DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Naruto"

Chapter 22: Illusion

Finally, after all this time, they had reached the Uchiha hideout. Sasuke turned to his team and ordered that they stay behind. They obeyed, but mostly because of the menacing shark-like man, Kisame, standing guard. Karin watched anxiously as Sasuke sped away from them and entered the hideout. This could very possibly be the last time she saw the handsome youth. The last thing she would see was his back as he ran away from her. Though she supposed he wasn't really running away from her, she felt so insignificant and unimportant. It seemed her existence as a part of Team Hebi was only a means to an end after all—an end that was so very near.

Sasuke raced through the hallway. Stale air brushed against his face and through his hair as dust whipped at him. Despite the filth that shrouded the building, stinging his eyes, burning his lungs, Sasuke ran for all his worth. Despite the anxiety—the fear—clutching at his stomach, Sasuke was excited. He would finally kill Itachi.

Suddenly, he found his legs rebelling against him. His pace had slowed significantly and, though he wanted to run, to charge with all speed at the enemy awaiting him, his feet were hesitant. He moved soundlessly, stealthily, until he came to a large, open room. He paused at the doorway. He felt his lungs constricting, a sharp pain filling his chest as he stood there at the edge of fate. He was undeniably afraid. An irrational fear suffocated him, as he envisioned his parents' dead bodies lying on the ground. He knew they weren't there, he knew that only Itachi awaited him, but his mind wasn't working logically. It was a vile sort of déjà vu. He expected to see his brother as he had been all those years ago, dressed in his ANBU uniform, standing above their parents—blood-stained—with not a trace of remorse in his black eyes. Cold words rang through his mind, images of blood flickered behind his eyes, tormenting him.

"Foolish little brother. If you wish to kill me one day, foster your hatred and despise me, surviving in such an unsightly manner as this, by all means, flee. Cling to your wretched life."

Those were the words that nagged at his soul. Those words ignited both rage and guilt within Sasuke. Rage that his brother would inflict such loneliness by savagely murdering his family. Guilt that he had escaped the same fate. He sometimes wished he could have died that day, that Itachi would have had an inkling of mercy and finished his sorrowful life. He was rather conflicted about his being. He had to have justice—vengeance—for his dead family…and yet, he wanted the pain to end. Was his pain a form of weakness?

"You're still too weak. You don't have enough hate. And you know something…you never will."

His brother had goaded him with those words that fateful day right before using Tsukuyomi to torture him. The torture he could deal with…but those taunting—cruel—words had eaten away at his sanity. He could have been fine, he could have continued with Team Seven. If Itachi hadn't come back three years ago, Sasuke could have stayed in Konoha to train. He might have had a happier life, a better life. Eventually, when he was strong enough, he would have left to assassinate the traitor. Somehow, though, he felt that even if he had stayed, perhaps he would have never been ready. It irked him to think about it though. He used to wonder how life would have been different had Orochimaru and Itachi never entered his life. Such thoughts always left him feeling empty.

It was all because of Itachi.

He had left his home, his team, his…family, because of Itachi. He had left his teacher, his best friend and his…his—he'd left behind a broken heart. Images of his old team flashed before his eyes. Their faces imprinted on his mind. The thought of them reminded him that they were still in danger. Naruto was in danger.

Sakura…

With images of a blushing ex-teammate running through his mind's eye, his resolve strengthened very suddenly. He had so many reasons to win the battle before him, more than just revenge. At that moment Sasuke entered the room to find Itachi seated like a king upon a stone chair. He looked absolutely bored, unsurprised at his little brother's appearance.

"What took so long?" Itachi asked monotonously.

Sasuke sneered. "I decided I'd take a leisurely stroll. You know, stop to smell the flowers."

Itachi smirked slightly in amusement. The brief interaction was almost friendly, almost reminiscent of what brothers should be. He remembered a time when they were much younger. He had been the one to teach Sasuke how to aim his shuriken, how to play ninja tag, he had been there when he was hurt. And then, Itachi smothered the memories and hardened his eyes again. He needed the boy to hate him. He needed Sasuke to finish what he himself had started all those years ago. After all, this was the way it had to be so that his little brother could find fulfillment. Itachi stood, his smirk disappearing behind his emotionless mask.

"Let's see how good your eyes are."

His speed was remarkable. He was standing by Sasuke's side and striking with a kunai before his brother had time to blink. His attack, however, was blocked by a bandaged arm. He turned the block against Sasuke as he whipped out another kunai. There was a shrieking of metal on metal as the kunai struck against Sasuke's katana. That's when Itachi noticed that his brother's Sharingan was activated. His speed had certainly improved.

The two Uchiha struggled in hand-to-hand combat for a few brutal moments. They kicked at each other and exchanged swift—powerful—punches, grunting with each connecting blow. Itachi managed to get the upper hand for a just enough time to throw Sasuke to the ground with bone-breaking force. Sasuke struggled to his knees with a glare on his face before he began forming hand signs for the Chidori. He gripped his bandaged wrist as the fierce, blue electricity crackled in his palm. A strange chirping of birds filled the area and Itachi remembered the last time Sasuke tried this. A twisted sort of nostalgia filled him. He was torn between joy and utter devastation. Itachi's only recent memories of his brother were of his desperate attempts to kill him. How pitiful their existences had become. Full of power, but empty…devoid of love.

There was a brief moment when their eyes locked and time seemed at a standstill. He noticed the slightest change in Sasuke's eyes. There was no rage, but something else, something broken. There was the slightest hint of anguish. Itachi fought the urge to say something to ease his brother's pain, and opted instead to remain silent. Sasuke's momentary hesitation vanished as he ran at his older brother with a smug smirk upon his lips. He slapped his palm against the ground and watched as his Chidori danced along the ground in jerking streams. Itachi jumped to avoid the attack, but soon felt something cold pierce his flesh and slide through him. Sasuke grinned maliciously an inch from his brother's shocked, blood-splattered face. They fell to the ground and Itachi lifted two fingers to point. Sasuke looked in said direction and saw his brother watching safely from his throne.

Genjutsu.

The illusion beneath Sasuke broke apart into a flock of ravens. Sasuke turned to the Itachi sitting on the throne. He watched as a sword sprouted from his brother's chest, blossoming with crimson blood. Itachi choked and spurted the metallic liquid from his mouth, still staring at the younger Uchiha before him, eyes wide again with shock. Sasuke wondered how many times he would see the disbelief before the battle ended. His brother's blatant shock rather offended him. It made him feel as though his accomplishments were preposterous feats in Itachi's eyes. As if Itachi was shocked to learn his little brother had grown so much. Suddenly, he felt his body break apart and slither away into snakes.

Itachi's eyes narrowed. "Genjutsu…"

"This is the end, you murderous traitor," Sasuke said from behind his brother's chair. "Before I kill you, I have one question and you'll answer me, or this pain will not end."

"You avoided my vitals on purpose…"

"Who is the third Sharingan user, the other Uchiha?"

"Why—why do you care?" Itachi asked, turning to catch a glimpse of his brother's face just to see how much hate was marked there.

"Once I've finished you, I'll kill him next." Sasuke gritted his teeth and his brows furrowed. He would be the last one, the last Uchiha. He would destroy the scum that had caused him such pain. "I'm not stupid, Itachi. I know that you had an accomplice. You even told me that there was one other you couldn't kill. You couldn't have possibly taken on the entire police force alone."

Itachi smiled faintly, but said nothing.

"Who is he?" Sasuke growled, his eyes narrowing further.

"Uchiha Madara."

"If he's the same Madara that helped found Konoha, he should be long dead. Stop messing with me!"

"He's still alive, whether you choose to believe it or not."

"Shut up!" Sasuke shouted, his face contorting with rage.

"Everyone lives relying on their own knowledge and perception. Your view can blind your eyes and bind your body. You perceive what you see as 'reality' and call it 'truth.' But knowledge and perception are both ambiguous, so 'reality' could be nothing more than an illusion. Someone with your eyes, eyes that see through genjutsu, should be able to see and understand that people live trapped by their limited perception."

"What are you getting at?"

Itachi glanced at Sasuke from the corners of his eyes, a dark smirk twisting his blood-coated lips. "You are trapped in your own limited perception. There are absolutes. Madara's life is one. Me being a caring older brother is not."

"My eyes are not as blind as they once were!" Sasuke screamed as he turned to shoot a Chidori spear at the real Itachi who was feet away from him. The Itachi his katana was currently protruding through vanished and Sasuke snarled, "I've had enough of your games."

The conversation continued far longer than Sasuke would have liked. He wanted to finish it with no more delay, no more hesitation, but Itachi felt it necessary to…explain a few things. He spoke of the uprising of the Uchiha clan and the power behind the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. He recounted a tale of treachery and blood, the tale of Madara and his brother. He showed his younger brother the truth of Madara's immortality. Sasuke watched fretfully. What he saw, the history being told, it all made him sick. He found himself thinking about how his relationship with Itachi could have been had he never betrayed the clan. They might have been so close, best friends. Or possibly—more likely, considering the jealousy he felt in his early academy days—they might have grown to experience a fierce sibling rivalry, just like Madara and his brother. Had that been the case, would this fight to death still have come? And then, as if trying to push Sasuke to the edge of insanity, Itachi proclaimed his belief that his little brother was his spare. He shouted, as if to the entire world, that he would kill Sasuke and take his eyes to activate his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. This was their bond. Sasuke scowled. Perhaps this was the best way for things to happen. Had they grown up together as brothers in a loving family, Itachi's treachery for eternal sight would have killed him. As it was, Sasuke expected nothing less from the traitor and he was confident he could survive.

Sasuke pulled the bandage from his forehead and threw his cloak away. The bandages around his wrists were loosened to reveal tattoos—seals. Very little was said before the battle began once again. Sasuke activated the seals and began throwing hundreds of shuriken at Itachi—he managed to dodge every single one. They charged for each other, kunai whirring as they made their attacks. It was then that Sasuke realized that Itachi had managed to produce a shadow clone. He struggled with the clone as the true Itachi made his move from above.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

Moments later, he found himself pinned to the wall and his elder brother's fingers twitched ever closer toward his left eye. Slowly—agonizingly slow—the cold fingers pressed into the skin surrounding his eye. The pain was intense, as he felt the skin and muscle separate from the eyeball, as foreign objects dug into his head and took hold of the sensitive organ. The words his vicious brother was saying didn't even register in his pain-delirious mind. Sasuke felt hot blood pour down his face and could not hold back the scream when he felt the optic nerve sever. It was a bloodcurdling shriek that ripped through his throat. He instantly gripped at the empty eye socket, sending small currents of electricity into the nerves in a vain attempt to numb the pain. There was so much blood. His right eye streamed with tears, stinging and blurring his vision. He grimaced and watched as Itachi dropped the eye into a jar and then neared to take the other one. Sasuke felt the curse mark consuming his body as utter fear iced through his veins.

Itachi's bloodstained fingers neared. He watched with mild interest as his little brother's form shifted into that of a demon. He felt his concentration falter and suddenly he saw Sasuke before him, no trace of the curse mark upon his skin. Sasuke was still clutching his left eye as his knees hit the ground. A sharp pain shot through Itachi's eye from overuse of his Mangekyou Sharingan. He growled as he realized his little brother had broken the Tsukuyomi. Sasuke smirked and stood. Though Itachi had doubled over from pain, he straightened up at his little brother's taunting. He began to form hand seals, but his brother drew his fingers over the seal on his wrist, making a windmill shuriken appear in his grasp. Sasuke wound up and let go of the shuriken, flinging it in Itachi's direction. Itachi made to dodge the weapon, when he noticed a second windmill shuriken hidden in the shadow of the first. He made a split second alteration in his movement, making sure to dodge both weapons.

Sasuke's brow knit together as he tugged on the wire in his hand. He maneuvered the shuriken to fling back at Itachi, and this time, he wasn't able to dodge. Itachi fell to the ground, pieces of shuriken impaling his leg. He gripped his eye as his vision blurred and darkened.

"Tsukuyomi causing side effects? Does it feel good?" Sasuke smirked.

With a Grand Fireball and Chidori in quick succession, the fight was suddenly outside on the rooftop of the hideout.

~.~.~.~

Sakura watched the masked man warily. He knew where Sasuke was and he was in her way.

A/N: Thanks to Sakura's Indecision for such prompt beta-ing. Sorry this chapter is a little late, I had an uninspired week. BUT! We are moving along in the story, next chapter should (hopefully) be the conclusion of the battle-as well as some insight to Sakura's mind. It'll probably be late as well since my weekend is all booked. Leave me some love!