Teaser: Seven is an auspicious number. For most people, the age of seven marks a rite of passage; for Sasuke, it marks his first kill. He could still remember the taste of blood in the air, the sight of dripping substances splashed against the walls like a young child's finger painting gone wrong.
Warning: I am not sure how accurate any of this information is, but let's all pretend that it fits, okay? And the ending is obviously made up, because I have no idea how this will all turn out in the manga/anime. I am hilariously behind...
Notes: "And They All Fall Down" is a collection of shots, shorts, and bunnies. Most of them are a little bit on the dark side and some will have themes that are not suited for younger children. I will try to stick to canon, but there will be times when it borders on the edge of becoming AU. All in all, I just like fiddling around with these characters. Let's hope that it works.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. This applies for future chapters.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust."
In the ninja world, death and pain are commonplace. Sometimes, in more ways than a normal person can imagine.
And They All Fall Down
"It Only Takes One"
By Ikabi
The first time he had killed was when he was seven, two days after Konoha held a joint funeral to mourn the passing of one of its greatest clans. Well, technically, the majority of the clan – there were still two survivors, after all.
He had been sick of all the stares and whispers behind his back, so when his current caretakers relaxed their attention from him, Sasuke took the chance and bolted. He didn't really have a destination in mind so long as it was away from people and their fake concern, their simpering, their fake sympathy, their pandering – their fakeness in general.
It wasn't like he was a child anymore. No, children were supposed to embody a certain degree of innocence, and any semblance of that quality had been stripped from the last Uchiha when Itachi had slaughtered their family.
Sasuke could still remember the taste of blood in the air, the smell of copper overwhelming his senses – the sight of dark, dripping substances splashed against the walls like a young child's finger-painting gone wrong. He could still hear the sound of that man's voice as it taunted him, could still feel the fear that pounded through every part of his body as red eyes stared at him dispassionately. He could almost imagine the pain of being tortured for hours on end in the world of Tsukuyomi, the pain of metal piercing his flesh and the trickle of blood dripping down his body.
It wasn't until he opened his eyes (When had he closed them in the first place?) that he realized that that last sensation wasn't a part of his imagination. His hand was throbbing and Sasuke quickly unclenched his fist, trying very hard not to wince when his fingers came away sticky. Looking around for something other than his clothes to use as a napkin, he spotted a nearby bush with large leaves and decided to make due with what was present.
And then, something moved under the branches and Sasuke was immediately alert, his fingers automatically picking up a kunai and a number of shuriken from his side pouch. His brain was reeling furiously and he tried to access the unknown entity, quickly cataloguing any information that might be pertinent. When his heart rate slowed down to an acceptable level, he chanced a few steps closer, prepared for anything that might pop up.
What he hadn't expected was to find a small, scared animal hiding beneath the cover of leaves. Sasuke couldn't really make out what it was, but one of its legs was bent at an odd angle, and he knew that it had somehow gotten hurt. He reached out to pick it up, transferring his weapons to his other hand when the creature struck out in panic and bit him. Startled, the boy scrambled back out of the bushes, taking the animal with him. In the clear light of the afternoon, he saw that the creature now attached to his arm was none other than a weasel. A weasel, just like Itachi's namesake…
Sasuke saw red.
Suddenly, it wasn't just any old harmless creature that had attacked him; it had been Itachi who had caused him pain – had taken away his family and any semblance of a normal life.
"Hate me."
The young boy growled, emotions building up in the pit of his stomach, a fire raging rampant deep within his heart.
"Despise me."
Sasuke charged at the figure of Itachi, making good use of the kunai in his hand as it slashed across his older brother's neck. Itachi's image wavered, slowly disappearing with the anger-induced haze.
"Maybe tomorrow. I'm busy today."
"Wait!" he shouted as his hand reached up to fiercely grab at the missing-nin's collar, unwilling to let go. Because letting go meant that he was giving up on his mission of revenge. Letting go meant that he was too weak to forge his own path in search for power. Letting go meant that he had forgiven the murderer, and he didn't want to do that just yet.
"Too slow, little brother."
Sasuke tightened his grip when he saw that Itachi's lower body had already faded away.
"I said wait, you bastard!"
But he was left all alone, just like he had been for the past few…days? Weeks? He didn't know how long it had been since his life had gone to hell.
Well, not quite as alone as he had thought.
Looking down, Sasuke noticed that his hands were holding something warm and furry, and he recognized the weasel that had bitten him a minute ago.
…The weasel that had been strangled to death and was growing colder by the second.
Sasuke tossed the body back into the bushes where he had found the creature and stormed back to his caretaker's house, intent on analyzing everything he had experienced that day.
Because today had been the first time he had killed anything, and that made him one step closer to reaching his brother.
He wasn't sure if that thought comforted or disgusted him.
The first time he had killed another human being had been on a mission shortly after the Wave Country incident. Something inside of him had snapped after seeing Sakura thrown into a tree shortly after Naruto had been knocked out by a powerful genjutsu.
It had been a simple C-ranked mission to help a band of merchants to another part of the country. The worst they were expected to come across was a group of bandits.
Obviously, no one gave that memo to the opposing forces, because there had been a missing-nin in their ranks. A missing-nin that had been strong enough to keep Kakashi busy for the two or three minutes they needed to defeat two-thirds of the genin.
And then it was up to Sasuke to help the merchants get out of the way. It was up to him to carry Naruto and Sakura to safety when it was obvious that no one else could do it.
And it was also up to him to help Kakashi contain the situation.
But now his rage was building, just like that first time when he had strangled the weasel to death five years prior. Sasuke wasted little time and drew out his weapons, intent on taking out as many people as he was able.
He didn't notice when the faceless bandits had shifted, but every single one of them looked exactly like his brother had on that fateful night. Soon, Sasuke was fighting all of them, blocking all of their blows, countering all of their attacks. He was sparring full-contact with Itachi, no padding or weapons involved. Then he was engaged in shuriken practice with the ANBU captain.
But it didn't matter. He defeated every version of Itachi that came up; stuck a kunai in his heart; twisted a sharp wire across his neck; used a well-placed katon to burn him to a crisp; slit his brother's throat like he had always imagined since the funeral. But that bastard always stood up afterward, almost as if death couldn't take him like it had so many others.
Finally, Itachi fell down for the last time and didn't bother getting up. Sasuke took the opportunity to let out a shaky breath and relaxed. He felt a hand on his shoulder and quickly spun around, prepared to fight another Itachi.
But at the last second, he recognized his teacher's face and withdrew his kunai.
"Sasuke," Kakashi said, gently, "you didn't have to kill them all." The jounin inclined his head in a direction, gesturing to the fallen bodies that littered the dirt road.
It was then that he realized that all the instances of fighting Itachi had been false, and the nameless, faceless bandits registered in his brain.
Sasuke felt his stomach churn and he turned away, heaving its contents on the blood-splattered ground.
The first time he had killed another human being had left him feeling queasy and sick. That night, he dreamt about the time when his mother died before his very eyes and wondered if killing a bunch of bandits was anything like killing off an entire clan.
And if so, what did that make him?
After that, it was fairly easy to dispose of his enemies in an efficient manner without completely losing himself like he had with the bandits. Weeks later, they had been charged with another mission and Sasuke took the opportunity to gauge his abilities. The routine didn't change, even when the Uchiha registered the concerned glances that Sakura shot him every now and then, the angry glares that flitted across Naruto's face, or the scrutinizing look that Kakashi discreetly chanced. It didn't matter, so long as he was getting closer to his goal.
But Kakashi had taken him aside after a particularly gruesome skirmish that had left Naruto in a foul mood.
"He's right, you know," the jounin commented idly as they watched the other two members of Team Seven try to collect their fallen weapons from their latest fight. Naruto was pointedly ignoring them and Sakura's hesitance to look in their direction spoke volumes.
('What's wrong with you? How can you think so little of a living being? Don't you care at all?')
"It's not like it matters," Sasuke replied, shrugging off the incident.
"Well, I can't tell you to change your morals," the older man said as he sighed and dusted off his pants. Kakashi's usual air of laziness faded into a piercing stare as he turned to face Sasuke. "But I can tell you this: be careful, Sasuke. It becomes something of an addiction after a while. You can't stop – no matter how much you try – and the power is too tempting to resist."
Sasuke grit his teeth as he thought of how everyone else seemed to be visibly improving while he himself didn't. How could he compare to that man when the other had already been in ANBU by his age? "What would you know?"
Sasuke stormed off in the direction of their camp and vowed not to exchange words with another soul for the remainder of the day.
"Because," Kakashi whispered towards his student's retreating back. It seemed as if only the wind would hear his words. "I was like that too."
After that, Sasuke merely threw himself into his fighting with more passion and fervor than before.
The last time he killed someone was well after he had betrayed the Leaf and abandoned his team.
…The last time Sasuke killed anything was when he was fighting against his brother.
Fin
Author's Notes – March 06, 2007:
Abrupt ending is abrupt. Sorry, but I was up all night and didn't get very much sleep because this idea wouldn't very well leave me alone! Also, please keep in mind that I am not caught up with the current manga chapters or anime episodes. So if Kishimoto comes up with anything that would contradict what I wrote, consider this AU.
But anyway, how many people are interested in seeing more shots? Not all of them are about Sasuke, but they still feature a hint of darkness here and there.
"And They All Fall Down" was inspired by the nursery rhyme, "Ring Around the Rosie."
Edited: August 19, 2017, for slight grammar mistakes and word choices. I have this terrible habit of throwing in extra commas where they aren't needed. I'm sure I missed a bunch...
