This Fan fiction was written specially for veiwing on my deviant art account, so the setup is slightly different becuase I couldn't make use of italics, bold, or underlining. I'm a little ashamed of posting this because the idea started off as a cheap rip off another fic written by my most loyal reader- zelda4ever. The idea has evolved greatly, so I truly hope that this completely different from Ryuujin. Please don't get mad at me. DX

Summary: This is an Itachi death fic. It centers on the relationship between brothers, unkind truths and choices our values force us to make. It has humor, but in essence it is NOT a happy story. In the end, I hope to touch on what can be learned through death, pain, loss, and suffering. There are no pairings.

This is rated Teen for violence, language and moral content.

Special thanks to Gavrieel on DA for prewriting support and the name 'Hakumei'. Also to zelda4ever for writing Ryuujin and being inspirational.

At Gun Point
By Aster Uchiha

A group of men in plain black pants and button up shirts stood around him. Red eyes filled with confusion and determination peered from under a veil of raven hair that swept back into a ponytail almost halfway down his back. Each of these people were presented as nothing more than shadowy silhouettes in the darkness. Tension was nigh suffocating him, and didn't dare raise his head for a good look around; the timing was wrong. It was then that the sinister circle parted, making way for something even more evil than themselves - if such a thing was possible.

The same unsettling shade of black hair concealed half of the new man's face, and his long hair fell in gentle, spiked waves down his back. Itachi straightened up, making clear that he lacked the fear they expected in him. He stared this new person down, unable to see his eyes. The man opened his eyes to reveal a brilliant crimson gaze, almost shining with its own consuming light. Itachi stared into another set of unsettling blood-colored sharingan eyes. He couldn't understand it, but for the first time, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand. However, the inexplicable terror replaced itself with anger. What right did this man have to bully him like this?

His thoughts were cut short as the shadowed man spoke in calm, clear, and surprisingly velvet voice. "Uchiha Itachi…" The syllables rolled off his tongue in a way that flipped Itachi's stomach. Who was this bastard? "Welcome… To the true purpose of Uchiha….Hakumei."

It was then that this mysterious man explained the clan's purpose to him. Every word was like the swish of a hypnotic pendulum, leading him deeper and deeper into an inescapable trance.

"You are one of us. You pay allegiance to me, and only me. The rest of the clan has no power over you. Do not forget where your loyalties lie."

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Shisui stared up at him, breathing hard and chained to the small wooden chair. Blood dripped from his chin, and he sported several long gashes after hours of torture. Still, his determination refused to die, and he wouldn't spill a word to the shady figure standing outside the circle over light hanging over him.

"You bastards! Burn in hell!" he threw his weight forward, rocking the crimson-varnished chair dangerously, and continued swearing and yelling at him. "You're a bunch of fucking blood traitors! The most painful, drawn out death this world has to offer wouldn't do you justice!"

"Is that what you think Shisui-san?" The voice was familiar, but chilling, calm and sadistic in tone. "Blood traitors who deserve to burn in hell? The same thing could be said of this pathetic clan… Maybe it is the clan who should die slowly and painfully."

His heart pounded in his chest. There was no way that was the voice he thought it was. It simply wasn't possible. His head spun, and he felt his sanity beginning to crack. "No… No…" He sounded as though he was pleading with himself. "Fugaku… He will destroy you. No matter how far you run- how well you hide! He's leading them, and it's all over for you! All of you!"

"So… the rumors are true." It was the same disturbing voice whose owner he was so desperately trying to deny. Black dress shoes and the bottom of pattern less black pants showed in the cone of wavering light. "Thank you Shisui-san…" The silhouette joined him in the mark of the spotlight. He watched in horror as the light fell over a slender, perfectly carved body, racing towards the face he so frantically wished he wouldn't see. "Now we know for sure," the isolated lumination etched out a confident, pointed chin and thin, pale lips. "My father is heading this." Uchiha Itachi stepped into the light, smiling grimly.

He fingered a gun holster on his narrow hips delicately. The smile left his face, and was replaced with dank resignation. "I really am sorry about it having to be this way, Shisui-san. I need certain abilities, and only you can afford them to me. It was only for convenience that we combined my needs with the organization's needs for information." His voice was soft and even, with an edge of pity. "Forgive me."

"What are you raving about? Itachi- You've gone insane!" Shisui screamed at him, eyes widening in fear. Itachi slid the gun from its holster in one graceful motion. "What the hell are you thinking?! Do you have any idea-"

An explosive bang rang out in the small concrete room. Blood spattered over the wall behind Shisui in intricate designs. His head fell forward and hung limply, the soiled chains holding his empty body up.

"I truly am sorry, but it had to be done." His voice cracked. The pain was already blurring his vision as Itachi slipped the gun back in its place. He rushed from the room, not bothering to clean up after himself, and as the agonizing stabbing sensation in his head increased in intensity, his steps became quicker. By the time he collapsed on his bed away from home, the throbbing pain took him and he doubled over, grinding his teeth and holding his screams inside his throat. His blood flowed over his cheeks, and as the world careened around him. He was sure the earth would fall away at any second, leaving him to tumble through an unending darkness for all eternity.

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Light fell over him, caressing his chest with warmth from the window. Itachi rolled onto his back, pulling in a shaky breath. The agony was over, but his body was still heavy and awkward feeling. Closing his eyes, and focusing his chakra, Itachi reopened his eyes to the mangekyo sharingan for the first time.

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The hall windows cast bars of light in his path, but he slid through them without causing disturbances in their pattern. He knew what he was going to find, but it still turned his stomach to hear his father's voice behind the closed door. Itachi pressed his back against the smooth wood, listening and trying to find a loop hole he could bring to 'Him,' rather than this senseless slaughter. But it was then he realized it wasn't senseless, it was necessary.

"Haven't you heard them whispering? Itachi… Our son… He is with them!" He recognized his mother's gentle, but commanding voice. "Do you really think you can still do this?"

"I have to." He heard the click of a gun being cocked. His father no doubt knew he was waiting behind the door. "He has betrayed us, his parents – and the clan. Itachi has gone to a place beyond our reach, and if we don't strike, they will come at us from the shadows. This is the end, but of what I'm not sure."

The door creaked with finality and expectation as Itachi pushed it open. His father's eyes narrowed, but he didn't turn around. Itachi's gun was aimed and ready. "I know what it is the end of."

Two shots tore the air, reverberating through the Uchiha compound. It was mere seconds before the rest of the clan began appearing. And one by one, they fell. One explosive sound for each leaden thump of a dead body.

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Sasuke shifted his school bag on his shoulder. The day had passed slowly, and the annoying pink-haired girl had stared at him all through trig. His mood had been in the gutter, but it was slowly brightening as he thought of coming home to relax. He smiled slightly as he approached the entrance the Uchiha complex. Stepping with lithe grace, he walked down the streets, at first taking no note of the absence of activity. But slowly, it dawned on him that there should have been more people out on the avenues at this time; it was barely sunset.

He quickened his steps, sensing that something was wrong. Abruptly, he turned a corner to find the street filled with his kinsmen, face-down in their own blood. Sasuke's first instinct was to hunt down whatever, or whoever, had done this, but as a shot rang out into the stillness, he slammed himself against a shop's wall and pulled his gun.

Their father had been teaching him to shoot a handgun recently. He had never asked why, it had been a customary skill for all Uchiha. By the age of eighteen, the sharingan had been awakened, and their firearms skills had been honed with an extreme intensity, making them the best on Konoha's police force. It wasn't destiny or fate - simply the way of things.

But now the knowledge was making itself useful. Sasuke was only sixteen, but he usually felt he could handle himself. Until now. Whatever had done…this- it was far more powerful and lethal than he wanted to imagine. His stomach flipped, and he could hear gradual, leisurely footfalls coming his way. It was killing him, but he stayed in hiding, waiting for the prime moment to attack his still unknown target.

The footsteps stopped just short of where he needed them. The murderous creature responsible for this bloodshed had sensed him. He knew he should run, there was no way he could stand up to something like this - it bordered a force a nature. But he ignored his screaming conscience and numbed himself, preparing for the intense battle staring him down.

Casting off any further thought, he sucked in a tense breath, and jumped into the crimson boulevard. It was worse than anything he could have imagined. His knees trembled as though he had punched in the stomach and he couldn't breathe. Already, his hands were shaking, and his legs were giving way. But it didn't matter as shock and terror rooted themselves within him. Itachi stared down on his trembling brother, gun held lazily toward his chest.

"Y-you…" Sasuke hadn't been touched, but it felt as though he'd been beaten, leaving him gasping for air. "You did... this!" His eyes flitted over the bodies scattered on the ground like spilled toys.

Itachi laughed softly and smirk curled his lips. "Brilliant deduction, sharp as usual." His voice was dripping with sarcasm and snaked shivers down Sasuke's spine.

"You bastard!" He yelled, tearing the pistol's cross airs from the ground and pointing them at Itachi in shaking hands. His index finger slid around the trigger, but he seemed to lack the strength to pull it.

He laughed down on him again. "You're going to shoot me?" It sounded as though he was telling a joke.

Itachi started to speak again, but Sasuke cut him off, "Shut the hell up, you sick fuck! I'm gonna fill you full of lead in about five seconds!"

"Why five seconds?" Itachi taunted him.

It was all Sasuke needed. Squeezing the trigger until his knuckles turned white, he opened fire. The lax look about his brother disappeared, and he whipped his gun around expertly, sending his own bullets to meet Sasuke's. His eyes widened in terror as Itachi's shots knocked his own out of the air. The gun nearly slipped from his suddenly sweaty grip, but he clung to it in desperation. Swinging his arms wildly, he tried to fire another shot, but Itachi was faster. Another explosive sound tore the air, and then pain ripped through Sasuke's left hand. The gun skittered away and he crumpled to his knees, clutching his hand.

Itachi stepped toward him deliberately as blood pooled in Sasuke's lap. His younger sibling stared at him with hatred and agony as he kicked the gun away.

"You… You bastard…" he was panting now, and Itachi continued to advance.

He raised the muzzle of the gun from the ground. "Can you still move your fingers?" The words slipped out gently, promising a death violently opposite his calm tone of voice.

"Stay… Stay away..!" Sasuke tried to crawl away backwards, but his lengthy footfalls were coming faster than he could escape. He was choking on liquid in his throat, and he realized tears were streaming down his face. "Leave me alone…!" His voice was barely more than a petrified gasp.

More gentle laughter wafted to him. "How pathetic… You were just threatening me, and now you're practically begging."

The words meant nothing to him as blood loss made his senses hazy. "Stay... away…!" He was choking on his own tears, and becoming more and more blinded by them. "Don't!" Sasuke wasn't sure what he was asking him not to do, but the words fell from his lips in fear and without thought.

"Hm," the sound was cold, and he could almost hear Itachi make his decision. "I had hoped," There was a pause as Itachi surveyed his wounded brother, "I had hoped you were stronger. I am disappointed in you."

The words seemed to have no effect, except for making Sasuke cower in dread. "Stay a-awaay…" His speech was becoming slurred has he lost more blood from his hand. There wasn't much time before he passed out.

"It's because of this disappointment," Itachi continued, "That I'm letting you live." He turned his back on him, striding into the dusk.

Sasuke curled in on himself. His hand hurt like all hell, and the pain had paved the way for fear to control him, but slowly another emotion rose behind it. "I …."

Itachi watched him, writhing in restrained agony over his shoulder.

His voice took on an edge it hadn't had before, and his features contorted in disgust. "I…. hate you." The words were clearer than anything else he had said the entire time.

"Good." Itachi smirked over his shoulder, fading into the shadows of twilight.

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I have several chapters in reserve because I type this when I hit a block on Redemption In Your Eyes. Updates can be expected weekly, at least until I catch up. PLEASE REVIEW, or no update on the 10th.

I've already got it for you, but I don't have to post it here. This has already taken off on DA. Just thought you might want some incentive. C: