DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does. (Decided to post this one after all, since I already posted it on my blog awhile ago. You can also find it on lunaescence under XMiharuxKyousukeX and Freedom of Speech under xXfadingstarXx
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No time for goodbyes, no time for tears –fight until the end. Fight until you breathe your last breath. War is deception, yet war is candour. "Anger is the enemy of non-violence, and pride is a monster that swallows it up." [1] A warrior must appreciate life at its fullest as to prepare himself to stare death in the face without fear. Death is inevitable, and power is everything. One of the most natural instincts for man is to gain strength. Strength is power, and power is pride. The moment a man senses that his power is in jeopardy of being overcome by one stronger than he, he strikes. He attacks to defend and protect his pride. Thus is the basis of war.
Blood stains covered the walls, outlining where bodies once stood –it was the artistic work of a cold-blooded killer. A young man lay helpless on the ground and reached a shaky hand out to his wife and unborn child, only to watch the two of them be slaughtered like the rest of the clan. His heart shattered in agony. Unable to bear the pain of witnessing the tragedy before him, he breathed his last breath and fell into a permanent slumber. A tall, dark figure wiped the blood of the woman and countless before her off his cheek and turned back toward the man to stomp on his limp, outstretched hand.
There was no one.
Not a single soul was left. The entire Uchiha clan had been massacred, save a small ten year old boy –the youngest son of the clan head, Uchiha Fugaku. His eyes teared up at the sight of his dead mother and father. Fierce emotions tangled themselves in the young boy's heart. The intensity of his emotions ripped him apart, and he cried in agony for his dead family.
Uchiha Itachi hid from his younger brother in the shadows of a nearby building. While watching Sasuke mourn for their parents, the numbness began to take over. He –the future of the Uchiha clan, the pride and joy of his father– had committed the most unthinkable of acts. It was an act of betrayal, yet he had been so obedient. The Konoha elders would surely be satisfied now that their biggest threat had been taken care of. What they would never realize is that the young Uchiha secretly disobeyed their orders by refusing to take the life of his precious little brother.
Itachi turned and ran from the mess he created. While he hid himself in the shadows of the night, the same thought plagued his mind over and over: "It's for the best that Sasuke thinks I'm dead." He picked up the pace of his feet, effectively causing him to plow over an unsuspecting person. He furrowed his eyebrows as he picked himself up from the ground and brushed himself off.
"W-what are you...?" he stuttered.
"Making sure you're doing your job," a young girl said gravely. "The elders sent me here to clean up your mistakes, if any." Her ebony, straight-cut bangs hid her large, blue eyes, and her shoulder length hair framed her small, childish face. The ruthlessness of her personality was evident from the cold tone of her voice.
"I can assure you, the job has been taken care of," Itachi said with false assertiveness.
"I'll be the judge of that." With that, the girl stepped into the light toward the center of the Uchiha estate. The silver pendant around her neck gleamed in the moonlight, catching the young Uchiha's eye. Itachi watched her as she walked away feeling a slight sense of awe.
The short girl weaved in and out of the piles of bodies as she scanned her eyes over the premises for any signs of survivors. Just as she was about to decide that Itachi had indeed done his job properly, she heard a soft sob coming from around the corner. A young, dark-haired boy about her age kneeled over the bodies of two adults. The hurt look in his eyes showed a swirl of emotions –betrayal, anger, sadness. She drew a knife and held it behind her back as she inched nearer to the boy, but he looked up and noticed her before she had the chance to assassinate him along with the rest of his family.
She felt like she had seen those eyes before –those dark, tearful eyes. She could hear his thoughts clearly: "What is going on? Who did this? Mother, father? This can't be true! Itachi? Brother, where are you? Who is this girl?"
Then he saw the knife held behind her back.
"It was you! You killed them! How could you do this?" he screamed. "How dare you! You'll pay for this, you treacherous witch! It's all because of you! This is all your fault!" He darted for her, fist clenched into a ball. Just before his fist could make contact with her apathetic face, she caught it and twisted his arm behind his back. She would have broken it if it were not for the sense of familiarity she felt toward the boy, almost like she identified with him. She glared at Sasuke and watched him kick and scream bloody murder for her to let go of him.
Her patience grew thin. "Shut up," she demanded. "Shut up or you'll end up just like them. Do you want to live?" He nodded fearfully. "Then follow me."
The boy hesitated, but before he agreed he began to feel dizzy. He became overwhelmed by everything and collapsed. The girl sighed but then picked his small body up and put him over her back.
She knew she shouldn't. She knew it was wrong. She knew what could happen, but she could not bring herself to kill this boy. There was something about him that set him apart from the rest. Leave no survivors: she lived by that motto, but not this time. For the first time in her life she broke the promise she made to her beloved master long ago.
But after all, what good is a promise when promises are made to be broken?
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I don't normally write for Naruto. This is my first time writing one. I was on the phone with xXPurple-CloudsXx about how I want to try new things with my writing, like writing a Naruto story. You can thank xXPurple-CloudsXx for getting me to push my boundaries. I was originally planning this story with evil intentions (like putting characters through torture), but have since been convinced otherwise to mess with characters psychologically while still letting them keep their sanity.
Lucky for me, the story is mostly AU. So, if some things seem off to you, that's why. Itachi is probably OOC. :/ Hopefully it's not too off in respect to character personalities, but I'm having a difficult time transitioning from mostly Bleach fics to Naruto.
xXPurple-CloudsXx gets half the credit for this story. She is my beta and Naruto reference for this one.
For those of you who have read my work before, when I say I'm trying new things, I REALLY mean it. I'm really trying to push my boundaries on this one. Really far. If you read things you're not expecting to come from me, I apologize. I will warn you all right now, there is... a smut chapter... Not a lot, but more than enough to make me uncomfortable/my face blood red. #Innocence.
My virgin eyes.
Lol.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy it.
xoxoxo,
~SM
[1] Quote is by Mohandas Gandhi