The Secret: Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Kakashi, Sasuke or Itachi. If I did, Naruto would be porn and seeing as it clearly isn't indicates that I don't own the rights to anything.

Author's note: Ok, this is where I take the opportunity to beg for your forgiveness! This update is ridiculously late and I'm so, so sorry! Now onto excuses, lol. Basically I've entered the world of the employed, working late nights and weekends in a shopping centre. On top of this I'm studying for my A-Levels and my granddad is in hospital. Oh! And I fell and sprained my wrist too, lol! I'm such a klutz! So between working, school work, general aches and pains and visiting my granddad, I've had little free time to sit down and update. Anyways, my granddad will be getting out of hospital soon and I'm planning to cut down my hours a bit because it's interfering too much with my school work, so (in theory) I'll have a bit more free time! Yay! Please forgive me if my updates are late, but I plan to try and update once every 2 weeks. I will never abandon this story, so don't worry about that! :)

So… thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, read, favourited the last chapter and the story so far. Here is the long awaited update! Enjoy! :D

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(Kakashi's point of view)

I can't tell if Sasuke is more shocked from seeing his brother for the first time in God knows how long; or from Gin getting ready to tear us limb from limb. It's probably a mixture of both actually. I pray Itachi doesn't fire the fatal shot just yet though, Sasuke is already shaken up badly and the last thing he needs to see are some guy's brains being blown out of his head right in front of him. I need to get him away from here before Itachi takes more drastic actions. Itachi looks at me and nods, but he doesn't have his gun in his hand, he must have it in his pocket or something. Perhaps he's actually going to stick to the plan. Getting Sasuke to safety is far more important than anything else. I don't need to look at him to know how he's feeling right now. I can sense his trembling hands as he clutches onto me for dear life.

Itachi nods at me again before pointing behind us and then pointing at a small chair sitting not far behind Gin. What the hell is he trying to say? I think he wants for us to run, maybe? But what's with the chair? I don't know but I quickly look away from him in case Gin looks behind to see what's attracted my attention. I pull Sasuke's head to the side also to divert his attention as we could all too easily give away Itachi's position accidently. Thankfully Gin didn't pick up on our simultaneous focus on the space behind him. Instead he looks at us intently; ready to anticipate our next move and ready to give chase should we run; that cruel grin spread neatly across his lips.

I gaze over at Itachi one last time before I get ready to run with Sasuke. I swear to fuck he better have some sort of plan up his sleeve. If that crazed man gets his hands on either one of us, we're as good as dead. I hate putting my trust in someone I barely know, although on saying that I've never exactly been a situation like this before. I silently pray that this all works out.

"Run," I whisper into Sasuke's ear, grab his shaking hand and pull him behind me as I start to sprint back towards the front door of the house. Sasuke yelps as he's spun around, and forced to put pressure on his already injured leg. As soon as we've turned in the opposite direction, I hear a cocky laugh followed by loud footsteps slamming against the ground behind us. Oh God Itachi! Do something! My heart is in my mouth as I try to drag Sasuke along behind me, but as I predicted, his injuries are slowing him down to a great extent. Gin is gaining fast, and at this rate we'll be lucky to get out of this particular room let alone outside and to the safety of my car.

"You're even more of an idiot than I give you credit for Kakashi!" Gin bellows from behind us. "Do you really think you'll be able to get out of here alive? I feel sorry for you both."

I wish I had some sort of smart-ass reply for that, but at this exact second in time, I'm not feeling my most confident. Come on Itachi! Fucking help!

Without warning, I'm suddenly jerked backwards, my grip on Sasuke's hand quickly loosening. My heart nearly stops as I spin around to see him being pulled back by Gin's strong hands, gripping the back of his t-shirt and dragging him away from me. His frightened eyes lock with mine and I can clearly see the shock and terror spreading across his features. It's like everything is happening ten times faster than it actually should. I reach back to try and grab Sasuke, but it's too late, Gin has him just out of my immediate grasp. He cries out to me as Gin pulls him back roughly, and I feel my stomach churn when I see a flash of shiny metal now in his hand and moving towards Sasuke's exposed throat. Without thinking, I lunge myself at the older man, but before I can get there, the deafening sound of something solid meeting human bone rings loudly in my ears, causing me to stop dead in my tracks. What just happened? It happened too fast, I missed it. But Itachi is there, he's standing just behind Gin, a look of determination on his face.

Gin cries out loudly, immediately dropping his weapon and releasing Sasuke from his vice-like grip. The boy collapses to the ground just as Gin falls to his knees grasping at his head. Stunned, I try to work out what the hell just happened. I didn't hear a gun shot, I'm sure of it.

"For fuck sake run!" Itachi yells at me. "Get Sasuke out of here!"

No more time to think. Instinctively I pull the boy to his feet and attempt to pull him along behind me, hoping that the adrenaline pumping through my veins is happening to him as well. I need him to find the strength to make it out of here before Gin comes after us again. Although, briefly looking behind me, I can see Sasuke's tormentor lying on the ground, blood dripping down the back of his head. Itachi is still standing above him, pieces of the broken chair he must have used to temporarily stun Gin still in his hands. I assume he's waiting for us to get out of here so that he can finish off what he started. I'm thankful that he's got going to pull the trigger in front of Sasuke, and I'm sure he'll follow along behind us once the deed is done.

Relief spreads throughout every part of me as I feel now I can finally relax. This whole horrible ordeal will soon be over and we'll all make it out alive. Well, except Gin. But he's had this coming for a long time now. I hope he rots in hell. The bastard.

However, my relief is short-lived. A loud crash followed by the sound of Itachi's pained voice causes both me and Sasuke to stop in our tracks and turn around. My heart starts to race again. This can't be happening! This can't fucking be happening! Itachi has been knocked to the ground as Gin struggles to his feet. I should have known a whack on the head wouldn't be enough to take Gin out. Sure enough Itachi's signature move knocked me out cold for goodness knows how long, but Gin is an entirely different story. I swear the man's skull is thicker than a cement wall! He must have pretended he was more badly hurt than he actually was to draw Itachi close enough so that he could strike out at him, catching him by surprise. I know Gin and that's definitely something he would so.

What unsettles me more is that I can see Itachi's gun lying a few meters across the floor from where he landed. What should I do? Panic starts to set in. Do I help Itachi or do I get Sasuke away from the danger? My heart beats painfully in my chest. Maybe if I could get his gun before Gin…

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Itachi screams at me, pulling himself to his feet just as Gin lunges at him, knocking him over once again.

"JUST GET OUT! GET SASUKE TO SAFETY! DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME!" he yells again, this time making my mind up for me. I'll get Sasuke away from this situation, then come back to help him… if he survives that long.

I let out a deep breath before turning around and tugging at Sasuke's arm, but he's frozen to the spot.

"No! No!" he cries, "Itachi! Itachi needs…"

"Sasuke, MOVE!" I yell at him, more than ready to pick him up and carry him over my shoulder, whilst he undoubtedly struggles as much as he can. "I'll come back and help him! Don't worry."

"But he'll be killed…"

"He won't be killed. Now come on, please!"

Knowing he's defeated and that I will physically drag him from here if I have too, Sasuke turns and tries to run along beside me as fast as his injuries will allow. Another pained cry from his brother causes him to stop briefly, but I manage to pull him along before he can look around, and eventually we make it to the front door.

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(Itachi's point of view)

I'm not going to let him win, there's no way he's going to win! I can feel the rage spreading throughout every part of my body, but I don't know if it will be enough to keep this monster of a man at bay long enough for Kakashi and Sasuke to escape. I can't believe that blow wasn't enough to knock him out cold! The force was probably enough to bring down a horse!

"It's nice to see you again Itachi. I knew you'd come crawling back to me. You just couldn't keep away, could you? God, if you missed my touch that badly all you had to do was call!" Gin laughs in a mocking tone, blood from his previous injury trickling down his face but not fazing him in the slightest. It's almost like he enjoys receiving pain just as much as he enjoys delivering it. The man is even more insane than I remember. I don't want to remember what he did to me, but allowing myself to accept that he did the same thing to my little brother adds fuel to my already raging fire. I can't let him get away with it. Getting up to my feet once again, I quickly strike out with my right fist and catch him across the face, but he just looks at me and grins. That horrible, manic grin that haunted my dreams as a child. Hell! It still haunts my dreams!

"Since when did you learn to defend yourself?" Gin laughs quietly as he wipes away the trickle of blood now stemming from his nose. "Not bad, Itachi, not bad. It will take a hell of a lot more than that though! You definitely haven't increased your intelligence or your strength since the last time I saw you."

"You bastard!" I hiss at him before lunging at him once again. This time he anticipated my move and dodged my fist with plenty of time to spare.

"You're calling me a bastard?" he smirks. "I'm not the one who abandoned my little brother, now am I?"

"You nearly KILLED my little brother!"

"Correction, I will kill your little brother and I'll take down you and his pervert older lover with you."

What? Pervert older lover! What does Gin mean by 'perverted older lover'? Is Kakashi fucking my baby brother?? Gin must have seen the blank expression on my face, because the sound of his bellowing laughter echoes around the room and snaps me out of my thoughts.

"Oh you didn't know!" he chuckles. "Kakashi is screwing your baby brother, and holy shit, can he make that boy scream! The walls in this house are far too thin in places."

Huh? Is Gin being serious? Is Kakashi sleeping with my brother! For fuck sake the kid is barely legal! In this case he's no better than that sadistic monster standing in front of me! I can't believe I trusted him and the entire time he's been doing the dirty with my baby brother. Well, I certainly didn't see that one coming. All of a sudden part of my rage is directed at a certain silver-haired pervert. I'll go through him after I'm finished with Gin!! He's not going to get away with this either!

"Sasuke does scream loudly mind you," Gin breaks my annoyed thoughts once again. "Your sweet little brother is such a whore, you know that. He must take it after you! The dirty little slut can't spread his legs open enough. Just how you used to be now that I think of it."

"SHUT UP!" I scream, how dare he say such things? He knows there's no truth behind any of it. Gin never gave me an option as to whether I wanted it or not, I don't believe it was any different for Sasuke. The stuff that messed up bastard made us do! Screwing shut my eyes; I try to block the repressed memories from flooding back into my head.

"Sasuke loves it though," Gin smirks again as he digs deeper into the subject, knowing all to well the effect it has on me. "He would beg for more and all of my friends loved him for that. I swear the boy was insatiable, he'd happily allow himself to be laid by more than just one man a night. I hope Kakashi can keep up with his lust, if not he'll have to pass him around."

"DON'T SPEAK CRAP!" I yell in response. I know what he's doing; he's playing mind games again. He does this a lot and I know I can't let his lies get to me. Still, the thought of my baby brother being violated against his will sends waves of anger throughout my body to the point where my muscles are shaking. I know what it was like for him. Without thinking, once again I lunge at Gin, praying that this time I will be able to get past him and dive for my gun that has skidded out of my reach. I'm going to fucking blow his head to pieces.

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(Kakashi's point of view)

"Stay here Sasuke," I instruct him in my calmest possible voice considering the circumstances. "I will be right back for you, but you must stay here in my car until then, do you understand?

"No! I can't stay here while you and Itachi…"

"YOU WILL STAY HERE!" I yell, my patience wearing thin. The sudden aggression in my voice instantly shuts the boy up. He's not used to hearing me raise my voice at him and I think it's scared him. It's the last thing I wanted to do, but the panic and stress have long since eaten away at my laid back nature and I swear I'm starting to loose control of myself.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout," I take a deep breath and wrap my arms around him. "But it's very important you stay here, alright? I'm going back to help Itachi and we should both be back here soon. If we aren't back in about 20 minutes, then I want you to get out of this car and run. There is a public road not so far away from here, and I want you to flag down a car there if you can and get away. If you want to call the police once you've done that, call the police, ok? But you need to stay here for the time being and its best we don't get the authorities involved just yet."

He looks at me with tears in his eyes and nods. It frightens me to think that this could be the last time I'll ever see him, but I quickly shake that thought from my mind. No, I will be back here for him. Gin will not get the better of me.

"KAKASHI! Wait!" he cries after me.

"What Sasuke?" I shout back with an irritated tone. For someone who was previously so desperate to help his brother, he's going a great job at stalling the rescue attempt now that it's about to happen!

"There's something important you need to know," he looks down at the ground, almost afraid to look me in the eyes.

"What do I need to know?" I reply, puzzled as he composes himself and gulps in a deep breath of fresh air.

"Kakashi…" he pauses for a minute before he rapidly blurts out his next sentence. "Gin killed your father!" I stare back at him, astonished. "That man he killed that night in front of me… it was your father."

"What…" I gasp, trying to absorb the quiet, shaking words that came from the boy's mouth just seconds ago. Sasuke isn't lying; I've known him long enough to know the boy isn't a liar. And furthermore, he would never make something like that up, especially something concerning my father. He knows how close I was to my father and how his death shattered my world and tore me apart mentally. He looks back at me, his eyes wide and teary; several fingers spread across his bottom lip as he waits, almost afraid, for my response.

No, he's definitely not lying. I was a fool to allow myself to believe that my father committed suicide, but I guess deep in my heart I kind of wanted to believe that, even though I knew my father had no known history of depression or anything similar. I just didn't want to believe that another human being could bring themselves to take another person's life, my father's life. What worries me just as much is that it was my mother who told me he committed suicide… I wonder if she knew… no, she would never lie to me about something like that. Although now it does kind of make sense as to why Gin paid for me to study for a few years away from home, he must have been planning this for a while now. Call me naïve, too trusting or whatever you want, but Gin won't get away with it now that I know the truth. I'll have time to question Sasuke more about this later and let the unexpected news sink in.

Quickly, and without saying another word, I turn away from him and run back towards the house. I'll kill him. I'll fucking kill him. I want to be the one who pulls the trigger, not Itachi. I want to make him pay. A level of rage I never knew I could even muster fills up inside me, everywhere from the tips of my fingers to the tips of my toes are tingling. Now I'm out for more than just revenge. Still, I pray Itachi is alright and I'm not too late. With the both of us going at Gin then we stand a chance, but if one of us goes down, well, then we're pretty much screwed, however determined either of us might be.

I run back into the house and retrace my steps back to Itachi. My heart continues to race as I sprint through the hall as fast as I can. Suddenly, a piercing sound of a gun shot rings through the air, causing my heart to almost leap out of my chest. I stop dead in my tracks once again as that all too familiar feeling of dread pools in the pit of my stomach. One of them could be dead… but which one? Gathering up what's left of my nerves, and spurred on sweet revenge, I make one last dash to the room from which the gun shot sounded, dreading what I might find there. What if Gin got hold of the gun, killed Itachi and now he's waiting patiently for me to come along, burst through the door and then be subjected to the same fate. I try not to think about it as I carry on running. I can't think about it, all I can allow myself to think about is Gin's bullet-ridden corpse falling to the ground, that hideous, smug look on his face instantly changing from shock to regret in his final moments of life. I smile at the thought. This is for Sasuke and my father.

Darting back into the room at break-neck speed, my focus is quickly directed towards the two figures at the back of the room; Itachi pressed against the wall struggling with all his strength to prevent Gin from turning the gun to his face and firing. Somehow the two must have gotten into a struggle over the weapon, but I'm filled with relief that Itachi is still alive and still fighting. He looks injured, but he's definitely not ready to give up and allow Gin to finish him off.

Adrenaline spurs me forward and before I even realise what I'm doing, my fist has connected with the side of Gin's face, the unexpected hit causing both him and Itachi to lose grip of the weapon. I jump slightly as it goes off again as it skids across the floor, the bullet ricocheting of the wall and shattering a nearby window. I'm worried that Sasuke will hear the shots and come running back into the house to see if we're alright, instead of running away like I told him too. Itachi stares back at me blankly, he's exhausted, badly injured and I'm worried he'll loose consciousness on me. He'd better not fucking do that or I'll kill him myself! I need his help!

"I KNOW THE TRUTH!" I scream, lashing out wildly, striking the older man once again. I'm surprised at my strength. I never thought I had it in me, but I've somehow managed to almost knock Gin almost off balance. Just one more well-aimed strike will do it, cause him to fall over and I might be able to get the gun! Itachi sits motionless, panting against the wall. He tries to get up to his feet but he quickly slides back down again as his legs appear to have given out on him. He's more hurt than I previously thought, Gin must have beaten the crap out of him, but I have to admire the fact that he still hasn't given up. Once again he tries unsuccessfully to get to his feet to try and help me. I swing my fists at Gin once again, but this time he manages to dodge my attack.

"The truth, eh?" he laughs. "I suppose you heard it from your little slut then? Don't worry Kakashi, I'm sure you'll die just as pathetically as your father did… hey! And guess what!"

I don't care what he has to say! I'm not going to let it get to me, although he has confirmed that he is guilty of my father's murder. He's probably going to try and mess about with my head for a bit, I can't listen to him or else I'll loose focus.

"Your mother was in on it too!"

I stop mid-swing and stare into his cruel eyes in confusion. No, no, no! That's a fucking lie!

"LAIR!" I scream in response, but it's too late. Gin has won the distraction he's been seeking. He easily catches me off guard and knocks to the ground with one strike of his powerful fists. With the adrenaline pumping through my body, I barely feel it, but before I realise it I'm on the ground and Gin has the gun in his hands and he's aiming it at my head. Have I lost this battle already? Keeping one eye on Itachi in case he tries anything funny, he looks down at me.

"No, really! Ask your slut and he'll tell you the same thing. I ended up telling him everything. Not that you'll actually have time to ask him or anything, so you'll just have to take my word for it…"

My breath comes in uncontrollable gasps as Gin points the gun at my face and gets ready to pull the trigger.

"You're next Itachi! Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you!" he shouts in a mocking tone at the injured man collapsed not far from me. "God, you are both pathetic."

I screw shut my eyes as I hear the gun go off. Sasuke is the last thing that enters my mind. I've failed him and I've failed my father. Fucking hell I've even managed to fail Itachi. I guess I deserve to die. Taking deep breaths, I prepare myself for my fate, but to my dismay I hear a familiar voice cry out before what feels like a body collapsing down on top of me. The ringing of the gun shot still sounds in my ears as I dare open an eye to try and work out why I'm not dead. I freeze. My heart almost stops and if I had anything in my stomach to throw up, it would be all over the floor by now. My eyes widen and pupils shrink in horror of the sight before me. Is this a dream? If it is then why can't I wake up? Sasuke lies almost on top of me, struggling for breath as hot, sticky blood oozes from a wound in his chest and seeps into the material of my trousers. Oh God… this isn't happening… please God, save me! End this nightmare.

End of chapter 14

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Thanks for reading! I kind of feel bad abandoning you here at such a cruel cliffy, but my wrist hurts and I can't type any more! I'm not going to give away much about the next chapter, so you will have to wait and see if they all make it out alive or not! :P

At the minute I'm hoping to start drafting out a plan for my next story after this one, so I sat down with a pen and some paper, a cup of tea and got myself ready to brainstorm ideas… but nothing happened! It seems my creative juices have run dry and I'm struggling to piece together a new plot!

Perhaps some of you kind people out there can help me find inspiration! Does anybody have a good idea for a story that perhaps they don't have time to write out themselves? I'm also stuck on pairings. I love writing Kaka/Sasu (as you can probably tell) where Sasuke is the uke! I mean, come on! He's the bloody poster boy for the bottom! Non-Sasuke-as-uke stories freak me out! Anyways, I'm not sure if I should stick to Kaka/Sasu or try a different pairing. At the minute I love the Zack/Cloud (FF7) pairing… mmmm yummyful, but I'm still not sure what I should write next. Should I stick to Naruto or branch out? I think I'd be happy either way but I do like to work on one story at a time so I can give it my full attention! :D

Sorry, I'm rambling on a bit. Well, thanks so much for your patience and I will see you next chapter!

Much love,

Laura xx