Author's Note: This fic is a direct result of too much time, obsession with the manga and an ending line that was tugging at my heart-strings.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
All his life he'd been living in the shadows of someone else: his brother.
When he was younger, Itachi had received all the attention; love and approval from his father while Sasuke only received forced smiles and indifference. Fugaku wanted his younger son to be just like his older boy; brilliant, talented and hard working but with generally good intentions at heart. It was expected of Sasuke that he would turn out just like Itachi, just as brilliant, and just as great at controlling the Sharingan.
After his brother's brutal slaughter of the clan, Sasuke was surprised to find that while many were appalled at what Itachi had done, they still regarded him as an excellent shinobi and looked down on Sasuke, thinking that he could never be as great as his brother. He was weaker, more gentle and innocent; that's what they thought.
Others were constantly looking on at him in fear and repulsion, thinking that he was going to possess just as much hate and murderous intent as his older brother. Never did people distinguish the two siblings; Itachi came first, so therefore everything had been about him. Sasuke was like him in ways, unlike him in ways; Sasuke himself hated being compared to his so called brother, a person that he no longer considered family.
As time progressed, the villagers of Konoha became increasingly more concerned that Sasuke was becoming like his brother. He had shown signs of the same genius and he had started to use his Sharingan. Mind you, Itachi had been able to do everything at an earlier age but Itachi was a super genius and Sasuke, a little more than an overachiever. Still, he was showing the same mastery of skills, the same emotionless face, and the same murderous intent that made everyone back away in fear. When he left Konoha, people began talking, saying that he was most definitely going to become like his brother.
Sure enough, as Sasuke stood across from his brother, he realized all at once that he'd become the person he most hated. Somehow, he'd let himself become this sadistic, corrupt individual whom he presumed, had an even darker soul than his older brother. If people saw them together, then Sasuke would now be noted as the darker half. He was no longer living in Itachi's shadow; he was Itachi's shadow.