Disclaimer: Don't own.
When he is very little, Uchiha Sasuke remembers being surrounded by paper fans painted orange with the brilliant fire of his Nii-sans Katon ninjutsu, and asking why. Itachi had paused in his training, and smiled, it was a little thing, but it was there, it was real. "Because Uchihas burn little brother, they are always burning."
So Uchiha Sasuke sleeps, and dreams of conflagrations and blazes that burn faster than the wind. Then there is Nii-san.
He loves watching Itachi, staring deep into the face of perfection as it buried kunai after shuriken perfectly into every target. Sometimes Sasuke would pretend he had the Sharingan, so he could be as good as that one day, to be just like his brother. Sasuke knows that he doesn't though, and that if father finds him he won't have an excuse for leaving his own weapons in the dirt, for leaving only admiration and sideways glances in his eyes.
It burns. It burns hotter than when Itachi uses his Goukakyuu on the straw dummy a little too close to Sasuke's hiding place (even if Sasuke's skin begins to itch, and his sweat doesn't travel the length of his arm before evaporating, because its Itachi's Katon, it's his heat, and if Sasuke absorbs it, then maybe, he can burn like Itachi.) . It sears, like a million glowing hot Senbon burying themselves in his skin, because Sasuke is not Itachi, and everyone knows he never will be. Its in their eyes, it's in the acrid smoky smell they give off when they move, or talk, or stare. Because smoke always accompanies fire, and Aniki was right, Sasuke is burning too.
So Uchiha Sasuke sleeps, and dreams of conflagrations and blazes that burn faster than the wind. Then there is Tou-san, teaching him his first Katon.
"Form the hand seals I taught you before, gather the chakra in your chest and expel it" Tou-sans fire is bright, it's not as hot as Aniki's but fathers Goukakyuu is blinding in its brilliance. Sasuke wants to shine too, he wants to burn, wants to exist. He forms the seals and listens to the crackling fire, angry he thinks…furious. Because it's trapped, it's being smothered, it's hissing in fury. Sasuke knows it wants to escape, to be free. The fire wants to be bright like father and guide others with its promise. It wants to be hot like Itachi and cause them to step back in awe and fear. Sasuke focuses all of his chakra, and expels the fire, its words are searing as its whispers dissipate into nothingness so quickly, so small, so insignificant. The flames envelop and mimic him, growling low in disappointment, failure, fear. The stench is thick and nauseating, like the inside of his throat, like burnt flesh and screams of wraiths that can no longer hear, can no longer see, can only lament. Whisper of dying embers, and sinking smoke. Then it is gone, and Sasuke tries again, until his fingers blister and tear and his throat burns. Until he can let it out, can drive the fires whispers from his mind. He is no salamander; he has no protection against its words, except….
So Uchiha Sasuke sleeps, and dreams of conflagrations and blazes that burn faster than the wind. Then there is Kaa-san, cooking with only paper lanterns and little eyes for company, she is humming an old lullaby he half-remembers.
"Kaa-san let me help!" She smiles at him then, softly. "Go fetch the tamari sauce, Sasuke" Finding the required ingredient, Sasuke rushes back to his Mother eagerly, holding out the bottle like a great prize. Sasuke is going a little too fast though, and in his haste to pass his great prize on, like passing a torch of knowledge lit with that simple, spontaneous, childlike joy of his; Sasuke knocks his elbow into the wok his mother is cooking Stir fry in, sending a grasshoppers tsunami of oil onto his unprotected skin.
"Itai!!" Sasukes arm burns, like stupidity and the day after. Kaa-san is there though, and after the aloe and bandages are applied there is only a dull throbbing. Sasuke apologizes the whole time, because dinner is probably burnt now, and bandages are hard to hide. Kaa-san just smiles and says not to worry about it, to be more careful next time. Sasuke knows what she means though, because surely no Uchiha has ever been burned in such a pathetic way, only on the battlefield and never in the kitchen. So he runs, tears sliding down his face at what Tou-san and Aniki will think, at his own weakness, until the house is far behind him.
The flames leap up now, until their screams drown out the world around him. He hates this-hates being so weak. So afraid, so pathetic. Sasuke can't be sure why he's so afraid of the fire, why its words sting and scorch him so deeply. After all, wasn't he the best with his Katons and flame manipulation? Wasn't it just yesterday that Orochimaru tau--
Uchiha Sasuke wakes up.
There is fire everywhere, all around him; he can see nothing but flames. He can still recognize this place though, because really, how could he ever forget? Konohas Anbu should be here soon he thinks. Maybe they would come too…Sasuke is having a harder time staying conscious now. He can hear the fires words again, and it is silent, perfect. The ring slips from his fingers, the light reflects off its kanji, "Scarlet."
Kakashi had asked him what came after his revenge once, had said that there would be only emptiness and pain left. Kakashi didn't understand though, because after he got his revenge, Sasuke would have nothing left. He had lived for it, had sacrificed everything again and again for one shot at killing his brother. He knows he doesn't have much time left; the wounds he received from their fight are too great for even someone like the Godaime to heal.
He doesn't remember coming to Konoha either, only…embers, smoke, and a dying fire. Then there was light shining brilliantly in the night sky, and the Uchiha district is burning to the ground, because Sasuke is the last of the Uchiha, and he wants to give them a fitting burial. As the cursed seal retreats into him, and the last vestiges of his strength fade, the fires silence welcomes him to hell. Because Uchihas burn, they are always burning, always cursed. Sasuke is burning now too, and as familiar shades of pink and orange come into view he smiles to the straining echo of his name, and falls.