2nd Chappie! Ok I hope you guys enjoy this!
To Itachiyay: I'm not quite sure what you mean. Unfortunately you are an anonymous reviewer so I cannot get in contact with you in a better way. If you're still sticking around, please elborate!
Anyway! On with the show!
Disclaimer: This literature is purely for recreational purposes. I gain no profit from the story.
I do not own any rights to 'Naruto'.
Twenty minutes ago, Naruto and Sakura went down to the hospital cafeteria to get some breakfast leaving Sasuke to his thoughts. He sat beside his brother's bed and let his mind kick into overdrive.
He knew they couldn't keep Itachi's condition a secret, no matter what Sakura promised to do. He was a tad disappointed with her and himself; keeping this secret would be dangerous and stupid.
The only problem was the worry floating around the three teammate's heads. Would Itachi be executed? Sasuke would never allow that even though his brother had been so hostile yesterday. He sprained Sakura's wrist!
Sasuke cursed. Why did Itachi have to make everything so damn difficult?
He heard a faint rustle and watched warily as Itachi began to wake up. He wondered, which Itachi would wake up this morning?
Itachi blinked his eyes a few times and yawning, dare he say…cutely? The groggy ninja rubbed his clouded eyes and Sasuke resisted the urge to yell at his brother to wake the hell up already.
"Oh, hello stranger. Sasuke was it? Good morning," Itachi greeted pleasantly as his face form a small smile.
Sasuke sighed in irritation. At least this Itachi was easier to deal with. He really wasn't looking forward to filing his mission report or when Tsunade would inevitably come to check up on Itachi. Sasuke hoped she stayed busy.
"I must say, it feels as though I know you from somewhere else," Itachi didn't seem the least bit bothered from Sasuke's lack of response from his greeting.
Sasuke fought to find a good lie. Last time they revealed who Itachi truly was the man hyperventilated.
"I get that a lot. I just have one of those faces," Sasuke lied smoothly. It was weak, he knew, but Itachi seemed to buy it, if the Uchiha's sympathetic nod was anything to go by.
They sat there in silence for a bit. Itachi looked as if he wanted to restart a conversation, in turn this made Sasuke try to appear as unapproachable as possible; a feat easily obtained by the Uchiha. The silence was broken when Itachi began coughing. The tame coughs quickly became wild, wet ones. Itachi was grasping his chest with one hand and had the other cupped around his mouth.
Sasuke stood up and went to get water from the sink beside Itachi's bed. He grabbed one of the stacked disposable cups and turned on the faucet. The water splashed on his hand when he held it under the flowing water. Once full he handed it toward Itachi.
His brother shook his head, eyes wide and hands still in place. His coughing had subsided. Sasuke let out a long suffering sigh. Itachi was such a child!
"Itachi, you need to drink this," he growled and then in a softer tone that wasn't really soft at all, "it'll make you feel better."
Itachi took his hand off of his chest and grasped the cup offered to him but the hand atop his mouth stayed.
"Itachi," Sasuke was getting horribly sick of saying that name, "You need to uncover your mouth in order to drink."
Itachi shook his head violently this time, long hair swinging with it.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
"Why?" he inquired as he slyly made to grab his brother's hand and remove it for him. The sight of his brother's fearfully wide eyes made him stop.
"What wrong? Let me see," Sasuke felt as if he was talking to a puppy but his kindness paid off. Slowly and hesitantly, Itachi moved his hand off of his mouth.
Sasuke noticed there was something red caked around his brother's mouth and on his lips.
'What in the…?' Sasuke refocused his attention on Itachi's outstretched hand. Like a spider web, red liquid spread across his brother's hand. The liquid fell between the slightly trembling fingers, spilling onto the white sheets of Itachi's hospital bed.
"Shit!" Sasuke quickly reached for the panic button, pointedly ignoring Itachi's guilty expression.
Luckily, it was Sakura who responded to the call. Naruto followed closely behind.
She didn't bother to ask what happened. One look at her patient told her such and her hands instantly glowed with minty green chakra. She gently pushed Itachi so he was lying flat against the bed and pressed the chakra to his chest.
Sasuke was irritated at the scene they presented. It wasn't even Sakura that was bothering him like she normally did. It was Itachi, who seemed almost creepily curious of Sakura's work. His eyes were wide as he strained to see what the nurse was doing to his chest.
"I believe, mentally, he's getting worse," Sasuke told them, not really caring that Itachi could hear him. Naruto put a comforting hand on his shoulder but Sasuke shrugged it off. He didn't want comfort right now.
"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura began mournfully. Sasuke grunted out a noise for her to continue, disregarding her tone.
"Itachi-san has tuberculosis," she told his after she had lulled her patient into slumber.
Sasuke was silent for a moment then, "I'm going for Tsunade-sama." His former teammates the Uchiha leave. They shared a look of sadness before they too left the room.
One hour found Sasuke back in Itachi's room but with Tsunade in tow. He reluctantly told her all that had transpired since they reached Itachi's cabin in the woods. The Hokage received all the information calmly and Sasuke could not tell what that meant for Itachi's future.
Tsunade summoned chakra into her hands and put it atop Itachi's chest. Her eye's widened as she surveyed the damage. She moved up his chest, past his raw throat and up into his head.
"How the hell are you still alive?" she whispered to her sleeping patient. Unfortunately, Sasuke heard it.
"Why, what's wrong?" he asked hurriedly. The Hokage didn't know where to begin.
Suddenly, her wrist was held in a vice like grip. Itachi was up and this Itachi was not friendly.
"Uchiha Itachi, release your grip if you value your life," she ordered him calmly. Sasuke looked as if he wanted to object the harsh treatment but one look from Tsunade made him stand down. She was bluffing.
Itachi never took his clouded eyes off of her as he slowly released her hand. His back was ramrod and tense. He was poised for attack although he had no weapon. Tsunade adopted a look just as terrifying as his.
"Are you aware of your current location?" she asked, readying her hand to shock him if he refused to answer. Itachi saw this. He would obey…for now.
"Konoha's main hospital. Fourth floor." He told her, raising his red stained hand to his face in order to get a better look.
"Good, what is your name?" Tsunade looked at his hand too.
"Uchiha Itachi"
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-One." Tsunade clicked her tongue irritably.
"Alright, what's the last thing you remember," Itachi stayed silent. Tsunade held her hand pulsing with chakra at his wounded side, about to shock him when, surprisingly, he answered.
"I heard Sasuke died. Of course, this is not true. The rest is quite foggy," Tsunade wanted to slap the Uchiha. That gave her little to go on! Sasuke was oddly silent; there was nothing he could say.
"I've given you the information you requested. Let me die in peace," Itachi closed his eyes. Tsunade really did slap him this time. Sasuke paled.
"No one is dying on my watch! Pay attention, you two. I will not repeat this." Itachi opened his eyes again, his attempt as contacting another Akatsuki member telepathically failed. Sasuke gave his full attention to Tsunade.
"Itachi has a severe case of Tuberculosis. In addition, there seems to be quite a bit of brain damage, the most severe having been trauma suffered on Itachi's frontal cortex," seeing their blank expressions she explained.
"A frontal cortex is the part of your brain located behind your brain. It's what determines your decision making skills along with social and behavioral impulse. When this is damaged a person may experience a drastic personality change. Although that does not explain why you seem to have two separate personalities, such a thing is unprecedented." Sasuke nodded, feeling vaguely as if he was in the academy again. Itachi made no move to indicate that he heard her.
"Itachi, you may not believe me but you are not in the time period you believe you are," now that got his attention.
"You are twenty-five, Itachi. Long ago we learned the truth about the Uchiha clan," she told him calmly. Sasuke tensed, ready to hold his brother down if he decided to attack.
"Excuse me? The 'truth'? And what would that be?" Tsunade wanted to smack that smirk off of his face.
"We know the orders Itachi, cut the bullshit. You're just wasting time," Sasuke told him, positively livid right now. He wasn't expecting a tearful embrace from his brother or anything but the way his brother was acting wasn't what he was expecting either.
"What you perceive is not always fact Sasuke. A ninja should learn this quickly." Itachi advised him smoothly. Sasuke wanted to run a chidori through his brother.
"I'm aware, brother. I learned that the hard way, did I not?" Sasuke snapped at him.
"Apparently not, the words you speak tell me such. Did the Hokage taint your brain to fall below her ranks? A familiar tale indeed," Itachi mused blankly, summoning what little chakra he felt he had.
Sasuke's eyes flickered dangerously. Mad at Itachi for putting on such an act. And mad at his self for allowing the words to bother him.
"Uchiha Itachi! Listen carefully because I will only say this once," Tsunade interjected, before Sasuke could let out the lightning chakra building up within himself. Itachi nodded stiffly, feeling the last of the chakra gathering to the forefront of his weak body.
"Twelve years ago, the Uchiha clan was annihilated on orders from Konohagakure's elders. We know you had no desire to do such a heinous deed so I would greatly appreciate it if you stopped gathering that damn chakra," she hissed out, annoyed he wasn't listening to her.
"So, you have acquired this information, well done. You forget that it does not atone for my sins. I am still a criminal," he acknowledged, falling back into the pillows. His brother did seem a tad older than how he remembered but it was subtle. He was slightly taller and he was a bit broader, that was all he could tell.
"You are not a criminal anymore," Tsunade informed him, a tad smug. Itachi's eyes narrowed.
"Explain," he demanded.
"I have cleared your record. You will become a citizen tonight, once you sign the paperwork," she told him seriously, realizing he had gotten oddly silent. There was something off about him, as he stared dead ahead. His ever trembling hands clutched the bed sheets tightly. It was only when his eyes finally focused that Tsunade and Sasuke realized he was blindingly mad.
"Imbeciles! What have you done?" Sasuke had never heard his brother yell before and was taken aback. Tsunade had a similar look of shock on her face.
"What do the elders think of this? Surely, they are not too keen on such a proposal," Itachi had regained most of his composure but there was still a wild and angry look in his clouded eyes.
"Actually, they advocated your return," Sasuke informed him. For the first time in quite some time, he felt apprehension when speaking with his brother.
Itachi snorted.
"Somehow, I find the notion unbelievable," he closed his eyes. They were beginning to bother him.
"The elders are not the same people you have come to know. Danzo has passed," Sasuke told him grimly. And I was responsible for it.
Itachi's eyes flew open at that. He took in Sasuke's expression and slowly smiled a bit.
"Good boy, you are not as incompetent as I was forced to believe," Itachi told him. Sasuke bristled.
"Itachi…just shut up," Sasuke growled at him impatiently. Itachi glared at him, annoyed at Sasuke's disrespect.
"Who replaced him?" Itachi questioned Tsunade.
"Nara Shikaku," Itachi took this information in, and then he nodded. That was a good choice.
"Koharu and Homura?" Itachi asked of the other elders. Tsunade grimaced, noticing the lack of respect when he said their named.
"They were replaced by Aburame Shibi and Yuuhi Kurenai," Itachi thought on these choices. Not so good of a choice. Tsunade should know better than to choose a clan member as one of the elders. It was idiotic. But Kurenai was another matter entirely…
"Hokage-sama, to the best of my knowledge Yuuhi-san was with child. I assume that she carried the child full term. That child is a liability," he told her, feeling as if he was talking a six year old.
Tsunade was surprised again at Itachi's knowledge on her ninja. It seemed a bit stalkerish. Creepy even. She hid her discomfort well.
"Do not question my authority," she demanded harshly, she looked out the window. "Your citizenship papers will be sent before nightfall," Tsunade informed him as she made for the door.
"I agreed to nothing," Itachi hissed.
"You have no say in the matter!" Sasuke hissed back, finally losing his composure. He clenched his fist, trying not to give onto temptation.
Itachi did not speak back. He ignored his brother's frustrated huff and the loud footsteps as he stormed out the room.
Itachi did not care what they knew or didn't know. His place was not in Konoha. His eyes spun dangerously, and he ignored the pain rippling from them as they bled. Itachi worked himself out of the hospital bed, the vertigo briefly blinding him. Once he regained his footing he turned toward the window.
Itachi stepped over to the wide opening behind his bed slowly and carefully. The black haired ninja felt the solid faux glass that stretched across it. Then with a surge of chakra he blew it open and, through the shattered debris, he fled over the bustling town below.
Thanks for reading! And please tell me what you think! I have a question for you guys too. Which Itachi do you prefer?