Chapter 2

6:30 am. Time to get up. I walk to the kitchen and finish the meal from the night before. The rice is cold and the vegetables don't hold too well overnight, but it's enough to get me through to the evening. After that I go over to the faucet to wash my face. Such a wretched excuse for a sink it is. Rusted and hardly any water comes through at all, and it's probably not very clean, either. I wash my face and leave the apartment at 6:44. I run for five kilometers. I'm back by 7:03(1), at which time I shower for three minutes. Then I dry off and change into my school uniform.

At 7:15, I leave for school. I tend to walk at a slow pace and the school is quite a distance from my apartment, so I have to leave that early. Once again, my hands are in my pockets and my head is lowered as I walk. I usually arrive for school at around 8:22(2), but traffic makes it vary.

I walk into school and straight towards my first period class. Girls in my school seem to have… an obsession with me. I try to walk in as discreetly as possible but it's impossible to avoid some girl or other coming up and annoying the living shit out of me.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Oh God, not her…

"Sasuke-kun, wait up!" shouts a tall, blonde haired girl. Her name is Yamanaka Ino, and she's a sort of queen of the Uchiha Sasuke fanclub, also known as the bane of my existence. Sometimes I wonder who I hate more – Yamanaka or Itachi. Of course, I say nothing and keep walking. Maybe she'll thinks it's actually not me and go away.

Unfortunately, she doesn't. I know she wouldn't anyway, because she has the same first period as I do, but there's always hope.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun," she says in the most cheerful voice she can muster. I remain silent. "How was your evening last night?"

I wonder why she speaks like that when she's near me. Always so proper, so mechanical. Like she's playing some sort of part. I suppose it's to make her seem proper and attractive, but it's disgusting. I've heard her chat with her little friends, and it's never like that. It's barely intelligible, actually. After a minute with no response, she starts talking again.

"Well my evening was actually wonderful. I went to the mall, and then I…" she goes on and on about things I wasn't listening to nor did I want to listen to. "…which is why I wanted to know if you want to go on a date with me tonight, Sasuke-kun," she asked.

Finally, I respond.

"No," I say, and walk into our first period class, ignoring the look of despair on her face.

I walk into the classroom and take my seat. It's alphabetical order, so I'm near the back corner of the classroom.

I sit in my seat at 8:29. Class begins in one minute. I lean over my desk, my hands folded and support my head by my nose and covering my mouth. I glance around the room. God, everyone in here is a bother in some way or another. Where would I even begin? It's alphabetical order, so I suppose I'll begin there.

Aburami Shino. Actually, he's not that bad. Keeps to himself mostly, and doesn't talk too much. He's probably the least annoying of them all, but he does have his quirks. For one, he's very interested in bugs. But that's not really of any concern, it's just a hobby, I suppose.

Akamichi Chouji. He's a fat idiot, basically. Hangs out with Nara Shikamaru a lot. Doesn't bother me too much though because I don't have to see him too much.

Haruno Sakura. I have two words to describe that bitch: fuck her. If it weren't for her, I'd graduate with the highest marks in the class. Besides that, she's an annoying person. Cocky and conceded about her grades. I would truly love to kill her. According to Ino, she's Yamanaka's rival in love for me. I don't quite believe that, though, because she doesn't talk to me the way Yamanaka does. She doesn't even talk to me if she doesn't have to, except for when she feels the need to gloat. She does sometimes look at me during class, but usually it's a cocky glance towards me when she gets a question correct. I try to ignore it, but it burns me up inside that she does better than me. Even worse is that she's actually good looking. Aside from the peculiar pink hair that tends to burn my retinas, she's a very attractive woman. Breasts, hips, curves, she has all of them, and she's not too heavy or light. Her face is beautiful as well and her green eyes… well, it's not as if I'm ever going to date her (or anyone), but she is, objectively, beautiful. I don't know why, exactly, but it kills me inside that she's so attractive and is beating me in school.

Hyuuga Hinata. She's a small, timid, shy girl who doesn't talk a lot. Heir to the fortune of an ancient and rich family, the Hyuuga. She doesn't have to worry about school because her father can get her into any university she chooses.

Hyuuga Neji. Cousin of Hyuuga Hinata. Tall, jet black hair, with piercing gray eyes. If I'm not mistaken, there's some friction between Hinata and he. He seems to have some sort of grudge against her. I've heard it mentioned that his father and Hinata's father don't get along. He's third in the class, behind Haruno and myself. He's a pretty reserved guy, so, like Aburami, he tends to not bother me.

Inuzuka Kiba. Loud, dog loving, annoying asshole. Raucous and boisterous, and very conceded. I really hate to be near him.

Nara Shikamaru. Lazy idiot. Actually, I've heard rumors that his IQ is through the roof. But his marks in school are average, nothing special. He's pals with Akamichi.

Rock Lee. I'm not sure which is his first and last name, actually. He's another loud, annoying idiot. Likes to fight, spar. He and Uzumaki are always taking me on after school.

Tenten. I don't know her family name, and I haven't heard much about her. Just an average girl.

And then there's Uzumaki Naruto, the loudest idiot of them all. Of course he would have to sit right behind me. He's always talking big about he's stronger than I am, but he's never proven it in practice. After school, once we're off school grounds, he or Lee usually try to challenge me to a fight. Neither have won yet. It's a bit of an annoyance, but it does give me a chance to test my fighting skills. Uzumaki, I'll admit, has some clever moves when he fights, but a few tricks isn't enough to beat true fighting talent, and none can match an Uchiha. Rock Lee is a better fighter, but his technique is more rudimentary and abrupt than the Uchiha style of combat. He almost bothers me more than Haruno, though. To begin, he's like Yamanaka in that he never shuts up. He always has something to say. Past that, he never stops bothering me to fight him again. It's always, "Fight me, Sasuke. I know I can win this time. Or are you afraid I actually will?" He never really convinces me to fight him, but he'll try most of the time to get in my path on the way home. Idiot.

And, then, lastly, Yamanaka Ino. I believe I already explained what a pest she is.

"Alright, let's begin class," says our teacher, a man named Iruka. He's just an average professor. "Today, we'll talk about limits…"(3)

The class goes by slowly. I've already read through all of my textbooks multiple times so I already understand all of the material. The class is simply a waste of time. I wish the school would just give me the tests to take already so I could leave this place.

Finally, the bell rang. As we were leaving class, I overhear Naruto talking to Iruka. "Iruka-sensei, are there any dojo around here where I could receive combat training?"

"Oh, Uzumaki. I suppose there's one or two… why do you want to learn to fight?" replies Iruka.

"Oh… no reason…" says Uzumaki. Iruka tells him about a dojo in the area and writes it down for him. As Uzumaki leaves the room, he shoots me a glare with a frown on his face. Whatever.

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Lunch. I do not eat, I never eat lunch. It's a waste of money. I eat in the morning and in the evening, I don't need any more than that. I used to sit in the lunchroom at a table by myself, but girls began to sit down next to me and talk incessantly about their worthless little lives. When I demanded they leave and they refused, I began to just sit in the library since I didn't eat anyway. I sit in there and do as much homework as I can. Occasionally, I see Haruno in the library, studying.

Today is one of those days. She's reading a large textbook whose title I can't see. When she looks up from her work at me, I realize that I've been staring at her angrily for quite a bit of time. I look away. I have trouble doing work while she's there, but conversely I have to work harder when she's there. I have to make sure I'm working harder than she is, always trying to beat her.

I resume my math work. Limit of (x2+x) / x as x goes to infinity… no limit. Limit of 3x3+2x2/x3 as x goes to infinity… 3. Limit of… I can't concentrate. All I can think about is her. Sitting there… learning… it makes me want to vomit.

"Ahem," Haruno clears her throat.

"What?" I say in the calmest voice I can produce.

"Why are you staring at me?"

Oh shit. I was staring at her again. Well, I'm not going to let her know she's right. Even about that.

"Hmph," I pick up my books and start to walk out of the library. Just as I'm about to get to the door she taps me on the shoulder. I turn around and face her.

"You got a problem with me or something?" she demands. I don't get it. She should know I have a problem with her, being ahead of me in the class and gloating over me when she gets good grades. I don't answer. I just turn back towards the door.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" she says as we pass through the doors. "You can't just stare at a person for twenty minutes and then just walk away. I want to know what your problem is – and why, for that matter."

"I have no problem with you," I lie. Is she really this thick?

"That's definitely not true. You weren't just staring at me in there. You were glaring. Is there some reason you hate me or are you just an asshole in general?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Haruno runs in front of me, forcing me to stop.

"Look, there's no reason you should be angry with me. I haven't done anything to you, I was just peacefully reading my book," she says, a fiery look blazing in her eyes.

"Why does this even matter to you?" I ask, bewildered. Honestly, I didn't think this was news to her.

"Because I don't want enemies," she says as she shoves an accusing finger in my face, "and I don't like it when people have irrational anger towards me. It pisses me off."

"Out of my way," I say, and slap her hand to the side and attempt to move forward.

"Don't just brush me off!" the pinkette yells, and, with her eyes closed, punches me square on the cheek.

The hit sends me reeling. I truly wasn't expecting that punch, which is why I didn't put a guard up. She's a lot stronger than she looks. It's amazing, she actually knocked me on the ground.

"What the hell?!" I shout, rubbing my cheek. My blood is boiling right now, but I try to keep my cool. It would be very bad if I started to attack her right now. No witnesses around during lunch, so it would just seem as if I tried to assault her and she fought back but lost. Besides, any sort of fighting is grounds for suspension, and that means my grades will be hindered. No, it's best to do nothing at the moment.

"Oh shit!" she says, worried. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to punch you! Well, not that hard at least. Are you alright?" She kneels down and tries to help.

"I'm fine, just get away from me," I say, brushing her aside. Great, now she's getting the drop on me in combat. Am I really that inferior to her?

As I'm walking away, I hear Haruno call to me from behind. "Wait!" she calls. "Let me take a look at your injuries!"

Finally, I snap. Turning around, I begin to shout at her.

"LOOK. Just leave me alone you little pink haired nuisance! I don't need your help. I didn't have a problem with you before, but I might now. What makes you even qualified to even look at injuries? Let me guess, you're just that smart. Screw medical school, you just know it all by glancing at textbooks! Just leave me be."

Finally, the damned girl is speechless. At last. I walk away, leaving her standing there, in the hallway, alone.

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After school is over, I leave the usual way. As I'm crossing the street, I pick my head up. This is usually around the area where Lee and Uzumaki try to ambush me. In an attempt to avoid the pointless exercise, I turn right into an alleyway.

"Uchiha Sasuke!" I hear a call from above as Rock Lee jumps down from a fire escape. He lands in front of me and raises his right arm while putting his left behind his back. It's his fighting style, apparently.

"I challenge you to one-on-one combat! Do you accept?" he says, half shouting.

I lift my head but say nothing. I look at him coldly.

"I will take that as a 'yes!' Prepare yourself, for here I come!" he says. This guy has the most ridiculous way of speaking. Prepare yourself, for here I come? That sounds so formal…

He charges at me. I have to hand it to him, he's very quick on his feet. I'm instantly falling back to my guard, trying to dodge or block his blows. A kick to my left, and fist to my right… I see his moves as if they were in slow motion. I dodge a high kick by ducking, while at the same time spinning around to the back of him. A few blows to his lower back make him take a knee, but he gets back up. He always gets back up.

"Now, get ready, Uchiha Sasuke," he says. Get ready for what? I think to myself.

Suddenly, he charges straight at me. A frontal assault? Good luck with that. But just as quickly as he charged, he jumps to his left, using the alley wall to propel him high into the air. Still, it isn't enough to get past my guard. I look up, crossing my forearms to defend myself.

"Gotcha," he says. What? As he comes down, he doesn't kick like I thought he would. He puts his foot down on my arms, jumping off them towards the other wall. He pushes himself off of that wall to get close to the ground and behind me. Too fast… too fast to defend myself! I think, and I'm correct.

I wheel around to face him. He's on the ground, supporting his weight on his hand. As I'm turning, he kicks straight upwards, nailing me on the bottom of my chin. The blow sends me off my feet a few inches and backwards. I'm on the ground. Lee springs to his feet and comes after me.

I get to my feet. Lees charges straight towards me. "Now, to finish it!" he yells. He runs straight at me and uses his momentum to slide past me. Then, with absolute confidence his victory, he tries to round house kick my right side.

"Sorry, Lee. Looks like this just isn't your day," I snigger. As he tried to kick me, I grabbed his leg. He's so predictable. His speed may be impressive, but he's still too easy to read for him to ever hope to beat me. Using all my strength, I swing him by his leg into the cement wall. It's painful, but he's still conscious. I grab him and put him upright.

"Looks like I win again," I say, and give him a good hard punch to the solar plexus(4). Of course, I had won the fight, but if I don't wind him, he'll never accept that it's over. Still, I have to hand it to him, this is the closest he's ever come to beating me.

As I walk out of the alley, a thought occurs. Today felt more like an Uzumaki day. (That is, I can usually predict who is going to jump me on a given day.) But he didn't show. And what was he talking about with Iruka? A dojo? For what I wonder? He can't only be looking to get stronger just so he can beat me. That would be pointless… no, he must have some other reason for learning to fight. Either way, I better watch out. Uzumaki might be dangerous if he actually learns a fighting style.

Hmm… a dojo. That's an interesting idea. A place where one constantly has sparring partners. That might be just what I'm looking for. A place to test my limits, to test my abilities against the best of the best. I'll need to be the best if I'm going to beat him. But, no, those places cost money to join usually, and I certainly can't afford anything like that. No, it's best I dropped the idea altogether. Whatever…

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The next week passes with an unusual dullness. Not a single attack from either Lee or Uzumaki. And Haruno has been strangely quiet in class. Not that I mind, though. A little peace and quiet is always appreciated.

As I'm walking home one Monday afternoon, I notice someone is following me. Ugh. It's the same guys as last time. I swear I might have to actually kill them this time. Well, no point in being hasty. I'll find out what they want before I actually engage in combat with them. I'm not really in the mood to kill. I stop walking.

"What do you want?" I ask without turning around.

"Heh, you're good, kid," says the leader.

"I believe I told you something last time I saw you," I say coolly.

"Wait a minute! Just hear me—" he stammers.

"--I believe it was that I'd kill you," I say in a harsher tone, turning my head so I can see him out of my left eye. In a flash, I'm behind him with a knife to his neck. The knife I took off of one of his men last time. I can sense the fear within him and sweat drips down his neck.

"Please! Don't- don't kill me! I've come-," he pauses as I press the knife a bit harder to his neck, "I've come to make you a deal for my boss!!"

A deal? I wonder what he means…

"Go on," I order him.

He swallows nervously. "Well, he, uh…"

"You might want to get to the point before I slit your throat," I warn him.

"Okay okay okay okay okay!!!" he cries, tears in his eyes. "My boss wants to hire you for some free lance jobs! You know, some theft and small things like that! He says anyone who could so easily beat me and my crew is worth hiring. He's offering commission on every job! Please don't kill me!!"

Freelance? What the hell is this guy talking about? And who's this boss? Hmm… I could use some extra money, and it would be a great way to test my skills… but conversely, if I get caught at all, there goes any chance I have of getting into university. Not to mention the jail time. But, if I want to get close to Itachi, I'll need some connections in the underworld of Japan as well as status and money.

"An interesting proposal indeed…" I say, putting away the knife and kicking him to the ground. "Where can I meet your boss? I'd have to discuss this with him before accepting any jobs."

"He says that if you want to meet with him, you'll be on the underground train system at this station at this time," the man says, cautiously handing me a slip of paper. I take the note and put it in my pocket.

"Out of my sight," I say, and the men scramble to get away as quickly as possible.

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That Wednesday, I skip my afternoon workout to go to the meeting. Luckily, I have relatively little homework. I walk down to the station and buy a ticket. I'm not sure exactly what to be looking for. I assume that he'll find me. I take a seat on the train and wait.

While I'm waiting, I look around. The train system here is always crowded. There are way too many people are jammed into this one little car, it's ridiculous. No one here looks out of the ordinary… wait. That girl there… with the black hair. She's looking much too serene for a crowded train like this. Everybody else on the train have looks of discomfort and discontent. But she's standing there, smiling. I shoulder through a few people to get next to her. She's wearing a pink robe and her hair is tied on her head. Something about this girl… this has to be who I'm looking for.

"Are you the one I'm looking for?" I ask her in a low voice.

"You are very good, Uchiha Sasuke," she says in a warm tone. "Very good indeed."

"How- how'd you know my name?" I ask, mildly irritated at her calmness.

"I know many things. My boss has many resources," she says.

"So you're not the boss?"

"No, I'm not. I'll take you to meet him. Follow me off of the next stop."

Without a word, I follow her off of the train.

"By the way," she says as we're walking, "I'm not a girl. I'm a boy. You can address me as Haku."

A boy, huh? Well, then he's quite the… effeminate boy. I suppose it makes sense, though. It seemed as though her breasts were almost nonexistent. Haku leads me up and out onto the street, then down several blocks before turning into an alley. In the alley, there's a small set of steps leading down towards a door. He unlocks the door and we enter.

"Uchiha Sasuke," says a man sitting on a couch on the other side of the room, "it's good to finally to meet you. My name is Momochi Zabuza, and I'm the boss of this little operation." He's wearing a gray suit with no tie. He's sitting down, but he's big, probably between 180 and 190 centimeters tall. (5) He has brown hair and dark skin, but the most startling feature are his eyes. Cold, almost demonic, they stare at me. His lower face is shrouded in shadows so I can't see his mouth or chin.

"And what operation would that be?" I ask, glancing around the room.

"Oh, you know, crime. Theft, robbery, things like that," he says.

"You must be pretty confident I won't rat you guys out," I observe, "to tell me your name and show me the location of your hideout without knowing much about me."

"Confident is a good word to describe it," he laughs. "But it's more like, 'tell anyone and we'll kill you.'"

I look around. One, two, three…thirteen. Thirteen men in this room, all presumably armed. Well, looks like I won't be physically threatening this Momochi right now.

"So… Momochi. Why did you summon me here?" I ask.

"Quick to get the point, aren't you? No pleasantries? No talk about the weather? Call me Zabuza, by the way. Only my underlings call me Momochi."

"Stop wasting my time," I say, becoming somewhat annoyed.

His expression turns to anger. "Insolent little brat you are," he says. "Well, then, I'll get right to it. You did quite a number on my men, Uchiha. I could use some skill like yours. They told me you're quite agile. Agility is good… Anyway, I need a man who's separate from my crew to work some jobs. It would be a sort of… freelancing job. I'd send a man to find you when I have a job for you. There will be some you will be allowed to decline should you find the need to or don't have time to do it, but there may be times when you are required to take the job."

My face remains expressionless.

"You're pretty nonchalant, for a brat. Anyway, it's up to you. But you either take on this role as one of my contacts or you don't. If you say no, you can walk away and forget all about this. Say yes, and you'll be my – we'll say freelancer on retainer – and you'll start making money. So, what do you say?"

A slight smile creeps across my face. Finally, a chance to improve my skills in real situations. And I need the money as well.

"I'll do it," I say.

"Excellent," his eyes turn to a sinister expression. "Haku here will contact you for your first job sometime next week."

I turn to leave. Before I walk out the door, Zabuza calls across the room to me. "Oh, and one more thing, Uchiha Sasuke," he calls. "Betray us, and you'll die. You wouldn't want that to happen before you kill your brother, would you?"

I freeze. How the hell did he know?! My blood is boiling inside but it's best that I don't make a move.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," I say coolly, and leave.

I believe I may have to kill that man one day, I think to myself.

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(1) About 19 minutes. A good time for someone who's not a competitive runner.

(2) An hour and seventeen minutes at two miles an hour means he lives about 2.6 miles (4.18 kilometers)

(3) I believe that the first period in Japan is not actually a class, but just an attendance thing, but this fits the flow of the story better… I tried to look it up but couldn't really find their daily schedule.

(4) Solar plexus is a nerve cluster near the diaphragm above the stomach. A blow there causes that "winded" feeling and can knock you out.

(5) Between 6 feet and 6'3" for us American folk.

A/N: Well, well. Terrible chapter in my opinion. Whatever. I hope the fighting scene is clear enough. I went back and revised it to make it as clear as possible what was happening. Let me know of any misunderstandings and maybe I can edit to make it clearer. Review, etc. You know the drill.