"Are you sure about this, Arashi?" Naruto asked as they neared the Uchiha compound.
"You said your match with Sasuke was interrupted right?" Arashi asked in turn, "Well, trust me when I say it's not a good thing to leave a fight unfinished."
When Arashi caught word Naruto's sparring match with Sasuke was stopped prematurely, he immediately wrote a message to Sasuke's parents requesting a "play date" so they could settle the dispute. If Arashi was honest with himself, he was a bit surprised when Fugaku Uchiha sent a reply agreeing with the proposition.
When they arrived at the compound, Naruto looked around a bit and was clearly impressed by grandeur of the area. The people walking the streets, virtually every one of them an Uchiha, stared at the two newcomers for a moment before continuing with whatever they were doing.
Naruto was slightly amazed nobody was giving him the proverbial death glare. When he inquired Arashi why that was, his older brother shrugged, claiming not to know, although Naruto heard him mutter,
"Probably because of their damned superiority complex."
It wasn't difficult to find Sasuke's house: it was the largest one after all. A short wait after knocking on the door led Naruto and Arashi face to face with Sasuke and Fugaku.
"Good morning Mr. Uchiha, Sasuke," Arashi greeted with a polite smile, "Naruto, say good morning."
"Yeah whatever," Naruto muttered under his breath, earning a gentle but firm blow to the back of his head. "Good morning Mr. Uchiha, good morning Sasuke."
The Fugaku merely nodded in reply, although Sasuke, half-heartedly, returned their greeting.
"So is there like a backyard or something we could do this in?" Arashi questioned.
"We'll use our dojo." Fugaku told him, gesturing for them to come inside and follow them.
Once they were in the dojo, the two young boys wasted no time in getting started. While Naruto and Sasuke sparred, Fugaku and Arashi sat on the sidelines watching carefully, making sure they didn't hurt themselves too badly.
"Your son's quite skilled." Arashi commented after witnessing Sasuke flip Naruto over his shoulder.
"Of course," Fugaku replied confidently, so confident that he wasn't even watching the match. "In a few years he'll be a splendid shinobi like his brother."
Arashi noticed Sasuke's slightly annoyed expression as he momentarily paused at his father's words; a pause that Naruto took full advantage of with a savage punch to the face.
"If you ask me he's shaping up to be even better than Itachi." Arashi hoped the comment would allow Sasuke to relax. Fugaku opened his eyes just as Sasuke took a kick to his stomach.
"He still has a lot of work to do if your brother's undisciplined attacks can reach him."
A sour scowl crossed Sasuke's face as he punched Naruto as hard as he could at his nose. An impressive string of profanities flew from Naruto's lips while he grabbed his face, stunning Sasuke motionless and earning Arashi a sharingan enhanced glare from Fugaku.
"I wonder where your brother learned such language."
"It's a mystery all right." Arashi's face became as red as his hair.
The two were silent for the remainder of the sparring match. By the end Naruto was sporting a black eye, bloodied nose, and a small bruise on his forehead. Sasuke had a busted lip and two bruises on his cheeks.
"Well done," Arashi lightly applauding the children, "Both of you, well done. Wouldn't you agree Fugaku?"
The surly Uchiha glanced at them with a perpetual frown, turning on his heels and leaving the dojo. Sasuke started after his father when a new voice sounded off behind them.
"I thought you both did really well."
Everyone turned to the new comer. A man, who looked like the vision of whom Sasuke would become stood before them, clad in his newly acquired ANBU black ops uniform. Itachi Uchiha was smiling, a rare sight for an Uchiha.
"Itachi!" Sasuke started toward his older brother but quickly slid to a stop. A confused look appeared on Itachi's face. "You're just going to flick my forehead again."
Itachi smiled as Arashi stifled a laugh and Naruto just looked uninterested.
"I promise I won't flick your forehead."
Sasuke sent him a slightly disbelieving look before he approached Itachi, only for him to poke Sasuke on the forehead with his index finger.
"I said flick, not poke."
Sasuke's expression soured as a loud laugh erupted from Naruto.
"So Itachi, I see you've made ANBU," Arashi remarked, quickly cutting off another argument between the two children. "Congratulations."
"Thank you, Arashi. I look forward to working with you."
"Oh, is that so?" Arashi responded, "So I guess you're the new guy I was informed to expect."
Itachi nodded in confirmation.
"Well then, I'll see you bright and early tomorrow. Let's go Naruto."
As they walked away from the Uchiha compound, Arashi felt a tug on his sleeve.
"Which one of us won, Arashi?" Naruto asked, grinning with dried blood under his nose.
Arashi smiled. "Sasuke."
Twin shouts of outrage could be heard all across the village as Itachi told Sasuke the opposite of what Arashi said.
Two years passed since that day. In that time, Naruto and Sasuke competed against each other in every class they shared.
While the two children were initially evenly matched, over time Sasuke's natural talents began to propel him past Naruto.
This frustrated Naruto to no end, and motivated him to work harder to keep up with his rival. Eventually, a form of mutual respect was born between the two children. That, however, didn't prevent them from constantly bickering over who was better.
"Sasuke, I challenge you to a shuriken throwing contest!" Naruto shouted as Sasuke started on his way home after class. The seven-year-old Uchiha turned to face his rival, who stood there with his normal goofy expression. "Come on, let's go Sasuke!"
Sasuke thought about the offer for a while. 'Well, Itachi did say he wouldn't be able to practice with me today. And Naruto is pretty good.'
He looked at Naruto again before smirking. "Sure, I'm down for some competition."
And so Sasuke led Naruto to the small area in the forest where he watched Itachi practice with his kunai knives.
The targets were placed all around a clearing, a few of which required ricocheting the knives off of each other in order to hit them. The young Uchiha grabbed two targets and secured them on a tree.
"Okay Naruto, the one on the left is yours, the right is mine. We have six throws, and the most shurikens stuck in the target wins."
"All right! Let's do this!" Naruto shouted, excitedly throwing his shuriken in rapid succession. Just like that, the game was on.
Sasuke jogged through the streets of the village several hours later.
"Stupid Naruto," He breathed as he rounded a corner. "Just doesn't know when to quit does he?"
Sasuke easily won the shuriken contest 6 to nothing, but Naruto kept insisting on having a rematch. Initially the rematches went over the same, but Sasuke noticed that after a few more rematches Naruto showed improvement. Before long, Naruto managed to tie with Sasuke 6 for 6. Finally, after at least 15 or so rematches, the sun began its evening descent.
"See you tomorrow Sasuke!" Naruto called when they parted ways, "Next time I'll beat you for sure!"
Sasuke smiled before replying, "In your dreams, maybe."
"Father's going to be furious with me." Sasuke lamented as the Uchiha compound came into view.
Once he was home, he quickly wished he wasn't. Bodies littered the streets of the compound, all of them freshly murdered by a sword.
"Wh…What is this?" Sasuke murmured in a quivering voice, unable to believe his eyes.
Sprinting through the streets, he discovered more and more bodies, until he finally came to his house.
"Father! Mother!" the boy cried, throwing the door open.
What he saw broke his heart. His mother and father lied dead in the center of the room, a pool of blood gathering around them. Slowly, Sasuke dragged his feet to the bodies.
"Father? Mother?"
The ravenette fell to his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks. Disbelievingly, he reached out to touch his mother's cheek and his father's forehead. The skin was still warm. Sasuke wailed, burying his face into his father's back.
An eternity later, a creak in the floor pulled Sasuke's attention away from his parents. He shot to his feet, noticing a lone figure standing in the room's shadows. After a moment's confusion, Sasuke recognized the silhouette as his brother, Itachi.
"Brother! Who the hell did this?"
A surge of hope shot through Sasuke. Itachi would without a doubt track down his family's killers and bring them to justice! He would take care of everything!
A slight pain bit into Sasuke's shoulder as a loud THUNK was heard behind him. Shakily, he turned to see a shuriken sticking out of the door. Sasuke slowly turned back to Itachi, whom he noticed wielded a bloodied sword.
"Foolish little brother." Itachi murmured, emerging from the shadows.
He closed his eyes and slowly reopened them. Sasuke then got his second glance at the fabled Mangekyo Sharingan, and his first look at their terrible power.
When Sasuke came to he was in a bed. He immediately jolted up into a sitting position, and for a brief, wonderful moment, the night prior was only a nightmare.
A dull throbbing in Sasuke's shoulder, however, crushed him with horrifying reality.
His older brother Itachi, whom he'd looked up to and idolized, murdered not just their father and mother, but their entire clan.
Sasuke fought to keep his tears from flowing when he noticed he wasn't alone. Sitting off to the side in full ANBU gear was Naruto's older brother, Arashi Uzumaki.
"Hello Sasuke," he greeted, his usual good cheer absent in the wake of such a massacre. "I suppose it's pointless to ask how you're doing right now, isn't it?"
Sasuke didn't respond, his attention on his hands as they rested on his lap.
"I thought so."
They sat in silence for a few moments before Arashi spoke again. "I know nothing I say will make it any easier, but holding back your emotions isn't doing you any favors. It's better to let it all out now. No one would hold it against you if you cry."
Sasuke turned to Arashi, tears brimming in his eyes. The ANBU stood, crossing the room and attempting to place a comforting hand on Sasuke's shoulder, but the boy slapped his hand away.
Arashi nodded understandingly. "I have to go, Sasuke. You should go back to sleep."
The ravenette sniffed back a sob, nodding in agreement. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Once he was certain the boy was slumbering, Arashi left the room to find his teammates, Ayame Kazan and Hokori Hyuuga, waiting for him.
"How is he?" Ayame inquired.
"As you'd expect."
"No child should have to experience this!" Hokori exclaimed, her Byakugan reflexively activating "Please tell me that we're going after the bastard responsible for this!"
"Lord Hokage ordered us to bring Itachi back to the village to face judgment," Arashi confirmed, "Personally I think we should just bring back his head."
"He won't come peacefully," Ayame stated, "We may not have a choice in the matter."
"When do we leave?" Hokori asked.
"In an hour, " Arashi answered. "Gather whatever supplies you need and meet at the village gate."
His teammates nodded in agreement before dispersing. An hour later, the trio met at the village gate and commenced their mission.
Arashi and his team pursue the renegade Itachi, but have they bitten off more than they can chew. Next time: Arashi vs Itachi
