Author notes: Dark, bloody, Sasuke-centric. Came up with it during the whole Forest of Death thing, when Sasuke refuses to strip down and go fishing. It's the reason besides the fan girls.
Chapter Title: Markings
Chapter Rating: M for blood, hints at incest (if you really look), and general dark themes, plus some naughty language.
Genre: Horror/Drama
Chapter Summary: Sasuke never shows his bare back to others.
Disclaimer: Don't own the lovely Uchiha boys. If I did… Well, some things are better left for fantasy.
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When Sasuke was eight, his niisan went batshit crazy.
When Sasuke was eight, he was forced to watched helplessly as his brother went batshit crazy and killed everyone he loved.
When Sasuke was eight, the physical and psychological torture he endured would have driven a lesser man to suicide.
When Sasuke was eight, his brother marked him.
Sasuke would still trace the letters in his mind sometimes, the western writing that his brother had learned. When, he didn't know. Between training, missions, and avoiding spending time with his otouto, Itachi seemed constantly busy.
Sasuke didn't know what the markings meant, but he knew what they looked like.
The first, placed over his left shoulder blade, was a series of four lines. Two exactly vertical, on either side of the two slightly slanted ones. They made three points, two going up, one going down. M.
The next was two horizontal lines, a vertical line exactly centered on them. Exactly, because Itachi was perfect, even when carving his brother's back open with a kunai. This one was just to the right of the first one, on the left side of his spine. I.
The third marking was like the first, but it only had three lines. Two vertical, with a slanted line connected the top of the first to the bottom of the second. Placed just on the right of his spine. N.
The final marking was the most confusing to him. Placed over his right shoulder blade, a vertical line, with three horizontal lines coming off of it. One at the exact top, one at the exact bottom, the same length, and one in the exact middle, a bit shorter than the others. E.
Below those was a pattern he had grown to recognize, the dot surrounded by three other dots, these with tails, that symbolized a fully activated Sharingan.
Itachi had carved this into his brother's back the day he went batshit crazy. It had been Sasuke's reminded of something. He wasn't sure what, because he didn't know what the letters meant.
When Sasuke returned to his home after leaving the hospital, he had come across a book, hidden under Itachi's floor. The book had been written in the strange western letter. Sasuke had scoured it, looking for the four that were on his back. He found them individually, but never together.
Until he got to the last page. There, written in Itachi's careful script, were the letters. M. I. N. E. With the symbol below them. That was all that was on the page, and there was nothing after it. There was no help there.
When Sasuke was thirteen, he re-encountered his crazy, evil niisan, and rather foolishly attacked him.
When Sasuke was thirteen, his evil, crazy older brother again made him relive the day everyone he loved died.
When Sasuke was thirteen, and trapped within the Tsukiyomi, he didn't have the marking on his back.
When Sasuke was thirteen, and trapped within the Tsukiyomi, his brother carved the marking into his back again.
When Sasuke was thirteen, and trapped within the Tsukiyomi, his brother told him what the letters on his back were. M. I. N. E. Mine. Sasuke belonged to his brother ,and always would.
When Sasuke was thirteen, events that would re-shape his life took place.
When Sasuke was thirteen, he went batshit crazy.
Just like when Itachi was thirteen.
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End Note: Shorter than the last, only 500plus words this time. Another one of those 'I think of this crap when I'm supposed to be asleep' things. No other notes this time, really. Review, please.