Territory Which None Trod

Territory Which None Trod
Pairing(s): ItaSasu; OroKabu; KakaSasu
Warnings: Slight non-con, violence, gore, angst
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters from it! (I would if I could!)


Prologue: Death With Open Arms

Sasuke hadn’t meant it to turn out this way…not like this. When he had pictured his final showdown with his older brother—he expected it to be climactic…in a sickly romanticized way where his brother would feel remorse for his mistake rather than die with pride in what he had done. That is, he had to die for this fantasy to ring true.

But it had not turned out this way at all. They fought hard and long, and while Sasuke had landed a few very good blows and cuts, but his older brother still hadn’t even broken a sweat. It only pissed him off further. He was aching all over from the brutal beating it had taken from him. This was it…his final attack—it had work, or he’d never live to see the day the Uchiha Clan was rebuilt to it’s former glory.

Gathering the remainder of his chakra in his palm, his right hand glowed and sparked with blue lightning. And all that was heard through the forest was the sound that mimicked the chirps of a thousand birds. The sound was thundering, and it gave the younger Uchiha something to place his hatred into. He had always thought this attack as a weapon fueled by anger, hate. And he had spent the last three years in the depths of Hell—facing the unspeakable—to get this power. This was the day, the day he had waited for, prayed for, and dreamt about since the day his Clan was destroyed. It would be this day when Itachi would die at his hands.

Or more to fact, his justu.

The older Uchiha chuckled quietly; barely audible over the roar of the chakra raging in Sasuke’s left hand, “Ahhh…the highly anticipated Chidori. It’s reputation exceeds it.” He said in his usually calm voice. This indeed was a feat, when staring straight into the brunt of a blast of energy filled with seven years of bottled-up anger.

Sasuke clenched his jaw, not believing what this man was saying even in the face of death. He’d heard enough. Kicking the dirt back from behind him, he started at a dead run, ignoring his body’s protests. One more hit to kill him, and I could care less if I die accomplishing it…

As he neared, he raised his left hand above his head, readying for a devastating blow as he jumped off the ground.

His aniki gave him an eerie smile and held his arms out, embracing death as Sasuke’s arm plunged through his chest. It all happened so fast, the younger teen didn’t even realize what had happened until blood splashed across his face. Itachi’s blood…

“Foolish brother…” He coughed out, wrapping his arms around Sasuke, pulling him closer. Sasuke’s eyes widened, face covered completely in blood. It spilled all over his dark blue shirt as well. Itachi smiled that smile again, and then sunk his teeth into Sasuke’s neck. Hard. “Forever mine.” He smiled. Sasuke yelped loudly as if he were still a boy, shoving him back.

He watched Itachi take his last stumbling steps, and then fall back. That was the only time--Sasuke realized now as he looked at his older brother’s corpse—when he looked truly peaceful. The only time after their parent’s death when his Mangenkyou had faded away and was now just a glazed over black…The only time when he seemed vulnerable. How ironic the only time it would be, to be in death. Sasuke stood up, feeling his sore body protest and give out, fainting somewhere in the destroyed clearing near his aniki. Faintly and distantly—he knew that his bitten neck was bleeding too much for comfort. He laughed at himself, and what can you do about it?

So, it seemed Itachi had not gone down without wounding someone out of spite. He closed his eyes, letting his exhausted body drift off to a place his thoughts and moments ago, let his blood flow freely from his body. He would rest today, but would refuse to die tomorrow.


***


Saskue groaned, feeling a sharp, stinging pain in his cheek. He remembered he had wounds, but they all should have clotted or scabbed by now. Maybe he was in Hell, he wondered distantly again. Opening his eyes, they were met by a set of equally dark ones, covered by a curtain of overhanging silver hair and glasses. They were glaring angrily.

Slap! There was that stinging pain again, but now he could identify what it was. And that he was still alive…if barely.

“Get up, you idiot.” His surprisingly strong hand grabbed his forearm and dragged him up, bringing fresh pain to his old wounds. “Awake yet?”
“No!” Sasuke answered back sharply.

Smack! He had smacked him again across the face. “How about now?”

“Yes, Kabuto-san, I get the picture.” Sasuke groaned again, tearing his arm away from his hold.

The silver-haired man’s grip did not yield. “Get up.” He said simply, dragging him to his feet this time, “Orochimaru-sama wants to see you.” He clicked his tongue, “Really you’re an idiot—I was supposed to watch you, but you ran off once you heard that man’s voice! What am I supposed to tell Orochimaru-sama now?” He went on disdainfully.

Sasuke grimaced. He hated Kabuto. The boy was cute and helpful when they had first met each other during the Chunnin exam; but now he was unbearable after three years. All he did was do Orochimaru’s bidding to the ‘T’, only to turn around and give the information to someone else.
Sasuke had suspected Kabuto worked for Akatsuki all along, and he laughed inside at the bastard who had to explain to Orochimaru why his pet was all beat up, and to the unknown leader of Akatsuki about why one of their best is now dead. “Did you kill him?” Kabuto spoke up out of his complaining, still dragging Sasuke by the arm. By now, he would have broken his fingers one by one…albeit slowly, but he was too taxed for an effort like that.

“…Yeah.” He said, showing no remorse for what he did. In fact, he was damn proud. It showed maybe those years spent in a hole in the ground weren’t so bad, and neither was killing your supposed best friend. No…it wasn’t even compared to the delight he’d felt when he felt Itachi’s blood spatter all over his body.

Kabuto looked him over, eyeing especially the wound on his neck. It was dangerously near the Cursed Seal, and the torn skin from his shoulder also destroyed the protective seal around it… not that it really mattered, Kabuto thought to himself, it wasn’t working so well in the first place. “You two really went at it, eh?” He said, noting the blood covering most of Sasuke’s unnaturally pale skin. And how it dripped from navy strands of hair or clung to most of his clothes. He turned back around, leading him through the woods, “It was stupid of you to go to sleep with gaping wounds like that. You could have bled to death. And then I’d really get a chewing-out.” He said, smirking.

“I’d treat you here, but Orochimaru-sama wants to see you immediately.”

Sasuke nodded to the apology absently, mind still replaying the strange scene of his brother’s death. A welcome embrace to death…with an eerie smile and a spiteful mark.


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So?! What did you guys think? Like it? Well, hope you do, always open to constructive criticism! (But no flames!) So gimme what you got! Remember, R&R, it helps a lot and lets me know that you like the story, so I can continue!
With Love,
Kaz