Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything that has to do with the anime/manga.
Warnings: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS A LEMON (but there is some pretty important content in here too)! It also include yaoi, incest, sexual content, coarse language, thoughts of homicide, references to rape, slight thoughts of suicide, some dark themes, OOC, and the canon is not a main factor. This is also a pretty long chapter (not as long as some) and there are many errors in here as well.
Pairings: ItaSasu, NaruSaku, slight SasuSaku
More liquid poured into the vials as he thought back to what happened all of those days ago. If that Uchiha brat hadn't interfered with the capturing of the fox, he would be on his way to the Akatsuki right now. Instead he was here working his ass off to find a way to still accomplish his mission before the organization found out about his failure.
You think you're going to win this, Itachi? He continued to pour the liquid. I disagree; you're once again going to be at my mercy. The poison that went through your brother's veins was strong enough to stop his heart. Even you can't reverse that. You're going to be sidetracked for a while. It's already been a week since then. He took a deep breath as he looked over at Sakura who was sitting on the bed filling her senbon with poison, brushing the pink hair out of her face.
She was perfect for this; there was no way that he would be able to fail with when it came to Sasuke. It was the other brother that they were worried about: Itachi. Itachi had only gotten stronger. He had now mastered medical ninjutsu and increased his strength ten-fold; he was going to be almost impossible to beat. They had to find a way to delay him. Kabuto suddenly cursed taking Sasuke out of the picture.
The pain that Sasuke had sent surging through his body was still there, he was definitely stronger, Itachi was already ten steps ahead of Kabuto. He had to work quickly, otherwise he could lose all the control that he had over Sakura, the second that she found out that this wasn't a real mission was the second that he lost all control over the fox's destiny. He had to work harder.
"Kabuto?" Sakura asked as he looked over at him. "When are we going to save Naruto?"
"Soon," he answered, continuing to mix the poison. I wonder how long it will take for that damn Uchiha to find out the antidote for this one. He's becoming a real pain in my ass.
Sakura continued to work on her senbon. "I'm getting anxious; I just want this day to come faster. This village is getting to dangerous and if what Sasuke said about Itachi is true… then we'll all die for nothing."
"We can defeat him…" Kabuto stated. "Have faith in us… we're going to go after him soon, Sakura, so continue to work on the senbon and work up some chakra, this could be the greatest mission that we've ever been through in our time together. You have to be able to give everything that we have up; there is no going back once you go to the Sound Village…"
"There is nothing here for me if Naruto can come with us. It just hurts that I can't get through to Sasuke. One day I will come back for him when I am strong enough to beat Itachi," she closed her eyes tightly. "Someday I'm going to make this all right again. Nobody else has to get hurt."
Kabuto smiled as he continued mixing the poisons. She's such a sweet young girl, who would have thought that I would be able to get her so easily? Itachi, this girl is going to be your undoing just you watch. And if you do kill her… there will be no hard feelings, it will buy me some time.
He continued to mix as he thought about what he always wanted, the grand struggle. He wanted to watch as Itachi's eyes filled with fear, his body shaking as he begged him to stop. He could almost taste the delight as he watched him give up.
That day will come, sooner than you think… the fox is mine!
-----
"Try again," Itachi breathed as he leaned up against a tree. "We don't have much time left. Kabuto is going to kill you if you keep fighting like this. You can do better than this, do it again!"
He's having a bad day today, Sasuke breathed as he watched his brother close his eyes lightly. It had been a long week for the both of them. This was crunch time up against Kabuto, the time where time for fun was over while they still had sunlight. They worked from dawn until dusk, both of them worn out beyond belief.
However every night before they went to bed, their relationship as lovers progressed over the last few days. The nights were long but they were filled with the sweetest passion that he had ever seen. Itachi had been different then he was before Sasuke got poisoned, they no longer were having the sex that they had been having for before, it actually seemed like it meant something, it was different.
The training however was grueling, Itachi was going insane as he taught Sasuke not only how to use jutsu, but also choreography for proper fighting. He was harder than Kakashi ever was, the plus side to this was after he was done training there was always a reward for his hard work.
Sasuke looked over at him, his heart racing as he tried to catch his breath. "Can't we take a break?" he fell to his knees. "We've been working all day, I need some time to rest," he clutched his head as he swallowed hard. "I have a headache, Itachi…"
The older brother moved to sit next to him, stroking his back. "You have been working hard haven't you? I guess we could call it a day…"
"Does that mean you want to have sex?" Sasuke asked trying to catch his breath. "Or does that mean that we're just going to sit down for a while and then start working our asses off again? We can't live off of alcohol and apples and then expect to go into full scale battle."
"We can win; you've come a long way. You've finally mastered everything that I've thrown at you, you've even come a long way with the clone technique," Itachi smiled happily. "I can feel it this time; I can feel us winning this. Kabuto doesn't stand a chance…"
"You're obsessed," Sasuke breathed, falling to rest on the ground looking up into the sky. "I don't know if I can do anything else all day, I can hardly move," he licked his lips lightly. "I just want to lie down…"
Itachi looked up into the sky at the same point that Sasuke was. After all of this time I thought that he wasn't going to get this far. Now as I look at him I see a different boy than I had before, he's becoming stronger than Kakashi… possibly stronger than me… he placed as hand on his brother's shoulder. "You can take a few minutes off…"
"You're finally done dictating to me?" Sasuke asked, taking deep breaths. "I thought for sure that you would be giving me orders until I was worn out…"
Itachi smiled, his heart finally feeling as though it could be set free. He could finally feel the warmth that Sasuke had been trying to show him for so long. There was more than just pain and devastation. There was love as well. Shisui was wrong; he was able to love someone else other than him. He loved Sasuke.
"You can go inside and rest if you want, we won't start again for a while," the older Uchiha smiled. "You can take a nap…"
"I don't want to sleep," Sasuke breathed. "I just want us to have interaction today that isn't training. It's like we're on a schedule and it's starting to annoy the hell out of me. We train in the morning, have sex at night, then the next day it's the same thing. I want something different…"
Itachi asked his eyes wide. "What more do you want from me?"
"Itachi," Sasuke breathed seductively as he was splayed out on the ground. "I just want you to kiss me, you need time to unwind. We've been training since six this morning. It's fucking noon. We've been at this for six hours; can't we just have a little time for us?" he moved his hand to stroke Itachi's face, feeling the sweat that was clinging to his skin already. "Itachi… come on…"
"Sasuke," Itachi sighed.
"Kiss me…" Sasuke moved forward to take his brother's lips in a light kiss. "There was no harm done in that, was there?" he started to move away as he stood up to continue training. "I think I can manage to keep training now…"
Itachi touched his lips lightly as he watched Sasuke walk behind him, pulling the kunai out of the ground. He had been working hard, his body still shuddering as he tried to catch his breath, his skin glowing with the layer of sweat that had covered him from their sparring. Itachi couldn't even look at him without wanting to take him, without wanting to put off the training just to be with him for one more moment. But the time was drawing closer to when Kabuto was going to make his move.
"Sasuke," Itachi breathed as the young boy looked back at him. "You've mastered everything that I wanted you to in this week. That takes a lot of talent…"
"You've worked me from six in the morning to eleven at night. Do you expect me not to get a lot done?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the look in his brother's eyes. "What's on your mind?"
"Sasuke…" Itachi sighed. "This is an extremely dangerous mission, where one of us might not come out alive…" he shook his head. "Kabuto's only gotten stronger as well and if he did give word the Akatsuki to intervene, then this could be the fight of our lives…" he sighed again. "What I'm trying to say is…"
"You don't have to say anymore," Sasuke breathed, walking toward him quickly. "I get it…"
With that said, Itachi didn't even have the chance to respond to that, Sasuke's lips were pressed passionately up against his, tongues colliding passionately. Itachi's heart raced as he realized that Sasuke had been thinking the same thing. They could die in a month or they could die in an hour, there was no telling when the fight was going to start. This could be one of their last moments.
"Itachi," Sasuke breathed grabbing at his brother's ponytail. "Please…"
The air around them became hazy as they continued to kiss one another, their bodies moving closer. Sasuke moaned as his back was pressed into the grass below him, his tongue slipping past his brother's tight lips, earning a moan from him as hands moved underneath closing to stroke the flesh beneath, the younger Uchiha purring at the contact.
They were supposed to be training, this was supposed to be the time where they prepared against Kabuto, yet this was a dream come true for Sasuke, this was a miraculous dream that he would never want to awaken from. In the last moments of his life he was with Itachi. This was the best and worst time he had ever lived through.
"If we die," Itachi breathed, moving to kiss at Sasuke's neck. "We die together…"
Sasuke felt his legs shake as he felt his brother's tongue run along his jaw line, warmth pooling quickly in his stomach. His vision was clouding as his hands moved to clutch at the crest that was on Itachi's back. He couldn't take this anymore as a tear rolled down his cheek.
"I…" he breathed before Itachi took his lips again, not letting him speak. Sasuke closed his eyes tightly, more tears rolling down his cheeks. He couldn't help but move his hands to the bottom of Itachi's shirt as if saying I want this off, he of course was only met with soft chuckle as his brother moved away from him.
"I guess training's done," Itachi breathed as he moved to untie Sasuke's forehead protector clutching it tightly. "I guess that you've finally had enough of the work for a while," he kissed against his bare forehead, listening to Sasuke softly whisper his name. "I know what you want…"
Sasuke screwed his eyes shut as he felt his brother's hands outline his body, stopping right at his hips, his right one moving to caress his abdomen, the muscles shaking beneath his touch. Deep breaths passed his lips as he tried to contain himself, trying to give into Itachi's sweet kisses.
He swallowed audibly. "I-Itachi…"
"Shhh," Itachi breathed as he kissed at his neck again. "I know…"
They were outside so that any curious person could walk down and see them. Luckily for them, they all knew that Itachi and Sasuke were having sex. There was nothing that he was worried about, except Naruto. If he was stolen soon, Sasuke's whole world would change; he could even lose his life. With that thought in mind, he moved his fingers down to undo his own pants.
Sasuke panted, pushing his brother off of his neck. "Please… Itachi, f-fuck me…"
His words were interrupted as Itachi gently kissed him again, starting to pull the young boy's pants down. They were still outside where the whole world could see them, Sasuke's heart racing at the aspect. For too long they had been locked in that room during the times of their lovemaking. This place was new, the smell of fresh air running through his lungs.
"Sasuke," Itachi breathed as he kissed his brother on the cheek. "Just remember that no matter what you see in the woods, no matter what you come across later on, I love you."
Sasuke kissed him back, deeper than he thought he was able in his half worn out state, his body moving up against his passionately as he craved him, needed him. The world seemed to stop on it's axis as he swallowed hard, his shaking hands moving to grasp as his brother's body. Why did it have to come down to this, both of them holding each other like they were going to die? Sasuke never wanted to feel like this, he never wanted to feel like he was going to lose Itachi in the blink of an eye. Everything was more secure back then; he thought that it would stay like that forever. Now every heartbeat had to be savored, because it could be their last.
"Itachi," Sasuke closed his eyes as he felt his brother move his legs apart, sliding down his body to rest in between them, his fingers stroking his inner thigh.
The way that Itachi's fingers moved, the way that he pressed his lips up against his kneecaps; it made all circulation in Sasuke's body stop. He could get lost in the movements of his brother's body as he gently stroked his flesh looking down into his eyes. Everything that Itachi did was magical, a magic that Sasuke would never be able to resist no matter how he tried.
"Itachi," he breathed, clutching at the grass, watching his brother start to suck on his fingers. "Out here?"
"Do you have a problem with out here?" Itachi asked around his fingers, his eyes never breaking from his younger brother's his hands starting to tremble.
Sasuke had no problem with doing this outside, he just wanted to taste his brother's lips one last time, he wanted to experience the pleasure that his body could give him. He couldn't wait any longer as he looked up at Itachi as he sucked harder at the fingers. He was rushing with the foreplay, barely giving them anytime to prepare. Itachi had a lot on his mind. He could see the fear of death in Itachi's eyes, something he hadn't seen since the night that he was brought to the jounin to extract Kabuto's poison out of Sasuke's body. This was the fear the last real moment that they were going to be together. Out of nervousness and raw passion, he was rushing this.
"Itachi," Sasuke breathed, sliding the fingers out of his brother's mouth. "We don't have to die during this; we could both come out alive. There doesn't always have to be a death in everything that happens, maybe this is the struggle where everyone will live…"
There was a silence as Itachi's hands moved to push Sasuke to the ground, the young boy moaning lightly as he could see the pain in his brother's eyes. This wasn't going to be another one of their usual sessions, everything that Itachi was feeling was to be poured throughout their bond. Sasuke knew that this wasn't going to be just sex to Itachi. This was going to be a farewell.
Their lips clashed again, Sasuke's body shuddering beneath his brother's touch, feeling his fingers starting to wander lower, starting to prod inside of him. All he could manage to do was moan at the contact. This was his farewell, the last thing that he was going to do before they started to focus solely on the mission. Sasuke felt a tear roll down his cheek; he was going to miss this. He was going to miss the simplicity of their life as the complexity came. Every sensation was to be savored, not one could be overlooked.
"I-Ita…!" Sasuke moaned as he felt the fingers push into him deeper, gently grazing at his prostate, driving him deeper into the rainbow kaleidoscope of their passion. He felt more tears roll down his cheeks as he felt the fingers move deeper. How much more of this could he take?
The fingers were enough to make his arousal pulse harder his body shuddering fiercely as he closed his eyes tightly awaiting his brother to enter him. He tried to formulate words but all that were coming through his lips were mindless babblings, incoherent outcries of his brother's name. He could see the delight light up in Itachi's eyes as he reopened his own. The heat was welcoming him, as were Sasuke's spread legs, his tongue moving quickly to lick at his lips. Sasuke was patiently waiting, wanting his brother to come closer to him, wanting Itachi to be inside of him.
"I love you," Sasuke breathed as he felt the fingers dance deep within him, his inner walls working shakily around the digits. "Itachi! Please…" he swallowed extremely hard, his eyes screwing shut tighter than before, his fingers pulling up the grass that he was fisting. "Pl-please…" he shook his head as he felt the fingers continue to assault his prostate. "M-make love to me…"
A gasp passed the older Uchiha's lips as the fingers froze. "You don't want me to fuck you."
Sasuke giggled as he heard his brother curse, it always put a smile on his face. "I want you to make love to me…" he took a deep breath. "I want to remember this for the rest of the time that I'm granted to live. I don't want this to fade away…"
Itachi snickered lightly as he withdrew his fingers, spitting gently in his hand as he unzipped his pants with the other. Everything was unclear, Sasuke could hardly even make out his brother's face as he was masked by the pleasure that he was giving him. Waiting patiently, he looked up into his brother's eyes letting out a single sort purr.
"Sasuke…" Itachi breathed as he moved down to kiss his brother's lips fully, stroking himself, coating himself in the saliva that was in his hand.
Moans were poured into the kiss as his tongue invaded Sasuke's mouth, sliding over every tooth, their bodies shuddering up against one another in a combination of pain and longing. This distance from each other was starting to kill them. Sasuke got lost in the cries that were passing his brother's lips every time that they separate from their kisses. It was a small desperate cry, as if he was asking some higher power if this was it, if this was how it ended.
Time passed as Sasuke lost focus on what was going on, the sweet kisses leaving his lips, as his brother moved back to look down into his eyes. Sasuke could still see the tears that Itachi had been trying to hide this whole time. Moving his shaking hand he moved to stroke Itachi's cheek, trying to wipe the metaphorical tears away, but they were never going away, they were here to stay.
"Sasuke…" Itachi breathed as he grasped his wrist, kissing lightly at his palm. "I love you…" he closed his eyes tightly. "Don't ever forget that…"
Sasuke felt his brother draw closer, pushing at his entrance, a strangled cry passing his lips. "I-I love you too…" his voice shook violently as he fisted the grass tighter. "I-Itachi…"
As Sasuke felt himself being entered by his brother, all he could think about was all that they had been through, all of this pain, all of this agony. How could either of them survive this? Why didn't they give up while they were ahead? Why did Itachi risk everything to get to Sasuke? Why?
"Itachi!" Sasuke breathed as he felt his brother inside of him, their breath becoming heavier as the younger Uchiha let out strangled moans, a smile rolling across his lips. "I…"
Sasuke felt his lips being taken again, the invisible tears rolling down Itachi's cheeks to his. All he could see was the pain that Itachi had gone though in the woods. Why was he doing this? He should have run away, he shouldn't be here having sex with Sasuke. Was he out of his mind?
"Ita…" he tried to speak right before the first thrust was put through his body.
In that instant Sasuke lost all focus on the area around him. The smell of the outdoor air, the gently breeze that was blowing across his face, his joints that were sore from their training sessions, he couldn't feel a thing. It no longer mattered.
Their eyes locked as Sasuke bucked his hips into all of Itachi's thrusts feeling the emotions that were surging through his body. Pain, sorrow, guilt, hate, joy, hope, Sasuke could sense all of those present in the beauty of the moment. He could sense all of those emotions, returning them as their hearts beat faster, Sasuke's arms moving to wrap around his brother's body pulling him into a kiss as they continued to grind up against each other.
"Sas…" he took a deep breath as he thrust harder, hitting Sasuke's prostate passionately, the young genin letting out small moans.
Sasuke swallowed hard as he closed his eyes tightly, his legs tightening around his brother's waist. Itachi could die when they went up against Kabuto. Itachi was fading as Sasuke touched him right now; this was going to be nothing more than a memory after the battle was over. This was all they were guaranteed.
The sensations that rolled through Sasuke's body weren't the same as they were all of the other times that they had done this; the pulsations of his brother's length didn't seem so hurried, so quick lasting. It was deeper, the feeling rolling through Sasuke's whole body as he continued to thrust into him, breath condensing on the genin's already moist skin.
"Itachi," Sasuke breathed, feeling his body starting to shake harder, his fingers moving to stroke his brother's cheek, pulling him into a tremulous kiss, both of their lips shuddering up against one another's. In the midst of the kiss, Itachi's hand moved down in between them to take hold of Sasuke's pulsing erection, squeezing lightly. Itachi kissed Sasuke harder as the both moaned, moving against each other passionately, their pulses almost beating at the same fast pace.
The pace of Itachi's hand was the same as the thrusts that he pushed through his brother, the same pace that his own heart was beating at. Everything seemed to be at the same tempo, everything accenting this moment. Itachi was doing exactly what Sasuke had asked him to do on a whim: he was making love to him.
"Itachi…" Sasuke swallowed hard as he felt his brother's grip on his erection tighten. "I-I…" he closed his eyes tightly trying to hold back his orgasm, trying to climax this early.
Yet the thrusts that were being sent through him, the hand that was wrapped around his arousal, the kisses that were being planted on his lips, he couldn't block out any of them, he couldn't pretend that they weren't happening. His muscles clenched around his brother's length as he swallowed hard letting out a loud moan.
"Sasuke…" Itachi breathed, moving to bite at Sasuke's neck lightly, sucking at the skin, hearing him moan loudly. "I love you," he ran his tongue along the throbbing pulse in Sasuke's neck.
Sasuke felt as the thrusts became desperate, Itachi's climax was coming soon. Sasuke's hand moved to weave his fingers through his brother's necklace, pulling him into a hiss, his own hips working erratically as to ease both him and his brother to their orgasms. This was the moment that they were waiting for and feared. This was going to mark the end of their lovemaking; this was going to mark one of the last times they could be like this.
Itachi moved to press his lips up against Sasuke's as he took a deep breath. "Sasuke…" he kissed him fiercely as his body shook up against Sasuke, the younger Uchiha's shuddering with orgasm at the same time. Their lips still touched even as the white hot warmth rolled through them, their bodies still up against one another's.
This was the last time that Sasuke thought they were going to do this. He thought that the heartbeat that he was getting lost in right now would soon stop, ceasing to exist. The heart that he had listed to every night in his dreams was being threatened throughout all of this. Sasuke wouldn't be able to lose him; he would never be able to keep going on if Sakura or Kabuto killed his brother. He would destroy them.
"Wow," Itachi breathed as he backed away from Sasuke's body, straightening himself out back to almost the same condition he was in before they started. "That was a good break from everything we've been working on," he licked his lips lightly. "I don't think I can continue to train you for a while. We're going to take a break."
"H-how can you be so articulate?" Sasuke asked breathlessly. "You just had sex… and it was really good," he looked into Itachi's eyes as he felt his hands stroke his cheek. "Itachi…"
The older Uchiha grasped Sasuke pants handing them to his half conscious brother. "You can take a break; you've been training all day. But after we're done resting we're going to work on the clone technique, it's the only one that you haven't gotten at a solid level," he kissed him on the lips as he backed away, Sasuke's hand taking the pants gently in his hands.
The tears that were rolling down Itachi's face were still there, the pain was still in his eyes. As Sasuke struggled to put his pants back on, he looked up at his brother who was walking away, looking at the crest that was on his back. He was different, that moment in the woods changing him into a new person. Sasuke didn't even know what was going on in his mind anymore. No matter how many times they kissed he would never know. Maybe it was better that way.
"I love you too…"
-----
"Are you going to be able to handle him?" Kakashi asked as he made his way to the doorway of Naruto's apartment. "There are people after him; do you think that you can handle them when they come for him?"
"I believe I can," the chuunin answered as he looked over at the jounin who was leaving the room. "I can handle Naruto better than anyone else, Kakashi, and I will protect him with my life."
Everything was silent until the jounin sighed. "Iruka, this is a life or death situation. If Naruto gets taken away there's no telling what will happen to him. Sakura's life is also at stake because of Naruto does get taken, Itachi will find out and he will kill her without a second thought."
"It's that serious?" Iruka asked as he leaned up against the wall. "It's so serious that if one person screws up we could lose a handful of genin? What exactly is going on in Konoha these days? Why is Naruto so damn important to them?"
"We don't know that," Kakashi answered as he held on tighter to his cane, trying to keep his balance. "But if we can get Kabuto Yakushi in our custody then we can understand what the purpose is…" he moved his hand to open the door.
Iruka shook his head. "If this gets to that point, Kakashi, what is the village going to do? How is the Hokage going to deal with a kidnapping?" he took a deep breath. "He hasn't exactly stopped this; he was too focused on Itachi to pay any attention to the real threat: Kabuto Yakushi."
There was another silence as the wind blew against the window. This was the wrong village to be in at the wrong time. Two men from highly dangerous backgrounds were using Konoha as a battlefield, both wanting to leave peacefully as long as the other one died. The village retaliated at Itachi, causing him injuries as Kabuto ran free causing more trouble for the village. Currently the question was, which one of them was causing more trouble? Kabuto or Itachi?
"I leave this to you," Kakashi breathed as he opened the door. "If anything happens, tell me and I'll try to help you as soon as possible. We're all in this together, remember that, Iruka. You aren't alone."
The jounin walked out of the door leaving a confused chuunin behind. Naruto was their goal, yet they only left someone of Iruka's level there. They should have left Gai or Kurenai to guard instead of him. He was a teacher at the Academy, he wasn't a warrior.
"So that's it then?" Naruto asked from the next room. "I sit here and I wait. Is that what I have to do? Is that the choice that you all have made for me? I just sit here and wait for either Itachi or Kabuto to walk through the door, and then I just let them kill me. Is that what I do now, Iruka-sensei?"
The chuunin sighed. "I know it's not fair but…"
"Not fair?" Naruto scoffed. "This is more than unfair, this is unjust. I'm human aren't I, Iruka-sensei? Aren't I human or am I just an animal that they can test on as much as they please?"
"Naruto…" Iruka hushed. "Please… calm down…"
"While I sit here waiting for my doom Kabuto is out there killing my teammates. All I can do is sit here and wait helplessly as I watch them die. That's all I can ever do is just watch or run. That's all I can do…" he sniffled as he held back the tears. "I can never do anything to save Sasuke or Sakura, all I can do is watch…" he moved to embrace Iruka starting to sob in his chest. "All I do is cause them more trouble, I'm nothing but annoying, nothing but an abomination."
The embrace was returned as Iruka held onto Naruto tighter, trying to fight the tears that were building up in his own eyes, his hands shaking up against his body. "You're not an abomination, I will never think of you as an abomination. I strongly believe that we will all make it through this, we're all going to come out of this alive and Konoha will be peaceful again…"
Naruto quickly backed away from the hug as he walked into another room. "Your dream is always going to be a dream, Iruka-sensei; nothing like that ever comes true. If ambitions were to come true, they wouldn't be dreams or goals, they'd be something greater than that. To achieve our dreams and goals we shouldn't have to go through this much pain. Team 7 was never going to achieve their dreams. It was all just a cruel joke to bring us down," a tear fell to the ground. "And it worked."
"Naruto…" Iruka breathed as he watched Naruto walk to the bedroom to collapse on the bed sobbing. It's not fair what they put you through. You never asked to go through all of this torment. You never asked to be the nine-tailed fox's host. Now that you are, all they can see is the demon and that's all they'll ever see. And it's a damn shame that it has to be that way. A tear rolled down his cheek as he turned around. "I'm sorry."
-----
Sasuke sat on the ground looking down at his feet. It had been a long day today. The training seemed almost grueling to the point where he thought that he could barely move. All day it had been hard work, Itachi almost ruthless in his training sessions. Sasuke never thought he could cover so much ground in a week.
The only gaps in the day were the long minutes where they were kissing each other, holding onto each other tightly, the time where Itachi hand laid Sasuke in the grass and took hold of his body and spirit. Sasuke almost blanked at that moment, but he knew what they had done, they had sex.
"Itachi?" Sasuke asked as he looked over at his brother who was putting on a pair of black leather gloves. "What exactly did we do in the grass back there?"
The older Uchiha seemed engrossed in his preparations. "I did what you wanted me to do: I made love to you."
Itachi was short and to the point when answering Sasuke's questions ever since after they recently had sex. It was like something had changed within him as he compulsively prepared for a mission that he wasn't even sure was going to come. He was too busy with weapons or alcohol to focus on Sasuke. It was like the invisible tears were real, covering up the heartache that was wrenching inside of him.
"So one more technique?" Sasuke asked, trying to grant his brother's attention.
Itachi looked back at him. "I did it because I wanted to feel you one last time before we went into combat," he sighed as he dropped his hands to his side. "I don't know if you or I are going to come back from this. We are in the critical era, Sasuke, the time where if I screw up… I could lose you forever…"
The younger Uchiha closed his eyes. "Itachi… I'm not going to die…"
"Don't give me that bullshit," Itachi curled his fists tighter, the creaking of leather filling Sasuke's ears. "You don't know if you're going to live, you don't know if I'm going to live, you don't know if Sakura is going to live. All you know is that we all have a chance of dying; this could be the end of everything that I've worked so hard for, everything that you've worked so hard for."
"We have a chance," Sasuke breathed, looking at his brother's fists. "We have the upper hand…"
"I don't want a repeat of last time," Itachi stated almost silently. "I don't want to see you in that much pain again, Sasuke, not because you wanted to take a fatal hit for me. We could be separated; it could be hours before either of us even knows that we died. This is dangerous, I'm not sure if you're ready…"
Sasuke curled his hands into fists. "Fuck you. Don't give me this you don't think I'm ready bullshit. You've trained me to be the best that I could be. I did everything that you said and surpassed your expectations. And you don't think I'm ready?"
"Sasuke…" Itachi started.
"I'm not the kid that I was before; you said that I had potential and that you wanted me to release that potential. If you cage me then everything you worked do hard for means crap," he moved to touch a gloved hand. "I'm going to make it out of there alive no matter what, Itachi. I'm not going to weigh you down anymore; I'm going to show you what I can really do. And you're going to love me…"
Itachi looked down at his younger brother with a smirk on his face. "Sasuke…" he stroked his cheek, watching him flinch at the feeling of the leather. "I guess this means that we have to keep working if you want to get anywhere. First off, you're going to have to watch out for that left hand, with all of the punching you're going to be doing; you're going to draw blood."
There was another silence as the wind passed through Sasuke's ears. Itachi tightened his left fist as his right hand moved to tuck another chain underneath his shirt. It had the ring attached to it. Sasuke's eyes moved to the hand that was tucking the ring away, Itachi no longer wore it on his finger; he was starting to realize that he wasn't their slave anymore. He was real.
"Itachi," Sasuke breathed as he brushed the hair out of his face, fighting the wind. "This is the last jutsu that I need to master, right?"
"Yeah," Itachi nodded as he walked in front of him. "After you can grasp this, you will be able to be trusted on your own. If we are separated, I want to feel confident that you're going to be alright; otherwise I just threw you to the wolves. Also if the Akatsuki does get involved, I want you to run away from it. Don't try to save me; I'll last longer than you will."
Sasuke looked down at the ground as they continued to walk. "So this is going to be it, this was the moment that you've been waiting for. I have a question. After you're done with all of this, what happens to us? What happens to me after you're done beating Kabuto to a bloody pulp?"
Itachi was silent.
"Itachi!" Sasuke urged as they stopped in the middle of the woods.
"Why are you thinking so far ahead?" Itachi asked as he started to shake lightly. "Can't you tell that I don't want to let you go, I would never be able to no matter how I tried," he looked back at him. "Sasuke, you're the one who made me realize that maybe this whole time I didn't have to be a slave to my own black heart, that I could break free if I tried hard enough."
"The Akatsuki deserve anything that you can do to them," Sasuke sighed as they started walking again. "If I get my hands on one of those bastards they are as good as dead. No one treats my brother like shit and gets away with it."
Itachi smirked evilly. "You know, Sasuke," he looked over at him. "This is going to be the first time that anyone will allow you to work by yourself in combat. I know that you went on the mission to the Land of Waves, but you had people to help you back then. This time I could be too occupied to help you, and there will be no Naruto or Sakura…"
"I can do it," Sasuke breathed. "I'm going to get recognized by you. I'm powerful, Itachi…"
"I know you have power, but can you use it?" Itachi continued. "Potential is a crazy thing, if you can't use it then all of your hard work would be a waste. I don't want that for you. I don't want you to be another waste…"
Sasuke sighed as the reached the same clearing that Itachi had brought him to earlier. This was where it all started; this was where Kabuto had attacked them for the first time, revealing his identity to Itachi. Was this going to be another repeat? Was Itachi going to leave him alone to get into more trouble?
"Are you going to leave?" Sasuke asked, glancing back at his brother.
Itachi shook his head as he smiled lightly. "I want to see what you keep doing wrong," he leaned up against one of the remaining trees. "You should have gotten it down by now. It's not really all that difficult. Create a clone; focus your chakra into it, and then release."
Sasuke thought about all of the techniques that his brother had mastered so easily. After Mystical Palms, the Poison Extraction technique seemed like child's play. All he had to do was pick up a book and memorize what to do in almost an instant. If Itachi didn't have a sharingan, none of this would have been possible.
The wind blew strong up against Sasuke's face as he quickly made a clone. He could sense the smile on Itachi's face even in the first steps of this process. He remembered Itachi's words as he walked away from the clone. Focus and release, focus and release, it was easier said than done. Yet he had to do it right this time, this was the moment to really make Itachi proud of him. This was the technique that they had made that bet on weeks ago, the bet that Sasuke had failed to do. This time was different; he wasn't going to be contrary to his brother anymore. He was going to do what he said.
As he was out of the blast zone, he watched as Itachi backed away as well. This was the moment for him to show that he had improved; otherwise Itachi would laugh at him again. He never thought he would have seen a person like Itachi Uchiha actually break down and laugh at someone's mistakes. He was so cruel, but the cruelty was enough to make Sasuke work harder, to watch him look like an idiot.
Focus and release, he closed his eyes tightly as he quickly focused chakra into the clone. Release! As he thought that word the clone exploded, the blaze reflecting in Itachi's red eyes, his jaw dropping slightly. Sasuke had gotten the technique right on his first try; usually it took him at least five times to even get it half right.
"What the…?" Itachi stared wide eyed as he staggered closer to the site, falling to his knees as he got to the center of the field. "S-Sasuke… you…" he looked up at his younger brother. "Y-you…"
"At a loss for words?" Sasuke asked as he walked closer to Itachi, watching him shake lightly. "I did your damn technique…"
"Y-you…" Itachi looked up at him. "Y-you… how?"
"Did you think I was never going to do it?" Sasuke asked with a smirk.
"I knew you wouldn't be able to," Itachi continued. "That technique is not for genin. How did you even do it…?"
Sasuke moved to stroke his brother's face. "I had a talented tutor."
They took each other's lips in a light kiss as Sasuke's arms wrapped around his brother's shaking body. They were ready to go into battle. Kabuto and Sakura were going to both pay for all that they had done. The outcome was obvious; the Uchihas had the upper hand.
Sakura, Sasuke kissed lightly at his brother's neck, pulling at the necklace with his teeth. You're mine…
-----
The door swung open, Sakura gasping in shock as Kabuto ran in to grab the senbon that were laced with the new poison, shoving them all into his pouch. She watched as his hands trembled lightly with delight, a devious smile on his face as he looked back at her.
"Gather your weapons, Sakura," Kabuto snickered as he grasped a few poison laced kunai, placing them in his pouch along with the senbon.
She raised an eyebrow. "What the hell is going on? Why are we packing our things, Kabuto?" she reached to place all of her senbon in her pouch, watching as he master started to walk toward the door. "Kabuto?"
There was a long silence as Kabuto stood in the doorway, looking back at her as he tied on his Sound forehead protector tighter. Sakura's pulse raced as she realized what was going on. Throughout all of her studies under him she never thought this day was going to come so soon. There would be outside interference. Could they handle both Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha?
"We're starting out journey to the Sound Village," he started to walk through the door. "Come Sakura, we don't have much time. The Uchihas will sense our movement in no time at all. They'll come for us."
She looked at the window right before he stood up. She was going to have to fight Sasuke, a person who was on her team, a person that she loved. As much as she tried to tell herself that she couldn't love him anymore, the more she knew that she always would. She couldn't look around what he had done. It wasn't that he was in love with someone else. It wasn't that he was in love with a man. It wasn't that he was in love with his brother. It was because he was trying to cover it up. It was because he was in love with a person that he preached about hating, a person who almost killed two jounin, a person who was trying to kill Naruto. It wasn't jealousy that drove her to Kabuto, it was the disgust that she had toward both Itachi and Sasuke. Their plan to kill Naruto was sick. She had to stop them.
"I'm coming," she answered as she moved toward the door. She remembered Sasuke's lips on hers, Itachi's lips on her hand, were they really trying to hurt her? No matter how she tried, she just couldn't see it from their point of view. That night by the river, was that a lie too? Was it even rape? Or was it just the grand introduction to Itachi's plot? She couldn't even think about what was going on in the past months, it made her sick just to visualize it.
"So," Kabuto started as they closed the door behind them. "I thought that we would go pick up Naruto," he looked at Sakura. "Are you alright with that?"
Sakura nodded. "Yeah."
She was still thinking about the Uchiha brothers, she thought she could trust both of them, but they were just playing her. To think that she actually helped to teach Itachi medical ninjutsu, she was an idiot. She trusted Itachi; she didn't want to believe that he raped Sasuke, now she couldn't believe it. There was no way that he could rape someone and then have love as a response. Was it rape or just really violent sex?
"Do you have any problems with hurting either of the Uchiha brothers?" Kabuto asked as they moved to the stairs, his dark eyes looking straight into her green ones. "Sasuke or Itachi?"
"No," she closed her eyes tightly as she curled her hand into a tight fist. "I have no problems whatsoever."
-----
Iruka watched as Naruto continued to sob on the bed; it had been almost an hour since Kakashi left the apartment. It was quiet outside of the apartment, too quiet for the chuunin's liking. Anyone could break in here at any time, there was nothing stopping them from entering the apartment. Iruka wouldn't be able to handle Itachi if it was him, he couldn't handle Kabuto Yakushi either.
Why did the leave me in charge? He asked himself as he held onto a kunai, his hand shaking lightly. He never thought that he would have to get involved in all of the uproar about Itachi Uchiha and Kabuto Yakushi. He thought that his job was to protect the students in case one of the two antagonists decided to try to take hostages; he never thought he would be protecting the goal of both missions. He never found himself to be a person who they would leave such a valuable person in the hands of.
Every time the wind blew he would jump up to see if some one was at the door. His breath was speeding up as he continued to look at the door. This wasn't supposed to be happening to him. He wasn't even involved in this case when it was just Itachi that they were worried about. Now there were two people who could eventually kill Naruto as well as him.
Suddenly he heard the sound draw closer, someone was coming toward the door, his hand tightening around the kunai as he looked back at Naruto who had cried so hard that he was now unconscious. He wasn't going to let anyone take him from Konoha. Iruka would die before he let Naruto go.
The door started to open as Iruka's body started to heat up, his heart racing in his chest. Come on, who is it? Itachi or Kabuto?
"It's locked," a voice called out, it was clearly male. "Can you open it…?" Iruka waited patiently for the accomplice's name: Sasuke or Sakura. His eyes widened in shock as he heard who it was. "… Sakura?"
"Shit," Iruka whispered as he backed away from the door, watching it fall down, hitting the ground with a large thud. He looked up to see one of his best students in the class standing in the doorway next to Kabuto Yakushi, a blank expression on her face. "S-Sakura…"
The two of them walked into the apartment, looking down at the chuunin. "Sakura? Do you know who this is?" Kabuto asked with a devious smile on his face. "You seem to have knowledge of Konoha ninja."
Sakura looked down at him, her eyes never showing any emotion. "Iruka Umino, a Konoha chuunin, he teaches children at the Academy how to be ninja. He's not threat to us," she moved to sit next to her old teacher. "We don't want to hurt you, Iruka-sensei, just give us Naruto and we'll leave you be."
The chuunin looked up at the Sound forehead protector that was on Sakura. "So you're with him now Sakura? I thought you were better than this."
"Give the same speech to Sasuke," she continued as she pulled out a single senbon. "He's the one who went off with Itachi Uchiha. We aren't here to kill anyone; we're here to save Naruto by taking him Lord Orochimaru…"
Iruka's eyes widened. "Orochimaru?"
"Yes," Sakura continued as she looked into her old sensei's eyes. "What about him? Do you know something about Orochimaru?" she could feel Kabuto's dark eyes widening as she asked that question. "Do you know of him?"
"Who doesn't?" Iruka hissed. "That pervert killed his own men experimenting on them to gain immortality. His dream is to gain control of every jutsu, to do that he's been jumping from body to body. He doesn't want you, Sakura, he wants Sasuke," he moved to hold her hand. "Get out of here while you still can…"
"Iruka-sensei?" a voice asked from the other room. The chuunin looked over to see Naruto starting to get out of bed, his heart stopping in his chest, his grip tightening on Sakura's hand.
"Naruto! Stay back! Run away!" Iruka shouted as he looked back at Sakura. "Get out of here, Sakura. Kabuto only wants to do one thing with you, Naruto, and Sasuke. He wants to bring you to the Sound Village to kill you! Orochimaru is going to…!"
Right before he could finish his sentence, Kabuto drove a kunai into his stomach, blood rolling down his lips as he coughed once, his eyes clouding with the pain. He could hear both Naruto and Sakura cry out as he was starting to lose sight of everything that was around him.
"N-Naruto…" he coughed again more blood rolling past his lips. "Run!" his voice broke as he fell face down into Sakura's lap, the girl squealing in shock as she looked up at Kabuto, her eyes watering.
"Why?" she asked as she felt the chuunin start to bleed on her. "Why?"
Kabuto kept a blank look on his face. "Because he isn't going to help you in your quest to Orochimaru and freedom, he only wanted to bring you down, Sakura. So I wounded him. He's going to die; the kunai that I used was laced with my poison. He'll be dead sooner than you think."
She looked back at Naruto. "But will Naruto be safe?"
"Sakura?" Naruto asked, walking to her. "What the hell are you doing with this guy? We've all been worried about you. I'm glad to see that you're back," he tried to hide the tears that were I his eyes as he heard Iruka starting to choke. "Why are you doing all of this?"
"To set you free," Sakura answered lightly as she extended her hand. "Come with me, please Naruto."
Naruto looked down at Iruka, his eyes growing suddenly stronger as he looked his old comrade in the eyes, his hand curling into a fist. "Fuck you!" he drove the fist into Sakura's face watching the blood start to roll from her nose, he body falling flat on her back. "I don't give a damn about your Orochimaru, nor do I give a damn about Kabuto Yakushi or Itachi Uchiha. You make me sick, Sakura… you make me sick…"
Sakura tried to reach hand out to grasp Naruto right before the two senbon hit him in the neck, his breathing almost stopping right there. The look in his blue eyes as the poison started to flow through him. Her own breathing stopped as he fell to his knees, his body starting to shake lightly as he vomited a small amount.
"Kabuto?" Sakura asked, looking back at her new master. "What are you doing? What was that for?"
"We have to save him, Sakura, whether he wants to go willingly or not. The poison won't hurt him because of the power of the fox," he moved to pick the young boy up off of the ground. "We have to go quickly; no doubt the Uchiha brothers could sense that. Itachi has a knack for having knowledge on events that are going on."
Sakura looked down at Naruto who was in Kabuto's arms, he hands moving to stroke lightly at his face. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she moved to kiss lightly at his lips feeling small amounts of breath seeping through the small opening between them. This isn't what she wanted this to go like. Was Iruka right about Orochimaru and the Sound Village?
"Get out of here, Sakura. Kabuto only wants to do one thing with you, Naruto, and Sasuke. He wants to bring you to the Sound Village to kill you! Orochimaru is going to…!"
She bit at her lips gently as she tried to stay focused. This was what she wanted, no matter how it turned out as of now; she had to remember that she chose it to be like this. She could have chosen a different path. She chose freedom, Naruto chose to be a slave, and Sasuke chose to be imprisoned in his own home.
"Let's get going," Kabuto answered lightly as he walked out of the door. "We're starting to fall behind schedule. It'll take a few days to get to the Sound Village. In order to get there before Itachi and Sasuke catch up, we'll have to leave now," he looked back at Sakura who was looking down at the dying chuunin. "Are you ready?"
She nodded shakily as she looked away from Iruka. "Yeah," she whimpered. "I'm ready."
She walked toward the doorway where she had knocked the door down, thinking about all that she had done. No one was supposed to get hurt, yet she ran a dagger through Sasuke's chest and watched as Iruka and Naruto were poisoned. Was this the right choice? Or was she making a mistake? A tear rolled down here eyes as she walked alongside Kabuto who was holding Naruto bridal style.
I was right, wasn't I? She shook her head, trying to fight the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. Wasn't I?
She walked into the darkness, her heart sinking with every single step. What had she done to the place that she called home? What had she done?
Author's Note: I know that this chapter was a little upsetting seeing as Sakura and Kabuto actually got Naruto, and Naruto and Iruka have been poisoned. It looks like they're going to win this so far, and that's going to upset people, I can't tell you if the tables are going to turn. So what did you think? Good? Bad? Think that Kabuto and Sakura need a HUGE ass-whooping? Honesty is always good and is my policy.