In a way, Sasuke hated emotions. This hurt him so much during his short life, even more, because he was an Uchiha, cursed with a more intense and unstable emotional state than usual.

Something that didn't just apply to him.

Itachi felt immeasurable emotions when having to choose between the village, the clan, and his innocent little brother. In these memories, Sasuke couldn't even focus on them without wanting to drown in hurt and resentment. However, they were foreign memories, which did not reflect the intensity that the originals possessed.

If those memories were already so bad and unstoppable, how bad would the originals be, the reality of being present on the scene?

It was probably a worse feeling than Sasuke had when he faced that massacre, a situation that marked him forever.

In the Valley of the End, when he faced Naruto, after recognizing the strength that his rival had and that he envied so much, Sasuke had another wave of conflicting emotions invading him, trying to get him out of the way he chose to follow. His will faltered, truly leading him to consider giving up his trip to Orochimaru and returning to Konoha. However, he couldn't; it was too late. To regress would take him to a cell where any remote expectation of revenge would be nothing more than a distant dream. Considering the disaster his life became from that point on, maybe returning and being arrested was not so bad. Again, however, if he had, Sasuke would not have the power he has today, and, as a result, the world, or worlds, would be doomed.

There was a touch of irony in the fact that Sasuke's life had to be destroyed in order for the world to have a chance of salvation.

Later, when he was under the tutelage of the maddened serpent, Sasuke witnessed atrocities without size. With each passing day, more and more, he protected himself and removed his emotions. A contradiction that worked very well, since the only way to preserve his humanity was to pretend he didn't have one.

After leaving Orochimaru, things only got worse. Each step and decision only seemed to take him deeper and deeper, to drown him in this curse of hatred that was always present in his life.

Therefore, reluctantly, Sasuke agreed that there was truth in the words spoken by the second Hokage.

Nobody felt more than an Uchiha.

Exactly, for this reason, Sasuke tried to suppress these emotions or to get rid of them, except for those that he wanted to remain; like the hatred that comforted and gave him a purpose, a motivation to move forward in this nightmare called life.

At least, it used to be that way.

Recently, Sasuke discovered that there was more to him than hatred. Again, as was said by the second Hokage, no one could love more than an Uchiha.

Sasuke also had the ability to love, just as he did with his brother and the team he came to consider as a family.

Discarding these emotions towards his past self, the one that was motivated mainly by resentment and hatred, the one that represented exactly what Sasuke could have become, or had become at some point in his life, was liberating... Unfortunately, it was also painful. It was impossible for him not to feel lighter with these weights, a pity that this fight was not helping with his mood and aggravated all this emotional sensitivity.

Empathy was never something Sasuke wanted to have, nor did he want to have.

Each time he ran into Naruto, emotions and a painful familiarity showed themselves in how equal they were, regardless of the countless differences between them.

Indra should be the incarnate evil, especially after showing those dangerous lines of thoughts... So, why when his blows hit each other, Sasuke saw his happy childhood memories?

Because, like Sasuke, Indra also had a phase in his life when he was nothing but an innocent child.

All evil was once pure.

That must be why the first Hokage always had children as the goal of salvation and preservation. Because they were worth being saved and freed from this painful and hateful life that it was to experience a war, experience hatred, and embrace it to move on.

A moment later, in another exchange of blows and connection between them, that exchange of smiles between brothers, between family, became a deadly conflict.

A clear example of the life of many Uchihas, including Sasuke.

From love to hate.

Was that the burden of having the Chakra free of emotions?

Be plagued by the emotions of those with whom you come in contact?

Was that the price Naruto paid for all that power?

Nothing came for free, Sasuke knew that well. After all, he had to plunge into the darkness to gain power, almost to the point of drowning in it.

It was definitely not pleasant. Neither.

Sasuke could feel even outside, the palpable concern of Ruby and Weiss, and the hostility hanging in the air, clearly directed at him.

Something bad was going on, and Sasuke couldn't say what, as Indra's emotions were much more constant and intense, almost as intense as the friction of their battle for dominance over his body, blinding him to the outside world.

This fight, however, could not last forever. Not just because Sasuke needed to wake up fast, but because of the intensity of the confrontation. With each stroke, Sasuke could see and feel Indra's chakra burning nonstop to maintain that absurd level of power. Its predecessor was using only high-level deadly Jutsus. On the other hand, Sasuke's body, or his spiritual representation, was being eroded by the pressure exerted by the Spiritual Cloak. Not only that, but Chakra consumption and mental exhaustion were also taking their toll.

Sasuke didn't even want to imagine the burden that this power would place on his real body if it were possible to reach this Spiritual Cloak outside, something that he was still not sure of the possibility.

From the point in which Sasuke managed to achieve this new power and aroused the envy that served to fuel Indra's hatred, this fight became a duel of attrition.

Which would yield first: Sasuke's body and mind, or Indra's Chakra reserve?

In the beginning, the burning Magatamas lit up the darkness and led Sasuke into a dangerous dance, where he was forced to manifest his Susano'o's double swords and compress them until they became straight blades of crystal to accompany him in this fight.

Slowly and gradually, Sasuke lost the ability to extinguish the black flames used by Indra, putting him in a difficult situation for a moment, but recovering his air mobility made up for that loss. Susano'o, while possessing absurd power, his massive form made him considerably slow, granting an advantage to Sasuke. That spiritual sword wielded by Indra must have been similar to the one used by Itachi, so avoiding it was the focus, while Sasuke tested his raw power against the massive construction of Chakra.

The ability to cut, injure Susano'o was encouraging, showing Sasuke that he could get stronger and oppose Kaguya in the coming fight. However, Indra was a formidable opponent, with a repertoire of dangerous Jutsu, managing to damage his Spiritual Cloak and wound him in the course of the fight. It didn't take long before the shock between them proved costly, taking a considerable part of Sasuke's mantle and reducing Indra's Sasano'o to levels of the standard Mangekyou. Both had their eyes bleeding with pure and continuous effort, but for what seemed like an eternity, due to the high level of visual analysis and mental process, not one of them said a word, just pulling out grunts and screams from each other.

Now, Sasuke only had Susano'o's wings and purple Aura, burning around his battered and bloodied body, granting him mobility, a shield, strengthening, and the replica of his Kusanagi sword. As for Indra, he was as dejected as, in his originally white clothes, now stained with bloody red. He still had his black aura covering him, using the sword he carried on his back with a combination of Yin Release and lightning style, covering his body and weapon with lightning and moving with them at dizzying speeds. If it weren't for his eyes and wings, Sasuke would have been cut into pieces, a long time ago.

However, the pain, physical, and mental fatigue were nothing compared to Sasuke's growing concern about his current situation, both internally and externally.

With each shock of their swords, it represented a new memory that Sasuke experienced, further complicating the fight between them.

Empathy, again, was a feeling that Sasuke didn't want to have, nor did he want, however...

Their swords clashed with friction from electric flames;

At some point, Indra and Asura were like Sasuke and Itachi. They shared mutual love, admiration, and acceptance. They were family and had each other, forming a bond that remained intact even after everything that happened.

Sparks flew, illuminating their bloody faces, where both faced each other with the heritage they carried from the Uchiha clan;

Subsequently, the brothers looked much like Sasuke and Naruto. Both saw themselves as rivals, although Sasuke would never admit that fact. However, there were clear differences in their dreams that took them to different paths, where Naruto constantly tried to save him from the path of revenge that Sasuke chose.

Swords push each other to make room for a fist and palm covered in flame and lightning to collide;

Finally, the brothers were like Madara and Hashirama. This was the extreme point where they both struggled to kill each other, as there was no turning back. Their ideals, beliefs, and desires spoke louder than the bond they had formed since childhood.

Was that the cycle Sasuke was destined to go through?

The explosion separated them, pushing them only to face swords, locked in shock again. They stopped, facing each other with the Sharingan base, and Sasuke with the left eye closed, not even being able to use the Rinnegan at that point. Their panting breath matched them in exhaustion, including their dangerously low Chakra levels.

The hands locked on the blades trembled, but they did not subside even with the blood that continually trickled down the wrist, staining the darkness in red.

"What is it, brat?" Indra broke the endless silence, smiling with the lack of reaction... no, better to say, with the lack of resolution of his counterpart to give him an answer. "Having fun with my memories?"

The tension in the air grew, causing Sasuke to face Indra even more intensely. Receiving all those memories was no coincidence, after all. Although clearing the Chakra would certainly have made Sasuke more sensitive, it shouldn't have been that easy to have access to all these thoughts, especially considering that Indra could close himself off if he wanted to.

"Are you… are you doing this on purpose?" Sasuke narrowed his single open eye, trying to understand what Indra would gain by doing this. "Do you really think I'm going to pity you?"

The mere thought of that hypothesis was laughable. Sasuke could have gotten softer, in a way, but he still wanted that despicable person's head in front of him.

"There is! Considering your past? Nah, this is not possible. If it were, it would just make you even more pathetic," Indra scoffed, but again, he didn't even have a reaction, or rather, an opening to take advantage of. "Separating your emotional mind from your Chakra has some benefits, after all. But…" He distorted a smile, exuding nothing but negativity. "Is that power worth the price?!"

The friction between the swords sparked when Indra forced Sasuke to retreat, but not with brute force but with a wave of his ominous emotions through his Chakra.

It seemed that Indra was trying to get into Sasuke's mind and influence him as he had been doing for some time, intensifying the emotions that were most convenient for the purpose of opposing his brother's reincarnation.

"You're wasting your time, Indra. It will not work." Sasuke has already plunged into significant emotions on his own. There was nothing that Indra could show that would destabilize him. He was not Naruto to be moved by an enemy's past, just as he was when Obito's Bijuus were being pulled out.

"Ah, but it will work!" Indra smiled with confusion forming on the face of his most recent reincarnation and made the rest of his Chakra burn in black flames and flash with the Yin release over his body, holding the sword with everything he had. "The more memories you have of me, the easier it will be to get hold of this body!"

"So this is it..." Sasuke found it strange all this facility to read the emotions and memories of his opponent when everything was part of this desperate attempt to steal his body. "A blade imbued in Chakra... he intends to end everything in the next attack."

If that was how Indra wanted it, Sasuke would respond accordingly.

Purple flame came to life one last time, mixed with Yin release lightning. Sasuke would not risk using Amaterasu that could be contained.

Not one of them would risk it.

"One last question before ending this," Sasuke said and Indra just listened, busy as he prepared to attack. "What do you intend to do about Kaguya?"

"Grandma, you say?" Indra came into position, preparing to advance towards his victory and resurrection at any time. "I'll deal with her when the time comes. After all, there is a long time until then." There was surprise in the look of the brat, so Indra had fun clarifying. "Yes, be happy, brat, you were right about the difference in the temporal flow of this dimension! Time here runs much faster, so until she finishes with that planet, months will pass in this dimension! Enough time to subdue this world and prepare to face her." He gave a bloody smile, opening his eyes wide as he kicked the floor under his feet. "Who knows, maybe those brats are useful in combat, of course, besides helping to restore the clan!"

Those last hateful words from Indra sealed everything Sasuke needed to know, advancing against the demigod before the last word was even spoken.

Sasuke would never let this sociopath destroy a world with that distorted illusion called salvation, using his body, face, and his family's noble name for that purpose. Even more, touching a finger on those two who accepted and helped him to accept himself. In that short speech, Indra made it clear that he was willing to let the Elemental Nations perish, not even considering returning to help that world.

Indra couldn't win, and that was all Sasuke needed to know at that moment.

In the blink of an eye, a pair of swords met lightning crackling in an explosion of wild auras in resonance and constant conflict.

Sasuke and Indra were the same, but so different.

The sound of metal breaking reverberated after the silence that followed the explosion.

Both loved and hated their own family.

The spiritual representation of their respective blades broke in half, falling apart before even touching the ground.

They wished destruction and peace for the sake of a better world.

Indra had blood gushing from an open cut on his shoulder, making him stagger a few steps before stagnating.

However, their outcomes were different.

Sasuke fell to the ground, holding nothing but a piece of the sword that had turned to dust with the pressure exerted on it.

While everyone gave up on Indra, there were people who continued to believe in Sasuke.

Indra clenched his teeth, refusing to fall. He wouldn't fall, he couldn't fall. He was so close to coming back to life! He would never have another chance like this! Pure determination kept him upright as the imposing demigod he was.

While Indra accepted only the darkness and refused to see more in the world than just the hatred that inhabited the heart of others and especially his own, Sasuke decided to give the light a chance, once again, hoping to see what it had to offer to him, if it could give him more than the pain of loss.

"I-It looks like I won, brat..." Indra turned to Sasuke, smiling widely at the blurred vision he had of his reincarnation fallen to the ground, defeated. Walking without focus, he wanted to finish what he started; claim his prize, his new life. "I will take this body, your life, and everything that is rightfully mine!"

Those who had their eyes in the darkness could never see beyond it.

This was something that Sasuke learned in the worst possible way and that his ancestor was too arrogant to recognize... and that would be the reason for his defeat.

Indra stagnated, eyes opening to the limit when he was just a step away from getting what he so wanted and desired. His body became numb with familiar pain, forcing him to vomit blood on the hand spread across his chest; through his heart.

"W-What?" Indra murmured unfocused, twisting his head to look over his shoulder. Returning his gaze, was the brat with that incompatible pair of eyes that Indra wanted so badly to have. There was an undeniable coldness in those divine eyes, but Indra paid no attention to that detail, too incredulous to care. "D-Do you... dare to use an Asura technique?!"

"From Naruto... or rather, from the second Hokage," Sasuke said as he slowly removed his hand, almost taking Indra's little breath of life in the process. He let the demigod drop to its knees before his fallen shadow clone that disappeared in a cloud of smoke, one that represented Indra's dreams evaporating before his eyes.

"L-Lowering yourself to that level... to the point of using this Jutsu..." Indra felt his body fail, falling flat as his red eyes turned black for the first time in ages, reflecting nothing but betrayal for Sasuke.

"In fact, I would never have used this technique... at least, before I never would have used it. Now? I think I'm beyond that childish mindset," Sasuke reflected, deigning to explain, but never taking his eyes off Indra, whose breaths were becoming slower by the second. "No matter if it is the technique that Naruto uses the most, it is still something that almost anyone can replicate. Furthermore, you would never expect this, because just as you hate your little brother, you expect all of your reincarnations to be the same. "Sasuke saw a photo of Team Seven, almost smiling at the accepted truth. "Naruto is my only and best friend, I don't hate him."

Sasuke definitely has some problems with Naruto, but he was far from sending the same level of resentment that Indra had for Asura.

"Hah, ha, ha... Pathetic..." Indra felt the light in his eyes slowly fade, as his body began to fade into particles of black light. "Family… Friendship… Love… In the end, it all becomes hate… and… you… know… that.

Sasuke just heard those whispered words disappear, while Indra reached for the hilt of the sword that was beyond his reach. From the memories he saw, Sasuke knew what that blade represented... it was a gift from his younger brother, something that Indra did not abandon even in death. As the last act, Sasuke placed the hilt in the hands of his predecessor, not letting the comfort in Indra's eyes go unnoticed when his body completely fell apart, illuminating the darkness one last time with its particles of black light, leaving Sasuke in the silence of his inner, empty and lonely world. Still, his hands were warm and it wasn't the blood that stained them.

In the end, it looks like Sasuke ended up empathizing with Indra. After all, brothers will always love each other, no matter what.

Perhaps there was truth in Indra's last words, but Sasuke no longer wanted to be chained to the past. He would accept everything he was, what he did, and what happened, but he would no longer dwell on these events in search of a motivational excuse to justify his actions.

From that point on, Sasuke would have his eyes on the future; beyond this darkness that surrounded him.

So it was time to wake up from this bad dream, as there was still a lot to be done and people who needed him.

After all, Uchiha Sasuke was a hero.

It's been a while since I updated the story, but I'm not going to apologize, because my personal problems don't apologize to me either, ha, ha.

This chapter ends Sasuke's internal conflict, which must have been a bit of a drag, I think for about three chapters, but I enjoyed writing that interaction and getting him to conquer his internal demons.

I do not know when I will publish again, but I hope it will be next month, where I will conclude all these events without creating another cliff, which means that the chapter goes much larger than usual. I know you guys love a good cliff, but it's better to change it up a little~

Until the next chapter.