Title: Sasuke's Heart: Denied?

Author: Ladye Black

Warnings: I made up an attack or two;they're not real that I know of. Erm, and Sakura swears. Quite profusely.

Disclaimer: There would be so many more KakaSasu moments if I owned them…

Notes: (grins) You people did a wonderful job of hounding me. I'm innately lazy.

Chapter 9

Sasuke attacked mercilessly, coming at Itachi as fast as possible, a blur to even the best trained eye. Itachi dodged and blocked as best as he could, but for too long he had been fighting opponents who could never hope to best him. He had become lax in his training, believing himself to be invincible; all the while his younger brother trained and became stronger. It was, perhaps, enough to beat him.

And Itachi hated the very thought of losing. Since his massacre of the Uchiha Clan he had never lost, and would not lose to his insignificant brother now.

The younger Uchiha saw the determination on his older brother's face and laughed to himself. Didn't Itachi realize that the power Sasuke held within himself was much greater than his brother's? Well, if he didn't, he'd soon find out.

"But then," Sakura asked, "why send us?"

Wong thought for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to explain it. "While the Anbu are supposed to be the top ninja, some perhaps even surpassing the Hokage, none have been able to defeat Uchiha Itachi and his partner.

"The Anbu sent on this mission were from all different villages that suffered at the hands of Itachi. Unfortunately, even this group has not proved to have enough power to stop him, that's why you were sent. Or rather, why Sasuke was sent on this fake mission."

Sakura caught on. "He's the only one strong enough to take on Itachi."

Wong smiled at her. "Exactly."

"Wait a minute," Naruto interjected. "A whole team of Anbu isn't enough for one man, but a seventeen-year-old boy is?"

"Well, he's never really been a boy, correct?" Without waiting for confirmation, Wong continued. "Sasuke is the only other person in the world who possesses the same skills that Itachi does. But, Itachi has always underestimated his brother's power. Hopefully, this will be the case, too."

"How do you know so much about us?" Sakura was curious.

"I know an old friend of yours," Wong smiled mysteriously.

Sasuke had run out of kunai. Not the worst thing that could happen to him, but it would cause problems. Now all he had were his seals, skills, and a bit of string…speaking of which…

Holding onto the string, he attacked his brother furiously. Punches and kicks that led them around the clearing in which they were fighting; time for another attack courtesy of the second to last of the Uchiha Clan.

Quickly, he performed the necessary seals, and lined his brother up to catch the attack. Fire traveled along the string towards Itachi, bright and hot enough to burn a body to ashes within minutes. Starting to tire, Itachi caught the tail of it before he could dodge completely, and Sasuke attacked from above.

Itachi felt part of him give and he growled in frustration. What the hell was happening? He was supposed to be the strong one, the one Sasuke had no hope of catching up to, the one that would kill his brother. Sasuke was supposed to have died by now, unworthy of the gift of life that his brother had allowed him to live.

Instead, he was failing, and there would be no help. The rest had died by the kunai of those stupid Anbu that had been tracking them for years. There had been only two Anbu left after that. The first had disappeared almost immediately, and Itachi had let him go, figuring that he was too wounded to do much harm. The second, he had followed. The man led him towards The Leaf Village, the place of his birth.

And, perhaps, the place he would die. Well, at least die close to it. He continued to dodge his younger brother's attacks, trying to regain some strength and failing. Itachi knew then that, unless something interfered, he was going to die.

This made him gather all of himself for one last attack; something his brother had never been allowed to know. It had only been passed from one Uchiha heir to another, and Itachi was now its sole keeper. A sort of double seal attack.

He began with the illusion, then using the copy technique the Uchiha were known for, he turned it upon himself. He strengthened himself by pouring the chakra back into himself, giving him a momentary energy boost. It wouldn't last long, but perhaps it would be enough to defeat his brother, who still saw him as becoming weaker.

Itachi attacked his brother ferociously, landing attacks on the younger Uchiha who was under the illusion that his brother was slower than he was.

Sasuke was unnerved. How could this be happening? He moved to block Itachi's attacks, but they still landed.

"Like that, little brother?" Sasuke looked up into red eyes. "It's a special technique handed down from Uchiha heir to heir, you wouldn't have heard of it."

And suddenly, Sasuke realized what had happened. Now, all he had to do was avoid the attacks until he could figure out some way to beat it.

Sakura looked at Wong, a puzzled expression on her face. "An old friend? You mean…" her eyes widened in realization. "Kakashi…" she exhaled.

Wong nodded. "Yes, I knew him. He'd talk about you three all the time, especially the Uchiha boy." Wong raised an eyebrow. "They were lovers?"

Sakura nodded dumbly, still reeling from the shock that this man had known her old teacher.

Wong cradled his chin in his hand. "I can see why. I wouldn't mind- "

"Hey!" Sakura whapped Wong across the head. "You will not think of Sasuke that way."

"Too late," Wong murmured, though Sakura didn't hear him.

Naruto finally caught on to what had been bothering him. "You said 'knew'. What did you mean by that?" He studied Wong intensely, wondering what it was about this man that made him feel on edge, yet relaxed at the same time.

Wong nodded sadly. "You're right. I did say 'knew'. I'm not sure what happened to him. When we were fighting Itachi and his pals he suffered severe wounds. I led Itachi away, and I haven't seen Kakashi since. I don't know if he's still alive."

Sakura stared at him. "But…"

"All I know is that, when I left, we were the only two Anbu left alive. The rest died defeating Itachi's gang."

Sakura continued to stare. "But, but…t-that…that's bullshit!"

Naruto stared at the pink-haired girl in surprise. Sakura hardly ever swore.

"You don't leave your comrades behind!" Sakura grabbed Wong by the collar. "That's the lesson every shinobi is taught: Never leave a comrade behind!" She started to shake him. "How could you! You heartless bastard! Giving us and then dashing it! Leaving Kakashi-sensei behind! You fucking asshole!" Naruto grabbed Sakura around the waist and pulled her off.

Wong straightened his robes and cast a grateful glance at Naruto. "Thank you."

Naruto frowned. "Don't thank me, yet. I might just take a round myself if you don't explain yourself."

Wong gulped, and then started to explain.

'Dammit,' Sasuke thought, 'this is getting me nowhere.' Sasuke tried to dodge another attack, but was hit squarely in the chest by what felt like a freight train running into him. This was not good. Itachi was winning, but Sasuke would be damned if he let brother live to continue killing just for the pleasure of it.

He took the slight break in the fight to regain a little of his breath. How the hell was he supposed to defeat someone faster then they looked? And then it hit him.

People had said that a long time ago the Uchiha and the Hyuuga Clans had been one. Today, Sasuke would prove them right.

Concentrating, he…'opened' himself. He felt the chakra flow around him, felt the currents of its movements, he felt the disturbances of those currents as something came near him. He moved slightly to the left, never opening his eyes, and felt the disturbance pass by him.

Behind him, Uchiha Itachi stared at his younger brother in shock. What the hell had happened?

Slowly, Sasuke turned to face his brother. Then, he opened his eyes. The irises were no longer red; they were white, with the three wheels still encircling each of his pupils. Uchiha Sasuke had just tapped into the genius bloodline of a dead a Clan. And there was no doubt that this time, Itachi felt fear.

The older Uchiha didn't even see his brother move, didn't even know he had moved until he felt several light brushes on his body. He was paralyzed.

"I'm sorry it ended like this," he heard his younger brother whisper.

"I'm not," he replied and embraced the darkness that would never wake from.

Sasuke stared at his brother's still form. Uchiha Itachi was dead and I, Uchiha Sasuke, am the one who killed him. He said the words aloud, tasting each of the syllables on his lips and decided they felt right.

Picking up the corpse, he turned in the direction he knew would lead to Sakura and Naruto. And to someone he hadn't seen in longer than he ever wanted to think about.

"So, basically, what you're saying is that the Anbu's first priority is the mission and then saving their teammates lives."

Wong nodded in agreement to Naruto's interpretation. "Basically."

Naruto's frown deepened. "That's still shit."

Wong nodded to show that he agreed, too. "True, but- "

"Someone's coming," Sakura interrupted. Naruto tensed, ready to defend himself and the others in case of attack. Only Wong seemed calm.

"It's alright," the dark-haired man said.

Naruto glanced at him. "How would you know?"

Wong only smiled. Naruto was really beginning to hate that smile, though, it did kind of remind him of someone else…

A rustle to left distracted him, and he tensed, prepared to fight. But, he was not prepared for who stepped out of the shrubbery. Naruto could only stare as the man brushed himself off, looking pleased with himself.

"Sorry I'm late, but there was this bad dude I had to take care of and…" he trailed off as he saw the looks on their faces.

"Liar," Sakura and Naruto whispered together.

TBC…

Ouch! My hands are starting to cramp, this was five pages, typed. I think there may only be one or two chapters to this left. Heh heh, 'til next time…