"And here I thought you weren't going to show up."

"Where is she?" Itachi said, not sensing Hinata in the vicinity. If he touched her there would be consequences.

"She's safe. For now."

Itachi stared down his brother. The building was wide and vast, stone walls all around, cracked and bruised. There was no light due to the building being empty for so many years, but both brothers had their sharingan activated, making the other as visible as the moon. Itachi stepped further into the building, his low pony-tail swaying at his back. He moved cautiously through the building, keeping his peripheral vision on his surroundings. Sasuke sat in a high throne, watching him just as attentively. He was calm, not angry like he sounded back at the village. Itachi suspected Sasuke had controlled his anger because he knew he would get the chance to fight him and kill him. Itachi also suspected he was eager to kill him to finally kill the rage that had built up over all these years. Nothing will quiet that ache in your heart, little brother.

"Sasuke-" Before Itachi knew it a katana blade was thrust through the center of Itachi's chest. His eyes widened in shock, blood spurting from his mouth, dripping down his chin. Sasuke had appeared behind him rather quickly, his right hand gripping the hilt of his katana and the left hand pressing it into Itachi's back. The sound of tearing flesh and cracking ribs was lost on Itachi as the pain shot through his core.

Sasuke smirked. But Itachi was gone.

"Are you that eager to rid this world of my existence, little brother? Or are you just impatient?" Itachi said from a spot across the room. Sasuke stood, sheathing his katana at his waist.

"The sooner I can avenge our family the better."

Itachi contemplated this for a moment. "I have told you many things, Sasuke. Things I should have never spoken; things a brother should never tell his most cherished sibling."

"Cherished?! You expect me to believe you when you say you cherish me?!" Sasuke exploded.

"What you believe and what you know are two entirely different concepts. Knowledge is what people use to create their realities and live accordingly. You, Sasuke, have been told that your family was slaughtered and you were the sole survivor. You believe this because you know it is true. You assume I acted out of greed and self-motivation, that I killed our parents in cold-blood and did not flinch when their bodies fell to the floor."

"Just what are you getting at?!" Sasuke was seething from having this conversation. What was Itachi going on about? Everyone knew Itachi wiped out the clan for his own desires.

"That I acted on my own and out of sheer selfishness is a lie. It is a fantasy your knowledge has created in your mind because you, Sasuke, do not have all the facts. And so you are angry and what revenge for the family you lost. Yet you still do not have enough hatred."

Sasuke's eyes grew in shock as he listened to Itachi's words. "Not enough hatred….Do you know what I sacrificed?!"

"Do you know what I sacrificed for the fate of the village?" Itachi whispered. Silence consumed them and nobody moved, lost in their own regrets.

"I do not want to hurt you any more than I already have, little brother."

"Then this will be easy for me." Sasuke muttered, hatred dripping from his tongue.

He charged at Itachi full throttle, prepared to end this once and for all. Itachi had lived too long in Sasuke's mind. He should have killed him sooner but he wasn't strong enough. Now he was. After training with Orochimaru and taking on Orochimaru's abilities, Sasuke was finally confident he could kill his older brother. The fact that it was his flesh and blood didn't faze him. It sure as hell didn't faze Itachi.

Sasuke threw two kunai in Itachi's direction but he repelled them with his own. Sasuke swung at his brother's head but he missed. Every punch and kick and jab Sasuke threw at Itachi he dodged, evaded or blocked. Sasuke didn't give up though. He wasn't ready to stop; he just wanted his brother to feel just as badly as he had felt all these years. So he kept going, and he kept missing.

"Fight back! Why aren't you fighting back!" Sasuke shouted, aiming a fist straight for Itachi's head. Right before impact Sasuke fell low to the ground and swept his leg at Itachi's legs. Caught off guard, Itachi fell to the ground. He had him.

Katana in hand, Sasuke raised it and brought it down with a heavy blow. He spared no seconds because he knew what his brother was capable of. Sasuke enjoyed the heart-wrenching sound of blood pooling in his brother's throat, making him cough. Eyes wide with murderous victory, Sasuke breathed heavily as he stared into his older brother's dying gaze.

"Still not enough hatred." Itachi's voice whispered in Sasuke's ear. As soon as Sasuke realized it had been a shadow clone he killed, Sasuke was sent flying across the room from a heavy kick to the back. The wall shook and broke as Sasuke's heavy body collided with it before falling to the ground. The breath was stolen from his lungs.

"Dammit, Itachi." Sasuke whispered, picking himself up. He still hadn't regained his breath but it would come back.

"I do not want to fight you, Sasuke. Let's end this and go our separate ways. Please."

"You think saying please is going to help you? You're going to have to do a lot more begging than that."

Sasuke's sharp sphere chidori was activated instantly and directed toward Itachi. The older Uchiha dodged and ran clockwise toward Sasuke as he tried to hit Itachi with his chidori. Itachi came up close to Sasuke's right side but then disappeared and reappeared on his left, kicking Sasuke in the stomach and knocking him backward. These were light blows Itachi was doing, if only to ruffle Sasuke up a bit. Fighting was not the answer and hurting Sasuke is something Itachi could not forgive himself for.

"Come on! Why are you taking an easy on me?! Fight me!" Sasuke yelled in frustration. Sasuke used the chidori senbon jutsu and a thousand chidori needles shot out at Itachi, who attempted to dodge them but got hit in his left knee. His leg was locked in place; no matter how hard he tried he couldn't move it. Itachi cursed under his breath.

"Sasuke, if you would listen to what I am trying to tell you-"

"Everything that comes out of your mouth is a lie. Why would I believe anything you tell me? You murdered our family!"

Itachi's heart sank yet again. He felt the longing and loneliness in Sasuke, his need for a family. Overwhelmed with regret and self-anguish, Itachi tried to explain, despite how futile it seemed. "I changed, little brother. I left the Akatsuki to gain a better life…a different perspective. I"

"Did you come looking for me?" Sasuke muttered, his voice deep.

"What?"

Sasuke's gaze leveled with Itachi's, his countenance taking on a grave expression.

"When you left the Akatsuki…did you, once, try looking for me?"

Itachi was speechless. No. Itachi hadn't gone to look for Sasuke. It hadn't occurred to him that he should look for Sasuke. What good would have come from it? Clearly, Sasuke wanted him dead. So if he did go looking for him he would have walked right into his own grave.

"No, you didn't. You say you want a new life and a chance to start things over. Yet your cherished brother wasn't even a part of your plan."

A gruesome silence filled the space between the two brothers. Sasuke's words echoed in Itachi's head, filling him with aching grief and more regret.

"Sasuke, when I left the Akatsuki-"

"Save it!" Sasuke growled, heated tears brimming in his eyes, his sharingan gloomy, "I don't care what you did! You're already dead to me."

Itachi's leg was still paralyzed, although some feeling was slowly coming back. Sasuke was angry and wracked with despair. Itachi wanted to hug him and be the older brother he always wanted to be but never had the chance to. It was his job as the eldest sibling to take care of him and teach him the ways of life. All Itachi had done was teach him how to hate and trust nobody. Itachi deserved to die, and it was only right that Sasuke be the one to do it.

"Sasuke. I love you. I want you to remember that." Itachi whispered, the fight in his eyes had dimmed.

"Shut up."

Sasuke, chidori activated, charged at his older brother with no other thought besides having to end his suffering. Itachi remained stock still, his struggling had ceased. He had accepted his fate the moment he saw his brother's tears. Itachi closed his eyes. He did not want to see his death.

~W~

He heard the ringing sound of a thousand birds and also heard it be immediately cut off right before impact. Itachi opened his eyes and Sasuke was gone.

Hinata was standing there, slightly arched over with her arm extended. Following the direction of her arm showed Sasuke at the end across the room, sprawled out on the floor. Itachi's heart thundered like a wave of a thousand ninja sprinting across a battlefield and he almost couldn't breathe. Seeing her was like a wave of fresh air after being suffocated for too long. Those crystal angelic eyes met his and his arms were instantly around her. His grip was so tight Hinata was forced to giggle. Feeling her arms wrap around his torso was the best feeling Itachi had ever experienced. She smelled of sweat, blood and shampoo and he loved it. Hinata squeezed him as tight as she could, never wanting to let go. The time she spent wondering where he was and being without him had caused a rift to open in her stomach. Itachi heard her sniff into his neck and felt a wetness slide down under his shirt and he pulled her closer, kissing her hair. Her grip tightened. She, too, had missed him.

A/N: ALRIGHT! THE END!...Just kidding. I don't know about you guys, but I think the best part of this chapter was the ending. I'm better with romance than fighting, right? It took hours to write this chapter because I'm not good with battle scenes! I watched a bit of the original fight between them and I tried to incorporate things without copying, I tried to put words into their actions and it's difficult. I need to work on that. I hope you guys like it, sorry for the late update, I'm tired after work lol. Ugh, ITAHINA love, it's mesmerizing! Lemme know what you think. And thank you for the reviews and the love !

Xoxo- Clover