Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...

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Sasuke continued to wander aimlessly throughout The Lower Octave, deep in his thoughts and memories.

Hate me...

Detest me...

Itachi's voice kept repeating in his mind, and those words became likea mantra to him...

"That memory... that damned memory!!!"

Why are you still weak, my foolish little brother? Do you not have enough hate, enough anger?

"Itachi... someday... I will see you dead... but one thing is for sure... I will not follow the same path you took to gain your power... I will gain power in my own way, in my own terms... I will not sacrifice..."

Itachi's crimson eyes seemed to bore a hole through Sasuke's mind... To be able to obtain the same eyes as mine, you must kill...your closest...friend...

"I will not sacrifice... My closest friend..."

"Naruto...", Sasuke mumbles under his breath.

"Sasuke-sama."

Sasuke turns around to find a beautiful nin standing right behind him.

"Rui, how long have you been following me? Did Orochimaru send you to spy on my actions this time?"

Rui blushed faintly. Sasuke already knew that Rui liked him, but he never returned her feelings. He never even paid much attention to her. But for some odd reason, every girl that he treated that way seemed to like him even more. Rui was no exception.

"Ah... no," Rui continued in an embarrassed voice. "I was sent to escort you back to The Higher Octave. Otokage-sama wants to see you."

"What does that snake bastard want with me this time?"

"Um, I don't know. And Sasuke-sama, I don't think you should be callingOtokage-sama a snake bastard..."

But Sasuke didn't wait for Rui's reply. He had already jumped onto one of the rooftops and was already moving towards the area of The Higher Octave.

"That snake bastard hasn't trained me for a month and now he's calling me? Don't tell me he's going to try to possess me again like he did a year ago."

"Sasuke-sama, are you still thinking about that failed mission we had a year ago?"

Sasuke blinked in surprise. "When did she move right beside me? She's better than I thought... or maybe I'm just tired and rusty."

"It's about Itachi, isn't it?" Rui asked sympathetically.

That name sparked a bitter memory in Sasuke, especially when it came out of the mouth of a person who had gone with him in that failed mission. And he remembered that mission all too well...

Flashback (1 year ago)

It was a full moon, and Sasuke could feel the leaves brush against his cheeks as he and his followers jumped from tree to tree. This forest was already familiar to Sasuke, due to the fact that he had grown up training in these woods, just in the outskirts of Konoha.

"Sasuke-sama… Sasuke-sama…umm…"

"What is it, Rui? We're almost at Konoha, so stay focused on the mission," Sasuke says in his usual cold voice. He couldn't help it. Spending three years just living for revenge had taken its toll on his emotions.

"Ah… Sasuke-sama, don't you think it would be better if Masashi and I scouted the area first, just in case they have a few traps and ANBU around? Um… you never know…" says Rui.

Sasuke suddenly stops, and jumps down the tree he had just landed on. His four followers follow suit. He could see some of the lights of Konoha, although they were still a little far off.

Sasuke faces Rui, who looks exceptionally lovely under the moonlight with her shoulder length hair. Most men would have drooled over a girl this lovely, but he didn't care. He remembered that Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino were also pretty three years ago, but he found most girls, no matter how lovely, annoying anyway.

"Rui, stop trying to impress me. You'll just probably screw everything up again," Sasuke says with an even colder voice than before.

Rui blushes in embarrassment, and starts looking at her foot. She knew that she Sasuke was right, that she had a tendency to screw up, and she knew that the only reason why she was even in this mission was because she was the best medical nin, apart from Kabuto, in Sound.

"Stop treating my sister like trash, Uchiha, or else…" Masashi suddenly says with a dangerously threatening voice.

"Or else what?" Sasuke smiles arrogantly, focusing his attention to Rui's older brother."You know, Masashi, you're all talk, no action."

"What did you just say, you bastard? You want to lose your head right here?"

"Um, please stop it, Sasuke-sama, Nii-chan..."

"This is unnecessary, Sasuke-sama, Masashi," one of Sasuke's followers states calmly. "We are here to do a mission, not to squabble among ourselves. Although I would love to see the two of you fight till the death… it would be… delicious… he he he… all the blood flowing, all those delicious body parts flying… he he he…"

Sasuke and Masashi were now looking at the speaker, who was just casually holding his kunai, licking it there was some sweet substance on it.. Of all the current Sound 4, Kuroro was the strangest and the creepiest of all. Even Sasuke would not want to be left alone in a room with this guy. He was just… too weird.

"Sasuke-sama, what is the plan from this point on? We've stopped a long way off from Konoha, and I suspect that you didn't just stop here just because you wanted to reprimand Rui. He he he…" states Kuroro, almost casually, without even looking at Sasuke.

There was a moment's silence right after Kuroro spoke. Everyone was surprised, even Sasuke, due to the fact that he was known not to have said more than two sentences in one day. It was so silent that even an owl's faint hooting could be heard.

"Well, Sasuke-sama?" asks Kuroro as he faces Sasuke.

Sasuke quickly recomposes himself. "Rui, I want you to summon your bat. I want to see how many traps there are around Konoha."

"Alright, Sasuke-sama." Rui bites her thumb and spreads the blood on her palm. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

A bat as large as a kunai appears from the smoke. "Ira, use your sonic waves to uncover the traps up ahead." The bat flies off, and after a few minutes, comes back to Rui.

"Hmmm… Ira says there aren't that many traps up ahead, the problem is that these traps have double or even triple traps inserted with them.Half of them are for detection purposes, which are probablyused to alert theANBU,while the other half are there to kill or injure. And Ira says that there are also traps are all over the whole area surrounding Konoha, so going around the traps is impossible."

"Triple traps that surround Konoha, and detection traps for ANBU? How interesting," says the unknown member of the team.

Kuroro's eyes suddenly gleamed with excitement. "He he he… are you scared, Uke? He he he… it wouldn't be fun if there wasn't any challenge, ne, Sasuke-sama? He he he…"

"Hmph… we carry on. I just wanted to know the situation of the terrain. Be careful not to step on any of those traps… especially you, Rui."

Sasuke starts running in the direction of the lights, seemingly determined to finish the mission, but in reality is clouded in doubt and confusion on whether he should do this or not. The Sound nins follow a second later, but stay behind him at all times.

"With this curse seal, it IS possible to kill Tsunade, but is this really what I want? Why am I feeling anxious and worried? There are four of us with the curse seal, and that should be more than enough… ugh, why do I feel this way! Is this guilt? I was supposed to have thrown away my loyalties with Konoha when I left my foreheadprotectorbehind…"

Sasuke's deep thinking is suddenly disturbed by a sudden rustling of leaves to right, which he glances at slightly. Was a trap set off? He couldn't say. But he looked on, towards the lights, towards his destiny.

"The past is the past. This is my path now. There can be no regrets." Sasuke's eyes suddenly burn with determination.

"After Tsunade, it will be your time to die, Itachi."

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Author's Note: Ok, so this chapter is slightly longer than the first. I need to know if you guys want the next chapters to be:
Short: so it can be updated often or
Long: but it may take a while to update
Oh, and sorry if there aren't any pairings yet, and if I keep it in Sasuke's story(for now at least). Other pairings and character stories will eventually come out. It's a surprise.