Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

A/N: Some warnings:

1. This fic is not even close to being completed. I am about half-way through, I think. I knew I wanted my first fic to be a longer one, and this has been an undertaking. I am saying this so that you can give me tips if you want, so you won't get scared when you read this chapter and really, just so you know.

2. Like some other chapters, this gets pretty gorey. Just a heads up.

3. It also starts getting very angsty from here on for a while. But I promise, there will be some happy bits.

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Sasuke crouched to the ground and removed a Kunai from his holster. Apparently Itachi had decided his games were up and came looking for him as well.

They stared at each other. Sasuke shifted his weight on to his heels, ready for Itachi's strike, but his brother just stood there.

"Sasuke, what are you doing out here?"

Sasuke looked at his brother like he was crazy—what did he mean?

"I am out here looking for you. You have been plaguing my life and I am ready for it to end."

"I've been plaguing your life? What do you mean?" This pissed Sasuke off. What in the hell was Itachi playing at? It was obvious his brother was not through playing with him and this was just another one of his mind games.

"I'm tired of you and I'm tired of this shit. Why do you do it? Why do you keep fucking with me?"

"Sasuke, I would never fuck with you, you know that." Itachi's eyes had a wicked and amused look to them.

It was too much for Sasuke. He was tired of it all, of Itachi, of his hope of being the Avenger, of living with all the guilt and sorrow. He was so consumed with hate for his brother that there wasn't any room in him for anything else, and it was eating away at him. Kiba had shown him that. Kiba, beautiful Kiba, who had wanted in, had wanted to help, had wanted to care for Sasuke… and Sasuke had been unable to let him in because of Itachi. He had hurt Kiba because of Itachi and Sasuke knew that if this didn't end now, he would slowly become Itachi, cold and uncompassionate, a killer.

He sprang at his brother. This time he wouldn't close his eyes or look away for a second. This time it was either his brother or himself going down, but there wouldn't be a chance for a clone.

Sasuke punched and kicked, slicing his kunai through the air. Itachi blocked all of his attacks, but never made an offensive move. Sasuke realized that Itachi must be fucking with him still. The Itachi in front of him was slower. Sasuke landed a punch. He had never handed such a blow on his brother. His knee came up as he launched himself in the air, catching his brother under the jaw. Itachi went flying back and landed hard on the ground.

Sasuke paused. What was going on? He was winning! Against his instincts, he began to get excited. This was it. There hadn't been a chance for his brother to produce a clone, and this time Sasuke made sure his Sharingan could verify it hadn't been a fake from the beginning. But he could see Itachi breathing (slowly) and bleeding (a lot). Pride warmed Sasuke all over—his anger was the key, he realized. Kakashi had been wrong—his anger was fueling him, pushing him and it gave him the edge.

When Itachi began to slowly stand again, Sasuke didn't waste the opportunity. He launched again, but something held him back. He couldn't see it, but it felt as if something was holding onto the back of his shirt. Then there was a sharp pain in his leg. Looking down, blood started to flow from a wound. How was Itachi doing this? Sasuke's Sharingan didn't see any clones or strange chakra, only empty air. He heard Itachi say something under his breath and the pain, the hand on his shirt disappeared.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, ITACHI?" And Sasuke charged. He tackled his brother, pinning him to the ground. The anger surged through him, mixed with adrenaline, making him stronger than he had ever felt. He gathered chakra in his fists and began to pound his brother, who weakly tried to defend himself from the flurry of blows.

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"Goddamnit, where is he? My kunai can't find him anywhere! Hinata, try to see again."

Hinata looked wearily at Shino. They had been searching desperately for Kiba, and she had used a lot of chakra already with her Byuukagen. Reaching a hand up, she wiped the sweat from her brow. She was just as worried as Shino, and so she had to try.

"Byuukagen!" She looked, and looked, but she was tired and her chakra was waning. There was nothing she could see. Except…what looked like a blur charging toward them. It looked familiar…

"Akamaru!"

The dog bounded up to them a minute later, frothing at the mouth. He had obviously been running hard to find them.

"God, Aka, what is it?" But Aka just barked and began running away again. They followed fast.

Shino was very worried—Aka never acted like that. Where the hell was Kiba?

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It seemed like he had been punching his brother forever. It had been a while since Itachi's arms had fallen, no longer possessing the strength to defend. In fact, it had been a while since Itachi had moved. Sasuke looked down at a face that was barely recognizable. He looked at his fists, sore, broken from the force of his punches and covered in blood. His face, his shirt…all covered in blood.

It was time to make sure though. The punching had been cathartic while he was doing it, but seeing himself covered in Itachi's blood…Sasuke felt like a monster. Never had he imagined it like this. In his mind it had been an epic battle to the end, both brothers pitted equally in a fight to the death. This had been…easy. He had lost control, had lost any concept of time, and looking down at the battered body below him…this kind of slow death was something only Itachi would have done.

Overwhelmed, Sasuke began to cry. There was nothing else for him to do. It was only the second time he had cried since his brother killed his family and the tears felt foreign as they ran down his cheeks. His father's voice rang in his head, telling him how "Uchiha's never cry, they never show emotion." What would his father think now if he were alive, now that he had murdered his own brother (it was revenge, revenge isn't murder!), now that he had, in a sense, tortured his enemy to death? Would his father be proud of him (You were never as good as Itachi)? Would he be ashamed that Sasuke was crying? There were so many emotions (Oh god, it is finally over) running through him (I just killed my own brother, I just murdered Nii-san) and it was too much (you are just as cold-blooded as he was! Did you think you would feel better after you killed him?) for Sasuke to hold in.

Reaching beside him, Sasuke picked up the kunai he had dropped. Hands trembling, he raised it above his head. This time (do it fast!) he would kill his brother, and he would end it with honor.

His hands began their race down, rushing to plunge the sharp steel into his brother's throat.

And then, they stopped. Confused, Sasuke tried again, until he realized that his strength was gone. He couldn't even move his arms.

What the hell was going on?

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Heart racing, Shino breathed a sigh of relief. He had stopped the kunai just in time, right before it had plunged into Kiba's throat.

Beside him, Hinata collapsed and started to sob. He couldn't blame her, he wasn't even sure how to take in the scene.

They had followed Akamaru, racing through the forest. Aka kept barking in urgency and Shino had become very worried. Aka had stopped suddenly and Shino had almost tripped over him. Aka barked and growled, and Shino finally saw it. Hinata must have seen it at the same time, because she gasped.

In the clearing, Sasuke was punching Kiba's limp body. Shino assumed it was Kiba because of Akamaru, but in truth it was hard to tell. The face had been so bashed in and bloody it didn't look human.

Sasuke had stopped punching and slouched over, crying. Hinata and Shino had remained where they were, paralyzed by what they were seeing. It hadn't been until Sasuke reached for the kunai that Shino had reacted. Immediately he sent his kikai out to the boy, swarming over the Uchiha. For most people, being covered in bug would have freaked them out, but Sasuke kept moving as if he didn't see the insects racing along his limbs. Shino commanded the kikai to drain Sasuke, and quickly. The swarm ate the boy's chakra, ebbing away his strength and thankfully staying the hand that had been prepared to kill Kiba.

Sasuke was now struggling. Shino was confused—it really did seem like the boy did not see the kikai covering his body. In fact, is seemed as if Sasuke was continuing to try and move, regardless of his drained strength and chakra. If Shino continued to allow his insects to feed, it could kill Sasuke. Shino didn't know what to do.

Shino was so focused on Sasuke he did not see Hinata stand up and rush toward the struggling Uchiha.

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Sasuke stared at his hands where they lay useless in his lap. What the hell is going on? Fear was etched into every muscle fiber in his body. He kept waiting for whatever trick Itachi was playing to show itself. Why can't I kill him? And he wanted to kill him. Even with all of his jumbled emotions, he knew he needed to finish it.

And then, much to his confusion, Hinata Hyuuga was in front of him. Tears were streaming down her face and her large moon-white eyes penetrated into him. Sasuke really didn't know what to think—why would Hinata be here, in front of him at this crucial moment in his life?

Faster than Sasuke would have guessed, Hinata's hand shot through the air and slapped him hard across his cheek. The pain jolted him, and he stared at her incredulously.

"Hinata, what the fuck is wrong with you? Why are you crying? Why are you here? I need to finish this!"

Though he did not know what to expect from the girl because the situation was just so bizarre, he was still shocked when Hinata's face filled with animosity. She slapped him again.

"H-how c-c-could y-y-ou? Y-you m-m-m-m-mmmonster!" The normal stuttering she suffered was exacerbated by her sobs.

Now he really didn't know what to think. What the hell is she going on about, and at a time like this? Is she upset because I left Kiba?

"Hinata, I don't know why you are here, and I don't think you understand. You need to get out of here—this is my brother, Itachi, and it is dangerous for you to be here! Go away and let me kill my brother!"

This set her back, confusion written all over her.

"S-s-sasuke…"

"God, Hinata, run! You could get hurt! Please… please let me do this."

Her eyes, so large and luminous, were filled with sympathy and extreme sorrow. The sorrow in those eyes tugged at Sasuke's heart and he knew then that something was very, very wrong about the situation.

"Hinata…what is it?"

But her tears kept coming, harder and harder, until her body was wrenching with sobs, making it impossible for her to speak.

Sasuke felt a solid hand on his shoulder. Whipping his head around, he saw Shino crouched next to him.

"Shino, what the hell is going on here? Why are you two here?" He couldn't see the Aburame's eyes, but when Akamaru stepped out alone behind the other boy, something clicked in Sasuke's mind.

"Where is Kiba?" The question was muttered softly, barely audible.

He already knew the answer. Suddenly, all Sasuke could feel was the cold, still body beneath him. He looked down, seeing himself covered in blood. Blood that was not Itachi's. The face below him might have been unrecognizable to most, but Sasuke saw the faint outline of disfigured red triangle tattoos on the cheeks.

Kiba.

"Oh my god…" He could feel something powerful starting to storm in him, but he wasn't sure what it was.

"Oh god, no… no, please no…" The force was twisting in his gut, grief and sorrow and every pain he had ever felt in his life, all collecting together, filling him.

Very rarely do Uchiha's cry. Sasuke could count the number of times he had cried in his life on one hand, and two of those times had been for this boy. As a single tear fell down his stoic cheek, Sasuke made a promise. I will never shed another tear for you Kiba. You deserve better, you deserve for me to be strong.

Sasuke started to stand up and Shino let him. Shino just stared at the body of his teammate and Hinata's sobs could be heard in the back of his mind. He knew that he should do something, and he wanted to—he wanted to comfort Hinata and he wanted to kill Sasuke and more than anything he wanted to bring Kiba back, someway…anyway. But instead he just remained where he was, taking in the scene.

Moving away from the team, Sasuke thought he was going to explode. The pain felt almost like a tangible force inside of him, moving out to his limbs, into his head, making his head and his eyes throb. His vision was turning red and, frightened that he might lose his sight soon, moved quickly to do what he needed to do.

When he had first gone to Orochimaru, Kiba and the other rookies had come after him, trying to save them. When he returned and was ready, he heard their stories. Kiba's had been one of the most powerful for Sasuke to hear. This boy, this annoying, loud and immature boy had…had stabbed himself while fighting a far superior ninja. The ninja had been actually been a pair of brothers and one had fused himself with Kiba, his jutsu forcing them to share the same body. Kiba had recognized that in order to kill the brother…he had to kill himself. Sasuke couldn't think of many people he knew that would have been willing to take such a step of self-sacrifice.

Dropping to the ground, Sasuke picked up a discarded kunai. He had never known anyone as brave as Kiba. I have to be brave now, too. And, as the pain and burning in his body, in his head and his eyes became so immense he couldn't see or feel anything else, Sasuke raised his arms and quickly plunged the kunai into his own stomach.

And then there was no more pain.

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A/N: Ok, waiting to here back from my beta tester and then I will revise the past two chapters. If you are worrying, this is not the end. In fact, this isn't the end by a long shot. Plenty more action and angst (and some intense yaoi) coming your way!