a/n: This is… odd. A weird idea that came to me loooong ago. It fits NOTHING with canon now, not that I ever thought it would. But all the same, Sasuke doesn't defeat Orochimaru with as much ease here as in the manga and then everything goes to hell in a hand basket after that.

Warnings: Non-compliant to canon. Diverges completely. Don't like that? Direct your eyes to the back button. Will come out to be a threesome in the end, all participants male. And incest. ItaNaru, NaruSasu, ItaSasuNaru and any combination thereof.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will… ~le sigh – He belongs to Kishimoto-san.

Time to Press Pause
~matahari

It was done, finally over. The bastard was dead at long last and he, he'd destroyed one of the legendary sannin. If he wasn't so delirious, he might have been giddy at that thought.

He could feel exhaustion creeping into every part of his being, struggling with every breath he could manage to raggedly pull from his lungs. He could vaguely see his vision swim as his eyes suddenly reverted back to their normal state, his heightened sense of sight taken with it. Tomoe spun wildly as the scarlet bled away to be replaced by an inky black so dark as to reflect the stars swimming overhead. To the west he could see just the barest bit of light still endeavoring to illuminate the sky.

Sweat clung to his body, dampening his haori and causing it to stick to the small of his back. The edges of his senses could just barely pick up something blipping in and out of existence in the forest surrounding him, and for one agonizing moment he panicked at the thought that perhaps Kabuto would find him and avenge his master. Either his senses were dulling even more than he'd suspected or whoever it was had tight control over what others felt. He could suddenly feel it stop behind him, as his body swayed lightly where he stood.

With the last remnants of energy that he possessed, he turned. What greeted his sight as the darkness began swallowing him was an odd sight. Man or woman, he couldn't tell, for though the body appeared to be lithe and thin, it was covered loosely in a black, hooded cloak, a strange mask his mind refused to decipher in its weakened state covering their face.

Then he drifted – he was no longer Sasuke – he was a cloud among the heavens, moving gracefully beneath the stars and the moon as night changed to day, removing the oppressive blackness and leaving him mentally gaping at the truest, blue sky he'd ever laid eyes upon, that in turn churned to a sickening crimson, angels weeping tears of blood down to him.

As the dream world stole his consciousness, the cloaked figure was suddenly a breath away from him, catching his falling body before he could reach the ground. The figure swept him into their arms and watched as the boy's brows furrowed together, a few stray tears leaking from closed, tormented eyes, silently sliding across the boy's temples and into black hair. Through the two holes in the mask, blue eyes regarded the sleeping figure silently, before they were gone.

Not a leaf stirred, no tell tale puff of smoke was emitted. They were simply no longer standing in the clearing, the only living thing to have witnessed their departure being the gentle, wind-blown trees.

– –

He awoke to a crackling sound, one that he immediately recognized as the sound of a campfire. So the real question was: where was he and who had started a fire? A headache rolled through him full force and he groaned, memories of someone watching him before he had blacked out flashing in front of his eyes.

Vaguely, he wondered if the masked figure would be the one he'd see when he opened his eyes. He opened them slowly to stare directly above him at the clumped trees barely rocking in the soft breeze, hints of the deep night sky peeking through the dense forest that surrounded him. Turning his head to the side, he wasn't disappointed. There, just beyond the collected rocks and branches of the fire, sat the masked figure on the other side, presumably watching him.

He so badly wanted to speak, but for some reason he didn't trust that his voice would work through the aching in his throat. Trying did him little good. He turned over, violently coughing blood onto the ground where he'd been laying. Seemingly out of nowhere a canteen was suspended in front of his face and his gaze followed the fingertips up across fingerless black gloves that continued up the arm outstretched to disappear in the folds of the cloak.

When he had control over the coughing he took the container and drank deeply, cool water rushing to soothe his esophagus. Too late, he wondered if it was wise to drink something of an unknown origin. Obviously, this person had taken the trouble of taking care of him thus far and even if they wanted him for their own gains that meant they'd keep him alive, so the water shouldn't have been tampered with. Here's to hoping, he mentally added.

Sasuke decided his own comfort could wait; he needed answers.

"I assume you were the one that brought me here?"

He received a nod in reply.

The young Uchiha narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

The figures head tilted to the side as Sasuke sat back to inspect the mask that had seemed so strange to his brain before losing consciousness. They seemed to be thinking about how to answer his question so he took this opportunity to study the individual. The black mask covering his face seemed to strike a chord, not in his memories, but in his heart. Perhaps he's seen one like it before and it had been given some kind of sentimental value in his mind, no matter that he couldn't remember why it would.

It was a solid, consuming black, graced with sharply tilted eyes and a beak. With their back to the fire, the person's eyes were shadowed in the slits and he was unable to make out their color. Small swirling lines of white and red gave the feeling of feathers, making those who saw it think of crows or ravens, some sort of black bird. It was beautiful in its own way, if a bit odd and dare he say creepy, yet gave a sharp tug to his heart.

Sound came from behind the mask finally, answering his question only to raise new ones. "You are needed."

Needed? For what? He followed his own path, no one else's. He had plans to carry out now that Orochimaru was dead. It was time to truly take up the mantle of Avenger.

The voice, he decided was hard to place. It was neither very deep, nor was high enough to be exclusively a woman's. Meaning, he still hadn't a clue as to the identity of his rescuer, not that he'd wanted to be rescued mind you. He could take care of himself, although, in his head he realized that he should be grateful. If he'd been left to sleep off his injuries in that clearing, Kabuto or someone worse may have found him.

He decided to skip the obvious question for a moment in favor of a simpler one. "And you are?"

The person bowed forward slightly. "You may call me Karasu." Sasuke could almost feel the amusement rolling off the figure. "You appear to be confused. Not only as to why you are needed but as to my gender, too, I assume? I assure you, I am male." A small chuckle escaped behind the mask. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. How the hell was this guy reading him so well?

Karasu. I guess I could have predicted that, he thought, looking at the mask. That word seemed to have caused his chest to clench, putting him on edge even more. His heart had taken to beating more rapidly, causing him to tense his muscles. His head still felt so fuzzy though, liked he'd been drugged, but he doubted that.

Apparently, he wasn't going to wait for Sasuke to start asking questions again as he started to explain without any further prodding.

"My Master wishes to make a proposition of sorts. It will take at least a week to reach him, and I am to explain what I see fit as we travel." He stopped and settled himself on the other side of the fire once again, taking to sitting upon a thick log.

"What the fuck makes you think I'll cooperate?" He spat coldly.

He began unsnapping the edges that held his cloak together so he could sit more comfortably, leaving the hood up, but revealing tight black pants much like the standard shinobi gear of most ninja villages and what appeared to be a tight black vest, sporting a zipper all the way down the center of the material, stopping mid abdomen, the rest of the strangers stomach covered in white bandaging. "He is quite certain that you will come willingly. If not, I have been authorized to reveal certain… truths that will peak your curiosity in this." His tone was measured, careful, and yet Sasuke felt a sense of contained tenseness, most probably at the words.

The one called Karasu looked up and held his gaze, "For if you are anything, Uchiha Sasuke, it is curious." Hn… amusement again.

Sasuke growled. It wasn't uncommon for people to recognize him (especially with his family emblem on his back), so he was far from shocked that this man knew who he was, but he'd be lying if said he wasn't pissed that he was treating him so familiarly. Just who was behind that mask?

He was on the verge of asking just that when the man spoke again. "It doesn't matter how I know. In due time, you will find out all you desire to know and more."

Damn, this guy was good. Either he was a fucking mind reader or he was aware of the way Sasuke would react to his exclamation before he himself even did. Whoever this person was, Sasuke was beginning to have an awful suspicion that he, in some way, knew him. Maybe someone he'd had a run-in with in the past?

No. That wouldn't explain how they would always know exactly what he was thinking, feeling.

A leaf shinobi? Possibly – that would certainly explain a great deal, only… Sasuke didn't remember hearing of another defection from Konohagakure since he had left.

Maybe it was kept quiet? Perhaps.

It certainly didn't help that when the man was around he felt entirely too calm, not in the least threatened when in actuality he should, shouldn't he? How anyone could make you feel tense and calm, on edge and unthreatened was beyond him. The emotions were swirling with dizzying intensity around this person, and if anything, the conflicting feelings were a paradox in themselves.

"I take it this means that you are unwilling to divulge who your Master is?"

Karasu leaned back slightly, relaxing his posture. "Not at all. On the contrary, that is exactly why you will follow me to him." Sasuke felt a wave of foreboding wash him in anxiety, waiting for the other to speak again.

Karasu rested his palms on the log next to each of his thighs, leaning his weight fully on his arms, and crossed his legs. The gesture was oddly familiar.

Then he spoke, calmly and precisely, while Sasuke's world crashed agonizingly around him. "…For the one that I have given my unending loyalty, pledged every inch of my body to be used at his discretion and disposal, is the very same person that you have sworn to kill."

The words had been spoken softly, murmured almost, and laced with emotions he didn't – couldn't – understand, and yet ever syllable had reached Sasuke with deafening clarity. Vaguely, he noticed the sound of blood pumping a heavy rhythm in his ears. His brother…

His brother – the man he'd promised to himself and his deceased blood that he'd kill – the very same man that he'd sworn to slay to restore his honor, remove his burden, his shame, to restore the meaning of his own existence. And he was simply offering him provocation to finally test themselves against one another, so casually, some meaningless acquaintance passing along the invitation of bloodshed. He'd been waiting for this day to approach since he was eight years old and now he had the opportunity to fulfill his wishes – his wishes of pain and death, wishes of familial homicide – to see the life pouring out of the only person he'd ever truly despised (and loved).

His anger boiled over finally, building with fierce and fiery intensity. "Why is it that you call him Master?" Sasuke hissed, seething at this person, cursing him for treating this vile scum who shared his blood with such devotion.

He was dismissed, his anger ignored, as though it were a trivial thing in the scheme of things – and Sasuke was starting to wonder just what the scheme was – and was answered with such conviction and a soft but fiercely unwavering gentleness that it left Sasuke reasonably baffled.

"Itachi-dono is the only one I have ever given my whole self over to. I have no reservations as to my loyalties." His voice became softer still, "I would give my life to protect ue-sama."

With every word, Sasuke felt his blood chill and his chest throb. In his determination, whether he realized it or it was a subconscious action on his part, Karasu has stood and glided around the fire until he was standing directly in front of the young Uchiha.

"You may want to get use to that, Uchiha-san, because despite your pasts, that will not change."

From this vantage, Sasuke was startled to find that there wasn't more of a height difference; he'd always felt so large and imposing. It caused him to reassess his previous notion that this person was a grown man. After all, Sasuke remembered wryly, he'd just defeated a legendary shinobi and he was what, fifteen? Maybe 'Karasu' and he were closer in age than appearances had suggested.

Their eyes were locked, deadly cold lavender visible through the slits by a trick of the moon's light, as he spat defiantly, "Ever." He turned and when the darkness was just consuming him at the edge of the firelight, parted with, "Your injuries have yet to heal completely, Uchiha-san. I suggest you get some rest."

– –

Sasuke was sore all over. His muscles refused to cooperate properly and, on top of it all, he felt that the boy ahead of him was setting such a grueling pace on purpose. He kept up though, no matter the burning in his thighs and ass, because he wouldn't give in and dare to stop for rest (more like his pride would never let him give in). It was as if this Karasu was challenging him. Well, that or he was just trying to make a fool out of him.

Far and wide, people have heard of the indomitable Uchiha pride. It wasn't at all surprising that this guy would test him, try (in vain) to knock him down a notch. That didn't stop Sasuke from loathing this guy's existence even more. Most of his feelings toward the masked stranger were completely irrational, which only served to piss him off further.

"How does. . . Itachi," he spat the name, "expect me to be in any kind of condition to fight if my body isn't given any time to heal?" Sasuke called forward to the hooded figure leading their sudden journey.

Karasu looked to the sky before answering, the sun finally beginning to set. "There is a stream not far ahead. We will stop and spend the night there when we reach it."

Sasuke nodded wearily. They could use the refreshment after bounding through the tree branches most of the day, the burning light of the midsummer sun beating down on them. Well. . . he could. His companion didn't seem in the least bit bothered by it.

Sasuke still wondered why he was doing this. It just seemed too good an offer to refuse. Too... tempting. But also too convenient. He felt as though, should he refuse to fight Itachi now, he might vanish of the very face of the planet and then he'd never get his chance.

Actually, he'd always assumed that when the time came, Itachi would play mind games with him and run him all over creation, a step ahead like always. Itachi was, by no stretch of the word, predictable. Usually, his advances were never this surprising; he'd seemed content to just let Sasuke flounder around until he managed to track him down himself. He frowned, because even that didn't seem quite right. No, his brother would have done the same sort of thing he realized. Sasuke would never find Itachi unless he let himself be found. Just like he was now...

– –

Answers to come!

~m