Disclaimer: I still don't own anything

Warnings: This chapter is longer than the last one. It also contains coarse language, blood/violence, themes including death, talk of homicide, OOC, and the canon... well. This is also a continuation of the last chapter the violence being in the beginning and it all goes downhill from there, this chapter is way to overdramatic (hence the OOC).

Pairings: ItaSasu, slight SasuSaku, references to ShisIta, some ItaKabu and KabuSaku

Blood dripped to the ground, Sakura's eyes were still closed as she heard Itachi's breathing speed up, the quiet chuckles coming from Kabuto's lips filling her ears gently as he felt a hand wrap around her wrist. The warmth of the hands made her body shake in shock; on one hand she didn't feel a ring, but a glove. What had she done?

"No," Itachi exhaled as he tried his hardest to keep his breaths steady, his hands reaching out to grasp the body in front of him. "S-Sasuke?"

Sakura's eyes shot open as she heard that name pass Itachi's lips, her pupils moved to look straight at the one who the dagger had hit. That blow was meant for Itachi, but her eyes saw something else. The blade was embedded in Sasuke's chest, the blood running down his lips falling down to the ground. Her eyes met his cold dying ones, the crimson glow of the sharingan starting to fade to black, his breaths descending into low bubbling noises.

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked feeling his wrists tighten around hers his breaths causing more blood to roll down his chin. She could feel the heat starting to leave the flesh as a smile ran across his lips.

His eyes moved back as he glanced at Itachi. "A-are you alright, Itachi?"

"Sasuke?" Itachi asked his voice on the verge of breaking, his eyes full of confusion, the anger that was once in his heart flowing into the traces of sorrow that he was desperately starting to hide. "You idiot," he took a deep breath, "you idiot!"

Sasuke snickered. "Y-you thought that I…" he took a sharp breath. "That I would let you get the easy way out. I said that I would help you no matter what," he smirked weakly. "If I can't kill you then no one can."

Sakura let go of the blade backing away, watching as the one that she once loved fell back, dagger still embedded in his chest. All of the things that he said were still running through her mind, all of the pain that he had once been through reflecting in his closing eyes. She thought that she no longer loved him, but looking at the blood on her hands she knew one thing was true: she still did.

"Sasuke!" Itachi yelled as he caught his bleeding brother holding him closely. "No," he wrapped his hand around the handle to Shisui's dagger. "Sasuke, no," the sound of gagging overpowered the sound of Itachi's hyperventilation, Sakura turning away from what she had done.

She closed her eyes feeling tears form in them. She was fool for being so reckless, in the heat of trying to kill Itachi; she never thought Sasuke would jump in the way of the attack. His blood was on her hands, the fingers trembling as she watched the crimson liquid falling to the ground.

"You said that you wouldn't die on me, you lied to me, Sasuke Uchiha. You lied to me, you're going to come back to me… you made a promise, Sasuke; you said you wouldn't die on me. You said that you wouldn't die if I promised that I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

"Naruto," she breathed as she looked down at Sasuke, his body shaking as he struggled to breathe, Itachi's arms tightening around him, his eyes closed tightly. He was hiding tears, she had done something unforgivable.

"Sasuke?" Itachi breathed shaking Sasuke slightly. "Sasuke?"

"I-Itachi?" Sasuke asked opening his eyes as he looked up at his brother, his lips trembling as he coughed, blood running from his lips. "I'm glad… I'm so glad that you're alright."

"Sasuke," Itachi breathed as he opened his eyes looking down at him. "Why? What did you do that? I could have taken it, I didn't want you to throw your life away for something so idiotic," he took a deep raspy breath. "Sasuke, I told you that I wasn't going to let you get hurt through this."

Through blurring vision, Sasuke gazed up into this brother's eyes watching them glaze with the traces of sadness; his slowing heart beat faster as he saw the emotion build up. All of the years he had longed to see the sorrow in his brother's eyes, the pain that he only heard through the walls while he was talking to Shisui, the ratcheted sounds of Itachi's breathing proved that time to be here. It was the trace of either unbearable sorrow or indescribable anger

"Itachi," Sasuke ran his fingers along the bottom of his brother's left eyes feeling the damp traces of tears. "I always knew… I always knew that you were still in there. Everyday I was reaching you more and more, now here you are…"

Itachi shook his head. "Sasuke, don't leave me like this, don't die on me," his hands pulled the dagger out of Sasuke's chest, the sound of his body starting to respond to the pain filling his ears. "You're going to be the one to kill me, that's why I kept you alive, that's why I joined the Akatsuki. It was all for you, Sasuke! It was all for you!"

Sasuke closed his eyes gently as the blood started to roll out of the wound in his chest. "Itachi," he coughed, more crimson fluid flowing out of his lips. "Mass murderers are supposed to feel nothing when someone close to them dies," he clung onto Itachi's hand. "After all of the people you killed how could one insignificant boy like me affect you like this?"

The older Uchiha closed his eyes, his hand squeezing Sasuke's tightly. "I'm not like the other mass murders, my intent is predetermined. I don't kill for the thrill. I don't kill because I want to. I kill because it's necessary. I wouldn't sacrifice myself for any of those fucking bastards that we called part of our clan…"

Sasuke smirked. "I knew that I'd get you to swear…"

Itachi's voice started to break harder. "But for you, for you I'd die a thousand deaths just for you to take one last breath," he looked at Shisui's dagger at his side, the blade covered with Sasuke's blood. "Stay with me a little longer, Sasuke. Don't leave me alone like this."

Sasuke took a deep breath. "Itachi, I…" he lost all of the breath that was in his lungs, his body almost froze in Itachi's arms, one last exhalation passing the young boy's bloodied lips.

"Sasuke?" Itachi asked feeling the fingers of Sasuke's hand start to let go of his, the blood stained hand on the young boy falling gently from the older ninja's grip. "No," he took a deep breath as he tried to contain himself. "No!"

As Sakura was about to open her mouth to say something Kabuto spoke up, his laughter resonating through the almost cleared wood. "Pathetic! That little boy threw himself in front of that dagger to save your life?" he laughed louder. "He had the chance to kill you and still he choose to let you live alone. Sasuke was even more heartless than you are."

Itachi let go of Sasuke's hand looking over at the dagger. Shisui…

"After I'm done with you, I'm going to take everyone who hurt you, including that little boy that you call a brother."

Shisui's dagger was the weapon that had penetrated his chest, the one that had drawn first blood. All of this time Shisui had told him every time that he closed his eyes that he was going to kill Sasuke. Itachi didn't believe in ghosts, and since Shisui was dead he never took it seriously. He never thought of that dagger, he had given it to him to prevent the threats that Shisui had left him with after he refused to kill Sasuke. He wasn't that much of a monster.

"Shisui," Itachi breathed as he looked down at the dagger and then at Sasuke. I know what you would do, Shisui, you'd let him be, you'd leave with everything that you still have. He would mean nothing to you. I wish I could say that, but I'm done being you, time to live my own life. My debt to you is repaid.

He placed his fingers on Sasuke's pulse point feeling the slow pulsations of his pulse right at his fingertips. It wasn't over yet there was still time to save him. Maybe the Itachi that he had left behind with the Akatsuki would have left him for dead, but he couldn't do that anymore, it wasn't as easy as it was then. Now he had the power to save him. He had learned medical ninjutsu.

Could he risk it though? All of the times that he had attempted the technique, it always ended in blood loss, causing more damage than it was worth. He didn't want that for Sasuke. But did he have that much of a choice now? Sasuke was dying right before his eyes. If he didn't do anything he would definitely be lost, but if Itachi tried the chances would be slimmer.

He swallowed hard, placing his hands over the wound that was on Sasuke's chest feeling the blood seep through his fingers. He gasped as the feeling of Sasuke's blood. After all of the pain that he had caused the boy, there was finally a feeling deep in his stomach that could only be explained as one thing: guilt. He swore that he would never feel that, after what he did to Shisui he wasn't worthy of human emotions. What kind of human was he now? He couldn't even protect someone.

"It won't work," Kabuto taunted. "Every time that you try to use Mystical Palms all you do is destroy. You can't save him; his soul is too far gone to retrieve it."

Itachi's voice was almost emotionless trying to conceal everything inside, bottle it until he felt like he was going to break. "I still have to try."

He pressed his hands harder, focusing the chakra into his hands watching the glow fill his eyes. He could feel his heart race as he put everything that he had into the jutsu. All of the chakra that he had was going to be poured into this, even if he killed himself in the process.

"Sasuke," Itachi whispered, closing his eyes. "Stay with me," he shook his head, trying his hardest not to make the same mistakes that he had before.

This was no time for him to fail Sasuke, after twelve years of only making his life worse; he couldn't afford to do anything else. To an outsider, someone who didn't understand his inner feelings, he didn't love Sasuke. In reality he loved him more than he loved anything, more than he loved power, more than he loved his own life. He could feel the beating of Sasuke's heart start to slow down as he continued the jutsu; he was going to kill him if he kept this up.

"You can do this; you can master that jutsu no matter how much you don't believe in yourself. I have faith in you."

Itachi opened his eyes, starting to hear his brother's breathing slow down as time passed by. He was dying even though Itachi was doing everything that he could. He read all of the books; he memorized all of the concepts, why wasn't this working like all of the other techniques that he had come to know? Why was this so difficult? He was starting to understand what Sasuke was going through when he tried to master Great Clone Explosion.

"Please," Itachi panted, his body trembling visibly. Would anyone care what he wanted? If there was a God, would he give someone who had committed the sins that Itachi had the pleasure of having his brother back? Another pain that he never knew filled his body: hopelessness. No matter how hard he tried, Sasuke was always too far away; he was never going to catch up to the grand design.

Sakura looked at Itachi. "Itachi…"

"Shut up," he breathed as he glanced through his peripheral vision. "I'll kill you and Kabuto momentarily," he focused back on Sasuke closing his eyes tightly as if he were praying desperately.

There wasn't anything he wouldn't do to get him back. He learned his lesson; he learned that after his quest for power, he had to give up what mattered. Sasuke was the one who lived, the one who he had allowed to live, and now he was taken from him so harshly. He pushed harder as less blood ran in between his fingers. He had to become a medical ninja now; there was no more time for prepping. This was it. This was his only chance.

"Sasuke," Itachi breathed as he looked at his brother's face, his dead eyes still half open, the flesh of his face a ghostly pale. He was so far away, worlds apart, and once again he was left all alone down here while Sasuke went away only to make him hurt more on the inside. He could only think of that night when Kabuto had hurt him before, the night when Itachi could only think of Shisui.

"Sasuke," he poured more chakra into his younger brother's chest, praying that not much more would be needed. "You're so far away, it's like you're in your own world where I can't touch you," his voice was almost gone, broken to the point where he couldn't speak even though there were no tears in his eyes. "Come back, Sasuke. It's so lonely now that you're gone," he took a deep breath. "Don't leave me alone."

The gagging noises coming from Sasuke's lips stopped as the wound was starting to close. He was going to heal the wound, but would it be soon enough to save his life? The sensation of killing Kabuto and Sakura were fresh in his mind. Everyone would pay for what happened to him, he was no longer going to show the mercy that he had promised. His life didn't matter if Sasuke was gone.

"I'm sorry," he whispered so Sakura and Kabuto couldn't hear. He was starting to run out of chakra only minimal amounts left before he went into the danger zone, to the point where he was going to start to cause physical distress. "I'm sorry that I brought you into this. I shouldn't have come back here. I'm such an idiot."

He felt his heart beat faster as he started to go into the area of chakra that he was trying to avoid; he was starting to grow exhausted. Even though the control that he had over chakra was almost flawless, he hadn't found that artistic attribute in this new area of being a ninja. He was using too much too rapidly, this was the first time that he used it on a semi vital wound. There was no way that he would be able to do this. Why was he even bothering?

Kabuto chuckled. "That boy that you have is really something, to think that Orochimaru wanted to make that pathetic creature his container. Why would he want such a weak will and mediocre skills? Why would he want another you?"

Itachi closed his eyes, his vision becoming blurry as he thought about all that was going on within him, his heart starting to speed up in his chest as he felt the blood gurgling in his lungs, rising into his mouth running from his lips dripping onto Sasuke's face. A smile graced his lips.

"If you die," he took a deep breath. "Then we die together, we cannot live without one another. You're dreams involve me and everything that I am cannot prosper if you leave me right now," he pushed more chakra into the technique, the light growing brighter. "Sasuke…"

He felt as his chakra was all gone, the majority used up, the only amount left was the amount that was needed to sustain his life. The red glow of the sharingan faded to obsidian. He looked down at his brother, the wound that was on his chest had closed, but his body still completely idle, just slight breaths passing his bloodied lips.

"Just a little more," Itachi panted as he placed his hands on Sasuke's chest, more blood rolling form his lips as he coughed, trying not to lose consciousness. He had to do try harder, he couldn't fail him. He made a promise; there was no way that he was going to break it so dramatically. He was going to save him.

"Try as much as you want," Kabuto scoffed. "Real medical ninjutsu takes months to figure out. Even a prodigy like you will never be able to harness that amount of power. Sasuke is going to die right here, and it will be your fault, just like what you did to Shisui. You're a monster, Itachi, you don't care about anything, why start now? Your brother knows that you wouldn't be able to save him. You don't have the physical capabilities. You're too much of a dick to do that that."

"Screw you," Itachi muttered weakly continued to use the technique. "I know that I have made mistakes, I even know that he had no faith in me. I'm fine with that. No matter how he feels about me, I will always love him."

Sakura closed her eyes. "Itachi…"

Itachi continued to put all of his chakra into the young boy's body, the last ounce that he was willing to give going into his palms. Then the light faded, nothing was left for him to work with. It was over.

"No," he gasped as he looked at his hands and then down at Sasuke. "Not yet," he pressed his hands up against his chest. "There are no limits on my power, nothing can stop me, even if I have to risk the last strand of my chakra," he tried as he coughed up more blood watching as he covered Sasuke's body with it. "N-no," he took a deep breath. "I'm not done…"

Sakura turned away from Itachi as he looked down at his hands the fingers shaking in pain as Sasuke's blood ran down his arms. His hands curled into fists of rage as he looked over at her, his eyes burning ardently with the passion to kill her.

"You bitch!" Itachi rasped as he tired to stand up howling as he fell down, his damaged ankle buckling right where he stood. He let out a low moan as he looked down to see the bruises from the broken tissue from Kabuto's attack. "Damn it!"

"Oh, are you in pain?" Kabuto asked, moving from the place where he was sitting. "I'll make it all go away," he pulled out a senbon. "I love to see you in this much pain, you and that damn container are now out of the picture."

"Isn't Orochimaru going to be angry at you if you let Sasuke die?" Itachi looked up at the Sound ninja his hands, moving to the various senbon that were already embedded in his right leg. "Are you jealous that he doesn't want you? Or are you trying to kill him, Kabuto? What are you up to?"

Kabuto smirked as he looked at the struggle that Itachi was having in moving his leg. The poison was starting to spread; Itachi wasn't going to be able move in a few moments. He laughed seeing the sight of Itachi, what he had become. He was nothing more than a pathetic weakling with an invalid leg, the poison seeping through his veins, his body completely devoid of chakra, his brother's blood thick on his hands, and the formation of tears in his eyes.

"Itachi," Kabuto continued as he looked into his eyes, not fearing the black that had been left behind. "I don't give a damn what Orochimaru wants in that boy. That boy is the reason that I'm busting my ass, that boy is the reason why he merged with the Akatsuki. That boy is why they kicked you out. That boy over there is causing a whole war and still all you want to do is protect him."

"He's going to live," Itachi breathed as he looked over at him, the stab wound still bleeding lightly. "And if I have my way, he'll be another instance like me. Orochimaru won't be able to get hold of him because he's stronger. He's going to be stronger then that weak sannin in no time. He'll destroy him."

"Don't get cocky," Kabuto answered as he stood up, starting to walk over to Itachi. "The poison in your leg is taking root; you won't be able to move that for a while. You'll be able to watch your brother die. Not as painfully as I wanted, but he will die, because you couldn't save him, because even you weren't strong enough."

"Kabuto," Itachi growled as he moved back to Sasuke's body, placing his hands on his chest, the faint pulsations of his heart running through his fingertips. "That's where you're wrong again," he closed his eyes more blood running down his chin. "I will definitely save him; I'm strong enough to do that."

Kabuto scoffed. "The Akatsuki picked up a joke when they recruited you. You were heartless when you were with them. Nothing got to you. You were perfect. You were just like your cousin. Now you are nothing but that sniveling little brat. Keeping the emotions locked in for seventeen years really got to you, didn't it?"

Itachi coughed harder as he tried to use more of his chakra. "You're going to be alright, Sasuke. You're going to make it through this. I'm not going to lose you like this," he closed as he bit at his lips, trying to dull the pain. "And you wanted to kill me? You wanted to avenge your clan? Do you think that dying a dishonorable death is going to allow your soul to be at peace?"

Sakura moved closer to him. "Itachi, stop it," she took a deep breath. "There's no use hurting yourself. It wasn't an accident; he wanted to dodge in front of you. He did that because he loves you. Leave him alone, that's what people like you are good at. Like he said mass murderers aren't supposed to care when someone close to them dies."

"Shut up," Itachi breathed as he closed his eyes tighter still, his voice full of anger, the tone turning into a roar. "I'll kill you if you say one more thing, you whore!"

Sakura backed away and looked at the ground. "I wanted to kill you."

"I said shut up, Sakura!" he breathed as heard Sasuke cough, blood rolling down his chin. "After I'm done with this I'm going to kill you. You and Kabuto are both going to die. No one will miss you, Sakura. You're a missing ninja anyway."

"So are you," Sakura breathed, hearing him chuckle. "What's so funny? Why are you laughing?"

He closed his eyes as he continued to muster enough chakra to help save Sasuke just a little bit. "It's a crime to hurt me, Sakura. They passed a law saying that anyone caught harming me will suffer the consequences. Well, I'll execute you from them."

She looked down at Sasuke's body and then at the blood that coated her hands more tears coming to her eyes. It was true, she could tell by the way that Itachi was acting that it was hurting him on the inside. He wasn't the monster that Sasuke had cursed for the rest of his life, he cared for him more than Sakura could. She would never have the courage to do what he was doing; she wouldn't be able to put everything on the line for him no matter how much she loved him.

"Sasuke," Itachi rasped as the light of his chakra glowed brighter, the flesh of his face becoming paler. "Come on, Sasuke, you can do it, you're stronger than this," he took a deep breath. "Don't make my sacrifices die like this. You're so selfish; this isn't about you, Sasuke, this about us."

Sakura crawled closer. "Itachi…"

"This is your fault, Sakura," he hissed. "I won't forget that. The rumor is that I don't kill unless I'm attacked first. That blow was meant for me, you were trying to kill me. This only happened because of the senbon you threw at my legs so that I wouldn't move; Sasuke was trying to protect me from you. When we get out of this, I'm not going to save you; I'm going to destroy you. You're going to die for what you've done to me," he took a deep breath. "To my clan…"

Kabuto gasped. "But I thought…"

"It's true; I detached myself from them. I refused to continue on with a clan that was never going to progress. All I could see was the downward spiral; I couldn't see anything coming of me staying there. I destroyed them for that reason, and kept one alive: Sasuke," his voice was low almost a dull whisper. "He's the only one left, but now, we can finally be together. The Uchiha that got away from the strictures of Konoha, I attach myself to him."

Sakura closed her eyes as she tired to move her leg. "We're enemies? Does that mean that you're threatening my life? Are you going to kill me because your idiotic brother jumped in the way of my attack of his own free will?"

Itachi glared at her. "Don't try my patience, you'll find the effects worse than anything you could have ever dreamed of."

Kabuto looked over at Itachi. He's becoming his own person. I never thought anyone who got a taste of the darkness could become this human. All of the events in his life after he was banished from the Akatsuki must have changed him. He no longer fights for the hell of it; he fights for a reason, for someone who was precious to him. That very characteristic is almost honorable. Maybe he isn't like the rest of those bastards. He's the one who survived and kept human qualities. He's the one who lived.

Itachi pushed more chakra into his brother's body, his breathing reaching various hitches. This was the last attempt he could do before he killed himself. The harder he tried the more Sasuke seemed like he was going to die. Was this jutsu never going to work for him, even now when he needed it the most? He closed his eyes tightly, all hope that he had once put into himself diminishing quickly. He couldn't even live up to his own standards.

Suddenly he heard cough sound through the air as his eyes shot open looking down at where his hands were rested against. He could feel Sasuke's body start to move, his eyes struggling to open as he took a few deep breaths. Dark eyes looked up into his as he shakily inhaled looking down at his younger brother.

"Sasuke? Itachi asked, his eyes wide with shock.

The young boy looked up at him, his voice a dull whisper. "I-Itachi…" he took a deep breath. "You…? You saved me?" a light cough passed his lips as he looked deeper into Itachi's eyes. "You did it? You mastered Mystical Palms?"

Itachi closed his eyes, his whole body shaking, rushing to embrace Sasuke tightly, his chin resting in the crook of his neck. "Sasuke!" he held onto him tighter, his breathing becoming shallow, more rapid. "Sasuke! You're alive…"

Sasuke closed his eyes feeling something warm trail down his skin where his brother rested up against him. "Itachi, you're bleeding," he heard Itachi let out a low ratcheted breath. "You're bleeding."

They stayed liked that for a few moments, Itachi's embrace tightening around Sasuke's body, his body trembling with every breath that he let out. The warmth continued to roll down Sasuke's back as fingernails dug into his shirt, a smile gracing the younger boy's lips. He knew what the warmth really was. They were tears, but to keep his brother's dignity, he convinced himself it was blood.

"It's okay, Itachi," Sasuke breathed as he moved closer to his brother's body, wrapping his own arms loosely around his body, feeling a small steam of kisses along his jaw line. "I'm alive now, you did it."

Sakura looked at the two of them sitting on the ground, her green eyes trailing to the ground. Sasuke, maybe I was wrong about your brother, the sensational passion that he has for you is something that I could never compete with. But I wanted to do that for you, I wanted to be the one who you loved. I loved you with all of my heart, but I was never the one for you, was I?

"Itachi," Sasuke breathed, looking at his brother's leg. "You're hurt."

"It's nothing," Itachi breathed moving away from Sasuke, his onyx eyes were still swollen from the pain, blood running down his lips leaving dark trails in its wake. "I just used a little too much charka," he smiled a fake smile watching Sasuke's eyes start to go through an emotional descent. "I'm fine."

Sasuke looked over at Sakura. "Itachi, which one of these people hurt you?"

Itachi's fake smile faded as his brother's hand moved to grasp the bloodied dagger that was lying on the ground. "Sasuke, don't do anything reckless, I just healed you, I'm not even sure if I finished the job. I did just enough to allow you to function."

"I said that I would die for you," Sasuke stated, starting to stand up looking straight at Sakura. "Sakura, I'll kill you if you hurt him," he grasped the dagger tighter as he stood up looking over his shoulder to glance at Itachi. "I'm going to restore your dignity, Itachi," he started to move.

Itachi shook his head. "Stop it!" he struggled to get to his feet as the genin looked straight at him, Kabuto's eyes widening as he took in the sight of the trembling ninja. "Sasuke, are you trying to disgrace us? Are you trying to disgrace me by allowing these worthless ninja to be able to make you turn into a monster? Don't waste your time on the weak," he took a labored breath, trying to keep his balance. "Sakura's death will come soon enough; I'll make sure of that."

Kabuto looked up at him and then closed his eyes. "Itachi…" he took a deep breath. "I want to fix your leg. I might hate you, but I can't stand looking at you, not like that," he examined Itachi from head to toe. "I don't want to see you in this much pain before we get our final battle."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "Why am I supposed to trust you?"

"Since when are you so distrustful?" Kabuto asked with a slight smile. "I'll make a deal with you, you let us go until next time and I'll heal your leg without any complications. I don't think that Akatsuki would appreciate me damaging you too bad, physically anyway," he couldn't take his vision off of the swelling around the ankle. He's hurt pretty badly, all for that boy. He's not the same as the Itachi they briefed me on, this one's more aggressive, he just threatened to kill a twelve-year-old girl. I've got a lot of work on my hands if this is how he wants to play this game.

Itachi fell to the ground taking a deep breath, his eyes closing tightly. "You have you deal, I won't kill you yet. But next time we meet, that girl that you call your accomplice is dead!"

Sasuke looked back at his brother as he heard the words about Sakura, what happened while he was unconscious what did he do to her? All he could here was Sakura's low sobbing as she understood what was going to happen. Itachi had just put a death threat on her, a death threat that she knew was going to go through.

"It's a deal then," Kabuto smiled as he brought himself to his feet, shakily balancing on his arms for lift. His steps were awkward, his vision blurry due to the loss of his glasses. His dark eyes looked straight at the panting younger ninja, his hand extending to touch his head, a smile rolling across his lips.

"Kabuto," Itachi breathed not moving his head, swallowing hard.

"Itachi," Kabuto knelt down in front of him looking at the bloody tendrils that were on his chin, wiping them away with his thumb. "You surprised me there for a few seconds; I thought you were really going to kill her. You're full of all sorts of surprises."

He placed a hand on Itachi's ankle the glow of Mystical Palms starting to take effect as the younger ninja winced in pain. "Kabuto, I don't know what you're trying to do? Are you trying to help me or are you trying to hurt me?"

Kabuto looked into Itachi's eyes, his face for once blank of all emotion except for confusion. For once in their whole relationship they had finally stumped one another. Kabuto always thought of Itachi as that man who was always a step ahead of him. Itachi thought of him as that man who sat by Orochimaru's side but deserved so much more.

"Itachi," Kabuto continued. "I don't know what you're trying to get at?"

"Are you going to kill me because Orochimaru wants me out of the picture?" Itachi's eyes eased up a little, his breathing still as difficult as it was before, blood streaming down his lips as he coughed. "Kabuto, how much more are you going to do to me?"

The medical ninja smiled as he took his hand away from Itachi's ankle. "I'm going to push you to the limit. I want to have my fun with you, Itachi, see why Lord Orochimaru wanted you for a potential container," he moved his right hand onto Itachi's bare leg, his left hand rolling his pants up. "I'm going to neutralize the poison in you as well. If too much of that stuff is in your body for too long, it could do damage to your body. I wouldn't want that to happen to you. Not after we made a deal."

Itachi hissed as he turned from Kabuto. "You better watch that accomplice of yours; otherwise I'm not going to be held responsible for what happens to her the next time we meet. Even if Sasuke is alive and well, I'm not going to forget that it was her fault. She's become a necessary loss."

"You think that I care that you're going to kill her?" Kabuto asked, digging through his pouch for the anti-venom. "If she dies, there will nothing on my conscience. If you kill her then I will have faith in you, I will see that you are still a man and not a coward."

"Woman?" Itachi asked. "You're going back to Academy level insults, Kabuto. You know that fact that you called me a woman is only going to shorten your lifespan."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from a member of the Akatsuki," he closed his eyes his hands starting to glow as he pulled the poison out of Itachi's leg, the contents actually visible.

Itachi looked away from the procedure, seeing his own blood being pulled with the poison made his stomach churn. He had never had this much blood cover his body before. Even on the night of the massacre, he never felt his hands being lacquered with crimson liquid, even more pouring from his lips. The pain that was pulsing through his body almost unbearable as he clenched his blood soaked hands.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Kabuto asked his voice calm. "That means that it's working. You'll be walking in no time at all," he looked at the droplets of blood that was spilling out with the poison. It's taking a lot of blood with it, this could turn out to be an unsafe endevour, this could actually kill him if I'm not careful.

"Kabuto," Itachi breathed weakly. "I don't want your master to win this; you know what pain he's caused me. I'm telling you this because I know deep within your being you want to fight him too, you want to make him pay for what he's doing to you. You're nothing but his slave, his lackey. Can you live like that?"

"I'm not in my rebellious stage, Itachi; my hormones aren't still raging from my teenage years," he looked into Itachi's eyes as he continued to extract the poison. "Why rebel against something when you can have so much fun destroying it."

"You and that foul perspective of yours," Itachi snickered. "You don't give a damn about Orochimaru; you would sell him out to the highest bidder. At the end of this battle, I'm going to be that bidder. I'm going to need to know what those bastards are planning."

"And if I win?" Kabuto asked.

"Your victory should be enough, what I want out of all of this is more than just defeating you, I have to destroy them. No one messes with me and gets away with their life," Itachi chuckled lightly as he looked at the extraction. "Konoha has promise though; there are plenty of ninja for me to destroy to prove to myself that I can still destroy."

Kabuto took his hand away from the leg as he pulled the senbon with the poisonous blood away from Itachi. "There, you should be alright for now, it's probably going to be a little numb for a while. Hell with as much poison as she put into you, you shouldn't even be able to feel your leg."

Itachi looked back at Sasuke. "Kabuto, I have a favor to ask you," he closed his eyes his fingers clenching into a fist. "Please, Kabuto, tell Orochimaru to reconsider his choice. He might want the sharingan, but please make him reconsider taking Sasuke. After I'm done with him, he won't need that bastard's power."

Kabuto smirked as he placed a hand on Itachi's shoulder. "This is a fight over the nine-tails, not your brother. I don't want him as the new container anyway. Besides if you win this fight, the Akatsuki will destroy us. Everything rides on this competition."

Itachi snickered. "I'm just glad we got to talk civilly before I defeat you and kill your accomplice. It makes the pleasure of destroying them more enticing."

He moved forward, his leg slightly sore, a limp on his right side, toward Sasuke not looking back at Kabuto or the sobbing girl. He knew if he won that everything that he wanted would come true, even if he was the darker evil of the two. His hand rested on Sasuke's shoulder as he heard the sound of Shisui's dagger sliding back into the sheath.

The blood that they had both lost was still clung tightly onto Itachi's skin, the liquid dripping to the ground staining almost everything in their path. Itachi closed his eyes tightly trying to ignore the sensation of the warmth of Sasuke's blood between his fingers. The little string of control he had over himself was starting to break. He was almost as the point of no return.

They walked side by side almost silent, the sound of the dagger continuously sliding in and out of the sheath filling their ears. Sasuke had a lot on his mind, he had to have. He was stabbed, and almost killed by his old teammate, but then he was revived by the person that he thought was the definition of all evil in the world.

"Sasuke?" Itachi asked, looking down at him. "What's wrong?"

The young boy was quickly broken out of the trance that the dagger had hypnotized him into, his eyes filled with shock for a few short moments. "Nothing," he answered quickly looking back at the dagger. "Nothing's wrong."

Itachi sighed. "Sasuke," he looked forward as they continued weaving through the trees. "We failed, you know, we weren't able to save your teammate, nor were we able to take Kabuto out before he could do more damage."

Sasuke's eyes closed tighter. "I'm sorry, Itachi," he bowed his head. "If I was stronger none of this would have happened."

"You saved my life, Sasuke," Itachi continued. "I was so caught up in trying to take out Kabuto that I forgot about Sakura. I've been so obsessed with winning that I never really saw what could happen if you lose yourself. Sasuke, what happened back there was what I've needed for four years, a reality check."

Sasuke looked up at his brother. "Reality check? Is that what it was to you?"

"It showed me that there are consequences, when a person grows so obsessed, they forget about all that they wanted. I told you once that's what happens when you become excellent. You become isolated, arrogant; it's not the life that people would risk anything for. It's cold and lonely, and you get used to it, after a while. Then when you find out that all that you've done was another dead end, it's another unanswered question," he looked down at Sasuke. "You showed me I've been going at this the wrong way. I shouldn't rush things because I'm upset. They'll get what they deserve soon, and then you can kill me."

Sasuke looked at the dagger. "Itachi, about that… do you think after I risked my life to save you I'm going to kill you? Do you think that I'm going to let my sacrifice be in vain? You were right; this was never about killing you. It was always about attention. I wanted you to accept me even if I am weak. I wanted you to regard me as a ninja. All I did back there was disgrace you."

"Disgrace?" Itachi asked with a scoff. "Sasuke, you aren't a disgrace, you were going to kill her. I stopped you. I saved her pathetic life. Sakura was the one who drew the first real blood. You saved her from making the biggest mistake of her life, but still she has to die. She hurt you, Sasuke; she almost killed you in that attack. That girl is going to die."

Sasuke moved closer to his brother looking at the blood that covered him. "Thank you, Itachi. Thank you for giving me this chance for power. Thank you for trying to tell me what I have to do to become better than you one day."

"That's why I'm here," Itachi stated as he looked down at him. Anything that keeps you here with me and away from Orochimaru, I'm not going to hand you over to anyone, Sasuke. If they want you, they're going to have to kill me first.

Sasuke moved closer still as he took a deep breath. "I can't wait to go to sleep when we get home."

"Yeah," Itachi grinned as he pulled the bottle of alcohol out taking a sip of it. "I'd say that we're done for the day, a break would be spectacular," he took another long sip of it hearing Sasuke scoff.

"What other habits did you pick up from ANBU other than alcoholism and insomnia?" Sasuke asked as he watched Itachi finish off the bottle. "You just got your ass handed to you by a twelve-year-old girl and a nineteen-year-old wimp and you're celebrating?"

"There are other reasons why this is a happy day for you," Itachi breathed glancing up at the rain clouds the sunlight leaving their presence; they were once again in the darkness. "Sasuke," he stopped walking as he put the bottle away his eyes softening to a soothing gaze. "You won the bet."

Sasuke blinked twice as he looked at his brother. "But the jutsu… and Kabuto… Sakura… we lost. How could I win the bet? I did everything against what you said. I only brought you down."

"You brought back feelings for that damn clan that I thought I lost a long time ago. You're the only one left, the one that showed me that there is more to life than just cold hard hatred, you showed me that there is still hope for the Uchiha," Itachi looked at him with a slight smile. "Sasuke, you're growing more than I thought you ever would. Even after what I did to you that night by the river you still…"

"It wasn't rape," Sasuke repeated. "Do I have to sound like a broken record around you? I wasn't raped; I was brought to my senses the same way you were when I was stabbed in the chest. You hurt me, I hurt you."

Itachi chuckled. "You're vile."

"You're not as evil as everyone thinks you are," Sasuke breathed. "At least not around me, I'm starting to understand why you kept me alive," his eyes closed tightly right before he looked straight into Itachi's eyes.

Itachi adverted the glance started to walk again "It's going to rain soon; we should get you out of the storm before you get yourself sick again," he didn't look back at Sasuke as the boy started to move after him.

"After I'm done with this I'm going to kill you. You and Kabuto are both going to die here. No one will miss you, Sakura; you're a missing ninja anyway."

"We have a lot of work to do after this, it showed me that I have to work you harder and take full supervision for your training. If the absolute worst comes to worst I'm going to look up ways to activate the mangekyou sharingan another way," he continued to walk toward the way that they had entered. "We have only a short amount of time to operate," he glanced back. "But I'm putting my trust in you, Sasuke."

Sasuke nodded shakily. "I won't let you down."

Itachi walked forward feeling the blood roll down his fingers. Shisui, once you called me weak, you said that I was nothing more than a kid who got lucky. You were testing me that night seeing if I was capable enough to kill you, and I was, I never really let myself decide what I wanted then. All I wanted was you to love me while everyone else was turning from me, but you did that same, he looked back at Sasuke gazing a the bloody dagger. Even after all that I did to him, tortured him, raped him, he still hasn't turned from me. He still thinks of me as a human, he's the only one who could save me from hell, the hell that you put me in.

Sasuke reached his side, grasping his hand tightly as he rested his weight up against him. He looked up at him with a smile, he was just glad that they came out alive, hopeful that he was going to get the power that desired for so long. The time had come where he had put everything on the line, nothing was too important for him to covet; Itachi was the only entity that mattered.

"Itachi," he breathed closing his eyes lightly, almost completely fatigued, his weight resting even more heavily up against Itachi's arm. His breathing was becoming more relaxed as he fell deeper into his daze. He lost too much blood.

He picked him up taking him in his arms looking down at his blood covered body, coming here with him was mistake. If he hadn't worked so hard on trying to perfect that technique, Sasuke would have been killed. He had to work harder to make sure that would never happen again. He would never see this much of his brother's blood, feel the warmth run down his skin. He promised that he wouldn't let anything happen to him. He would be damned if he broke it one more time. His hand ran across Sasuke's cheek as he looked forward, the first drop of rain falling down on him.

Never again.

Author's Note: I know that it wasn't how you wanted it to be, but it was a stalemate between the two of them seeing as niether of them really got what they wanted (Sakura is still with Kabuto and Itachi is still alive and breathing.) The next few chapters are going to be fillers with no real action to them (this will be over around chapter 29 or 30) So what did you think? Good? Bad? Think that Sasuke should have died? Honesty is always good.