hey everyone!

i was a bit shaky on this chapter...ahh...

PLEASE REVIEW!

Is it okay? Like, how it flows and everything? Any weird parts? Is my portrayal of Sasuke okay?

Chapter 32

I reached Sasuke's fallen form, and quickly knelt beside him, slowly touching his bare shoulders, turning him over so he was on his back. I felt my throat tighten in regret as I caught sight of Itachi's body. I had been talking to him just minutes ago…and now he was…gone.

Life was so fragile. It could be both given and taken away in an instant.

And such a difficult life Itachi had led. Forced to kill his own clan, abandon his village, and make his only little brother so full of hatred that the only result could be in Itachi's death.

In the end…Itachi was given the peace that he always longed for.

I was glad that I had met him though…and in those minutes that we talked I had learned quite a bit about him. Itachi seemed like a very gentle person, and I could see the discomfort in his eyes when he spoke of the war against the Senju clan and the idea of the Fourth Great Ninja War. It was such a pity that Sasuke had been forced to grow up without his loving older brother beside him, life must have been so lonely without someone to rely on.

I crawled over to the older Uchiha's body, and stared down at the cold face that was smiling even in death. His eyes – the pale, milky color of blindness – were still open, staring up at the raining sky. I swallowed hard, and reached over to quickly slide my fingers down over his eyes. The eyelids closed, and I let my hand rest on the man's cheek for a few moments in silent sorrow before moving back to the unconscious boy on my other side.

Sasuke was in bad shape, his chest bruised and battered, thin scratches on his forearms and lower stomach. His eyes were sunken and exhausted, and he was so still that for a moment I thought that he had stopped breathing all together. I hurriedly put my ear just above his mouth, pressing my two fingers against his neck to check for pulse.

I sighed in relief when I felt the warmth of his breath, and the faint thudding of his pulse. But I knew that I had to get him out of the rain so I could treat his wounds and make sure he didn't get too cold.

I tried to wake him, gently shaking his shoulders and whispering his name. I couldn't get Sasuke to open his eyes, but somehow, Sasuke's hand managed to get around my wrist, and the fingers tightened automatically. I smiled weakly at his childishly strong grip, and the way his face turned towards me at the contact.

"Sasuke…what am I going to do about you?" I muttered to myself, and I wasn't just talking about what to do with him in this moment. What was I going to do about this new…situation that was quickly arising between us? I knew that I loved him – ahhh! – but there was no way to know if he felt the same. I knew Sasuke well enough to know that if Sasuke liked me in the same way, he would be much less obvious about it then any normal guy would be.

The way he kept unconsciously making contact with me was a pretty big hint, seeing as Sasuke was an extremely un-affectionate guy in terms of physical contact. But that could just be the friendship thing again.

But then…why had he almost kissed me?

Argh, never mind! I would think about this later, when I didn't have a corpse and an unconscious ninja on my plate.

I sat back on my heels, now unable to use my left hand, as it was currently being squeezed to death by Sasuke's hand. Sure, I was strong, but there was no way that I was going to be able to lift two bodies and move anywhere with them.

I growled in frustration, and felt my heart skip a beat in surprise as I heard a voice behind me.

"Look what we have here…"

I don't know how I knew, but my mind screamed at me that the man behind me was Madara Uchiha. I don't know if it was the unusually deep voice, or the way his voice soured in disappointment at the fact that I was present.

I turned, carefully keeping my eyes on his waist and arms. Madara chuckled, and ducked down to make his eyes level with mine. But I fixed my gaze on his shoe, not allowing him to trick me with his Sharingan.

"How do you know that I have the Sharingan, little girl?"

I didn't answer, and when he advanced a few steps I slowly moved so that I was crouched in front of Sasuke protectively. Everything about this man screamed dangerous, and I wasn't about to let him touch Sasuke.

The man chuckled again, and I could tell by the slant of his legs that he was putting a hand on one hip. "I'm a friend, my dear. I only want to take Sasuke somewhere where he can heal, and take Itachi's body along in order to properly bury him. You can head back to the others…Kisame will lead you all to where I'm situated."

"No." I spoke curtly and without emotion, and he tensed.

"No?"

I nodded, and lifted my wrist slightly to demonstrate Sasuke's death-grip on it. Madara sighed, and knelt down to gently grab Itachi's pale, lifeless shoulder. The man murmured.

"Konoha ninja are quickly approaching, so if I were you I'd grab hold of my arm."

I nodded, but instead of opting to touch the man beside me I chose to grab the deathly cold hand of Itachi Uchiha. Better to hold the hand of a dead saint than a living devil.

Madara seemed surprised at my actions, and a small chuckle of amusement filled the air before the familiar tug of teleportation made my vision swirl around me and my muscles go weak.

I kept a tight hold onto Sasuke as we went, looping my arm around his waist to better secure him to me as we went. I didn't have a clue where we were going or what was going to happen to us once we got there…but I did know that I would be by Sasuke's side every step of the way.

Because I promised that I would stay beside him…and this was a promise that I would die before breaking.

With a grunt, I gently lay Sasuke down on the padded futon, and Madara made to move forward – he had already deposited Itachi's body in one of the small rooms found within this underground base – and tend to Sasuke's wounds, but I stepped in front of him once again, my eyes narrowed.

"I'll be fine doing it on my own, sir."

Madara looked like he was going to order me aside, but his dark eyes – now bereft of the crimson color of the Sharingan – flickered towards Sasuke's hand, which was still painfully wrapped around my wrist, and with a sigh he backed away. His cloak made small hissing noises as it brushed against the stone floor, and I gritted my teeth at the way his head tilted slightly to stare at me. His face was covered by a strange swirling mask, but I could tell that he was smiling.

"As you wish. All the supplies you'll need are in here." Madara handed me a medium sized box, and I reached for it with a brisk nod of thanks. "I'll be back tomorrow morning. I have many things I need to discuss with Sasuke."

Without another word, Madara disappeared.

I let out a sigh of relief, and reached to open the box with my available hand. I decided to clean out his wounds first, and then deal with the dilemma of bandaging – which definitely required both hands – later.

The minutes passed quickly as I gently dabbed at his cuts and scraps, concentrating on wiping away the blood on his face. I smiled as his grip slowly loosened on my wrist as he began to relax, and I sighed in relief as the blood slowly moved back to my wrist. I eased my hand free, and shook it to get the blood flowing as I finished cleaning his many cuts.

I cut away his sweat-soaked and bloody shirt, gently easing them out from beneath him to fold and set aside. After bandaging his wounds and making sure he was comfortable, I took one look at his blood soaked and frankly filthy hair and knew that no cloth was going to get it clean. Only good ol' soap and water – along with a dab of elbow grease – was going to get that done…now where could I find some? Not the elbow grease of course, but…wait…why am I even explaining this?

I looked around, and to my delight found that there was a small basin over by the wall, along with a sink and a bottle of soap. This must be some kind of washroom for all this cleaning supplies to be in here…

I got up, and quickly walked over to the sink, picking up the basin and filling it up with water. I grabbed the soap and a small cup that was resting on the counter – this place was loaded, man! – before returning to Sasuke's side, moving so I was behind his head, and I gently lifted his head so it was partially resting on my lap, but also over the edge of the bowl so I could pour the water through his hair and into the bowl so it didn't spill everywhere.

I will admit, washing someone else's hair was a bit of a challenge, especially when the person whose hair I was watching was unable to keep his head from slipping over the edge and back onto the floor. There were several times also that I had to rush and refill the bowl with clean water, and the hilarious image of Sasuke lying on the blankets with impossibly sudsy hair made me smile.

I finally managed to get all the soap out of his hair – it was a marvel that he didn't wake up, the water temperature wasn't exactly hot and relaxing – and slowly placed a towel in my lap, resting his head there, and used another one to gently rub his hair dry.

It was strangely soothing, to massage Sasuke's head with a towel, watching his wet hair dry into his usual unruly spikes. Seriously, I had thought it was hair gel, but I was totally wrong. In my opinion, it made his already awesome hair that much more awesome.

I finished drying his hair, and noticed that he was mumbling in his sleep. I leaned over to listen, and couldn't help but blush when one of the words sounded suspiciously like my name. I busied myself in pulling the blankets over him, and grabbing a few blankets myself so I could settle in next to him. There was about two feet of space in between us, and I lay on my side, staring at his still form as he shallowly breathed.

I sighed, and closed my eyes.

My mind wondered numbly where Suigetsu and the others were right now, but sleep pulled me under before I could really concentrate on it.

I didn't dream, and was awoken what felt like a second later by the sound of Sasuke moving slightly under his blankets. His eyes were still closed, but his brow was creased in confusion, and his hands were clenched.

I sat up hurriedly, ignoring the fact that my hair probably looked like a haystack, and quickly moved so I was beside him.

"Sasuke…can you hear me?" I whispered, and the boy responded by slowly opening his eyes, blinking rapidly at the bright light of the numerous candles nearby. I smiled, turning away and running a hand through my hair as Sasuke sat up, staring down at his hands.

"I wonder what time it is…can't really tell in here because of the lack of a clock and windows…"

Sasuke's breath caught sharply at my words, and I felt his hands roughly grip my shoulders, and he whirled me around so I was facing him. I opened my mouth to say something, but his eyes were so frantic that the words died in my throat.

For the first time, the emotionless mask of Sasuke Uchiha was absent, leaving a raw and tangible face of pure, unadulterated shock. His hands were gripping my shoulders so tightly that it was almost painful, and his eyes were searching my face fearfully.

I swallowed hard, and asked. "Sasuke…what's wrong?"

"You're…you're…" Sasuke whispered, his voice scratchy and rough as he let his eyes trail down to where my hands were resting on the blankets. "I thought…you were…"

And suddenly, without warning, Sasuke let his head drop down so his forehead was resting on my collarbone, his breath coming in gasps as his arms dropped desolately by his sides, his eyes closed as he struggled to control himself.

I felt heat rushing into my face at how close he was, and slowly let my hands come up to lightly rest on his shoulders. I didn't know why he was so afraid, but as I held him, I realized that I didn't have to. I didn't have to understand, I just had to be there for him.

"It's okay…nothing's going to happen to me. I'm fine."

Sasuke nodded, his hands slowly reaching around to cup the back of my neck, his fingers and eyes tracing over my skin as if to firmly establish that I was indeed real and not a figment of his imagination. I felt his breathing becoming easier, and I sighed as I let my cheek press against his hair.

"It's going to be alright."

It really felt that way, in those minutes where Sasuke held me close, breathing in deeply, his shoulders slowly ceasing their shaking as his fear eased. Sasuke was probably still shaken up about his brother's death…it must have been pretty traumatic for him, even if he hated the older man with every fiber of his being. Killing the last member of his family…it would be a while before Sasuke fully recovered, even if he put on the mask of indifference once more.

Sasuke nodded again, and slowly pulled away from me, averting his eyes as he sat beside me. I let him go without complaint, and it was kind of funny…Sasuke pulled away, and yet he made sure to sit so close that our shoulders were touching. Huh.

"Where are we?"

I glanced around, and leaned back on my hands. "We're in some kind of underground base, it's beside the ocean. We were taken here by…an Akatsuki member. You might have seen him before; he has a mask that's orange and swirly?"

Sasuke nodded, and his eyes were thoughtful as he stared at the pale blankets underneath him. I wondered why I was keeping the man's identity from Sasuke…maybe I wanted to wait and see if Madara would reveal it on his own. Also, seeing as I couldn't let anyone know I had spoken with Itachi, it would seem strange that I knew the man's name before he introduced himself.

The door to the room opened suddenly, and Madara stepped inside with a small wave. I stiffened, quickly averting my eyes to his feet. Sasuke saw and felt my reaction, and slowly moved so he was slightly in front of me, his arm slanted so it partially shielded me. I wanted to scream at him, because his open show of protectiveness would only serve to give Madara things to threaten.

I met Sasuke's eye, and gave a stern shake of my head. Sasuke didn't move from his position, and I gritted my teeth in frustration. I guess there was no arguing with Sasuke right now, and so I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at the man before me.

"I am glad to see that you're recovered, Sasuke."

Sasuke didn't answer, his eyes cold as ice as he stared at the man before him. I tried not to look too pleased, but it was hard. Sasuke's open show of hostility meant that he respected my judgment enough to sense that I really didn't like this guy, and acted accordingly.

Madara moved so he was ten feet away, his figure coming into the light of the candles, and he seated himself on the cool stone floor, relaxed and calm even in the face of Sasuke's unyielding glare.

"Hikari-san, thank you very much for caring for him…you can go and meet your other teammates. They've been asking about you and Sasuke both, so you can go alleviate their worries. This is a subject that Sasuke and I need to discuss alone."

I made my face perfectly smooth, and decided to be bold. I needed to show both Sasuke and Madara how much I cared for the teen beside me. Screw the fact that Madara now has something to threaten me with…I couldn't care less now. All I knew was that Sasuke needed someone right now, someone to stay beside him and assure him that he wasn't alone.

I reached over to slowly slide my hand into Sasuke's hand – which was partially concealed under the blankets – intertwining our fingers and looking at the Uchiha until his eyes flickered up to meet mine. I noticed that Sasuke didn't flinch at the sudden contact, nor did he look surprised.

I turned towards Madara with a smile.

Sasuke still couldn't get over the fact that Hikari was sitting beside him, her eyes bright and shining, her hair tangled and frizzy, skin dirty and splotched with specks of his own blood. She was a mess, but she was alive. Her pulse thudded strongly in her veins, her body was warm, and her voice was firm and confident as always.

The boy was surprised that his body instinctively clung to her like that, and slightly embarrassed. Sasuke knew that he cared for her, but also knew that Hikari considered him a teacher, at the most a friend. And frankly, he wasn't ready to act on any of his emotions yet…not when the memories of Itachi's death still coursed through him.

The door opened, and a figure stepped into the room. Sasuke recognized him as Deidra's sidekick…Tobi, was it? The mask was the same, but the aura that was exuded from this man was very different. No longer lighthearted and innocent…this man's chakra was dark and impossibly old.

Hikari's body stiffened in distrust beside him, and the Uchiha glanced over at her to find her glaring at the man's feet. This was unusual, as Hikari was usually bold in her actions, she was usually confident even when faced with danger. This man must be someone to be worried about…if Hikari was standing down.

Sasuke saw her flinch as the man walked closer, and he moved in front of her protectively. He didn't care what it looked like to Hikari or to this man…after nearly losing her, Sasuke wasn't letting a soul near the girl beside him without his permission.

If the man noticed his protective stance, he didn't comment on it, and the man spoke. "I'm glad to see you're recovered, Sasuke."

Sasuke didn't answer, and the man went on, turning slightly to stare at Hikari. The girl stiffened, and Sasuke let arm slant across her body slightly, scowling at the man.

""Hikari-san, thank you very much for caring for him…you can go and meet your other teammates. They've been asking about you and Sasuke both, so you can go alleviate their worries. This is a subject that Sasuke and I need to discuss alone."

Sasuke turned to look at the girl beside him, and let his eyes scan her imperfections and her perfections, he let himself feel that brief moment of fear…the fear that she would leave him alone.

Never had he felt so strongly about someone before – excluding his family – and having that person leave him in his weakest moment was more terrifying than anything Sasuke had ever encountered. Sasuke hated how these emotions were driving him in this moment, he hated feeling so vulnerable. A part of him wanted her to go, so he could contain his raging emotions. But another part of him wanted her to stay…to stay and face what this man would reveal by his side.

Hikari turned, and her eyes were bright and unyielding as she slowly let her fingers interlace with Sasuke's. Sasuke felt a jolt of unfamiliar warmth as her hand touched his, and he let his eyes lock with hers. She smiled, and turned towards the cloaked man.

"I'll stay."

Madara sighed, and his eyes flashed, as if preparing to make me obey. But Sasuke spoke coldly, and his face was back to its emotionless state.

"Who are you?"

Madara reached up as if to remove his mask. "I am a friend, and a relative of sorts."

Sasuke scoffed dismissively, but under the blankets, I felt his hand tighten around mine.

"That's impossible. The entire clan was…killed by Itachi."

Madara shook his head slowly, partially removing his mask. "My name is Madara Uchiha…"

I caught a glimpse of a crimson Sharingan eye before black and vicious looking flames suddenly jumped out of nowhere onto Madara, barely missing as the man quickly used his Sharingan to extinguish them.

I frowned, and felt Sasuke wincing beside me. I gasped when I saw that one of Sasuke's eyes was bleeding, and was shaped rather oddly. Like a pinwheel…only connected.

But Sasuke rubbed at his eye furiously, and after a second the eye faded back into its usual black. I frowned, looking back towards Madara as the man approached us once more, this time mask firmly in place.

"I see that Itachi was a bit cleverer than I thought…he must have been counting on that to destroy me."

I snorted. "If Itachi wanted to kill you, it must've been for a pretty good reason, wouldn't you say?"

Madara's shoulder's tightened, and I could almost hear his teeth gritting in annoyance.

"You're quite…outspoken, aren't you?"

I smirked at him, but inside my heart was pounding. What was Madara up to?

Sasuke ignored our little skirmish, instead leaning forward slightly, his eyes muddled as he asked.

"What are you talking about? Why would Itachi want to keep you away?"

"Because he wanted to protect you, that's why."

"How dare you–" Sasuke breathed, his eyes slits as he tried to rise from the blankets. But before he could do so, I put my other hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him down. I squeezed his hand reassuringly, and he reluctantly sat back down. Madara watched the exchange silently. I didn't like the way his gaze remained on me the entire time, before slowly turning back to Sasuke a few moments after the exchange had occurred.

"Sasuke…I swear, everything I'm about to tell you may seem unbelievable, but I swear on the Uchiha clan and everything that we stand for that I am telling the truth."

I snorted, and Sasuke looked at me strangely. I glared at Madara, who tilted his head slightly as he went on.

"You see...Itachi did in fact murder the entire Uchiha clan…but he didn't do it of his free will. He did it because Konoha ordered him to."

Sasuke's eyes were wide and shocked as his fingers tightened impossibly tight around mine, his shoulders straightening and freezing in disbelief.

"No…you're lying. He–"

"–did it because it was his duty. Konoha blamed the Uchiha clan for the attack of the Nine Tailed Fox, and as a result the Uchiha clan was isolated…shunned from society for their gifts."

I cleared my throat. "Well, not to be a buzz-kill, but can you blame them? I mean, the only power strong enough to control the Nine Tailed Fox is the Sharingan! Who else could they blame? I'm not saying I approve of the way they handled their suspicions, but to say that they were wrong to question the Uchiha clan is just plain idiotic. I would do the same if I was in charge."

Madara went silent for a moment. "As I was saying, the Uchiha clan was isolated and monitored by the leaders of the village, even going so far as to enlist the help of an inside clan member to keep an eye on the inner workings of the clan. That clan member was your brother. Some time later, it was discovered that the Uchiha clan was preparing to fight back against Konoha, and Itachi was given the order to eliminate them. Konoha was threatened by the Uchiha clan, and felt that by killing them off…the crisis would be averted. Itachi was forced to kill everyone in his clan, but he left you alive. He was banished from the village, but has been constantly risking his life to make sure you were safe."

Sasuke was shaking all over, staring at the blankets with wide eyes. "W-Why? Why would he leave me alive?"

Madara smiled. "He failed in his mission…because he could kill everyone in his clan…but he couldn't bear to do the same to his only little brother. Itachi did what he did for you, Sasuke. He let you live so you could become strong and show the leaders that they were–"

I glared. "Bullshit."

Sasuke's eyes snapped to my face, and I rubbed my thumb against the top of his hand as I continued. "How in the hell would you know what Itachi felt, or what he wanted for Sasuke? You don't know shit about what Itachi wanted, so stop trying to act like you do. If Itachi was as noble and loving as you say, my guess would be that Itachi wanted Sasuke to live because he didn't want to have to destroy everything important to him, he wanted Sasuke to represent the good in the Uchiha clan. But I wouldn't know, I never met the guy."

I sat back with a huff, and Sasuke was hunched over in his seat, his eyes wide and sightless as his shoulder shook uncontrollably. I gently urged Sasuke to his feet, and he followed without hesitation, his face contorting as he struggled to contain his emotions.

"Thank you for telling him about his brother, sir. It was very noble of you. Now if you'll please excuse us…"

I grabbed the set of clean clothes set by the futon, and threw the vest over Sasuke's shoulders hurriedly as we walked past the stunned Madara and out into the hallway.

There was an overall smell of saltwater in the air, and I heard the hiss and rasping sound of the ocean somewhere to my left. Sasuke was silent and tense, and I felt his shuddering gasps beside me. I wrapped my arm around his waist comfortingly, and he leaned on me as we made our way towards the entrance to the base. I saw light at the end of the walkway, and steered us toward it. Sasuke followed blindly, and I felt sad at the way he clung to me.

I hated to see him like this, but I knew that it would have been worse if I had allowed Madara to continue trying to brainwash Sasuke into thinking that Konoha was all to blame. If Sasuke was this bad after hearing just that…I didn't even want to imagine what state he'd be in after Madara finished.

We reached the light, and the cold ocean air hit me as well as the smell of salt. I felt faint spray on my face, and saw that we were in one of those ocean caves that rest beside the shore, and I led Sasuke up the rocky path towards the highest point. There was a rocky ledge that hung over the rocky shore, and the area around it was empty and deserted. I stopped when we reached the highest ledge, and slowly moved so that instead of supporting him, I was lightly resting my hand on his arm.

Neither of us spoke as we stared down into the crashing waves that sent water spraying up on either side of us, and after a time, Sasuke spoke.

"He…really loved me. All those times…he loved me."

"He really did, Sasuke."

"I never thought…" Sasuke's eyes closed tightly, and I saw him struggling not to cry. I smiled slightly, and reached up to touch his cheek. I blinked as I saw that he still had my bandage on. Sasuke looked over at me, and I tucked a stray strand of hair behind his ear. I didn't say anything, just stroked his hair calmly, smiling at him.

And then, without warning, Sasuke broke down. His eyes filled with tears, and they overflowed in torrents down his cheeks. Sobs were torn from him as he hunched over himself, crying and choking as he grabbed hold of my hand, gripping so tightly that I bit my lip in pain.

"I-I…killed him. I k-killed my o-only brother..."

I was biting back tears myself now, and let my hand rest on his shoulder, letting him cry out his grief. I could've said many things in those minutes, but I chose instead to remain silent. Everyone deserved time to grieve, and Sasuke was no different.

Sasuke turned to me, and his eyes still streamed without signs of stopping. I smiled sadly, squeezing my hand that was wrapped around his. We stared at each other, and in those moments I was taken back to that first day.

How different he had seemed to me then! How arrogant, how powerful, how…bitter…

Well, he was still pretty arrogant. And the last time I checked, he was still powerful enough to wreck havoc pretty much anywhere.

But that bitterness…it was softened, somewhat. His face no longer looked at me with the indifference one shows towards a reasonably plain painting or a chipped vase. Don't get me wrong, Sasuke wasn't a totally different person by any means, he wasn't cheerful and whistling Broadway tunes, he wasn't jumping around yelling over every little thing.

I doubt any of those would ever happen, because Sasuke wasn't like that.

Now, as I looked at him…I saw the future.

The two of stayed like that for a long time, unaware of the dark figure that was leaning against the entrance to the base, staring at us with merciless crimson eyes.