Sasuke came to faster than he had the last time Itachi had caught him with those eyes. His immediate response was still the same. He found himself being
crushed by a mindless overwhelming fear that made everything in him recoil. He was instinctively driven to flee yet physically and mentally unable to do so.
Usually it was the burning of his unfocused eyes that caused him to blink, to close them and breathe until his mind finally accepted that there was no longer
anything to escape from and his body eventually loosened enough for him to function. It was over, Itachi was gone, he was still alive, so he needed to get up
now. Except Itachi wasn't gone this time. He was standing right there. Any second now and he might turn and do it again. A voiceless sob caught in his throat
and the sharingan whirled to life. And then he saw what else was different this time. Itachi's back was to him because he was focused on Naruto, who was
dangling limply from his raised fist.
He had no idea how long it took him to comprehend what he was seeing. There was blood on Naruto's left hand and more blood seeping into the floor by
Itachi's right foot. That was Itachi's blood, he realized, and his shaken mind focused on that to the exclusion of all else. Naruto had drawn blood. Naruto had
attacked Itachi seriously enough to draw blood. Itachi was going to kill him for that, if he hadn't already.
He was moving before he fully realized his own intention, energy flowing down to crackle along his right arm. He whistled a split second before that arm
burrowed into Itachi's bloody side. The energy barrier forced them apart, Itachi's arm flung up with the singed fingers still curled but no longer closed tightly
around Naruto's neck. Itachi stumbled back a step, pulling Sasuke along with him. Sasuke could feel air touching his damp fingers and didn't hesitate, didn't
even think, as he ripped his crackling arm up and back, severing his spine. Itachi's head turned and Sasuke, who knew better than to look any higher than his
mouth, saw his lips pull into a smirk. The body exploded into a flurry of black birds. He never saw the foot that shot out of that cloud of beating wings. He
certainly felt it, though. His back struck the shield he had made and a small gush of blood filled his mouth. He gulped it back down. So much for putting
everything into an attack and saving nothing for defense.
The birds cleared, fading into the dusty air like a mirage, and any annoyance Sasuke had about Kakashi's bad advice was replaced by growing horror. Itachi
was smiling. No, he was grinning. And then his mouth opened in laughter and Sasuke wanted nothing more than to clamp his hands over his ears and curl into
a tiny ball. He wasn't aware of clawing his way backwards and up until he was crouched on top of the energy shield like a frightened cat trying to escape a
rabid dog. An emotionless Itachi was frightening. A laughing Itachi was absolutely terrifying.
"Oh, little brother," Itachi breathed. "I could almost forgive you." Another lash of laughter tore from his mouth before his lips settled into a wide, but far more
contained, smile. "You have left him trapped in his own mind. With the demon in full control it's only a matter of time before it destroys that body and the boy's
soul along with it. And I have you to thank! If only you had done it intentionally..."
Sasuke had dropped his eyes to Naruto, who was crumpled within the shield. He was breathing, didn't appear physically injured, but his energy was wrong,
more red than orange. As he looked down at him the last of that orange was swallowed up by a thick bloody red. He had seen Kyuubi take control before. His
energy had never looked like that. This energy was more fluid than fiery, seeming to bubble right out of the pores in Naruto's skin. Then there was a flash of
motion out of the corner of his eye and he had no more time to worry about Naruto and Kyuubi. His head snapped to the side and his own sword ghosted
through his hair to embed itself in the wall behind him. Had he been thinking clearly he might have wondered why the weapon hadn't been on him when he had
awakened. It wasn't like Itachi to bother disarming him.
"Come down from there, little brother." There was no expression on Itachi's face now, though his voice was velvet with amusement. "You know better than to
attack me. Don't make this any worse than it has to be."
Sasuke jumped back, snatching up the sword and recognizing it for the lure it was when Itachi was waiting for him there. He blocked, shielding just enough so
that the floor he was thrown into took more damage from the impact than he did. Itachi was on him before he could recover and he sent a fireball into the air
between them. For a moment the fire swelled, crackling in the dusty air, and then, impossibly, it was sucked inward to vanish between Itachi's pursed lips. That
was when Sasuke realized that Itachi was using his talents, that he had been using them since he had first attacked him, and that he had no hope whatsoever
of walking away from this. Fear arched sharply along his spine to clench in the pit of his stomach. He buried it in icy resolve to at least make Itachi bleed before
it was over. Naruto had done that much and he refused to disappoint him by going down without leaving his own mark.
.-.
For Naruto, it was as if a movie screen had been set up outside the bars of his cage. Kyuubi had gone so close to the front that his thoughts were as distant
as the sounds coming from that screen. He hated being cut off like this, both from Kyuubi and from what was happening outside them. It was Sasuke, and if
they couldn't help they should at least be able to feel for him together. Instead he was alone in the cage, tense with fear and pride as he watched Sasuke fight,
and wondering if Kyuubi felt the same way he did. The brothers were a blur of motion even to Kyuubi's eyes, their dark clothes standing out against the pale
walls and dirty floor of the room. Each time they clashed, pausing long enough to come into clear focus, he looked for injuries because that was what the
screen looked for, what Kyuubi looked for. That told him Kyuubi shared his concern, whether he was as impressed as he was or not.
Sasuke was faster than either of them had realized. It was insulting to think he had held back that much against them. Naruto chose to believe he hadn't, that it
was Itachi who was forcing him to be so much faster, because for all his speed he had barely made a mark on the bastard. There was a thin cut on Itachi's
cheek, so close to those awful eyes of his yet not nearly close enough. Another cut bled lightly down the man's left shoulder, but even that didn't compare to
the scratches he and Kyuubi had made. Naruto couldn't help making that comparison because Kyuubi's attention, and thus the screen he was watching, kept
going back to those claw marks as if seeking proof that Itachi could be dealt serious injury, as if demanding why Sasuke wasn't dealing equal damage. There
was no comparison in Naruto's mind because Itachi had let them make that scratch in order to catch their eyes. Itachi didn't seem interested in catching
Sasuke's eyes. All he seemed to want was to drag this out, taking Sasuke down bit by bit.
Kyuubi realized what was happening long before Naruto did. Had they been together he would have hidden his thoughts for Naruto's sake. The bastard was
playing with Sasuke, leaving himself open to attack just to see what Sasuke would do. Testing his strength? Or letting him believe he stood a chance against
him when he clearly didn't? Kyuubi suspected it was both. The few blows Sasuke had dealt him were hard earned and met with vicious retaliation. That small
cut on Itachi's face had gotten his ribs broken. Kyuubi didn't need to see the blood on his lips or the stilted way he was breathing to know the damage was
extensive. That shallow cut on Itachi's arm had ruined his right hand. Sasuke had the sword in his left hand now, and Kyuubi couldn't fathom why he kept going
back in for more. If he did deal him serious damage the bastard might very well kill him. Kyuubi was beginning to suspect that was the entire point, that Sasuke
expected, possibly even wanted, Itachi to kill him, and was ignoring his pain and throwing himself back into danger just to see how long it would take. That
selfish recklessness was infuriating because Sasuke wouldn't be indulging in it if they hadn't failed to kill the bastard when they'd had the chance.
Sasuke's back struck the shield and instead of immediately rebounding off it he leaned heavily against it. The ragged dragging sound of his breathing forced
Kyuubi forward that last step until he was looking at him with his own eyes. The scent of his blood, thick with cloying fear, had him rising into a crouch before
he even registered the pain. His entire body, Naruto's body, was in pain. He looked down and was shocked to see that the skin of his hands was scalded red,
his energy bubbling out and around it like boiling water. Or blood? Then Sasuke choked and his eyes flew back up, narrowing with fury. Itachi had him pinned
against the shield. Kyuubi didn't think to avoid looking at the man's eyes, but it didn't matter. Itachi's full attention was on Sasuke. Kyuubi wanted nothing more
than to eat the bastard, and unlike the others he had chewed up all those years ago, he would swallow this one just for the pleasure of shitting him out.
"You can't make me kill you," Itachi was saying, his voice a sickly intimate murmur. "You can't make me do anything. Haven't you learned that by now? You're
too weak, little brother. You would have to use the eyes I gave you to invade my mind, to join me in here, and you're far too afraid of what you might see.
You're a coward, little brother. Run away now, like you always do, and I won't hurt you any more today. I promise I will let you escape. All you have to do is
remove this shield first."
That black and red gaze flicked down, and Kyuubi belatedly snapped his eyes closed. For a second he cursed himself, thinking it was too late. Then he
thought of what Itachi had just said and wondered. His eyes flashed back open and met Itachi's gaze with shock. Was that why the bastard had drawn the fight
out? The shield didn't just protect them physically, it blocked energy. Itachi couldn't do whatever it was he did without making contact with his energy. He had
been cowering for nothing. Baring his teeth, he shot to his feet. The hot pain in his body was nothing to his fury at having been made to look like a fool by this
man.
"Tell him to free you," Itachi said to Kyuubi. "Your energy is going to fill that cage and when it does it will consume both you and your host." He clenched his
hand around Sasuke's neck, glaring when Sasuke's eyes remained tightly closed. "You're killing them both, little brother. Were it intentional, I would accept
that. But you're doing it in a vain attempt to save them. After all these years you have learned nothing. You can't save the dead. You're still dragging your
weakness around with you for all the world to see. Let it go. Killing them will break you and I refuse to piece you together again for such an unworthy cause.
Let go, little brother, or I will sever that bond myself."
Kyuubi lunged tight against the inside of the shield. He clawed at it with his nails and that thickly heated energy. His teeth gnashed and had Naruto been with
him he would have cursed the bastard, would have demanded an explanation. But Naruto wasn't with him and he was nearly mindless with fury so all that came
out was a snarl. Itachi drew Sasuke away from the shield and flung him back against that moldy wall. He followed in a flash to crouch in front of him, and Kyuubi
knew he had caught his eyes because Sasuke let out a choked cry, a whimper, really. Then he began to scream. Kyuubi's last rational thought was to get rid
of the screen connecting Naruto to this, because Naruto would cry if he heard this and he couldn't stand to have them both cry. Then he gave himself over to
outrage and fury, the only things strong enough to keep his own pain at bay.
.-.
Sasuke peeked out of his bedroom when he heard the knock on the door. They rarely had visitors, and never this late at night. He heard his name spoken in a
familiar voice and leaned out further into the hall in an attempt to see who it was. He knew that voice. Then he saw his mother rushing toward him and winced
back into his dark room. It was past his bedtime. He opened his mouth to apologize, but she grabbed him up and ran with him into her own room. He wasn't
allowed in her room. That was his father's room, too, and he wasn't allowed to even touch the door, which was always kept closed. She closed the door behind
them and locked it. There was just enough light in the room for Sasuke to see the bolt she snapped into place. It was even bigger than the one on the door to
the apartment. Then he was being crammed into a closet, his mother joining him and pulling the door closed behind them, and he couldn't see anything at all.
He started to ask what was wrong, and her hand clamped over his mouth.
"Quiet," she whispered, and he had never heard her voice sound like that. "It will be over soon." She gave a shaky breath and he wondered suddenly if she
was crying. She never cried. Even he wasn't allowed to cry. Crying was for babies who didn't know any better.
There was a clicking sound, then a rattle. Someone was at the bedroom door. His mother made a horrible sound and his confusion gave way to sudden fear.
Her hand moved so high on his face that it covered his nose. He squirmed, trying to tell her he couldn't breathe like that. The hand tightened until he couldn't
help pushing and kicking at her hard enough to hurt. Then the hand was gone, finally, and he took a quick breath. He would have apologized for kicking her,
but something wrapped around his neck and squeezed so hard all that came out of him was a weird squeak. It hurt so badly he felt tears in his eyes. Now he
was crying like a baby, but he couldn't help it because he couldn't breathe and it hurt. He didn't understand. He hadn't kicked her that hard, had he? He
wouldn't have kicked her at all if she hadn't covered his nose. He had been keeping quiet, just like she wanted.
He heard a loud crash, like something breaking or falling. Something wooden and heavy. His mother started screaming and didn't stop. Her screams were
loud, angry and frightened, and he wished she would stop. Weren't they supposed to be quiet? His flailing hands had found her face. He wanted to cover her
mouth, just like she had with him, but was suddenly terrified she would bite if he did, that her mouth would chomp closed and bite his fingers right off. The
closet door was wrenched open and he saw a dark figure in the faint light. He thought it was his father, that he would make her stop screaming and let go of
his neck so he could apologize and explain that he hadn't meant to kick her so hard. But as familiar as that voice was, it wasn't his father's.
"You selfish, stupid woman. Now I'll have to kill everyone in the building."
Sasuke saw a pale hand reach down to catch his mother's dark hair. Her head was pulled back and then a red mouth opened up in her neck and spewed
sticky salty red into his mouth and eyes. She stopped screaming. If he had been able to breathe he would have screamed for her. His hands flew up to scrub
his burning eyes. His throat was free, open enough for him to cough and vomit. He got the vomit all over himself because he was being dragged out of the
closet. Then he was dropped and his head hit the side of the cold bathtub hard enough to make him cry. Except he was already crying. Now that his throat was
open he was sobbing so hard he gagged around it.
"Stop it," said that familiar voice.
He couldn't stop. He drew his knees up and muffled the gags against them. The light flicked on and his bleary eyes rose and widened. It was his big brother.
He looked much taller now, and he had red all over him. Blood. Sasuke looked down at the red on his own hands and finally understood why his mother had
stopped screaming. He shuddered, curling forward in the tub and gagging harder than ever.
"Stop it, Sasuke," his big brother said, in that carefully quiet voice he had tried so hard to copy. The shower turned on, spraying him with cold water. "Stay
here until I come back for you."
Sasuke stayed until there was no more red, no more blood, on his hands. He wanted to stay there until his big brother came back for him, but he was afraid to.
His big brother had red, had blood, all over him. He needed to know for sure why his mother had stopped screaming, why his father had let Itachi stop her
when he was the one who hated noise. He climbed out of the tub only to fall on his face. He was cold and wet, shaking too much for his feet to work. He was
still crying, dripping with shame and dread as he crawled into the bedroom. Then he saw her. His mother's head was lying by her feet. At first she just stared at
him with her mouth wide open but silent. Then she screamed at him, condemning him for crying and crawling around like a baby when he should have been
getting as far away as he could before the monster who had killed her came back. He shot to his feet and bolted out of the room with his hands clamped tightly
over his ears. He couldn't muffle her screams. They closed over him so loud and piercing that he ran blindly down the hall all the way to the livingroom.
He tripped over his father. The carpet burned his cheek. He had bitten his tongue so hard his mouth filled with salty blood again. It didn't matter. His father's
eyes were gone. His father looked at him, just as disappointed in him and angry with him as his mother was, but his eyes were gone. They were sunken red
and black holes in his face. Sasuke stared at them, unable to look away, until he saw his own hand moving toward them as if it wanted to see how deeply his
fingers would sink into those gaping holes. Then his mother was screaming at him again and he scrambled backwards, crawling like a crab toward the open
door. He turned when he reached the hall, got to his feet, and fell over another body.
For a long time he lay where he had fallen. The air was bad, burning his mouth and throat. He gulped it down anyway. His mother's screams beat at him,
urging him to move but holding him down so heavily he couldn't move at all. He didn't pay any attention to the fluttering by his ankle at first. Eventually his
mother grew quiet enough for him to hear the whimpers, to realize something, someone, was touching him. He flinched, lurching up and away until his back
was tight against the hallway wall. The body he had fallen over was still there, but he saw now that it wasn't alone. There was another one beneath it, a small
one with a little white arm and fingers stretched out in his direction. Those fingers curled on the hallway carpet and the whimpering thickened. Unlike him, he
had the right to cry. He really was a baby.
Sasuke forced himself to move, to crawl forward close enough for that little hand to curl tight around his own. He pulled on the hand, hard enough to make the
little boy cry in pain. He kicked at the body, pushing with his left hand. He wanted to let go so he could push the body with both hands, but that little hand
wouldn't let go of his own. He knelt, coughing at the bad air, and bent down to grab that small wrist with his left hand. He pulled as hard as he could and the
muffled crying rose into shrieks that beat at him until all he wanted was to let go, to run away and never look back.
"What are you doing, Sasuke?"
He choked at the sound of that familiar voice. Hope lurched into his chest that his big brother had come. That hope tightened and bled into horror that the
monster his big brother had become had returned. His mother was going to start screaming again. He wondered if he would be able to hear her over the
childish shrieks that were tearing his ears. He kicked out, pushing himself as far away as he could get with that impossibly strong hand holding tight to his own.
His brother stepped forward, the smoke in the air turning his face gray. His eyes were wrong. There was even more red on him now, covering his clothes and
splattering his face. Somehow his eyes looked just as red as the blood. The child screamed louder and Sasuke pulled desperately against the hand gripping
his own. He couldn't help him now. He couldn't help anyone.
"You can't help him, Sasuke," his brother said, as if reading his mind. "You can't help the dead. That is nothing but a bag of flesh, an empty shell. Let go of it.
Let go of your sympathy, whatever pity or compassion is holding you. Those emotions are weakness. You will never survive unless you let them go."
He wanted to let go. He already had. It was the hand that wouldn't let go of him. He wished it would. If the boy let go of him, maybe he would stop screaming,
too. He would give anything to make the screaming stop. He would kill him himself if only it would make the screaming stop. Something bright flashed through
the smokey air and Sasuke reeled backwards. Free? Was he free? No. He lifted his arm and stared in horror at the little hand. It was no longer attached to the
arm, but it was firmly attached to him. For a brief moment the screaming stopped. Then it was back, sharper than ever before.
"Stop it, Sasuke. Shut up."
He wasn't the one doing it. A hand clamped over his mouth and he sobbed against it when the screams continued. It wasn't him. It was the boy, the baby,
possibly his mother as well. They were screaming at him and they would never stop. Through his tears he stared at his brother's eyes as they drew closer.
Those eyes were red and black, reminding him of the holes in his father's face.
"Sleep, Sasuke. Go to sleep, little brother."
His eyes closed and he wished they hadn't. Now he was alone in the dark with those screams. They followed him down. He had known they would. They
blamed him for not saving them. Their screams would never stop.
.-.
Gaara was disturbed by what he was seeing. At first he had been disappointed, even bored, because Itachi hadn't done anything to his brother except look at
him, and when he had let go, Sasuke, who Gaara had been viewing as a challenging opponent, had slumped down like a puppet with its strings cut. Naruto
had sparked his interest for a moment, until Itachi had caught and stared at him, too. Gaara couldn't hear anything he said, but he had no interest in, no
respect for, someone who did nothing but talk to and stare at his adversaries. Then Sasuke had woken up and spurred Itachi into action, finally, and Gaara's
attention had been held so strongly even Kisame had noticed his distraction. He split his attention more firmly since he didn't want anyone, an opponent like
Kisame least of all, to think he could be worn out that quickly. When he looked back through the window Itachi was once again staring at his brother, and
Naruto appeared to be drowning in a blood filled bubble.
He couldn't understand a fight like this. Was it even a fight? Itachi had looked at him with those eyes and he hadn't felt anything beyond curiosity. The man
had stared at him for just a moment and told him it was too late, that there was no demon in him that could be extracted. Gaara had believed him. Now he
wondered if Itachi had truly looked at him at all. Clearly the man fought with those eyes, a mental attack of some sort that left his opponents devastated and
broken. Gaara hadn't experienced an attack. Had Itachi not viewed him as enough of a threat to use those eyes on him? Or had Itachi been afraid using them
might trigger a change and get him eaten? If Itachi was afraid of him, that made him useless. He didn't like seeing someone useless ruin two people who were
capable of a good fight. Sasuke might be able to throw off the mental attacks and stand to fight again, but Naruto appeared to be deteriorating physically. All
because Itachi was too cowardly to fight with his body rather than his mind?
Gaara had just made up his mind to kill the useless man when someone burst up out of the floorboards right behind Itachi. He had felt that man beneath the
ground during his fight with Sasuke and wondered what he was doing down there. The man stabbed at Itachi with what appeared to be a blade of bone. Itachi
whipped around and sliced the bone skewer in half with the sword Sasuke had been wielding. It was enough to make Gaara's stomach clench and bubble with
frustration. Was the man useless or not? He obviously could fight, even better than his brother when he was pushed to do so. Yet he resorted to attacking his
opponents' helpless minds. Itachi was no different from him after he changed, Gaara decided. He didn't thrive off the challenge of a fight. He thrived off the
fear and helpless pain of a victim who could do nothing to stop him. He was a monster. Gaara hated monsters.
.-.
Naruto flinched at the crashing sound and cautiously took his hands away from his ears. The screaming had stopped. He slowly uncurled on the floor of the
cage. Kyuubi had abandoned him. He had removed the screen, his only connection to his fox, and left him alone with Sasuke's tortured screams. Kyuubi
should have stayed with him, should have come back and helped him bear it. Then maybe he wouldn't have ended up curled into a ball and sobbing his heart
out. He could have been strong if he hadn't been left alone. He rose on shaky legs and stepped over to bang on the bars of his cage. It was dark out there,
cold and metallic. He was back in that dank prison and this time Kyuubi wasn't here to change the surroundings. He banged on the bars and cried out to his
fox. He needed to know what was happening. More than that, he needed to know he wasn't alone.
Kyuubi heard him and gratefully retreated from the pain. That molten energy had nearly filled the bubble. He didn't think Naruto's body had any skin left on it.
Fear for his own survival had mated with his tortured outrage until he had become a mad thing clawing and biting at the inside of the shield. Naruto's cries
were a lifeline. He snatched at it and pulled himself back to sanity.
Naruto was horrified by the sight of him. His fox was no bigger than Akamaru, his sticky wet fur plastered to his skin, his eyes wild and panicked like a hunted
beast. His fox looked terrified and Naruto, who had been wondering if he would ever forgive him, dropped to his knees and stuck his hands through the bars.
His hands burned and bled, but it didn't matter because he couldn't feel it. He could feel Kyuubi as he stroked his little ears until his breathing settled and his
fur dried and rose as thick and healthy as ever. "It's okay, Kyuubi," Naruto heard himself saying. He could believe that now that they were together again. "We
can get through anything as long as we're together."
"I think we're dying," Kyuubi admitted. He hadn't planned to tell him. How foolish of him. Naruto had a right to know. If anyone could think his way out of this
mess, it was Naruto. "We have to get out of this bubble."
"Show me," said Naruto. "What's happening out there?" Kyuubi turned and Naruto drew one hand back into the cage, leaving the other on his fox's shoulder.
Itachi was fighting the Frankenstein mutant. Naruto couldn't bring himself to believe the albino might win, but he hoped he would at least cut the bastard up
good before he died. Itachi was using Sasuke's sword, and that was too sickening to even look at. Sasuke was once again slumped against the moldy wall,
shattered and small, and it hurt so bad to see him like that. They hadn't done anything to protect him. Now they couldn't do anything to help him, couldn't even
get close enough to touch him.
Kyuubi trembled under his hand and Naruto knew it was just as hard from him to see Sasuke like that. The view shifted to the bubble and Naruto's breath
caught in his throat. At first it looked like blood, his own body floating and drowning in a ball of blood. But there were tiny bubbles floating up through that thick
red. He had seen that before. That was just how he had envisioned his energy that time he had tried to imagine something sharp and ended up with rounded
tails instead.
"Can you control that energy?" Naruto asked quickly. "Can you move it? Pull it back or change its shape?"
Kyuubi didn't do that sort of thing. That was what Naruto was good at, controlling and manipulating his energy, experimenting with things. But Kyuubi knew he
was the only one who could go forward to try now. "I'd have to leave you alone here."
Naruto looked at their surroundings. It was still dark, but no longer metallic, ominous, and abandoned. His eyes dropped to find Kyuubi watching him, and he
smiled suddenly. "We're still in our own head, Kyuubi. Make a clone of yourself. Only make yours so it stays connected to the body you leave here with. Then I
can talk to you and see what you do even when you're out front. It will be just like how we usually are." Or close enough so he wouldn't have to be cut off and
left alone in this cage.
Maybe Kyuubi should have thought of that himself, but he hadn't and probably never would have. He had Naruto to think of things like that. The clone he
made of himself was pointlessly massive, and for a moment he found himself split in half – looking up at his enormous original-sized body while also looking
down at his smaller Naruto-sized one. Then he closed the eyes of the smaller one and took the larger one out to where it was painful and noisy.
That unnatural mutant was tearing the place up with what appeared to be bones emanating from his own body. There were craters in the floor, cracks in the
walls, even a small portion of the ceiling that appeared to have caved in. Yet as far as Kyuubi could tell Itachi had no more wounds than the scratch they had
made and the two cuts Sasuke had left. The area around Sasuke was the only part of the room that hadn't been touched. He didn't know if the mutant was
avoiding that area or if Itachi was keeping the fight away from him. It was enough to see that they weren't dragging Sasuke into it. He felt Naruto's hand tighten
on his shoulder and turned his attention to the energy surrounding their body like molten sludge. He couldn't pull it back in. It hurt to even try. But he could
move it. He could move it far more easily than he had ever expected.
.-.
Itachi had met Kimimaru before. Kimimaru had been little more than a child then, a pale thing the likes of which Orochimaru had always disdained. But he had
been quiet, pretty, and eager to please. He had been a willing test subject and Itachi had envied Orochimaru for having found him first. To see him here, fully
grown and still alive, was a surprise. Itachi would kill him, of course, but he wanted to see what Orochimaru had made of him first. Kimimaru had fully embraced
his own body for the weapon that it was. His little brother had never learned to do that, despite all of the opportunities he had given him. Instead, he had
attacked him with a blade, a flimsy piece of metal. Itachi suspected Kimimaru had given the sword to him. He would make sure to return it before letting the
man die.
He followed him closely, casually harassing him with the borrowed blade. Orochimaru had marked this one as a child. Perhaps he was watching through his
eyes at this very moment. Itachi was tempted to use the mangekyou on him to see if the man was really in there. He might have done so if he had been willing
to risk being distracted yet again. He had been interrupted before he could finish with his little brother. If his brother came out of it on his own then Iruka should
be able to piece his mind back together, but there was no telling how much damage he might do to himself in the meantime. Unless Kakashi's sharingan was
more advanced than he knew, it would be days before Iruka recovered enough to do his part. Itachi didn't have time to wait for him. There was still the demon
to deal with. His brother had created that shield. He would have to see to it that his brother removed it.
"Are you trying to keep me away from him?" asked Kimimaru. He didn't expect an answer. Itachi refused to engage him. He was beneath Itachi's notice, not
even worthy of being set against his precious little brother. Kimimaru hated him for that. He hated them both. Itachi, the one Orochimaru had rescued but
couldn't hold. Sasuke, the one Orochimaru wanted but couldn't have. They both had what he never would and deserved to die for not valuing it the way they
should. He allowed himself to be shoved back into the wall, cracking it further. He fired bone fragments from his fingers and palm, knowing Itachi would dodge
and leave them free to cut into the beams in the opposite wall. He wasn't supposed to kill Sasuke. But if the upper floors happened to collapse and crush him
out of existence it would hardly be his fault.
"What does Orochimaru intend to accomplish with this?" asked Itachi. "Aside from your death, of course."
"What do you intend?" Kimimaru shot back. They were dancing around the shield now. The bloody energy was swirling so violently the body within was
completely obscured. He sent bone skewers at it, leaving Itachi to dodge so they rebounded off the shield to slice into the ceiling. "There's no point extracting
the ninetails. You know better. Stronger eyes than yours have tried. He returned to his host. By choice! He's tainted by human emotions. He stays in that weak
vessel by choice. Even if you manage to lure him out, you can't stop him from returning to his host."
"I can if his host has no body for him to return to," said Itachi. And to think, he had his little brother to thank for that. If only he had done it on purpose.
"You think Orochimaru hasn't thought of that?"
"He doesn't have the eyes for it," Itachi reminded him. "He never will." He lifted his arm. It was time to return the sword. Along Kimimaru's spine would be a
fitting resting place for it. He paused as a crash sounded behind them, the dry cracking of plaster, and then a choked gasp. His arm swept down, slicing
Kimimaru from his right shoulder to his left hip. Then he was across the room, confronting the possessed corpse that was holding his little brother in its skeletal
arms. "How many times do I have to kill you?"
The corpse grinned, the mark on its decaying skull flaring a bright red before being covered by a creeping flow of pale skin. It tightened the arm it had around
Sasuke's neck, forcing out another of those sounds that made Itachi's eyes narrow. Then it had lips and tongue enough to speak. "My dear misguided Itachi.
Don't you know by now? You may kill me as many times as you like. I only have to kill you once."
Itachi's upper lip curled as the borrowed body dragged an enlongated tongue over his brother's tear-stained cheek. When this was over he would track down
Orochimaru's newest body and mutilate it slowly. "If your aim was to kill me, you would have sent a stronger assassin."
Orochimaru grinned, revealing rotted teeth beneath the facade of unblemished skin. "Why? You are such a hypocrite, Itachi. Always wanting others to shed
their weaknesses when you cling more tightly to yours than anyone. This body isn't even alive, yet you can't bear to see it touch him. Why would I need to
send my strongest against you? All I need to do," and his canines whitened, growing into glinting fangs, "is threaten to bite him. You would rather die than see
me claim him as my own." He wrenched Sasuke's head to the side, baring his neck. "One move and I will mark him. Stand there, Itachi, and let your weakness
be the death of you. Just as you always wanted it to be."
.-.
It was impossible to truly focus on two things at once. The energy shield was straining under the pressure. They could feel it threatening to give way. At
Naruto's urging, Kyuubi poured more energy out, moving it faster and faster until the shield shuddered around them. They were so close. But Kyuubi's
attention was torn. Sasuke was in danger. There were teeth, fangs, less than an inch from his neck. And the undead bastard was threatening to mark him, to
claim him as his own. He couldn't focus on creating a whirlpool out of his energy when all of his instincts demanded he throw himself at the side of the shield, to
bite and claw at it until it gave way under the force of his rage. Only the feel of Naruto's hand on his shoulder kept him from it. Naruto, who was just as
outraged and afraid as he was, somehow still had room for rational thought. So he continued to force his energy out, energy that had no where to go, and
trust that the shield would crack in time to prevent their mate from being claimed by another.
The first crack formed just as the white-haired mutant appeared behind Itachi and stabbed him in the back. The bone skewer went through the middle of
Itachi's back and continued on right into Sasuke's chest. Time stood still. Kyuubi didn't feel his energy seeping into the crack in the shield, widening it into
jagged splinters. He heard the corpse scream in fury, but he didn't care. He saw Itachi slice the skewer impaling him in front and behind, ripping it out of
himself. He saw him remove the corpse's head so it hit the floor as hairless and skinless as it had first appeared. He saw him whip around to cut the white-
haired mutant from the top of his forehead all the way down to his groin. Kyuubi didn't care. He saw Itachi catch Sasuke's body and pull the skewer out of his
chest so he could see right through the hole to the torn wall behind him. He didn't care. It was too late. They were too late. He saw Itachi sink to his knees and
bend down to kiss Sasuke's bloody lips and finally he cared again.
The shield shattered and his energy exploded to fill the room as he took his natural form. It was different this time because he was using Naruto's body rather
than taking shape outside of it. It was different because he was inside, within a house that had no room for him. The house broke and crumbled around him.
His jaws opened and he ducked his head down to snap the brothers up. There was no time to rip Itachi away from Sasuke. So he held them both in his mouth,
safe and still on his tongue. His tails churned around him, ripping the upper floors and roof off of his back and head. He wanted to rear up and shake himself
free of the ruined house, but he didn't dare risk jarring Sasuke.
Finally the dust settled. He lowered his head and carefully let them out. Itachi was still holding him, still kissing those lips that belonged only to him and Naruto.
Kyuubi snarled and ripped him free with his claws, flinging him aside so his body vanished into the rubble. Naruto was crying, reaching through the bars with
both hands curled tight in his fur. Kyuubi wished he would stop. His crying hurt and it wasn't helping. He curled around Sasuke, making a cocoon out of his
tails, and licked him as gently as he could. Sasuke was still breathing. All they had to do was make sure he didn't stop. If only Naruto were free he could pour
his energy into him. Naruto's energy wouldn't have hurt him the way Kyuubi's did. Naruto's hands were warmly buried in his fur. Kyuubi turned his head so his
cheek was pressed along Sasuke's battered body. He was much too cold. They could at least warm him up a little. That was what Naruto had first wanted, after
all. Just to warm him up a little.
.-.
PART 49
.-.
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