Sasuke's Reason -
Itachi. It is a name that haunts every waking hour of my life. It is that name that has shattered the fragile glass of my childhood, and it is that name that pushes me to become more than I was yesterday.
What is my reason for existing? To be the best? So others will acknowledge me? Perhaps to prove how smart or fast or talented I am?
No.
I live for one reason only. Revenge. To take the life of that man. Itachi.
"Brother? Brother teach me how to fight like you do!" It seems so long ago that I could speak to you so easily. You would look at me and smile and tousle me hair.
"You're annoying," you'd always say with a laugh. You never seemed to have time for me. But that was ok, because you were the coolest big brother a kid could have. Until that day, when there was so much blood; pooling in the dark where monsters lurk. Where you lurk.
"Brother? Itachi can you come play with me?" I looked to you with hopeful eyes, though I already knew the answer.
"You're annoying," you reply with a smile. Though your smile is warm, it doesn't reach your cold red eyes.
I practiced so hard that day. I thought that if I tried hard enough, one day I could be like you. I walked home through the dark and my heart was light, as every child's heart should be.
But the lights were off at our house. I was afraid, but I took courage because I knew you were never afraid of something so childish as the dark. The door creaked open, like a man's last dying breath. That's when I saw you.
Standing over the pile of corpses that was our family. You tried to wipe the blood, their blood, from your dirty hands, but it did no good. Your red eyes glowed amid the crimson puddles on the floor.
My hands trembled in fear and shock, and my childish mouth stumbled over the words, "Why brother? Why?" My voice shook and I could feel the tears that real men weren't supposed to cry run down my cheeks.
"To test my strength," you reply, as though it were nothing more cruel than tearing the wings from a butterfly. Did my family's existence mean so little? You give a shrug and walk past me. I could barely hear your footsteps, even in the stinging silence. I waited for you to strike me down as well, to deliver the final blow that would end it all. The pain was too much. I thought my heart would shatter into a million pieces. But you never lifted your sword. You just kept walking.
"Why?!" I yelled in frustration, "Why kill all of them and not me too?!"
The words he spoke next were more painful and cut deeper than any knife could have.
"Do you think you could have protected them? Would your weak and worthless existence have saved them? Never. You live, not because I hold any love for you, but because you are no threat to me. You will never be strong enough to hurt me."
That was when I realized the meaning of my existence. I exist only to kill you. To make you eat those bitter words you once fed me.
. . .I met a man today. He had the same smile that never seemed to reach his cold eyes. He must be someone a lot like you brother. He has offered me power. With such terrible power I know I can finally kill you. All he wants in return are the lives of those I call friends, my life, my body, and my soul.
I almost refuse.
I almost turn away.
...but it's then I remember... none of that matters.
It's then I remember your terrible eyes.
And it's then I remember...
...the reason I exist.
