This is the slightly edited and rewritten first chapter of Shinigami. I re-read it and found some parts which I seriously wondered what I was on when I left it as it was. So here is the slightly rewritten chapter. The only parts changed are Sasuke's pity party and his little sentencing thingy.

SUMMARY: Shunned after his return from Orochimaru, Sasuke loses all will to continue living and forces Itachi to kill him as Sasuke's own twisted idea of revenge. Years later, after a catastrophic battle with Orochimaru, a jutsu is activated that destroys the boundaries between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Sasuke returns once again. But this time, as a shinigami.

Date: REVISED VERSION: Jan.3,2007

Story: Shinigami

Chapter: Prologue 1

DISCLAIMER: Hellz yeah I wished I owned Naruto...unfortunately for me, I don't. This is only for my writing pleasure and enjoyment of others for those who care to read it.

The looks on their faces were unreadable. Impassive eyes stared down upon him and Sasuke wondered briefly if that was how he had looked at people for most of the time that he had lived in Konoha.

"Uchiha Sasuke…" The Godaime glanced briefly about the room before returning her stern gaze upon him. Her office was more then a little crowded; the most important people of Sasuke's childhood present. Sakura stood in her proper place behind Tsunade, eyes riveted on the Uchiha, a turmoil of emotions swirling beneath a relatively calm exterior. Kakashi eyed his one time student, his ever present orange book stowed away in his back pocket for once. The impassive eyes belonged to the loud one of the team. Naruto's expression was unreadable, his blue eyes blank for once, fixed upon the raven haired boy.

"Blank like a shinobi's should be. But not like Naruto's should." Tsunade thought, glance lingering on the boy before returning to Sasuke.

"Uchiha Sasuke." She repeated, leaning back in to her high back chair, her fingers steepled before her. "I really have no idea what to say." She saw the black haired prodigy's eyebrow raise a fraction in question.

"You've returned quite suddenly. You wouldn't mind explaining why now would you? Since it is rather unexpected though, not unwelcome." The Godaime smiled wryly at the Uchiha, waiting on his answer. Sasuke's lip twitched to the right, just barely.

"I have my reasons." He stated voice bland and emotionless. Beside Tsunade, Sakura shifted slightly, betraying her anxiety. Naruto had crossed his arms and was resting against the wall, his eyes closed, and poise reminiscent of a certain Uchiha. Kakashi hadn't moved an inch.

"Would you care to give a reason why?" Tsunade queried anew. "I'm sure if you have a reasonable explanation, the Council will lighten the punishment they hand out to you."

Sasuke blinked once. "As I said, I have my reasons." The Uchiha broke eye contact with the Hokage, eyes falling to somewhere to the front of her office desk.

"Why do you ask anyways? You wanted me back and now I'm here." His gaze returned to Tsunade, but it seemed as if he weren't really looking at her but at someone else entirely. Tsunade frowned briefly.

"You know an answer like that won't please the Council very much." Sasuke's lip twitched to the right again.

"That doesn't matter to me. Not any more." His voice trailed off to a whisper at the end. The Uchiha's obsidian eyes finally focused on her, a dull look in his eyes. Tsunade sighed, closing her hazel eyes.

"Fine, so be it. The Council will speak with you tomorrow." The Godaime opened her eyes again. "Hopefully you will have a reasonable response for them by then." She waved her hand vaguely in to the air. "Take him away." Instantly, four masked ANBU appeared, clouds of smoke trailing their arrival. They immediately surrounded the sixteen year old, cuffing him with a pair of charka suppressing hand cuffs specially designed for S-class criminal nins such as Sasuke.

As soon as the four ANBU and Sasuke left her office, Tsunade allowed herself to relax. She gazed about the room. Naruto had opened his eyes, the intensity of his gaze burning a hole in to the floor of her office. Without so much as a word, Naruto disappeared in a cloud of white smoke. Kakashi was more courteous, offering a bow before he too disappeared. All that was left then was Sakura, whose shoulders were shaking with repressed tears. Shizune stood quietly by the pink-haired kunoichi's side, trying her best to comfort the girl. Tsunade closed her eyes again.

"Sasuke…I don't know if you should have come back or not…"

Sasuke lay quietly in his cell situated somewhere underground, beneath the Hokage Tower. His obsidian eyes traced circles on the bare patch of concrete ceiling above him, hands propped behind his head as he lay on the tiny cot they had provided for him. Outside, four ANBU paced – the same ones that had escorted him from Tsunade's office. They were guarding him not only from escaping, but also from communication with the outside world. He wasn't trusted as of yet, seeing as he had just returned to Konoha not more then an hour ago after a four year absence.

Who in Konoha knew whether he was still in league with Orochimaru and had returned to the Village in order to help lay plans for Orochimaru's planned take over of the Village. A small, tired smile escaped Sasuke as he thought of that. "What an absurd idea…" Of course he couldn't blame the other Nins for thinking like that; after all, he was the only one in Konoha who knew he was no more in league with the snake bastard. He had left the lair of Sound on a sour note with the Sanin, having just successfully prevented Orochimaru from taking over his body yet again.

"Sasuke-kun, you won't allow me to take over your body…why?" The rage was barely concealed on Orochimaru's face. "You and I both know that you cannot defeat Itachi on your own." Sasuke flinched visibly at the name, his eyes bleeding red. The Sanin smirked, triumph showing too early on his pale face.

"You know that together with me, you have a much better chance of defeating him. Then you can fulfill your life goal. Come Sasuke, you know this. Is this not a logical course of action to take in order to fulfill your goals?" Orochimaru lifted a shaking white hand towards Sasuke, proof that the snake master was nearly at the end with his current body. Sasuke stared blandly at Orochimaru, disgust suddenly filling his being.

On days previous, Sasuke would have reacted quickly and efficiently to any mention of his cursed brother's name. Even Orochimaru was not above this treatment, having found himself on the end Sasuke's sword tip more then once. Now the only thing Sasuke could feel was disgust. Disgust at Orochimaru for trying to manipulate him, disgust at himself for being so easily manipulated all those years ago. Sasuke shifted slightly, sharingan eyes gazing at Orochimaru. Orochimaru gazed back, yellow eyes glittering with greed and not a little bit of desperation. Sasuke's lip twitched.

"I'm going." The raven-haired shinobi turned his back on Orochimaru. "You disgust me." Sasuke didn't bother to look back at the Sanin. "I'm done with you…" Then the Uchiha disappeared, Orochimaru's anguished scream echoing after him.

"As I told Hokage-sama yesterday, I have my reasons." The Council's eyes narrowed.

"You have no better reason then that?" The most senior member of the Council asked of him. At least Sasuke assumed so; he was the most wrinkled of all the members. The Uchiha's lip quirked in amusement at the thought.

"No, I do not." In a corner, the Godaime sighed heavily. He knew she was disappointed with his answer, after all, she had given him a days worth of time to come up with an acceptable answer for the Council. The Council members exchanged looks, some whispering in each others ears. Sasuke watched this all with impassive eyes. "I don't care. Not any more." The raven-haired boy just barely prevented himself from letting out a small sigh. "Why don't I care any more…?" The Council members looked up again from their whispering. The one Sasuke had initially assumed to be the leader of the Council spoke again.

"Godaime Hokage-sama." Tsunade stiffened imperceptibly. The look on her face told Sasuke she already knew what was coming. The Council member sighed as if deliberating Sasuke's punishment were the most trying trial of his life.

"The Council knows that you would like to be lenient with the Uchiha, given his past and present circumstances. And also his status as one of the last surviving Uchiha." Sasuke grimaced at the statement and Tsunade almost pulled a face. The Councilmen continued on without noticing.

"But if the Uchiha is not willing to stand up for himself, or present to us, a plausible reason for his sudden return to Konoha, then we will have to lay the maximum punishment upon his shoulders." The Council member gave Sasuke a penetrating look, almost daring the boy to defy his statement. Sasuke did nothing. Tsunade's hazel eyes slid close for a brief moment, a look of defeat on her proud features.

"The full sentence…" Tsunade gazed at the council. "What do you have in mind?" The Council member thinned his lips.

"We have yet to discuss that." The Godaime hesitated.

"Does Uchiha Sasuke have nothing more to say for himself?" Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, back stiffening. He held Tsunade's gaze for a moment. Just a moment. Then he looked away, the obvious pleading in Tsunade's eyes almost too much for him to bear. Almost reluctantly, the obsidian eyed shinobi responded.

"No…no I do not." Sasuke kept his gaze averted from Tsunade. When had he become so easily affected by others? When had he cared about what they thought? He missed the quiet nod that the Hokage gave the Council.

"Alright, the Council will begin to discuss the terms of Uchiha Sasuke's sentence. We will meet again tomorrow, at the same time." Sasuke looked up to meet the Councilmen's eyes.

"You are now dismissed." Sasuke glared back at the Councilmen, the look of utter contempt on the latter's features not missed by the Uchiha.

Back in his cell, Sasuke was once again tracing patterns over the bare concrete. This time, the obsidian eyed boy was thinking of something else. Something completely opposite of Orochimaru. Naruto. The blonde had not spoken one word to him since Sasuke had come back. Albeit, Sasuke had been back for less then 48 hours and none of the others had spoken to him yet except for Tsunade. But still, it was strange. The Naruto Sasuke had known would have had to been man-handled by ten ANBU to keep the blonde away from him as Naruto would try to beat the living crap out of Sasuke.

All that time, that Naruto would be screaming obscenities that would make even the most barbaric man blush. Sasuke would have taken it in to stride, smirked and told Naruto, "Dobe, I'm back." Then Naruto would have screamed more obscenities, would finally get the chance to take his frustrations out on Sasuke's face and then they would have been friends again. Although Sasuke was certain he would definitely have to serve some sort of punishment that would involve isolation and maybe some sort of hard labor. But it would have been alright.

Because Naruto would still be there, waiting for the time when Sasuke's punishment was over. If that were so, Sasuke would have definitely come up with something to say to the Council, minced his words, twisted a story around to save himself. He would have charmed the Council so much, that they would have definitely wanted him back. In fact, he would have charmed the Council so much, that he wouldn't even have been given a harsh punishment, just some measly little detainment sentence where he would be watched for a few months then left to his own devices.

And then Kakashi and Sakura would come to visit him and then he would spar everyday with Naruto and things would go back to the way they had been before he had left. And…and…and why was he even THINKING these things??!! This was wishful thinking. The types of thoughts that other people thought, but NOT Uchiha Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke was cool. He was calm and collected. He did not regret what he did. He regretted nothing, only lived for what the future would bring to him. Only lived for his single goal. But right now, Sasuke knew why he was thinking these thoughts.

Why he suddenly wanted things to go back to the way that they had been. Because he was regretting. Regretting what he had done years ago, his childish and immature decision that had broken apart something that he should have valued more then his revenge. His friendship with Naruto. He regretted the way the boy had been yesterday, regretted the reason for the way Naruto had been yesterday. Sasuke turned over on his small cot, suppressing a small sob.

If Naruto had just talked to him yesterday, Sasuke knew he would have said something, anything to defend himself and his actions to the Council. He just knew he would have done that. But as soon as he had left and Naruto had not said a word to him, as soon as he was left in his cell, alone, for the rest of the day and the next and there was still no sign of a visiting blonde, Sasuke had lost all hope of ever repairing anything that had existed between the blonde and himself.

Day turned to night turned to day and Sasuke found himself before the penetrating gazes of the Council yet again. The punishment was given swiftly and without hesitation.

"Uchiha Sasuke, for your crimes committed against the Village and citizens of Konoha, these following sentences have been decreed as punishments to pay for your crimes." The wrinkled Councilmen from yesterday, who had taken the role of leadership yet again, cleared his throat, eyes focused on the scroll before him as he adjusted his glasses.

"For the injury and near death of your once fellow shinobi, listed as follows: Akimichi Chouji, Hyuuga Neji, Inuzuka Kiba, Nara Shikamaru and Uzumaki Naruto, your chakra will be forcibly bonded within your body for an indefinite amount of time. The use of any and all shinobi techniques except for taijutsu and kunai and shiruken techniques as only a means of self-defense will be forbidden."

Sasuke nearly snorted out loud at this statement. It was rather redundant, as any ninja with half a brain would have already figured out that Sasuke wouldn't be able to use any techniques other then taijutsu and weapons techniques from the first statement.

"For the betrayal of the Village and citizens of Konoha and the endangerment of the safety of the Village and the citizens of Konoha, Uchiha Sasuke will be sentenced to confined isolation, stripped of his shinobi title and the honor of serving Konoha as an honored shinobi—"

Was it just him, or was this Councilmen repeating himself a lot?

"—this will occur for an indefinite amount of time or until Uchiha Sasuke demonstrates an unfailing loyalty to Konoha."

"Which will never happen if I can't be a shinobi."

"Uchiha Sasuke will be isolated from the rest of Konoha's civilian population and he will be placed under ANBU watch night and day again, for an indefinite amount of time and—"

"Wow, they don't want me to talk to anyone do they?"

"Uchiha Sasuke will be confined to the boundaries of the Uchiha compound and will only be allowed to leave the compound for necessary activities."

"Talk about isolation…"

"A minimal allowance will be given allotted to him to accommodate for daily living expenses. Uchiha Sasuke—"

"Stop referring to me in the third person, I'm still here you know."

"—will—"

And Sasuke drowned out the rest of the Councilmen's speech with his own vicious comments about the other Council members. Albeit, all inside his head.

And there is the end. Hope you liked it so far and thank you for reading. Please leave a review and any constructive criticism is welcome. Basically, tell my what you think. Thank-you for reading!! XD