Wow, I'm such a procrastinator. I neglected my fanfiction account for quite a while, even after promising new chapters. Shame on me ._."

Suigetsu: Yeah, shame on you! Do you know how long I've been waiting for you to write this again! D:

Sasuke: Hn.

Me: Don't worry you two, I'll start writing chapters in this fanfic again. This time I'll write more often, I promise! Hopefully a little foreshadowing will make it better? :3

Suigetsu: What do you mean?

Me: You'll find out ;)

Disclaimer: Meh. Naruto is not mine. Why do I keep doing this?

Turning Sasuke over in his arms, Suigetsu expected to see the beautiful face of his raven-haired lover. Instead, he saw something that completely shocked him. Instead of the Uchiha's face, it was Itachi's. The blank face of Sasuke's hated enemy was staring into Suigetsu's astonished eyes. Words emerged from Itachi's face in Sasuke's voice.

"I told you it was my battle, usuratonkachi." The mist nin's piercing scream echoed off the trees and he flung himself from the teen's body which morphed into Itachi. The black robes of the older man fluttered in the wind as me stood up and faced the younger boy. "When will you ever learn?" His voice was still Sasuke's. "You are just a stepping stone for me to reach my goal of killing my older brother."

"What the hell is this?" Suigetsu shouted. He ran at Itachi with his fist raised and threw a punch. However, to his surprise, it went right through the man's body as if he was made of some kind of gas. The Akatsuki member's form began to spread out like a gaseous substance, then reformed into Sasuke again, only it included the teen's flawless face.

"This is my reality, Suigetsu." Sasuke muttered emotionlessly. He drew his sword and slashed Suigetsu across the chest, causing blood and water to fly everywhere. When he was slashed and fell backwards, the environment suddenly changed, and he was falling down an endless black abyss. Screeches and cries of horror and death were blarring in his ears. Everywhere he looked, he suddenly saw the faces of all the men and women he had killed. Shinobi and civilians, with their faces torn with terror.

As he tried to focus on these images, he noticed that they were actually there with him. All of them were falling around him, screaming in agony. They moved closer to him as they fell, and started to grab onto his arms and legs.

"No," the teen muttered in shock. "Stop it!" His eyes were quivering in confusion. Was this really a genjutsu? He had never experienced one before, unless you count his trips on mushrooms and acid. Those experiences were blurred and went by really fast and in flashes. But this illusion; this seemed too real. He could actually notice the small hairs on the mens' arms. He could see the tears flow down the womens' eyes.

Suddenly, as he noticed those tears, the eyes of the women started to melt. They became extremely bloated, and then started to sizzle and leak out of their sockets. The eye liquid burned they cheeks, and the sound of burning skin was loud. Soon, everyone's eyes were melting. While Suigetsu tried his best to cope with his, he realized that they were all chanting the same thing.

"You monster! You killed us in cold blood! How can you expect to find love when you cannot show it?" They were all jumbling together their curses and shouts, making it seem like he was stuck in a broken music box where all the notes were off-tune. He wanted this to stop. It had to stop. He couldn't take it anymore. This was too much for him.

"STOP!" He screamed. "STOP IT!" He tried to fight their grip on his limbs, but he couldn't. He lacked any kind of energy, and couldn't move his muscles, as if he was paralyzed. Compared to the near-death experience he had earlier, this was not only realistic, but terrifying.

"Join us! Join us! Join us!" They all began to bark at him in rage. Their expressions changed from sadness to pure anger, and they started to pull at his limbs. Pain erupted in his joints as tendons started to rip. Pain shook his entire body, which escalated in his eyes. He felt something wet descend down his cheeks, and his skin was burning rapidly. As his vision started to blur and moisten, he realized his own eyes were melting.

"STOP IT DAMNIT!" he screeched, but his throat dried up. His tongue twisted and broke like glass. His arms and legs were yanked off, splattering blood everywhere. His heart curled up and started to beat faster and faster. He felt like exploding, but he couldn't. His veins started to clog, and his blood turned stark black. Tendrils erupted from the men and women around him, and started to impale him in multiple areas.

"What do I do?" he thought to himself. "How do I get out? How am I supposed to save Sasuke?" His vision started to disappear. Could he die from a traumatizing genjutsu? He'd never heard of it before. But then again, that doesn't mean it couldn't happen. This must be the end for him. He lost Sasuke. He never became one of the Seven Swordsmen. He failed. He was a failure.

"What makes you say that, Suigetsu?" a cheerful voice burst from the darkness. The pain disappeared. His limbs were returned. His throat moistened. His tongue reformed. His heart uncurled. His veins cleared. His eyes solidified in their sockets. The next thing he saw was a bright light and a flash of silver hair. Standing in front of him was his brother: Mangetsu.

The older mist nin smiled with his perfect shark teeth and laughed. "For my little brother, you sure do give up easily. Are you sure we're related?" Mangetsu ruffled Suigetsu's hair, causing the younger brother to blush slightly. What just happened? Was this another one of Itachi's dirty tricks? Mangetsu looked at him in the eye and kept his smile on.

is pure amethyst eyes of his sparkled happily. No. This couldn't be Itachi's genjutsu. That technique of his was based on overwhelming emotion and feeling. This Mangetsu was not only real, but didn't stun Suigetsu's trait of thought with his appearance. Unlike the near-death experience, he could move and think clearly.

"Is this really you?" the teen asked cautiously. Mangetsu stopped ruffling his hair and pat him on the shoulder. The elder's eyebrows saddened, but his smile remained.

"I'm not sure I can answer that question right, Suigetsu." He replied with disappointment in his voice. "Am I Mangetsu Hozuki, the Second Coming of the Demon? Yes. Am I that same Mangetsu that you knew when I was alive. Not exactly." Suigetsu was incredibly confused. Was he revealing that he was apart of the genjutsu? Was he about to stab his brother and cause him even more trauma.

"Who are you then?" Suigetsu inquired. He grabbed Mangetsu's extended arm by the wrist and felt the man's cool moist skin.

"When I died Suigetsu, you had me in your heart." A single tear drop formed in Mangetsu's eye. "When I died, a little bit of me stayed in your heart." That teardrop slid down his cheekbone and gather near his shiny pale lips. "Itachi's genjutsu caused you so much pain…I couldn't stand and let my little brother lose." His grip on Suigetsu's shoulder tightened, and his eyebrows changed and allowed his facial expression to evolve into one of happiness. "After all, if you want to become one of the Seven Swordsmen, you need to have proficiency in all forms of jutsu."

Suigetsu couldn't believe it. Part of his brother was still inside him. Part of his prodigal brother helped him escape Itachi's genjutsu. His brother was still with him all this time. Fuck that old woman from Suna. '"When stuck between death and life, your brain creates vivid illusions to compensate what it thinks is most important."' Yeah fucking right. She's too nihilistic for an old woman. How dare she lie and accuse his older brother of being an illusion created by his brain.

"Mangetsu…" the teen whispered. Tears of his own began to form. "A little bit…a little bit of you stayed in my heart?" He nodded, grinning widely. Suigetsu suddenly grasped him a tight embrace. They hugged warmly for a moment, both shedding tears. Suigetsu felt his brother's skin against his own. If that old hag was right and this was an illusion, it was a damn good one. Maybe he should learn genjutsu and cast it on himself so he could meet Mangetsu more often.

"Isn't this a cheerful reunion?" A cold shiver flew down Suigetsu's spine. Mangetsu looked behind him, and his brother did the same. Standing there was Itachi, who had a face of apathy. Darkness was slowly seeping from around his feet, eating away at the light. "Your brother brought you the will to break my genjutsu. However, you are still unconscious from its effects."

"I'll kill you…" Suigetsu mumbled in anger, grinding his teeth. Itachi had no visible reaction to the teen's hostility.

"You said, you wanted to save Sasuke, correct?" Another chill went up his spine, but this time, it was like a jolt of realization. "If that is so, what do you think it means if I was in the middle of fighting him, yet you are still stuck in my genjutsu?" Suigetsu clenched his fists. The Uchiha was right. He had to leave Mangetsu to get to Sasuke.

"Don't worry, Suigetsu." Mangetsu said, as if reading his mind. His older brother broke the hug and smiled. "See ya next time, Suigetsu." The teen nodded, and faced Itachi as his older brother began to fade into a cloud of mist. Already, everything behind the cold-hearted Akatsuki member was covered in darkness.

They stared at eachother for a few seconds in silence. Suigetsu wanted to attack, but didn't know how unless he knew the best way to deal with the genjutsu. As he analyzed it in his mind, Itachi unexpectedly spoke again.

"I find it interesting. The two of you." His voice had the slightest change from apathy to that soothing calmness when he fight talked to Sasuke. "Your brother, even after death, has looked out for you. During his life, he presented himself to you as a wall for you to overcome and surpass." The Uchiha paused for a second, as if contemplating something. "…You're brother truly loved you."

Rage shot up Suigetsu's veins. "What do you know about brotherly love?" He let out a snarl and ran at Itachi. "What do you know about having a relationship with a brother, when you betrayed your's and left him to die after killing his parents?" Suigetsu raised his fist and expanded his cells to enlarge his now muscular arm. He rammed the fist straight into Itachi's face and made a large impact. Water spluttered in all directions as the force of the blow deflated his arm.

"Watch Sasuke for me, will you?" Itachi's voice echoed throughout the space around him. The man's body scattered into a bunch of black crows, which flew off in all directions. "When I meet him again, I won't need to hold back as much." The universe they were in began to disappear. Suigetsu felt himself somewhat enlarge, and his vision started to blur. The genjutsu faded away, and before Suigetsu could think about what Itachi had said, he was opening his eyes to meet those of a certain raven-haired male's.

"Suigetsu, are you alright?" Sasuke asked. His voice made the purpled-eyed boy jump a bit. Reality felt so much different than that world inside him. Suigetsu looked around frantically, searching for Itachi. His eyes gazed over Chiyo, Tanaku, and Kagura before they set on a limp corpse a few feet away.

"Sasuke…" Suigetsu whispered. "You…you did it?" The Uchiha looked over at the body. The teen felt goosebumps on his arms.

"No. It was a body double. It wasn't the real Itachi." What? Confusion flooded Suigetsu, who jumped to his feet and rushed towards the corpse. When he reached it, he looked down to see a man in Akatsuki robes that was most definitely not Itachi.

"But…How?" Suigetsu's fist clenched. His fingernails dug into his palm, and he felt his skin about to give in to allow blood to flow. "How was it a body double? How was it not the real him?"

He heard Sasuke walk up behind him. The Uchiha was glaring coldly at the dead body. "When I saved you from the fireball, you fell unconscious. I set you down with Chiyo and the others while I fought Itachi. It was a long battle, but I was able to kill him with a blow to the neck. However, when I got a good look, it wasn't the real him." Suigetsu looked up at the sky. It was sunrise when they first encountered him, but now it was midday. He had been unconscious for that long?

"…I'm sorry Sasuke." Then mist nin mumbled, lowering his head. Akatsuki had duped them. Most likely this was supposed to be a diversion so they could do their little experiments and what not with Gaara, or even move bases considering they knew the group was on their trail. Suigetsu felt so stupid.

Sasuke noticed his disappointment and actually felt a little bit sorry for him. It didn't make any sense to him though. Why would he feel sorry for him, when it was his older brother who he wanted to kill that had tricked him as well?

"It's ok Suigetsu." The Uchiha stated, looking up at the clouds. "They diverted us for a little while, but you and I are still going to find the Akatsuki base, save Gaara, and fight Itachi." Suigetsu looked over at his partner, who himself looked slightly disappointed and frustrated. His expression was a mix of humiliation and resentment. He was looking up at the clouds longingly, most likely imagining the situations he had just stated.

"Well if you intend to do that, we should get moving then." Chiyo said aloud. The couple looked over at the woman, who had a stern look on her face. Suigetsu had almost forgotten that they were with her and the other two sand nin. He almost forgot they were fighting against time to retrieve their Kazekage.

"I agree." Sasuke stated, reverting back to his monotonous and reserved self. "Let's get going." He led the way, rushing toward the trees in the direction of the perceived hideout. Suigetsu followed, and so did the others. Akatsuki was supposed to not be that far off. Also, considering that Itachi used a body double, he must've needed to be nearby to use it, right?

Suigetsu gulped. Now that he thought about it, Akatsuki was really powerful. They had Deidara, who defeated and kidnapped a Kage. They had Sasori, who had negated both his and Sasuke's attacks without effort. They had Kisame, with his Samehada and superior water ninjutsu. And then, they had Itachi, with his powerful genjutsu and fire techniques. The fights to come were surely going to be difficult.

Suigetsu: I don't get it. Where was the foreshadowing?

Me: Shhh! Don't spoil stuff for people who haven't watched Shippuden or read the manga at all .

Sasuke: Why would anyone read this who doesn't know Naruto when this is a Naruto fanfiction?

Me: I don't know...umm...DO NOT QUESTION ME! *smites*

Sasuke: x_X

Me: :p Next chapter coming up! My favorite fight to write is so close!