Chapter One

It was a calm morning. Very normal. A light sunshine cast itself into the skies. Such as one that filled the dry air. It was morning where things weren't too hot, weren't too cold. The perfect atmosphere that was easy to breathe in, easy to walk around in. The sky was a faint baby blue, and skims off thin, chalky clouds. A breeze touched the tops of the trees, rustling their leaves. The crinkling of leaves, the laughing of children, and the flap of wings from birds filled the air. Basically; it was one of those days where you just wanted to get outside.

A disturbance stirred the rhythm of things, as a kunai sliced through it. It slammed into a tree and was embedded into the wood. There was silence for a pause, and then a huffing. A boy of 13 came running through the trees. Dodging left, he leaped up onto a branch, and flipped off. He ran towards his kunai, and grabbed it, not stopping. Throwing back his arm, he used all his might and once again, flung the kunai forward. It steered out of distance, and the boy continue his tracking of it.

The boy's name was Sasuke. He wore a blue top, with creamish colored shorts. His shoes drummed against the ground. His eyes locked ahead of him, barely glancing to make sure he was avoiding the trees properly. His ears, though, were focused immensely. They listened for the whistle of the kunai, so that he could follow it.

Ahead of him, the kunai raced towards a tree. It buried itself far into the surface. Sasuke slowed to a walk, sighing heavily. He reached forward, leaning, and pulled on the kunai. It stayed in place. He pulled hardly again, but there was nothing. Agitated, he began the wiggling the kunai in the tree, hoping to loosen it up so that he could get it out.

His sweating had stopped, and his heart beat was slowing. The silence returned to the woods, resettling over the ground. To him, it seemed almost eerie out so far in the woods. Light reached his face, and slanted across his body. It lay in pools on the ground, and caused shadows to cast over the earth. A small rustle sounded off, and a small animal he did not care to look at, jumped out and slowly made its way to another bush.

Sasuke, grunting, made another effort to pull out the kunai. It was stuck firmly in place. Discouraged, he blew cool air on his now reddish hands. Then, rubbing dirt on them to toughen them up slightly, he began pulling again as hard as he could. Gritting his teeth together, he pulled until he fell away, stumbling forward.

How hard had he'd thrown the kunai into that tree? He wondered. Thinking, he stepped forward once again. He pulled himself up using the kunai, and braced he feet against the tree. Adjusting his hands into a comfortable position, he pulled the kunai. Wriggling it sideways, while pushing with his feet. Twisting it up, then kunai suddenly came loose as if it had never been stuck in the first place. Sasuke had only time to gasp, his eyes widening as he jerked backwards. He hands, still wrapped around the kunai, did not respond for him and try and reach out for something to stop the fall. He braced himself.

A hand came from behind and wrapped itself around Sasuke. Sasuke felt himself being caught, while the other arm kept the kunai from flying out of his hands. He felt the breath leave him slightly, as he made impact with a figure behind him. The feeling of the fall left him, like when you knew you were on solid ground again. He closed his eyes momentarily, and thanked silently that he hadn't fallen on the ground.

His eyes flew back open as he remembered his savior. Looking up his eyes widened into circles.

"Itachi!"

Itachi steadied Sasuke, then released his hold on him. Frowning, and not responding immediately, Itachi looked down at his little brother. Ruffling his hair, he spoke. "Sasuke, what are you doing all the way out here? It's dangerous to be alone."

Sasuke frowned."I just wanted to train. I never get to anyway. Besides, I'll be fine. I can take care of myself." He brushed Itachi's hand away.

Itachi studied him for a moment. "That's not always the case, Sasuke. There can always be people better and stronger than you. You could get hurt. Like you almost did just now."

Sasuke took a step back, not glaring at his older brother. "I would have been fine. It's not like I was that far up in the tree anyway."

"You don't know that," Itachi denied. "Something could always happen. Your landing could have been wrong, and you could have broken something. Or the kunai could have flown the wrong way and hurt you or someone else."

"No one's out here!" Sasuke yelled.

"Somebody could always be out here."

Sasuke put his kunai back into his sack roughly. Shoving it out of sight. "Stop acting like I'm some kid, I'm thirteen!"

"And I'm nineteen. That's a six years difference. I only treat you like a kid, because you act like one." Itachi glared down at Sasuke, and tried roughly to control his voice.

"That's so overused! Because I act like one? Does a normal kid go into the forest flinging kunai's into trees?"

Itachi paused, then closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. Sasuke wiped a welling of water in the corner of his eye. He felt his blood boiling strongly. Like he just wanted to scream in anger. He didn't like being treated like a kid. Especially by his brother.

"You never train with me anyway," Sasuke continued on, not waiting for his brother to respond. "That's the only reason I'm out here. To train myself so that I can get stronger. Possibly even stronger than you." Sasuke clinched his fists tightly, and gritted his teeth so hard they began to hurt. He took another step back from Itachi, and bumped lightly into the trunk of the tree.

"Sasuke, I do not want to raise my voice at you before I have to go. Now, as I came to tell you before, I'm going on a mission dad has sent me on. I will be gone for a while. I wanted to say goodbye to you, but if you're going to yell at me I guess I won't. If you would apologize I would reconsider."

"Apologize?" Sasuke screamed. "To you?"

Itachi's eyes cast downward for a moment, a hint of sadness in them. His shoulders hunkered forwards slightly, but then straightened themselves up. He pressed his lips together tightly and began walking away. "I will be leaving now."

Sasuke felt the rage boil up and tear out of him. "I hate you!"