Well, here it is – the story I started writing one and a half year ago as Bday present for my dear friend Yumi. I still haven't finished the story, but decided I could no longer wait to upload at least chapter one.

Disclaimer - I do not own any characters that I used in this fic. There belong to their rightfull owners.

It was just an average day in the fire country... The birds were singing and everything was happy and fluffy, aside from a certain battleground, where an epic battle had commenced a not so long time ago.

Where once was a forest, now only rocks, crashed trees and water remained. Not long ago, there was a forest crossed by a river. Not long ago, the only sound heard was coming from the birds.

Now it was filled with a deafening silence. Stretching, for as long as the destruction went on. Miles into the distant, it could be seen. It was the only hint of what had happened. The only thing they had left behind, with their need for the destruction of each other.

Two brothers, the same hate and lust having shown in their eyes. Here it was, they choose to encounter each other. Here it was, they stood, just staring. Here it was they attacked without a warning. And here it was they both vanished.

It had been quick and powerful. It had happened so soon. For the untrained eye, it would have seem like an explosion. For a ninja, it would have been horror. A terrible thing to witness. Something to be never forgotten. Yet, no witnesses were there. Nothing but the landscape, telling a story.

Only a few minutes ago...

"Chidori!"

"Amaterasu..."

One yell, one spoken. One broken silence. Two deaths. A flashing light, sounds of many birds. Real birds took their flights in the sky. One little second, before a huge force destroyed everything in reach. Once two brothers, once two betrayers. Nothing was left, after that one average day in the fire country...

-o-O-o-

He opened his eyes, only to see he was somewhere strange. A place he had never seen before. 'Where am I?' He thought. He was standing in the middle of a street, people walking and children playing. He looked around, his black eyes observing.

Not so far from him he saw a familiar figure. Dark and calm. That was how he stood there. 'How is it that he is unharmed, after such an attack?' The boy thought, his eyes widening in slight surprise. The figure had turned, now staring back at the boy. Black meeting black.

Slowly but steadily the figure walked up to him, the boy. They stood in silence in front of the other. "What happened?" The guy asked, breaking the silence with his calm yet icy voice. "I have no idea, Aniki." The boy spat out the last word. "I thought maybe you would know, seeing you're the one with the access to worlds."

He was referring to the world of Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu. And he knew the other knew this as well. "You ought to know the abilities, foolish ototo." The younger one narrowed his eyes. He turned, walking away. Silently muttering curses towards his aniki. Oh ...How much he despised him.

He walked. And walked... And walked. Where the hell was he? Why was he here in the first place? He felt the other following him but couldn't care less. As long as they were here, they wouldn't attack each other. It was like a silent agreement. He looked around. He was lost. He knew this but wasn't about to admit it out loud. He was still followed. He knew the other was amused by his wandering. And he knew that the other wasn't lost. Just great. He glanced over his shoulder but couldn't see his aniki. 'Funny, very funny.' He thought sarcastically. He looked forward again, resuming his wandering.

He blinked. What was that? In front of him was a white place. Completely different from the streets he had been wandering. He looked behind him, only to see the poor looking street. Poor compared to the white place in front of him. Not wanting to stay in the dirt, he started to walk towards the white part of the town. He knew his brother was still following him. He knew his brother thought the same. People stopped with what they were doing. Looking at the two. Many whispers could be heard. "Sasuke..."

The boy stopped, looking back to who called him. A wall came crashing down in front of him. It was huge and the ground had been cracked by the weight. The ground still shook and the force had made Sasuke fall down. He stared at the wall with wide eyes.

He didn't move for a moment, a little startled from the sudden appearance of the wall. It was huge. There's was nothing else to be said about it. It was just.. huge. Standing up, things started to fall in place in Sasuke's mind. "Did you just... save me?" Sasuke asked the other.

His brother slowly walked up to Sasuke, looking at the wall. "No... I just wanted to say that there might have been a reason why the other people we saw didn't approach that white city..." He answered. His voice cold yet dangerous.

He slowly approached the wall, ignoring the glare Sasuke was shooting at him. He was about thirty feet from the wall, when another -bang- was heard. A lot of dust flew up and the ground was shaking yet again. Unlike Sasuke, who had fallen .. again, he still stood.

A giant, with in one hand an axe, was now standing about twenty-five feet away from him. The giant was waving the axe in the air, looking dangerous. He stopped when seeing there was no response. "It's been a long time since someone has tried to come through the Gate of Pure Spirits without a pass. Long time since I've seen a visitor. I'll take good care of you, little boy." He said to Sasuke's brother, the one standing in front of him.

Sasuke grinned. He knew his brother hated nicknames like that. Yet his brother didn't respond, plainly looking at the grinning giant. The giant swung his axe up in the air, slamming it down with great force. "Gehehe, saa, come at me any way you like, little boy!" Again that nickname. 'I guess there's no way to enter, other than to defeat him.' Sasuke thought. Unconsciously sharing the same thought with his brother. Again the giant brought his axe up, swinging it down from the left to the right, scraping the ground. A smaller wall of rocks was created, surrounding the two.

"You have bad manners, to enter a city without permission... you must be from the living." The giant said, observing the two. The giant turned back to face the guy in front of him. "What is your name?" A little pause, before he answered. "Uchiha...Itachi."

"Well then, let's finish this." The giant brought his axe down. Again the ground shook and pieces of rock flew everywhere. When the dust cleared, the giant gasped. He gasped and stared. He straightened a little, laughing.

"Whahaha... You're good! It's been decades since someone has dodged my axe." He now stood up right again. "Alright.. In that case for the first time in a long time I'll fight without holding back. You're the third to ever dodge it, but no one has ever dodged my second attack!" The giant brought his axe up again, preparing to slam it down once more with all the force he could muster. He slammed it down, making the dust fly up again and make even bigger pieces of rocks fly around. Again a surprise when the dust had cleared.

"Yosh, you're still standing." And indeed, Itachi was still standing. About a foot away from the huge axe. Looking like nothing had happened. The giant was grinning again. "I got plenty more of that! Eat this; TEN JIDAN-HIT FESTIVAL !!" He yelled, starting his attack. It went fast and nothing could be seen. There was too much dust and Sasuke himself was too busy trying to dodge the enormous pieces of rock."How about time for the finish?" A small pause, before slamming the axe down one last time.

"Wh...wha...what?" He was staring down, looking at Itach.. who was still looking the same as before the fight. Looking like he hadn't even moved since the fight had started.

"How are...how are you...still standing?" Itachi had his eyes closed. "Is that it?" He asked, calm and collected. He opened his eyes, his now crimson eyes. "Then it's my turn." He coldly stared at the giant in front of him.

"Not yet! I'm not done yet!" It was almost pleading. "My techniques ain't run out yet!" He moved his hand underneath his clothing, taking a second axe out of it. 'A second axe?' Sasuke thought. The giant heaved his axes above his head, getting red all over. Itachi was still looking and observing. The metal armour on the giant's arm cracked and broke off because of the muscles strength.

"Take this! My ultimate must-kill attack! TEN-THOUSAND-YEAR JIDAN-HIT-FESTIVAL!" Another time he slammed down. The power coming off of it was tremendous. Sasuke couldn't hold himself standing and had to kneel down. The small wall that was created in the beginning was now completely gone. It was silent. The giant was looking down. His face only showed one emotion. So clear it was. Shock. Itachi had again dodged every attack. "Wh...what are you?" The giant was shaking, tired from the attacks. Itachi gave no answer, nor acknowledgement. "Tsukuyomi..." He said.

-o-O-o-

Inside the world of Tsukuyomi, the giant was held up by a cross. The same kind of cross Itachi had used against Kakashi once already, only bigger. A lot bigger. A small sweat drop formed at the back of Itachi's head. The giant self was looking in shock at the world around him.

"This is my world. Also called Tsukuyomi. I control space and time. No matter how long you will be here, only one second will pass in the real world." He calmly walked around the giant, who was still holding his axes tightly. Itachi made a few explosive Kage Bunshin. "You can say goodbye to your axes." On a silent commando, all the clones jumped forward to explode on the axes.

At first, the giant just watched how his precious axes fell down in pieces. Itachi was, might we say surprised..?.. at the giant's reaction. Big tears appeared in his eyes and it was not long, for he was crying out loud. Apparently, the giant was very attached to his axes. Itachi wasn't the one to pity others and started to make use of his ability. His ability to control time and space, Tsukuyomi. His world. He made sure to enjoy the screams of horror.

-o-O-o-

For Sasuke only one second passed. He saw the giant freeze and break down crying, falling to his knees. He blinked. 'What the hell happened?' The giant blinked, rubbing away the tears that kept streaming.

"I...I'm back?" He looked down at his hands, expecting to find his broken axes. "M...My axes !!" He cried out, hugging his axes like they were a teddy-bear. Fresh tears rolled down his cheeks, from happiness.

"Let me in or I'm going to destroy them for real." Itachi said, narrowing his eyes. The giant didn't need more, for he hugged his axes closer and laid them down close by. He slowly, and with enormous strength, pushed the gate up.

Once the gate was up, the giant spoke up. "A-Alright! Y-you and your lil friend can enter!" Itachi ignored the lil friend part, but Sasuke wasn't going to let it go unnoticed. He narrowed his eyes, glaring at the giant. "He and I are NOT friends...Don't ever make that mistake again..." He hissed. The giant smirked. "Oh, than I guess you need to fight me before gaining entrance." He replied cockingly. But it didn't face Sasuke.

"Want me to melt those axes into a pile of metal...?" He threatened. The giant's eyes widened, staring at Sasuke with fear."P-please enter, pl...please let my axes live!" He was literally begging Sasuke. Sasuke ignored him, following his brother. Once Itachi and Sasuke had entered, the giant let the gate go and cuddled his axes close. Cradling them like a new born baby.

Here you go, chapter one of my first long fanfic. I really hope you enjoyed it. Please take at least one moment to let me know your opinion!

Neko-chan