[So sorry about the delay to update, in my second year of college and am on a full time schedule, plus I'm lazy. Well today is my 19th birthday and I felt like updating so please be nice and make it a happy bday and review please!!! No Flames….]

A light breeze rustled the leaves in the forest of Kohona. Leaves and dust shifted as the wind disturbed them. Joining them was a few strands of pitch black silky hair. Sasuke Uchiha stood on one leg, his other leg bent, foot pressing against his supporting leg. His hands were in a jutsu formation, his eyes closed, the only signs of him being alive was the breath leaving and entering his nostrils. He was focusing his attention, his energy, his concentration, and his chakra. His hair was shifted again by the wind, beads of sweat traveling down the thin hairs, reaching their ends and falling to the ground. The sun was a merciless caretaker of the world, thankfully the young Uchiha was able to stand the rays due to his excessive clothing, though it was causing his body heat fatigue.

He stayed statue still for so long that tiny birds landed near him, pecking at the ground to gather food to last them their short lives. Nearby two squirrels chased around a tree, thinking the stone-like figure nearby was no more than just that. Finally, Sharinghan-blessed onyx eyes flashed open, between the fingers forming the hand-sign a small flicker of light shone, growling rapidly by the millisecond. To the naked eye it was a quick, messy beam of fire, but to those who watched carefully and slowly, one would see the image of a fiery bird forming as it was shot out of his hands. The fireball left a trail of blackened dirt, the stench of burning chemicals left in its wake. A loud hissing noise could be heard as it traveled down the clearing, he watched with his gifted eyes as the attack traveled a long distance, a very long distance. The fire screamed as it flew at incredible speeds, finally hitting its target of a rock wall. All that was left was a large crater in the mountainside. Though the only important thing to Sasuke was that he had hit the target he had set, a scarecrow made of discarded straw and hay, sitting more than five miles from where he stood.

He shoved his hands into his pockets, walking away with his head down, as if he had not just performed the great feat for a student of his age. He was by the greatest student in the school. But neither his peers or his professors new of his talent. As far as they were concerned he was a letdown, for Sasuke hid his abilities, not wanting the same fate that had come upon his brother's shoulders. Making his way back to the more populated part of the village, he set out to go to a herbalists' shop, he needed to restock on his special mix of herbs that he used to sedate himself. As long as he told the shopkeeper that he was running errands for his parents for religious ceremonies he could get away with it. This was partly true but he secretly kept a few ounces for himself. If he was halfway out of it, his abilities could not possibly be found out and he could live his life without being tugged around like a ragdoll as his brother was. Not only that but he would be expected to become Itachi's little clone. A virtual copy of his elder brother, expected to be perfect and without flaw. But he himself knew the truth, and that was that he could never live up to that expectation, he did not even want to try, for most of all he feared the rejection and the anguish that would accompany failure.

Passing by rice farmers with their straw hats that covered their eyes, wearing their flimsy clothing and sandals, their oxen or mules pulling their wooden wagons full of baskets packed with the staple food of the region; The Uchiha met their eyes. They either looked at him with disgust or turned away. They judged him before they even knew him. This was the life he lived, he could never escape it, not until there was no longer blood in his veins or breath in his chest.

X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X

"Mother, I brought you more incense." The young man walked in, his footfalls heavy on the wooden floors. He removed his footwear before walking in onto the well kept flooring of his lifetime home. He set the package on the counter, slipping a few sticks out, pushing them against the bottom of his arm as he walked cooly out of the kitchen towards his bedroom. He was becoming too awake, too aware of his surroundings…he needed the sedation…the depressor of his powers. He could live with being a letdown or a disappointment, but never as a failure. He still passed his tests, even when trying to hide his incredible intellect he still made the top five percent of his class. He would have to try harder to stay under the radar. Lighting a fire between his forefinger and his thumb he lit the small pile of herbs in his hand, only making them hot enough to produce an aromatic, sweet smelling smoke. Bringing it up to his nostrils he took a deep breath in until all the smoke had been inhaled into his sinuses.

Within moments he could have been prodded with a red-hot poker and not have felt much more than a bee sting. Stepping outside onto the wrap-around porch, he stepped next to the edge overlooking the decorative pond and held his hands out, rubbing them together as the bits of smoldering herbs escaped into the evening wind. He watched the small specks fly away, some making only as far away as the water to be picked at by the brightly colored koi fish, others making it higher off the ground, flying away to never been seen again. Behind him he could hear his mothers voice, calling him to come to dinner. He heard his fathers' deep, gruff voice giving his mothers orders as he had always done. He watched his uniformed brother walking through the Uchiha district towards their home, a smile on his features as he greeted the other clan members. Whether the smile was real or just for show was a mystery to Sasuke, but at that moment he could spend the night laying in his bed just thinking about that but never come up with a real answer or solution. Turning around he lethargically walked around the edge of the house, meeting his brother in time for them both to enter the dining room where a thick vegetable soup with a base of rice was being served, the scalding steam rising from their already filled bowls.

Ripping apart a roll on the side of his bowl, Sasuke dipped it into the soup. The conversation taking place between his brother and his parents was no more than a dull noise to his ears. Colors blurred if they were too far from his eyes. No one seemed to notice. He easily answered any questions directed towards him with grunts or nods. To his parents he was just an exhausted, sleep-deprived teenager. Only Itachi had a slight idea of what he had really been doing.

This might have seemed like a miserable, isolated existence, and it was not that Sasuke did not wish to be normal, to be active within his family gatherings. But the voices inside his head would not leave him alone unless he was drugged. With the blessing of his abilities came the curse of those demons inside of him that would drive him to insanity. He sacrificed having a family, having friends, and feeling loved and cared for, in return for some peace inside of his head.