A/N: Okay folks, so I finally pulled myself together and started to work on something new. Am I not a good girl now?
Seriously, I'm not sure about this story at all. I don't really know what I want to do with it, even though I kind of know how I want to do with it… I know, it's weird. It is usually the other way around, ne? But you know, just put up with it. It's me we're talking (writing) about, for God's sake! Since when was I normal in a good way? I'm always normal in the bad ways (which doesn't show when I write) and strange in the bad ways (which shows a bit too much when I write).
So, if this chapter doesn't make any sense, then it is perfectly alright. No panic, no crying, no killing the author. This is the prologue. It isn't written to make sense (even though it's not written to not make sense either), so please do not worry. The first part written in italics is one of Sasuke's memories, and I will (most likely) begin every chapter with one of those.
The rest of the chapter is parts of Sasuke's life about two-three years before the current timeline (which doesn't show at all in this chapter seeing how this is a prologue). It is set in whichever big city you want in a world similar to our real one… Even though it's possible that it is slightly different, so let's just say that it is a fictional world extremely inspired of our real-life, every-day one, okay?
Warnings: Character deaths! Two of them! And mentioning of massacre. Some foul language. That's it for this chapter, but it will most likely turn up some yaoi/shounen-ai (don't know the difference. If someone has the time I would be happy if you could explain it to me) later on, and (of course) my usual barely-understandable writing-style. Ahem. Well yes. I just might feel murderous and kill off even more characters later on as well, so please be prepared.
Pairings: None in this chapter. Haha, I'm not even mentioning any! … Err, there will be future narusasunaru, though. And probably more couples (at least mentioning of them), but they're not decided upon just yet. We'll see, I mean; not even I really know what I want with this fic. It's totally plot-less as for now.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto-series, or any of its characters. I would like to, though, but I don't think Kishimoto-sensei will give it to me… That would be a bit too much to actually hope for, ne?
Prologue
Sasuke jumped up from the kitchen floor when he heard the door slam. His brother was home!
Smiling, he ran down the corridor to the hall and threw himself at his brother, who just barely had time to catch the small body before it crashed down on the floor.
"Nii-san! You're home!" Sasuke declared happily, unaware of the fact that his brother just had saved him from an utterly shameful, noisy and slightly painful incident.
Itachi lifted an eyebrow as he looked down at the little boy in his arms.
"So it seems", he said while he put down the younger boy, a small dose of irony tinting his voice. "Would you please stop clinging at me now, otooto, or else it will be hard for me to take off my shoes."
Sasuke pouted at his brother's indifference, but backed obediently away from Itachi anyway. Itachi sighed soundlessly and kneeled on the floor to easier reach his feet.
"Was there something you wanted to tell me, Sasuke, or did you just suddenly feel the urge to attack me for no reason at all?" Itachi asked coldly.
Sasuke began to shine and blushed slightly of excitement, at once forgetting that he was sulking.
"Nii-san! Mother and I made the dinner today, Nii-san. And I helped!" Sasuke more or less bounced before his older brother in impatience of receiving praise from Itachi.
Itachi rewarded Sasuke's pathetic attempt with one glance before he rose and went for the stairs.
"First I went out buying tomatoes, salmon and rice", Sasuke exclaimed as he followed Itachi up the stairs, stubbornly ignoring the fact that he was being ignored. "All by myself!" He was quiet for about two seconds to see if he had impressed his brother the slightest with this fact. He obviously hadn't, but Sasuke was not one to give up easily.
"Then I came back here, and Mother let me cook the rice." Alright, so he maybe hadn't cooked the rice all by himself, his mother had after all helped him along a little. No need to tell that fact to Itachi however. They had reached Itachi's bedroom door now.
"And now I've even made the salad", he finished off proudly. Itachi's slim hand neared the doorknob. "It is tomato-salad, Nii-san. Isn't that great?"
This made Itachi pause. Slowly he turned around and looked down at his little brother who hopefully looked up at him.
"Hn." Itachi disappeared into his room without further evaluate what he had meant with that rather non-commentarial comment.
Sasuke felt disappointment flood over him, and for a while he just stood there, staring at the closed door.
A frown appeared on his childish face for a short moment before he shrugged it off. His brother was surely just tired. Just tired. Some rest and he would be in the mood to be with Sasuke again.
But Sasuke couldn't really convince the nagging feeling in the back of his head to go away, to leave him alone. To not disturb him. That annoying feeling that had just grown stronger and stronger during the past few weeks. The feeling that wouldn't stop telling him that lately his brother seemed to have less and less time over for Sasuke.
Sasuke opened his eyes and stared out in the darkness.
Something had disturbed his sleep. He wasn't completely sure what exactly, but he didn't like it at all. Not in the least. He slowly sat up in the couch he had been sleeping on and narrowed his eyes, piercing through the darkness. He listened carefully, but the only noise he could make out from around him was the soft breathing of Chouji on the floor.
A feeling of sudden restlessness made him come to the decision of getting up and fetch a glass of water. He moved without a sound across the room on bare feet, not in particular trying not to wake Chouji up. He didn't care if the boy did or not. It wouldn't make much of a difference to him.
No, he just moved like that – soundlessly, gracefully. It was his natural way to walk, to move. It wasn't something he had learned. Most of the time he tried to move sloppier and noisier, for the simple reason that he didn't want people to know that he could move at such speed and so quietly without even trying. It was an advantage he didn't want others to know about.
Now, however, there was no need to neither trying to make more noise than necessary, nor to sneak around. Chouji had after all worked with him for some time now, and he knew all about Sasuke's abilities of walking quietly.
He made it to the kitchen door before he froze, with all his senses strained to maximum. There it was again. That feeling that had waked him up to begin with.
Sasuke frowned slightly to himself and tried to pinpoint what it was.
He hadn't smelt anything funny, nor seen anything out of the ordinary – and his night sight was phenomenal so that was not a problem. There was no noise of anything but the silent humming of the fridge, Chouji's breathing out in the living room, the neighbours moving around in the apartments surrounding their own. A quick glance at the clock informed him that the movements were nothing strange – it was 05.38 after all, and the woman living next door had a dog that usually moved around in her flat at this time, and the guy living above them worked nights from time to time. Maybe he had just arrived home.
Nothing was off, but still… there was something, some disturbance in the air… something out of place… something not as it should be…
"Fuck."
He practically flew into the living room.
"Chouji! Get your lazy ass up and out right now!"
He heard some ruffle around on the floor behind him as he threw on some clothes and started in half-panic throw down random stuff in a bag he found beside the couch he had slept in less than five minutes ago.
When he was done he turned expectantly around and saw that Chouji still hadn't gotten up.
"What the fuck are you doing?" he growled. "We need to get moving. Now!"
"Why?" Chouji asked in a sleepy voice.
"They're after us. Now get the fuck up!" Sasuke snapped, moving out to the hall and over to the door. He most certainly was not going to get caught. He pressed an ear against the cold wood and listened carefully, his whole body tense, ready to block an attack at any second. He could hear steps out there. Three floors down, at the most, he thought. They were coming.
Dammit! I had thought we were better hidden than this. Apparently we can't trust Shikamaru's brains as much as I thought… or hoped really. Stupid me. It was just pure luck I woke up in time. Otherwise they would have caught us for sure… which they might do now anyway…
Furious at himself he moved away from the door and walked into the living room again. To his great relief he saw that Chouji now were fully dressed and ready to get going. Good. Some improvement in their situation. Now, time to escape. Gracefully.
Alright, maybe not. There is no way one can run away gracefully, not even if you were named Uchiha Sasuke. Gracefulness was for other situations, when the pressure weren't as intensive as right now.
His black eyes darted across the room, searching for a way out and fell on the window – he didn't want to go there. After all, they were on the eighth floor. Even he had his limits.
However, they needed to get out. Right. Now.
Putting up a façade that indicated security he stalked forward to the window and opened it.
"No way", he heard Chouji mumble behind him and he swirled around, sending the other a death glare.
"Have you a better idea? Then please speak up, because I'm not too happy with this either."
He didn't wait for a response; they did not have time for this. He slung the bag over his shoulder and turned determined to the window again. With fluid movements he got up on the window sill and propped out his head, looking down on the street below.
The sun was already rising – meaning it would be easier for them to see where they put their hands and feet, but it would also be easier for people below to spot them climbing on the house wall. This was bad.
He didn't care though – dammit, he didn't have time to care. He turned his face upwards instead. It was only two floors up to the roof. Maybe it would be easier… but still. What would they do once they got there? Then they would be stuck and found and caught and… He felt his stomach sink to the floor. Right. Climbing down to the street. Great plan. He grimaced slightly and got out of the window fully.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.
"Where is he?"
Sasuke didn't answer, but simply brushed past the other man and went into the apartment. Shikamaru did not give in to the black haired boy's cold behaviour; he was after all rather used to it, and followed him into the bathroom.
Sasuke stripped of his shirt, went to the sink and began to wash off his face. He didn't feel like talking about it right now.
"Where's Chouji?"
Apparently Shikamaru was in a totally different mood. He felt like chatting about the brown haired man. Ask stupid questions. Couldn't he see that Sasuke was busy? He had been on the run for 74 hours, dammit! Why couldn't he just leave him alone?
He still ignored the other man, dried his face on a towel and turned to leave the room.
Shikamaru obviously wouldn't have any of that. With a snarl he slammed the slightly shorter man up against the wall and stared at him angrily.
"Where. Is. He."
That definitely wasn't a question.
Sasuke considered for a moment to simply bash the other's face in. It wouldn't be too much of a big deal. Both he and Shikamaru were well aware of the fact, that if the young Uchiha decided to go complete Hulk-smash, then Shikamaru would be dead and forgotten within half a minute.
What stopped him from doing that, however, was not the fact that he was tired – seeing as to how he hadn't gotten any sleep in the last 51 hours, nor the fact that Shikamaru was considered something as close to a friend as he had left in his life. No, it was that something that flickered past in Shikamaru's eyes. A something, that he didn't really feel like pinpointing, even though he didn't doubt that it would be done easily if he just felt like it.
Shikamaru and Chouji had always been close.
Close.
They had been friends.
Had been – yes, for even though Shikamaru was a genius, he couldn't possibly find a way to befriend the dead, could he?
"He won't come back. He didn't move his ass fast enough."
Shikamaru stared at him for a second, before his grip on Sasuke's shoulders slackened. Sasuke pushed past the other man and disappeared out the door.
Chouji lived no more.
The bastards had shot him down in the middle of the street 33 hours after they had left their hide-out.
He and Shikamaru had swapped hide-outs four times in six days. This left the Uchiha in a darker mood than usual, which said something as he usually walked around with a dark cloud constantly hovering above his head. Now the cloud was black and sent lightning bolts at anyone except Shikamaru who was within a radius of 10 feet from him. Shikamaru was allowed to come as close as 6 before he was met by the Glare of Death.
Not that they actually met too many people during these six days. Sasuke spent most of his time (except when they moved to another place) lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling.
He and Shikamaru didn't mention Chouji again, as if they had entered a silent agreement upon this. In fact, they didn't speak about anything at all. The only time they said anything to the other was when it was time to move out, and Sasuke knew that they wouldn't have spoken even then if it wasn't necessary for them to communicate swiftly at such times.
He didn't feel guilty for Chouji's death, and he knew that Shikamaru didn't really blame him either.
Still, he had a feeling that Shikamaru wished that it had been Sasuke – not Chouji – dying that fateful day. It wasn't a secret that Shikamaru didn't like Sasuke. He didn't dislike him either, for that matter. They were completely and totally neutral toward each other – just as Sasuke liked it.
In that way they could work with each other without any feelings getting in the way.
Sasuke didn't like feelings. They had a tendency of breaking you down. And Sasuke didn't like to be broken down. At least not by something as petty as feelings.
Shikamaru spent as much time in front of his computer as Sasuke did on the floor.
They were waiting. Waiting for something to happen. Because they both knew that something was going to happen, sooner or later. Sasuke personally would have preferred sooner, seeing as how he was a man for action. He got restless by being locked up like this.
For the time being, they were hidden in a small dark room. It felt so cliché that they always had to end up in one-room apartments, small dark rooms, cold basements under sky-scrapes with at least 30 stories or scabby hotels above brothels. Always. Without failure.
And at the same time, it felt good. It was something he could count on, something to come back to. Even though it never was the exact same place, it always was similar enough to calm him down.
He closed his eyes and listened to Shikamaru's fingers racing over the tangents. He wondered if Shikamaru ever regretted entering this life.
He wondered if Chouji would have climbed with him out of that window if he had gotten a second chance.
He climbed out of the smashed car on shaky legs. Something warm and wet trickled down his temple. He touched his forehead with a trembling hand and looked at his fingers. Red. Right. Blood.
Was he bleeding?
He tried to remember the last time he had bled, but the memory was too dim, and he felt too tired, so sleepy. He couldn't bring himself to concentrate.
He looked up at the car again. It was barely recognisable as a car any longer. Rather an over-grown trash bin or something similar. He frowned slightly.
Something in the back of his mind prickled. Had he forgotten something?
He walked up to the car again, and looked in through the broken window. There, behind the steering wheel, sat Juugo. He was slumped over the wheel, not moving. He was covered in blood, and even more was flowing out freely from a big gash in his head. Sasuke wondered vaguely how much blood it fit in one human body.
Juugo's eyes stared blankly down in his lap.
Sasuke stretched out a pale hand – paler than usual, funny, seeing how Chouji had often compared his skin-colour to virgin snow, even though it had been a bit over-dramatic – and touched his shoulder lightly.
Nothing. He didn't even breathe.
Juugo was dead.
And he was caught.
He woke up in a bright white room. Weird. He didn't remember the last time he had been in an un-dark room. He reflected lightly over the word 'un-dark' (did it really exist?) before he decided that it was inconvenient and looked around the room, without moving his head.
He was in a hospital. A blonde woman sat in the chair beside his bed. The slightest frown graced his features before he smoothed out his face to the same expressionless mask it always held.
He didn't recognise this woman.
She didn't look at him, which maybe wasn't that surprising, seeing as how he hadn't moved yet, so she probably thought he still was asleep… unconscious… whatever.
Her long, fair hair was pulled up in two rat-tails. She was clad in ordinary-looking, casual clothes and had currently her eyes fixed upon a bunch of papers that rested in her lap.
He turned his face toward her. Immediately, she reacted upon him stirring, and looked up at him.
"Ah, you're finally awake." She had a pleasant voice. However, Sasuke got the impression that he was stuck in deep shit.
She laughed softly at his suspicious look.
"That's right, I haven't introduced myself, even though I've been by your side every day for almost a week."
Sasuke lifted a defined eyebrow – barely – at this. A week? He had been out for almost a week?
The blonde smirked slightly. This unnerved him a bit – something that didn't show on his face, however, this woman really did creep him out, even though she hadn't actually done anything… yet.
"My name is Tsunade. And you are Uchiha Sasuke. Funny, seeing as how you are dead since 11 years."
This definitely made him panic. He stared at her with wide eyes. How the fuck did she know that?
She simply smiled at him.
"Uchiha Sasuke. You are already officially dead, died during the Uchiha-massacre 11 years ago along with everyone else sharing your bloodline. This made you safe. You could easily become a high-level criminal without anyone ever suspecting you… seeing as how you were dead. However, if this fact ever slipped out-"
"What do you want?" he interrupted rudely.
She went silent and looked at him. He looked back. The minutes went by, stretched out to an eternity and he choked on the pressure of space, the space in the nothingness that was his, and only his, now filled up by this woman – this Tsunade – with caramel eyes and green coat. And the fact that she knew.
She knew and that gave her infinite power over him, because he couldn't let that slip. He couldn't let anyone else know. However, how did he know that no one else did? If this Tsunade had some way or another figured out his secret, then what were his insurances that no one else had?
She seems to understand his doubts.
"No one else knows, because I haven't told them. And I wouldn't know if I hadn't been able to lay hands on you. That gave me the proof right underneath my nose."
He nodded. He didn't ask how she'd been able to guess that he was an Uchiha, though. If she'd taken some DNA-test… He didn't think that he was registered like that in any database anyway… but he had been so little. He didn't really remember.
"What do you want?" he repeated.
She smiled, wickedly.
"I'll be nice to you. You have a choice, after all. I won't tell anyone of your identity whatever choice you make. The first option is to work for me. Under the government. For good purposes. You are perfect for the job. You have experience, is officially dead and we can help you to keep it secret. You will get better paid than before and will no longer need to hide. You can live a normal life… at least more normal than before – and-"
Once again he interrupted. "Contract killing. You want me to become a hit man?"
She nodded.
Sasuke closed his eyes and let his head hit the pillow.
"What is option number two?" He didn't really want to hear the answer to that question, did he now?
"Death", she said solemnly. "We can't let you go lose like that, without restrictions. And it will be carried out whether your true identity is known or not."
He laughed dryly. Oh? That was a nice way to put it.
He opened his eyes slowly and turned to Tsunade once again.
"So you don't give me a choice then. Not really."
She scowled at him, but didn't protest.
He nodded slightly to himself. It can't get any worse now, can it?
"You're on. I don't have anything better to do anyway. I guess there won't be much of a difference. I'll be your puppy that bites only on command."
The corner of her mouth turned upwards.
"Puppy? Uchiha, you're underestimating yourself. If anything you're a raging beast temporarily under my command."
A/N: Review? Please? I would like to know what you think… and where you want this fic to go, because I have no idea myself, really.
