Chapter 2
(Jenrya: Thank you so much for all the reviews! I dedicate this chapter to Jason, whose a really good friend of mine. Well, with that said, continue reading and enjoy!)
One year later / Age Nine
Sasuke had grown up extremely fast after the death of his parents. Perhaps too fast. Right now, he was seated in front of the graves of his two parents. His little pointer finger traced over the names of his parents. He bit back tears, and felt his lip bleed from biting it so hard. But it didn't care, really, about his lip. He was just so numb inside, now.
Itachi Uchiha.
Sasuke paused for a moment, realizing, not for the first time, that his brothers name was the same as their mothers. The boy remembered hearing his brother complain about inheriting a woman's name, but his mother firmly said that 'Itachi' was a unisex name, and that she'd never give her children a humiliating name to grow up with for the rest of their lives.
The raven-headed boy shook his head, trying not to remember his brother right now. Memories of his brother often spawned into memories of that awful night... He preferred to focus on his parents. The boy paused, and picked up two bouquets of flowers, placing them in front of the graves. He apologized aloud for not being able to get anything better, but explained that he was living solely on funds from the Hokage. Sasuke has pleaded with the Hokage several months back for some financial help, and Sasuke never pleaded. The Hokage agreed, of course. Sasuke was starving when he asked the Hokage for money. However, the boy still told the head of the village to keep this strictly between the two of them, and that was understood as well. So, every week from then on, the boy received enough money to sustain himself. The local gas, water, and electric companies, after hearing of the death of the entire clan, took pity upon Sasuke, who was, in their eyes, a lonely orphan who could hardly take care of himself. They never charged the boy with anything.
The boys hands, scarred and cut from frequent practice with kurai knives and shuriken, were clasped together in a silent prayer. When he finished, he moved on to the next grave.
This would be a very long day.
~*~
When Sasuke got home, he was exhausted. But he still has a lot of work to do. It ws his own decision not to get any help housework-wise. He loaded up what little laundry there was into the washing machine, which frequently stopped working since it was extremely old now. He remembered that his mom wanted to desperately buy a new one, and she was about to, but then, well...
Sasuke sat in front of the washing machine, because if he left it, then it might overflow and flood the room. He sighed sadly, thinking about how he'd have to do this once a week for the next god knows what, and took a small book out to read on different ninja techniques. He got so caught up in the book that he didn't realize that the machine was flooding. He cursed when he finally noticed as the water touched his bare feet. He jumped up and noticed that his book fell in the water. Sasuke noticed almost immediately as he picked the book up that Itachi's neat script had been scribbled a note in the inside cover of the book.
To Sasuke,
This is for all the times that I broke my promises. I hope you'll learn as much as you can from this book. I wish that I was able to teach everything in here myself, but I can't. And I'm sorry for that. So, I really hope you'll forgive me...?
From Your Loving Brother,
Itachi
Sasukes eyes widened as he read the now water logged message. He has completely forgotten that his brother had given him this book as a gift.
'Why...? Why did you–'
Sasuke couldn't even finish his thought before he collapsed to the floor, crying. He remembered how loving, how kind, how sweet his brother had been. So then why did he kill everyone in the clan?
Sasuke continued crying for a good fifteen minutes, before he noticed the water soaking his pants. He got up, turned off the washing machine, and returned to his spot on the water-filled floor to cry. His eyes stung, his head hurt, and he was cold from his clothes that were now completely soaked through.
But he just didn't care anymore.
Three Years Later
Twelve year old Sasuke Uchiha was walking through his room his face emotionless. He scanned the bookshelves for anything that he no longer desired, and spotted a small, water logged book among the others. He took it out, his cold eyes scanning his brothers note. Sasukes face grew cold, but there was a sadness in his eyes that could make even the strongest man cry. But all he did was throw the book into the garbage and mutter darkly under his breath.
"I don't need this kind of shit right now. I have things to do." And so the boy walked away to go and train.
But the tiniest of voice in the back of his head, which was in fact what little childhood innocence he had left, or perhaps it was merely a shadow of the innocence he used to have...Yet, that tiny voice whispered to the boy to show some emotion. To let some of the pain, and anger, and hate, to let some of it escape through salty tears. The boys eyes looked at the book once more, and he was now fighting to keep back the memories that were attached to it. However, the darker side of him, the side that was stronger, had quickly destroyed those pure words that the innocence spoke, and the boy was emotionless once again.
And the window of his soul was beginning to open, too. That book could have purified his soul and return the light that he had lost. What a shame...that his inner demons made sure that the boy never smiled again.
And the boy himself was beginning to doubt that he ever would.
The darkness that had grown in his heart that were born from his brothers cold words always kept their hands firmly around the light, making sure none got out. The darkness was relentless in it's quest to ruin the boys life.
It was successfully doing it's mission, and there was nothing left in the boy to stop it. Besides, he would have ended up destroying himself without 'their' help. He wanted to be like this. Cold, empty, emotionless. It was the only way he could accomplish his goal.
And he would accomplish it even if he died trying.
(Jenrya: Well, that's the end to chapter 2. I'm working as fast as I can on this. Anyway, next chapter won't be so angsty. I'll try my best to get that up fast. R&R!)