Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters within. Although, I do like to borrow them for hugs occasionally ^_^ (When I'm not tormenting them.)
Warning: This may have some spoilers. It also has dark themes. You are warned.
Author's notes: Please enjoy. I ask for some small indulgences. 1) This is my first fanfic, please be kind, 2) I don't have a beta reader, (Heck, I don't even know what one is), so if my story is the worse for it, I apologize now. 3) This is only one perception of a character that is very multidimensional to me. I am a Sasuke fan, so this story is of course devoted to him. If you don't like Sasuke, you may not like it.
Translation tips for the needy:
Kunai – dagger-like blade
Aniki – big brother
Sharingan – a special skill that allows a person to see details of an enemy's moves. Those highly skilled can even copy those moves. It is only found in descendents of the Uchiha bloodline.
Hokage – Leaf village leader
Anbu – highest level of ninja
Jounin – level directly below anbu
Tadaimasu – common term used when one comes home, such as "I'm home" always answered with "Okairi" (welcome back)
Italizes represents thoughts, "quotations represent speech" (easy,ne?)
Soul Unsheathed
Chapter I: Blade Unleashed
Dark, emotionless eyes watched as the kunai cast a shadow over the pale arm below. For an endless moment the blade waited, then descended onto the soft flesh. The edge kissed the skin softly without piercing through. It was not satisfied.
Red blossomed at the tip of the blade as it bit into the flesh. The kunai slowly started to trace a bloody trail along Sasuke's unflinching forearm.
Sasuke watched as the blood welled up, letting his thoughts escape into the inner recesses of his mind.
That person…Aniki…Itachi.
Somehow his thoughts always returned to his brother. Why is he always invading my mind?
His eyes focused again on the blood. Such a deep red. It was the same deep red he had seen the day his family was slaughtered, staring out from his brother's powerful Sharingan. Those eyes had always haunted him, staring into his own jet black eyes. When he had developed his own Sharingan, he knew that he had a new weapon he could use to defeat his brother. Yet he couldn't help but wonder…maybe…maybe…I, too, will be corrupted by the blood in my eyes.
Sasuke's arm trembled slightly before he could replace the impassive mask. The thin trail of blood released a single drop and Sasuke's eyes changed instinctively to the deep red of the Sharingan. Time didn't slow down, but the effect was the same. Every subtle shift in the drop of blood was apparent to his eyes, until it splattered against the floor.
My blood. Uchiha blood. The same blood that had been splashed so liberally throughout my home. Sasuke's mind went back, not to the day his clan was killed, but to the night after. The night he had snuck out of the Hokage's house and returned home.
***flashback***
A small, dark form slipped out from the third floor window of the village chief's home. With ease that the casual onlooker would not believe, the shadowy figure leaped cat-like down the outside of the house
It's a dream, my brother couldn't have done something this vicious. It has to be a dream. Sasuke scrubbed tears from his eyes with the back of his arm.
Sasuke loved his big brother. Itachi had always watched over him. Had always been there if he needed help. His brother could not have killed his family. He couldn't have…
Sasuke ducked quickly into the shadow of a tree to avoid being spotted by the Anbu patrol that moved swiftly across the rooftops. He knew he would have to move cautiously or they would spot him and take him back to Hokage-sama's house. He wouldn't allow himself to be caught. He had to get home.
When I get home, Itachi-aniki will be training outside. He'll laugh at me and invite me to play with him. Father will watch indulgently from the porch surrounding the courtyard. Then Mother will call us inside to join the clan for dinner. My home is there. My family is there. Just like always.
The small boy moved with such stealth and skill that if any of the Anbu had seen him, they would have attacked immediately. He would have been mistaken as the enemy in disguise. No one that young could move that well. Sasuke knew that his brother had done more than play games with him, he had trained Sasuke in the ways of the shinobi
Sasuke finally reached the entrance of the Uchiha ancestral home. He knew something was wrong immediately. The Uchiha clan was a large one, and while they were not a loud people, there was always sound, light, movement. But now, his home was completely dark and silent. Sasuke took a small step back, fear evident on his face.
I have to be strong, I have to be brave. I have to see.
The front door was retracted, leaving a black, gaping maw in front of him. With slow steps, Sasuke walked through the entrance.
"Tadaimasu…."
The softly spoken word echoed through the silent rooms and died off. Sasuke could see, even in the pale moonlight, the dark splashes of wetness that were the only evidence of the tragedy that had occurred here. An insidious thought crept into his mind. They must have taken the bodies away to prepare them for burial.
He walked through the rooms seeing everything in his memory. His aunt's body lay in the front hall draped over the small form of his 4 year old cousin. She hadn't been able to protect her daughter, she had only been able to die with her. He drifted past the entrance of the kitchen, refusing to look in and see the bodies of his great-aunts, cut down as they prepared the evening meal. Each dark pool of Uchiha blood represented another family member he had lost.
He came at last to the room he dreaded most. The large, dark stain spread out from the center of the room. It seemed to move, taking shape in front of him. Before him, he saw his mother laying bleeding on the floor, his father collapsing over her. Blood spread slowly from their dying bodies as his beloved Aniki stood grinning triumphantly over them.
Sasuke screamed until he had no voice left. Wept until he knew he would never cry again. No one heard him, all the shinobi were mobilized away from the village and searching for the man who had destroyed a clan.
In the morning, the Hokage discovered Sasuke was missing and sent Jounin searching for him. They found him collapsed in the courtyard of his home, covered in blood, his hands scrubbed raw. The young boy had spent the entire night cleaning the blood from his home, in a vain attempt to scrub the images from his mind.
***end flashback***
The blade finished its path with a flourish, letting a small fan of blood fall from the wound. The kunai then moved to a higher position contemplating its hunger for more blood. Sasuke tore his eyes away from the blood that was starting to pool on the floor. He knew it was more than this. He knew why his brother was always at the forefront of his thoughts.
Aniki, you have invaded all my dreams. You are the first thing on my mind when I wake up and the last thing I think of before I sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see you standing over them. Blood on your hands, in your eyes. I see the smile on your face.
The villagers all pity me. I hear them whisper about me, "The last survivor of the Uchiha clan." They don't know, I don't think you do either, Aniki. There were no survivors of the Uchiha massacre. You destroyed all the joy and hope I had within me. My body is only filled with my vow for vengeance, there is no soul within it. You killed me.
------------------ tbc
