Summary:

'"Please Itachi… I know I can't save Sasuke but I can save you." Itachi considered these words before knocking Naruto's hand away.' Redemption begins in the form of salvation, at least that's what Naruto believes. ItaNaru Spoilers for Manga Chapters 365+'

Pairing:

ItaNaru

One-sided SasuNaru

Challenge From:

xXxFrostyIceCubexXx

Warnings:

Character death, Manga incorporation, predictions as to 'what happens next', sexual situations later on/eventual Yaoi.

Cursed Salvation, Descending Redemption

Chapter Forty Eight

Peace

A state of mutual harmony between people or groups, esp. in personal relations

平和

Uchiha Madara had, at one point, been the figurehead of the Uchiha clan, praised because he was the strongest (smiling beside Izuna as the brothers were hoisted up on the shoulders of their relatives, after a particularly gruelling fight had been one), and respected because he had the intelligence of a leader.

And that was exactly what he had become; a leader to Uchiha. With his Mangekyou Sharingan, the Uchiha clan had prospered beautifully, overcoming every obstacle thrown their way. Izuna and Madara had been an exceedingly powerful combination, and given greatness to the Clan, the highest honour possible.

And then, when everything seemed to be going so well, the world crashed around Madara. It had been in battle, one against the Senjuu clan, ironically, when the world fell into darkness, and he had stumbled, eyes widening without sight.

It had been Izuna - when wasn't it - who had given him light back, crashing into him and knowing them down.

"What the fuck are you doing aniki? Get the fuck up!"

Izuna had always been one for profanities, and Madara had reopened his eyes, Mangekyou swirling as he could see. Uchiha and Senjuu were fighting around him, and a man with long, brown hair walked up to him.

They locked eyes with one another for a moment, before leaping in to fight one another, wooden projections firing themselves at Madara as he fought to trap the other in an illusion.

That day, Madara and Hashirama had undertaken their first of many battles, and Madara had never been able to rid himself of the burning eyes of the Senjuu Clan's leader. Uchiha had won that fight and returned to their camp, Izuna running up alongside him and patting him on the back with a mighty thump.

"We got 'em good, eh aniki?"

Something about his little brother's smile made Madara smile in turn, and they laughed their way back home, where their mother was waiting with the broth she had cooked up while the fighters in the clan had gone off to secure another peaceful night.

Madara had forgotten about the lapse in eyesight, until he was out hunting. Izuna and some of the other kids had rallied together to drag the slightly older Madara out with them, and despite protests that he needed to help guard the camp, he had been dragged along.

His peers who had been on guard duty had laughed, saying that although Madara was incredibly strong, they did need dinner that night, and even with Izuna they would not be as protected. If the two strongest Uchiha went out with the children of the clan then they would be safe, and be sure to bring dinner home.

A falcon flew over head and Madara looked upwards, instantly signalling to Izuna that he was going to follow the bird. It was a trick he had learnt; he would follow the bird and usually they would lead him to a rabbit warren, or a less tended area of a clan's farming land. He would then be able to bring dinner home, or, if in fail of that, be shot of the group and work on controlling the giant fox he had dreamt of mastering.

Madara had been watching the bird, Sharingan activated to track its progress through the trees, when darkness had clouded his view, and he had stumbled on catching his landing, slipping from the trees and landing on the ground with a muffled oof.

In the darkness, panic had welled up inside of him as Madara felt around, looking for a hold to help him stand from having the wind knocked out of him. The falcon was long gone, as was Izuna this time, and it took close to ten minutes before vision started creeping back.

Yet nothing was as it used to be. Everything had a slight smear to it, a clouded edge, as if everything would be thrown into darkness any second. The chakras of animals around were still as distinctive as before, just not as bright. Everything was normal, yet tauntingly so, a little hint here and there to mock Madara, tell him that it could happen again at any moment.

He was losing the most important thing to an Uchiha; his eyes.

Walking back to camp, Madara's mind had been filled with possibilities - almost all jumping to the worst conclusion - and he was so preoccupied that he hardly noticed when Izuna and the rest of the group fell into step with him.

"Where's your catch?"

Madara looked sideways, ignoring the shock that was clear on Izuna's face when it was revealed his Sharingan was deactivated. Normally Madara never deactivated his bloodline when away from the camp.

"Lost it," was the simple reply to the question, and the elder ignored Izuna's frown.

"So you make us do all the work then aniki? It's not as if this is the first time... but you normally come back with one mangey rabbit at least. Losing your edge?"

Madara stiffened and walked onwards, pointedly ignoring the rest of the little pack. When they entered the camp, Madara strode straight to his tent, making sure to buckle the hide entrance so that Izuna would have problems getting in. Sure his brother could resort to using chakra in any form, but then he would feel the disapproval of the clan, and it was certain that their father would give him a lecture.

And they both knew their father could go on a rant for days.

When his eyes failed him for the third, fourth and fifth times, Madara could no longer ignore the threat. They were preparing to ambush a nearby clan, one that had been becoming a little too cocky when it came to boundaries, and Madara felt his eyes tingle, mocking him as they were about to descend into blindness.

There was nothing he could do about it, either. Madara would enter this fight blindly and fight for his life, where the others would merely be fighting to keep the Uchiha's position at shared-number-one.

And so he fought, in darkness, using his other senses to tell him when to parry an attack, when to use his kusarigama war fan, when to duck and, finally, when his back was pressed against Izuna's, something that occurred frequently in battle.

They were the best in the clan, constantly pitted against each other in battle, always fighting together. Head-to-head, and Madara couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy in amongst the love he felt; Izuna was younger than him, and already on par with his skills. How long would it take until he surpassed him and became the full leader of Uchiha?

Losing his brother was one thing, as he would if Izuna suddenly had all these other obligations, but to lose the clan as well? He had spent so long being praised as the best that Madara simply assumes he would inherit the title of leader when he was old enough. With the blindness settling in, those hopes seemed scorched into ashes, with Izuna rising in the heat of the flame.

"Come on then aniki, back home for a celebration! Did you see the looks on their faces when they saw us? Amazing..."

Of course, Madara did not say that he hadn't seen them, and simply nodded with a mumbled 'yes', before following the footsteps of his clan and leaving Izuna alone.

It was three days later that Madara overheard Izuna talking to the clan elders. It wasn't unusual for him to be talking to them, Madara would often stop by for tea in the afternoon, either talking about the weather around them or a mission they were to undertake for a country, but it was the topic of conversation.

"Something's wrong with Madara."

Pressing his ear against the canvas of the tent, Madara frowned.

"He's been acting odd lately, ignoring me and others, and I was talking to him the other day and it was as if he couldn't see me. I tried to think what I'd done to offend him but-"

"Izuna," interrupted one of the council, a woman by her stern tone, "Have you ever considered how much you and your brother use your Mangekyou? As there has never been a Mangekyou user before, it's hard to tell the possible side effects. This technique could be causing all manner of damage... then again one could argue why you haven't experienced any of this behaviour."

Silence ruled for a moment before Izuna spoke again, "Can't you just give him a medical check up?"

At that point, Madara turned away, curling his upper lip. He didn't need Izuna's sympathy, and who did the idiot think he was anyway? Getting the whole clan involved in something so stupid?

Madara went for the medical exam anyway, the next day. Izuna had tagged along as well, biting his bottom lip in worry every time the medic nin's hands moved to a new area, as was protocol. Madara ignored him, tensing only when the medic brought his hand to his face.

After the examination, Izuna was told to leave, being reassured that nothing was wrong but the medic wanted to ask Madara some personal questions. With a happy smile, Izuna left, convinced there was nothing wrong with his brother.

Madara, however, had no such thoughts. The medic had sent Izuna out because he had something bad to tell him, something he already knew.

"You have substantial damage to your eyes, so much that I can't pin-point an origin. Obviously you knew about this, don't deny it, I felt you tense, and I'd wager it has something to do with your Mangekyou."

Madara looked down to the ground and nodded.

"Well, what do you want to do? I'd suggest an eye transplant... I can't heal the damage, it's so extensive that you'd go blind in the procedure anyway. The only problem is that you'd need fresh eyes... and I don't keep eyes around here. Plus your body would have to be close in chakra signature, closer than just a second cousin."

The medic looked sympathetic and Madara resisted the urge to just leave.

"I'm sorry, but we'll think of something. In the mean time, I want you to come back every other day, for a quick check up. If we find out how quickly they're deteriorating, we can combat the progress of that with some medicine."

And so Madara attended these sessions dutifully, checking to see how much he could see, how far and how quickly his eyes reacted, took the bitter tasting medicine and reported on how little he could actually see anymore.

He was in his third week of 'treatment' when, at home, he suffered from a moment of blindness at dinner and knocked over his drink, ruining the supper their mother had spent all day preparing.

"Madara!" Came the cry of his parents as he left the table. He couldn't see anything in the confusion, couldn't even apologise for what he had done because he couldn't look them in they eye and say sorry.

He didn't notice Izuna behind him, and when his brother tapped him on the shoulder, he whirled round, grabbing the air blindly for his attacker.

"Aniki, what are you doing?"

Madara's arms stilled at once and he muttered, "Nothing," before walking from the tent and over to the medic, not worrying about getting lost as he had memorised the exact route in case of this happening.

And, once again, he had not realised Izuna was following him until he had entered the medic's tent and sat on the chair, answering to a simple question as to whether he could see anything at the moment.

The answer was a firm no.

And Izuna, with his hand half clutching the flaps of the entrance to the tent, gasped.

Madara turned unseeing eyes to his brother, he could locate him now that his eyes were returning to their normal seeing state, and felt panic creeping up.

Izuna, lovely, sweet, little Izuna knew about his deadly secret. His cute little brother, his wonderful little brother, his talented little brother... the little brother who had followed every step of his life in Madara's footsteps, even to the point of obtaining the Mangekyou.

"I want to help."

Izuna's voice was firm, as if he had made a decision months ago.

Which was wrong; Izuna didn't even know he was blind until a few seconds ago so how could he claim he wanted to help?

"Go home Izuna," Madara said, gritting his jaw.

Izuna was defiant, and his eyes glowed with the Sharingan, "No aniki! You're blind and I want to help. I'll do anything... I'll whisper where the enemy is, help you train, keep it a secret... I'll even give you my eyes! Just let me help!"

Maybe, somewhere in his subconsciousness, Madara had always been hoping for that, and maybe it was that plea that made his mind up later... but for the moment Madara rejected him, the world slowly blurring back.

"Go home Izuna. Go home and stop meddling in my business."

And, as all little brothers who idolise their brother do, he went home. The medic made to say something yet Madara shook his head, dismissing all conversation and taking a walk around the camp before going to sleep.

What Izuna had said bothered him for weeks after, and his eyesight was lapsing into darkness more and more frequently. It became so bad that in one clash with the Senjuu (they had been hired more and more frequently to go against people who hired Senjuu; Uchiha were the only clan who could oppose them) Madara had to retire early, Izuna covering him and pretending that Madara had taken a weapon to the stomach in protecting his brother.

There was no weapon; Madara had left because he couldn't stand to see Senjuu Hashirama smiling, as he always did when he fought Madara. He couldn't stand to see Hashirama win... again.

Two nights later and the pain that had been accumulating behind his eyes ripped forwards, claiming his head and throat in an almighty scream. Madara managed to muffle it, only attracting the attention of his damned brother.

"Madara..."

Something ran cold in Madara's veins as Izuna - sweet, detestable, little Izuna - called him Madara and not aniki. Izuna had never called him Madara before, even when he had yelled at him to.

"LEAVE!" He bellowed, throwing an arm out without care if he hit Izuna or not. His request was ignored and, instead, a hand closed itself on his arm.

"Madara, listen to me, I'm here to help..."

And Madara decided that yes, Izuna could help then. His head hurt so much and Izuna had offered before... and his eyes cleared enough to let him see Izuna's Sharingan... which was surely a sign.

In truth, Madara was hardly aware of anything until he had done it. His eysight was perfect, his head clear and he smiled at Izuna, ready to tell him that whatever he had done had worked.

His smile fell short when Izuna looked up at him, cheeks streaming with blood as it ran from his closed eyes. That wasn't the worst part, though; it was the smile that graced his lips as a question slipped from them;

"Does that feel better now, Madara? Are you okay now, aniki?"

And, oh god, it wasn't.

He wasn't okay, and when he buried his brother when he died in battle (even though he had survived for three months in battle blind, better at it than Madara had been - as he had been with everything) Madara cried alone, his Eternal Mangekyou feeling like a foolish price to pay for the life of Izuna.

Eventually the ache subsided somewhat, and it became easier for Madara to say that Izuna had given him his eyes. It was easier to accept that than the truth, and easier for Madara to want to keep fighting than join in alliance to the only man he still could not beat with his brother's eyes.

Senjuu Hashirama offered an alliance.

Uchiha Madara offered him a war.

The Senjuu clan offered an alliance.

The Uchiha clan accepted this alliance.

And Uchiha Madara...

Uchiha Madara felt guilt overwhelm him, the grief he carried from his brother roaring up once again. What had Izuna died for (what had Madara signed his death warrant for) if they curled up like a dog and sat for the Senjuu.

Yet he was a leader now, a leader as Izuna was sure to become, and he had a duty as a leader. Convinced as he was that Senjuu would stab them in the back (which was true when Hashirama took seat of Hokage simply like that, no fighting skills considered, merely the vote of people they governed over), Uchiha wanted peace.

Izuna was dead, and his people wanted peace.

Madara could accept an alliance, could tolerate Hashirama becoming Hokage, but he could not accept, could not tolerate, the way his own clan turned their backs and walked away. What had all their families dies for? What had Izuna died for if it wasn't to protect the clan?

Madara had been thrown away as a madman, and he challenged Hashirama, coming close to killing him.

And, typically, Hashirama had beaten him at the last minute, causing him to resort to his last card; the Kyuubi no Kitsune he had forced to his will.

And still, he had failed.

He left, thought dead to Konoha and his clan.

It wasn't as if he gave up, though, and in the years before he attacked Konoha again with the Kyuubi (the night it was lost to him and gifted to Uzumaki Naruto), he thought about Izuna, and the betrayal of his clan. He wanted Uchiha to pay, and Konoha would pay in turn.

He formed Akatsuki, gathering ninja who needed the organisation just because (Deidara), continue immortality (Hidan), a place to take care of his sword (Kisame), land (Zetsu), 'ideology' (supposedly Itachi, though he did have a different agenda underneath), forget lonliness (Sasori), accumulate money and his supply of hearts (Kakuzu), love (Konan), destruction and a chance for the Sharingan (Orochimaru) and pain (Nagato).

After handing the reins over to Nagato and Konan for a short while, Madara had returned to Konoha six years after he attacked with the Kyuubi a second time, fully intent on crushing the village.

Only to be stopped by Uchiha Itachi. The thirteen year old boy had walked straight up to him in the woods, stopped and focused as much malicious intent on him as he could through his three-pointed Sharingan.

"So you're Uchiha Madara."

It hadn't been a question, and Madara felt excitement running through him. The only person to figure out that he hadn't died, the only person who had bothered to connect things... the only person strong enough to accomplish what he had craved for years.

"You want to destroy Uchiha and Konoha don't you?" Madara hadn't even bothered answering that one. "I'll give you Uchiha, if you leave the village alone."

And Madara had sworn his word to this boy, an ANBU at thirteen and more powerful than perhaps Izuna and himself - before his Eternal Mangekyou of course. He was unbeatable now, Hashirama was just an exception... and even he had died in the end. Madara was still here, and able to exact his revenge upon the clan that had turned its back on him.

So when Itachi had died, Madara had laughed. Itachi was gone, and he owed a dead man nothing. He could punish Konoha now, punish the village and her Hokage because it was what he had to do. Izuna had died, Uchiha had died, and now Konoha had to die.

Peace was for the weak.

So why, of all things, was the very embodiment of peace here now?

平和

Naruto's eyes slid over to look at Sasuke. The Uchiha looked terrible, still, and they had just rested for an hour. Upon Sasuke's insistence.

That never happened, at least, not in the days of Team 7.

Though those days were so long ago now, and yet not that long ago.

"Are you-"

"I'm fine Naruto," Sasuke interrupted, and Naruto simply nodded, not wanting to intrude in Sasuke's thoughts.

Sasuke suddenly looked up and stood, his hand touching his sword reassuringly.

And they walked.

平和

Sharingan met Sharingan and, behind his mask, Madara narrowed his eyes, his mouth thinning.

There was always an exception, always a thorn in his side, always something.

He should have anticipated it, that much was true, but it really was an unlikely alliance. An Uchiha and a Jinchuuriki against him? Wishful thinking, and yet...

"It appears I was wrong then."

Madara hated admitting he was wrong, and anger was slowly building up in his stomach, ready to fight. He only wished he had the Amaterasu, that would be far more comforting; the man across from him was no doubt preparing to launch his own attack.

"Isn't it perfect?"

Madara threw his arms open to the world around him, drawing eyes to the area for a moment. In truth, it was perfect. It was where his clan had first settled, before deciding to ally with Hashirama and his Senjuu.

It was where his brother had died and where he had become a glorious ruler.

There was no better place, not even the Valley of the End, for this day, and it was truly a Valley of the Beginning. He had awakened the Eternal Mangekyou here, become the head of the Uchiha, signed the clan off to Senjuu...

Everything seemed to revolve around this area, and who was he to tempt fate? If fate wanted him to undertake evry important stage in his life here, then so be it.

It was where he had first set up Akatsuki, meeting Nagato and Konan here and here alone, refusing to set foot in Ame. He wondered for a moment where the remainder of his Akatsuki were, Zetsu and the faux team Taki. He knew where Sasuke was, it was hard to ignore, but what of his team? Madara knew he had sent them away but were they just simply waiting?

It didn't really matter. Zetsu was no doubt spying for him, loacting the whereabouts of various sources, and he was more of a hinderance in a fight, breaking out into an argument with himself halfway through.

Madara was better off alone. He was always pretty much alone.

Instead of a huge waterfall, like the Valley of the End, this valley had a smaller one, and a river flowing here rather than a large lake. The wildlife here, though, was plentiful and far greater than at the sister valley, the grass spreading right to the edges of the water.

"How do you like my kingdom?"

There was no answer and Madara rounded on the pair, eyes flickering in annoyance.

"When I ask you a question, I expect an answer." His voice grew hard and anticipation rose up, knowing full well what was coming. His scythe was gripped tight in his hands, and not for the first time Madara wished his kusarigama war fan was in his hands.

"How do you like my kingdom?"

Almost as if it had been rehearsed, Madara leapt forwards in time with his opponent, knowing well that kunai would be slipping down into empty hands, blocking his scythe's attack. It didn't matter that the attack was blocked, Madara knew it would be, and instead drew closer to his opponent's ear.

"I don't know how you did it, Itachi, but somehow you still manage to surprise me."

Madara drew back, hoping to take Itachi by surprise. He, instead, reeled back in shock, jumping only upon instinct as Itachi's Sharingan span into Mangekyou. Madara was visibly shaken, knowing that Itachi had loast his eyesight before his death... and with lost eyesight came loss of Mangekyou.

Spitting as if his mouth contained a vile taste, Madara gripped the handle to his scythe and prepared to clash against Itachi once more. The Jinchuuriki to the Hachibi was standing by the side calmly, perhaps they had a plan, or maybe the Jinchuuriki would be the one to take on Sasuke when he got there... Madara didn't know. What he did need to do, though, was take Itachi down as quickly as possible.

Itachi may have defied death, regained his almost perfect Sharingan (after all, he hadn't taken Sasuke's eyes so his was simply a Mangekyou), and recruited a Jinchuuriki, but he wasn't Madara. Madara had a few secrets, more than a few, and once Naruto got here with Sasuke, the Kyuubi would be at his full disposal, even if it meant ruining Naruto before the sealing.

Sacrifices could be made, after all, and Itachi had a bond to Konoha. What better way to destroy a man than rip away part of what he loved in front of his own eyes?

Madara tucked his scythe behind him to rest aginst his back, waiting for what he knew Itachi was about to do. Amaterasu burned in Itachi's eye, blood spilling over a single, pale cheek, and Madara felt the unholy sting as it his his right arm, the same arm Sasuke had unwittingly burnt as well.

In broad daylight Madara took a deep breath, feeling Itachi's piercing eyes as he focused his chakra and locked eyes with the flames, willing them down by strength alone. His mask shifted slightly and slipped to the side, revealling two eyes instead of the customary one.

Madara usually kept both of his eyes covered for the very reason that he simply couldn't see out of the left eye anymore. When he had fought Hashirama, the man had managed to block off part of his chakra and disturb the flow to his left eye, causing the illness to fall back and destroy the glow of the Eternal Sharingan. Madara had found a way to bring back the life to Izuna's eye, and for that he needed his connection with the Kyuubi to finally override Hashirama's block.

Yet the Eternal Mangekyou was still there, hidden under clouded vision. It had never deactivated and it was this that forced the Amaterasu into submission, cloaking the flames until the ceased to burn.

Without even looking, Madara could tell that Itachi hated him, hated him for being able to put out his fire in a single movement.

And Madara laughed.

平和

Notes:

So this is just to set up the full battle, and to help understand why Madara does what he does, and what he feels. No one's born evil, after all.

Isn't it nice to update again so soon!

I apologise if there are any spelling errors, again with the whole spellcheck not working and such. The one on the document manager picks up the names, which is annoying so I skim over it and miss... lots.

Thank you very much for all the lovely reviews, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It's shorter than usual, but I wanted it to stop there for a reason :)