1
Sasuke stands under the wooden arch layered with dust and cracks so deep its kanji is barely legible, and he already knows he won't find what he's looking for here.
He enters the small town anyway if only to say he tried. Broken glass glows like embers under the haze of the blood red moon, littering the dirt road. Sasuke steps lightly on the pieces while weaving around large pillars of splintered wood that might have once been a billboard.
Metal screeches across the sunset sky and Sasuke looks up at a windmill behind an upcoming house, its rusty blades spinning lazily in the summer breeze. His Sharingan burns to life as he approaches the home, peering through the sooty front window to examine its dark interior.
Upturned furniture and grimy clothes strewn across a carpeted floor. The family that lived there must have left in a hurry, meaning the Shinobi Resistance likely freed the townspeople from the Infinite Tsukuyomi and had already secreted them away in one of their underground bases.
Sasuke has yet to find anybody staring motionlessly at the eternal red moon, the Rinnegan in their eyes, which gives credence to what he already knew upon arriving and proves staying here any longer would be a waste of time.
The seventeen-year old returns to the dirt road and passes an apartment building with a gaping hole in its side, scorched bricks spilling out of it like bloodied intestines. Well, Jugo's intel was definitely wrong because there's no sign anybody has been in this town for months.
Sasuke's hands clench. The Resistance is getting stronger, they're freeing more and more people every day and getting bolder in their attacks on Kabuto's Edo Tensei army. What was once an annoyance has officially become a threat he must deal with soon.
Sasuke forces his hands to relax and walks back the way he came. He's just passing under the town entrance when Jugo's owl lands on his shoulder.
"Tell Jugo no one's been in that town for months," he snaps, glaring at the bird. "And Kabuto will get my official report tomorrow."
He jerks his shoulder and the bird swiftly takes off into the burnt orange sky. Technically, Sasuke should check the neighboring town for a Resistance hideout, but he's too pissed to care. It's unlikely the Resistance would have freed one town without freeing the next community anyway, and Kabuto doesn't really care what Sasuke does as long as he shows up to their lab sessions, so he leaves the abandoned town in the dust and heads home.
It takes three hours to return to the capital of the Elemental Kingdom. By the time the towering steel walls are in sight, Sasuke's anger has died and he's left only feeling exhaustion as he drags himself to the gate, squinting when the searchlight shines down on him.
"Uchiha-sama." The four guards bow while he passes into what was once Amegakure, the Ame-nin stationed on top of the gate quickly moving the light off of him.
Sasuke doesn't acknowledge any of them, yet the guards still raise their heads and smile at his back. Maybe they're trying to curry favor, but most likely they're just grateful he freed them from the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Kabuto had never explained why he wanted the people of Amegakure to be freed first, though it was probably because they'd been vulnerable. Its citizens were lost and army in disarray after the recent death of their leader Konan, so when Kabuto managed to find some of Konan's DNA in her residence and brought her back through Edo Tensei, they had been eager to pay him back for his good deed.
Many Ame-nin were the first to join Kabuto's Kingdom and have even helped establish his rule in other villages where Sasuke freed people. Of course, not everyone supported Kabuto, but after getting a glimpse of his Rinnegan, those Ame-nin now happily serve the Elemental Kingdom too.
A steel traditional-styled house appears down the empty road by the lakeshore, and Sasuke sags in relief.
He slides open the door, flicks on the light as he enters and takes off his sandals on the mat. His satchel is dropped by the door while he runs a weary hand through his front hair and walks into the main area, his bed calling his name.
A savory aroma makes him stop short. Sasuke backtracks to the kitchen, stomach rumbling and suddenly reminding him he hadn't eaten since breakfast.
His feet pad on the tiles as he enters the dark room, but he makes out the shape of lobster, steamed vegetables, onigiri, and a bowl of sautéed noodles on the low table. Some of his energy returns at the sight of the food and he flicks on the light—
Black eyes meet his. Sasuke jumps.
"Nii-san," Sasuke cries, eyes wide and locked on his brother seated at the table. "Why are you sitting in the dark?"
Itachi doesn't look up from a red scarf he's knitting in his lap while he asks, "Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"
Sasuke's lips twist into a scowl. "That wasn't funny the first time you said it," he grouses, moving to sit across from his brother.
Itachi raises his head, a mischievous smile on his lightly tan face. "Sorry, I'll come up with something better next time."
Sasuke rolls his eyes and reaches for the plate of lobster, picking up the knife beside it to cut off a piece. "Or, you could just stop greeting me with jokes because they're never funny."
Itachi sighs like he's put out, but his lips are quirked up when he says, "If that will make you happy, I'll stick to knitting and fishing as my primary hobbies."
Sasuke pours some noodles onto his plate. "Please do."
Itachi chuckles, his eyes dropping back to his scarf that looks halfway done, and Sasuke picks up his chopsticks to grab a piece of lobster. He brings it to his mouth, and though he wants to swallow it whole, he chews it slowly. Rich soy sauce and tangy spices flourish on his tongue and he's glad he had the self-control to savor it because his brother probably spent half the day gathering the ingredients and hours cooking them to perfection.
However, Sasuke's control breaks when he tastes the onigiri and he snatches his next bite faster than he grabs kunai before shoveling noodles in after it. His brother has really improved his culinary skills over the past few months, which is remarkable considering Itachi doesn't eat—
Sasuke stops. He chokes down the rice in his mouth, slowly lowering the onigiri to the table.
"Sasuke?"
Itachi looks up, hands stilling around his needles while the teen pushes away his empty plate.
"I'm full." Sasuke picks up his plate and stands. "You can have the rest."
He goes to the sink and stacks it on the pile of silverware for Itachi to wash since his brother always waves him away when he tries cleaning.
"I can't."
Sasuke starts to reply, turning.
Itachi's pure black eyes bore into him. Sasuke's heart stills.
"I can't taste anything, all the food resembles ash—"
"Put your henge back on now!" Sasuke snarls, Sharingan flaring though he's too disturbed to use them when Itachi's eyes look so dead—wrong.
tachi ignores him and stands, his tear troughs stretching with a frown while he approaches Sasuke.
"You can't keep pretending I'm alive when—"
"Shut up!" Sasuke screams, hand raising to strike, but he can't bring it down on his brother—could never hurt Nii-san again.
"You know—"
"Just shut up—"
"I am—"
"Shut. Up!"
"I'm dead."
Sasuke roars and punches the wall behind him. A piece of cement breaks off the doorway and clatters harshly into the hall, skidding across the floor with a screech.
He storms up to Itachi, getting in his face and forcing himself to glare at those raven irises barely visible against his black sclera.
"Put the henge back on right now," he hisses.
"Make me," Itachi says too soft to be angry, and Sasuke recoils in shock. "Kabuto gave you my control talisman." Sasuke's face twitches. "Which means you can make me do whatever you want," he says like it's simple.
Yet Sasuke can't make Itachi do anything. Just the thought of using the talisman to force his will over Itachi's...of accepting that Itachi was a product of Edo Tensei...that his brother is dead—
Sasuke jerks his head away from Itachi because he can't force his brother to do anything. However, if Itachi doesn't fix his eyes with a henge, Sasuke will end up acknowledging the same thing about him eventually.
Itachi has him trapped and he knows it, so Sasuke backs up, swallows thickly, and strides out of the room. Itachi's dead—dark eyes follow him until he reaches his bedroom and closes the door.
"What has the Leaf Village ever done for us?"
Bitterness sharpens Kabuto's voice to a hiss, his reptilian eyes locking on Sasuke across the dark cavern like a snake who found a mouse by its den.
Yet the teen barely hears him, his gaze trapped on his reanimated brother. His dark hair moving like a shadow with every graceful move, unhindered by the shackles of his disease, and those ebony eyes that hold no judgement, only love every time they land on Sasuke. It's Nii-san. It's really him and he's alive.
They been fighting side-by-side against Kabuto, something they never had the chance to do in their youth, and the dream come true is a balm on Sasuke's tattered heart. Now for the first time since the teen learned the truth about the massacre, he doesn't feel like madness is clawing at the door to his mind and he's a hairsbreadth away from welcoming it in if only so he's no longer alone. Because Nii-san is here, and now he'll never have to be alone again.
"No one understands you better than I. Thus, I will be your big brother and stick by your side."
Sasuke's eyes narrow at the audacious claim and he mentally scoffs. As if Kabuto could replace Nii-san.
"Now…join me…" Kabuto's scaly mouth stretches into a smile that's more deranged-looking than the man probably realizes.
"Don't listen to him, Sasuke," Itachi cuts in, and the teen looks to him.
"He was an even better spy than I was, which means, he's even better at lying than me. And…" Itachi's expression firms. "No matter what darkness or contradictions lie within the Village, I am still Uchiha Itachi of Konoha."
Sasuke's lips part. Konoha had ruined Itachi—ruined their clan despite the Uchiha being a founding member of the Village. Yet his brother still cared for that place?
A rush of awe floods Sasuke's veins because only his brother has a heart so pure as to accept Konoha.
"Sasuke…" Itachi's voice hushes with a bit of sadness, though his expression is calm. "It's my fault you're like this right now. I know I have no right to advise you in any way. But I hope you'll hear me out because I have to tell you something."
Sasuke's eyes widen as his brother regards him, something burning in his Mangekyō Sharingan. "But first," he looks away, "Let's take care of this guy."
Kabuto's gaze sharpens and the snakelike protrusion in his stomach hisses at Itachi. Sasuke reaches back for his sword at the threat, already resolving to defeat the man swiftly so he can finally get some straight answers from Itachi and hear what his brother wishes to tell him.
"Oh, I see."
Sasuke's hand stills around his sword handle while Kabuto eyes him curiously.
"Would you prefer if I simply gave you back your brother?" Sasuke's heart stutters, lips parting. "I can give you control over Itachi's Edo Tensei and you'll be able to keep him around for as long as you wish…maybe even forever."
"Don't listen to him, Sasuke," Itachi turns sharply to him, and Sasuke realizes the desire must have shown in his eyes. "We have to end the Edo Tensei to help the Shinobi Alliance."
Sasuke frowns. "But if we do that." He slides out of his battle stance to send his brother an imploring look. "You'll…die again, won't you?"
Itachi shakes his head, sounding almost frustrated. "I'm already a dead man, I can't die twice."
Sasuke bites his lip because Itachi is technically correct, yet despite his pale, cracked skin and the black sclera of his eyes, all Sasuke sees is brother back from the dead. However, if the Edo Tensei is cancelled, he'll have to tell Itachi goodbye. Sasuke never got to say goodbye the first time Itachi died and he isn't sure he can—no, he knows he won't be able to handle letting his brother go when they've only just reunited.
"Well, Sasuke-kun?"
Kabuto smiles, his expression as trustworthy as the serpent he resembles. Sasuke doesn't want to put faith in this highly-trained liar who is clearly unhinged, considering the experiments he'd performed on himself.
However, the thought of saying goodbye to Itachi—to Nii-san—when they'd never had much time together, and what little time they did have was shrouded by lies and deceit… Sasuke wants his brother back, wants to make up for the years they lost more than anything, and if Kabuto can give him that…
Itachi is suddenly in his face, grabbing his chin gently yet firmly and tilting it up.
Sasuke inwardly flinches at the flaky cracks moving around Itachi's mouth while his brother says, "I've already lived my life, and even if I have to go soon, I promise we will meet again."
Sasuke's face twists with a wretched sadness. "But that could take decades." Itachi smiles a little sadly, and Sasuke's teeth clench. "I…I can't. I need you."
Itachi's smile drops right before Sasuke tears out his sword and holds it against Itachi's throat.
His brother's face goes blank, but his eyes are pained. "Sasuke…?"
The teen gazes past his brother to the smirking Kabuto, and his expression turns to ice as he says, "It's a deal."
Itachi jumps back when Sasuke slices at his neck, but before he lands, Kabuto is lunging at him. Yet Itachi twists around, kunai he stole from Sasuke—probably when he had his sword against his throat—raised to block the talisman kunai Kabuto tries stabbing into his back.
Itachi lands in a skid, Mangekyō Sharingan about to rain Amaterasu upon Kabuto when Sasuke rushes between them. His brother's Sharingan stops spiraling and Sasuke knows now Itachi will lose. It's obvious from how his brother pulls back his fists and swinging legs the second Sasuke gets in range of them, his jutsu becoming less and less deadly whenever Sasuke nears.
That's why it takes under five minutes for Kabuto to trap Itachi in stalagmites that wrap around Itachi's limbs like rubber. His brother watches expressionlessly while Kabuto hands him the kunai with the talisman and Sasuke walks up to him.
He leans down and reaches over Itachi's shoulder, whispering, "I'm sorry, Nii-san."
Itachi closes his eyes as the kunai sinks into his skin. "No, you're not."
Sasuke touches down on the battlefield and plays the role he must very well. Naruto, Sakura, and the rest of his old classmates are wary of him, and he would think less of them if they weren't, but they don't try to attack him once he makes it clear he's the one who cancelled the Edo Tensei. It's a lie, but Kabuto recalled all of his reanimated shinobi to make it a convincing one, so it isn't long before nearly everyone's distrust morphs into appreciation.
After that, everything goes according to plan until Madara stabs him with his own sword. Gaining the Rinnegan from the Sage of the Six Paths while in limbo is another shock. Though when he wakes up on the ground with Kabuto beside him, things quickly get back on track as the snakelike man covertly hands him a paralyzing seal on a small sheet of paper, so powerful Sasuke's hip goes numb once he stuffs it in his weapon pouch.
Kabuto soon disappears from the battlefield afterwards, slinking off to add the finishing touches to his plan, while Sasuke is again surprised when he's thrown into a battle against Kaguya alongside his old teammates. The fear and desperation that occasionally breaks through his calm facade are genuine, Itachi's fate if he fails weighing on his mind. However, Kaguya is eventually defeated, and now that he's back in his proper dimension, Sasuke calms, realizing the plan has gone perfectly despite all the setbacks.
The Sage of the Six Paths explains how Naruto and him merely need to make the rat seal and Sasuke's Rinnegan will mix with the Tailed-Beasts' power inside Naruto to free everyone from the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Sasuke is mulling over this information when the Sage, levitating in a seated position nearby, glances down at him. "The rest is up to you, Sasuke," he says.
The Uchiha doesn't reply immediately, yet soon nods. "Yes, but first…" He looks to Naruto who is watching him, tears still caught on his lashes after speaking to his father, though his expression is neutral and edged by wariness under Sasuke's gaze.
Sasuke frowns. "I told you I want to be Hokage." Naruto's brow rises in remembrance and Sakura makes a surprised noise behind them. "But you desire the same position," he holds up two fingers in the confrontation seal, "So fight me, and whoever wins can be Hokage."
Naruto's mouth drops, Kakashi's eyes widen and Sakura screeches. "You were being serious!?"
Determination hardens Sasuke's face and he keeps his gaze on Naruto. "Let's fight without trying to kill each other…isn't that what you want?" Real uncertainty flickers in his eyes because that was what Naruto wanted four years ago, he might have changed his mind.
Yet the Uzumaki's face swiftly loses its wary edge and swaps it for tentative hope. "Sasuke…" He glances back to the Tailed-Beasts circling them and beyond to the enormous tree holding the Shinobi Alliance captive. "We should free everybody first—"
"They'll hunt me down and lock me away before we can ever battle." Naruto starts yet Sasuke glares at him. "I just need to know before that happens…which of us is stronger." His hand shifts into the friendship seal and Naruto's eyes widen while he forces himself to say, "Please, Naruto."
Slowly the reluctance vanishes from Naruto's expression and he grins, hand rising with his own friendship seal. "Okay, we can fight." He smirks, reaching to lock his two fingers over Sasuke's. "For real this t—ugh!"
Naruto cries out as the paralysis seal in Sasuke's palm shoots up his arm and sinks into his veins, washing over Naruto's whole body in seconds. Sasuke takes back his hand, expression going blank while Naruto watches frozen, mouth still parted in a shout and eyes big.
"Naruto?" Kakashi calls, concerned, and Sasuke drops the seal to grab ninja wire and shuriken from his weapons pouch. "Sasuke, what did you do to him!?"
The Uchiha turns to Kakashi and Sakura, whisking out three shuriken from his hand. Kakashi gasps, but is too exhausted to move before his shuriken spiral around him, the wire binding his arms to his torso and shuriken sinking into the earth and yanking the man to his knees.
"Sasuke-kun, stop!" Sakura cries, reaching for her sensei, but Sasuke looks at her and she freezes.
For a moment, her shimmering eyes are all he sees, fear and determination brightening their green shade into something radiant and deadly as fire.
Sasuke smirks, though it pains him. "You're…really annoying." His Rinnegan gleams and his genjutsu rushes into Sakura.
The flame instantly dies in her irises, leaving the Uchiha cold as she wavers and falls to her knees. "Sasu…ke…" Her voice fades when she collapses, rolling onto her back, and Kakashi twists to her in alarm.
"Sakura?" The jonin turns to Sasuke, scowling under his mask. "Sakura…she just wanted to help you, all this time."
"So you're suggesting I enjoy a little romance?" Sasuke scoffs despite it burning his throat. "I don't have time for that, and no reason to love her or be loved by her."
Kakashi glares. "No, she just wanted to help you! Despite everything you did to her and Naruto, they both wanted to help you!"
Sasuke glowers. "I never asked for their help." Before Kakashi can reply a large furry paw swings at Sasuke and he quickly raises his head, capturing the Kyuubi in a genjutsu and forcing the creature to pull back his hand.
"Oh, I'm also putting all of you Tailed-Beasts under my control."
He swiftly captures the other chakra creatures with his Rinnegan, and once they're all under his control, he hisses. "Catastrophic Planetary Destruction!"
The ground breaks apart around him and Sasuke grabs Naruto's arm, pulling the paralyzed boy close so he isn't caught in the gravitation pull. Kakashi shouts behind him, but his shuriken keep the man pinned to the ground while large chunks of rock rise into the sky and mould around the Tailed-Beasts until they're hidden inside spheres of earth.
"Sasuke! Is this what your current dream is?" Kakashi asks accusingly from between the jagged pieces of the torn ground. "Are you still seeking vengeance?" he demands.
"No, not vengeance." Sasuke shakes his head as Kabuto rises from the earth beside him like a shadow coming to life, startling Kakashi. "Revolution."
The masked jonin is taken aback, but Sasuke focuses on Naruto whose eyes are twitching, gaze full of too many emotions that funnel into terror as Chidori sparks in Sasuke's hand.
"I'll make this quick…you won't feel a thing." Sasuke doesn't know why he assures the Uzumaki, yet it's not like he wants Naruto to suffer.
This isn't about killing Naruto anymore, so Sasuke allows himself to whisper. "My one and only friend."
Naruto's eyes glisten and a strangled hiss escapes his throat.
Sasuke can tell he's distressed, but there's nothing he can do except toss a pleasant genjutsu over Naruto, the blond's eyes flashing with the Rinnegan right as Sasuke plunges Chidori towards his heart.
"You managed to divert it with your left hand…"
Sasuke almost expects to repeat his words from four years ago. However, Naruto is paralyzed and under a genjutsu this time, so Sasuke's hand punches through his flesh unhindered.
Blood splatters the air and the smell of burning skin fans out around him while Kakashi yells more anguished than he's ever heard as Sasuke pulls his hand out Naruto's chest, and the blond drops to the ground on his side. The Rinnegan quickly vanishes from Naruto's gaze, revealing blank, unseeing blue eyes.
Sasuke stares at Naruto in the yellow light of the dawning sun, observing the jagged hole where his heart should be. His jumpsuit is shredded and soaked with blood around the wound while the red liquid rivers down his skin and darkens the soil under him. Naruto looks younger curled up on the ground, and could easily be mistaken for a sleeping child if not for his dull, unblinking eyes.
"Shouldn't we kill—"
"Leave Sakura," Sasuke says, hand stained with Naruto's blood slicing through the air definitively. "Take Kakashi."
The Uchiha says no more because he can hardly breathe as his eyes burn from what must be the Rinnegan draining his energy. He shuts his left eye to preserve chakra, but the burn remains. Still Sasuke walks away from Naruto's corpse, barely noticing Kabuto taunting Kakashi when he drags the jonin up while Sasuke heads towards Sakura's prone body where Itachi is crouched.
"Nii-san," Sasuke manages to choke, voice quivering though he doesn't know why. Itachi gives Sakura one last worried look and stands.
He regards Sasuke and the teen's breath hitches at seeing his skin has some coloring, cracks no longer marring his flesh—Kabuto's doing undoubtedly. However, Itachi's eyes are pitch-black without the glow of his Sharingan, but even still, his brother looks so alive now. And Sasuke can make sure he stays that way. Forever.
Itachi waits for him to speak, expressionless, yet Sasuke has nothing to say. Therefore, he grabs Itachi's wrist and simply leads him off the battlefield. Itachi doesn't fight his pull, maybe because he notices Sasuke's fragile state or he knows there's no point, but Sasuke is grateful regardless because he's tired of fighting the brother he loves.
And perhaps Itachi is tired too because he never pulls away and Sasuke never lets him go.
Sasuke finds Itachi sitting on the engawa that hangs behind the lake, green kimono loose and askew upon his shoulders. The red moon is stark against the starless black sky, yet Itachi is turned towards the faint village lights behind their home.
The teen hesitates in the doorway, but Itachi must know he's here, so he quickly steps up beside his brother. Itachi remains still as a statue and Sasuke takes this for acceptance of his presence. He quickly lies down, settling his head on his brother's lap.
He's too scared to check if Itachi's eyes are still dead—wrong and thus stares out at the moon's reflection in the lake's rippling surface. The water looks like blood under its haze and it should be unnerving, yet Sasuke has gotten used to it. He's gotten used to many terrible things lately.
Itachi is silent, but Sasuke senses when his eyes fall on his head. What is Itachi thinking about? Their childhood? Their argument over dinner? Something else entirely? Even now, his brother is a mystery Sasuke cannot solve. However, isn't it a comfort that some things never change?
Itachi's hand finds Sasuke's head and all his thoughts drain away as his fingers start threading through his hair. The teen closes his eyes and sighs contently.
It really doesn't matter if the moon is red or the Shinobi Resistance is breathing down their necks. No matter what happens, everything will be fine just as long as he never has to let Itachi's hand slip from his and the sayonara never comes.
Well, this is officially the darkest thing I've ever written 😯 But I'm happy with it, and I hope you readers are too!
Expect slow, sporadic updates, and know the number of chapters will be around five.
Until next time, have a great day 😉