Summary - Sasuke has returned after a five year absence. Completely void of all emotions, he claims he only wants to become the strongest. Naruto and Sakura, along with the rest of the infamous 'Rookie Nine' need to draw out the old Sasuke and reassert their friendship before he turns into the one person he really hates. Main pairing is SasuNaru, along with many minor pairings for fluffy goodness.

Rated For - Swearing, violence, and future citrusy situations.

Disclaimer - Believe me, if I owned Naruto, I wouldn't be writing this.

Chapter Five - Grave

-------Sasuke. Yesterday, after training.-------

Shit, it was cold. Leave it to Kakashi to make us stay out longer than necessary. I don't think I could have lasted another minute with those two. Every mission we were sent on, every training session we had, my day's options were limited to a choice of three things:

One. Interact with the perverted moron that is our teacher and group leader, Kakashi.

Two. Interact with the less -subtely-perverted moron with the voice and attitude of a parrot, Naruto.

Three. Interact with the anxious, rather useless moron with little battle skills, Sakura.

Wonderful, isn't it?

I suppose it could be worse. I could still be with them right now.

I sighed to myself, stuffing my hands in my pockets grimly. My shoe was becoming loose, and I stopped to fix it. As I turned to take a shortcut, the voices of my aforementioned teammates caught my attention. Pausing, I kept in the shadows, curiosity getting the better of me. I'd always wondered what those two actually had to talk about other than the shallow, frivolous nonsense and loud arrogance they usually spouted.

"He...he will want to be friends with us again, right?"

Huh. Friends. I shook my head.

I waited expectantly, assuming she would say 'yes' in a fangirl-esque manner and reprimand him. But the answer never came. I watched them both walk off, then shrugged and kept walking. It wasn't my concern what they thought of me, nor did I care what they wanted from me. I wasn't stupid; I'd known they were on-edge with me around.

But they'd go crazy if they knew where I'd been and what I'd done in the three years I was gone...

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I woke up the next morning feeling, if possible, even more tired and annoyed than I had when I'd gone to bed. A quick glance out the window told me the sun wasn't even up yet, which led me to question why I was awake in the first place.

Stupid window's open...

I hated the cold. In the huge, empty house that I was forced to live in, it made everything seem worse somehow. Memories of my family were locked firmly into the house, and everywhere I went it seemed like something reminded me of them. The cold made it even more depressing for me.

-------Flashback-------

"A-aniki...What are you-"

"Ah, there you are. Where have you been, little brother?"

"I was playing with-"

"Your friends? Hmph. Friends are useless, you don't need them. All you need is strength, power, independence."

"W-where are...where's mother?"

Itachi smirked, moving closer to the young Sasuke.

"Where's father?" Sasuke's voice had dropped to a whisper now.

Itachi passed by a window, and was suddenly cast in sharp relief by the moonlight. Shadows flickered behind him as he shifted, and Sasuke's eyes dropped downwards.

"Are you bleeding, aniki? Is...is something wrong?"

"Father and mother needn't have died uselessly, little brother." Itachi spat. Sasuke winced, taking a step backwards.

"What did you do...?"

A grin spread across Itachi's face, the shadows making him look insane. "Why, dear brother, I did what I had to, to become strong, like father wanted."

"...Where-"

"But I can't risk having you in the way. You..."

Sasuke tripped over something behind him, landing forcefully on his wrists. He scrambled backwards until he hit something solid. A brief glance let him know the door was a few feet to his left.

"You will suffer tonight!" Itachi's eyes glowed red, the pupils becoming three.

"What's wrong with your Sharingan..." Sasuke whispered, horrified. He thought back to earlier that year, when he had heard his father shouting about Itachi's 'shameful mistake' and a 'Mangekyo Sharingan'. After that, his father had spent a lot more time with him, but rather than train him to become like Itachi...

"He didn't want you to become me. But one day, you will wonder how to get this power, little brother. It's easy, you know. Just kill your closest friend."

"You...you killed Shisui?"

Itachi's smirk doubled, and Sasuke could see quite clearly the cracks that danced across the whites of his older brother's eyes.

Suddenly, he screamed, over and over again, as flashes of his dead parent's bodies forced their way into his eyes. They stopped instantly, Itachi observing him quietly. He started sobbing, earning a look of disgust from the genius Uchiha.

Sasuke's shrieks pierced the air as the young boy was forced to watch, through Itachi's eyes, the slaughter of his parents. He felt Itachi's raw emotion, throwing up every time he relived the sick, victorious glee of a murderer.

"Aniki...why are you doing this?" Sasuke sobbed as Itachi forcefully picked him up and held him in the air as he struggled feebly.

"Pathetic..." Itachi murmured. "You are not worth my time." Letting Sasuke drop the the ground, Itachi watched stoically as Sasuke landed awkwardly on his ankle, crying out in a rapidly fading voice. Turning, Itachi walked away, leaving his younger brother in a puddle of blood and vomit.

"Aniki...Aniki!" Sasuke called after him. He was confused, and in a great deal of pain. He fell to the ground after taking one step, and lay there, crying quietly. Itachi paused.

Without looking back, he scoffed. "Foolish little brother...you can't kill me. Your hate's not strong enough. You're not strong enough. If you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me, and survive. Run, and cling to life. Live in shame, run away and live." (1)

"Aniki..."

-------End Flashback.-------

Those words rang in my ears. It was the most Itachi had ever said to me. I curled up, willing myself to go to sleep. My body gave into a fitful sleep, plagued with nightmares and cold, cruel laughter.

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I woke up again as sunlight filtered through the thin curtain. I blinked, my vision slightly blurred. I managed to get out of bed and eat, although a small wave of nausea was still tugging at my stomach. I pulled on a dark blue jacket, and headed towards the training grounds.

When I arrived, I was unsurprised to find that Kakashi was nowhere to be seen. A pink-head came into view, and I turned away when Sakura waved to me.

Just my luck. That idiot will probably be with her, and I'll have to put up with them for the next five hours until Kakashi gets here.

What kind of moron takes five hours to get ready and get to the training grounds anyway? They were right next to the village – even if you lived on the opposite edge of the town it would only take two hours to get here, and that's if you walked slowly.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura greeted me cheerfully. I didn't even bother grunting in reply, I just stared off into the distance.

Where is that loud-mouthed, dead last good-for-nothing?

I shook my head, ignoring Sakura's look. I didn't actually care where he was. I just expected him to be trailing behind Sakura, as usual.

Maybe I haven't been paying much attention this past month...

Come to think of it, I had noticed less tension between the two of them. I wasn't too sure, since the only reason I had come back was because I wanted to become even stronger. Except all Kakashi was doing now was putting us through trivial, Genin-ranked training exercises. What was the point of me being here? It was like I'd gone back in time to the very beginning, to be reduced to bell capture and hide-and-seek games, like a child.

"Sasuke-kun...?"

I shot her a glare. Instead of persisting, she fell silent and looked away. I saw sadness in her eyes.

Big deal.

"Ah, Kakashi-sensei!" She called out suddenly, walking towards him. I glanced at my watch. He's only half an hour late?

"Ah, sorry, you two. Oh. Where is Naruto?"

"I...don't know," Sakura replied, "He's not usually late..." she trailed off.

"Sasuke."

"Hn."

"Go get him."

"Me? What for?" I snapped. I had better things to do.

"If he slept in for that reason..." Kakashi murmured. "Well, think of it as a C-ranked mission, to get him out of bed and back here in an hour."

I glared at him. C-ranked? How pathetic did Kakashi think I was? And for what reason? (2) Sakura looked even more worried than before. It seemed all she could do these days was look worried.

I knew Kakashi would do nothing all day if I didn't agree, so with a glare I started walking away. I stopped, and Kakashi frowned at me.

"What?"

"...I don't know where he lives."

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Of all the pointless, time-wasting things to do...Finding Naruto's house wasn't easy, since Kakashi was quite vague with directions. Eventually, I came to a small alleyway, with only a few entrances leading off it. I looked up, searching for the number eighteen. It was at the very end, and looked rather run-down. Still, it had to be better than Naruto's old apartment. This one had a door.

I knocked on the door, tapping my foot impatiently. After five minutes, I knocked again. Getting no response, I banged on the door, eventually kicking it and sitting down on the doorstep. Inside, I could hear someone muttering something, so I knocked yet again.

Screw this. I got up and tried the handle.

The stupid door was unlocked.

(1) I realise this is sort of like a mix between the Japanese version and literal translation. Itachi's speech, that is. Live with it.
(2) Sasuke doesn't know about Kyubi yet.