He was flying through the trees; Inoichi had said that the remaining Akatsuki members needed to be found and taken down as soon as possible. Something about stopping the sealing of the Kyuubi. He knew that meant Naruto, but his focus was on the man who had murdered his entire family and clan, and if it helped Naruto, then that was only a bonus for him. This was his chance to take down his brother. He had permission and orders to do so. This would be the moment he would avenge his clan. All he had to do now was to find his elder brother.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan.

There!

Sasuke landed on a nearby tree, using it as a launching point to change the trajectory of his path.

Itachi was close.

After a few more moments, Sasuke landed in front of a large building that had not been used in years. The roof was gone and caved in, but the walls were still standing, covered in vines.

Itachi was here.

Heading to the interior, Sasuke found his brother sitting on a stone chair at the back wall of the building. Sasuke had assumed he would take his brother by surprise, but a split second later, Itachi was out of the chair and standing beside him.

Sasuke turned sharply and blocked the quick kunai attack Itachi had thrown at him.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

With a wrist flick, Itachi sent the kunai straight toward his face. Without hesitation, Sasuke pulled out his sword and blocked the kunai.

With a bit of annoyance, Itachi pulled the kunai back and wrapped his arm around his brothers, entrapping him so that he could land a strike. He kicked his leg up towards Sasuke's sword, then used it as a launching point to bring his other leg up, kicking Sasuke in the chin, sending his litter brother flying backward into the stone wall.

Itachi flipped in the air, then landed swiftly, sliding backward using his hand to slow himself down.

Sasuke pushed himself up and out of the crater that his body had created. After making a few hand signs, lightning began to illuminate his hand, and he slammed it into the stone floor, making it travel toward the elder. To avoid this, Itachi jumped up, only to find Sasuke meeting him there mid-air. He spun quickly, but Sasuke was faster. The younger plunged his sword through the elder's belly, sending them both straight to the ground, with Sasuke landing on top of him.

After a moment, Itachi's body began to separate into black crows. Sasuke turned and found his brother still sitting in the stone chair. He had been using Genjutsu on him, but with his Sharingan, Sasuke already knew that. The younger smirked.

Surprising him, Sasuke was suddenly kneeling behind the back of the stone chair, shoving his sword through the stone back and through Itachi's body as well.

Of course, this was Genjutsu as well.

Immediately activating his Chidori, Sasuke shot a bolt out the other direction to another Itachi sitting in a stone chair. The elder had replicated the scene, but with his Sharingan, Sasuke could tell which was real and which was a genjutsu. The Chidori stream landed on the stone chair inches from Itachi's head.

What Sasuke had assumed to be the real Itachi looked up at him but then disappeared into a flock of crows. He narrowed his eyes, trying to locate his brother. Suddenly, there was an arm around his neck. Sasuke spun, attempting to knock his brother's legs out from under him, but Itachi grabbed the collar of the Konoha flak jacket that he wore and spun him, slamming his body into the ground.

Sasuke coughed a bit of blood out when his back hit the stone, but he was smart enough to prepare a counter. Using his body weight, Sasuke launched his feet over his head and into Itachi's chest, forcing him to let go. The younger stood up, and the two brothers stared at each other momentarily. Sasuke knew that Itachi's sharingan was more advanced than his. He had to be careful.

Before Sasuke even registered it, Itachi flashed in front of him so that his face was mere inches from his younger brothers, and then Sasuke felt a kick in the stomach that sent him flying backward. His back slammed against the wall, and Itachi was on him moments later, grabbing his hand and pinning it above his head, then threw a chakra-infused punch into his stomach.

Through the pain in his abdomen, Sasuke could only stare as his brother's two fingers started heading toward his eye.

He's going to steal my Sharingan!

Then there was searing pain. It was enough for Sasuke to use to knock himself out of the genjutsu.

Sasuke then found himself standing in the center of the building like before the fight started; everything before that moment was an illusion, a genjutsu created by his brother.

Sasuke's hand immediately went to his eye, which thankfully was still there. He was breathing heavily, sinking to his knees, then to all four. He lifted his head to look up at his brother, who was standing only a few feet away, breathing hard as well. His hand was over his eye, and he looked furious.

"You dispelled my Tsukuyomi?" Itachi asked through his teeth.

Sasuke noticed that his right eye remained closed, and blood trickled down.

Sasuke smirked, then through a summoning seal, a large shuriken appeared with a puff of smoke, and split second it was being hurled toward the elder brother. Itachi looked up just in time and, with his Sharingan, could decipher that a second shuriken was hidden in the shadow of the first. With the skills of an advanced shinobi, Itachi threw his body so that he glided between two shinobi tools, but what he didn't know was that Sasuke had attached cables to them so that once he pulled on it, the shuriken broke apart.

Itachi was too close to them to dodge, so one of the blades shot back and impaled itself into the back of his thigh. He fell to the ground in a heap, grunting in pain. As he looked up, Sasuke smirked, but Itachi wasn't beaten yet. He reached back and pulled the blade out, tossing it to the side, hearing it clink on the stone floor.

Sasuke hurled back, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

Itachi managed to dodge quickly, shooting himself backward into the air. Then, making hand signs of his own, he mimicked the same technique.

The two fireballs slammed into each other, but Itachi was prepared for this. He opened his right eye and accessed his Mangekyo Sharingan's power, the Amaterasu.

Black flames filled the fireball and crept towards his younger brother. The black flames completely consumed the flames from both fireballs. Itachi then closed his eye, and all flames extinguished, but even more blood was flowing from his eye.

The two brothers stared at each other for a moment.

Surprising Sasuke, Itachi sank to one knee, violently coughing. When Itachi pulled back the hand that was covering his mouth, Sasuke noticed that it was filled with blood.

"What is wrong with you?" Sasuke yelled.

Itachi didn't reply but stood back up. He stared at his younger brother, and then he was enveloped in a yellow and orange colored chakra that resembled a set of ribs around him. Itachi started walking towards him.

Sasuke took a couple of steps backward.

"What is that?" Sasuke asked.

"Susanoo," Itachi replied.

"Tch," Sasuke clicked his tongue, then made a few hand signs before throwing out dozens of shuriken, "Uchiha Ryū Shurikenjutsu: "Ikazuchi": Sanren!"

Lightning-infused shuriken shot toward his brother, but it was easily dodged by a skeleton hand springing from the ribs surrounding Itachi.

Then it started to storm.

Sasuke looked up as the rain started to fall around them and smirked.

The younger Uchiha then raised his hand towards the sky.

Itachi looked up at lightning that had started gathering in various strikes around them, accumulating above them a hundred times more than an average storm. All the lightning gathered into one strike, firing down at where the elder Uchiha was standing.

The force of the Kirin was too great, and it shot Sasuke back as well.

Sitting up, Sasuke watched impatiently, waiting for the dust and smoke to settle.

When it cleared, Itachi laid flat on his back in the center of the building's remnants. The Kirin had destroyed most of what had remained of the abandoned building, so now it was just a stone slab in the middle of nowhere. Sasuke let out a breath, it looked like their fight was over, and he had won. Sasuke couldn't shake the feeling that it was a thrown fight.

Sasuke pushed himself and slowly walked over to where Itachi laid, knelt down on one knee next to him. Itachi was miraculously still alive. He turned his head towards his younger brother.

"Itachi," Sasuke said.

"You've gotten stronger, Sasuke," Itachi muttered.

"Hn," Sasuke smirked, "I got lucky with the storm."

"Ah, maybe," Itachi agreed, then started coughing violently again.

"You're sick," Sasuke commented when Itachi's fit had subsided.

"Hm," Itachi replied, neither confirming nor denying his brother's statement, then moved on to another topic.

"Sasuke, do you know how to achieve the Eternal Mangekyo?"

"I do."

Itachi closed his eyes, accepting his brother's answer.

"Why did you do it, Itachi?" Sasuke asked, "Why did you eliminate the Uchiha?"

Without looking at his brother, he started his answer, "You are old enough to know the truth now."

Sasuke didn't respond; he just waited for his brother to continue.

"I was protecting the village," Itachi said.

"What?" Sasuke exclaimed.

"And I was protecting you," Itachi continued, unfazed by his brother's outburst.

"Me?"

"The Clan, led by our father, was planning a Coup d'état, and I knew a Uchiha coup would lead to intervention from other villages and ultimately start another World War. Danzo gave me two options: support the coup and have the whole clan, including you, killed in the ensuing conflict, or accept the assignment to wipe out the clan before the coup started, and you would be spared. I chose you," Itachi explained and ended by looking at his bother.

Sasuke knelt in silence, the information still being digested, so Itachi continued.

"I encouraged you to become stronger so that one day, I would pay for my sins at the hand of another Uchiha," Itachi said, closing his eyes, "At the request of the Yondaime, I joined the Akatsuki to keep tabs on the organization for Konoha. He agreed to protect you in return."

"You did it to protect the village and to protect me?" Sasuke clarified.

Itachi looked over to his brother and noticed he had sunk down on both knees, and tears were streaming down his face.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke looked up at his brother, and their eyes met.

"I want you to continue to protect the village in my stead," Itachi stated.

"How can you ask me that? How can I protect the village after what they did to you?" Sasuke cried, "They turned you into a criminal and made you kill your own family! They deserve to die!"

"Sasuke," Itachi replied calmly.

"I can't forgive them!" Sasuke said.

"Sasuke."

The younger Uchiha looked at his brother, "I understand."

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"It is your choice," Itachi said, sitting up. His strength was failing; he would be departing this world soon.

Sasuke and Itachi were face-to-face, and Itachi started reaching up. Sasuke had expected his brother to poke his head like he had done several times as a kid, but surprisingly, Itachi grabbed the back of his head and brought their foreheads together.

"No matter what you choose, Sasuke, I will love you. Always."

He was out here; she knew he was here somewhere. After the Yondaime had taken off to help bring Naruto back, Sakura received a report that Sasuke had left the unit to pursue his brother and act on his revenge. She didn't want to interfere, but Itachi was powerful, and even if Sasuke won, he would be injured at the very least.

Sasuke, where are you?

It started to rain and storm.

Sakura stopped when a huge lightning strike landed in the distance to her right.

Sasuke.

That was his Kirin. She knew it.

Using the tree branch she had landed on as a launching point; she took off in that direction. She landed above the brothers just in time to see Sasuke walk over and start talking with Itachi. She couldn't help but overhear their conversation. There was no way that Sasuke didn't know she was here, but she still sat there silently, not wanting to interrupt. It was something she knew that he must do.

The village planned the Uchiha Massacre to prevent a war.

It didn't matter to her; she wanted to know what Sasuke would do.

Itachi had brought his forehead to his brothers, and after speaking a few words, Itachi fell back down.

Sakura knew Itachi was gone. Her eyes shifted to Sasuke, who sat there for a moment before starting to fall backward himself.

Sakura took off then and got to Sasuke just in time to keep the raven's head from slamming backward into the stone underneath them.

"Sakura," Sasuke acknowledged.

"Sasuke," Sakura replied.

"His eyes," Sasuke said.

Sakura was momentarily shocked but then understood.

She nodded, "But not here, back at the medical camp."

"Hn," Sasuke made a small grunt, and then his exhaustion took over.

The surgery had gone well. Sakura had removed Itachi's eyes at the scene before throwing Sasuke's body over her back. She momentarily thanked Tsunade for teaching her to increase her strength with chakra. Otherwise, the heavily muscled body of Sasuke Uchiha would have been impossible for her to carry.

They had returned to camp, and she had performed the transplant without complications. She placed a bandage over his eyes; she hoped the recovery wouldn't take too long. She had told a few other shinobi where Itachi's body was and for him to be brought back and kept under guard for the time being. They completed the orders without question; after hearing what she had heard, she figured the Yondaime might allow Sasuke to bury his brother back in the village.

When she stepped out of the tent, she met with a couple of other shinobi who had informed her that another enemy, an unknown Akatsuki member, had shown up on the battlefield. Still, they disappeared after making havoc for a bit. He had a curious ability that allowed him to pass through people and objects. It made landing attacks on him nearly impossible.

She thanked the shinobi for the information and asked if they had heard from the Hokage about Naruto, but no one had received any reports yet. She turned and returned to the tent Sasuke was in to check on him once more before returning to her own tent to get some rest.

She stepped out of the tent the second time.

What she saw almost brought her to her knees.