Towards the Sun

Prolouge

Prologue

Sasuke was excited. Like, really, really excited. He didn't know, though, whether his racing heart was the result of his current emotional state or the obvious fact that he was running. Maybe a mixture of both.

Truth be told, the seven-year-old Uchiha boy had completely lost track of time earlier that day, to the point that it was already nightfall when he finally reached the residential compound. To say that he was late was definitely an understatement. Moreover, he had deliberately immersed himself in his afternoon training in order to - although momentarily - forget a specific event of the day.

The memory suddenly came back full force to his mind. He had tried out - out of curiosity, of course - one of the things which his elder brother Itachi did with his lover. Sasuke had unintentionally walked up on the two as they were engaged in a sort of mouth-to-mouth session in the back garden of their house. This had left him quite perplexed. And curious. Very, very curious indeed.

Hence, being the innocent child that he was, he had pecked a girl from his class. Of course, he had made it look utterly accidental, not to mention that they had fortunately been the last two in the classroom after school dismissal. Although he hadn't foreseen that the girl would then faint: luckily, he had managed to catch her before she fell.

Sasuke was sure that he would never forget that moment in his entire life.

Sasuke struggled to push the memory away, a slight blush apparent on his pale features, as he entered the Uchiha compound, all the while trying to come up with a justification for his extreme lateness. Lying was definitely out of the question; Sasuke had been raised to be an honest, sincere, I-shall-always-tell-the-truth-to-mommy-and-daddy type of child. Plus the bloodline limit of the Uchiha clan, the Sharingan, allowed its user to detect whether one was telling the truth or not. He had yet to acquire the Sharingan himself, though.

Speaking of the Uchiha clan, something was odd. Why was it so quiet? And how come all the houses were plunged in complete darkness? A strange smell suddenly reached Sasuke. He had encountered it before... during one of his shuriken-throwing training, when he had accidentally cut himself and the wound had been quite deep.

Blood.

A shiver went down Sasuke's spine; panic was now creeping into his mind, leaving a distinct chill in its wake. Where was everyone?

Sasuke broke once again into a run. It quickly turned into a mad sprint. High above in the night sky, the moon, full and silvery, glared down upon the young boy, lighting his way home. The moonlight bestowed an unearthly glow to Sasuke's black eyes and equally black hair, accentuating his sharp gaze and highlighting the spiky nature of his fine hair. He resembled a frightened kitten.

"Father! Mother!" he thought frantically. "Please, let them be safe!"

Upon entering his house, he discovered what would later be known all throughout the village of Konoha, and the rest of the world, as the Uchiha Clan Massacre.