Commander Kitsune

Thirty-Eight

Naruto's POV

The void is pitch black. Other than myself, there's nothing else around me. I grit my teeth, and decide to take a few steps forward. ...Ok. I'm in Itachi's genjutsu. I can't get out from in here, but if someone- Sasuke or one of the others- could wake me up, I'll be fine.

That is... unless they haven't been caught as well. Great. Just great.

Just as I'm starting to wonder when something is going to happen- things always happen in genjutsu, whether it's the illusion of you getting tortured or getting turned into ash or whatever- the next step I take makes a small sploosh noise. Frowning, I looked down at my feet. Is this... water?

But as I look more closely, my body tenses. No. Not water.

Blood.

The familiar strong iron scent fills the air, making me scrunch my nose. Too bad I can't access Kura from in here- it's me trapped in the genjutsu, not him. ...I fear for whose blood this is.

I force myself to take another step, then another, then another, a growing sinking feeling in my chest. Something in me knows. It knows what's going to happen. It tknows what Itachi has prepared for me. The floor around me turns bright red, and the ocean of blood beneath me comes into full view. It goes on forever, making my stomach twist even more.

And then. A figure appears on the floor in front of me, laid down on his back, lifeless, and I freeze. I know. 

I force myself to look down, and when I do, I can't help the small strangled cry that escapes from my throat. Here, clothes ripped from battle or something and stained in blood- his head covered in blood and a large gash on his chest that seems to flicker, as if it can't decide where it should go- is Sasuke.

Lifeless. Dead. His skin has already turned blueish-white, his limbs stiff. At first it takes me a while to process the scene. My eyes widen and my knees buckle- the wave of realization hits me like a knife straight through the chest- I can't breathe.

I think I start hyperventilating, shaking. My world spins. I'm surprised I can still stand. The only thought racing across the mind, drowning out even the blood pounding in my ears, is one word. No. No no no nonononono NO.

It's here that I fall to my knees. I want to puke. I almost do. My stomach is doing flips, and my head is still spinning. My hands shake as I reach out to him- but I can't bring myself to touch him. No. He's isn't- he can't be- please. No. Anything but this. Please. My mind flickers from reality and illusion. It looks so real. He looks so dead. I can't-

The grief, the guilt, the regret, overpower me like a weight pressing upon me. I think I'm crying. I can't tell. I think I scream, and I sob and I yell his name over and over again, begging him to come back but I can't tell. It's your fault, a voice suddenly says inside my head, and I pause, my breath hitching. No.

It's all your fault.

No- I didn't mean- it isn't- I didn't do this-

You did this. You killed him.

No, it can't be-

Look at your hands.

I do, dammit. I look, and my eyes widen further. My hands are covered in blood- Sasuke's blood- still fresh enough it's dripping down my arm and staining my jacket. The stench is overwhelming, and bile rises to my throat, choking me. I shake my head, dropping my hands. I shake my head over and over again, tears dripping into the blood ocean.

I've never felt so much in my life. The grief, the guilt, the regret, the anger, the longing. It's too much. I can't breathe. I didn't want for this to happen. This wasn't supposed to happen. I didn't get a chance to- to apologize, to make up for what I've done.