Sasuke Uchiha (Seventh Fire Shadow)



is one of the last surviving members of Konohagakure's Uchiha Clan. Since his childhood, he made it his goal to exact revenge against his older brother, Itachi, who had slaughtered their entire clan. Initially a member of Konoha's Team 7, Sasuke defected from the village to obtain power from Orochimaru, and later affiliated with the Akatsuki, becoming an international criminal in the process. He later proves instrumental in ending the Fourth Shinobi World War, before finally being redeemed by his rival yet best friend, Naruto Uzumaki. After travelling as a nomadic vagabond in order to analyse the world, Sasuke returned to the village he once sought to destroy — and continued to protect it for years to come.

Background
Sasuke is the second and youngest son of the Konoha Military Police Force captain and Uchiha clan head, Fugaku Uchiha, and his wife Mikoto and was the first of Indra Ōtsutsuki's reincarnations to be born into the era of relative peace. Mikoto named him after the father of the Third Hokage in hopes that he would grow up to be a great ninja like his name's sake. During his early childhood, Sasuke greatly admired his older brother Itachi, wanting to be more like him. Even though Itachi would often be too busy to hang out with Sasuke, the brothers would enjoy what little quality time they could together. In the anime, they even made a game collecting paw prints of cats together. Sasuke also shared a similar closeness to Shisui Uchiha. Despite his love for Itachi, Sasuke constantly lived in his older sibling's shadow, who was an acknowledged prodigy viewed by the Uchiha as a genius, and whose work would further strengthen the bonds between the village and the clan. Sasuke's father in particular took an active interest in Itachi, thereby neglecting Sasuke. Itachi, on the other hand, was rather ambivalent and full of oddly conflicting undercurrents, acknowledging Sasuke by taking interest in his progress as a ninja and spending time playing with him when even their father did not. Even in the Academy, Sasuke was still unable to escape Itachi's shadow. Despite consistently scoring at the top of every class, Sasuke failed to receive any recognition from his father beyond comparing his success to his older brother. Itachi acknowledged the rivalry Sasuke felt telling him: "We are brothers. I am the wall you must climb over, so you and I will continue to exist together."

When Sasuke was seven years old, the relationship between Itachi and his father deteriorated after Itachi was questioned by other members of the Uchiha clan regarding the apparent suicide of his best friend, Shisui. As Itachi's behaviour became increasingly bizarre, Sasuke's father began spending more time with Sasuke, and began teaching him the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, a common family technique seen as a sign of coming of age in the Uchiha clan. When Sasuke first tried to perform the technique, he only produced a small flame and after that, some smoke. His father said that Itachi was able to do it on his first try at Sasuke's age, which disappointed him. Later, with one week of training, Sasuke performed the technique in front of his father, proving himself a prodigy as well in his own right and finally receiving his father's individual recognition rather than comparison to Itachi. Sasuke's father told him that he could now proudly wear the clan's emblem on his back. Following this, Sasuke also received a stern warning not to follow in Itachi's footsteps any further, surprising him as before, he was told to be like him; and his father showing he was proud of Sasuke for the first time the same way as he used to with Itachi.

At some point in the past, Sasuke joined Itachi on a mission to catch a wild boar. Sasuke was wielding a bow and was told by Itachi not to hit any vital points. However, Sasuke missed the boar completely. Eventually they defeated the boar and Sasuke apologised for his bad aiming, Itachi responded by telling him that he needed to train more.

On one fateful night, Itachi slew every member of the Uchiha clan, sparing only Sasuke, saying that he was not even worth killing. In addition, Itachi told him, "You've always wanted to surpass me. That's why I'm going to let you live… if you wish to kill me, then hate me, despise me… and by all means flee, cling to your wretched life." Itachi also revealed to Sasuke where the secret meeting place of the Uchiha was hidden, and suggested that Sasuke go there to learn what the true history and purpose of the Sharingan was. He told him that "to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan," he "had to kill the person he was closest to", and that "when we battle, we should have the same eyes". Sasuke thought he had fainted after this, but later remembered that he had managed to stand back up, awaken his Sharingan, and pursued Itachi. Upon reaching Itachi, he used knives to knock off his forehead protector. Itachi was seen shedding a tear as he was picking up the forehead protector. He then proceeded to incapacitate Sasuke, who awoke in the hospital remembering only that which Itachi wanted him to do.

When Sasuke first met Naruto Uzumaki in the Academy, they were matched to spar against each other. Naruto was excited at the opportunity to defeat Sasuke and become popular like him, but he was easily beaten. By looking into Sasuke's eyes, Naruto realised that they were so filled with hatred that it seemed as if he wasn't even looking at Naruto. When Iruka told them to make the reconciliation seal, they both refused. Up until his graduation from the Academy, Sasuke remained a loner and never acknowledged Naruto's attempts to defeat him, considering him a hopeless dead-last and as such, someone not worth his time or energy. Despite this, when Naruto and Sasuke traded glance when they were kids, they immediately looked away in annoyance but secretly smiled shortly afterwards, suggesting Sasuke actually considered Naruto a friend somewhere deep down.