Chapter 37 - Itachi Vs. Sasuke and Lilly
Not long after Itachi had said go, he decided to wait out in the open, to see which of his siblings would try to attack him first. What he didn't expect however, was them both to attack him at the same time. Two fireballs got sent in his direction, from within the trees, and he managed to dodge them, throwing kunai's into the trees, from where the fireballs had come from.
"Nice try you two." Itachi smirked, as both of them jumped out of the trees to avoid the kunai's.
"You need to admit big bro." Sasuke started to say.
"You would've never expected us to work together to get you first." Lilly finished.
"No I didn't." Itachi chuckled, doing hand signs, sending mini fireballs towards them, which they both dodged, sending shuriken and kunai's through the fireballs towards him.
The three continued to fight, and dodge each others attack, however, Itachi had a few tricks up his sleeve. He had made a few crop doppelgangers to take the hits whenever they both managed to get close to him.
"What the heck?!" Lilly squealed, as the 'Itachi' she tried to kick turned into crows, flying off. She started to look around. "Where is he?"
"I have no idea." Sasuke said, looking around also. He hadn't realised that their older brother could do that kind of jutsu. What else he didn't realise was that Itachi was right behind him.
"Don't have your back to your opponent Sasuke." Itachi said calmly, starting to do hand signs, which Lilly noticed and used her Sharingan eyes to copy them, as Sasuke moved out the way in time, allowing Lilly to send the Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu towards Itachi, just as he sent it to where Sasuke had been. Both the attacks collided, creating one big flame, however, Lilly's wasn't as powerful as his, and got sent backwards, huffing.
"Damn it." Lilly growled, getting up, holding a kunai.
"Not bad sis." Itachi smiled, knowing that she had used her Sharingan to copy the jutsu, and had not just done the same jutsu of her own accord.
"Sis out the way." Sasuke said, running towards Itachi with lightning chakra around his arm. The Chidori.
"Right." Lilly nodded, moving out the way, just as Sasuke ran towards Itachi, who had moved towards Lilly with his back towards Sasuke.
Sasuke got close enough to use the Chidori on Itachi, but luckily Itachi had realised what was going on and grabbed Sasuke's arm, preventing him from attacking Itachi with it.
"You'd really go to use that jutsu on me." Itachi said, shaking his head. "You really do have an intent to kill foolish little brother." He looked up towards Sasuke, looking him in the eyes, trapping him in a genjutsu, although, it was pointless, but it would give Itachi some time to get out of his range.
"I'm not foolish." Sasuke said in a rather unpleasant tone, glaring at his brother. Something wasn't right here. Why was Sasuke acting like this.
"Nii-chan." Lilly said, walking over. Looked like for now this battle was over.
Sasuke yanked his arm from Itachi's grip and put his hands into his pockets. "Sorry." He muttered, before heading off. Lilly wouldn't let him leave, and grabbed his arm.
"What has gotten into you big brother?" She questioned. Sasuke, however much he cared about them, wasn't wanting to talk, or be near them now and just left, easily getting free from her grip.
"Don't worry." Shiru said, walking out and over to them. She hugged Lilly softly, before kissing Itachi on the cheek.
"He'll be fine." Itachi smiled, hugging Lilly, before kissing Shiru softly. He truly loved her, and Lilly could see that, so she let them be alone.
Lilly slowly walked into the village, to clear her head of everything that had happened, however, that wasn't going to be as easy as she thought it would be. She headed towards the academy, hoping to find Iruka, or at least someone she could talk to. As she reached the academy, everyone was coming out, heading home. School was over for today, so Iruka would be free, unless he had any missions that he needed to go on. She waited until everyone had gone, but she didn't need to go inside to find Iruka, as someone else had found her instead. Josh.
"Hey Lilly. Is everything okay?" He questioned, giving her a little hug.
"Not really..." She sighed a little, holding back her tears, hugging him back. She somehow felt safe around him, and like she could trust him with almost everything.
"What's happened?" He asked, wiping away a small tear that had escaped. "Who's upset you?"
"My big brothers are fighting. Sasuke isn't acting like himself. Itachi is too in love. I just feel like they are pushing me away, and that we're no longer a family." She said, looking down.
"That can't be true. They both love you." He smiled softly, lifting her head up. "Maybe they just have something bothering them. I know neither of them would just push you away and leave you. You're their little sister. Their only sister. And they said to me that you remind them of your parents." He smiled, kissing her cheek softly. "Please smile." Josh clearly cared for Lilly, and hated seeing her unhappy.
Lilly smiled softly, hiding the fact that she liked him. "Thank you Josh." She kissed his cheek a little. "You are right. They wouldn't do that to me. I guess I should just let them be alone for today. Like you said, maybe they have something else on their minds." She said, before starting to walk off, but Josh grabbed her hand softly.
"You're welcome Lilly. Would you like to go get some ramen with me?" He wondered. He liked her, but he wasn't wanting to admit it. He was shy about his feelings towards people, especially when it was a girl he had a crush on.
"I'd like that. Thank you." She smiled.
"You're welcome." He smiled, before heading towards Ichiraku's to get some ramen.
*************
Sasuke was looking around in the forest, hoping to find their parents once again. He had been so happy at seeing them that he wasn't able to get that feeling of happiness out of his head. He really wanted his parents back, more than anything.
"Mom! Dad!" Sasuke called, as he walked around.
"Yes?" A voice called from nearby. His parents were still being used by the Edo Tensei jutsu, but he didn't care. All he wanted was a hug from his parents.
"You're still here." He smiled, walking over to them.
"Yes." Fugaku answered, smiling.
"We're not going anywhere until the jutsu is un-done." Mikoto told him, ruffling up his hair, smiling.
"I hope it isn't un-done." Sasuke said, looking down, his bangs covering his eyes.
"It will eventually be though." Fugaku sighed. "When the user is killed, or even when the user wishes too, he will stop the jutsu." He hugged Mikoto, who had started to cry a little.
"Don't cry." Sasuke smiled, wiping away her tears.
"I miss you all so much." She sniffled.
"We miss you too. Especially Lilly." Sasuke said.
"How is our little girl?" Fugaku questioned. "Is she becoming a fine Uchiha?"
"Very much so. She has finally unlocked her Sharingan." Sasuke smiled.
"That's good to hear." Mikoto smiled.
"Has she learned the jutsu I taught to you and Itachi? The Katon! Goukakyuu no Jutsu?" Fugaku questioned, curiously.
"Yeah. She is very good at it. Itachi and her collided with that very jutsu in training today, and it was a few minutes before Itachi pushed hers back. She is getting quite good at it." Sasuke smiled.
"I'm glad." Fugaku smiled. "We wish we could see her."
"We want to see how much she has grown up." Mikoto sighed a little.
"You will." Itachi said, walking up behind Sasuke. "I thought I'd find you here bro." He smiled, putting his arm around his brothers shoulder.
"How exactly?" Fugaku questioned.
"How can you stop this jutsu and it's control on us, to allow us to see her?" Mikoto wondered.
"By getting one of you to cancel out the jutsu. I just need to know exactly what hand signs were used to create this jutsu and show those same hand signs to you." Itachi said. "Also, I need to find the user of the jutsu itself."
"Kabuto." Sasuke said. "He's the one controlling them." He told his brother.
"He's right Itachi." Mikoto smiled. "You would need to go after Kabuto."
"Orochimaru's apprentice." Fugaku sighed. "Never did like Orochimaru, or Kabuto."
"Then you wouldn't have liked that he had put his cursed mark on Sasuke then." Itachi told them.
"He what?!" Fugaku exclaimed.
"Don't worry dad." Itachi said, in a calm voice. "I removed it."
"How though?" Sasuke questioned, just realising this.
"When you killed me, gaining the Mangekyo Sharingan, and achieving the revenge for what I had done to the clan on me, I tapped your forehead - like I used to do - and some blood went down your face. You remember that?" He wondered.
"I remember." His brother nodded.
"When that happened, I gave you the ability to use the Amaterasu and Susano'o, as well as removing the cursed mark from you." He told his brother.
"So when I revived you, the cursed mark never came back at all?" Sasuke wondered.
"No. Once I had removed it, it was gone for good." Itachi said, patting Sasuke on the head. "We needed our brother back, Lilly and I. The way you were acting due to the curse mark was a complete stranger to us."
"I'm glad that it's gone." Fugaku sighed. "Depending on how strong the person is, they could die from having the snake's cursed mark."
"Itachi... Why did you allow Sasuke to kill you? Weren't you worried that if he did, he wouldn't have brought you back?" Mikoto wondered.
"I wanted him to get his revenge on me, and by doing that was the only way. Whether he brought me back, or not, was his decision. However, I had reminded him that if he went back to Lilly, covered in blood, without me there, she would get worried and upset, and then go to seek revenge on him. I wasn't wanting that to happen." Itachi explained.
"Neither was I." Sasuke sighed. "Why do you think I brought you back?" He smiled.
"Because you love me." Itachi chuckled.
"Yeah right." Sasuke sarcastically said, rolling his eyes, smirking.
"My boys." Mikoto laughed, hugging them both. "My handsome boys." Both Sasuke and Itachi blushed a little from having heard that.
"Mom..." Both of them fakely complained, before laughing. This family didn't appear to be going anywhere. They were going to become one family again. When? Nobody truly knew for sure.
