Unwilling Dependence
Itachi pulled himself up along the wall, struggling to draw breath with several fractured ribs. His back was turned to his younger brother. Sasuke watched him suffer with a grin of triumph. Both brothers were covered in their won blood, barely standing. The fight had been going on, and on, with fatigue having worn them down to almost nothing.
Itachi's body shuddered violently without his consent, forcing him to lean on the blood-stained wall of the darkened stone hall. Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw his chance. He knew it would his last chance; if he had any hope of killing his brother, it must be done now.
Despite his broken state, he rapidly wove his hands in and out of hand seals. Hiding his arm behind his back, he gathered chakra in his palm. He had reframed from going to the second stage of the curse mark, not wanting to be dependent on it, but the chakra required of the technique forced him. Itachi turned slowly at the sound of ripping cloth, as Sasuke's wings unfurled.
A smirk graced Sasuke's lips as a look of shock plastered itself on Itachi's face. The sound of a thousand chirping birds filled the confined space, and light fell onto the blood soaked walls as Sasuke flew forward; spun lighting in his extended hand. This was the true meaning of chidori.
The light was snuffed out as he plunged his arm up to the elbow, in Itachi's chest. Falls of blood poured over them, only the slickness of it over their skin revealing its presence.
"How does it feel to see your blood?" Sasuke hissed in his ear.
A weak smile played on the corners of Itachi's lips. "My blood… your blood… Isn't it all the same?" He asked. "When I go, how much of yourself do you lose?"
Sasuke's eyes widened in horror. "I'm not like you.. I've grown, changed. This time around…" Sasuke murmured with venom, "You're the weak one…"
Itachi coughed violently as his body began to give out, spraying blood over them both.
"DIE!" Sasuke screamed, ripping his arm from his brother's chest.
With nothing to support his dying body, Itachi collapsed to his knees and fell face forward to the cold stone floor. "Goodbye Sasuke.." he whispered, calling him by his name for the first time in years.
"Goodbye Itachi…" Sasuke almost laughed. It was over, he had won.
He stood for what felt like an eternity, waiting for the joy, or relief he expected to wash over him. It didn't come. It was a while longer that he stood in still silence before giving up. Then the harsh reality of things fell upon him. Only one question echoed in his mind though…What happens now? He waited for answer to come to him. None did.
The emptiness that he killed to fill, remained, a thirst refusing to be quenched. The darkness he felt in his heart was only blacker. Vaguely he wondered if the thing beating in his chest could be called a heart anymore. Do I have a heart? Was the next disturbing question. Do I have anything? No matter what he told him self, the answer remained the same.
Friends… He had none. When he left Konoha, he had denounced his friendships, and after two and half year's time, there was nothing to go back to. He felt certain of this. And Hebi, they were not friends. They were his tools, inevitably waiting for a chance to betray him.
Family, he cringed at the word. After these moments, he was the last member of a once magnificent dynasty known as Uchiha.. The lone member of this legacy had now lost his purpose.
Itachi had always given him a reason to continue on. But now he was gone, along with a reason for living. He had no family… No friends… No reason to live.
The black hole of hatred in his chest turned to despair. Suddenly, an overwhelming sense of vertigo overtook him. The world was black, and he slowly pushed his eyes open. Sasuke found himself lying in pool of blood beside his brother.
"My blood…Your blood… Isn't it all the same?"
Sasuke shuddered as he recalled Itachi's dying words. As much as he might loathe it, it seemed he was right.
I'm just like him… The thought invaded his mind as his eyes rested on the outline of the shell that had been his brother. The same narrow eyes, same solemn glare… As he lay there, he realized that one day he would possess the same lean, muscular build. Everyday, he would see the man he had killed in the mirror. Was there any true difference between them? They were one in the sickest way.
Sasuke heaved his weakened body to a kneeling position.
Only by fighting one another had they coexisted. It now seemed that was true reason Sasuke had been left alive.
Two magnets, constantly drawing closer to each other, but when forced side by side the invisible draw reversed itself as they fought. Each needing the other, but unable to be near them. Two pieces of a whole that couldn't exist. It was a damned fate.
A sudden burning sensation filled him; beginning at the edges of the hole he fancied had once held a heart, it moved inwards, filling him, but leaving him empty at the same time. He had destroyed half of himself; it was something he could never regain. Something resembling a soul screamed out inside him, though he was silent. Half gone, half dead…
His hand was steady as he reached a decision, as he reached for the lone kunai still in the holster on his brother's leg. This pain was ten fold what he had felt when he had lost his family; he knew he could not withstand it. Whether he had known, wanted it, or not, he had depended on Itachi.
Mind set, he raised the kunai. It glinted, as if laughing at his despair. Seconds lasted eternities, and then with a twisted finality, Sasuke thrust the pristine weapon into his chest.
Astoundingly, the pain was a relief. It was something he could see; it told him there was way out. His blood was everywhere it seemed, he fancied that it splashed as he fell forward on the kunai. The kunai plunged deeper into his rib cage, but he felt no pain. Death was a comfort as he lay, losing consciousness in the trickling rivers of crimson.
He watched with a sick fixation as his blood mixed with his elder brother's. He expected to see two shades of red blend, but his freshly spilt blood was the same shade as Itachi's. It was impossible to discern what was his and what was his brother's. It is the same…
Sasuke was ready melt away and let it end, but a startled gasp escaped him as Itachi's eyes opened abruptly. A malicious smirk spread over his face. "Foolish little brother…" the phrase echoed through the years.
Sasuke wanted to scream, but his strength was fast leaving him. Instead he could only stutter as he made a horrid realization. "Y-you.. You planned t-this!"
Itachi's eyes narrowed with an animalistic joy as his smile widened. "Your blood was on my hands before I picked up my sword that night…" he sighed with satisfaction. "I have single handedly destroyed the entire Uchiha clan, including myself… I have full-filled my purpose." Itachi let his last breath escape, savoring his accomplishment.
"W-why Nii-san?" was the answering echo of time. As Sasuke choked on his own blood, he knew it was too late. Itachi would never speak again, and in minutes, neither would he.
A lifetime spent in Itachi's shadow was coming to an end. Every attempt at escape had cornered him more. A look of horror fixed itself on Sasuke's face; in his dying moment, the impossible task he had borne for made itself clear.
oOoOo
Hebi and Akatsuki never gave a second thought to the disappearance of the Uchiha clan's remnants. It was not a loss. It was not a concern.
oOoOo
Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi moved stealthily through the stone halls of the underground base below the Uchiha compound. The search for two suddenly missing exiled-nin had brought them here. The smell of rotten blood was thick in the air, but they pressed onward, farther into the maze-like tunnels. Their footsteps echoed, but they did not silence them. Tension was still thick in the air from the event that had taken place here, but the smell of decay told them it had long since passed. Words were powerless to break the overwhelming stillness in the air.
The tension was at its thickest as they came upon a corner. The edges of a red lake spilled into the hallway from the next. It was as though the walls had been stained scarlet by the searching, unsteady hands of a small child attempting to finger paint. The smell was near unbearable, and they fought the urge to vomit.
Mastering herself, Sakura gathered chakra in her hand, letting its bluish green glow spill onto the claret walls. The light groped in the velvet darkness feebly before fingering the edge of something that repelled it.
Sakura stepped forward tentatively, with Naruto and Kakashi flanking her sides, all three eyeing the walls with dread. As they drew closer, the delicate veil of light revealed two silhouettes crumpled on the ground. They stopped cold as they realized what they had found. It was the blood-bathed reunion of Team Seven and the Uchiha clan.
Without the sound of their footsteps, death became a presence circling in the prevailing darkness. But it was unimportant in comparison to what they felt as they looked upon the gore covered scene.
Many things could have been said, but they remained silent at first. The silence hung over them like fog, and it seemed disrespectful to break it with words. The moments they stood were an equivalent to eternities, until Sakura finally spoke.
"I wonder what happened," it was barely more than a whisper, but it was impossible not to hear. Naruto and Kakashi stood in vigil, wondering the same thing. None of them ever looked at Sasuke's face before they left to report their findings to the fifth Hokage.
How was that? I know it's a little hard to read silently. To do it justice you need to hear it. Sakura sounds like an idoit at the end, but she unwittingly poses a meaningful question. As for Itachi's motives in destroying the whole Uchiha clan.. Well, It's Ita-kun, what can I say? I think I used the same comparison several times over.. Oh well.. This was really fun to write. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it. Hey, you can tell me in a review! So why not click the pretty purple button, eh? C'mon, you know you wanna! Thanx for reading, and HOPEFULLY reviewing!