Hey there once again! And Happy Halloween!

Well I should be doing my ITS assignment but this story popped into my head and wouldn't leave me alone. It actually got to he point where I couldn't concentrate on my assignment because I couldn't stop playing parts out in my head lol.

My 2nd attempt at 1st person. I like how it turned out a bit better then To Die For Them Would Be An Honour. But the end seems a bit rushed.

Warnings: umm…none really...Oh wait, spoilers for episode 32 of Naruto Shippuden (this fic mentions Sai) and slight spoiler warnings for chapter 345 of the manga. UN-BETA'D! A slight SasuSaku feel towards the end.

Disclaimer: I tried my hardest to get Sai from Kishi tonight…but alas our powerful lord and master Masashi Kishimoto erased my arms and legs with is giant eraser and replaced them with the words 'Sai Is Lord Kishi's!' …. Damn him!

Key:

"talking"

thoughts

Konohagakure - the village hidden in the leaves.

Sensing a strong chakra source, I duck down into the bushes and mask my chakra even more so then it already is. If I'm spotted now, I'll be to tired to battle the one I seek…I'm so close to my goal, I can't afford to fight anyone except him.

Somewhere in the back of my mind an ominous feeling is stirring, there's almost something familiar about the approaching chakra, but at the same time its strange and unknown. There's something I can't quite put my finger on, something's not right tonight, but as to what I have no clue.

I strain my ears but everything in the old, rotting forest is deathly still except for the low moaning sounds of dead trees in the wind. There are no insects and no birds; no other sounds except the wind that whistles tauntingly around me, and the sound of long dead trees that creak and moan and sound eerily like the dying screams of tortured souls. It takes all my will-power not to shiver as I silently activate my Sharingan.

Suddenly I hear the creak of twigs as someone steps on them. It's dark tonight – neither stars nor moon dear to show their ever glowing presents in a cursed place such as this. I can't see the enemy, nor his shadow, but I can hear his breathing, steady yet forced – it's as if he's preparing to face his worst fear. I smirk to myself; no one has seen my full strength yet, so to fear me would be no mistake.

My eyes dart from side to side, waiting for the enemy to step into my line of vision. I dare not move my head in fear of alerting the nearby man to my whereabouts. My right hand tightens around the handle of my katana. For a moment I'm sure I can hear his heart beating wildly, but I quickly realise it's my own. Can he hear it to? I'm still not sure why exactly my hearts pounding like it is; I've been in many a situation similar to this, and each time I have remained completely calm, every part of my body under my control. But now I can't control my heartbeats. Nor my breathing it seems as I release a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding. Once again I am forced to acknowledge the ominous feeling at the back of my mind. Without so much as a warning, my brain clicks and all the puzzle pieces are placed together in front of me. My blood red eyes open wide with shock and realisation. I know that chakra! How could I possible not notice it straight away?!

"I know you're there, Uchiha Sasuke. Come on out." Came the emotionless voice of my enemy as he stepped into my line of vision. Wait, emotionless? That's not right, since when has he ever been emotionless?

Quickly regaining my composer, I stand and step out into the clearing, a small, confident smirk playing on my lips. If only I felt that confident inside…something just wasn't right! I strain my eyes to try and get a good look at the person who stands opposite me. He's grown taller since the last time I saw him, just a little over a year ago by now, but he still isn't as tall as me, I notice. He must be no older then 17, but his stony, emotionless face looks older, sadder. His eyes were sunken, his skin unnaturally pale and waxy which only made to illuminate the six thin scars on his face – three on each cheek. His usual messy mop of golden blond hair is now just a tangled, dirty mess, almost as if he hadn't combed it in months. His once bright and cheery blue eyes were now cold, empty, just as his voice was. He looked skinnier too…to skinny. I could just make out out the form of protruding rib bones through his black mesh shirt, which he wore under a long, black coat with a high stick neck. His coat was unbuttoned down far enough for my to just see his navel and had an eerily familiar pattern on it. Something red…almost like an out of shape and bumpy circle. No…it couldn't be, could it?

I squinted at the red design slightly in the darkness, as if to double check what I already knew.

My heart clenched. Red clouds! … Akatsuki!

I can feel tears of shock, remorse and horror spring to my eyes, but I force them back – now's not the time to show emotion.

"Naruto…What happened? W-why are you…" My soft, disbelieving voice trails off and the sentence is left for the wind to pick up and carry off. The grip on my katana loosens a little and the swords blade tips a little more towards the ground. So much for not showing emotion.

Naruto still hasn't moved; feet ever so slightly apart, head raised slightly up so as to look me in the eyes, shoulders broad, arms held rigidly at his side with hands curled into tight fists. He looks so unlike the Naruto I left behind at the Valley of the End all those years ago, and then again at Orochimaru's underground hideout just over a year ago. He's too tense, too serious to be Naruto…and yet who else could have such a unique chakra presence, or those distinctive whisker scars.

My eyes desperately search his as I battle to find some small hint of cheeky cheerfulness, or a small glance of that childish innocents only Naruto was capable of. The wind whisks around us, tugging at our clothes and hair, but it suddenly dies down with one last gust. No, it hadn't just died down, I was certain of that. The wind seemed to parted right in the middle of us, a gust of chilling wind blew against my face and chest while at the same time a gust of the same chilling wind blew back into the pale face of Naruto, causing his cloak and ripple against his far to skinny form.

My mind was whirling. The wind had just parted of its own accord and had blow in two completely opposite directions at once. One side blowing my way, the other towards Naruto. I waited a few seconds for the wind to return but it didn't; nothing stirred in the rotting, dead forest around me.

The wind had broken completely and now it refused to reform – just like the bond Naruto and I once shared…

"Naruto…"

"Leave, Sasuke. Turn around and leave right now." Naruto's voice seemed almost fake and far off. Maybe I'm trapped in some horrible nightmare? "If you continue any further Itachi will not spare you your life."

Any thoughts of dreaming evaporated at the mention of my brothers' name. My eyes narrowed and my shoulders broadened in defiance of the name that had cursed my life since my birth. Itachi…

I snorted loudly and placed my free hand on my hip. "It's him I'm here to see, dobe. Let me pass, this fight has nothing to do with you." I hoped my voice sounded as indifferent and as threatening as I hoped it did. I can't help but feel that there something still wrong. I felt I had been here before, had the same conversation, the same sense of unease, the same sense of an up coming disaster.

Exactly like Déjà vu.

Naruto shook his head sadly, and broke eye contact for the first time, as he stared down sadly at hard dirt ground a few feet in front of him.

"Besides," I smirked, my voice casual and arrogant, "this is all some cheap trick to try and scare me off. The Naruto I knew would never sink as low as to join my brother and his pathetic foolish friends. He was strong, prideful."

Naruto choose to ignore my question and instead shook his head again. "He'll kill you just like he killed Sakura-chan." His voice was soft and sad, the previously emotionless tone now gone. My narrowed eyes widened again, Sakura was dead? No…!

I swallowed hard, turning my attention back to my ex-team-mate in front of me as he began to speak again. "They promised if I joined them just for a little while, while they extracted the rest of the tailed beasts, then Sakura-chans life would be spared. Then, eventually, my turn would come. A life for a life, mine for hers." I could hear the shake in Naruto's voice, he was trying to retain the tears and sobs I knew must be trying to force their way out.

Suddenly Naruto's head snapped up and his gaze once again met mine. Only this time, tears were indeed rolling down his face before dripping from his chin to the hard dirt at his feet.

"They lied, Sasuke! They killed her, they killed Sakura-chan!" Naruto's voice sounded almost inhuman as he screamed, his eyes squeezed shut tightly. His legs bent a little and his hands grabbed for chest, clutching the mesh material tightly. His scream reminded me of the spine-chilling howl of the wind before it had suddenly stopped just a few minutes before. This time no amount of will power could stop the shivering flinch that sparked through my body.

Naruto stayed how he was for a few moments; his eyes still screwed shut, his hands still grasping the mesh shirt, his breath coming in shaky, uneven gasps. Finally he stood straight, hands back at his sides. His breathing seemed to have calmed, although it was still and little shaky, and he had stopped crying – although I could still the tear tracks down his unnaturally pale face, even in such dim light.

The blond took a few, slightly shaky, steps backwards. His deep blue eyes intensely trained on my own. A sad smile plays across his lips.

"They killed her, Sasuke…and now it's our turn." Something's wrong - this time I know something's wrong – but I can't seem to tear my eyes away from Naruto's. There's so much sadness, regret and guilt in them…there's no trace of the innocents they once held, of that mischievous glint I used hate seeing. The Naruto I once knew is gone. Behind him the air is shimmering, changing. But I don't pay it any attention, Naruto has is my focus for now.

"I told you to run, Sasuke." The blond said quietly, his head slightly cocked to one side. Dimly I'm aware that nine cloaked figures have appeared behind Naruto as the blond continues to talk, "But our pride always was our downfall, my friend... my rival…my brother…"

No soon had the words left Naruto's mouth then a cloaked figured from behind the blond plunged a huge scaled sword right through the boy's heart.

Naruto's face contorted into a hideous mask of pain as, for the second time tonight, he let lose a spine-chilling, inhuman scream of pain. The sound hung in my ears, ringing over and over again, even as the owner of the sword – a man I recognised as the shark man, Hoshigaki Kisame, my brothers partner in the Akatsuki – ripped the sword out of Narutos' body, letting the blonds limp form fall to the ground, blood pooling quickly around my friends corps.

Slowly I regained my senses and went to lunge for the blue-skinned man, not caring for my own wellbeing for once, but just as I came within a meter of the murderer and the others around him, everything around them began to shimmer and swirl. An old, rotting fort full of dead trees slowly morphs into a dark and musty cave, and the nine Akatsuki and Naruto's dead body dissolve to reveal just one man. The one man I've been seeking for over half my life: my brother, Uchiha Itachi.

My breath is coming in slow, uneven gasps as I stare into his cold, red eyes, where his Mangekyo Sharingan is slowly dissolving back the normal Sharingan. His face is cold and hard, in fact he looks almost bored, as if I'm an unworthy opponent. Slowly I break eye contact and stare at my hands – it's then I realise that I'm on my knees, my hands planted on the cold rocky surface of the floor between my legs. My whole bodies shaking and I don't know how long my body will last before I collapse.

I close my eyes, trying to remember how I got from the creepy old forest to this dank cave. Slowly it returns to me.

I had been tracking my brother for close to six months when Naruto had finally caught up with me. Orochimaru had been long dead - I had killed him myself the night he planed to take over my body – and I had since formed my own team, Team Snake. After major confrontation and a few bloody fights, I had finally agreed to help Naruto and the rest of Team Kakashi take out the Akatsuki, who planned to extract the nine-tailed demon from inside Naruto, which, of course, would have killed Naruto instantly.

Somehow, the Akatsuki had tracked our group and had attacked, in order to try and gain Naruto. The fight had been long and bloody, unfortunately the Akatsuki had proved stronger and after killing Sai, Juugo, and Karin, they had escaped with an unconscious Naruto.

As soon as the remaining members of Team Kakashi and Team Snake had regained enough energy to stand without falling or stumbling, we had chased full speed after our stolen teammate. Unfortunately, Sakura hadn't lasted long and had collapsed after half a days chase. As much as I had wanted to save Naruto, I couldn't deny her wish for me to wait and let her come. She had wanted to save the blond numskull as much as I had. We camped over night, tending to our wounds as much as possible and had set off at dawn the next day.

We had another set back though, the Akatsuki had gotten too far ahead and it had taken another full day for Kakashi's summoned dogs to track the right sent – it seemed the Akatsuki had set up many false leads in order to trick us. By the time we had reached the cave where Naruto's demon would be extracted two and a half days had past since the blond boy had been taken from us.

Nobody said it, but we all knew we were to late…and we were right. But still we fought the remaining members of the Akatsuki, more so in Naruto's honour then anything else, and somewhere along my fight with my brother, we had locked gazes. That was when my Hell began. Itachi used his Mangekyo Sharingan against me and I fell prisoner in his cursed world.

I had been forced to relive my families murder once again – four consecutive times in a row, to be precised - before my brother had forced me to watch as the same scene played over and over. Me, hiding in the bush, the chosen victim of my brother taughts telling me to come out, and after a little small chat that always included the way in which the other person had been tricked into the Akasuki, the nine members of my brothers alliance would appear behind them before brutally murdering them.

Kakashi… Sakura … Iruka…Naruto…they had all been killed in my brothers world…

I now looked around now at the real world around me. A hundred meters to my left, Naruto's body lay crumpled on the ground, his face was the same contorted mask as the one when Kisame had plunged the sword through his heart…Again I head that agonizing scream ripple through my mind.

I have no clue where Suigetsu – the last of my Team Snake – is, nor where Kakashi is, but I can here the ringing clash of metal on metal somewhere behind me.

To my right is a slowly dying Sakura curled up on the floor. Her breaths are quick and uneven, and she's covered in so much blood that there barley any patches of her skin in sight.

"S-Sa…Sasu.." she reaches her arm out to me as she tries to say my name. I reach out for her to, my arm shaking violently. Our fingers brush in mid air before hers drops to the blood-soaked ground with a slushy 'plop'. Her last breath a sigh against her lips as her green eyes flutter closed for the last time.

I know tears are running down my face now, but I don't care. I've lost everyone now: my family, my best friend and rival, Sakura…everyone…

I wonder what sort of life I could have had if I had stayed stayed in Konohagakure?

I couldn't care less that my life's about to end. I'm following the only true family I've ever had into the afterlife.

My arm is still reaching out to Sakura and my eyes never leave her blood-stained face as my brother deals the final blow that ends my sorry excuse for a life.

GAHHH!!! I KILLED NARUTO, SAI, AND SASUKE IN ONE FIC!!!! What's wrong with me?!?!? –hides face in shame—

It was originally meant to be just an angsty drabble where Naruto was tricked into the joining that Akatsuki in order to save Sakura from death and Sasuke was meant to run away like a little scaredy cat! But it turned into this lol. Either way I like it…plus its not yaoi…shock horror lol.

Anyway, hope u liked it .

Once schools over for the year (4 more weeks!!) I'm gonna try and start a multi chap fic .

If you've read my other stuff, you know the drill. Reviews are loved, and criticism is welcome, as are flames, but crit and flames are better when written nicely and not yelled lol. The burn a little less this way lol.