Disclaimer: Don't own naruto. I do own the right to want reviews though. Which I do.
When you turn your back on the barely breathing form of your former comrade, it isn't regret that you feel.
When you step into the darkness (again) there is only a cool relief as the light, the burning sun just underneath your skin, that no matter how hard you scratched or ripped or bled wouldn't come out, is extinguished. Standing in the pouring rain, you're glad you're shivering and so cold you can't even feel the pain in your shoulder anymore.
It means that you are safe, that you are still only an avenger, not a comrade/friend/protector.
That is when you see him, rain sliding down red clouds as his cloak sways gently in the wind. Standing before you, between you and certain power is Uchiha Itachi.
"Our organization does not wish for Orochimaru to obtain the Sharingan"
You can hear the sound of something deep inside yourself breaking; it's a sound so painful you find you can no longer stand, so as you fall to your knees with your hands crushed against your ears its all you can do not to scream, not in front of Itachi.
Maybe it's because you're drained and tired and went from hot (Chidori burning and warm liquid sliding over your wrist) to cold. Or you could blame the curse seal (you can still feel the snakes presence in your mind). Maybe it was the fact that, here Itachi was, and you had just passed up your only chance to kill him before you died.
Left it back in a valley where fists and broken hearts had clashed violently, where history seemed to repeat itself.
But for the boy who had forged a fortress from the cracks of a paper fan, and the blood of his parents creeping towards him, time had never passed in that place. So as the walls cracked and crumbled around him, and a boy who should have died on That Day saw a world that was far from the memories he called home, his scream reverberated throughout the forest.
Itachi watched in interest as his little brother collapsed onto the ground.
Thinking back to Zetsu's words, he wondered if his little brother could have unlocked the Mankekyou. Itachi thinks Sasuke would be clutching at his eyes instead of his ears though, so he dismisses the thought.
When his brother lifts up his head and there's no deadly Mankekyou, Itachi isn't really surprised. Then he notices what's not there, and Itachi is shocked, scared…all of his carefully calculated plans could fall apart in an instant. There's...No...Hate.
"Niisan…"
When you open your eyes, it's the first word you can whisper upon gazing at the man in front of you. He looks so much like Itachi, yet so different you really can't be sure. Then the need for it to be your aniki is inside you, so strong it muffles the beat of your heart. It's when you see the similarities, that you say the name again with more strength, hope.
"Niisan."
"Where are we, why-" you're looking at the Sharingan now, and the coldness of his expression freezes the words inside your throat. Itachi would never look at you like that, and a familiar fear is prickling up the back of your spine that tells of unspoken wars and Uchiha's lying in the dirt, breathless and beaten.
Raising a shaking hand at the person in front of you, because you have to know… "Are you Itachi?" Silence, but the hand in front of you is too big, and you can feel it now, more chakra than you ever possessed. There is shock, disbelief.
How could you not have noticed? Not have realized your body wasn't your own?
"Come, Sasuke."
Everything stops then, because Itachi is speaking to you in that soft voice that reminds you of sprained ankles and inauguration ceremonies. The words from the past and present intertwine and dance around each other, sliding into place. There's no doubt now, if your not the same, why would Itachi be?
So sasuke smiles and follows, easily falling into place behind his aniki.
If everything is wrong, as long as he has his niisan, Sasuke knows (hopes) it will be alright, that Itachi can fix it.
ehh...next chapter should be up soon, I think.