Hello everyone! We are nearing the end! There is one more chapter after this, so don't fret, we aren't done yet! A big thanks to Aniwolfgirl and (new reviewer) SleepyPuppy for reviewing! I really appreciate reviews, so keep them coming! And now, on with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters, just those of my own design.

Chapter 17

Her gold eyes fluttered open slowly through the pounding in her head, a side effect of the blow Tobi had delivered. When her vision finally sharpened, she gazed at her immediate surroundings that were illuminated by a dim light from a candle on a crate from across the room. Her jacket, kunai pouch, and shuriken pouch were on a table about twenty feet from her. She tried to move but realized that her arms were bound at her sides and her legs were bound at her knees and ankles.

After taking in her situation, she looked around the cold, stonewalled room and finally laid her eyes on Sasuke, who was bandaged and sleeping on a cot.

"Sasuke. Sasuke!" She whispered forcefully and sighed in relief as he opened his eyes and sat up slowly.

"Sasuke," she began again, "Untie me, quickly! We have to get out of here."

He ignored her and rubbed his head before finally looking up with a slightly confused look on his face as he squinted in her direction, "Kikyuu?... What?"

"Ahh, glad to see you're awake, Sasuke," Tobi's smooth voice stated as he materialized from the shadows.

Kikyuu jumped slightly in alarm and glared at the man, wondering how on earth he had evaded her sensing abilities. She decided that either her headache was clouding her judgment or he just arrived.

The masked man looked at her and narrowed his visible eye, "I was hoping you would remain asleep during this."

The kunoichi growled slightly as she tightened her fists. She masked her surprise, however, as she felt the small razor that she kept tucked in her right sleeve of the long-sleeved red shirt she wore today to still be there. When Tobi looked away, believing she would be quiet during these proceedings, she slipped it out of the stitch that kept it in place, nicking the skin lightly in the process, before sawing at her bonds.

"I had to give you some first aid, Sasuke," Tobi stated as he took a seat on the large crate next to the candle, "You should learn to be more careful."

When the stunned boy didn't reply, Tobi added, "You won, remember?"

Sasuke still didn't reply, causing Tobi to sigh, "Do you remember me from the fight with Deidara? Don't fret; we're no longer enemies. You're here, because I need to tell you something important."

The young Uchiha looked away, glancing at Kikyuu who was working on her leg bindings. They might eyes and she shook her head; a silent message to remain calm.

"Not interested? Well, perhaps if I say that it's about Itachi Uchiha, hmm?" Tobi asked.

When Sasuke glanced at him, the masked man smirked, "There it is. I know so many things about your brother that would interest you; things that you don't know yourself. But first, I'll introduce myself."

He began to slip off the mask and even Kikyuu found herself watching in order to see the true identity to this masked man.

"Like you, I am an Uchiha; however, unlike you, I know the truth about Itachi Uchiha," he exposed one of his sharingan to Sasuke.

Suddenly, Kikyuu sensed a shift in the air and, for the briefest of moments, felt Itachi's chakra in the room. She looked at Sasuke and saw that one of his eyes bore her lover's Mangekyo Sharingan and began to bleed.

'Amaterasu,' she thought before looking at Tobi and smirking as his right shoulder became engulfed in the black flames.

Seeing her moment, she leapt up, breaking the last of the ropes before dashing towards Sasuke and grabbing him by the arms.

"Gahh!" He cried out as he gripped at his left eye, "What the hell was that?"

Suddenly, the man the pair believed to be dead stated from the shadows, "The Amaterasu. Itachi implanted it into you as protection against me. That man never ceases to amaze me."

Kikyuu stood between him and Sasuke as she glared at him while the youngest Uchiha asked, "What? What are you saying?"

"He gave you his jutsu for a brief moment in a final effort to kill me. Or perhaps keep me from you," he chuckled, "And it seems his lover is now Plan B."

She simply glared at him as he continued, "It seems my sharingan would be the trigger it. A fail-safe, you see; although, the 'fail' part would only be as far as he got."

"I don't understand," Sasuke stated, quickly earning him a hush from Kikyuu who was trying to formulate a plan to escape.

Tobi chuckled, "Right before Itachi died, he did something to you, didn't he?" When the recognition dawned on Sasuke's face, the masked man continued, "At the last second, he bestowed his eye techniques to you."

Sasuke growled from behind Kikyuu, "That makes no sense! Why? What are you saying? Why would Itachi do such a thing?"

"Quiet, Sasuke!" Kikyuu ordered.

"You still don't know?" Tobi asked before chuckling, "It was to protect you."

Kikyuu pointed her right index finger at Tobi, "Another word out of you, and I will personally behead you! This is of the highest disrespect!"

Tobi chuckled, "Yes, and we saw how well that worked out last time." Kikyuu faltered slightly as he continued to speak to Sasuke, "I understand what I am saying is difficult, but you knew hardly anything about your brother. It is strange, I suppose. A strange man bringing you in and saying extraordinary things."

"Keep talking and I'll uphold her promise myself," Sasuke stated.

"But why do such a thing? I speak the truth. You even asked Itachi who helped him that night," Tobi asked with comfort and reassurance lacing his voice before he added, "It was me. Madara Uchiha."

Kikyuu's eyes widened slightly, "Sasuke, don't believe him! He's lying! I can feel-"

Tobi was beside her in an instant, delivering the same blow as before that rendered her unconscious yet again, she collapsed forward and remained there.

"Good, now with her out of the way for now, we can finally speak," Tobi stated, a smirk on his face beneath the mask.

Kikyuu awoke with a jolt. She had been moved to a small cot in a tiny room. Her jacket and other belongings had been returned to her. Ignoring the increased throbbing in her head, she stood up quickly and moved into the hallway as she felt Sasuke's chakra pass. When she threw open the door and stepped outside, she saw the boy a mere ten feet ahead of her.

"Sasuke!" She called out, causing him to pause and turn to her, "Did he tell you?"

However, she didn't need to have that question answered for she saw the look in his eyes and she saw his intention as well.

"Please, listen to me," she spoke softly now, "You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do!" Sasuke shouted back her, in no mood to deal with useless pleading, "You know nothing of what I have to do!"

She gritted her teeth, "I know of Itachi's sacrifice!"

This caused Sasuke to recoil in surprise before replying, "Really? And you still fought against Madara? You still tried to shield me from the truth?"

"Can't you understand why? Don't be ignorant, Sasuke! I know you're more intelligent than this! Itachi knew you were more intelligent than this! He sacrificed himself to give you a chance to remake the Uchiha name! To start a new chapter in the bloody pages of the past; a chapter filled with honor! If you choose to wage war against the village he killed for and died for, you do nothing but dishonor yourself and the crest you wear!" She shouted to him.

He merely smirked before turning away from her.

"No… not even that," she whispered before shouting again, "You don't dishonor yourself or that crest, you dishonor the memory and love of your brother, Itachi Uchiha!"

She gasped and she felt her body growing cold. She looked down and saw that Sasuke's katana was buried up to the hilt through her stomach. However, as she tried to gain her breath, she felt that her diaphragm was clipped as well, causing it to spasm and making breathing more difficult.

"Don't you ever…speak his name from your worthless lips again," he whispered as he glared into her eyes.

He began to turn away before stopping and looking back. He saw, resting on the blood red shirt and gleaming brightly in the dark hallway, his mother's locket. He lifted it in his palm before slipping it off her head before asking:

"Where… did you get this?"

Kikyuu looked up at him and through choked breaths replied, "Itachi…Mikoto gave it to him….to give to the woman he would love…he gave it to me…not too long ago."

Sasuke glared it her, his sharingan blazing, "Don't you say her name either! You had no right to ever wear this! Madara was right; I can't trust you. You are too loyal to Itachi."

The dying kunoichi coughed before stating, "He's not Madara…that red-head of yours won't be able to sense it… she hasn't honed her techniques to that fine of a point… His chakra hitches ever so slightly on the name 'Madara'. Don't believe what he says…"

The young man jerked his blade out of her, dropping her harshly to the floor, "Just die already."

As he walked away, Kikyuu mustered some strength and shouted, "We used to be like family, Sasuke!"

He chuckled and glanced back at her, "Don't you know? I kill my family…"

Kikyuu closed her eyes and gripped her seeping wound as the rest of his team quickly followed after him. However, she opened her eyes as she felt a chakra source kneeling before her and was horrified to see Tobi squatting before her. He gripped her chin roughly and stated:

"I'm glad you are dying. You know too much and it seems that little ability of yours is too powerful for your own good," he leaned in close and whispered in her ear, "I am not Madara Uchiha, but I will send you to the afterlife wondering who I am with your last breath."

He stood and waved down at her before stepping quickly to catch back up to Sasuke.

A few lone tears slipped out of Kikyuu's eyes as she lie in the shadowy hallway, clutching her bleeding wound. The cold invaded her body and bones, causing her to tense and increasing the pain she felt. She closed her eyes and begged for death to quickly arrive to end this pain.

'Pain is just weak-' She stopped that thought and chuckled silently at her own foolishness considering the gravity of the situation. She tried to reach for a healing seal tag in her kunai pouch but found that it was empty; the fact it was returned to her being a mere ruse.

"Kikyuu?" a voice asked near her.

When she opened her eyes and blinked away the haze that had filled them, she smiled as she saw Zetsu next to her. She wouldn't die alone after all.

"Z-Zetsu," she sputtered before coughing slightly, "I w-welcome the face of a friend."

The white half smiled slightly as the other half questioned, "What happened?"

She coughed again, "S-Sasuke…. he didn't like it when I t-tried to reason with him…"

"Can we do anything for you?" The plant man asked.

"D-Did you bury I-I-Itachi?" She questioned, her eyes drifting back up to the ceiling.

"Yes. By a peach tree not too far from here." He stated.

She smiled a bit, "Take me there?"

Zetsu complied and freed his arms from the ground before scooping her up, "This might hurt a bit."

The pain paled in comparison to what she felt. In fact, she didn't even notice a change. When they returned to the surface, Kikyuu squinted in the bright light of the sunset, which was so often compared to that of her eyes. Zetsu placed her icy cold body next to the freshly disturbed dirt that was Itachi's grave. She placed one hand a top that pile and reached for Zetsu's with the other as she stared up into the orangish-pink sky.

"I'm glad…someone was here…" She faintly whispered as her grip tightened on Zetsu's hand.

Her last breath escaped her body while her eyes shut and her body fell limp before Zetsu sighed as he lost someone who was so kind to him. It didn't take him long to dig a grave next to Itachi's before he placed Kikyuu inside it. In fact, the grave was so close to the Uchiha's that he had to practically unearth him in order to dig Kikyuu's. However, he knew it would be what she wanted; and, after placing her inside, he hooked their hands together. Smiling at his work, he quickly buried them and paid his respects before leaving to meet back up with Tobi to begin his own vicious work.