I'm shelling out so many Naruto fics lately.

Warnings: Very VERY slight ItaSasu for your reading pleasure

Timeline: Just before the Uchiha fight

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Untouchable

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Untouchable. That was how Itachi always seemed to be in Sasuke's eyes.

When they were children (before that night, before they ceased to be brothers. Seemingly.) Itachi was untouchable in the sense that Sasuke could not reach him. Sasuke would always be three steps behind, and try as he might to ghost the tips of his fingers over the back of his brother's shirt, to taste that brilliance Itachi bathed in without arrogance, he could not.

'Brother, your back is still so far away,' he'd think sadly to himself.

Four years later Itachi was still untouchable in the sense that, Sasuke, even with four years of hate-driven ambition, could not lay a finger on him. Itachi stands still in the hallway. Sasuke charges forward with Chidori, and he does not move an inch. Yet he waves him off as one would with a fly. Sasuke was furious at his unwavering calm, at how Itachi easily blocked his attacks and returned them tenfold. Enough to change his hate to self-loathing.

'Nothing has changed. What have I been doing all this time?' the tone of his thoughts is angry and disappointed.

Another three years pass. This time, Sasuke is confident. He has Orochimaru's guidance, forbidden techniques that even the Akatsuki knew nothing of. He got rid of distractions. Because he came to realize that to defeat Itachi, he'd have to sacrifice everything he had.

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"Did you get a little taller?"

Itachi's voice was not mocking (it never really was, Sasuke dully noted). Honest curiosity laced his voice. But Sasuke ignored it, and with little effort, managed to convince himself that it dripped with evil intent.

Nonetheless, he was forced to notice that they were almost the same height.

His eyes, Sharingan ablazed, flickered up and down his brother's cloaked form. Same sinister attire, same cold eyes, same infuriating composure. Itachi had hardly changed since their last encounter. The other regarded him without malice, without any detectable emotion. Sasuke couldn't help but remember the times when those same eyes looked at him with fondness.

This time, he timed his attack carefully.

Itachi's eyes darted to the right. Sasuke was pleased by how his eyes widened, even just slightly.

He wasted no time and drove the sword-like current of his manipulated Chidori into his brother's body just as Itachi tried to leap away. It went through Itachi's middle with no resistance.

Suspended in the air, Itachi looked down at him. Blood was dripping down the corner of his mouth. Sasuke almost smirked, Itachi was not so high and mighty now.

"So much hate you filled me. See how much stronger I've become because of it?"

Itachi remained silent, though his gaze did not waver from Sasuke's.

With inner-sadistic glee, Sasuke flexed his fingers outward, and watched the blood spill generously when several electric blades pierced through Itachi's body. He took care not to hit the heart.

When Itachi fell he was still fully conscious, Sasuke felt great pleasure at the fact that Itachi could not break his fall. He was not able to twist his body in that graceful and fluid way of his because the Chidori had made him numb, robbed him of movement, and will soon rob him of his life as well.

He stood over his brother's prone form, delighting in the way Itachi looked up at him with blood-stained skin. He did not look so perfect, so untouchable this way. For the first time since before the massacre, Sasuke saw that he was vulnerable.

But Sasuke found it strange that he saw this more in Itachi's slightly furrowed brow and examining eyes than his wounded form.

And then Itachi spoke, "You have gotten...much stronger..." it sounded like he was saying this to himself as much as Sasuke.

All semblances of happiness vanished when Sasuke watched his brother transform into a flock of crows. The birds flew around him, and realizing that Itachi had out-smarted him, it took all of his control not to obliterate each one of them with a full-bodied Chidori.

He felt a familiar presence behind him. It was too close for comfort. Itachi—'No, his shadow clone,' Sasuke corrected himself with great resentment.

He tensed when he sensed Itachi move. He gripped a kunai under his cloak, fully prepared to spring into action at a moment's notice and started molding the chakra he needed to make a quick burst of Chidori.

He felt hair, not his own but nevertheless similar, brush his cheek. He was at the verge of spinning around and releasing the now fully-formed Chidori around his right arm when Itachi said, "Maybe...you are strong enough."

The side of their heads were touching, Sasuke could feel a hand gently placed on his right shoulder, while Itachi spoke softly at his left. Both brothers went still.

"You are only delaying the inevitable, Itachi," he said in a low tone. "I'll find you, and when I do—"

"I know," Itachi cut through softly. Sasuke found himself quieting down. There were a few seconds of pure silence before he spoke again, "Is it time...Sasuke? Do you think you are ready to end this...?"

Sasuke risked a glance at his brother. He turned his head slightly, ignoring the feeling of Itachi's cheek brushing against his. "I managed a taste of what it would feel like to see you broken and defeated. I look forward to the time when it would be your real self lying helpless at my feet."

Itachi was not looking at him, his eyes stared straight ahead. When he felt Sasuke's movement however, his lids lowered and he slowly closed his eyes.

"We will see..." he said, before turning his head towards his brother as well. Sasuke did not know if it was intentional or not, but their lips touched for no more than a second. His eyes grew wide on its own accord, Itachi's were still shut. Sasuke only managed a short glimpse of the Sharingan peeking through his brother's lashes before Itachi vanished in a mass of jet-black feathers. The weight of Itachi's hand on his shoulder disappeared and so did the feeling of his lips on his.

"If you judge yourself to be prepared, come to me then, at the Uchiha hideout. We will end this there..."

The crows dissolved into thin air, though curiously leaving feathers in its wake. Sasuke watched them flutter down.

'A shadow clone. A damned clone...' Sasuke thought.

Just when he thought he had brought Itachi down from his pedestal, that he'd caught up, and not only brushed a hand against his brother's shirt, but grabbed and pulled until Itachi was forced to stop and acknowledge his superiority. It had been a faux scene.

Sasuke was enraged.

Itachi was still untouchable, immaculate.

And the kiss…wasn't even real.

--

After absorbing the clone's memories, Itachi brought a hand silently to touch his lips. His eyes were closed.

He spent a moment of silence, and seconds later, the corner of his mouth turned up in a weary yet satisfied smile.

'I am waiting, Sasuke...Come find me, just once more. And this time...'

He will succeed. His death, and that kiss—

'It will be your reality.'

END