AN- This marks my first venture into any kind of anime/manga writing. If it's bad let me know so I'll never do it again…well I don't know about never but I'll seriously reconsider the next time I come up with an idea. The following statement contains a slight spoiler, to some anyway: This story takes place after the time skip, but before Sasuke kills Orochimaru. Spoilers end here. So here we have Sasuke, at the pinnacle of his training with Orochimaru. He feels he's ready, but hasn't had any real reason to leave, until now. At the moment, however, I don't really know where this is going, but maybe I'll figure it out.

Disclaimer –something about me not owning stuff…yeah.

Chapter 1: Dream

The rain felt calm and cool as it lightly poured over him and the rest of the clearing. He however was anything but. Along with the adrenaline that pumped through his arteries and veins, pure hatred burned further fueling his actions. He shifted his gaze left, then right, searching over the badly torn forest clearing for the only other person that mattered.

Any other person probably would have been exhausted, ninja or not. Certainly an intense battle lasting from dusk, through dawn, all the way to noon would have been extremely tiring. He, however, wouldn't allow himselfto submit to such weakness. And he knew that his brother wouldn't either. To be tired was to show how weak one was, and he was anything but weak. The surrounding area was a testament to how hard he'd fought over the past eighteen hours or so.

The clearing was devastated. The green grass that once covered the clearing had been replaced by dead, gray earth. There were various pock marks and craters that covered the surface as well. It might have been mistaken for the moon had there not been any trees. Where a tree once stood, now laid a dead log with multiple holes smashed into it. Various other trees also lay about; either splintered to pieces, uprooted or charred black. It was in the middle of this small hell-on-earth that he stood, searching along the tree line for the man whose blood he hungered for.

"ITACHI!" the almost-man shouted. For a moment, there was silence; the only bit of noise was the rain that poured. And then once again, he beckoned, "ITACHI! I-TA-CHIIIIIIII!!!!!!!"

It had been about five minutes since his brother disappeared from sight and Sasuke was becoming impatient. He was so close to killing him, so close to achieving his revenge! The fact that Itachi had suddenly taken to hiding proved that Sasuke was winning. Or, perhaps Itachi was planning something clever, to make up for the loss of his special technique.

The Mengekyou had failed Itachi early on in the fight, a fact that Sasuke was somewhat proud of. Although, he wouldn't let it get to his head –that was the quickest way to die. And he certainly wouldn't take Itachi's flight into the forest for granted, either. He wasn't a fool; he wasn't going to charge in after him only to be ambushed just beyond the tree line. The only reason he knew Itachi was there being that he could sense his chakra. So he waited…

What…? Movement from the left! Sasuke heard it before he saw it. With startling grace, he dodged the first four shuriken that came his way. It was the fifth that had come a second later that he did not expected. Moving a little too hastily, he threw himself off balance, dodging the last shuriken but falling into someone behind him. This, he had expected. He didn't need to see who it was to know Itachi was standing right behind him. With that knowledge in hand, he quickly performed the seals necessary for the chidori.

"DIE, ITACHI!" Sasuke roared, using the momentum he had to throw himself toward his brother…

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Sasuke shot up in bed, his face dripping with sweat and a tingling feeling in his arm. A dream, it was only a dream he thought. He tilted his head back to look at the dark ceiling, and let a grin come to his face. He had killed Itachi, or almost did, anyway. Since the dream ended before he could see Itachi's body, he couldn't really be sure that he killed him, or if it was a clone. Sasuke shook his head; he had to admit that it had been a bad move, being fully committed and all. Slowly he fell back into his bed, still staring at the ceiling. He replayed the dream over again and grinned once more. He even let out a small laugh, bad move or no. He had killed him. The bastard didn't even…He stopped, a small realization dawning on him. "He didn't even step out of the way…" Sasuke trailed off at the end.

Wait. What did that mean? The grin on his face was slowly replaced by a contemplative look. What did it mean? As a ninja, he wasn't supposed to take things like this so lightly, like a civilian. For all he knew, the dream could've be some kind of omen. He went over again, and again, and then once more. The dream did mean something, although whether or not it was a good thing, Sasuke didn't know. There was one thing he knew, however: It was time to leave the snake-sannin.

He turned to look toward his clock. Three in the morning; perfect.

Sasuke jumped out of bed, put on his clothes (normal clothes, he wouldn't need the Sound outfit), and quickly began gathering his belongings. It wasn't much; an extra set of clothes, a bit of food, his shuriken/kunai holder, and, of course, his newly acquired katana. He paused for a moment, before tying it on his belt, to admire its beauty. To think that such a work of art would soon be ruined by Itachi's blood saddened him a little. But it had to be done. Everything leading up to, and after, this moment had been done for the one purpose.

Arrgh…I've wasted too much time. I need to leave, now! Quietly he opened his door, taking care to close it softly rather than stealthily. Acting in a stealthy manner would only alert the guards, who would assume there was someone sneaking around. He would not let a bunch of Orochimaru's stupid guards stop him from attaining his revenge, not at the moment when fate, chance, and (possibly) the gods smiled down upon him.

Quietly he roamed the many halls of Orochimaru's underground "fortress", as it were, dodging patrolling guards, either by completely avoiding them, or performing simple genjutsus to disrupt their already tired minds, until he finally came upon an exit.

"Going somewhere, Sasuke-kun?" A familiar voice called from behind.

Sasuke stopped. "Kabuto," he snarled through bared teeth. He turned to face the ex leaf-nin. Smirking he asked, "How did you know?"

"I didn't; you just told me," Kabuto responded, giving off a smirk of his own.

…Damn it. He wouldn't show his frustration, though –because that would be irresponsible of me, wouldn't it? "I'm leaving –"

"I can see that…"

Ignoring the interruption, Sasuke continued: "I'm done with your master. He's taught me all I need to know, anyway. There's no point in staying anymore," Sasuke stated firmly, standing his ground. Sure, Kabuto was good, but Sasuke was better. Slowly, he placed a hand on the hilt of his katana, Kabuto's eyes following his movements. Slowly, Kabuto opened his mouth, and uttered the one word that he hadn't expected.

"Fine." What? "Go. After all, it was part of the agreement; Orochimaru-sama gives you the means to kill Itachi, and Orochimaru-sama gets your body."

Sasuke glared at him. Yes, he knew the agreement. Although, whether or not Sasuke would follow up on it, he hadn't decided yet.

"Whatever," Sasuke muttered before turning towards the exit, leaving the Kabuto and his sick sensei behind.

AN-If you don't understand what I meant by "fully committed" and why that's bad, it just means that his attack will be all or nothing. Essentially, he's gambling that the Itachi behind him is the real one and won't block his attack. In the event that any one of the two conditions aren't satisfied (i.e., it's a shadow clone, or Itachi blocks the attack, or both) then it leaves Sasuke open to a serious counter attack. So why would he do it anyway? Because he's fucking PISSED! As you all know this is something he's wanted since the massacre. So he wasn't thinking straight when he did this.

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How is it? Weird? Cool? Stupid? Odd? Please let me know. I'd appreciate the reviews.