A/N: HOLY COW! I give up! It's taking me forever just to write this one stinkin chapter and I haven't finished it yet! Sorry, but there is some fighting in this chapter and I'm not very good at writing fighting scenes so since I feel really bad for not updating in like FOREVER – especially this story – that I'm splitting into this into two parts. But I promise you this, in the next chapter, there is going to be something s-p-e-c-i-a-l…

I do NOT OWN ANY Naruto characters or the Naruto story. If I did, then God as my witness I would MURDER Kabuto right now. I seriously wish that he would just DIE! Anyway, thank you for waiting patiently after so long and for those who have voted on who will win this fight, well the answer to that will come up next chapter. Sorry and I really hope you can forgive me. Enjoy!

Ch. 21: The Fight Between Brothers Pt 1

"Itachi, explain to me how we got here."

"I hardly understand it myself, little brother."

Actually what happened was right before Sasuke or Itachi could tell Naruto no, the blonde ran to the edge of the roof and announced to the whole kingdom that the two Uchiha brothers were going to spar. Next thing those two knew, they became overcome by the gleaming, excited eyes of not only the servants and workers of the castle, but also the nobles and even their own parents. Heck! Even Sakura, Hinata, Kimimaro, and Juugo were excited. So now both brothers are in the training room with at least a thousand workers temporary stopping their work just to see their exciting match. The training room is almost the size of a giant ballroom – at least three stories tall and three large houses wide. On the third story level is an indoors balcony and that is where the audience stays watching at safe distance in case the fight gets too exciting. Sasuke's friends, his fiancé, the Jinchuriki's blood source, Naruto himself, and the princes' parents are all clumped together in the center of that balcony while Kakashi is off in the corner, mixed with the workers. He's probably only here to see Itachi get a beating from his student, and hopefully killed; or he just wants to see just how strong the older Uchiha really is when he failed to show silver spiky hair man when he attempted to kill him.

"Don't call me that. I'm already pissed off and I do not wish to accidently kill you."

He really shouldn't say that. It's already obvious that he wants to intentionally kill Itachi for all the stressed he caused them for the past three days.

Naruto then raises his hands up to silence the crowd for a moment before screaming out, "Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to RUMBLE?" As the crowd cheers like an audience at a wrestling match, neither Sasuke nor Itachi could believe he just said that like that.

Itachi pinches the bridge of his nose as Sasuke angrily screams, "Naruto, shut the FUCK up!"

"Language, otouto," Itachi scolds like the older brother he is to a raging teenager.

"You never cared before!" Sasuke yells back, turning his attention to the man before him instead of the boy above him. "Why worry about it now?"

"Because you fainted right in front of me after puking out blood."

"Shut up! You think I want the whole kingdom to know?"

"Then don't ask questions you don't want to be answered."

Okay, now he's really making Sasuke angry. The boy already has three veins pulsing on his head and now it's increased to five. "You know something? I'm going to enjoy kicking your ass." He says this softly and dangerously while grasping for the handle of his sword behind him.

Itachi smirks at the challenge. Maybe this fight might be a good thing. As a human, he only saw a small bit of Sasuke's skill and with the knowledge of his little brother's hidden power is lightning, like Kakashi, and that his little brother has mastered True Vampire Form so maybe this fight could be fun. "Then try it."

'Okay, let's see if I can still do this,' Itachi wonders, raising a hand up to shoulder level. Sasuke raises a brow for a moment before his older brother swings his arm down and a trail of fire follows it. Then his whole hand is practically covered in flames, his clothing not being affected by it but Sasuke can feel the heat of his flames even from his slightly far distance. It slightly surprises the younger prince and it surly surprises the audience.

Then Sasuke also smirks.

"For someone who hasn't used his powers in over twenty years, you sure pulled a fancy trick there." Sasuke pulls his sword out completely and it becomes completely surrounded with his lightning.

Itachi still has that smirk on his face "True. I haven't used my powers in a long time so I might be a little rusty but it doesn't mean that I can't go on instincts."

After a load of frustration, this satisfies the younger prince. "Then show me what you got, a-ni-ki."

"Gladly, little brother."

Both of their eyes begin to turn crimson red and both of their hidden powers got a little excited as well. Now things are heating up. The audience are all in 'aw's and 'ooh's when they see how wound up the two of them are getting. Sasuke almost appears like he's so excited about this fight, he can hardly hold still as Itachi appears calmly excited but willing to jump in any time soon.

Then they charge.

"Hold it, both of you!"

By the time Naruto ordered that, both Sasuke and Itachi halted right in front of each other; Itachi's flaming hand has his nails pointed right at his little brother's neck and Sasuke has his electrifying sword aimed straight for his older brother's chest. Close call.

Both of them are surprised that they were stopped right when they were just about to strike one another and now they're both practically frozen from going any further in their attacks.

Naruto then orders, "Calm yourselves down and back away from each other!"

And they both obeyed.

As quickly as they charged each other, they both back away to the same spots they were only standing a few seconds before. Itachi's arm is no longer burning, Sasuke's sword is not surrounded with lightning anymore, and both of their eyes returning to their original color. Kakashi made a 'che' sound when Naruto stopped them. Sasuke was just about to kill Itachi, he thought.

Quickly, Naruto apologizes, the whole audience going quiet, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! But I didn't say 'go' yet! And we have rules."

Rules?

"What for?" Sasuke asks, sounding irritated like a little child being kept from going outside because he's grounded.

"In case you try to kill each other, teme!" Naruto yells. Great. Now he sounds angry. He slightly glares at his protector for a moment and Sasuke glares back. Itachi just looks bored. Can we start the fight now?

Suddenly calming down, Naruto announces, "Now then, the rules. Rule number one, no killing each other."

"Sure, repeat yourself, usuratonkachi," Sasuke mumbles.

"Rule number two, no going out of control and killing the audience."

Itachi mumbles, "Didn't plan on it."

Hearing him, Sasuke exclaims, "Well that's a surprise." His older brother gave him the eye for that.

"Rule number three, no destroying the castle."

'What does he take us for?' the two of them though, now getting a bit tired of all this. They didn't even want this stupid fight for Kyuubi's sake! It's the audience who's getting all excited, not them.

"And rule number four, fight to the death!"

Wahoo, what?

"I thought you said no killing each other?" Sasuke yells to the dope above him. Now the audience is surely surprised. They never see him this worked up before, not even with Naruto before three days ago.

"I did," the Kyuubi Jinchuriki answers, nodding his head, "but what I mean is I want you two to fight like you're going to kill each other but don't actually kill each other. The fight would be boring if you two went easy on each other. If either of you are just about to deliver the final blow, purposely miss. You two will fight till one of you can't fight no more! Got it?" None of them answer. They looked at each other for a moment and Naruto got a little upset that he was suddenly being ignored. He really hates to do this but…"Tell me you two understand."

And as the good eternal vampire servants they are to their god, they must obey.

But not before Sasuke silent growls, "That jerk…"

Itachi willingly, obediently answers, "I understand, Naruto-kun."

Sasuke gives him a small glare after hearing that but he knows he too has to say it. "I u-understand…"

"Good. Now then, let's start shall we? Can I get a 'woot, woot'?"

"Woot, woot!" That was from the audience.

Oh dear Kyuubi…

Both Sasuke and Itachi are just standing in the middle of the training room, not believing that Naruto turned this simple little spar into an all out event like a National Football Championships. Seriously? What is so exciting between two brothers fighting?

Because one of them is a genius and he killed over thousands of vampires and the other is not only a genius himself but also he's the younger brother of the Uchiha prodigy. It's a test to see which genius is better? The one the Kingdom has known since the prince was born or the one who disappeared for twenty years but left quite a remarkable history in his wake?

Naruto asks, "Are you two ready?"

Sasuke swings his sword to the side and it once again becomes charged up with his hidden power. "Been ready!"

Itachi raises his hand up and flexes it as it becomes surrounded with his flames. He doesn't say anything but that little power control demonstration becomes his answer that he's ready.

"Alright then…" Taking in a deep breath first, Naruto screams out, "BEGIN!"

And the two brothers charge at each other again.

It was the same as how they started; Itachi's enflamed arm has his nails pointed right for Sasuke's neck as he has his electrifying sword aiming for his brother's chest. However like what happened when they first fought, the younger Uchiha is faster. His sword is going to hit Itachi before his hand even moves two inches from where it is the second the older Uchiha thought that. So what he does as quickly as he can, Itachi cancels his powers on around his once enflamed arm and presses his hand on his little brother's shoulder. When Sasuke feels this, it distracts him slightly and that is all Itachi needs to use the younger prince's shoulder to lift himself up as he jumps over him – doing a flip in the process. By the time that Sasuke stops himself and turns around to face his opponent, his brother was waiting for him. The younger Uchiha turns around just in time to see Itachi appear right in front of him with his fiery arm aiming for him. Still with faster speed than him, Sasuke jumps back to avoid the hit. Apparently, Itachi was expecting that. His hand that was going to hit his little brother ceases its flames and lands on the ground. Then he hoists himself up so that he could use the ground as leverage to kick the younger prince. The boy only had a second to realize this and since he's in the air, he really doesn't have anything to help him move out of the way. So he had to block it. He uses his sword to block the hit and it broke down the full impact of kick. He still goes flying back but no real damage. The audience is really intrigued with this fight now. Itachi was able to hit Sasuke, even though it was really a hit to the sword. Still, looks like the older brother might actually have a chance against the boy. Once Sasuke was able to land on solid ground, the first thing he does is look up at his brother and narrows his eyes at the older Uchiha – as if wondering how Itachi was able to do that. So maybe the old dog can still do some of his old tricks.

But like that's going to stop anyone. Itachi just made this fight a little more interesting.

The younger Uchiha then goes to his back for something and all Itachi hears is the sound of a click before his little brother starts throwing daggers at him. Ten to be exact and the older Uchiha backs away as each dagger stabs the ground in a perfectly straight line a foot apart from each other. But at the last dagger, Itachi catches that one and Sasuke is right in front of him again.

Cling, clang

Cling, clang

Cling, clang

It was their first fight all over again but compared that one to this one, Itachi has vampire powers this time and is able to at least catch up with Sasuke and try to attack with the little dagger he caught. However from how it looks, Sasuke is still able to attack more than he has to offend. Same for Itachi but the other way around.

From up on the audience, Sakura cheers, "Go, Sasuke-kun! Go, GO!"

"Sakura-san," Hinata calls, as if asking her protector to calm down.

Suigetsu questions with a giant grin on his face, "I wonder who's gonna win this one. Last time it was Sasuke but Itachi-sama was human then."

"Ha!" Karin laughs. "Even if Itachi-sama goes Full Vampire Mood, the winner of this match will obviously be Sasuke. He's been using his powers longer than Itachi-sama and he's the best swordfighter in the whole kingdom! See how he's overpowering him? This fight is as good as over!"

Seeing how excited she's getting of all people, Suigetsu has a foul look on his face as he thinks, 'You should see how much of a total fan girl you're acting right now, Karin.' Juugo and Kimimaro see the look on Suigetsu's face and they only let out a sigh, wondering when the 'on' part of the relationship is going to come back up. At least when they're 'on' they last longer and there is less tension between the two.

"I don't know about that."

Those listening turn their attention to Naruto this time. He continues to watch the match from leaning slightly over the edge and he has a big smile on his face. "Not that I'm doubting my protector but they did say that Itachi teme was considered a great warrior back in his days. I've never seen them but I wonder what kind of awesome powers he might have!"

Madara has his own smile on his face and he adds, "That's part of the reason why the whole castle is here now. Everyone is curious as to see who is stronger. The old dog with the old tricks or the young dog with the new tricks? Plus, there was a reason why Itachi was so well respected. It wasn't just because of his swordsmanship or his cunning." While Mikoto is smiling in agreement with her mate, the others are a little curious. Even Kimimaro is a little confused. Just because he was part of a clan that was at war with the Uchiha family around the time Itachi disappeared, doesn't entirely mean he was ever in battle with the Uchiha prince. He never even knew what the guy looked like. He only heard rumors of his accomplishments and his strenght.

"Then what was it?" the young Kaguya heir asks.

Down at the fight, it was just like last time. Sasuke pushed Itachi into a wall and the older prince only had a second before his little brother was going to strike for the kill. But unlike last time, Itachi didn't move out of the way. The sword came right towards him and stabbed him right in the heart. The audience gasps when this happened and it got the other's attention, tearing it from Madara to the sight below. At the moment of seeing that sword through his brother's flesh, Sasuke's eyes widen with a little bit of surprise but a lot of confusion. Itachi just stood there and took the hit. Sasuke may not have gone as slow as he did in their first fight but his brother could have dodged that hit with his new vampire speed. So why did…

But then Itachi's body changes. It turns black and then disperses into crows. Sasuke only had half a second before those crows begin to scatter around him and multiply in numbers, causing him to take few steps back and become distracted.

Madara answers, "Itachi was a master of illusions and deception. Though I am a little impressed that he could still do that."

Mikoto tells him, "He is your son after all. He's capable of doing all kinds of amazing things."

Madara then grasps her hand then and she looks at him to see him staring at her with loving, gentle eyes. "He's your son too, Mikoto." Then he kisses the side of her head and she giggles from the love of her mate. Moving on…

Below the audience, Sasuke's eyes scan his surroundings in every direction to find his opponent. But all he can see are crows. They just keep flying in circles around him like some sort of twisting tornado of birds. When he thought he saw something that resembles a body, he would slash his sword at it only to realize that it's nothing but part of his brother's illusion. He's done that several times already. At this rate, Itachi could easily attack him while Sasuke remains distracted and confused. When he paused to scan again, he felt a dagger cut his arm. The cut wasn't deep but it did catch Sasuke off guard. He winced and looks at it to watch as the wound heals. Then he gets even more, on his shoulder, his legs, his neck, his face, and his torso. All of the cuts heal, each slower than the last, and they only let out a small drop of blood. One thing is for sure that Sasuke will surely be screwed if his brother continues to play hide and seek with him. Soon it'll take a really long time to heal and the younger raven will lose from exhaustion. If he's going to get out of this, he needs an attack to hit all of the crows.

And he does just that.

Sasuke raises his arms up to cross them and then he thrusts them down as lightning strikes everywhere at any direction. Of course the lightning hit all of the crows and that left Itachi to having to back far away from the younger Uchiha and almost having to dance his way around them. As for the audience, no one got hurt but it was close. Some of the maids, or rather all, screamed when the lightning was close to them. Sasuke stopped his attack then and Naruto started screaming at him right away.

"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT NO GOING OUT OF CONTROL AND KILLING THE AUDIENCE, TEME?"

Oh course he probably scream that since Hinata was one of the girls that screamed with the maids from nearly getting zapped. At least everyone was smart enough to back away from the rail when the light shower was going on.

"OH SHUT UP, DOPE!" Sasuke yells back. Something like that was bound to happen sooner or later.

Then he senses danger.

Sasuke didn't have to look. He just had to jump a few feet away from where he was standing. Then like the roles switched between them, Sasuke jumps away from each of Itachi's attacks as the older Uchiha continues to shoot small balls of fire out of his mouth. Seeing this got the audience's attention back and it distracts Naruto from screaming at his protector some more. Itachi continues his fire attacks. Even when Sasuke had to jump on the wall, he still had them coming like bullets of a machine gun. Then the younger raven had to leap off the wall and Itachi was able to send a few more mini fireballs before Sasuke disappears. Itachi stops his attack and he feels his little brother's presence behind him half a second later. He turns around just in time to see Sasuke's blade coming at him to slice him in half. He quickly blocks it with the stolen dagger he still has in his grasps.

And it was the constantly clinging and the clanging of the blades again. Difference this time is when it looks like Itachi is being overpowered again towards one direction, he would try a lower or higher attack, causing his little brother to jump over him to dodge it or move the side, and then Itachi is then being overpowered into that new direction. Their movements are quick and for those with normal human eyes, it was hard to catch up. In fact, when a human blinks for even a moment, they would have missed five moves or more.

'His swordsmanship truly is amazing,' Itachi thinks, calculating on what to do in his head by first analyzing the situation. 'And his speed is incredible. Even as a vampire, he's still too fast. Something to be expected when your Hidden Power is lightning. However, that doesn't make him invincible. Every fighter has a weakness.' And the sword fight continues.

Ooh, I wonder what Itachi is planning for his brother?

How was it? Good? Bad? Was the fighting okay? Let me know. Until next time and hopefully very soon! Bye, bye!