Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. I do own Nezumi Uchiha, I made her up.
NEZUMI UCHIHA
It's very simple, sister. You take this kunai and stab it into your brother's heart, he had said to me. Who said it? Itachi. Who was I to kill? Sasuke.
I think of this, and the whole reason of my travels, as I wander around the village hidden in the leaves. I have yet to find anyone who knows where the last Uchiha living in the Hidden Leaf Village is. I think of giving up as I try one last time to ask someone for help. She has long blonde hair, pulled up into a ponytail, and bangs on one side of her head, hanging lower than her face. Her eyes are a solid sky blue. Her outfit is purple and white, and she has her head protector tied around her waste. She is definitely a hidden leaf ninja.
"Hello," I say to her, my voice monotone. She instantly gazes up at me, with curious eyes.
"Oh, hey." She looks me over from head to toe. "Who are you?" she asks slowly.
"Nezumi. I'm looking for someone. Ink colored hair. Coal colored eyes. Black outfit, red and white fan symbol on his back. Name-"
"Sasuke!" she cries almost too happily. I take a step back. She regains herself, and studies me again. "You match that entire description... Why are you looking for him?" she asks, cautious and stand-offish.
I smile carefully, and plan what I am going to say. "I grew up with him, family friend. I just want to know if he's okay. I left a few months before the assassination, and I thought I'd check up on him, to see if he's okay and all..."
Her eyes tighten, and I can feel her anger. "Sasuke is fine," she nearly growled. Over-protective, are we? I think. This is going to be harder than I thought.
"He is? Good. Can I see him?"
I see the gears clicking in her head, and I can tell she doesn't trust me. I can see it in her eyes. She sighs, though I know it is fake. "Sorry, I don't know where he is."
"I see. Well, I shall keep looking, then."
Damn you, brother, I think with Itachi in mind. Maybe it is fate that I cannot find him. Maybe I shouldn't kill him. If I do, then I'd be exactly like Itachi. Did I want that? Well, why not? He is my older brother. He's taken care of me since... Since he killed our family. Our clan. He wouldn't need to be the father figure I look up to if he didn't kill the biological father I once admired.
Why do I want to kill Sasuke? Because I want to make Itachi proud. Being younger than him, I want to be like him. But being older than Sasuke makes me feel the need to dominate him. Although Sasuke lived in Itachi's shadow, I always lived in Sasuke's shadow. I am a year older than Sasuke, but he was always better than me, or so he thought. Now that I've been trained by Itachi, I believe have surpassed Sasuke's skills. And this would be my chance to prove it.
To Sasuke, Itachi had killed me along with Mother and Father. After they were slain, I hid under them, pretending to be dead, afraid of the attacker. It wasn't until I saw that it was Itachi that I lost my fear. I followed him, and, after he acknowledged me, and questioned him. He could have killed me, but apparently he had a better plan in mind as he grabbed me and took me away from the Hidden Leaf Village with him.
As I think of my younger brother, I wonder why Itachi never wanted to take him in as he did me, which makes me wonder why Sasuke hates him so. Perhaps it is because after Itachi killed our clan, Sasuke instantly developed a deep hatred for him, while I followed him with great pride that my own brother could single-handedly kill an entire clan. But, again, I think of Sasuke and his point of view on the entire attack. Itachi, our own brother, killed our family. Our beloved parents. And the fact he did it without caring proved he was as cold as ice. Why should someone so heartless be seen as an idol? Sasuke had everything taken from him in one day, and it can all be blamed on his brother. Why wouldn't Sasuke hate Itachi? Why would I love him. That, there, is the thing I am trying to figure out.
If I kill Sasuke, I will be no better than Itachi. Although it will prove my strength against my younger brother, it proves the weakness of my heart. If I kill him, I will finally be accepted by my older brother, a golden feeling. If I don't kill him, I'll be on the run forever, for I will surely be Itachi's next target after he kills Sasuke himself. If I think I can solve this by just killing Itachi, I am sadly mistaken. Killing my own brother is what Itachi wants me to do to become like him. Even killing him would prove the coldness in my heart.
I do not realize I am kneeling on the ground, my hands curled into fists slammed into the dirt, until I hear the blonde's voice behind me. "Uh... Nezumi... Are you okay?"
I look up, gaze over my shoulder, and see her looking down at me. Angry with myself for letting my feminine emotions cause this breakdown, I shoot up. "Yes." My expression has changed from pain and fear into nothing, my tone monotone to match.
She shrugs. "Liar. So, what are the tears for?"
I didn't realize I was even crying. I bring my hand to my face, swipe my fingers across my cheek, and feel the dampness. Stupid fool! I think to myself. How could I let it get this out of control? What is wrong with me? All I've wanted in life was to make Itachi proud of me, and to prove I am better than Sasuke. This is the one and only chance to accomplish both, and here I am, tearing up, breaking down, and having second thoughts?
"I... was just remembering when I heard the news of Sasuke's brother. I... I need to see him, I love him..." It bothers me that the last statement could be true. It angers me.
This, too angers her. "You can't love him! Sasuke is mine!"
Almost afraid of the blonde, I back up. I can find him without her, definitely. I turn around and leave her. "Whatever," I mutter. As I walk, my mind wanders, and thinks of ways to kill the blonde. Appear behind her with a kunai, slice her throat. Hide up in a tree, and throw numerous shurikens at her. Attack her head on, giving her multiple cuts and watch her bleed to death. Hang her by her hands from a tree, and aim for her heart, throwing shurikens and the occasional kunai.
I realize, when I walk into someone I somehow did not see, how cold I am, and how this is not something to brag about. I look up quickly, not expecting the sudden block in my path, and see him. Dark midnight hair, coal black eyes, expressionless face. The black outfit with shorts and short sleeves. I nearly gasp, but I do not let my emotions get the best of me once again. His expression does not change; it doesn't need to. I can tell he is stunned, shocked, terrified.
"Ne...zumi?" he whispers to himself, though I feel he is asking if it could possibly be true.
I know what is going through his mind. "He never got to me. I hid, Sasuke..." He takes a step back, almost waiting for Itachi to come out of me and attack him. "Sasuke, it's only me. I-" I try to say I won't hurt him, but images of me killing him flash into my mind. Again, I find myself thinking of ways to kill him, similar to how I'd kill the blonde. It's amazing how clearly I can see this very moment changing as I bring out my kunai and insert it into his chest, into his heart.
We both stand there, not able to move or say anything more, until I hear that blonde again behind me. "Sasuke, who is she?" He finally looks at her, with the same look on his face. He looks as if he is trying to plan out a response, and she seems to notice it, too. "Sasuke, are you okay?" she asks, impatient with him. I am impatient with her.
He simple turns around. I wish I knew what was going on in his mind. He starts walking in the opposite direction he was originally heading. I glare at the blonde, and wish I knew a name to address her with, to tell her to get the hell away from us. I walk up next to Sasuke, and I know she is right behind me. Of course, I think.
"Not now," he quietly says, though I don't know if he meant it towards her or me. She looks at me as if she expects me to go. I'm not leaving my brother, you get lost, I almost want to tell her. Sasuke stopped walking after speaking, and now, neither the blonde or I decide to move. Why should I? "Ino," he whispers quietly.
She snickers at me silently, and walks to his side. "Yes, Sasuke?" she asks smugly. He looks at her with a painful expression. It makes me weak in the knees, and she throws her arms around him. "Come one, just forget her," she whispers into his ear. Not likely, Blondie, I think.
He leans out of the hug, and I can see it hurts her. I hide my smile. Avoiding her gaze, he walks past her and towards me. He sets his hand briefly on my arm and I follow him as he walks away from Ino. I can hear her gasp, though I am not facing her to see her expression.
We continue to walk away from the village, into the forest. All the while, I am thinking of ways to end the life of the boy walking beside me. It would be so easy to slip that kunai into his heart. Would he be expecting it? That leads me into another question: does he know why I'm here? Where I've been all this time? That I've been with Itachi?
Suddenly, he speaks, and it brings me back to reality. "You've been with him, haven't you?" It is almost like he's been reading my thoughts. I shoot a worried glance at him. "I've heard rumors."
Again, I feel like collapsing. How did he know? "Sasuke..."
"If you decide to attack me right now, it won't solve anything." It suddenly makes sense to me. If I kill Sasuke, I'll be what Itachi wants me to be. If I fail, then it would mean Sasuke would have killed me, and still Itachi wins. If I don't kill Sasuke, Itachi would just have to kill us both, which wouldn't bother him. If we kill him, he'd still win... "It'll never end," he whispers. Are we thinking the same thing or does he just know what I would be thinking in this situation?
Feeling as though I can't take another minute next to him without breaking down again, I run. I do not stop until I am completely out of breath, and even then, I still continue walking. I can't imagine he'd follow me, so I finally convince myself to sit down. I slide up against the trunk of a tree, panting. Why is this so difficult? I've wanted nothing but to finish what Itachi started. Proving my strength was a dream. Sasuke was the only one who could prove that to me, with his death. He disowned Itachi, acted as if they shared only a last name, not a family, blood, the sharingan. Killing him should be easy; it will be easy. Ready to finally prove myself, I stood back up, and headed to where I left my younger brother. After walking an hour, I finally found him walking in the same direction I left him, at the same speed.
Neither of us stopped walking until there was an arm's length between us. Before I had a chance to move a muscle, he had his kunai in one hand, and three shurikens in the other. "I won't hold back," he warns me.
Instantly after he speaks, I, too, have my weapons in my hand. I suppose from a distance, it would look slightly like a mirror image. My bangs are similar to how Sasuke had them when he was young, but the back of my hair goes down to my back. Sasuke and I are the exact height, and wear similar outfits. I wear a short black dress with tight dark blue shorts under, with the Uchiha fan on the back. The collar of my dress fits more to my neck than Sasuke's.
Only seconds have passed since my brother and I drew our weapons, and neither of us move. It is now that I choose to glance at his eyes, afraid of what I expect to find. As I thought, his eyes were red with the sharingan. I have mastered the technique with the help of Itachi, though I don't think I'll have enough time to activate it. As soon as I let my guard down for even a fraction of a second, I believe Sasuke will take advantage of it. Instead, I try to reason with him.
"Sasuke, if you kill me-" I start slowly, though before I could finish my sentence, he leaps backwards, throwing his shurikens at me as he jumps. I, too, throw myself backwards, dodging the shurikens, and throwing my own. Of course, he dodges them. "Listen to me, damn it!" I cry as I lunge myself at him. Somehow, I manage to tackle him; I guess that he is letting me have a moment. "If you kill me you'll be just like him!" I rush, making sure he lets me finish my sentence this time.
He doesn't move. I kneel on his chest, my right hand drew back, the kunai I grasp aimed at his heart. My left hand pushes down on his right shoulder. He looks directly at me, though I can tell he is essentially looking through me. It is the same with Itachi's gaze.
