This chapter focuses on Itachi, Sasuke, Deidara and Kisame. We will be doing a little flashback in the beginning, since I went a little fast forward with the previous chapter. Enjoy!

The Link

Chapter XIV: My Brother

The rain and wind slapped Sasuke in the face full force, scattering his hair and re-slicking his already soaked clothes as he hopped from one rooftop to another, angry tears streaming down from his red Sharingan eyes. His rage had activated the cursed seal Orochimaru placed upon him so long ago, the distinct marks spreading around his body once more after so many years.

Itachi was going to die. Sasuke would no longer spare him; no longer hold himself back...the older Uchiha was going to pay for such deceit played upon Sasuke. He had loved Heion as much as he loved himself, rediscovered the meaning of family with her and Itachi both. To found out that everything was yet another lie was something Sasuke could not bear.

Why was his life filled with lies? First it had been with Itachi. It all began and ended with his older brother. He had thought as a child that Itachi was the greatest child of the Uchiha clan; he had seen him as a great wall that he had no choice but to overcome. But in spite of that, Sasuke had loved his brother. Until he killed the clan. Sasuke had spent a good quantity of his life brooding over how to kill Itachi – to defeat him. He even went to Orochimaru, and suffered his second great deception. How could he forget what Orochimaru told him?

"You see, Sasuke-kun, I changed my mind about teaching you. You are not the best, not the strongest...frankly you are just a concussed idiot not even worth teaching a single jutsu."

Shamefaced, he went back to Konoha. And then there was Naruto becoming Orochimaru's apprentice. Naruto learning the jutsus he should have mastered by now. Naruto being able to change the Serpent's life completely. Was he jealous of Naruto's success? He was. Had always been. And then Itachi barged into his life once more. With a child that he learned to love more than himself. A child that told him to forgive his brother. And somehow, he had been ready to forgive everything...

...until the moment of the truth.

The cursed seal spread further, enveloping Sasuke's body completely as it transformed him to the beast. The transformation did not take long, and soon the marks receded to reveal Sasuke's second form. He landed silently near the flowerpots beneath Naruto's open window, and he went inside.

The apartment was empty. Sasuke looked warily around, but there was no sign of a struggle or haste. Itachi was not here. Sasuke was just about to leave the apartment and return to the hospital when an explosion tore through the storm's piercing song. Startled, Sasuke immediately went back to the torrent outside to see what it was.

It was not far from Naruto's apartment, only a few blocks away. A great red-orange cloud of flames and smoke was rising from a four-storey building, and there were ANBUs rushing to the vicinity. Civilians were frantically fleeing the spot while some of the ninjas joined the ANBUs to assess what was wrong. Sasuke's eyes widened a bit as he saw ANBUs felled with one swift attack coming from a sword so big...

"The Samehada?" Sasuke whispered, unnoticing how guttural his voice had become. "Then...hah!"

A dozen clay birds took flight and attacked the other ninjas and ANBUs that survived Kisame's attack, all exploding at the same time in a shower of blood and entrails. But beneath all the gruesome details, Sasuke distinctly saw how Kisame picked up Itachi by the neck; dangling him a good inches by the ground, ready to strangle him to death.

...Sasuke felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest with fear.

Itachi could not move with the pain. By the sheer intensity of it he knew his right arm was a lost cause. He could not feel anything except the raw, clawing ache in his shoulder. He did not want to know if he'd lost his arm. The way it felt right now, he did not really need any answer. More explosions sounded around him. It looked like Konoha had finally noticed the racket they were making.

Somewhere he heard Kisame approach, and there was great pain as the shark-man's right hand crushed around his windpipe. And then he was being lifted...the strangulation was causing his brain to start being fuzzy, and that was not good. Breathing was suddenly like inhaling fire.

"Deidara, take care of the troublesome leeches." He heard Kisame say.

"Tch, you're no fun." came Deidara's reply. "You always do the killing!"

"Just do as I say, goddamn it!"

"Fine! Tch..."

Itachi hissed and gasped for breath, feebly using his left hand to somehow try removing Kisame's hand from his neck. It was a futile attempt, of course. The fluff increased in Itachi's head, and he gave a rattling gasp as his sightless eyes rolled up. His left hand fell limp on his side, and an evil grin spread on Kisame's pale face.

"Itachi, you were always a good partner, you know that." Kisame said. "But orders are orders, and the Leader no longer wants you alive. I'm sure you understand..."

Hnhhhh...I...I...can't...die...like...this...Sasuke...and...Heion...oh gods...help me...I...I...can't...die...like...this...

The hand around smooth neck tightened, and the first sign of bruises appeared.

Sasuke...

The fluff had grown unbelievably thick.

Sasuke...

His lungs felt like bursting...

Sasuke...I'm...I'm...

"YOU LET GO OF MY BROTHER!"

Itachi felt his body slam down on the roof once more, and it was like his ears was filled with a sudden rush of countless birds gone mad. And then, somewhere in all the noise...Kisame's pained shout and Deidara's yell of outrage. And then more explosions...

...and...

...merciful silence.

Sasuke came for him. Itachi cracked open his wet lips and tried to laugh. The way things were, he was probably going to die because of the pain from where his arm had been anyway. He laughed and laughed his throat ached raw.

"Itachi! Itachi, are you all right?" came Sasuke's voice. "Itachi – oh my god!"

"Haha, Sasuke...what are you doing here..." Itachi said hoarsely. "Look, Sasuke...haha...I lost my arm...I wonder where all my fingers got to?"

"Itachi, you look bad, I'll take you to the Hokage right now – she might be able to attach back your arm -!"

"Leave me, Sasuke. Leave my arm...I don't want it back..."

"Shut up, Itachi! Come here...get up..."

Itachi blinked in the darkness as Sasuke managed to get him up. His brother was delightfully warm.

"What...happened...to...Deidara...and Kisame...?" Itachi croaked. Good lord, he sounded like a toad.

"I've gotten rid of them for a moment. We have to get you somewhere safe. Come on! Move it!"

But Itachi couldn't move. Sasuke carried him altogether, and soon he felt the bounce as they leapt from one rooftop to another. But then there was this sudden rush in the air. A chakra so strong it was horrifically familiar.

"The...Kyuubi...jinchuuriki..." Itachi grunted.

"It's Naruto, all right. Come on...move it!"

...silence.

"I already know the truth, Itachi."

Itachi laughed. Was that a side effect of being too soaked in pain? "I was...planning to tell it...anyway."

"...you liar."

"Sasuke...did you ever know why I killed spared you, then?"

"Don't get me started. Or I will leave you to die!"

"Hear me out, you bastard." Itachi hissed sharply. "You know...nobody ever really cared about me. Except you. All mother and father – and the rest of the bullshit clan cared about was my progress as a ninja."

Sasuke answered with a shocked silence. Itachi nodded wearily.

"Well...I don't like talking much..." he went on. "I wanted to see what I could do and...I had grown tired...of the clan. The clan is a dunghole, Sasuke. The clan is nothing. The clan...the clan liked to think...it was all that mattered in the world.

"But you, Sasuke, you cared about me. Haha, I really must be dying to be all sentimental like this. I spared you because I love you, Sasuke. Think what you want, I've said my part..."

That was all and Itachi lost consciousness completely. Sasuke quietly swept his brother into his arms. Hokage castle glittered nearby, until a bird-shaped clay came hurtling out of nowhere. Sasuke barely had the chance to duck it before the bird came slamming into a restaurant's wall and exploded. Sasuke had to duck again as the Samehada came slashing for his neck.

"Look at your dear brother, Sasuke-sama." Deidara said. There was no laughter in his face now. "He's as good as dead. Why bother saving him?"

"Leave us to finish the work, and we won't harm you." Kisame added. Half of his face was coated in blood, and Sasuke hastily cast a quick look to the shark-man's torso. The black hole made his Chidori looked empty. How on earth did the swordsman-missing nin manage to escape unscathed from his attack?

Sasuke bit his lower lip so hard it bled. "I won't leave my brother. Kill me first before you lay a finger on him!"

Deidara's look got uglier. "He wants to die that badly, Kisame."

"I figured as much." The shark-man replied as he raised the Samehada ready.

Sasuke took a step backward. Itachi was first priority, but...

The Uchiha could not help but open his mouth in surprise as Deidara and Kisame grunted in perfect unrehearsed unison before blood came squirting out of their chests, where a blade of a wakizashi each protruded. The wakizashi were then pulled back, and the attack was fast – Sasuke had barely blinked before Deidara and Kisame's heads were already tumbling down the roof, their twitching beheaded bodies sliding after. Sasuke stared.

Koyuki's slit pupils rounded back to normal as the glow from her eyes dissipated. She lowered her arms, blood dripping from her wakizashi blades as she did so. Rain slicked her thoroughly, making locks of her hair stick to her face in beautiful curls.

"Y-you..." was all Sasuke managed to say.

"Put him down, quick." Koyuki said hurriedly as she resheathed her swords and knelt.

Sasuke obeyed, and watched the medic do her work. She got the severed arm from him without wincing and held it close to Itachi's shoulder. Green chakra lit her fingers as she ran them down the area of cutting, the skin mending like magic under her fingers. When the glow of the chakra disappeared, Sasuke found his voice.

"Why are you doing this?" he said.

Koyuki met his Sharingan eyes with her own purple ones. "He never killed my niece, and you both took care of her. I owe you two my life. This is the only way I can repay you."

Sasuke could not answer. Koyuki averted her gaze. "We must hurry." she said. "Tsunade-sama needs to recheck him for damages. I do not know if I managed to re-attach his arm properly."

Sasuke nodded and followed the woman to Hokage castle, Itachi in his arms. When they entered the emergency room in the first floor, the sight was something Sasuke never expected. Sakura was embracing Naruto as he cried, and Kakashi, Jiraiya and Neji stood with their heads bowed. Tsunade turned to them, tears flowing out her eyes. Sasuke lowered his gaze to the one lying on the stretcher before the Hokage.

It was Orochimaru, apparently dead.