Woot, another chapter boys.

Warning; Sasuke, Timeskips, saddest anime death by far. (F for the locks.)

"I realized the most painful thing… That in this world… my existence was not needed." - Haku to Naruto

I gave myself a once-over in the bathroom, squinting my eyes at my unruly hair. "I suppose it's time for a haircut. Maybe shoulder length? I can always grow it out later." Humming in contemplation, I turned and walked into the living room, grabbing my bag and the storage scroll on the coffee table with my fruit in it. Tomorrow I'd be going back to the academy, and today I was situating myself in the Uchiha compound. I checked my appearance in the bathroom mirror one last time, nodding to myself. "Y'know, despite the heavy bags under my eyes, and my emo/dead disposition, I'm still fucking hot for an eight-year-old."

I finger gunned my reflection and strolled out of the bathroom and Naruto's apartment door, reaching out my hand to close it. Pausing, I cracked a grin, going back inside and closed the door with a soft click. "Screw using the stairs." I laughed, sliding open the living room window and jumping out, parkouring onto a nearby rooftop. My laughs faded into giggles, then the occasional chuckle as I jumped across the rooftops, smiling against the wind, my dark hair whipping wildly behind me. It felt so nice, freeing, at least compared to most of the days after the massacre.

I accepted that there was nothing that could be done. Maybe in another time, another me might have figured out a way to stop it, obsess over that one event. One horrible disaster in the sea of time. It's kinda funny how insignificant it was compared to the pain in the past and future. Maybe in another time, I wasted the time I was granted in the beginning to prevent it, just to have it happen anyway. After all, big players in this game of life had the deaths of the Uchiha planned in their favor. Imagine stopping the Coup, then having the clan wiped out anyway? That time that I treasured, no matter how short with my new family, I'd never give up no matter what you paid me. Even though it hurts, I can't bring myself to regret growing to care about them.

I stopped, breathing slightly labored, and tears running down my face. I let out a sigh, the smile on my face didn't waver. No matter what happens here on out, I don't want to live with any regrets. I reached up and wiped the tears away with my long sleeve, gazing down at the archway in distance. I jumped down from the roof, landing easily on the empty street. My footsteps echoed as I made my way past the archway, reaching out my hand and trailing my fingers along the surface of the pillars. I trudged forward, the district was like a ghost town. "Think of the positives, you can paint anywhere you want. Like a mural on that blank wall where that one grouchy old crone lived."

"Ah. All the Uchihas are probably rolling in their graves at the idea of me having free reign over this place."

Hound and Cat glanced at each other, quietly agreeing that the last Uchiha is probably clinically insane and that Inoichi's evaluation was full of bullshit.

Inoichi and Sasuke sneezed at the same time, the latter smirking. "I wonder who's thinking about me now." his voice was thick with smugness, making Cat groan and shake her head.

"Men."

Wiping my nose on my sleeve, I continued my journey through, by all means, my own mini town. I guess Itachi counts, but he's perceived as a traitor, so…

I came to a stop in front of the main house, closing my hand around the door handle, biting my lip. I adopted a determined expression, lips set in a thin line, and opened the door. All the blood, the bodies, they were gone; Anbu cleaned up the place in a few days tops. I flitted about the house, rearranging little things, moving the couch a little to the left; pushing a vase off-center of a table, and opening all the curtains. I stood back, looking around, and sighed. I set my bag down on the couch, straightening and looking at the photos hanging on the wall. The one that captured my gaze was a family photo; taken before I joined the academy.

Itachi, Fugaku, Mikoto, and I were standing against a garden backdrop where the photo had been taken. It was a 'perfect' family photo; Itachi stood in the front next to me. We both had small smiles on our faces. Kaa-chan had her eyes closed, the corner of her mouth were upturned slightly. She had a hand on Itachi's shoulder. To the right of the photo, Fugaku stood behind me, face stern, but the photographer captured a warmth in his eyes that grew rarer and rarer up until the massacre. "I wish there was a way to bring them back to life without their disapproval of my methods," I mused, smiling fondly.

Shaking my head, I headed to the last room I had yet to check. The door was closed, and I cursed the Anbu for unintentionally giving me flashbacks. Fookin Naruto crystal clear memories, even without the Sharingan. Rolling my eyes and tugging the doors open, I peered inside. My parent's bodies weren't bleeding out inside, nor was a crying Itachi standing over them with a bloody tanto. I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding and closed the door quietly, slumping against the wood. After I took a moment to compose myself, I headed inside my room to grab my weapons' pouch, a hair tie, and the scroll I picked up at the library before going outside and heading to one of the training grounds.

My feet led me to the same training ground that Shisui and I trained at, stopping in the center of the grass clearing. I took the tie off my wrist and put my hair in a low ponytail reminiscent of Itachi's except spikier. I adjusted the weapon pouch on my hip, opening it in a fluid motion and grabbing a handful of senbon, flicking them towards the training dummies. They hit the center in a neat little circle, with the last hitting dead center. I never stopped training, even when I woke up in the hospital. Though I think I drove the nurses crazy when I'd almost hit them when they opened the door with the chopsticks they gave me with every meal. I frowned in thought, slipping into the familiarity of katas, going through them all multiple times to warm up. My breathing my steady, then I slipped into a set of regular yoga stretches, finishing quickly.

I wrung out my hands, then headed towards the small lake near the clearing, stopping at the dock. I scrunch my nose, stepping up at the edge. "Hmm, goal one; master Fireball Jutsu without hand signs." Activation my Sharingan, I hummed, then took a deep breath, exhaling, then doing the hand signs in quick succession.

Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger, "Fire Style; Fireball Jutsu!"

I felt the heat bubbling up my throat then spat out a large fireball. I kept this up for about five seconds, then canceled the technique. Steam rose from the water's surface and evaporated into the air. I brought my hands up again, recalling the way my chakra moved with each hand sign's instruction. If I could just make my chakra move internally by memory, then I could perform jutsu without hand signs. A skill like that is extremely useful, and I've got five years until I graduate. I sighed, hanging my head when I thought about the fourth war and how strong these other players are. Frickin' Maddie-Jiji, Obi-Tobi, Aloe vera-Kun, Low-tier-Villain-hime…

Fuck. Fireball Jutsu ain't gonna do shit.

Well, it's good practice I guess. Pushing away any thoughts of dying in extremely painful ways in the future, I tried to mimic the flow of chakra from the 'Snake' sign first, then do the rest of the hand signs and pray to Jashin it works. Feeling as ready as I'll ever be, I flew through the hand signs, shouting out the technique once more. "Fire Style; Fireball Jutsu"

What came out was a rather pitiful, small, and wobbly fireball. Cutting of the technique I sighed again.

"This is gonna take longer than I thought."

I lay exhausted in the grass beside the lake, staring up at the sky through half-lidded eyes. Squinting at the golden rays shining through the trees and hitting my face, I let out a huff and rolled over. The sun would set soon, meaning I'd been in my best interest to head back now and take a shower. I sighed, stretching lazily and begrudgingly heaving myself up into a standing position. 'Chakra exhaustion sucks ass.' Yawning and retrieving the senbon stuck in the training dummies, I began the trek back home, longing for my nice soft bed.

The Uchiha district was… kinda creepy with nobody there. A chill ran down my spine and I booked it for the door, shutting it closed and locking it once safely inside. "Frickin' ghost town, Frickin' Uchiha ghosts that are gonna get my ass," I mumbled on the way to the bathroom. I pulled my dark blue tunic over my head, glancing briefly at the Uchiwa emblem displayed proudly on the back. "Ha, the clans named after a fan." I mused, tugging down my gray shorts and undergarments. Pausing to look at myself in the mirror, I grabbed the brush resting on the sink and started brushing the knots and tangles out of my hair. I sighed in relief once my hair was mostly free of the rat's nest it was before, and turned on the shower, balling up my dirty clothes and throwing them in a corner in the room.

Once the water was hot enough, I stepped in and uncapped the shampoo, squeezing a generous amount onto my palm and scrubbing it through my hair. "Really need a haircut," I mumbled, then hissed when I got soap in my eye.

"JASHIN DAMMIT. EVERY TIME!"

"Five more minutes mom." I groaned, nuzzling into my blankets, trying to ignore the sunlight hitting my face. Sitting up, I blinked, then chuckled dejectedly. "Oh wait, my mothers' dead." I kicked off the covers and swung my legs over the side of the bed, planting my feet on the cold floor. I covered my mouth, trying to stifle a yawn and glanced over at my alarm clock's blinking numbers. It never really woke me up, but my internal clock has a pretty solid grasp on my schedule, so I never really bothered actually turning it on.

8:16

Groaning, I threw on some clothes and quickly went through my morning routine, almost forgetting my bag on the couch before I left.

I skipped down the empty street, bag bouncing against my shoulder as I made my way to the academy for the first time in two weeks. I smiled at passers and greeted Eiji-Jiji enthusiastically while getting my morning tomatoes. "You seem to be in a good mood today Sasuke-kun." the old man remarked, handing me a couple of my o' so desired fruits. I nodded, "Just woke up happy I guess." I shot a warm grin over my shoulder and waved my hand in farewell then jumped up to the rooftops. Snatching a hair tie out of my pocket, I tied back my hair in a low ponytail while I ran, making good time if I say so myself.

Finally, I arrived at the place where all my dear friends were right now. I threw open the door to the classroom, making Iruka let out an unmanly noise of surprise before he glared half-heartedly at me. "What's up bitches." The glare intensified, something I steadfastly ignored. That one redheaded girl- what's her name? Kana? Blushed and whispered in frantic tones to her deskmate about how 'badass' and 'cool' I was. Rolling my eyes I strolled up to my seat and set my bag down, turning to the rest of the rookie nine(except Naruto) with a smile. "Hey guys, it's been a short while- and before you ask, I'm actually feeling pretty good today. I pity the person who chooses to ruin it. You really don't want to be that person-" I chatted away at my friends while taking my own seat, still ignoring a fuming Iruka at my blatant disrespect but couldn't actually do anything since I've just been through a traumatic experience. It's quite a strange a frustrating thing, wanting to offer someone a shoulder to cry on and at the same time beat them to death with a rusty metal baseball bat.

"I-it's good to see you again Sasuke-kun." Hinata offered, making my exaggerated smile soften a bit. "Thanks. It's good to see you all too." We all turned our heads at the sound of glass breaking and a startled cry.

"S-sorry Iruka-sensei, you see- WAAH PLEASE DONT KILL ME DATTEBAYO!"

Timeskips brought to you by NaruSasu hent- Fanfictions.

"Fuck you crusty old man," I said calmly while throwing senbon at the practice targets. "Fuckin' greedy old bastard. 'Just doing what I can for the good of the village' my ass." I pulled out Kunai from my weapons pouch, hurling them at the head of the dummies. "Fuck you Obi-Tobi, go masturbate to a photo of Rin or something else that's actually productive. Fricking Uchiha-hating hypocrite." Next was Shruikan, which I threw and flew through the hand signs for a jutsu I learned from one of the Uchiha scrolls. Ox → Dog → Dragon → Rat → Dog → Boar → Snake → Tiger, "Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu" I scowled when only two duplicates showed up then poofed away right when they hit the target.

I glared at the training dummy's stupid smiling face. "Fuck you Itachi-nii, at least my ass is cute."

"Wow, Sasuke-kun mastered the three jutsu we learned so fast!" A purple-haired girl cooed, latching onto her redhead friend. They squealed when I sent a look their way. I set my deadpan stare on my friend and honorary brother, Naruto. "Having trouble there?" He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Yeah… but I made a new jutsu Dattebayo!" Raising a brow, I humored him, "What jutsu is that?" He gave me a foxy grin when Iruka called him up next to demonstrate the transformation technique. A shit-eating grin made it's way onto my face when I realized what he meant, trying to stifle the few chuckles that escaped me.

He clasped his hands together in concentration, gathering his chakra for the technique. "Sexy Jutsu!" A poof of smoke engulfed Naruto, only to reveal a naked female version of him, who sent a wink at a gobsmacked Iruka. "Did I pass Iruka-sensei?" He/She? Purred, batting her eyelashes and sending a smoldering look the poor guy's way. He was actually sent flying back into the blackboard from the force of the nosebleed, and I couldn't hold in my manic cackles anymore. I sputtered and coughed and laughed and tried to breathe.

Naruto changed back and joined me with his own howls of laughter.

The rookie 9 all stared at me, Naruto gapping at me in a mix of astonishment and horror. Surprisingly, Hinata was the first to speak. "S-sasuke… you cut y-your hair?" I smirked, nodding, and running my hands through my now shoulder-length spikey hair. Some hair in the back spiked upward, an everpresent reminder of the fabled duck-butt that plagues young Sasuke. Well, more so Genin Sasuke. It actually didn't look too bad in Shippuden.

"But w-why dattebayo?" I shot him an unimpressed look, "We still have three more years till we're genin, that's plenty of time to grow it out again. Plus the three-year time skip to the Shippuden era. The group accepted this hesitantly, sending me suspicious looks every now and then, wondering if I was the real Sasuke or some imposter.

That thought made me chuckle. 'Ironic that it's both.'

I sat in the classroom bored out of my mind, drifting in and out of dreamland. Graduation was only a year away, and Naruto still couldn't make a solid clone despite me putting in the effort of tutoring him. His chakra control was absolute garbage, though he could hold the sexy jutsu for a while. I just hoped and prayed that he ends up learning shadow clone jutsu without me interfering. Because if not, then I'll steal the scroll myself and force it into his hyperactive brain. Oh, and maybe snag the hand seals for Edo Tensei for me at the same time. Speaking of that… Alright, a new goal. Pretend to be oblivious and learn the jutsu when Naruto steals it and hides in the forest.

I looked up blurrily at the blackboard. 'Mizuki, I'm actually hoping you're still that same unlikeable dick in this world too. For your own sake..'

Omake; A tidbit of Itachi's POV during Sasuke's recovery:

Itachi sighed heavily, trying to take his mind off of all the lives he's had to take recently, some of them with his new partner Juzo. He leaned against a tree, staring into the embers of the crackling fire. His thoughts drifted to his Otouto, allowing a small smirk when he thought about how he was torturing his friends now. The smirk diminished when he thought back to the last time they saw each other, sending a jab of pain through Itachi's heart. He let out a sigh, remembering what Shisui had said.

Itachi looked up sharply, Shisui offering him a small smile. "Itachi, even if it comes down to it, Sasuke would never hate you. I believe that wholeheartedly."

'Even if Sasuke did despise me after all that has transpired, it wouldn't mean I'd love him any less.'

"It is sad not to love, but it is much sadder not to be able to love." - Miguel de Unamuno

"People Live their Lives bound by what they accept as correct and true. That is how they define "Reality". ... Their "Reality" may all be a mirage." - Itachi Uchiha

WOOO Cannon starts the next chapter! Genin fun time!

On a side note, if any of you want an Omake of a certain character reaction, random situation, or anything really, then feel free to message me. I'll probably put it in if you do~~~~~

Oh no. The locksss.

Don't worry, Sasuke's fab hair is going to make an appearance next chapter in its full glory.