A/N: Inspired by a rant a friend of mine had. And this story is dedicated to all those who want to believe Itachi is more than an insane freak after Sasuke's eyes.

Prologue

We both are on the floor, with hardly any energy left to give. Yet our eyes are locked in their own silent battle. I wonder if he can even properly see me, or if I am just some blurred outline. After all the tricks, after all the sudden turn in events…it can't be that we are at a draw. Suddenly my brother smiles, and his half blind eyes flicker about the room as if to be sure we are alone. Then his red eyes focus on me again, still that creepy insane sort of smile on his lips.

"You are everything….I wanted you to be…" He whispers out coldly.

"What now?" I snap at him a little. "Will you attempt to take my life with riddles? You've explained all that I needed to know. You are nothing but a coward afraid to lose his sight. Die already, you can't take my life it's obvious."

"Neither can you, Sasuke," He whispers out, and a cough comes over him. Blood is sputtered out of his mouth. Then an attempt at a crawl. I stumble to my feet desperately trying to coordinate my limbs into a fighting stance. But it seems futile and I fall to my knees.

"Stay away, just lay in your space and concentrate on not breathing. You are of no worth to this world," I hiss out at my formerly beloved Aniki.

"But I would give my life to you. I plan on perishing. You are all I needed you to be," again he whispers, inching slowly closer to me, leaving behind him a trail of blood. Finally he is before me. I look into his red eyes, wondering what it is he's planning. I do not have my guard down, but for now he is hardly a threat, and I will let him be close. After all it makes it easier for me to kill him if he's at a close distance.

"You say you know…I wonder if you understand."

I get aggravated with Itachi's cryptic messages. "Spit it out what do you want? We may both be weak, but I can still kill you," I tell him slowly pulling out my sword.

"In time," he mutters. "I had wanted to kill the entire clan, including you. So no child would be born again into that cursed clan," His voice held malice and a coughing fit comes over him. Again blood dribbles down his chin, his dim eyes look at me.

"I had wanted to spare you, I wanted to kill you as well," I glare at my brother.

"What is this? Are you changing your story all of a sudden? Why show such compassion? Spare me? You said not too long ago you never cared," I hiss out at him, remember how when he said he was never a loving brother, my heart seemed to ache. Even though I despise him…when I heard those words…I cannot explain nor thoroughly comprehend the emotion that came over me.

"Earlier…I just wanted to insure that you would go through with your threat, that you would kill me. This…it was a test this fight. I want you to take my sight…and do what I could not," another light cough escapes his lips, and he looks so fragile.

"Madara, he interrupted my slaughter and then he took enjoyment in helping me," Itachi's words are strained but he continues. "When it came to you, he told me I should keep you alive. I protested, but he put you under an illusion, and kept me at bay. That memory of that night…it was implanted into your mind by him. Those words I never said them, I never wanted you to become like me, to seek me out. I …after finding out all those secrets, all the horrendous ways to gain power. For a moment in my young age that is all I wanted…but after I killed my best friend…I felt hollow. Yes I had gained more power but at what cost? I decided then I wouldn't let anyone repeat my mistakes, I wanted to kill them all…but I was forced to leave you alive. Madara insisted I would thank him one day. That day has come. I do thank him I'm glad he spawned this hate between us. You see I've come to distrust this man, he's not what he appears to be. His plans are on the edge of insanity. But the only way to stop him is to gain equal power. I cannot, but you can, you can take my eyes gain my power, and stop him, little brother." Itachi whispers out the last words and I can hardly believe he dared to use the affectionate phrase. I had the urge to hit him to slam him against some wall, and torture him. But I hardly have that sort of strength.

"Why can't you defeat this man you distrust? I've never met him, and I don't want to concern myself with him."

Itachi gives me a wicked sort of smile, "Ah yes…why can't I bring myself to rip out your eyes, to kill you. Sasuke, for the years I followed Madara…I trailed Naruto. I saw you with the boy. Over the years my brotherly love turned into a sick obsession. An emotion one should never feel towards their younger brother…" Itachi trails off, and yet another cough brings blood to his lips.

I stare at him for a long while, "I'm not your tool. I won't fall into your plans just because you are asking it of me. I will do as I see fit.

"As you wish," Itachi's eyes slowly start to close, and a strange panic comes over me. I pull him up into my lap.

"Don't you die! You will die at my hand, by my sword, not because of a lack of energy!" Itachi's eyes stay at half mass.

"All the things I've done wrong…I do not regret them," he whispers.

"A devil never regrets his sin," I find myself saying in a soft almost soothing voice as I hold my brother's head in my lap.

"It is sick…by all standards of society...yet I've never much cared for what society expected of me…Sasuke…" His breathing becomes heavy, and I can feel his heart starting to slow. Again I feel fear…why? Isn't this all I ever wanted? Has his story really swayed me? How can I believe that this is truth? I look at his foggy red eyes. It's the truth because he's on his deathbed. What reason does he have to lie to me now?

"What is it?" I ask him in a low voice, urging him to finish his sentence.

"…I love you…"

"Don't say that," I watch as his eyes close, and his body becomes limp. He's still so very warm, and I can hardly believe all the information that was given to me. How can I? Those words they seem so odd, hearing them from his lips. I don't want to believe them, yet they could mean so many things.

"This isn't how I imagined it at all…Dammit!" I slam my fist into the ground next to me. Then I notice, slowly Itachi's chest rises up and down in the fashion of taking in air. I slide down to rest my ear against his chest, and there it was a heartbeat. A slow almost undetectable heart beat. He's not dead, just unconscious from the blood lose, most likely. Maybe there's still a chance….But, why should I help him? Why the sudden urge to save his damned soul?

A figure steps out of the shadows and I hold Itachi to me closely as I glare at the strange man. His face held two colours, and around him was a massive green object that resembles a plant.

"Who are you?" I hiss out.

"I just clean up the messes," he says emotionlessly. I pull Itachi up into my arms and stubble to my feet.

"He's not dead…if that's what you're after," I tell the strange looking man. He tilts his head.

"He will be soon," he points out.

"Mind your own business!" I snap at him, my legs shake but I slowly turn to leave the building. The man doesn't seem to be bothered by my departure; instead he disappears into the ground.

I look at my brother, his head falling back, his hair undone. Why am I carrying him? I hardly have enough energy to walk, let alone find him medical help. Why is this small part of me holding on to him? It's because he didn't die at my hand. He's dying from exhaustion not from a fatal blow given by me. Yes, that is why…

"Sasuke!" Karin spots me and runs up to me, Juugo right behind her.

"Where's Suigetsu?" I question.

"Said something about Kisame and a sword, and crap like that," she blows off, and her eyes land on the body I'm holding in my arms. "What…Is that him?"

I only nod slightly and interrupt her as she's about to open her mouth yet again, "Let us find a place to rest and treat his wounds, as well as my own. Suigetsu will find us…" I mutter, and stumble along my steps rather clumsy. Karin looks at me oddly but follows, Juugo says nothing.

We reach a shallow cave that gave only enough space to set up a small camp a couple of feet in. Juugo busies himself with making a small fire. Karin watches me as I make a crude bed out of my cloak. I lay my brother upon the fabric.

"Where is the nearest village Karin?" I ask the girl, who jumps at the sudden question.

"Only twenty miles east," She says. I nod to myself more than to her. I roll up Itachi's pant leg to see a rather large gash on his calf. No wonder he was leaving a trail of blood as he crawled. I take out a small container of water that Juugo had set down near me only moments before he started the fire. He's thoughtful and aware, despite his solitude and occasional outburst of murderous intent. I let small amounts of the water wash over the injury, that being the best I could do for now. Then slowly I tear off pieces of fabric from the cloak Itachi is laying upon.

"We have bandages," Karin says getting up and taking out said item. She hands them to me and I take them from her. She invites herself to sit next to me.

"So why are you helping him?" She asks a little confused. I don't bother to answer her. Instead I concentrate of wrapping the bandages around my brother's leg to stop the bleeding. I tie them rather tight, in hopes that it would encourage the blood to clot and start healing. I pull down his pant leg, and go to lift up his shirt. I repeat the process of cleaning and wrapping on all the wounds I see; and there are many of them. Finally I take the cloth that I had ripped from the cloak and clean my brother's face of any dirt and grim. It wasn't a loving sort of action…however I can see how it was rather unnecessary. This cleaning also seemed to cause Karin to raise an eyebrow.

Then I take off my own shirt, and the girl's body stiffened. "I can help you Sasuke, with your wounds," she says seductively.

"No thank you," I tell her plainly. She seems to pout, and she gets up to sit away from me. I address my own wounds, all the while her eyes on me. I don't have many cuts. I am mainly exhausted from the amount of chakra I used, not from blood lose.

Then I scoop up my brother yet again. "Let's start heading for that village, to seek professional medical attention," I command and all get to their feet. I don't know if I'll be able to get help for Itachi, but possibly if the village is small they will not recognize Itachi as a member of the Akatsuki.

I adjust the body in my arms and push myself way past my limit to trot on to the village. My feet seem to cry out, but I ignore them, along with the shaking my arms are doing, as they struggle to hold on to Itachi's heavy form. Again I ask myself why I'm doing this. Why so much trouble for someone as worthless as my brother?

"…I love you…"

Those words... they were not a lie. He was too close to death to lie. Yet I wonder what those words held behind them. A strange obsession he called it. An obsession that is obviously different from my own. Yet if I were so obsessed with my brother's death then why do I not let him die? Why am I pushing myself so hard to find him medical help? I don't understand it…but I wonder if it has something to do with those words. If it has something to do with all those fond memories I have of him of when we were younger. I push aside my thoughts and concentrate on the village slowly coming into my view. After all I am only keeping him alive, because I want to properly take his life with my sword; with one piercing and fatal blow.

A/N: Well please tell me what you think. I have this whole great story thought out… so I hope you will all enjoy it. But please tell me what you thought of the beginning so far.