Author's Note: This chapter is a little short. Again, most of it is set-up, especially on Itachi's part. Don't worry, there's a point to it all, even stuff that may seem minor. There's a bit of action here, but it's nothing special... I hope you all don't mind. I've remembered to do a few things I don't think I did last chapter... oh well. Thanks for the reviews, and we'll see how it plays out. Enjoy!

Oh, and just as a side note... I can't help but use the Viz names, because it's what I'm used to and I know more of the Viz names than the Japanese ones (Curse you, Shonen Jump!). So, I can't help it. Oh well, I guess I'll just need to increase the jutsu-name studying workload.

Chapter 5

"You're a fool for thinking you can keep me from running away for long." the tall, red-haired boy said in a growl to Itachi as they walked along the forest path.

"And you're a fool for thinking you can escape my Sharingan." Itachi retorted. His Mangekyo was activated, and Gaara- the Kazekage, the best shinobi in Sunagakure- was walking along in front of him. Because Gaara was in front of him, Itachi would be able to see any moves that Gaara would be about to make, including running off into the trees or using any sort of Ninjutsu.

"I'll escape you eventually." Gaara said in his quiet, yet frightening voice. "You won't be able to keep me from running away for long. I can do things that don't require katas." As if proving his point, Gaara suddenly jerked his right hand in an upward motion, making some dirt on the path fly up into the air. "Geokenesis, the non-ninja community calls it."

"I can tell that you'll do that before you even decide on it." Itachi said. He was thoroughly enjoying Gaara's attempts to prove that he could escape. There was a reason this child was ranked as the leader of the Village Hidden in Sand's ninja. "Not that it would matter. I have a range of Ninjutsu and Genjutsu that could stop you in your tracks."

"So you say." Gaara murmured. From the calmness and quietness of his voice, you would never be able to tell he was one of the most accomplished killers in the world. He waved his hands in a complicated pattern, making the dirt whirl around and dance in midair.

"Yes, I do say." Itachi said, smiling to himself. "You do know that what I learn here could well spell your death?"

Gaara snorted. "You won't reach the Land of Clouds." He didn't seem worried in the least; in truth, he seemed exceedingly confident that Itachi wouldn't catch him if he took off. He swirled the dirt around more, forming it into different shapes. "The only thing I regret is that I'm going in the opposite direction of Sunagakure."

Itachi didn't reply. Something about Gaara's confidence made him uneasy. Gaara had fought Itachi before, and had lost even faster than Kabuto had. Yet Gaara still seemed to think he could overcome Itachi. Was he stupid, or was there a legitimate reason for that confidence?

Gaara raised more dirt and, to Itachi's surprise, he formed it into an exact replica of his own face, from the tattoo in the cowlick on the left side of his head to the basilisk-like glare that was always upon his eyes. "What's the matter?" he asked, the dirt-face moving just as it would if it had been speaking and not Gaara. "Afraid that I have a trick up my sleeve?"

Itachi's face didn't show anything. "Not in the least. I'm more worried that you'll pass gas at this point..."

The dirt-face's eyes narrowed. "I didn't know you had a sense of humor."

Itachi smirked slightly. "Who's being funny?" He shifted his arms slightly, brushing one of the wounds on his chest and causing himself some discomfort. He still couldn't remember how he had gotten those wounds, though his obsessive attempts to get back to Akatsuki HQ could have overridden any memories. He hadn't yet replaced his shirt; he had just thrown his jacket on over the bandages and set off.

"You're hurt." Gaara observed.

"It's nothing bad." Itachi said dismissively. Indeed, he had had much, much worse before. "I can still take you without difficulty."

But Gaara made no attempts to escape for a long time. They traveled in a manner such that they avoided entering countries with their own ninja villages, moving mainly through the small, nearly pointless countries along the border of the Land of Fire. Konoha, which was renowned for producing powerful ninja, would be the last place Itachi wanted to alert of the Kazekage's presence. Sunagakure and Konohagakure were strongly allied now, since Gaara was good friends with many of the Chunin in Konoha.

So Itachi wasn't going to take any chances.

After a week or two, they came across a large river valley that ran through both the Land of Fire and an inconsequential country called Land of Mountains. Itachi thought it was more than likely that Konoha had plenty of Black Ops agents guarding the pass, and took necessary precautions. He zipped up his jacket, to hide the white-and-red bandages, while at the same time tearing a large strip from the end of it to cover Gaara's dark red hair. Traversing held passes wasn't difficult, if you made sure to hide yourself.

"Make any moves to try and alert the Honin to your being here, and I'll hit you with the Art of Paralysis." Itachi growled as they ducked through the bushes and small trees on the slopes of the western mountain. "It's more than my life is worth to kill you."

Gaara said nothing. Itachi knew that he would try something, but whether or not he'd be able to catch him had yet to be determined. Gaara was extremely intelligent, and Itachi knew that he was cooking up a plan now. As he walked, Itachi kept a close eye on Gaara, but couldn't tell that he was doing anything. Sure, both his hands were in front of him, but that didn't mean he was up to something...

Itachi heard movement in the bushes. He snapped his head around and saw a shinobi heading towards him. His hand moving towards his katana as a reflex, Itachi formed several signs one-handed, then held his first two fingers and thumb to his mouth. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique." He blew, spewing a ball of flame at the enemy.

The fireball struck a glancing blow, but heat is one of those things that "almost" counts in. The fireball tore through the ninja's side, spraying- to Itachi's horror- sand everywhere.

It's a Sand Doppelganger!

He spun around to look at Gaara, but wasn't fast enough to strike a blow. Dirt seemingly appeared from nowhere and swarmed around Itachi, trapping him in a prison of earth. Gaara stared at him, his left palm pointing at him and his black-rimmed, tanuki-like eyes narrowed. "Sand Doppelgangers and the Art of Transformation work well in combination. Not only can I make them look like someone besides me, but I can take away the sandy color that Sand Doppelgangers typically have." He tightened his fingers, which made the pressure on Itachi nearly unbearable.

"You... little..." Itachi gasped through the dirt that was clogging his nose, his throat, his eyes. "Let me go, or I'll be forced to... ggrraaaagh..." Gaara tightened his fingers almost to the point of closing his fists, causing Itachi a great deal of pain.

"Hard to focus when someone is crushing every square inch of flesh you have, isn't it?" Gaara said, his expression unchanging. "Consider this payback for capturing me in the first place. I'm just disappointed I couldn't reach that shark-man Hoshigaki in time." Gaara then jerked his hand over his shoulder, and Itachi and the entire load of dirt moved behind him. Gaara turned. "I'll make this interesting for you. I'll roll you down the mountain and into the river, and if you have energy enough left to swim, you won't drown. Call it a gift."

He pumped his hand down at the ground and then forward. The prison of sand hit the ground with a bone-shaking jerk and began to roll. Itachi felt every bump, every tree that the bundle broke, every stone that the rolling mass smashed into. It kept rolling, and rolling, and rolling, until Itachi couldn't see any way there was any space left to roll.

And then, much to his surprise, the dirt hit the water, and the dirt broke apart.

---

Sasuke, as it turned out, was at the far end of the river valley, in between the mountains that lay within the Land of Fire's borders. There was a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he was sure would kill him if it didn't go away. He felt feverish, clammy, and he couldn't catch his breath. He was jumpy, and any little sound that an animal in the trees made would make him jerk around to look for the source.

Why did he feel like this? What was wrong with him that he was so hyped up? Orochimaru had been training him for three years for this very moment, a day that would not only increase his chakra by a huge amount but also give him the Mangekyo Sharingan. This was the day that would give him the ability to kill both Orochimaru and Itachi, and finally return home.

... But would he be welcomed home? To murder members of Konoha's elite would be to damn himself and banish himself from Konoha for the rest of his life. He'd never, ever, be able to return, to see the few friends he had, to sleep in a bed that had always been his, to eat in his favorite restaurants...

What matters is revenge. a part of him said, the part that could not shake the image of his parents' mangled bodies lying at his brother's feet. All that matters is killing Itachi. Everything else comes after. You have to kill him.

But what about Naruto? a smaller, weaker part of him said. And Kakashi-sensei? And what about Sakura? It would crush her if you killed even just Kakashi, let alone Naruto...

If killing them and losing Sakura forever is what it takes, the first part of him said, determined, then so be it. It's just like you told her, all those years ago... You're an avenger. Status, rank, friends... none of it matters. "Am I strong?" That's all that should concern you.

Sasuke well remembered that speech he had given Sakura, during the Chunin exams, but he better remembered her tears... He shook his head. "No. I have to kill Itachi, if have to I die and damn myself in the process." Though he by no means felt better, at least the knot in his stomach eased, and he was able to breathe again.

The Land of Fire was a huge country, and it took Sasuke several days to get anywhere even close to Konoha. He found he was able to move quickly in the deciduous forests that made up much of the terrain in the Land of Fire. He knew these forests... He could remember a time before the slaughter, when his father took he and Itachi fishing at the lake that he was now passing. The time that his mother and aunts took he and his brother and cousins for the picnic with the Hyuuga clan on the top of that hill came to mind. He even remembered the day when Naruto dropped a water balloon full of mud on his head, and watching Itachi chase the little bugger down.

Sasuke smiled, even if no one could see.

The small part of him that had remembered Sakura decided to take the time to try and dissuade him. Is Itachi really that bad? He was your brother, he protected you and helped you and taught you. He never said a bad word about you, though he did beat you up a bit when you really annoyed him. He was never, ever mean to you until that day, and even then, he wasn't mean to you directly... Does he deserve this?

Yes. the bigger, stronger part of him said. He killed all of them, including your aunts, female cousins, and... your mother. He gave a shudder. Of all the people that Itachi had killed, his mother was the one that made him angriest. His mother had been one of the kindest, purest people Sasuke had ever known, and Itachi had killed her just like the rest.

Two days later, Sasuke arrived in the thick forests outside Konoha. There was a reason, of course, that it was called the "Village Hidden in the Tree Leaves," because if Sasuke hadn't known where he was going, he would have never found Konoha.

Sasuke pulled a folding tent out of his pack, and set to work putting it up. It was late, and even if he was going to kill Konoha's best Jounin, he'd at least allow them to fight when it was light out. He stared at these trees he knew so well, and he knew that this would be the very last time he'd ever see them. Something tugged at his heartstrings. He put his hand on the trunk of a tree that he had once sat in as a child while he stared at the stars...

And he charged his hand with the Chidori and cut straight through it.

But despite his fierce gestures that made him feel better, his dreams were the most disturbed they had been since he had gone to train with Orochimaru. The faces of the people he had known and trained with while still in Konoha floated up in his dreams... He saw Sakura, crying over his body while Naruto wiped his bloody hand on a tree... Kakashi's head was rolling across the grass, where it was crushed by Neji's body... He was in a dark, cloak-like jacket, with a slash across his hitae-ate, standing over the bodies of his friends...

But then one, more vivid than the others, came to the surface...

Sasuke entered Konoha, to be met by the Jounin he was supposed to kill. Kakashi stood in the fore, staring at his former apprentice with his one uncovered eye. "I had hoped that you wouldn't force us to do this, Sasuke. I had always hoped that you'd come back peaceably. I wanted you to... for your own sake. But I guess that won't happen now." And with that, they charged him.

First to fall was Sarutobi Asuma, one of the teachers of the other cells from Sasuke's year at the academy. Blood spattered everywhere from his slit throat, but the other Jounin didn't even seem to notice. Almost instantly, another fell: Yuhi Kurenai, the other teacher from Sasuke's year. Her body was covered in throwing stars, and Sasuke hadn't even broken a sweat yet.

He was faced with only three more Jounin: Maito Gai, Kakashi, and Neji. Gai started using his extremely powerful Lotus technique, increasing his speed and strength a hundredfold. "You won't beat me now, Uchiha! Your explosion of youth is no match for my experience!" He ran at an insane speed at Sasuke, who was ready.

Sasuke charged a Chidori, and rather than run at Gai, he waited. Gai launched a kick that caught Sasuke under the chin and sent him flying into the air. Gai then used the "Leaf Shadow" technique, following Sasuke as he flew through the square. "Bad move." Sasuke said, as he flipped in midair and drove the Chidori through Gai's chest, killing him instantly.

Sasuke pushed the corpse off his forearm, landed, and stood to face Kakashi and Neji. "It's over." he said. "Make this easy on yourselves, and just let me slit your wrists. I swear it'll be painless."

"Shut up." Neji said. "You may be an Uchiha, but I'm Hyuuga Neji, the most powerful member of my clan in history." The veins around his eyes suddenly bulged as he activated his Byakugan. He could now see nearly 360 degrees in every direction, and could even see the chakra gates in Sasuke's body. "Die! You will pay for betraying Konoha in such a brutal fashion! I had been willing to forgive you, but no more!"

"Suits me." Sasuke said, taking out a kunai. He dodged all of Neji's strikes, which were aimed at one chakra gate or another. Then, when Neji launched a particularly powerful and momentum-filled punch, Sasuke jabbed his kunai into Neji's neck as he flew past. Blood exploded all over him, and Neji died quietly. Now, it was down to Kakashi and Sasuke.

"Sasuke... Why!" Kakashi cried, suddenly overcome with emotion. "How could you do this to us? First you betray us for Orochimaru, then you nearly kill Naruto, and now you kill all these people? Who are you! You're certainly not the Uchiha Sasuke I remember!"

"That's because I'm not the Uchiha Sasuke you remember." Sasuke said, taking out his favorite weapon: an oversized kunai, that could be wielded as a sword. "Kakashi... I'm sorry, but you have to die." He charged Kakashi and swung the giant kunai. Kakashi tried to block with his own kunai, but the mass of Sasuke's was too much, and Kakashi's shattered. Sasuke's kunai kept going and cut through the top of Kakashi's skull, taking with it a large portion of his brain.

As Kakashi fell, Sasuke heard a strangled cry from behind him. He turned to see Sakura, still pink-haired, still overly emotional, and still obviously infatuated with Sasuke. She ran over to him, crying; he paid her no mind. She seized his arm and shrieked, "Sasuke! How could you...? How could you kill all these people? They just wanted to help you... and you killed them! Why? Sasuke, why!"

"Let go." Sasuke said, trying to tug his arm away. Sakura held fast.

"Why, Sasuke!"

"Let go."

"How could you?" Tears were spilling down her face and onto his arm and shoulder.

"Let go!"

"Why did you kill them!"

"LET GO!" Sasuke roared, losing control. Before he could stop himself, he had driven a small kunai into Sakura's chest.

"W-why..." Sakura died, slumping forward. But, to Sasuke's amazement, she didn't let go of his arm even in death. He felt tears come to his eyes, and...

"SAKURA!" He sat bolt upright in his sleeping bag, covered in a cold sweat and warm tears. He hadn't cried since... since he had nearly died on his first true mission as a shinobi. He shivered. Embarrassed even though no one had seen, he moved a shaking hand to wipe away the tears. "D-damn it..."

Sasuke held a hand to the left side of his chest, and felt his head beating faster than he had ever felt it before. He shook his head. "I... I can't do this... I..." He put a hand over his eyes. He felt deeply ashamed that he had cried, even though it had been unconscious; he felt even more ashamed and disturbed that he had killed Sakura in his dream. Even now... even if she went over to Itachi's side... He didn't know if he could kill her.

"Why is this happening to me?" he muttered, using his shirt to wipe the sweat away.