Start the Machine

- all I can see is you -

chapter nine; torment

Sasuke's POV

"War."

My heart thumped loudly at the sound of that word coming from my father's mouth. My adrenaline was peaking by the second, but no words could escape my lips for I had too many thing running through my mind to say. My father sat facing opposite to me at the table in the shack. Hinata had been told to go downstairs so we could have a private conversation.

"I had been foolish to assume something like this would not happen." He continued with a frustrated sigh. "We all grew far too comfortable these past few years; of course while we were enjoying our power, they were building up their army. Although we slaughtered most of Konoha that fateful day, there were still many who escaped, and now they have Suna on their side as well."

There were a few moments of silence before I responded. "So what exactly are you telling me?"

"Don't act stupid, Sasuke." Anger crossed his furrowed brows. "We have no other choice; we must fight them, and we must win. This time... This time we can't afford to leave any survivors."

"Then what exactly am I doing here? Surely you don't expect me to sit on the sidelines while-"

"Of course not." He cut me off harshly, banging his hand to the table. "You will be fighting with us. You will be treated no differently just because you are young, Sasuke."

"I don't want to be treated any differently."

"Good. However in the meantime, I need you to stick with your current mission and be on the lookout. We can't trust that they won't try to make a surprise attack before the war actually begins."

"But that's not fair!" I stood up angrily. "I don't want to sit around and wait, I want to help out!"

My father stood up calmly and crossed his arms over his chest. "You are helping out by following my orders. There is nothing that I need you to do right now other than stay here and do your job. Be patient... When the time has come, you will find that your talents will no longer be wasted here."

I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down; I knew he was right, it just angered me how I had to sit around and wait for something to happen stuck in that stupid shack. But to my dismay, I had no choice in the matter. So I sat back down and said nothing more of it.

"I'm leaving now, Sasuke." My father said, heading towards the door. "Be careful, I'll check back in on you in a few days." And with that he was gone, leaving me to my thoughts.

A war... I pondered, adrenaline pumping through my veins at the very thought of it. I had no fear in the back of my mind that the Uchiha would fall. They're all fools... They will never win against us.

When I went downstairs to check on Hinata, I didn't expect to see her sleeping peacefully. With everything that was racing through my mind, it was hard to imagine that there was anything peaceful in this world at all; yet there she was. I don't know why I did this, but I sat down beside her resting body on the bed and kind of just stared at her for a few moments. She had such a calm aura surrounding her, it gave me a strange sense of tranquility for only a split second.

I snapped out of whatever kind of trance I was in and lightly shook her to wake her up. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and when they fell upon me she instantly shot up in her bed and looked at me with shock.

"S-Sasuke!" She exclaimed, startled. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to fall asleep..."

"No worries." I said, standing up. I wasn't sure whether I should have told her what was happening or not, but then again I figured it didn't really matter either way. "You and I need to have a discussion." I told her, heading towards the stairs. "I made something to eat, so you should come upstairs."

She nodded. "O-Okay, I'll be right up."

I'm not too sure how well she took the news, but when I told her she didn't seem too surprised. She simply sat there silently with nothing to say, which was a typical reaction for her.

With each day that passed since the news, it seemed that my torment was only growing. I felt antsy and anxious every single day to hear something from my father; I wanted the war to begin. I wanted to fight.

I wanted to kill.

And being patient wasn't exactly my strong suit; I needed something to entertain me while I waited and keep me occupied, but what was I supposed to do? All I had was that shack and Hinata.

Well, after a while I started to really notice something about myself... And about her.

And that is where my true torment began.

A/N: Sorry for another short chapter, update will be in the next few days I promise :) please review and let me know how I did! I wrote this kind of fast so hopefully it isn't too rushed.

REVIEW PLEASE! :D