disclaimer:ha, I wish.
dedication: to the new Naruto opening – shit was EPIC!
x.x.x
Most egos have conflicting wants. They want different things at different times or may not even know what they want except that they don't want what is: the present moment. Unease, restlessness, boredom, anxiety, dissatisfaction, are the result of unfulfilled wanting. Intense wanting that has no specific object can often be found in the still-developing ego of teenagers, some of whom are in a permanent state of negativity and dissatisfaction.
Eckhart Tolle
x.x.x
The pain and agony that he felt was immeasurable. Although his brother brutally pulled his eye out extremely fast, Sasuke felt as though he had done it painstakingly slow. He could feel the empty hollow of his eye socket slowly being filled with his blood like water filling a cup to its brim and spilling over. The metallic liquid slipped past his fingers as he covered his mangled eye from any further trauma, his blood running down his hands and making its way down his forearm giving him goose flesh.
Itachi dropped his prize into a jar full of organ preservation solution to extend its "life" period so it would remain viable until he transplanted it into himself. Sasuke opened his remaining eye when he heard the distinct plop and fizz to see the liquid sizzle as it made contact with his ripped [stolen] eye and he could almost count every single vein and blood vessel that was screaming to be sown back into its rightful place. His eye floated in the jar horrifically bare to the world and looking every which way in lost abandonment. Half of his face was stained in red liquid and as if the empty hole in his head had a mind of its own ironically made it seem as though the younger Uchiha was crying as it continued to run down his face and he could taste the iron on his dry lips.
The Akatsuki member secured the lid on the jar and tucked it away in his cloak for safe keeping. He raised his already bloodied hand to extract his next selfish gift to himself, his red eyes narrowing in concentration to make sure he did it just right after all, his eye site was failing him and he couldn't afford to make any mistakes. An almost triumphant smirk graced his face when he could distinctly hear the deep and rapidly increasing ba-dumba-dumba-dumof his victims' heartbeat.
Suddenly, the slowly approaching hand stopped in mid air and the avenger could see Itachi's eyes move to the left as if his attention was quickly preoccupied with something else and his eyes squinted in what looked like annoyance. Now, to any novice who knew nothing about battle tactics they probably wouldn't think twice about the odd behavior but Sasuke knew better and his brain immediately went into overdrive and processed everything. His "remaining" eye spun furiously with the Sharingan and went to work into dispelling what he knew now was genjutsu.
The world before him began to blur in a mix of grey and blacks as it fused and then regenerated into a much clearer picture and Sasuke saw his brother jump away from him as a kunai swiftly flew past his line of vision and land on the adjacent wall with a heavy thwack. He heard the quick taptaptapof heels come his way as he rubbed at his eyes to reassure himself he was still in one piece and he felt someone grab a hold of his shoulders, shaking him a bit.
"Sasuke, are you alright?" Karin asked desperately.
He opened his eyes when her voice reached his ears and he had to blink a couple of times to even out the spots that were dancing along his line of vision from him roughly plunging and rubbing at his eyes in certainty, "hn," he responded.
"Is this what you have to result to, Sasuke? Help from your friends?" Itachi questioned.
"We wouldn't abandon him unlike some people!" Karin yelled back in response.
"Tch, and you say that we're a pain in the ass? Come on what's taking you so long that you can't beat your brother quick or are you useless without us?" Suigetsu taunted from beside the red head while he kept his eyes on the older Uchiha.
Sasuke's eyes shifted as he glared at his sharp toothed teammate, "Where is Jugo?" he questioned.
"Holding off Kisame," the swordsman answered.
"Brings back memories doesn't it little brother?" Itachi said.
The curse mark wielder glared at his brother because he knew exactly what he was talking about. He was referring to his days of Team Seven and when he had to rely on their help to fight his battles. He momentarily closed his eyes and in a flash instant they appeared in his minds eye so clearly and an almost lost feeling began bubbling in his stomach to defend his team that always had his back.
Team Seven. Team Hebi.
"You do not posses the same eyes I do so pay in mind that if you run, I will seek them and destroy them so we do not have any interference," he hissed.
"Karin, Suigetsu, stay back. This is between me and him," Sasuke said through clenched teeth.
The red head and white haired nuke-nin stared at one another contemplating their leaders orders as they watched him stand and face his enemy. He was right, this was his battle and they were in no position to stick their noses where it didn't belong. They just hoped that everything turned out the way it was supposed to.
Sasuke ran forward.
x.x.x
Sakura and Naruto had been traveling for hours! When the heck were they going to find these damn rogue ninja that were threatening the Leaf elders? Naruto being well, Naruto hadn't noticed that his pink haired partner had come to a remote stop and of course, he bumped into her.
"Watch where you're going you klutz!" She hissed.
"I'm sorry Sakura! I was just wondering when we were going to find these ninja, they weren't supposed to be this far!" He responded as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
"I'm working on it; I sense something not too far up ahead, so stay on your toes," she closed her eyes and continued to concentrate on locating their target.
"Uh … yeah sure…" Naruto replied as he dipped his head up and sighed.
The Uzumaki boy had been elated when he found out that he and Sakura would be partnered up for a mission after so long but he had to admit that he forgot what she was like during these specific times. She was always so serious and uptight and he knew that she was only that way because she still feared that her twelve year old self would resurface if she didn't give 110 percent. He knew that she always felt like she had something to prove whether it be to herself or to the world but she was so strong and everyone knew it except for her and it made him sad.
He missed the old Sakura, A LOT! This 'new' Sakura could go back to wherever it was that she came from. This one had bad temper issues worse than before, she got irritated much more easily and she was more reckless. This girl acted on impulse, this girl didn't care whether she died, this girl wasn't merciful, and she wasn't his Sakura.
The two ANBU comrades came to a complete stop when a shurikin just barely grazed the tip of Sakura's nose. They looked to their right and there they were - their targets. Well at least they didn't have to run around all of Fire Country looking for them anymore.
Sakura scoffed. These men looked like no threat to the Leaf Village. Unless they were incredibly good at masking their chakra then this would be a piece of cake, she had no idea why Tsunade was so worried but in any case she had a job to do.
The skilled medic-nin prepared to leap at them and take them all out in one blow when all of a sudden…
"Sakura! Behind you!"
But it was too late. Sakura turned around in just the knick of time before the rogue ninja could pierce a major organ but he still got her anyways. The man embedded a kunai into Sakura's stomach and of course of all places, she just had to get stabbed right where she previously was by Sasori, in doing so, reopening the healed scar.
She couldn't believe she had let this happen, what in the world was going through her head? Did she miscalculate and underestimate these ninja? Why didn't Naruto say something earlier? Ugh that idiot! Sakura looked at the man who just stabbed her with anger in her eyes that even the Kyuubi would be proud of and grabbed a hold of his wrist and like a mere pencil broke every single bone and swung him into a nearby tree. She unlogged the kunai from her stomach and brought a glowing green hand to her wound and began the process to stop the bleeding. She was not going to fail this mission, for the word "fail" was no longer in her vocabulary.
She turned back to the other rogue ninjas and noticed something quite strange, one of them was smiling. What the hell was this man so smug about? He was going to die soon and by her hands none the less, saying that the pinkette was pissed was definitely an understatement.
"Sa – Sakura … I can't feel anything!" Naruto yelled.
She looked towards her teammate and saw that Naruto was looking around as though he were blind, yet his eyes were wide open but what was even worse was that be began panicking and swinging his arms everywhere. What the hell was going on? Better yet, why hadn't she felt any pain where she was stabbed with the kunai?
She looked at the smiling man once again; she figured that this man was probably the leader. 'One, two, three, four' there was no way she could take on five rogue ninjas by herself in the current condition that she was in. Sakura looked back to Naruto who was still in a crazed mind set and spoke to him.
"Naruto, calm down and use your sense of hearing I'm here!" She yelled.
No response. So she tried again but this time she went up to him and grabbed his shoulder only for her to be lightly swung around with his body movement as if she were attached him. He didn't respond to touch either which meant he was completely in the dark with no sense of sight, smell, touch, hearing – he was completely alone in the confines of his mind.
What was even worse was that she was beginning to lose her sense of sight, smell and hearing as well. This was not good; she had to do something fast before they were brutally murdered in the middle of the forest. Sakura quickly took into account everything that she was surrounded by; perhaps if she could remember where everything was she could make up some kind of battle plan. Making a map of the surrounding area, the ANBU captain quickly took action and ran towards Naruto and wrapped a rope around herself and to him tying them together, made a series of hand signs in which put Naruto into a deep sleep. She prayed with all her might that her plan would work.
The pinkette jumped into the air and released a smoke bomb to conceal where she would be hiding in the trees in the next couple of seconds while she gathered herself. She leapt into a nearby tree that she remembered and took a deep breath and released a furry of kunai and shurikin at the targets that she had previously mapped were in front of her, hopefully they were still there. With her vision being gone, Sakura had to rely on long distance attacks.
"Shit Man down! Quick! Find her before she regains her sense of hearing!" One of the rogues ordered.
What the fuck? Now Sakura could hear again? But she couldn't dwell on that miracle for too long before she lost her sense of hearing once again. Going over what she had just heard, the pink headed girl concluded that each of these men probably had the ability to take away a sense of the human body. 'Hmmm well no wonder Tsunade was so apprehensive about this mission. This is quiet dangerous. But this has to be Genjutsu.'
Now Sakura knew what she had to do. Leaving Naruto behind a tree that she knew would not be affected with what she was about to do, Sakura jumped down from the tree tops and gathered her chakra into her fist and relinquished the technique that her master and now she were both famous for. With precise aim, she punched the ground and jumped back into a nearby tree. Sakura smiled when she heard one ninja drop into the now newly formed crater; low and behold she regained another sense – smell.
Just three more to go and this would all be over. Taking out a scroll from her flank jacket she quickly opened it and threw it on the floor placing a chakra filled foot at the center of it and used one of her many mastered jutsu's.
"Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu!"
Instantly, a huge body of water burst from the scroll and morphed into a terrifying water dragon with red eyes. It rose above its mistress quickly dispersing the nearby foliage and bared its fangs at its intended target. It growled and sprung with all the might of the Seven Seas, it engulfed two of the rogue shinobi almost killing the leader.
Sakura sensed that the leader was beginning to wane because the jutsu that he had inflicted on her and Naruto was starting to fade, she was beginning to see again. Not her 20/20 vision but it was certainly better than nothing for as long as she had her other senses she would be okay.
"You're very impressive girl; you took down all my men all by yourself," the man said.
"I am not the kind of woman that you can push around as you see fit. Kai!" Sakura growled.
"Hmmm we'll see about that and it seems as though you broke through my genjutsu. Before you die, why don't I tell you my name, it is Daisuke"
"I saw through your trick a long time ago, I'm a specialist and I don't really care what your name is because I won't be the one dying."
Daisuke and Sakura ran towards each other and threw a sequence of punches, kicks, and weapons that any skilled shinobi would be impressed by.
They were both exhausted and this fight had to end soon. Never had Sakura let a fight drag on this long before, damn it if she wasn't injured and if Naruto wasn't out of commission for the meanwhile, this would've been over already!
Gathering chakra into her feet and into her right fist she quickly and stealthily appeared in front of Daisuke and punched him straight in the face which sent him flying back into a nearby boulder. Her shoulders were shifting up and down from her heavy breathing as she looked at the leader of bandits with disgust.
Naruto awoke to a foliage of green and began panicking again but calmed down once he realized that he could actually sense things again. But the question was where was Sakura? Was she okay? He had to find her quick! Getting up from his seated position he groggily moved towards what he heard to be a loud crash, anything like that had Sakura's name all over it.
Daisuke had never been beaten before, yet there he was bleeding half to death because of a woman! How infuriating! Sakura walked closer to the man and looked at him like she does with every single person she was about to kill: no mercy.
He spat in her face.
BIG mistake.
Naruto had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach that Sakura was going to do something completely awful.
Sakura sneered at the now broken ninja and formed yet another series of hand signs – a chakra scalpel forming at her right hand.
A familiar glow of dark blue surrounded her hand and the ANBU walked up to Daisuke and opened up her palm, drew back her arm and roughly slammed her hand against Daisuke's chest right where his heart was. He began to catch a seizure and was foaming at the mouth but then he went rigid and died.
Sometimes she found it kind of ironic on how she killed her enemies, slamming her hand against their chest cavity and inflicting them pain. Their hearts stopped beating, just like hers did so many years ago. It was cruel and unethical but this was the real world and she was a ninja. Her job was to bring down anyone who threatened the peace of the Hidden Leaf Village.
Turning around without even giving the dead man a last glance she began to walk away and passed Naruto. He stood there facing forward to the spot where the man lay in a slumped dead heap. His mind playing in slow motion when she walked passed him as his eyes caught the sight of her from his peripheral vision. Her bangs were covering her face, her head downwards and her fists flexing at her sides.
In that instant the future Hokage-to-be knew that she was unhappy at the way things turned out.
She was definitely pissed off.
"Come on, our mission here is done. Let's go home," Sakura ordered as she adjusted her ANBU mask back into its respective place.
So he said nothing, as he turned away from the gruesome scene and followed her. 'Kami…help me bring her back…'
x.x.x
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
'Stay calm'
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
'You can do this!'
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
"KIRIN!"
BOOM! The intensity of Sasuke's jutsu rained down from the heavens as though the Gods themselves had rained down their rage, the dragon roaring its death call. The already destroyed and ruined battle field was damaged even more, debris flying everywhere and ready to pummel anything in its wake. Nothing was left untouched from its wrath and there wasn't a single being that could've survived something so powerful, not even Itachi.
Sure enough, he was on the brink of death and yet he still found the strength to walk up to his younger sibling to speak his last and final words. The skies above were dark and foreboding, the effects of Kirin still lingering in the atmosphere zapping and crackling from time to time waiting for the next storm to ignite its fury again.
Itachi really did love his younger brother despite the things he said and the way he acted towards him but hopefully with time Sasuke would understand one day. He will certainly not like the truth but the remorseful killer had faith that someone somewhere will and would save this now grown man from himself, from the darkness that he allowed to swallow him whole. Itachi had been able to strip away the dark and evil powers that Sasuke's curse mark had harbored; it was just one step into his salvation. Now all it was, was a simple scar of his past – something in which Itachi wished Sasuke would never have to live through again.
Itachi walked painfully slow, like a zombie and there was nothing more frightening then a dead man walking. But this was something he had to do, something that if he did not accomplish there was no way that he would be able to rest in peace. As the older raven haired man approached the younger one he looked at him with all the love he wasn't able to show in the last long and painful years of solitude away from his baby brother and for the sake of memory, did the one thing that bonded both brothers more than anything. He slowly picked up his arm and at this point Sasuke believed that Itachi was truly going to take his eyes and there was nothing he could do about it seeing as how that last technique drained him completely.
Sasuke hadn't been afraid of anything in a long time now. He was strong and confident enough in his abilities that he could destroy anyone. But this was maddening! Cruel! Impossible! How can this man still be alive after what he just did to him? Nearly frying him to a crisp and yet here he was, his scorched body moving towards him in an agonizing slow pace and at that point Sasuke felt eight years old all over again. His brother was the Devil himself, he was sure of it. Kami knows that only the Devil would want to manipulate and destroy the life of a child, stalk and chase – no, rip him away from his loved ones, shape him into someone cold and heartless and invite him into the darkness and introduce him to his demons; and if the King of all evil didn't have his way then he was going to take it himself and what he wanted was his eyes.
The Avenger stood there, paralyzed from fear and waited for this monster to take what he wanted from him.
Poke
That was it. That was all Itachi did. He poked Sasuke right in the forehead, just like he had always done when they were children. This man used his last ounce of strength just to poke him on the forehead? But that one simple gesture brought back feelings that made him almost – almost regret doing what he had just done to his kin.
"Sorry Sasuke, this is it," Itachi smiled and with those last and final words, he fell on his knees and hit the floor face first mentally making Sasuke flinch at the sound.
'Sorry Sasuke…' Damn him! Damn him to hell! Why would he say something like that to him? His older brother was not loving, was not merciful, was not forgiving, he wasn't supposed to be! And he sure as Hell wasn't supposed to die with a smile on his face! Yet, deep down the once innocent, smiling, care free younger Sasuke – the one that was buried deep within his psyche couldn't help but somehow feel the same way. 'I'm sorry too big brother'
Putting on his cold and emotionless mask that he was practically famous for, Sasuke took a breath and closed his eyes. The rest of his team appeared before him and he vaguely heard Suigetsu's praises and Karin's questions of concern and her offering of chakra replenishment. His goal in life was over and now he could start on his next one.
Defeat Naruto.
With that, he began his journey back to his old village to prove once and for all who the better ninja was. Sasuke or the dobe. He never noticed his eyes change into the Mangekyo.
x.x.x
a/n:extra long chapter for you guys because I think you're the best and I heart you. I wish I had more reviews though, like where is everybody! I assure you guys that I will not abandon you because we're already way too far into the story to stop now!
[DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT ANY SPOILERS!] I don't understand why everyone is so surprised in finding out that 'Tobi' isn't the real Madara. I seriously smacked myself really hard on the forehead when everyone was like legasp! Then who is the guy under the mask! COME ON! It was soooo obvious from the beginning! I'm like Shikamaru when it comes down to predicting certain outcomes.
So um … where the fuck is Sauce! Um hello! Did he fall into a black hole and die! I think NOT! Let's have some damn angsty psycho action/reunion already, please!
Any who … forgive my ramblings I know I got a little crazy there for a second haha but uh yeah, how was your Halloween? Oh! Also, I would love to hear from you guys about certain things that you maybe would want to see in the upcoming chapters. I will try my very best to incorporate them if it is appropriate to the theme and time – PM me or just put it in your review and don't be afraid to PM me with any questions either about anything.
Things you probably already know: (Suiton:Suiryuudannojutsu)-WaterStyle:WaterDragon
xoxo – review!