Here's another one. ^_^

            Time stopped.  Sasuke didn’t bother to turn around.

            “Itachi…”  There was silence, but Sasuke could almost hear the smirk on Itachi’s face.

            “Konoha’s forces are even more pathetic now.  They don’t even know I’m here yet.”  Sasuke did turn around then.

            “What do you want?”  Itachi smirked.

            “Why do you ask?  Can’t I drop in to check on my little brother once in a while?”  Itachi gazed at Sasuke blood red eyes mocking yet not.  Sasuke stared in to them, still not knowing what he wanted to do.  The two Uchiha stared at each other for a long time.  Outside, the ANBU seemed to have settled down, resuming a relaxed watch formation.  Sasuke glanced outside, wondering what they were doing.

            “I sent a copy of you back to bed and now I’m covering both yours and my chakra signature.  They can’t tell the difference.”  Itachi’s smirk widened a fraction.  “Pathetic ANBU.”  Sasuke continued to stare balefully at Itachi.  His older brother stared back, a carefully blank look on his face.

            “What do you want?”

            “I came to see if you had progressed at all, my foolish little brother.”  Sasuke paused.

            “What?”

            “It’s been about five years since we’ve seen each other Sasuke-kun.  I wanted to check on your progress.”  Sasuke glared at Itachi.

            “Get the hell out of here Itachi.”  Itachi’s expression shifted a fraction to that of mild puzzlement.

            “Oh, what’s this?  I can’t check on my little brother?”  Sasuke glared even harder at Itachi.

            “I don’t want to have anything to do with you any more,” the boy gritted through his teeth.  There was a silence, Itachi looking almost demurely at the ground.

            “What caused this?”  Red eyes met black.  “I don’t think I have taught you well enough.”  Sasuke gritted his teeth, unconsciously shifting in to a relaxed but ready fighting stance, forgetting his chakra bonds.  Itachi’s gaze went back to the ground.

            “You need another lesson, but first things first.”  He moved so fast that Sasuke didn’t know he had moved until Itachi was staring him right in his face.  Sasuke belatedly noted that Itachi was still a good three inches taller then him.

            “We’re going to get rid of this chakra bind.”  Without so much as a warning, Itachi shoved his hand in to Sasuke’s stomach, pent up chakra in the man’s hand releasing itself in to Sasuke.  Sasuke nearly screamed.  The previously invisible black seals covering his body appeared in stark contrast to his alabaster skin.  They began receding, rushing back towards his abdomen where Itachi’s hand was gripping him.  In an instant, the seal was gone, destroyed, Sasuke didn’t know what.  His chakra began flowing again, after nearly two months of restricted movement, it came rushing back again, like a river after the dam blocking its flow has been removed.  Sasuke did scream this time.  The pain and the intense sensation of restored chakra flow were almost too much for him.  That was when the ANBU moved.  Through a blinding haze of pain, Sasuke saw them appear, forming a circle of six.  All their swords were drawn.  Itachi dropped Sasuke on to the floor.

            “Well, well, if it isn’t the ANBU elite of Konoha.”  Itachi turned around to face them fully, black and red Akatsuki cloak swirling about his legs.  “You guys are as slow as ever.  Absolutely pathetic.”  The ANBU were still for a moment, then they were attacking the older Uchiha.  One stopped to drag Sasuke out of the way before joining in the fight himself.  Itachi made to break away from the ANBU but was blocked by two swords.  The man simply disappeared then reappeared behind the two ANBU.  Another ANBU appeared, a well aimed kick sailing for Itachi’s head.  Itachi ducked it smoothly, changing his route of escape from the kitchen window to the way he had come in initially.  Sasuke had managed to recover by then, the weakness being replaced by a growing strength in his limbs.  Itachi only smirked at him as he blew past Sasuke.  The younger Uchiha was up and after his older brother before the ANBU could even react.  He caught up to his brother before Itachi had managed to get two steps past the front door.  Sasuke unleashed a bestial howl, hands blurring through a series of seals before he unleashed a half- made Chidori, crashing in to his brother, impaling him from behind.  Itachi disappeared, a log where he had once been.  Without missing a beat, Sasuke shook off the splinters of wood and charged in to the empty street, sliding to a stop as he saw his brother’s back.

            “You should put on some shoes Sasuke.  Mother wouldn’t like you walking around barefoot in the streets.”  Sasuke didn’t bother to answer, his hands blurring through another series of seals and he released a Katon jutsu just as the ANBU appeared through the door.  They barely dodged the deflected jutsu as Itachi reversed its direction to fly straight at the ANBU.  The front of Sasuke’s family home burst in to flames.  Sasuke didn’t even blink.

            “What else do you want?  I can’t be the only reason you’re back here,” Sasuke shouted.  Itachi contemplated him.

            “Isn’t my attention a good enough reason for you to not question my actions?  You used to crave it so much when you were younger.”  In a blink of an eye, Sasuke had unleashed six shuriken as Itachi.  The older Uchiha dodged the shuriken as Sasuke disappeared.  Both of them reappeared in mid- air, a lightning exchange occurred before Sasuke managed to push Itachi further below him.  Another flurry of seals and Sasuke unleashed another Katon.  The giant fireball flew towards Itachi.  The Uchiha dodged out of the way in time, landing safely on the street.  Sasuke smirked.  Two seconds later, a network of shuriken wire burst in to flames as the Katon fireball imploded on to it, showering the surrounding area with sparks and sprays of mini- fires.  Some more houses joined the blaze that was Sasuke’s old family home.  Itachi reappeared on the roof top of another house, not far away.

            “Clever Sasuke,” he called.  “Now if it had been two seconds faster, you would have gotten me for sure.  Foolish little brother.”

Suddenly, tell-tale whistling reminded both Uchiha of the other ANBU as shuriken appeared through the smoke from the fire that was rapidly gaining momentum.  Itachi took that as a cue to leave and began leaping over the roofs again.  Sasuke immediately took off after him attempting anther Katon jutsu that ended up setting more roofs in the Uchiha district on fire.  Sasuke cursed, deciding he would save his chakra until he was able to catch up to his brother.

 

            The forest was calm and quiet; the night air was cool with a small breeze occasionally disturbing the still air.  The Uchiha moved along at top speed, still tracking his older brother.  He was slowly catching up to Itachi; despite the maneuvers the man had tried in an attempt to shake Sasuke off his trail.  They had left the ANBU far behind in Konoha, though Sasuke was certain they were still in pursuit.  His feet ached from running barefoot but Sasuke didn’t care.  He was being driven by something; an inexplicable force was compelling him to chase his brother down and destroy him.  And it had nothing to do with all his childhood plans of revenge.  It was something deeper, something so much more different then that.  Yet it was all the same.  Sasuke upped his speed, his sharingan indicating to him that Itachi was slowing down.  Sasuke landed in the next clearing with out a sound.  Itachi stood with his back to him.

            “You don’t have the Mangekyou yet, what makes you think I have time for you right now little brother?”  Sasuke stayed silent, glaring daggers in to Itachi’s back.

            “Learn your lesson Sasuke and learn it well.  I told you to hate me, hate me and live your life hating me.”  Itachi turned around and stared at Sasuke with crimson eyes.  “Hate me and then kill me.  I told you to come before me when you had the same eyes as I did.  Only then can you kill me.  You can’t kill me, if you don’t have the same eyes as me.  Or are my words lost to your mind, my foolish little brother.”  Itachi stared down at his little brother.  Sasuke stared back steadily, red boring in to red.  An unnerving smile suddenly appeared on Sasuke’s face.

            “You know what, Itachi,” Sasuke said as he stepped further in to the clearing.  “You are going to make time for me tonight.  You are going to pay attention to me tonight.  I learnt my lesson.  Oh I learnt it well.  I have spent the last decade of my life devoted to trying to kill you, but tonight, I’ve realized something.  My petty attempt to gain power by going to Orochimaru was my trying to destroy you on my own terms.  It was my attempt to not follow the path you laid out for me.  But tonight, I realized something.  I was still following that path.  In wanting to kill you, I was still walking that path you made for me.  But not tonight, not any more.  I’m gaining revenge tonight, on my own terms and in my own way.”  The smile on Sasuke’s face grew even larger.  Itachi gazed dispassionately at Sasuke.

            “Are you going to preach all night?  Because I really don’t have time for that.”  Itachi turned to leave, but was stopped by a flurry of shuriken and kunai.  The older Uchiha turned to meet Sasuke’s attack head on.  Sasuke attempted to slice at Itachi’s neck with a kunai gripped in his right hand.  Itachi avoided it smoothly.

            “Really, if this is revenge on your own terms, I really don’t see how it’s anything different from what you were doing last time.”  Itachi hopped out of the way of a perfectly executed drop kick.  “You are still trying to kill me.”  Sasuke dropped in to a sweeping ground kick which Itachi again avoided.  Expecting that, Sasuke shot up after Itachi in his own version of Rock Lee’s attack, the Shishi Rendan.  The older Uchiha pulled out of the attack half-way through, turning the attack on top of Sasuke.  The younger Uchiha landed crouched down, one hand on the ground.  He looked up.  He was smirking.  Applying chakra to his feet, Sasuke disappeared from view, reappearing some ways across the clearing.  His hands blurred again in another set of seals and he was flying half-way towards Itachi by time the man had landed.  There was no time to dodge the on coming Chidori.  In a split second decision, Itachi slipped two kunai out of his sleeves, planning to catch his younger brother’s arm in between the kunai and redirect the blow elsewhere.  Itachi looked up.  It was pure reflex.  Sasuke had moved faster then Itachi had initially calculated.  There was no time to block his little brother’s attack like he had planned.  Without thinking, Itachi’s left hand moved to intercept Sasuke’s Chidori arm, batting it out of the way while his right struck outward, the two kunai still in it, one resting between his pointer and middle finger, the other between the ring and pinky.  They hit two vital spots.  Sasuke was smirking.  Itachi started, shock filtering over his face.

            “I think it’s the sweetest revenge, when you go against your so called destiny, your so called path in life and twist it to be exactly what you want it to be.  Don’t think Itachi?”  Sasuke’s right hand grasped Itachi’s own right and twisted the kunai deeper.  He smirked again at Itachi, even as a grimace of pain filtered over his face.  Itachi let go of the kunai slowly, still staring at Sasuke, a shocked expression on his face.  Sasuke’s left hand was still buried deep in to the tree beside Itachi’s head.

            “You…”  The Uchiha trailed off.

            “Speechless Itachi?  That’s new.”  Sasuke grunted as he drove the kunai further into his gut while he wrenched his hand out of the tree.  The kunai were now in Sasuke’s gut up to the hilt.

            “Why?”  Itachi stared down at Sasuke.  With a last heave, Sasuke managed to pull his arm free of the tree.  The boy collapsed to his knees.  Blood trickled out of his mouth, more pooling slowly out of his torso.

            “Because finding my own path was the sweetest revenge.”  Sasuke finally gave in to his ebbing strength and collapsed on to his back, still staring up at Itachi.  His Sharingan faded away in to black.  Itachi disappeared and Sasuke was left alone in the clearing.

 

            It was sometime later, Sasuke didn’t know how long.  Silent footsteps and a familiar chakra signal entered the clearing.  He had removed the two kunai from his gut and they now lay discarded a few feet from him.  His blood was a pool of red silk around him.  A quick gasp and the sound of running feet heralded the appearance of the familiar face that popped in to view.  Wide blue eyes stared down at his slightly hazy black ones.

            “Sasuke…”  He quirked a lip slightly.

            “Naruto.”  It was a quiet whisper.  The blonde boys eyes widened in alarm.

            “Sasuke!”  Naruto rushed to Sasuke’s side, dropping to his knees when he got there.

            “Sasuke!  What happened?  Did Itachi do this?  Oh god hang on, there’s some medic nins coming.  They’ll be here soon!”  Naruto bit his lip as he began searching for some way to staunch the flow of blood from the wound.  Sasuke vaguely noted the stains his blood was making on Naruto’s white ANBU armor.

            “You’re talking to me…”  Sasuke smiled slightly.  “Why didn’t you talk to me the past two months?”

            “Be quiet Sasuke, not now, help will be here soon.”  Naruto continued frantically searching, this time in his ANBU pack, presumably for the bandages that were stashed in there.  Sasuke’s hand stilled his frantic searching.  Obsidian eyes stared up at Naruto, imploring.  Naruto sighed.

            “I don’t know Sasuke.  Look, can we talk about this later?  You’re critically injured and we need to get you medical attention now!”  Sasuke hissed.

            “No,” he growled forcefully.  “I don’t need medical attention.”  Naruto blinked at that.

            “WHAT? Are you trying to kill yourself?  We need to get you help now!”  Naruto returned to shuffling through the contents of his ANBU pack.  He finally found what he was looking for and then turned his attention to Sasuke.  The Uchiha quietly watched Naruto as he worked, hands deftly wrapping the bandages around his torso.

            “You shouldn’t have gone after him.  That chakra bind puts you at genin level maybe even lower.  You know that!  Why’d you go after him?”  Naruto growled as he tried desperately to staunch the flow of blood.  Sasuke’s hand moved to stop him again.  Naruto’s arm guards were died a bright crimson red now.

            “Don’t,” his voice came out in a whisper.  “I’ve lost a good portion of my blood already.  There’s nothing you can do.”  The ANBU’s eyes flashed and the familiar look of determined stubbornness flashed across his whiskered face.  Naruto shoved Sasuke’s hands aside, returning to his futile attempts at saving his friend.

            “Naruto…”  Sasuke stared at the blonde who avoided his gaze.  The ANBU’s attempts slowed, until Naruto finally stopped moving his hands all together.

            “You want to die, don’t you?”  Naruto still didn’t look at the black haired boy.  “Why?”

            “Revenge,” the Uchiha replied quietly.

            “On Itachi?”  Sasuke nodded slightly.  Bangs shadowed the crystalline blue eyes.  Sasuke found himself wanting to see those eyes again.  He’d been seeing Naruto with an ANBU mask on for the past two months.  Those eyes, he wanted to see them again.

            “Wouldn’t revenge on Itachi involve killing him?”  Naruto’s voice was shaking.  “I mean, most revenge plans involve the hated person dieing.”

            “It’s complicated,” the black- haired boy replied quietly.  “Right now, I just want to talk to you.”  Naruto finally looked up.  His eyes were glowing with unshed tears and had turned a deep sapphire blue.

            “Why didn’t you talk to me?”  Sasuke’s hand curled around Naruto’s hand again.  The boy looked down.

            “I don’t know.  I just couldn’t.  I don’t know why.  You coming back was just so sudden, I didn’t know what to think.”  Sasuke chuckled softly.  Naruto looked back up frowning.

            “What?”  Sasuke shook his head.

            “You still agreed to be part of my extensive ANBU guard.  Same shift everyday too.  Everyone else always changed, but you never did.  Why’s that?”  Naruto paused.

            “You’re talking a lot.  Why’s that?”

            “You didn’t answer my question.”

            “Answer mine first, then I’ll answer yours.”  Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto noting the small discrepancy in the demand.  But it was always like that with Naruto.  Sasuke decided to answer.

            “I’m making up for four years.”  Naruto blinked.  Sasuke smirked slightly at Naruto; he was beginning to feel a little bit woozy.

            “I didn’t talk to you for four years and now I’m making up for it.  Of course it’ll be easier for me then it will be for you.  Since I talk a lot less then you do, I should make up for it in about an hour.”  The blonde glared at him.

            “Stop being an ass Sasuke.”  Naruto’s expression abruptly shifted.  The words remained unspoken but the two friends both knew that Sasuke didn’t have even an hour left for him.  Minute’s maybe but not an hour.

            “You just insulted yourself you know.  Saying that you could make up for four years worth of conversation in an hour.”  Sasuke smiled slightly.

            “I know,” he replied softly.  There was a small pause.

            “You adjusted really easily to moving back in to the Uchiha compound.  I thought you would have put up more of a fight when you were told that you were supposed to live in your old place again.”  The Uchiha blinked slowly, everything was beginning to feel cold.  Everything but the hand that Naruto was holding.

           “I thought I would have too.  But I went numb somewhere between the prison and my house,” Sasuke replied.  Naruto frowned at the Uchiha.  Sasuke went on.

            “I didn’t even really feel sad or anything, staying in my old house.  I just went about my day.  I couldn’t feel a thing.”  A look of sadness crossed Naruto’s face.  There was another quiet pause.  Sasuke was finding the task of breathing becoming more and more difficult as the seconds passed.

            “Sasuke…”  A single tear fell.  The Uchiha’s grip tightened on his friend’s hand.

            “I’m sorry for everything that I’ve done Naruto.  I was stupid and foolish.  And I think…I think I came back to Konoha…because of you.”  The tears were falling more swiftly now.

            “Sasuke, don’t go, not now.”  The blonde’s head suddenly snapped up.  Sasuke vaguely registered the appearance of several more chakra signatures.  Naruto’s hand suddenly tightened around his.

            “Hang on Sasuke.  Help’s here now.  Just hang on a bit longer!”  The tears rolled rapidly down Naruto’s face.  “Don’t go!”  Sasuke smiled sadly at Naruto, his eyes hazing over.

            “Naruto, don’t hang on to things that need to be let go.”  His voice came in a whisper now.  “I think you were my reason for coming back to Konoha.  You were my best friend and you’re still my best friend now.  I did things, and I’m truly sorry for them.  I never deserved to have someone like you as my friend.  I was selfish and I never saw the things I should hold precious, not until now.  I was blind.  I’m so sorry for everything.”  Sasuke’s black eyes rose skyward, the world was incredibly cold now, except for the warm hand still holding his.

            “Good-bye Naruto…I’ll see you later.”  The world went dark.

 

            The funeral was a small one.  The remaining three members of team seven were present as was Tsunade, Shizune and some of the Rookie Nine who could make it.  The ANBU had performed the necessary tasks of destroying all of Sasuke’s chakra pathways and removing all evidence of the sharingan or any of his techniques from his body.  He was cremated as was dictated by Uchiha tradition.

            “And as he was born of fire, in to the fire shall he pass again.  Uchiha Sasuke, may your spirit fly free to join those of your family who have gone before you.”  Tsunade looked up as she finished reading the small passage.  She solemnly began rolling up the scroll she had been reading from.  The Godaime glanced at Naruto and nodded.  The blonde ninja stepped forward, wearing the traditional mourning garb of the ninja.  In his hands, he held a simple white porcelain urn.  He undid the top of the urn, revealing the black ash inside of it that was the remains of Uchiha Sasuke.  Taking a hand full, he began sprinkling the ashes in to the wind, letting the hand full disappear completely, before taking the rest and pouring it in to the Nakano River, all as Uchiha tradition dictated.  The funeral party watched the ashes sink and disappear in to the foamy depths of the river. The blonde stood staring in to the river for a long while after.  The others began to leave one by one soon after that.  Sakura stood with him for a while, silence hanging between them.  There was nothing to be said.  There was nothing that could be said.  Finally, when the sun was just about to dip in to the horizon, Sakura turned to go, placing a hand gently on to Naruto’s shoulder.  She whispered something to him, though the boy didn’t register what was said.  Then she left.  Naruto didn’t move from that spot until the moon was out and the stars were shining.  He sighed then, closing his eyes and turned on his heels, his back to the quietly flowing river.

            “Good-bye Sasuke, I’ll see you later.”

Then he was gone.

Here is the next one, finally posting on my LJ writing account....>_>....

            It was quick and efficient.  Within a week, all necessary preparations had been made and he was now standing before the dusty, lonely remains of the decaying Uchiha district.  Sasuke stared some what dispassionately at the gate before him, idly probing for the ANBU that were surely set there to watch him.

“One…two…three…four…”  Sasuke frowned briefly.  Six ANBU.  Did they really think he was that much of a threat?  Shaking his head, the boy shrugged mentally to himself.  Who cared?  He didn’t.  Picking up the only piece of luggage he had – a worn traveling pack he had had with him since he had left for Orochimaru – Sasuke took the first step in to the Uchiha district he had taken since the massacre nearly ten years ago.  The place had taken a drastic change.  The once neat sliding front doors were torn and broken, the rice paper badly in need of replacing.  Weeds peeked out of the cracks in the streets that hadn’t been swept in years.  Sasuke moved silently through the district, the ANBU stalking just as silently after him.  It took him no more then seven minutes, his feet sub consciously taking him along the path he had always taken to get home when he was a child.  The front of the house had not changed at all.  The door remained unchanged as did the steps leading up to it, though both were older and dusty now.  Sasuke forced the door aside as it squeaked stubbornly on its runners, finally managing to coax it open enough so that he could squeeze through.

“I am so going to have to fix this place up…”  A thick layer of dust coated the floor, small tendrils of it swirling up as Sasuke stepped gently on to it.  The whole place was covered in a thick layer of dust.  Dust motes danced in the sunlight streaming in through the windows while cobwebs floated from the ceiling on invisible currents of air.  For a while, Sasuke explored the house, reacquainting himself with all the old nooks and crannies he had known so well.  The backyard, neatly cared for by his mother had been taken over by a thick jungle of tangled weeds.  Everything was still the exact same way he remembered it, right down to the stubborn scorch marks on the wall from one of his more adventurous cooking escapades he had taken up with his mother.  It had involved a Katon jutsu, dumplings and cooking oil and had resulted in a very irate Fugaku as he had surveyed the damage to his kitchen.  Sasuke smiled slightly at the memories.  Turning, he decided that his first order of business would be to at least clean the room that he was going to sleep in for the night.  He sighed at the thought off all the cleaning he was going to have to do later on as he began searching for the small closet where he knew his mother had kept the household cleaning supplies.

 

            Three hours later found Uchiha Sasuke on his hands and knees, scrubbing away at the wooden floor of his old bedroom.  His keen eyes had observed many, many more repairs that needed to be done to the house before it would be back up to how it had been ten years ago.  He contemplated ignoring the small little repairs that were needed and pretending that they didn’t exist.  It was going to be too troublesome to patch up every little crack that he found in the wooden beams holding the house up.  Yes, he would replace all the beams that were rotting and falling apart—on closer inspection, Sasuke had found more of them then he initially had thought there were—but surely the small cracks weren’t severe enough to merit having to replace the whole entire beam.  Sasuke snorted as he scrubbed savagely at the floor.  Knowing himself and his perfectionist nature, his whole entire house would be rebuilt before the week was out.  The black haired boy continued scrubbing at the boards, ignoring the screaming muscles in his neck, back and shoulders.  He needed to get as much done as possible.  It wasn’t until it got so dark that he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face that he realized that he would need to replace all the light bulbs in his house.  The Uchiha stared dubiously at the flickering incandescent light bulb on the ceiling adding yet another chore he would need to get done on to his ever growing list of things to do.  Deciding to finish up for the night, Sasuke moved all the cleaning supplies to the kitchen which he decided would be the next place he was going to attack with a rag and cleaning detergent.  Not bothering with a shower, Sasuke threw himself on to his old bed, belatedly adding laundry to his list when he smelt the musty and dewy smell on the sheets.  Apparently, shaking the dust off the sheets hadn’t been enough.  With that thought, the Uchiha drifted off to sleep, absently counting the number of ANBU.  “Six…”

 

            The morning light streaming in through his bedroom window was what woke him up the next day.  As per usual, Sasuke began arguing with himself, trying to convince himself to move and get up.  It was so much more difficult to do so without someone or something nagging him to get up.  With a groan, the Uchiha decided that appealing to his inner neat freak would the best way to force himself to get up.

“A dust free home is a good thing.  A dust free home is a good thing.  A dust free home is a good thing.”  Within five minutes, Sasuke had forced himself out of the musty but warm bed sheets and had stumbled down the hall to the bathroom, deciding that a shower would be a wonderful thing for his aching muscles.  He was able to take his much longed for shower after digging around the house for half-an-hour, searching for a towel that didn’t smell of things unpleasant.

“Laundry.  I HAVE to do laundry.”  After the marginally satisfying shower—he needed soap—Sasuke set about cleaning up the kitchen, deciding he wouldn’t have food until he had finished cleaning it.  On the low eating table, he found to his surprise, a white packet with his name written in neat handwriting he didn’t recognize.  Inside was a small bundle of hundred ryo notes and a note written in the same handwriting as on the packet.

“This is for your living expenses.  For the time being, until you

complete the repairs on your home; you will have access to the Uchiha funds to purchase whatever is necessary for your repairs.  After that, they will be closed off.”

Sasuke raised a thin eyebrow at the note.  Uchiha funds?  Is that what they were calling it now?  Rolling his eyes, Sasuke began preparations for a long battle with the dust and dirt on the floor, deciding to leave the packet where he had found it for the time being.

 

            Two hours later, the kitchen was sparkling again, dishes stacked and drying neatly on the clean counters.  (Sasuke had seen the state of the dishes and cutlery and just HAD to wash them.)  His stomach growled loudly up at him, reminding Sasuke it had not been fed yet.  Deciding now was as good a time as any to go shopping for food, Sasuke changed in to a fresh set of clothes— a black t-shirt and a pair of white shorts—and gathered up the packet of money from the kitchen table before setting out the front door at a brisk pace.  He passed the high arch at the entrance to the Uchiha District and stepped out in to the dusty streets of Konoha.  The sun was bright and high, indicating it was a little past high noon.  The whispers began as soon as he entered the busier shopping districts of Konoha.  The Uchiha caught some of the shoppers staring openly at him, while others attempted to hide their staring when he looked at them.  The ANBU guarding him were now moving in full view.  Sasuke caught sight of one of the ANBU staring at him from the roof tops.  He had blonde hair.  Familiar blonde hair.  Obsidian eyes narrowed.  Naruto.  They stared at each other for a while, the crowds parting around Sasuke like the flow of a river around a rock.  The whispers were lost to Sasuke as he gazed intently at the blonde.

“Talk to me...”  The ANBU was the first to break the staring contest.  Even though it was broad day light, Naruto appeared to melt back in to non-existent shadows.  He was replaced by another ANBU, one with sporting chocolate brown hair.  Sasuke sighed and turned away, starting to move through the crowds again, deciding to buy some rice first.  The crowds parted readily for him, most of the shoppers still staring at him and whispering.  The numbers of ANBU had multiplied to twelve and they were still stalking the rooftops in full view.  Some moved in the crowd in front of and behind Sasuke.  Naruto was nowhere to be seen.  The black-haired boy stopped before a stand that was selling bags of rice, not bothering to look at the shop keeper who had frozen stiff upon his arrival.

            “C-c-c-can I-I h-h-h-he-help, y-yo-you?”  Sasuke glanced up once at the man, declining to answer.  He silently selected the bag of rice he wanted and then paid the man without a word.  The Uchiha hefted the rice bag on to his shoulder, and proceeded to make his way through the crowds.  Each stand was the same, shop keepers stuttering and fearful trying to be as helpful as possible so as to speed him on his way.  The ANBU proceeded to follow him in full view all the way until he got back home, when they once again melted back in to the shadows.  Six of the ANBU left instantaneously.  Sasuke had not seen Naruto again.  With a sigh, the Uchiha reentered his kitchen, stashing his newly purchased groceries in their appropriate places.  He suddenly felt utterly exhausted.  The desire to clean had left him completely and inexplicably.  It was apparent to Sasuke now, that his return to Konoha was not too much of a secret any more, even though he had come back under the cover of night and hadn’t alerted a single ninja on night watch to his presence until he had reached Tsunade’s office.  Apparently, the Council did not feel much of a need to keep his presence in Konoha a secret.  Maybe this was a part of his punishment.  To have the fear, hatred and distrust of the citizens of Konoha.  If the presence of twelve ANBU was telling him anything, it was that nobody trusted him around the general public.  He had six when he was at home, but when he went out, he had twelve.  Double the number.  And the whispers had been nothing short of scathing.

            “It’s the traitor!”

            “He’s come to kill us all!”

            “The Uchiha family is no good any more.  Two traitors in one generation.  What happened to their honor?”

The staring had been grating also.  Sasuke was used to being stared at.  Having his own unwelcome group of fan girls had hardened or at least helped him get used to being ogled incessantly.  But now he had the eye of everyone in Konoha and it wasn’t for a good reason either.  With a sigh, the Uchiha collapsed on to his bed, uncaring of the mildew smell that rose up when he landed on the sheets.  Those weren’t the major reasons for his sudden exhaustion though.  In fact, he wasn’t at all certain of why he suddenly felt so exhausted.  The shopping trip had been trying and if that was how going out would be from now on, Sasuke was very sure he would never set foot outside the door ever again.  With a tired yawn, Sasuke slowly drifted off to sleep, the sound of nothing lulling him off.  And that resonated more loudly inside his head then even the whispers had.

 

Two Months Later

            The days had passed by as smoothly as they could for someone in Sasuke’s situation.  He had refrained from going out as much as possible, leaving the house only when he needed food and more supplies for the repairs to his home.  As of today he had finished off the last of the repairs to his satisfaction and was celebrating with a long shower and a cup of tea.  The garden was weeded and he had planted fresh flowers in the exact variations, colours and species that his mother had always planted.  It made the empty place feel a little bit more welcoming to Sasuke.  He hadn’t decided whether he wanted to start repairs on the rest of the district, or to just leave the rest of the place in a state of disrepair.  In the two months of his return, the citizens of Konoha had gotten used to his presence and slowly, the whispering and staring had died down.  But some still stared and some still whispered.  And twelve ANBU still accompanied him on his shopping trips even though he had shown absolutely no interest in anything except what he should buy for the week’s meals.  He hadn’t seen anyone he knew in the past for the last tow months either.  He caught occasional glimpses of Sakura out to lunch with other ninjas.  Some days he didn’t know the ninjas, on other days Ino, Hinata or Shikamaru accompanied her.  Sometimes Iruka or Kakashi.  They had never seen him, or at least they did, they didn’t acknowledge his presence.  He had never seen Naruto with her or any of them.  Sasuke did see the blonde whenever he did go out shopping for food.  Naruto would be there for the first part of the trips staring down at him from the shadows through a porcelain mask shaped in the likeness of a fox.  Sasuke had eventually stopped staring back at the ANBU, silently begging him to speak to him.  At the end of the shopping trips, Naruto was no where to be seen.  The Uchiha had eventually figured out that two hours after noon was a shift change and Naruto’s shift ended half way through his shopping trips.  The ANBU always changed at that time of day.  They also changed at ten o’clock at night and then again at six in the morning.  The ANBU on shift were always different.  Sasuke had already learned how to recognize each of them by their chakra.  Naruto never changed from the six to two group though and he was always there.  It appeared that he did not have an off day from watching Sasuke unlike his fellow ANBU.  The blonde never spoke to Sasuke, not once.  The Uchiha’s tea was ready when he stepped in to the kitchen, a towel slung over his dripping hair.  He toweled his hair off as he sipped his tea, contemplating what he would do for the rest of the day.  He could sleep or watch TV or…  Sasuke’s face twisted in to a grimace.  When he really thought about it, there wasn’t a lot that he could do.  Maybe he should take up a hobby or he could do some training.  He hadn’t trained in two months, mainly because of the repairs he needed to do to his house.  But there was also the reason of chakra bind on his system.  Sasuke hadn’t trusted himself to not over exert himself while he was training.  And with the general method he always used to train, it would be more then likely that he would do exactly just that.  The chakra bind put his chakra levels down to the equivalent of a Genin’s and some of the techniques he was used to train with required almost double the amount of chakra a Genin had.  Over exertion of his chakra pathways with the bind in place had the potential to damage his chakra system permanently.  Sasuke had decided it would be better for him to get used to the lack of chakra before he tried to train again seriously.  And he had also really needed to get the repairs done on his house.

 

            Sounds of panting filled the air.  The sky outside was a dark violet, the sun mostly set on the horizon to the west.  Sasuke had decided after his tea that he would send the rest of the afternoon training.  Finishing with a flying kick, Sasuke landed smoothly on the hard concrete, wincing slightly at the impact.  He was barefoot and shirtless, clad in only a pair of sweatpants.  The cool night air eddied about his hot, sweaty body as Sasuke panted, attempting to calm his rapid breathing.  The training had been strenuous.  Sasuke was out of shape after two months with no training.  His limited use of chakra also meant he had run out of it quite quickly during the start of training.  It had taken some experimenting on his part before he was able to identify the limits of his chakra.  The Uchiha’s last landing had been with less chakra cushioning it then he was used to normally.  His feet still stung a little as he limped back in to the house, deciding on another hot shower and then bed.  It wasn’t until he was in bed after the shower, drifting off to sleep when he felt it.  Sasuke started out of bed out of pure reflex, sharingan activating before he could stop it.  The boy ended up collapsing back on to his bed from the sudden strain to his body.  It took him a good few minutes to recover, but his adrenaline was running on high.  Outside, the ANBU shift slightly.  It was obvious they were finding Sasuke’s antics a little bit strange.  Forcing himself to calm down, Sasuke got himself under the covers again, all the while honing in on to the chakra signature he had felt.  The ANBU outside began to relax again.  He continued tracking the chakra signature as it made its way leisurely through Konoha, pausing very once in a while for no apparent reason.  Minutes passed and Sasuke continued to track it, even though he knew he was in no position to do anything about it even if he wanted to.

“How could those ANBU not sense anything?”  They obviously weren’t as top notch as they were toted to be.  The signature was much too familiar and much too dangerous not to be noticed.  It continued moving, drawing nearer and nearer to the Uchiha district.  Sasuke remained tense under his bed sheets, eyes watching the darkness as he followed the signature’s movements.  Outside, the ANBU changed watch formation as they always did periodically.  They still didn’t seem to have noticed anything yet.  The signature continued drawing nearer and nearer, finally entering the Uchiha compound.  It stopped at the entrance.  Sasuke continued to stare in to the darkness, nerves on edge.  What was he supposed to do?  What did he WANT to do?  He didn’t know.  All Sasuke knew was that he was here and he wanted something.  But Sasuke didn’t know what he himself wanted; the boy didn’t know anything any more.  Hands fisting the blankets, he pulled them aside and got up, making it seem like he was headed to the kitchen for a drink of water.  He slipped on his weapons pouch as he went.  His mouth was dry.  The ANBU continued to watch, unaware of the danger standing right under their noses.  Sasuke took a long, slow drink.  It was moving again, making directly for his house.  In seven minutes he would be here.  What would he do?  What did he want to do?  The boy stood there, unmoving, indecision biting in to his core.  The ANBU were getting restless again, probably wondering why he hadn’t gone back to bed already.  Sasuke stared blankly at the wall.

“What do I do?”

Light footsteps punctuated the Uchiha’s thoughts.  He wasn’t trying to be stealthy.  Sasuke’s gripped tightened on the counter.

            “Hello, little brother.”

He was here.

Har har!  Another original fiction I'm putting up.  It was from an actual test I had to write in school.  But I made a copy of it for myself and rewrote some parts and what not.  I think the ending is a little finicky.  Tell me what you think.

I pulled at him, at his jacket, catching his hand in mine.

            “Why are you going?  Don’t you know that it’s useless?”  He turned back to me, that gentle smile on his lips.

            ‘I have to go.  People are counting on me.”  My eyes narrowed, he looked away.

            “What?  Who?  Who’s counting on you?  That kid down the street who sits by himself all day, playing with chalk?  That senile old woman, Mrs. Rosa?  What do they have to do with any of this?  Huh?  You’re trying to save something that should be torn down anyways!  It’s a hazard to our safety!”  I glared at him, letting my anger show.  And still he smiled at me.

            “You have to understand, this is important to me.  Even if other people don’t care, I do.  That art gallery…”  He trailed off, glancing to the side, a distant look in his blue eyes.  “It’s special to me.”  He looked back up, the piercing blue gaze catching me full in the face.  I gaped, unable to move as he shut the door.  The intensity, the emotion, they caught me.  The Suther Way art gallery.  It was a small gallery of little consequence.  Only two rooms large, it played host to a grand total of eighteen pieces, nine of which were sculptures.  The artists on show ranged from tiny paintbrush wielding school children to struggling unknowns.  Two dollars was the fee to get in.  Hardly anyone considered it even worth the cost.  What was so special about the gallery?

 

He came back later, blue eyes shining, blonde hair tussled.

            “I managed to get a few people in on the protest!  Hopefully, that will encourage everyone in the neighbor hood to help out.”  I blinked at him, long and slow.  He blinked back.

            “What?  No one’s going to destroy that art gallery, not on my watch.”  He moved about, removing his gloves and jacket, hanging them up.  I stood watching him silently.  He turned back to me.

            “Look, I know you think that this is stupid, but really, I have to do this.  A lot is at stake here.”

            “What, a measly little art gallery with a total of eighteen pieces to its name?”  I thinned my lips at him.  “You’re risking going to jail to save an art gallery that can easily be replaced in one instant and…and for WHAT?  My voice rose, the anger and sarcasm dripping from its edges.  “So that you can end up on the front page of the city newspaper, lines reading Stupid Man Saves Measly Little Art Gallery That No One Even Goes To?”

He smiled weakly at me, “I don’t think that they could fit that on the front page.  Might have to cut it down a little.”  I growled at him.

            “You’re impossible!”  I turned away, throwing my hands up in to the air in exasperation and stomped in to the kitchen, determined to ignore him.  He followed me.

            “Look, if I told you the reason why I wanted to do this, would you help me?”  I spun towards him, the fury evident in my eyes.  He winced, scratching the back of his neck.  “Alright, if not help me, then at least stop trying to rip my head off.”  I scrunched my lips in annoyance, still glaring.  He stared back at me, eyes pleading.

            “I already told you.  I know how stupid it seems, trying to save a little art gallery that has little to no consequence to society.  That new rec centre sounds like it’s going to be amazing.  But…” He trailed off, his hand habitually scratching the back of his neck.

            “I talked to those planners, there’s nothing in there, no room for any of the pieces to go in.  They didn’t plan to put another gallery in there and there are no planes to make a new one either.”  He paused, shifting his weight from one foot to another.  I remained still and silent, listening; his eyes always made me listen, even when he wasn’t looking at me.

            “I asked them where the pieces were going to go then.  They just laughed and said that since the pieces were worth next to nothing and no body would want to have them, they were going to be destroyed.”  He looked at me then, blue eyes a shade darker, a haunted look reflecting in their depths.  I spoke then.

            “Well, it it’s the pieces that you’re after, then why don’t you ask to have them?  I’m sure those planners wouldn’t care either way.”  He moved to sit down then, hands clasping in front of him, a troubled look in his eyes.

            “You don’t understand.  It’s more then just the art pieces.  It’s the building itself.  It holds a lot of memories for me, memories that I hold dear to me.”  He looked up at me, blue eyes again pleading.

            “Please understand.  I made a promise, a promise to protect the building and what it stands for.  You know I don’t go back on my promises.”  I stared at him long and hard.  My lips twisted and I looked away.

            ”You’re lucky that I’m such a kind and wonderful person, or I would have seriously done something to hurt you just now.”  His laugh tinkled through the air, blue eyes smiling once again.

            “So does that mean you won’t try to chop my head off any more every time I mention the protest?”  I looked back at him, glaring a little.

            “Doesn’t mean that I’ll stop worrying though,” I responded, looking away.  His smile blossomed then, full and bright.

            “Alright then!  That means I can do the planning for the protest, at home, on the kitchen table, where you can see it!”  He literally skipped off and I could hardly help but smile.

            “Stupid man.”

 

Large blue eyes stared out from under an unkempt mop of dirty blonde hair.  Or so the man thought.  Maybe the “dirty” came from all the grime and dirt that was covering the small body standing before him.  The man smiled, tucking a strand of too-long brown hair behind his ear.  He knelt before the boy.

            “Why hello there.  Are you lost?”  The boy blinked solemnly at him.  He shook his head.  The brown haired man frowned.

            “Well then, where are your parents?”  The boy blinked again.

           “I don’t have any parents, I think.”  The boy paused, the small frown on his face indicating his thought process.  “Actually, I think they went somewhere and never came back.”  The boy gazed back at him, blue eyes innocent, yet penetrating.  The man frowned, the word “abandoned” on the tip of his tongue.  A wind blew around them, icy and unforgiving.  The man wrapped his coat more snugly against his body; fall was nearly at an end.  He glanced at the blue-eyed boy again, suddenly realizing that the boy didn’t have a jacket.

            “Aren’t you cold?”  The boy shook his head.

            “Nah, I went numb a long time ago.”  A startlingly jovial smile lit up the boys face.  The brown haired man stood up, holding his hand out to the boy who seemed no older then eight.

“Come on; let’s go inside, it’s getting cold out here.”  The boy took his hand without a word: smile still shining on his face.

 

            The smell of new paint assaulted their noses the instant they stepped in to the building.  A bare room with white walls sat before the pair, cushioned benches sitting in a rectangular pattern dotted the room.  Pot lights shone down on paintings hanging on the wall at periodic intervals.  The blue-eyed boy blinked in curiosity at his surroundings, ignoring the pain as heat got reacquainted with his feet.

            “What is this place mister?”  The born haired man smiled at him.

            “It’s my new gallery.  I just opened today.”  The boy blinked again, then nodded.

            “Why isn’t anyone here?”  The man smiled sadly.

            “I don’t know.”  There was another silence as the boy gazed at the man and the man stared off in to nothing.  Then it was past.  The man glanced down at the boy.

            “Come on, take a seat.”  He pulled the boy towards one of the benches, allowing the boy to climb nimbly on to the bench.  There was another silence.

            “It’s small mister, aren’t art gallery’s supposed to be big and huge with lots of things?”  Blue eyes blinked curiously at the man.  The man smiled at the boy.

            “I want my art gallery to be special.  I want it to hold only really special pieces of art.”  He turned to the boy.  “Do you know how people just come in to a really big art gallery and just sort of walk through and they don’t really look at the pieces?”  The boy nodded.  The man sat up straight, expression beaming in to the distance.

            “Well in my art gallery, there are going to be only a few pieces, but they are going to be special.  So special that people will stay for hours just to look at them.”  A blissful expression had appeared on the mans face, a distant look of longing in them.  The boy blinked again, his eyes coming to a conclusion.

            “Alright then, I’m going to come here everyday and sit here for hours so that someone can enjoy your paintings all the time!”  The boy announced.  The man focused on the blue-eyed boy again, smiling.

            “Will you do that?  Will you do that for me?”  The boy nodded furiously.

            “Well, then that’s very kind of you.  Thank-you.”

The boy responded with a smile.

 

The boy came everyday after that, sitting from opening till closing time, staring intently at the art.  He always found something new about each piece.

            “The woman in that painting, it doesn’t look like she’s really smiling at all.”  The man blinked, a questioning look sent in the direction of the boy.

            “I mean, she looks like she’s smiling at first.  That’s what I thought when I first saw it, but after looking at it for a while; it looks more like she’s frowning.”  A look of concentrated thought appeared on the boy’s face as he stared even harder at the painting.  After a while, he came to a conclusion, sitting up straighter and folding his arms importantly against his chest while nodding his head, almost to himself.

            “Yup, definitely frowning.”

The man couldn’t help but smile.  The boy remained the sole visitor to the gallery, along with a few curious visitors who wandered in, wondering what the gallery was all about.  Some stayed for a while, but some also left very quickly, muttering about money wasted.

 

It wasn’t until late summer of next year, that they truly became attached at the hip.  The man dropped by the orphanage the boy lived at.  It was a flashback to when they first met, the man knelt before the boy, smiling that same smile and tucking back that same strand of too-long brown hair.  It was just a bit longer now.

            “Would you like to come live with me?”  The blue-eyed boys face split in to a large grin.

            “Would I ever!”

            “Alright then,” the man stood, taking the boys hand in his.  “Let’s go!”

They walked then, the smaller boy hopping to keep up with the man’s larger stride.

            “Now I get to stay at the Gallery all the time!  Have you gotten anything new in yet?”  The man shook his head, still smiling.  He suddenly stopped, gaze dropping thoughtfully to the boy beside him.

            “Would you make me a promise?”  Furious nodding, just like the first day they met.  “Protect the Gallery.  I want you to promise that you’ll protect it with all you’ve got.  That you’ll protect everything that it stands for, when it’s threatened, when no one cares about it any more.  I want you to promise me that you’ll do everything within your power to protect the Gallery.”  It was a long and silent wait, as the man gazed intently at the boy and the boy stared off in to nothing.  Then his blue-eyes focused and a slow smile spread on to his features.

            “You got it!”

 

It was funny really, how he got the whole neighbor hood going.  A half-baked plan that turned in to a full out riot.  It was his speech that got everyone.  Inspiring.

            “Remember that man?  The one who started this gallery?  Remember what he wanted for this gallery?  What his dreams for it were?  Don’t you remember how he used to help anyone who needed it, wanted it, asked for it?  Well right here, right now, he needs our help!  Our help to save what he loved the most!  Today is our turn to help him, just as he has once helped us!  He may be gone now, but his legacy lives on in us!  He taught me to treasure the little things.  And this gallery is a little thing, a little thing that is a precious part of our community.  If we stand by and do nothing today, then this precious little piece of our community will be gone, forever.  Who stands with me today?  Who stands with me?”

It was his father he was talking about today.  The man who started the art gallery.  He never really talks about him.  All I know is that he died too early.  The riot wasn’t really much of a riot, more like a peaceful protest.  If got the planners listening.  They conceded, not to stop the building of the rec center, but they were at least willing to discuss the possibility of an extension to the center that included the art gallery in it.  Eighteen pieces, nine for each room, two dollars for admission.  It was going to stay the way it had always been.  Just like his father wanted it to.

My Naruto Fic, also posted on fanfiction.net and TONFA.  Search TONFA on google, I can't remember its URL.

SUMMARY: Shunned after his return from Orochimaru, Sasuke loses all will to continue living and forces Itachi to kill him as Sasuke’s own twisted idea of revenge. Years later, after a catastrophic battle with Orochimaru, a jutsu is activated that destroys the boundaries between the world of the living and the world of the dead.  Sasuke returns once again.  But this time, as a shinigami.

 

          The looks on their faces were unreadable.  Impassive eyes stared down upon him and Sasuke wondered briefly if that was how he had looked at people for most of the time that he had lived in Konoha.

         “Uchiha Sasuke…”  The Godaime glanced briefly about the room before returning her stern gaze upon him.  Her office was more then a little crowded; the most important people of Sasuke’s childhood present.  Sakura stood in her proper place behind Tsunade, eyes riveted on the Uchiha, a turmoil of emotions swirling beneath a relatively calm exterior.  Kakashi eyed his one time student, his ever present orange book stowed away in his back pocket for once.  The impassive eyes belonged to the loud one of the team.  Naruto’s expression was unreadable, his blue eyes blank for once, fixed upon the raven haired boy.

“Blank like a shinobi’s should be.  But not like Naruto’s should.”  Tsunade thought, glance lingering on the boy before returning to Sasuke.

          “Uchiha Sasuke.”  She repeated, leaning back in to her high back chair, her fingers steepled before her.  “I really have no idea what to say.”  She saw the black haired prodigy’s eyebrow raise a fraction in question.

          “You’ve returned quite suddenly.  You wouldn’t mind explaining why now would you?  Since it is rather unexpected though, not unwelcome.”  The Godaime smiled wryly at the Uchiha, waiting on his answer.  Sasuke’s lip twitched to the right, just barely.

          “I have my reasons.”  He stated voice bland and emotionless.  Beside Tsunade, Sakura shifted slightly, betraying her anxiety.  Naruto had crossed his arms and was resting against the wall, his eyes closed, and poise reminiscent of a certain Uchiha.  Kakashi hadn’t moved an inch.

          “Would you care to give a reason why?”  Tsunade queried anew.  “I’m sure if you have a reasonable explanation, the Council will lighten the punishment they hand out to you.”

Sasuke blinked once.  “As I said, I have my reasons.”  The Uchiha broke eye contact with the Hokage, eyes falling to somewhere to the front of her office desk.

          “Why do you ask anyways?  You wanted me back and now I’m here.”  His gaze returned to Tsunade, but it seemed as if he weren’t really looking at her but at someone else entirely.  Tsunade frowned briefly.

          “You know an answer like that won’t please the Council very much.”  Sasuke’s lip twitched to the right again.

          “That doesn’t matter to me.  Not any more.”  His voice trailed off to a whisper at the end.  The Uchiha’s obsidian eyes finally focused on her, a dull look in his eyes.  Tsunade sighed, closing her hazel eyes.

          “Fine, so be it.  The Council will speak with you tomorrow.”  The Godaime opened her eyes again.  “Hopefully you will have a reasonable response for them by then.”  She waved her hand vaguely in to the air.  “Take him away.”  Instantly, four masked ANBU appeared, clouds of smoke trailing their arrival.  They immediately surrounded the sixteen year old, cuffing him with a pair of charka suppressing hand cuffs specially designed for S-class criminal nins such as Sasuke.  As soon as the four ANBU and Sasuke left her office, Tsunade allowed herself to relax.  She gazed about the room.  Naruto had opened his eyes, the intensity of his gaze burning a hole in to the floor of her office.  Without so much as a word, Naruto disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.  Kakashi was more courteous, offering a bow before he too disappeared.  All that was left then was Sakura, whose shoulders were shaking with repressed tears.  Shizune stood quietly by the pink-haired kunoichi’s side, trying her best to comfort the girl.  Tsunade closed her eyes again.

“Sasuke…I don’t know if you should have come back or not…”

 

Sasuke lay quietly in his cell situated somewhere underground, beneath the Hokage Tower.  His obsidian eyes traced circles on the bare patch of concrete ceiling above him, hands propped behind his head as he lay on the tiny cot they had provided for him.  Outside, four ANBU paced – the same ones that had escorted him from Tsunade’s office.  They were guarding him not only from escaping, but also from communication with the outside world.  He wasn’t trusted as of yet, seeing as he had just returned to Konoha not more then an hour ago after a four year absence.  Who in Konoha knew whether he was still in league with Orochimaru and had returned to the Village in order to help lay plans for Orochimaru’s planned take over of the Village.  A small, tired smile escaped Sasuke as he thought of that.  “What an absurd idea…”  Of course he couldn’t blame the other Nins for thinking like that; after all, he was the only one in Konoha who knew he was no more in league with the snake bastard.  He had left the lair of Sound on a sour note with the Sanin, having just successfully prevented Orochimaru from taking over his body yet again.

 

“Sasuke-kun, you won’t allow me to take over your body…why?”  The rage was barely concealed on Orochimaru’s face.  “You and I both know that you cannot defeat Itachi on your own.”  Sasuke flinched visibly at the name, his eyes bleeding red.  The Sanin smirked, triumph showing too early on his pale face.

“You know that together with me, you have a much better chance of defeating him.  Then you can fulfill your life goal.  Come Sasuke, you know this.  Is this not a logical course of action to take in order to fulfill your goals?”  Orochimaru lifted a shaking white hand towards Sasuke, proof that the snake master was nearly at the end with his current body.  Sasuke stared blandly at Orochimaru, disgust suddenly filling his being.  On days previous, Sasuke would have reacted quickly and efficiently to any mention of his cursed brother’s name.  Even Orochimaru was not above this treatment, having found himself on the end Sasuke’s sword tip more then once.  Now the only thing Sasuke could feel was disgust.  Disgust at Orochimaru for trying to manipulate him, disgust at himself for being so easily manipulated all those years ago.  Sasuke shifted slightly, sharingan eyes gazing at Orochimaru.  Orochimaru gazed back, yellow eyes glittering with greed and not a little bit of desperation.  Sasuke’s lip twitched.

“I’m going.” The raven-haired shinobi turned his back on Orochimaru.  “You disgust me.”  Sasuke didn’t bother to look back at the Sanin.  “I’m done with you…”  Then the Uchiha disappeared, Orochimaru’s anguished scream echoing after him.

 

          “As I told Hokage-sama yesterday, I have my reasons.”  The Council’s eyes narrowed.

          “You have no better reason then that?”  The most senior member of the Council asked of him. At least Sasuke assumed so; he was the most wrinkled of all the members.  The Uchiha’s lip quirked in amusement at the thought.

         “No, I do not.”  In a corner, the Godaime sighed heavily.  He knew she was disappointed with his answer, after all, she had given him a days worth of time to come up with an acceptable answer for the Council.  The Council members exchanged looks, some whispering in each others ears.  Sasuke watched this all with impassive eyes.  “I don’t care.  Not any more.”  The raven-haired boy just barely prevented himself from letting out a small sigh.  “Why don’t I care any more…?”  The Council members looked up again from their whispering.  The one Sasuke had initially assumed to be the leader of the Council spoke again.

          “Godaime Hokage-sama.”  Tsunade stiffened imperceptibly.  The look on her face told Sasuke she already knew what was coming.  The Council member sighed as if deliberating Sasuke’s punishment were the most trying trial of his life.

          “The Council knows that you would like to be lenient with the Uchiha, given his past and present circumstances.  And also his status as one of the last surviving Uchiha.”  Sasuke grimaced at the statement and Tsunade almost pulled a face.  The Councilmen continued on without noticing.

“But if the Uchiha is not willing to stand up for himself, or present to us, a plausible reason for his sudden return to Konoha, then we will have to lay the maximum punishment upon his shoulders.”  The Council member gave Sasuke a penetrating look, almost daring the boy to defy his statement.  Sasuke did nothing.  Tsunade’s hazel eyes slid close for a brief moment, a look of defeat on her proud features.

          “The full sentence…” Tsunade gazed at the council.  “What do you have in mind?”  The Council member thinned his lips.

          “We have yet to discuss that.”  The Godaime hesitated.

          “Does Uchiha Sasuke have nothing more to say for himself?”  Sasuke’s eyes widened slightly, back stiffening.  He held Tsunade’s gaze for a moment.  Just a moment.  Then he looked away, the obvious pleading in Tsunade’s eyes almost too much for him to bear.  Almost reluctantly, the obsidian eyed shinobi responded.

          “No…no I do not.”  Sasuke kept his gaze averted from Tsunade.  When had he become so easily affected by others?  When had he cared about what they thought?  He missed the quiet nod that the Hokage gave the Council.

          “Alright, the Council will begin to discuss the terms of Uchiha Sasuke’s sentence.  We will meet again tomorrow, at the same time.”  Sasuke looked up to meet the Councilmen’s eyes.

          “You are now dismissed.”  Sasuke glared back at the Councilmen, the look of utter contempt on the latter’s features not missed by the Uchiha.

 

Back in his cell, Sasuke was once again tracing patterns over the bare concrete.  This time, the obsidian eyed boy was thinking of something else.  Something completely opposite of Orochimaru.  Naruto.  The blonde had not spoken one word to him since Sasuke had come back.  Albeit, Sasuke had been back for less then 48 hours and none of the others had spoken to him yet except for Tsunade.  But still, it was strange.  The Naruto Sasuke had known would have had to been man-handled by ten ANBU to keep the blonde away from him as Naruto would try to beat the living crap out of Sasuke.  All that time, that Naruto would be screaming obscenities that would make even the most barbaric man blush.  Sasuke would have taken it in to stride, smirked and told Naruto, “Dobe, I’m back.”  Then Naruto would have screamed more obscenities, would finally get the chance to take his frustrations out on Sasuke’s face and then they would have been friends again.  Although Sasuke was certain he would definitely have to serve some sort of punishment that would involve isolation and maybe some sort of hard labor.  But it would have been alright.  Because Naruto would still be there, waiting for the time when Sasuke’s punishment was over.  If that were so, Sasuke would have definitely come up with something to say to the Council, minced his words, twisted a story around to save himself.  He would have charmed the Council so much, that they would have definitely wanted him back.  In fact, he would have charmed the Council so much, that he wouldn’t even have been given a harsh punishment, just some measly little detainment sentence where he would be watched for a few months then left to his own devices.  And then Kakashi and Sakura would come to visit him and then he would spar everyday with Naruto and things would go back to the way they had been before he had left.  And…and…and why was he even THINKING these things??!!  This was wishful thinking.  The types of thoughts that other people thought, but NOT Uchiha Sasuke.  Uchiha Sasuke was cool.  He was calm and collected.  He did not regret what he did.  He regretted nothing, only lived for what the future would bring to him.  Only lived for his single goal.  But right now, Sasuke knew why he was thinking these thoughts.  Why he suddenly wanted things to go back to the way that they had been.  Because he was regretting.  Regretting what he had done years ago, his childish and immature decision that had broken apart something that he should have valued more then his revenge.  His friendship with Naruto.  He regretted the way the boy had been yesterday, regretted the reason for the way Naruto had been yesterday.  Sasuke turned over on his small cot, suppressing a small sob.  If Naruto had just talked to him yesterday, Sasuke knew he would have said something, anything to defend himself and his actions to the Council.  He just knew he would have done that.  But as soon as he had left and Naruto had not said a word to him, as soon as he was left in his cell, alone, for the rest of the day and the next and there was still no sign of a visiting blonde, Sasuke had lost all hope of ever repairing anything that had existed between the blonde and himself.

 

          Day turned to night turned to day and Sasuke found himself before the penetrating gazes of the Council yet again.  The punishment was given swiftly and without hesitation.

          “Uchiha Sasuke, for your crimes committed against the Village and citizens of Konoha, these following sentences have been decreed as punishments to pay for your crimes.”  The wrinkled Councilmen from yesterday, who had taken the role of leadership yet again, cleared his throat, eyes focused on the scroll before him as he adjusted his glasses.

          “For the injury and near death of your once fellow shinobi, listed as follows: Akimichi Chouji, Hyuuga Neji, Inuzuka Kiba, Nara Shikamaru and Uzumaki Naruto, your chakra will be forcibly bonded within your body for an indefinite amount of time.  The use of any and all shinobi techniques except for taijutsu and kunai and shiruken techniques as only a means of self-defense will be forbidden.”

Sasuke nearly snorted out loud at this statement.  It was rather redundant, as any ninja with half a brain would have already figured out that Sasuke wouldn’t be able to use any techniques other then taijutsu and weapons techniques from the first statement.

          “For the betrayal of the Village and citizens of Konoha and the endangerment of the safety of the Village and the citizens of Konoha, Uchiha Sasuke will be sentenced to confined isolation, stripped of his shinobi title and the honor of serving Konoha as an honored shinobi—”

Was it just him, or was this Councilmen repeating himself a lot?

          “—this will occur for an indefinite amount of time or until Uchiha Sasuke demonstrates an unfailing loyalty to Konoha.”

“Which will never happen if I can’t be a shinobi.”

          “Uchiha Sasuke will be isolated from the rest of Konoha’s civilian population and he will be placed under ANBU watch night and day again, for an indefinite amount of time and—”

“Wow, they don’t want me to talk to anyone do they?”

          “Uchiha Sasuke will be confined to the boundaries of the Uchiha district and will only be allowed to leave the compound for necessary activities.”

“Talk about isolation…”

“A minimal allowance will be given allotted to him to accommodate for daily living expenses.  Uchiha Sasuke—”

“Stop referring to me in the third person, I’m still here you know.”

          “—will—”

And Sasuke drowned out the rest of the Councilmen’s speech with his own vicious comments about the other Council members.  Albeit, all inside his head.

This is my first story posted...written for the CBC writing challenge. Which I lost of course.

A Childish Infatuation

He came to my room that night.  My love.  Oh how I loved him so.  He smiled that gentle smile of his and beckoned me to follow.  The heavy metal beast was tamed, made to stand aside.  He entered the darkness outside my room, a yawning abyss that I hesitated to enter.  Again my love smiled, beckoning me to follow him.  “Come, don’t be afraid,” he said.  I smiled and followed, the cold feeling of something sending shivers up my spine as I set foot in to the dark abyss.  He walked a little ways ahead of me, an angel in my mind.  Snow white robes shrouded his beautiful form as midnight eyes would peer at me from behind locks of exquisite ebony, contrasting oh so wonderfully with his porcelain skin.  I hurried my pace, trying to catch up, suddenly wanting to see them.  His eyes.  The eyes that laughed at my little jokes, smiled at me as he served me a glass of water and tiny pieces of colorful candy.

          “Never chew it,” he always told me.  “It tastes much better when you swallow.”  And I always listened to him, never chewing, only swallowing, for he was my love and I wanted to show him how much I loved him.  Then he would smile his wonderful smile and take away the silver platter he always carried with him when he gave me my candy, promising to see me again the next day.  And I was sad.  Oh how sad I was when he left, my angel, my love.  Leaving me all alone in my room, all alone.  And so when he came that night, I was overjoyed.  But I began to wonder.  Where was he taking me?  And as I asked him my question, he only laughed.  “You would know soon,” is what he said, never turning to look at me.  We continued to walk, my angel always a little ahead of me.  I could never quite seem to catch up to him, no matter how fast I moved.  The time stretched on and still we did not stop.

          “My love!  Where are we going?” I cried, tendrils of doubt beginning to snake in to my mind.  “Soon, soon you will know,” he replied never looking back.  The cold something I had felt before returned again, latching onto my toes, nipping my fingers.  It seeped through my thin cotton clothes, dancing on one patch of skin, then moving on to the next, never staying long in one place but always there.  The cold something continued to dance, continued to spread until my whole body was covered in it.  Oh where could my love be taking me I wondered.  Somewhere warm I hoped.  Where the wind was warm and the gentle, and the sky was bright and blue.  Not like the wind that blew mysteriously from my room floor, hot and scalding.  And not like the dull gray sky like what I saw out of that hole in my wall.  That hole that was covered in that strange material that prevented me from touching the world outside, but instead, gave me tantalizing glimpses of it.  And I smiled again, the tendrils of doubt receding from my mind.  Yes, that was where my love was taking me, somewhere warm and beautiful, where the wind was warm and gentle and the sky was bright and blue.  And then I hurried.  Hurried to remain close to my love.  But he always remained that same distance, never coming closer, never moving further.  I began to doubt again, the cold something continued to dance on my skin and the time continued to stretch on around us.  I began to wonder again.  Wonder, why wasn’t my love holding my hand like he always did?  Why didn’t he hold out his hand to me with that beautiful smile of his and ask me,

          “Would you like to take a walk with me?”  Why did he stay so far away from me, yet so close, close enough for me to smell his wonderfully sweet scent, to almost taste the cologne that he wore.  I began to despair.  The tendrils took shape.  “This isn’t right,” they whispered, weaving intricate dances of confusion in my mind.  “This isn’t right!”

          “What isn’t right?”  I whispered, the dance of the tendrils spinning innocent confusion in my mind.  “Something’s wrong! Something’s wrong!”  They began to scream.  I clutched my head, collapsing to my knees.  “You know something’s wrong!  Something isn’t right!”  The dance had become a flurry of intricate movements, a clash of grays and blacks that spun before my eyes and sent waves of nauseating confusion through my body.  “Something’s not right!”  The voices screamed, “He’s not real!”  I lurched forward, hands clawing furiously at the air, blind panic setting in.  “He’s not real!  He’s not real!”  The voices screamed, louder still, a hurricane of sound.  “HE’S NOT REAL!”  They were all around me now, filling my ears, wreaking havoc with my sanity.  With a strangled cry, I fell forward, desperately trying to rid myself of those voices.  Quite suddenly, I felt something cool touch my forehead.  As I looked up, I couldn’t help but sigh in relief.  There he was, ebony locks framing his handsome face, his beautiful smile radiating warmth on to me.  The tendrils receded, the voices diminished and the gray-black haze disappeared.  My love.  He had come to rescue me!  His smile grew and he reached out his elegant hand towards me.  “Do not despair, I am here,” he told me.  “Take my hand little one; we are nearly where we should be.”  And with my own childish smile, I reached out my hand, taking his in mine, ignoring the strange icy cold feeling his hand had.  He smiled at me, my angel did and I melted, happiness washing over me.  What did it matter, those voices from before?  My love was real, he was right here, touching me.  I pulled myself up, my eyes never leaving his, his never leaving mine.  No my love was real, those voices were lying.  Those voices were the ones that were the fake.  My love had rescued me from those voices so many times before.  And if he was the fake, and if the voices were real, then shouldn’t they be rescuing me from him instead of the other way around?  With a smile still on his lips, my angel turned around and began to lead me again, his ice cold hand ever present in mine.  I followed, the cold something dancing still on my skin, though I forgot about it, the warmth in my heart from the presence of my love encompassing my whole entire being.  We continued to walk, giggling shadows stealing across our paths, the darkness stretching long and endless before us.  But I was not afraid for my angel was with me and he kept the voices at bay.  He had always kept the voices at bay, ever since he came.  He would touch my hand whenever the voices became too much and smile at me and the voices would recede and I would forget that there were even any voices at all.  It was just him and I in my small room whenever he was there.  I would drown in his smile and his wondrous eyes and he would ask me all sorts of things and I would answer and I would never remember a thing that he asked or a thing that I had said afterwards.  I would just remember the sound of his voice, the look of his smile and his wondrous eyes.  And so we continued to walk.  The time stretched on again and the cold something returned and the tendrils of doubt began creeping up on me again.  Where were we going?  What were we doing?  The tendrils began to dance again and the voices began to whisper.  “Something’s not right!” they whispered again.  “His hand shouldn’t be this cold!  It is never this cold!”  I shook my head, desperately trying to keep the voices out.  There was nothing wrong!  My love was here and when he was here, everything was alright.  Everything was always alright when he was here.  And as if sensing my anxiety, my love turned his blissful eyes and his blissful smile on me, his words soothing me and calming me.  “Don’t be afraid,” he told me.  “We are almost there.” And my worries flew away as he said these words, the childish smile of mine returning.  A few blissful minutes later we stopped, another metal beast blocking our path.  I paused and my love just smiled his wonderful smile and with a flick of his perfect hand, the beast moved aside, quiet and tamed.  “We are here,” he said, moving past the beast.  I followed him, curious as to what he wanted to show me.  As I stepped past the best, the cold something increased on my skin.  Increased tenfold, so that I shivered and had to wrap my arms around myself.  But oh that suddenly did not matter any more as I looked around me.  My love was all around me!  There were his eyes and hair whenever I looked up and his skin and robes whenever I looked down and around me.  The cold something was forgotten was I looked ahead of me and say my love beckoning to me from further ahead.  I ran to him and he smiled.  “Do you like it love?” he asked me.

          “You’re everywhere.”  I whispered still smiling.  And he smiled back at me, midnight eyes warm and sparkling.  We stood there, he and I, time stretching on around us.  But this time, the tendrils did not come, the voices stayed put.  I could only bask in my loves radiant smile as he looked at me and I gazed at him.  But the cold something came back, light and persistent and I shivered.  But still he smiled and still we did not move.  Then it left the cold something, for some odd reason I couldn’t quite understand, disappearing completely.  A feeling of nothing replaced the cold something, but I did not mind, as the cold something had been unpleasant to feel.  And still my love smiled and still we stood there, but I did not want to leave for he was smiling so radiantly at me, and just looking at me, looking at me just the way I had always wanted him to look at me.  And then the feeling of nothing was replaced by a warm fuzzy feeling.  It started at my toes and fingers, just like the cold something had, but much more pleasant. It danced about in patches on my skin, never staying long on one patch, dancing on to the next, always moving, always there.  That warm fuzzy feeling spread until it covered my whole entire body in a warm, comforting blanket.  And then I looked up and I realized my love was not looking at me anymore, No, now he was embracing me!  And I smiled; now realizing why I was so warm.  It was because my love was embracing me; embracing my like I had always wanted him to.  Slowly, a feeling of content sleepiness came over me, ever so slowly spreading.  I snuggled deeper in to his embrace.

          “Sleepy…”  I mumbled against his chest.  I felt oh so sleepy.  And I knew my love was smiling when he spoke.  I could hear it in his voice.  His beautiful, sweet voice.  “Rest now” he told me, “Lay down and rest.  I will always be here.”  And I did as he said, for I always listened to what my love said because I loved him so and wanted to show him that I loved him.  So I lay down, and he lay down with me, embracing me as I let my eyes fall shut.  “Rest, I will always be here,” he whispered soothingly, his warm arms a comfort around me.  And I drifted further and further, sleep calling to me, a comforting heaviness settling on my body.  And just before I drifted off completely, I smiled my childish smile and whispered,

          “My love, I’ll see you in the morning.”