Title: “Lunar, Solar”

Author: Shaitanah

Rating: R (overall)

Timeline: 1 month after the Itachi/Sasuke fight

Summary: “…because Sasuke would be the moon, Naruto would be the sun, and during an eclipse...” The final battle begins! ‘He is Itachi now. He is the touchstone.’ Sasuke/Naruto Please R&R!

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi. Story title from Pablo Neruda’s Drunk With Pines. Lyrics from Antilamentation by Dorianne Laux.

A/N: I’ve decided to incorporate more canon details in here since clearly I have no imagination (and because I love Itachi too much, deal with it, muhahah!). Hence, SPOILERS beyond 394. I’m sorry for not updating for so long, but it’s been real hell at work these past weeks. I hope you’re still reading this! XD

Chapter 18

Aller et Retour

Regret none of it, not one

of the wasted days you wanted to know nothing,

when the lights from the carnival rides

were the only stars you believed in, loving them

for their uselessness, not wanting to be saved.

It was quiet and peaceful here, almost as if no bloodshed had ever stained these rocks. Yet the silence that hung like an unseen canopy over the vale had a sinister touch to it. With each step, accompanied by the shy crackling sound of crumbling rock, Naruto cast away a ghost. His father, Jiraiya, Iruka-sensei, his fellow villagers, Gaara, Haku, Granny Tsunade – everyone, dead or alive, had to go. He was going to face this alone, so that in the end, when he would have won, he could go back to breathing and living like he used to.

Kakashi balled his fists.

“We stick to the plan,” he whispered. Naruto nodded gravely. It was no big secret that the plan was mostly to improvise.

They halted on top of one of the heads protruding from the rock. Naruto looked down and recognized Madara’s face.

“Hey, guys!” a muffled voice reached them. “You made it just in time.”

“You don’t have to pretend anymore, Madara-san,” Kakashi answered in a flat, civil voice, lifting his headband and turning towards Tobi who was standing opposite them atop the Shodai’s head.

“What? Don’t wanna play with me anymore?” the voice broke. “Kakashi… I’m disappointed.”

Kakashi shot forth, agile and aggressive like a wild animal. Naruto tensed. It was not the time yet. By a mutual agreement, the two of them stayed behind, watching as the third one fought. The opponents closed the distance between each other, moving at the speed that could barely be registered by a non-Sharingan eye. Kakashi kicked, aiming to stop the other man’s run, missed and had to stop himself before he fell off the rock. He glided over the rough surface of the statue, squatted and produced the shrurikens just in time to fling them at Madara who halted during the turn a few paces away. Madara threw his hand up. The projectiles rebounded and rained back on Kakashi.

Sasuke’s jaw hardened. He watched the fight calmly, but his posture resembled that of a cat on the hunt. Waiting for the prey to come closer. Waiting, waiting, waiting.

Kakashi’s hands moved, forming the seals effortlessly. A wall of water stood behind him, the buzzing noise of waterfall suddenly growing louder, crushing the silence around them. The water streamed fluidly towards Madara, closing in on him and shaping a sphere.

Sasuke activated the Sharingan.

A barrage of kunai flew through the water, splitting the sphere open. Madara’s silhouette appeared briefly behind the sparkling fountains. Kakashi pulled back with his chakra, and the ice-cold heavy weight crashed upon his opponent.

“What are you, trying to kill me?” Madara laughed.

“How did you know?”

Sasuke jumped up, a number of shuriken stars flickering between his fingers. To his right he heard Naruto’s battle cry as tens of kage bunshins jumped energetically around Madara. Unable to use the Mangekyou (which he was clearly saving for later), Uchiha had to duck and charge at all the clones at once.

Sasuke flung the shurikens at him. Resilient strings, tied to the weaponry, sparkled in the sun. As soon as they wrapped around Madara’s body, Sasuke fired Ryuka no Jutsu at him; rivulets of flame streamed along the threads, charging towards the captive. Madara flicked a kunai that had been hidden in his sleeve and cut through the strings before the fire scorched him. He sent a couple of shurikens back at Sasuke like a boomerang. One of them, burdened with a piece of paper that looked like an exploding tag, returned to wrap around Madara’s wrist; a silvery string stretched between the two Uchihas, connecting them.

Naruto attacked. Madara spun around, tugging Sasuke along as he was still holding on to the string, pulling it persistently. The youth skidded a few feet, standing firmly on the ground. Naruto ducked to avoid Kakashi’s strike from behind. Madara’s eye grew wider as he began to grasp the enemies’ plan.

“Chidori!”

Currents of electricity swept along the string. Sasuke let go of the shuriken; it bounced back forcefully, wrapping a string that had turned into a stinging, electrified loop, around Madara’s upper body. Electricity hit through the water that soaked the Akatsuki cloak. Behind the mask, Madara screamed.

Blue sparks showered over him. As soon as the water and the electricity had dissipated, Kakashi threw his hand forth, a syringe clutched in it, drove the needle into the enemy’s neck and pushed the piston. The paper burst in flames, and a seal burned on the ground. Madara started falling; Kakashi caught him and held him carefully and lowered him upon the gleaming seal.

“Is he–?” Naruto began asking. Kakashi gestured at him to be patient.

His hand hovered uncertainly over the mask. But no; if the medicine hadn’t worked, he didn’t want to see Madara’s smirk on Obito’s face. He remembered Obito’s clumsy scribbling: ‘Fifty-fifty’.

The man moved. Took a shaky inhale, coughed and breathed in again.

“Kakashi,” he whispered in a weak voice. “Why…”

Naruto’s lips trembled as the youth attempted to smile. Could it really be–?

“Stand back!” Sasuke cried out. At the same time the Akatsuki continued his question:

“…are you so gullible?”

The rock beneath Kakashi twisted and spread open. He fell through, trying, as he sped down, to grasp at any protrusions from the walls of the tunnel – but there were none. There was a strange gurgling noise beneath him; he realized with a start it was water rising through the canal within the statue to consume him.

Above him, Madara laughed contentedly.

“I haven’t felt so free for a long time! And here I was afraid that my plan wouldn’t work.”

“What plan?” Naruto demanded as he lunged to attack.

“That kid Kabuto,” Madara scoffed. “I knew he couldn’t kill anyone of you. But he could take on Sasuke-kun while I would have dealt with you and Kakashi. I knew Kakashi would try and use this medicine even if there was less than a fifty-per cent chance to preserve Obito. The fool had spoilt all the fun by leaving. Lucky for me, Kakashi did exactly what I had hoped he would do.”

‘We killed him,’ Naruto thought numbly.

Inside the statue Kakashi formed the seals to summon a gust of wind. It slowed the rise of water and pushed him up. He felt the rock shatter around him as he erupted from beneath it, turned a somersault in the air and landed next to Sasuke, catching his breath. The mask clung heavily to his face.

Sasuke exhaled a wave of fire just in time to prevent Madara from charging at Kakashi, then glanced at him briefly. Kakashi nodded curtly.

The flames cleared away. Behind them, only the furrowed rock remained. A few Naruto copies scrambled to their feet and grinned. There was a movement to their right. Kakashi lunged forth. The clones scattered about; a few of them vanished, having been struck.

Kakashi and Madara engaged in a fervent battle, sweeping jutsu after jutsu against each other. Water jetted from the hole in the statue. Between the two statues the after-effects of ninjutsu formed a stuffy sediment; the air around it felt cold and moist.

“I must admit you have been an impressive opponent, Kakashi,” Madara said. “But you are about to make a mistake and I am about to use it to my advantage.”

This comment had almost stopped Kakashi from executing another attack. Madara could be implying that his goal was wrong… or simply trying to distract him. Kakashi bounced off the rock and fell upon his opponent – and the world around him began to crumble.

‘What the–?’

A wave of heat cut through his chest and split his chakra apart. He doubled over, tripping as he turned back. Electric fire blazed in his hand, and as he was losing his consciousness rapidly, he screamed: “Raikiri!” – and kicked off with his foot to rise in the air, sending jolts towards Madara.

Then he was falling, black fire roaring around his body. he plunged into the water, cutting the surface of the river apart with his weight. Black and blue specks danced over the water as it closed in above him.

“NO!!” Naruto’s shrill outcry thundered.

He leapt down, sticking to the steep wall of the mountain with his heels and preparing to jump lower. His gaze roved wildly over the river, struggling to see any hint of where Kakashi might be.

Madara swept past him like a hurricane, hit him and forced him upwards. Naruto collapsed at Sasuke’s feet, the strength of the blow breaking the ground into fragments. For a moment everything was quiet. Madara reappeared in front of his remaining opponents and stood still.

Sasuke squared his shoulders and glared at him dangerously. The sound of crumbling rock and the silky splashes of water were the only thing that disrupted the silence.

“Let’s get it over with,” Sasuke said, preparing to strike.

To his confusion, Madara did not resume the battle stance. He reached solemnly for the mask and removed it, revealing the now painfully familiar face of Uchiha Obito. A faint flash of a smile crossed his lips.

“I’m not in a hurry actually. On the contrary, I do believe we still have a few unresolved matters between us. And I think I should get to the point before your patience runs out. There’s something I want to tell you.”

“Too bad,” Sasuke said listlessly. “There’s nothing I want to hear from you.”

But he didn’t move. Madara inclined his head slightly, and a full-fledged smile blossomed on his lips.

“Not even the truth about your beloved brother?”

Sasuke frowned and waited for him to continue. Madara’s single eye gleamed almost predatorily.

“Tell me, Sasuke, have you ever wondered why you even have the eyes that you do? By rights, you shouldn’t while your best friend is still alive.” He gestured quizzically at the pile of rubble that poured down as Naruto climbed from underneath it, coughed and moved to stand beside Sasuke, flashing their opponent an expressive glare. “Last time I checked, apparent death wasn’t enough. Not even such a lengthy one.”

Instinct told Sasuke he should not be listening to it. Yet he stood stock-still, eyeing Madara suspiciously and unwittingly wanting him to go on.

“So if it’s not a gift from Naruto-kun,” the Akatsuki drawled, “then maybe we should thank someone closer to home?”

“What are you getting at?” Sasuke asked, his throat suddenly dry.

“Your brother. He did something to you just before he died.” Madara took a step forward. “Something like this.”

His hand shot up in a blink of an eye, and he poked Sasuke in the forehead just like Itachi used to do. Taken by surprise, Sasuke stepped back abruptly, his heart pounding.

Next to him, Naruto snarled: “We don’t have time for these games!” and dashed towards Madara. Sasuke forestalled his attack and held his hand out in front of him to block his way. His eyes never left Madara’s face.

“What do you know?”

“Somehow Itachi came up with a technique that allowed him to transfer his dojutsu into you. It was a fail-safe, win-win plan. He thought he secured your position, and I benefited from getting your eyes once you were dead. The Mangekyou Sharingan was supposed to stay sealed in your eyes before some fateful event would activate it. So in some sense Naruto-kun did serve as a trigger.”

“What the fuck are you blabbering about!?” Naruto growled.

Sasuke kept staring at Madara with glazed eyes. His words slowly settled in his mind, stirring up his doubts – but he was no fool to swallow the bait so easily. Why would Itachi do that?

“You still don’t get it, do you?” Madara asked impatiently. “Your brother was one of the ‘good guys’! A real hero! Everything he did, he did to preserve peace in the Fire Country, to prevent the breakout of the Fourth Ninja War – and to protect his dear little brother.”

The last words delivered an excruciating blow. Sharp pain nested in Sasuke chest, threatening to explode. Naruto pursed his whitened lips.

Smitten, Sasuke asked in a flat voice:

“Why should I believe you?”

Madara sighed playfully. “Ah, I’ll probably regret wasting the remains of my power on this, but what the hell. You deserve the truth. I hope to hear a thank-you from you once this is over.”

Sasuke blinked. Before he knew it, a genjutsu unfolded before his eyes. He found himself standing in a clearing in the forest outside the Leaf Village. Ancient trees stood in a tall, protective round formation, enclosing the clearing. He gasped involuntarily when a shadow landed in front of him. It was a boy with a sleek black pony tail, clad in plain dark clothes with an Uchiha fan embroidered at the back of his shirt.

Sasuke’s lips formed a name noiselessly, “Itachi…”

“I was expecting you,” a voice came.

Both Sasuke and Itachi looked up to see a masked man standing by the twin trees, burdened with thick leafage. It was the same lanky, gentle body, but his hair looked longer, hanging loose over his shoulders in messy strands, and his mask was white with dizzying black lines rippling across its surface.

“So you live,” Itachi said in a low voice. Sasuke shivered: it was the same voice he had heard on the night of the massacre, cold, lifeless, sharp as a knife.

“Long have I awaited this opportunity,” Madara said, half-smiling beneath the mask; the irony made his tone rich and expressive, “to look upon the prodigy of my bloodline. One by one they all shall fall before you. They are not worthy. But are you?”

“Uchiha Madara,” Itachi spoke softly, his eyes fixed on the mask as if trying to see through it.

Suddenly he bolted, turned a somersault in the air and crashed a handful of swift attacks down on Madara. The older Uchiha parried just as speedily. The fight progressed so rapidly that Sasuke barely had time to follow it. By the time he gathered his senses, Itachi had already taken the same position as before and Madara said:

“Not a drop of sweat. I’m impressed. Now what do you want?”

Itachi’s composure didn’t change at first sight, though Sasuke could tell he relaxed a bit.

“Help,” he said evenly.

“With what?”

“The Uchiha clan has outlived itself. It must be annihilated. I am on a mission. The Elders of the village are willing to conclude an armistice with you. You are a rogue, an outcast, you have been driven out and forgotten by the men you had led to power. You must be desperate for some justice. I know what you’re plotting. But you can’t act yet. You’re too weak in this new body of yours. And I’m too weak in mine.”

Madara snorted. He closed the distance between them in a blink of an eye; his fingers constricted around Itachi’s throat. The next moment the boy’s body melted down in his grasp. Madara turned round. Sasuke glanced at Itachi’s resolute face and found himself unable to look away.

“And how can a brat like you help me?” Madara asked.

“I’m the best. You’ve never turned your back on the best.” Itachi folded his arms across his chest and looked away. “I don’t care what you want, be it glory, justice or to restore your honour. Your motives are truly no concern of mine. Anyway, you benefit from it more than I do. I just don’t want another war to happen.”

He sensed a kunai flung at him before he saw it. He threw his hand up to intercept it and looked up at Madara. His countenance remained flawless. Sasuke shivered at how mannequin-like his brother looked.

Madara approached him and leaned in to whisper in a mockingly compassionate voice:

“You’re a perfect tool. Do you even know how you will feel after you will have done the job?”

Itachi remained silent. Struggling to breathe past the stinging pain in his throat, Sasuke fell on his knees beside him and looked at him like he wanted to have every feature of his static face imprinted in his memory. This face, not the terrible visage of a cruel killer he had seen that night.

Everything about Itachi was perfect and well-fitted into the bigger picture: smooth alabaster forehead, a slight crease just above the nosebridge, indicating he was in thought, the lines on his face slightly paler than Sasuke remembered them, sleek bangs, stark black against the fair skin… And the only thing that disrupted the carefully constructed image were his eyes.

At that moment Sasuke knew that Madara was not lying. Such heartwrenching sincerity could not be forged. He looked deep into the blazing Sharingan of his brother and believed it with fierce passion that frightened him to death.

“That is not all, I imagine. What else will you ask of me?” Madara demanded.

Itachi’s eyes went blank. Suffering, raw and infinite just a second ago, was replaced with determination.

“Just one thing: do not harm a single citizen of Konoha that is not Uchiha.” With so much as a lazy flick of his hand he darted the kunai back at its owner. It bore forcefully into the ground just before Madara. “Not a soul.”

Sasuke snapped out of the genjutsu and blinked his eyes helplessly. His chest heaved as he struggled to breathe. Naruto twisted his head in sheer exasperation.

“What is it? What did he show you? What? What!?”

“You know I have no reason to lie to you,” Madara said smoothly. The last words were muffled by Naruto’s annoyed outcry, “Oh, shut up!”

Sasuke found himself unable to move. What kept him glued to the spot were not the words, not what he had seen – but the feelings the memory had caused. He knew he couldn’t forget the look in his brother’s eyes even if he tried.

The revelations spilled into him like a powerful stream as Madara continued talking. To stop the war… to protect him… The Uchiha clan were traitors, planned a revolt… Itachi was a double agent…

Naruto turned to Sasuke and stared at him with his innocent blue eyes.

“You don’t believe that, do you?” he asked in a trembling voice. Sasuke remained motionless, barely breathing, and looked past him to nowhere. “Oh, come on! Next thing we know Orochimaru will be a good guy! Sasuke, please!”

“Sasuke knows it’s true,” Madara protested softly. His voice barely reached Sasuke.

Everything mixed in a terrible jumble of words in the wind, fragments of memories and the purest horror of this revelation: out of all Itachi’s lies, this was the most brutal. Sasuke had learnt to live with hate; now he would have to learn to live with guilt.

“It’s not your fault!” Naruto persisted. He grasped Sasuke’s shoulders fiercely, trying to attract his attention. Consumed by his mind-numbing reverie, Sasuke wouldn’t react. “You didn’t know. Look at me! Sasuke, look at me, please! None of this is your fault. If he wanted you to know, he would have told you. He must have had his reasons to keep you in the dark.”

Drowning in the harsh sound of his own breathing, Sasuke felt his lips move and squeezed out:

“…killed him…”

He sounded so frail… Naruto bit his lips in desperation.

“You did not! It was not your fault!”

“Truth hurts, but it’s the truth,” Madara drawled.

Naruto turned round and spat furiously:

“Shut up! You Uchihas are a foul, lying, loathesome, evil lot of mindfuckers! No word of yours can be trusted! What kind of a method is that: to prevent a war by slaughering an entire clan!? Sasuke has suffered enough because of you and the likes of you! I won’t let him suffer again!”

Sasuke’s mind drifted slowly to Naruto, but he barely registered the words. He ended up moving backwards slowly until his back connected with a wall of rock, raised by one of ninjutsu. His knees wobbled. Naruto kept talking, but his words passed unnoticed by Sasuke. His head was full of memories that passed by like a warm wind, leaving the sediment of bitterness and regret behind.

Liar…

The anger swelled, threatening to tear him apart.

Liar!

LIAR!!

Every word, every promise, every smile… Sasuke remembered them all, a seal suddenly torn away from his memory.

“You bastard!” Naruto shrieked and advanced to attack Madara. The ground beneath them shook.

Sasuke stared blankly into the emptiness before his eyes. Somewhere on the periphery of his sight the battle was raging. He couldn’t force himself to get up; he just kept sinking into the tasteless, soundless darkness, full of memories.

The way Itachi used to smile… The way he used to laugh… The way he’d poke Sasuke in the forehead, and tell him bedtime stories about great ninja of the past, and ditch homework to play with him.

You could only fool yourself for so long.

Years of dizzying hatred, compressed into a few seconds of triumph over the dying body of his fallen brother, turned to ash. Sasuke fell on his knees, buried his face in his hands and gave himself over to tremour.

He relived the massacre over and over again, forcing himself to feel what Itachi must have felt. It doubled him over with sickness; it burnt his eyes, heavy with tears that refused to be shed; and it spilled forth from his mouth in a guttural moan, twisting his insides.

He saw his ghosts again.

…himself, half-lying on the cold porch, staring anxiously at the shady outlines of trees.

“Sasuke…” a hushed voice came. The boy shifted, then jumped up, the last traces of sleepiness erased, and rushed to hug his brother. “What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you!”

A soft smile flashed on Itachi’s lips. Sasuke almost missed it in the shimmering dark. It disappeared, having been replaced by a slight frown. Itachi told him to go back to bed and lowered himself wearily on the porch. His vest was covered in dark stains that glimmered like black oil in the faint starlight. Sasuke hesitated and sat down next to him.

“I don’t want to sleep,” he lied.

For a while both brothers were silent.

“How’s school?” Itachi asked quietly.

“Okay. A little boring ‘cause I’m like… the top there.” Sasuke couldn’t help but notice he was blushing; it sounded an awful lot like bragging, and it was the last thing he wanted to do in front of his brother. “But these girls, you know, they’re really scary! They just stare at me all the time like I have three heads or something! I don’t like the girls.”

A soft coughing sound followed. Sasuke squinted and realized with a start his brother was laughing. Itachi raised his hand and patted Sasuke’s hair.

“How’s the mission?”

“Spare me.”

Sasuke chuckled. It was a routine between them. He knew Itachi would never disclose any information on his assignments, but he would always ask, regardless. He reached out and touched one of the black stains reverently. It was blood.

“You know how Mom and Dad and the others are always expecting something from you?” he murmured. “No one ever expects anything from me. You… You’re cool. I’m just cute and useless.”

A steely edge appeared in Itachi’s voice, even though his face softened somehow. “Don’t say that! Hmm, you think I’m cool?”

Sasuke sneered at that. No way his big brother would not be cool!

“Mom and Dad were really happy the day they had you,” Itachi continued softly. “Never seen them smiling like that.”

“Really? And… you? Were you happy?”

The boy’s cheeks flushed. He lowered his head and ended up staring at one of the bloodstains. Itachi brought his face closer; his forehead, protected by the headband, brushed Sasuke’s forehead. The boy tensed, feeling the coolness of the metal against his skin.

“Of course I was. They finally stopped calling me cute.”

Sasuke burst out laughing and pushed at his brother’s elbow in fake resentment. Soon both brothers were laughing.

Ghosts were forever imprinted in his memory. He tried hard to cross them out, to forget the sound of Itachi’s laughter because in his perfectly cold well-planned world Itachi didn’t know how to laugh. He would kill until he would have fallen by the hand of a righteous avenger.

‘People live their lives by what they believe to be ‘correct’ and ‘true’. That’s how they define ‘reality’. But what does it mean to be ‘correct’ or ‘true’? Merely vague concepts… Their ‘reality’ may all be…’

Sasuke wanted to scream. No, it was too big a lie, even for Itachi! He didn’t want to live with the burden of this heritage.

‘…a mirage.’

To the tune of the howling wind, and breaking rock, and singing water the battle continued. Naruto made sure to block every signal the red chakra was sending him, begging to be released. He could be strong enough without it.

“You thought you would just show him the error of his ways, and it will save him?” Madara scoffed. “How very Naruto-like! But he is not one of your poor caged birds! He’s an Uchiha! We don’t need salvation, we are above it!”

Naruto dodged another ninjutsu and landed on all fours, clawing at the ground with his deformed nails. His eyes blazed deep red with hate. The Fox was rushing about its cage, feeling that its time had almost come.

“Sasuke! Snap out of it now!” Naruto screamed, blocking Madara’s attack. “Sasuke!”

“Tell me why you persist. You have already died because of him once. It takes two to form a bond, Naruto-kun. The other end of yours has long since been cut loose.”

Madara’s eye switched to the Mangekyou. Naruto screwed his eyes shut before the genjutsu hit him and fought blindly, yet no less ferociously. He gave in to his senses, heightened by desperation and the Kyuubi’s chakra, and allowed them to lead the way.

“Sasuke!!”

“He can’t hear you, Naruto! Even if he did, what would it change? Who are you but a container destined to hold power until the day comes to release it? He is no different than the rest of us. He only wants you for power.”

Punch. Block. Kick. Naruto groaned throatily. He was afraid to admit it, but Madara’s words were slowly getting to him.

A wave of fire washed over him. He fell out of step and tumbled on the ground.

‘We never meant to face it alone,’ he thought in despair. ‘There should be three of us!’ Sakura’s smiling face flashed before his eyes; at least she was safe. ‘How can I beat him alone? Ero-sennin was alone, and he fell. And if I die… If I’m not here anymore… What will happen to you, Sasuke? Will you become like him?’

Tears streamed down his cheeks. He clenched his jaws and began to get up.

‘What is it? A genjutsu? Why can’t I move?’

Sasuke sat still, afraid to look up at the world around him. All the sounds died down. The earth itself seemed to have stopped its dizzying rotation.

He remembered Itachi’s merciless eyes and one teardrop he thought he had forgotten.

He remembered this barely recognizable man in a black cloak with red clouds who had rejected him like he hadn’t mattered.

‘Then make me matter!’

He remembered the cold, impassionate voice that delievered lie after lie.

He remembered the last instruction to keep Naruto close which he had blindly followed; was following still.

And the ghost. Not a figment of imagination. The ghost was, had always been, real. He was in the eyes.

The eyes…

Sasuke blinked. Then his brother was alive. Somewhere, somehow, in some odd form, Uchiha Itachi still lived. He would live until Sasuke’s death. It seemed ironically bittersweet that in the end, in this warped way, Itachi had succeeded in achieving immortality.

Sasuke pushed his fingers down forcibly. He could see the sky over their tips – and a bleared figure not too far from him. The ghost. His only remaining ghost. The ghost of his eyes.

He said, ‘Any bond you’ll make after me will be forever reminiscent of me.’ Sasuke had to read the movement of his lips to figure out the words. But he remembered them clearly enough.

‘I will always be around.’

Sasuke’s lips trembled. He lowered his hands further, the sound of falling water returning him to reality bit by bit. He could see a small black-and-orange figure in the distance, swirling like a hurricane amidst the raging fire and water. Him. He was… he was Itachi now.

He was the touchstone.

Sasuke’s knees were shaking as he got up. His body felt sore, but his fears were seeping away. He glanced briefly at the barely visible shadow to his right. He realized that ‘I love you’ was the only real thing he had ever heard from Itachi.

Slowly, he reached out for the Kusanagi.

In front of him Naruto collapsed on his knees as a rain of metal needles came crashing down on him.

Sasuke pushed upwards, flitted over the stage of the battle and landed before Naruto to shield him. He swung the katana and sent the needles back at their master. A gust of wind scattered them about.

“Don’t get your hopes too high, moron!” Sasuke said smugly. “My body just moved on its own.”

He couldn’t hold back a smile. By the way Naruto breathed his name, he knew the youth was smiling, too.

Sasuke cocked his head slightly to get a glimpse of Naruto’s astounded, yet nonetheless triumphant face.

“All right there, scaredy-cat?” they teased simultaneously. Naruto broke out laughing.

With a soft chuckle Sasuke held out his hand and helped him get up. A huge cut crossed his left cheek; specks of red chakra were dancing over it, trying to erase it.

Sasuke turned around, skidding over the damaged ground. He raised the katana and lunged at Madara as Naruto multiplied over and over again, and the clones joined the battle.

‘Damn it! He’s moving too fast!’ Sasuke thought. Even his eyes were unable to register every move Madara made. At this point, he was glad to have Naruto with him.

A blade flickered somewhere very close to him. He spun around and shivered as he felt the steel graze his stomach, ripping through the shirt. Blood welled up on the split skin. Sasuke inhaled shakily.

Madara made a minor miscalculation, and the blade glided smoothly down, catching in the fabric of his weapon pouch for a moment. Shurikens and tightly rolled scrolls poured to the ground – and along with them, a stream of silver and lilac pebbles that he had almost forgotten about. Ino’s ikebana. His newfound lucky charm.

The pebbles rolled beneath Madara’s feet, causing him to lose his balance for an instant. It was enough. Sasuke performed the Body Flicker technique and ended up behind his back. Chidori streamed down the readied blade of the Kusanagi as he punged it into Madara’s back, piercing the lung. The jolt exploded with bluish sparks, and the elder Uchiha screamed.

Sasuke relaxed for an instant. Before he could catch his breath, Naruto dashed toward him and cried out:

“Sasuke! I think he’s gonna–.”

And Madara disappeared. Chidori ran out, leaving Sasuke’s hands to tremble with all the wasted energy. His mind was racing. Just what kind of a time/space technique was that? He hadn’t formed any seals, hadn’t moved at all.

“Sasuke!!”

In a flash Naruto was above him – and then knocked aside by a powerful blow. Sasuke darted aside, coughed as he felt warm drops of blood dribbling down his chin and gasped as his spine collided into the rock. Streams of Chidori blazed anew, reversed against their master, and Sasuke choked on the scream of pain that he found himself unable to release.

“Don’t tell me you’ve had some kind of epiphany because I hate epiphanies!” Madara hissed in his ear, pressing him harder against the rock. “They screw up all the fun.”

Sasuke looked down. His own sword was sticking out of his belly, holding him in place. It burnt him from the inside, but he couldn’t shake Madara off. He wrapped his trembling fingers around the blade as his own Chidori jolted through his neurons.

From the corner of his eye Sasuke saw Naruto rising to his feet, fierce determination blazing in his eyes that were beginning to turn crimson.

‘Oh no… It’s too early!’ Sasuke wanted to scream, but a painful whimper was all that came out of his mouth.

The new chakra that emanated from Naruto seemed to have caught Madara’s attention as well. He chuckled and turned round to face his opponent.

Sasuke gritted his teeth. The idiot was going to ruin it all.

But then…

This was not the Kyuubi’s chakra.