A Brother's Feud

Sasuke stared at his brother across the abandoned village that he had led him to. The village was deserted and the buildings seemed to be close to falling apart with vegetation growing all over them. However, Sasuke was glad that he didn't have to worry about hurting any innocent people in the approaching fight.

"So this is the end…no matter what at least one of us dies here today Foolish Brother." Stated Itachi as he stared at him with emotionless black eyes. Sasuke stared back defiantly and refused to show his brother a single ounce of what he was truly feeling.

"I have spent everyday for the past 9 years thinking of this day. What I would ask you and how I would fight you. But now I can see that was all for not…it doesn't matter what you say to justify your actions…you killed everyone whether it was for a good reason or just to prove your strength." Sasuke started as he stared at his brother in defiance.

He was no longer that kid thirsting for revenge against the man who ruined his life. This was no longer based off revenge; in fact it had nothing to do with revenge anymore. So Sasuke was going to let it be known to his brother that hate was no way to live one's life.

"What matters is that you killed people…you made others suffer just for your own selfish desires and I can't allow that. You threatened my village and attacked it just so you could kidnap Hinata to lure a single person away. Many people died tonight and I am going to ensure that you are never allowed to do so again. I no longer fight using my hate, I fight now to protect and that will give me the strength to defeat you. So you can call me your foolish brother, but I am not the one who is foolish…you are the one who is foolish…Itachi." Stated Sasuke as he drew the sword on his back and slid into a kenjutsu stance.

Itachi stood there with an emotionless face as if none of what Sasuke said surprised him, but on the inside he was never happier. Sasuke had just proven himself above any other Uchiha in history and Itachi had never felt better in his life. However, Itachi could never bring himself to show any of this…so he himself slid into his stance.

"Then show me your new power….the power to protect and prove to me that it is stronger than the power to hate." Replied Itachi with the barest amount of emotion hidden in his voice.

Both brothers stood across from each other with their Sharingans blazing in response to the other. There were no delusions shared between the two…what needed to be said had already been said and they were now ready to face each other.

Sasuke started the battle with throwing numerous shuriken at Itachi, who lazily dodged each attack. Though it did give Sasuke time to close the distance between the two and engage him at close range with his sword. Sasuke knew that his sword had an advantage against Itachi's kunai, but that didn't mean much considering Itachi was a former ANBU Captain.

Sasuke attacked quickly with precision, making sure to stay out of the range of Itachi's kunai, which had considerably lesser range than his sword. He could feel it as he attacked Itachi, becoming one with his sword as his sensei had told him multiple times. It was a principle that a sword wasn't only a weapon, but an extension of one's arm and Sasuke could feel that now as he moved fluently from attack to attack.

Itachi on the other hand was extremely impressed by the way his brother had been fighting him with the blade. He had fought many sword wielders over his life, but few had come close to the level his brother was displaying now. His brother was pushing him back and even a slight mistake could potentially be fatal in this situation, so he had to get some distance.

However, Itachi realized to late that he had extended his arm to far out and Sasuke capitalized on this by knocking the kunai from his hand and quickly stabbing it deeply into his chest. However, Itachi burst into a flock of crows that circled around Sasuke for a second before reforming several meters away from him.

"You don't seem surprised…" stated Itachi as he stared at his brother.

"I knew it was too easy to defeat you like that. I'm no fool…I know it will take everything I have to win this battle. Even if it isn't enough I will weaken you enough for Naruto to come and finish you off." Replied Sasuke.

"He is currently facing Kisame and Deidara right now, and there is a good chance that two more members will be arriving shortly. No he will not be coming to help you little brother, even if he does win." Explained Itachi as Sasuke just snorted in response.

"You obviously don't know Naruto…he would beat an entire village just to save Hinata. Your three allies will not even stand a chance against him Itachi." Said Sasuke with a smile.

'Is he bluffing or does Naruto actually have that much power and skill?' thought Itachi as he charged Sasuke this time.

Sasuke met him this time and was surprised by the strength of the blow as he skidded back a bit and struggled to hold Itachi. Quickly he began to make signs with his free hand and his arm was covered in a coat of electricity to Itachi's surprise.

"Chidori Senbon!" said Sasuke as hundreds of electric senbon were launched at Itachi who jumped back and began to avoid the senbon. Sasuke didn't waste any time and quickly pulled out two demon shuriken and threw them at Itachi, who wasn't fast enough to dodge them and got cut along both his arms.

"Katon: Phoenix Fireball!" cried out Itachi as he fired off a wave of small fireballs at Sasuke to get him a moment to regroup himself. However, Sasuke merely channeled electricity into his blade and charged right towards Itachi, while cutting any fireball in his path.

Seeing no alternative Itachi cried out "Amaterasu!" as his Sharingan morphed and black flames shot out of his eyes. Sasuke barely jumped out of the way as the black flames continued to chase him.

Sasuke ran into the labyrinth of ruins as the black fires burned away anything in their path. He had learned through the old Uchiha scrolls that it may be powerful, it put massive amounts of strain on Itachi so all he had to do was wait it out.

However, Itachi wasn't going to give him that chance as he burst from the ground and aimed threw a flurry of shurinken at Sasuke, who was unable to dodge every one as he was more focused on the black fire right behind him.

Even though the shurinken hurt, he ignored the pain as the adrenaline spread through his body as he decided to engage Itachi and force him to cease his technique. The plan worked as Itachi had to focus on dodging Sasuke's deadly sword strikes and could no longer direct the Amaterasu flames.

No longer could Itachi block using a kunai as the Chidori powered blade cut through his kunai as if nothing was even there in the first place. The only thing keeping him alive currently was his more advanced Sharingan. But his strength was failing him by the minute as the fight went on…he had been sick for years and soon his health would fail him in this fight. However, he would push his brother to his limits and that was a promise.

Itachi quickly positioned himself within Sasuke's guard and delivered a kick that sent Sasuke crashing into a mossed covered wall that crumpled as Sasuke flew into it. Sasuke didn't stay down long, but it was enough for Itachi to launch a Grand Fireball at Sasuke at a range that he couldn't dodge.

Sasuke quickly ran through the seals for his fireball and fired it off just a second before Itachi's could hit. Despite the large explosion Sasuke as able to get away, but not before being burnt badly across him arms. When the smoke cleared Sasuke was surprised by what he saw.

What surprised him was the giant orange skeletal specter that was surrounding Itachi. Itachi's eyes were now bleeding heavily as the specter was soon covered by a robe of what seemed like chakra.

"What is this?" asked Sasuke in surprise as a pair of glowing eyes appeared on the specter.

"This is the Susanoo, the Mangekyo Sharingan's most powerful technique. It is the ultimate attack and shield and has no equal." Stated Itachi as the Susanoo raised it's sword and swung down at Sasuke.

Sasuke dived out of the way and fired another Grand Fireball at Itachi, but the Susanoo just raised it's shield and blocked the fireball with absolutely no damage down to it at all. Not deterred in the least Sasuke continued to dodge attack after attack from the Susanoo, but not without few close calls. Despite it's size it was still extremely fast compared to what one would believe.

Numerous times Sasuke had been launched across the battlefield into a building or two and his body was starting to show the strain. His black armor had been worn down and his sleeves had burned away with scratches and burns covering his arm and face.

If Sasuke looked beat up, Itachi looked exhausted. He was panting and covered in sweat and his eyes were bleeding out a profuse amount of blood showing the strain that his body was currently in trying to maintain the Sharingan.

Luck however was not on Sasuke's side as he was too slow to dodge a strike from the Susanoo so in a last ditch throw of desperation he brought his sword up to block the blow. In a resounding crash the sword shattered as Sasuke was launched across the battlefield through multiple buildings.

The blow was so powerful that Itachi was truly surprised when Sasuke stood up from a pile of rubble. Stone, dust, and blood fell to the ground as Sasuke glared at Itachi with defiance. One could tell that the attack had done a major amount of damage seeing as his chest was now covered in rags and there was a steel rod sticking out of his arm.

"It's over brother…you put up a decent fight, but you cannot possibly continue on the way you are." Stated Itachi as Sasuke painfully maneuvered into his stance. "So you're going to continue anyway?"

Sasuke said nothing as he took a deep breath and ran through a few hand seals as both his hands were covered in white lightning. "I will not give up…I'm going to defeat you Itachi…no matter what. You will never hurt another person again!"

And with that Sasuke took off like a bullet as Itachi's Susanoo swung at him with it's full might. However, as the blade was just about to hit, there was a flash of electricity and Sasuke was now just to the right of the blade, avoiding it completely.

"What?" asked Itachi in surprise as Sasuke leapt high into the air and pulled back his white arm in preparation of attacking Itachi.

"This is for all those you have hurt!" roared Sasuke as the arm shot through Susanoo's ribs as if they didn't exist! The lightning blade continued on and pierced Itachi deeply in the stomach. The two seemed to be in suspended animation as all movement ceased to exist between the two.

Itachi's bloodied eyes stared deeply at Sasuke as Sasuke's stared right back in acceptance for what he had done. Despite everything Itachi had done in the past the memories that he had of him before the massacre would always be there for him to remember.

Finally Itachi's Susanoo lost its stability and exploded in a small blast of chakra that sent Sasuke and Itachi flying from each other. Slowly Sasuke worked his way to his feet, fighting exhaustion and pain to see what happened to Itachi.

To Sasuke's shock Itachi was slowly standing up himself despite the blood coming from his eyes and a massive amount coming from his gut. "Let's finish this with one final jutsu Brother…" wheezed out Itachi as he ran through a series of handseals.

Sasuke, despite being shocked at how his brother could still fight, ran through the seals and they both launched the Great Fireball at the same time. Both attacks battled for dominance over each other for a few seconds, before Sasuke suddenly noticed the black flames added to Itachi's attack.

In that moment Sasuke poured every ounce of chakra he could summon into the attack in an attempt to destabilize the attack before it got too close to him. The extra chakra turned his fire to a bright white and when it made contact with the black flames the attacks overloaded and exploded.

Sasuke saw nothing as his Sharingan was blinded by the massive blast of white light. He could feel what was left of his clothes get burned away along with near unbearable pain along his torso and arms before he momentarily lost consciousness as he felt himself get slammed into something hard.

Slowly Sasuke regained consciousness, slumped against a wall somehow still on his feet. However, what truly surprised him was to see his brother only a few meters away from him slowly making his way to him. Sasuke did nothing for there was nothing to do, his body was beat and refused to move no matter what he did.

Itachi lifted his hand and slowly made his way to Sasuke with an eerie smile on his face the whole time. Sasuke flinched as he was suddenly poked on the forehead by Itachi who was now smiling not one of victory, but one of joy.

"Brother…I'm sorry for everything I have done. You are the future of our clan and I will always love you no matter the life you live. I'm glad though that you chose this path." Whispered Itachi as his bloodied fingers slowly trailed down Sasuke's face and fell to his side as he too fell to the ground dead.

Sasuke's mind went blank at this information as his legs gave way and he slid down the wall onto the ground. He could feel his Sharingan burn as he began to weep tears of blood…no matter what he had said he too had always loved his brother and he had been the one to kill him.

This was how Naruto found him when he arrived onto the battlefield. Naruto quickly spotted him next to the now dead Itachi Uchiha and jumped down next to him.

"Sasuke! Are you alright!" asked Naruto urgently as he began to check his wounds.

"I'm alright…please let's get back to the village." Stated Sasuke as Naruto moved to pick him up, but Sasuke stopped him. "Please bring my brother too."

Naruto nodded in understanding as he made a shadow pick up Itachi and he with that they all left the battlefield. Unknown to them, the two sides of Zetsu refused and quickly left the battlefield with detailed information on both combatants.

"Tobi will love to have this information!" declared the white half as the black half grumbled about not being able to attack himself.

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Naruto and Sasuke made it back to village to see that repairs had already started despite the attack only ending a few hours ago. Citizens volunteered to clear the rubble and search for those who were missing and the village was already starting to look better.

Security too was on high alert as numerous patrols stopped Naruto while he was on his way back to the leaf with Sasuke on his shoulder. Naruto was close to snapping as the third patrol had stopped him and Sasuke now as he had to get back as soon as he could.

"Damn! Just let us pass!" yelled Naruto as he glared at the two chuunin before him. They backed away in slight fear as they felt the powerful chakra that Naruto was giving off all around him.

"We're sorry, but it is standard procedure for everyone who is coming into the village." One of the chuunin nervously stated.

"It's okay, you can hand him off to me." Stated a new voice from above them.

"Kakashi!" cheered Naruto in surprise and happiness. "How is she?"

Kakashi looked at his two old students with a proud look in his eye. He saw the clone holding Itachi's body meaning that either one had killed Itachi and he knew that Naruto had rescued Hinata earlier as he ran into the team who had taken Hinata off his shadow's hands.

"She is good Naruto, Tsunade has already began to look over her and she should be awake any time now." Stated Kakashi. "Best we get Sasuke to the hospital too, and your shadow take Itachi's body to the village's morgue."

Naruto nodded and followed Itachi as his shadow went off into a completely different direction. With out the routine stops by the Chunins their group quickly made it to the hospital and as soon as Sasuke was taken away by a nurse Naruto rushed towards where Hinata was being held.

Naruto quickly made it to the room and after taking a second to compose himself he entered to see Tsunade, Hiashi Hyuga, Hanabi, Neji, Kiba, and Shino all already in the room sitting around her bed.

They all looked up surprised to see him entering the room especially since most hadn't even heard of him being back in the village. Though many were shocked by the calm face he had on since Hinata was in a coma. If anything they expected him to be angry or furious that the girl he loved was hurt. They had no idea that Naruto had just fought 4 S-Rank ninja to save her. Kiba stood up with an enraged look on his face as he glared deeply at Naruto.

"This is all your fault! If you had gotten hear earlier Hinata would be okay right now! Instead you just waltz in here like nothing is even wrong!" yelled Kiba, as Shino tried to pull him back down. "Stop Shino! He has to hear this now! She cares too much about you for you to act like there is nothing wrong with her right now."

"What did you say?" asked Naruto as he bowed his head. Once couldn't tell whether or not he was feeling shame, sadness, or even anger. "You dare tell me that I don't care fore her."

"That's exactly what I'm saying! We trusted you with her and here you are acting like she doesn't even matter to you!" yelled Kiba as a sudden spike in chakra caught all of their attention.

"How dare you say that! She is the only thing in the world that truly matters to me! I would go to hell and back just to see her smile in happiness!" growled Naruto as he raised his eyes to reveal his Rinnegan eyes glowing in power. "I may not have been here soon enough to save her from this fate, but I was here soon enough to save her from the likes of the Akatsuki! I fought them while my clone brought her back to village to ensure that she was safe!"

Kiba at least had the decency to blush at what Naruto had just said. He was right; it wasn't Naruto's fault that Hinata had been attacked. They all knew the risks of being friends with Naruto now and they had all accepted it. It just he was looking for the first thing to blame and Naruto seemed the best choice.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry Naruto…I don't know why I said that." Stated Kiba with a sigh as he looked at Hinata. "I'm just worried for her."

Naruto sighed as his anger left him and his Rinnegan faded away. "It's okay Kiba…I understand."

Naruto nodded at the others in the room and took a seat at a chair right next to the head of the bed as Hinata slept peacefully. At first glance one wouldn't even be able to believe that she had been subjected to one of the worst genjutsu known to man.

"I think that is enough for tonight. She should be fine in a few days with a little rest." Stated Tsunade as she got up and walked towards the door. "I expect a detailed report about your trip when things have blown over Naruto."

"Hai!" replied Naruto as Hiashi and Hanabi got up and left after giving their goodbyes too.

"I believe I can trust you right Naruto?" asked Shino as Naruto smiled at him and nodded. "Good, come on Kiba we are leaving."

"What! Why do I have to leave?" protested Kiba as Shino just looked him. The look could be considered creepy by those who didn't know Shino.

"Because ever since I learned how to communicate with fleas my life has been much more enjoyable. So we are leaving now or my life will be much more enjoyable tomorrow morning when I unleash that new ability on you when you go on your daily walk with Ino." Stated Shino as Kiba looked at him in horror.

"What! That was you! You bastard!" sputtered Kiba as he glared at Shino, but Shino didn't budge an inch from the stare. "Fine…you win this time. Make sure nothing happens to her Naruto or I will kick your ass."

"Eh…you could try." Mocked Naruto as he watched Kiba throw a small glare at him before he left the room.

"I was wondering when they would leave…" muttered a soft voice from beside Naruto.

"Hinata!" exclaimed Naruto in a hushed tone as he gripped her hand. "Are you okay? Do you want me to get you something?"

Naruto was stopped from rambling as Hinata's other hand covered his mouth and prevented him from speaking. "I just want you to be with me tonight." She stated as Naruto leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.

"That I can do my love." Stated Naruto as he gripped her hand tightly. They sat there just staring at each other for a few moments before Hinata scooted away from Naruto to the other side of the bed. "What are you doing?"

"Well I don't want you to sleep on that uncomfortable chair all night. So you might as well just join me on this bed." Stated Hinata as Naruto turned an interesting shade of red.

"What! I don't think that kind of thing is allowed in the hospital Hinata!" spluttered Naruto as Hinata giggled.

"Silly! You can just sleep on the outside of the covers then." She said with a smile as she patted the area next to her. "I just want to be as close to you as possible."

Naruto smiled as climbed up the bed and laid on his back next to Hinata. She repositioned herself so she was on her side with her head leaning on Naruto for comfort. "Are you sure your okay Hinata?"

"Never better Naruto…never better." She whispered as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Naruto watched her sleep for a few minutes before he leaned his head down and kissed the top of her head. "Sleep well my princess…I will always be here for you."