Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the previous chapter! A big thanks to Aniwolfgirl for reviewing! I love hearing from all of you, so please keep them coming! Without further a-do, here is the next chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters, just those of my own design.

Chapter 15

For the past two weeks they had lived in the Akatsuki hideout that was merely a pagoda style home. Although there were more than enough rooms for each of them to have three to themselves, Kikyuu shared a room with Itachi for his attacks were getting worse, despite the medicine. However, he held on because he knew Sasuke was coming for him; if he could only hold on for a little while longer.

One night, Kikyuu awoke after feeling the cold spot in the bed next to her. She sat up and looked around the room as a light rain tapped gently on the window above the bed. Tossing the covers aside, she stood and moved to the door, shivering in the chilled air that the home was filled with.

Upon stepping out into the hallway, she sensed Itachi's chakra coming from the common area and moved in that direction and sighed when she saw him staring into the fire he had built in the fireplace. He sat before it, shirtless, only wearing black pants of a stretch material.

"Aren't you cold?" She asked, adjusting the oversized, black sleep-shirt she was wearing.

"That's what the fire is for," Itachi calmly replied and lowly.

The kunoichi shook her head before sitting next to him, taking note that he was thinning out; his once defined physique was being worn away by the disease that was ravishing his body.

"What's troubling you?" Kikyuu asked after a period of silence.

Itachi sighed as he closed his eyes, "What if I die before my battle with Sasuke?"

"But you won't."

"And if I do?" Itachi retorted as he looked at her, his image of her slightly blurred from the overuse of the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Kikyuu sighed before looking her lover in his onyx eyes, "I don't have to answer that, because I know you won't. You have plenty of medicines to quell your coughing fits and your willpower is even stronger than that. You will live to fight your brother; you will live to die by his hands, as you wished."

The Uchiha smiled softly before looking back into the fire, falling silent once again.

The girl frowned a bit before poking his ribs, "You need to eat more."

Itachi twitched slightly at the poke, "I haven't been hungry."

"You want your strength, don't you?" She asked as she poked him again.

"Yes, but I can't be too strong for the fight, can I?" Her lover asked as he looked at her with his mouth set in a thin line of agitation.

She smirked and poked him again, "But you can't make it too easy for Sasuke, can you?"

Itachi finally chuckled, "No, I guess I can't."

Kikyuu smiled before looking at the ANBU symbol on his shoulder. She began to trace it before Itachi noticed what she was doing. He lifted her own shirtsleeve and looked at her ANBU tattoo and tracing it as well.

"We both bear the mark of the organization that scarred us for life, mentally and physically," Kikyuu muttered as she rolled her shoulder lightly while thinking of the near-deadly mission that gave her the large scar on her shoulder and the missions that gave her many others.

The Uchiha sighed and moved his hand from her upper arm before lifting her chin to look at him, "That may be true, but we wouldn't be where we are today without it."

Kikyuu nodded, unsure if that was a good or a bad thing, before leaning against his shoulder and staring into the fire with him. Itachi wrapped an arm around her to help her warm up as they sat in silence. Finally, the kunoichi asked:

"Itachi, there has been one more thing that has been bothering me. Did you really kill Shisui for the Mangekyo Sharingan?"

The man sighed before looking at her, "The answer to that question is very complicated."

She sighed, "So was the explanation on why you had to murder the Uchiha clan, but I understood that just fine."

"Shisui asked me to," Itachi began, "You see, Danzo Shimura was stealing Sharingan's for some sick purpose. He took one of Shisui's Mangekyos for the unique ability to manipulate a person's mind into doing what the user wanted. He entrusted his last Mangekyo to me before dying. It was made to seem like his remaining eye was destroyed and his corpse had disappeared, something that he somehow engineered before he died. Although I didn't play a direct role, I still lost one of my best friends and the loss was enough for me to awaken my own Mangekyo Sharingan."

"And the suicide note?" Kikyuu asked.

"I did forge it in order to make a more believable story for Sasuke's sake. I wanted him to have a false story to believe in when I left so Shisui's death still wouldn't be a mystery," Itachi replied.

She sighed as she reached up and caressed his cheek, "You have given more than what was asked of you."

Itachi smiled, "All in the name of peace."

Kikyuu hugged him and smiled as he hugged her back. What she enjoyed most of all, aside from feeling secure in his firm arms and the warmth his body provided, was his steady, even breathing. Itachi released her first before placing his hands on her shoulders and stating:

"I need to tell you something, Kikyuu. For after I die, there is something you must do."

The young woman blinked before nodding, "What?"

"The night that I murdered the Uchiha clan, I was not alone. The man that helped me goes by the alias 'Tobi'," Itachi paused.

Kikyuu's eyes widened, "Tobi? As in the goofy man that wears the mask?"

He nodded, "Yes, I traded the safety of Konoha for his help in exterminating the Uchiha, something he enjoyed greatly; his true identity, however, I will let you discover; for while I believe him to be telling the truth, only you will be able to know for sure. Regardless, he knows the truth of what happened that night and, at all costs, he and Sasuke must not meet. I plan to do something that will hopefully take care of him should they meet, but, if not, the task will fall to you."

"Itachi," Kikyuu whispered as she looked down, "I tried to keep him in the village all those years ago, but I couldn't."

The Uchiha placed a hand under her chin and lifted it gently to look into her eyes as he spoke softly, "I know you tried, but he had been poisoned by a snake. There was nothing you could do then. Besides, I know you are strong enough now, you can protect him."

Kikyuu smiled at him before kissing him softly then leaning back, "Thank you, Itachi. I will do my best."

Itachi smiled before dousing the fire. He stood, taking her hand and helping her up before walking back with her to their bedroom.

"Tomorrow, we will move to an Uchiha safe house near the main hideout where I plan to have my final battle. It would be unwise for us to remain here any longer," Itachi stated.

Kikyuu nodded, "I will follow your lead."

He nodded to her before they entered their room and returned to bed.

The rain continued through the night and even increased in intensity by the morning. The trio departed as Itachi planned and moved towards a safe house two days journey away. The silence between them was almost unbearable in Kikyuu's mind, but there was nothing to discuss. This moving would be the final one before the battle and it seemed this somber fact was the cause of the silence.

They travelled steadily, only taking quick breaks to take soldier pills or for Itachi to take his medicine and at the end of the first day, they decided to make camp. This proved difficult as the forested area was unyielding in producing caves and the rain had soaked the ground. Finally, they decided upon a small clearing that would provide enough space to set up tents.

Itachi stood off to the side, looking up into the sky as Kisame and Kikyuu began preparing camp. A fire would be out of the question tonight so they piled on the blankets to the elevated cots they set up. When Kikyuu stepped out of her tent, she paused for she felt a chakra source rising from the ground to her left. She shifted into a defensive position while brandishing two kunai in preparation to defend or attack as necessary, but she relaxed when Zetsu rose up.

"Hello, Kikyuu," he stated first, nodding to her then Kisame before looking at Itachi, "I bring word Uchiha-san."

The man addressed didn't speak as he looked at the plant-like individual.

Zetsu cleared his throat before continuing, "It seems that Sasuke had an encounter with Deidara. His C0 attack killed him. My apologies."

As quickly as he appeared, he sunk back into the ground to continue whatever mission he was supposed to do.

Kikyuu stood in shock over the news, saddened by the loss of Deidara, but more concerned about the loss of Sasuke. Could it really be true? Could Sasuke truly be dead? If so, what did this mean for Itachi? Would he let his illness consume him so he wouldn't suffer and prolong her own suffering? Or, would he fight it in order to live the life he promised her?

"So, Itachi, how does it feel to be the last Uchiha?" Kisame asked, unknowingly trying to garner an answer to some of Kikyuu's questions, but truly trying to discover whether or not he was seeing the stoic young man cry for the rainfall was creating such an illusion.

The man scoffed, "Hn. Sasuke isn't dead, I can feel it. Besides, even if Sasuke was dead, I wouldn't be the last."

This caught both of their attentions heavily. Kisame, however, merely shrugged it off before heading inside his tent to dry off. Kikyuu pondered this statement, thinking to herself:

'Is that a hint at Tobi's identity? Could he truly be another Uchiha? Is that how he was able to serve as Itachi's accomplice on that night?'

The kunoichi looked at Itachi, her mind racing, before she finally stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, stating:

"Let's go inside the tent and dry off. I have some food that we can share then we can sleep."

The Uchiha nodded and followed her there.