DISCLAIM:Hello! I don't own this anime(: thought I should put this out ;D Masashi Kishamoto's characters, settings, and Justus (: So I hope you like it. –Kay
NOTE:I'd like to dedicate this story to Austin Dunn! The most amazingly attractive bass player ever to live; D and also 'the guy with the hairy chest' as we people call him ;D
Chapter One: Morals Undefined
Walking away was the hardest thing, and turning back to see what I've left behind made it even more excruciatingly difficult. The last time I saw that orange jumpsuit blond was when I looked behind me to see him lying down, vulnerable, helpless. This was the perfect time to finish him off and claim the power needed to finally dispose of that ruthless rouge I've been deceived to call my brother for the first six years of my life.
My last glance caught a glimpse of a single beam of radiant light hitting his headband, and slowly shrinking to become nothing but a shadow of a cloud. A single drop hit my eye—or is that a tear? —And I left, Konoha was now my past, and I won't return until I prove myself worthy.
I dashed off into the forest making sure none of Kakashi's hounds can't track down my scent. That, was the last time I saw Naruto…
"My, how painful that must have been…" Kabuto tried to synthesis, completely failing.
"You wouldn't know, you've never had to leave anyone important to you! All you ever are is a toy for Orochimaru to play with! Your master is all you need!" I countered, letting my raven hair go flat as it collided to a stiff pillow.
Kabuto growled. "Lord Orochimaru! You're so ungrateful! The Lord is giving you all you ever wanted, power! Do you think as the last Uchiha to be in Konoha you can just have what you want? My master only gives power to those who respect and acknowledges his being. That attitude will get you nowhere, Uchiha Sasuke," he got a pot of boiling water and poured it on my face.
"Gah!" I said as the steaming liquid burnt my cheek, I covered my face with my hands being careful not to apply too much pressure to my charred side of my face. As I released my hand out of my face, I looked at my reflection of my ashy face in the glass. My curse mark spread to my face, almost eating the ashes from my face and replacing them with fresh, new skin.
"You consider this an opportunity of a life time, not many can have this shot. With this energy, Uchiha Itachi will be exterminated in a flash," he says.
My eyes widened, my interest caught. Ever since he slaughtered our entire clan, that's always been my dream: To eliminate Itachi Uchiha.
"I thought so," Kabuto read me. I glared at him angrily. I hate the feeling of an open book. I felt vulnerable, all my tactics and feelings exposed for everyone to view and counter. "Well, training begins tomorrow at six. You better be up, Lord Orochimaru isn't the most… even-tempered One," he mentioned 'One' thinking 'person' is to… weak of a word to describe someone as 'brilliant' as him. With one quick hand sign, he vanished into a cloud of smoke before I could blink.
I slammed my palms to my thighs. "Damn him!" I cursed digging my nails into my flesh; slowly the blood stained the sheets covering me. I retracted my hands and began to grab fistfuls of my hair and pull.
I was restless all night, debating weather to sneak out of this place and just hunt Itachi down. A quarter of that night, I spent a quarter of my night planning my hegira and the next reconsidering.
5:30 and I haven't even closed my eyes for a moment. I stood up straight, rethinking my final decision for the fiftieth time. I closed my eyes and tried to configure where I was. A cave, no, more like a labyrinth made from earth. No one was around except Kabuto who was about two kilometer's away from the room I was in. My idea from the first quarter of the night would go perfect with this condition. I get my hands ready to unleash my chidori. On my last hand sign, I've came to my FINAL decision…
I put my hands down and sighed. "I'll do it."
"Excellent," gracefully hissed a familiar, cynical voice. I turned to the left, rocky wall where a three-meter black-purple warp hole appeared and their stepped Orochimaru. Funny, I'd think his bow on his back would make it a challenge to make it through that hole.
"What do you want me to do?" I asked, helpless, knowing my defeat set Orochimaru's plan in motion.
"We must first teach you how to summon serpents. It's quite easy," he lightly touches me arm, sending a wave of shock through my veins, and transported us to a carter—seemed to be created from a forest that's been blasted away. "This will be perfect," he says as he put his palms on the ground and summoned a cobra the emerged from the earth.
The serpent hissed viciously at me and then turned to its master. Something was bulging in its yellow belly. It slowly crawled up the snake's body and as it opened its mouth, it revealed a locked scroll covered in the snake's poisoned saliva. Using just its throat, it shock putted it three or four kilometers in the air. As the snake buried itself back into the ground, Orochimaru caught the scroll, saliva free.
"This," Orochimaru began as he unleashed the seal on it, "is the scroll of Summoning Serpents." He slowly unraveled it as showed names written in blood with a handprint underneath it. "These are all the names of the people who have dedicated their life to the Snake. Wielding their power, agility, and wisdom in their way of the Shinobi." At the very end was Orochimaru's signature with his handprint. I unraveled the rest and saw one empty spot for my name. "You must sign your name in blood on the box on top and on the bottom, you press your fingers."
I looked carefully and then bit into my thumb through the skin. Using my chakra, was able to bleed more then usual to be able to write everything. I signed my name as he told me.
Next, I covered all my fingers with the blood of my thumb. I pressed all my fingers against the bottom box and released. I have completed the pact and the scroll disappeared.
"Congratulations, you have now harnessed the power of the snake," Orochimaru clapped.
"Why can't I feel the power?" I hissed, disappointed. "How come I don't feel the enormous power Naruto had summoning the toad?"
"Patients, Sasuke," Orochimaru whispered caressing his finger on my skin. Never in my life have I felt as uncomfortable as before. "Now use these hand signs," he showed me seven basic ones. "Then press your palm on the ground and say…" he threw his hand over his head, and with all his power, slammed it onto the dirt, yelling, "Kuchiyoso No Jutsu! The Art of Summoning!"
For a moment, nothing happened, and I was not pleased how slowly it took for the giant snake to come out of the ground. I didn't even look scary. It kind of reminded my of Orochimaru. Scaly and old. It made a loud hissing sound and spit out a sword that was nearly inches away from stabbing me. Luckily, I'm not that stupid. I knew Orochimaru wouldn't hurt me for his life.
Until a few moments later. He caught the sword in one second, and the next, the blade had already gone through the skin of my throat. I've never felt death so palpable in my life. I even thought, the blade was going deeper, making it hurt more then it looked.
"Tsk, Tsk. Sasuke," he says as he kept the blade about a centimeter in my skin. Small sweat drops formed in my forehead and my breathing accelerated. "You're superiority must stop. Now."
The blade sunk deeper into my skin a centimeter more, but to my body, my head feels disconnected from my body already. "Gah!" I groaned as I cough some blood into his hand that was holding the blade.
"As of the time you decided not to escape, even though the opportunity was fruitful, you chose to gain my ability, so you will consider me your master," he finally pulled the blade out of my throat. The feeling was complete bliss and I coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"We'll take a break, you come back here in exactly five hours from now. I have some… plotting to do," he disappeared into thin air as I was left to catch my breath. But every moment I was loosing more and more blood. As I fell into unconsciousness, I replayed Orochimaru's little lesson in my head, trying to find the hidden meaning in the words.
Ever since Itachi killed our—no my—clan, I have been a lot more…predominant. I guess I've been lying to myself all those years. The only reason I acted like this was because I thought big brother left me cause he knew I can take him out. Being the last survivor, people looked at my like a child prodigy. A child surviving the Uchiha Massacre. I felt powerful. And because people believed in that, I was treated like a hero, the strongest one out there.
However, in reality, the only reason why he left me was because I was too weak. He could've killed me right there and then but I wasn't worthy. He left me alive so he might be able to get a better challenge the next time we encounter each other.
Sadly, I have once again proved my self-defenseless. Not only was I knocked out so quickly, he wasn't even after me! He's been searching for Naruto! Another person I must surpass to prove myself.
I was missing the point all this time. Itachi tried to show me that when we saw each other in the motel, what Naruto had been trying to tell me in Final Valley, what Orochimaru told me this morning, hell, even what Kakashi had been trying to teach me during the survival exercise: Thinking your powerful will get you nowhere, you have to get it in motion.
As I opened my eyes, blasting away from my epiphany, I found myself back in the room Kabuto put me in after my battle with Naruto. I stood up straight and smirked.
Orochimaru better be ready, I thought. I might have set his pinwheel in motion by not escaping but by making me follow him, he's set me in motion as well…