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Training Sasuke Day Four,

He still can't climb all the way up a tree, though he is getting better. Naruto is as perky as ever, and it seems to be helping Sasuke a great deal. I, personally, am trying hard to keep from ripping my hair out or giving the Samehada a hug. If Kisame says I'm whipped one more time, we'll be having sushi for dinner. Except Naruto will want ramen. And I haven't had dango since this entire ordeal started. To summarize, this is much harder and more stressful than I thought, and pretty soon Leader-Sama is going to wonder what happened to us. Either that, or Kisame will figure out that I have ulterior motives, and he'll go back to the Base and tell on me.

Itachi looked up from his scroll, wondering why on earth he was writing all this down.

Sasuke and Naruto were still going at that tree, and Kisame was watching them with a somewhat amused expression on his face.

"Hey, Itachi-san."

Itachi looked at him.

"If Sasuke is just insane, why can't he used his chakra? I thought maybe the insanity had made him a little slow at figuring things out, but this is getting ridiculous. I think he's actually lost his capability to manipulate his own chakra."

Itachi scowled and watched his brother's movements as the duo ran up the tree once more. "He can still control some of it. If he couldn't, he wouldn't be improving at all, but he is. Slowly but surely, he is."

Kisame traced his finger in the dirt idly. "Right after he passed out and regained some memories was when he did his best. Maybe we should focus more on his memories and less on training."

Itachi nodded slowly. "We could try it, I guess. To be honest, this whole situation has me confused. I've been reading up on it—"

"Oh? Reading what?"

Itachi stared at him impassively. "They gave me access to some of Konoha's more sensitive documents and records for Sasuke's sake. I told you this would be beneficial to Akatsuki."

Kisame rolled his eyes and continued playing in the dirt.

"Anyways, I've been reading up on insanity and delusion in rogue ninjas, and Sasuke has several strange symptoms that don't line up right."

"Like?"

"Like most delusional people hear inanimate objects speaking to them. Very few get emotionally attached to them. They also tend to be violent and angry, not innocent and childlike. The chakra issue is new, too. Most of the other things are minor—like the cross-dressing and the belief that I'm a hallucination—but they are inconsistencies nonetheless." Itachi sighed, sealing the scroll in his hands and shoving it into his bag. "I'll continue to research it. In the meantime, we'll try the idea you suggested."

Itachi stood, picking up his bag and calling the two young ninjas. Naruto and Sasuke came over, and Kisame stood as well, cracking his back.

"What is it, Faketachi?" Sasuke asked, panting from the recent exertion.

"We're going to try and gather some more memories like the one you had before. We think it will help your training."

"Oh! Okay!" Sasuke didn't seem to notice that he was missing memories in the first place, and anytime he was confronted about it, he said that nothing but Planty mattered. "So where are we going to go?"

"First we're going to see if you can remember anything on your own. Are there any places that you think are important?" Itachi questioned.

The raven scratched his chin for a moment, frowning. "Uh… the training grounds?"

Itachi nodded. "You probably spent quite a bit of time there, yes. Is there anything else?"

Sasuke was quiet for several more moments, and then he shook his head. "No, I can't think of anything."

"Naruto?" Itachi sighed, turning to the blonde for help.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Sasuke never really did anything but train, eat, sleep, study, and go on missions."

Itachi's lips twitched into a slight frown. "There had to be something else he did with his time."

"Nah, not really. Although, there was this one time we tried to see what was under Kakashi-sensei's mask! But that backfired…"

Sasuke, no longer interested in the conversation, ran over to Planty and Mr. Roary, picking both of them up and walking towards a nearby stream. Itachi sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose.

I wanted him to become powerful—not work himself to death and have no life!

"Fish!"

The trio turned towards the creek where Sasuke was running over the stones, looking into the water and giggling like a madman.
"Fishy, fishy, fishy! I can see you! I can see you!"

Itachi snapped his fingers to get Sasuke's attention. "Sasuke, get over here. We're leaving."

"I can see you, little fishy!" Sasuke laughed obliviously, chasing the little creature down the stream in the opposite direction. "I can see you! I can see—"

"Sasuke! Get over here this instant!"

Sasuke stood very still in the water, staring down at his feet.

Kisame sniggered.

Sushi it is.

"Sasuke!"

"I can… see… you…?" Sasuke looked up at the sky, still holding Planty and Mr. Roary to his chest. "I can…"

Itachi sighed heavily, storming over to his brother and grabbing his arm. "Sasuke, I told you to—"

Sasuke whirled on him, sharingan ablaze, and Itachi froze, watching him very carefully.

If he's having a flashback of some sort, attacking him and disrupting it could damage him severely. But… is he remembering something or throwing a childish fit? That's the question.

"Sasuke… what's the problem?"

Sasuke stared at him for several moments. His eyes widened, a look of terror flashing across his face. He released Mr. Roary, his shaking hand travelling up to his shoulder. Gripping it, he whimpered, staring at his brother with perhaps the most pitiful expression Itachi had ever seen. Planty fell into the water. Sasuke ground his teeth together, his knuckles turning white.

Sasuke hit his knees, a blood-curdling scream ripping through his jaws.

Itachi lurched forwards, catching him before he could fall into the creek completely. "Sasuke!"

Sasuke let out another scream, gripping Itachi's shirt and jerking as if he were having a seizure.

"Sasuke!" Naruto ran towards them, splashing into the water. "Sasuke, what's wrong?"

"Naruto, get his stuff and follow me."

Naruto did as he was told, and Itachi picked his brother up, carrying him towards the shore. "The best thing to do in this situation is to remain calm and assess the facts."

Itachi put Sasuke down on the grass, placing him on his back and checking his vitals, breathing, and pulse. Naruto and Kisame watched over his shoulder.

"He's stable but in pain." Itachi slid the dress from Sasuke's shoulder, looking at the once black curse seal. Now it was a deep violet color.

Violet? It's supposed to be red or black. Nothing else.

Itachi pressed a hand to the mark, sitting Sasuke up slowly and pulling him against his chest. "Breathe, Sasuke, it will pass." Probably.

"It h-hurts, Faktachi!" Sasuke wailed again, trembling in the Akatsuki's arms.

A shadow fell over them, and Itachi looked up. Kisame stared at him with something like faint concern in his eyes.

"Is there anything you want me to do, Itachi-san?"
Itachi thought for a second and then shook his head. "No, we just need to get him home." Itachi slowly stood up, pulling Sasuke with him. "Let's go back into town and try to make him comfortable."

Kisame nodded, walking over to the trees and gathering their bags. Naruto followed him, and Itachi picked Sasuke up bridal style, carrying him towards Konoha.

Tonight is going to be a very long night.

A\N: Please review!