Author Note: Well I didn't update like I promised (go figure!), but I have a valid excuse. I got to go to my first two anime conventions this summer! Count them! Two! ^-^ My entire summer was spent working nonstop to save money. There are SPOILERS in this story. If you are not familiar with Itachi's back story then DO NOT READ! This one is really dark and is not a traditional Sasuke/Kagome story. It is on the shorter side, but I've had this idea for a while now and it just didn't seem right to make it any longer. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha... unfortunately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Death~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\

As a child, Sasuke had the biggest crush on one of his brother's teammates. Her name was Kagome Higurashi. Kagome was the prodigy of the Higurashi clan since, like Itachi, Kagome had achieved the rank of Chuunin at the age of seven. She was strong, beautiful, and kind. She was everything that Sasuke wanted for his own. The only problem was that she was in love with his perfect brother.

Sasuke couldn't fault Kagome for loving Itachi. She had been on the same team as him for quite a while and Itachi had been her best friend for even longer than that. Itachi was the perfect shinobi, but that wasn't why Kagome loved him. Kagome wasn't that type of girl. That is why Sasuke loved her, after all. Kagome was the kind of person who loved with her whole heart. She wouldn't dedicate herself to someone she was only mildly interested in. Kagome had genuine feelings for Itachi. Feelings that ran deep. No, Sasuke couldn't fault Kagome for loving Itachi. Everyone did. There was just something special about Itachi. He commanded respect and, in a select few, he demanded love. Kagome was one of those people and Sasuke was too.

Neither one of them saw it coming. They would have never suspected Itachi capable of such betrayal. It destroyed them. How could Itachi, of all people, be capable of such brutality? Itachi was their protector, their leader. But there was no arguing, that Itachi did it. There was no arguing that Itachi murdered his clan. Sasuke and Kagome were never the same. Itachi was the one person who held that power over them. The ability to change them, for better or worse, had been in his hands and he used it. Sasuke lost everything he cherished in one night. First went his family, killed by Itachi's hand. Then went his brother, when he tortured Sasuke with his sharingan and then fled into the night. Finally, Kagome broke under the pressure.

It was her fault, she reasoned. She should have seen it coming. She should have stopped it. Of course the pressure was too much for him, it had been too much for anyone to bear. She was his partener. She should have seen it. She should have seen it because she loved him! But she didn't see it and, for that, she could not forgive herself. Kagome distanced herself from the damaged Sasuke. Kagome didn't know of his feelings for her. She thought that she was only hurting him by staying. She thought that she reminded him of Itachi. She didn't, but she didn't know that. So she apologized and then she left. That was the last time Sasuke saw Kagome. He held hope that she would come back, but she never did. Months later, they found her body floating in a river. They said it had been an attack by enemy ninja, but Sasuke knew better, especially when he received the letter from Itachi.

His note read: "Now I have completed my challenge to you. I have severed your last tie to Konoha. Build your strength and come find me."

In actuality, Kagome had not died by Itachi's hand. After Kagome had fled from Konoha, she had tracked Itachi down. For a short time, they had been happy together. He told her the truth about the massacre and his challenge to Sasuke. He told her everything. In reality, heros don't always die in the glorious battles we expect them to. Sometimes, good people die pointlessly. Kagome's death had no meaning. She had been ambushed while at the river. They were just some petty thieves, ex-shinobi who got in a lucky strike, but that one strike had been enough.

Kagome's death destroyed Itachi's remaining hopes for the future. He wanted to die. He wanted to be with her, but he couldn't leave Sasuke unprotected. Kagome wouldn't have wanted him to. Itachi couldn't die, until Sasuke killed him so he used her death as a message. It was incentive for Sasuke to find him quicker. He left his final challenge for Sasuke and waited to die.

Author Note: Thanks for reviewing last time guys. I have another chapter started again, but I'm not sure if I like this next one yet so it may be rewritten.