I wrote this chapter more out of guilt for suddenly dropping a story i had liked alot. (opps) SO it might not be too great, but you know. :)

Shall we?

Living in the Shadows

(Paranoid Part Two)

Sasuke felt his fingers twitching, the bloodlust running through his veins goading him to kill. His vision was hazed over red, he wasn't sure if it was his hatred or his bloodline trait. But whatever it was it wasn't hindering him in anyway. He could still see his target, standing in the dark room with his arms crossed, his face showing nothing but mild curiosity.

Sasuke took a step forward slowly, measuring how much his strength grew with each move. He kept walking until he was only inches in front of his brother. The power was surging forward, impatient and furious.

Itachi cocked his head to the side, staring his brother down with his crimson eyes. "Interesting…"

Just the sound of his brother's voice sent another fresh wave of hate running through him. He smirked. Suddenly he lashed out at his older sibling, his fist flying out at lightening speed. Itachi moved over slightly avoiding the attack. He caught his brother's fist and twisted his wrist.

Showing no sign of pain Sasuke shot his other fist out, sending it into his brother's gut. He heard a small grunt but his brother didn't react any further. He maneuvered around the fist and moved to attack. Sasuke quickly yanked his wrist out of his grasp, spinning and counterattacking. He smiled in satisfaction as his brother had to quickly move out of the way. He was matching his speed easily…maybe he was even a fraction of a second faster. He ducked in time to avoid a kick before sending out one of his own. He flipped back using his brother's stomach for leverage. He saw Itachi recover quickly and rush at him, kunai in between his fist. He landed, taking out his own kunai and rushing to meet his brother. They slammed together, the sound of metal ringing in the empty room.

Sasuke could feel the electric tension engulf them; feel his brother's pressure against his own, Itachi's power mingling with his in a sick way. Neither of them were struggling to hold the other back, but they weren't strong enough to over power one another either. Sasuke laughed as his kunai began shaking under the weight of his brother's power. He could feel Itachi's begin to tremble under his. It was just too good. He was on even ground…it shouldn't be too hard to get ahead. Hatred was a surprisingly strong source for power. And oh yes, he had plenty of hatred, leaking out from the very core of himself, manifesting itself in power that surged through him like never before…

He began to laugh uncontrollably. Itachi stared at his brother, his face calm and calculated. His red eye's pierced into his younger brothers now matching ones. The only difference was that one held a hint of madness. His slipped one arm out of his brother's grasp and pushed with enough force to give himself a bit of distance. He took a moment to flex his arms.

"Brother..." Sasuke said grinning, trying to control his insane laughter. "Is this what it feels like all the time? This power? Tell me the truth brother!" Sasuke laughed louder, the sound bouncing off the walls. Suddenly he was in front of his brother, swiping a kunai at his neck. The speed at which he moved impressed Itachi; he found himself actually paying attention in order to dodge the attacks. His brother had actually become a worthy adversary.

"Brother, no need to keep secrets! This fire running through my veins runs through yours constantly?" He attacked his brother again, managing a small cut on his cheek that trickled down blood.

"You're still so young. If you continue to be reckless with your power brother it will be your downfall. You're going insane." Itachi said smoothly. It didn't sound as a matter of concern to him, just another simple fact.

Sasuke rushed at him, ignoring his words. It felt like fire was rushing through his veins every time he shot his foot out in a lightening fast kick or thrust out a fist with an immeasurable amount of power behind it. It didn't take long before Itachi began to get tired of being on defense. Sasuke was soon dodging attacks as well as delivering them.

Once, Sasuke got his brother in the face. It hit him hard, sending blood trickling out of his mouth. Something then seemed to snap.

His brother looked at him strangely, his head turning slowly and assessing his younger sibling. In an instant he felt himself slam against a wall. Dazed he let himself slip to the floor.

"I'm tired of playing games." Itachi's voice sneered. It seemed far away but echoed all around the room. Sasuke felt something growing in the air and it began to feel heavy around his shoulder. It was so tangible that for a moment Sasuke forgot about the burning fire rushing through his veins. He dodged to the left watching his brothers fist break through the wall. He quickly got to his feet.

"The power you have now brother is nothing compared to mine." Itachi swung at him. "Its uncontrolled, childish rage that could never be compared to mine, much less meet my level." He swung again, the air slicing around Sasuke. "It's a quick burst of energy and nothing more." He swung a third time. This time it his Sasuke in the cheek and sent him flying across the room. He slammed against the floor. "Once you learn how to properly control it then maybe you'll be able to do something more than just survive." His foot slammed mercilessly into his stomach and he skidded the rest of the distance to the wall. "To think I set this all up to be disappointed. Atleast you entertained me for a moment or two."

Sasuke coughed and tried to sit up, suddenly all his power seemed evaporated. He couldn't believe how quickly things turned. It was just two seconds ago he was going toe to toe with his brother. Now he was struggling to get up. And it had taken only one or two blows.

"I guess I'll just have to give up on you. I thought you'd be of use still. I was wrong."

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Sakura and Hinata were running through endless tunnels. They had already avoided and rain of poison darts, the wall collapsing on them, the floor collapsing on them (twice) and some strange and apparently flesh eating beetles.

"Sakura, how do you know we're going the right way? We've been in these tunnels for a while now..." Hinata said breathlessly. Her meek voice echoed forward.

"You can't sense that?" Sakura asked her, stepping carefully over a strange formation of rocks piled in front of her.

"Well yes, but it could very well be Naruto or Shikamaru or someone. How do you know its Sasuke's? Besides, there seems to be no actual direction…"

Sakura shrugged. Hinata had a very good point. But call it a females intuition, or just practice from following Sasuke around everywhere, she just seemed to know she was going in the right direction. She had to be. As if for reassurance there was a new burst of power, but also a significantly weakened one. Worried she quickened her pace.

"Sakura you should slow down. You might get caught in a trap." Hinata warned.

Sakura heard her but put it off to the side. She was a good multi-tasker and more than observant. She could pick up the speed just a little bit.

"Sakura…"

She glanced back at the quiet spoken ninja to glare when she heard something click. She froze before hearing a dozen more clicks. "What the heck…" Suddenly the walls began to fall apart around them. "It's collapsing? Again?" Sakura turned around and tried to run but the floor gave out.

Shikamaru and his team walked aimlessly through the maze. About fifteen minutes ago they gave up on a strategize route. They're last plan had them dodging fireball/bee looking things for a couple of minutes, and then the dogs came. Panting and trying to conceal his limp they had just escaped the dogs after making several random sharp turns down the long corridors.

"You're bleeding." Ino said.

"What?" Shikamaru looked down at his leg and saw his wounds had started to bleed again. The constant running was keeping it from healing correctly. He paused to rewrap it.

"My, my someone has a little boo boo." A voice echoed.

They all looked up to see joker standing a few feet ahead of them.