Chapter Text
Sasuke had expected to spend countless more months searching the world for any hint of Itachi. But it was like his brother had been waiting for the exact moment when he was alone. A crow landed on his shoulder barely a day after he left Haku. The bird was obviously a summons, too big to not be, and there wasn’t any doubt who it belonged to as it looked at Sasuke through a familiar sharingan. Sasuke’s chest tightened at the unexpected reminder of Shisui, but he forced himself to breathe through it. The crow took off with a loud caw that reverberated through Sasuke’s ears as he chased after it.
It took Sasuke a while to recognize where the crow was leading him, having only ever followed the same path once before. The Uchiha Hideout had fallen into ruin, overtaken by nature without anyone to care for it, and their once proud crest was so faded that it was barely visible. It was a tangible reminder as to how far the clan had fallen, of how much suffering they had endured. Sasuke hated seeing it like this, but looking at it strengthened his resolve and renewed his flagging determination.
Sasuke found Kisame Hoshigaki first, the swordsman waiting for him at the entrance of the hideout. His hands were empty, his monstrous sword was strapped to his back, but he looked intimidating enough without it, all of his unnaturally sharp teeth on display as he smiled. Sasuke was worried he’d have to fight Kisame before he could even see Itachi, but Kisame seemed more interested in the empty space on either side of Sasuke. His sharp smile dimmed as he didn’t find whatever it was he was looking for.
“I thought you had someone traveling with you.” Kisame almost sounded disappointed, but Sasuke barely heard him over the sound of his suddenly racing heart.
“Not anymore.” Sasuke’s words bled together as he said them in a rush, refusing to let himself think about Haku any longer than he had to. Kisame’s shoulders slumped, his disappointment more obvious now, but he also moved out of Sasuke’s way.
“Itachi’s waiting for you.” Sasuke stiffened as Kisame said Itachi’s name, but he forced himself to move. He couldn’t run from Itachi, not anymore.
Itachi was sitting in a chair carved from stone, sprawled in it as if it were a throne with an impassive look on his face. Sasuke’s heart twisted as he looked at his older brother, and he felt like a kid again, seized by fear. But his fear faded as he really looked at Itachi for the first time in years.
Itachi’s face was gaunt, and his cloak was hanging off of him. His hair was longer than Sasuke remembered, but it was lank and lifeless. There was a yellowish tint to his skin, which made him look waxy. And he looked tired. The image of Itachi that Sasuke had obsessed over for years shattered in an instant, unable to withstand the force of reality. Sasuke faltered for a moment as he looked at his brother, Haku’s question coming to his mind unbidden, but he couldn’t change his mind, not now.
Sasuke used shunshin to get behind Itachi and then he forced chakra into his sword before stabbing it into the stone. He forced his sword through the stone and forced it through Itachi, not stopping until the hilt was pressed right up against the stone. Itachi laughed, the sound wet and garbled, and the air suddenly smelled like blood.
“I’ve missed you, Sasuke.” The words sounded both like the truth and a taunt, and Sasuke felt like he couldn’t breathe as they wormed their way inside of him. He twisted his sword, shredding Itachi’s guts further, but Itachi’s pained gasp didn’t make him feel any better. He knew he should force his sword just a little higher and tear through Itachi’s heart, finally ending it all. But there was a question he wanted to ask first, one he already had an unsatisfactory answer to.
“Why did you do it?” Sasuke didn’t explain what he was asking about, but he didn’t need to. He was sure Itachi knew exactly what his question was about.
“To test my abilities.” It was the same answer Itachi had given him before, but Sasuke believed it even less now. He was sure there was something Itachi wasn’t saying as his brother had always been in the habit of keeping secrets. “You still have trouble seeing what’s right in front of you.” Sasuke tensed as Itachi’s voice was suddenly coming from behind him. He turned his head only enough to look over his shoulder and was unsurprised to see Itachi.
Itachi was sitting on the stone throne Sasuke thought he had stabbed through. He was uninjured and his eyes were bright red, his mangekyo sharingan spinning wildly. Sasuke felt like an idiot for getting caught in his brother’s genjutsu, but they had never been his strong suit. Itachi dispelled it with a flick of his fingers, and Sasuke was left standing in front of him, his sword still sheathed by his side.
“You should've asked why I let you live.” Itachi stood as he spoke, but he didn’t approach Sasuke yet.
“I don’t care why you did.” It was the worst lie Sasuke ever told, but he felt better for having said it.
“Of course you do. I’m sure you’ve asked yourself that very question every day since the massacre.” Sasuke balled his hands into fists as Itachi was right, just like he always was. “Did you know that the mangekyo sharingan steals your sight?” Sasuke blinked at the unexpected question, feeling like he was in the middle of a very different conversation.
“You’re lying.” There wasn’t any reason for Itachi to lie, but Sasuke felt like that was something he should’ve known, something someone would’ve told him before. But the man standing in front of him was the only person left who could tell him anything about his dojutsu. Itachi kept speaking, acting as if Sasuke hadn’t said anything at all.
“However there is one way to restore it.” Itachi took a step closer to Sasuke, and Sasuke instinctively took a step back. He had a bad feeling that he already knew what Itachi was about to say. “I let you live so I could have your eyes. I had hoped you'd have unlocked the mangekyo by now, but I should’ve known you wouldn’t be strong enough.” Itachi was suddenly right in front of Sasuke with a demonic presence looming over him. Sasuke tried to take a step back, but it was like his feet were nailed to the floor. “I’ll just have to take what I can get.” Sasuke tried not to panic, but it was hard not to as Itachi reached for his eye, like he was going to pluck it right from Sasuke’s head. But Itachi only flicked his fingers, dispelling a second genjutsu.
Sasuke didn’t give Itachi a chance to throw him into another genjutsu. He summoned shuriken from the seals on his wrists and flung them at Itachi, wanting to be the one to draw first blood. Itachi used a kunai to deflect each shuriken, an unimpressed look on his face as he did so. Sasuke clenched his teeth together so tightly his jaw hurt, but he kept trying until he ran out of shuriken.
Sasuke hadn’t planned to use his cursed form so early in their fight, not wanting to risk exhausting his chakra, but he wasn’t sure how else to get an advantage over Itachi. Wings burst from his back as Orochimaru’s vile chakra flooded his system, making Sasuke overly aware of every part of himself. It made him feel powerful, but also out of control, like his body didn’t belong to him anymore. Itachi’s eyes widened, and it was the first honest reaction Sasuke had gotten out of him. But Itachi quickly schooled his expression, his surprise gone like it had never been there at all. He started to make hand signs for something, but Sasuke didn’t let him finish, finally bringing the fight to Itachi as he rushed him.
Their fists and jutsus clashed, and they steadily destroyed the hideout, hastening its ruination. Itachi was still uninjured, no bruises or blood marring his pale skin, but his breathing was labored, he had discarded his cloak, and strands of his hair had escaped his ponytail. It was the first time Sasuke had seen his brother look anything other than perfectly put together, and it made him feel like he might actually be able to win. He seized onto the feeling and gathered his chakra in his hand. The scream of his chidori echoed around the room, drowning out his loud sound of his feet hitting the ground as he ran at Itachi.
Sasuke’s attack seemed to be exactly what Itachi was waiting for. Chakra swelled around him, so strong that Sasuke could actually see it. It shaped itself into skeletal-looking armor as it surrounded Itachi. Sasuke tried to dodge as Itachi reached towards him with his chakra, but the force of the chidori forced him right into Itachi’s skeletal hand. He cried out as the hand closed around him, squeezing him so tightly that he swore he could feel some of his ribs break. Sasuke’s wings were pinned to his back and his arms were pinned to his sides, his chidori burning his leg. He struggled in the hand’s grip, desperately trying to free himself as a sword made from flames burst out of the other skeletal hand.
Itachi pressed the sword against the seal on Sasuke’s shoulder, like he was trying to burn it off. Sasuke could smell his skin burning and could taste his own blood as he bit the inside of his cheeks to keep from screaming. There was an intense look of concentration on Itachi’s face, but Sasuke had trouble seeing it clearly as his vision blurred. He was afraid he was going to pass out from the pain and wouldn’t even be conscious as he faced his death, but then Itachi made a quiet noise of triumph.
Itachi finally pulled the sword away from Sasuke’s skin, but he pulled something else along with it. There was a bright white snake impaled on the end of the sword, a remnant of the chakra Orochimaru had forced into him. Sasuke felt exhausted, like all of his own chakra had been dragged out of him along with the snake. He barely had enough energy to even keep his eyes open as he watched Itachi drop it into a jar and seal it closed.
Most of Itachi’s skeletal chakra disappeared along with the sword, but Sasuke was still trapped as the hand holding him remained. Sasuke didn’t even try to struggle, not seeing any point to it anymore. His borrowed time had run out, and Itachi was finally going to kill him. His thoughts strayed to Haku, which filled him with unexpected feelings of regret. Sasuke wished he had given Haku a proper kiss or at least a proper goodbye, but now he’d never get the chance to do either.
“My foolish little brother.” There was an odd sadness clinging to Itachi’s words, one Sasuke didn’t want to understand. Itachi reached out towards Sasuke’s face, but jerked his hand back as a shuriken flew towards him. Sasuke immediately looked in the direction from which the shuriken had been thrown, momentarily forgetting all about the danger right in front of him. Haku was standing there as if summoned by Sasuke’s thoughts, and Sasuke’s heart skipped a beat as they looked at each other.
“Haku!” Sasuke sounded more panicked than he wanted to, but Itachi was looking at Haku now too, which frightened Sasuke more than his own impending death had. “What are you doing here?”
“You can’t just kiss someone and then disappear off into the night.” Haku sounded relieved despite his words, like he had been afraid he’d never see Sasuke again.
“You need to leave.” Sasuke struggled against the skeletal hand more desperately than he had before, hating the thoughtful way Itachii was looking at Haku.
“No. I promised to help you, so let me help, Sasuke.” Sasuke wasn’t in any position to argue, but Haku didn’t even give him a chance to consider trying anyway. He threw more shuriken at Itachi before running towards him. He tricked Itachi with a familiar feint that Sasuke had fallen for many times, and Sasuke was awed as he watched Haku punch Itachi in the face. His awe gave way to panic as Itachi was already fighting back. He struggled against Itachi’s chakra with renewed determination, doing his best to keep his eyes on Haku as he tried to free himself.
Sasuke fell to the ground as the skeletal hand disappeared. He wasn’t naive enough to think that he had anything to do with his sudden disappearance, but he was worried as to why Itachi would end the jutsu. He looked up, expecting to see his brother looming over him, but Itachi was standing a few feet away and he wasn’t alone. Sasuke’s blood ran cold as he looked at Haku, who was in Itachi’s arms with a kunai pressed to his throat.
“Don’t worry, Sasuke. I'll help you unlock your mangekyo and make this fight a little less one-sided.” There wasn’t any cruelty in Itachi’s voice, but that somehow all the more terrifying. Sasuke felt like a child again, frozen in fear as Itachi was about to kill someone else important to him. He wished he knew what Haku was thinking, but all he could do was hope that Haku didn’t regret chasing after him. His heart twisted as he watched the kunai pierce Haku’s skin and as blood ran down Haku’s throat.
The temperature dropped suddenly as an icy wind tore through the room. Goosebumps erupted all over Sasuke’s arms, and he could see his breath in front of his face. Itachi dropped his kunai with a pained shout, the metal now probably too cold to hold. Haku’s blood froze on his skin as his hair whipped around his face, and Sasuke knew the seal on his chakra must have somehow been broken.
Haku didn’t hesitate to throw himself back into the fight now that he had his chakra back. His hands flew through seals Sasuke didn’t recognize, encasing Itachi’s feet in ice and pinning him in place. Itachi freed himself quickly, throwing a fireball at his feet to melt the ice, but it was already too late. Haku had surrounded Itachi with mirrors made of ice, and Sasuke knew exactly what was about to happen as he watched Haku leap into the closest one.
Sasuke felt like he was miles away as he watched Haku flit between the mirrors. He didn’t have any senbon, but he improvised, throwing sharp shards of ice at Itachi instead. The pieces of ice melted almost as soon as they struck Itachi, unable to withstand the Uchiha fire running through his veins, but each strike drew blood. Itachi’s clothes were slowly shredded as he became covered in shallow cuts, all of which bled freely. He tried to fight back at first, throwing fireballs at the mirrors, but his fireballs steadily shrunk as he grew unsteady on his feet.
Sasuke watched in shock as Itachi collapsed, eventually overwhelmed by Haku’s onslaught. It was hard to believe that Haku had beat Itachi, but the proof was laying right in front of him. Undeniable as Itachi’s blood soaked into the ground. Sasuke knew he had to be the one to finish it, so he forced himself to his feet and then forced himself to walk over to his brother. He unsheathed his sword as he moved, not having enough chakra left for even a simple jutsu right then.
Sasuke used the point of his sword to gently lift Itachi’s chin. He was dimly aware of Haku dispelling his mirrors and landing by his side, but almost all of his attention was on Itachi. This was the moment Sasuke had been chasing after for years, but found himself hesitating again. Something felt unfinished between them, and Sasuke didn’t think he’d be able to bear being haunted by that feeling for the rest of his life.
“Why did you do it, Itachi?” Sasuke didn’t know what he was hoping for in asking Itachi the same question for the third time, but he had a feeling that his brother’s answer was going to be different this time. Itachi gave him a familiar sad smile, one Sasuke hadn’t seen in years.
“I did it to protect you. I’m sorry, Sasuke.” Sasuke felt a phantom tap against his forehead as Itachi spoke and he had to resist the urge to rub it away. Itachi leaned forward, which brought Sasuke’s katana closer to his throat. “Kill me, Sasuke. It’s what I deserve, isn’t it?” There was something heartbreaking in Itachi’s question, and Sasuke had trouble looking at him.
“I…” Sasuke’s sword fell to the ground with a loud clanging sound. “I can’t.” Haku forcibly reminded Sasuke that he was there, wrapping his arms around him tightly. Sauke held him back just as tightly as he buried his face in his hair, his eyes stinging like he might cry at any second. It felt like time stopped as they stood there wrapped up in each other with Itachi slowly bleeding out at their feet.
Reality eventually came crashing down around Sasuke as it always did, this time in the form of Kisame and Zabuza crashing into the room. They were both bruised and bloody, the little remaining of their clothes hanging off of them in tatters. Zabuza immediately ran towards Haku as Kisame ran towards Itachi, both of their faces twisted in concern. Zabuza stopped just shy of grabbing Haku, glaring at Sasuke’s arms which were still wrapped around him. Kisame dropped to his knees and gently gathered Itachi into his arms, uncaring that they weren’t alone.
“Itachi, are you–”
“I’m okay, Kisame. Alive on borrowed time, but alive nonetheless.” There was an odd resignation to Itachi’s voice, one Sasuke didn’t understand. He swallowed the lump in his throat and reluctantly let go of Haku, turning his attention to Itachi. Kisame bared his sharp teeth at him, but Sasuke was too curious to feel intimidated.
“What are you talking about?” Sasuke was half-afraid that Itachi wasn’t going to answer the question, but losing to Haku seemed to change something in Itachi. Itachi forced himself to his feet with Kisame’s help.
“I’m sick, and it’s terminal.” Kisame inhaled sharply at Itachi’s confession, but Sasuke wasn’t sure how he felt about it. “But things are better this way.”
“f*ck you, Itachi.” Sasuke was mad that he could hardly see straight. “You don’t get to just die after telling me that, not without explaining anything. You need to get better, you owe it to me.” Itachi looked taken back by Sasuke’s words, but his sad smile was back in place.
“You’re right. I owe you the truth, all of it.” Itachi sighed, and his whole body shuddered with the sound. “I…there’s a treatment that might help.”
“We’ll do whatever we have to.” Kisame’s voice was hard, and there was a shadow of betrayal in his eyes as he looked at Itachi.
“So…” Zabuza’s voice was awkward, and it was obvious that he wished he was anywhere else in that moment. “What happens now?” He was looking at Haku as he asked, but Haku was looking at Sasuke.
“We can figure that out later, figure it out together.” Haku laced his fingers with Sasuke’s as he answered, making it clear that he was going to be by Sasuke’s side no matter what happened. He made it all sound like it would be so easy, like all of the lies and all of the heartbreak would be easy to untangle. Sasuke let himself pretend like it really would be that easy as he squeezed Haku’s hand.
They could figure it all out later, figure it out together.
