Hey, Everyone. I'd like to take a moment to say a few things. First of all, this chapter has taken the longest it's ever taken me to write. I'd like to thank everyone who continued to support me while I struggled with this. I'd like to dedicate this chapter to two people who helped me with ideas. First, to my good friend Kyle. Thank you for letting me borrow a theory of yours. You're a friend, a gnome, and a hell of a lot of other things. Second, toMisha Mitaku. You also contributed an idea and I thank you for that. I think it made this chapter much better and a lot easier to write even though it was still difficult. So enough of the sentimentalities. Enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 10: Spectacle

"You are wrong, Itachi. I did not do things your way because I needed to surpass you. I have destroyed Orochimaru with ease and I can destroy you."

"Hn," Itachi said. "Orochimaru was always weakened by his desire for what he could not achieve. But this talk is growing dull," he said, sliding several shuriken between his fingers. "Let me truly see if you have grown strong."

A grim smile spread across Sasuke's face that chilled Sakura's bones far more than the rain had. She remained as close to the door as possible watching much like Tetsume, the Akatsuki recruiter, did from the opposite side of the room. Sasuke removed a long katana from its sheath at his side and held it with practiced elegance before him.

"Very showy," Itachi said. "Do you know how to use that thing, little brother?"

"I am not the same ignorant little boy anymore!" Sasuke shouted. Itachi was getting under his skin like all siblings do and these thoughts tormented Sasuke even further.

"Then come at me," Itachi demanded. "Strike me down and punish me for what I have done! Or are you still afraid?"

"Never!" Sasuke gave in to the pressure and ran towards Itachi, strengthening his sword with chidori. Itachi loosed the shuriken that had grown warm from resting between his fingers. The tiny blades were knocked aside as Sasuke plunged closer and drove the tip of the sword through Itachi's abdomen.

Itachi's laugh echoed through the chamber as his form grew distorted and dissipated into a flock of ravens. He reassembled behind his brother and drove his fist into the younger boy's gut. Sasuke went sprawling backwards.

"You cannot overcome my mangekyou," Itachi said. "It's the ultimate ability. You have seen its effects, haven't you, Sasuke?"

"You will die!" Sasuke shouted angrily. His voice stung like salt in fresh wounds. A cloud of shuriken hissed through the air, each intending to meet its mark and tear brutally into Itachi's flesh.

But Itachi was a swift opponent. His kunai struck each shuriken and flung them to the ground. "You're going to have to try harder than that," Itachi said calmly. "I'm no Orochimaru."

"Shut up, you bastard!"

"Name calling? Really, Sasuke, didn't mother raise you better than that?"

Sasuke was quickly becoming frustrated and flung himself towards Itachi. Sakura had become so transfixed by the fight that she had not noticed Tetsume until the Akatsuki subordinate was next to her. "So, the make species is pretty impressive, huh?"

Sakura tense but saw Tetsume had no interest in fighting. "Perhaps just the Uchiha males," she said dryly.

"Nah, they're all idiots." Sakura had no argument there. "So is Sasuke your boyfriend or something, Pinky?"

Sakura blushed. "No, he… uh… kidnapped me."

"Interesting," Tetsume said. "Oh, that had to hurt." Sasuke had managed to get a hit on Itachi and the older brother was sent flying into the wall where he left a sizeable dent.

Sakura sighed. "This really is ridiculous."

"Tell me about it. It's better than the movies. Wait, I think one of the idiots is going to start ranting soon."

Tetsume was right. Sasuke had managed to skewer Itachi once more and glared at his older brother with a smoldering hatred that would send shivers up and down an ordinary person's spine. "I have a question for you."

Itachi smiled at him condescendingly. "Go ahead, little one. Ask away."

Sasuke grit his teeth as Itachi escaped his blade in a swarm of birds once more. "Who helped you kill them? I know now that you couldn't have done it on your own."

"I'm impressed," Itachi said, chuckling sinisterly as he appeared next to Sasuke again. Blood trickled calmly down from his lip. "It was Uchiha Madara."

"Don't play games with me! Madara has been dead for a long time!"

Itachi continued to smile. "You would think that, wouldn't you? After all, he was one of Konoha's founding fathers. But I supposed you have earned the truth from me. Uchiha Madara is very much alive. Madara had a brother, a younger brother, much like you, Sasuke. They were exemplary shinobi and the pride of the Uchiha clan.

"Both of them were the first to acquire the mangekyou sharingan by slaying their closest friend. They rose to prominence in the clan, Madara as leader, and forged an alliance with the forest shinobi to create Konoha.

"For a time, they prospered, until darkness fell on Madara. The more frequently the mangekyou is used, the swifter the shinobi begins to lose all sight. One day, Madara discovered the solution. He forcefully removed the eyes from his brother's head and replaced his own with them. Since then, he has seen perfectly.

"Many years later, he was driven away from Konoha by the First Hokage to wander through the world. Even more years passed until Madara came t me and told me of the mangekyou and the ultimate power.

"By, Sasuke, darkness is coming fro me. This can only be done between Uchiha brothers. I told you, you were my spare. I must have your eyes!"

Sasuke stared at his sociopathic older brother for a moment or two, unable to let a single sound escape him lips. "Um… no…"

Sakura put a hand to her temple in a pained way. "Shit, this is getting out of hand."

"Ah, but they'd kill us if we got in the way," Tetsume said wisely. "Stupid Uchiha men. They'll beat the shit out of each other and leave us to clean up the mess afterwards."

"Typical," Sakura muttered in agreement. She plopped down resignedly on the dusty floor and was soon joined by Tetsume.

"Our asses are gonna get covered in dust," Tetsume said, watching the latest volley of sharp objects between Sasuke and Itachi.

"Probably." Sakura was absorbed in the flickering fire that spewed forth from Sasuke. "I definitely hate those two."

"Believe me; I'm working on revenge already. Want in?"

"Absolutely."

They shrieked in unison as a stray kunai flew dangerously close. Still in unison they shouted, "Hey, watch it!"

The Uchiha men muttered vague and distracted apologies and continued to attempt fratricide.

"Well, they ought to be out of chakra soon," Tetsume said. "I don't think Itachi-san can keep this up much longer." She seemed rather unconcerned as she picked at an itchy place behind her right ear.

Sakura felt, for reasons that she could not fully explain, that Tetsume was not being entirely candid about her feelings. Perhaps it was the way Tetsume's eyes never left Itachi during their entire conversation. "I wouldn't know about Sasuke's limits, but he looks tired."

Itachi had his share of injuries. A thin line of blood dribbled down from his lip and his usually clear skin was marred with dirt and dust that had been spun up into the air during the melee.

"Yeah, this is just about over," Tetsume continued. "Itachi-san isn't using any big jutsu anymore." Her words seemed to hang in the air like the dust. Sakura felt her heart clench. Something big was coming. It wasn't a joke anymore. She wanted to get up and stand between the two panting Uchiha men, but she had given her word. Damn words!

"Are you okay, Pinky?"

"Are you?"

"No… no, I'm not. Stupid men."

Lightning crackled through the sky and rain continued to streak down through the trees on Team Kakashi. Hinata looked up at the blackened clouds and shivered. "Something bad is happening," she whispered.

Somehow Naruto heard her whisper, or perhaps she had spoken louder than she thought. His warm hand touched her shoulder. "That's why we're on your way."

Naruto wasn't smiling. His eyes were set with determination and his squared jaw was wrought with tension. "This is ending today. That's a promise."

"Hurry up, back there," Kakashi shouted back at them. "We're almost there."

There were a tired and bleeding pair of brothers, but they couldn't stop. Their reactions had slowed considerably. They were almost sloppy… almost, if it weren't for their name: Uchiha.

Foul insults flew from Sasuke's mouth. His hate spilled over in an uncontrollable torrent. Itachi responded coolly. No emotion showed on his face. If Tetsume weren't staring so fixedly at him, she might have complained about how cliché the whole affair was.

The Uchiha brothers grappled, trying to break the other's grip. Sasuke tried to twist a kunai from Itachi's painted fingers. "Damn bastard," Sasuke seethed through gritted teeth. "Die."

Itachi's grip slipped and Sasuke struck him in the side with chidori. They tumbled to the ground. But the oldest Uchiha was at the height of his glory. As they struggled apart, Itachi held a glistening pair of eyes in his right hand and gripped his wound with his left.

Sasuke's screams were awful. His pain was extreme. Vermillion blood ran from his eyes like tears. Sakura ran forward to him oblivious to Itachi who was coming to his feet with the help of Tetsume.

"Sasuke, move your hands." He resisted. "Move your goddamn hands, you stupid asshole!" she shouted and forcefully made him comply.

Tetsume wrapped Itachi's arm around her shoulder and fled. Sakura didn't notice. She was focused on Sasuke's empty eyes. Well, now they're empty in a different way, she thought. Her healing jutsu spread into him and stopped the blood from flowing freely. "I can't do anything for the pain," she said, no longer shouting. "I want you to come back to Konoha."

Sasuke gripped her arm with a bloody hand. "No! No, I have to kill him! Is he dead?"

"He got away, but he was bleeding a lot. He'll die if he doesn't get medical help soon," she said truthfully. "At this point, you are in no position to ignore my advice."

"The team—" he began.

"Is held up by Kisame. They don't know what happened here. Besides, reinforcements will be here soon."

"I mixed up our trail," Sasuke said.

"I left another. They're tracking my blood."

"You—" But Sasuke had stopped arguing. He had gone unconscious.

The rain had let up considerably and was only a light drizzle. Yet it was still damp enough to seep into an ignorant person's bones and imbue him with misery. Pools of water that quaked with tiny droplets had formed in the small road that brought Team Kakashi out of the forest to the Uchiha Hideout.

"Is that it?" Sai asked, speaking for the first time in hours.

Kakashi nodded. "It feels like whatever happened here was over though. Tread carefully."

"What's that?" Naruto said, pointing to a shadowy lump emerging from the building in the distance.

"Byakugan!" Hinata zoomed in on the formidable structure. She saw Sakura struggling to carry and unconscious person. "It's them!" she shouted. "Sakura and Sasuke!"

Naruto and Sai took off at a run. It was hard to say who was more eager to get there.

"Wait!" Hinata shouted after them to little avail. "Sasuke's hurt!"

Kakashi looked at her in alarm. "Quickly," he said tersely and joined Naruto and Sai in their sprint to Sakura and Sasuke. Hinata hastened to follow.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted.

She looked up to see two blurs—one orange, one black—barreling toward her. In an instant, they were at her side. "Naruto?"

"What happened?" he asked, staring in horror at his two bloody teammates.

Sakura lifted Sasuke off of her shoulder and onto Naruto's broader one. "He fought Itachi," she said tiredly.

"Is he—" Naruto began.

"Sasuke's not dead, but Itachi took his eyes."

Naruto gaped and noticed the snow white bandages wrapped around Sasuke's eyes for the first time. "Did he at least kill that bastard?" Naruto asked, a fire lighting behind his own eyes.

"Itachi was hurt badly, but unless he's denied medical attention, he'll live."

Kakashi and Hinata arrived now. "Are you okay, Sakura?"

"I'll live, but we should get back to Konoha soon."

"Sakura…"

She looked around and saw Sai who had been so silent as she had explained what happened. She smiled at him. "I missed you," she replied quietly.

Life seemed to go in slow motion as Sai moved closer. He was soaking wet from the rain, but she didn't care as he wrapped his arms around her. He moved so slow it took Sakura a moment to realize his lips were on hers and his fingers in her short hair. And she discovered with a small amount of shock that the last time he had kissed her was the first time he kissed her.

"I have this strange feeling," he said somberly. "I think I must be happy that you are okay."

Sakura started to laugh and Sai's eyes widened slightly. "And now I must be worried again," he said.

"I'm okay," she said, pausing in her laughter. "I'm really okay."

"Hey!" Kakashi shouted back at them. "We're leaving now!"

So, hello again. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm kind of worried it's a bit choppy now since I wrote over a very long period of time. So if it is, please forgive me. Please stick around for the final conclusion next chapter. I sort of have it finished, but I'm waiting because it's short and I don't know if I want to add anything else. By the way, I'm thinking of changing the title since it doesn't really seem to fit anymore. Anyway, next update should be somewhat rapid. Please review and thanks to all of you who reviewed and stuck with this story so far. The response to last chapter really meant a lot to me as I was struggling with this one. You people are awesome.