Madara growled loudly as he pull against the chakra suppressing chains that held him back against a cold stone wall.

This was not how he expected to wake up! It was freezing, his shirt was still ripped to shreds, along with his gloves and his shoes seemed to have gone off on their own over to the other side of the dungeon like cell place he had been thrown in.

He was covered in Bandages so he assumed that whatever happened to have him end up in here happened after Momo helped Deidara and fixed him up.

At least that wasn't a dream...

Through the pitch dark room a small crack of light appeared.

The elder winced as the light grew large in a sudden burst and invaded his most sensitive sense.

"I see you are awake Madara," Madara quickly got over the pain he felt when he heard the deep voice.

Oh hell no.

"Nagato," he said through his teeth, gritted in anger. He paused to take a breath, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?~!,"

The orange haired zombie looked over to the young Uchiha who had appeared out of nowhere, "I told you he would be angry Itachi, aren't you glad we chained him up?," he said in a voice that dripped of arrogance.

"Hn,"

Madara;s eye twitched,"Is anyone going to answer me?~!," he demanded.

The two younger shinobi looked back over to him,"Oh right, well Madara, there is very important news that we must tell you," Pain said.

"So you chained me up," The elder deadpanned.

"It has to do with...Deidara,"

"Why? Did he..."

Pain nodded wordlessly.

Madara's chest clenched tightly, his body sagged back against the wall and he ran a hand over his face, something wet and warm seeped through the cloth of his torn gloves.

"It isn't what you think Sensei,"

"Oh...And how do you know what I-..." The older raven glared at the younger,"You looked into my thoughts," it was a question it was a statement, one that said "I hate you ten times more now".

"I did but there is a very simple explanation for why," Itachi said simply, going on to tell Madara that he was sick, to which Madara had rolled his eyes.

"I know I was sick Itachi,"

"Then you know that Deidara was nothing more than a hallucination?," Pain cut in.

"What the fuck are you talking about?," Madara looked back and forth between the two, trying to read the their faces.

"Your fever was so severe that you used your own memories to construct a fantasy world," The youngest ninja explained,"That's the only reason I am not ringing your neck for releasing those prisoners into Konoha,"

"If Itachi wouldn't have retrieved you, who knows what might have happened. You staged a Coup without even realizing it." Nagato's personality were shining through with that statement.

He and Itachi both faded away from Madara's vision, standing in their place with his arms crossed over his chest was none other than Deidara."So you where never really here," the Uchiha grumbled.

The blond shook his head,"No, hmm,"

Madara hung his head in guilt, not over what happened to Konoha or even Deidara, "But, we were together," Weren't they?

"That's right snot, yeah," Deidara snorted, "Just not how you wanted us to be,"

Madara looked hopeful for a moment,"Would it have changed if I had acted sooner?,"

Deidara shook his head, "Some things can't be changed, hmm,"

"Are...You're leaving?," The 'bomber' nodded,"I don't want you to go,"

"There isn't anything you can do about that. But don't worry, you'll see me again soon enough," Deidara smirked knowingly.

"How do you know?," Madara said with as much confusion in his voice as was showing on Itachi's and Pain's faces.

Deidara tilted his head in a very Uchiha type manor and put his index finger on his temple, "Tobi doesn't remember? Deidara-sempai knows everything," he tapped his head making his old partner chuckle weakly.

"You were an annoying asshole, yeah. But you were my annoying asshole," Madara looked away as his image faded.

The two other shinobi watched on, even if they only had heard one side of the conversation it still peeked their interest.

Madara really had cared for the boy.

Perhaps a little too much. His death had been for the best.

"Itachi, call Zetsu in,"

Zetsu...Ah Zetsu

He could help. He could help with his revenge! The pot of madness bubbled inside the Uchiha's mind.

And he didn't even have to worry about screwing up his plans. He needed Sasuke. But that didn't mean he couldn't dish out a little leveler. Even out the playing field. It was so simple

It was laughable even!

All he had to do was torment the fucker in Itachi's image.

Itachi narrowed his eyes at his old teacher, knowing exactly what was going through his mind just by the way his lips pulled back into a sinister smirk.

"Madara," Back to first names, ooh, he was serious, "I will say this once and only once. Do not go near my brother,"

"Why, whatever are you talking about Itachi?," Madara was back to normal it seemed. Complete with his usual ''innocent like a child'' voice.

"I know you, your thirst for revenge is unquenchable,"

"If you know me so well, you should already know I don't make promises I don't intend on keeping," Madara bobbed his head over into a tilt. Intensifying his creepy demeanor even more.

Itachi looked at him with at disgust before tossing the key onto the elder's lap.

He would find out just what a grave mistake he had made, leaving Madara Uchiha alive. And setting him free.

(Time skip to a couple months later)

Konan shifted through the piles of paper work stacked next to the door of Madara's office with a deep frown on her face. So much work. How could one man be such a stickler and a procrastinator at the same time?~!

All the while sitting at his desk, Madara watched her with a forlorn expression.

The bluette grumbled, she was sick of seeing him act like that, all sad and depressed when someone was around. Everyone knew damn well he wasn't either of those things. It was all just a trap,"Quit being such a baby, you're the one that did all this, if it wasn't for you Deidara wouldn't have died,"

"You're right,"

The paper user's back straitened out and she was twirled around, facing Madara in an instant,"Excuse me?,"

"I said you're right," Konan took a step back as he stood, "It is my fault Deidara's dead, it's my fault the only student I ever had is dead," he said strangely sincerely, "It's my fault almost all of the members are dead, it's my fault the rest of the world hates us," Backed up against a wall the woman gulped , Madara placed a hand on the wall above her head, "And it's my fault everyone I will ever meet will turn on me,"

"From this moment on you are officially the first member of the akastuki to defect from the organization and live,"

Konan stared wide eyed.

"I want you and Nagato out of the hideout by Sun rise,"

Madara frowned when Konan froze, "But...Sir,"

"Don't tell me...Nagato is dead too?,"

The kunoichi nodded,"Naruto Uzumaki invaded our safe zone the other day, Nagato gave his life to resurrect the Leaf Village,"

"Then you should honor his last action and leave now,"

"You just said I had until sun rise,"

"Well now you have an hour." The elder twitched when she refused to move, "GO!,"

Konan stared warily before huffing and ducking under his arm to resume her work. Much to the Uchiha's displeasure.

She could leave, that was all fine and dandy but that didn't mean she COULD or WOULD follow his order. She had more important things to do here at the moment.

Madara shrugged, the dark air around him turning back into his usual more sinister aura, see? just a trick."Zetsu," The plant man fazed out of the wall where he had been sitting, eaves-dropping on the two Shinobi,"It's time for you to pay little Sasuke a visit,"

Konan slammed the papers she had picked up back down again.

Zetsu looked at her out of the corner of his eye,"What about you Lord Madara?,"

"I have some business I need to take care of,"

000

Sasuke blinked his eyes open as his senses finally returned and he once again had enough strength to lift his eyelids.

The fight with his brother had taken quite the toll on his body, every muscle ached, every inch of his skin burned. At least it was over.

Yes, it was finally over. The young raven sat up, pulling the strange blanket up a little over his bandaged but otherwise bare body, letting his eyes droop in contentment for a moment.

It was foolish not to question his surroundings, he knew it. He had no reason to doubt them however, Karin, Suigetsu and Juugo could easily explain-

"Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke," his eyes snapped open,"You seem to find yourself in this predicament quite a lot, don't you?,"

No, no, no. It couldn't be, it was impossible. Sasuke shook his head disbelievingly as his elder brother stepped out of the shadow that hid the entrance to the cavern.

The chakra signature, the look of his skin, the way he carried himself as he walked into the light.

"But I-...I saw you..." Sasuke stuttered.

"Saw me what?," In a flash 'Itachi' was crouched next to Sasuke, "Die?," Sasuke winced as a forceful hand seized his hair.

It wasn't a trick of the light or of his mind, it wasn't a genjutsu or a dream.

He felt himself be pushed over and smothered by something very heavy,"Sorry, foolish little brother," he heard the older chime,"It seems your hatred wasn't strong enough,"

It was more sinister. It was real.

'Itachi' chuckled darkly. How kind Madara had been, letting him torture the fledgling.

Sasuke squirmed under the heavier ninja's body weight.

Oh, this was going to be fun.

(You can fill the rest of that torture in with your own minds XD. I will narrow it down for you though, he either got *bleep* or they had cake.)

000

Momo Sighed sadly as she trailed behind the less than patient shinobi that had pulled her from her home and was now forcing her to follow him to the top of the highest waterfall in Roku falls.

Held tightly in her grip was the metal plate of a headband, slashed and dull but still somehow shining in its own way.

Reaching the edge of the cliff overlooking the dense cluster of trees below Madara looked around. Catching sight of the corner of Momo's roof out of the corner of his eye.

"A house! Look ya' bloody idiot there's a house!,"

"Throw it," he said.

The herbalist's jaw slacked a bit, before she smiled lightly, finally understanding what he wanted.

With a under toss the metal went flying over the edge, through the leaves of the branches. Neither of the elders could hear the sound of the dainty splash it made when it landed, the roar of the fall was too loud.

But Madara felt better, knowing it would soon rust and flake away until there was nothing left.

Something created to last, a piece of workmanship, would disappear. It's smooth surface would turn ugly and it would never shine again.

It beauty would -for lack of a better term- die.

There could be no better memorial for a pyro artist.

FIN (For real this time)

Note: 'Itachi' was actually a Zetsu clone. ^_^

I know this may piss off some of you guys but this, yes THIS ending right here was the original ending I had planned! You can see why there are two now.