Author's Note: Oh my gosh, you guys! Seventeen reviews, and just for the prologue?! I'm honored, I truly am. You all are the best. *hugs all of your faces*

Originally, Naruto was going to show up in this chapter, but the story kind of ran away with me a bit and before I knew it, this chapter was nine pages long. So he'll probably show up at the end of the next chapter. And smut is coming soon as well, I promise. ;) In the meantime, have more of the Uchiha brothers.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the rights to Naruto, unfortunately, but I do own this adorable Naruto plushie! :3 This is a work of fanfiction, and I derive no profit from it whatsoever.

WARNINGS: Mild violence, mild gore, and the hunting and killing of an animal. (I in no way condone harm to animals of any sort in real life, however.) There's a swear word or two in here as well.

And now, on to the chapter.


Sasuke crouched silently atop a thick, sturdy branch in the middle of the forest, his body a tense coil of energy. The younger Uchiha concentrated hard on not moving or making the slightest of sounds, lest he scare off the prey he'd been tracking through the woods for the better part of the day. He steadied his breathing the way Itachi had taught him to, so that his breath didn't stir even the smallest of leaves nearby.

Dark eyes stared intently down at the large cougar currently below him, cold and calculating as Sasuke debated on the best strategy for attack. The cougar was contentedly munching on the remains of a fresh kill – a fawn, perhaps, from what Sasuke could see of the bones. Its tail flicked back and forth in contentment, and Sasuke, with his keen eyesight, could see that the animal's muscles were relaxed. The cougar was aware of its surroundings, as all animals were, but it wasn't ready for a fight at the moment. It was the perfect opportunity to strike.

Sasuke had been hunting the cougar through the woods since sunup, tracking it by its prints in the soft dirt. He'd nearly scared it off earlier, when he'd accidentally stepped on a stick and the resulting crack had alerted the cougar to his presence. It was a stroke of good luck that the younger Uchiha was able to find its trail again. Now, as the late afternoon sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, Sasuke prepared to make his move.

"When you come home tonight, Sasuke, bring me the paw of a cougar. Cougars are the most fearsome and deadly predators in these woods. If you are able to accomplish this task, then you will be ready to move forward with your training." Itachi's words from this morning echoed in Sasuke's ears. The younger Uchiha shifted his position ever so slightly, being extremely careful not to make the tiniest bit of noise. He gripped his sharp wooden knife tightly in his right hand. It was a crude weapon, but for Sasuke's purposes, it would do.

It was vital that he succeeded at this task. He could not afford to fail. The younger Uchiha could just imagine the disappointed look on Itachi's face if he were to come home without the cougar's paw. However, the younger Uchiha's main motivation wasn't what Itachi would think. Rather, Sasuke's own desires were what motivated him now – namely, the desire to become strong and surpass Itachi. The older Uchiha was an expert in just about everything, from strategy to fighting. Not once in Sasuke's six years of training had he come even close to his brother's level of skill. Being second best bothered him greatly, much more than he'd ever let on to anyone, least of all Itachi.

Sasuke took a deep breath and leaped from the tree branch, thrusting the hand clutching the knife forward.

The unsuspecting cougar let out a surprised grunt as Sasuke landed in a neat crouch on its back. A second later, Sasuke reached forward and plunged the wooden knife straight into its right eye.

The cougar roared in pain, effectively scattering a flock of birds out of a nearby tree. Blood dripped liberally from its eye. Its back muscles rippled violently, and in one swift movement, the animal managed to buck Sasuke off of it. The younger Uchiha barely managed to land on his feet, watching as the cougar shook its head to try and dislodge the knife. The action did the creature no good; the weapon was firmly lodged in its eye. Sasuke rolled to the side as the wounded cougar lashed out at him with lightning quick claws. He very nearly gored to death; the cougar's claws had come so close to Sasuke's face that he'd felt a brief puff of air across his cheeks as they passed him by. Luckily, however, the younger Uchiha managed to escape serious harm.

Sasuke moved swiftly around to the cougar's right, where the animal was now blinded. He took advantage of the split second he had before the cougar turned around, leaping forward and using the full weight of his thirteen-year old body to pin the creature down. The wounded animal roared again, struggling to free itself. Sasuke knew that, despite its injury, the cougar had enough strength to buck him off again. He probably wouldn't get another chance to kill it if that happened. It was now or never.

The younger Uchiha grunted as he reached forward and grasped the animal firmly around its neck, while keeping it pinned down with his legs. He then broke the creature's neck in one swift, sharp movement. There was a clean snap of broken bone, and then the cougar's body went limp beneath Sasuke. The younger Uchiha rolled off of it, breathing heavily, and smirked up at the sky. He had done it.

After a few minutes of getting his breath back, Sasuke sat up and yanked his wooden knife out of the dead cougar's eye. The weapon came free with a sickening squelch, allowing blood and other nameless, disgusting bodily fluids to pool from the destroyed socket onto the ground. Sasuke frowned slightly in disgust before lifting up one of the creature's forelegs and getting to work on cutting off its paw.

About half a mile away, Itachi was hidden in a tree, his body carefully concealed behind the dense web of its leaves and branches. Had there been another person nearby, only Itachi's eyes would have been visible to them – and what terrible eyes they were! The older Uchiha's gaze was blood red, with three black tomoes swirling almost lazily around small pupils. Upon seeing his younger brother's triumph against the cougar, however, Itachi's eyes slowly faded back to their normal black. He smiled slightly, a rarity on his normally stoic face. Well done, otouto. Looks like I didn't need to step in after all. With that thought, Itachi rose gracefully to his feet and leapt swiftly from branch to branch back through the forest. He had to be home before Sasuke was, lest the boy realize his older brother had followed him. There would be no end of trouble if Sasuke found that out.


Ever since the tender age of seven, Itachi had been training Sasuke to be an expert Uchiha assassin. Many of the skills the younger Uchiha would need – moving around quietly without being seen, being able to think up a strategy on the fly, and killing a mark quickly and efficiently, for starters – were taught when the two brothers went hunting in the thick woods surrounding their house. "Assassinating a human is, in principle, very similar to killing an animal," Itachi had said. "In both cases, you must use strategy, stealth, and speed to take down your target. You must make the kill quickly, so that the target cannot escape."

Itachi took Sasuke out hunting two or three times a week, depending, of course, on the weather and season. Since the two lived so far away from civilization, they relied heavily on wild game for food. Itachi also kept a small plot of cultivated land near the house, where he grew vegetables and berries. Even before he was old enough to train, a toddler-aged Sasuke had been helping his brother pull weeds and pickle the crops for the winter.

Sasuke learned quickly, driven at first by the desire to please his older brother. The boy displayed high intelligence and a good capability for analytical thought, which made Itachi immensely proud. Sasuke was definitely an Uchiha, through and through.

By the time he was eight, Sasuke could leap from branch to branch among the treetops quickly and gracefully, allowing him to traverse the forest with ease. When he was ten, Sasuke was trapping small game, such as rabbits and squirrels, in traps he'd made himself. At eleven, Sasuke was able to create serviceable weapons of all sorts, from knives to a bow, out of natural materials such as wood, bone, and stone. At twelve, Sasuke could hit a deer in the head from twenty paces with a bow and arrow.

When he wasn't out hunting with Itachi, Sasuke's days were filled with training of a different sort. His brother taught him taijutsu, and they would spend hours at a time sparring behind the house until Sasuke was able to master a move to Itachi's satisfaction. The younger Uchiha was quizzed on how he would escape a number of dangerous situations, or on what strategy he would use to assassinate a target under a given set of circumstances. He learned math, reading, and writing. What little Itachi knew of demon chakra and behavior, he taught to Sasuke.

Itachi was not an easy teacher, though this wasn't immediately apparent. Not once had he ever gotten outwardly angry or even so much as yelled at Sasuke, though the younger Uchiha might have preferred it if he had. What Itachi did instead was much worse. If Sasuke failed to master something to Itachi's satisfaction, his older brother would look at him with eyes so intense that it felt as if the older Uchiha was drilling a hole straight through his younger brother's soul. It was the sort of gaze that didn't really tell Sasuke how Itachi was feeling at the moment, but nevertheless conveyed an utmost sense of disappointment. Sasuke felt that entire generations of Uchiha were looking at him in disappointment through those pitch-black eyes. Just by looking at him, Itachi told Sasuke "You are not only disappointing me by failing to work hard enough, but you are also shaming the memories of our parents, who died so that we would be safe." It was enough to make Sasuke redouble his efforts until he had practically fainted from exhaustion. Such was his desire to make Itachi proud, and to honor the memories of his kinsmen.

When Sasuke was practicing taijutsu, Itachi would leave him alone for an hour or two in order to let him figure out a new move on his own. After that time, the older Uchiha would come back to see how Sasuke was progressing. If Itachi felt that his younger brother hadn't improved or wasn't trying hard enough, he would say something along the lines of "Cousin Obito had mastered that kick when he was a year younger than you." Or, "By the time she was your age, Cousin Kyoko was able to break a log that size completely in two." Sasuke knew Itachi was really disappointed, however, if he mentioned Cousin Shisui during training sessions. Sasuke had no idea what exactly Shisui had been to his older brother, only that Itachi had apparently looked up to and admired him greatly. Asking about Shisui was the fastest way to get Itachi to change the subject away from the Uchiha Clan, even more so than asking about their parents.

However, it wasn't as if Itachi was an overly cruel teacher. When Sasuke succeeded at something, he would be met with a hand gently ruffling his hair, a gentle pat on the back, or even, sometimes, a tiny smile. These little signs, which let Sasuke know that his older brother was proud of him and his accomplishments, kept him working hard toward ever greater successes.

As he grew older, however, just making Itachi proud was no longer enough incentive for Sasuke. He was becoming increasingly more irritated at how Itachi always seemed to be a step ahead of him, no matter how hard Sasuke worked. He was always able to defeat Sasuke when they sparred. He never missed a target when they practiced throwing kunai. He was always able to jump a little higher, run a little faster, fight for a little longer. Sasuke felt as if just trying to get to his older brother's level was like trying to push their house to the top of Mt. Fuji. Actually surpassing Itachi would be a superhuman feat.

So there was an extra little bounce in his step that evening as Sasuke carried the cougar's paw back home, kept snugly in a pouch around his waist. This had been the first task that the younger Uchiha been assigned to do alone, without Itachi somewhere nearby, watching him with disapproving eyes. And not only had Sasuke succeeded, he hadn't sustained any injuries and would be home in time for dinner. He smirked slightly. Itachi would definitely be quite shocked to see that Sasuke had become so capable.

The door to their small home was cracked open, and the smell of cooking meat wafted in the air outside. Sasuke's stomach grumbled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten much besides a few handfuls of nuts and berries throughout the day. The younger Uchiha knocked on the door to let Itachi know he'd returned, then walked inside. It wasn't hard to find him, seeing as the house's interior was made up of only one large room. Sasuke's older brother was currently crouched over the fireplace between their two beds, turning some deer meat on a spit over the flames.

Itachi looked at his younger brother and nodded once in greeting. Only the curious look on his face let Sasuke know that he was interested in the results of the task he had assigned. Without a word, Sasuke reached into the pouch at his waist and pulled out the cougar's paw, holding it up with the pride and reverence people normally reserved for priceless jewels and family heirlooms.

For just a moment, Sasuke could have sworn he'd seen his brother's lips quirk upwards, just a bit. It might have been a trick of the firelight, however, because the younger Uchiha blinked, and Itachi's face was as stoic as ever. "You've done well, Sasuke," he said quietly, and Sasuke heard the pride in his brother's voice. "Killing a cougar requires skill and cunning, two qualities which you have proven to possess. It is time for your training to progress."

"So are you going to teach me some new fighting style?" Sasuke asked, curious to know what Itachi had in store for him.

"No. Tomorrow, we are going to Konohagakure."


There was a little town, if you could call it that, about a day and a half's walk from the Uchiha brothers' cottage. It was really more of a large clearing, where people gathered in front of the little wooden shacks they lived in so that they could trade with the families who farmed nearby. None of those families lived close to Itachi and Sasuke, however. The Uchiha brothers were the ones who found it a necessity to hide away in the densest part of the woods. Still, Itachi had been going to the town once a month for as long as Sasuke could remember. After all, there were some things that you just couldn't get from the wilderness, such as soap and material for clothing.

Itachi traded for everything they needed with meat and hides from the animals they hunted, or, if it was summertime, fresh vegetables and berries. The older Uchiha had a way with people who asked questions, Sasuke noticed. He was just pleasant enough, just charming enough, and just vague enough about details that nobody ever bothered to find out more about the two Uchiha brothers. The town's women had cooed and fussed over Sasuke when he was younger, and sometimes slipped him treats. The women still fussed over Sasuke now, actually, though they talked less about how cute he was and more about what a handsome young man he was becoming. Sasuke could have done without the cooing and fussing, but he didn't mind the treats.

Konohagakure had always been a mysterious place to Sasuke, as different from the little town he and Itachi visited as night was to day. He had never been there before, but Itachi had told him stories of what the city had been like before Danzou. As a child, it had seemed a grand place, full of excitement and adventure. Itachi told him that during Namikaze Minato's reign, Konohagakure was a worldwide center for learning and commerce. The city's tall buildings and domed roofs had gleamed like hundreds of jewels in the sun, and colorful banners hung from the windows of shops and buildings. People could walk the streets without fear, exchanging pleasant greetings and conversation as they went along.

That had all changed after Danzou had taken control of Konoha. He had walled off the best parts of Konohagakure for the demons, basically telling the humans of Konoha that he didn't give a fuck about whether they lived or died. Now, according to the traders in town who had been to the capital at some point in the past ten years, the humans who had formerly lived comfortable lives in Konohagakure were forced to live as poor beggars and thieves around its edges. The only people who made any kind of living for themselves were those who provided luxuries and goods for the demons.

Sasuke wasn't sure what he would find in Konohagakure. What exactly was Itachi's point in taking him to that place, the former home of their once-great clan? A mixture of excitement and nerves rolled around in his gut at the thought of actually going. It resulted in Sasuke's staying awake long into the night, despite his exhaustion from hunting earlier.

The next morning, Sasuke and Itachi dressed in the plain, black clothing and broad-brimmed rice paper hats commonly worn by human farmers and peasants. Since Konohagakure was too far away to walk, their first stop was the small town where they traded for supplies. Once there, they would need to hitch a ride with someone who had a cart, and was heading to Konohagakure. People often transported goods to and from the capital city, since the demons that lived there offered the best chances of turning a profit.

As they walked along, Itachi went over the rules and behaviors he expected Sasuke to conform to during the trip. This served to thoroughly aggravate the younger Uchiha, though in true Uchiha style, the only way Sasuke showed his displeasure was in a slight clenching of his jaw and a more pronounced coolness in his gaze. Why did Itachi insist on treating him like a child, when he'd proven himself a capable fighter in his own right?

"You are not to leave my side while we are in Konohagakure, Sasuke."

"Okay."

"Do not speak or make prolonged eye contact with anyone."

"Alright."

"You need to follow my lead and obey every order I give you without question."

"Hn."

"Sasuke." Itachi reached out and grabbed his younger brother's arm, effectively bringing them both to a stop. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yes," Sasuke gritted out between clenched teeth, keeping his gaze fixed on the dirt at his feet. "Don't talk to anyone, don't leave your side, and do whatever you tell me to. I get it, Itachi, I'm not stupid."

Itachi frowned down at his younger brother, and let out the slightest of sighs. "I'm only trying to protect you, otouto," he said. "I'm taking a huge risk just bringing you to Konohagakure. I just want to make sure you'll be safe - "

"I'm not five years old anymore," Sasuke grunted, wrenching his arm out of the other's grip. "I can take care of myself now." The younger Uchiha stormed on ahead down the path. After a moment, Itachi followed, still frowning at Sasuke's back.

They arrived in town to find an old woman hitching a pair of mules up to a wagon piled high with trade goods. "Excuse me, madam," Itachi said politely to her. "Are you by any chance going to Konohagakure?"

The old lady narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the two Uchiha brothers. "So what if I am?" She replied. "What's it to you?"

The woman had good reason to be wary. Since the demons never left Konohagakure, no one bothered to keep up and maintain the roads that connected the various parts of the nation to each other. Bandits and hitchhikers were a common problem, lurking along the crumbling roads or taking advantage of a stranger's kindness. These people would slit a trader's throat at a moment's notice, and take any goods for themselves.

"Well, I just thought that perhaps you'd like some company? An elderly lady like yourself, traveling the roads alone, would make a fine target for bandits," Itachi said, smooth and unruffled as ever.

The woman grunted as she placed a bridle over one of the mules' noses. "I ain't ever had no trouble before." She gestured to the seat of the wagon, where a polished wooden bow lay next to a stack of arrows. "I ain't afraid to use that, and I'm still a helluva shot, even after all these years."

"I can make it worth your while," Itachi said, reaching into the pouch at his waist and pulling out a small cloth bag. "There are some preserved vegetables here from our garden. Surely you could use a bit of extra food."

The old lady still looked suspicious. "I dunno," she said. "Who the hell are you two, anyway? You ain't traders, that's for damn sure. What's your business in Konohagakure?"

"I'm Byakuya, and this is Renji," Itachi said, with a gesture to himself and Sasuke. "We have relatives in Konohagakure that we haven't seen in a while, and the two of us thought we'd check in with them."

The old woman's eyes seemed to go strangely blank then, as if she were looking at something beyond the two Uchiha brothers. Sasuke had noticed that people did that sometimes, when Itachi talked to them. He had no idea how his brother did that, or even how to ask him about it.

The old woman was silent for a moment, apparently thinking Itachi's proposal over. Finally, she said, "Alright. Get in the wagon."

"Thank you very much, madam," Itachi said with a slight bow towards the woman. He and Sasuke clambered up into the wagon, making themselves as comfortable as possible between the piles of baskets and crates. The old woman got up to her seat at the front of the wagon a minute later. She clicked gently at the mules, snapped the reins, and they were off.


The ride to Konohagakure was uneventful. The old woman didn't talk, except to call out the occasional word of direction or encouragement to the mules. Itachi and Sasuke didn't talk much either. When the sun was at its highest point in the sky, the two brothers ate a brief lunch of some dried berries and venison Itachi had brought. Eventually, lulled by the rhythmic movements of the wagon, Sasuke drifted off to sleep.

He awoke a few hours later by a rough shake on his shoulder, courtesy of Itachi. "Come, otouto. We're here," he muttered. Sasuke yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, then climbed out of the wagon after his brother.

They had come to a stop outside a small cluster of wooden stalls, where a variety of wares were displayed. A small group of men had come forward to examine the wagon. "Brought us a new load of stuff, eh Grandma?" One of them asked, with a look in his eye like that of a hungry person brought before a rich feast. "Let us help you unload that."

"Ah, thank you," the old lady said, climbing down from the front of the wagon. "You two," she said sharply, pointing at Itachi and Sasuke. "If you ain't traders, I got no more business with you. Go on an' git, before there's trouble."

Itachi nodded and tossed the cloth bag of food he'd offered earlier at the old woman, who caught it with surprising ease. "For your trouble," he said.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was examining what was available for sale. The stands were loaded with all sorts of interesting metal contraptions he had never seen before. Even the things that were quite obviously rusting pieces of junk fascinated him.

"Hey kid, you lookin' to buy?" One of the men who had offered to help unload the old woman's wagon rushed to Sasuke's side. "You wouldn't believe some o' the stuff them demons throw away. Lot of it requires electricity, so it won't do ya much good, but I've got plenty o' gems here. For example," the man gestured to a square-shaped piece of metal with little knobs on the front of it. "This here's called a radio, and the batteries've still got some juice – "

"He's not interested." Itachi had suddenly appeared at Sasuke's shoulder, which he laid a firm hand on. "Come, otouto." He steered his younger brother away from the stalls, and towards the center of the city.


Over the years, Konohagakure grew to be a faded gray memory in Sasuke's mind. The outskirts of the city, the only part of it humans like Itachi and himself were allowed in, was a dismal and ruined place. Beggars squatted in towering buildings of crumbling metal and concrete. Children fought with dogs in the street for scraps of food. Women begged for aid to anyone who passed by, only to be roughly shoved away. The place reeked of sickness, of hunger, and of death.

However, one part of the once-great capital of Konoha remained in Sasuke's memory, remaining clear and bright as a summer's day over the course of time. It was the short glimpse he'd gotten that day of the center of Konohagakure, that opulent demon city which was walled off from the crumbling human sector.

Around the center of the city was a wall of smooth, thick concrete that towered far over Sasuke's head. All around the top of the wall was a row of long, pointed metal spikes, in order to deter any humans who might attempt to scale it. At the wall's northern side was a great gate of fine wood. Demon guards armed with rifles and grenades perched on high steel platforms above this gate, keeping a stern and watchful eye out for any trouble from below.

Then, there was the royal demon palace. Its many pointed spires and towers were the one thing that could just barely be seen over the great wall, and they were easily the grandest sight that Sasuke had ever seen in all of his thirteen years. Each individual tower, spire, and minaret was made of fine metals and stone – gold, silver, bronze, marble, obsidian, and more, some of which Sasuke couldn't name. And they all shone and sparkled and glimmered with a brilliance to rival the sun itself. The palace was a symbol of pure power. It put Sasuke in mind of the teeth of a great and beautiful beast, waiting to swallow the humans who milled about on the other side of the wall below.

At seeing the palace – or part of it, at least – the younger Uchiha was struck by the terrible injustice of it all. It was unfair that the demons got to live surrounded by such decadence and beauty while the humans starved and died in the streets. It wasn't right for the demons to enjoy all the benefits and comforts of modern technology, while Itachi and Sasuke were reduced to killing woodland animals with crude weapons for sustenance. But the worst part for Sasuke, the part that burned so strongly throughout his body to the point that it almost felt like a physical pain, was that somewhere inside that palace was the Demon Prince himself, Uzumaki Naruto, the last remaining legacy of the great King Minato. The Prince was probably gorging himself on fine delicacies, and lounging on pillows of silk and satin, surrounded by a horde of lovely courtesans. Naruto had to know what Danzou was doing to his human subjects, how terribly the bastard regent abused and neglected them. He might even know that Danzou had massacred almost all of the Uchiha.

But Uzumaki Naruto didn't care about any of that. There had never, to either Itachi's or Sasuke's knowledge, been even the slightest stirring of unease or discontent from inside the demon's part of Konohagakure, let alone from the Prince. And why should there be? Everyone inside lived peaceful and happy lives, uncaring of the humans they had once regarded as friends.

When Itachi and Sasuke left Konohagakure, Sasuke took away a bright and burning hatred, one much more intense than he had ever felt before. It served as a burning fuel inside of him, pushing him to train and to learn everything he could even harder than before.

For Sasuke hated all of the demons with a furious passion now, every single one of them. And he had an especial hatred for the great and useless Demon Prince Naruto.


Author's Note: Writing Itachi is hard. He's such a difficult character to get just right. I read a lot of the lovely and talented dmnq8's work in order to try and get him just right. She writes the best damn Itachi ever.

This weekend, I'll be taking my annual sojourn to Somerset, New Jersey for AnimeNEXT! I'll be there all three days (Friday-Sunday), cosplaying as Tsunade. If any of you lovely readers are also attending and want to meet up, let me know! I love meeting Naruto fans.

Since I'm a notoriously slow editor, I'd appreciate the help of a beta reader in order to help me edit and get the chapters out faster. If you or someone you know is willing to beta read for me, shoot me a PM please?

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