Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the charecters involved in the anime/manga

Warnings: This chapter contains some coarse language, violence, references to suicide, incest, blood, OOC, and the canon is dying and it's starting to show. This chapter is shorter than the more recent ones, but it is still pretty long. This chapter also contains a lot of spelling and grammar errors, I can feel it. I also would like to warn everyone in advance this chapter doesn't really answer the questions but it give more of an idea what was going on between the two of them.

Pairings: ItaSasu, slight KakaIta, references to ShisIta

The house was quiet compared to its usual self; the darkness engulfing the light. It wasn't the same as it was yesterday, it was cold for once. The sound of Sasuke's coughing was filling his ears making his whole body shake. Where did he go wrong?

Was this what it felt like to be guilty? Was this the feared emotion that he had told himself never to feel? The day when he saw the blood running from his eyes, he knew it was the end. If that moment wasn't good enough to make him feel all of the guilt in the world, he swore that no other was. That moment forged him into this.

He walked through the passage ways looking at the courtyard remembering the days when he could just sit out there for hours, with Shisui. Knew he was never going to be complete again without him, he was a fool for doing what he did.

"What are you trying to prove? Are you trying to get me to cry for you? I don't feel emotion because there is nothing to feel emotion for. When I look back on my life I see many mistakes, but guilt… that's not going to change what I did, so why bother?"

Stopping, he remembered what he told Sasuke. Guilt was a weakness that clouded judgment, but what was guilt real? It was more than something to make him feel weak; it was a feeling that was not used freely. He vomited for hours after he killed his best friend, it was a necessary component, but it didn't ease the pain.

"Shisui," he breathed as he looked at the rain clouds. It had been four years since it happened, since he made a desperate move to see the true power of his clan, wiping out every single piece of it. He wanted to erase his name from history, but it was forever imprinted, the clan seemed just as great.

Continuing on he was right outside of Sasuke's room, hearing the coughing that was seeping through the door. At least he's calmed down, Itachi sighed remembering the screams coming from there last night from the chills, the sound still echoing in his ears. It was Hell.

The door opened as he saw the young boy on the bed still shaking his skin pale, sweat running down the surface. The room was thick with the heat of his body, the salty smell of sweat and vomit filling his nostrils. He'd never seen him in this much pain. He never wanted him to be in this much pain. If there was a way that he could take it all away so Sasuke could live happily, he gladly would.

"You're going to be alright," Itachi breathed taking the moist cloth off of his forehead hearing Sasuke cry out in pain. He ignored the way that his body writhed as he took another cloth into his hand moistening it, the water dripping to the ground resembling the teardrops that Itachi couldn't produce. This was the most torture he had ever been through. He knew how Sasuke felt, but he wasn't strong enough to save him. He was weak.

Placing the moist cloth on Sasuke's forehead he looked down at him. He was remaining calm through all of this. The art of ninja was all about self sacrifice; this was just another offering to his power. Was this a reasonable sacrifice? Was Sasuke something that he could just lose?

He touched the young boy's face feeling him shake more the chills running through his body. His fever was enflaming his body, there was no longer any hope for him, he was going to give into this, and Itachi was too proud to get help.

He was going to stand there and watch as his brother got worse. He kept telling himself it was only the flu; he was going to get better with rest. This was however not the case. After all that he had put him through, Sasuke's body had weakened to the state of him not being able to breathe half of the time. He just had to have faith in him.

"You can do this," Itachi answered hearing Sasuke's voice shake as he shivered. "I'm going to leave it up to you, Sasuke," he stood up as he looked at his reflection in the mirror, the dark circles under his eyes more intense than before. He looked horrible after another night of no sleep, another night of hopeless moments where he prayed it was all a dream. This had to be all pretend, how could something like this happen to him now?

He walked through the door looking over his shoulder, Sasuke was still suffering. It's time to start perfecting that technique, I never thought that I would have to look back on the formation of it. He heard another cough as he walked through the door. "Please, Sasuke, don't get worse while I'm gone. Be here when I come back."

He walked through the door looking at the rain falling down thinking of only one thing now. His mind was clear of everything but one man: Kakashi Hatake. He was the reason for all of this pain. He was the source of all of Sasuke's current hurt. It was up to him to end this before it got too heavy.

I'm going back out there, I'm going to make you pay for all of this, he thought as he looked back at the house still hearing the sobs that were filling his ears last night. No more, no more guilt, no more near tears, he had to keep his composure. He had to make the one who did all of this pay. Dearly.

-----

The room was silent again, all of the turmoil from yesterday dying down. The tone of Sasuke's voice was still running through his mind as he closed his eyes. The hurt, Sasuke was never going to look at him the same way ever again. How could he say those words to him? He knew that Sasuke was going through rough time; he went against his own words of wisdom to his team.

Sasuke was the only one who came; Sakura had never even passed the door since he woke up. Naruto was another story, he knew that he wasn't going to come by for a while; he was probably still worked up over what happened to Sasuke, to see his sensei after that would be torture.

Footsteps approached as he looked over to see the door. This was eerier than yesterday when Sasuke had come in. There was a chill running through the air as the door started to open. The figure in the shadow of the hall was different than before, taller than his students but shorter than Gai. He knew this person; he could swear that they met on more than one occasion. Then it his him as he took a breath, the smell of perfume filling his nose.

"Itachi," he snarled, watching the door open fully the teenager walking in. "You've got some nerve showing up here after what you did."

He stopped his insults as he looked at what Itachi had become; it wasn't how he left him all of the time ago. The dark circles under his eyes showed the desperation he must have gone through, the wrapped bandages showing that he had been active. He was shadow of what he used to be, these were the ruins that he had left behind.

"Kakashi," Itachi stated flatly closing the door as he walked toward the hospital bed, his eyes were dark, completely black. All of these days he had been hiding behind a sharingan. Now he had freed himself from the strain, he was coming in complete peace. "I'm glad to see that you got out of my genjutsu."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "You're so despicable. What you showed me, it was worse than death. Having to watch that for seventy-two hours was absolute torture. It was all I could think of when I got my senses back, you and Sasuke. Your sick love for him," he looked back at the door. "How did you get in?"

Itachi closed his eyes. "The front door, there's a decree now," he looked over at him with a vicious smile, "I'm untouchable. It was requested in the last breath of Asuma Sarutobi that I'm not to be directly harmed unless I initiate the contact. It seems as though your friend had some sense in him."

Kakashi's mind swirled with anger as he looked at Itachi. He was the one who was killing Sasuke; he was the one filling his head with these lies. If Itachi had never come back, they would all be the same; the tears that Sasuke was crying were his fault.

"I've had it with your shit!" Kakashi yelled grabbing Itachi's collar pulling him closer as he looked straight into his eyes. "What are you trying to do to that boy? Are you trying to kill him? You're making all of this worse. You're words are making him consider hurting himself."

Itachi looked into Kakashi's eyes. "You think that I'm doing that to him? He's not even thinking about killing himself. As for what I'm trying to do, I'm trying to reclaim what is mine."

"He doesn't belong to you," the jounin answered as he pulled Itachi closer.

"I never said that he did, Kakashi," Itachi answered as he looked into Kakashi's eyes. "He comes to me of his own free will. He's the reason why I haven't left. There are times I wish that I could, but I can't. I'm not going to turn my back on him, Kakashi."

They looked deep into each other's eyes looking for one of them to lower their defenses, but neither of them budged. Deep in Itachi's eyes, Kakashi saw pain; he was trying to conceal deeper turmoil than anyone thought he could feel. Something was going on with Sasuke, Kakashi knew it.

"Did Sasuke come to you last night?" Kakashi asked.

"He did."

The eyes of the older ninja became cold. "Did you get what you wanted? Have you finally had enough of his body," he took a breath. "Sasuke pleads that he loves you, he says that you make his life meaningful."

Itachi's eyes lit up. "He said that? That sounds far too romantic for him."

"Stop acting so nonchalant," Kakashi spat as he looked into Itachi's eyes. "What you did to everyone, was it all worth it? You think you are so special because when you grew up daddy beat you. You think that the world revolves around your way of thinking. You think that your poor relationship with your father is enough to justify this. Father and son relationship are not a way to show how we want to live."

Itachi's lips curled into a smirk as he snickered. "Isn't that what you based your life off of, your poor relationship with your father? He cared so little about you that he killed himself. Your father was a suicidal failure."

Kakashi's hand lunged out to grab Itachi's neck lightly squeezing the column hearing the teenager gasp out in shock. "What does that make you? Aren't you a suicidal failure too? I know that you've attempted it when you were young. A young boy going through your pain has to have thought about killing themselves once."

"Don't… talk to me… like you know me," Itachi said calmly through the pain of his neck being squeezed so tightly. "You don't know anything."

Kakashi looked into the young boy's eyes seeing the same spark that he saw all of those years ago, it was still Itachi in there. I could never really figure him out from his eyes before I fell into the coma, but now he's so different. There's a certain beauty to his irises. He loosened his grip. "I know you, Itachi. I know you better than anyone has ever known you. I know that Sasuke worries about you." he touched Itachi's face as he heard the young ninja gasp. "What did you tell him about us?"

"Nothing that he didn't already know," Itachi answered. "I told him I wiped out all of the memories of you. That's not a lie. I will never forgive you, not now, not ever. And now you're taking it out on my brother," he closed his eyes tightly as he looked away. "I want you to stop that, I want you to leave him out of this."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "You come in here make comments about my father and then you say that I'm not to talk about my student anymore."

"You mean my student," Itachi answered with a sly grin. "He's accepted to take my offer on; he doesn't want to be with you anymore, Kakashi. You're caging him; you are only going to hinder all that he wanted."

"And you think you know what he wants?" the jounin asked. "You don't know what he wants. You only care about yourself. That boy loves you and you don't even show any true emotion. It's all fake smiles when he's around you. Do you ever show any real emotions?"

Itachi touched the ring on his finger staring blankly at it. "Emotions?"

"It's all sex to you, isn't it?" Kakashi asked. "All about you getting your release off of him, you're almost done with him. He's sick; he can no longer give you your physical pleasure. You have to leave him."

"You think that you know everything," Itachi breathed as he closed his eyes. "You don't have clue do you? Just because you think you know me by what the damn Bingo Book says you think I don't care. I was up all night making sure that he was going to be alright. I made myself susceptible to his sickness for him."

Kakashi scoffed. "That's not love."

"And you know what love is?" Itachi asked. "If you loved anything you would know that you have to give up something in order to prove it, even if it's your own life."

Kakashi's eyes widened as he thought about it. Sasuke's goal, he said that he was going to kill his brother, it was his purpose. Was it still the case even tough Sasuke came in here pleading about love, about Itachi being the savior of his life? He was twisted enough to still want to kill him?

"You idiot," Kakashi scolded. "You're giving up your life for him?"

Itachi nodded. "I have nothing to live for. Once the goal against the organization is done I can finally be at rest."

"Organization?" the jounin asked.

"The Akatsuki," Itachi continued. "No doubt a person of your caliber as heard of it. It's an organization of S-class criminals that meet in order to obtain ultimate power. I believe that my defection from the group was due to some ties with Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru?" Kakashi asked.

Itachi nodded as he continued on. "In order to support that tie, I had to be taken out because he thinks I'm too powerful. They feared that I would overrule them, they never trusted me," he took a breath. "Now that they have gotten of me being active in Konoha, no doubt they're going to bring more members to take me out."

There was a small silence as a roll of thunder went through their ears. This information seemed to be at the level of the Hokage's knowledge, yet Itachi was telling it to Kakashi. Even through all of the hate could he still trust him?

"Why are you telling me this?" Kakashi asked looking into his eyes. "What are you trying to do?"

Itachi closed his eyes as he thought about what he was saying the sounds of Sasuke's cries still running through his head. He could still taste Sasuke's lips from the last time that they kissed. It was all a distant memory now, the way that his voice sounded almost a distant memory, a dying ember.

"To warn you what is in store for when I take Sasuke under my wing," Itachi continued looking down at the man on the bed. "It's obvious that you are in no condition to be handling a child."

Kakashi closed his eyes. "Those kids are my life, Itachi. Don't be so cruel to take away my life," he took a deep breath, the struggle of the oxygen to the lungs being clearly heard. "Why are you being so cold?"

"You have no idea what ninjas do to one another; you've never been in that environment, you don't know the pain in a ninja's life. You don't know the torture. This is nothing compared to that."

Itachi looked down at him. "I do this because I know that you gave the same pain to me, Kakashi. The memories, as much as I try to forget them, they'll always be there, they're always going to be in my mind trying their hardest to break me. Kakashi, I don't want that life for Sasuke."

Kakashi grabbed the young ninja's shoulders so tightly that the force felt like it would bruise the flesh. "I won't let you have him, Itachi. I'm not going to let you get off that easily."

"I'm not asking," Itachi answered, the soft flesh of his hands touching Kakashi's wrists pulling them away. "I'm telling you that I'm going to take him away from you. It's done, Sasuke thought that what you said to him was demeaning, it even made him sicker than he was before," he laughed again. "Did you really tell him that I was using him for sex?"

Kakashi looked at him coldly. "He told you what I said?"

The Uchiha nodded. "He tells me everything that's going on in his life that has to do with you. You're the subject of most of his mindless rants. He doesn't like you as much as you think he does, he thinks you're too lax with him. He wants to learn and grow; he doesn't want to be babied by a man twice his age."

"You little brat," the jounin pleaded. "What does Sasuke mean to you?"

"I'm looking into the best interest for him. He needs a true heir of the sharingan to teach him how to harness the power. I have been working so long to get to be close to him again, Kakashi," he looked coldly at him. "Don't interfere."

The rain it the window so hard that the window could have broken, the sound of the EKG almost drowned out by the water. The look in Itachi's eyes showed that he wasn't going to break during this. He was never one to be easily broken. This was the most passionate he had ever been in an argument. He was determined to win Sasuke.

"And if I do?" Kakashi asked looking into Itachi's eyes.

The eyes that once were so empty filled with a threatening anger. "I'll kill you if you get in the way of this. I promise that you will die, and I never go back on my word, Kakashi Hatake."

"Is that a threat?" the older man asked.

Itachi nodded. "That's a threat. I'm not going to let anything halt the development of his power. He has potential to be better than me. His senses are sharp, his intuition is top notch, and he's a fast learner."

"You can't take him," Kakashi argued holding onto Itachi's hand. "Don't you see why I'm here? It's all for Sasuke. I gave up my life as a ninja for Sasuke and to keep him away from you. I can't let my sacrifice be in vain."

"Too bad," Itachi answered. "I can give him more than you can. I can make him feel like he's someone."

"You raped him," Kakashi argued. "You think that makes him feel better about himself, Itachi?"

"He said that he liked it," Itachi smiled. "He's a masochist. I thought you would know that from all of the years he was tracking me. He was looking to get hurt, and he finally did," he licked his dry lips moistening them quickly. "And don't think he didn't enjoy it, Kakashi. Sasuke thinks that he's so worthless that he needs to be beaten."

"And you do that to him?" Kakashi asked. "He's your little brother, Itachi. Why are you trying to kill him?"

Itachi shrugged his shoulders as he turned from Kakashi, the hairs that were bound in his ponytail moving along with the swift movement. "I do it because he asks me to. I don't do anything for myself anymore, you know I gave up all that respect a long time ago," he lifted his right hand the ring gleaming from the flash of lightning outside of the room. "I sold my soul, but now…" his voice was thick with hope, "I'm going to get it back. I can start anew, I have already started to feel like my old self again, only when I'm around Sasuke. He's changing too; he's becoming more aware of life realizing that wasting it is no longer an option. He's doing what he's always wanted to do."

"You mean what you wanted him to do," Kakashi answered looking at the ring. "You went and you joined a dangerous organization while Sasuke was here. I've heard of the Akatsuki, Itachi, people die in the Akatsuki. Are you trying to leave Sasuke alone?"

Itachi closed his eyes. "Why would I leave him alone?"

"Itachi," Kakashi soothed touching the teenager's hand. "You got out of there with your life; you got out of there sooner than anyone thought you would. You're the only one other than Orochimaru who left there with a beating heart."

"I didn't leave them," Itachi sighed. "They let me go, remember?"

Kakashi looked into Itachi's eyes. "I'm grateful they did. If what you said was true, then Sasuke's become a better man because he saw the real you. You had to let go of that façade that you were holding for so long and finally show him that you do care. After all, you are taking care of him while he's sick. Not many people would do that when in your condition."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "You don't think I can care for someone?"

"How can you care for someone else when you said that you don't even care about yourself?" Kakashi asked. "You threw it all away in a single night just to see if you could, to see if you were able to destroy your clan. Itachi, you're different than that thirteen-year-old that night. You have a good head on your shoulders and you care more about Sasuke then I thought."

"I guess I care too much," Itachi sighed as he stood up walking toward the door. "I can assure you, the safety of Sasuke is my first priority. Any interruptions from anyone will result in a counter attack, I'll bring him back to you," he splayed his hand across the door as he closed his eyes tightly. "As for what I told you about Akatsuki. I want you to keep that a secret to the rest. I trust you, Kakashi Hatake, call me a fool, but I trust you."

"I tell you all of this in confidence, because I still trust you… I trust you, Kakashi."

Sasuke, as the days went on, Sasuke was starting to draw farther away from everyone else, he could tell by the way that he talked. He had dedicated himself to this man; the cost was Itachi's life and Sasuke's body. The bond between these two brothers was unnatural, almost barbaric. The thought of the two of them actually being together would always plague Kakashi's mind. How did they hook up? Only a few weeks ago they hated each other, now it was like they were at some sick peaceful agreement.

"Itachi," Kakashi cried out, looking at the teenager. "If you do take him, I want you to promise me one thing. Through all of your adventures with him, even with Akatsuki and Orochimaru hot on your trail, promise me that you won't let him get hurt. Say that you'll cherish him like the soul that he is. Promise me, Itachi."

There was a slight silence as Itachi turned around his eyes filled with a strange look in his eyes the dark irises stabbing through Kakashi's heart. "I won't hurt him…" he took a deep breath. "I'm not like you."

The door opened as it took Itachi away from him. He was losing Sasuke to him, and all he could do was sit there and watch. He was unable to move, unable to protect his team like he swore he would. He said that he would protect them with his life. He turned his back on them, letting Itachi bring Sasuke into that dark dangerous world of his.

There was no stopping him; the decree had said that no one was to touch him unless he initiated first contact. That was Asuma's wish before he lost it all. Times were hard, they were no longer the close family that the third wanted them to be. They were a scattered jigsaw puzzle, the pieces nowhere close to being put together.

As Itachi's footsteps disappeared, Kakashi knew that it was going to happen again. He was going to be left with the pain of knowing that Itachi was going to recklessly throw his life away. And what for? For Sasuke, of course, that was his reason for still being alive, to have the kid surpass him in everything.

"Itachi," Kakashi breathed as he looked up at the EKG. "Why are you doing this to yourself?"

The images of his nightmare were still running through his mind. Itachi was so merciless, so loveless. How could he make Sasuke feel the warmth that he was talking about? All he could see was the cold that he had thrust upon him. He couldn't see the way that he was trying to protect him from all of the troubles in life, he was protecting him because of Sasuke's blood line: Uchiha. But why that was a factor, Kakashi didn't know. All that he did know was that Sasuke was happy with his brother; he was finally embracing life with all of its flaws.

"You better keep your promise," Kakashi muttered as he looked at the door another sound of thunder going through the room. "Or I'll kill you. If that boy comes back with one single scratch, so help me God!"

The room was never this quiet, he had chased everyone away from him so that he could get to Sasuke, but he had failed him, he was going to be branded with that forever. He swore that he would never see another Uchiha die, not after what happened to Obito. Sasuke was going to be his next one to watch standing helpless as the life was drained from his body. No, not another one, not another loss from that clan on his conscience, he wasn't going to let either of them die that easily.

"Akatsuki?" Kakashi asked as he closed his eyes. "I fear this has gotten worse than it already was. Be careful, Itachi… don't die…"

-----

Itachi walked to the doorway of the house that he had once called home, the one that held Sasuke in its confines. There was something that was going on with his life, something that he would never be able to explain. All of this time he was relaxing trying to convince Sasuke that there was nothing wrong, but there was: someone had seen him, they knew him.

"I never thought I'd see you running from a fight. The Great Itachi Uchiha, prodigy of the Uchiha clan is running away from a battle when it was far from done, you went easy on him. You're growing soft."

"That voice," Itachi breathed as he walked through the halls, water dripping off of his body. "I know that voice from somewhere. But where did I hear it? Why is this all so clear? Why am I starting to worry?"

He moved to open the door to Sasuke's room hearing the coughing; he was gone for too long, his blood pressure rising as adrenaline soared. Would he like what he saw on the other side of the door? The heat seeped through the door hearing the rapid breathing that was coming from Sasuke's lips. The more he opened the door the more he got to see what had become the young ninja.

Eyes met the sight that Sasuke was. Through the lighting of the electricity in the sky, his body seemed to glow from the thin layer of sweat that clung to his flesh. He shook with small tremors all through his body, small pants leaving his moist lips. Sasuke was worse than he was yesterday; the sickness was only going to get worse.

He took one step forward as he watched his brother suffer, a warm blush across his cheeks contrasting with the pale skin of his face. The sickness had taken hold of his body. This was getting to be too much for any person to handle.

"Did I do something wrong?" Itachi asked as he closed his eyes thinking about all of the actions that he had done. He had sacrificed so much to get to this moment, so much which he held so dear. He had never felt like this before he came back to the house still hearing the laughter that passed his lips. Shisui.

"You made me do this, I could have done this for you; I could have been the one who died instead."

The pain returned to his ribs, his lungs swelling at the contact with the bone. "Shit…" he cursed as he buried his face in the sheets grasping them tightly trying to get over the pain. He knew what Sakura did wasn't going to take away the pain; a ninja of her age would only be able to use Mystical Palms to heal him temporarily.

Crimson liquid left his lips as he clutched at the sheets tighter, it had never hurt this much before. He could literally feel the unforgiving bone of his ribs jabbing into his lungs almost breaking the tissue. His throat constricted tightly as he coughed harsher. The sounds of his own respiratory distress mixing with Sasuke's to make a painful aura to the room.

"I… can take this," Itachi told himself as he looked at the young boy. "Nothing that he could do could take me out this easily," he moved his hand painfully to lift up his shirt to see the dark skin that covered the left portion of his rib cage, the skin pulsing with every beat of his heart.

The pain was unbearable as he fell back onto the floor coughing, vomit seeping past his lips. His whole body was convulsing with pain as well as disgust for what had become of his body, of what had become of his name. Was this what Shisui wanted when he lost his life? Wasn't this what he was trying to prevent?

This pain was analogous to the pain that he had felt all of those years ago, it was the same as when he used to go by the river and think. Then he had Shisui to help him through it, their bond becoming tighter everyday that had gone by. Now it was different, the ring on his finger was showing him something that Shisui had never thought would happen, as well as the mangekyou sharingan.

"You went and you joined a dangerous organization while Sasuke was here. I've heard of the Akatsuki, Itachi, people die in the Akatsuki. Are you trying to leave Sasuke alone?"

"There's a high chance that the person who's unlocking it might not survive."

He closed his eyes as he wiped the excess liquid from his lips. "I…" he took a deep breath as he struggled to move up from the floor. "I survived…"

He closed his eyes tighter still remembering the bubbles that had seeped through the river as he held Shisui under. Every last one was bursting in his mind hearing the screams. That was a day when he turned into this. That's why he left the village and sought power. That's why he was the way that he was presently.

He looked back up at Sasuke, he was so peaceful. Even though the sickness was taking its hold, it wasn't as bad as what Itachi wanted him to do. Imagining blood trails from those eyes, the screams seeping from his lips. The pain of knowing that he wanted him to go through even the first stages made him wonder why he was still going on. He kept him alive to surpass him, not to throw his life away.

"Sasuke," Itachi breathed as he fell to the floor his eyes closing.

He was falling away from everything around him; he couldn't keep this insomnia up any longer. The more he tried to block out the pain, the more he felt like a human. He was becoming what he feared, he was becoming weak. Weakness was the disease that he would never be able to recover from no matter how hard he tried. He wasn't going to give in.

Kakashi told him not too long ago to give up on his dreams of being a ninja, saying that the road was never going to be an easy path. Itachi never liked anything to be easy, the more challenging something was the more of a thrill that he got out of it. This however wasn't challenging, it was painful. He had to watch as not only his body started to die on him, but as Sasuke was going through pain as well. This wasn't part of the plan. He was supposed to break him so that he would open his heart to what the world really was and become more of a person, and it worked.

A cough filled his ears as he looked up at Sasuke's hand gripping at the sheets; he was going through unbearable pain. The more pain he went through, the more that Itachi understood that he was going too slow. He should have been building Sasuke faster instead of letting him become this way. Sasuke was never going to make it if life kept treating him like this.

Darkness continued to swirl behind his eyes as he fell to the ground, the smell of vomit and sweat filling his nostrils. This room, it personified all that his life had led up to. He was lying broken on the floor with the only other piece of him dying less than an arm's length away. This was what had become of him. He was the biggest failure that he had ever met.

I'm letting them win; I'm letting every single one of them push me around. All of this time I had a sense of security, I knew that if I messed up I'd be covered. Not now, not now that I'm alone. I have to cover myself and Sasuke; he felt another surge of pain going through his body closing his eyes tightly to the point where he feared blood would run down his cheeks.

Time to morph, to change. There was no more time for second guessing himself, wondering when the time was right. This was now or never. He had to make a choice. The effects of all that was going on were taking his soul away as he lay down on the floor. Was this death? Was this how he was going to end his life, bloody on the floor of his old house? Was he going to die a pitiful death?

"Sasuke…" he breathed trying to fight his body's response to the pain. It was time to give in; it was time to admit defeat. The defeat that he had always feared but dreamed of having had come true: it was Sasuke that had killed him. That night a month ago, the night when they met up again, the blow to his chest made him like this.

"I'm sorry," it was the first sign of guilt that he had felt in a while, his body moving from the floor shakily trying to lift himself to get to the side of the bed. "Sasuke, you… you did it," he coughed harshly as he fell onto Sasuke's stomach feeling the muscles convulse against his face, blood dripping onto the sheets. "You killed me…"

He closed his eyes as he was engulfed by the darkness, his breathing becoming heavy. The walls around him were closing in, suffocating him so harshly. All he could hear was the laughter of the organization that had dropped him. This was all a game to them. It was a game that they couldn't win even if he did die; they were never going to get what they wanted.

A sigh passed his lips as he gave into the darkness.

Author's Note: That chapter ending on a negative note, it sounded like the two of them died, but I'll tell you right now that they are not dead, they'll be back in the next chapter. As for the mysterious man in the robe, he has still yet to be unmasked, his identity will be revealed soon, this will either prove your hypothesis right or wrong. So what did you think? Was it good? Bad? Want me to cut to the chase? Honesty is good.

Thank you to all of my reviewers, I was starting to fear that no one was still interested in this story.

Next chapter Itachi does some work on a copied jutsu that he didn't think he would have to work on this soon.