Ch12
Clink…..Clink clink…clink.
"You're still at it huh Sasuke," Itachi smiled with a sigh and jumped off the stairs of the back yard of his house.
"Oh, niisan." Sasuke turned, revealing his sweaty muddy face. Itachi chuckled at the uncanny shape of his younger brother. "What's so funny," Sasuke pouted.
"It's nothing," Itachi waved, "What have you been practicing for so long?"
"I'm not practicing, I'm training!" Sasuke corrected angrily.
"Alright, alright, what have you been training for so long?" Itachi laughed.
"Remember that time you took me training with you to the forest and how you used one Kunai and bounced it to another to hit the target? I've been trying to do the same!" Sasuke replied cheerfully.
"Haha, that would take a while," Itachi walked over and patted Sasuke on the head.
Sasuke shook his brother's touch embarrassingly, "I know," he replied, "I'm only using 3 Kunais right now but I'll be just as good as you are by the end of the year, you'll see!" His eyes showed a childish determination as one would see them saying how they want to be a doctor or a lawyer.
Itachi laughed again. "What ever you say kiddo," he smiled to Sasuke with his eyes and began to walk back in.
"Niisan!" the small boy called.
"What is it?" Itachi stopped and turned his head back to the small figure.
"You've been saying you'd help me train one of these days and you never do. Now that you're here, how about at least seeing what I can do," Sasuke nagged.
Itachi looked up and gave a sigh. "Why not, I still have a little time before my meeting. Alright Sasuke, show me what you've got."
"Alright, don't get too surprised and pull your back," Sasuke chuckled and readied his Kunais. Itachi took a few steps back and folded his arms. The autumn wind began to pick up, tearing the leaves from the trees. 3 targets formed a triangle. Two on the tops of two trees and one on the ground by the root of one of them.
Sasuke breezed in. He was nervous. He didn't know why but he was nervous. He could feel his heart trying to speed every beat but he managed to keep his anxiety in tact. With the calming of the winds, he tossed one Kunai, straight and high into the air. As the Kunai approached it's maximum height, he jumped up as though to meet it head on. Taking a quick at his 3 targets, he crossed his arms, holding one Kunai to each hand, as though he was embracing himself.
Just then, another gust of wind blew, a strong one which forced a great deal of leaves from the trees. One landed right on Sasuke's left eye, blocking his vision. He shook it off with a rough twist of his head but by the time he focused back to the falling Kunai, he realized that it was headed straight for him and no time to dodge it. He raised his arms as a final attempt to block. He bit his teeth together and held his breath and waited for the sharp blade of the Kunai to hit his skin.
His eyes opened with a gasp when the sound of 2 metal clashing echoed to his ear which was followed by a shove on his side. By the time he snapped back to reality, he realized he was in the arms of his brother.
"You alright Sasuke?" Itachi asked, lowering the tiny boy to the ground.
Sasuke bit his lips and turned his back.
"You were right, that did surprise me enough to almost pull my back," Itachi laughed.
"That wasn't what I had in mind," Sasuke grumbled.
"You were doing alright until your little fumble, keep it up," Itachi smiled, "I have to get to the meeting now."
"You're leaving already?" Sasuke flipped around surprisingly quickly.
"I'll see you another day, I don't have anymore time now," Itachi explained
"You never have time for me," Sasuke muttered.
Itachi came down to match his height and released a long sigh. Then, opening his eyes, he signaled Sasuke to come closer. Curious, the small boy walked over, then before he had the time to react, Itachi gave him a poke to his head. "Forgive me Sasuke, I've got lots of things to do," said he before walking out of the backyard gates and down the street.
Sasuke turned back to his three targets. Three Kunais were stuck firmly upon the three targets at the center of the circles that decorated it's surface. Sasuke narrowed his eyes angrily, mostly at himself. His open palm clutched into a fist as he walked over and plucked the weapons out
Ooooooooooooooooooooo
Itachi walked back from his meeting which had gone slightly over time. The light rain that fell from the skies chilled the air enough that he could see his breath in the air. It was mid afternoon and he hasn't eaten anything since breakfast at 6am.
"I'm home," he called, opening the door.
He walked into the kitchen where his mom was already preparing for supper. "Anything to eat?" he asked.
"I left your meal in the fridge with Sasuke's. Speaking of which, can you call him in for lunch?" his mom replied.
"Sasuke hasn't eaten yet either?"
"I told him to but he said, 'If you can handle not eating lunch than so can he,' and he wouldn't listen to me,"
"Me?"
"It's called sibling rivalry but I guess you wouldn't know that would you. Now will you hurry up and call him before faints from hunger?"
"Where is he?"
"In the back yard,"
"His still practicing?"
"His got a pretty high goal and that boy, just like your father, won't listen once his made up his mind,"
"I see, alright, I'll get him,"
"Thank you,"
oooooooooooooooooooo
Itachi walked around the corner which lead to the hallway to the back yard. He could see Sasuke, standing in the rain, looking even more muddier than when he had seen him earlier.
"I'll get him," Itachi heard a mutter through the sounds of pelting rain.
"I teach him to show me off like that and leave. He'll see," Sasuke grinded his teeth as he readied a few Kunais.
A small amused smirk appeared on Itachi's lips as he listened to the boy's mutter. He moved forward slightly to take a better look. He raised a brow as Sasuke tossed 3 Kunai's into the air and jumped with a flip. As the boy hung in the air upside down, he took a quick glance at the 7 targets that laid across the yard. With a quick twist of his hand, he released three of the 4 he held in his hand. The three released hit the 3 falling Kunai. 5 of which landed in the center of 5 different targets. With one last flip, he returned right side up and threw the final Kunai in his hand. One of which landed slightly off center of a target while the other missed just to the right of the target. He landed lightly to the ground and bit his lips at the 2 failures.
Itachi watched wide eyed and stunned for a few moments. 'His improved that much over the time I went to that meeting?' A grin appeared upon his face as he stood there a few moments more to watch the tired ninja in training and walked over. "Sasuke, it's lunch time." He called, "Hurry up and get in here before you catch a cold.
"Niisan! Coming!" Sasuke replied cheerfully.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Chakura swam around the young teens feet like water in a whirlpool. A sinister smirk struck upon his face as he took in the surprised face of his foe. The wind whispered a whistle as it ran through the cave behind them, which acted as a substitution to the crushing silence rather than relief.
"Kakashi-sensei, what are those eyes?" Naruto swallowed hard.
"Mangekyou Sharingan," Kakashi explained, "The highest level of Sharingan. You remember how much more powerful Sasuke's Sharingan became after it evolved from 2 pupils to three when you fought him at the falls, do you not?" Naruto nodded. "This goes beyond that of the three pupils. Not many from the Uchiha clan have even possessed it in all its history. Not even I have been able to find out how to unleash those eyes." 'Sasuke…have you surpassed me now?'
"Uchiha…Itachi…" Sasuke growled, "it will all end here!"
"Sasuke…" Naruto gasped.
Itachi returned back to his calm expression. "I'm impressed Sasuke," he spoke casually, "I have to admit that I wasn't expecting you to have come this far."
"Heh, don't pull your back once you've seen how far I've really improved," Sasuke replied.
"I'm not going to be saving you if you make a fool of yourself again," Itachi smirked.
"You're the one that's going to need to be saved today," Sasuke chuckled.
"First answer me this, how did you get those eyes? You know what you need to do in order to achieve those eyes," Itachi straightened his back and looked Sasuke in his eyes.
"Sharingan is used to copy," Sasuke replied.
"You copied the Mangekyou Sharingan!" Kakashi choked.
"You cannot copy an upgrade of an eye. But I was able to copy where he summoned his Chakura to. Throughout the few times that I've confronted him, I've watched his every movement, every pose, every focus point of his chakura. Of course, I had to discover a few minor differentiations myself." Sasuke's grin widened slightly.
'He managed to copy the Mangekyou Sharingan only after a few sighting. Is this what they call the Uchia's genius?' Kakashi watched, still wide eyed and speechless.
"Perhaps it was a mistake on my side to have shown you that technique every time we've met," Itachi sighed, "but I guess there's no rolling the clock back now," he shifted his weight and took a fighting stance, "I still need to deliver Naruto-kun, sorry but I don't have time to play with you today Sasuke."
Itachi readied some Kunais inside his sleeve on his right hand and focused his Chakura for his Sharingan. Kakashi took off his headband from his right eye. The three pupils appeared almost casually upon his eyes as Itachi looked back up to Sasuke, about to launch his first strike. The two Sharingan holder's eyes widened as the boy's figure entered their vision. "His a replicate!" they gasped. Sakura and Naruto turned to their teacher in a questioning expression. Just as their heads finished turning, a cracking sound entered their ears. They immediately flipped back to the fight.
Itachi looked down as the ground below him began to crack. "Shit," he spat. He took a few small jumps back but the crack followed him tightly. He clenched his teeth together as his back met a bolder, his eyes focused to the approaching crack. Then he flipped his head up with a surprised look on his face as he spun around quickly and pulled his hand out of his sleeve in a defensive stance.
Sasuke jumped out from behind the bolder and swung down hard with his kunai. Itachi blocked it inches away from his face. His eyes widened once more as he looked at the boy's face. "This one's a shadow replicate!" His eyes turned to the Kunai which the replicate was holding. The red tag tied to the end sparked just as a shadow appeared behind him.
Another Sasuke sprung from below, through the crack, and latched himself upon Itachi's body, holding him in his place. Itachi's eyes turned back to the burning tag on the kunai and stretched even wider as the flames burnt through to the end. A bright flash of white light erupted as a loud explosion followed. Naruto and Sakura covered their eyes with their arms as a cloud of dust flew to them. Sounds of falling debris was heard as the two opened one eye to see what has happened. The dust began to clear and three shadows began to show more clearly through it. One standing and two on the floor. The two on the floor disappeared into a puff of smoke, leaving the one that still stood. The dust cleared further.
"That's Itachi!" Naruto shouted.
"Is it over?" Sakura swallowed.
"No, up there!" Kakashi nudged his head to the direction.
Itachi's figure can be seen floating in the air. Their eyes fell back to the one on the ground and realized that it was melting into mud. "Kawarimi…" Sakura gasped.
Itachi looked down at the large crater that was left on the ground where the explosion had just happened pensively. A face suddenly appeared before him, or rather, a purpleish figure shaped like Sasuke's face through his sharingan. He swung his Kunai through it and the replication faded.
Another appeared, this time at his back which was quickly followed by another and one after another which all faded as quickly as it appeared. A swarm of purplish cloud surrounded him as he searched intensely for the true form. His eyes sprung full size as he felt a heavy blow on his back. Before he could react, he felt another heavy punch to the stomach.
"It's not over yet," Sasuke breathed heavily as he gave two more jabs to the stomach before spinning up above. Itachi glanced sideways up, only to see Sasuke's heal coming down toward him. It landed hard on the side of Itachi's side glancing face, sending him crashing to the floor in the center of the crater.
Sasuke landed lightly back to the ground calmly.
'He used Sharingan's ability to tell replicates from the true form as an advantage. Incredible!'
'Sasuke-kun's still as cool as ever!' Sakura skipped as she watched, still amazed by the attack that had just occurred.
"Sasuke! That was awesome!" Naruto shouted, "Keep it up, kick his ass!"
"Stop cheering," Sasuke blunted coldly.
The fallen figure stood up as it breathed out slowly. Itachi patted the back of his neck and rotated his head a few rounds before focusing back to his opponent. His hair shadowed parts of his eyes as he patted some dirt off his garb.
'His barely taken any damage!' Sakura gasped.
"It looks like…" Itachi sighed, "that I will actually have to take you seriously now. That one actually hurt a bit." He finished and looked up, revealing his Mangekyou Sharingan. Sasuke shot a grin, the grin that Naruto was so fimiliar with, the grin of strong confidence, mixed with great excitement.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune ran through the doors of the Hokage's office.
"Shizune, what's up?" Tsunade looked up from her pile of paper works.
"There's someone here to see you,"
"I don't recall any appointments."
"He says it's urgent and needs to speak to you right away."
"What sort of urgency?"
"Something about Naruto-kun and them,"
"…Alright, send him in,"
oooooooooooooooooooo
"Let's see how much you're able to use those eyes now Sasuke," Itachi put his hands together with a smile. He shut his eyes for a short while. Sasuke knew what was coming and did the same. He had been training for this moment since his first meeting with his older brother. He knew that the one to win in what was about to happen would have a definite upper hand in the fight.
The two's eyes opened as though a sudden jolt had struck them. "Tsukiyomi," The two focused upon eachother. Color began to fade around them and the sun lost it's glow. Sasuke ran forward, holding out his Kunai in one hand and formed an in with the other.
"Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" he shouted. A large orb of fire directed itself toward Itachi. Itachi narrowed his eyes then kicked hard off the ground, shooting straight into the fire. Sasuke raised the hand with the Kunai and swung down, pinpointing the exact moment Itachi jumped through the flames. Itachi straightened his body, diving under the attack and as he continued to fly to the back of Sasuke, he threw three Kunais.
With a side glance, he placed his hand to his back, holding the hole on the end of the handle of the kunai up. Swaying to the side, he dodged two of the three and catched the last one in the hole of the Kunai. Itachi stood without a movement.
"You'll have to do better than that," Sasuke chuckeled and raised a palm to the left of his face. Just then Itachi jumped from the right and with a fist shooting toward where Sasuke had raised his palm. The figure faded as the fist flew through the young teen. Sasuke's eyes widened as a heavy blow from his right, sending him flying a few yards back.
"You'll have to do better than that…Sasuke," Itachi regained his stance calmly.
Sasuke rubbed his face and felt a small trickle of blood run down his lips. He narrowed his eyes and glared as he got back to his feet.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"You do know that by doing what you're doing right now, you're jeopardizing yours and your entire family's lives right?" Tsunade sat back into her seat.
"Perhaps, but I know what they're capable of but I can't let the end of the world just happen before my eyes," Touji bit his lips.
Tsunade looked at him pensively, "Jiraiya," she called, "You heard it right?"
"Yeah," Jiraiya jumped in through the window, "I had an unsettling feeling for sometime now."
"Stay here, I need to talk to you afterwards," Tsunade ordered.
"Touji, I will send a few ANBU's to get your children and bring them here for safe keeping, is that alright with you?"
Touji's eyes sparkled, "Yes! Thank you!"
"Alright, I'll ask a few more questions to you in a bit. But for now, wait for me outside," she pointed.
"I understand," Touji bowed and exited the room. Tsunade gave a side glance to Shizune and the young medical-nin nodded knowingly and followed Touji out, closing the door behind her.
"Jiraiya?" Tsunade looked up.
"From what I have been able to gather, there were 7 particular kidnapping cases that I've found in the past 2 years that still remains a mystery today. I tried to learn more but they were all from different countries and all of them had records but not much was written on them." He said.
"You think that these are the 7 jinchyurikis?"
"I can't say for sure but they all occurred soon after the Kazekage's death."
"There hasn't been any reports by any guards saying that they spotted any of the Akatsuki, not even in parts of the forest where we have previously been able to detect their scent or some trace of they left behind for the past two years."
"Now that they have 8 of the 9," Jiraiya continued, "The only one that's left is Naruto,"
"But why did they choose Naruto as the last one to take? There must have been more chances than now for them to have struck."
"They've been gathering members. In our last attack, we did manage to take out a few of them,"
"Jiraiya, I'll send you to where Naruto is."
"I know,"
"Tell them that their time is up and they are to return to the village right away,"
ooooooooooooooooooooooo
Sasuke and Itachi gasped for air as they hit the ground with a loud thud. They were both about to make another attack but a sudden pain through their body stopped them. Color began to return to their surrounding and the sun regained it's glow. They could feel the wind and the chilly air of the mountain against the sides of their faces. Just as everything returned to normal, the two of them kneeled to the ground, breathing heavily but never taking their eyes off of eachother.
"W..What…Kakashi-sensei, what's going on. They were standing there for like 2 minutes and now they're on the ground!" Naruto turned his head back and forth toward the fighter and his teacher with confusion.
"That is what Mangekyou Sharingan is," Kakashi replied, "The individual caught by it will have all senses taken over by their opponents. Because they both posses the same technique, they were both caught by each other's technique or rather counter acted each other's technique. They must have been fighting through their minds until now."
"You've…gotten strong," Itachi chocked as he clutched his stomach.
"Heh heh," Sasuke chuckled weakly, trying to keep his vision in focus.
'Damn it, I used up most of my Chakura from that,' thought Sasuke, ' I'll have to end this soon or my body won't hold,' he could feel his legs shaking from just the strain under his kneeled position. He knew Itachi was in the same condition and probably thinking the same thing.
The two struggled back to their feet with some difficulty and huffed a breath to calm them selves before returning to a fighting stance.
Sasuke readied himself for his final attack. The three watched and swallowed hard. "Chidori!" Sasuke shouted as a lightning of chakura enveloped his hand. It's sound echoed extra loudly by the caves behind them.
Itachi narrowed his eyes and slid one foot back. "IT ENDS NOW!" Sasuke charged, raising his hand to attack.
"Katon, Kazan Lyuka no Jutsu (Phoenix flames)"
A magnificent flash of lightning to fire exploded upon impact. Within the flash of light, Sasuke dove through the bird of fire to Itachi. Itachi shifted another step back as he grasped Sasuke's wrist and kicked him hard to the stomach. Sasuke's eyes widened and the Chidori in his hand faded. All sound seemed to have vanished as Sasuke's body collapsed to the floor. Itachi held on to his wrist and watched the boy as his eyes close and shut his own.
"I'm over here!" Sasuke blunted as he landed his Chidori from the back. Itachi's eyes widened and looked back upon the fallen figure which disappeared into a cloud of smoke.
Dust began to clear. The three stretched their necks further out in an attempt to see what had happened. Sasuke stood in the middle, looking down upon his brother. Kakashi put his forehead protector back down to his eye. 'It's over,' he weezed.
"he won…" Naruto whispered with awe.
"Sas…Sasuke-kun! YOU Won…" Sakura's joys faded as she watched the sad expression on the boy's face. Sasuke raised his hand where blood was still dripping from. A shocking pain to his legs forced him to the ground. His team mates rushed in. He didn't notice their approach, he could only focus upon the blood on his hand.
'Why…I've just accomplished what I've been trying to accomplish my entire life. I surpassed him. I fulfilled by ambition…so why do I still feel this way,'
"Sasuke," he heard a weak call. His team all turned to the speaker.
Itachi smiled with his eyes closed, "You really did become strong." He said in proudly.
"What are you still blabbering about? Some last words before you die?" Sasuke glared.
"I didn't kill our clan," Itachi continued.
"What!" Sasuke lunged himself to his brother and grabbed the collar of his garb, "You slaughtered them, you slaughtered mom and dad, everyone!"
"No…I didn't,"
Sasuke's grip loosened, "I don't believe you."
"Then don't, but what I tell you now is the truth. That night, I was confronted by the Akatsuki. It was not the first time. Do you remember Shisui's murder? That was the first night they came to me,"
Sasuke's eyes widened.
"Shisui and I was walking to the meeting that night after I ran into him coming back from my mission. That was when I saw them…
End…
The second part to this chapter will be continued in the following chapter so there will be no flashback opening for the next chapter. Naruto receives news of the one he seeks!
Thank you to the 5 who reviewed. I appreciate each and every one of it.
MadNarutoFan: I'm glad you like it. I've focused on Sasuke the past few chapters but they will all tie in, you'll see
Destiny1029: As long as you keep on giving me those awesome reviews, I'll keep em coming!
Dragon Sheinto: University gets in the way of me updating this story. I hope it was worth your wait
Ming Shun: I decided to cut it. Was originally planning to get Konoha more involved but then decided to leave that off to this chapter.
MelanieStar: Haha, It's all good, you working on any new piece lately? Hope you enjoyed this chapter too