Naruto; Uchihacest (Itachi x Sasuke); 1sentence completed challenge: "No Room for Angels"
Whoop, update time again! This was originally for the 1sentence community, but I can't claim Itachi/Sasuke until the current person claiming it either drops or finishes. I started this about 5 months ago, hoping that by the time I finished (with much procrastination inbetween) that I would be able to claim the pairing. Such is not the case, since the aforementioned claimer has not dropped or completed. So this is my unofficial challenge entry. Maybe I'll make myself a banner. =D
Title: No Room for Angels
Author: Kitana
Warnings: NC-17 for implications of shota, incest, nonconsensual sex, and violence; fic switches between past tense, present tense, and points of view (that exactly doesn’t mean it’s NC-17, but I felt I should warn XD).
Pairing: Uchiha Itachi x Uchiha Sasuke (with hints at both Naruto x Sasuke and Sasuke x Sakura)
For: 1sentence community, theme Epsilon
***
#01 Motion
Of all Sasuke’s memories, one of the fondest and easiest to remember is that of his brother, swift and cunning, every movement, every motion, a personification of what Sasuke had once wanted to be.
#02 Cool
When Itachi first kissed him, Sasuke was horrified and shocked - all of his previous expectations had been shattered - but later, all alone, the younger Uchiha found himself touching his own lips, searching for that same icy chill in the midst of the summer night’s heat.
#03 Young
Even as a young boy, Itachi knew what he was capable of; the clan never hid it from him, telling him that the talent he had was rare and exquisite and to be honed and coveted by all - take care of it, they said - but they couldn’t have ever realized that that same young boy, the one they loved and cherished best, would be the end of them all.
#04 Last
Sasuke vowed so long ago that he would surely enough murder Itachi with his own hands, but at their last meeting, Sasuke’s hands trembled violently as they did everything but kill.
#05 Wrong
On numerous occasions, Sasuke tried to stop himself, to tell Itachi that what they were doing was wrong, sinful, even though it wasn’t for the same reasons everyone thought, and every time, Itachi only found more perverse ways to make Sasuke think otherwise.
#06 Gentle
As far back as Sasuke could recall, there wasn’t much of anything ever gentle about Itachi; but now, Sasuke realizes, the half-lidded look of Itachi’s eyes as he comes is as close to gentle as the older Uchiha will ever be.
#07 One
Itachi is only mildly surprised by Sasuke’s determination: the boy has only one good arm, and one shuriken left, but he still fights like he’s at full health and top speed.
#08 Thousand
Although Naruto never asks (and knows better not to, at that), Sasuke can provide him with a thousand reasons as to why he should kill Itachi, and a thousand excuses as to why it hasn’t happened yet.
#09 King
It’s easy for Itachi to be looked upon like a King - his sheer skill demands that anything lesser revere him - but Sasuke was the first to challenge him like he were nothing more than a peasant and live.
#10 Learn
Sasuke has always been quick on the uptake, the best in his class and the most impressive of the rookie nine, but the one concept that he had been slow to grasp was the simple why behind Itachi’s motives.
#11 Blur
The first reunion of Sasuke and Itachi was more or less a blur of moments sealed in a cracked frame, hanging there on the wall of Sasuke’s mind; yet still, even though most of the words of that time are hard pressed to be remembered, the all-encompassing, absolute feeling of skin on skin and flesh giving under sharp steel continues to be the defining detail that brings that blur into focus.
#12 Wait
Despite the fact that Sasuke has spent most of his life waiting, watching for opportunity, doesn’t make this particular moment any easier, having to be patient, waiting for Itachi to touch him again and finish breaking his resistance.
#13 Change
Interestingly enough, it was Naruto that first noted the change in Sasuke’s behaviour - his brooding seemed to increase, and now the blonde couldn’t even get him to crack a sarcastic grin, in spite of his best efforts - but the tell-tale sign that something was amiss was the name that the dark-haired boy moaned out in his sleep.
#14 Command
Sasuke’s used to begrudgingly taking orders (Kakashi makes it quite hard to refuse), but when Itachi whispers into his ear a simple “Bend over,” the younger Uchiha is torn between the lure of defiance and the complete vulnerability of submission.
#15 Hold
The one thing Sasuke holds on to with all of his might is his sense of pride, and no matter how depraved Itachi’s desires become, he always manages to look proud and untouchable, even with his lips around his older brother’s cock.
#16 Need
Itachi refuses to admit, even to himself, that one day, slowly but surely, he will only want Sasuke, only need Sasuke, and not want it any other way.
#17 Vision
Naruto oft wonders how Sakura manages to never see the other marks on Sasuke’s neck, the ones that are glaring an angry bright red; he also wonders, sadly, why he isn’t the one making them.
#18 Attention
The next time Sasuke is injured in a mission, he’s too incapacitated to run away before they can perform a routine medical check up, and the news that whispers its way through Konoha is enough to chill Sakura’s blood: bruises and traces of semen found in intimate areas of Sasuke’s body, and no idea who.
#19 Soul
The pain in Sasuke’s soul is an old one, one so deep that even killing Itachi wouldn’t fully cure it, for the dreams of his clan’s death would still haunt him; however, every time Sasuke brings Itachi to climax, he feels one more piece of his soul falling back into place.
#20 Picture
Throughout his life, Sasuke has had the opportunity on multiple occasions to take photos, and each time he’s slipped away before it was his turn - it was typical of him, everyone expected it - but what everyone didn’t expect, or know, was that there were two pictures that Sasuke had and cherished: one of himself, Naruto and Sakura, and one of his younger self and Itachi, though that one was slightly ripped and crinkled.
#21 Fool
Tarot readings were one of Sakura’s pastimes that she rarely indulged in, and she was delighted when Sasuke had accepted her offer despite the mumbled proclamation that he didn’t believe in such divinations; yet when Sakura flipped the first card, stared at him intently, and packed up her deck, not finishing the reading, he couldn’t help but be curious and ask what she had seen that made her so edgy - “The Fool,” Sakura replied, “Don’t rush recklessly,” and she said nothing more.
#22 Mad
Burning anger was something that was second nature to Sasuke, always there and unwavering, and it disheartened him after the fact to find that when he needed to call upon that blinding power, he never could.
#23 Child
The majority of people didn’t treat Sasuke like a child, or even a person most of the time - he was just a prodigy, a something for the people of Konoha to show off to make their village look better - so the people who actually treated Sasuke like a child, who actually cared about the results of his missions and the little temper tantrums he was prone to, went largely ignored in favour of the opinion of the masses.
#24 Now
When he was younger, Sasuke was always interested in the amazing things the future promised, but all Sasuke focuses on now are these moments where he melts into Itachi’s arms, more like lovers and less like enemies.
#25 Shadow
After the mass murder of the Uchiha clan by Itachi’s hand, Sasuke had learned to both fear and embrace the darkness and shadows; he hid in it, fought with and against it, and ultimately let himself be seduced by the nothingness it always promised.
#26 Goodbye
When it comes time to say goodbye, Sasuke knows he will say it with a finality that only death brings.
#27 Hide
Sasuke’s all of out of options now: he can’t do anything but hide and hope that by the time Itachi finds him for round two, he’s already thought up plan B.
#28 Fortune
One phrase that Sasuke has always hated is the one that claims ‘fortune has always shone down upon him’; because if it truly had, he knew he wouldn’t be here now with his legs wrapped around Itachi’s waist and his mind trying to dispel the tender feelings threatening to make this moment mean more than it does.
#29 Safe
Trying to unlock Itachi’s mind and reasoning was like picking a combination lock, constantly searching for the correct number sequence that would open the safe holding all of the answers to Sasuke’s multitude of questions.
#30 Ghost
Sasuke was never one to believe in ghost stories or anything of their kin; they served no purpose, weren’t really frightening at all, and he’d always have something better to do than to listen to them.
#31 Book
One of the oddest things Sasuke remembers about Itachi is the older Uchiha reading some nameless book (now that Sasuke thinks about it, he probably wasn’t really reading it…), eyes blazing crimson the entire time, and Sasuke later wondering why the sharingan didn’t eat his chakra like everyone said it would.
#32 Eye
‘The boy has yet to learn how to shield himself’, Itachi mused to himself, ‘Such a shame’; he had deflected another one of Sasuke’s feeble attempts to fight and now held the boy eye level to himself with one arm, and he could read plainly in his little brother’s eyes everything that he wanted to know - from the next attack the younger Uchiha would try to launch to the desire that warred with his anger and eventually won out.
#33 Never
Sasuke was not in the habit of saying ‘never’; he believed he could do anything he set his mind to, but when Itachi had both defeated and ravished him for what seemed like the umpteenth time, Sasuke almost believed that he would never be strong enough to take Itachi out like he always dreamed.
#34 Sing
It’s the strangest thing ever, and Sasuke’s aloofness and curiosity war with each other when he passes Itachi’s quarters and hears lyrics to a familiar song in a low voice that calms him more than he’s been in years.
#35 Sudden
It was with a sudden swoosh that Sasuke fell back on his rear with a painful thud and Naruto peers down at him with an unreadable expression; “You’re really distracted today, Sasuke,” the blonde says, and his tone is definitely concerned-like, “What’re you thinking about?”
#36 Stop
No matter what Sasuke says, Itachi does what he wants anyway; Sasuke especially hates that the older Uchiha doesn’t listen to whispered pleas to stop, but encourages lustful moans for more.
#37 Time
One luxury that Sasuke never allowed himself was time - he needed something to occupy the entirety of his day, never one to let himself get lazy, only letting himself take leisure when he absolutely had to - but when Itachi makes him sit and wait for him, naked with only the chakra-limiting bands on his wrists as a distraction, Sasuke finds himself almost fidgeting with the sheer need to move.
#38 Wash
All the time Sasuke is with Itachi, he bathes himself raw, scrubbing until his skin is red and his fingertips ache from gripping the washcloth way too tightly; and even though he rubs away the dirt and saliva, the crime still makes his skin tingle maddeningly.
#39 Torn
The look on Naruto’s face when it finally dawns on him what Sasuke has been doing is enough to make Sasuke want to curl up and hide himself in shame - he wants to go to Naruto and explain what really happened, but his pride and the fear of rejection make him do otherwise; instead, he just hopes that Sakura doesn’t find out.
#40 History
Raking through the old tombs inside of the Uchiha manor gives Sasuke a lot of background on the sharingan, his family, and their valor, but it does nothing to ease the aching pain of his loss, or Itachi’s betrayal.
#41 Power
Sasuke knows he can’t win this - Itachi’s grip on his wrists is powerfully tight, damn near crushing - but he tries anyway, wrenching his arms and kicking himself away recklessly, breathing heavily, and briefly, before Itachi’s fingers are there again, closing around his neck, he thinks, that’s exactly what Naruto would have done.*
#42 Bother
It’s the third night of this week-long mission that Sasuke’s woken up, shivering and in a cold sweat, to turn over and see Naruto staring at him through half-lidded eyes; it’s a little unnerving to realize he’s being watched, and before he can ask Naruto why he’s watching, Naruto shrugs - “You were thrashing and groaning again,” Naruto says, and Sasuke flops back down on his pillow and doesn’t even bother to hide the embarrassed flush.
#43 God
It isn’t until there are tears trickling unwillingly down Sasuke’s face and his body aches with a sharp stabbing pain, and then feels like he’s burning from head-to-toe that he calls upon a God he doesn’t normally believe in; yet Sasuke still doesn’t understand: he followed Itachi’s request to the letter - begrudgingly, yes, but he did it - so why was his brother punishing him like this?
#44 Wall
Itachi doesn’t like the barrier Sasuke’s put around himself, even if it was to be expected, after all of this time; he needs Sasuke to stay vulnerable, surprised, so it doesn’t matter that Sasuke’s done everything he’s asked flawlessly - he’ll be treated as if he had refused and not obeyed at all.
#45 Naked
Sasuke hates the fact that Itachi strips away pieces of himself so effortlessly - as if he were a doll, a marionette on a string that the older Uchiha could take apart and put together at will - so when Sasuke has rested and regained enough strength to retaliate, he tries again, even though he knows the outcome will still be that he’s left exposed, bleeding, and resentful.
#46 Drive
Sasuke realized early in his life that if he didn’t keep himself going, no one else would, and so he had to develop his own drive, his own sense of determination, and his own willpower; Sasuke also realized, albeit much, much later, that he only developed his drive because he was an avenger, and it was Itachi who gave him that title and made him that way.
#47 Harm
It does more harm than good when Naruto keeps questioning Sasuke - he withdraws more and more with each inquiry, giving even more ridiculous half-explanatory answers until he’s fed up, toppling over onto Naruto, pressing their lips together and murmuring, “I’ll show you what Itachi’s done to me.”
#48 Precious
Just when Sasuke thought that there was nothing of interest left for Itachi to take from him, the bastard had to go and prove him wrong, threatening in that same calm, emotionless voice that with just a little more force, Sakura’s neck could snap just like that.
#49 Hunger
There’s a flare of something in Sasuke’s eyes that makes Itachi nod in approval; the boy is finally coming around - he’s stopped fighting, he’s stopped denying - and when Itachi beckons to Sasuke with one hand so familiarly, Sasuke comes to him, starving but willing all the same.
#50 Believe
Everything Sasuke had believed in until now has been stripped away from him, shattered mercilessly by Itachi; and even though he sits here, hands bloodied, fingertips white, with Itachi’s face contorted in death staring back at him accusingly, Sasuke can’t go back to the way he was.
* I don't exactly remember now what I meant here, but for the most part, I believe I was hinting at the fact that Sasuke notices how Naruto never gives up, even at the last minute.
Title: No Room for Angels
Author: Kitana
Warnings: NC-17 for implications of shota, incest, nonconsensual sex, and violence; fic switches between past tense, present tense, and points of view (that exactly doesn’t mean it’s NC-17, but I felt I should warn XD).
Pairing: Uchiha Itachi x Uchiha Sasuke (with hints at both Naruto x Sasuke and Sasuke x Sakura)
For: 1sentence community, theme Epsilon
***
#01 Motion
Of all Sasuke’s memories, one of the fondest and easiest to remember is that of his brother, swift and cunning, every movement, every motion, a personification of what Sasuke had once wanted to be.
#02 Cool
When Itachi first kissed him, Sasuke was horrified and shocked - all of his previous expectations had been shattered - but later, all alone, the younger Uchiha found himself touching his own lips, searching for that same icy chill in the midst of the summer night’s heat.
#03 Young
Even as a young boy, Itachi knew what he was capable of; the clan never hid it from him, telling him that the talent he had was rare and exquisite and to be honed and coveted by all - take care of it, they said - but they couldn’t have ever realized that that same young boy, the one they loved and cherished best, would be the end of them all.
#04 Last
Sasuke vowed so long ago that he would surely enough murder Itachi with his own hands, but at their last meeting, Sasuke’s hands trembled violently as they did everything but kill.
#05 Wrong
On numerous occasions, Sasuke tried to stop himself, to tell Itachi that what they were doing was wrong, sinful, even though it wasn’t for the same reasons everyone thought, and every time, Itachi only found more perverse ways to make Sasuke think otherwise.
#06 Gentle
As far back as Sasuke could recall, there wasn’t much of anything ever gentle about Itachi; but now, Sasuke realizes, the half-lidded look of Itachi’s eyes as he comes is as close to gentle as the older Uchiha will ever be.
#07 One
Itachi is only mildly surprised by Sasuke’s determination: the boy has only one good arm, and one shuriken left, but he still fights like he’s at full health and top speed.
#08 Thousand
Although Naruto never asks (and knows better not to, at that), Sasuke can provide him with a thousand reasons as to why he should kill Itachi, and a thousand excuses as to why it hasn’t happened yet.
#09 King
It’s easy for Itachi to be looked upon like a King - his sheer skill demands that anything lesser revere him - but Sasuke was the first to challenge him like he were nothing more than a peasant and live.
#10 Learn
Sasuke has always been quick on the uptake, the best in his class and the most impressive of the rookie nine, but the one concept that he had been slow to grasp was the simple why behind Itachi’s motives.
#11 Blur
The first reunion of Sasuke and Itachi was more or less a blur of moments sealed in a cracked frame, hanging there on the wall of Sasuke’s mind; yet still, even though most of the words of that time are hard pressed to be remembered, the all-encompassing, absolute feeling of skin on skin and flesh giving under sharp steel continues to be the defining detail that brings that blur into focus.
#12 Wait
Despite the fact that Sasuke has spent most of his life waiting, watching for opportunity, doesn’t make this particular moment any easier, having to be patient, waiting for Itachi to touch him again and finish breaking his resistance.
#13 Change
Interestingly enough, it was Naruto that first noted the change in Sasuke’s behaviour - his brooding seemed to increase, and now the blonde couldn’t even get him to crack a sarcastic grin, in spite of his best efforts - but the tell-tale sign that something was amiss was the name that the dark-haired boy moaned out in his sleep.
#14 Command
Sasuke’s used to begrudgingly taking orders (Kakashi makes it quite hard to refuse), but when Itachi whispers into his ear a simple “Bend over,” the younger Uchiha is torn between the lure of defiance and the complete vulnerability of submission.
#15 Hold
The one thing Sasuke holds on to with all of his might is his sense of pride, and no matter how depraved Itachi’s desires become, he always manages to look proud and untouchable, even with his lips around his older brother’s cock.
#16 Need
Itachi refuses to admit, even to himself, that one day, slowly but surely, he will only want Sasuke, only need Sasuke, and not want it any other way.
#17 Vision
Naruto oft wonders how Sakura manages to never see the other marks on Sasuke’s neck, the ones that are glaring an angry bright red; he also wonders, sadly, why he isn’t the one making them.
#18 Attention
The next time Sasuke is injured in a mission, he’s too incapacitated to run away before they can perform a routine medical check up, and the news that whispers its way through Konoha is enough to chill Sakura’s blood: bruises and traces of semen found in intimate areas of Sasuke’s body, and no idea who.
#19 Soul
The pain in Sasuke’s soul is an old one, one so deep that even killing Itachi wouldn’t fully cure it, for the dreams of his clan’s death would still haunt him; however, every time Sasuke brings Itachi to climax, he feels one more piece of his soul falling back into place.
#20 Picture
Throughout his life, Sasuke has had the opportunity on multiple occasions to take photos, and each time he’s slipped away before it was his turn - it was typical of him, everyone expected it - but what everyone didn’t expect, or know, was that there were two pictures that Sasuke had and cherished: one of himself, Naruto and Sakura, and one of his younger self and Itachi, though that one was slightly ripped and crinkled.
#21 Fool
Tarot readings were one of Sakura’s pastimes that she rarely indulged in, and she was delighted when Sasuke had accepted her offer despite the mumbled proclamation that he didn’t believe in such divinations; yet when Sakura flipped the first card, stared at him intently, and packed up her deck, not finishing the reading, he couldn’t help but be curious and ask what she had seen that made her so edgy - “The Fool,” Sakura replied, “Don’t rush recklessly,” and she said nothing more.
#22 Mad
Burning anger was something that was second nature to Sasuke, always there and unwavering, and it disheartened him after the fact to find that when he needed to call upon that blinding power, he never could.
#23 Child
The majority of people didn’t treat Sasuke like a child, or even a person most of the time - he was just a prodigy, a something for the people of Konoha to show off to make their village look better - so the people who actually treated Sasuke like a child, who actually cared about the results of his missions and the little temper tantrums he was prone to, went largely ignored in favour of the opinion of the masses.
#24 Now
When he was younger, Sasuke was always interested in the amazing things the future promised, but all Sasuke focuses on now are these moments where he melts into Itachi’s arms, more like lovers and less like enemies.
#25 Shadow
After the mass murder of the Uchiha clan by Itachi’s hand, Sasuke had learned to both fear and embrace the darkness and shadows; he hid in it, fought with and against it, and ultimately let himself be seduced by the nothingness it always promised.
#26 Goodbye
When it comes time to say goodbye, Sasuke knows he will say it with a finality that only death brings.
#27 Hide
Sasuke’s all of out of options now: he can’t do anything but hide and hope that by the time Itachi finds him for round two, he’s already thought up plan B.
#28 Fortune
One phrase that Sasuke has always hated is the one that claims ‘fortune has always shone down upon him’; because if it truly had, he knew he wouldn’t be here now with his legs wrapped around Itachi’s waist and his mind trying to dispel the tender feelings threatening to make this moment mean more than it does.
#29 Safe
Trying to unlock Itachi’s mind and reasoning was like picking a combination lock, constantly searching for the correct number sequence that would open the safe holding all of the answers to Sasuke’s multitude of questions.
#30 Ghost
Sasuke was never one to believe in ghost stories or anything of their kin; they served no purpose, weren’t really frightening at all, and he’d always have something better to do than to listen to them.
#31 Book
One of the oddest things Sasuke remembers about Itachi is the older Uchiha reading some nameless book (now that Sasuke thinks about it, he probably wasn’t really reading it…), eyes blazing crimson the entire time, and Sasuke later wondering why the sharingan didn’t eat his chakra like everyone said it would.
#32 Eye
‘The boy has yet to learn how to shield himself’, Itachi mused to himself, ‘Such a shame’; he had deflected another one of Sasuke’s feeble attempts to fight and now held the boy eye level to himself with one arm, and he could read plainly in his little brother’s eyes everything that he wanted to know - from the next attack the younger Uchiha would try to launch to the desire that warred with his anger and eventually won out.
#33 Never
Sasuke was not in the habit of saying ‘never’; he believed he could do anything he set his mind to, but when Itachi had both defeated and ravished him for what seemed like the umpteenth time, Sasuke almost believed that he would never be strong enough to take Itachi out like he always dreamed.
#34 Sing
It’s the strangest thing ever, and Sasuke’s aloofness and curiosity war with each other when he passes Itachi’s quarters and hears lyrics to a familiar song in a low voice that calms him more than he’s been in years.
#35 Sudden
It was with a sudden swoosh that Sasuke fell back on his rear with a painful thud and Naruto peers down at him with an unreadable expression; “You’re really distracted today, Sasuke,” the blonde says, and his tone is definitely concerned-like, “What’re you thinking about?”
#36 Stop
No matter what Sasuke says, Itachi does what he wants anyway; Sasuke especially hates that the older Uchiha doesn’t listen to whispered pleas to stop, but encourages lustful moans for more.
#37 Time
One luxury that Sasuke never allowed himself was time - he needed something to occupy the entirety of his day, never one to let himself get lazy, only letting himself take leisure when he absolutely had to - but when Itachi makes him sit and wait for him, naked with only the chakra-limiting bands on his wrists as a distraction, Sasuke finds himself almost fidgeting with the sheer need to move.
#38 Wash
All the time Sasuke is with Itachi, he bathes himself raw, scrubbing until his skin is red and his fingertips ache from gripping the washcloth way too tightly; and even though he rubs away the dirt and saliva, the crime still makes his skin tingle maddeningly.
#39 Torn
The look on Naruto’s face when it finally dawns on him what Sasuke has been doing is enough to make Sasuke want to curl up and hide himself in shame - he wants to go to Naruto and explain what really happened, but his pride and the fear of rejection make him do otherwise; instead, he just hopes that Sakura doesn’t find out.
#40 History
Raking through the old tombs inside of the Uchiha manor gives Sasuke a lot of background on the sharingan, his family, and their valor, but it does nothing to ease the aching pain of his loss, or Itachi’s betrayal.
#41 Power
Sasuke knows he can’t win this - Itachi’s grip on his wrists is powerfully tight, damn near crushing - but he tries anyway, wrenching his arms and kicking himself away recklessly, breathing heavily, and briefly, before Itachi’s fingers are there again, closing around his neck, he thinks, that’s exactly what Naruto would have done.*
#42 Bother
It’s the third night of this week-long mission that Sasuke’s woken up, shivering and in a cold sweat, to turn over and see Naruto staring at him through half-lidded eyes; it’s a little unnerving to realize he’s being watched, and before he can ask Naruto why he’s watching, Naruto shrugs - “You were thrashing and groaning again,” Naruto says, and Sasuke flops back down on his pillow and doesn’t even bother to hide the embarrassed flush.
#43 God
It isn’t until there are tears trickling unwillingly down Sasuke’s face and his body aches with a sharp stabbing pain, and then feels like he’s burning from head-to-toe that he calls upon a God he doesn’t normally believe in; yet Sasuke still doesn’t understand: he followed Itachi’s request to the letter - begrudgingly, yes, but he did it - so why was his brother punishing him like this?
#44 Wall
Itachi doesn’t like the barrier Sasuke’s put around himself, even if it was to be expected, after all of this time; he needs Sasuke to stay vulnerable, surprised, so it doesn’t matter that Sasuke’s done everything he’s asked flawlessly - he’ll be treated as if he had refused and not obeyed at all.
#45 Naked
Sasuke hates the fact that Itachi strips away pieces of himself so effortlessly - as if he were a doll, a marionette on a string that the older Uchiha could take apart and put together at will - so when Sasuke has rested and regained enough strength to retaliate, he tries again, even though he knows the outcome will still be that he’s left exposed, bleeding, and resentful.
#46 Drive
Sasuke realized early in his life that if he didn’t keep himself going, no one else would, and so he had to develop his own drive, his own sense of determination, and his own willpower; Sasuke also realized, albeit much, much later, that he only developed his drive because he was an avenger, and it was Itachi who gave him that title and made him that way.
#47 Harm
It does more harm than good when Naruto keeps questioning Sasuke - he withdraws more and more with each inquiry, giving even more ridiculous half-explanatory answers until he’s fed up, toppling over onto Naruto, pressing their lips together and murmuring, “I’ll show you what Itachi’s done to me.”
#48 Precious
Just when Sasuke thought that there was nothing of interest left for Itachi to take from him, the bastard had to go and prove him wrong, threatening in that same calm, emotionless voice that with just a little more force, Sakura’s neck could snap just like that.
#49 Hunger
There’s a flare of something in Sasuke’s eyes that makes Itachi nod in approval; the boy is finally coming around - he’s stopped fighting, he’s stopped denying - and when Itachi beckons to Sasuke with one hand so familiarly, Sasuke comes to him, starving but willing all the same.
#50 Believe
Everything Sasuke had believed in until now has been stripped away from him, shattered mercilessly by Itachi; and even though he sits here, hands bloodied, fingertips white, with Itachi’s face contorted in death staring back at him accusingly, Sasuke can’t go back to the way he was.
* I don't exactly remember now what I meant here, but for the most part, I believe I was hinting at the fact that Sasuke notices how Naruto never gives up, even at the last minute.