Tuesday, 5:13 p.m.
Sasuke couldn't hold take it any longer, and he dropped to his hands and knees on the ground. The small hill he was standing by was now punctured by three large holes, made by Sasuke's Chidori. He was moving on pure endorphins and adrenaline. He tried forcefully to catch his breath, but it didn't work, and his eyes widened as his arms failed to support him, and he dropped down onto the side of his pace. His eyes were barely open as he lay there on the ground, unable to move. He could only make a few random grunts as his body strained to recreate more chakra to keep his body alive.
This is bad, he thought. He couldn't move his body at all, and unfortunately for him, his mind worked perfectly. As the adrenaline wore off, his mind calmed down as well, and he could clearly recreate the events of the previous day in his mind. He closed his eyes tightly, wishing the image would just go away. But it wouldn't, and it replayed in his mind like a movie...
Flashback: Monday, 11:00 a.m.
Sasuke had his hands in his pockets as he strolled very slowly through the woods. He had just finished his morning training, and his body ached. His mind felt victorious though, as Kakashi's training program increased in difficulty every day, and every day so far, he had risen to meet the challenge. He felt proud of himself, but it was an expression that was void on his face. He kept his face blank, eyes focused only on the ground beneath him. His body ached, but he wouldn't give Kakashi the pleasure of knowing that his program was hard. Hopefully, he would make it harder. The stronger he got, the quicker the time would come when he would be able to face and defeat his brother.
He stopped in the middle of the path, and removed his hand from his pocket. He gazed at the dirty, bloody palm that occurred from Kakashi's taijutsu program. Man, it ached. He tried to close his hand, but the muscle that ran down the middle strained, and felt like it would tear with any movement. His face cringed for only a second, before he jammed it right back in his pocket. Damn it, he thought, it hurts so bad. Just before he could make use any more profanity to help ease his mind, he heard a familiar voice call his name.
"Sasuke-kun....? Sasuke-kun?" It was Sakura. Man, does she ever train? Sasuke continued to walk down the path, hoping she would walk right past him. He didn't feel the need to want to associate with her. But, unfortunately, she was walking on the same path, only in the opposite direction, and they eventually crossed paths.
"Sasuke-kun! Good morning! How was training with Kakashi-sensei?" She inquired. She had her fingers entwined behind her back as she rocked back and forth on her heels. She stopped rocking, however, when Sasuke walked past her without barely acknowledging her presence. "Sasuke-kun...? Remember? We were going to get lunch together today! You promised me yesterday!"
Sasuke stopped in his tracks. He swore to himself silently, forgetting the promise he had made to her. He bit the side of his tongue for a moment before he turned around to face her, removed a hand from his pocket and with two fingers, poked her aptly in the forehead. "Tomorrow. We'll go eat tomorrow."
Sakura's head flowed back with the poke, and when her head leveled, she again saw the back of Sasuke's shirt as he walked away. She stared at him until his silhouette grew smaller and smaller in the path. A sigh escaped her lips as she realized Sasuke had evaded her again, this time by walking right past her. Just as she began walking, though, a shadow loomed over her, and she turned her head, and her eyes widened...
Flashback Pt. 2. 1:15 p.m.
Sasuke pushed the bowl away from him. He leaned back, content with the current meal provided to him by Ichigaru's Chow Mien. The restaurant was a large supporter of the young Uchiha, and almost always provided him with either a free meal, or a highly discounted one. Naruto had his Ramen, and Sasuke had his Chow Mien. He sat only for a second, letting a small breath escape his lips as the realization that his afternoon training would start in about 15 minutes. He gazed at his left hand as the muscle pulsed. It still hurt, but with a full stomach, his mind wasn't completely on the pain.
He exited the restaurant, and looked for the path to the forest again. Hands tucked away safely in his pockets, he began the 20 minute walk to the forest. He'd adapted to Kakashi's style of always being late, but Kakashi always made him train harder for it. It's what Sasuke lived for, what he breathed for. It's what woke him up each and every morning, and allowed him to face the pain of his past.
He broke the line that broke the similarity of the town path to the forest path, and instantly knew something was different. He eyes darted left and right, before his legs instantly began moving his body quicker and quicker down the path. He didn't like the feeling in the pit of his stomach. His eyes focused on familiarity, and knew he would enter the training grounds shortly. Then, a small flash, barely noticeable, popped in the distance. Evaluating the distance, he could tell it was at the training grounds. Sasuke leapt off a tree trunk, rebounding hard off the bark and landing in the training grounds, kunai in his hand. He looked around, the feeling still there, but there was no one in sight.
....in sight, being the key phrase...he felt hands reach at his ankles, and before he knew what was happening, he was dragged deep into the earth, until his body was covered up to his neck. He struggled, but it was in vain. The dirt around him was strengthened by chakra, as well as packed tightly around him. As he struggled, his eyes closed as he strained his body hard. When he opened them, a shoe was directly in front of him. His eyes followed the shoe up the leg, and his eyes opened wide as he saw his attacker...and his eyes laced with another Sharingan...
"You're late, Uchiha Sasuke..." Said the pleasantly amused voice of Hatake Kakashi. Kakashi crouched down, and flicked Sasuke's nose. "Technically, you're dead. But since your head is still attached, I guess I didn't kill you, did I?" He laughed as Kakashi reached back into a little pouch on his back pocket, and pulled out two chopsticks. He moved them towards Sasuke's mouth, and shoved them in. "If I were you....I'd start digging, or you'll miss dinner."
Flashback: Pt.3 6:23 p.m.
Sasuke finished dusting off his clothes, and looked around for Kakashi. He had stayed for about an hour, and he must have gotten bored and left. He hated when that happened, and when a shadow passed by behind him, he turned his head and whispered...
"Kakashi...?" He looked around, before a large shadow stepped in front of the setting sun. It didn't even take another look. Sasuke's eyes opened wide, and set wide, as anger set in. Anger turned to rage, and rage to murderous intent. He stared straight through the person, his sharingan activating. "Uchiha...Itachi."
The shadow moved forward and entered the light illuminating from between the trees. It was indeed, Uchiha Itachi. his body hidden by his large mantel. He had found his brother, and seemed rather interested, finally, in his brothers presence. "Brother." spoke Itachi with such confidence. But it deterred Sasuke none, and he immediately ran forward at his brother, and lunged with his fist cocked back to plant one on his face. But his elder brother was quicker, and dodged seemingly effortlessly, allowing Sasuke to land on the ground.
Sasuke didn't waste any time in the fight. As soon as his body hit the ground, his foot turned and was aimed directly at his brothers legs to trip him. And his legs moved so quickly, that it was a direct hit! But, it moved right through him. The image of the Sharingan successor vanished in a wisp of smoke. Sasuke was surprised, but not impressed. He had learned much about his sharingan, and he quickly did a 180 with one more kick. As expected, his brother was there waiting for him, but unfortunately for Sasuke, his foot was caught.
"Brother. All this time. All this training. And still....your hate is not there. You don't have the strength, the ability, nor the RAGE to beat me. But your time to improve has run out." Itachi's free hand was displayed from beneath his cloak, brandishing a large, flat, spade shaped knife, and lunged it at his brothers throat.
"1,000 years of pain!" yelled a voice from behind the fray. Crouched down behind Itachi was Kakashi, fingers held in formation, and jabbed directly up Itachi's backside. A startled Itachi turned only his head as the knife stopped moving towards his sibling, and he stared at the Copy Nin. A slight smirk was given before poof...the Itachi clone disappeared. Sasuke did a few back flips to leave his vulnerable position, and steadied himself with a kunai in hand as he looked for his brother, with Kakashi only a few feet away, also trying to find the Uchiha Survivor.
"Kakashi-sensei! This is my fight. That guy...is mine!" Kakashi could tell the hatred in his student's eyes. He didn't like that, and because of it, he wouldn't move.
"No, Sasuke, you can't handle him alone. In fact, the best we can hope for is to defend ourselves. I've sent for help already, and more people should be arriving soon, just keep your guard up!" The words were barely out of his mouth when an attack flew at Kakashi from the left side. Itachi was bent on using close-range taijutsu with the knife...surprising even Kakashi, which made him wonder of his true intent...
But Kakashi was an experience nin, and the attack landed on his clone perfectly, and the surprise on Itachi's face made him hesitate for only a second, giving Kakashi enough time to clutch the wrist of Itachi. Moving quickly, both feet landed on Itachi's, and Kakashi dug his heel in. "Sasuke! Use the Chidori now!"
Sasuke hated that Kakashi was helping him, but the chance to kill his brother was here, now. His seals were formed quicker than he's ever done them before, and his hand lowered towards the earth. The Chakra flowing through his body and straight into his hand, and the Chidori was singing. Without delay, Sasuke lunged at his brother, whose sharingan eyes were focused on the large amount of chakra on his brothers hand, aiming directly for the side of his rib cage, where a direct attack would kill him. Sasuke's yell almost deafened the shrieking of the Chidori as he screamed with all his pent up rage and anger came through with this single attack. Until....
The kick landed directly on Sasuke's chin only milliseconds before his attack had landed. The blue glow disappeared from his hand, and Sasuke stared at the sky as he lay on his back, his vision moving back and forth, nothing coming into focus. His ears were ringing, his tongue bleeding where his teeth had cut it. He could barely move, the unexpected attack had left him both immobile and speechless. He tried to lean his head to the side to see who his attacker was, but it wasn't working. It was only until he heard Kakashi's surprised voice ring out in the forest.
"Sakura! What are you doing?" Kakashi's wide-eyed expression belayed his utter unbelief. He had just witnessed one of his students land a direct kick on another of his students, in the midst of a battle with a unbelievably strong opponent. His disbelief cost him, too, as Itachi removed himself from Kakashi's grip by using his free hand to land a direct shot to Kakashi's stomach, which dropped him to the floor, out of air.
Sasuke had finally managed to move slightly, and he sat up. He dropped his elbows behind him to support him as he tried to keep his head up to see what was happening. And his first sight was unbelievable. There was his brother, standing over a keeled over Kakashi, and at his side was the pink-haired kunoichi Sakura, a hand around his waist and a foot idly placed on the back of Kakashi's head in an act of triumph...and traitorous behavior.
"Sa...kura...? Why?" He could barely force the words from his mouth, his tongue swelling slightly, as well as his chin being nearly broken. Sakura turned slightly towards Sasuke, as if barely noticing him, then flipped her hair idly. She released Itachi's waist, and walked over towards Sasuke seductively. She crouched in front of him and wrapped her hands around her knees as she balanced herself on the tips of her feet.
"You notice me now, don't you Sasuke-kun?" She stood up, and moved over to the side of Sasuke, and kneeled down next to him. Placing her hands on her thighs, she tilted her head as she watched him struggle to both catch his breath, and move his body. "All those years of ignoring me. Making me feel worthless. Competing with a friend of mine...for a guy who is strong compared to US. To US, you were strong, Sasuke-kun. But in the real world, out there, not in here...you are weak. Very weak, Sasuke-kun. I've realized that. The world is so full of danger. You can't protect me, so I've found someone who can. And just out of coincidence....he's related to you."
With that introduction, Itachi walked over to where she was crouching, and placed a hand on her head. She wrapped her arms around his leg and cooed softly.
"Surprised, brother? Don't be. I've beaten you at everything you've ever done. This was just the next thing I will take from you. Your friends." He looked down at Sakura, who looked up at him and gave him a smile and a wink.
Sakura looked back down at Sasuke and sighed. "I'm going with Itachi, now, Sasuke-kun. But I'll come back for you..." She put two fingers to his head and pushed him to the ground, off the support of his elbows "Tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow."
Return to normal time. 5:15 p.m.
Sasuke struggled to stand. He got so far as to his knees before he moved a hand to clutch his ribs in a fit of pain. He yelled loudly, mad at himself, at Sakura, at his brother...at everyone. Everything had gone wrong. But never again.
Kakashi showed up, late again, and was surprised to already see Sasuke down, and in pain. He didn't say anything though, or alert Sasuke of his presence. He just watched, as Sasuke struggled, turning over to sit up, legs straight out, arms crossed over his ribs, clutching himself to get through the pain. He never wanted to feel this pain again. Not the chakra loss pain. But the broken soul pain. He'd lost his family, and now one of his best friends. All because of that man. That man. He'd kill him. Tomorrow....maybe tomorrow.