Sasuke strolled through the sprawling corridors of one of Orochimaru's secret hideouts; the one that a few moments ago had also been the place he died in. Sasuke had known when he left Konoha for the Sound village that this day would come as the years had passed he had secretly nurtured the thought inside of him that he could in fact kill one of the legendary Sannin. He felt a grim satisfaction that he was now one step closer to killing his brother, every so often he wondered whether killing his brother really would give him the peace he longed for. He hoped that once this was over he would be able to close his eyes without seeing the lifeless bodies of his clan. He knew there was a possibility that the Uchiha name could end but he knew that he could never live his life knowing he was out there. A small part of him mourned the brother he once knew, a part he very rarely allowed himself to feel knowing that he indulged himself he would never be able to avenge his family.
He knew that by coming to Orochimaru the people in Konoha who he once, and at times still, regarded as his friends would likely view him as the enemy. Regardless he believed it was necessary even though Naruto had some strange way of beating the odds time and time again after finding out how strong Itachi and the rest of Akatsuki were he knew he could never allow his team mates to join him on his journey. It would be too dangerous for him and them, he'd known this ever since they had fought Zabuza and Haku when he hadn't given protecting Naruto even if it meant his own life a second thought. He couldn't risk that happening again before he could finish what he had vowed to do.
As he walked through the twist and turns of the corridors toward Suigetsu he was confident in his choice to leave his friends behind, he knew without a doubt that two of the three he had picked to fight for him would come without much persuasion. Karin's reason was embarrassingly obvious and only served to annoy him as it served as a reminder of his pink haired team mate although thankfully Sakura had been less obvious with her emotions than Karin. In a way he envied the two girls, they could allow themselves to feel such emotions without fearing that it would make them weak Sasuke had no such luxury. He could not allow himself to think of Karin as anything more than a tool to be used for his purpose and not a person to have feelings for. Yet another reason he had left Konoha he didn't know how or when during his rivalry with Naruto he had started to view him as anything other than a nuisance but he had eventually viewed him as his best friend.
Another tool that he was planning to use was Suigetsu, an experiment of Orochimaru's. His participation was expected by Sasuke because going along with Sasuke would help Suigetsu fulfil his own goals. This was the type of person Sasuke like to work with, someone uncomplicated who he would not get attached to and vice versa. Sasuke's only concern with Suigetsu was his bloodlust, he would not go out of his way to kill but he had no qualms with killing someone for even the smallest insult. Sasuke himself had absolutely no desire to kill anyone save for his brother unless it was completely unavoidable. Something that had been commented on several times over the years he had spent under Orochimaru's leadership but if he was weak enough to care what others thought he definitely would not have considered himself strong enough to face Itachi again, especially after the last time.
Pushing aside the memory of that humiliating defeat he instead thought about Juugo, his most unpredictable candidate. He had heard rumours over the years and had taken them into careful consideration, the rumour he had taken to heart most concerned his predecessor Kimimaru. Thanks to this titbit of information Sasuke was confident Juugo would join, his control of the curse mark and his sharingan he knew he would be able to control Juugo. The ability to control Juugo when he was psychotic would greatly improve his chances of Juugo agreeing to come with him. It wasn't just Juugo's immense power that made him the perfect candidate in Sasuke's eyes but that if he were to die Sasuke would not have to worry about what to do with him after, he was too dangerous to just allow him to leave or attempt to take back to Konoha with him.
At this moment in time as Sasuke walked into the room holding the tank of water Suigetsu resided in Sasuke felt almost content in the knowledge that soon his family would be avenged and he could at least try to live his life in Konoha without the constant nightmares. He was of course confident that Konoha would welcome him back even though he had technically betrayed them; it was all a part of his plan after all.