The Duel

'It's time.' I realized as I saw the date. 'Kami help me make sure everything goes well. Help Itachi survive. Help me save him.' I prayed and quickly started getting ready. I put on my ANBU Uniform and started fixing my hair into the usual style before grabbing my fox mask and putting it on.
"Everything will work out just fine." I said out loud, trying to assure myself. I jumped out of the window and up to the roof and quickly started jogging towards the village entrance. Standing in front of it, was one Hatake Kakashi.
"A so high ranked solo mission that the ANBU Commander herself has to go?" Kakashi questioned with a slight frown. "Remember 3 years ago when you complained because I kept doing high ranked missions?"
"This might be high ranked, but I promise you that I'll come back alive." I stated with conviction, smiling behind the mask at his worry. "Besides, you got hurt on your last mission with Team Asuma, so you can hardly complain if I go on a dangerous mission."
"As long as you come back alive. I'll need you to take the Hokage seat if Tsunade-sama tries to throw it at me because she's tired of paperwork." Kakashi said with an eye smile.
"Can't you just say that you care about me like a normal person?" I asked him with a chuckle.
"You know I do." He said, now completely serious. "Watch your back carefully, I won't be there to do it for you this time."
"No need to worry, Kashi, I've got this." I said, trying to convince myself more than him.
"I know you do. You always do."

I calmly sat down after arriving in the woods at the perfect distance to avoid Zetsu's sensor abilities. I was perfectly hidden in the trees outside of the Uchiha Hideout. A lone raven flew over to me holding a single piece of paper. I quickly opened the note and read through Itachi's message.

The foolish one will arrive soon,
When the Susano'o disappears, send hawk.
-First elected ANBU Agent

I glared down at his signature. No matter how many times he signed his notes to me that way, it still bugged me endlessly whenever I read it.

Mission received.
Don't you dare die.
-First elected ANBU Captain.

I let the raven take my reply back to Itachi and got into a comfortable position with perfect view of the hideout, while still hiding me from view. With everything in order, all that was left for me to do was wait and watch.

It hadn't taken very long after I sensed Sasuke's chakra before the roof of the hideout had been blown up and two massive fire balls were fighting for dominance. One of them was suddenly lit on fire with the black flames known as Amaterasu. 'Damn, Tachi, you're going all out. It's just as well that Sasuke takes your eyes, after both this and the Susano'o you won't be able to see at all.' I realized while observing the black flames. Even with my bad eyesight, all the fire was easily seen. Sasuke had been able to avoid the flames and was currently sending an enormous fire dragon after Itachi, completely demolishing the rest of the hideout in the process. 'You'll be out of chakra after such a large jutsu now, Sasu-chan. Good. Itachi will need you to use Orochimaru's power to seal him away.' I smirked slightly, happy that everything was going according to the plan, for now at least. But apparently, Sasuke wasn't completely out of tricks yet. With the fire jutsu gathering so much moisture in the air and as a consequence forming massive clouds, he had used the natural occurrence made by him to create an enormous lightning jutsu. 'Holy shit! Itachi will need the Susano'o to avoid that one.' I realized with a shock. For a brief moment, it was like the world had stopped. Smoke was still floating up from the hideout and black flames were licking the trees close to the hideout, but nothing else moved. Then a red light started shining as Itachi fully activated his Sharingan. 'That's my cue.' I quickly started running through my hand seals and summoned a normal sized hawk.
"I need you to fly around the hideout and come back here once you see a man who looks like a plant sink through the ground." I ordered lowly and watched as the hawk started flying. He disappeared through the clouds of smoke, leaving me once again alone in the woods. I quickly got the scroll containing the body I was to switch Itachi with ready, wrote down a note to Tsunade that we were leaving in a few minutes and activated my Sharingan. Swiftly, I adjusted my position in the tree so that I could leave at any second. For a few minutes, everything was completely silent, not even a light breeze rustling through the leaves. Then the familiar sound of my hawk's wings was heard, and I held out my hand for him to land on. "Clear?"
He screeched out a yes and I quickly gave him the note I had written to Tsunade.
"Take this to Tsunade." I ordered and let him fly. 'You better be breathing Itachi.'

My blood ran cold once I saw the two Uchiha brothers laying on the ground. Sasuke holding Itachi's eyes and Itachi bleeding from the empty sockets. Sasuke's chest was clearly moving up and down, Itachi on the other hand, showed no signs of being alive. 'Fuck, you better be alive!' I rushed over and checked his pulse, letting out a deep sigh of relief when I felt it. It was weak, but it was there. Hurriedly, I summoned a large female hawk and dragged Itachi up on her back, ignoring the pain in my wrists and cursing myself for not being stronger. After securing Itachi on Mizu's back, I unsealed the body from the scroll and made sure to leave it exactly the way Itachi had been laying earlier. With the image burned into my Sharingan, that wasn't particularly hard. With everything finished, I quickly climbed onto Mizu's back and ordered her to fly us to Konoha. As Mizu started flying, I sat down next to Itachi and kept my hand on his wrist to feel his pulse still beating. I knew from his exhausted state that he didn't have long unless I hurried.
"Mizu, go as fast as you can." I ordered, trying to keep my voice from quivering to much from the fear of possibly loosing another brother. "You're going to be alright, Tachi, I got you. I'll make sure you make it. Even if I have to fight the Shinigami himself."

Just as Konoha Hospital came into view, the unthinkable happened. Itachi's pulse became more and more irregular before stopping just as Mizu was about to land.
"No!" I murmured and quickly started performing CPR, my heart beating erratically in panic. "C'mon Itachi! Keep fighting a bit longer!"
Tsunade was standing on the roof with a movable hospital bed ready, and as soon as Mizu landed, the Hokage quickly moved Itachi over to a hospital bed and started rushing in while I reported his condition and Tsunade started using her Medical Ninjutsu to keep his heart beating.
"Wait here!" Tsunade ordered me as we reached the planned operating room and the medic hurried in with the bed, leaving me alone to fear whether or not my friend, my brother, would make it.
'What if I was too late? Kami, if I had been faster! I should have been faster! Please, Tachi! I can't lose you. You're my brother. The closest connection I have to Shisui-nii-san. I love you too much to lose you.' The train of thoughts rushed through my head, my hands were sweaty and my breathing uneven. I had not been so scared since I lost Shisui. 'He didn't breathe when I landed. He was gone. Am I going to lose him too? No, Akira, you can't think like that.'
My breathing was getting quicker and more erratic, but with my mind too occupied with worrying, I paid it no attention. 'Please, please, please, please!' I repeated mentally, like a mantra. My entire body was shaking in worry and I was getting dizzy. 'Please be alright, Tachi, please!' My knees buckled and I collapsed onto the floor and leaned against the wall. My breathing was getting more and more unpredictable and suddenly I felt the world spinning. Everything was shifting around me, and I could no longer see what was up and what was down. Then it started getting darker and darker until the world was black.

Akira was laughing brightly at Shisui's expression as her and Itachi had just succeeded in beating him in a spar by working together. The two eight-year-olds had been working together for a few months without his knowledge and all of their practice had paid off.
"We got you good, nii-san!" Akira bragged and high-fived Itachi. Their plan had been simple, they had sent one Shadow Clone each into the woods to create traps while the originals had worked together to force him into the woods. After a well-aimed fire jutsu from Itachi, strengthened by a beginner wind jutsu from Akira, Shisui had been forced to kawarimi with a log to avoid it, which activated the traps from the woods and effectively trapped him.
"You two are indeed exceptional…" Shisui pouted and crossed his arms. "Seriously how are you two not Chunins yet? I had to use my Mangekyo to get out of your genjutsu, Akira! And Itachi, it appears you've finally mastered your raven clones. Those were quite pesky to deal with. Your teamwork is way too good as well."
"You've been on too many missions, Shisui, clearly you've slacked off training." Itachi said with a slight smirk. "You could have used a Shunshin to get out of the last one instead of the kawarimi. You knew we had clones in the woods."
"Maa… I underestimated your traps. Which was stupid considering Akira helped make them." Shisui seemed to realise the last part as he spoke. "But anyways, that settles it! No more spars!"
"What?" Akira gasped in shock. "Nii-san! You're such a sore loser!"
"I meant with you two against me!" Shisui quickly added to not anger his sister further. "From now on it'll be a three-way-spar."
The two younger ninjas smiled up at the taller boy proudly.

"Oi! Akira!" someone was shaking me. Slowly I opened my eyes and met the honey coloured eyes of Tsunade. "Seriously? You're my strongest ANBU and the first thing you do after a successful mission is getting a panic attack and passing out?"
"Wha?" I tried to speak, but my head was still spinning, and my throat was aching for water. Tsunade rolled her eyes and handed me a glass water. I quickly gulped it all down and looked straight up at her, one question plaguing my entire existence. "Tachi?"
"He made it." Tsunade smiled kindly at me and helped me up. "Give him a few days of rest and you can bring him over to the safe house."
I let out a sigh of breath I didn't even realize I had been holding
"Can I see him?" I asked softly.
"Of course, you're his guard after all." Tsunade stated and opened the door for me. "He's still sleeping, so be quiet."
"I will." I said and grabbed Tsunade's hand softly. "And Tsunade? Thank you. Truly."
She had that look in her eyes as if she understood just how much this meant to me. "It was my pleasure."