.
.
Sasuke's face is split; his eyes are wild and his mouth is stretched into a manic grin, and all around him, Konoha's elite lie in a scattered heap on the ground.
If shit's hit the fan, Kakashi is pretty sure things can't get any worse.
xXx
.
They say desperate times call for desperate measures, and Kakashi's seen the jutsu once before: when Orochimaru had resurrected the old Hokages fighting the Third.
A drop of sweat forms at Kakashi's brow as he realizes there's only one person who can take on Sasuke. His hands form the seals as his sharingan spins, remembering.
Uchiha Itachi, Kakashi thinks. Let's hope you can save your baby brother now.
xXx
.
Across from him, Sasuke laughs. "Just what do you think you're doing, Kakashi-sensei?" The honorific spits from his mouth like acid. "You really think you can stop--"
Sasuke's eyes widen. The earth groans. Slowly the coffin pushes its way from the ground and heaves upwards, dirt sloughing off it like a second skin.
"What the hell?" Sasuke says. The door to the coffin swings open as his half-dead brother steps onto the ground.
"Itachi," Sasuke says.
Itachi slowly raises his eyes.
xXx
.
"What is this?" Sasuke asks. Around them, black flames lick the sky and dead bodies lie on the ground. Naruto and Sakura are still unconscious, and Sasuke seems to be in a state of shock; he backs into the wall, gripping his sword in his hand. Itachi turns to Kakashi and frowns.
"You summoned me so that I can defeat my brother," Itachi says. "However. You should know that I am blind."
Kakashi wraps the paper talisman around the hilt of his kunai. "You trained to overcome blindness, correct?"
"Yes," Itachi says. Kakashi takes the kunai and slips it into Itachi's back.
"Kisama," Sasuke says. His eyes flash red. "If you think you can control my brother--"
"He is not controlling me, Sasuke," Itachi says. He steps forward, quietly. "I have vowed to stop you."
xXx
.
Sasuke smiles cruelly. "You are not my brother," Sasuke says. "And you do not have the eyes."
His sharingan spins, but Itachi flashes forward, impossibly fast.
"You forget, little brother. Genjutsu cannot work if your opponent cannot see."
xXx
.
Kakashi steps back, the battle raging in front of him.
Kakashi knows Itachi must have extensively trained; knowing the Mangekyou could rob him of his sight, it made sense that Itachi would hone his other skills, so much so that he wouldn't need his sight. Kakashi watches, astounded, as Itachi counters even the fiercest jutsu. Black flames crash but Itachi dodges; Sasuke clutches at his eyes.
"Why?" Itachi says. He dodges Sasuke's blow. "Sasuke, why?"
"Because I am cleansing the Uchiha name!" Sasuke says. leaps, his chidori flahes. "Anything! I'll do anything! I'll destroy this village and everything it has!"
The sword slices into Sasuke's gut. Sasuke's eyes widen. Blood bubbles up at the corner of his mouth.
"Sasuke," Itachi says. "Forgive me."
The sword arcs; Sasuke falls to the ground.
xXx
.
Kakashi doesn't understand.
Sasuke had been manic; wild - not this quiet grief; not the resigned look in Sasuke's eyes.
And then Kakashi realizes, maybe Sasuke had wanted to die.
Kakashi glances at Itachi, who seems to realize this as well.
"You always have to copy me," Itachi says. Sasuke smiles, wanly.
"I couldn't," Sasuke says. "I wanted to. I wanted to hurt them. Hurt everyone. But--" Sasuke coughs. "My chakra is gone, and...and I can't see. And so I thought--"
"Foolish," Itachi says. He clutches Sasuke's shoulders. "You're always so foolish."
"I thought it would be Naruto," Sasuke says. "But this is better."
Sasuke laughs, softly. "And look. Now the Uchiha has regained its name."
Kakashi feels his chest tighten. Like his brother before him, Sasuke is smiling when he dies.
Rain falls softly on Sasuke's face, and Kakashi watches, helpless, as Itachi reaches one trembling hand forward and closes Sasuke's eyes.
"Sasuke," Itachi says, and his eyes cloud over.
Dully Itachi hitches Sasuke's body close. His face wrenches. Then he starts to cry.
xXx
.
There is nothing Kakashi can do. He stands awkwardly, just a few paces away, as Itachi's hands clench into the fabric of Sasuke's shirt.
Kakashi can only imagine what Itachi must be feeling. Even without the sharingan, Kakashi knows Itachi is remembering their time when Sasuke was still a child. He had sacrificed everything to protect his little brother, and now, because of him, his brother lies dead in Itachi's arms.
Kakashi turns away; his grief is too much for Kakashi to bear.
"Kakashi."
Kakashi glances back. Itachi is looking up at him, and somehow he looks just so small.
"How long does this jutsu last?" Itachi asks.
Kakashi squats next to him; gently he touches the kunai in Itachi's back.
"It lasts until either you are defeated in battle, or if you are victorious, until the sun rises the next day," Kakashi says. Itachi closes his eyes.
"I see," Itachi says. His eyes open again. They are red and swollen. "Then there is no way to bring my brother back."
"No," Kakashi says. Itachi nods, then presses a hand to Sasuke's face.
xXx
.
There are no Uchiha left.
Konoha is safe now, because Itachi has finally completed his mission. The irony is not lost on Kakashi. He watches Itachi cradle his brother's body, a pang of guilt squeezing Kakashi's chest.
The sun begins to rise. Kakashi turns his head upwards, the orange sunlight bathing his face. Behind him, Itachi begins to fade.
"Do you believe in an afterlife, Kakashi?" Itachi's voice is soft; it seems as though it is being swept up by the wind.
"Yes," Kakashi says. Itachi smiles.
"I am glad," Itachi says.
A crow flies north above them, and then Itachi is gone.
A/N: Totally stole this idea from the discussion thread over at the chuunin livejournal comm [.?thread=67954980#t67954980] where people were positing that Sasuke's crazy!face was all for show. I really like that idea, because it's a great callback to Itachi when he was pretending to be all crazy and whatnot. I'm actually hoping the manga goes in that direction :)