A/N: As always, please review! But nothing too mean, or I'll cry, and you don't want that, cause then I'll whine, and then no one is happy. And thanks to every reader who has reviewed my writing so far (this and my other pieces). Thanks, people!

Avenger

What would they know about me? What could anyone possibly understand about my motivations? It's very difficult for me to be concerned with Konoha's fate, when they all turned their backs on me.

I saw my parents die at the hands of my brother, the man I had admired my entire life. With just a few strong slices, my life ended right there.

It was traumatized.

My family had just died, after all, and I was still so young.

I heard the people whispering. "That poor boy. He's the only survivor." "I wonder why Itachi spared him?" "What's he going to do with himself now?" "He'll have to finish ninja academy. He's still an Uchiha." "But will he really want to fight after such an experience?"

They all said things to each other about how pathetic my situation was. But no one ever helped. I was left alone, in my family's compounds, with nothing more than my name. There were times when I was sure I would starve. The only reason I pushed on was because I had a purpose- I had to kill that man.

He was no longer my brother. A brother is someone you respect, someone you love. A brother takes care of you and you take care of him. Itachi was no such thing. He was simply a man. He is just a man, who will meet his fate by my hands.

I stayed in the academy, learning to fight so that one day I could face him.

I don't know if it was purely an accident, or something planned by the Third, but I ended up on the team of Hatake Kakashi, a legendary "copy ninja". You can't imagine my surprise when we battled Zabuza, and he revealed his Sharingan. I had never heard of anyone outside of the family having the Sharingan. And I was jealous. Kakashi had complete control of his Sharingan, and mine hadn't even begun to develop. I knew without Sharingan, I could never stand a chance against that man.

I was also jealous of Haku. He was about the same age as the rest of us, but his power seemed to frighten even Kakashi. It didn't seem fair that one person with a bloodline limit had so much more strength than another person with a bloodline limit. Fighting Haku, I decided to prove the true strength of the Sharingan. I would not lose to anyone.

I'm sure Kakashi was picked on purpose, to teach me how to use the Sharingan. When I got the cursed seal from Orochimaru-sama, he took great care in telling me not to push past my limits. If I had known that the seal would take over and that I'd become stronger, I would have ignored his advice. But I was too afraid to die before I could kill that man.

When we were nominated to the Chuunin exams, I couldn't have been happier. As Lee said, it was a perfect place to test my techniques. Lee, Gaara, Neji, and even Naruto, would all prove formidable enemies, pushing me past my limit.

I don't think anyone in Konoha expected Orochimaru-sama to come after me during the Chuunin exam. No one would have thought him that foolish. But when Orochimaru wants something, he will certainly get it. I'd be more than happy to give him the Sharingan in exchange for the strength to defeat my brother.

Naruto and Sakura think I went to Orochimaru because I'm "bad". But that's not the case. If I had done what Itachi had said, and killed Naruto to get the Kaleidoscope Sharingan, I could probably never forgive myself. Naruto is one of few people in the world who understands the pain of being alone and abandoned. Abandoned by an entire village…

Naruto became very much like a brother to me. A part of me was amazed at how much his strength had grown since graduating, and gave me hope that I could become stronger too. But the part of me that was controlled by the cursed seal was bitter. I hated Naruto. He was a complete idiot, with nothing to prove. All he ever talked about was ramen and becoming Hokage. His mission, to me, seemed materialistic. My mission was based on honor and revenge. We may not have seemed like good brothers, but isn't brotherhood partly based on jealousy and competition?

Sakura… Where do I begin describing Sakura? She, like Naruto, started off very annoying. But Sakura was much worse. She was clingy, repulsive, and insensitive. I didn't think I'd be able to stand being on her team. I was resentful that I would have to waste time protecting her, so that our team could move on. Like Naruto, Sakura also grew, but in a different way. Her analytical skills and genjutsu increased beyond compare. She also had amazing chakra control from the beginning, something that again made me jealous, and resentful. But I became very protective of Sakura. When I saw her hurt, I lost control. The cursed seal took over and pushed my mind toward vengeance. I was ready to kill that Sound nin.

I don't feel guilty about betraying Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi either. None of them would have become my friends if we hadn't been placed on the same team. Of course we grew to depend on each other, but that's to be expected when you're dealing with life and death matters. That doesn't mean I wouldn't mind killing any of them. It was made perfectly obvious that I refused to kill Naruto in our last battle. It's hard to say if that was just my way of disobeying Itachi, or if I actually did care about my friend. The fact of the matter is that Naruto is still alive. I won't let him stop me from killing that man.

I must kill that man. I am an Avenger.