Author's Note: I am a little upset with myself for some grammar errors in the last few chapters. So I am going to pay more attention to those. Also, in their training fight I meant to put that his right eye changed, not the left. Thanks for the follows and reviews! Here's chapter five!
"I have long since closed my eyes. My only goal lies in the darkness." The words that Sasuke Uchiha had said rang through his mind again. The purple susanoo surrounding him as protection was in it's skeleton like form. His hand was over his left eye, the blood coming from it had run down his cheek. He looked up slightly and could see through the rib cage of the susanoo. Breathing heavily, his hand slid over both of his eyes as he closed them. Then, a wicked smile spread across his face. He was truly lost to darkness.
The scene changed.
Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke's older brother, was standing across from him.
Sasuke was furious. "Itachi, you slaughtered our entire clan. You let me live so that I could challenge you. Now, here we are. I left the Leaf Village in search of the power to beat you. It's time for you to pay! It's time for me to kill you!"
Itachi's expression was stoic and he had not moved until now. "Come then little brother. Let's settle this once and for all!"
Another change.
Itachi coughed up a ton of blood into his hand. His right eye closed, blood running from it. His orange susanoo was beginning to fade. He slowly started to walk towards his little brother.
Sasuke stumbled back as Itachi kept coming towards him. He stopped as something hard hit his back. A gigantic piece of some wall that had been destroyed earlier in their battle was in his way. He didn't have the strength to make his way around it and Itachi was extremely close now. The only thing he could do now was press his body as close as possible to the section of wall. Itachi stopped in front of him and extended two of his fingers, reaching towards the younger Uchiha's forehead.
There were then multiple changes. They all showed Sasuke and Itachi at different ages, all ending in Itachi poking his little brother's forehead. All ending in Itachi saying "Sorry Sasuke, maybe next time."
The bloody fingers landed on his forehead. Sasuke stood staring in complete disbelief at his smiling older brother. The fingers slid down the side of his face, leaving a trail of blood from his forehead to the bottom of his cheek. Itachi hit the wall, then collapsed to the ground, dead.
Sasuke had finally closed his gaping mouth. He continued to stare straight ahead, still in complete disbelief at his brother. His eyes were half closed now as he looked out of the corner of his eye at Itachi's body. Everything started to go dark and he collapsed right beside his brother's body, unconscious.
A change.
Sasuke was tied up and was listening to the man in the orange mask's story.
"The Uchiha clan was planning a coup d'état on the rest of Konoha. Itachi was given the choice of joining the clan and dying with everyone in it or killing them himself. He chose to kill the clan, his own mother and father, his friends and family, all just to save you. His little brother. It was all part of his plan for you to kill him. He wanted you to carry out his will. To go back to the Leaf Village and protect it and the people in it. Itachi loved you Sasuke."
This time the change went to Sasuke standing on a boulder. He was crying, he couldn't stop thinking about the truth. The truth being that Itachi had loved him, and that the village forced him to do what he did.
When he stopped crying, he looked up and spoke. "I'm sorry Itachi, but I can't carry out your will. They will suffer for what they made you do." His eyes widened as the Mangekyo Sharingan settled in both of them. "All of Konoha will perish!"
It changed once again.
The Reanimated Itachi stopped in front of Sasuke. He was slowly disappearing, going back to the afterlife. He pulled Sasuke closer so that their foreheads were touching. He smiled and spoke.
"You don't have to forgive me for anything I've done. But, I want you to remember one thing. No matter what you do from here on out, I will always love you." Itachi disappeared completely.
"Itachi!" Sasuke yelled as he hit the floor. He didn't move for a minute, trying to accept that it was just a dream, or really just more memories coming back to haunt him. He finally pulled himself up, drenched in sweat. Slowly making his way to the bathroom, he tried not to think about the nightmare with no luck. As he splashed his face with cold water, a realization came to him. "If it isn't Sakura, then it's Itachi. It's always something. Always something..."
Sakura had woken up a few minutes ago because of a loud noise coming from outside her room. She had sat up and wondered if she should go and check it out. When she heard the bathroom door close, she realized it was just Sasuke. Now she was wide awake and she groaned, getting up and making her way to the living room. "Thanks for waking me up," she thought as she passed the bathroom door. She stood beside the couch when he opened the door, rubbing his eyes.
A surprised look crossed his face when he looked up and spoke. "What are you doing up?" he asked groggily.
"I could ask you the same thing," she said as she walked to the table and sat down. "I heard a loud noise and I woke up. Are you okay?" she added.
He sat down on the couch. "I'm fine. Just a bad dream." He stared at the floor with a frown and sorrow in his eyes.
She hesitated when she asked her next question. "Do you... Do you want to... Talk about it?"
He was brought out of his thoughts by the sudden question and quickly changed his expression to a stoic one. "No, I said I was fine."
She didn't respond and looked away from him. They sat in silence for the next few minutes, neither making a noise or moving a muscle. Sasuke got up suddenly and put his vest on and grabbed the sword, attaching it to the back of the vest. He made his way to the door and was about to open it when Sakura got in front of him, blocking his path.
"Where are you going?!" she asked with urgency.
"For a walk," he responded indifferently. He was confused by her actions.
"Sasuke, it's three in the morning," she said, still sounding like she was extremely worried.
"So?" he asked. He was still completely lost.
"Then why are you taking that?" she asked, pointing to his sword.
The realization hit him like a slap in the face. A massive frown settled on his face as he tried to figure out what to say. He needed to reassure her that his intentions were far from what she was thinking. He leaned closer so that they were only inches away.
"I'm not leaving. I promise," he whispered. She didn't move so he gently pushed her away from the door and walked out, closing it behind him. He moved to the side and crossed his arms, counting in his head, "Five... Four... Three... Two..."
Right on time, she opened the door and walked out. She turned her head to the right when she heard a small laugh. After she realized that he had purposefully waited, she punched his shoulder and stomped down the stairs ahead of him.
He couldn't help but give a small smile before turning it into a gigantic smirk. Walking down the stairs and rubbing his shoulder, he saw her waiting at the bottom with her arms crossed and a very irritated look on her face.
"I really hate you sometimes!" she yelled at him.
"Hn," he said as they started walking to nowhere in particular. "You should hate me all the time," he thought to himself.
They were silent until they reached the part of the village where most of the stores and shops were located.
"Why are so many people up this early?" he asked as dirty looks met him from all sides.
"I guess because they're starting to prepare for the festival," she answered.
He had forgotten about the approaching festival, and that he had asked her. "Do we have to wear anything, fancy?"
"No, we mainly just wear our normal outfits."
He was relieved by her answer. If it meant life or death, he still probably would not have dressed up unless he was forced.
They continued to walk and the death stares and whispers kept coming towards Sasuke. He ignored most of them and just kept walking along. They were mostly coming from regular villagers, no one that could actually do anything to hurt him. He didn't know any of them so none of their insults mattered. One conversation had caught his attention as they were walking past.
Two men, both of them looked to be in their early twentys, whispered to each other about the Uchiha's intentions.
"Why is a traitor like him allowed to walk around the village freely?!" he angrily whispered to the other man.
"I don't know what's happened to this village. We were fine under any other Hokage, but the Hatake must have lost his mind. He shouldn't have even been in the running for Hokage, as careless as he is. And what about letting the jinchuriki run around freely too?"
Sasuke started to walk slower. An angry look was beginning to grow on his face. They could insult him as much as they wanted, but his comrades? He would not accept that. They had nothing to do with anything he had done. In fact, they were the ones that had saved him.
The other man answered. "Tell me about it. Naruto Uzumaki has a monster sealed inside him, and he claims that he has full control. I don't believe it for a second."
They were really testing Sasuke's patience now. First, they insulted his sensei. Now, they were insulting his best friend. He clenched his fists and walked even slower. Sakura hadn't noticed how agitated he was becoming and walked slower with him. She glanced at him and started to listen to the conversation that he had been listening to.
"I know right. The current Hokage is a disgrace and that Uzumaki is, too. One other thing. You see the Haruno girl walking beside him? I hear she still feels for that Uchiha traitor. If she wants a real man, she could just ask me or you. That Uchiha is just going to use her to revive his clan. That's the only thing he cares about now." They started to give him another glare when they were met by one.
Sasuke had reached the limit to his patience with their last comments. He had turned around with the Mangekyo Sharingan blazing at the two men. He started to move towards them, his teeth gritted. They ran away as fast as they possibly could. Preparing to run after them, he was stopped when Sakura grabbed his arm and pulled him along. He was still furious when she finally let him go. How dare they insult his friends like that. He would never use Sakura like that either. Never.
"Calm down," she said as he started to go after them again. She grabbed both of his shoulders.
"Let me go! They insulted you and the others!" He started to pull away and she grabbed both of his wrists and made him face her.
"Sasuke, we've all had to deal with this for a long time now. Please calm down."
He started to struggle again and she sighed as she dragged him even further away. She had dragged him all the way to the village gates when he finally stopped struggling.
"Are you done now?" she asked, annoyed.
He nodded and folded his arms when she let go. His eye returned to normal. He was still agitated and decided to change the subject, hoping to blow off some steam.
"On my journey, I apologized to most of the people and villages I had hurt. I still haven't apologized to the people here. There's another person I haven't said anything to either."
"Stop worrying about us! Who's this other person anyway?"
He was annoyed when she said not to worry about them, but ignored it for now. "The Kazekage. I was concerned that he might crush me if I came anywhere near the Sand Village."
Sakura had completely forgotten that Sasuke had left before the major change in Gaara. They had told him that Gaara and his siblings had been helping on the mission to save him and he didn't believe them at first. Sasuke had also seen Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro at the Five Kage Summit. He was extremely puzzled when Gaara had calmly acted against him and tried to tell him to let go of his demons and that even the smallest of lights should have reached him. He still didn't know how much Gaara and his siblings had changed. He hadn't been told much about them after the war so he guessed now was the time to ask.
Sakura smiled. "He wouldn't do that. You were worried for nothing. Naruto helped Gaara change since Gaara was a jinchuriki, too. It was really amazing how much Naruto reached out to him. Naruto's been pretty jealous of him ever since he found out that he had become Kazekage. He challenges him every chance he gets. Temari and Kankuro are with whatever Gaara does now. I'm not gonna lie, Gaara is pretty amazing!"
Sasuke frowned and rolled his eyes at how much she "praised" the Kazekage. "Hn, he can't be that great." He was now having second thoughts about if he should apologize to the "Great" Kazekage Gaara.
"You would be surprised." She stopped when she noticed the disgusted expression on his face. "Why are you so upset all of a sudden?"
He turned his head away. "I'm not upset. I just don't think that he can be so great," he finished off. He might have started to despise Gaara, and he didn't know why.
Sakura was a little confused and was about to respond when she heard a familiar voice coming from outside the gates. They both turned their heads.
"Wait up Lee! I'm going to collapse if I don't stop!" Tenten exclaimed as she slowly jogged her way to the entrance. Sure enough, Lee was running in front of her and reached the entrance in a few seconds, jogging in place.
"Nonsense Tenten! We must embrace the power of youth!" Lee exclaimed.
Sasuke was a little surprised at the sudden interruption and he started to see how Lee's and Tenten's appearances had changed.
Tenten was wearing a white, sleeveless, high collared qipao with red trimmings. On the left side of it was a pale red flame pattern. Her hair was in two buns which met in the back to turn into a braid. There were two scrolls on her back and there was also a black scroll on each of her arms and she wore them like bracelets. Sasuke had only talked to her once or twice in all the time they've known each other and he guessed she was sort of a tomboy.
Lee had not changed much. He still wore a green jumpsuit and orange leg warmers along with the tape he had from his elbows to his fingers. His hair style, a bowl cut, was the same along with his bushy eyebrows. The only big change was that instead of having the green flak jacket, he now wore a dark green chest guard with shoulder pads with high collars. Rock Lee had always been more of a rival to Sasuke than anything else. His looks matched his sensei's, Might Gai. He was basically another Gai sensei with his looks and energy. Sasuke thought he was kind of weird.
Lee saw Sakura and immediately ran over. "Hello Sakura! How have you been?"
"Hello Lee. I'm good. So you and Tenten finally finished your mission?"
Lee was about to answer when he saw who was standing beside her and gasped. He ran over to Sasuke and stopped in front of him.
"Sasuke Uchiha! It is certainly wonderful to see you again!"
"Hn, Lee."
Tenten had reached the entrance and leaned over, putting her hands on her knees. Sakura went over to help their exhausted comrade.
"Thanks Sakura," she said as Sakura put Tenten's arm over her shoulder and they began to walk towards Lee and Sasuke. She gasped for air as she explained what happened. "Lee ran all the way here without a break and I was trying to keep up. Something about embracing the power of youth again."
Tenten had been shocked when she saw the Uchiha. "Hey Sasuke. I haven't seen you in a long time," she said, still gasping for air.
"Hn, Tenten."
Sakura turned her attention back to Tenten. "Do you want me to take you to the hospital?"
"No, I just need to catch my breath," she responded and sat down.
Lee walked over to Sakura and started to speak. "Sakura, as you know, we are having the festival here in a few weeks."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "So he still has a crush on her." He was beginning to get irritated.
Lee continued, "And I would like to ask if you would accompany me to the festival?"
Tenten got up as Sakura blushed. It was Sasuke, however, that answered for her.
"She can't. She's already going with me."
Lee looked taken aback. Tenten had a suspicious smile on her face and she elbowed Sakura a few times, raising her eyebrows each time.
"It's not like that," she whispered to Tenten.
A shocked Lee spoke up. "Well, that's great, I guess... Maybe next time! Um, I have to go and visit Gai sensei. Are you coming Tenten?"
"Are you kidding me?! It's three in the morning Lee! I'll go visit Gai sensei later, I'm exhausted," she answered.
"Okay then! I will go alone!" The taijutsu specialist said before running off. They could see him crying some, too.
"Maybe I should go and talk to him," Sakura said while scratching her head.
Tenten grabbed her shoulder as she started walking in Lee's direction. "Oh please! He'll get over it sooner or later. I'm gonna go home and get some sleep." Before she walked off she whispered to Sakura, "I hope you two have fun! Don't get too crazy though."
Sakura tried to punch her, but she ran off laughing. "I'm going to kill her later..." she thought to herself. She turned to Sasuke. "You know I could have told him in a nicer way."
"Hn, whatever," he responded.
She sighed, "So what now?"
"You should go home and go back to sleep," he said boredly.
"Where are you going?" she asked, worry starting to come back to her.
"I'm going to the training field to practice my jutsu. I can't be embarrassed like I was yesterday," he added with a smirk.
"Then I'll go to judge," she said with a smirk of her own.
"I'm not carrying you back to the apartment if you fall asleep," he said as they started walking.
"That's fine. It's not like I expect you to anyway. Besides, if I fall asleep, that just means that you're pretty boring."
"Is that the best comeback you could think of?"
"Do you have anything better?"
"Hn!"
"So original," she said mockingly.
They walked the rest of the way in silence. Both of them were thinking about each other the whole way there. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't push each other out of their minds.
When they arrived, Sakura sat down against a tree and relaxed while Sasuke immediately went to work. After he put on his bandana, he started with the fireball jutsu.
Sakura watched him quietly as he performed the jutsu over and over, each time improving slightly. She couldn't help but admire his looks. As she had been telling herself ever since he came back, the Uchiha's features only seemed to get better with time. She hadn't noticed that she had begun to stare.
Sasuke glanced over and noticed her stare. For some reason, it made him want to work even harder than he already was. He decided that this time, the fireball would be the best one he had ever created. The sudden rush of confidence in him made sure that he was right. Making the hand signs once again, he performed the jutsu. Collapsing to his knees from the massive effort, he watched as the gigantic fireball went into the sky with amazing speed. A pleased smirk appeared when he heard the gasp behind him.
"Be careful or you'll start a forest fire," she said as he turned around. "You should take a break," she added.
He sat down in the middle of the field to catch his breath. He'd never tried that hard on a fireball before, so he started to wonder what had come over him. Something about her watching him made him extremely determined. After a few more minutes, he stood up and wondered what to do now. Looking back towards Sakura, he noticed that she was starting to nod off.
The need to get her attention took over. "Already going to sleep?" She looked at him and he continued. "Am I really that boring?"
"No, I'm just really tired," she responded with a yawn.
Sasuke was slightly relieved to hear that. He pulled out his chokuto and took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He opened them the next instant to see lightning coming from the sword and he chose about five trees for his plans. Now it was a test of speed and he wasn't going to use the Rinnegan.
Sakura tried to open her eyes now. This was going to be interesting and she waited to see what he was going to do. A few seconds later, he began.
Moving like a flash, he headed towards the first tree. However, as soon as he started to move, the thoughts of previous events came back to him, filling him with rage and a foreign feeling. The insults the two men threw at him and his comrades came first. He reached the tree and put all his effort into destroying it. Landing on the ground, he listened to it separate into multiple pieces and smirked with delight as he moved on to the second tree.
Sakura looked in wonder at how many pieces the tree had been cut into in a matter of a second. She turned her gaze towards him and noticed that something was off. He was gritting his teeth to the point that they might shatter and the Sharingan had appeared.
Then the second and third trees fell with his thoughts on Lee asking her to go to the festival with him and how "amazing" Gaara was. Sakura got up when she saw how tight he was gripping the sword. Now, the lightning that was emitting from the sword became brighter. The fourth tree went down with one strike and he was dissatisfied with how it was still mainly in one piece. How much Naruto had mocked him the day before came back to his thoughts. In a matter of a couple seconds, the fallen tree had been split into about a hundred pieces. He turned toward the final tree and launched himself at it. Only swiping at it once, he landed on the ground and looked back in confusion to see that the tree was still standing.
Sakura looked on in confusion, too. Not because the tree had still been standing, but because he had completely missed it. Did he do that on purpose? The look of anger on his face proved her wrong.
Sasuke let out a growl of frustration. How could he have embarrassed himself like that again? Even more infuriating, how had he not even grazed the tree? He launched his chokuto into the ground beside him and threw his bandana next to it. Grabbing a handful of hair, he pulled at it and cursed himself. Then, every single thought that had been in his mind a few seconds ago came back to him, enraging him even further. Looking back at the tree, his teeth gritted, he lost what was left of his control and patience.
Moving his bangs back, he closed his right eye and focused his left on the tree. "Amaterasu!" he shouted as the tree erupted in black flames. Blood trickled from the eye and he let out a cry of pain. He quickly closed the eye and put his hand over it, but he was delighted at what he saw with his opened eye and he started to grin wickedly. A voice behind him shook him out of his thoughts.
"Sasuke, what are you doing?! You have to stop! Calm down!" Sakura shouted as she turned him around and shook his shoulders.
He quickly looked back at the tree and extinguished the flames. He fell to his hands and knees and she crouched beside him.
"What happened?" she asked worriedly.
He shook his head and stood up. He walked off the training field, leaving her crouching in the middle.
She turned her gaze from him to the tree. It was completely destroyed. A frown settled on her face.
The next few days passed without the two of them speaking of the incident at all. It was almost as if it had never happened. When Kakashi asked what happened, Sakura had told him that it was just part of Sasuke's training. He didn't believe her, but he decided to stay off of the subject for the time being. Over that time, Sasuke had stayed in the apartment, only leaving if the Hokage asked for him. When he was asked to go anywhere with the others and catch up with the ones he hadn't seen yet he would refuse every time, saying that he didn't fell like it.
Before they knew it, it was just over a week before the festival. It was almost time for the other nations to arrive.
He sat in the middle of the dark cave, waiting for one of the others to return.
"My Lord," one of his servants bowed, "it's almost time isn't it?"
He opened his eyes slightly. "Yes, almost. We will take action soon. I can not wait to see the Uchiha's blood on my hands. Of course, I will have to wait a little longer for that to happen. He's strong, but I will end him. I'm sure that he will remember me after our little chat a few years ago..."
Author's Note: Just to be clear, the villain WILL be an OC. I'm sorry if my story summary made you think Orochimaru or something. I'll explain more about the villain in later chapters, and it will tell why my description says he's from THEIR pasts. I also apologize if I don't use Sasuke's Rinnegan a lot. The Rinnegan's powers are a little hard for me to understand so I don't want to write something stupid about it. Please review! Thanks for reading!