The wheel of life spins. This wheel spins for eternity. It never stops or slows. But if there is a wheel of life; there must be a wheel of death. Like the wheel of life, this wheel never stops spinning, not even for a fraction for a second. They work in a cycle like way.

Humans have dubbed this the cycle of life.

Now onto our story.

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The sun illuminated the Uchiha compound brightly, showing off its grand magnificence. All over the compound were fans; the top half a ruby red while the bottom half a snowy white. The Uchiha's were a very proud clan that didn't let anything get into their way. And to the rest of the population Konoha, they were also stunning beautiful.

The prodigy of the clan, Uchiha Itachi, was currently staring up at the cloud filled sky from one of their many lush gardens, seemingly lost in thought. Upon his lips was a fierce scowl that made the thirteen year old look older than he really was. He contemplated on dozing off or training. The part of his mind that wanted him to go train would of won had the suns piercing rays not sprinkle him with warm light that felt so good. Slowly, Itachi let his coal eyes droop and he momentarily forgot what he'd have to do later that day.

'I'm sorry Tou-san, Kaa-san.' was his last thought before he fell into a light sleep, his senses never dimming.

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Sasuke glared at a child besides him who returned the glare with the same intensity. The boy had ruffled blond hair with a stunning pair of azure eyes. Strangely enough, he had three lines on both of his cheeks.

'Probably scars from training,' Sasuke thought.

His orange clothes were rumpled beyond belief from the shuriken training. Fumbling for a shuriken, the child threw it, aiming for a large, multicolored target on the tree stump in front of him. He missed. Completely. This did not damper the child's spirit as he went to pick up another with the same, concentrated stare. Sasuke smirked and stared at his own target where many silver shurikens were lodged, glinting in the sunlight.

'I'll show this kid who's the strongest here. Then Tou-san will be proud and I might be closer to surpassing Aniki!' Sasuke thought happily as he aimed another shuriken at the target. He let it go flying with a great burst of speed. It hit the target just shy of the middle. This brought a wide grin onto Sasuke's face. But the grin disappeared when he mused to himself.

'But why do I feel like something horrible is going to happen?'

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Itachi pulled the silky strands on cloth on his An bu uniform to adjust it to fit him comfortably. Checking the rest of his outfit and deciding that it was perfect, he effortlessly grasped a kunai, the metallic black glinting in the pale moonlight. Outside his room, he could hear his mother doing the dishes while humming a merry tune. His loose grip on the kunai tightened until his knuckles were white.

'I can't have them know about the Akatsuki. It will only hinder there plans. And mine.' Itachi assured himself. Walking out of his pitch-black room, Itachi entered the kitchen. Mikoto, hearing the heavy footsteps, spun around. When she saw it was Itachi, she smiled brightly.

"Do you have another mission, Itachi?"

Itachi didn't answer right away. He was too busy taking in his mother's image. From her perfect porcelain face to her navy blue clothes that held the Uchiha fan on the back. He sighed.

"Not right now, Kaa-san," Itachi answered.

His mother's brow knitted in confusion. "But then why are you wearing your uniform?"

Itachi didn't answer. Instead, he just walked towards his mother slowly, raising the kunai at the same speed.

"Itachi? What are you-" Itachi had disappeared and had reappeared behind her, the kunai firmly held up to her neck.

"Forgive me, Kaa-san."

"Itachi, why-"

And like many times before, Itachi slit his mother's throat. The red drops spilled onto the floor, staining it forevermore. Using his foot to turn over the corpse, Itachi stared into his mother's lifeless eyes as they were wide from shock and fear. Glancing over towards the hallway entrance, Itachi waited patiently (mutely) for his father's appearance. The cycle of death would repeat itself.

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"Collect your shuriken and put them away. Once that is done, you may leave," the instructor commanded. The children nodded and complied to his order. Sasuke glanced around for the orange clad kid but found that he had vanished.

'I wonder where he went. I never even got to know his name.'

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Sasuke started home. He couldn't help but be excited at the thought of telling his parents (corpses) about his day. But once again, that feeling of anxiety exploded forth. So much so, that Sasuke shot forth into a sprint. His surroundings became blurs. The colors mixing. Red with orange, blue with yellow, and so on and so forth until he couldn't identify which was which. The wind whipped in his face harshly. Soon he found himself at his home. But his body trembled at the sight before him.

'Baa-chan, OJii-chan, Oba-san. What happened? Who... Who did this?'

Said people were lying on the ground motionless, their blood splattered everywhere. Sasuke clutched at his head, pulling at his raven locks violently.

'It's just an illusion. Just an illusion,' he repeatedly told himself. His charcoal eyes widened in realization.

'Where's Kaa-san and Tou-san?!'

With that, Sasuke took off into another sprint, desperately searching for his beloved parents.

From the shadows, Itachi observed his (foolish) little brother. A smirk appeared on his face.

The cycle of life and death was beginning anew.

Author's Note:

Has it really happened? The second fanfic that Does Not include Sakura was created?!

-Ahem-

Anyway, I hope you like this one-shot of mine. If you have any questions at all, ask me in a review and I will reply ASAP!!!

Don't forget to review!

CherryBlossoms38