It's All in Your Head Chapter 21: The Sun Sets, a naruto fanfic

It's All in Your Head

Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing them, they aren't mine!

Alright, I know I said I was going to post the last chapter quickly, but I ran into a few snags. First, the evil writer's block monster came and plopped down next to my computer for weeks, refusing to go no matter HOW many cookies I offered him...then I couldn't fit everything I wanted in the final chapter without making it sound rushed...and THEN the technical problems with ffnet began...

To make a long story short, the end has finally arrived. I ended up splitting the last chapter in two (chapter 21 and an epilogue), but since I promised you that my next post would be the last, I've decided to post them both at once. Consider this "double chapter post" your bonus for being so patient!

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As Kakashi watched the raven stagger upright, he was surprised at the sheer ferocity of the hatred boiling in his chest. He stared disbelievingly into the eyes of a young man he had once regarded as an ally; a comrade; almost a brother. But now…

As crimson eyes blinked blankly at Kakashi, the jounin thought he detected a flash of emotion akin to remorse, but as the raven turned to look at the crumpled form of his brother, his features immediately became smug and triumphant. Looking back to the silver-haired shinobi before him, he allowed a feral grin to spread across his face. "Vengeance," he murmured, closing his eyes slowly to savor the sound of the word.

"You bastard!" A hoarse voice suddenly shrieked from behind Kakashi, and both men turned in surprise to see a white-faced Sakura trembling with rage, tears streaming down her face. "How could you! How could you betray us? Betray him?" She shook her head angrily against the onslaught of disbelief, her words rough and laced with both hatred and anguish. Clenching her hand into a shaking fist, her emerald eyes sparked murderously.

"I'll fucking kill you!"

A gloved hand shot out deftly, a battle-scarred arm wrapping firmly around the fierce young woman's stomach as she tried desperately to lunge forward.

"Sakura." The arm's muscles strained with effort.

"Let me go!" The kunoichi struggled furiously against Kakashi's restraining arm, chest heaving and breath coming out fast as every lesson Tsunade had ever taught her about responsibility, restraint, and level-headedness on the battlefield vanished in a wisp of smoke. "I'm going to KILL him!"

"Sakura-"

"No!"

"Sakura!" The rosette finally paused, shaken from her blind rage by the tone of her teacher's voice. He grimly maintained his restraining grip, fingers biting uncomfortably into her skin as she met his eyes defiantly for a moment. However, at the expression on her previous mentor's face, the kunoichi suddenly allowed herself to go limp, conceding to his grasp.

"Kakashi-sensei," she spoke softly, stunned by what she saw on his usually impassive face.

But the older shinobi was not looking at her anymore. Having assured himself that she had composed herself, Kakashi had already turned back towards the solemn figure before them. Eyes never leaving the raven, he spoke in an eerily soft, calm voice.

"Sakura, your talents are needed elsewhere. I will deal with him."

"But-"

"Go."

Biting back her protest and her angry tears, Sakura forced the medical part of her brain to accept the truth in his words, and with a final nod, she straightened up, pulled away from his now loose arm, and hurried towards the two fallen figures. She didn't even stop to watch as the two shinobi disappeared into the trees above in perfect, deadly unison.

Naruto stared blankly at the sky, eyes glazed with shock and confusion. The world around him seemed to be engulfed in a thick fog, little bursts of feeling and awareness reaching him one moment and disappearing the next.

The blonde's lungs screamed for oxygen, but some reason he couldn't bring air into them regardless of how hard he tried. His efforts only resulted in pangs of pain throughout his chest, and increased the sense of urgency as his vision threatened to black out.

Somewhere far off, a woman's voice was screaming in anguish, and even as he lost his battle to draw in breath, Naruto felt his heart go out to the person whose voice was so full of pain. The cries seemed so familiar, and yet…he just couldn't place them.

Taking a particularly violent gasp of air, the blonde feared for a moment that something in his chest was going to pop with the tremendous effort and force. Instead, the pressure was suddenly released, and Naruto found himself choking as much-needed oxygen poured into his screaming lungs. Gulping the air greedily, he fought to catch his breath, finally summoning enough strength to roll onto his side. As he moved, the heavy weight of an object he hadn't even been aware of slid to the side, and the blonde rejoiced as breathing became even more easy.

Still dazed, Naruto tried desperately to understand his situation. His chest throbbed, his vision was still slightly blurred, and the coppery tang of blood filled his mouth. Panic began to rise in his chest again, increasing rapidly as his eyes blinked uncomprehendingly at the blood staining his shirt, blossoming unopposed across the fabric.

Something was wrong…something was horribly wrong. But it wasn't the blood, or the pain, or the difficulty of breathing that was causing the blond confusion: he had experienced all of these injuries before; had been carried home by various teams and pieced back together by Tsunade countless times…

And that was exactly what was wrong. Naruto had been through all of this before, and the simple fact of the matter was that his injuries were not adding up. Breathing was difficult, but he was fairly certain that it was getting better instead of worse. His mouth tasted like copper, but a quick investigation with his tongue revealed that he had simply bitten cleanly through his lip. And his chest hurt, but the pain wasn't intense enough to have caused the frightening amount of blood that was seeping endlessly though his clothes.

The fog in his mind was finally clearing, and as he struggled to sit up, he silently asked the only question left to answer:

If the blood wasn't his, than whose was it?

And then it hit him; the memory of what happened only moments before, of how he had come to be in his current position. Sitting up straight, now painfully aware of his surroundings, cerulean eyes searched desperately before falling on the limp figure lying next to him.

For one agonizing moment, Naruto was unable to breathe once again, panic racing through his veins as he stared numbly at the raven's crumpled form. Then, as if waking from a deep sleep, the blond suddenly shook off his shock and sprang into action. Rising quickly to his knees, he pulled the fallen Uchiha's head into his lap with shaking hands, horrified tears pricking at his eyes as he clumsily fumbled to put pressure on the raven's gaping chest wound.

"Sasuke, you-…why did you...?" His voice was hoarse, barely audible as he stared down at the abused body that had leapt in front of him only moments earlier. The other boy stirred slightly at the sound, a smug smile tugging weakly at the corner of his mouth.

"Hn, dobe." The familiar voice spoke in a painful whisper.

But the other boy only shook his head furiously, giving the raven's shoulder a violent shake.

"WHY!" Naruto was fighting hard against the tears now, shock and terror overtaking his mind. He didn't know why he was shouting; why he was suddenly so angry. It was as if that same, horrible scene from their first mission with Haku was repeating itself, and as he sat there with a fallen comrade in his arms, the meaningless explanations of "I don't know" and "It just happened" were not enough.

They would never be enough.

Obsidian eyes pulled themselves open heavily, meeting cerulean carefully for a long moment before pain and fatigue took over and forced them to close once again. The ghost of a smirk was gone, replaced by a small frown as Sasuke struggled to explain; to make the dobe understand. Frustrated that he lacked the energy to speak, the raven's frown increased, and he tried another approach.

Although the wounded boy's lips never uttered a word, Naruto suddenly heard Sasuke's voice clearly echoing through his head.

'Three years ago, I was forced to make a decision between two people, and I chose the wrong one.' There was a long pause, and while the raven's eyes remained closed, they still seemed to be pinning Naruto with an intense gaze.

'I swore that would never happen again.'

"Sasuke," Naruto choked out, tears no longer restrained but rolling freely down whiskered cheeks.

"I swore." The last two words were spoken aloud, just above a whisper, but carried more power and vehemence than any silent conversation ever could.

The blond sat, stunned, as the raven grew silent, breath hitching painfully but expression taking on a satisfied, almost…triumphant look. His fingers tightened protectively around Sasuke's body, holding onto the raven so hard that he would probably leave bruises, but he didn't care.

He would not let Uchiha Sasuke slip through his fingers again.

Kakashi skidded to a halt as the figure in front of him slowed. Warily, the two sharingan wielders faced one another, each balancing lightly on the branches of different trees. Surprisingly, it was Itachi who broke the silence first.

"How many times will you and I have to relive this fight, Kakashi-san? Over and over you insist on facing me alone, and over and over I leave you and your inferior eye defeated."

Something stirred deep within Kakashi at these smug words. Perhaps it was the memory Naruto's dying shadow clone had conjured back in the cave, maybe it was just Itachi's inherent ability to get under his skin, but the older shinobi suddenly found himself grinding his teeth sharply to maintain control.

"Inferior? This eye of mine comes from a Uchiha who was twice the shinobi you'll ever be, and I place my trust in him more fully than I ever did in you."

"A wise choice, it would seem." Itachi smirked condescendingly. "But loyalty is a trick any dog can learn, Kakashi. To assume that the eye of a thirteen year old could ever rival the power of my own, regardless of its original owner's bloodline, is laughable. And even if it could, your body lacks the Uchiha blood necessary to support the sharingan's true power."

Kakashi closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and for a moment found himself lost in a familiar memory. When he finally turned to face Itachi once more, a new passion flickered in his eyes, one that had not been seen for many, many years.

"The power of my sharingan doesn't come from the eye, and it doesn't come from me. It is the combination that draws out true strength." Itachi remained silent, an amused and skeptical look planted firmly on his face, and Kakashi found himself changing tactics, going for an approach even Itachi's warped mind could understand.

"Answer me this, Itachi. When the mangekyo sharingan finally destroys whatever's left of your vision, and your eyes finally fail you, where will you be? What good is a Uchiha without his sharingan? A mere fire-breather? Those are common at any low quality circus, and hardly something to regard with respect." The silver-haired shinobi took a moment to enjoy the pulsating vein bulging in Itachi's temple before continuing.

"But even if my sharingan fails, regardless of the care and respect I treat it with, the loss will not destroy me. True, the power I am left with will never be as great as when we were combined, but I will still have something to hold on to. What will you have?"

Now the smugness in Itachi's face was gone, replaced by cold, quiet fury. The raven held Kakashi's eyes for several long moments, before finally shrugging and flicking a piece of ebony hair from his eyes.

"It's seems you maintain your usual over confidence in your abilities. Perhaps you will see how misplaced this confidence is after I crush you. Remember, Kakashi-san, this is not the first time we have fought, and for all your talk, your history of failure and weakness speaks louder than any words ever could."

"The last time we fought, your eyes were not failing and your body was not weary from a battle with your brother. I would venture to say that today, we are evenly matched."

"Hn."

Kakashi crouched low to the branch in anticipation, Itachi mirroring his movements. Narrowing his scarred eye in a whirl of obsidian and crimson, the silver haired jounin began to reach for one of the numerous pockets of his vest. The time for talking was over.

As he watched his opponent warily, Kakashi was surprised to discover an uncertainty of which really would prove stronger: blood and power, or comrades and loyalty? It seemed the answer was about to be determined by the bloodly light of a setting sun.

Vaguely, Naruto was aware of Sakura skidding to a halt next to them, sending up a spray of pebbles and dust. The rosette's hands moved in a flurry of movement, glowing a furious shade of green that was matched only by the incensed hue that had taken over her grim eyes.

He watched her hands with a numb sense of fascination, not really comprehending anything that was happening around him but unable to look away. Suddenly, he jumped with a start as an intense feeling of heat surged through his veins.

Looking up he found himself trapped in Sakura's stern gaze as she withdrew her finger from his arm and returned it over Sasuke's chest. "Naruto," she ground out as sweat tricked down her forehead, her attention returning to her deathly white patient, "I'm too busy to save you if you start going into shock, so snap out of it. Besides," she grunted with the effort of maintaining whatever powerful medical jutsu she was performing, "I'm going to need your help."

Naruto was instantly alert, his numb trance broken. "Just tell me what to do," he said with grim determination.

Sakura nodded tersely, glancing quickly to appraise the state he was in. "First thing's first," her eyes flickered from Sasuke to Naruto's bloodstained shirt and back again, "are you badly hurt?"

"No," he swallowed furiously at the lump in his throat, "this is all Sasuke's."

She nodded, although the grim look in her eyes did not seem to lighten. On the contrary, she seemed to become increasingly worried with the knowledge of how much blood her patient had already lost.

"Itachi's chidori went straight though his chest. Thank Kami it missed his heart, but I think it punctured his left lung, along with ripping through ribs, muscles, and some pretty big arteries. The only reason he hasn't bled out already is because I'm holding three chakra clamps over the worst areas of blood loss."

Naruto nodded to show he was paying rapid attention, despite the queasy feeling rising in his stomach. "What do you need me to do?"

The rosette raised a shoulder to wipe at some of the sweat over her brow, eyes never leaving the still heavily bleeding wound. "I don't have enough chakra to hold these clamps for long, and even if I did, he is still going to bleed to death unless I start fixing some of the other areas."

Naruto paled, but struggled to keep up with Sakura's rapid explanation. "Can you use my chakra if I transfer it to you?"

Sakura sighed in frustration, the green glow surrounding her hands wavering for a moment before steadying itself. "In theory, yes, but that will only solve one of the problems. We still need to fix the rest of the wound; holding the clamps will only postpone the inevitable."

"So what do we do?"

"You need to hold the chakra clamps for me."

"WHAT!" Naruto's voice was strangled, and he stared at his friend as if she had sprouted a second head. "Sakura-chan, I am not qualified to do anything like that! The only time I've ever used a medical jutsu was when Ero-Sennin tried to teach me how to remove a splinter, and I almost amputated his entire left arm!"

"You just need to keep a tighter control over your chakra; precision is the key.

"Maybe you've forgotten this small fact, but there is a LEGENDARY DEMON living inside of me: chakra precision is not exactly one of my strong points!" Anger and frustration flickered across his face as he glared at his friend, but she matched his gaze evenly.

"Well it had better become one, and fast," Sakura snapped, her fiery eyes boring into his angrily, "Because in five minutes, Sasuke is going to be dead."

Dun dun duuuuun...last cliff hanger of the story (sniffle). Luckily for you the epilogue is already up, but don't forget to tell me what you thought of this chapter, too!