Stolen Affection

PLEASE READ IMPORTANT!!!!!

A/N: Hey guys, this is going to be my second story! w00t!!!

Here's the Deal...

I can't decide what the paining on this should be!! TT~TT So I'm holding a VOTE!!!! That's right you get to decide!! The story will probably be re posted afterwards b/c i plan on adding more to this chapter once i have a pairing, but i need to know the pairing!!!

So hear are the choices...

SasuNaru

or

SasuSaku


Also, this chaper DOES NOT include any lemons or anything to that nature. However, it might get a little gory...you've been warned

Once again a big hand for my beta, wave-gurl! The Bubbleheaded ditzoid!

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Chapter 1

Drip…drip…drip…

Excess rain soaked into the ground and dripped through the ceiling of his room. This was the problem with having an underground base; sure is was mysterious and secretive and hid itself efficiently, but it would always have pluming problems. They were in an area that didn’t have rain frequently, but when they got it, it poured until the land turned to muddy shush and the floor of the base was covered in a foot of it. It was hell to clean up afterwards; He was thankful that that wasn’t his job.

Drip…drip…drip…

He’d always liked the rain. It felt cleansing and peaceful to him. There was nothing sad or depressing about it to him, just confidence and coolness. He’d realized a long time ago that that was how everyone saw him, yet on the inside he was falling to pieces, fighting desperately to keep it together, seeking always a glue to solve his internal crisis, and constantly hiding all of it behind a mask of confidence and coolness, just like rain.

Drip…drip…drip…

The dripping picked up speed as the storm above hit its stride. He turned and readjusted on his cot. The rain brought new life to the world, but it also brought new life to the old memories the he wished were dead. Soon, just as his room would be flooded with sludge, his own mind would be flooded with the past.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Flashback XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Drip…drip…drip…

The blood of the blade slowly dripped onto the floor of their house. Other than that, there was no sound, but the silence didn’t last more than a moment. A scream pierced the night as the sword had pierced the bodies of his parents. The scream came from a boy who fell to his knees, the scream dying on his lips, horror written on is face as he stared at the corpses, disbelief and fear, their dying expressions, still on their faces. The murderer stood over them, watching the boy expressionlessly.

The boy stopped screaming slowly. “Why…why…why?!” he whispered. Tear crystallized in his eyes. “How could you?!” He screamed.

Itachi sheathed his weapon, then let his eyes scan the room, from the walls to the floor, then to the bodies that could be found their. Finally, he brought his eyes to his little brother.

Blood. Blood everywhere. People collapsing, his family withering in pain, screaming their lungs out. And it was all because of his brother; it was all because of Itachi. The horror that he was forced to witness became unbearable. Sasuke howled with a throbbing agony. Again and again he was made to survey it…finally, the vision stopped and he fell to the floor, struggling for breath.

“Why?” he echoed in a monotone calm, as if to mock his younger brother’s anguish. “Why? I did it…because I had to know.” A pause. “I had to know if I could do it, Sasuke. I had to know if I was strong enough…to kill them.” He said it unhurriedly, methodically, as if savoring the words and the boy’s face as he spoke.

Itachi watched Sasuke as he turned over his own words in his head. Expressions rippled across the little boy’s face: Fear, Confusion, and finally, revulsion.

“How…how does that excuse it?!” His voice rose as another emotion finally came to rest on his face: rage. “They were your parents!” He shouted “They were…they were my parents.” Tears ran down his face, carving rivers through his chibi-face.

Legs like jello from the shock, Sasuke stood slowly. Then, with agony and anger flowing thick and fast through his veins, he charged at his brother, roaring with the sorrow that threatened to crush his tiny heart. The shout was cut short as Sasuke received a bone-breaking hit to his gut, delivered by none other than the person who he had looked up to the most in his life. He fell with a thud to the ground. He hadn’t even touched his brother; how could he expect to win a fight against him, let alone even escape this place alive.

Panic shook Sasuke’s frame as he struggled to rise. There was no more fight in him; all he wanted to do was to run, to escape, to get as far away from that manic as possible. Sasuke realized that in his whole life, the he had never been this scared before, that, in comparison, all the times he thought he had fear, which was nothing in light of this; this was true fear, and he was truly afraid.

“I’m scared…I’m scared!” Sasuke turned and ran, stumbling away for his life. He reached the door left ajar and threw himself through it, tears streaming and mind reeling. He took to the porch and flew past the garden. There were so many memories there. His mother had patched him up there. His father had given him his first kunai there. Realizing that he’d never see them again brought fresh pain. He had to fight to choke back a sob.

There! Sasuke had reached the road, and in front of him laid the gate to the rest of the village, to freedom, to safety. Harnessing all of his energy and adrenaline, he bolted for it, the fastest he’d ever moved in his short life. He was closing in on it…he was going to make it! He was going to live! He was –

Thump! Suddenly, his way wasn’t so clear. Itachi towered in front of him. Sasuke crashed into him in his acceleration, but scrambled back in panic. Terror pumped through him, causing him to shake like a leaf. “Please,” he begged. “Please, don’t…don’t kill me!”

Itachi stared the same cold-eye gaze. “I won’t be killing you now, foolish little brother…No, I want a challenge. You will grow up to hate me. Your loathing will make you strong, and you’ll be the only one with any potential to beat me. But, now? Your not even worth killing. I’m not going to waste my time...Until we meet again, little brother.” A flash of red sent Sasuke spiraling into hell again.

His frail body hit the ground with a thump, muscles exhausted. As he lay there, Sasuke’s eyes sank. Before consciousness, left him, he saw Itachi turn and stroll casually away. Then it was black, but he did fell the rain that started to fall mingling with the tears and blood.

Drip…drip…drip…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Flashback End XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Drip…drip…drip…

Pale fingers gripped the side of the cot in resentment. Hate welled up at the memory. Sasuke sighed. Just laying here was getting nothing done, not moving him towards his goal. Slowly, he rose, collected his thoughts, and ambled out the door.

Lights flickered weakly in the dreary hallway. Shrieks and moans of inmates echoed through the caverns, making the dark passages even eerier. Sasuke wandered the antechamber slowly, thinking all the while, his mind twirling and twisting ideas around and together.

The water was running through the walls and ceiling, trickling down the corridor and craving ruts like veins of pumping blood. Sasuke had seen much blood in his time with Orochimaru, yet he knew he would never get over it, not after his brother’s crime…

A mechanical clicking could be heard echoing down the long hallway. Sasuke turned to meet the approaching sound. Kabuto was pushing a stretcher; the body, skinny as a rail, lay on it, face up, eyes wide, the shock of death still upon them.

Kabuto noticed his glance to the corpse. “Lost another one. I guess he just couldn’t take the tests any more.”

“Hn.”

“Lord Orochimaru will be pleased. This one wasn’t very good experiment material, and now we have an open cell.” Kabuto noted, glasses gleaming.

Sasuke nodded but said nothing.

Kabuto accepted the silence. “If you’re looking for Lord Orochimaru, I just passed him in the level 3 library. I’d check there first,” Kabuto added.
“Thank you.” With a turn of his heel, Sasuke changed directions still moving slowly, but this time, purposefully, leaving no doubt that he knew his way through the labyrinth that was the present base. Onward he moved confidently, but in his head, gears were turning a clicking a whirring away, only disturbed by the continued trickle of rain, and memories.

Kabuto watched Sasuke until he was no longer in view. Something was going on in his mind, he thought. It frustrated him that he didn’t have the slightest clue what it was. There was one thing he was sure of, however, as he pushed the carcass in the opposite direction. Something was going to change, and the time was close at hand.

Drip…drip…drip…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Flashback XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Psychologists would say it impossible for humans to feel a single emotion so completely that it blocks out all other emotions, thoughts, feelings, and most senses; Humans are just too complex, too changing, too dynamic. Sasuke would have known that they were wrong; or, at least, he would, if he could think straight, passed the rage.

“It’s been a long time…Sasuke.”

Anger, in its purest form, wasn’t like the fire people usually describe to Sasuke. Instead, it was ice. It froze everything in its path, making his hate a cold sword of destruction. It clouded over his conciseness and took his breath away like a sub-zero wind, but replaced it with adrenalin and rush of a blizzard’s ferocity, and the blizzard was focused on its cause and target: Itachi.

“Itachi…Uchiha.”

Disorder, alarm, and aversion could perfectly label the hallway scene. The tension was so thick, you could have cut it with a knife. Unnatural calm radiated from Itachi, while Sasuke emitted enough frosty hate and animosity to fill the entire hotel.

Naruto was just confused.

“Kisame, this is my younger brother.”

Now, Naruto was befuddled to the extreme, not to mention slightly worried. So much for this being a relaxing, uneventful trip with the pervy sage.

“Itachi Uchiha…I hope you’re ready to die…”

Recognition flitted across Naruto’s face. So this was him…Itachi…the one Sasuke wanted to kill.

Sasuke activated his sharingan, and stared it hard on the one who he’d once thought the world of. “It’s just as you said brother,” Memories of that night flew through Sasuke’s mind. “I fostered my hatred for you, all this time!” The sound of birds screeched in the air as chidori sprung to life in his hands. “I’ve lived my life for one single purpose.”

Itachi’s cold, black eyes stared back at his brother, a silent urge for his brother to go on.

“To see you die!” Sasuke screamed. “It ends here!” With that, he bolted forward for the kill.

Itachi didn’t move.

Sasuke pressed on, fueled onward by his icy hate, letting it take over his systems. Out of his throat burst a guttural roar.

“DIE!!!”

BOOM!!! Dust filled the air, blocking the vision of all present. When it settled, brother stood by brother, Itachi firmly gripping Sasuke’s wrist, the chidori dying with a flutter. A giant hole, reveling leaky pipe work and insulation, now a new feature of the wall, a scar where the Sasuke’s attach had diverted its rage.

Drip…drip…drip…

Sasuke stared at his brother, hate and anger rolling off his form as he struggled to break the contact. Naruto seemed in a daze, then with an unnecessary flourish, he throw up his hands in a quick series of chakra hand sings. He had to help Sasuke. He knew he wouldn’t want the help, but Naruto couldn’t let a teammate down!

“Too slow!” Slash! Naruto felt the rush of are and Kisame sliced through his chakra, then it was gone. What had happened? Frantically, he tried to pump out more chakra, but to no avail.

Sasuke began to cry out to Naruto, “Stop! This is my fight! This is–AHH!” He yelled out as pain shot up his arm like acidic lightning. Itachi had tightened his grip on his brother’s wrist, and twisted, cracking and shattering many of the bones and most of the blood vessels in his lower arm. He dropped to the floor, withering in pain and humiliation.

“It won’t be much of a problem, but I those lame ass jutsus are really going to get on my nerves if he keeps trying. Maybe I’ll just cut off his arms instead…?” The demon shark raised his blade for another swing.

Clang! The sound of metal on metal echoed through the halls as the sword meet with the toad’s armor. Jiraiya stood protectively behind the blonde.

“You’ll have to do better that to fool the legendary Sannin, JIRAIYA!!” He said with a show wave of his hands. Well, hand. He had a young woman draped over the other arm.

Gently, he laid her unconscious form on the ground. “A genjutsu…what kind of coward would do that to an innocent girl…you should be ashamed….just to get me away from Naruto.” Jiraiya stared sharply at two akasutki members. “He’s what you’re after, right?’

Itachi was silent, but then spoke in his usual soft tones. “That explains things, you knowing…Naruto does have the Nine-Tails, which is the prize the Akasutki is after, so yes, Naruto is the one that we want.”

On the floor, Sasuke silently gasped, as though his lungs had decided to stop working. Subconscious, maybe he had wanted to be the reason his brother was here, maybe he was afraid for his friend. Either way, for a reason Sasuke could not place, it was a crushing blow to hear his Itachi say those words.

Sober fear flashed in Jiraiya’s eyes, and then disappeared, replaced by the cocky smirk of a much younger man. “This is actually great. Now I can take you both out at the same time.” He shifted his weight, changing his stance to one fit for attaching.

“No!”

Pain racked every fiber of Sasuke’s body, yet slowly, he continued to raise himself from off the floor. Finally, he stood, his limbs quivering with the effort of remaining upright. Sasuke brought his eyes up to meet his brother’s stare. “No…leave him to me…this is my fight.”

Itachi’s shoulders barely moved as he shrugged. “So be it,” and he turned to face this younger brother.

Sasuke was across the hall before he knew it, bouncing and skidding until he hit the wall. A dull thunk! resounded as his skull slammed into the plaster. Within milliseconds, Itachi was on him again, hitting him non-stop. Punch…hit…slam…kick…kick…crunch. Not only was his outside being crushed, but the inside of Sasuke’s head was breaking down. Where had all his training gone? What had he done with is life up to this point? Had nothing changed? Soon the pain was all that he could think about. He never knew someone could hurt so much and not die…or pass out. In the end, the pain was so great that it all he wanted was release. Bones shattered and vessels ruptured as his consciousness finally began to ebb away.

Sasuke was vaguely aware that the beating had stopped, and that was being held by his feet…no, that wasn’t right…by his neck…and it was his brother’s hand.

Itachi leaned towards Sasuke and whispered in a subdued tone. “You’re pathetic. You’re still so weak...your hate isn’t strong enough…and you know what? It never will be.” The slightest of smirks ghosted across Itachi’s lips. Then he raised his eyes, holding Sasuke’s with his own sharingan, spinning and twirling cruelly in the florescent light.

For the third time in his life, Sasuke found himself in the personal hell his brother had created for him. Again, he was that little boy. Again, he watched as his parents fell to the floor, dead, blood spilling out of their bodies. Again, he was completely helpless. He had been reliving this scene since that night, but never was anything like the real thing, never was it anything like this. Sasuke screamed, his cry mingling with the sadistic laughter of the man he had known as his brother.

72 hours later, and no time had passed. Itachi released his neck, letting Sasuke drop to the floor. Sasuke welcomed the darkness creeping into his vision, smiling weakly as he passed out to he sounds of the leaking pipes and the running of his own blood.

Drip…drip…drip drip…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Flashback End XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke turned slowly onto the level 3 library.

“Ku, ku, ku…”

Internally, Sasuke smirked. He had found what he was looking for. Opening the door, he found Orochimaru standing over a small girl, about twelve, laughing. The girl, who appeared to have tripped while carrying his lab equipment, glanced horrified from Orochimaru to the pile of broken vials and beakers, and then back.

“Ku, ku, ku…oh, poor, little Hitojichi…how are you going to make up for this mess? Ku, ku, ku…” Orochimaru leered evilly over the girl.

“Orochimaru-sama.”

Attention diverted from her, Hitojichi ran off, thanking god for the distraction that may have saved her life. Orochimaru looked intently at Sasuke.

“What is it, Sasuke-kun?”

“I have a plan.”

Drip…drip…drip drip

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So there you go kiddie, Start of Story Number 2!!! But it's not giong anywhere until i get a pairing...SO VOTE!!!! Post it as a review. Remember, I love comments and reviews so Please, REVIEW!!!!!

Thanks and love you,

Sunny Kat

a.k.a. Danni