Disclaimer: I don't own anything that pertains to the anime/manga
Warnings: This chapter contains coarse language, major violence/blood, thoughts of homicide, thoughts of suicide, incest, yaoi, references to sexual activities, some yuri, subjects pertaining to death, OOC, and the canon is not a huge factor. There are also a lot of errors in here even though the chapter is shorter, and there's a surpise at the end of this chapter.
Pairings: ItaSasu, some SasuNaru and SasuSaku, slight NaruSaku, a little KakaIta, references to ShisIta, a hint of InoSaku
Sasuke looked down at Sakura seeing her continue to bleed. After all of the time that they had spent apart, he had finally gotten her back onto his side. He was finally able to make all of the pain that he had on her part disappear forever. Standing up he looked off in the direction where Itachi went. Kabuto had gone that way, and he had Naruto.
Naruto, why was he involved in this? All Itachi really wanted was Sasuke, but then the Akatsuki had realized what had just happened, they had given Itachi an opening to destroy them. Now everyone was starting to retaliate, there was no telling how many lives were going to be lost.
"What do we do now?" Chouji asked as he looked up at Sasuke. "We sent Iruka-sensei after the jounin and we still haven't secured Naruto…"
The Uchiha looked at the blood that was dripping from his hands, watching his fingers shake as he looked into the scarlet liquid. Was this all that was going to come from this mission? Was all he was going to see was the blood of those who were precious to him? He couldn't take it anymore, the hate that he had for blood was only growing. The very sight of it made him sick to his stomach, reminding him of all of the pain that he had witnessed that night. All he could think of was losing everything that was precious to him as he looked at blood, he didn't want to think of situations like that. He had to stay focused.
"Sasuke?" Ino asked as she walked up to him. "Is there something wrong?"
He looked over at her and then down at Sakura. "I'm glad to see that you got your friend back, Ino, I really am. You were right, it wasn't like Sakura to run off and walk on the wild side, that's why I'm glad she's back in our hands," he closed his eyes. "But Naruto…"
Sakura closed her eyes; Naruto wasn't going to make it through this if the Uchiha brothers didn't hurry. Kabuto had already gotten a head start, and the poison that was in Naruto's body was harming him, upsetting the way that the nine-tails made his body function. If he did die, he was going to die angry at her.
"Fuck you! I don't give a damn about your Orochimaru, nor do I give a damn about Kabuto Yakushi or Itachi Uchiha. You make me sick, Sakura… you make me sick…"
"I will bring him back," Sasuke closed his eyes. "I'm not going to let them win this. I'm not going to sit back here and watch as everything that is precious to me is taken away from me. I will never back down, not after I came this far," he clutched his shoulder tightly as he looked over at Shikamaru. "Wait here until the jounin come back, I'm going to save Naruto."
"Go to your brother," Shikamaru breathed as he walked toward Sakura and Ino. "We'll take care of Sakura; you're needed to bring Naruto back. Don't waste your time with us. You have a job to do."
Sasuke smiled as he nodded, looking off into the distance. I'm coming, Naruto, hang on just a little longer, he started to walk in the direction, closing his eyes. This was what it all came down to ever since that night, now he was on a one-way path to the battlefield. He had to do whatever it takes to get Naruto back to the village. He wouldn't let the Sound Village win, not after all of the pain that Itachi had gone through. This was going to end right now.
As he jumped into the trees, Sakura closed her eyes, tears falling down her face. She was the one who was wrong about all of this. She should have known that they weren't going to save Naruto. This was all a set-up, and she was attacking the only ones who were trying to save her from that fate. She was an idiot to think that she could try to go against the village; in the end Konoha was always right. She was a fool to think that she was able to go against them.
"Sakura?" Ino asked as she walked over to her best friend, picking up the Sound forehead protector on the ground. "I missed you, I missed you a lot," she closed her eyes as she held on tightly to the cursed bearer of the emblem of that bastard who had broken them up, the one who had caused all of this.
"Ino?" Sakura asked as she looked over at the pool of water. "Why didn't you guys come after me? Did the village even care that I was gone, or was it just Sasuke?"
The blond girl bowed her head. "We all did care, but there was nothing that the Hokage would let us do. We all wanted to come get you, honestly we did, but we were detained, the only one who could break the rules was Sasuke, he was with his brother…" she closed her eyes. "He didn't want to watch you die, he didn't want to watch you become a monster…"
"Monster?" Sakura asked as she dipped her hand in the water. "Is that what I've become? Nothing more than a monster," a tear fell into the liquid, creating a ripple that only grew larger with every passing second. "That's all that everyone can see now is all that I gave up to try to save them…" she closed her eyes. "I made a mistake."
"We all make mistakes," Ino argued as she looked at her best friend. "What you did was nothing too bad, you were being manipulated. You didn't know what he was trying to do, you were a victim."
A laugh filled the atmosphere. "Still I caused so much pain," she held out her hand, trying desperately to move the broken one as well. "I felt his blood on my hands, and I only pushed the dagger deeper. I almost killed one of the people I secretly wanted to protect, the one that I saved the life of in the beginning…" she closed her fist as she looked at the ripples. "I shouldn't have gotten involved," she closed her eyes. "I shouldn't have risked Naruto like that…"
Ino shook her head. "Naruto's going to be alright…"
"You can tell me that, but you don't know," she closed her eyes tighter as she started to sob. "Naruto loves me; I know that he still does. The reason why he never picked up the phone for me or opened the door wasn't because he didn't care about me; it was that he cared the most. He didn't want me to watch as he slowly grew weak and died. Ino, I was a fool."
Shikamaru sighed as he walked toward the crying girl. "Sakura, you didn't do anything wrong. No one has gotten too hurt yet. When you say that Naruto isn't going to make it you're doubting Sasuke's power. He can do it, I have faith in him. I know what his brother can do, I saw what he did to my sensei, I saw what he did to Kakashi. Now that I see what Sasuke can do with that strength, I know that he was teaching him. They're strong; they're going to make it."
Sakura looked down at the pool of water, pulling out a few of her senbon, clutching them tightly as she thought of all of the damage that had been caused. Sasuke, Iruka, and Naruto had all had this new poison running through their veins, this deadly poison that could only result in death. There was no telling when it would win.
She dropped them into the water, closing her eyes tightly as she remembered being pulled down into the pool multiple times, the glow of the sharingan still going through her mind. Sasuke and Itachi tried different routes to get her out of the way, now she wished that Itachi had killed her so she wouldn't to have seen Sasuke in so much pain. She wished she had died, she wouldn't have to watch as a plan that she helped create went into action. She was an idiot to do all of this.
Naruto, I'm sorry, she closed her eyes tightly as she tried to remember his face. I'm so sorry that it had to end this way… I'm sorry that you had to get involved in all of this, she touched the water again. Please forgive me…
-----
Kakashi looked down at his hand as he thought about what he was going after, it was Itachi. After all of these years he thought that maybe one day he would be able to hold Itachi in his arms again as he watched that smile light up, he never thought that it would be now. He couldn't see Itachi being happy to see him anymore, the hate in his heart being way too harsh for him to bear.
"Are you sure you're going to be alright handling Itachi?" Asuma asked, looking into the younger jounin's eye. "I mean, the last few times he was around you, he didn't seem like he was too pleased with your presence."
"I want you to be concerned about Kabuto," Kakashi answered as he curled his hand into a fist. "I can handle Itachi. I handled him back in the days of ANBU, I can handle him now."
There was a short silence before Asuma spoke up again. "What exactly did you do to him? Why does he hate you so much? No one hates anyone as much as he does you. I've never even saw Sasuke like that back when he wanted to kill his brother. Itachi holds some resentment for you…"
Kakashi closed his eyes as he remembered the times he used to embrace the young boy, he was so fragile, only thirteen. He could still see the bruises on his body as he watched him get dressed, the scars that covered him. He questioned every single one only to hear the young boy say that he got into a fight with someone in the village, it wasn't a big deal. Kakashi knew better, even now as he saw those fake smiles he knew better. Itachi had been abused for too long; it was about time that he got what he wanted without consequence.
"I don't know," Kakashi answered as he straightened out his vest.
As Asuma was about to say something, the other two jounin walked up to them. "We're already hours behind; I don't know if Itachi is going to hold off that long. Do you think that Kabuto has gotten that far?" Gai asked as he looked at Asuma. "We should try to take it easy though, you two still aren't in the best condition…"
"I'm fine," Asuma answered as he stood up, looking at Kakashi. "Kakashi? Are we ready to go?"
Kakashi nodded.
"Wait," Gai said quickly as they started to walk toward the gate. "Kakashi, the last thing that I want is to watch you die because of all of this. If you feel as though you won't be able to go on, tell us. We don't want to lose you."
"Nothing is going to happen," Kakashi breathed as he closed his eyes tightly thinking about all that he had to accomplish. "I'm the only one who can talk to Itachi; I'm the only one who could slightly reason with him."
"You've never reasoned with him before," Gai argued as Kakashi kept walking. "All he does is hurt you, he almost killed you. Do you want to talk to someone who tried to do that to you? Do you want to be with a person who will continue to abuse you? Kakashi, he will destroy you if you get too close."
"You don't know what that boy does to me, you don't know how I feel when I look into his eyes and see nothing deep within them, Gai," Kakashi answered quickly, not looking back at them. "I want to see something within his eyes one last time, one last time before this kills me," he touched his chest lightly. "I know that this condition is going to kill me, I know that my days are most likely numbered if I go into combat. I don't care…" he closed his eye. "I won't let him die a monster…"
Gai shook his head closing his own eyes. "Then we'll let you do it," he started to walk toward the gate. "We need to try to make as good of time as we possibly can. We've been lazy for too long, time to take action," he smiled as he looked back at them. "Let's try to make it in half the time…"
"What happened to me being injured?" Asuma asked with a sigh.
"Asuma, it's no use getting through to him," Kurenai sighed as well as she moved closer to the said jounin.
Kakashi looked at all three of them, standing together in front of him. All of them had their troubles along the way, trying their hardest to support different ideas, some of which conflicted horribly. Some of them made sacrifices that no one should ever make, while others could only sit back and watch as the ones that they called comrades fought one another. All he could see where three different worlds finally connecting after a long absence, and together they were going to save the village.
"Thank you," Kakashi stated. "All of you…"
Together, they started to walk toward the village gate not looking back at what they were leaving behind. Some of them might not make it back, but Kakashi had promised himself that he would die, not until he saw something in those eyes other than hate. Not until he got through to Itachi.
-----
He doubled over with pain as he clutched at his chest. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take before he died. The agonizing sensations that were rolling with his pulse made him want to make it all stop; run himself into his own blade. Yet as he looked back at what he was trying to protect he closed his eyes tightly, not wanting to glance up into Kabuto's eyes.
"Hurt?" the Sound ninja asked as he tried to hold back his laughter. "I can see that my technique has wounded you. Why don't you just give up? Every time you try to use chakra you only hurt yourself. Do you want to die a meaningless death that much, looking like a weakling who didn't know how to cease his own pain."
Itachi curled his hand into a fist trying to concentrate chakra into it, a shock moving throughout his heart as it stopped for a split second. "Fuck!" he fell to the ground, his hand harmlessly hitting the dirt.
"Oh," Kabuto breathed as he looked down at the fallen ninja. "Too bad that you're too weak to help defend that boy, it looks like I won this round, Itachi. It was a good run, but it's over now. You may have won most of the battles, but in the long run the war was lost. Now you have nothing but your own shame, just like the night with Shisui died."
Itachi's eyes widened as he heard him mention that name. Shisui, he was the reason why Itachi had tried so hard to survive all of this time, he was the reason why he did everything that led up to his return to Konoha. He felt the Akatsuki ring digging into his chest as he tried to move. Everything was screaming at him to get up and take this pain, he couldn't die here.
He could see the Akatsuki laughing as he tried to get back up off of the ground; he was too weak to even support a little pain when he said that he could give up anything. He was a weak liar, a microscopic insect on the grand design of their power. There was no telling what he was worth, or if he was worth anything at all. He continued to rise from the ground his black eyes looking into Kabuto's.
"I'm going to destroy you," Itachi breathed, gathering chakra into his fist, slamming it into Kabuto's abdomen, watching him fall to the ground, a trail of blood following him. As he watched what was happening to his opponent, he clutched at his chest tightly, his heart burning throughout his chest.
He collapsed to the ground as he tried to ease his shuddering body, trying to direct the pain to move elsewhere in his body, but it was no use, all he could do was sit there and wait for his death to come to him. He could feel Kabuto's blood roll down his face, trying to ease the pain of him giving up his life. He closed his eyes tightly as he tried to ignore everything that was going on around him, his heart speeding up with anticipation causing him to howl again.
He threw his fist at the ground, cracking it just a small bit as the electrical impulses were still going through his chest. "I-I won't let you have Naruto," he took a deep breath reaching for his sword. "You'll have to kill me first," he pulled out the weapon as he looked over at Kabuto. "This pain is nothing compared to what I've been through…"
"You say that now," the medical ninja coughed, struggling to get to his feet. "But when your heart stops, you won't be acting so tough," he grasped a poisonous senbon, his shaking hand moving to aim it at the half paralyzed ninja. "Let me do you a favor and put you out of your misery."
Itachi still clutched his chest feeling his heart start to speed up, sparks of pain lighting his body ablaze. Everything was getting numb as he watched the senbon come toward him. He closed his eyes as he tried to move, his heart burning at the trial, more sweat rolling down his forehead.
"Stop it!" a voice called out as a kunai soared through the air, knocking the senbon out of the way. "Don't you dare touch him. I'll kill you!"
Itachi tried to breathe as he looked into the corner of the battlefield, trying to catch his breath. "Took you long enough…" he took another deep breath. "Sasuke…" he coughed harshly again.
Sasuke laughed lightly. "I had to clean up your mess."
"Sasuke Uchiha?" Kabuto chuckled. "You're too late. Look at your brother, take a good hard look at him and tell me what you see…"
The younger Uchiha looked down at Itachi, watching him desperately trying to catch his breath. He could see the sweat running down his skin, his body shaking as he clutched at his chest. Sasuke could see that something was wrong and that bastard Kabuto was the one who had done this to him.
"Itachi?" he ran to his brother's side. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"
The older Uchiha struggled to move, clutching his chest. "He's not as tough as you think he is, Sasuke."
"But yet you were knocked down so easily?" Sasuke scoffed.
Itachi couldn't answer as another surge of pain went through his chest. "Damn it!" he fell forward, coughing as he closed his eyes tightly, hearing Sasuke gasp in shock as he did so, his hand moving to stroke the crest on his back.
"Itachi!" he screamed, gripping the fabric of his shirt. "What's wrong? What's happened to you? What did he do to you?" he looked over at Kabuto. "What the hell is going on here?"
The Sound ninja laughed as he looked at his work. "If you must know, Sasuke, I transformed my chakra into electrical impulses and moved them through the nerves in your brother's arm right into his heart. Now every time that he uses chakra, he's going to get closer to dying. There is nothing that will be able to dull that pain," he smiled wider. "So do your big brother a favor, take your dagger and run it through his chest. It's what he wants…"
"Itachi?" Sasuke breathed, feeling his brother shake. "You bastard! I should kill you for what you did to my brother!" he grasped his dagger. "You think you can break us apart and then force me to kill him? I could never, I would never, I can't do what he wants if that is his wish," he closed his scarlet eyes. "I will not be the one to end his life, not after I fought so hard to keep him alive."
"Then you are sentencing him to a painful death," Kabuto smiled as he watched Itachi struggle to get back up. "Do you think that you can do anything to me, Itachi? In your condition you're lucky if you can even stand."
The older Uchiha stood up as he looked straight into the eyes of his opponent, water trailing down his face as he took a step closer. "To watch you die, to watch all of them suffer, this pain," he started making hand signs, "means nothing." He ended on a tiger seal. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu."
Kabuto watched as the fire started coming closer to him, there was no way that he would be able to use enough chakra to do that. He thought that Sakura would wear him down indefinitely. This wasn't worn down in the least bit; he was still able to throw this attack at him. No matter how he tried, Itachi was going to get over the pain fast.
"I won't stand here and let you walk all over me," Itachi took a deep breath, curling his fist again. "I'm not going to let you stand here and make me look like an idiot," he smashed his fist to the ground, the shockwave knocking Kabuto over. "It's going to be all over for you!"
Sasuke watched as his brother used Body Flicker to move closer to Kabuto, throwing punches at him, watching as the Sound ninja wasn't even trying to fight back. Blood was pouring from flesh as Itachi pushed the fight to the ground, the ground shaking; Kabuto was losing too much blood.
"Sasuke?" a voice called from the side of the battle. "What's going on here? What are you two doing?"
The younger Uchiha looked over to see the voice belonged to his best friend who was nothing more than a feeble and weak boy on the ground, trying his hardest not to look at the fight. It had been a while since he had seen him, been a while since he was able to talk to him. Now was his chance to save him.
"Naruto," Sasuke breathed, running to his side. "It's alright, I'm here now. I'm going to take you away from this place," he started to lift him off of the ground when he felt a sudden pain in his back, the feeling of blood dripping down his shirt.
All he could hear was Naruto scream as he fell limp on top of him, shaking with pain. Sasuke's hand trailed to behind him to pull the kunai that was lodged into his back, whimpering as the pain surged through him. Kabuto might have been busy with Itachi, but he had enough of an opening to hurl a kunai at the young boy.
"You want a fight?" Sasuke asked, looking at the Sound ninja who was still being held down by Itachi. "If it's a fight that you want from me, then that's what you're going to get," he pulled out his dagger as he limped toward him, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "I'm going to save Naruto."
Naruto looked up at his best friend. Pain, that blood that's running down his skin, that scar that's forming on his back, that's all because of me. Sasuke's taken so much just to save me and Sakura and that's not fair, it's not fair that he has to risk his life for me, for an abomination.
He closed his eyes as he watched Sasuke move closer to Kabuto. He was giving everything that he had to make sure that his teammates were going to be alright. They had turned on him, but he still cared about them, trying to guide Itachi down a path that wouldn't kill either of them. Sasuke was always so distant, trying to make it seem like he didn't care about his team, brushing them off as weak, but now he could sit around and watch them die. A ninja is only a real ninja when they have someone to protect and to support, he was a real ninja.
"I'll kill you!" Sasuke breathed as he ran to Itachi's side, driving a fist into Kabuto's face, blood soaking his hand, his body shaking lightly. "You fucking bastard! Let Naruto go! He has nothing to do with you! You've lost this battle!"
Kabuto chuckled. "Have I, little Itachi?" he watched Sasuke snarl when he said that, Itachi's eyes narrowing. "Or is little Shisui more appropriate?"
"Go to Hell!" Itachi breathed as he pulled out a sai. "He's not like Shisui…"
Kabuto laughed. "Whatever you say… disgusting insect."
The sai ran through Kabuto's chest, Itachi's eyes transforming into the same blood red that was deep within them before. "You want to play that game, Kabuto? You want to see what I can really do to you? I don't want to waste the mangekyou sharingan on you. But I will end this quickly."
Sasuke watched as he brother tightened his grip on the other ninja, his eyes widening as he looked straight at what was going on. That was a shadow clone; he was going to use that technique. Sasuke ran back to Naruto's side shield him with his body as the clone detonated, branches moving through the air, hitting him in his already bloody back.
"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled as he heard him cry out in pain. "Leave me! You have to get out of here!"
Sasuke took a strangled breath. "I'm not going to leave here without you. I'd rather die then lose you to this man. I worked to hard to let him win; I've given up too much to let you die."
"But you promised you wouldn't die," Naruto argued. "If you die here, everything that you ever said to me will be bullshit. You can't die on me."
The dirt finally cleared as the battle between Kabuto and Itachi continued the clash of metal filling Sasuke's ears to no end. Blood was rolling from both of their bodies as Itachi struggled to breathe, the electrical impulses in his heart still being messed up from Kabuto's attack. Sasuke could see the sparks as the katana clashed with a kunai, their eyes never leaving one another's. He couldn't let Naruto get involved.
"Sasuke," Itachi breathed as he grasped a sai with his other hand. "Get Naruto out of here and get back to Konoha, I can take care of this," he slashed the sai against Kabuto's face, blood falling from the wound. "Get out of here."
"I'm not leaving without you, Itachi," Sasuke panted as he extended his hand in his brother's direction. "I'm not going to let you die here. I gave everything to you; I did everything that you wanted me to. I'm not going to leave because you think this isn't safe, I'm not going to leave here without you."
"Don't be stupid," Itachi groaned as he pushed a fist into Kabuto's stomach. "This place has gotten too dangerous. I can handle this, you save your friend," he pushed the katana through Kabuto's shoulder, the older ninja howling in pain. "Get out of here!"
Sasuke grasped the dagger as he stood up, looking straight at the fight that his brother was going through, staring at his hand. "Itachi," he closed his eyes. "I watched you start to die once; I felt your heart stop beating under my fingers. I saw your blood cover that cursed room. I'm not going to let you die here, if I can't kill you no one can."
He ran toward the fight, Itachi's crimson eyes widening blankly as he watched his younger brother move closer. He tried to tell him to stop, but he couldn't find the air supply as his lungs froze a surge of pain rolling through his chest. His eyes watered as he still tried to tell him to stop.
"I won't let you die!" Sasuke breathed, extending the dagger to move in front of him. "I don't want to watch as you're taken away from me."
"Stop it!" Itachi gulped as he felt his lungs start to give out, a cough passing his lips, saliva falling to the ground as he did so, his whole body wracked with tremors. "Don't come closer, Sasuke, I can handle this."
Sasuke looked at his brother; he was defenseless on the ground as he tried to catch his breath, his hand up against his neck, concealing the faint love bites that graced his flesh. As he looked at the blood that was rushing to his cheeks, the blush of pain, he could only see the romance that was there before. He didn't want to end everything that they had, it had just started, it was too soon to give it up.
"Stop it," Itachi breathed as he slammed a harmless fist to the ground. "Get Naruto out of here, please," his watery eyes looked up into Sasuke's. "Please… just do what I tell you and get him out of here."
Sasuke ran to his side, placing a hand on his back. "Itachi."
The older Uchiha coughed again. "I told you to run…"
"I won't run," Sasuke breathed, rubbing his brother's back. "You didn't run from me when I was in trouble in the woods," he took hold of his chin, feeling the sweat rolling down his flesh. "I don't want to lose you."
He kissed his lips lightly, hearing Itachi's breathing solidify. Together they would be able to take Kabuto and then no one would get left behind. It would be a perfect plan, a plan without a single flaw. With that in mind, Sasuke clutched the dagger tighter, looking up at Kabuto.
"You're going to pay for this," Sasuke hissed.
"How are you going to do that? You're nothing more than a shadow of a dying ember," he pointed at Itachi. "Nothing more than a slave to the one that you once hated, you're only a pawn in this game," he smiled. "So I'll take you out and attack your king."
Sasuke looked down at Itachi, watching his start to get control over his breathing, his eyes looking over at Naruto. "Take him away from here, Sasuke. I will take care of Kabuto. You did enough; you did your part in this plan. Now your job is to get Naruto out of here."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Shut up, Itachi… don't order me around."
The older Uchiha's voice was thick with anger. "You will do what you're told, Sasuke. You are going to save your friend and I'm going to risk my life to save the village."
They looked at each other deeply; Sasuke saw something in Itachi's eyes: loss. Itachi was going to die here, he knew that, but like the proud being he was, he wasn't going to let Sasuke watch as he died. He didn't want Sasuke to see the start of the storm that would start after his death; he didn't want him to feel as the rain of sorrow would start to fall.
"You don't have anything to risk your life for," Sasuke breathed. "Don't be so quick to destroy yourself and give everything away," he grasped the dagger tighter as he looked straight at their opponent. "I won't stand for it."
"Sasuke," Itachi breathed as he grabbed a sai. "We'll take Kabuto out first, then we'll recover Naruto," he gripped the handle tighter as he looked over at his younger brother. "Shall we begin?"
They moved closer to Kabuto both of them going different ways. Quickly, before their eyes could even pick it up, Kabuto grabbed Sasuke's arm, his other hand moving to push at Itachi's chest, a splash of blood passing his lips.
For a second everything froze as Sasuke could feel it rolling down his face, it was blood. He could feel his own blood run cold as it touched his lips, the taste of metal seeping through the opening. Tremors went through his body as his heart raced his stomach churning as he loosened his grip on the dagger. His red eyes faded to black as he almost dropped his weapon.
Kabuto looked at the young boy. "Hemophobia?" he smiled as he watched Sasuke continue to shake. A laugh passed his lips as he grasped the boy's other arm, the dagger being hurled through the air landing right in front of Naruto.
"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled.
"Sasuke!" Itachi gasped, watching his brother fall, his breathing loud and labored. "Sasuke!"
Kabuto pushed the boy to the ground, pulling out a kunai. "You think that you can defeat me?" he stepped closer to him, looking down at the young boy, seeing his eyes widen as more blood rolled down his face. "All you can do is sit here and shake in fear. Let me help you out of the daze, Sasuke. Let me help you rid yourself of all of this useless pain."
The kunai moved closer to him as he continued to shake. He waited for the kunai to hit him as he tried to move but failed. He would rather have himself die then watch what was going to happen to Itachi as he looked at his trouble breathing. Everything grew blurry as he felt the kunai only a few inches away. It was time.
That's when he felt another splash of blood and a gasp of shock. Opening his eyes, he saw his brother in front of him, the kunai embedded in his left arm, the muscles shaking from the wound. Sasuke panted as he looked at the scene, the blood still rolling down his face from the gash that was on Itachi's arm.
Everything clouded; once again he could feel the night when he was trying his hardest to save him as time was soaring away. That night he was so afraid that he was going to lose everything, his own life starting to end as he envisioned himself bleeding next to him. All of the blood mixed with the blood of his parents, as well as the blood from the woods, as well as all of the blood that Itachi had been losing earlier until it was a deep pool of fear. He thought of everything he had been through as he arm extended to touch Itachi, feeling him shake once again.
"I-Itachi?" he watched as the kunai was extracted from his arm. "Itachi!"
The older Uchiha fell to his knees in front of Sasuke, grasping his forearm, glancing back at him with his peripheral vision. "Are you alright?"
"Itachi," Sasuke breathed as he looked at the blood, his body shaking, the thought of that liquid running from Itachi's lips coming back to his mind. He let out a low howl as he closed his eyes.
A finger moved to stroke the blood away from his face. "It's alright, Sasuke," he looked down at his arm, watching it shake with pain, letting out a low cry of pain. "It's going to be alright," he wrapped his right arm around him, pulling him closer to his shaking body. "Sasuke…"
Naruto looked straight at the brotherly reunion, the way that both of them were shaking up against one another, Sasuke's face buried in his neck as he tried to calm down, blood being wiped from his face. Naruto had caused all of that pain to them. It was because of him that Sasuke had developed all of the fears and pains that he had. He was nothing more than an abomination; he was nothing more than a burden.
Throughout this whole time, what had Naruto ever done? He wasn't there when Sasuke needed him in the hospital, he wasn't there to save him from Itachi that night, he wasn't there to help him with Sakura, he was never there for him. Now when he could be there for him, he knew he couldn't, and he never would be. He looked down at the dagger that was in front of him, his fingers being drawn to it.
He took hold of it, tightly gripping the handle. Sasuke, he closed his eyes as he struggled to stand up, still holding the dagger tightly, his blue eyes closing. The blade was shaking in his hands as he saw the two brothers in front of him. He could see the tears in Sasuke's eyes as he whispered Itachi's name, the Sound ninja behind them giving them a curious look. The dagger almost fell out of his hands.
I'm expendable, he thought as he tightened his grip on Sasuke's weapon. If it weren't for me, they wouldn't even be in this mess; he moved the dagger so the blade would point at him, his eyes closing tightly. He couldn't stand to look at the sight that he was seeing.
"N-Naruto?" Sasuke asked, looking over at him, seeing a glimpse of something metal. "Naruto?" he then knew what it was, it was his dagger. "Naruto!"
"Sasuke," Naruto breathed, tears rolling down his cheeks. "Don't look at me; don't look at what caused you so much pain…" he shook his head. "You don't deserve it; you made a mistake… let me correct that mistake…"
He pushed the dagger into his chest, a small gag passing his lips as his body filled with pain. Blood fell from his chest to the ground, as he collapsed to his knees, his eyes looking up to the sky, tears rolling down his cheeks, as a laugh passed through his lips, a smile on his face. He took his hands off of the dagger as he fell against the tree, still grinning with empty eyes.
"I want to make you happy, Sasuke," he coughed, blood passing his lips. "Tell Sakura that the pain is over now… you can all go back to the village and stop fighting…" he closed his eyes. "You can all be…" his voice became breathless as his body became loose. "… fr-free."
"Naruto?" Sasuke asked as Itachi released him, the older Uchiha's body shaking as he looked at the dagger lodged in the nine-tail's chest. "Naruto?" he moved closer to his side crawling on his knees, trying not to look at the sight of his blood. He closed his eyes as he got to his best friend's side, grabbing hold of his body.
Itachi's eyes closed tightly. "That damn dagger," his hands curled into fists. "You got what you wanted, are you happy now?" he looked up to the sky, closing his eyes in anger as he slammed his fist to the ground. "Are you happy Shisui? Are you?"
Kabuto looked at what was going on, closing his eyes tightly. They're going to kill me when they find out about this. I failed the mission.
Sasuke shook Naruto's body as he closed his eyes trying to fight the tears, holding onto the handle of the dagger. "Naruto?" he took a deep breath as he tried to defeat the sobs that were threatening him, his red eyes burning brightly as he reopened them. "Naruto!"
Author's Note: I know that this chapter was kind of rushed and the fight between the Uchiha brothers and Kabuto was kind of weak, but both of them are at their limits, especially Itachi. There are only three more chapters after this and then it's all over, it was fun writing this, I enjoyed it. SOMEONE IS STILL GOING TO DIE! So what did you think? Good? Bad? Sad because the end is coming closer? I love honesty.