Illuminating Heaven

Title: Illuminating Heaven / 天照 / Amaterasu

Pairing: Kakashi/Sasuke

Rating: NC-17 (eventual)

Warning: Violence, blood, and gore.

A/N: Set in post-canon. R&R appreciated. A huge thank you to my lovely beta editor ka0richan @ LJ. This fic so would not be what it is now without her! Thanks also to yaoi_is_my_antidrug and pepperseed @ LJ for letting me pick their brains.

Summary: How many years had passed since that day when Akatsuki and Taka swooped down in an attempt to crush Konoha? The intensity of Naruto's anger and the thickness of Amaterasu's black smoke; Sasuke's escape from Fire Country and subsequent disappearance -- Kakashi'd wondered when and if he'd ever encounter his prodigal former student again, but never expected it to be quite like this.

This Chapter: Sasuke and Kakashi fight. Who will win?



The Second Night: Interstice



Anger tasted metallic.



But that could've just been Sasuke mistaking blood for the virulent emotion that burned low and slow one heartbeat, intense and furious the next. He didn't know when his inner cheek had been caught between the sharpness of his teeth, and hadn't felt any pain, too distracted by the burn that clawed up from the pit of his stomach, destructive and unforgiving, relentless. It ripped up through the bubble of shock that had insulated him, bursting into his chest and squeezing tight around the cavity of his heart before choking the air out of him in a harsh, audible breath.



"Oh, by the way. I sealed your katana. And your chakra."



The air trembled, thick with the silence of killing intent that was directed at the man who not only looked at him like he knew what was going on inside his head, but had also taken it upon himself to strip him naked and steal what rightfully belonged to Sasuke. To forcibly take away what he had no right to take away, all whilst looking at him with that air of smug condescension, with a gaze so penetrating it ripped straight through him -- Sasuke stood trembling with fraying restraint, studying the distance between himself and the fucker who'd been self-righteous enough to seal his chakra.



Attempting to force his breathing into some semblance of control, Sasuke directed narrowed eyes at the jounin. "Unseal it," he demanded, his tone measured and flat.



Sasuke looked like he was about to snap under too much pressure, but Kakashi didn't make a move to change his posture to acknowledge that fact. The waves of killing intent that slammed into him so violently only strengthened the resolve that had gone into his decision. "No," he responded quietly, his voice filled with conviction. "That decision isn't yours to make."



"It isn't yours." Before the words were out of Sasuke's mouth, Kakashi had to abandon any hopes of enjoying Icha Icha when faced with a blur of Uchiha coming at him full speed with a fist raised -- one he barely dodged, so fast Sasuke was even without chakra. But that was to be expected -- Kakashi had trained him in taijutsu, after all, and wasn't surprised to discover that Sasuke's skill had dramatically improved in their time apart. Shifting back on his feet, Kakashi quickly brought his arms up to block a roundhouse kick, the force of the blow pushing him back several feet across the rocky ground.



He should've expected this -- Sasuke's short fuse and the knowledge of having his chakra sealed was a combination asking for trouble.



Knowing better than to try to reason with Sasuke, Kakashi shifted into offensive and immediately started to retaliate with taijutsu, delivering a slightly altered version of Konoha Daisenpuu that sent Sasuke flying across the cave only to agilely catch the impact of the landing with a flip that had him back on his feet again. For a moment, Kakashi mused that he probably should've let Sasuke put on his still-damp clothing, considering that the vision of a very naked Sasuke charging at him with killing intent was rather, well... distracting. If not a little entertaining.



This was like a page out of Icha Icha Violence, he realized, with a smirk. "I've had people throw themselves at me before, but not quite... in your state of undress," he drawled, letting his voice drop into a purr, knowing it would infuriate Sasuke even more. Normally, he wouldn't try to piss off his opponent even more, but when Sasuke was clearly outmatched (and underdressed, for that matter), Kakashi simply couldn't help himself.



Before he could get out another word, a streak of dust and anger came flying at him, armed with a burning stick picked up from the fire.



Uh oh, incoming Uchiha. Time to duck.



Kakashi ducked.



~



Sasuke's breath came in short bursts as he glared at the jounin across the cave, lifting up a hand to wipe sweat out of his eyes.



Fifteen minutes.



For fifteen minutes they'd been fighting, and Kakashi was still matching him blow for blow, never once using weapons, switching into ninjutsu or even uncovering Sharingan. Sasuke, determined to defeat him with taijutsu, hadn't expected his former teacher (though it was difficult to think of him as anything other than the fucker who sealed his chakra) to fight him on even ground. Maybe Kakashi was trying to prove a point, or planned to fight him until he was too exhausted to land another blow, but in the course of their fight, Sasuke's anger had only grown, the fire in his chest giving him the energy needed to will speed into his legs as he burst into another charge.



The hurricane that raged, confined in his chest, a space too small for fury that large, turned anger into spite, and spite into hatred. He'd kill Kakashi to take his power back, to take back what was his, and saw the image of the jounin's neck snapping under his fingers moments before he gave a yell to disorient his opponent, feinting high-speed blow after blow that placed Kakashi in line with the next move.



Checkmate.



The jounin's eye widened and he attempted to block, but Sasuke's Konoha Senpuu connected with a sickening crack, driving the air out of Kakashi's lungs as he flew up in the air, blow after blow stabbing pain through his spine as his body was propelled further up with subsequent kicks, leaving him unable to guard himself. If Sasuke hadn't changed his habits, the next move would be a Shishi Rendan that would hurtle Kakashi to the rocky ground below -- a move that could be potentially devastating.



Well, he'd had fun playing their little game, but it was time to get serious.



With a yell, Sasuke's leg came down on Kakashi's chest, hurtling them both towards the ground at a startling speed. He smirked as he watched the jounin's eye widen in shock as the ground came rushing up at them. This was it. It's over, he thought, as Kakashi's body slammed hard into the ground beneath them, cracking rock with impact, a cloud of dirt and dust flying up around them.



For a moment, Sasuke stared down at his former teacher, triumphant. But his triumph soon gave way to rage when Kakashi vanished into a cloud of air that revealed he'd defeated a rock changed by Kawarimi no Jutsu.



"GOD DAMMIT!" The Uchiha roared as he got up to his feet, eyes scouring the cave for Kakashi -- only to be suddenly caught off guard by a hand around his throat as the Copy Ninja came bursting up through the ground, driving him right into a cave wall with such force, he found himself unable to breathe. He could feel the scratchy material of Kakashi's vest and clothing pressing against his bare skin and the coolness of the wall behind him. He could sense the heat of the other's body so acutely, eyes taking in the sight of sweat rolling down a temple. And when a leg was pressed right between his to force him in place, the sudden sear of unexpected pleasure forced his lips apart in a silent gasp as shocked eyes met a pair of mismatched ones.



For a moment, student and teacher stared at each other, one trying to catch his breath, the other incapable of breathing (and not because of the hand around his throat).



"You know, all you had to do was ask nicely, Sasuke." Kakashi said, his voice hoarse and breathless as he shifted his hand enough to not crush the boy's larynx. Sasuke gaped as he was caught by the spin of the Sharingan, one he identified as genjutsu --



-- and suddenly, he found himself fully clothed, sitting across the fire, staring at Kakashi, who looked back at him quietly, the red and black whirl slowly coming to a stop.



It was then that Sasuke suddenly realized he could sense his chakra once more, could feel the familiar energy bubbling up within him to fill the vacuous space he'd been experiencing since he first woke. It then occurred to him that with his chakra reserves so depleted from Amaterasu, it would've been easy for Kakashi to keep him trapped in a genjutsu to confuse him.



If this was an attempt at convincing Sasuke to return to Konoha, it sure as hell was a really bad one.



He let out a scoff of derision and rolled his eyes when he realized what he'd been caught in, rising up and adjusting his yukata and the katana at his back. The black cloak he'd worn the night before was nowhere to be seen, but he could make do without it. "Don't get in my way and convince me to return to Konoha. I'm done playing mind games with you, Kakashi."



"I'm not here to play mind games with you, Sasuke," Kakashi said calmly as he rose from the rock he was sitting on, pulling a bit at the gloves on his hands to tug them more firmly in place. "I'm here to stop you from walking out of here."



There it was again. That tone of condescension that made disgust coil in Sasuke's stomach as his gaze cut across the fire at the silver-haired jounin. He sounded as though he knew the outcome of this fight when they hadn't even truly fought. In retrospect, Sasuke realized the benefit of catching him in a genjutsu -- if he was forced to only use taijutsu, it was obvious who the winner would be. Which meant Kakashi was scared of truly fighting him -- and that revelation curled a knowing smirk across the Uchiha's lips.



"Do you honestly think you can beat me?" Sasuke almost laughed at the thought, knowing just how ridiculous that idea was. Even if Kakashi could put up a decent fight, Sasuke had defeated both Orochimaru and Itachi -- men who could easily cut his former teacher down to his knees.



"Maa, I suppose we'll have to find out, won't we?" Kakashi mused, canting his head slightly, his eyes glinting sharp from the glow of the fire between them.



"I'll defeat you with Sharingan alone, Sharingan Kakashi." Sasuke almost spat out the moniker as his eyes narrowed, fingers curling around the circumference of the weapon's handle as he slowly crouched into position. "I'll show you Sharingan's real power," he said as he activated his Sharingan, leveling a pointed look at the eye Kakashi stole. His look said what he didn't -- stolen power could never compare to Uchiha's true strength.



His words must've had an effect on the older man, because he suddenly tensed up, eyes closing for a moment, a frown stitching its way between his brow.



Sasuke suddenly sensed a change in his opponent's guard and a crack in his defenses. This is my chance, he thought, as he immediately launched himself off the ground and flew through the air, withdrawing the katana in a flash to bring down towards Kakashi's neck, only to meet with a kunai that strained against metal before breaking away and coming back together again in another clash of steel.



Leaping apart from each other, they studied each other warily before sweeping in once more, Sasuke picking up speed and quickly deflecting a rain of shuriken that Kakashi had thrown, gathering chakra in his feet and launching himself up as he resheathed his sword. He blazed through seals at lightning fast speed, then drew chakra into his chest.



"KATON GOUKAKYUU NO JUTSU!"



The cave glowed with a massive fireball that sped towards Kakashi's receding form, only to be stopped by a gigantic wall of mud that Kakashi had conjured with an earth jutsu, immediately followed by a retaliation of stalactites suddenly disconnecting from the cave's ceiling and shooting in Sasuke's direction. Blazing through the same seals his Sharingan had copied from Kakashi moments earlier, Sasuke sped back behind the mud wall which absorbed the impact of the stalactites.



"Is that the best you can do?" Sasuke yelled before he charged Kakashi again, the landscape around him becoming a blur as he swooped in on his opponent from behind, metal clashing again as katana met kunai once more. But this time, a large hand curled around a slender wrist, and with a sharp knee to the stomach and a fist clenched at the back of a yutaka coupled with a sharp yank, Sasuke found himself flying before he crashed into the ground, skidding backwards across cold rock towards the wall.



He tasted anger again in his mouth, could smell it too -- a coppery kind of scent, mixed with sweat and charged air particles as red and black lines of vision clashed -- one gaze narrowed and hard, the other warm and soft around the edges, sympathetic almost. What the hell was Kakashi looking at him like that for in the middle of a fight? Sasuke's eyes narrowed more when he realized the look Kakashi was giving him was pity, and he decided that he'd take that man down with his own jutsu for underestimating him.



Eyes like that didn't belong on a battlefield.



Moving through the seals, Sasuke's fingers curled around his left wrist as he directed lightning chakra to his wrist, one thousand birds chirping as his chakra grew larger and brighter, blue electricity scorching the earth as he watched Kakashi's birds start to take flight, blue-white chakra shooting off his hand.



Kakashi's eyes didn't change, even as Sasuke tensed his legs and began to speed across the cave floor, cutting straight through the rock beneath him as a blur of silver and black and blue-white charged right back at him. Sasuke knew then that two thousand birds would collide, and his birds would overcome his teacher's; his birds had more power, more strength, more chakra -- Kakashi's reserves couldn't possibly compete, and the force of the blow would take him out.



Leaping through the air, the light became blinding, the sound of screeching birds growing into a deafening roar as the space between them eviscerated.



It happened faster than Sasuke could digest -- Kakashi suddenly pulled his hand back, Raikiri disappearing in a flash. Sasuke's eyes widened in shock when he realized he couldn't stop the momentum of his attack; when he couldn't stop his birds from making impact with their final destination; when he couldn't pause time and rewind and figure out just what the fuck had happened or what the hell was going on; when all he could see was his chakra-lit fist driving into his teacher's chest and blood filling his vision. And then his fist shot clean through the other man's chest as chakra burned between them, the scent of blood and Konoha and Kakashi filling up Sasuke and surrounding him.



Kakashi made a sound, one that sounded strangled, and then his knees were giving out. His knees were giving out, and Sasuke was dragged down with him, breath caught in a chest that was far too constricted, heart thundering painfully against his ribcage, so loud he thought Kakashi could hear it. He stared in shock at the man whose chest he'd buried his arm in, not understanding what had just happened, only reading the pain in Kakashi's eyes a moment before they turned into two gentle arcs.



He was smiling.



He was fucking smiling.



Sasuke choked on that slow, familiar bitterness that creeped into his chest and rose burning into his throat from the crack Kakashi had managed to create, evading fading flames that tasted like copper and the arctic chill of shock. He could feel hot blood dripping around his arm, shards of bone cutting into flesh, and the slow thud-thud of Kakashi's heart struggling to grasp onto life; he wanted to withdraw, wanted to rewind, wanted to start the fight all over again because when he said he'd show Kakashi Sharingan's real power, this wasn't what he meant.



This wasn't what he meant, but it was too late, and Sasuke suddenly remembered standing on the edge of a demolished Konoha; a Konoha that was no longer Konoha but a pile of rubble and devastation, blood staining streets as far as the eye could see (and he hadn't even been there to see it happen, revenge had been so bittersweet, but that hadn't been the kind of revenge that he wanted).



This wasn't what he meant, but all he could do was kneel there with his arm through Kakashi's chest, the jounin's grip on his shoulders growing weaker, his eyes burning with something he didn't understand as all he could manage to do was form all of his confusion into three words.



"Why would you--" He inhaled sharply when his voice wavered, looking lost and angry and something else all at once. He couldn't verbalize the multitude of feelings that threatened to squeeze their fingers around his throat and suffocate him, couldn't even begin to understand why --



-- when suddenly he saw the swirl of Sharingan once more, the scent of blood receding as Kakashi's scent rushed up, overwhelming and warm, silver hair filling his line of vision. The startling sensation of bare back once again pressed against cool wall was as shocking as the revelation of his arms hanging listlessly by his sides. And then Kakashi's breath ghosted across his ear a moment before he spoke. "Because Raikiri isn't a technique I'd use against someone I consider a friend. And that's why I won't unseal you."



He'd said something like that before, standing on a water tank that'd caught the brunt of Sasuke's Chidori. "Chidori isn't something you should use against your teammates."



Clearly, Sasuke hadn't heeded the lesson.



Kakashi sighed as he took a step back away from the trembling boy, half-wondering if maybe he'd overdone it with the genjutsu, studying Sasuke for a moment before he let his hands slip into the pockets of his vest, his shoulders falling back into a slouch. Sasuke looked shell-shocked, but the vivid reaction he'd forced out of his former student had been worth it. Somewhere under the surface of Sasuke's icy demeanor, Kakashi knew he'd be able to find the boy he once taught. The one who'd once allowed himself to dream.



Well, he might as well lecture him now that he had his full attention and was certain he wasn't about to be attacked.



"I don't know what you think you're doing, but you're not going to win if you fight me," the jounin said, his expression taking on a mild frown as his tone became disapproving. "Orochimaru must've really done a number on you, because clearly, your head isn't working. If I hadn't found you, you'd be dead already."



Sasuke just stared at him, almost as though he couldn't believe Kakashi was standing there perfectly unscathed, rubbing a bit at his masked chin with a thumb.



"And in case you forgot, you're a Missing-nin, and by Konoha law, we're supposed to either kill you on sight," Kakashi held up a finger. "Or capture you alive to take back to Konoha for judgment," A second finger went up. "But nowhere does it say that we're supposed to save your life, especially when we're on foreign soil." He paused, for emphasis, watching Sasuke for any kind of reaction. But the boy just stared at him wide-eyed. "I'm pretty sure you don't repay someone by trying to kill them."



For a moment, silence lingered between them as Kakashi watched Sasuke, who stared back at him in disbelief. Was Kakashi really standing there and actually lecturing him...?



Kakashi pulled his hitae-ate over his Sharingan and his uncovered eye crinkled with a smile. "So, be cooperative," he said in the same tone as though he were chiding a small boy and telling him to be good. Sasuke might've gotten angry at him all over again, but he was still reeling from all that'd just occurred, and could barely even register when Kakashi's eye dropped casually down the length of his body and settled somewhere below his waist.



"You might want to cover that up," he said with a smirk, two fingers wagging in Sasuke's general direction. "Or you'll catch a cold."



But Sasuke just stared at Kakashi's chest numbly, where the hole should've been. The sensation of blood and bone and Kakashi's slowing heart still felt so vivid, so real, that Sasuke could hardly process the words that were coming out of his former teacher's mouth when he was still trying to sort out the jumble of what-just-happened and the messy pile-up of too many emotions in a crash of what-the-fuck. His fingers trembled at his sides, the ghost feeling of chakra still buzzing through them.



Kakashi looked the boy over and sighed, wondering just how deep that trauma had gone. He closed the distance between them slowly, a hand dropping down on Sasuke's shoulder, causing him to flinch as though he'd just been burned, forcing the jounin to withdraw his fingers for a moment before trying again. And though Sasuke flinched once more, his skin settled under the older man's fingers and Kakashi gently pushed him away from the wall, guiding him back into the bedroll.



When Kakashi offered him fish again, he took it quietly and began to eat, staring at the fire blankly and trying to forget the way Kakashi's heart felt as it started to fail.



------

TBC...