Love hurts, Sasuke knows, and has known for quite some time now. He first realizes it the day he confesses his love to his brother, and knows right when the man simply turns away that love is just something Itachi will and can never understand or feel.
He realizes it again each and every time Itachi pushes him away and denies him, tearing open the wound in his heart all over again. Love hurts, and it's plain to Sasuke that it always will, and he'll never get used to it.
There are times when it's the best feeling in the world and he remembers what happiness feels like, but it never lasts too long, as in his desperation to keep Itachi close, to prove he's good enough, it only ends up hurting them both. He'll never be perfect, he'll always make mistakes.
He knows he's gotten stronger, but in his eyes it will never be enough to kill Itachi (he doesn't even want to, not anymore), and in the rare instances they spar, he gives it his all. When first he feels his leg connect a solid hit, he feels a wave of pride wash over him, but it's gone in an instant as he realizes it was to his brother's head, and it's like slow motion when his brain registers the sickening crack.
Love hurts, and Sasuke knows this now more than ever as he cradles the limp body in his arms and finally lets himself cry (why didn't you block, I know you could have, WHY?!). The tears keep falling until there's nothing left and still he screams and sobs, for every time it hurt so bad before but he wouldn't let himself break.
Itachi had let him hit, he knows it, and he wonders if the fact hut more or less than the fact that he'd killed him without meaning to, without trying to (snapped his neck from the force and he hadn't blocked because he wanted to die, otherwise it wouldn't have happened), and it's nothing like he once imagined it to be.
He cries until he's exhausted and still holds the body close, thinking that maybe, just maybe, he'll join his brother soon, because it hurts so much now.
Love hurts, but it's all Sasuke has left now, and he'll never trade his pain for the world, since that would mean letting go of Itachi, and he's simply not ready for that just yet.
Don't make Sasuke cry any more than he has been. Leave a review. Do it for poor, angst-ridden Sasuke. ..