Start the Machine

- all I can see is you -

chapter nineteen; the madness begins

Sasuke's POV

It was the late afternoon when I showed up to the military base in town. No body seemed to be too worried about what was about to happen... But I guess that was my clan, for you.

When I met up with my father, he told me to go find Itachi in the west wing. I nodded and agreed, but there was somewhere else I needed to go first. I thought that maybe if I found her, and was able to see that she was alright with my own eyes, that it would put me at ease. So I made sure that my father nor my brother were around, and asked someone random where I could find the slaves. He told me that they were located in the underground cells on the outside of the base. I took no extra time to dwindle, and tried to make it look casual when I entered the cellar.

It was an advantage being my father's son, in this case. The guards would do anything I asked, so when I told them to let me go down and for no one to follow, they didn't question it. The underground cells consisted of a long winding hall way with huge cells on every side. I realized then how many slaves we actually "owned", and that finding one person wasn't exactly going to be easy. I didn't let that discourage me, I calmly made my way through the hall. I hated the way the slaves looked, with their eyes bugging out of their heads as they gaped at me.

I walked past dozens before I finally laid eyes on her.

She huddled against a wall with her knees held closely to her chest. She looked unwell and pale, with loose limbs like an incomplete marionette. I tapped on one of the bars, and when she looked up at me, her dull orbs seemingly filled with light. She instantly got up and ran to me.

"Sasuke?" She asked, taking a hold of the bars which contained her.

"Hey." Was all I could really say. I hadn't actually thought about what I would say to her when I saw her, all I was concerned about was making sure she was fine.

"W-What are you doing here?" She trembled, and I noticed the bruises covering her forearms, likely from being thrown around by my brother.

"It doesn't matter..." I looked around at all the slaves, then lowered my voice to a harsh whisper. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but-"

"I'm going to do something about this..." I cut her off. I was finding it difficult to meet her eyes. "I'll get you out of here... Okay?"

"Okay... But what is going on?"

"I guess they are planning on attacking us tonight. We weren't given much warning, only a letter last night."

"I see."

I awkwardly scratched my head and looked away, feeling nervous to tell her the real reason I went there. I decided that it was better off to be unsaid. "I should go, then, Hinata..."

"Yeah... You should."

I can hardly describe how badly I actually wanted to kiss her, but I knew that wouldn't be a smart move. Those slaves would already be wondering enough, and I didn't need them talking. So I touched her hand a little, and forced a tiny grin. "Everything will be alright."

"I know." She smiled. "Good luck... Please um... Stay safe."

"I will." And with that, I sped away, hoping that things really were going to be alright.

The clock struck 6'oclock when the madness began, just as the sun was setting.

At that point, the adrenaline pumped through my veins viciously. All I could think about was killing.

The Uchiha clan was positioned on the walls of the base, a large field stretching out before us until the forest hit. Apparently, they stated in the letter that they would be coming from this way. I doubted it, however, because I knew that I wouldn't play so fairly had what happened to them, happened to me. Just in case, other shinobi were placed all around the village.

Surely enough, though, they did as they stated. I began to see a few people emerging from the forest, running at us full force, followed by large crowds. At first, we didn't move, each one of us taking in the numbers we were actually against.

My father was right, we were outnumbered. But I didn't agree with him, I told myself that we would win, and I still stuck by that despite his doubts. When I saw Itachi move, that was when I took my strike. I dove into the battle, not far behind my comrades. It wasn't long before blood was spilled.

My first kill was someone I had never seen before, someone from Suna. Same with my second, third, fourth, fifth... Until I started to notice a pattern.

Where was the Leaf?

All of these shinobi were from Suna. I met eyes with Itachi from not too far off, and it appeared as though he was thinking the same thing.

They were going for the slaves first.

My brother and I took flight and ran as fast as we could to the underground cells. We arrived in a matter of minutes; our hunch was correct. The first thing I saw from on top of the walls were a number of dead Uchiha laying around, and there was Naruto, standing there, unnoticed to my presence for he was too busy leading slaves out of their confinement. I froze for a moment as my sharingan automatically activated. It looked as though the entire Leaf army was all in this one place, freeing the slaves. What cowards. I thought. Sending Suna in to risk their lives, while they try to sneakily free the slaves...

"Itachi... What do we go?" I asked my brother, who stood frozen next to me as well.

"I'm thinking... You should go find father and tell him to get some people over here stat, okay? This is not good."

"Of course it's not fucking good! How can you be so calm!?"

"Just go tell father quickly, okay? I'm trying to think about how to handle this."

"No, you go."

"Fine, just don't fuck up." Itachi sneered before taking off. I took no more time before I jumped right in front of Naruto, startling everyone. The slaves screamed and started to run in random directions; I slammed the door they escaped from so no more could get away. The ones who got out wouldn't get far, anyway. Even still, the situation I was in was not good. I now faced a massive group of people who were all thirsty for my blood. Fuck, this is bad. I need back up. Hopefully I can distract them for long enough.

"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed, giving me that mean look of his. With no moments notice, three people lunged at me, in which I easily jumped out of the way, drew my sword, and slashed them. I killed one, but only injured two.

Four others ran at me and attacked, I decided that using the same method would be effective, but I didn't expect to get hit by a fifth person from behind. I was slashed right in the shoulder; I wasn't sure by what or by who, but it hurt like hell. I fell to the ground in shock, but was able to roll out of the way fast enough before anyone could land a hit on me. I ran a good distance away from them, trying to ignore the immense pain that stung my entire back. Now, I was really angry, but I'd gotten far enough away from them to read their chakra clearly, and to anticipate their next move. I wasn't taught to fight without strategy.

"Open the door!" Naruto screamed, and Sakura was the first to comply. That foolish girl heeded his orders, and the slaves continued to pour out into their supposed freedom.

In all honesty, at that point, things were not looking so good for me. It was hard to anticipate the moves of so many people; before I knew it, what must have been ten of them ran for me. I dodged their kunai for the most part, but they still landed a few hits on me. With each cut I grew more frustrated; I was able to kill many of my attackers, but every time one would die, another would come running at me.

Where the hell are you, Itachi!? I thought as I stabbed my sword through someone's gut. And that's when I heard Naruto's voice. "Stop!" He yelled, withdrawing the shinobi away from me. Uncontrollably, I fell to the ground, panting heavily. Naruto walked up to me and met my eyes. "Are you done yet, Sasuke?"

"N-Never! I-I can kill every last one of you!" I spat through exhausted gasps.

"How could you do this!? Think about what you and your clan have achieved... Don't you remember what it was like before this happened? We were friends. So many people in our class looked up to you... And you helped kill them! How can you be okay with that?"

I used my sword to help bring myself to my feet. At that point, I was hurt pretty bad, and incredibly pissed off.

"You're all pathetic." I spat blood. "Look how many of your men I alone just killed? Do you honestly think that you have a chance of winning this? Haven't you lost enough people? You come here in vain, but I think that even you know yourself that you have no chance of winning this. You, and whoever else helped organize this 'war', are all fools who don't value the lives of those who managed to escape, all those years ago."

Naruto said nothing, though his face had twisted from anger, into a look of sadness. He knew I was right, but I also knew that he was just as stubborn as I.

"You're wrong." He said. "We can win this, as long as we try. And we couldn't just sit around and wait forever knowing that you bastards were keeping our friends and family captive as nothing but slaves... For their freedom, we are all willing to risk our lives."

All of them cheered. I simply rolled my eyes before letting out a mocking laughter. Naruto sent me a confused look. "Ha!" I yelled, grinning even deeper as I saw more and more of my clan emerge from behind us all. It didn't take them long to notice. The Uchiha dove right into the midst of the crowd and the battle began once more. Of course, not only Naruto's side were loosing people; Our numbers were going down as well. Even still,I had confidence in my clan. There was a reason why we were known as the most powerful.

I took this as an opportunity to get away for a bit. I was more hurt then I let off to be; I felt incredibly light headed. I'd lost quite a bit of blood keeping myself alive down there. I climbed up the tallest tree, and from the top branches, I scouted for Itachi or my Father. What I noticed first was a little bit different.

Of course, I could spot that navy hair from a mile away.

A/N: Hey guys, thank you so much for all the reviews! I very much appreciate them :) sorry it took a bit longer with this chapter, but the other one should be up in just a few days. I have it written, just still going through the process of thinking/editing :P

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