Um, yeah... Read it, I guess? Kinda dramatic, in a brotherly sorta way... I don't know. I only write the stuff.

Avenger

So there he stood, before his brother. Both were dying. And both knew it.

Only one was left standing; the older of the two was slumped against a wall.

One was bleeding from a massive sword wound; the hilt of the sword being clutched at by the younger brother.

Both were crying. And both knew that the other was never meant to survive.

"I'm… sorry… Sasuke… This is the last time." The older one gasped out. Slowly, he raised a shaking hand to tap his brother on the forehead. Then, his hand fell back, his eyelids fluttered close. He felt something wet trail down his cheek. Funny. He hadn't noticed when he'd started crying.

Sasuke looked at his brother, finally struck at how significant this moment was in his life. For nearly a decade he had existed only to kill this man, and that dream was finally realized. He accepted the fact that he was about to die with a doomed sort of finality, just grateful that the earth had been purged of his brother's evilness before he died.

Because both had life-threatening injuries, and both were not supposed to live.

"I'm sorry too, Itachi. It shouldn't have turned out like this," Sasuke stated coldly. "I regret it." He twisted the sword around a bit, making Itachi flinch, before pulling it out and falling down next to Itachi.

He had doubted himself for a bit; not sure if he was strong enough to kill his brother. He almost died too; if it weren't for a lucky hit with his Chidori Nagashi his brother's Mangekyou Sharingan would have killed him. But he was an avenger, and so he lived. He still had a goal to fulfill, and that knowledge gave him the will to survive.

'How ironic,' he thought, staring out into the darkening sky. 'I was supposed to defeat him and repopulate the clan. Was supposed to settle down and find myself a nice wife, and live happily ever after. Was supposed to go back and kick the dobe’s ass and be his advisor when he becomes Hokage…' He could feel himself getting weaker; Itachi had already passed out long before. Coherent thought was no longer an option, and he found himself sinking deeper and deeper into unconsciousness.

'Defeat Itachi avenge the clan family murder love hate blood mother ohmygoshI'mgoingtoDIE!' his mind screamed out, before fading away as he started to feel the effects of extreme blood loss.

He waited there for hours, getting closer and closer to the brink of death with each passing minute. He had a gaping side wound that went from just below his armpit to just above his hipbone; it was bleeding sluggishly all over his clothes. A thin scrape went across his cheekbone from when he barely dodged a well-thrown kunai, and bruises marred the skin on his back and stomach. A few of his fingers were broken from when his Chidori had missed and hit a rock wall.

He was sure he was going to die; the only thing that eased his pain was that his brother would be going down with him. The Uchiha line would end today, and its secrets would be erased from the world.

Vaguely in tune with his surroundings, he saw through a hazy blanket of fog what seemed like a giant blur of orange leaping up and down in front of his vision. Distorted sounds were pressing in all around him, smothering him in a giant wave.

'Is that what angels look like?' he wondered. 'No, no way angels wear orange. Only someone as stupid as the dobe would be able to wear something like that without realizing it was burning the eyes of everyone in a twenty-foot vicinity.'

A blurry smudge of pinkish red joined the orange, like blood that had been mixed with water. A warm, glow-ey feeling had appeared over the gash in his side, and his mind recognized it as healing chakra.

'Sakura.'

As his vision became a bit clearer, he realized someone had stuck a needle in his arm. When the drug started spreading through his bloodstream, his mind fled into unconsciousness again as his body began the long process of recovery.

He had been fully prepared to die, but he was an avenger, and so he lived on.

Angst? Not really. Drama? Given. Suck-ish? Probably.

Eh, review if you wanna. Well, actually, please review. This is my first one-shot/Sasuke-centric/dramatic-angst-shit story...

-Ryuuzaki-chan