A/N: We're getting close to a major milestone, that of 100,000 words. To celebrate, I'd like to answer a lot of questions. Once that milestone is reached, I'd like people to send in questions in PMs. I'll answer them after one week of reaching that milestone, thus meaning that I give more time to each question before I answer it. This also gives more time for people to ask questions. Ask questions about whatever you want-varying chapter length, plans for the future, why does it stick so close to the main plotline, et cetera. I'll be doing something else for the fiftieth chapter, so look forward to that as well!

Memory occurs, tinged by silver and the edges of blue. The memory does not fade, and it was indelibly imprinted in crimson, the brilliant scars of the darkening field. The memory is dark, but it can be seen easily enough.

Sasuke is ten years old. She has come to visit her brother in his hideaway, the interior of a Hidden Leaf training center. The branches hover over the windows, pressing against the glass and occasionally scratching the surface. "Onii-chan?" she asks, hopeful.

Itachi turns around distantly, his eyes dark and absent. His eyes remain on a map depicting the rising and falling of a mountainous region.

At the time, Sasuke has not recognized the image. She later learns it to be a map of Hidden Stone, though she does not know why her brother was looking at that map.

"You were going to teach me shuriken techniques," Sasuke prompts, her voice faltering slightly as she sees his disinterest. She clears her throat, her face gaining some little of the stubbornness that will indelibly mark it later in life.

Itachi smiles faintly. "I became occupied." He looks out the window. "Besides, father is a good teacher." He says very little. Whatever emotions he must have brewing within him are not displayed on his face or his sleeve. He conceals them behind a sheath of iron.

Sasuke frowns, her young mind alert. She can reason out, at the least, that what Itachi has said is a lie. "But you throw them the best. You're the best at that. Even I know that. I'm sure it wouldn't take you that long." She looks up at Itachi with sadness. "You always act as though I'm a burden to you, onii-chan."

Itachi shows little emotion. He waves his sister away does not exert himself in defying Sasuke's words.

Sasuke, not willing to give up so easily, steps closer. She shoves her way toward the map, getting a better look.

Itachi taps Sasuke on the head lightly. His expression turns unusually kind as he regards his sister. "Forgive me, Sasuke-chan. Next time."

Sasuke glares, her fragile ice heart cracking under the pressure of Itachi's eyes. She runs back home, her eyes filling with tears. Always saying 'Next time'. I just want him to acknowledge me, even though I'm a girl. Even though he knows that, can't he treat me with something resembling a brother's respect?

Itachi leaves. Whither he goes, Sasuke does not remember. She can place a guess, but that in and of itself is insufficient to understanding the answer.

Sasuke looks to her parents at dinner, her black eyes sad. "Why does Itachi-kun never talk to me? I only want to impress him." She picks at her food, but does not truly eat, her mind focused solely upon the sadness she feels.

"I don't know." Uchiha Fugaku scowls, looks down. "Who knows what's in that guy's heart?" He doesn't say more. His heart, too, is closed to even his family. He does not possess the honesty to say things straight out.

Uchiha Mikoto offers Sasuke a lunch. "Here you go! I'll see you when your shuriken lesson's done." She smiles at her daughter, perhaps recognizing a kindred spirit in a daughter that seeks to become stronger than she would wish.

Sasuke smiles as she takes the lunch. "Thanks, mother!" She runs off into the city. At seven, Itachi-kun graduated the academy at the top of his class. At eight, he learned the Sharingan. At ten, he became a chūnin. We have no similarities… but I won't be left behind by him. I'll win his acknowledgement, too! She practices until the moon falls. Rushing back, she wonders at the time.

The moon rises over the city. Its crimson light casts a horrifying gaze upon the land, drawing out every stark fact in lurid detail.

This, this feeling. Sasuke's limbs shake in terror. Her eyes widen. She stares down at the bodies. Reaching downward, she turns over one body, quickly inspecting the body's identity.

The crimson eyes, now seemingly closed in death, mark the body as belonging to the singular family of the Uchiha. The tomoe have faded, marking the body as dead beyond recall.

Sasuke runs to another. She does not turn over the body, but instead looks at merely the hair, the pure, fine black belonging to the Uchiha clan.

Dead Uchiha litter the streets. Most were killed from behind, or stabbed neatly through the heart. A few do not have even signs of pain on their faces, indicating that they died peacefully and without struggle.

Sasuke, not knowing what is going on, rushes home. "FATHER! MOTHER!" she cries out, her face dripping with tears.

"Don't enter." a voice says, and Sasuke is not certain whose voice it is.

Sasuke trembles, her brow dripping with sweat.

The image of her father, or perhaps her dear mother, lying motionless, needing help, presses into Sasuke's mind. Sasuke cannot ignore the image arising in her mind. What if they needed my help? I have to be strong! I have to be strong like Itachi-san!

Overcoming her fear, Sasuke pushes wide the door. She struggles in, her feet padding. Her fear remains the primary motivator, even though she has forced it aside.

The bodies of Sasuke's father and mother lie on the floor, smearing the ground and the same chair Sasuke sat at the night before with blood. Crimson stains the memory and the happiness once experienced. Both are well beyond help. Their chests do not rise or fall with breath.

"NO!" Sasuke shouts, weeping. Her head turns away, looking toward the source of the voice.

Itachi meets her eyes. At first, Sasuke is pleased to see him, but then, she sees the bloodied sword at his side, the cold, icy look within his eyes.

"Father and mother. Brother, Itachi-kun." Sasuke kneels, weeping. "I, all I wanted from you was your respect! Why?" She closes her eyes. She draws a harsh, shaking breath. "This must be some kind of nightmare!"

Harshly, Itachi forces Sasuke's eyes open. "Coming here was stupid, nee-chan. Did I fail to properly warn you? I was attempting to spare your more delicate sensibilities. I told you to leave," he whispers before closing his own eyes.

Sasuke swallows bile, her eyes mournful and terrified.

Itachi opens his eyes wide. He whispers a word under his breath, his hands lacing together.

Sasuke screams a long while in her mind, her thoughts entranced with images of the deaths of her family. And then, suddenly, she stops screaming. Her eyes meet Itachi's with pure rage. Sasuke does not scream when she awakes. "You're going to die, Itachi-san," she remarks in a calm, light voice concealing a blade beneath. "Why did you do it?"

Itachi shrugs. "Everyone will die eventually," he returns, his voice unconcerned. "Shall I kill you?"

"You can try," Sasuke retorts, her eyes dry of tears.

"To test my strength seems an appropriate answer. Why do you think you are still alive?"

Sasuke's eyes widen. I... wasn't worth his rage?!

After a moment, Itachi shrugs again, turning away. "You are not worthy of dying by my hand." He walks towards the door, his voice passive. "If you truly wish to defeat me, you must grow strong by hatred. If you are to prove a true challenge to me, you must use your hatred to grow stronger."

Sasuke sits motionless on the ground. She wishes to cry, to let her tears fill the room and wash away the straining sadness. But she cannot cry even a single tear. That is no longer possible.

History

The bell tower shook, the wooden floor trembling and rocking under the impact of the salt water. White light poured through the door, but it slowly diminished as the darkness pressed down on the room.

"Strong by hatred, was it?" Sasuke questioned lightly, her red eyes flickering with energy. "I think those are the last words you ever spoke to me."

Itachi's eyes narrowed. "I don't have any interest in fighting you presently." He turned his gaze toward the ground, his expression calm.

"No interest?" Sasuke demanded, her eyes wide with shock. "What do you mean by that?" She took a step backward. "Didn't you say you'd fight me if... if I got to a point where I was a challenge to you?!"

"It's as I say." Itachi paused. "Of course you haven't reached that point. That is to say, at present you are not a challenge to me. How many years has it been since that massacre?"

"It was five years ago!" Sasuke shouted, her eyes blazing with rage.

"Well, there you are, then. Five years. Do you seriously imagine that in five years, it is possible for a small chick to grow to the point where it can kill a crow?" Itachi questioned, his eyebrow rising.

Sasuke's eyes darkened. Her hand extended into a flat form, shaping like a long spear.

"On top of that, the reason I was called out here has nothing to do with you, and never will. I just don't really have an interest in fighting you. If I'm not required to by my role in the current situation, I prefer not to fight at all. Something that simple can be understood by you, can't it? There's no purpose in killing you as you are now." Itachi turned toward the window. His crimson eyes glistened in the light.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I wanted to die. But I lived, for the sake of killing you. I didn't take to your words fully, however." She held her arm to one side. "I fell in love. And for that reason." She gritted her teeth. "I know that the ones I love can never be happy in a situation where you exist. As long as you exist, I can never make them happy. So, for that reason, I must find a way to kill you." She reached sideways. Lightning crackled off the fingers. "I have a duty to try to kill you." Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Is this truly wise? You are fairly certain you won't succeed. For you, is it really rational to follow this path?" Itachi questioned. His red eyes glistened faintly. "On top of that, there's something else you seem to have overlooked. Simply, it's this. You need to understand that my continued existence is not important to their happiness. They don't even know I exist. You haven't told them, have you?"

"…" Sasuke fell silent.

"Nonetheless, I understand that your desire is strong. For your honor, I'll show you the difference between us. It's not a matter of your hatred. It's what should have accompanied that hatred." Itachi's eyes whirled. The tomoe circled rapidly, blazing as energy sparked around the space. Energy flickered around the palm.

Sasuke's eyes widened.

Itachi drew back his arm. An identical Chidori danced off the fingers. His crimson eyes narrowed as he studied Sasuke's face.

When…? Sasuke gritted her teeth. That bastard… can actually use the Sanzengan to that extent?! Roaring, she rushed forward.

Itachi drew his arm back. He ran forward, his eyes blazing.

The hands fell to the sides.

The pair stood motionless. Lightning crackled off the fingers, dancing from the pair's hands. A shadow fell from the pair's shoulders.

Sasuke glanced over her shoulder.

Itachi lowered his hand. The crackling lightning faded from the fingers.

Burns covered Sasuke's side. She collapsed. The lightning slowly died from the fingers.

"There is no purpose in killing you as you are now. If you haven't even mastered your Sanzengan to the point where you can copy A-ranked techniques instantly, you're not even close to where I am." Itachi turned backward. "That is a simple truth."

Sasuke gritted her teeth.

"You're just scared, scared of living. You're trying to accommodate both your desires. That is the weakness I refer to. That is the weakness of your thoughts."

"Shut up." Sasuke looked upward. "Scared of living? That's what I'd be if I threw away my life. Vengeance on you isn't worth it." She closed her eyes. Tears ran down her face. "No. Revenge on you isn't worth my friends. You can twist my words all you like but they'll be the same, and have the same truth. If I cast them aside for vengeance on you, I'd be a coward—someone who sacrificed their own life just to live." She looked upward coldly. "You're the coward here—someone who can't even kill an enemy to preserve what they desire."

Itachi fell silent. "I hadn't considered things like that," he admitted after a moment. "Well, it's irrelevant. The simple fact is that what you lack is not desire, or hatred. It is, simply put, determination. You act strong, but at the end you're unwilling to take the actions necessary to win. You have to be willing to sacrifice your life, or it's all pointless. Right now, you see, you are doing it right now."

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"You have chakra left, but you did not attempt to attack me, did you? That's simply a fault of your unwillingness. You recognize you would die."

"The time isn't right." Sasuke drew in a harsh breath.

"The time will never be right, if you value your life overmuch." Itachi cleared his throat loudly. He turned toward the doorway. "Do you remember what I told you?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"You should undoubtedly do it—something like that is necessary to approach my power." Itachi turned away. He pushed open the door. The staircase glimmered, marble.

"…" Damn him…

"Actually…" Itachi smiled. "This is a good opportunity. Allow me to demonstrate my powers." He closed his eyes.

Heat gathered around the eye, white-hot and intense.

"Mangekyō Sanzengan."

The eye opened.

Sasuke's eyes widened.

A whirling pattern formed in the eye.

Sasuke stared at the eye in shock.

"Amaterasu."

Black flames shot downward onto the battlefield below. They clawed up the base of the water, burning away the element.

The edge of Orochimaru's arm ignited, black flames running up the surface of the skin.

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"That is the power of those eyes. Well, one of two." Itachi reached upward, tapping his eye. "The other you will discover, if you walk the same path I do."

"…" Sasuke swallowed tightly.

"The armor of despair, and the sword of destruction. These are the powers of the Mangekyō Sanzengan."

Sasuke fell silent. Her hand reached into the dust.

"I won't wait forever. Step out from under my shadow… if you are even capable of the act." Itachi walked down the steps of the bell tower. His black cloak glimmered on his back.

Sasuke looked down at the igniting flames. She drew in a deep breath.