xXx Brother xXx

(To Itachi, about Sasuke) "Because he's like a brother to me... And I'm a better brother than you ever were!"
-Naruto, Naruto
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Sasuke

He wasn't really dead, but to me, he was.

I killed him. I killed my true brother.

I look down at my hands.

They're pale, calloused. The fingernails are mostly free of dirt or grime, but they're worn down. the cuticles are white. The fingers are long, thin. Delicate. The bones make the knuckles bulge slightly, and there are virtually no wrinkles to mar the skin. Traces of green and blue mark the veins running through them. I flex my hands, balling them into fists and opening them, curling the fingers gently, then tightening them, and tightening them--until I can feel the nails biting the flesh of the palms--and blood gently trickles down my left wrist, the pressure finally too great for the calloused skin.

The hands that killed him.

I disctinctly remember the sound--the sound identifying his death. The vertebrae popping, twisting, the flesh and sinew crunching and making that awful, awful squelching noise. I'll never forget that sound.

The sound of my first real kill.

I'd killed before, or maybe I hadn't... I wouldn't have cared much, being it that I didn't know who it was I had killed.

And then the noises of his body regenerating itself...

My best friend...the one who was so much like a brother to me...

I remember.

I think I'm going to be sick.

I remember how his eyes weren't wide open. They weren't shut. They were half-closed, some of the blue glittering through the lashes. Mouth open in a strange angle. Blonde hair... matted with his own blood.

So much blood.

It had turned the shade of noon sunshine to sunset.

It was almost the same color as the fox-flame that had surrounded him as he fought with every ounce of his strength to bring me with him. To try to take me back. It was his promise to Sakura, but I could see it in his eyes...

He wanted me back. As his best friend, comrade...

Brother.

It was ironic. How much I wanted to kill my blood brother. But, as I think...

Itachi was never my real brother. He lived his life for appearances, until he finally grew tired of that specific front and became the murderer he is now. If I killed him, I would not be killing my brother.

I've already done that, and Itachi wasn't it.

I clutch at my chest. The pain...it kills me. Naruto is dead to me. He will never look at me the same way again. I am the one who killed the Naruto that I know. He'll never trust me again.

My thoughts are interrupted by that... destestable man, the one who was part of the cause of my killing my friend. Yellow eyes and snakes infiltrated my senses.

"Sasuke... don't forget..."

And my thoughts of revenge are tripled.

I push the ache away that is blonde and cerulean and concentrate on my training and powerlust.

Naruto

Hell.

I miss him, the bastard.

He didn't mean it--my death, I mean. I think that inside, he was just a scared and desperate kid who wanted to do right by his family, reconcile himself.

It's been three years since that bloody fight between the two of us. The civil war between brothers.

Brothers. Heh. We acted like we'd hated each other. Which we did.

Sometimes.

It was sibling rivalry--even though I'd never be mistaken for his brother in a million years. We're opposites in so many ways; I'm blonde, he's ravenesque, I'm the sun, he's the moon, I'm loud and cheerful, despite all my troubles, and he's brooding and depressing. I used to joke around sometimes and call him the 'emo kid'.

I still can't believe he did that to me. He really thought I'd die. I sort of knew, in the back of my mind, that Kyuubi wouldn't be too happy about that. But I was afraid.

Sasuke was losing himself, and it was my job--still is--to bring him back, bring him back to his senses and bring him back home to the one waiting still.

He needs to know. Sasuke has to come back, because he needs to know--

He needs to know that I forgive him.

I forgive him.

He's my brother after all, and I... I love that teme, like a brother, and I would gladly give my life so he'd be happy.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Sort of a... remake, if you will, of my angsty one-shot.

Reviews make me happy!