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The Canalized River	By : susanna Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 944 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 23
- 24
- 25
A/N
at the end of the chapter

Chapter
Twenty-Four: Don't fight the Sharingan when you are on your own

Sasuke
had decided that he would not again send Karin and Suigetsu between
Naruto and the Akatsuki. He did not want to put them into such a
danger any more. Still he had not yet found the courage to face
Naruto, though in his heart he knew that he would not be able to put
it off much longer.

“The
animals have told me that there is another one of Akatsuki's evil
places out there”, Juugo informed the rest of the team when
they had breakfast. “One of their hideouts where they store
that weird chakra. It's just in our direction.”

“And
besides, there are those three people I told you about three days
ago”, Karin added. “Those who have been approaching us
from the West. They have drawn near now.”

“So
that we are circled. Fine”, Suigetsu said.

Sasuke
had the impression that Suigetsu was blaming this on their avoiding
Naruto. He tried to find the logic behind this accusation.

“How
far are they?” Suigetsu asked.

“Not
far. Some kilometres.”

“What?”
Sasuke said, waking up from his own line of thoughts. “Why did
you not tell me earlier?”

“My
bird was with Karin”, Juugo answered.

“And
I was busy keeping Naruto away from the Akatsuki members”,
Karin added.

So
now he had truly led them into danger...

“I
will meet these other people”, he said. “Karin, can you
tell who they are?”

She
performed the seals that pushed her sense for chakra to its highest
level. “It's the raven – I could not mistake its chakra
for anyone else's – the other – I am not sure as I have
only once met his kagebunshin, but I think it's Itachi – and
the third person I don't know but it must be Kisame.”

“So
there's no time to lose”, Sasuke said. “I will deal with
Itachi, you three will see that nothing happens to Naruto.”

“Nor
to you”, Suigetsu said, raising his brows. “I am not much
good against the genjutsus your brother uses, but we will be your
back-up. Take care – we still need you.”

Sasuke
met Itachi at some hundred metres' distance from the hideout's
entrance, waiting patiently for him, the raven sitting on his
shoulder.

“So
you've come at last”, Itachi said.

It
was not what Sasuke had expected. “Can't wait to be killed, can
you?” he replied. “It must be a relief to you, ending
your wretched, evil, friendless life, just as it will be a relief to
the rest of the world.”

“Still
clinging to your revenge, Sasuke”, Itachi said. “And I
had already got the impression that you had found some wisdom and
abandoned that plan...”

“What
wisdom would there be in letting live a murderer as you?”

“Ah,
Sasuke, there's still so much you don't know. I don't hate you, and I
don't want to fight you, or kill you, for that matter. I just want to
talk.”

Sasuke
had a hard time to focus on what he really wanted to do: fight
Itachi. His brother's voice was soft, and melodious, and it got
straight into his soul, making him wonder whether it might not be
wiser to listen to Itachi – maybe there was indeed some wisdom
he could learn from him. Maybe he would at least be able to
understand why Itachi had killed the clan and let him alone live. And
at the same time there was this other part of his that was mad with
anger and fear and that just wanted to attack in order to eliminate
the source of his sufferings so that he would never suffer again.

I
must remain rational, Sasuke told himself. This time I don't fight to
avenge my clan. This time I fight to protect Naruto and my team. I
cannot afford to lose.

But
he had to force himself to remain calm and to keep fear and anger and
the memories of his sufferings and his previous defeats deep down in
his heart.

“Won't
you even hear me out?” Itachi asked in his softest, gentlest
voice, sweet as a violoncello.

“What
wisdom can be learnt from a murderer?” Sasuke replied. “There's
nothing you might say that I would want to listen to.”

“How
do you know, little brother, if you don't care to listen?”

This
time Sasuke did not answer but attacked: several times, from
different directions, using his high speed jutsu. Itachi – the
real Itachi, not some kagebunshin – fought him off without any
effort, and with his bare hands.

“How
boring”, he said. “Is my presence still so overwhelming
to you so that you cannot come up with anything new?”

Sasuke
was feverishly thinking about the best strategy. No genjutsus of
course – Itachi would easily see through them, He would be
lucky if he could defend himself against Itachi's genjutsus. His
favorite weapon, the chidori sword did not work against Itachi –
so much he knew now. He had trusted on it plus his high-speed jutsu
to defeat his brother... So what remained? The snakes. Sasuke did not
really like them, as he still thought of them as Orochimaru's
creatures, not his own, but now two of them were crawling on the
floor, winding themselves around Itachi's ankles. I have to distract
him, Sasuke thought and created a genjutsu to make his brother
believe that he was attacking him again with his chidori sword.

“Don't
you want to know the real reason why I killed the clan?” Itachi
asked. Sasuke heard his voice from his side, just next to his ear,
while Itachi's clone dissolved when he was attacked by the snakes.

When
had he created that kagebunshin?

“I'm
not interested in hearing the excuses you have made up for yourself
to justify the murder of so many innocent people”, he said.

“Still
a fool like all the others. Still a child, believing in what the
grown-ups tell him about right and wrong. When will you grow up and
realize that for the strong there is no such thing as right and
wrong, nor good and evil, but only their own wishes, and their own
capacity.”

“The
capacity to kill a bunch of innocent people who happen to be weaker
than you”, Sasuke said. “What for?”

“They
were pathetic fools, just as yourself”, Itachi answered,
“lacking the courage and the willpower to push their capacity
to its limits, and use it. They would have been a burden. You can
still decide: Be a fool and a burden, so that I will have to kill you
as well, or grasp the power that is within your reach and then be at
my side, ruling the world together with me.”

“I
am not interested in world domination”, Sasuke replied. “My
only goal is to see you dead.”

Still
he could not help being tempted by the vision Itachi had spread out
in front of his mind: He and Itachi, brothers again, ruling the world
of ninjas, deciding about good and evil.

It's
a genjutsu, he tried to tell himself. It's not true. It's not what I
really want.

“Ah,
Kisame”, he heard Suigetsu's voice from some distance, and from
another world. “I have waited long for this opportunity to
fight you and gain the great Samehada.”

There
were some seconds of silence, then Karin spoke: “You won't
touch him, bloody bitch. You won't get anywhere near him.”

She
must have met the female Akatsuki member, Sasuke thought, and I have
lost my backup. What had happened to Juugo? And to Naruto?

“We
Uchihas are meant for world domination”, Itachi continued.
“It's what we got the Sharingan for: To control the tailed
beasts, and to control people's thoughts. Our clan got lazy and
cowardly and chose to serve instead to rule. I have chosen to rule.”

“Well,
I haven't”, Sasuke flatly replied. “You don't need me, do
you?”

The forest around him had suddenly ceased to
exist, and instead he was in a high hall built of granite, with small
coloured windows just below the ceiling, so that it had to be lit by
candles. Tapestries with strange geometric patterns covered the naked
stone of the pillars and walls, and on one end there were three
thrones. Itachi was sitting on the one on the left, and he offered
the one on the right to Sasuke, but on the one in the middle sat the
raven.

It
was a genjutsu, and in theory Sasuke knew how to deal with it: Stand
up to your opponent while you were in it, and at the same time find
the way out. Only that there was no way out...

“You
should know better”, the raven said. “You are in your own
heart – there is no way out for you. You have always longed for
power: Here you have found it.”

“Power
maybe”, Sasuke replied. “But not to rule the world. Only
to kill Itachi.”

“It's
all the same. You wanted power and you wanted to be high above normal
people.”

Sasuke
struck in anger and without thinking, not with his katana, but with
his chidori blade, yet the bird dodged it by simply flying up.

“In
here, your weapons are of no use”, the raven said. “It's
your own heart, and you will only hurt yourself. But I have to thank
you: You have served us well, bringing us the jinchuuriki.”

Sasuke
followed the bird's eyes in horror: On the right, on some kind of
altar, Naruto was lying unconscious. Was he real or was he part of
the genjutsu? He could not afford to think about it now: With two
steps he was at Naruto's side, his sword raised to keep Itachi and
the raven off him.

“Don't
touch him”, he said.

“Together
we will control the beast – together we will rule the world”,
Itachi said. “You know that we can do it.”

Sasuke
knew that he could do it, and suddenly he realized that Itachi could
not. This was why they needed him.

He
reached out for Naruto with his right hand, while in his left hand he
still held his sword.

“You
can cooperate with us willingly”, Itachi continued, “and
we will let you have a share of our power. We might even try to find
a way to let the jinchuuriki live. Or we will force you to cooperate,
and make you follow our orders. You know that we can.”

For
a split second Sasuke saw the pattern of the Mangekyou Sharingan
blink up in Itachi's eyes. He did not use it, but the threat alone
was enough to make Sasuke panic. The fear of the fear of the pain...
He clutched Naruto's hand, and suddenly Naruto returned the grip, and
they were back in the forest, Naruto standing at his side, clinging
to his right arm.

“Don't
fight the Sharingan when you are on your own”, Naruto said. “I
thought that you would know that.”

“What
are you doing here?” Sasuke replied. “It's far too
dangerous for you.”

Only
because the real Naruto was here it had been possible for Itachi and
the raven to create the illusion of the unconscious one on the
altar.

“Now keep to my side and don't let go, so that I
can protect you”, Sasuke said.

“Like
hell I will let go off you again”, Naruto replied.

Sasuke
could not believe it: Naruto was beaming. Did he not realize the
danger they were in? He was barely able to keep himself from
panicing: Fighting off his brother and the raven with his chidori
blade and at the same time protecting them both against their
genjutsus was stretching his strength to its limits. The latter of
course was easier now with Naruto at his side, because as long as one
of them stayed out of the illusion, he could help the other get out
of it as well. Only if both of them got caught at the same time they
were lost.

Naruto
had created a bunch of kagebunshin, as if he had not changed since
the time when he had been twelve and kagebunshin had been the only
jutsu he was really good at, so that he created them automatically at
the beginning of every fight, trying to defeat his opponent by the
power of sheer numbers.

Some
of the kagebunshin attacked Itachi, who fought back and made them
vanish easily. Two stayed with Naruto and helped him form his
spiralling sphere. They were not the only ones: Groups of clones were
standing everywhere, forming similar spheres.

“Have
you learnt nothing new?” Sasuke asked.

At
last Naruto's smile vanished from his face, and the clones vanished
as well. Naruto began to create something else – he did not use
any seals, and Sasuke was unable to understand it, so he activated
his Sharingan. He had never used it on anyone who fought at his side,
but he needed to see through Naruto's technique so that he could
support him if need be. Though coming to think of it, he had rarely
fought alongside anyone in his life. Naruto was the only exception.

He
had been off guard for the fraction of a second, and this had been
enough for the scenery to change again, back to the hall of granite.
Naruto had fallen into the genjutsu as well and could not help him
out again. Only that this time, I will be able to find a way out,
Sasuke thought, because I know now that this is not a true image of
my heart, or my heart's true desire: I don't long for power, not even
to kill Itachi – my true desire is to keep Naruto safe.

“It's
over”, Itachi said, smirking. “I have caught you both.”

Sasuke
cast a genjutsu, and Itachi who had not payed attention in his
triumph could not defend himself against it. It was a stalemate now:
Both of them caught in each other's genjutsus, but from the corner of
his eye Sasuke was watching Naruto form this new jutsu thing of his:
A giant shuriken made of pure wind chakra.

“Three
blades are enough, idiot”, Sasuke said. “Leave the forth
arm blunt, or you'll hurt yourself.”

Thank goodness
Naruto did not let the insult keep him from accepting the advice. He
was smiling happily, in a way that was completely inappropriate to
the situation. He was finishing his shuriken thing, while Sasuke was
looking for a way out of the genjutsu. He had to locate the true
Itachi before they could use whatever Naruto was creating. Before
Naruto could use it...

“It's
not stable”, Sasuke said. “You can't throw it like that.”

“It's
not meant for throwing”, Naruto said. “It's meant for
hitting.”

If
this was not truly idiotic – a shuriken that was not meant for
throwing.

He
reached out with his left hand, the one that was still holding his
chidori blade, and laid it on Naruto's right one. He let his
lightning chakra flow into the wind shuriken, and at the same time
Itachi's genjutsu broke down, be it from the additional physical
contact or from Sasuke allowing that it would be Naruto who would
strike the final blow against Itachi.

“In
front of you, forty-five degrees to the left”, he said. “I
still have him in my genjutsu, he cannot see the attack – now
throw that damn thing!”

Sasuke
had not expected the flash of lightning when the Shuriken was thrown.
Neither had he expected the recoil to be so strong that both he and
Naruto were thrown a few steps back, while Itachi seemed to be blown
away by the sheer energy of the thing, even though it had not been a
perfect hit.

He
had not expected either that the raven possessed the Mangekyou
Sharingan.

A/N:
I planned the story during the Pein-versus-Jiraya arc, and I finished
it when there were the first pages of the present encounter between
Sasuke and Itachi in the canon, while the Pein-versus-Jiraya-arc was
still going on.

I
had not thought that this encounter would come so soon. I had thought
Kishimoto would wait with it until a short time before the manga
ends...

Now
there are two things to say: First, all the images I came up with in
this chapter were my own ideas. If they resemble those in the canon,
it is because I was good at guessing how things might go.

Second:
Now that we get the original version, I can only say kudos! to
Kishimoto. His answers to the questions everyone was asking
themselves (why did Itachi spare Sasuke? why did he invite him to
that hideout?) are better than anything I could have come up with. I
just wish that I would not have to compete with the original, because
it is a competition I cannot win.

I
hope that you still had some fun with this chapter. The rest of the
story will be about matters where I don't have to compete with the
original.

LadyRonin:
Thanks for your comments! And I hope that soon you will have a lot
more questions. For now I hope that Sasuke was humble enough for your
taste.
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The Canalized River