Sasuke followed Itachi up to the bridge, landing in front of him. Sasuke narrowed his eyes when the older Uchiha said nothing and just kept staring at him with his activated sharingan. “What are you doing here Itachi?” he called out from across the bridge.
“To bring you back to the village little brother”.
“And do you think I’ll just go back quietly?” Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
Itachi sighed. “I know that you won’t. Just what are you trying to accomplish by doing everything you’ve done Sasuke?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“I’m aware of your goal. What I want to know is why and how you were led to this goal of yours”.
Sasuke closed his eyes before answering his brother, “Ever since the beginning, we have been taught to be proud of our Uchiha blood and the visual prowess in our eyes. Father was always raving about it and had so much pride in the clan. I believed father that we were a clan that stood above the rest, an elite clan. I believed him, in his words and carried myself with that pride and power that the Uchiha name gave me”.
Sasuke clenched his fists and glared at the ground as he continued to explain. “I believed him, yet… no matter what I did… I could never make him proud. No matter how hard I tried I was always in the shadows of everyone else. Someone would always overshadow my efforts to be recognized. That stupid loud mouthed blonde brat; he would talk big but had no real talent. A nobody that always needed saving yet somehow his power was growing, he was getting stronger a lot faster than I was. I was someone from an elite clan, an Uchiha but how was it that someone as reckless and simple minded as he be getting stronger than I was”. Sasuke could feel his anger growing and he struggled to stay calm.
“Then there was you, the ‘Child Prodigy of the Uchiha’, always being compared to you. I admired you and strived to surpass you, to become someone stronger than you. Even though I pushed myself to be able to reach your level and to become someone worthy in father’s eyes, it was still only about you. It didn’t matter how hard I tried, nothing I did would ever be good enough. Why was it that I couldn’t meet father’s expectations? I knew the answer was that I needed more power, but I didn’t know how to go about it. Then the opportunity presented itself when Orochimaru met us in the forest of death. At that moment, When he gave me the curse mark, it was the first time I felt the power I was looking for, now I’m able to see the truth and what must be done”.
“Is that so?” Itachi asked, running straight to Sasuke, raising his leg and aiming for Sasuke’s head. Sasuke dodged, swinging his fist at his brother’s face. “Just what do you see with those eyes of yours then?”, Itachi took out a kunai and Sasuke unsheathed his sword at the same time, blocking the kunai from getting close to his face. Itachi grabbed Sasuke’s arm, twisting it and jumped up to kick Sasuke’s sword, knocking him off balance. As Sasuke struggled to regain his balance, Itachi leaped over him, grabbing the collar of the younger Uchiha’s clothing and throwing him to the side. Sasuke’s back impacted with the wall of the bridge, getting the air knocked out of him.
Sasuke got up to his feet, wiping away some saliva from the corner of his mouth. “My eyes see more than yours ever could. What they see is that the current Uchiha Clan has become soft and weak, keeping their heads down and following the words of inferior beings. What they see is a new future, a new Uchiha Clan that can thrive in a world where they won’t be shackled by the oppressions of lesser clans. What my eyes see is the rebirth of the original Uchiha that were feared and respected by everyone”.
The raven ran towards Itachi activating his Chidori Stream, not giving Itachi a moment to weave any hand signs and kicked his arms. Sasuke jumped back and swept his brother’s legs, Itachi jumped up and Sasuke used this chance to slam the jutsu into Itachi’s stomach.
Itachi grunted in pain and Sasuke grabbed his neck and slamming the older Uchiha onto the ground. Sasuke looked down at his brother who was under him staring back up at him. For a moment, Sasuke felt satisfaction that he was able to pin Itachi down; that is until Crows began to come out of his brother’s mouth and eyes. Itachi’s form withered and disappeared. Sasuke looked back and his brother was standing in the same place where he stood since the beginning, unfazed and unharmed, ‘Genjutsu’.
“ Each of us lives dependent and bound by our individual knowledge and our awareness. All that is what we call reality, however both knowledge and awareness are equivocal. One's reality might be another's illusion. We all live inside our own fantasies. You, Sasuke, have created a fantasy that cannot and will not become a reality. You seem to have lost your way, blinded by the jealousy and envy you have towards the people you perceive as stronger and more blessed than you. You believe we have become weak? I’d say it’s quite the opposite; we serve under the Hokage and other clans because they are dependent on us, because we are strong. You say that your eyes see the truth… however what my eyes see is a brother who has closed his eyes to the reality that we live in”.
Sasuke burst out in a fit of laughter before returning back to his stone cold expression. “Is that what father thought when he was leading the plan of the coup d’état?”
Itachi raised an eyebrow. “How do you know about that?”
“See, you’re just like everyone else in the clan. You underestimate me, think of me as the weak link. I’m an Uchiha too, I found out about what the clan was doing and what came to my mind was that the Uchiha were finally going to be free. I may have been young, but I saw how the Uchiha were treated. Even though we helped protect the village, we were still isolated and the clan’s power was monitored. I thought the coup would help the Uchiha be free… but then, it was stopped, negotiations were made and the coup never happened. The Uchiha clan became weak and passive over the years, they have allowed themselves to be controlled. You see big brother, it’s not me who has closed his eyes, it was the opposite. I opened mine and saw the true reality of the Uchiha and now I have made the decision to change the clan. A new and stronger Uchiha!” With every word, Sasuke got louder and his face became more and more crazed.
Itachi could tell his goal was becoming more and more twisted, he has lost the meaning of his goal. The Crow closed his eyes, opening them a second later. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, the shape of the older Uchiha’s eyes were different. They were no longer the familiar black tomoes, they have been replaced with a black swirl pattern.
Sasuke glared at Itachi, The Mangekyo Sharingan. Sasuke clicked his tongue in frustration, he’s trained his eyes very hard and made sure that his Sharingan would surpass his brother’s but even still, here stood Itachi with The Mangekyo. He trained so that he would be able to unlock it somehow, but he was never able to find out how. Sasuke clicked his tongue, taking a deep breath before he made his move. Itachi’s eyes widened when he felt a hand wrap around the back of his neck, the Sasuke that was standing in front of him turned into white snakes that fell to the ground and slithered away.
“Now I have a question for you big brother. The Mangekyo Sharingan; father told me about it when I asked him. It’s a powerful jutsu even stronger than our regular Sharingan and not just anyone can obtain it, he told me that much, but what he didn’t say was how one came to obtain the Mangekyo. You somehow met those conditions and was able to unlock it. Tell me, how did you get it?”
Itachi looked forward, not making any movements, “I once believed that you would be able one of the few people to be able to unlock it, a plan was set in motion, but as you said, the coup was stopped. Besides, now it seems there is too much in your life to let go of.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, not fully understanding what his big brother was saying.
“Tell me something Sasuke. Who is Hinata to you?”
Sasuke was taken aback by Itachi’s question. Hina had nothing to do with what they were talking about. “What does it matter who she is to me? I found her near the river and her having amnesia was convenient for me. She has a strong jutsu and I trained with her so that she would be strong enough to be by my side. She’ll follow me wherever I go, no matter what I plan to do I know she’ll be right next to me doing everything in her power to make my so called ‘fantasy’ a reality!” As Sasuke spoke about Hina he could feel his chest becoming warmer, yet he felt chills running throughout his body. He felt clashing emotions going on through his mind and began to feel anger for his brother questioning him about Hina.
Sasuke turned around, sending a Chidori Stream past Itachi’s head, “Your parlor tricks won’t work on me. My eyes can see through Genjutsu!” The Itachi that was being held by Sasuke disappeared, fading away.
“I see. What I also see is that you will not be able to unlock the Mangekyo. Because, little brother, gaining power always comes with a price. This power is different from all the others, I don’t think this will be a price you are willing to pay”.
“Don’t act as if you know what I’m thinking or feeling! Or do you just want to keep this power to yourself? What, are you afraid that I will truly be stronger than you if I do get the Mangekyo!”, with every passing second, Sasuke’s anger grew more and more. “This is what I always despised about you! You have such a powerful jutsu, stronger than father, than anyone in the whole of the Uchiha Clan. Yet you still insist on following under the orders of such pathetic clans, clans weaker than us!”
Sasuke made some hand signs and shot out a fireball jutsu as he ran closer to Itachi. Itachi stood his ground and tried to place his younger brother under another Genjutsu. “I told you I was done with your cheap illusions! My eyes can see through any and all Genjutsu. I may not have the same eyes as you but as far as the ability to wield the Sharingan, I’m far superior to you!” Sasuke yelled as the fireball dissipated and he appeared from behind it, swinging his sword at Itachi, causing him fall back. Sasuke won’t be giving Itachi any chance to create Genjutsu, he knew that much. He also knew what Sasuke said was true, being able to see through Genjutsu.
Itachi jumped back, sending a fireball jutsu at Sasuke and creating a barrier between them. The flames engulfed Sasuke and Itachi waited at a safe distance as the flames and smoke dissipated. Itachi kept his eyes focused on right in front of him. As the smoke disappeared, Itachi could see a large gray hand- like wing surrounding his younger brother. ‘So that’s the power of the curse mark’. Sasuke panted as he felt the pain from the burns his curse mark transformation took. ‘That’s the Amaterasu’. Both Itachi and Sasuke made hand signs and shot a fireball jutsu at each other, both jutsus clashing with each other, pushing each other back; fighting to get the upper hand.
Sasuke could tell that he was overpowering Itachi until all of a sudden, black flames began to spread through the orange and red ones. Itachi’s side erupted into a massive wall of black fire. The fire that Sasuke was producing was no longer a threat, looking harmless in comparison to the black flames. Sasuke’s eyes widened as the black fire engulfed his own and as quickly they appeared, the flames were gone.
Sasuke stared wide eyed at Itachi who’s right eye was now bleeding. The Raven took a step back before running around his brother. Itachi kept an eye fixated on Sasuke as he ran from the Amaterasu. The black flames eventually caught up to Sasuke and spread onto his wing. Sasuke yelled in agony as his wing continued to burn. Itachi walked up to Sasuke who was no longer moving, “I’m sorry little brother but this was the only way to get you to come quietly”. Itachi bent down to grab Sasuke, but his form melted away revealing a crevice in the bridge. Sasuke had escaped under it, using the substitution jutsu he had been saving for a situation such as this.
He was relieved to be able to get a small break, he was starting feel tired. He was using up a lot more chakra than he had expected. He needed to get Itachi off his back, every second he spent fighting his brother was another second that was delaying his plans. He needed to continue forward towards his plan, he wasn’t going to be like his father and back out at the last second. He wasn’t weak like the Uchiha, he was stronger than any of them and he knew that.
Sasuke won’t allow the once great Uchiha name be tarnished anymore than it already was. Sasuke felt the familiar prick of the curse mark as he transformed into his second form. His appearance changing; his once black hair was now longer and dark blue, his skin became an ashy gray and his the white of his eyes turning black only leaving his red sharingan. Sasuke weaved some hand signs, preparing himself for his next jutsu.
Up on top, Itachi collapsed to the ground as his legs gave out from underneath him. He flinched in pain and grabbed his right eye that was still bleeding. Using the Mangekyo Sharingan consecutively took a very heavy toll on him. He knew his younger brother had gotten stronger, he could tell from the moment he met him on the bridge. Sasuke was different, not only had he grown stronger, but it seemed to the Uchiha that Sasuke had also lost sight of what he was truly looking for and he twisted it into something that he believed was the answer. He believes that what he’s doing is the right and only thing, and he’s shutting everything he thinks that is holding him back, out.
Itachi coughed into his hand, he tried to steady his breathing. He hadn’t expected to use so much chakra and he also hadn’t expected Sasuke to give him such a hard time. Itachi felt the bridge rumble underneath and jumped out of the way as he saw fire coming out from the crevice in the bridge. Itachi avoided the flames, only his the edges of his clothes getting singed. He landed on his knees erupting into a fit of coughs. Itachi covered his mouth and continued to hack into the palm of his hand, moments later he felt something wet on his hand. He looked down and saw the red liquid he had coughed, the Uchiha felt irritated because not only was Sasuke much more stronger than he expected but also because his illness was holding him back. The illness had only started developing but it has developed enough that it effects his stamina and he can’t use jutsus without expending double the chakra than needed.
Itachi was aware that he needed to finish their fight quickly or he ran the risk of getting killed by Sasuke or the illness itself. Although he didn’t want to admit but it seems like Sasuke won’t listen to him at all and will actually kill him if he deems it necessary to complete his goal. There was still much that he needed to do, so he better hurry up and do it before he completely runs out of chakra, letting Sasuke get away is not an option and neither is losing Hinata again, he must return with the two of them to the Leaf Village.
Another barrage of fire jutsus came shooting through the bridge, destroying it in its wake. A large hole formed, revealing a fatigued Sasuke who was transformed into his second state curse mark transformation.
“It looks like you’re at your limit, big brother”, Sasuke said between pants but his voice did not lose his mocking tone.
“Now do you see the gap in our strengths? You who stayed playing ninja, following the orders of a lesser ‘King’; a weak Uchiha. And I, who saw the true potential in the Uchiha blood. I became someone powerful and superior to everyone else how it should be.” Sasuke laughed maniacally. He could see his goal getting closer and closer, all he needs to do now is get rid of the obstacle that was constantly blocking his path, the obstacle that was always looking down on him just like how he was doing right now. Sasuke’s curse transformation slowly receded back into his curse mark, not having enough chakra to keep it going.
“This will probably be my last jutsu”, Sasuke said to himself, a small chuckle escaping his lips as he heard the sky rumble, the clouds had darkened throughout their fight. Itachi was sure that Sasuke was out of chakra, so he was confused as to why Sasuke was smiling as if he had one trick up his sleeve.
“Stop your bluff. You are just as drained of chakra as I am. You used the Orochimaru style substitution jutsu, which I know uses an enormous amount of chakra”. Itachi told the younger Uchiha.
“Yeah, you’re right. I used up the very last of it with that fire style jutsu attack just now”. Drops of water fell from the sky, starting slowly then it became steady downpour. “However, do you really think I would be unprepared if I ever came face to face with you. This jutsu cannot be blocked, dodged, or evaded; so here it is. You have been in obstacle for far too long, now is the time to get rid of that obstacle”. The dark sky rumbled and lightning flashed, Itachi looked up and saw that a dark cloud formed above them and came to understand what Sasuke was planning. Sasuke intended to use the lightning in the cloud as his jutsu.
Sasuke jumped up to one of the pillars at the edge of the bridge. “This jutsu guides the lightning down from the heavens, all I have to do is aim it directly right at you”. Itachi’s eyes widened in disbelief. What was he thinking? That jutsu can kill everyone in and around where the jutsu hits. He could kill Naruto, Sakura and Hinata, was he really planning on sacrificing them? He was no longer just wanting to achieve a simple goal, this was just pure madness that has overtaken his mind. Itachi turned to Naruto and Sakura who were looking up at the sky in shock, they were also aware of what Sasuke was planning.
“Grab Hinata and Sakura and get away from here!” Itachi yelled, desperation clear in his voice. Naruto nodded, understanding that he needed to get the girls to safety. He knew that Itachi would take care of himself and Sasuke. He grabbed both girls and took of into the woods, getting to a safe enough distance from that deadly jutsu.
“This jutsu is called Kirin”, he announced as he lifted his arm where lightning was formed in his hand. Sasuke shot his lightning up at the cloud and soon the lightning gained the form of a dragon. The lightning roared as it was being directed by Sasuke. “Now be gone with the thunder clap”. Sasuke said as he brought his arm down on his brother. The lightning gave one last ear- piercing roar and struck down on Itachi. The blast destroyed the bridge, falling in large pieces down into the river. Smoke and dust from the debris mixed together covering the entire destroyed area.
Sasuke panted and coughed from the smoke and dust. He was past his limit but his mind was focused solely on his brother. The smoke began to clear and Sasuke saw Itachi faced down on the ground, not moving. Sasuke collapsed to the ground, “So I finally surpassed him”. He felt relief and pride that he was able to defeat Itachi.
“Did you think that would be enough?”
Sasuke’s eyes widened and he gasped. How could Itachi still be able to move? He couldn’t understand, that last jutsu was the strongest one in his arsenal. Itachi should not have been alive, much less able to move. So why? Why is he still alive? Sasuke’s rage grew, was Itachi mocking him, making him feel like a fool? Sasuke couldn’t understand how his brother was able to get up. What was the point of him going through all that training if it couldn’t even help him defeat the one person who was constantly in his way. Sasuke’s face contorted into a snarl, “Damn you!” Sasuke forced the curse mark to take over, transforming into second state. The pain was unbearable, but he forced himself to endure it, he needed to defeat his older brother.
“If it wasn’t for this, I would have been dead”, Itachi stated as he got up to his feet. Sasuke’s eyes widened, Itachi became surrounded by a red aura, taking shape of a skeleton, then being covered by an armor- like shell. “Was that it for your jutsu then? If you have anything else up your sleeve then use it now. The real battle has just begun. I’ll show you another power of the Mangekyo: The Susanoo”. Sasuke couldn’t believe what he was seeing, so that was another power of the Mangekyo Sharingan. Suddenly, Sasuke felt an unbearable pain in his shoulder and screamed out. The Raven collapsed to his knees as the pain got stronger and stronger by the second.
Hina’s eyes shot open, she had fallen unconscious; she looked around and found that the world around her was moving in blurs. It took her a second to realize that she herself wasn’t moving but that she was being moved. She was currently in the arms of the blonde ninja she recognized as Naruto.
Her attention was turned to behind her when she heard a loud thundering and lightning striking over the area where Sasuke was fighting his older brother. Hina began squirming, trying to get out of Naruto’s arms, she had to get back to Sasuke, she had to go and protect him.
“Whoa! Hinata you’re going to knock us all down. Stop squirming like that” Naruto struggled to keep her in his arms, keep holding on to Sakura and stay in the trees. He was out of energy and he was hurt but he needed to keep the two girls safe, which is the only reason why he left Itachi alone with Sasuke. He knew though, that Itachi would be able to take care of Sasuke and take him back to the village.
“I need to go back to Sasuke! Let me go!” Hina continued to struggle to get out of his grasp. Naruto finally found a good tree branch to stop in and let Hina go, who immediately began to go back to where the giant thunder cloud was.
She felt chills go down her spine every time lightning flashed in the sky, it was giving her a bad feeling and she didn’t like that feeling. She continued to get closer when all of a sudden the trees around her shook and a loud thundering roar echoed through the forest. A second later, a bright light blinded her and nature shook, sending her falling to the ground. She blinked repeatedly as she tried to regain her senses. What was that? That must have been a jutsu, she gasped when a thought clicked in her mind and took off to where Sasuke was.
She was hoping that she wrong on the hunch she had, but was disappointed when her hunch was proven right. He had used it, Sasuke used a jutsu that could have killed them all had it not been for Naruto carrying her and Sakura away. Hina felt her heart clench and go cold when she realized what he did. Sasuke was clearly not thinking about what his jutsu ‘Kirin’ could do.
Hina continued her way to where Sasuke was. “Damn you!” Hina stopped when she heard Sasuke yell out. She crept closer, careful not to be seen, she stopped behind a large boulder where she could hide herself and looked around it. She saw Sasuke was transformed and he looked angry and exhausted. She turned her attention to Itachi and saw him bleeding and extremely hurt, he must have gotten the full brunt of the jutsu yet he was still alive. How was that possible, how could he still be alive? Hina had sensed that he was strong but she didn’t think that Itachi could survive such a powerful jutsu.
She was pulled out of her thoughts when Itachi became surrounded by a strange red aura. It took the form of some kind of figure, the form gave her chills that made her blood run cold.
“Was that it for your jutsu then? If you have anything else up your sleeve then use it now. The real battle has just begun. I’ll show you another power of the Mangekyo: The Susanoo”. She heard Itachi say. She cocked her in head in confusion, she had never heard of the Susanoo, what kind of jutsu was that? Her attention was still on Itachi’s new jutsu when she heard Sasuke yell out in pain, grabbing his shoulder where the curse mark was. The raven writhed in agony, falling on his knees before giant white snakes burst from his shoulder.
Hina gasped in horror when she felt the familiar presence of the one person she hoped she would never have to feel again. It was Orochimaru’s Eight- headed serpent jutsu that came forth from Sasuke’s shoulder.
Sasuke tried to squeeze out more chakra even though he had none left and because of that, Orochimaru’s chakra that he had absorbed and suppressed made its way to the surface and lost control of it. The serpents and Itachi’s Susanoo made their way closer to each other. The serpents lunged at the Susanoo. The Susanoo summoned a sword and sliced off a head, the serpent head flew through the air falling right next to Itachi. He used his Susanoo’s shield to stop the serpents from getting any closer before slicing off more of the serpents’ heads. The remaining serpents lunged at the Susanoo, wrapping themselves around it to stop its movement. More heads were sliced off cleanly, leaving only one more.
The last head stopped attacking and opened its mouth wide. Orochimaru rose from the mouth of the giant snake. Orochimaru chuckled then opened his own mouth, a sword emerging from it. Hina suppressed the urge to gag as she watched from behind the boulder. She always found it incredibly gross whenever he did that. Orochimaru laughed and began to rant about finally being able to take over Sasuke’s body.
Itachi cut him off, shoving the Susanoo blade in the Sannin’s chest. Orochimaru smirked when nothing happened, but then his eyes widened, “Itachi so you had it hidden all this time? The Totsuka Blade”.
Hina furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She had never heard of the Totsuka Blade, but from the looks of it, it seemed to be some type of sealing blade. Orochimaru began to melt away along with the serpent jutsu, getting sucked into a gourd that Hina hadn’t noticed until that moment. The severed heads of the serpents disappeared as the last of the snake was sealed within the gourd. Itachi walked forward but only took a few steps before he started to cough again, covering his mouth to conceal the blood. He truly was at his limit now, but it looks like Sasuke was as well.
“This is it Sasuke. You have gotten strong there is no denying that but it’s time I take you back to the Hidden Leaf Village. We are both at our limits”.
“Stay away from me! Why do you still continue to get in my way? You should have been defeated with that last jutsu yet here you are, insisting on me going back to that wretched village. I’m so close to my goal but you are still an obstacle keeping me from it”. Sasuke yelled at his big brother, his face contorted in anger.
“Sasuke, I’ll tell you this one more time: let go of this absurd goal of yours. You know that this goal is leading you down the wrong path and if you continue to tread along this path, are you really willing to drag Hinata down with you. You have lead an innocent and kind girl down a path she should have never gone on”. Itachi looked at him with a calm expression.
“Shut up! Will you just shut up! Stop acting as if you know everything! I already told you that Hina was a convenience to me; she means nothing to me. Hina is nothing but a pawn for me to use, I trained her so that she would follow me without hesitation and without question. She became an excellent tool for me, she would follow my every order no matter what I told her to do and even give her life for me if I told her to!”.
Hina felt her heart shatter and her blood run cold at Sasuke’s hurtful words. She tried to tell herself that he was just saying that out of anger, that he didn’t really mean it, but there was a part of her that believed his every word. She knew that she was just a tool for him since the beginning, but she couldn’t help thinking that after all this time together, that maybe, just maybe she began to mean something to the Uchiha.
She felt her eyes prickling with tears threatening to fall. She blinked so that they wouldn’t fall. She knew what she was and told herself to not be upset, she steeled herself, ignoring the growing hole in her heart and continued to look at the scene playing in front of her.
Itachi was talking to Sasuke, “Even though you say that, you still call her ‘Hina’, a name you gave her not by her real name. She means something to you Sasuke, think of her and stop going after your goal. Think about what you are doing Sasuke”.
Sasuke clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white. He was filled with anger, he couldn’t think straight, “Shut up! I said you don’t know anything about it!” Sasuke screamed at his brother, grabbing hold of his sword and running straight to Itachi; pointing his sword straight at him.
Hina’s mind couldn’t process what she was doing, her feet just moved at the moment she saw him run at Itachi with his sword aimed at him. She found herself running in front of Sasuke, shielding the older Uchiha who had made no attempt to move, mainly because he couldn’t. Hina flinched as she felt the sword dig into her abdomen, straight through. Hina looked up to see Sasuke right in front of her, his eyes were wide with horror. Or at least that’s what she thought, she couldn’t be sure, she felt her consciousness slipping.
She tried to keep her eyes open and smiled at the Raven, blood dripping off the side of her mouth. ‘I don’t know why I jumped in front of you, but I did. It’s just… the thought of you killing your brother, your own family, I couldn’t stand the idea. I want you to achieve your goal of being a strong clan, but not like this’. Hina told him, or at least tried to, her mouth wouldn’t move.
Sasuke stared at the purple haired girl standing in front of him, the only thing keeping her up was the sword in her stomach. He couldn’t process what had just happened, what he did. One second he was about to stab Itachi then the next Hina was standing in front of him with his sword deep in her body. It wasn’t until she smiled up at him that he fully realized what he had done. He slid the sword out and she collapsed to the ground. Itachi caught her before she hit the floor, but he fell along with her.
Itachi looked up to see Sasuke looking down at Hina’s limp body. The sky darkened again and thunder roared, Sasuke felt a drop of water slide down his face, was that a tear? No it was the sky, Drops of water began to fall, as if it was weeping for the kind girl. He started to breathe heavy, his knees were shaking. His eyes then rolled in his head and fell unconscious, but not before his Sharingan activated by itself and changed from it's usual pattern.
“Hinata!” Naruto ran up to the three ninjas, he had followed Hinata with Sakura in tow. He was having a difficult time understanding what he was seeing; Sasuke was unconscious and a beat up Itachi was holding an unconscious Hinata who was bleeding out. “What’s happened?”
Itachi struggled to get to his feet, he was exhausted and extremely hurt, “I’ll explain later. What we need to do now is go back to the Village. We’ll send word to Kakashi to go back as well once he has defeated the rest of Sasuke’s team”.
“There will be no need for that. He’s right here”. A man with orange hair and the familiar Akatsuki cloak seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He was carrying a beat up looking Kakashi. He threw the silver haired in front of the other ninjas’ feet and stepped forward to pick up Sasuke.
“Hey what do you think your doing? Who are you?” Naruto growled at the man. He lunged at him but was thrown back by some kind of invisible wall.
“I am Pain, Leader of the Akatsuki. I will be taking back Sasuke Uchiha. Don’t worry, you’ll see him again soon enough; he still has his goal to finish after all”. Pain didn’t give them a chance to answer and disappeared from sight.
“Hey wait!” Naruto yelled after him, “Damn it! Sasuke is gone again!”
“Now is not the time Naruto. Sasuke is gone. What we need to now is focus on Kakashi and Hinata”. Itachi explained to him with a calm tone.
Naruto looked down at the ground, struggling with himself, he knew Itachi was right, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but be angry that Sasuke got away again.
“Sakura can you stop the bleeding?” Itachi asked, referring to Hinata, who with every second was losing more and more blood. Sakura nodded, she still couldn’t use both arms. She was able to move move it, but still wasn't able to use chakra, so she focused more on using her one working hand. She was able to stop the bleeding but they needed to get her get proper treatment or Hinata wouldn’t make it. They also needed to get help for both Kakashi and Itachi, who were both hurt.
“Let’s get back to the village and from there we will plan on what our next move is. Let’s report back to Lady Tsunade”.