CHAPTER 1: IS LIFE SOPPOSED TO BE LIKE THIS?

Everything's gone wrong ever since he left her; ever since he left his best friend. And, of course, ever since he's left everything behind to eventually be shot back to the real world once it was too late. Sasuke Uchiha, of the Uchiha Clan, had gone away on his journey to search for more. He was beginning to regret everything he had done, said, and caused. Now he'll never see them again. A new life was about to start. Sasuke hopes, someday, he would get to visit every single person in the village- especially her- just as soon as he was done.

Sasuke Uchiha, the obsidian haired teenage boy, stood adjacent to a man with gruesome, pallid skin. His yellow piercing eyes seemed to glow faintly in the seemingly darkness. It was like this every time they watched T.V.

"I can't believe you had enough money to purchase this stupid lair, this television, all sorts of black magic crap and Christmas decorations but not a simple couch, or even a chair!" Sasuke complained. The man next to him chuckled and turned his head over to the boy's direction.

"Ah, Sasuke; shouldn't you be training?" the man asked like he normally would any day. He turned back to the screen and his smile faded. A familiar pink haired girl miraculously made it on the news. It was probably another "amazing" discovery of some medicinal herb. The man rolled his eyes and teased Sasuke. "Oh look Sasuke, it's your girlfriend."

Sasuke attempted to punch the guy in the face only to be constricted by a snake that came out of nowhere.

"I told you, you need to train more. Besides, it was only a joke," the man sighed. They both knew the pink haired girl was abandoned by Sasuke a long time ago. Sasuke still had those memories taunting him every night; they were in his dreams and thoughts. It was unavoidable. The man flipped the channel to a different channel with a complicated looking remote.

"Oh look Orochimaru, it's your BOYfriend." Sasuke remarked, pointing at the shrouded body at the screen.

"Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. At least I could take a joke," the man known as Orochimaru said.

"Who said it was a joke?"

After two seconds of nothingness, Sasuke felt a stabbing pain against his head, followed by a black out.

"You make me sick," was the last warped voice Sasuke heard and the rest of the night was taken over by silence.

A bright light shone. It was dawn. Sasuke got up and rubbed his eyes thoroughly. Orochimaru chastises him each time he "misbehaved" by knocking the daylights out of him. Sasuke was pretty used to it, though it annoyed him so much. Still groggy, Sasuke decided to pour himself a hot cup of coffee. After that, he walked towards the dining table only to find no place to rest. Sasuke scoffed to himself and leaned against a nearby counter to extinguish his thirst and drowsiness. Orochimaru walked into the room wearing a teddy bear covered bathrobe. Sasuke spat out his drink from the horrifying sight of the outfit his current Sensei was wearing.

"What…the…hell?" Sasuke emphasized each word slowly, mouth hanging wide open. Orochimaru folded the newspaper he was clutching onto in half and set it aside.

"Oh, this thing?" Orochimaru pointed to his outfit," My granddaughter made it for me. Lovely, isn't it?"

"YOU have a granddaughter." Sasuke repeated in disbelief. His trembling hands that were holding onto the cup released its grip and dropped it. The cup fell to the floor, shattering into countless pieces.

Orochimaru nodded. He looked distressed and angered from what Sasuke said. The man grabbed the newspaper and headed towards his room. Sasuke watched in shock as Orochimaru left him hanging there with so many questions just flying around, unanswered, inside his head. Sasuke began to clean up the cup he had destroyed and tossed the pieces into the waste basket.

Sometimes, Sasuke wondered why he was actually following where Orochimaru was going. He could easily find some stronger dark character and follow him instead. Sasuke considered the Akatsuki before he thought about his brother, who had betrayed him and his clan and killed them all. Sasuke shook his head away from the thought and walked outside. He turned to stare at a bird settled on a tree branch. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and focused on the bird for a simple target. Surprisingly enough, nothing happened. That is, except for a major headache. Shortly afterwards, he opened his eyes.

Cold. He feels the presence of a relative he loves dearly. No, the relative is not who everyone thinks he is. Sasuke starts to face the man who holds Sasuke's hand firmly in his. They are surrounded by a group of thugs, or so Sasuke had thought. The feeling of pity rises inside the young child, for he is with a very powerful ninja, and nobody can get in their way. He notices the man next to him is starting to tense up a bit.

"Sasuke," murmurs the man urgently," you're going to do whatever I tell you to do, got it?" He looks down to the ground, his long bangs covering his blood red eyes. Sasuke thinks this is a joke and happily complies to play this little game. "I want you to-"he continues, but was interrupted by laughter from one of the group surrounding them.

"Are you just going to stand there?" A person in the shadows snickers.

"See what I tell you about these Uchihas?" Another voice booms.

"Ah yes Kisame, very interesting. Two people who stand there and do nothing. How 'powerful'," Says a voice behind them. There are three people and they are wearing the same style of clothing. A large black coat, decorated with clouds, outlined with thick white is what they are wearing.

"You guys think you're so tough!-"the man beside Sasuke grasps the boy's mouth to keep him from talking.

"Looks like we got ourselves an annoying brat." The voice Sasuke hears turns out to be a strange yet human-like creature. He emerges from the trees. One side of him is white while the other side coats with coal. He has grassy green hair. There is no way this giant plant like creature could fit into the black robes!

Sasuke gets mad from the plant's insult that he frees himself from the hand and shouted," My uncle can beat the three of you, both hands tied!"

The luminous threesome begins to laugh. Sasuke stares wide-eyed with confusion.

"Sasuke! Run, now!" The vague but familiar voice commands. He doesn't have a choice. He doesn't know what to expect. There isn't any time to stop. Sasuke whirls his head around to see a large, vicious raven attacking him; the same raven that he has in his nightmares recently. He screams in agony but still keeps running. The bird follows him and mocks his every movement.

Sasuke blinked a few more times. He was back in reality. He snatched the bird flying towards him and mercilessly twisted its neck. The bird dropped to the ground, dead. Sasuke noticed the bird was a flaming bright red, not at all like the dark, profane raven he saw.

"Damn that Orochimaru," he muttered," he hits me so many times that I am starting to randomly see flashbacks now." He kicked the bird to the side and sat down on a bunch. Looking around, Sasuke noticed this placer seemed quite familiar. It had a crystal blue lake just like home and bunches and bunched of trees. It reminded him of… home.

Sasuke looked back at the ephemeral bird he had demolished. Its mouth hung wide open, as if it was importuning him to save it. Sasuke bent over to get a closer look. Suddenly, he involuntarily began to pick the bird up. He had succumbed to his conscience, to give the animal a grand funeral. He neatly dug a hole and gingerly placed the carcass inside. After it was buried, he presented his conscience his affection by making a miniature gravestone. Sasuke thought everything he did just a while ago was ridiculous.

The desolate park was getting dark. Sasuke sensed someone's presence and automatically stood straight up after from sitting on the soft grass. Then he finalized with a defensive stance. He spotted a young girl, who was probably aged ten to eleven. She stood at location as if she had been there the whole time, hindering someone or something. It was hard to see the girl, for no light casted a shadow. Sasuke did somehow see a small smile smeared onto the strange girl.

"So. You're Sasuke. We finally meet." The girl said. Sasuke was quite surprised when the girl spoke in a deeper tone than he though. He imagined squeaks, as high-pitched as mice. The size of the girl was somewhat comparable to a mouse, anyways.

"Who are you, and how do you know my name?" Sasuke asked, still in his stance. She laughed. Her laughter was like chimes, jingling in the wind.

"Ha, I have got to admit; you're actually a lot cuter in person." The girl giggled. Her menacing smile then flashed into an abominable frown.

"I have to go," said the girl coolly," and you should, too." Both the voice and the body faded into the black. Sasuke looked around, only to be found alone again. He relaxed back to his standing position.

Man Sasuke thought there will never be a regular day for me… will there? Why does something strange like this always happen to me? Ah, well. The girl is correct. I must leave.

Sasuke stole another glance at the gravestone of the bird he had eradicated before parting.

The vacant exorbitant room stretched as far as the eye could see. The furnishing was not where they should be. Sasuke peeked at the giant grandfather clock the towered high above him. It read 1:39. The area seemed to be so desolate for a moment that Sasuke was sure everyone had gone on to bed. Of course, his theory was proven wrong when a savage beast dashed through the room impetuously. It had dirt spiked fur and curved, pointed teeth. Its eyes seemed ravenous for hunting as its tail whipped past in the air. The wild thing seemed dog-like, with its shiny black nose and tongue lolling lazily out of its jaw. After a second, the animal seemed to have disappeared in midair.

"Oh Sasuke, back already?" called out a disgruntled voice.

"What happened here, Orochimaru?" Sasuke asked.

"Babysitting- Why do you ask?"

"Babysitting… A DOG?" Sasuke managed to choke out. His mind continued to calculate the strange mutt the whizzed by pass him with a baby. It imploded, and brought him back to Orochimaru's eloquent face.

"You haven't happened to see a rather large dog, have you?"

Sasuke's hand rose slowly, yet steadily, to the direction of where the animal went. Orochimaru closed his eyes and concentrated. Then he disappeared into a puff of smoke.

That night was the first night ever that Sasuke did not get knocked out. He had gotten so used to this daily routine that he had forgotten how tired he was.

I should sneak out more often thought Sasuke, exuberant that his head had no homicidal attacks.

Sasuke had begun to wonder if he even had his own room. Living with Orochimaru was different from living with any other human. Everyone in his so called group had to move out at least once a month to find a much safer haven for Orochimaru to plan his attacks.

While Sasuke pondered on that, he also wondered why Orochimaru was up so late. That thought began to bug him so he shook it off.

"Sorry about that." The thick smoke returned, revealing the paled skinned man holding a dog twice his size on a leash.

All Sasuke could do was blink at the sight.

"Oh, this little guy? I have to keep watch for him sometimes."

"Why do you call that thing 'little'?" Sasuke questioned. The height of the canine's head to toe reached half the height of Orochimaru. An average sized large dog would be half the size of that.

"Compared to its mother-"

"Oh…. Mother you say…"

"You would rather care for the baby."

"You're taking care of a dog when you could be training me?"

"Oh, how tempting," Orochimaru said sarcastically.

"… just forget what I said…" Sasuke spoke quickly," and your nightly knockouts made me so used to them that I don't even know where I sleep!"

"Would you like to be knocked out?"

Those were the last words Sasuke heard until everything seemed to slow down to a complete stop. The feeling he felt back at the park came back to him. Only, this feeling was dizzier than the last.

Orochimaru eyed Sasuke curiously as his head was held tightly between his hands. The boy began to sway a little until he gave and plummeted to the floor.

"Oh, never mind then." Orochimaru quickly and silently vanished from where he was standing.

An icy breeze whips in the air, whistling past Sasuke's ears. The terrible fear of the bird disappears, but only to be replaced by a new one. He leans against a thick tree trunk, sinking into a conversation just a few feet from him.

"You're a riot, "mutters the one called Kisame. Something about the blue skinned man makes Sasuke twitch.

"Ha!" chortles a rough voice," the kid's going to come back at any moment now, and what's your brilliant plan then?"

The rough voiced man is two colors, black and white. There is a split down the middle of his face so one side is white and the other black. Two yellow eyes glow with amusement after he speaks.

"What do you think?" a sketchy voice inquires. Sasuke sees that his uncle appearance has changed. Instead of smooth, silky hair always hanging down to his eyes, he has every string of hair pointing straight up. Sasuke can actually see his face and it's not pretty. Thick, deep scars drags down on his face. His eyes are blood red.

"I don't know, that's why we're asking you." A friendlier voice answers. It seems the two sides of the black and white colored man have different personalities. The white is like yin and the black is yang. It is a mystery of why he has grass green hair and yellow eyes.

"If I knew Sasuke, I'd say he'd gone home and never come back to this spot, Zetsu." Says Sasuke's uncle calmly," besides, he's a good boy. He would never disobey my orders."

Why is he talking to them, thought Sasuke, his heart beating rapidly.

"Mmm...," murmurs a voice behind him," Uchiha blood smells better than I could ever imagine. I wonder what it tastes like…"

"If Sasuke was still here, I'd know it anyway." Brags the uncle.

"Ahh!!!" Sasuke screams. In his haste, he trips over a spiky root and rolls down a steep hill.

"And that was Sasuke, wasn't it?" the uncle laughs nervously. He looks over to where Sasuke has fled.

"Ha! Nice one!" Zetsu cheers. He and Kisame high fives.

"So what about it, Madara? Would you like to join Akatsuki?" the shadow asks.

"Well…" the uncle called Madara replies," Sure. I just need you all to wait before that happens."

"Aw, c'mon Madara," Kisame complain," I'm the only one without a partner right now!"

"Why not be partners with Zetsu?"

"Hello? Zet and Su? Kisame points out.

"Right… I'm sure you'll find a better partner anyways. I'd rather do things alone." Madara leaps away so quickly that he was gone in a second.

"There's always Sasuke," Zetsu laughs.

"No… Fucking… Way." Kisame emphasized each word emotionlessly.

Everything around Sasuke was pitch black. He felt as if his head had been smashed open with a mallet. Warm air and the stench of putrid meat blew onto his face. He quickly stood up and gagged at that terrible smell. The mongrel was within inches of him.

"Ugh, gross." Sasuke groaned, disgusted. He pinched his nose together to prevent another waft of smell from attacking. He knew being evil would give you many flaws, but sleeping dogs was out of the question!

I don't remember Uncle Madara being asked to join Akatsuki. Sasuke thought I wasn't even there during that time… how did I see? Most importantly, why is the dog still here? And the Akatsuki…
Sasuke's mind was interrupted by soft tapping sound, footsteps. Blinding light glared from above after the noise ceased.

"Orochimaru," Sasuke spoke," tell me who else lives in this building, other than us two and Kabuto. "

There was silence.

"Well?" Sasuke continued.

Orochimaru swallowed. Then he shouted in the most bizarre tone ever," Great news Sasuke! We're moving again! Pack your things, we're heading out tomorrow!"

"Excuse me?"

"You're going to love the new place I've found!"

"Are you hiding something from me?"

"Ah… uh… It's past the one month mark, time to skedaddle!"

It really had been one month since they moved into this destroyed laboratory. Sasuke was forced to move to different places once a month to train in many different environments. Orochimaru usually used his move excuse on him if he tried to hide something in the area they are living in. It got pretty annoying for Sasuke once he'd lived with him for a year.

Well, anywhere would be better than this lab thought Sasuke, staring out the window. The whole area was way too cramped to train, anyways. Sure, it'd be fun to smash a bunch of machinery, but that would "cause trouble" for the neighbors. They finally got to depart from this hellhole.

What have I gotten myself into? Sasuke thought. It's like I'm in a circus. He folded his multiple matching outfits into neat folded squares. Then he placed them into his briefcase. After that, he puts on his emergency tie and suit, so he could be camouflaged with the surrounding outside.

"My my Sasuke, don't we look dashing?" Orochimaru came in wearing diva sunglasses, a pink frilly blouse, followed by a long skirt with matching shoes.

Sasuke averted the disgusting disguise without a word. The worst thing he had on was a giant yellow sunflower hat with a pink flower attached to it. A disturbing feeling rose through him when Orochimaru spoke again.

"So we're ready to go?"

"Orochimaru, could you dress as your gender for once every time we move out?"

"What? But I like this disguise!"

"Yeah, well, people are going to look at us and jump to the wrong conclusions!"

"Uh, hello? I have the perfect hair for It anyways." Orochimaru swept back his long black hair to the side," Kabuto, come. You too, Madeline," Orochimaru said the last word coldly.

"Madeline?" Sasuke turned to see Kabuto and a woman in the shadows in deep embrace," Who is that woman? I've never seen her in my life before!"

Orochimaru laughed," Oh Sasuke! You're so hilarious! That's my cousin, sadly. I thought I had no other relatives. Sadly, I was wrong."

Sasuke walked off before he could reach any more details about Kabuto and Madeline.