Pitch-Black Embers

Description: What if Sasuke thought Naruto had died protecting him while battling Haku and had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan in doing so? In which Sasuke is a regular prayer of the Amaterasu shrine. Warning: Japanese mythology plays a part.

Black (adj.) /BLAK/

of the complete absence of colour owing to the absence of or complete absorption of light

antonym: WHITE, ivory, clear, bright, pallid.

It was a long day for Uchiha Sasuke. The obnoxious, orange-clad usuratunkachi had proven himself as the single most idiotic ninja to ever roam the shinobi lands again. He lay in front of Sasuke, eyes as soulless and lifeless as his parents' eyes had been during the massacre.

Naruto Uzumaki, aged 12, dies in a cloud of fog bombarded with "what if"s and "could've been"s.

"S-Sasuke-teme... You better win this one." Naruto spoke to him. And so he grinned. Grinned like the idiot he was. He was dead. Dead as the corpses of Sasuke's parents buried seven feet under.

The two tomoe in Sasuke's eyes disappeared in a swirl of onyx black into the pattern of a six-pointed star and he prayed and prayed to the goddess Amaterasu that he wouldn't lose anyone ever again. Rage and hate sizzled in his glare.

And—... And Sasuke saw. Saw for the first true time—saw, saw like he's never seen. Saw a nuance between white and blue, saw the drip and drop of red crimson red blood. Everything was so clear. So painstakingly clear like Sasuke just cleaned the lens of his vision. His vermillion eyes darted from the corpse of Naruto to the object of his hatred.

He smirks, smirks like his mother had smiled.

"Take this." He whispered. And he flew. Flew into the unsuspecting figure of Haku. Haku was slammed into the ground, clearly not used to such a drastic change. Punch. Punch and punch and punch after punch.

"Shinobi are mere tools, Sasuke-san. Do not grieve of your friend." Haku said with a level of calm impossible to achieve when he was being punched repeatedly by a hate-crazed Uchiha with the Mangekyō Sharingan. "I am merely Zabuza-sama's tool, and you, Konoha's."

"What do you know?" Sasuke glared, expecting an answer. "I'm only staying at the wretched place because I want revenge." A cruel sneer quickly and silently made its way to the pale face of Sasuke Uchiha. "Not like you're going to live after this."

"You're right, Sasuke-san. I'm not. Just not at your hands." Haku turned his head to the glowing lightning blade of Raikiri. "Sorry, it may seem that I have other matters to attend to." The ice prison melted into pools of clear liquid and Haku ran, ran like a coward but heroically slammed himself as a blade of lightning was thrust into his heart. He smiled, to the last second. It was all too familiar.

Sasuke let out a scream of anguish that his opponent was able to escape, glaring at Haku's blatant display of self-sacrifice. Twin Mangekyo melting into his original pools of obsidian black, Sasuke collapses, tired.

He wakes up to the sound of a feminine voice sobbing, weight on his abdomen. He groggily opens his eyes. Everyone had survived, Naruto-idiot was grinning at him and Sakura, crying over him. Kakashi was reading his orange book (which seemed to have been suspiciously unharmed). Figures of hostility were dead, a heap of mercenaries collapsed on the bridge.

"What happened?" was the only logical response Sasuke could think of at the moment. Sakura widened her eyes and smiled. Kakashi looked down at him, if only for a brief second.

"Haku blocked Kakashi-sensei's attack and Zabuza was taken care of too, dattebayo! But then a wave of bad guys came and Zabuza was all like 'I'm killing them!' and then, and then he took care of them and now we're going back, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled in one breath, overly excited at their victory.

"So, you didn't die?" Sasuke questioned.

"Nah! The great Naruto Uzumaki can't be defeated all that easily, and besides—..." The idiot replied back to him, cut off by none other than Kakashi.

"Sasuke. Come here, I have to talk to you about something," he told Sasuke in an urgent tone. Kakashi eyed Sasuke, bored with one onyx eye staring.

Hesitant and skeptical, Sasuke walked towards him and looked up. "What?" Sasuke asked, annoyed.

"I sensed a strike in your chakra. Have you activated the sharingan?"

"Sharingan? That's so cool! Sasuke-kun, you—..." Sakura began, flailing her arms excitedly.

"Sakura." Kakashi gave her a look that told her to close her mouth. "As I was saying, Sasuke, have you activated your sharingan? If you have, do it now."

Kakashi had originally wanted to check the number of tomoe in Sasuke's eyes to better train him. And when the pools of black disappeared into a nuance of crimson and ebony, he found no tomoe. Staring back at him was the Mangekyō at in its purest form.

Mangekyō, huh? Must've been Naruto almost dying and Sasuke's failure. Kakashi thought to himself, wondering what he should say. I must inform the Hokage of this recent development.

"So? What now?" Sasuke asked, annoyed at his lack of response.

"Sasuke, are you aware that you have achieved the Mangekyō?" Kakashi responded, lone eye stoic as if that was a casual, everyday thing.

"Hn." Sasuke responded. Despite the cool exterior, Sasuke had never felt so scared for his future—he wasn't a fool, and he knew, due to attending clan meetings at such a young age, of the dirty politics Konoha runs on. He knew he was going to be dealt with, used as a tool.

Meanwhile, in the hideout of Akatsuki, two masked figures were having similar thoughts. "Itachi-san, I am sure that you have come in hopes of an explanation regarding your brother's... Sharingan. Am I right?" Both Uchiha had felt the presence of another Mangekyō entering the world. The only other Uchiha without the Mangekyō was Itachi's beloved little brother.

"Sasuke will go blind soon." Itachi stated blankly. Three to six years, depending on level of overuse—perhaps even less. "The village elders will use him."

"I am aware." Tobi replied, a tinge of amusement in his tone. "What are you going to do about it? I particularly find him useful for a plan."

"Don't you dare even think of harming Sasuke," he glared, two Mangekyō glowing in the dark room, intricate pattern spinning in rage.

"Itachi, just what are you planning?" Tobi chuckled, ruffling ebony strands of his spiky hair.

"He prays to Amaterasu regularly, if I am not wrong."

"What are you getting at?"

"The gods are in favour of him. He will not be blind so soon, besides, I am long overdue from a visit to Konoha." Itachi tells to the secret leader of Akatsuki, blank facade unwavering.

"Itachi, what are you talking about?—... Oh, my. Are you sure this would be alright with him?"

"Since when have you cared?"

And with that, both Uchiha disappeared—Itachi in a gust of crows and Tobi, a spiral.

A/N:

This is for more skeptical and inquisitive readers wondering about his abilities when using the Mangekyō:

So, the Mangekyō is awakened by the extreme pain of killing one's loved one or the inability to protect them, like Obito has done. As you know, each Mangekyō is equipped with their special set of techniques (Itachi's Tsukyomi and Amaterasu, Kakashi's Kamui, etc.) That's why Sasuke doesn't have Amaterasu, Kamui, Kotoamatsukami, Susanoo or some other ridiculously powerful Mangekyō jutsu when he first activates it.

"...the Mangekyō grants powerful abilities that differ from user to user, though abilities may be similar in nature; both Sasuke and Itachi have access to Amaterasu's flames, though the extent to which they can use them differ..." according to the Narutopedia Wikia ( .com).

In the original series, Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, favours Itachi over Sasuke (that's what I think), but in this series, Amaterasu favours Sasuke over Itachi, giving him more access to the black flames of Amaterasu. It is not proven that in the series, this is the case—however, this is fanfiction and it is what I will base my speculation on.

Any questions? Just ask them in the review section!