Hmn. It has come to my attention that Itachi has four main stereotypes to why he kills his family.

1. He's crazy. (This is my favorite, if it's believable.)

2. He's sane. (Yeah right…) and he just happened to kill them all to test his strength.

3. He wanted to save Sasuke or somebody he loved from harm. (Usually this is a plot twist)

4. He's just plain obsessed with power and they stood in the way, creating him plans, giving him boundaries.

…

And then there's my reason.

TO NEVER LOSE

By Reverse

Chapter 10- Kiss with Cruelty

Pain shot through me abruptly and cruelly. I knew it was Itachi's chakra racing through my system. When it finally started to calm I moaned and tried to sit up.

Itachi just stared at me, making no move to help me up; I knew him better, he wouldn't.

I sat on the edge of the bed, trying to feel my own chakra to see what had happened. My eye, my new one, was completely normal except for the already frayed chakra tunnels of Itachi. I could only see out of one of my eyes. The other, my right, was too dark.

I felt for Itachi's chakra but it seemed it had blended with mine. My chakra wasn't as cold as it normally was. It was still cool, but there was an acidic type of undertone in it. It was not something that could be fixed.

Unfortunately, I knew I couldn't talk to Tsunade; however there was one Kakashi I believed I might be able to talk to.

"Itachi, can you see now?" I asked; I was sure that I had gotten the blood vessels lined back up. He nodded, but this time it seemed it was in awe.

I watched carefully as he stood up and examined his hands and his body; then he turned his commanding gaze to me. He stared openly and didn't object since he had never seen me and that he probably needed my face for his bingo book.

"So how long do I get to walk around like this before you flip and decide to kill me?" I asked; sarcasm coloring my tone.

He laughed, rough and low and edged with malice. "We'll see,"

I shrugged and rolled to the other side of the bed, lying on my back as I adjusted the pillows and covers. "You don't scare me as much as you seem to think you do."

"Are you not afraid to die?" There was an edge, a fear in his voice.

"No; I'm existing past my time anyway. Whatever I'm doing can't be classified as living… I'm not afraid to die." I realized what the edge in his voice had been. "But you are."

He sighed and laid down on the other side of the bed. "No, but I wonder if I was supposed to live like this, waiting for my brother to kill me. I thought he'd be faster."

"He lost interest for a while, something distracted him." I stated calmly. It was hard to remember him, but I had accepted the past and knew not to tamper with emotions. I knew to extinguish them.

"What could distract him; his path was clear."

"Not all family is in relatives." He left it at that.

I wanted to try something, I fastened two hands tightly to my pillow and flipped it over to hit Itachi in the face, he jumped out of the way and I brought the chakra in a steady flow to my new eye, the Sharingan flared up in it's level one stage.

Everything was clearer; I unhooked my simple black katana and swung up to meet Itachi's two kunai, blocking me.

I spun and slashed, I knew what move he was going to use before he did so we both went out of our way to invent new ones on the run.

I pressed him down the stairs and into the room on the first floor; he fought me until I was forced to leave through the door.

We reached a stalemate on the ground.

My katana was pressed against his neck, his kunai held at my heart.

"We could kill each other right now." I suggested, lying underneath him.

He grinned. "We could." He looked intense, and I needed something to put him off balance, fuck, I wanted to win.

I curved my back as I leaned upwards, pressing my lips against his. I tried to kick his kunai out of his hands but nothing changed from before.

He held the kunai in one hand as his other came up around to wrap around my throat. I knew what he was doing; I placed my katana in one hand as I kissed him and clamped the other around his moving hand. I was not going to let him strangle me.

My turn, I wanted to say against our moving lips. In-between the rubbing and licking; I caught his lower lip in my teeth and bit down hard.

The blood flowed between us. "First blood; I win." I whispered.

His eyes had caught a look of lust at the flowing red blood and he leaned down slowly to lick the dribbles off my chin, not even pausing as his tongue passed over my lips.

I tried to remain as still as I could. I maneuvered his kunai away in a fumble of all four hands as he made my katana disappear along with them.

Manacles were formed, I held one of his hands at the wrist and he mirrored it and held one of mine. Unable to get away, both of us.

I was as still as the grave as he leaned down and bloodied my throat, biting off a moan as he licked and sucked at the edges of the cut.

Once again; even I believed he had won. He had, essentially. Blood leaked from a far more lethal position than his lip. And I had just granted him a new weapon.

"Vampire, Itachi?" I asked, breathless for a multitude of reasons.

He didn't answer. He chose to back off and leave me on the floor. I didn't kill you did I?! His eyes conveyed his message and I became ever more aware of his love of theatricality.

Though he appeared motionless, expressionless, unaffected… he had quirks that spoke his own language for him, and they were exceedingly theatrical. He let you know what not to do.

"Fine," I glared at him viciously, though my voice was deadpan from being repressed of emotion all these years.

His nose twitched subtly, the equivalent of a dark chuckle; for now.

"I knew you would come here." Naruto was sitting outside the door. "And I knew you'd use the door."

If Naruto knew me well enough, I would be able to pull this off. "Then why am I here?"

We were outside Kakashi's apartment door. "Because you can't help it, you need people, Sakura." My name was only a whisper. I fought to deny it, but I did need people; I couldn't lash out at him for being right, once again. It was the most surprising feature of Naruto; sometimes he was right.

And he was sad and hurting; but there was a secret behind his eyes. I could see the peace instead of the fire. I had only seen fire since Sasuke left… nothing but closure for our last teammate could bring him that.

I was not so lucky.

"You found Sasuke." It was a statement.

He looked unsurprised. "Yeah. Do you want to talk to him? Maybe it'll cheer you up. Maybe it'll mend your heart."

It was such a Naruto thing to say; but it was said in such carefulness and thought that I had to wonder how much Naruto had to sacrifice to get here.

"My heart isn't broken Naruto." I denied it, he started to look up at me, and I closed my eyes, hiding not only the jade but the onyx secret too. "It's black."

"One day I'll bring you back too. It might just take a little longer." He left, and I paused; I needed to give him something to understand. I needed to see a little fear of me, fear of what innocence can grow up to be.

"Naruto?" I asked, turning to study his face. He looked back at me with a kind of sadness that's hard to describe. His eyes were darker underneath, a beaten-down look to his usually brilliant smile, or a smile that used to be brilliant. It didn't take him long to see though, he usually wasn't one for looking at appearances; he looked first into a person's eyes.

One green eye stared at him, empty and unafraid yet clearly broken; my past.

One black eye looked at him, yet didn't see, it reflected my words I guess. …My words about having a black heart. But it could be red, could be alive when ignited by real emotion.

"I'll still get you back." He whispered. And I wanted, in my heart to believe he would, and I despised that idea to my core. I decided on the safest route; to simply eliminate Naruto from my mind. I wouldn't think about him, nor spare him any of my time. It would be as if he was dead to me.

And to me; he was.

I didn't knock on the door. I opened it carefully, aware of possible traps. "Kakashi?"

I called out to the dimly lit room. "We need to talk."

He walked into the room and I couldn't say I was surprised; he didn't look at me with that caring, forever calm expression. He looked at me as if expecting a fight.

"I'm not the red op you're thinking of." I stated letting my statement be taken both ways. "Sasuke would just kill you, no pause, he probably wouldn't succeed. Doesn't he know you were a red op for six months, till you discovered this annoyance called a conscience?"

I sounded bored, letting Itachi's influence color the theatricality of my speech; mocking.

He still looked poised for battle, his unflawed forehead protector straightened to reveal his eye; similar to mine. But he would have already seen that part. "How did you know?"

"To go after the Akatsuki you have to be higher than ANBU, they're the reason the red ops were created; I suppose. Well that, and to kill off ninja's who go like I did, I assume."

More theatricality, more props. I knew; Sasuke, was back in Konoha, and it didn't hurt to think his name, I was bitter about it though. Bitter over an old teammate; who followed my path closer than he should have. How long till Tsunade decided to send him on a mission to kill Itachi? How long before Itachi decided he was too strong to live?

"Why is one of your eyes…?" He trailed off seeing I guess.

I glared at him. "We need to talk."

He nodded, businesslike with out any of his usual cheer; there was worry somehow in his features. Maybe we had all drifted away; but I could tell he was taking the very seriously.

"Itachi Uchiha and I switched eyes. The right one; he was going blind and I wanted the Sharingan." I stated, usually I wouldn't even give anybody this much, but I'd give information so I could take more, Kakashi didn't know enough about the Sharingan to understand fully.

I didn't tell him that my chakra had taken on enough of his to make it darker, sharper, and maybe even stronger. I wouldn't tell him that my Sharingan used as little Chakra as the Uchiha's because it had been transplanted properly.

"The second natural stage; you have it, I need to know how." I stated.

He looked a little shocked, but composed himself neatly. "For Itachi?"

"I don't do things for others; I don't do things for anybody but myself." I wouldn't go out of my way for him, you idiot. The words I spoke were merely shadows of their true meaning.

He seized me up and I half expected him to shrug as if saying true enough, I guess. But the situation was more serious than that.

"That's just it, Sakura." Kakashi shook his head. "You have to find somebody precious and protect them. That's the only way to use it naturally."

I glared at him. "And unnaturally?"

"Itachi would know." His expression was still intense; I could feel that he was trying to turn me against Itachi. He was trying to make me think Itachi was with holding information. "I'll ask. He'll tell me, of course, suspecting I'm stupid enough to do it the first time around like he did."

Kakashi appeared genuinely surprised, so I continued. "And the Mangekyou…?"

My voice was suggestive; Kakashi took an offensive stance, though I didn't appear to move even to his sensitive eye. "I want something to hang over his head. Sooner or later we'll come after Naruto." Neither was a lie, but my interpretation was separate, neither piece connected, two random facts.

He looked at me with sincere fear at the mention of Konoha's number one ninja at surprising people. "And you want to save Naruto?" His voice was an octave to high.

I scoffed. "No."

He looked crestfallen and though I didn't care, I needed the information. "Naruto can save himself if he wants to that bad." Still, my voice was cold as ice.

And from the look on his face I deciphered the worry; Naruto might not want to save himself.

I knew better, and formulating a plan to stay the criminal I was, find some salvation for my old ties and unlock the second level. I knew that the bonds I had thought were broken were still threads, and I needed to make them into ropes now.

But I also knew I couldn't do that. So it seems I would have to do the one thing I had vowed not to.

I had to form a new bond.

There was something appealing about taking that punishing way to the second level, but I was going to beat Itachi at his own game. And he was the player and the judge.

My smile was sinister; but at least it was real.

Well that turned out interesting. I'm losing my touch, I feel. Honestly PLEASE give me some constructive criticism and ideas before I go into a writers block over this //)shudder(// awful chapter.