Ever since the fateful night that his parents died, when he found out that the brother he had adored for nearly his entire childhood never existed, Sasuke Uchiha vowed that the next time he saw the Uchiha traitor, he would not show weakness. Unlike that night, he would not shed tears, and he would be wearing a wide smile of satisfaction knowing that he had avenged his clan by staining his hands with the blood of their murderer.
"Itachi...Uchiha!" He growled with a furious sneer, veins sprouting on his head.
Naruto blinked at the sound of the man's name. "Itachi...Uchiha?" He looked from Sasuke back to the new arrival, taking note of the three-tomoe Sharingan in both of his eyes. His facial features bore a similar resemblance to Sasuke, but they were much more hardened than that of his teammates, with stress lines marking the area around his nose.
So this is the guy Sasuke wants to kill? Naruto thought to himself, recalling the Team 7 introductions where his Uchiha teammate expressed his desire to kill a certain someone. His thoughts then went forward in time, remembering when Sasuke was saying what Naruto thought were his last words against Haku. He spoke of not wanting to die until he killed his brother.
"It has been a while, Sasuke." The killer of the Uchiha clan started with an emotionless drawl. "I wonder...have you grown any since the last time we saw each other?"
Sasuke scowled, forming a series of hand signs at incredible speed before clutching his left wrist with a tight grip. "Of course! After all, I did as you said. I hated you, detested you! And…I've survived all of this time for one single purpose…" He continued as the sound of chirping began to play with the crackling of electricity, all concentrated within Sasuke's hand. "...to see you dead! It ends here!"
Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly. Chidori?
Gaara grumbled as he watched the exchange between the two brothers. This is Sasuke's reason for living, huh?
"This man..." Dosu mumbled with a wide grin under his bandages. "He is strong. I should get out of here before I get mixed up into all of this." And with that, Dosu leaped away, but Naruto, Gaara, and Sasuke were too focused on Itachi to care about the retreating ninja.
Especially Sasuke.
"It's time…" Sasuke started as he ran and leaped off the branch he was perched upon up towards his brother with lightning speed. "...you die!" He let out a guttural shout, thrusting his charged hand forward at Itachi's chest.
Unbeknownst to Sasuke, the boy's quick movements were easily readable by Itachi's Sharingan. The former Konoha Shinobi sidestepped the Chidori strike, which was too fast for Sasuke to retract.
TSCHK!
The sound of bark being completely destroyed echoed through the forest with the cry of one thousand birds. Sasuke's hand brushed into the bark of the tree, controlled by the grip of a single hand from his brother.
When did he… Sasuke wondered with momentary shock before regaining his composure. He glared with hatred burning in his eyes towards his brother. They stared at each other unfazed as the large hole blasted into the tree caused the top to lose balance and fall to the ground with the large rustling of leaves shielding the world from a loud thud.
Gaara couldn't stop himself from gaping out of shock at the sight. Sasuke's Chidori was deflected so easily. The same attack that penetrated his shield of sand and made him drop his first blood...that same attack was avoided so easily.
Just how strong is this guy? Both him and Naruto thought to themselves.
Itachi carelessly took his eyes off of Sasuke, looking down and analyzing both Naruto and Gaara. "The container of the Ichibi and the Kyuubi. This bodes very well."
"Why you…" Sasuke grunted at being ignored, holding his free hand back in a tight fist.
"You're a bother." Itachi retorted as he forced Sasuke's hand down with a quick snap. Sasuke let out an ear piercing cry of pain that would haunt Naruto for a very long time. The younger Uchiha was released, and he dropped to his knees, tightly holding his now broken wrist.
"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted out of both anger and concern. In an instant, he had his hands together molding chakra. "Give me your chakra, stupid fox!"
As he charged, the chakra radiating off of Naruto changed from blue to orange.
There it is. Itachi thought to himself at the sight of the Kyuubi chakra that now enveloped Naruto's body. To think he can now conjure a bit of the Biju's chakra at will…
He turned to see sand being released from Gaara's gourd, surrounding him and forming a large wall behind him, ready to strike if need be.
"You two!" Sasuke yelled through pained cries, causing the two jinchuuriki to freeze. "Do not interfere. This is my fight!"
Itachi turned his head away from Sasuke, his attention fully on Naruto and Gaara.
"I have no interest in you right now."
Those were the only words needed to send Sasuke off the edge.
"YOU BASTARD!" He shouted, attempting to attack while his back was turned with a roundhouse kick to the upper body.
Unfortunately for Sasuke, Itachi easily blocked the kick, catching it with a single hand. Then, with more strength than anybody could have expected, he swung Sasuke off his branch as though he were a fly.
Damn it! Sasuke mentalally cursed as he fished into his weapons pouch, throwing a group of shuriken hastily at his enemy. The shuriken met their mark, embedding themselves on Itachi's body. A triumphant smile found itself on glued onto Sasuke's face. I did it!
POOF!
The smile turned into an expression of horror as he saw that in place of Itachi's body appeared a log of wood. As he hit the ground, Sasuke looked back up to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him...only to see that they were not. Then…
"So slow."
Sasuke gasped. He found himself practically paralyzed on the spot once he heard the voice of his brother right behind him.
The difference between us...He thought to himself as he got himself a free view of the sky thanks to an elbow crashing into his back. The difference between us...Sasuke saw black as Itachi's elbow moved from his back, slamming down on the top of his skull. His legs buckled as with a cry of pain he was faceup on the ground with immense pain throbbing in his head and back.
"Sasuke!" Naruto screamed, appearing right above Itachi with anger burning in his eyes. With resounding force, he threw his leg down onto Itachi's head, only for it to be blocked by the man's forearm. The ensuing shockwaves sent shudders through Naruto's body.
Like with Sasuke, Itachi grabbed Naruto's leg. Though, this time, he carried the weight of Naruto's body over his head and slammed him into the ground with relative ease.
At a pace seemingly used to humiliate his opponents, Itachi slowly ran through a series of hand signs. Ending with the tiger seal, he inhaled a ball of air.
"NARUTO!" Sasuke shouted out of desperation, recognizing the hand sign sequence.
Itachi exhaled, using the Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fireball Jutsu). A sphere of fire flushed out from his fingers and mouth, enveloping the stationary body of Naruto on the ground.
"NARUTO!" Sasuke shouted once again, only to get no response from his teammate. He widened his eyes, despair and worry filling his red eyes.
No...please no.
Itachi glanced at the hopeless expression on his little brother's face, noting his reaction. He seemed to care about the blond. He looked back to the fire on the ground. As it dissipated, he narrowed his eyes at the sight of no burnt corpse.
"You can't kill me that easily, ya know!" Naruto shouted from on top of a tree branch. The Kyuubi chakra radiating around his body was the reason why he was able to escape that Fire Jutsu. Even though he hated to admit, without the fox's chakra, he'd be burnt to a crisp right now.
"Naruto!" Sasuke once again yelled out to his teammate. Though he was glad that he was alive, he still couldn't accept what he was trying to do. "I already told you not to interfere, and that goes for the Suna Shinobi too."
"You wish to fight me alone?" His brother said with what seemed to be a hint of amusement uncharacteristic of the Uchiha traitor. "How pointless. None of you stand a chance against me. What makes you think you can beat me?"
"Damn you...RAAAAAAH!" Sasuke rushed forward, jabbing his good fist at his brother.
The blow was easily parried, and all Sasuke got out of it was a hard kick to the gut so hard it sent him to the base of a tree. Blood shot out of his mouth as his back crashed against the bark.
The difference between us...Sasuke found himself thinking again as his brother appeared in front of him, thrusting his fist into his stomach.
"GUH!" The Uchiha chortled, doubling over as blood once again spewed out of his mouth. The world started spinning for Sasuke as Itachi gave a cruel knee to his jaw, shooting his head upwards and hitting the bark of the tree to cause more aching pain.
What have I been doing all this time? The gap is just as big as last time! Sasuke's fleeting thoughts played in his head as he collapsed facedown on the ground, a defeated and tired look in his now black eyes. He groaned as he felt a forceful hand grasp the collar of his shirt. Sasuke winced as he was shoved onto the tree wall and dragged on it to meet his brother's eye level.
"You are still weak." Itachi muttered loud enough so Sasuke could hear every word. The words hit Sasuke like a truck. All of this time and he wasn't even considered a challenge. "Why is that? I know. You don't have enough hate. And you know something, you never will." He whispered, leaning into Sasuke's ear. Using his free hand, he gripped Sasuke's head and held it up.
He made eye contact with Sasuke as his Sharingan changed from the three tomoe to a much different symbol. His little brother's eyes shot open as he was now entranced in the Genjutsu.
Those same eyes...from before...Sasuke thought weakly as he felt a wave of despair crawl over him. Slowly, the world around him as he knew it began to change. The sky changed to a dark blood red. It's happening again…
Sasuke blinked. When he opened his eyes he found he was in his kid body once again. The body from that fateful night.
Blood splattered on the clan grounds. The white panels of the doors now soaked in red with the streets littered with cut up bodies...
No! No! You have already lived through this! Sasuke thought to himself, his determination returning for a moment. It may have been real years ago but it's not real now! All of those dead Uchiha are now each buried under the ground, never to be seen again. This...is…
Fake!
Sasuke's eyes shot open, the two tomoe Sharingan now covering his black eyes and burning with a newfound fire. Itachi's normally stoic expression convulsed into one of utter shock, and it was the most relishing thing Sasuke had ever felt in his life.
He had done it. Like punching through a window, he had broken through his brother's tricks. With a hard kick, he threw Itachi off him. He let out a long wheeze as air returned to flow through his wind pipes.
The usually calm Itachi now had eyes riddled with shock as he looked at his brother with a puzzled expression.
"It...can't be." Itachi said with wide eyes. "No one has ever been able to break out of the Tsukuyomi. It should be impossible!"
A wide, gleeful grin spread across Sasuke's face. "You said I lacked hate. But the truth is, I have all the hate in the world for you. No Genjutsu of yours can stand in the way of my ambition, Itachi! Your mind games will not work anymore. Now, I will have my revenge!"
Itachi cupped his left eye. A single stream of blood was now running down his face. Itachi's chest grew and shrunk in considerable size with the heavy amount of breaths he was taking and exhaling.
Removing a kunai from his pouch, Sasuke rushed at his brother with speed comparable to that of Rock Lee. He forced the sharp weapon into his brother's gut, who coughed a mouthful of blood through a grunt of pain.
He had him.
This was his chance.
A stab for each person killed that night.
DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIIIIIIIEEEEE!
"DIE, ITACHI UCHIHA!" Sasuke shrieked as blood squirted out of the many holes riddling Itachi's body. Squelching sounds resounded in Sasuke's ears as he continued piercing his now downed brother's body with hard, yet slowing stabs.
For their Uncle…
SPHHHLT!
...their Aunt…
SHHHNK!
...their Mother…
TSCK!
...and their Father!
SQUELCH!
The blood bursted out of Itachi's body like a water fountain, staining the surrounding world with red.
He was surely dead.
Itachi Uchiha...was gone.
Sasuke let out a deep breath as he glanced at his blood-soaked kunai. The kunai was covered in Itachi's blood.
He rose to his feet, stumbling away from the punctured body. He closed his eyes, wanting to actually vomit at the sight of the blood. However, at the same time, he didn't want to. He didn't care either way.
It was over...finally over.
A wet cough filling the silence in the air haunted Sasuke's ears.
"S-Sasuke...why?"
He let out a startled gasp at the sound of the voice that was most certainly not Itachi's. He shot open his eyes to see once again a bloodstained body. However, through the large chunks of blood, he saw bits of orange…
No…
"N-Naruto…" He whispered with disbelief.
No. It can't be. It can't be.
"S-Sasuke...why did you do this?" Naruto questioned through pained coughs. Sasuke's eyes filled with horror as he dropped to his knees, holding Naruto's red body. "I-I thought we were friends...I thought that...we didn't abandon each other."
No. It was Itachi. He was fighting Itachi.
Then why...why was Naruto here?!
Kakashi...he had warned him multiple times throughout their training period for the Chunin Exams that revenge would blind him one day. Was this what he meant?
Did Itachi use a Genjutsu on him that made him see him instead of Naruto?
And he was too blind...to see through it.
"Hey, Naruto." He bursted out, cradling the boys' body. "You'll be fine. You heal really fast. You can heal from this too!"
"Sasuke...why? Why did you...kill my dream?"
Sasuke gasped. He remembered the words he had uttered to Naruto when he was in the exact same position.
"Don't let...your dream die…"
"You...bastard…" He said as tears appeared in his eyes.
Sasuke blinked, only to realize the wetness in his eyes.
He was crying too.
"I…" Naruto started, only to never utter another word as the life in his eyes wiped out completely. His body went limp in Sasuke's body. The Uchiha pressed his fingers on the side of the Uzumaki's neck.
No pulse.
He killed him…
Sasuke Uchiha had just killed his only friend.
"You...idiot…" Sasuke muttered, though he didn't know if he was saying to Naruto or himself. "You...idiot."
Sasuke winced as the reality fully dawned on him. The twister of emotions coursing throughout his body right now was significantly more than he could handle. So Sasuke did the only thing he knew how to do in that moment.
He screamed.
It was all too much! Itachi had taken his family and the entire clan from him. And now...he had tricked him into killing his best friend.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Sasuke screamed, rolling on the ground, tightly clutching his head.
No...this wasn't real. It couldn't be. It wasn't!
In the real world, Sasuke's eyes became bloodshot as he released a broken and terrified scream.
"GAAAAAAAAAH!" Sasuke cried out from the burning feeling in his eyes. His eyes...it was like someone lit them on fire.
Itachi narrowed his eyes at the sight of Sasuke's eyes.
They had...changed.
They were no longer in the form of the simple two tomoe Sharingan. No, the design was now completely different from that of a regular Sharingan. The new Sharingan was a petal-like design with a black-colored iris and red petals on top of each other with a black middle.
Good. He has unlocked it...Itachi thought to himself as he let go of his brother, letting him fall to the ground, his eyes now returning to their regular black.
"SASUKE!" The truly alive Naruto yelled out of concern as he jumped down from the tree branch. "YOU BASTARD!"
Quick to react, Gaara thrusted his hand forward, sending a wave of sand (nearly all of it) towards the older Uchiha. Meanwhile, Naruto crossed his fingers together.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu)!" A group of eight exact Naruto clones appears alongside the Uzumaki. Along with Gaara's sand, the clones dropped to the ground and rushed the Uchiha from all sides.
In the middle of it all, Itachi briefly widened his eyes. The next thing Naruto and Gaara knew, Itachi was now in the air upside down above the sand and the clones. In between of his fingers on both hands were a single kunai. Spinning in the air, Itachi quickly and accurately threw two kunai at a time at the clones. By the time he ran out, all of the clones had been destroyed.
Now, all that was left was the sand.
Itachi closed his eyes briefly. When he opened it, he had his Mangekyou Sharingan activated. He channeled chakra to his right eye as he internally recited the name of his Jutsu.
Amaterasu!
The black inextinguishable flames bursted out of the rogue ninja's eye. The fire connected and spread on the approaching sand. Gaara's sand was practically incinerated. Even after all of the sand was burned, the fire just kept on burning...with no sign of ever going out.
"Kuh!" Itachi grunted, grasping his right eye as blood began to seep out of it. He hunched over, taking in deep heavy breaths.
Itachi cursed himself internally. He had practically used all of his remaining chakra using Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu. Those two moves already required a heavy toll on his reserves, and they were already cut in half because of his Kage Bunshin.
Fortunately, moments later, he had felt his chakra reserves fill back up to less than half. Memories of his Bunshin flooded the contents of his mind.
It's best to retreat now. Orochimaru can wait another day. Itachi thought to himself. He held up a two fingered sign, practically vanishing in front of Naruto and Gaara's eyes.
"So fast!" Naruto exclaimed out of shock. His eyes darted around the desert forest, looking for any sign of Itachi Uchiha. However, after a minute of searching, he could only come to the conclusion that he had run away.
Why? Gaara found himself asking. He could have easily taken the both of us out. Did he not have enough chakra to continue? He looked to where the unconscious Sasuke was lying. It doesn't matter now.
The more pressing matter was finding the Jonin that constantly smoked…
POOF!
Gaara blinked, shooting his head to the source of the sound. An enemy?!
"Have no fear! I, the legendary Jiraiya of the Sannin, am here!"
Nope. It was Jiraiya.
"Ero-sennin!"
"What the hell did I say about calling me that, brat?"
Gaara narrowed his eyes at the long-haired 50 year old. He noted small brushes of dirt and black marks randomly riddled on his clothes.
He was definitely in a battle. However, judging from his clothes, the battle either wasn't long at all or he went through it without struggling at all. Both possibilities were very plausible, considering the Toad Sage's status as one of the Sannin.
"Hey, Ero-sennin, what happened to you?" Naruto asked with interest, seeing the man's clothes.
"I had a run-in with the Sound Four." Jiraiya answered with a smug smirk. He closed his eyes, shifting his posture to make himself seem bigger than he already was. "They were good, but they were no match for the might of one of the Sannin."
"Shit! Sasuke!" Naruto realized, ignoring Jiraiya's boasts (much to the annoyance of the older man) and dashing over to his teammate's body. Cradling the Uchiha's body, he continuously and desperately yelled in the boy's face. "Sasuke! Hey, Sasuke! Hey, come on. Wake up, Sasuke! You selfish bastard!"
"Naruto." A cold voice spoke. The blond turned towards Gaara, who stared at him with his usual emotionless gaze. "Don't bother. He's not going to wake up."
"Damn you!" Naruto seethed with rage. "You don't get to say that! You don't know Sasuke like I do! Something like this isn't going to keep him down!"
"He's right, Naruto." Jiraiya said, suddenly now next to Naruto, much to his surprise. "Itachi used Tsukuyomi on him. Whatever he saw traumatized him so bad it put him into an unconscious state. But, that's not why Itachi was here. He wanted to kill Orochimaru, and if he could, get his hands on you and Gaara."
In the recesses of his mind, Gaara was shocked. What did someone like Itachi want from him and Naruto? He only had one possible answer to the question.
The demons that laid inside of them…
"If he wants me…" Naruto started, trembling in place with fury. "...then I'll just go straight to him instead!"
Jiraiya looked away with a scornful scoff. "Idiot. Even if you went after Itachi in his depleted state, you'd only get killed in the end. The difference between you and him...is far beyond your imagination. You're still too weak."
"Train me, then!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs. "Train me so I can beat the shit out of that bastard for what he did to Sasuke!"
"All in due time. For now...we must regroup with the others."
It may have been a long wait, but at least it wasn't a year this time. This time, there is literally no excuse except for me just being lazy as hell.
Now, while I understand that not many review this story (for good reason), I will still ask for your guys' thoughts then. After this mini arc, I'll be going through the Tsunade Search and the arc after that. So, I'm asking that once we get to the time jump, should I have a couple of chapters focusing on other characters. I have two mini stories in mind if I do this, but I really want to know what you all think.
Anyway, I'll see you guys in the next chapter.
Take care, goodbye!