Naruto : Bloodlines
Part One
Cold as Ice
Chapter One
The Cracking Vessel

Sasuke Uchiha; a boy very unlike many others his own age. He did have the standard shinobi training one would expect for a teenager from one of the secret ninja villages and from such a powerful and prestigious clan as Uchiha. Raven dark hair; straight, cutting face; predisposed to either a sneer or a smirk; and a trim, lithe frame gave him the classic 'beat them off with a stick' advantage when it came too the fairer or, to Sasuke, more annoying sex. And it was once to be said he had the truest and closest comrades of all the ninja villages. But in the village of sound he was an oddity, and treated like a strange mix of royalty and leper. The duties of Lord Orochimaru's vessel had destroyed many a lesser ninja and were taking there toll on the last generation of the Uchiha clan. He told himself the only thing that kept Sasuke going was his dream. Not a vision of the future but a dream, of the past , and a hope to rectify it. The lust for power was strong in him and he did all he did for this lust to gain what would achieve his dream.
He was playing the part and playing it well and he loved it. Even didn't mind the occasional looks or the whisperings of the civilians of the village. Who were they to question the whims of his master. Or the whims of the Vessel for that matter. They were ants, too weak not to be ruled by stronger men. Men like his beautiful and terrible master. He both admired and loathed, both loved and feared the snake sannin that he would one day allow to take his body , and that was already slowly taking his soul. These thoughts rolled over and over in his mind as he cried himself to sleep every night. He had mastered silent tears and even stopped being mortified and embarrassed, which he was at first; even in the privacy of his own apartment. He was not normally the type to cry. Despite being considered by his former friends to be a very moody character, he was always in control of his emotions rarely losing his temper or showing grief, and even his most humorous outbursts were usually kept to an amused snort.
The truth: something was eating at his soul, crushing his spirit. Some unseen weight, some unpredictable agony. Nobody saw his pain. Not even Sasuke. Or so he thought.
His purest relief from his secret misery, a misery so secret he even kept it from himself, outside the semiconscious hours just before and after sleep; the hours haunted by knuckleheads and pink-haired kunoichi; his only relief, was the times when he threw off the shackles of his duties as the vessel and was just a boy. something he was just now becoming adept at, thanks to 'her'.
He had once been worried that he might be gay, but the only guy he ever showed more than passing interest in was the knucklehead himself, Naruto. There relationship was that of rivals, and Sasuke was never tempted to think of him as anything more than an obstacle to overcome. And yet hie never reciprocated feelings for Sakura, either. It was true that back then he had cared for the wench, but that Sasuke was dead now. He was just not that interested in romance. So how did the normally quiet, reserved, and elitist that thought girls of Konoha were simply annoying, become your average lecherous teenage boy in his last few months in the sound village? It took an epiphany dressed in fishnet and leather, with flowing brunette locks and sultry lips to show him how to get people to treat him, not as a body, but as a person, a boy, again. It wasn't hard. She had only to walk by him one day in the training courtyard reserved for high ranking Jonin and personal guards of Lord Orochimaru.
He noticed her scent first. It hit him like a physical blow. He had never thought much for or against the smell of a female before, or the looks for that matter. His eyes tensed into an analytical expression as his thoughts were thrown into chaos. Her body matched what her smell could do, and was doing it as it took the vessel several seconds to regain his composure. She had the smooth aristocratic features common to ruling families, but wore herself unpretentiously. The fishnet was allowing her upper body to be seductive but not immodest as her halter top underneath it left almost no cleavage. And the rest of her clothes were just right for maximum combat efficiency, which had the added bonus of being just right for maximum 'boy droolage' efficiency.
She was a visitor from a neighboring village that wasn't really a ninja village but payed homage to Orochimaru and sent there brightest to the sound village ninja academy for training. As the daughter of the leader of that village ,she afforded much courtesy from the lord's retainers.
Almost as much as her impressive skill afforded her. She was to audition for a place on the new Sound Ninja Five, the elite squad to be reformed with Sasuke at its head. This skill was noticed by her potential squad leader immediately. The smell was captivating enough, but her beauty was enchanting, and attention seeking fan girl like Ino or Sakura, she was not.
"Your arm will be removed by me or you, your choice." Said arm had moved seemingly of its own volition and was now holding the girl fast , and what would have been to a lesser person, painfully. Her cold look had little affect on Sasuke's iron exterior.
"I'd like to see you try." he responded without thought but quickly dropped his hand to his side as he saw something in her eyes. Something dangerous, intimidating and a little exhilarating; and oddly a little familiar. Her look was disdainful and lacked the obsequious respect every one fawned onto him or the contempt that some, like Kabuto, let sneak into their expressions. 'She doesn't even know who I am'.
"Who are you?" he tried to switch from combative to simply curious but the effect had only mixed results.
"I don't remember being told I had to answer to you, so unless your the Uchiha boy I was sent here to meet than good luck getting me to tell you the time, let alone my name." at his look of indignation and surprise she continued "And if you are such a spineless worm as one would have to be to agree to let another man have his body then, my name is Suki and that's probably the last time you'll hear it because you won't last a full hour in a squad with me."

His only response was the same cold laugh he mastered on the day he finally left Konohakagure. The day he had almost mastered the Mangekyo sharingan; the laugh of a true madman. It sent a chill up Suki's spine.

"Worm, you say, well that is an insult coming from a strapping shinobi master such as yourself," His sarcasm was subtle but did not go undetected as he cut her chance to interrupt, "Still there is something in your eyes. A fire I haven't seen in close to two years. If yo share any other traits with that person then you might as well go home and marry yourself off now, but just that look is worth a second chance. You will spar with me and I will see if you have a chance on my Sound Ninja five."