Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.
Chapter Three: Massacre
Itachi, Itachi, Itachi. Everything that was going wrong was because of Itachi. Everyone in the Uchiha clan was just raving over the prodigy of prodigies, Itachi Uchiha, and Sasuke was sick of it. By the time Sasuke could walk, Itachi had graduated. By the time Sasuke mustered up enough courage to sneak into Itachi's room and steal some of his shuriken and kunai to practice with, Itachi activated his Sharingan. When he was five, Itachi, who had enrolled in the academy at the same age, was a Chunin. Meanwhile, his parents wouldn't allow him to enroll. His dad wouldn't even teach him any Elemental Jutsu, the way he taught his older brother. When Sasuke was seven, his brother was an ANBU Captain. When Sasuke was eight, their cousin tried to kill Itachi, Itachi wasn't really the same. He stopped spending time around the house. It was like he was either at the ANBU Headquarters, or he was on a mission
While Sasuke was upset that his brother wasn't around anymore, he didn't have time to worry about it. His dad had finally taken an interest in him, and had decided to teach Sasuke the Fire Release: Grand Fireball, or, as it turned out in Sasuke's case, just a Fireball. It was very difficult for him, but he wouldn't give up. The move was considered a coming of age Jutsu, and all of the members of the Uchiha clan could perform it. At age eight, Sasuke was finally allowed to enroll in the Ninja Academy. There were many other students from prominent families in his year, but that didn't matter to him. He was going to graduate at the top of his class, just like Itachi did, and that meant that he had to out-perform everybody in that room.
They were all, as of that moment his rivals. Mere measuring sticks with which to compare his growth. Just wait, he thought. I'm even going to activate my Sharingan before I graduate from this academy. So it was with that mindset that he would go to the Academy, everyday. He would get there an hour early, stay through every class, push himself hard through any sparring exercise, and leave two hours after classes ended, every single day. There was only one other person who could annoy him as much as his brother, and it was that Naruto boy.
While he was usually in a good mood, nobody could expect what to see from him. He would be performing at the top of the class, and he would be all smiles, and energy on one day, and the next, he would arrive, sit in the back of the classroom with bruises and sometimes remnants of worse injuries and try not to draw attention. At first he was one of the top of the class, similar to Sasuke, and Sasuke seriously considered practicing with him, so that he could match his brother's strength. But at least, once a month, ANBU would come to the classroom, and take Naruto away, and while any person with strong will would resist change, a person's will is only so strong, and eventually, after he returned to class, sometimes after missing for three or more days, Naruto started slipping. Nobody really knew what happened when ANBU took him away, and nobody really understood why he was always injured. Most parents had warned their kids away from him, and they were not about to gather their courage and ask him.
Needless to say, after Naruto stopped performing at his level, Sasuke did not want anything to do with him anymore. He concluded that Naruto, along with most others in that room, would only slow him down, and hinder his efforts to be as good if not better than his brother. At home, Sasuke's mother and father were getting upset at the lack of Itachi's presence. He had been assigned an honorary position on the Uchiha Clan Council, and when he was not around, it made it difficult for decisions to be made. The Clan Council was filled with squabbling members, who seemed more interested in flashing Sharingan eyes at each other in an attempt at intimidation, and Itachi was one of the few with a level head. His absence was causing the clan to suffer, and this greatly angered Sasuke and Itachi's dad.
It wouldn't matter either way. When Sasuke came home the next week, it really didn't matter anymore. Everywhere he looked, there were dead Uchiha. Most of them looked as if they were not fighting when they fell. As bad as this is, as long as Mom, Dad, and Itachi are okay, everything will be fine. Sasuke tried to look at this analytically, trying to figure out what had happened. For the clan to be taken by surprise, that only can mean assassination, or betrayal. Nobody I know in the clan would even be capable of this, and definitely nobody would destroy the clan. The thought process was giving him a headache. Snatching one of the kunai he pilfered from Itachi, he grinned. Whoever it was that did this, Itachi would not know about it. He could finally prove himself. When his dad would talk about this horrible night, he would say, "and then Sasuke countered the enemies, killing them all, and allowing the Clan to survive. It was a great night for our Clan." The grin vanished from his face. And after the speech, which had so much of a chance of actually happening, the family would go to the marketplace and buy milk and cookies. It would never happen.
Slowly stepping forward, Sasuke tried to remember all the material that their teacher Iruka ever mentioned about finding an unknown enemy. Ok Sasuke. Just breathe. Don't underestimate or make any guesses about the target. Try to figure out what he can do. "That's right; you don't want to underestimate your opponent. After all, underestimating your opponent will get you killed. Isn't that right, Brother?"
Sasuke turned to the figure who spoke. "Itachi?" Oh, thank god. My brother is safe. "No, you're not my brother, who are you?"
"Of course I'm your brother. Just how many people do you know who call you brother, and have Sharingan eyes?" There was a flash of red from the figure's eyes, and a quick wave of killing intent.
"You don't look like my brother."
"Oh, I don't look like your brother? I have a lesson for you kid, Transformation. Maybe you've heard of it. They teach you the move in the Academy, but leave you to come up with your own applications. I can make myself look like anything I want." He laughed. "You know, the look on your face, it's priceless. Nobody else in this Clan gave me quite a look like yours, when I started killing them all."
"You didn't kill them all. You would never do this to me or our family." He threw the kunai at his brother in an attempt to intimidate him. In response, his brother drew five kunai, throwing them together. One intercepted the incoming blade, knocking it out of the air, the others continued on their path, striking Sasuke into a tree. While not injured, he was pinned very well. "Who are you?"
"You know who I am, Sasuke. Now, this might hurt a bit." His brother leaned in. "Your mother and father are not dead. Not yet, anyways." Using a Body Flicker he was gone.
Something inside of Sasuke snapped. The kunai were embedded deep into the tree, but he couldn't stay here. His murderous brother was going to kill his Mom and Dad. Pulling with all of his strength, he heard tearing fabric. His arms were free. Leaning over he grasped one of the knives pinning his leg and pulled it out of the tree, freeing his right leg and then proceeded to kick the knife pinning his other leg with enough force that the blade snapped on impact. Sasuke ran as fast as he could to the main house. He broke down the first door, not slowing down in the slightest. He followed the paths in the house to the master bedroom, and kicked the door down. Furniture, bed, window open; Sasuke observed all of these and his face paled as he looked at the bed. There were signs of a struggle, and both his mother and father were dead, in a very bloody fashion.
"You know, they were very happy that I had finally come home. I have the feeling that your mother and father would have been proud of my use of these Sharingan eyes."
Crying, Sasuke gritted his words through his teeth. "Stop calling them my mom and dad, as if they weren't yours parents too, you murderer."
"Oh, my dear Sasuke, surely you don't think that the man who killed the entire Uchiha Clan would be allowed to call any of its former members as if they were his own family. Don't worry, I did you a favor. They were holding you back. If you want true power, you don't let somebody give it to you. You step up and take it. So unless you want me to kill you, too, stand up, and don't allow me to take your true power."
Sasuke didn't move. He couldn't. He struggled to look up at his brother, who looked back at him, as if disappointed. His eyes flashed red, and than the three tomoe merged to form a new shape. "I couldn't kill someone with such pathetic eyes. I'll kill your spirit, and then when you're ready, I will consider taking true power from you." With that, Sasuke's world went red and black.
