Just what you all waited for: brother to brother. :D The mystery REALLY begins.

Chapter Four

Morning got weirder. Sakura was up before him since she had more to take care of for appearances, but it wasn't long before he'd heard her cry out when she was in the small adjacent bathroom. Sasuke bolted out from the covers to join her - and stopped at what hung from wire on the showerhead.

"What the hell?!" they yelled at the same time.

It was a doll - a wooden doll with spikes all over its head. A voodoo doll. Something inside him snapped, and he went to yank it off. The thread was thin enough to snap by force. "Who would just leave this - and in OUR shower head?" Sakura asked furiously, taking it from him to look over. It was only one, but was it meant for them both?

"Well, I'd rather not find out now," Sasuke spat, glaring at the damned thing. "My brother and his condition is more of a real problem than some tropical superstition that won't work on us."

Half an hour later, they were dressed and ready to work.

"Are you nervous?" Sakura asked when they both stood outside the master bedroom door - the room where Itachi slept. No specified time was given as to when his brother would rouse, but here they were at eight in the morning. At home, hours to care for the patient were short, compared to outside at the clinic. But if you were wealthy, you could afford the best care. He sympathized with the poor people outside this place, when this country was rife with all kinds of disease. Sexually transmitted ones were definitely among.

Sasuke shook his head. He didn't trust his own voice. And after what he saw last night, that dream, he couldn't even begin to assume it coincided with coming all the way out here to tend to his terminally sick brother.

Sakura knocked on the door firmly but softly. This was her way to not be rude by going in without knocking, to make sure. A grunt was heard on the other side of the mahogany wood, followed by a strained call that the person was coming. His nerves jolted.

Itachi is awake.

The door opened, and there stood the man himself. Sasuke's breath hitched as he took in the sight of his elder brother for the first time in a decade.

"Oh, my God," Sakura whispered, looking at his face, then down and turning pinker than her hair.

Itachi was paler than he ever remembered, and his long hair was tied back, though it hadn't been brushed yet. He'd just woken up, that was why. His features were more prominent, but gloomy. There were dark shadows under his eyes, and the lines beneath his eyes deeper. His cheekbones were sharper. It appeared he lost a bit of weight, and his skin was shining with sweat from this damned weather. How he'd lived here all this time was beyond Sasuke.

But now to what made his wife blush: Itachi stood butt naked in his doorway, leaning off to the side, arm above his head against the frame, tiredly smiling. "It's been a long time, little brother."

"Itachi," he ground, "why are you naked?"

"It's hot here," the elder answered as if it was the most casual thing in the world. "As you have noted upon arrival."

"Well, put some clothes on so we can get started."

Itachi blinked, smile slipping. "We don't see each other for years, and that's the first thing you say to your big brother." He turned his back to them and walked back into his room, offering his ass to their eyes, which made Sakura clear her throat. "Oh, yes, Sakura. I haven't seen you in ages. I'm impressed you and my brother have made it together." Itachi had by then slipped on a thin robe of black silk sewn with gold birds.

"But I guess you heard what I did last month," Sasuke said bitterly.

"Had circumstances been different, I'd call you foolish for your actions - but I'm proud that you never give up." Itachi turned to him and smiled again, his eyes hooded.

His brother was telling him that he didn't care he'd illegally prescribed a non-approved new drug to a patient at her most severe stage, and he was right to choose him to help him with his dire condition. In a way, Sasuke felt glad he did come after all, but at the same time, everything felt too...strange. One, obviously: he hadn't spoken to Itachi for a long time. Second, the reason he was here was because he needed a job again, but this was also his older brother he was talking about...

Itachi's room looked like it was made for royalty, with the carved wooden furniture and the bed sprawled with more tribal blankets. Sasuke had a feeling all the bedrooms were the same with the windows and curtains. There was a jug of water - or whatever it was - beside the bed, and a glass and cloth. But the feature that hung on the bed was - "Itachi, do you really believe in that?!" he demanded angrily. The elder Uchiha looked at him with a half-upturned smirk.

"You got one, have you?"

"In our shower, yeah," Sakura said disgustedly, setting down her medical bag brought with her. "Please, have a seat." He did as she asked, choosing to sit in the maroon and gold love chair in the corner of the room beside a window. "When did you wake up?"

"At the same time you both came for me," Itachi answered, watching her put her stethoscope into her ears and then brought the circle to place over his chest. "Rotten luck that it would hit me just when you were close to arriving."

Sasuke sniffed. "Rotten luck that I had to have my license on hold and then come to depend on you as we take care of your self," he pointed out, earning a warning look from Sakura to behave. She stepped in to keep a fight from breaking out. She could be peacemaker so much, but he and Itachi had to talk sooner or later.

"Itachi, why do you have that doll above your bed?" She gave Sasuke the thumbs up to let him know Itachi's heartbeat was normal.

"Obeah, of course. It's a part of life here. A servant insisted I hang it for protection - but it only works if you believe in it." You don't really believe in that then, aniki. "I wish I knew who put yours in your room - perhaps Karin?" he suggested with a blink. "She isn't a member of the church, but she respects the culture."

Karin - why didn't she give off that vibe? She wasn't even local. "I don't know why she would, but I won't let this nightmarish religion be put in our way of what is called reality," Sasuke stated coldly, sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling out the paperwork he printed last night.

Itachi chuckled before swallowing a cough. "It's not as frightening as many would think it is," he said, swallowing a vitamin Sakura gave him. It wouldn't affect him, but it would give him some nourishment to his blood and bones. "Of course, there are the two sides of the same coin - good and evil - to obtain the balance. The locals believe if you don't take it seriously as they, it becomes nothing more than disco."

Sakura giggled a little. "Disco as in drinking and dancing hard?"

"Dance, drink plenty of rum, smoke - and your head goes to different places, basically. I've participated on occasion in the street celebrations." Talk about getting loose...now I have an idea what may be causing these problems.

"Itachi," Sasuke said, "may it have been something in their drinks or perhaps the air that got into your blood, as you clearly stated over the phone?"

Now Itachi's expression became hazed, looking up at him through his lids. "You could say that, Sasuke, but it's going to cross lines you won't believe. Surely Shizune might have hinted what could be the matter with me. I know full well you would never believe what could be wrong with me." His tone spoke of a dry attempt at humor, but his eyes were hard.

"There are also some days where he would sit in his room and not respond - before he slips into comatose and after he wakes. He never acknowledges or speaks, not even a twitch. It's like he's...zombie."

"I find it hard to believe you could be turning into an undead. There is no such thing," Sasuke stated plainly, looking down at the data in his hands. "But there are rare diseases that make people believe they are, with a lack of memory of what they'd done, where they'd been and so on. They could get very sick and slip into comatose as you have. And with what you have now revealed to us, with the partying with the voodoo worshippers, it's likely to give us a new lead if it could very much be an intoxicant of some kind -"

He didn't expect his older brother to burst the way he did. Sakura yelped and stood on both feet just as Itachi lurched forward, eyes wild, hands gripping either armrest, and his lips pulled back into a snarl like a wild predator.

"I take back what I said about you being foolish, Sasuke," he croaked, snarling. "I assure you I did not take a poison to my knowledge. Dr. Winsvold couldn't even find such a thing you speak of except that it was a possible virus in the air. He took my blood and every other fluid sample to find the same thing and with dead ends. I'm beginning to wonder that I must have wasted my time if you're not willing to open your mind to new possibilities...foolish little brother."

Sasuke slowly stood up. He was ready to punch him, never mind this was his sickly brother, but Sakura stood between them with fire in her green eyes. "Stand down, Sasuke," she threatened, hand closed into a fist around the thermometer in hand - brandishing it as if it were a small dagger. She rarely showed this menacing side of her in their disagreements - but he might have crossed the line. And when you stepped in Sakura's path, make damned sure to not face the wrath of her fist.

Itachi chuckled as he watched the scene.

"...I'll be outside," Sasuke finally decided bitterly. He wasn't the sullen teenager anymore who used to pick fights to deal with his frustration, only to have big brother come to his rescue. He picked up his bag without a word, knowing Sakura could take care of him by herself. He didn't want to see him anymore today, but if he did, it would be too soon.

There was also still the matter of the clinic. Perhaps he could go into town and look into that, perhaps get some answers from a source that he thought was crazy as hell and against his better judgment, but who better than to ask J.B. to help?

Guess it means I have to do what he says if I am to get to the bottom of this. I don't like the idea of black magic and that mumbo-jumbo involved, but I don't have a choice. That meant to cool down, get a drink of rum to relax, and when he was fit, be out there with J.B. and find someone who could help him with his brother.

Karin smiled sweetly at him as she brought him a mango juice along with spiced whisky. It was a combination of sweet and strong he thought was odd, since he didn't have a sweet tooth - but he admitted the soft drinks were a marvelous exception that put him in a pleasant mood.

Reclining on the porch where he and Sakura spoke to Shizune only yesterday, he looked upon the cloudy sky which had just released a fresh new shower onto the crops and made the roads muddier - and the people were working on the sugar canes for the season - he thought back to seeing the long-haired, nude stranger that J.B. took when no one was looking...except himself. And now to look at Itachi this morning...

Was that YOU, nii-san?

~o~

J.B. was driving again, because it gave him something to do despite the fact Sasuke could do it himself. "Seriously, both my brother and his nurse think he is a zombie," he said in frustration, looking out at the scenery as they passed by. "I mean, I looked at his records, and everything is as it should be for a patient with encephalitis - but then the word 'undead' is brought up. Itachi looks like a normal living human being -"

Except in his eyes. He had the light, but it was unfocused.

"Any guess when the next comatose episode could happen, Doc?" J.B. asked nervously, keeping his eye on the road. Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly.

"If no one saw his last two coming, now would be no exception. But when it does happen, then I know just how to deal with this. I've treated several with this ailment." But third time could also mean...the final time for him. "Third time is the charm" - those words could be true.

The thought rose unbidden and at a time like this instead of before, because since it was Itachi, Sasuke Uchiha became afraid of losing his brother whom he knew he still loved so much despite all these years of being separate. It fueled his determination all the more. When he got home to Sakura, he was going to patch up his behavior and do what a good doctor would.

"My father could talk to you," J.B. told him with a cracked grin. "He a doctor like you - but no medical. He's a houngan, a kind of voodoo priest."

Voodoo priest. "Could he turn people into zombies then?" Sasuke asked, taking out his sunglasses to put over his eyes just as the sun was coming out. This startled his companion very much at the bold question about such things. "I'm asking just so I can understand. This is a long way from my field of expertise. How is it defined? Symptoms?"

There was a split second pause. "It's a...sickness of the soul. If your soul is ill, then you would know which medicines to give him."

The only medicines to give were ones related to the different forms of encephalitis. "Souls are still on the shelf beyond my own," Sasuke answered.

They were traveling further up the street and into bright green like Hawaii would be - he'd been there with Sakura during medical conferences, not for pleasure - and then descended into dark rainforest with the little cliffs...and then Sasuke spotted something utterly peculiar that he had to shout at J.B. to stop the car.

There, standing amid a collection of roots and vines, was a man. His face was painted with black-and-white, and a dull, faraway look was in his eye. He was staring right in their direction, but he made no effort to come their way. "J.B.," Sasuke uttered, "what is going on here?"

"Oh," the native said with a light laugh, "that is nothing to worry about, Doctor. It is a ceremony, like commuting with nature. Getting your head to stop thinking so much, so you could see more clear." The Uchiha nodded, biting his lip and urging him to drive them on away. That sight gave him the creeps.

But when that happened, the most horrifying moment that nearly got them both killed occurred when they were turning the corner on a cliff overlooking the forest below.

J.B. had mentioned how hot he was getting, which was common in this country. Sasuke had offered to trade places and drive, but he was refused yet again. Wiping the brow was a warning sign he spotted himself, but he was still declined. And what was the final straw were the widening of the eyes, sudden burst of screams and jerking of the wheels as if he was trying to get them both away from something on the side, and they would have leaped overhead had Sasuke not grabbed the wheel himself and turned so they sailed over a fallen shrubbery and screeched to safety. The rumbling impact nearly threw him out of his own body.

"That's it, move over. I'm driving."

What the hell was going on in this crazy town?

~o~

J.B.'s father was Julian, a healer whom much of the town would go and see in desperate times for their "souls", and he'd mended them with success. The medical clinic wasn't a threat to his business either, so Sakura would have no trouble helping those people as well as accepting Julian's consulting.

Outside the worshipping house was an old man who was sitting down, chained around the ankles, which baffled him. "He was poisoned by dust, turned into a zombie," J.B. told him. "Keep him there so he don't go to work for the obeah priest." By obeah priest, he must have meant someone more...malevolent.

So...there is another around here. If J.B.'s father can't make zombies himself, then this marks him the white magic man and the other one wicked and black. Sasuke Uchiha, you really are starting to get weirder and weirder like these people.

Inside the holy house, he was reminded of one of the smaller shrines in America and the Shinto back home, except this had a wooden beam ceiling threatening to fall apart with age, and the windows were curtained heavily to allow in little light. There stood Christ on his crucifix at the altar. Beneath the blessed savior were several lit candles and painted figurines of religious icons, flowers scattered here and there. It wasn't long before Sasuke was brought out of his reverie by the arrival of Father Julian himself, his son right behind him.

"I want to ask your advice regarding me and my wife's patient - none other than my brother, Itachi Uchiha." Sasuke took a breath. "He thinks someone has made him into a zombie."

It felt like a sacrilege to say such a word within these walls, and the stern-faced man in white seemed to agree. "I cannot help you," he said. "Only the obeah man. His magic to do such a thing to your brother is much more powerful than mine."

"Then can you put me in touch with this 'bigger man'?" Sasuke pressed. If this voodoo man is doing anything to harm Itachi, there is going to be hell to pay.

The sudden fear on Julian's face made Sasuke think back to his son's erratic reaction on the road. Doctoral instincts kicking in, he lunged forward just as J.B. helped his father sit down, saying medicines wouldn't help. So, Sasuke could only stand by, feeling helpless and frazzled, but at least he had a few ideas of how to think rationally. Even if his once-clear vision had become more clouded, mixing science with black magic.

He was going to tell Sakura when he got back to the house. And when he returned, she and Shizune were leaving Itachi's room, both women turning and smiling when they saw him arrive, but what he had to say wiped it off their faces.

I wanna say thanks for those reviewing and supporting. I never expected so much like that. XD I guess I don't have to say it, but I will anyway: review appreciated for this one.