Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the Uchiha brothers. Do support Masashi Kishimoto and the official anime/manga releases.
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At the hideout of a massacred clan, the brothers stood facing each other. Sasuke knew from the first time he asked his brother to train him that he could never defeat his prodigy brother. Even as the man stood as pale as the moon and heavy bags under his eyes, Itachi proved a powerful foe.
Injuries piled on and it came to Sasuke's final move, Kirin. As his hand was held high above, his sharingan spinning furiously. Itachi looked ready for the grand finale.
In that short moment, two sides in Sasuke were at war; a vengeful one and a loving one. One filled with hate and the desire to avenge his fallen clan while the other believe optimistically that Itachi was still his loving brother deep within. One was built from trauma of the recent years and the other from innocence of his childhood. By the end, the result had Itachi's life on the line.
The internal war in Sasuke had ended. Death was what Itachi desired from him. But as much as Sasuke want to fulfil Itachi's wish out of obsessed adoration or pure hatred, Sasuke knew he could not bare to let his idol die. For when Itachi die, who will Sasuke obsess over?
But Kirin was coming. It was too late to stop the jutsu he had used. His innocent self acted as he would have when he was eight. He pounced onto his brother like the times when his thirteen-year-old brother had returned from his missions. Sasuke's arms were wrapped around Itachi. Even with Itachi's Susano'o took the brunt of the attack, Kirin broke through and struck the brothers. With Sasuke covering his brother, he took the most damage.
Sasuke lay limped in Itachi's arms. His breathing was ragged while his body twitched from the electrocution. Itachi was not faring any better with his heavy breathing and his wounds spilling out his blood. 'Why would you save me, foolish otouto?' was the question Itachi's rogue nin persona would asked. Instead Itachi cried out in worry and fear.
"Sasuke! Why?"
The younger sibling looked up with a smile he had not worn in years.
"I can't…. I love you… nii-san."
Sasuke grew colder as his pulse weakened. With his eyes closing, Itachi knew it was already too late. And he would follow soon. Blood spilled from his mouth, falling onto Sasuke's pale face. Itachi's body fell to the ground, his arms wrapped around Sasuke's. His senses grew numb and in his blindness, Itachi recalled a sweet moment in their childhood.
Where the ground was the soft bed in his room, the two brothers would cuddle each other. For that night, the brothers were free from nightmares, dreaming of happiness and brotherhood. That was the innocent childhood that they had yearned and saw as the happiest moments in their lives.
If there is such a thing like reincarnation, I wish we can be brothers again.
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Notes: The last line is actually from post/155824772697/continuation-of-a-previous-post-sasuke-gives
Love her and her illustrations 3
Well, this is the last chapter for For Nii-san. It's short but at least it's completed... That's good, right?