Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I never will.

Warnings: This chapter contains crude language, blood/violence, incest, yaoi, OOC, and the canon is not a factor anymore. This is also a pretty long chapter (I'm sorry for that). Also I know that a lot of you are mad at the man in the robe being Kabuto, but it helps the rest of the plotline more if it isn't someone in the Akatsuki. I hope you enjoy anyway.

Pairings: ItaSasu, slight ItaKabu, references to ShisIta and KakaIta, traces of SasuSaku and NaruSaku, some KabuSaku.

"Itachi," Kabuto started as he walked toward him, that damn condescending look on his face. "Why can't you and I agree on something for once? Why can't you give yourself up willingly?"

Itachi never trusted Kabuto since the moment he laid his eyes on him. He knew that he was up to no good every time that he spoke. He couldn't be trusted. Why would the Akatsuki send a man that they knew wouldn't do what they told him to do?

A hand ran along Itachi's jaw line grasping at his chin lightly. "Kabuto," he spat trying to fight the grip, his scarlet eyes diverting from the older man. "Let go of me," he tried to fight the feeling of surrender that was going through his body. This man was the one who did that to his brother, he was the one who could have killed Sasuke if he came a second later. This was a real attack.

"What's wrong?" Kabuto asked as he pulled Itachi's lips to touch his lightly, the younger boy pulling away from him. His grip was unmerciful as he could feel the anger burn at Itachi's fingertips, his teeth lightly biting at his tongue. "You don't seem like your old self," forcefully craning his neck, he pushed him to look back at the boy who was shaking on the ground. "After all of this time you've been spending it on this little boy, you've been destroying him, torturing him, raping him, and you expect me to have all off this to be going your way?" he laughed kissing his lips again. "Itachi, just give up before someone else gets hurt."

Itachi swallowed hard as he shook in Kabuto's arms. "What do you want from me? What do you want me to give you?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kabuto asked, running a hand through Itachi's ponytail. "I want your blood, Itachi," he moved to whisper in his ear. "All over my body…" he laughed lightly, his breath condensing on the Uchiha's flesh. "The organization made a mistake keeping you alive, Itachi. You can't hide from them anymore."

"That's what you want?" Itachi asked with a small scoff.

"Oh come on, Itachi, you know what I want," he kissed his lips lightly. "One last time," he took a deep breath wrapping his arms around Itachi's body. "One last struggle…"

He backed away from Kabuto a disgusted look in his eyes. "What are you doing Kabuto?"

The older boy walked toward him again. "I've been chasing after you for weeks, Itachi. I saw the look in your eyes while I was touching your brother; I know that you were jealous of what I was doing to him. You wished that it was you that these fingers were touching."

Itachi moved back into a tree which was unharmed by all of the blasts. "You pervert," he took a deep breath backing farther into the tree, feeling Kabuto come closer to him. "You were sent to kill me, not to rape me."

"Who said anything about raping you? I'm going to fight you until you die," Kabuto smirked running his hands up and down Itachi's waist. "You look so beautiful under the rain, especially when you've been bleeding so much. I could heal all of your wounds, Itachi," he pinned his hand to the tree. "If you give me what I want."

Itachi looked away. "Go to Hell, Kabuto."

He smiled sweetly as he stroked Itachi's face. "This could be settled with you and your brother leaving with your lives. If you keep refusing, all of this peace that you tried so hard to keep will be diminished and Sasuke will die."

Their eyes met as the thunder continued to crash through their ears. Itachi took a deep breath glancing over at what his brother had become. Did he offer all of this to Sasuke as well? Or was Itachi just the one that Kabuto wanted to torture sexually? Itachi was always getting tortured, but usually brushed them off pretty easily. However, this was different, only moments ago he was thinking about those lips pressed up against his. That tongue slipping past his lips.

"Kabuto," Itachi breathed. "Don't do this to me. We can have a fair fight. You and me, the one who wins gets to have their way," he pushed Kabuto away. "If I win you leave and go back to the Akatsuki and you tell them all that if they come for me, one by one they'll die."

Kabuto pulled out a kunai. "You want a fight? Well, Itachi, it seems as though your bloodlust is never going to be fulfilled. Do you want to add me to your countless gallons of blood spilled at your hands," he grasped on of the slender extremities feeling the cuts along the left one. "It seems as though someone hurt you. Who?"

Itachi grasped the handle of his katana with his right hand looking straight at the hand that was grasping his. Kabuto was being so gentle with him, a quality that no one had ever shown him before in his life. The look in his eyes wasn't a look of bloodlust, but a look of concern, pupils darting to the ring on his finger.

"Why do you still wear that?" Kabuto asked, watching the sword be drawn from the sheath. "They left you, but still you pledge your loyalty. You really are a sad person these days aren't you Itachi?" he aimed the kunai in between Itachi's eyes expecting a tremor to run through his body, he got nothing out of him that would make him show any sign of fear.

"Who's the sad one, Kabuto? You're the one who agreed to fight an opponent that you will never beat as well as pick on a young child," Itachi scoffed pointing his sword toward him, barely scraping at his arm. "And you were trying to break me. Did you honestly think that mediocre threats are going to get you out of this?" he smirked evilly. "Killing you will be so sweet."

Kabuto looked at the blade. "ANBU sword? My, my, I can't believe your still using trite techniques. I know everything that you can do. I'll have you know that I'm an opponent that is comparable to that of Kakashi Hatake."

"And he fell at my feet when he looked into my eyes," Itachi closed his eyes. "You can't fight me when I activate the mangekyou sharingan, there's no telling what will happen if you face me right now. I want you to know that all that you've done until now will be worthless if we engage in this fight."

Kabuto smiled. "We could always go with choice B; you could always give me your ring, Itachi."

"But I prefer the one where I sent the Akatsuki their scout's head on a plate," the younger boy took a step forward opening his eyes fully red irises burning violently. "Now come…"

"Why are you so bloodthirsty?" Kabuto asked. "You're not the Itachi that I know. You're not even half of the man that I knew. You're a sympathetic weakling that is too busy with vengeance."

He took a deep breath dropping the katana, the point hitting the ground. "The Itachi Uchiha that you know is dead," he started to laugh lightly. "I died that night when I met him again. I realized that my life is for once meant to be something more than just going with that damn organization. Maybe I'm supposed to be here right now."

"That's nonsense," Kabuto barked. "Once a member of Akatsuki, always a member, you're never going to forget what they did to you. You're never going to forget what they put you through, the torture. Just like you won't forget ANBU, or Kakashi Hatake, or your father," he took a deep breath. "Or Shisui Uchiha…"

Itachi's grip on the word loosened as he heard the name. That night was a mistake. He shouldn't have come to him. He should have just gone home, but he was too good to his friend. Then he was holding him underwater, the bubbles not stopping from rising to the surface. Shisui was the reason why he left the village; he was the reason why he went mad that night. He failed him. He still failed him while standing here looking at Kabuto. He was never going to amount to anything.

"Leave him out of this," Itachi growled lifting the sword again.

"I can see you're very fragile, you're confused. You want to know whether you're strong or you're weak. I want to see how much strength you retained. You know that it wasn't Orochimaru or my choice to let you go," Kabuto answered looking over at Sasuke. "But you see… Orochimaru wanted you as his new container."

"Well isn't that great for him," Itachi took a deep breath.

"You don't get it," Kabuto sighed looking away from the young boy. "The reason they kicked you out. Don't you know why they did that to you, Itachi? Don't you know why they put you through this torture…?"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Itachi asked his eyes burning, a flash of lightning accenting his anger as he looked upon the medical ninja. "They let me go to make better ties with that bastard that you call a master. He didn't want me around, I was too strong for him to handle. That's why they let me go? They wanted to make me sad. But I'm not sad, Kabuto, I'm far from it," he dropped the sword starting to form hand signs. "I'm going to kill you…"

Kabuto's dark eyes widened as he noticed the last seal. "A tiger seal?" he started to back away. "Shit!"

Itachi took a deep breath. "Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu," even in the rain, it was still strong enough to hold soaring straight at Kabuto as he exhaled all of the chakra he built up in his lungs.

Feet moved quickly along the wet debris from the blast that Sasuke had caused earlier. Watching Kabuto stumble made elation bubble through his body, heat roiling in the base of his spine. Was he weak? Far from it. This man who was a fair opponent for Kakashi was nothing in front of him. He was just another fool.

"Are you done with me?" Itachi asked as he pulled out a kunai holding the handle tightly. "I don't think you know what you're messing with, Kabuto," he placed the kunai in his mouth as he ran up to him grabbing the sword along the way. The thought of Kabuto's blood staining his flesh made his mouth salivate. Oh God, he couldn't wait to feel that warmth.

As he moved closer Kabuto started making hand signs. "I have tricks too," he tried to get his technique into the process of working, feeling his hands being pushed apart resting up against the tree that was behind him. "No way in Hell."

He heard the ratcheted breath of another in his ears, Itachi's chest puffing in and out painfully. Blood ran down his lips as he looked straight into the older ninja's eyes. The only word that Kabuto could fathom as he looked deep within those irises was Sasuke. Through Itachi's peripheral vision he was looking back at the shivering boy and then silently cursing himself for all that he had done to the boy.

"What's that look in your eyes?" Kabuto asked as he wriggled in Itachi's grip. "Are you feeling sorry for something that you did? Are you finally finding a fault in your personality?" he laughed as he looked at Itachi. "You think that you were worthy of being with those ninja. You were once someone, but that boy that you've become infatuated with is slowing you down."

"Shut up!" Itachi snapped his hand, moving to grasp Kabuto's neck pushing him deeper into the tree; his heart was pumping harder than ever as the rain fell aggressively up against the ground. "I have worked too long and too hard for this moment to have some arrogant bastard like you mess it all up. For four years I've been trying to make this kid into something worth honoring, and I'm not going to let someone like you take that away from me or him," he tightened his grip hearing Kabuto gag slightly. "I'll tell you what I told Kakashi, if you get in the way of what's going on with me and Sasuke, I will have no second thoughts about killing you. Do I make myself clear?"

He moved his hand to the side thrusting Kabuto into another tree, his body hitting face first, waterfalls of blood falling to the ground. A smile tugged at the corners of Itachi's lips as he looked at what had happened to the man that Orochimaru called a right hand man. His eyes never leaving the blood he walked forward.

"Do you regret coming now, Kabuto?" Itachi asked his voice filled with glee.

A cough filled the air. "When you find emotions, they're sick and twisted. Do you feel no end to your sadism? I never thought you would be one to break when they pushed you around. The Itachi Uchiha I knew…"

"Is dead," Itachi answered. "This is the new me, and this is how I will remain until someone shows me that I can feel otherwise. Kabuto, you thought that you could walk in here, almost rape my brother, and then I'd give you everything that you wanted? You're dumber than I thought you were."

"I-Itachi," he breathed. "It's useless. Even if you destroy me, one by one they'll come for you. It would be in your best interest to surrender to me before they send someone stronger to come here and claim you. If you really cared about that boy over there on the ground dying in front of you, you'd give up now."

Itachi looked up at the pain falling onto him taking a deep breath. "No, I don't die as easily as you want me to. I won't give in because you want me to. I won't turn my back on Sasuke."

"Itachi, 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."

"I'm not going to let you walk all over me like you walked all over Akatsuki," Itachi grasped his sword pointing it at the nineteen-year-old. "They might have blinded me with their poison, but unlike the rest, I found the antidote."

"This boy…?" Kabuto took a deep breath his flesh touching the blade lightly nicking his skin his body not showing any signs of pain. "He means something to you. You're getting defensive."

Itachi moved away from him, the scratching sound of metal touching the material of the sheath. Step by step, he moved closer to the body that was on the side shaking violently, harsh breaths escaping his lips as blood lacquered his face. It burned him, more than a knife ever could. Was he even still with him?

"Sasuke won't survive all of that, Itachi," Kabuto muttered quietly as he looked straight at the work that he had done to Sasuke. "He was out of chakra when I met with him. There's no hope of cell regeneration, there's no way to even know if he has a concussion. You're going to lose him."

Itachi brought Sasuke into his arms feeling the body heat starting to leave his veins, his breath becoming more and more difficult. Sasuke was leaving him slowly, his body starting to give out. He was so cold, so wet, his dark hair adhering to his face as he was losing all color in his face, his lips lacquered with blood that continued to drip with every breath. He was death incarnate.

"If he dies," Itachi whispered. "If he dies Kabuto, I'm going to kill you."

"Is that attachment?" Kabuto asked in that damn condescending manner resting up against the tree. "You could have just handed yourself over. Someone would have come for your brother."

Itachi ran his fingers through Sasuke's hair closing his eyes tightly as if he were fighting tears. No matter how much a deep corner of his heart was telling him to cry, he couldn't. He wasn't going to allow Kabuto to win that easily. All he had to do was get away from him before it was too late.

"One day, Kabuto, I hope you know what it feels like you have someone respect you. It's a wonderful feeling for those of us who have been kicked around by life. It gives you reason when you thought there was none, and it opens your eyes to what you always wanted."

He laughed. "Lord knows I want to go home and fuck my brother every night."

"That's not what I'm talking about Kabuto," Itachi turned and looked at the bleeding medical ninja. "All of your life you were pushed around. Don't you think I know what happened to you when you were a child? And then you went off with Orochimaru, you never had a life of your own."

"And you did Uchiha Prodigy?" he took a deep breath looking at the shivering child. "Orochimaru wants a new container after this body expires. That boy that you hold in your hands has been of some interest. The hate and disdain that is inside of that boy's body, it's unbearable. All of it toward you, he resents you, Itachi, he detests you for what you did to his clan. And he wants to spill your blood."

"Shut up!" Itachi hissed looking back at him. "If you touch him, I will kill you and send your bloody mangled body right to Orochimaru's village. I don't want you to be here after him, you want me. You want this ring on my finger, you want the blood that flows in my veins," he took a deep breath. "But most importantly… they sent you for the fox."

Kabuto gasped. "How did you…?"

"I know how the Akatsuki works, Kabuto, I was with them for years until they kicked me out. They want all of the tailed beasts; they want to harness that power for themselves. But I'm not going to let them."

He started to walk away from the medical ninja hearing his deep labored breathing. "Aren't you going to kill me?"

"Now Kabuto, why would I kill you when I haven't had my fun yet?" Itachi snickered as he continued walking. "Besides, you're pitiful, for all of the talk that you did while you were in that robe seems to be selling you short. You can't beat me on your own, Kabuto. When I get Sasuke alive and train him to fight like me you won't be able to handle it. There's nothing that you can do to stop us, all of your techniques will be perceived and copied. You're going to die, Yakushi…"

He walked out of sight from Kabuto the older ninja coughing loudly, his face turned away from Itachi. The younger ninja had won this round with ease, running away with that damn brat. If Kabuto was going to win any of these battles, he was going to have to find another source of power, someone who could do damage to Sasuke.

"Just you wait Itachi, I'm not an opponent that will be so easily beaten," he looked trough the ruin of the trees, the rain falling harder. "There is at least on soul in Konoha that hates you for what you did. Just one…"

-----

"Where is Sasuke?" Sakura asked as looking into her sensei's eyes. "He's been away for too long for me to even think that he's coming back," closing her eyes she fought the tears. "Kakashi-sensei, where is Sasuke?"

Kakashi looked out the window. "Sakura…" he looked back at her. "Sasuke asked to take a break from us. He left here as an emotional wreck, coughing, wheezing, he looked like he was on the verge of death," he closed his eyes tightly remembering what happened a week ago. Sasuke was going with that man.

All of this time, since the day that he saw Itachi in the rain, he was trying to prevent this from happening. He gave up everything to make sure that brat didn't win this fight. Yet no matter how much he tried he was never going to be good enough to stop Itachi. He was too strong for anyone to fight, and he was the only one who was starting to reach Sasuke.

"I shouldn't bring up these subjects," Sakura smiled weakly. "When do you get out of here, sensei? So you, Naruto, and I can be a team again. Then we could get Sasuke back and we can all be happy again."

"It's not that easy," he looked away from her. "If you read that clipboard over there you would know. The psychological damage that Itachi's genjutsu caused is making me unfit to be around you. They believe that I may act violently or I might let other emotions get in the way of my training."

"Psychological?" Sakura looked at her sensei. "Kakashi-sensei, what are you talking about? What do you mean that you won't be able to teach us? What happened to you? What did Itachi do?"

As he was about to speak again the door opened. "Can I come back in yet? Or are you still angry?"

Kakashi looked up to see a familiar face in the doorway, it was Gai. Obediently he had been staying out of the room for as long as Kakashi had asked him to, never coming in to say a word. He thought that Kakashi was still bitter. Every time that Kakashi asked him too something he was always right there to do it, he never asked questions, he just complied.

"Of course you can come in," Kakashi said happily, looking over at Sakura. "Sakura, you know Gai, right?"

She looked over at the jounin in the doorway. "Pleased to meet you, Gai-sensei," she stood up with a smile. "I'll leave you two to talk amongst yourselves," she walked toward the door, muttering a small farewell to Gai.

"That's a good kid you got there, Kakashi," Gai smiled walking toward the bed. "She came to see you. She's been waiting to do that for a while, but the doctors said you were in unstable condition."

Kakashi scoffed. "That's one hell of an understatement."

"Kakashi," Gai stated as he watched the other jounin avoid his glance. "What do you see when you close your eyes?"

"What kind of question is that?" Kakashi asked looking at Gai.

Gai's eyes filled with a seriousness that was too heavy to be coming from him. "I read the files, Kakashi; I know what's going on in your head. I've also heard the screams as I sat outside your door. I want to know what you saw that made you scream like that."

Kakashi scoffed. "Why do you care?"

"Because I'm your friend, Kakashi," Gai answered placing a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "I care because I was scared that through those days where you were unconscious, I thought that I lost you forever. Kakashi, you scared the hell out of me back there," he shook his head. "Why did you go after Itachi?"

Kakashi instantly thought of Asuma, the last time that he saw him, he asked him that question. Kakashi thought nothing of it and pushed him down the stairs hurting him. Now Asuma was in another room in this building fighting for his life, the wound from Itachi's katana deep in his abdomen.

"I thought I could beat him," he looked away from his comrade. "I don't know what I was thinking. I just didn't want to lose someone because I was being too noble. I vowed to protect my team. Those who turn their back on their friends are worse than trash, Gai."

Gai held his hand. "What do you see? What did you see in those weeks of torture? Did you repeatedly see the illusion that he gave you when you collapsed, or was it complete darkness?"

"I saw," Kakashi took a deep breath. "I saw Sasuke, and him… they were together and no matter how loud I screamed or plead, Sasuke was going farther and farther away. I was losing him… just like I lost Obito…"

"Kakashi," Gai started as he held his hand tighter. "Where is Sasuke now?"

Kakashi took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. "He went with Itachi."

"You let him go with that man?" Gai asked looking at Kakashi, his body now shaking. "What the hell were you thinking? That's what he wanted the whole time; you just gave him what he wanted!"

"Gai," Kakashi stated quietly. "What was I supposed to do? Tell me, what would you do if your student came into your hospital room and told you that he never wanted to see you again? That all that you did for him was a waste of his time…"

Gai smiled. "You don't have Neji Hyuuga on your team."

"I'm serious," the weakened jounin continued. "Sasuke came in here and broke down. I was helpless against him, I couldn't chase after him," he took a deep breath his eyes closing. "I gave everything to him and he just threw me away…"

"Everything?" Gai asked raising an eyebrow.

"Look at the file on the table," Kakashi sighed, pointing a finger at it. "They gave it to me this morning," he looked out the window seeing the rain fall down. "You'll see what I mean when I say everything."

Lifting the file, Gai perused through the pages. The words had pierced him through the chest. Heavy psychological damage, weak leg muscles, heart weakened with irregularities in rhythm, all of which were pressed onto the paper with black pen, the smell of the ink could still be inhaled. He looked through the words, seeing his brain scans seeing the way that the violent changes in respiration and heartbeat were all due to those changes, upsets were visible in there as well. What made Gai's heart wrench the most was the fact that at the bottom there was a note from the Hokage that allowed Kakashi to take time off. He knew what that meant: Kakashi was going to be out of commission, he was no longer a ninja.

"Kakashi?" Gai asked, looking at his shivering friend. "They won't let you go on any missions?"

"They think I'm going to hurt myself or put one of my students in danger. Until the mental images stop, I'm not supposed to go through any stressful situations, they think that I'm going to hurt myself," Kakashi took a deep breath grasping the sheets tightly in his hands.

"That ungrateful brat!" Gai hissed as he looked at Kakashi's shivering. "Kakashi? Kakashi what's going on? Why are you shaking like that?"

Kakashi closed his eyes as he fell to the mattress, facing the window, his body continuing to shake. "The images in my head, they won't leave me alone," he took a deep breath. "They say I can't be alone, Gai, they're not going to let me live all by myself."

Gai held his hand tightly as Kakashi shook more. "Then stay with me," he tightened his grip as Kakashi's eyes closed in pain, the EKG racing. "I owe it to you after all that you've been through."

The younger jounin looked up at his friend through watery eyes. "Thank you, Gai," he took a deep breath. "You're a bigger man than I thought you were," he coughed once, sweat forming at his temples. "Thank you…"

His grip loosened on Gai's hand as he thought about what Itachi had said to him. All of the words that he said couldn't have belonged to him, they were someone else's. This Itachi spoke of love and caring for Sasuke, the Itachi that Sasuke was trying to kill was never this emotional. There was some care to Itachi's voice as he spoke of the boy, he was precious to him. He was going to give his life for him; Sasuke was changing one of the most dangerous criminals in the Bingo Book, all because he showed him attention that Itachi had always longed for.

You really are different, Itachi, he fell deeper into unconsciousness feeling the warmth of Gai's hand. Take care of him; cherish him, allow Sasuke to stay whole…

-----

Sakura picked up the phone, gently dialing the number. Naruto hadn't answered her in a week, she was starting to fear for his life. The last time that he was with her all he could talk about was Sasuke. Then as he went off into the rain when Sasuke came to visit Kakashi he was never seen again. He locked himself into his apartment and stayed there the whole time.

Every time she called, it went to the answering machine as usual. He had to be sitting right next to it hearing every message that she left. She tried all the alternatives, she tried making Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji leave messages, but it was no use. No matter what Naruto wasn't going to give in as easily. He had been ignoring them.

"Damn it," she cursed, hanging up the phone, digging into her pocket for more change. "Why won't you pick up?"

She heard footstep approach her through the hallway of the hospital. "H-hello?" she heard them continue. She was being trapped by them. Her heart raced in her chest as she started to run, her feet moving quickly.

She continued to race down the hallway trying to find another way to the front to get home, hoping that she was going to run into someone who could save her from the noises. The feet sped up as well; they seemed to be outrunning her, coming too close.

"Stop following me!" she yelled as she continued running feeling a hand wrap around her wrist. "Let go!"

The voice laughed. "Relax," she turned to him seeing his face. "I'm not going to hurt you, I just have a question to ask," he moved closer to her. "You know Sasuke Uchiha, right?"

She closed her eyes tightly. "Who are you?"

"Oh, forgive my rudeness," he took a deep breath. "My name is Kabuto Yakushi. I was assigned by Konoha to do some work on a criminal that has been running amok wrecking havoc on our villagers," he adjusted his glasses. "Do you know Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Why is that important?" she asked starting to walk away from him, pulling her wrist free. "You said you have to do work on a criminal, Sasuke is not a criminal so leave him alone."

Kabuto smiled walking forward. "You're Sakura Haruno, correct? On Team 7 along with Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Kakashi Hatake? I want you to tell me what you know about what happened the night when Sasuke was raped," he laughed lightly. "The question that I should ask is if you know Itachi Uchiha."

Sakura stopped in her tracks. "We aren't supposed to touch him."

"I have my mission," Kabuto answered with a smile. "I know that we aren't supposed to, but the Hokage himself had told me that I have to take him out. He is becoming too much of a hassle and who knows who he'll bring in," he walked up to her. "And he wants to kill Naruto."

"I know that's not true," she turned to him. "If he wanted to do that, then why hasn't he done it yet? What are you trying to do to me? I'm not going to interfere in this."

"Sakura," he took her hands gently looking into her eyes. "You can be an excellent medical ninja; your techniques aren't half bad. If you can harness them you could be one of the best. I am a top medical ninja. My stills are unmatchable, but you could match it if you want to."

"Are you offering a position to teach me?" Sakura asked looking into his eyes. "If I spy on Sasuke's behavior then you'll teach me. And what about Naruto? What are you going to do to him?"

Kabuto smiled. "I'll give you the details later," he took her hand again starting to walk away. "Come with me, Sakura. When we're alone I can explain it more. Let's get away from this place," he smiled at her watching her smile back.

"Okay," she smiled as she looked into his dark eyes taking his hand. "Kabuto," she looked back at the pay phone taking a deep breath. I'm going to save you, Naruto. I promise. And I'm going to stop Itachi's plan before it gets too deep into it.

She walked forward with Kabuto feeling a sense of safety in his hand. A hate for Itachi was starting to burn in her stomach. Itachi took Kakashi's life, he injured Asuma, he attacked Sasuke, and now he was killing Naruto. He was going to pay.

-----

He swallowed another mouthful of alcohol, trying to block out the winces that were seeping from Sasuke's lips. Blood, more blood than he had ever seen come from Sasuke was on the floor leaving a trail from the bed to the woods where they had met up. The rain cleared the blood trail, the water gently brushing the blood to the side it covered their tracks. Couldn't it wash the pain to the side?

Flesh quivered as he glanced through the corner of his eye, his body thrashing slightly from side to side. He was not at peace, he was far from it. The marks that Kabuto had left him with were staining his sides, the blood running onto the sheets. All he could do was sit here and watch him die. He was helpless.

All he could think about while looking at the pale skin, the stray hairs framing his face, the blood running down his cheeks were his mistakes. All he could see when he looked at this boy was Shisui. The day that he died he looked just like Sasuke did now; he wasn't given the peaceful look in his face. He looked tortured, he looked battered, and Itachi was the one who did that to him. It was unfortunate. He looked down at the kanji that was on his ring thinking about the way that death was in vain. He was caged.

"That's nonsense, once a member of Akatsuki, always a member; you're never going to forget what they did to you. You're never going to forget what they put you through, the torture. Just like you won't forget ANBU, or Kakashi Hatake, or your father, or Shisui Uchiha…"

He closed his eyes tightly as he thought about all that he had said. ANBU, torture, Kakashi, pain, father, heartbreak, Shisui, failure, it was all so clear now. His life was nothing but a quest to see whether he was strong enough and he was slowly falling behind, becoming out of step. Everything up to this point was running through his mind, Shisui's death becoming a reality again.

"Damn," he breathed taking a long sip of alcohol swallowing it quickly, the force of his throat muscles making him feel like he was suffocating. It burnt his chest as he put the bottle down, his eyes watering from the liquid hot heat. "Damn," he looked back at Sasuke's body the sound of ragged breath in his ears, bruises along his neck, the dark flesh sending chills down Itachi's spine.

"I don't think I want to, is this the beautiful neck that you suck so beautifully every night before you go to sleep? The neck that you bite so passionately? I have to say, Itachi, he is cute, to think you got the first taste of this body, the first beautiful taste."

He took another sip of alcohol remembering those foul hands running up and down his body, wrapping his fingers around his neck as he gagged, gasping for air. He had to stop it before it got to the point where there was no way that he could breathe.

"Shit!" Itachi cursed as he looked at Sasuke's body, hearing his voice formulate small cries of pain. If he was just a little earlier, if he hadn't left him alone. It was his fault that he was like this.

He failed as a brother, he failed as a ninja. All of the failures before accumulated. He failed as a lover, he failed as a son, he failed a role model, he failed as a partner, he failed as a friend, but most importantly, he failed as a human. What kind of monster could just sit there and hold their dying brother and not shed a tear. Even now when Sasuke was dying not but two feet away from him, he still couldn't come up with a single tear. He could barely even look at him.

"Sasuke," he swallowed hard as he closed his eyes. "I…" he fought the words that he was originally going to say as he uttered a few words. "I'm a ninja…" he bit his lip. "I'm a ninja."

"Stop being a ninja! Be my brother again, Itachi."

He closed his eyes tighter as he looked down into the bottle of alcohol. "I'm sorry, Sasuke," these words he meant legitimately as he turned to his brother running a hand through his hair. "Please don't die on me."

He moved closer to him, resting his head on Sasuke's chest hearing the beating of his heart, the sound soothing him. "Don't die on me…" he closed his eyes even tighter. "I will never forgive you if you die before me, Sasuke," he ran a hand along his cheek. "And all of this time you wanted to kill me. You promised you wouldn't die until you killed me. Well who's going to die first? You're leaving me by the minute."

He felt his body start to tingle with an unwanted sensation: guilt. "Sasuke," he placed a kiss on his brother's chest. "You're so far away, it's like you're in your own world where I can't touch you," he felt his eyes burn with the creation of tears, tears that he had never felt fall down his cheeks in years. "Come back, Sasuke. It's so lonely now that you're gone."

"If he dies, Kabuto," he took a deep breath getting lost in the beating of Sasuke's heart. "I'll kill you…" the beating was starting to fade as he closed his eyes tightly, this all had to be a nightmare. Sasuke wasn't supposed to get involved in these matters. He wasn't supposed to lose him. Every second that went by was torture, how many more would he be alive for? When was this going to be all over?

"Damn you, Sasuke," he took a deep breath. "No fair, I'm supposed to be the one who dies," he closed his eyes tightly feeling something run down his cheek, so warm, so wet, so unfamiliar. Blood? From his eyes? Moving a finger he wiped the remnants away, what was this? A tear? After all of these years was he finally crying? Guilt filled his heart, a warm bubbling in his stomach; he shouldn't have drunk all of that liquor.

Moving away from Sasuke's side, he vomited on the floor, the burning sensation of alcohol searing at his throat. Guilt, self hatred, failure, all that he feared was no in his body, running through his mind like a reel of tape. How could he have done all of this after all that he gave up? Shisui was dead because he was trying so hard to be the best. He could still feel his father hand burning up against his cheek, Shisui's foot in his face, Kakashi's fingers pulling at his hair, tearing his scalp, Sasuke's fist at his ribs. He was a failure. He was so weak.

"Sasuke," he winced, his body giving out on his. "I'm sorry," he moved slowly to Sasuke's side, his eyes starting to close. "After all of this time, all that I didn't do for you, I still make you die on the inside," he saw the blood running from all of the wounds, all the memories coming back. That night came back the hardest, he remembered how Sasuke looked afterward, he couldn't even walk.

Itachi moved next to Sasuke's body a weak smile on his face. "I-I wanted to be the best, I wanted nothing to faze me. Father said I was a ninja, and I wanted to test that capacity by killing every last one. I was too weak then to kill you, and I'm too weak now to let you die. I was too selfish to give you up, I wanted you all for myself," he touched his hand, the heat starting to leave the extremity. "If you die right here," he swallowed hard. "I'll kill Kabuto Yakushi, and then," he grasped the dagger that was at Sasuke's side holding it tightly. "We'll die together…" he kissed him on the forehead. "Because that's what you always wanted…"

He closed his eyes feeling himself getting lightheaded. "Sasuke," he took a painfully deep breath, his chest freezing up. "I'm sorry…" he gripped the dagger tighter as he fell deeper into the darkness, his ribcage searing in pain. "I'm sorry that I did all of this to you. I failed you," he could feel the cold darkness all around him. "I'm sorry that you had to die in my place…" he was fully surrounded, not even able to feel his own body. He was losing himself. "Sasuke… I…"

Author's Note: This story is really killing the canon now that Kabuto is back. Now he's taken Sakura under his wing starting to fill her mind with lies for Orochimaru's benefit. However the next chapter wil not go into more depth about this topic. So what did you think? Good? Bad? Think that Kabuto should die? Honesty is my policy.

Next chapter is a flashback chapter to Shisui and Itachi's relationship.