So sorry, you guys. The holidays messed with this release quite a bit. I know it's late, but hopefully you'll enjoy it regardless. Only two or three chapters left (haven't decided yet). This is certainly the climax of the story, combined with the last chapter and the following one. Anyway, I won't delay any longer - enjoy the chapter!
55. … on the Trigger of a Gun
When Sasuke Uchiha stepped inside his house that evening, he had no idea what awaited him. All he could think of was spending the night with Naruto – after receiving a nice tongue lashing from Kakashi and Iruka for neglecting his move-in duties, of course. Even when Sasuke noticed the distinct silence permeating throughout the house, he never once suspected that anything was amiss, assuming that Iruka and Kakashi were stewing in sullen anger.
As soon as he turned to shut the door, however, he knew. There, standing in the shadows, was the looming form of Kisame Hoshigaki, his shark-like teeth flashing in the darkness. Staggering backward, Sasuke tried to speak, but his tongue seemed caught in his throat.
"Sasuke? What's wr–" Naruto asked obliviously, only to have his words muffled by one of Kisame's massive hands. Wrapping his other hand around his waist, the blue-skinned giant lifted Naruto off the ground, laughing as the blond's legs flailed uselessly.
"What should we do with the runt, Itachi?" Kisame asked, staring at something over Sasuke's shoulder.
Itachi? No… it can't be…
Turning his head slowly to the side, Sasuke found himself staring into the red eyes of his brother. He jumped back until he was pressed up against the wall, sweat pouring from his brow as he looked back and forth between the intruders.
"Take him upstairs and keep him quiet," Itachi replied, taking a step towards the younger Uchiha. "Sasuke and I have some things to discuss."
Naruto bit down on Kisame's hand, forcing the shark-man to release his mouth. The blond shouted, "Sasuke! Run! Go get help…"
"Shut up, brat!" Kisame snapped, punching the blond in the gut. Naruto gasped once before his mouth was covered once more, this time much more forcefully.
Sasuke wanted nothing more than to follow his boyfriend's instructions – to run away and escape this nightmare before things got any worse. He knew it would be pointless, though. After all, Kisame was blocking the door, and Sasuke had no idea if he could get to any other exits. Even if he did manage to break free, the Uchiha knew that it would only spell trouble for Naruto, not to mention Kakashi and Iruka – assuming they were still alive.
Gulping, Sasuke, stared up at Itachi warily. "Naruto… just do what he says."
The blond's eyes narrowed in confused frustration, and for a time he continued to struggle. When he noticed the seriousness in his boyfriend's eyes, though, he stopped resisting. Returning Sasuke's even gaze, Itachi nodded. "That's more like it. Upstairs, Kisame – family business, you know."
Without another word, Kisame hauled Naruto up to the second floor, his stomps echoing throughout the silent house. Moments later, there was the slamming of a door. Sasuke sighed. "Where are Kakashi and Iruka?"
"They're in the other room, safe and sound," the elder Uchiha said, his voice showing no sign of emotion. It made Sasuke uneasy, not knowing what his brother was thinking – he was just standing there, staring down at his little brother with those eerie, red eyes. "Just calm down, Sasuke."
Sasuke laughed bitterly. "Calm down? You expect me to calm down at a time like this? My family's being held hostage, and now I'm standing face-to-face with the man who killed my parents! How the hell do you expect me to act?"
Itachi's movements were quick – impossibly so. He stepped forward in a flash, his hand planted on Sasuke's shoulder as he bent down to stare his brother in the eye, his face maintaining it's usual stolid expression. "I know, Sasuke. I know. Just hear me out."
Sasuke slapped his hand away, his heart throbbing with sudden panic. "Why the hell should I?"
"Because otherwise you'll never know the truth."
The words knocked the wind out of Sasuke. The truth – there was a secret, something that had been hidden from him all this time. Either that, or Itachi was just buying some time before killing him and finishing the family holocaust. Sasuke hoped it wasn't the latter.
"W-what do you mean?" Sasuke asked finally, his body trembling in a combination of terror and anticipation.
"There's something I've been wanting to tell you for years, Sasuke… the reason why I did what I did," Itachi said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled forth a syringe filled with a red fluid, bearing the Uchiha insignia. "It all has to do with this: the Sharingan Project."
"Sharingan Project?"
"That's right. It was Mom and Dad's ultimate test – the discovery that would launch them back to the top. Their company was failing, and they knew it – that was why they put every last resource they had into this drug," the elder Uchiha said, eyeing the syringe in disgust. "It was meant to be the Uchiha Corporation's saving grace – instead, it proved to be its undoing."
"What is it, exactly?" Sasuke asked, watching the needle nervously. He could just see his brother jamming it into his throat.
"It's a chemical meant to enhance various aspects of the subject's body. Sharper reflexes, faster speeds, and, most significantly, the keenest eyesight the world has ever seen. It was a surprisingly cheap drug to manufacture – it would be easy for the military to distribute them among their troops and create an army of super soldiers. The amount of training needed by new recruits would drop drastically – all they would need is regular injections of 'Sharingan' and they would be battle ready at any time."
"But I'm guessing there was a problem."
Itachi smiled – it almost seemed warm. Almost. "Correct. Testing it on lab mice, Mom and Dad managed to prove that their drug had the intended effect of enhancing the subject's physical attributes. Mice were able to run through a maze in unprecedented times, survive in rooms full of cats, and kill their competition with ruthless efficiency. However, there was a downside – of the mice tested, 90% died within minutes of receiving the drug."
"Ninety percent?" Sasuke asked, astounded by the number. "There's no way that could ever be safe for use on humans."
"Mom and Dad knew that. They were running out of money, though – they didn't have time to tweak the formula until it was safe for use on humans. If they didn't get the 'Sharingan' onto the market soon, they were going to lose everything. Thousands of jobs would be lost, all the wealth they had saved up, their future… it would all be gone.
"So they decided to fudge the numbers. They would report that only 5% of the mice had died, and that those were due to unforeseen circumstances – health issues with the rats themselves, let's say. To prove to investors and potential buyers the worth of the 'Sharingan,' Mom and Dad decided to use a human guinea pig – someone within the family that they could pay under the table to be a test subject. That man was Obito Uchiha."
"Obito?" Sasuke asked, shaking his head in confusion. "B-but he died…"
"That was something Mom and Dad weren't counting on. Obito had needed money – that's why he was hanging around us so often. Mom and Dad were getting close to him, so that he would agree to the experiment. Unfortunately, he got into that car crash before they had the chance. Desperate, they set their sights… on you, Sasuke."
There was no question that Itachi was telling the truth – Sasuke could see it in his brother's eyes. His parents were planning to use him as a test subject, to inject him with a drug that more likely than not would've killed him, just so they wouldn't lose their fortune. Sasuke wanted to vomit. He said nothing.
Itachi sighed, his face betraying the inner torment he had been hiding for years. "I found out about their plan, Sasuke… I tried to talk them out of it. They'd made up their minds, though – you were to receive the Sharingan. If you died, they would lose a son, their company, and everything else they had striven so hard to achieve. If you lived, the Uchiha Corporation would become the greatest manufacturer of biochemical weapons the world had ever seen.
"So… I did the only thing I could. I couldn't just sit by, knowing they were very likely going to kill you… and even if they succeeded, they'd kill hundreds of thousands of people with their faulty drug. I had a choice – to take their lives, or let them take yours… and I chose theirs."
Falling to his knees, Sasuke stared down at the floor and retched, though nothing came out. He began breathing heavily, his entire body trembling as the gravity of what his brother was saying sank in. "Then… that means…"
Itachi nodded. "I killed them, and then I merged with the Akatsuki Corporation to save our business I did my best to cover up the existence of the 'Sharingan.' I burned documents, I deleted data, destroyed thousands of vials of that cursed substance, so that no trace of its existence could ever be discovered. Akatsuki helped me plan the whole thing – they assumed I was in it for the money, the power, the greed. I did whatever I could to make them think I was just a backstabbing bastard like them… I needed their help to organize everything. It was probably the hardest thing I ever did."
"Why…" Sasuke began, struggling to fathom this revelation. "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"
"I couldn't. If I did, and the government found out about the 'Sharingan,' they wouldn't hesitate to seize it for their own testing. A drug with such potential would cost millions of lives, whether it succeeded or not. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I had let such a secret get loose. That's why I saved only two vials of the drug and had the rest destroyed. One of those vials is right here – I needed proof that I wasn't making this up."
The younger Uchiha realized what his brother was implying. He had to be sure, however. "And the other…?"
"I used on myself in order to escape," Itachi said before coughing violently into his hand. "I was able to disarm the guard and disable others with incredible accuracy. Naturally, since Kisame was my cellmate, I had to bring him along with me. I still have to keep up the act, otherwise he'll know something's up."
"Is Naruto going to be okay with him?"
There was a sudden scream, one that Sasuke immediately recognized as Naruto's. He and Itachi exchanged a quick glance before darting up the stairs. Sasuke tried to keep himself from shaking, but as he climbed upward he could only think of the terrible things Kisame must've been doing to the blond. Torturing him, raping him, killing him – the images all passed through his mind quickly and painfully.
Naruto… please be all right. For the love of God, please be all right…
Turning the corner, everything happened in a flash. Sasuke saw a glint of steel emerging from his bedroom, followed closely by similar shine as Itachi reached for his gun. Before Sasuke could even process what had happened, he heard his brother pull the trigger.
Smoke rising from the barrel of Itachi's pistol, the Uchihas stared at the form on the ground. It was not the blue giant they had both expected, but a vulpine blond wielding Sasuke's katana. There was a gunshot wound in his chest.
"NARUTO!" Sasuke shouted, rushing to his boyfriend's side. He slapped the blond's face lightly, hoping to snap him back to consciousness. Instead, Naruto's head merely tilted to the side, showing no sign of resistance.
Pulling his boyfriend close, Sasuke felt Naruto's fresh blood drip onto him, the warmth slowly leaving his body. Staring into the bedroom, Sasuke found Kisame lying facedown on the floor in a pool of blood. From his angle, it looked as if his throat had been slit.
"Sasuke… I… I didn't know…" Itachi said, collapsing onto the floor beside him.
"Go," Sasuke whispered curtly, tears running down his cheeks.
"What?"
The younger Uchiha glared at his brother and shouted, "I said go! You've taken everything from me! Go away, and never come back!"
Itachi winced at the words, turning his head to the side as if Sasuke's very gaze burned him. He did not leave, though, choosing instead to kneel beside his brother and set down his gun. "I really am sorry, Sasuke… it was the Sharingan. It forces my brain to jump to conclusions based on what I see – when I saw Naruto coming out with that sword, I thought he was going to kill me. I acted before I had a chance to think…"
Sasuke's entire body shook, his hand clenching with rage. Reaching down, he snatched Itachi's gun and pointed it at him, his eyes red from the tears. "Shut up… just shut up! Don't you understand? I loved him! I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, and you stole him from me you bastard!" His finger tightened on the trigger. "You're no brother of mine."
His red eyes fixed on Sasuke, Itachi simply held up his hands, making no attempt to move. "If that's the way you feel... then kill me."
The young Uchiha's eyes went wide in bewilderment for a brief moment. Was Itachi serious? He had the Sharingan – he could take the gun before Sasuke even had a chance to pull the trigger if he wanted to. Why was he giving Sasuke this opportunity? Shaking the thoughts from his head, the raven-haired teen gripped the gun tighter, struggling to control his trembling hands. "Don't tempt me."
"I mean it, Sasuke. I've told you everything I wanted to say… if I haven't convinced you after that, then I never will," Itachi said, closing his eyes. "Just know that, either way, I love you, brother."
The gun pointed squarely at Itachi's forehead, Sasuke tried to pull the trigger. He wanted to, hoping that it would end this nightmare, that he might wake up and have Naruto back, have his family back, and never have to know the Uchiha Corporation's terrible secrets. Despite his longing to put an end to it all, though, Sasuke found it was useless – he couldn't kill his brother… not after knowing what Itachi had gone through for him.
"Dammit!" Sasuke cursed, hurling the gun to the ground. Moments later, he felt only warmth as Itachi threw his arms around him, pulling him into a firm, brotherly hug. Through his misty vision, Sasuke could just barely see Itachi smiling – just like he used to back when they were kids. Before everything had gone terribly wrong.
"It'll be okay, Sasuke," Itachi whispered, rubbing the back of his brother's head soothingly. "It'll be okay…"
And Sasuke let the tears fall. All the pain that had been building up all those years after his parents' death, the doubt about his brother, the fear of loss, the severe loneliness – he let them all out, his tears staining Itachi's orange jumpsuit as he sobbed.
"I… I just couldn't do it… I didn't want to lose you again…" Sasuke choked out, burying his head in Itachi's chest.
"I know, Sasuke," Itachi whispered, his voice hoarse. "I know how hard it's been for you. I wish there had been another way…"
"But you'll be here from now on, right?" the young Uchiha asked, looking up hopefully. Much to his dismay, though, he found Itachi was crying tears of blood, and the color was draining from his face.
The elder brother shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Sasuke. I believe I was one of the 90%… the Sharingan's taking its toll…"
"No! Not you too! I… I don't want to be alone again!" Sasuke cried out in desperation, shaking his brother violently. "Snap out of it!"
"You won't be alone, Sasuke. Not anymore," Itachi replied, his smile only growing broader as his shoulders sagged. "You have Kakashi, and Iruka… they're both tied up downstairs. They'll be fine. And don't forget about Naruto…"
Glancing down at his boyfriend, Sasuke bit his lip. "But… he's been shot…"
"Yes… but he's alive. Sasuke… I've never seen you happier than you've been with him. Don't let him go. Now, I'm afraid it's time for me to go," the elder Uchiha said, backing out of the embrace. With a shaking finger, he dully poked his brother in the head and whispered, "Sorry, Sasuke… there won't be a next time."
With that, Itachi suddenly went limp, his entire weigh pressing down on his younger brother. Sasuke propped up the body, too stunned to speak. He sat there for some time, bearing his deceased brother's weight while kneeling in his boyfriend's blood, until he heard the wail of sirens outside. He shivered.
Don't leave me alone… please…
Itachi Uchiha has died. Kisame Hoshigaki was slain. Kakashi and Iruka are injured, and Naruto's life hangs in the balance. Will he pull through, or will Sasuke suffer yet another loss? Can Naruto keep his impossible promise? Find out next time in For Naruto, Whenever I May Find Him.