I do not own NARUTO or any of it's characters!

Track 3: Pianissimo. – Very soft.

I went to the lake again, something that tells me it was going to be a daily occurrence.

The sun was just about to rise, the gray sky turning a pale pink as the birds begin their daily routine.

The world is at its quietest, at its most peaceful.

My thoughts then turned to the discussion I had with Madara last night. To tell the truth, I don't care what he wants. My brother is dead. My parents are dead. My clan is dead. My revenge has only leaded me back to the beginning: more revenge.

I hate Konoha. I want to destroy them. All of them. I hate what they did to my clan, my family. How they made Itachi kill them. I could only wonder what it felt like, seeing the little brother you love so much, hate you enough to want to kill you.

Itachi wanted that.

He didn't want to live with a burden of killing his family for the rest of his life.

So he wanted me to do it.

To get revenge for the lie he created.

Which, of course I believed. Did I believe it because I trusted him to tell me the truth?

I was a child, but still: Why didn't I put any more faith in him? My big brother whom I cherished so much?

The pain he must have felt.

I felt a surge of uncontrollable rage collide inside of me. With a yell, I broke a thick branch off a tree.

With it burning itself out, I felt her presence.

I tilted my head in her direction.

"Disturbing the peace so early in the morning? You really are rude! I've bet you've woken up the whole village by now! Poor Auntie Kana!" She crossed her arms and glared at me.

"What are you doing here?" I growl, her complaining annoying me.

"I come here every morning," she brightened suddenly, "I like watching the sun come up. It's peaceful."

"Hn."

"So sorry if I'm in your space, but you happen to be in my space also."

"..."

As if some force from god knows where, she continued talking.

"This is where I get away from everything. My Auntie Kana is sick, so that's why I get her raspberries every day. I'm constantly looking after her, so this is the only time I get to myself." She sat down on a nearby rock. "It's the least I can do for her. She took me in when my parents died in a freak accident when I was a baby, so I don't remember any of it. She's strict, but a kind woman."

When I gave her no reply, she continued:

"Auntie didn't want me to become a ninja, so I never joined the academy. Is that where you learned to become strong?"

I didn't answer her again, but continued to listen to her rambling.

"I bet you did. I won't ask you any further details. But I always wanted to become a strong ninja, it's too late now so I guess I'll just have to deal with what I got now." She smiled at the pink horizon.

We remained silent for several minutes.

Abruptly, she stood up and stretched. She looked longingly to the horizon, "Good morning Ma and Pa. I hope you're happy wherever you are." She smiled and turned to the trees, a path took her back to where the village was waiting.

"Aria."

It came out before I had the chance to reconsider.

"Mm?" Her big eyes looking at me expectantly.

My head fumbled for the right words, finally: "Your Auntie is wise about you becoming a ninja. I did train at the academy, and graduated." I looked at her. "But being a ninja isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's dangerous, it's lonely, and it's miserable. If I ever have a child, I don't think I would want that kind of world for it."

With that, I stepped into the darkness of the trees as the swell of the sun burst in the sky.

I could hear the patter of rain above me.

I lay in my bed with my eyes closed, the sound of my pulse banging in my ears.

The rumble of distant thunder was my music.

Thankfully I felt myself drift into sleep.

I was in a rose field.

Why many dreams end up like this, I have no clue.

The breeze smelt sickly sweet, like poison being covered up.

The red flowers swayed back and forth, petals falling from their base. I look up and see the sun was being covered by clouds. I look back and see the beautiful flowers dripping their color to the ground. Inspecting them closer, I realized it was blood. Appalled, I staggered backwards and bumped into something.

I turned and wanted to throw up.

Itachi stood before me, in all of his rotting glory. The familiar smile played on his lips that were falling apart. His stomach had a gaping hole were thousands of maggots dripped and wriggled. His skin a green-gray color.

"Why didn't you believe me, Sasuke?" He reached out for me. I staggered back and bumped into an unbelievably tall hedge.

He staggered toward me, hand outstretched. I tried melting into the green thistles behind me, to get away from this rotting mass of flesh. But no matter how much I sank in, it wasn't enough to get away. The smell was horrid, the blood pooled around my bare feet, staining them.

"Sasuke..." Itachi reached for my face.

My eyes widened, remembering this scene. It flashed before my eyes, like a TV losing its signal to another station.

It kept doing this until his fingers finally touched my forehead, it's clammy, icy skin made my own crawl.

"Wake up."

My eyes shot open and I sat up. A cold sweat clamped to my body making me shiver.

I swear I could still feel his touch infecting my skin.