I Will Not Bow
Chapter 2
By: Jade Ridout
"Sasuke…"
Shaking his head in disbelief, the younger Uchiha simply stared with shock and confusion towards his older brother. This must be some kind of dream, some sort of illusion? Sasuke's thoughts were a mess. His brother… he had died, right in front of Sasuke. After transferring his ocular abilities to Sasuke, of course. Sasuke had fallen unconscious soon after Itachi, but there had been no doubt in his mind that he had succeeded in avenging his late clan.
"Sasuke… this is not an illusion…"
Dark eyes swirled into a blood red colour, revealing the Uchiha clan's prized Sharingan. Nope, not an illusion. The Sharingan picked up thinks such as that, as many knew. Swallowing hard, Sasuke glanced down at Itachi's body, only to see his brother staring back up at him, through half-closed eyes. This was the only time Sasuke had ever since Itachi… so vulnerable. Sasuke found himself frozen still, as if he was stuck deciding whether or not this was a nightmare, or a dream. Up until the point of killing his brother, Sasuke had felt it was the right thing to do. However, after the truth had been revealed to him by Madara-Sasuke felt somewhat bad for taking his brother's life, when he wasn't truly the criminal everyone pinned him for. He had been following orders, loyal as always to the Leaf Village. Sasuke had decided not too long ago on what Team Taka, formerly Team Hebi, would be aiming for in their future. The Destruction of Konoha. He planned to ignite his flame of revenge once again, and make the elders of the Leaf pay for the choice they made Itachi make. That is what Sasuke believed would sate his thirst for revenge.
But now… Itachi was alive. Somewhat.
"Sasuke. What are you doing out here?"
Craning his neck to look back, Sasuke saw a cloaked figure with an orange swirling mask. Madara. Itachi had sealed part of the Amaterasu in Sasuke's newfound Mangekyou, to protect him from this evil man. It had worked for a while, but not much more than that.
"Hm… it seems Itachi-san is not dead…"
"Surely we can still eat him…"
Sasuke's head whipped back to look forwards, only to see Zetsu looking down at Itachi's unmoving body. His teeth clenched, and finally he felt like he could speak, and move again. With a threatening tone, and a somewhat saddened one, Sasuke spoke harshly towards the plant-encased male.
"No. Leave him be!"
Sasuke could hear a chuckle of laughter coming from Madara behind him, but didn't look. He kept his Sharingan peeled for any movement from Zetsu that would mean his brother being devoured.
"Zetsu, take Itachi to the healing room, then."
Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief at this notion from Madara, and watched as Zetsu's black half grumbled a bit with discontent. He vanished soon enough along with Itachi. Sasuke turned to see Madara now, stern look upon his face.
"It seems Itachi is not quite dead. However, without that Mangekyou he's hardly useful. He's quite the dead weight. I leave his fate with you, Sasuke-kun~"
Sasuke watched as Madara then disappeared into his own Sharingan. Once the immortal was gone, Sasuke could breath easier. His older brother was alive. For so long, he had believed Itachi was as bad as they came, since the enthralling shinobi had slaughtered the Uchiha clan, with Madara's assistance-by order of the Leaf village elders. Itachi had a choice to either allow them to deal with it, or he would kill the clan off. The Uchihas had apparently become too rowdy and the elders felt they were threatening the village. Sasuke thought that was a load of bullshit.
Gritting his teeth, Sasuke balled his hands into fists and stared up into the night sky. One thing was for certain. Konoha still had a lot to pay for.
A Week Later.
Sasuke was outdoors, training. Nearby Suigetsu, Karin, and Jugo were also practicing. Well, they were supposed to anyways. Jugo was doing as was instructed, while Karin was yelling about something Suigetsu had done. Sasuke wasn't minding too much, however, because if she wasn't yelling at the white haired shinobi, she was flirting with Sasuke. He didn't see the point in her advances. She reminded him so much of Sakura, with even the hair. However, Karin was seemingly a lot stronger. Both were healers, too. Karin argued with Suigetsu, who also resembled Naruto. He was loud, and somewhat obnoxious, and rather brutish when in a fight. Also careless, like the dobe. Jugo was the last member of Team Taka, and he was quiet and peaceful, with rational thinking skills and a protective aura. When angered however, he turned into pure evil and killed without remorse or regard towards who he is killing. If anything, Sasuke pinned Jugo as Kakashi, his old sensei.
"Hn." Sasuke grunted to himself, in realization that his team was so much like his old squad from Konoha. He turned his back to them, and began to course his training once more. He did so a few times, not growing as tired as he used to, before hearing a familiar voice.
"Still training hard, Sasuke?"
Sasuke turned around quickly, and saw Itachi sitting nearby on a rock. He looked tired, but was mostly healed. That was probably Karin's work, if anything. Sasuke stared at his older brother for what seemed like eternity, before nodding and speaking in response.
"Of course." He said, surprised at how casual he sounded. This was his first time speaking with his brother, in a non-hostile environment for quite some time. Years, in fact. He had forgotten how natural it came.
"Madara tells me you're planning to invade the Leaf," Itachi said with an interested tone, although apprehensive, "…is that really your plan after my death? Ruin your home?"
Sasuke's stare turned into somewhat of a sneer.
"That place is no longer my home, you should know that."
"Ah, but you have friends there, correct? The Kyuubi and the rest of your squad…"
Sasuke looked off to the side at that comment, "I severed all my bonds there. They were only holding me back from getting stronger."
"If that was true, then they wouldn't still be pursuing you," Itachi reprimanded, "…nonetheless, power isn't everything, Sasuke. What about these team mates, are they not holding you back?"
It was like something had just shattered in Sasuke's mind, a limit that Itachi had already crossed. Looking back at him with a sinister glare along with his Sharingan eyes, Sasuke nearly hissed at Itachi.
"You're supposed to be dead. You can't just come over here and start acting like my brother! You made me believe you killed our clan for power!"
Itachi merely smirked at the response he had achieved from his younger brother. Even the rest of Team Taka had stopped arguing to watch one of the legendary Uchiha brother fights, and possibly see an angered Sasuke. That was a sight worth seeing-Sasuke being told off by his older brother.
"Sasuke, you must understand I did what was asked of me as a member of the Leaf Village Elders. Not even the ANBU were aware of the task I was given. Rather than dying at your hand, I am now alive," Itachi said. It was probably the longest thing he had ever said in one go, "…and with my rebirth, I offer you my sincerest apologies."
Karin clamped a hand over her mouth. Suigetsu paused, wide-eyed. Jugo watched with anticipation. Did this mean, if Sasuke accepted, they would be accompanied by the legendary Itachi Uchiha? He did give away his ocular powers to Sasuke, but he could still fight. Not to mention it would give the group a newfound sense of dry humour, with Itachi being Sasuke's older brother. They'd get to see multiple fights, more so where Itachi advises Sasuke against something, but the younger did so anyways and Itachi ended up being right. Ah, those were the days in the background members of Team Takas' minds.
"Hn." Sasuke grunted in response, to which no one was ever sure was 'yes' or 'no'. However, Itachi seemed to understand completely, which was mildly disturbing. It was like some super secret Uchiha language.
Itachi chuckled a bit, before turning to head back inside the hideout. He spoke once more, before trailing off.
"Thank you, Sasuke."
AN:/ Bwahaha. I wish I could speak Uchiha language D;
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