A/N: A continuation of Healer, with a few minor changes to better fit new information relased in the current manga, this is not AU, but it's not quite canon, bare with me here.
Summary: Powerful, cold, precise, that is what a weapon should be. What makes it stronger? What makes it weaker? Does the answer to this question really hold the key to understanding the roots of the Sharingan, and to what dark places does the search for such knowledge take you?
Weapon
Prologue: Prophecies of the Damned
Cold.
That was the first thing he noticed. Not the wide fields of picturesque green grass, stretching on beyond the eye's ability to follow. Swaying gently in some unseen, unfelt breeze as a kind and benevolent sun beat down steadily overhead.
No, all these went unheeded, not even the delicate scent of blossoms in the air, somehow reaching and comforting him despite his disconnection from this place held his attention for long.
It was always the mind numbing, soul crushing cold that occupied every iota of his clouded mind. Thoughts of how it was possible, of why he was there, simply could not permeate the icy chrysalis that held him captive, locked away from the peaceful scene he beheld.
"I…", his throat was dry and parched, his voice raspy as if he had been days without water, barely recognisable as his own smooth even tones.
Slowly working frozen moisture back into his throat, he tried again, feeling some need to speak out against the cold, to deny it as he had something else…
The Void
Pain slammed him to his knees as a gaping emptiness opened within his mind, screaming as it tried to pull him closer.
Gasping, his hands dug furrows in the soft earth, cold as the air around him, chunks of grass pulling free and dissolving at his touch unseen.
A raven curtain blocked his vision and in the few moments of panic it brought before he identified the source, the void yawned wider.
Sasuke
The void screamed again as his head jerked up, but not a cry of hunger as before, no, this time it was a whimper of fear.
Was it for him the nothingness trembled? He was sure the name just called was his own, or was it for the person who had called him, whoever they may be?
"Why…", he pushed himself slowly back to his feet, sweeping errant bangs of midnight hair aside, both puzzled and annoyed by the sudden retreat of the void, "…what is this?"
It's ok Sasuke, I'm here, remember?
He didn't, and that only infuriated him more, his slender features narrowing as he commanded his faltering memory to supply him with the identity of the voice calling him.
You don't have to be afraid
Sasuke sneered at the unseen speaker, a contemptuous contraction of the muscles on one side of his mouth.
"I fear nothing", he winced as the void throbbed, clutching at his heart for a second until the feeling subsided.
He glared around his surroundings, eyes alert and scanning for any sign, any clue he could use.
The wind tussled his hair playfully, shocking him, and forcing him to instinctively track its path, and the single petal of perfect pink it carried.
His feet began moving before he was fully aware of telling them to do so, chasing after the winds phantasm and its single passenger with something he had previously only seen in others.
"Desperation"
It didn't make any sense, why was he so intent on catching up to a single petal? So driven that he barely noticed how the previously endless fields flew beneath his feet, transitioning into sparse woodland so smoothly he almost forgot where he had started his journey.
After an indeterminate period of leaping logs, vaulting from treetops, and sprinting with chakra assisted steps over calmly ebbing rivers and streams, the breeze seemed to loose its grip on its passenger, depositing the petal gently on the doorstep of an aging wooden cabin.
Sasuke slowed as he neared. There was something… familiar, about this place, something that distracted his focus from the petal he had pursued as a wave of peace seemed to quell the urgency that had previously filled him.
He took a slow breath, scents that hadn't previously been noticeable filling his head, triggering a cascade of mismatched memories so chaotic they should have been terrifying, and yet…
As half remembered days and nights spent in a place so very much like this tumbled past in a dizzying array of blissful normalcy, another smell reached him, one deeply embedded within all the others, and one he found himself unable to relinquish once he found it.
The smell of cherry blossoms.
"Sakura…"
"Sasuke-kun", eyes he hadn't remembered closing snapped open, widening slightly at the sight of the pink haired girl that stood before him, hands clasped almost demurely behind her back, mint green eyes watching him closely from atop a broad smile.
"You're looking well", her smile relaxed a little and she stood a little straighter, "That's good".
"…Sakura?… What are you-" a violent chill cut short his question, arms lifting instinctively to rub each other.
"Cold Sasuke-kun?", Sakura tsked lightly, folding her arms beneath her breasts, a look of playful disappointment crossing her pretty features, "I thought you'd be used to it by now".
The icy sensation slowly faded and Sasuke dropped his arms back to his sides, returning her look with one of ambivalence.
"So distant? Is that how you-"
"Stop it", his voice seemed to cause her to jerk as if physically struck, but she recovered quickly.
"Stop what? I see, you're uncomfortable out here, why don't we-", again he cut her short.
"You aren't her", his words left no room for argument, and after a moment, Sakura giggled happily as if he had answered some secret and very important question.
"Very good", her image rippled and grew, replaced by a figure nearly double her height, black hair longer than Sasuke's own and gathered like his at the nape of his neck swinging freely in the breeze as the newcomer gazed back at him with bright red eyes.
"…I killed you, I remember that much", Sasuke said, surprised at how calmly he spoke when at one time, even the mention of this traitor's name would have sent him into an uncontrollable fury.
"True", Itachi said simply as if it were of no consequence, "but confirming that isn't what's on your mind, is it?".
Sasuke shook his head slowly, crouching warily as the spectre of his dead brother began to walk, taking a lazy path around the younger Uchiha, his black cloak billowing behind him and making it seem as if the red clouds sown into it were really moving.
In a blur of motion he moved, a glint of light on metal the only sign that he had drawn a kunai.
A loud ringing resonated through the clearing, the only sound in a forest that should have been teeming with life.
"Very good", Itachi smiled, the faintest up turning of the lips, not really enough to even be noticeable unless you knew what to look for. Sasuke said nothing, just kept up the subtle pressure that ensure his kunai stayed locked with his brother's.
"You're being very patient Sasuke-kun. Not like the first time you found me", Itachi nodded when his brother didn't respond, backing off suddenly as if trying to catch Sasuke off balance but turning way and leaping atop the cabin in a single smooth motion.
"You really have grown up a lot little brother, I-"
"Get to the point, you sicken me", another minute smile had Sasuke clenching his fists at his side.
"I have a riddle for you. A quandary about our mutual curse", all humour dropped from Itachi's voice, causing Sasuke to shiver involuntarily. He sounded just like he did in his nightmares… the day he had murdered their clan and their parents…
"Curse?", Sasuke snorted, forcing himself to meet his brother's suddenly empty gaze, his hand reaching up unconsciously to touch the tattoo like symbol burned into the flesh of his neck, "What would you know. We're nothing alike".
"I'm not talking about your little decoration Sasuke, I'm referring to the other", Itachi's eyes closed for a moment, his next words coming at barely a whisper Sasuke had to strain to hear, "…Sharingan…"
"Sharingan?", Sasuke asked.
"You already know, don't you?", Itachi asked, watching the look that flitted across the younger man's face, "I believe that Demon mentioned it to you didn't he?"
"Kyuubi", Sasuke frowned, recalling his encounter with the nine tailed beast.
"As good a name as any I suppose… Do you know the reason he feared you?", Itachi asked slowly.
"Feared?", Sasuke hadn't really got the impression the great demon had scared him, more like it had been surprised or perhaps unsettled…
"I guess when you live that long, memories of certain things begin to fade, leaving only the echoes of the event behind… a feeling if you will… shall I tell you why?"
"I don't want anything from you", Sasuke spat.
"Oh this isn't a gift little brother, but perhaps you can make use of it", Itachi turned to gaze up at the perfect sky, his eyes closing gently.
"Forged from the fires of hate, stoked by the lust for knowledge, tempered by strength, and sharpened by sorrow", Itachi's voice took on an oddly booming quality as he spoke, amplifying his words throughout the woods, "That is the first line of an ancient saying, no, more a philosophy, or rather, that's what some believe… do you know what it pertains to Sasuke?"
Sasuke remained silent, something about the strange words echoing with something inside him.
Overhead the sky began to darken, pure white clouds tinged grey.
"…I suppose it's too early, but you'll figure it out eventually", Itachi glanced at Sasuke, "Hurry Sasuke, it's drawing closer".
"What is?"
"Sharingan", Itachi's voice was distant, as if he was talking to something only he could see.
"What are you-"
"Time to wake up Sasuke"
"I- Ugh!", pain flared in his chest, the kunai that had somehow become imbedded there slick with crimson as it stared back impassively.
As Sasuke began to fall he reached out toward Itachi, the older of the brothers turning to face the distorted horizon.
"I..ta..chi…"
The world went dark.
"Itachi!"
Sasuke sat up right, his hand lancing out as if to catch hold of something, but finding only the chilled air of his domicile.
A cold sweat clung to his skin and left the covers twisted around him damp and cold.
Taking several deep breaths to steady himself he swung his legs out of bed, resting bare feet on the wooden floor, ignoring the resultant shiver as he allowed his head to rest on his hands, unbound hair spilling everywhere in straight ebony waves.
It had happened again. This was not the first time he had had this dream, Itachi appearing in the guise of another and babbling at him about curses and meanings.
He shivered for a moment remembering the cold. That was always present as well…
Forged from the fires of hate, stoked by the lust for knowledge, tempered by strength, and sharpened by sorrow
Sasuke ran a hand back through his locks as his mind replayed Itachi's latest message.
Was it crazy to think of it that way he wondered?
Dreams were not messages… so why did he feel as if something very important was locked within his brother's unsettling words.
A soft murmur, almost like a quiet grunt of distress snapped him from his musings, his mind still clouded by dreams taking a moment to remember what was making that sound.
On the other side of his bed, the pink haired girl from his dreams lay curled within the sheets, her hand probing the air of fading heat his body had previously occupied, he sleeping face set in an unconscious frown as soft moans escaped her parted lips.
With a gentle affection that would have been totally beyond him in a public setting, the raven haired boy reached back with one hand, allowing her to find the proffered extremity, her moans fading and her face relaxing as soon as her fingers closed around his.
Within moments her breathing has resumed the deep, even pattern of sleep and he felt a small smile tugging at his lips.
What did people think of this arrangement, he wondered, an unwed, unsupervised couple sharing the same bed? Would they have believed them if they said nothing improper ever occurred?
Probably not, but he didn't care for the opinions of outsiders. He and Sakura had discovered that after their time together in the cabin and the defeat of his former master, they had trouble sleeping without knowing the other was safe and nearby, and thus this had seemed the most logical arrangement, even if it meant listening to all the unwanted opinions and in certain cases, innuendos of the other 'rookie nine'.
Lying back down, Sasuke carefully eased an arm into the gap between Sakura's neck and her pillow, allowing her to nestle closer and him to drape his arm loosely around her shoulders.
As sleep tugged at his heavy eyes, Sakura's warmth lulling him deeper into unconsciousness, he thought on his brother's words, dismissing them all with a mental wave of the hand.
What did he need care of curses anymore, his days seeking power purely for it's own sake, for his, were behind him… so why couldn't he let it go, and why did these dreams haunt him?
"…Sharingan…", he whispered softly as he finally gave in and allowed himself to be carried away.
"Naruto-kun?"
"Huh?", the blond haired boy asked blearily, rubbing fitfully at cloudy blue eyes as he stifled a yawn.
"Ano… you were talking in your sleep again", he eventually managed to focus on the indistinct somewhere on the other side of the dying embers of the night's fire, her quiet voice difficult to pick up over the loud snores echoing up from a shaggy white mound of hair and blankets to his left.
"Sorry, did I wake you up?", he asked, already settling back down even as the question of how she had managed to hear him presented itself, eyes drifting closed.
"No, I… never mind, goodnight Naruto-kun", he waited until her heard the rustle of her settling back down to open his eyes again, crossing his hands beneath his head and starring up at the stars in the clear night sky.
It felt kind of nice to have someone who was always worried about him, gave him sort of a nice feeling in the pit of his stomach… not in a girly way or anything of course, but still…
Why did that bastard fox keep trying to mess things up? Usually he kept quiet these days now that he knew his host was no longer going to be letting him get the chance to run wild with his body, but lately he'd been getting restless. It was spilling over into Naruto's own mind, giving him weird dreams, more confusing than some of the ones he had had about Hinata a few nights ago and nowhere near as pleasant.
"Sharingan eh?", he grunted, yawning loudly and closing his eyes, "Sasuke-teme, can't even get a damn night's sleep anymore cause of… that… jerk…"
As Naruto's snores began to reverberate through the clearing, Jiraiya allowed one eye to open, grunting unhappily to himself.
"So it's finally here huh? Figures, just when my latest book deal looked set to really take off too", the Sannin groused. That Uchiha boy would probably start moving soon, which meant sooner or later he would have to tell his young apprentice about his return to Konoha, not a fun conversation, but at least with the Hyuuga girl here he might hold his temper for a change.
"You better know what you're doing Tsunade", he grumbled, tucking his blankets tighter around his aging form.
Well, it had been fun while it lasted, watching, and of course, documenting his pupils' development in all walks of life of course, he thought with a lecherous grin, but all good things come to an end.
Then again, wasn't that Uchiha boy dating the pink haired medical nin Naruto had spent his early childhood pinning after?
Jiraiya chuckled deeply. Two young couples in the midst of a tangled web of affection, thrown together after a long separation… perhaps this would be fun after all.
"Hell, I might even get another book out of this… before the end of the world…"
---Author Notes---
Sorry to say this will only be a one per month update story, essay deadlines etc, but of course, there will be no continuation at all without reviews so…
Coming Next:
Chapter 1: Restlessly Yours; The Hokage wants to see Sasuke, but why, and what's in the letter she's given him?
Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell