574 prediction: Kabuto's challenge.
cut to.
secluded mountain base.
kabuto: kukuku..madara is finally getting serious. the kage's wont last long.
a shadow steps out, red eyes shining in the darkness.
shadow: he will not get that chance.
kabuto: so you've come...itachi.
scene change.
sakura turns to shizune.
shizune: are you worried about naruto?
sakura: don't worry about him. if i know naruto, he may not even need our help. i know naruto better than pretty much anyone.
she blushes slightly.
shizune: heh...so you finally realised it. you-
they are the first to come to the battlefield.
naruto: sakura chan?
sakura: kuchiyose no jutsu!
a giant slug bursts forth from the ground.
tobi: so this is tsunade's apprentice...
scene change.
kabuto: i must say you found me sooner than expected. i assume you have some sort of plan but i don't plan to underestimate you any longer.
itachi: it was you behind this technique all along? kabuto, this has gone far enough. i will end edo tensei and myself with it.
kabuto: you sound confident.
itachi: every jutsu has a weakness. i need only find it.
kabuto: (thinking) i'm in trouble. i'll need to re-summon madara here to help. calm down...i still have "that" jutsu.
kabuto: tsk tsk. you should have known better than to face me alone.
itachi leaps forward with a kunai, blocked by a kusanagi sword.
kabuto: you were hailed as the genius of the uchiha clan. please don't disappoint me.
kabuto raises his hand and does a one armed seal. itachi charges in to stop him. they duel again, and itachi realises his mangekeyo is shutting down.
itachi: damn it...you regained some measure of control over me and supressed my mangekeyo.
kabuto: you didn't seriously think i would fight in this war and not be able to defend myself? its actually a special drug i devised. i am able to supress an uchiha's power with an invisible poison gas. just by being near me you get weaker by the second. the fake madara does not even know who he is dealing with.
itachi: i left sasuke to naruto but i came here to defeat you once and for all. that is what i will do.
kabuto: are you sure? you were the one who filled sasuke's head with twisted ideas of power and hatred. the clan, the clan....such a bloodsoaked destiny sasuke has. what use is preserving their reputation when sasuke has put the final nail in their coffin? kukuku. you weak sorry fool! how does it feel huh? how does it feel to have slain your whole family, to have betrayed your village? you created a monster and in the end were destroyed by him.
itachi in anger grabs kabuto's cloak, who laughs, then raises his hand again, but instead of trying to do a hand seal, he points to the figure standing in the rain behind them.
voice: brother?
Sasuke steps out to face the two.
itachi: sasuke...
when itachi is distracted, there is an explosion of smoke, and kabuto disappears into an empty coffin.
kabuto: (thinking) retreat was necessary this time. i can't take on the two of them at once. even with my supressing poison ninjutsu.
sasuke: (thinking) what the hell is this?
his expression is of soft confusion.
sasuke: how are you here, big brother?
itachi: the vile jutsu orochimaru perfected, named edo tensei. i was summoned here by kabuto. i met naruto as well.
sasuke: hn.
itachi: don't you want to join him?
sasuke hardens, getting angry.
sasuke: he should have told you. i have no intention of going back to that corrupt village, or talking to that blonde loser! the only fate he has in front of him is death.
itachi: this isn't what i wanted you to be...
sasuke: kabuto called you a weak sorry fool. i'm inclined to agree. why would i want to be a hero? heroes are overrated and foolish. they know nothing of hatred and pain. they sacrifice themselves for people who hate and fear them. its as you said brother. gain power and you run the risk of becoming hated.
itachi: sasuke i want you to save konoha, not destroy it! i had to do what i did, for the greater good.
sasuke: what is that, itachi? what did our clan die for? nothing. there's no meaning to life or death. all that matters is my revenge.
itachi: you've fallen so low...
sasuke: no i've risen. high above the stigma of this rotten world. above the very limits of human ability. my eyes see better than they ever have before. i have plans for not just konoha but the entire shinobi world. my amaterasu will burn it all, and from the ashes, humanity will rise again with me at the top. never again will i be weak. itachi: sasuke...my allegiance is to konoha, to peace! i will do ANYTHING to ensure it.
sasuke: don't lecture me. as you told me brother, i clung to life and lived unsightly.
if your not with me...then you aren't the real itachi.
sasuke starts spitting in crazed fury.
sasuke: look at your eyes! this bastard kabuto has just made a pale copy! but you need not worry. you can rest now. let me beat you! let me test out my eyes! let me kill you, doppleganger!
itachi: its not too late! stop this madness!
sasuke: mad, am i? then i will show you how mad i can really be! GRAAAAHHH!
his EMS activates and he jumps forward with his kusangi.
itachi: (thinking) sorry naruto, sorry gokage. but it looks like i must attend to sasuke myself, and finally correct my past mistakes.
text: Sasuke once again challenges Itachi to mortal combat! the power of EMS unleashed!
