'Is this it?'
His knees buckled as he watched the figure calmly stalk towards him. The tremors of fear encasing his body causing his eyes to misinterpret his stammer for a predatory sway.
'Is this the end?'
He struggled to breathe, his hands unconsciously clutching at the wall behind him, as his attempted to step back, but to no avail.
'It's not right'
The figure smirked, glazed eyes seeming to shimmer with undisguised mirth as he stretched his hands before him.
'It's not fair'
He struggled not to blink as his fingers searched blindly for his face, a true shinobi would never blanch in the face of death.
'Where's my revenge?'
Against his will, his eyes closed, his mind readying himself for the oncoming pain as his body pulsated wit adrenaline.
……
Poke
……
'Onii- '
Eyes flew open in shock as the figure's fingers came in contact with his forehead.
Eyes widened imperceptibly as his arm as though dead- weight- fell back to his side and a small smile graced his lips.
'-san?'
Gravity took hold of the man before him as his body now wrenched of strength fell forward. He heard the faint thud of the man's skull against the wall behind him, before he fell to the floor, his last breath a chuckle.
'Onii-san…'
Saskue barely felt the coolness of tears against the rough contours of his cheeks, and he couldn't imagine why in the hell he was crying.
He was alive, and his brother was dead.
It was fate.
It was what he sought for.
It was how it was meant to be.
So why… why was he so unsatisfied.
"Bastard…" His fear now forgotten, and his strength waning, Saskue fell to his knees beside his brother.
Even this, even his rightful revenge had been taken from him by his brother.
He would never forgive him.
With all his heart, he would hold this grudge.
Yet what killed him more than that, more than the fact that he had not won by his own strength, but by dumb luck that Itachi's body could no longer take the strain of Susano.
Was that he wouldn't hate him… could never hate him.
"Onii-san you bastard…" It was a whisper, and barely contained the vehemence with which he had stated his ambition, his plans for this day.
His vision darkened before him an he allowed his body to fall with an audible thud to the floor. His team would come for him soon, and then it will all be over.
He vaguely wondered if Naruto and Sakura would ever forgive him for his one track mind that had led him here, and the echoing notion that this hadn't been worth the loss resounded in his head as his mind drifted into unconsciousness.
He didn't register that his body had curled into a ball against the motionless form of his older brother. Seeking out a warmth, he would never again find.