Another oneshot written around the same time as Beer Goggles. Sasuke-centric, because I have a deep annoyance-almost hate of Naruto and Sasuke adds a poignant level of angst to the story that I love.
Title: Almost
Summary: It's always an 'almost', isn't it? 'Almost first.' 'Almost the best.' 'Almost enough'…but it never is.
When Sasuke was a child, he learned from his mother that it was alright. It was alright that he was second fiddle to his brother because she still loved him. Maybe he should've realized then that it was because she was his mother that that was okay.
He should've realized that being almost as good as his brother would never garner his father's attention. That being almost as good as Itachi really meant nothing at all. That being almost as good would make him fall prey to his own demons.
And now, bathed in his brother's blood with his throat burning from the last twenty minutes, he has realized he feels empty. There is no triumph, no bright fanfare or smile, no laughter or smugness as he stares at the body of what was the only living family he had. Instead, he feels things he is not supposed to feel. Guilt, emptiness, longing, regret…he feels all these things before feeling nothing at all.
Seeing his brother's blood slowly seep into the ground, his eyes shut in peaceful slumber despite the smudged red fingerprints on his eyelids, Sasuke can almost feel the elation and depression rise in his throat. He is happy that Itachi is dead, yet deeply sad as well because what else can you do when you kill the only family you had left?
Seeing the lightening streak the sky, feeling Itachi's blood glide silkily down his fingertips and down the smooth metal of his blade, it's almost enough for Sasuke to have his brother dead, but there is so much anger…so much rage still inside of him. He knows that if it is given the chance to fester, it will destroy him from the inside, but the object of his rage is now long gone and he wishes him still alive, if only to get the chance to spit at him and tell him tearfully how much he hates him as he chokes on his sobs. The sight of Itachi's corpse is almost enough to calm him, but he can still feel the anger roiling inside him and he walks further into the forest to vent his anger and let his screams echo into the night as he fells trees with his sword, Itachi none the wiser.