Disclaimer
K. I'm not sure if I have to write these things but I will. I don't claim any rights to Naruto or the charecters. I give full credit to the rightful owners, blah, blah, blah. Except my story line. I mean I have no problem with them using it in Naruto, but I want credit if they do. lmao.
If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience
-George Bernard Shaw
Sasuke grabbed a handful of kunai and shruiken, tossing them at his brother. Itachi had done the exact same thing. Multiple metallic clangs echoed around them. Not a single weapon made it to their intended targets. A loud screamed followed the metal clangs. Both Uchiha's turned to Sakura. She had fallen to her knees, holding her head in her hands. Itachi let out a vicious growl.
"Damnit." He muttered under his breath. "Stupid techinique doesn't last as long as I had originally thought."
Sasuke's eyes widened. "What the hell did you do to her?" He demanded, pulling his sword out and holding it towards his brother angriliy.
"Nothing you should concern yourself with, little brother." Itachi informed him, darting forward.
"Tch." Sasuke growled and launched forward as well. He held his sword out.
Sasuke grabbed Itachi's wrist - the one that held his kunai - as Itachi grabed the wrist that held Sasuke's sword. They pushed as much force as they could into their weapons while keeping a firm grip on the other's wrist. Sakura let out a cry of pain, causing Sasuke to falter. Itachi ducked down - dropping his brothers wrist - and dug his free hand into Sasuke's stomach. The younger Uchiha was launched away and slammed into the wall.
"Sasuke!" Sakura cried, she darted forwards - same as Itachi.
The Uchiha reached Sasuke before Sakura did, though.
Sasuke's hand lifted from the crater, his fist sparkling with chidori. Itachi grabbed his younger brother's wrist and twisted it above his head. His free hand reached forward, towards Sasuke's eye.
"Sasuke! No!" Sakura screamed, ignoring the splitting pain in her head as she tried to focus her chakra into her feet.
Sasuke let out a cry of pain. Itachi pulled his hand away - covered in blood. Sasuke grabbed at his right eye, blood coated his fingers in seconds. He stared at his hand in disbelief when Itachi's voice broke him out of his thoughts.
"Now for the other one." His brother said sadistically.
Sakura's next words confused Sasuke beyond imagination.
"Ka! Release!" She cried.
Sasuke's eyes snapped open - both of them, not just one and an empty socket. He raised his hand carefully and felt the spot where a hole should have been. He was standing in the middle of the room, Sakura was a few feet from him with concern written on her face. Not confusion or concern for Itachi. Concern for him. Sasuke.
"Y...You remember me?" He asked slowly, almost unwilling to take his hand away from his eye in case it would just disappear.
She smiled softly and nodded. "Yeah... I guess it wore off or something."
Sasuke nodded lightly and looked over her shoulder at Itachi. "Sakura, there are three people oustide. Suigetsu, Juugo and Karin. I want you to wait with them-"
"What?!" Sakura yelled immediately. "Hey, Sasuke, I didn't listen to your brother when I thought he was my sensai! What the hell make you think I'll listen to my former teammate?!"
Sasuke blinked a few times. It wasn't like Sakura to stand up to people like this, not the Sakura he knew.
Sasuke placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder and stepped past her. "Stay as far away as possible, then. When I'm finished here I'll take you back to Le-"
"No! I don't want to go back!" Sakura snapped again, glaring daggers at him. "I'm staying with you!"
"I'm just a 'former teammate.'" Sasuke reminded her in annoyance, mentally hoping her old crush hadn't resurface. "Why would you want to stay with me?"
"Because if I stay with you, there's more of a chance I'll run into Akatsuki." She told him angrily. "They owe me an explanation for what they did and for all the years I missed because of their stupid mind games!"
Sasuke forced himself to not to turn to look at her. You have changed, Sakura. More than anyone will comprehend....
Both Sasuke and Sakura turned to Itachi when he closed his eyes. They glanced at each other nervously. Itachi's hands were clapping together rapidly, forming a series of handsigns.
"Amaterasu." Sakura said quietly, watching her former sensai's hands.
Sasuke sent her a confused expression so she continued.
"It is said that Amaterasu is the fire from hell which will never disappear until it burns everything in its path." She told him, as if quoting from an old school textbook. She shook her head and looked at him. "An immortal hellfire."
Sasuke nodded his understanding. "Is there anything that will destroy it?"
Sakura let out a bitter laugh. "Yeah, let it destroy its target." She shook her head. "The stupid fire won't go away until it's target - us - is dead."
Sasuke shook his head. "Well, then, I guess we'll just have to prevent it."
He was about to toss shuriken at Itachi - to halt the rapid handsigns - but Sakura placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. It was too late.
A small trickle of blood slid down Itachi's cheek, as if it was a tear.
"Amaterasu!" Itachi took a deep breath and held his hand out, as if performing the Grand Fire Ball jutsu. Instead of bright red flames, pitch black soared toward the two former leaf ninjas.
Sasuke swore violently under his breath, grabbing at the power of his cursed seal. The familiar burning sensation spread across his body and pain tore open his back. He spun around and pulled Sakura to his chest, falling to his knees - creating a small target. The large, hand-like wings wrapped around them. He could feel the fire burning his wings. When the fire finally slowed, he opened his eyes - but kept a firm grip on Sakura. He craned his neck around to look at his brother.
A dozen flames were floating in mid-air between the two Uchiha brothers, innocently. As if all they were was decoration. Sakura's voice sounded weakly.
"It burns whatever the eye focuses on... the black flames will converge on exactly that spot. Then, they continue to burn until their target is completely eradicated... even if the target is flame itself." She quoted, lifting her head to look up at Sasuke. Her eyes held nothing but defeat. "We're as good as dead, Sasuke."
Sasuke let out a low growl and fixed his eyes on Itachi. He stood up slowly, leaving Sakura on the ground. He muttered a quick order to stay where she was and turned to face his brother. Itachi's eye - the one with a streak of blood running from it - snapped open, focused entirely on Sasuke. The younger Uchiha bolted to the left, using his large wings to lift off the ground and into the air.
The black darted around Sakura and after Sasuke - just like he planned. In mid-air, he slapped his hands into three hand signs, holding his hand in front of his mouth. A spark snapped inches from his face.
"Katon! Grand Fire Ball Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled, a giant fire ball shot from - seemingly - Sasuke's mouth and straight into the dark flames. The dark flames seemed to absorb the red ones and Sasuke's attack disappeared. Itachi closed his Amaterasu, looking at his younger brother with his good eye. He smiled softly as his eyes travelled from Sasuke to Sakura.
"You were usefull to us, Sakura." Itachi told her queitly, a sadistic 'I-know-something-you-don't-know' kind of look. "It was... peaceful, having a student... It will pain me to see you go."
Sakura's eyes widened as Itachi's Amaterasu snapped open.
"Damnit, Itachi!" Sasuke screamed, his wings beating against the air to move faster.
The black flame shot straight towards Sakura, with no more obsticles in its way, the flames seemed faster than before. Sasuke let out a low growl, ready to jump into the line of fire - literally - to save her life.
But, he was surprised. Without hesitating, Sakura clapped her hands together in numerous handsigns. "Storm Style: Wind Barrage Jutsu!" Sakura called, closing her eyes to focus the elemental chakra around her towards Itachi.
Clouds began to form in the sky above them - barely visible through the gap in the ceiling - water began raining down around them as lightning crashed above the building. The wind in the room began picking up, swirling around Itachi as if it had some personal grudge against him. The rapid wind - they all knew - wouldn't stand up to Amaterasu, or even Mangekyou Sharingan. But, it served its original purpose. The wind picked up rain droplets and most of the dust in the room. Itachi's eyes snapped shut to prevent any dust from tainting his Amaterasu. The flames stopped immediately - their target unclear... for the moment. Sasuke's wings flapped harder as he approached the ground, to create a softer landing. Itachi's soft chuckle brought Sasuke from his thoughts.
"It seems you learned more than I originally thought, Sakura." He said with a shake of his head. "It is now obvious to me, that you - as well as Sasuke - are both a threat to this organization."
His Amaterasu snapped open, directed soley at Sakura. The black flames continued their former course. Sasuke let out a growl and darted the last few feet towards Sakura. Before he could reach her, Itachi slammed into him. The black flames created a ring around Sakura, preventing her from helping Sasuke. Itachi slammed Sasuke into the wall, shoving two kunai deep into his palms - pinning them to the wall. He threw four more - two into his lower pant legs and two into the upper part of his sleeves.
"Sasuke!" Sakura screamed, taking a step back so she was in the middle of the circle of fire, as far from the fire as she could get on all sides.
Itachi took a step towards Sasuke, his hand outstrected. Like in the former Genjutsu - Itachi's index and middle finger pressed against Sasuke's eyelid. Itachi's eyes were glazed and distant - as if he was having a hard time focusing on the world around him. Sasuke froze when his brother's hand moved. Itachi's fingers slid down Sasuke's cheek, leaving a trail of blood. The elder Uchiha collasped at his brother's feet. A sickening thud sounded around the room. Sasuke remainded frozen against the wall, staring ahead with unseeing eyes.
Sakura jumped above the fire - now that Itachi wasn't alive to force it after her - and ran towards the two Uchihas. She bent next to Itachi, pressing her fingers against the side of his neck. Tears prickled at her eyes and a lump rose in her throat. Fake or no, the memories of Itachi-'sensai' were still there. She shook her head slightly, forcing the tears back.
When she stood up, Sasuke was already ripping his legs away from the wall, creating a jagged rip under the kness of his pants legs. Sakura leaned forward to pull the kunai out of his palms and forced the healing chakra into her hands. Sasuke used one hand to pull the last two kunai out while she healed the other one. He let his hand drop and she started healing it, as well. When she had finished, he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. Sakura sighed and pulled herself against the wall as well, craning her neck to look up at the rain.
A soft thud sounded close by them, Sakura turned her head to look at the source but Sasuke ignored it.
"Tobi!" Sakure cried in excitement. She jumped to her feet, her smile faltered - the last few moments catching up to her. She shook her head. "I don't even know what's real anymore..."
"I'll tell you what's real." Sasuke snarled, pushing himself away from the wall. His Sharingan swirling angrily at the new Akatsuki - and opponent, in Sasuke's eyes. "What the hell do you want? To avenge him?!"
Tobi glanced between the two, as if in confusion. "Now why would I do that? Itachi came here willing to die and ordered a few members not to stop him. I'm not going to go against his last wishes." He said simply, folding his arms in front of his chest. "I am simply here to help."
"Oh, bite me, Tobi! Why should we trust you?!" Sakura demanded, anger flashing across her features. "You've been lying to me from the start! What would honestly make you think that-"
"I know where Uchiha Madara is."
Sasuke and Sakura froze, both of them staring at the masked Akatsuki in disbelief. No one spoke for more than a minute and Tobi rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Take me to him." Sasuke growled out, ignoring Sakura's gasp. "Take her back to Konoha."
"What?!" She screamed, turning on him now. The feeling of a trapped animal suddenly overtaking her. "Are you kidding me, Sasuke?! I told you before! I'm not going back until they give me an explanation, at least!"
"Yes, yes, yes. Sakura has a point, Sasuke. It would be very, very, very dangerous for her to go back to Leaf at the moment." He said cheerfully, spinning on his heel and walking away from them. "Her memories are conflicted. If they're left like this, some of the memories might be pushed out of her mind forever. And it's impossible to tell if the real or fake ones will be destroyed. It might even be a mixture. Not to mention she might be executed for joining the Akatsuki. You're both S-ranked criminals, you know. You're a horrible friend for even suggesting such a thing, Sasuke!"
Sakura shook her head slowly and jogged after Tobi, leaving a shocked Sasuke behind her.
"Alright, why don't I start by introducing myself?" Tobi reached forward and grabbed his mask, slowly pulling it to the side. "Much like yourself, I am a living breathing Uchiha." The mask was far enough away from his eye that they could see the three comas of the Sharingan.
Authoress Note
Okay, I don't really do these much anymore (cause it sucks) but I figured this chap deserved some explanation. The title (first off) is basically the same title as in one of the fights with Itachi. Except in the manga it meant that Itachi taking Sasuke's eyes would give him new light, in my fanfiction it means that Sasuke has another reason to live: Sakura (even if he's too dense to realize it yet). Yeah, I know, it's pretty emotional, but whatever! So.... I re-read the Sasuke-Itachi fight a few times and decided not to copy the entire thing word for word. For one thing, Sakura was in this fight (for my fic, anyway) so I had to add some lines for her. Second, it would take too friggin long and I have other ideas (even if it doesn't seem like it at times. lolz). So....yeah. I guess that's it.
