Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Naruto: Menma Chronicles

Chapter9: Brothers

Land of Fire: Western Border

The eighteen year old Sarutobi Konohamaru, grandson of the Sandaime Hokage and the fourth Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi no Tanuki was considered by many to be a genius. By the age of twelve the young man had mastered several high-level Ninjutsu and despite being a Genin at the time, he was arguably far stronger than others his age. Now at age eighteen he had reached the rank of Jonin and had been reassigned back to his spot on Team Kakashi. Nine years ago, his first sensei and brother figure, Uzumaki Naruto had been killed in action taking the legendary Kyuubi no Yoko with him in death. Initially he'd been both angry and scared, blaming those that were now his teammates for his Ni-san's death but he'd moved on since then and forgiven them after find out all of the details of that day.

Since the Ichibi attack eight years ago and its subsequent sealing within his body by his grandfather to protect Konoha, he'd been training constantly in order to gain better control of its power. However it was a slow process since the seal that had been used to imprison the sand demon was the Shiki Fujin, the strongest Fūinjutsu in the known world. The seal allowed some of the Ichibi's chakra to leak into his chakra core, greatly increasing his chakra reserves at an alarming rate however that was all it did.

Unlike the current Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara who used to be the Ichibi Jinchuuriki before him; his seal was actually far more powerful and restrictive to the demon within than the one Gaara used to have. Gaara's seal was almost non-existent, allowing the Ichibi—Shukaku—to exert a rather disturbing amount of torture on his Jinchuuriki. This resulted in nightmares, whispers of killing and even going as far as to take direct control of Gaara's body whenever he fell asleep. On the positive side it also granted him the ability to control sand to a degree only rivalled by Senju Tobirama's control over water. He also gained an automatic defence in the form of a sand barrier controlled by Shukaku that would constantly be thrown up whenever his Jinchuuriki—and by proxy himself—was attacked.

Konohamaru's seal on the other hand restricted Shukaku from doing any of those things; the young Sarutobi had been glad that he wouldn't have to stay awake forever and constantly have the sand demon talking in his head all the time however he did find it annoying that he wouldn't be able to control sand like Gaara was capable of. It would certainly be useful especially considering Gaara was regarded as the strongest Kazekage of them all because of his talent.

In regards to Konoha, the village he was named after, the civilians hated him and the ninja hated the Ichibi within him. He had their respect as a shinobi and as the grandson of the Sandaime Hokage he was acknowledged by the villagers however his relations with those outside of his team were strained. Only his teammates, the Godaime Hokage, Tenzo and the strange Hyuga girl, Hanabi who kept following him around when not on missions ever treated him like a normal person. Thankfully Jiraiya-sama had taken to training him, even going so far as to allow him to sign the toad summoning contract. He knew the toads were one of the three most powerful summons in existence because they could do some strange jutsu that he hadn't heard of before and it made them ridiculously strong.

He couldn't wait to learn that...

"Is it just me or is it hot out here?" Sakura asked.

"Of course it's not you," Konohamaru replied without thinking. "We're almost to the desert so of course it's going to get hotter."

Sadly the only words the pinkette caught were 'not you' and 'get hotter' so naturally she took it the wrong way. The punch came out of nowhere; smacking the teenage Sarutobi across the jaw sending him crashing into a nearby tree. Though her chakra control was perfect and her reserves were larger than they were years ago; she just couldn't duplicate the legendary physical strength of Senju Tsunade. In another life that single punch would have damn near killed Konohamaru however that was not the case here since she'd been reassigned from her previous posting on Team Kurenai.

After being placed under the command of Yuhi Kurenai at the age of thirteen, she'd been taught many a Genjutsu and had even dabbed into a bit of Medical Ninjutsu. Because of this she had quickly rose to the rank of Chunin at the age of fourteen and had remained their ever since, opting not to take the Jonin Exams until she felt that she was ready. She'd come a long way from her Genin days as a useless fan-girl...

"Idiot," Sakura gritted in annoyance. 'I swear he's almost as bad as Naruto was.'

"W-what did I say?" Konohamaru asked as he pulled himself together.

"Hn," was Sasuke's response.

"You're all a barrel of laughs," a familiar voice said in amusement from behind them.

'That's-' Kakashi thought as he turned swiftly. "Hoshigaki Kisame," it was indeed the blue-skinned swordsman. "But that means-".

"Hello Sasuke," a calm voice spoke up catching their attention.

"Itachi..." Sasuke trailed off as his older brother stepped out from behind a nearby tree.

"It wasn't easy finding you, Ichibi," Kisame commented. "But you see, my blade—Samehada—just loves powerful chakra. It was rather persistent in tracking down you very tasty scent; I'm afraid you're going to have to become food for Samehada now. Don't worry though, we won't kill you."

"Surrender the Ichibi," Itachi demanded calmly. "We only need the Jinchuuriki alive; the rest of you can disappear."

"Kakashi," Sasuke spoke over his shoulder as he kept his eyes on his older brother. "I'll handle Itachi."

"Sasuke..." Kakashi warned.

"I'm the only one who can fight him," Sasuke reasoned.

"...Alright," Kakashi nodded. "Sakura, Konohamaru, you two come with me," he ordered and then jumped up into the trees with the other two following close behind.

"Kisame, go after them," Itachi ordered. "Do not let the Ichibi escape."

"Sure," Kisame said with a grin as he took off after the fleeing Konoha-nins.

"Now Sasuke..." Itachi trailed off as he locked eyes with his brother. "Your eyes have matured enough; I will enjoy taking them for myself and awaken the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan."

"If you want my eyes," Sasuke countered. "Then come and claim them."

Their Sharingan shifted into their respective Mangekyo forms and they both whispered the word...

"Tsukuyomi."


"Konohamaru, we'll attack him together," Kakashi spoke as they jumped from tree to tree. "Sakura, hang back for now; we might need you in a minute."

"Yes, sensei," Sakura nodded in reply.

"Now!" Kakashi shouted as he landed on the branch of a tree and immediately turned around. He launched himself back at the pursuing Kisame even as Konohamaru followed; a shuriken in his hand. His jump was slightly to the side as he threw the small projectile, his hands rapidly forming seals. "Raikiri!" the gray-haired former Anbu Captain exclaimed as lightning encased his fist and he thrust it out at the Kiri nukenin.

"Not bad," Kisame commented as he blocked with Samehada. The lightning died immediately and the chakra behind it almost seemed to be pulled into the now giggling sword. "But Ninjutsu is useless against someone like me!" he laughed as he pulled back the blade, shaving some of the skin off of the Copy-nin's palm.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Konohamaru called out as the shuriken he had thrown at Kisame suddenly became twenty forcing him to pull back. "You're not getting away!" the teenage Sarutobi shouted as he formed another set of hand-seals and took a deep breath. "Katon: Haisekishō!" he exhaled a cloud of black powder from his mouth which engulfed the fleeing swordsman. The powder burst into flames a moment later in a fiery blaze even as Konohamaru formed another hand-seal.

'This kid is pretty good,' Kisame mused as the flames were absorbed by Samehada. 'But not good enough,' he laughed as he felt his sentient sword start to merge into his back.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," Konohamaru muttered and a single shadow clone appeared at his side. "Rasengan!" he exclaimed as he lunged at Kisame with a spinning chakra ball in hand. 'I need to thank Kakashi-sensei for teaching me this jutsu,' he thought as he closed in only for him to suddenly and violently be blown back by a massive blast of water. "W-what the-" Konohamaru stammered in surprise as the water washed over the area, engulfing him and his teammates.

'A Suiton jutsu on this scale is...' Kakashi trailed off in thought at the sight.

"Suiton: Dai Bakusui Shōha!"Kisame laughed as the water took the shape of a massive dome. He appeared in front them, swimming through the water and though their vision was obscured they were able to make out his new appearance.

'Is that...Kisame?' Kakashi thought in surprise. The swordsman was no longer holding his sword and had seemed to have transformed into a human-sized blue shark with fins and gills. 'His chakra has merged with that of his sword; could he have bonded directly with it?'

'He really is a monster!' Sakura thought at the sight.

"Die!" Kisame yelled through the water as he rapidly closed in on his pray.

'I have no choice,' Kakashi mused darkly and formed a hand-seal. His left eye—the Sharingan—changed and shifted into its Mangekyo form much to Kisame's surprise. "Kamui," he whispered into the water as time and space distorted in the center of the dome.

"W-what the-" Kisame stammered in surprise the water was pulled in forcing him to flee the dome. This bought enough time for Kakashi, Sakura and Konohamaru to escape also. 'That was Itachi's level of Doujutsu,'the monster shark mused as Samehada detached itself from his body and he returned to human form.

"Are you alright, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, Sakura," Kakashi replied though sweat was now pouring down his forehead. 'I can't use that jutsu all the time,' he mused calmly. 'The key to his strength seems to be his sword; if I take that out then Konohamaru should be able to finish the job.'

"You little punks," Kisame grinned as he brought Samehada to his side and charged forward.

"Kamui," Kakashi whispered as he focused on the arguably sentient sword. Space and time distorted as the sword was pulled into the artificial vortex he created at its handle.

"The fuck-" Kisame yelped in surprise as he was forced to drop his prized sword. A second later, the blade vanished along with the rupture in space-time that had formed leaving him without a weapon, greatly angering him. "You son of bitch!" he yelled as he formed a series of hand-seals.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura screamed in worry as Kakashi fell face first onto the ground. She rushed over to him and quickly checked him over. 'He's used up a lot of chakra,' she thought before throwing his arm over her shoulder and pulling him up.

"Get out of here! I'll hold him off!" Konohamaru shouted to his pink-haired teammate over his shoulder.

"But-" Sakura started.

"Go!" Konohamaru shouted again.

'Damn it,' Sakura thought before she turned around and jumped back into the trees with an unconscious Kakashi slung over her shoulder.

"Suiton: Daikōdan no Jutsu!" Kisame bellowed as a huge water shark formed behind him and then descended upon the teenage Sarutobi. Konohamaru cursed in thought as the water shark struck down on him with an echoing splash. Silence soon followed as the water level receded and Kisame watched with great satisfaction when the lifeless form of the 'Ichibi Jinchuuriki' floated face down in the water. 'The annoying little shit was weak after all; this brat cost me Samehada so I'll enjoy watching as the demon is ripped from his body.'


Not too far away Konohamaru landed on a tree branch and looked back at the battlefield. 'I hope my shadow clone fooled him,' he thought before dropping down to the ground below.

"Even I was almost unable to catch that last move of yours," spoke a familiar monotone voice from behind him.

"Shit," Konohamaru cursed as he quickly turned to see the infamous Uchiha Itachi standing not too far away. "What are you doing here? What happened to Sasuke?"

"I am merely a clone," Itachi told him before he burst into dozens of black crows.

'Genjutsu,' Konohamaru thought as he formed a hand-seal. A pulse of chakra shattered the illusion however the crows still remained much to his surprise and mounting worry. It was common knowledge that Itachi was a master of Genjutsu that was said to be unrivalled in that particular field and could cast his illusions with a single glance.

"I didn't confront you so we could fight," Itachi explained as his upper body reformed from several crows. "I came to give you something," he continued as one of his crows suddenly dived right into Konohamaru's mouth.

"W-what did you just do to me?" Konohamaru rasped out trying not to puke.

"Just something that may be needed in the near future," Itachi replied before he burst into crows again and flew away. "We will not meet again."

'What the hell was that about?' Konohamaru thought as he felt the Genjutsu finally break. 'I'll worry about it later; for now I need to catch up with the others.'


"S-Sakura..." Kakashi rasped out as he regained consciousness. "What happened?"

"You passed out after using some kind of jutsu," Sakura replied in relief as they stopped in a clearing. "You had me scared there for a moment."

"I'm fine though I will probably be bedridden for awhile after this," Kakashi reasoned. 'It seems I've been neglecting my chakra control if using Kamui twice can drain me so much,' he added in thought. "Where are Konohamaru and Sasuke?"

"H-he stayed behind," Sakura stammered out with tears falling freely down her face

"Actually I'm right here," Konohamaru answered as he stepped out from behind a tree. "But thanks for caring," he added with a wide smile.

"B-but that's not-" Sakura stuttered in response.

"I made a shadow clone and pumped it full of Shukaku's chakra. I pulled a switch and then escaped. Judging by the fact that they haven't dispelled it yet, I'd say they bought it," Konohamaru explained. 'It's probably best if I don't mention Itachi for now.'

"And Sasuke?" Kakashi inquired.

"I haven't seen him," Konohamaru replied grimly.

"I see," Kakashi nodded before standing back on his own two feet. "I'll go back and look for him. I want you two to head for Suna right now and don't stop running until you get there. There's always a chance that Kisame will discover your clone is a fake and then come after you again. The same trick won't work twice either so our best bet right now is to get you as far away from him as possible."

"We can't just leave you and Sasuke-kun," Sakura spoke up.

"I'm giving you two a direct order," Kakashi told them. "Get going, now."

"...Those who disobey orders are trash but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash," Konohamaru said after a moment of silence. "How can you expect us to follow that order knowing that we'd be leaving you to die out here?"

"Have some faith," Kakashi responded. "I've lost one student already because of my negligence and I won't lose another. You two head for Suna; Sasuke and I will catch up later."

"I'll hold you too that, Kakashi-sensei," Konohamaru nodded before turning away. "Come on Sakura," he said to the pinkette.

"B-but Sasuke-kun is still-" Sakura started.

"He'll be fine," Konohamaru reassured her. "If there's one thing I've learned since I joined this team, it's that the Uchiha-teme just refuses to die."


He'd been put under the Genjutsu—Tsukuyomi—before however, this time it was different and far more dangerous. This time he wasn't some kid who had recently awoken the Mangekyo Sharingan; this time he was able to cast the exact same Genjutsu on Itachi the moment he was attacked thus putting them on equal footing so to speak. However this also caused their Genjutsu and more importantly, their minds to link in order to create this artificial world that they had found themselves in. The sky was blood red and the world around them was pitched black giving the appearance of a horrific world. This wasn't like his first experience with this jutsu because unlike last time this world seemed to reflect both their minds instead of merely a world of Itachi's make.

The sky was bleeding...

He didn't pay attention to the bloody rain that started to pore down on him when he spotted Itachi standing not too far away; the older of the two Uchiha seemed unconcerned at the state of the world they had found themselves in and turned to face his younger brother. Both of their Mangekyo Sharingan were crying tears of blood now as a symbol of both their pain.

"Enough," Sasuke said finally as the world around them started to fracture. "I've had enough of your illusions," the world around them shattered and they found themselves back in the forest where they began. "Let's settle this once and for all."

"Very well," Itachi responded in monotone as he quickly formed a hand-seal. "Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!" a moment later he exhaled a rather large fireball at the younger Uchiha.

"Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!" Sasuke countered with the same jutsu. The two fireballs met in a blaze; one trying to overpower the other until it quickly became clear that they had reached a stalemate.

"Amaterasu," they both whispered as black flames were added to the inferno.

'You've come a long way, Sasuke,' Itachi mused in approval as the two were forced apart or risk getting caught by the unquenchable flames.

'This should be enough,' Sasuke thought upon seeing the firestorm the two Uchiha brothers had created in this personal war of theirs. "Katon: Goryuka no Jutsu!" he exclaimed as he a pair of orange fire dragons exploded from his mouth at the darkening sky.

'What is he doing?' Itachi asked in thought at his brother's actions. 'He just used up a large amount of chakra to do that but I don't understand what he wishes to accomplish.'

"This is the end," Sasuke declared as darkened clouds formed above them with lightning lancing down at the ground. "Be gone with the sound of a thunderclap...Kirin!" he called out as lightning struck down upon Itachi's position in the shape of a dragon-like beast.

'That's natural lightning,' Itachi realised as the attack descended upon him. "Susanoo," he whispered just as it hit causing a massive blast that reduced everything within a half a mile into dust.

"That's..." Sasuke trailed off as the attack died down and the clouds started to clear. Itachi stood unharmed though blood was now dripping from his mouth and he appeared to be sweating from overexertion. However what caught the younger brother's attention was the massive red ethereal god resembling a yamabushi that now encased his form wielding a sword, a shield and a jar in its three hands. "So you really do have that jutsu after all."

"This is the third jutsu granted by Mangekyo Sharingan requiring the usage of both eyes," Itachi explained. "You should feel honoured to see it in its full glory, little brother."

"Well if that's how you want to play then fine," Sasuke glared back as purple chakra exploded from his form and created a large armoured humanoid figure with three hands similar to the one Itachi had formed only instead it held a bow, an arrow and an orb. "Susanoo," Sasuke proclaimed as he loaded an arrow into the bow.

"Incredible," Itachi commented. "You also became able to use this jutsu."

"My hatred has made me strong," Sasuke spoke with a glare. "Die Itachi!" he shouted as he fired the loaded arrow.

Itachi brought his shield up, deflecting the arrow with an echoing bang and then swiped at Sasuke across from the side in a wide arc. Sasuke jumped back to evade the sword as he quickly loaded another arrow and fired, this time at the head of Itachi's guardian deity. It struck true and tore right through it, breaking its head like glass only for it to reform a moment later.

"That's not enough, little brother," Itachi spoke though it was clear that they were both tiring.

They both knew that this was a battle of attrition now with the winner being the one with the greater stamina. It was only a matter of time before one of them would run out of steam and then it would all be over. Itachi quickly renewed his attack and impaled Sasuke's spirit warrior through the chest, cutting right through its armour. The sword and shield that Itachi wielded though, were the legendary Totsuka no Tsurugi and Yata no Kagami known for being the ultimate sealing blade and unbreakable shield of the Uchiha clan. Sasuke was surprised when his Susanoo was pulled into Itachi's sake jar and forced to jump back. When he landed he quickly reformed his Susanoo as Itachi slowly made his way towards him.

'D-damn it,' Sasuke cursed as he felt his newly formed Susanoo dissipate. 'I'm out of chakra,' he realised as he strained to keep himself standing.

"This is the end...Sasuke," Itachi breathed as his own Susanoo faded away. He lifted his hand towards Sasuke's face and shakily walked towards his younger brother. "My...light...give...me...my...light..." he trailed off before finally standing in front of his brother. "Sorry...Sasuke...maybe another time..."

His body finally gave out and he fell to the side staring face up at the sky, his eyes now devoid of life. Sasuke simply stared in shock before he too succumbed to exhaustion and fell to the ground. A second later a figure resembling a Venus flytrap emerged from the ground and a man wearing an orange spiral mask with a single eyehole warped into existence nearby.

"Did you record everything?" Obito asked his partner as he gazed down at the Uchiha brothers.

"Oh yeah, we got everything alright," white Zetsu replied. "It was entertaining," black Zetsu added.

'Oh Itachi,' Obito thought as he looked down at the now deceased man. 'You underestimate me.'


He could only suppress the feeling of dread that had built up when he saw the lightning strike in the distance having already realised exactly what it was. Sasuke had developed that jutsu specifically to use again Itachi and even he had to admit it was quite impressive. The fact that Sasuke had used it meant that he wasn't holding anything back and would most likely require backup as soon as possible. This was Uchiha Itachi they were dealing with after all and despite his reputation as a mass murdering psychopath, he was still recognized as one of the greatest shinobi that Konoha ever produced.

'Please don't let me be late,' Kakashi pleaded in thought as he jumped out of the trees and onto the battlefield.

There was no one there...

'Damn it,' Kakashi thought as he clenched his fists. 'I failed again.'

Author's Notes:

There's not really much to say here other than this is my take on the Sasuke-Itachi fight to the death and I hoped you liked it.

Translation

Samehada = Shark Skin
Shiki Fujin = Dead Demon Consuming Seal
Kuchiyose no Jutsu = Summoning Technique
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu = Shadow Clone Technique
Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu = Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique
Rasengan = Spiralling Sphere
Katon: Haisekishō = Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning
Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu = Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique
Katon: Goryuka no Jutsu = Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique
Raikiri = Lightning Blade
Kamui = Might of the Gods
Tsukuyomi = Moon Reader
Amaterasu = Illuminating Heaven
Susanoo = He with the ability to help by all means
Suiton: Dai Bakusui Shōha = Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave
Suiton: Daikōdan no Jutsu = Water Release: Great Shark Bullet Technique

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