Unconscious in a bedroll lay a boy of about sixteen, perhaps seventeen, shirtless, clad in a dark purple waist wrap held up by a lighter purple rope-belt, black pants, and sandles. The boy opened his eyes, immediately taking in his surroundings. Darkness seemed to be the central design element here; a candle provided the only light in an otherwise shadowed cave. Some boxes, haphazardly stacked, supported the flickering candle. The boy lay in a bedroll. He sat up, and became immediately aware of a searing headache, and a dull pain throughout his body, although not nearly as bad as it had been before he passed out.

"Sorry, Sasuke, but this is it…" Itachi Uchiha smiled as he at last fell, dead.

What had he meant? Itachi was a traitor, and hated him, right? The boy, Sasuke, shook his head, attempting to clear his thoughts.

"Good. You're alive. I'll admit; I was a bit worried." Sasuke immediately jumped to his feet, but in his weakened state found himself on his knee, clutching his shoulder. "Easy there, boy, you'll do yourself no favors if you exert yourself now." The speaker, a man in an orange mask and a black coat with red cloud patterns, stepped into the dim candlelight.

"You? Just who are you, anyway?" Sasuke reached for his sword, only to find it wasn't at his hip where it should be.

"If you wish to know… then allow me to explain."

For what seemed like hours, the masked man spoke at length of the legendary Madara Uchiha, of how he survived and came to lead Akatsuki, of how he was approached by Itachi to assist in his slaughter of the Uchiha clan, of how Itachi really loved Sasuke and was ordered to kill the clan. Madara paused briefly after recounting his tale, before concluding: "Sasuke… the Leaf ordered the massacre of the Uchiha clan. Join with me, and avenge your clan against those who really led to its undoing!"

Sasuke sat, his chin resting on his left hand, right still at his hip where his sword should be. After but a moment's hesitation, he at last spoke. "No. I refuse. You wait and tell me this after Itachi dies? Convenient for you. Itachi's out of the way, unable to offer his story, his confirmation or denial. And you said yourself… you assisted the massacre of my clan, my family. That was your mistake. Had you not told me this, I may have fallen for your poison." Sasuke stood. "I'm leaving. You can try to stop me if you want, but it won't end well for you."

"Oh?" Madara sounded more amused than angry. "Even after I so graciously heal your wounds, tell you the truth of Itachi, and ensure your survival… you are so quick to abandon me?"

"Pretty much. Thanks for the healing, though." Sasuke moved past him. "And don't try charging me while my back is turned, or anything like that. Again, it won't end well for you."

And with that, Sasuke merely walked out. Madara made no move to stop him. "You'll find the door soon enough. It's not like I really need you for anything, so feel free to go."

Sasuke made his shaky way through the dark cave, moving along the only path within. After a time, moonlight began to shine, giving Sasuke a beacon to light his way. Eventually, he found himself staring at a clear night sky, a full, white moon serving as his guide. At the mouth of the cave, a massive sword appeared seemingly out of nowhere, stopping Sasuke in his tracks. "Suigetsu… put that away."

"Sorry, sorry… but I can't take my chances. You could be Sasuke, you could be that masked guy, doing a very passable imitation of Sasuke's voice… I gotta make sure."

"You dumbass! It's him, just let my Sasuke out of there!" A girl's voice, full of venom.

"What if it's Mask Guy, though?"

"It's not! The masked man had a different voice. I don't think he can imitate Sasuke's quite so well."

"But it could be!"

"It's not! Voices aside, they have totally different chakra!"

"He could fake it."

"HOW?!"

Sasuke, growing bored of hearing his teammates argue, simply ducked under the blade and stepped out of the cave. He gave Suigetsu, a white-haired, purple-eyed boy of about his age, a Look, that said "Damn it, man, let it go."

"So it's not," Suigetsu conceded, smirking. "Guess Karin has to be right sometimes, huh?"

Karin, a redheaded girl with the most unusual, asymmetrical hairstyle this world has ever known, and also glasses, smacked Suigetsu in the back of the head, only for her hand to pass harmlessly through it as he turned his head into water. "Dumbass."

A third boy, with messy orange hair, towered above Karin and Suigetsu. This was Jugo, another of Sasuke's team, called Hebi. Jugo remained silent, and for that Sasuke thanked him. Unlike the other two, Jugo spent most of his time in a calm, quiet state, although he had a tendency to go absolutely apeshit whenever threatened.

"I see you're all unhurt. That's good." Sasuke again moved to rest his hand on his sword, and again found himself grasping at nothing. "Before anything else, has anyone seen my weapon?"

Jugo reached into the folds of his cape/cloak/curtain and produced a sheathed weapon. "You dropped it in your fight with Itachi."

"Right." Sasuke slid the sword between two layers of his rope-belt, and rested his hand on the hilt. "Now that I'm not walking around unarmed, I have an announcement to make. As of this moment, the team known as Hebi is no more. Its goal is accomplished: revenge on Itachi."

Suigetsu raised his hand, mockingly imitative of a student in a classroom. "So I can go home then?"

"No. Though Hebi is no more, this team is staying together. Now, we are known as Taka. Our goal is… to be determined." As Suigetsu moved to raise his hand again, Sasuke cut him off. "Yes, Suigetsu, we can collect your swords if you really want them." Suigetsu lowered his hand. "Now then. Four was enough to track Itachi, but isn't enough for what I need now. So, to that end, we're moving towards the Land of Fire to recruit a fifth member."

Suigetsu raised his hand a third time. "Who the hell could we possibly recruit in the Land of Fire? Isn't that where your old village is? What could we possibly want there?"

"I hate to agree with Pond Scum, but he's right. There's not really much call for loyalty to Sasuke in that area, is there?" Karin asked.

"Not as such, no," Sasuke conceded, "but I have someone in mind. She's an ally of mine from way back. Orochimaru's spies confirmed her as a prisoner of war, being held by servants of the Daimyo and likely being pressed for information about Sound… and Orochimaru."

"Jolly. So we're going to save a prisoner of war from Snake Man's old village… why exactly?" Suigetsu proceeded to drink from his bottle of water.

"At the very least, to add an ally to our assets. Hopefully something more than that though. Now then… I'm done answering questions. Let's go."

With that, the four ninja, Taka, leapt off into the night.