I have yet to determine how long this will end up, but it is likely to be a refined version of many story attempts I have made in the past.

Some credit to "The Second Uchiha (Naruto Quest)" by RepThe21st on sufficient velocity (story 17295) from which I drew inspiration for this story. If you haven't read it, give it a look. It's easily in my top 3 ffs ever with length to match. Hope you enjoy.

"Sasuke, father would like to speak with you."

What! This never happened. you'd always either end up spending all day with mother and occasionally Itachi if she was busy or not up to it. You only saw father during the occasional dinner he could attend, or early in the morning as he was preparing for another strenuous day running both the Konoha Police Department as well as the Uchiha Clan. Mother truly drilled into me whenever you complained that he still loves me, even if he doesn't have the time or directness to show it. You made my way down the road to the police department, situated just beyond the Uchiha Clan's walls, and straight down the hall into his moderate sized office, about the same size as his study back at home he would spend every night in.

"Father, you wished to speak to me?"

"Yes Sasuke, thank you for coming by on such short notice. The reason I wish to speak to you regards your future. First, let me ask you what you expect of it?"

"Itachi will become the clan head and I will take over the police department." He frowned, "Is that not correct?"

"In theory yes, but I doubt that it will end up like that, at least on your end."

"So I won't become the head of the police? Will someone like Shisui take that role instead or something?"

"No, he is already a successful jonin. What I mean is that the village appears to be disbanding the Uchiha control over the police department, wishing to have it fall under the torture and interrogation department's command, more or less making it be represented by all Konoha ninja as opposed to strictly Uchiha officers."

"Is that good… or bad?"

"As of now, that is for time to tell, however your mother and I have decided to have you become a ninja."

"Like big brother?"

"Exactly. I'm sure your mother has taught you all about how your chakra and general practice, and I know you watch Itachi and try to match his shurikenjutsu…" He paused expectantly, waiting for me to nod before continuing, "so you will be entering the academy in a few months, and for your birthday gift, I'll teach you the fireball jutsu to give you a head start on your peers." Father's face lit up into a soft smile, something you'd only seen when he expressed Itachi's promotion to genin and recently to chunin at only 10. "Now come with me to the lake."

You waltzed peacefully back down the main street with your hand hanging from father's tough hand, calloused from decades of relentless service, reaching the pond in the comfortable afternoon sun.

"Do you know the twelve standard hand seals, Sasuke?"

"Erm… y-yes I do!"

"Alright watch my hands and name the seals I cast."

Father slowly moved his hands, resting a second at each for you to take notice of, before moving on to the next, for a total of six seals. "Can you name them in the right order?"

"Yes! Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger."

"Spot on. Good job Sasuke. Now can you form them for me?"

You did so with relative ease, seeing as mother had made me practice them with some pace.

"Good, now watch me and try to copy me."

Father whipped through seals faster than a shunshin before calling out "Katon: Fireball Jutsu" and breathing out an orb of fire ten metres in diameter over the lake, making you sweat and sizzling some of the surface water of the lake below as he held it for about ten seconds.

You did the seals at a rather fast pace, something you could see father's lips curl upwards at, before you choked, dropping to your knees and coughing out by the looks of it ash. Father's expression faded as he beat your back a bit and led you home where mother was preparing dinner, quickly leaving you in the kitchen as he headed back into his study.

"Don't worry Sasuke, your father is still just as proud of you as me or Itachi, he just finds it hard to show it. Now go and wash your mouth and grab your brother for dinner, it's covered in ash."

Itachi was in his room with the door open, reading a scroll as you knocked.

"Itachi, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, what's on your mind?"

"When did father teach you the fireball jutsu?"

"I'd say about the same age as you."

"And how big was your first attempt? How long did it take you to get it down perfectly?"

"My first attempt was probably about a metre in diameter, and it took me about a week to get it to the size of what father showed me."

"Oh, cool…" You mumbled before remembering "Mother said dinner should be ready soon."

"Sasuke, wait. Did father show you the jutsu?"

"Yeah."

"Don't worry if you didn't do the best your first time, you'll get it down soon enough. You are an Uchiha after all, and don't forget that there is more to becoming a great ninja than being able to breathe fire."

"Thanks for the advice." You mumbled before locking yourself in the bathroom for a few minutes, sulking at your failure before washing your tear and ash coated face and grabbing a bite to eat.

It took weeks, almost a month for you to make a proper fireball that was about a metre in diameter. Father continued to dismiss you whenever you asked for advice, telling you to ask mother or brother as he was busy. Itachi was rarely available to help, but nonetheless checked with his sharingan whether you had adequate chakra control and proper formation, but it didn't really help. All he said was that you'd get it in time. On the other hand, mother offered to practice with her after hugging your crying self from a week of failure to see results. Soon, she was able to have you turn the small amount of ash into fire, and from there on steadily grow the size and duration of the fireball, in turn steadily making you happier. However, you never forgot that by this time, Itachi had already mastered the technique to every last detail.

You were clearly disheartened, and mother knew it, choosing to distract you by teaching you the three academy techniques which you caught onto rather quickly making the two of you swell up in pride. You had broken down in mother's arms quite a few times, something she encouraged you to do, wanting you to confide in her, which you found rather odd. The Uchiha were known for their strength, their ruthlessness and their stoicism. Many times you asked her only to receive the same answer:

"I've already lost my first son and I don't want to lose you too."

It always came out in a rather teary response, quite the contrast to her usual happy-go-lucky nature, but you stayed in her embrace. As always, everything revolved around Itachi, the prodigy, the natural genius, the first son, the heir. He was nothing short of perfect, and in your eyes, you were left in the dust.

Weeks had gone by, allowing you to grow your fireball to about twice the width, something mother always took pride in. You never did. The academy began, with you entering the fray a year younger than the rest of the class. Most of your class were of civilian or ninja family origin, with only two other clan children, a Hyuga and a Yamanaka, both boys and half a head taller than you. You didn't really manage to make any friends, sitting next to different, random people every day, the kids on the edge of the friend groups when there wasn't enough seats by the main table. They always leaned over the aisle to the adjacent tables, back turned to you.

Class was rather easy. History was rather simple, with everything in order making sense. First, the warring states, then the village formations, then the first Hokage and soon after the Second Hokage, then the first war, then the third Hokage, then the second war, the rise of the sannin, the third war, the fourth Hokage, the Kyuubi attack. Additionally, reading maps was rather simple, with the other major hidden villages being on each corner of the maps, minor hidden villages scattered about , one for each country. You found out about the more practical sides of being a ninja, mainly the major disciplines and which would be most useful for a younger ninja, that being taijutsu and weapons usage.

You told mother one day, asking her to help you. Of course she said yes, loving to spend time with you whether that be you 'helping' her preparing meals, or her helping you become a ninja. She didn't even mind if you spent time with her achieving nothing, just resting and relaxing leisurely in silence.

After class she would guide you about taijutsu. Whilst the clan lacked any formal taijutsu style like most major clans, it didn't mean they were any less skilled. Uchiha, such as yourself under mother's tutelage, were taught basic kata that could end up falling under any style as a sharingan could perfectly copy all taijutsu styles bar those like the juuken that required a kekkei genkai to achieve results. This was due to the clan being so large, and thus not having any regularity in size and structure amongst members beyond their natural fire affinity. You were quick to pick up on the intricacies of kata, how to shift between them, what situations they were best suited towards, and began lightly sparring with mother. She would employ random styles she had copied over her years of service and observed how you defended or attacked, usually being content with your progress but occasionally stopping to point out errors you made.

You still spent time with her working on your Fireball, by the end of the year making it reach the size of the one father had showed you over a year ago, as well as shurikenjutsu, a well known boon of the Uchiha arsenal as a result of their ingenuity and perfect eyesight. Mother had asked you to try and have Itachi teach you about shurikenjutsu, but eventually took over that herself.

Back before you were in the academy, and Itachi was still a genin, you often watched him train in the woods around your house. He would occasionally let you try but often said "I'll show you next time, it is getting late." Or something along those lines. Ever since he had become a chunin, he would often spend days or weeks out of the village running missions, and whenever you tried to spend any time with him, whether that be training or merely talking or relaxing, he would bluntly refuse or deny you. Words like "I'm busy", "I don't have time to be training you", "I'd rather not" or his personal favourite "There are better uses of my time" would flow through the air as soon as he saw your pleading, desperate looks. You hated it, but understood. Not everyone was perfect, and Itachi was now a chunin and had his own training to be doing. All you could do would be hindering his progress. Even during the dinners he attended, he would politely ignore you in favour of speaking with father, only speaking when spoken to. Unfortunately, mother was under the same bus as you.

Every month, clan meetings would be held for all the adults of the clan, active ninja and officers. Whilst you were unable to attend for obvious reasons, mother chose to look after you and help you train as opposed to attending. It seemed she wasn't much of a fan of the meetings anyways, claiming them to be 'a bunch of foolish attempts to better the clan'.

Soon enough, Itachi had been promoted to jonin and was quickly placed in the ANBU, something father took great pride in but it disturbed mother. When you questioned her, she replied along the lines of 'the ANBU being dangerous even for ninja' and that she didn't want you to follow in Itachi's footsteps. Talking about promotions, father often asked you about your experiences in the academy, particularly regarding your results and how challenging it is. You stated once that it was rather easy and that you were top of the class.

"As expected, Sasuke. Now then, would you like me to accelerate your progress through the academy? I can have the Hokage test you and place you in a high class if you wish? It would make me proud." The last line was tacked onto the end as if extra incentive. You looked around the dining table, brother was out and mother was watching you with a small frown on her face.

"If it is fine, could I think about it a bit?"

"That will be fine. Just let me know whenever you make up your mind." The rest of dinner was rather silent, with father once more complimenting the food. After you cleaned up and went to bed, mother came into your room and sat on your bed.

"Thank you."

"What?"

"Just… thank you." She pulled you in a tight embrace as a few tears dripped.

After you regained your composure, you questioned her once more, "What are you talking about, mother?"

"I know you looked at me, you listened to me. You're a good boy, you know that?"

"I still don't know what you're talking about."

"You didn't immediately accept accelerating through the academy, basically a promotion to genin next year."

"What's the big deal?"

"I don't want you to be accelerated."

"Huh?" You responded, lost for words.

"Please just listen to me this one time, Sasuke. Try your best to live a normal life, at least as normal as a ninja's can get. Don't go and try and speed through the ranks, you don't need to. Go and become a nice, young handsome man and get yourself a kind and pretty wife. Don't rush through life… don't rush away from me."

Understanding what she's getting at partially, you chip in before she becomes a teary, mumbling mess. "Don't worry mother, I won't leave you anytime soon. I'll stay in the academy for as long as I can."

She nods at that, smiling a bit at your just nature, "What I'm trying to say is don't become a power obsessed ninja. All it will bring you is misery and suffering for both you and everyone who cares about you. Don't be like your older brother or father."

You sort of caught onto what she was saying, "A-are you miserable, mother? Do you hate our family?"

Her face turned to utter shock, "N-no! I love all of you and I'm very much happy, now don't be silly and go to sleep." She then tucked you in before kissing you on the forehead and shutting your door behind her.

The next few months went by rather quickly, much like how it was before. You had told father that you wished to stay in the academy for the time being, claiming you're younger than every other student by quite a bit anyways, much to his visible disappointment. Mother continues training you after school, refining your current skills as well as starting your chakra control practice, balancing a leaf on your forehead and later walking on trees, both which took you a couple weeks each to master. She claimed your reserves were still too small to attempt the next step, although she still explained water walking to you, saying to learn it once you became a genin.

Across the year break, mother taught you two techniques. Firstly, the phoenix flower jutsu, a variation of the fireball jutsu but still of C rank which would scatter out multiple small fireballs in a wide burst. Additionally, she showed you a trick where you could throw shuriken within the fireballs as a temporary disguise. The second technique was the B rank shunshin jutsu, something she said would be immensely valuable throughout your life, from ninja combat to mere transportation. The technique allowed you to travel almost at the speed of sound for a second, and while being B rank, it didn't consume a particularly large amount of chakra, rather being harder to learn and very disorientating for beginners, although with mother's help it was not much of an issue.

Often at night, mother would come to your room and tell you a story about a famous ninja. Tonight was no different. "Sasuke, have you heard of Orochimaru."

"Of course I know about him, the Hokage's favoured student, sannin and recent missing ninja."

"Correct, but do you know why he went rogue?"

"No?"

"Because of obsession with power." Of course it was. Whenever mother told you stories of famous ninja that took a dark path, it always led back to this one root argument. "Particularly in jutsus. Orochimaru was once a good natured individual, but still a capable ninja nonetheless, however many losses throughout his life led him towards the common desperate hope that power would cure all. He desired to learn every jutsu known to man, and eventually was caught experimenting on people from all over the land of fire within his labs, caught by the very man he sought to surpass. Unfortunately, the Sandaime's compassion across many decades led to his escape."

"So the lesson you're getting at is to not be obsessive and be able to move on from tragedy?"

"Yes, but not completely. In attempting to surpass the Sandaime's capabilities as the god of shinobi, Orochimaru did the unthinkable in order to become more powerful. While knowing more jutsu than his master by now, the Hokage would still come out superior in combat. I know you want to learn more jutsu, I mean it is only normal for an excited kid like you Sasuke, but most ninja only practically use a few in combat, those that suit their styles and those they have lots of experience with. After all, many jutsu can be used in a variety of situations regardless of their perceived limitations. The last message is that you don't need to surpass Itachi to make me proud, as I already am more proud of you than Itachi. While his exploits are impressive, I don't like who he is becoming. You are setting a much better example currently for what I want in a son, so keep it up Sasuke. Now, off to sleep."

A few more months went by, your fire hotter, chakra stronger, hits harder, shunshin faster. Father had gone the extra mile in publicly celebrating Itachi's most recent promotion to ANBU captain at 13 years of age. While father was still disappointed that you wouldn't try to get promoted, he still acted rather impressed at your skills, stating that you were easily at a genin's level of talent.

At the dinner celebration a month ago, Itachi looked rather frustrated. You asked each of your parents independently after, both saying he's probably stressed about the amount of work on his plate. It could have been as a result of Shisui's recent passing, but that seemed to only fan his flames. You didn't know Shisui too well, making small talk maybe once a month when he came looking for your older brother, but you knew it hit Itachi hard.

Once you asked father about the predicament, where he explained Shisui committing suicide and leaving Itachi a letter to return to the clan, however a few members of the clan have been calling Shisui's death as by your own brother's hands, leading to his anger at a chunk of the clan. He said the frustration would probably be gone shortly as he had lost teammates before as a genin and got past that relatively quickly. The frustration never faded.

A few weeks later, you were headed home, when you ran into none other than mother on the street, hands filled with cooking supplies.

"Sasuke. Would you be a dear and fetch me some flour, eggs and sugar and could you find some candles. I forgot to grab them and as you can see my hands are full with groceries. We ought to make Itachi's cake as his birthday is in a week. Also, don't run with the eggs, I don't want to find any cracked." She threw you a few coins and you headed to the shop. Mother's favourite bakery was located on the other side of town and they had homemade flour and eggs, so you'd probably have to head there.

After about three hours of exploration through the village, making sure to find the perfect ingredients and candles, even quickly picking up a small gift for him you though of a couple weeks back, a chakra conductive tanto that set you back a few years of pocket money and a fresh set of shuriken to suit his current ANBU lifestyle, having the weapons shop owner gift wrap the present whilst you wrote a rather extensive note regarding how you wanted to help keep him safe even if not a ninja yet, that he could come to you with any issues that he might have had and that even if he ignores you most of the time, he is still your role model and a great big brother. Thinking of the perfect thing to write on its own took you the better part of an hour, but mother said to always speak the truth wherever possible.

By the time you reached home, the sun had already set and both people and a full moon were out. You missed a potential day of training, yet you did not mind that much, knowing Itachi's happiness was much more important.

As soon as you reached the clan gates though, it seemed awfully quiet. Maybe a meeting beyond the monthly one was going on, although there was no guard manning the gate. The police station lights were also off, rather odd seeing as many crimes tended to be reported in the evening, mainly as a result of the drunk population's actions. The streetlights were dim, but you had seen enough, dropping your shopping and gift instantly.

Two, three, four, five corpses littered the street.

You ran over to them one by one, pools of blood clearly too large for anybody to have survived this long.

They're all Uchiha.

While most faces you couldn't recognise, a couple of them you had seen many times, such as the shopkeepers and even your neighbours from across the street.

Shit.

You ran home as fast as possible, using a shunshin wherever possible. You slammed open the door, shouting "Mother! Father! Brother!" only to receive no reply. You checked all across the house, only to see three bodies in father's study. Only one was standing, staring at you impassively.

That hair! Those clothes! "Mother! Father!"

You ignored the man standing in the corner of the room, flipping over the bodies to see your parents' faces, eyes open and in expressions of pain. There was blood dripping down their sides from somewhere within their clothes.

You felt for a pulse, nothing.

You tried to sense any chakra, nothing.

This has to be a genjutsu.

"Foolish little brother…"

Read and Review. Let me know what y'all think.

Also, tell me whether you want it to be this level of detail or more, as I can make it more but at the end of the day it will feel like I may end up waffling pointlessly. Anyways, have a grand day or night.