so, and she didn't even have the sense to employ the basic concepts of istealth/i? There were numerous other ways in which she could have notified him of the attack, if that had indeed been what she had attempted to do, but she should have realized Itachi didn't need her help. He was, in fact, planning an offensive right when she pierced his concentration, revealed their presence to the enemy, and nearly gotten them both killed. Itachi was fine fending for himself, of course, but watching Hikari's back at the same time was difficult. Why did he have to get stuck with her, of all people…?
A few kunai whizzed past him, and Itachi was forced to concede to the enemy's reckless engagement. Instead of running, he might as well take them all out now…
He lept further into the air, landing softly on a tree branch, Hikari on his back. He glanced back, made sure they were safe for the moment, and gently slipped Hikari on to the tree branch.
"Stay right here." He spoke through nearly-clenched teeth, though his face did nothing to betray the anger that was boiling beneath the surface. His voice was cold and indifferent.
She nodded feebly, accepting that she was worthless in his eyes and talentless as a shinobi. Part of her wished that she could go into battle with him as a companion should do, but she knew it was hopeless. Itachi had basically been doing the exam for the both of them…
Itachi was gone in a poof of smoke, leaving Hikari to drown in self-consciousness.
I can be strong, too…Just wait, Itachi.
"Heh…I guess those two weren't threats, after all. The cowards…well, no sense trying to look for them. I want a fight I can enjoy, not a half-hearted pursuit…Let's get going." The sand-nin began to walk away, his two comrades following suit.
Thee Kunai sped past the three shinobi at such a blinding speed, they were practically invisible until they struck the trees behind the sand-nin and went straight through, hammering themselves into the trees even further behind a second later.
The sand-nin who had previously spoken turned pale, frozen in place. Not only had he not sensed the chakra signature of the attacker, that was no ordinary throw…whoever had sent those kunai hurling at them at those speeds possessed inhuman ability for someone taking part in this exam. And from what he was barely able to make out by the chakra signature which was slowly beginning to make itself apparent, it was isuppressed/i, too, and quite a bit. The attacker was mocking them.
"Who's there!" The sand-nin shouted, breaking through his chain of thought and braving to venture a shout. At first, there was nothing, but a slight rustle of leaves caught his ear. He immediately spun to his right and shot out his fist, which was caught by someone else's hand…with incredible grip. The sand-nin grimaced.
"Let go, you…"
The sand-nin's jaw dropped at the sight of his attacker. The kid couldn't be older than 10…ithis/i was the one who attacked them?
IHis speed, strength…hell, everything about him just doesn't add up…there's no way such a young kid should possess such power. And if he's suppressing that power, even now…I'm way, way out of my league. This kid…/i
"You've been on our trail for quite some time now, I believe. I noticed you right away, but decided to ignore initiating any pointless conflict at the time. I allowed you to believe that I was unaware of your presence…In fact, I was just counting your collective heart beats before my partner so foolishly brought us to a disadvantage. You guys were trying to slow your pulse, trying to make it look like you weren't about to attack. But let me tell you something…"
Itachi leaned in closer to the sand-nin, his head slightly above his shoulder. He smirked, and whispered in his ear,
"You guys really, really suck at hiding yourselves."
The sand-nin growled…this kid was bluffing. And he wasn't about to take this crap from a little pipsqueak like him.
"You arrogant little runt! I'll put you in your place right now…"
He had spun around, managed to free himself from the kid's grip, and launched a fist straightforward, planning to wipe that ignorant smirk off his face…
To find himself stumble as he realized there was nothing there.
"You call yourself a ninja?"
What the hell…! What happened!
He found himself on the ground, his arms crossed behind his back, face in the dirt. The kid had his foot pressing down on his back, pinning him to the ground. But he was also standing right in front of him, grinning.
Shadow Clone…? But that's a jounin level technique…
Where the hell are Kan and Oroki! He yelled mentally, cursing his two comrades. The cowards had probably got scared and ran away…
His blood froze. Behind the kid standing right in front of him, the two bodies of his team-mates…well, former team-mates, now…lay severed in half, blank looks on their faces. They hadn't even seen their own death coming before it happened…and neither had he.
This is so wrong…this kid killed them without a sound! Did he do it while his shadow clone pinned me to the ground! Impossible!
Being able to react that fast…it was unreal. Why was this kid taking the Chuunin Exam? He was far stronger than that…
The sand-nin was shaking now, and he risked looking up into the kid's eyes…to find himself staring at what seemed to him to be a demon.
S-sharingan! He thought, as panic overtook him. An Uchiha…and he had already mastered the sharingan eyes, at such a young age!
"Fool. Your container's just an empty shell now, isn't it?"
Looking into those eyes, the sand-nin lost himself in the murder that raged within those crimson sharingan…
W-why?
He didn't even know he was already dead.
Hikari had been waiting for about five minutes, lost in thought…Suddenly, she jumped. Itachi was back, standing above her, looking down with…it was impossible to judge what he was feeling. He was cool and unreadable, as always.
"You are weak."
Though she expected to hear something like this, it still hurt her. Telling herself wasn't so bad, but to hear someone else say it so blatantly…
"I-itachi-kun…" She stuttered, tripping over her words. Itachi glared down at her. Now, it was easy to tell he was angry.
"Don't call me that. I am in no way your friend, companion, or whatever it is you think I am to you. You are a disgrace, and I am disappointed to have had been unfortunate enough to get stuck taking this exam with you…I prefer to work alone. If you absolutely must talk to me, do so now while I still hold a small ounce of patience over you, or just shut up now and save yourself the humiliation."
Hikari froze. She was trembling. Not only had his words struck like lightning bolts, but he seemed to have instilled a deep, foreboding sense of fear within her heart. She felt his anger, she could fell his intent…to kill? No, that couldn't be right…could it? I mean, he could deffinately pass this test alone without breaking a sweat, after all. But would he really go far enough to…?
"Oh, look…it's getting dark." Itachi spoke softly, breaking the silence and bringing her out of the haze that was her thoughts, looking out at the night sky.
"Y-yeah…" She muttered in response, barely able to form the word in her mouth. Her tongue felt dry.
"You know, I don't really sleep at night…I don't really sleep at all."
Hikari paused to ponder the meaning behind his words. Why tell her this…why now? She had noticed the signs of insomnia…the tiredness in his eyes, the lines on his face…
She gasped. Itachi turned back to her, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"Itachi, what are you…"
He was by her side midsentence, glaring into her soft, blue eyes, his sharingan penetrating like a knife to the heart.
"And tonight, neither will you…"
She felt so…cold.
What was this?
"You were nothing but a hindrance, a thorn in my side. Why are you weak, Hikari? Breaching the confines of your soul, reaching down into the chambers of your core, you should grasp this truth and relish in it's darkness…thrive in the darkness, Hikari. Weep, shout, scream…writhe in the agony of what you lack, Hikari."
What the hell! What's with this guy… Though she was more afraid than she had ever been in her life, as those inhuman, crimson eyes penetrated her very soul.
"What is it you lack, Hikari? Through these crimson eyes, grasp the truth…"
And she uttered something she couldn't comprehend herself, as the light left her eyes and her body went instantly numb.
Itachi looked into her eyes once more, before closing them.
"You were nothing but a hindrance."
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And there you have it! The prologue to my first Itachi fanfic series, "Through These Crimson Eyes"! I hope you enjoyed it! Please rate and review. If it seems a little off, I'll try to make future chapters better. This is my first time writing Naruto Fanfiction. :P
Please rate and review!