Sasuke stood outside the house. He was panting and shaking, still angry from before and exhausted from the four mile sprint he'd just finished. He didn't want to go inside, he didn't want to have to see the disappointment in his dad's face, and definitely didn't want to see Itachi.
He felt sweat roll down his arms and he felt the wind pick up making him shiver. For an early April evening it was cold. He'd have to go inside; he'd already missed out on dinner and if he was lucky then his dad and Itachi would already be in the basement. He glanced at a window in the foundation of the house and saw the light was on, at least I won't have to worry about them until later, he thought.
Sasuke scowled and walked up to the door, he hoped Madara wasn't there. It was embarrassing to be rejected by someone who was called specifically to train you. I'm not weak, he glowered, and I'm stronger and better than Itachi. He yanked the door open letting it bang against the porch railing the loud noise making him feel a little less anxious.
As he stepped inside he was caught off guard by how quiet it was. It wasn't just quiet, though. It was dead silent. Some of the lights were on but no one was around. Sasuke started to get the eerie sense that something was wrong.
He walked over to the kitchen and peeked through the door: everything was all washed and put away and the light was off. There was a mug on the counter and the tin of black tea was next to it. That was normal, his dad liked to have tea after training every night. Sasuke backed out slowly, everything looked normal, why did he feel so wary? He shook his head and went to his room to change clothes. He pulled on a t-shirt and jeans leaving his sweaty exercise clothes on the floor.
He couldn't shake the uneasiness in the back of his mind and went to check the Livingroom. Everything was in order. He wandered over to the front entryway and glanced around: Itachi's shoes were missing. Maybe he's not home yet, Sasuke thought, but then who was in the basement? It could be both his parents but it was Itachi's time to be training. He paused and listened, no sound was drifting up the stairs: no thumping, screaming, or yelling. It felt almost as if no one was down there.
He crept slowly over to the stairs, feeling the need to move as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the silence of the house. He still couldn't hear anything. He cautiously went down the stairs and stopped just outside of the door. Now he heard coughing, familiar coughing. Sasuke scowled and put his hand on the doorknob but he couldn't turn it. He stayed frozen in place. There was something, something about that room, which made him start to shake.
.:.
Itachi stopped coughing. He thought he heard something by the door. He scrambled to stand up, if Madara walked in and saw what had happened, there was no telling what he would do. He felt his heart thump faster. There was no way he could deny it. His mind raced, Madara was much larger than he was and much stronger. If it came down to a fight he would lose, or worse… he glanced over at the unmoving body of his father. The handle turned slowly and Itachi tensed, getting himself ready for whatever was coming. He scowled as the door swung open. His eyes met Sasuke's.
It took a moment for Sasuke to process what he saw: Itachi was standing between two crumpled figures on the floor. One was his mom, she had blood dripping out of the side of her mouth and she was staring blankly at nothing. The other's face was almost impossible to make out because it was swollen and covered in blood, but he knew it was his dad.
He looked back at Itachi, his eyes widening in disbelief and his hands starting to shake more, "y-you did this…" he managed to get out, his face falling into a scowl. He couldn't bring himself to accept it. Itachi had never gotten along with their dad but he wasn't a killer, he was too weak for that.
Itachi hesitated, he couldn't read Sasuke. "I-it was an accident." He started, trying not to let his voice quiver.
"Bullshit!" Sasuke snarled, "You wanted them dead!" his mind was racing, "Y-you're mad because he said I was gonna be head of the family!"
"That's not it…"
"You and Madara planned this!" Sasuke stepped back out of the room.
"No, Sasuke let me…"
Sasuke's face changed from anger to horror, "No!" he kept backing up and tripped over the stairs, "You're gonna kill me too…"
Itachi froze, he felt weighed down with sadness, had it really come to this? Was Sasuke so far gone that he would actually think that his older brother would kill him? His face was stony and he stepped closer to his little brother, looking down into his terrified eyes, "No. I'm not going to kill you." Sasuke would never forgive him, he would never understand what had happened. The only thing Itachi had left was to play the part that was thrust upon him. "You're not worth my time."
Sasuke stared back into Itachi's unfeeling gaze. The red eyes staring back and taunting him. He tried to move farther back, to put more distance between himself and the unsympathetic stare of the older brother he'd once idolized, but he was still stuck on the stairs.
Itachi kept walking forward. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and bent down so that his face was inches from Sasuke's, "Maybe if you ever get strong enough I'll come back and finish what I started. But right now, you're not a threat to me." He reached forward and flicked Sasuke's forehead making him flinch. Itachi stepped past Sasuke and climbed the stairs leaving behind what was left of the horror he'd known to be a family.
As he walked through the house he didn't look back; it was too painful. He reached the front door when there were footsteps behind him.
"I'm not just gonna let you walk away!" Sasuke's voice was shaking and it pierced Itachi's heart.
Itachi kept walking, out the front door, down the steps, towards the streetlight. Don't follow me, please don't. He heard the footsteps running after him. He stopped and whipped around just in time to see Sasuke throwing himself at him. They collided and fell into the grass of the front yard.
"Murderer!" Sasuke shouted, scrambling back up to attack again.
Itachi didn't say anything. He quickly rolled out of the way and stood up. He kept his face still. He saw Sasuke running in again but this time he stepped to the side and tripped his little brother watching him fall on his face. Wordlessly he knelt down and pinned Sasuke to the ground with one knee. He stared down at his little brother struggling to get up, "forget about me, Sasuke. You'll never be able to beat me."
"I'll never forget!" Sasuke screamed, pushing against the weight pressing into his back. "I'll kill you!"
Itachi squeezed his eyes shut, letting his tears fall into the grass. He was glad it was dark out so Sasuke couldn't see his face. He raised his arm and brought the edge of his hand down quickly onto the back of Sasuke's neck. The struggling stopped.
Itachi carefully removed his knee and flipped Sasuke's limp body over. He saw his little brother's chest rise and fall. He let out a breath relieved; he hadn't wanted to hurt Sasuke. He wished he'd left before Sasuke found out any of this.
Standing up, Itachi looked at Sasuke one final time. He looked so innocent, like he knew nothing about killing or hurting people. He missed that Sasuke. Itachi wiped his eyes and staggered away down the sidewalk. His adrenaline was gone, he was exhausted and he could feel the nausea building in his stomach and he had nowhere to go.
He ended up just wandering through Konoha. There was still no one on the streets. He couldn't see well enough to walk straight and he fell, cutting up his hands and knees. He felt heavy, crushed under an invisible weight pressing down on his shoulders. He had nothing. Everything he had been, everyone he'd known; it was all gone. And the worst part was that it was his fault. If I had been better, if I'd just listened, if I'd just gone with everything from the start… He shook his head.
He screamed, all of his thoughts and emotions were eating him alive. The guilt, the anger, and the sadness. Why do I do everything wrong? He kept walking, kept stumbling forward through the darkness.
He walked into a chain link fence and his sleeve got caught on a loose end. He pulled. The metal tore open his sleeve and sliced a long cut from his elbow to his wrist. He screamed again but kept going forward. He had to get away, he had to leave everything he knew before he destroyed it all.
He ended up in front of an abandoned stairway that descended into darkness, it looked vaguely familiar. He stepped towards it but his foot slipped on a damp step and he fell. He was unconscious before he made it to the bottom of the stairs.
.:.
Kabuto stood in the shadows. He leaned back against a tree and took a long drag on his cigarette. He'd been standing for hours while Orochimaru was inside a random house. He had no idea what Oro wanted in there. It was just a small white house that looked abandoned, of course by now he'd learned not to question Oro's habits or ideas. He glanced over just in time to see the door open and a small figure exited. It looked both ways then crossed the street to where Kabuto was standing. "Well?" he asked.
"They're dead." Orochimaru replied, breathing on his hands to keep them warm.
"That was the family wasn't it?" Kabuto took another drag in and blew smoke into the air around him.
"Yes." Orochimaru frowned, "the child was missing though." He shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Is that bad?" Kabuto glanced down at Orochimaru.
"No, but something about this place feels off. It's so out of nowhere. The Uchiha are an organized crime family, not murderers."
"While you were inside some men walked by, they said things were about to change. There's been rumors of an outside organization taking control going around." Kabuto extinguished his cigarette against the tree he was leaning on.
Orochimaru scowled, "Someone is pulling strings around here. I don't like it." he started to walk down the street, Kabuto quickly following.
They meandered the neighborhoods for a while, it wasn't strange for them to do this: Orochimaru liked to keep an eye on things. Kabuto noticed they were starting to head in a familiar direction.
"Is it a good idea to go so close today?" Kabuto raised an eyebrow.
Orochimaru coughed, "Of course." Then his mouth curved into a grin, "If that family was as close to Itachi as our observations suggest then we might see something… entertaining." His smile faded, I hope he's suffering, Orochimaru thought angrily.
When they reached the home of the Uchiha they noticed something was off right away: the lights were off except for one in the basement and the front door was wide open.
"What happened here?" Kabuto wondered out loud, frowning.
Orochimaru was silent, he stared at the house, trying to imagine what had taken place. As he looked, something caught his attention. He tilted his head to the side and walked forward slowly. As he got closer he saw what it was.
"Sasuke!" He exclaimed and jogged forward. The kid didn't move. He felt a sense of panic, had this child gotten caught in the middle of something? He saw Sasuke's chest rise and fall slightly and Orochimaru breathed a sigh of relief. He knelt down and examined the unconscious child: there were a lot of bruises on his arms and legs but they looked like old ones. He checked the curse mark: it was still there. He noticed a dark purple patch on the back of Sasuke's neck. "Someone knocked him out on purpose." Orochimaru stated, standing up. "Let's check the house."
Kabuto gave him a wary look, "What do you think we'll find?"
"A reason hopefully," Orochimaru walked up to the front door, "a reason why someone would leave a twelve year old kid unconscious in front of a house."
The two entered the small house and started to wander around, looking for a sign of anything that might explain Sasuke's predicament. Kabuto squatted down and examined the floor, "hey Oro, look." He pointed to a trail of dots on the floor boards, "blood stains."
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow and started to follow the trail of blood down the stairs. He entered the basement and froze. He felt a chill creep over him: the scene was too close to his parent's deaths for comfort. His hands started shaking. He couldn't move. He just stared down at the two bodies and the pool of blood.
Kabuto came up behind Orochimaru. He saw the terror gripping his friend. He glanced past and saw the scene and shuddered, "come on Oro, let's get out of here." He tapped Orochimaru's shoulder.
Orochimaru flinched then blinked, "What?" he scowled at Kabuto.
"We're leaving." Kabuto said and practically dragged Orochimaru towards the stairs.
They climbed up quickly. Kabuto could tell that Orochimaru was having flashbacks again. The first house they'd stopped at didn't cause any reaction, but seeing this must have hit somewhere closer to his friend's heart.
As they left the blackened house, Orochimaru started to laugh, "My parent's deaths have been avenged. I should be happy." He looked up at Kabuto, his eyes were large and scared but he was smiling. "I don't have to go on like this anymore."
Kabuto looked down into Oro's wide green eyes, "You could end this. It's all over now."
Orochimaru scowled suddenly. "No." he hissed, "It's not over until they're all dead."
"You know he had nothing to do with it, Oro."
"It wasn't the act of a single person that made me suffer all those years!" Orochimaru snarled at Kabuto, "It was a whole family, so now the whole family has to pay!" He whipped around and stumbled towards the sidewalk. Kabuto watched him walk away then stop in front of the crumpled figure of Sasuke. He stood there for a long time staring down at the child. "Bring him with us." Orochimaru said, "We're leaving."
Kabuto hesitated, "We can't just take a kid."
"No one will miss him." Orochimaru interrupted, "He was going to join use eventually. That time just came sooner." Then Orochimaru turned and walked down the sidewalk.
Kabuto sighed and walked over to where Sasuke was, gently picking him up and following Orochimaru. It felt wrong. Everything felt wrong. He wondered where Itachi was and what he would do once he found out that Orochimaru had kidnapped his little brother.
.:.
He didn't want to open his eyes. He could already feel his body aching and there were sharp stabbing pains every time he took a breath. There was something wet hitting his face, which was what had woken him up in the first place. He knew he wasn't at home but he wasn't sure why. He knew he was sad and angry but he couldn't remember what caused it.
Itachi opened his eyes slowly, not wanting the light from the day to filter through his lashes even though it was starting to already. When his eyes were open all the way he just stared at the concrete ceiling. It was covered in moss and mildew and condensation was dripping off of it.
Itachi didn't move; everything hurt. He tried to move his fingertips slowly. One of his thumbs was throbbing. He tried his toes next and aside from a sore ache they seemed to be fine. His head pounded. I have to get up, he thought. He had a feeling of urgency that he couldn't explain, something inside him that needed to be moving and keep his mind busy instead of remembering…
Everything came crashing back into his skull all at once. I'm a murderer now, he thought, a worthless murderer. He could hear Sasuke's voice echoing around in his head: kill…never forget…murderer. No, Itachi scowled, it was a life for a life. His father had Minato and Kushina killed and vengeance was needed. It made sense. His scowl faded into a blank expression, if I'm willing to stoop to his level then I'm no better than he is.
Itachi rolled onto his side. There was an explosion of sharp stabbing pains from his ribs. He managed to get onto his stomach and tried to push himself up but his arms couldn't manage the weight. He grit his teeth and pushed harder until he was sitting up. He felt something roll down his arm. He looked down and saw the torn open sleeve and the long cut. The movement had re-opened the scab and blood was flowing out of it once again.
Cautiously, he raised his shirt to look at his sides, he already knew what bruised ribs felt like but this was worse. He glanced down: there was dark purple and black down both sides of his torso and the skin was broken in a few places. Why am I still alive, he wondered then dropped his shirt back down and shivered.
Itachi glanced around, he wasn't exactly sure where he was but something looked vaguely familiar. He was at the bottom of a flight of concrete stairs. He could see a gray streaky sky at the top and the steps themselves were damp like it had been raining. He stared up at the sky from the bottom of his cold dark pit. Should I just stay here? I'll die eventually and no one will ever know. He let the thought play around in his mind. It was what he deserved: if death was only repaid with death then the only way to balance off his actions was to die himself.
Except Sasuke. His little brother's face filled his mind making him flinch at the memory. He said he would kill me, Itachi thought, he said he would never forget. I deserve to die. I have to die. Itachi's head started throbbing and his eyes widened as his gaze drifted downwards. He felt himself start to shake and his breathing got faster. No. no. no! He grabbed his face and realized he was crying.
He paused, there was something inside him, something in his chest that tightened. He couldn't just stay here. As much as he could mentally justify why he should remain in the cold concrete darkness until he disappeared from everything, he couldn't do it. He felt a pull to go up the stairs and to reach for the light filtering through the clouds. Sasuke was still alive somewhere and he was alone. Itachi knew he could never go back to being the older brother he used to be but he could still protect Sasuke from Orochimaru, even if it was from a distance.
Itachi tried to stand up. The pain in his ribs made him fall back onto his knees. He tried again. It took him a few attempts but he managed to get on his feet and stagger towards the stairs. As he climbed upwards he leaned against the wall. After about twenty minutes of climbing and clawing at the mold-covered walls he emerged into a large open space surrounded with tall buildings. As soon as he saw the empty lot he knew exactly why it looked familiar. He never thought he'd end up at the abandoned apartments, of all the places in Konoha. He turned toward the entrance, he didn't want to be here. He wanted to be anywhere else.
He wandered to the edge Konoha. There wasn't another town for a few miles and the only thing in between was large expanses of grass and small patches of woods. A few cars had gone by but no one had stopped to ask him if he was ok. Most people who lived around there were too afraid of accidently getting involved with the Uchiha to help people. Except Minato, Itachi thought as he slowly walked forward. Minato hadn't cared. Even when he hadn't known who he was Minato had been ready to drop everything and help a total stranger.
The Konoha cemetery was just outside of the town. As Itachi walked by he saw a group of people standing, some with black umbrellas and some in long black rain coats. It started drizzling again, slowly soaking Itachi's sweatshirt and flattening his messy hair against his forehead. Itachi paused and watched the group as they slowly dispersed. He couldn't imagine that anyone had paid for a funeral for Minato and Kushina. Even still he stumbled towards the spot with the faint hope that he could say one final goodbye to his last friend.
As he neared, he noticed people giving him odd looks: stray glances and concerned expressions drifted past him but no one tried to say anything. He knew he looked awful, but somehow he didn't think that was what the looks were for. He reached the spot just as the last few people disappeared. He looked down and scowled. Somehow it just seemed wrong that his parents shared a headstone.
The words were ugly. The grave was ugly. Everything about it made Itachi want to vomit; or maybe it was seeing the words "A beloved father and man" underneath Fugaku's name. Itachi kicked the fresh dirt on the grave. He felt a new rage starting to seep into his veins, even after his father was dead he still managed piss him off.
"I can't believe I ever called you 'dad'." He said aloud. "I can't believe I ever said I loved you." Itachi's hands started to shake, "maybe it started out ok, but I don't care." His face stayed stony and cold as the drizzle turned into rain. "I'm glad you're gone and I don't have to think about where you'll hurt me next. Though it's not like I'll ever get the chance to forget." He unconsciously traced the scars on his face.
His knees were starting to get weak and now he could feel his stomach getting ready to spew out whatever it held. He felt himself sway and fall forward onto his hands and knees. His whole body was shaking now as he stared into the carved letters of his father's name. He tried to throw up but instead there was a familiar burning sensation in his throat followed by blood. Tears streamed down his face from the pain piercing his sides and traveling down his esophagus and he could feel himself starting to sweat regardless of the cold weather and the downpour.
"Is this what you wanted you bastard?!" he yelled, seeing a spray of blood hit the gravestone. "Look at what you made! This is the legacy of the Uchiha: blood, pain, and hatred!" What kind of loving parent wishes that on their kid?!" he felt more tears streaming down his face. "I'll never forgive you for what you did to me! For what you did to Sasuke or to Minato and Orochimaru!" he coughed then leaned back and stared at the head stone.
"I hate you." He whispered. "I hate you." He felt the anger boiling in his veins now, "I hate you!" he screamed and punched his father's name. Pain erupted in his knuckles immediately but he didn't care. "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" he screamed over and over again, punching the headstone repeatedly.
There was another pain in his stomach and he tried to vomit again, this time he was too weak to even stay on is hands and knees. He collapsed and lay on his side coughing and wheezing. His eyelids started to grow heavy and blackness filled the corners of his vision. The last thing he saw was the blood splattered words "beloved father".
The rain poured down turning the freshly dug grave into mud. The blood dripped from Itachi's hands and mingled with the dark murky dirt. Soon Itachi was camouflaged in red, brown, and black; blending into the landscape of Konoha, a place he couldn't escape.