Disclaimer: Has Itachi conquered the Narutoverse in canon yet? No? Then you can safely conclude that I don't own the series or its characters.

Important Note: This isn't so much a second chapter as an alternate ending for the previous one. It starts during the last section (in which Itachi and Sasuke are fighting). It will probably make more sense if you've read the first chapter, and it's significantly darker. Again, the warnings for manga spoilers and character death apply. This ending is also distinctly AU.

Gazing Into the Abyss (Alternate Ending)

Itachi had heard of deep-cover operatives who became so immersed in their false identities that they forgot their real ones. In order to convince those around them, they had to bury their true personalities so deeply that they lost their grasp on them completely, and essentially became the men they had once only pretended to be.

When he told Sasuke that he would make the illusion of stealing his eyes a reality, he found his fingers twitching as if they were actually eager to gouge out those crimson orbs. When the lightning bolt cleaved the sky, aiming for him as unerringly as a kunai, he felt a jolt of triumph as the protective shell of Susano'o formed around him. It will take more than that to kill me, foolish little brother. The pride he always pretended to feel in the powers of the Mangekyou became real for a moment, and it was slow to fade. Likewise, the horror he should have felt at the cost of those powers was far too slow to return.

The voice that had begged and admonished and tormented Itachi for years had been growing steadily fainter over the past few months. Now, in the midst of the fiercest battle he'd ever fought, it disappeared entirely. Perhaps it had simply gotten tired of being ignored. If that was the case, Itachi couldn't really blame it.

Wear a mask for too long, and you may find that it has become your real face.

Susano'o reached out one skeletal hand and clasped Sasuke around the waist, holding him still. Itachi approached slowly, feeling his lungs burn with each breath--the toll taken by repeated use of the Mangekyou. His vision was fuzzy, the faint glow of Susano'o's limbs casting a diffuse light that somehow made it harder to see. Still, as he got closer, he could see the fury and desperation in Sasuke's eyes as the younger man thrashed and struggled in Susano'o's grip.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," Itachi said calmly as he stretched out his hand and placed his fingers above and below Sasuke's left eye, prising the eyelids apart.

"This is it for you."

"Eh?" Kisame turned from the unconscious bodies of Sasuke's companions as he heard footsteps approaching. "Hey, Itachi-san. Guess you beat up your brother again, huh?" He grinned, but his smile faltered as Itachi came close enough for him to get a good look at his face.

Blood was streaked across Itachi's cheeks and clotted in his eyelashes. His hands were likewise spattered, and even the locks of hair that had escaped from his habitual ponytail were sticky. "Holy shit, Itachi, you look like Sasuke tried to claw your eyes out! Are you alright?"

"I am fine," Itachi replied simply.

"But...your eyes..." He scrutinized Itachi's face more closely, and his own eyes hardened. "Wait," he said commandingly. "I've seen Itachi-san use both forms of the Sharingan before, so I know what the pattern in his eyes is supposed to look like. Those aren't Itachi-san's eyes." Kisame swung Samehada in an arc, expecting the false Itachi to be caught off-guard.

"It was a nice try, Sas--" Kisame broke off as "Itachi" disappeared from in front of him so fast that his eyes couldn't follow the movement. In the next instant, someone was behind him, one hand gripping his throat and the other reaching forward to clamp his wrist hard enough to make him wince.

"Kisame. I would advise you to lower Samehada," Itachi's voice said in his ear. "You are correct that these eyes are neither the Sharingan nor the Mangekyou Sharingan. They are a higher form--the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. You are also correct that these are not my eyes. They are Sasuke's."

Kisame felt Samehada rustle. It had managed to catch the barest taste of "Itachi"'s chakra, and through the flexing of its scales, it communicated to Kisame what it had felt. A genjutsu could fool me, but there's no trapping Samehada that way. This is Itachi-san, whatever his eyes look like. But if what he said is true...

Kisame loosened his grip on his sword; in response, Itachi released him and stepped away. "Damn, Itachi-san, I knew you were cold. But to rip out your own brother's eyes..."

"It is of no consequence. Sasuke was merely a way for me to avoid blindness and enhance my strength. That is all he ever was." Apparently deciding the conversation was over, Itachi turned his back on Kisame and walked back in the direction they had arrived from a few hours ago.

Kisame shook his head one more time, then wordlessly followed.

A/N: So, here is the alternate ending I promised. Apologies to all the Sasuke fans out there for killing him off. *hides behind a boulder*

If you feel like reviewing, I would love to know which ending you liked better. (I'd love any reviews at all, of course, but I'm particularly curious to know if people preferred one ending over the other. Mainly because I feel a bit ambivalent about the revelation of Itachi not really being a villain myself...)

Happy (early) Thanksgiving to all!