Hunting the Shadows 1: SasuSaku Fanfic

Chapter 13

The dark hair, the red eyes of the attacker were prominent, familiar. And yet, it wasn't Sasuke.

I let out a shaky breath at knowing Sasuke wasn't the one to kill my dad. Turning to him, I said "It wasn't you."

He gave a grim shake of his head before returning his attention back on the scene unfolding before our eyes. "It was Itachi."

Mom turned to run, but was quickly stopped Itachi who had grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. She let out another terrible scream that sent younger me wailing, my young eyes scrunched shut against the horror.

Before Itachi attacked, though, a new figure darted out and dragged him away from the pair of innocents. Mom then crumpled to the floor, still holding me tightly in her arms.

And there he was, now standing between my mom, me, and Itachi.

Sasuke.

He looked just the same, but a raw fury set his features ablaze. "Itachi," he breathed out through gritted teeth. "Enough of this."

Itachi looked over his brother, sizing up the situation silently. He straightened his spine, wiping the blood from his bottom lip and chin as he sent Sasuke a look of amusement.

"Dear brother, you finally caught up to me it seems."

Memory Sasuke looked to my fallen father, a look of distaste coating his gaze. "You're not yourself. Why have you come back here?"

Itachi's fingers twitched at his side, a look of pure manic washed over him. "I've actually never been better."

Then he attacked.

Itachi lashed his hand out to Sasuke's throat, but Sasuke immediately jutted his fist up into the oncoming arm, sending Itachi's own into the air.

Sasuke then sent a quick jab at Itachi's stomach, to which Itachi effortlessly dodged by moving to the side.

"Still not strong enough," Itachi rasped before jumping back, standing perfectly still.

A low growl escaped Sasuke's throat. "Say that to me again."

Sasuke leapt at his brother, and the two of them broke into a series of skilled fighting maneuvers. They were moving so quickly, it was difficult to keep up with who made what move.

We stood there, Sasuke holding onto my hand tightly, as the two of us bore witness to this moment from long ago. I stole a glance at Sasuke beside me; his face was taut and his eyes were solely focused on his fight with Itachi. The red of his eyes, of his foresight ability, watching closely, no doubt looking to find any mistake he'd made from back then.

The fighting stopped, causing me to look back at the pair of Uchiha brothers.

Itachi gave Sasuke a crazed look. "Stop coming after me, Sasuke. You won't like what you find."

Memory Sasuke gave him a questioning look, but said nothing.

Itachi then clapped his hands together and he vanished with a resounding smack.

Sasuke squeezed my hand and said, "I could no longer feel him. Whatever he'd done had sent him far away, beyond the scope of Konoha, perhaps even the entirety of the Land of Fire itself."

As he spoke, I watched the look of defeat cross over memory Sasuke's face, the sides of his mouth turned down and his eyes scanned the area.

He then brought his attention to me and my mother, still huddled nearby on the sidewalk. Unadulterated fear and panic coated my mother's face, her body seizing up so badly she was unable to move.