Disclaimer: If I owned any aspect of Naruto, I'd say so… a lot… and not with flowers either…maybe a megaphone.

Author's note: I was feeling angsty and decided to write an Itachi/Sasuke piece as I figured that would easily have that kind of tone to it. Unfortunately, it was more difficult to write them than I thought. Oh well, I tried! First-attempt mercy, people… please? I also distorted some canon aspects because I don't know anything more about the Mangekyou sharingan other than that there are three users in existence and it makes you see things laughs Let's just pretend that Itachi is the best Sharingan-user ever.

I give this story a minor warning for character death, even though it could be read as a bit ambiguous.

End Unwritten (at one time titled The Space Between)

This was the moment they had waited for but never thought would come.

This was the moment that Uchiha Sasuke would finally exact his overdue revenge upon his only living relative, his older brother and his never-ending nightmare, Uchiha Itachi.

This was also the moment where Uchiha Itachi would discover whether his brief instance of mercy was worth the latent bother or not. The fugitive was to find out if today was the last day of his life or the first day of his existence as the superior ninja. Three Mangekyou sharingan users existed, but he was the only one fully fit to use it. He was the only one with the perfect body.

His perfect body with its perfect arm twitched.

Sasuke flinched, the action aggravating the inch-wide slash gouged into his cheek by the tip of Kisame's sword. A ripple of pain travelled across his face, beginning at his left ear and ending at the left corner of his mouth, the sting intensifying to an acute stabbing pain as the corner lifted into a smirk.

Itachi grimaced and coughed. Tiny rivulets of blood seeped from both corners of his mouth, slowly at first, but then more steadily, the orange-red marks as prominent as the lines on either side of his bloodied and broken nose. He swung his only arm slightly. Good. He could still move. His red eyes glanced quickly at the jagged edge where once upon a time his shoulder had met an arm. Re-routing of chakra had a suturing effect on the wound and it would bleed no more tonight as long as he lived. He would live tonight as long as he could. "Sasuke."

Sasuke's breath hitched. The spasm of his torso roughly tore the edges of the slash across his abdomen apart, the merciful clotting destroyed. He clenched his teeth together and pushed a bloodied, shuddering hand into the wound, creating pressure enough to stem the draining flow of blood. His other hand, burnt, bruised, and dripping with the lifeblood of his kin, hung limp at his side, an unnatural 180-degrees to the floor, numb. Sasuke raised his lolling head to his brother and forced himself up from his kneeling position.

An echoing crack.

Sasuke screamed and crumpled onto the damp concrete. He cursed as tears spilled from his eyes. His leg was useless to him now. He willed his vision to come into focus and angled his gaze towards his brother again when it did. The hatred burning within him leapt the three-metre gap between the siblings. Sasuke hoped that it burned his brother more than it burned his insides every day since the night after the incident. He hoped that the heat would leave him. He hoped that his burnt-dry and shrivelled heart would mend, seek and take moisture and be spiritually normal again. In delirium, he smiled.

Itachi hummed a laugh. "Little brother. Foolish little brother." His voice was slurring now. He began to move towards Sasuke in a manner reminiscent of a zombie. His bare feet shuffled and scuffed. He swayed as he walked. He laughed as he fell. Face-to-face with his oldest enemy, Itachi felt a swell of pride in his fluid-logged chest. If he were to die tonight, there was only one thing left for him to do. "Sasuke…"

Sasuke's eyes were twitching and wide. His mouth was rigidly open in a silent scream of absolute terror. His body convulsed but he could not move, paralysed by a gentle touch and swirling red that seemed to draw his own head towards it. Into it.

With the last of his motive energy, Itachi clenched his bodily muscles and thrust his now inglorious body towards his brother. His tears and blood streaked the air.

The space between sons closed.

The space between brothers closed.

Coppery warmth wrapped itself around Sasuke's tongue causing the boy to gasp. His eyes were open but now he could see. His muscles relaxed, new pliancy drawing his body into the old feeling of being safe and protected and he remembered innocence, hope, a pure kind of pride. His tears felt cool against his face, and then the air as urgency and force faded away from his lips.

"Sasuke… I…"

As Sasuke opened his eyes, a sob escaped his lips. He did not know why. The sobs became quiet cries as his body began to quiver.

Itachi smiled a small smile of piggyback rides and poked foreheads. His voice hoarse and rumbling, he breathed to say the last of his thoughts. "Precious… brother… hate me… no more…"

Sasuke moaned and clamped his eyes closed. "Stop," he pleaded with a wet whisper. He did not want orders, to be told to be what had already been done seconds before. "Itachi…" No more words.

"You're… strong now…"

Sasuke opened his eyes to kaleidoscopic black and red. He wanted to sleep.

"…always were… brother…love… you…"

Even though Sasuke's hands clenched harder into his matted hair, Itachi's voice was still fading away.

Sasuke gave in to the stress, the fatigue, and the swirls of colour disappeared…

"Nii-san, what's that?"

"Oh, good morning, Sasuke. This is called a hitai-ate. You'll get one when you graduate."

"Gra-du-ate? Heehee, nii-san, you're funny. I wanna be you."

"Hmm? Heh, like me, maybe, but not me, Sasuke. Be yourself, yes? That's all you need."

"No way, nii-san! Nii-san, I need you! I love you, nii-san, and we're gonna be best friends forever, right? You'll always be with me, right?"

"Ssh, it's okay Sasuke, yes, we'll be together forever. Don't cry. 'Kaa-san wouldn't want to see you crying, would she?"

"Mmm, you're right, nii-san. Are you going to play today?"

"Yes-"

"With your… hatty-itty?"

"Hahaha, yes, Sasuke, with my hitai-ate."

"Hi-ta-i…Okay nii-san! Then I'm gonna go play too, okay? Is that okay?"

"Haha, yes, that's okay, Sasuke."

"Okay! Bye-bye, nii-san! I love you!"

"Goodbye Sasuke… I love you."

"…always… wi-"

END

Aaah, I TRIED to make it a weep-worthy ending. Have I succeeded? You tell me. I enjoyed writing this. Ickle-Sasuke is so cute! I envisioned him at the age he would have been somewhere between Itachi graduating and Itachi gaining Chuunin status so him being so… ditzy would be plausible. I think I'll try something of the Itachi/Sasuke persuasion with more length, plot, and 'substance' sometime soon. I also just want to type the word Kisame because it is a cool word. It is! It feels smooth on the tongue… although I suppose the actual Kisame would feel more like corrugated rubber. Yuck! Let's not think about that.