Disclaimer: I own a house! *pause* Okay, no I don't…
"SASUKE!"
The Uchiha heir's head turned slightly at the call; Naruto couldn't see his face still. "What are you doing here, Naruto? Go home."
"Not by myself!" the younger boy shouted over the falling water. "Not when me and everyone else came this far to bring you back!" Sasuke turned on a heel, and Naruto almost recoiled at the gold iris and black sclera in his left eye, surrounded by the flames of the Curse Mark. "Wha…"
"You wouldn't understand, Naruto. I need all the power I can get. I need to stop him, before he can do more damage to innocents."
"This is about Itachi?!" Naruto blinked. "You don't have to face him alone! Me an'—"
"Naruto." The blond stopped talking. "You can't. Not with this." The flames seemed to recede back to his neck somewhat as his expression softened. "He meant for me to kill him, and me alone. He didn't expect for Mom to survive, or for her to adopt you. I won't let him get to either of you again, for whatever reason he's after you."
The whiskered Uchiha scowled. "But we have to stand by and watch you throw your life away?! How do you even know you'd make it to the battle?! Orochimaru—"
"—wants my body for his own use; I know," Sasuke interrupted. "And he's going to train me just for that. I know…" He smirked. "But he underestimates the Sharingan's power. I know he failed in taking Itachi's body, and he'll fail trying to take mine." The smirk fell off of his lips. "And when I have Itachi's head, I'll come back. To you, Mom, Kakashi, Tenten, and everyone."
The blond grit his teeth, his eyes shutting in emotional pain. "But you'll be labeled a traitor…"
Sasuke turned forward, walking down Madara's head towards Rice Country and the Hidden Sound. "I know. But to stop Itachi and save my family, I'll gladly dirty my own name." He stopped; reappeared in front of Naruto with his fist in the blond's stomach, sending him to the ground; then placed a paper in front of Naruto. "Give this to Mom. I'm sorry, Naruto…" Before the Jinchuriki could do anything besides look up, Sasuke returned to Madara's stature and resumed walking.
Only to find his brother's Crimson glare as the younger male grabbed the older's collar and threw him towards Hashirama, then jumped after him with a fist aimed for his face…
Uh...yep. My excuse is I can't do multi chapter stories. I'm sorry. Don't kill me.
Knowing that, this is a(n open-ended) one shot dealing with Sasuke's defection, taking place somewhere in the Ripples of a Pebble AU. So his main reason to fight Itachi alone is different.
I'll try to do random one shots in both Pebbles and Red in Orange and Purple, and other canons. But unless I can get a real spark back for writing, the full stories are stopped. Not dead, stopped.
I'll stop making excuses now...