Author's Note: I suck at writing fights, though I picture them well enough in my head…hence, I'm sorry if this disappoints you but you'll have to imagine a lot if not all of the fight between Sasuke's team and the group from Konoha… Like I said, sorry but I just can't get the flow of fight scenes down… Anyways, have fun and don't forget to comment/review!


Promises to Keep, Chapter Nine: The Return


Kurai shifted easily into Zetsu's range: he wanted the plant-like shinobi to sense him and divert attention away from the rest of the group from Konoha. If Zetsu was distracted by Kurai, then the others could sneak up on Team Eagle and Kisame. Sure enough, moments after he slipped into Zetsu's range, the venus fly trap man appeared out of the ground behind Kurai and launched a jutsu at him. Dodging, Kurai unleashed a Great Fireball and hit the plant man head on: Zetsu cursed as he put the flames out and was forced out of his hiding spot.

"So you knew that I was there…" Zetsu said thoughtfully, looking his opponent over carefully: Kurai was already injured from the way he was moving, though not recently. The wounds were probably more than half-healed if he was able to maintain that level of flexibility and keep from getting hit: the injuries were no longer a liability and, as such, were of no consequence to Zetsu… He could not use them against the wolf bijuu's host. "But I wonder if you can keep up with me!" Zetsu said before sinking back into the landscape and slipping away into a nearby cliff-face: Kurai was there and Zetsu cursed in shock as the former Akatsuki member caught him when he left the rock to dodge the blow aimed where his head had just been. Kurai knew that one-on-one, close-combat was the best way to beat Zetsu, since the plant shinobi preferred to make long-range attacks and often avoided direct contact period. So he was just forcing his hand, forcing Zetsu out where he could get a hold of him and rip his head off. Therefore, Kurai was not expecting the dagger that found its way into his ribcage and left lung, sinking hungrily into his chest cavity and sending a gush of blood from the deep wound: bright crimson blood, the brightest blood in the body…blood from the lungs. He felt the lung fill with the bright fluid and then collapse, unable to function when filled with the very life-giving liquid it oxygenated. Snarling while blood dripped from his lips, Kurai caught Zetsu's throat in one hand and lifted the other man well above his head before launching him with all the force he could towards the cliff-face fifty yards away: this sent the plant shinobi flying right over the heads of the Leaf platoons and the five Akatsuki shinobi. All of them turned as one to look between Zetsu's limp form and Kurai's formidable one as the Rokubi incarnate stalked towards them while roaring his rage and ripping the dagger from his chest, spilling even more of his blood as he came.

"That was low Zetsu…especially for you." Kurai snarled savagely as he caught the Grass shinobi's skull in one hand and sent a large amount of his deadly black electrical chakra surging into the man's body: Zetsu died screaming, by means of electrocution at the hands of the Black Death that was Kurai. Slowly, he turned to glare at Kisame and they all saw the shark-like man shudder as Kurai's Mangekyou Sharingan bore into his very soul, pinning him with a powerful genjutsu. Kurai moved faster than lightning, striking Kisame even as the shark was released from the genjutsu and barely managed to swing his Samehada at his attacker: so far, Sasuke and his Team Eagle had remained out of the fight, along with the others from Konoha…Kurai had specifically told them not to engage unless Team Eagle or Kisame did so first. An angry snarl of rage and pain escaped from Kurai as Samehada ripped into his right side, but he ignored the pain, pulling himself further up the sword instead so that he could land a powerful kick to Kisame's gut. Kisame was sent stumbling back several feet and Kurai used sheer willpower to wrest the Samehada from the larger man, driving it into the ground as far as the hilt. Black sparks of electricity were crackling off of Kurai and into the space around him, rippling over the surface of trees, the ground, and rocks while killing all plant life it touched from the sheer heat of it. Kisame smiled appreciatively as he wiped a trickle of blood from his chin.

"I should have expected that." He chuckled as he straightened up, facing Kurai as the smaller man tested one hand against the vicious wounds to his right side: Samehada was not made for cutting or slicing, but for ripping and tearing flesh in the fashion of a shark's jaws and teeth. Kurai snarled at the sharp stabs of pain that were incessantly firing through his body, vaguely aware that he was losing insane amounts of blood: Kisame seemed to have gotten lucky. Samehada had hit a major blood vessel on top of Kurai's already collapsed lung that continued to leak dangerously bright blood with every breath he took. "Nothing less from you…it's like fighting Itachi-san again, before he got sick." Kurai felt something in him crack at the mention of his twin's name and his 'illness'…if Kisame added any more pressure, whatever it was would shatter; Kurai had a sneaking suspicion that he was feeling the deterioration of his self-control and that he would become blood-drunk if Kisame kept it up. Kisame launched a series of jutsu at him, which he dodged easily before appearing behind the shark and slamming his right elbow down onto Kisame's left temple as the larger man turned to connect a retaliating punch to Kurai's already injured ribcage. Kurai twisted at an impossible angle and spun away in midair, with a grunt of pain, before landing in a wolf-like crouch snarling while he prepared to lunge at the shark. "Come on, Kurai-san…if you're going to look and act just like him, then give me a fight worthy of Itachi-san!" Sasuke made the slightest indication of interest as his eyes flickered between Kisame and this man, Kurai, whom he had never seen nor heard of prior to this encounter. Kisame kept referring to his brother when speaking to Kurai…and it was making Kurai very dangerous; even Team Eagle could see that much.

Kurai gave a roar-like snarl and vanished: Naruto and the others who were watching the fight all gasped as the Rokubi incarnate reappeared directly behind Kisame and sent his bare hand through the older and larger man's stomach, purposely missing all bones and vital points. The shark-like shinobi's mouth opened in a startled exclamation and blood spilled out, much in the fashion of vomit, as Kurai withdrew his hand and dealt another blow to his opponent's chest, piercing the spinal column but not the heart. When Kurai easily slid his hand out of his victim's chest with a low growl, Kisame staggered a few steps before falling to his knees and landing face-down in the dirt, either unconscious or dead: no one was going to stop and check which as Suigetsu decided to 'claim' Samehada. The other Mist shinobi didn't even touch the hilt before Kurai was standing next to him and had flung out a straight punch into the side of Suigetsu's face, sending him down into the dirt and skidding to a halt several feet away. Rolling his neck and shoulders, thereby eliciting a spine-chilling series of cracks, Kurai met Sasuke's cold gaze with a look that he had not used for several years: he had not needed his assassin's training or his impersonal, piercing Sharingan eyes for a very long time… Since his tenth birthday, just the mention of his name had been enough to send grown, war-hardened shinobi fleeing in fear of him. Now, Kurai felt a small fleeting sense of pride that Sasuke's own Sharingan faltered for only a moment when faced with this strange new user of his clan's inheritance: Itachi had once given him that same look, eight years previously, before they became what they had always been denied as brothers…they had become friends, for better or worse, and had fought to protect the same precious things. Kurai chuckled noncommittally as he turned to face all of the others who were present, not just Sasuke, and made a rather bold comment.

"Let's try something different, shall we Sasuke? A tournament of sorts…one of Team Eagle against one of ours: four duels, eight combatants, only four winners. We will keep setting one-on-one duels until one side lacks challengers: if all four of you are beaten, we win and vice versa. The losers will be prisoners to the opposing side and since there are thirteen of us and four of you, it seems like an interesting set of odds." As he spoke, Kurai felt his wounds trying to begin the painful and sometimes slow process of knitting themselves back together: he could already tell that this was going to be one of the slow times and that repeat offenses against his protesting body would undoubtedly give him excruciating results. He could see Sasuke's mind turning his proposal over and over and he let a slight smirk make its way onto his face. Sasuke scowled before nodding to the only female member of Eagle…a girl named Karin if Kurai recalled correctly. "Alright then: who wants to kick Karin's ass? Sakura, care for the honors?" Sakura blinked once as if coming out of a daze before setting her features into a firm mask of resolve and stepping forward to face Karin. A moment later brought the bruised and angry form of Suigetsu to stand nearby, waiting for his opponent: Sai gave his eerie fake smile as he stepped forward to take Suigetsu. Juugo did not move, but then Kurai had not expected him to: Kurai had known Juugo when he was tailing Orochimaru but had not yet joined Akatsuki. He knew that Juugo would not attack until his killing urge took over and then they would need several people to fight him. Finally, Sasuke and Naruto both stepped forward, facing each other in a duel that had long ago been decided. Kurai decided to stand back and watch for the moment: he would jump in as soon as any of them needed him, but he was more concerned with keeping a lookout for Madara than he was with the battles of the others. "Yamato, don't interfere until you have to, but keep an eye on Naruto just in case. Everyone else, hang back and keep an eye on Juugo, the one who refuses to fight: when he does jump into the fray, he'll be a force to be reckoned with. More importantly…Hinata, I would like you to keep an eye on the chakra of Naruto and the others, but you should also keep an eye out for anyone else approaching us: I should detect them long before you do, but just in case they slip past me, your Byakugan will be handy."

~Back in Konoha~

Amaya frowned as she walked into the hospital, heading purposefully towards Kakashi's room: the Copy Nin had yet to awaken and she was intent on examining him for herself. She was by no means as good a medic as Tsunade, but she was close if not on Shizune's level thanks to Tsuchino's tutoring and the skills of the Shichibi: she was still learning, but soon she would be one of Konoha's best medics if the Shichibi's skills continued to expand her own knowledge and abilities. Sighing, she ignored the nurses that tried to stop her from entering the ICU and simply walked over to Kakashi's room, where she knocked on the door before pushing it the rest of the way open. The sight that greeted her made her smile fondly at Iruka: the Academy instructor had his head on the bed, slouched over in his chair, sound asleep. Picking up the fallen papers of Iruka's students, Amaya set them on the table and lifted a blanket over Iruka's shoulders while stroking a few stray hairs from his face. She then turned her attention to Kakashi and was pleased to see one lazy eye cracked open a bit, watching her with intense curiosity.

"Welcome back to the world of the living Kakashi-niisan." Amaya whispered affectionately as she leaned delicately on the bed opposite Iruka. "Did you have a nice sleep?"

"How long…?" Kakashi began and Amaya made a light tsk-ing sound.

"You were in a coma: it's been roughly a week since Pein attacked Konoha." She felt a small stab of worry for Naruto, Sasuke, and Kurai as she spoke but she quickly shook it off. "A team of thirteen went to meet Sasuke and his platoon, as well as any Akatsuki members that might be with them. They group left last night and are probably fighting right now: they're about fifty miles outside of the farthest reaches of the village."

"Who went?" Came the barbed demand; Kakashi was not asking to be briefed, he was insisting on it.

"Yamato and Team 7, Tsuchino heading Team 8, and Hatori leading Team 10 with Kurai as the leader for all three platoons. Teams 8 and 10 are mainly for back-up and defensive purposes while Team 7 will actually engage in combat with Sasuke and his team. Kurai went strictly to find and kill Zetsu of Akatsuki, since that man is always acting as the leader's eyes and ears: he would not let Sasuke out of his sight without some form of surveillance." Amaya spoke in such a way that she startled Kakashi. :Who is this woman and what has she done with Minato-sensei's daughter?: He quickly canceled this train of thought as Amaya resumed her account of the mission's specifics. "They are expected to return in three days or less, depending on the length and severity of combat and resulting injuries. However, since they have not one but three medics with them, one of whom is on Shizune's level, the injuries should not be too bad by the time they return to Konoha; unless one of them is critically injured, then wounds should all be treatable by one or all three of the medics. Before you ask, Sakura is obviously present, but so are Ino and Tsuchino. Kurai knows a fair deal of medical jutsu as well, but he is going to be one of the core combatants and will mainly be concentrating on healing Sasuke, Naruto, and himself." Iruka began to stir so Amaya decided that she should probably leave it at that for the day and bid Kakashi farewell. She then walked from the Hospital over to Kurenai's to visit the older female Jounin and found that Kurenai already had visitors: Izumo and Kotetsu had brought Kurenai some groceries and were busy unpacking them in the kitchen as Kurenai led Amaya into her home.

"Really Kurenai…I only wanted to stop by and say hello. You don't have to invite me in." Amaya smiled as she apologetically waved away Kurenai's insistence that she at least have a cup of tea. After a few moments, Amaya gave in and meekly followed the older woman into her home for a cup of tea while Kotetsu snickered and Izumo gave her a sympathetic smile: both knew that Amaya probably didn't want tea and had only stopped by to check because of loyalty to Asuma and a promise to Shikamaru that she would do so. Anyone could tell you that Amaya was normally at Ichiraku's this time of day, enjoying a large bowl of ramen and drinking a large glass of water: Amaya had never been a big fan of tea, regardless of the kind. As Kurenai shooed both men out of her kitchen and Izumo sat beside her on the couch, Amaya felt an indescribable pain all over her body and an image of Kurai, badly injured and bleeding profusely, flashed through her mind as she screamed: the sound of shattering tea mugs were barely heard over her cry of anguish.

~The battlefield~

Kurai predicted their attacks and was moving between them before he had time to think: he felt like he was moving in super-slow motion. Sasuke was going to use Amaterasu and Naruto was setting up for a Rasen-shuriken: if they hit each other, they'd both die…and Kurai couldn't let them kill each other. Without any regard for his own recklessness and the imminent damage to his person, Kurai caught Sasuke's face with one hand and tossed his youngest brother as far away as he could -and none too gently at that- before he turned to face Naruto's oncoming Rasen-shuriken. Naruto saw him and panic was written as plain as day across the boy's face: it was too late to stop or change targets. The attack hit Kurai full on and he was consumed by the explosion of chakra even as he shifted the concentration of Rokubi's chakra within him from only minimal amounts to enormous amounts: he was trying absorb the impact rather than fight it. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, this seemed to work, but only to a certain degree. He managed to negate the most dangerous aspect of the attack, the needle-like wind blades of Naruto's chakra, from severing the nerves on the cellular level by feeding his own electrical chakra into the needles. This transformed them into something that was still deadly and sharp, but kept the attack from severing his nerves. Rather than attacking his nerves, the needles became larger and cut into his muscles and organs instead: it was like being hit by massive amounts of shrapnel from every conceivable angle. When the attack subsided, he was still standing in the center of the crater while swaying ever so slightly on his feet; his entire body was covered in cuts, gashes, slices over the wounds he had already had before jumping between the two teens. Blood was flowing from his side and his chest, as well as from the corners of his mouth and every other open wound he had acquired: the ground below his feet and nearby was completely soaked in the crimson liquid. Kurai tried to concentrate of healing the wounds, but his thoughts had gone hazy and he was disoriented.

:You cannot heal this, cublet; not with more than half of our chakra being used to keep your mate healthy. Your body is going to give out on you and you'll go into a coma until you heal completely.: Rokubi's voice sounded far away and grossly distorted…Kurai gave a light gurgling chuckle past the blood in his lungs and mouth as he realized that if he couldn't heal, then he could very well die this time. He could hear shouts and general disorder around him, but he paid it no heed as he collapsed onto one knee, propping himself up on the other. Soon, he could feel someone running a hand over him, infused with healing chakra, trying to assess the extent of the damage: he assumed that it was Tsuchino, but he didn't care if it was or not. He allowed his mind to go blank, but he retained consciousness out of sheer willpower. The result was a zombie-like state: he would move and do as Tsuchino instructed, but he was not aware that he was doing anything other than coping with the pain. Indeed, the last time he had been like this was when he was five, nine days before Naruto was born and the Kyuubi attacked Konoha: he had not been responsive that day either, merely an empty shell doing as told while trying to block out the unfathomable pain he was experiencing.

"Hatori…is it just me or is Kurai taking longer to heal himself than normal?" Tsuchino whispered fearfully as she examined Kurai and healed some of his injuries as she could. Naruto was sitting on the edge of the crater, unable to move as he watched in horror while Tsuchino tended to Kurai. As for Sasuke, he was lying unconscious nearby where Hatori had laid him; Kurai appeared to have used Tsukuyomi on the boy when he had tossed him. Sakura had just connected a blow to Karin's face, rendering the other girl unconscious as well, while Sai had been forced to let Hinata take over Suigetsu; the water shinobi was now wisely sitting near to his unconscious teammates and was unable to effectively use his chakra thanks to Hinata's gentle fist. She had not targeted his internal chakra coils, but she had made it so he would not be able to use his chakra for several days unless he received medical attention. Juugo had gone down when he saw that all the others were defeated: he had been going against Chouji, Ino, and Shikamaru's assault.

"You're imagining things Tsuchino; Kurai will heal himself in no time!" Hatori said gruffly, not willing to admit that he was actually concerned about a man that he still thought of as a criminal. "Besides, why should we be helping him? All we have to go on is that Tsunade appears to trust him and that Amaya cares for him. Who's to say that he isn't spying on Konoha for Akatsuki under the guise of false friendship and loyalty?"

"Hatori, how can you say that? He was taught Hiraishin by the Yondaime Hokage! Of course he's loyal to Konoha!" Tsuchino demanded of her husband while looking positively scandalized by his suggestion. "Oh, never mind! I don't want to hear your excuses and we need to get everyone back to Konoha." She then turned her attention to Chouji and Ino. "Can the two of you support Kurai between you? I don't think he'll get very far on his own…" The two teens nodded and immediately did as asked while Sai took a firm hold of the ropes that had been used to bind Suigetsu's hands. Sakura managed to get Naruto to pull himself together and they supported Sasuke between them while Hatori slung Karin roughly over one shoulder. Juugo was surrounded on all sides by Hinata, Kiba and Akamaru, Shino, and Yamato while Tsuchino took the lead with Shikamaru in the rear. The group then moved out as one, set on covering the fifty miles to the outskirts of Konoha and then the short distance to the hospital as quickly as possible. It took them surprisingly less time than they'd thought it would; they came upon the very farthest reach of the village a little over an hour later. They moved right past the gates and ignored the ANBU that instantly appeared as a guard around them. When they reached the hospital, Tsunade was waiting for them out front: she took a single look at Kurai and rushed him inside without saying a word. The rest of the group followed suit and entered the hospital, only to be rewarded with medics converging on them and healing all of them of even the smallest of scrapes. Suigetsu was left without medical treatment, since they did not want him trying to pick fights and escape. Moments after they'd all been examined, the doors to the large room where they had all been put to wait for Tsunade were flung nearly of the hinges: there stood Amaya, out of breath and sweating, with Izumo not but two steps behind her. It appeared that she had run all the way from Kurenai's home to the hospital and had not stopped once along the way. She spotted her brother and quickly rushed over, cupping one marked cheek in her palm and forcing him to look at her.

"Naruto, what happened?" She asked kindly, titling the same blue eyes she knew so well from her memories of their father up to meet her own blue-green ones that she'd inherited from their mother. "Kurai was hurt badly wasn't he?" She asked again and he nodded glumly, unable to meet her gaze. Sighing, she pulled him into a hug and softly stroked his hair: she and Jiraiya had told her that she was his sister the morning after Kurai had brought the Toad Sannin back. As if on cue, Jiraiya walked into the room from the direction of the Hokage tower and sighed as he saw Naruto silently crying into Amaya's shoulder. She knew he was crying and did not care; she just kept lovingly stroking his blond hair and murmuring soft nothings to calm him the way their mother had always calmed her. She knew that the others who were watching all had their suspicions as to who she was, but she also knew that they were probably well off-base.

"Amaya, do you really think you should be here?" Izumo asked tentatively before blinking in shock: Amaya gave him a soft smile and in that moment, she looked for all the world like Kushina, but it was gone in a flash and she was herself again.

"Where else do I have to go? My whole family is here, Izumo, so this is where I must be. Go back to Kotetsu and Kurenai; I think I might have worried them. Kotetsu is liable to over-react and Kurenai doesn't need that; besides, you always were the more sensible of the two of you." Amaya laughed as she gently told the concerned elite Ch nin to go home and stop worrying. After a moment, Izumo did as she'd said and left; as soon as he was gone, Amaya made Naruto take a seat and she leaned over the still unconscious Sasuke, whose head was in Sakura's lap where he'd been stretched out on the floor. She allowed her chakra to reach out and probe at Sasuke's: Kurai had told her that he'd absorbed Orochimaru, but she couldn't feel the snake anywhere on him. So, she assumed that someone must have forced Orochimaru out of his body: the only way to confirm this for certain was to check his Heaven curse seal. She gently and deftly pulled his shirt back to check the mark and she was not surprised to find that it had vanished. Her brow furrowed as she heard him say something, barely audible and almost completely unintelligible.

"Killed him…Itachi…avenged them…he removed…Itachi…" The only parts of it that made any sense to Amaya were where Sasuke said 'killed him', 'avenged them', and Itachi's name: the rest was like a cryptic code that would be impossible to decipher without first gaining the key. Sighing, Amaya decided that he must have killed Itachi and that, since Orochimaru had been removed from him, the reference to removing something must mean that Itachi had removed Orochimaru personally before he died. She would have much to discuss with Kurai, but right now she was worried about what he'd done to Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun…can you hear me at all?" Amaya asked as she brushed some of his hair out of his face: Karin was now awake, but she and the other members of Sasuke's team were wisely remaining submissive. Amaya didn't want to be forced to do so, but she could easily incapacitate all of them if she needed to; she assumed that they'd either sensed this or were just playing it safe due to the fact that they were outnumbered three to one. Sasuke made a slightly pained sound and tried to roll away from her touch, which only confirmed her guess that Kurai had not used a true Tsukuyomi on him. Sakura had been babbling while she was examining his curse seal that he acted like he had when Itachi had used Tsukuyomi on him: now, Amaya was certain that it was not a true Tsukuyomi, merely a very good imitation that Kurai had probably invented specifically to avoid damaging his eyes. "Relax Sakura-chan: this is not Tsukuyomi, merely a very good imitation. Kurai wouldn't use Tsukuyomi because Sasuke-kun can counter it and because it damages the user's vision the more you use it. He also avoids using Amaterasu or Susano'o unless absolutely necessary, just like Itachi; however, Itachi made it a habit to use Tsukuyomi, though he limited the number of daily uses. No, this looks more like Kurai's Dance of the Devil than it does the Tsukuyomi which means that Sasuke-kun should wake up in about ten minutes. He'll be either be pissed or very disoriented, depending on what Kurai forced him to listen to and watch while in the genjutsu." She gave a wry chuckle as she realized that Kurai may have forced him to see the true version of the Uchiha Massacre; may have forced him to see that Itachi had truly only killed Shisui, Fugaku, and Mikoto while Kurai had killed everyone else. She knew that whatever Madara had told him, it was not the truth. Naturally, some of it would have been the truth or a slightly altered version of the truth, but the story as a whole would never be truth as long as it was issuing from Madara's mouth. Perhaps Sasuke would know of her relationship to Itachi, courtesy of Kurai…she hoped not, for Kurai's sake because if he did, then Kurai was in for a royal ass-kicking as soon as he recovered. Closing her eyes against the throb behind them, Amaya rose to her feet and decided that something had to be done about Team Eagle.

"Jiraiya, you are aware that Tsunade has made you, Kurai and myself her advisors, correct?" Jiraiya nodded and a small smile was creeping over his face: he had an idea of what she was up to, and he liked it. "Very well then; by the authority given to me by the Godaime, I am sending all of our own ninja home to rest unless they are required to be present. As for Team Eagle…well, let's just say the three of you aren't going anywhere." She gave them a small, emotionless smile as she formed a short series of hand signs at impossible speeds. "Diamond Immobilization!" Her dark red clay suddenly wrapped around their wrists, necks, ankles, and waists before hardening into blood red diamond manacles bound together by chains made of the same red diamond: the red diamond was filled with Amaya's chakra and was therefore impossible to break unless you knew the weakness of the jutsu…and only two people had ever figured it out, one of whom was dead and the other might be dying. "Struggle all you like," Amaya said as she returned her attention to the now stirring Sasuke. "You'll never figure out how to get those off and the more you try, the deeper into your skin they'll bite; so, be my guest and kill yourselves by cutting open all your major blood vessels. Really, I won't care because I won't be the one who has to clean up the mess." As she spoke, Teams 8 and 10 left, leaving only Team 7 and Hatori, Tsuchino, and Jiraiya in the room with Amaya and Sasuke. The young Uchiha groaned as he pushed himself into a sitting position, not seeming to realize that it was Sakura whose lap he'd been using as a pillow as he passed a hand over his eyes. "Saw some very interesting things, did you?" Amaya asked casually as she held out a hand for him to take: she was certain that he remembered her from all the times she'd followed Itachi home.

"Where…what…?" Sasuke asked groggily, obviously very unsettled and confused. Reflexively, he took Amaya's proffered hand and she helped him to gain his balance and footing before letting go. It was at that precise moment when she let go that everything finally seemed to click in the young Uchiha's mind: he met her eyes and his jaw dropped open ever so slightly as his gaze did a rapid sweep of his surroundings. "Konoha Hospital…?" He snapped his jaw shut and pressed his kips into a firm line of displeasure as he glared at Amaya. "Why was I brought here? I know better than to attack you, Amaya-onésan; you'd have me trapped in one of your diamond prisons before I could touch you. I heard you were made an ANBU…tell me, did anyone tell you about Itachi?" He saw her flinch slightly and decided that whether she knew or not, he was going to tell her. "I killed him with my own two hands a month ago; I have avenged my clan, but now I will avenge my brother." He was startled as he saw the tears slide down her cheeks even as she burst into a fit of laughter.

"You will avenge Itachi…" She laughed even harder as more tears slid down her face; she had guessed that he was dead, but she was surprised by how well she was able to control her grief. She supposed that her body knew what her heart could not accept: the time for true grief would come later, when there were no witnesses, but right now she needed to give Sasuke a long-overdue wake-up call. "And yet you are the one who killed him! So, pray tell me how you propose to avenge your brother when his killer is the one who wishes to do the avenging; I am so dying to know your reasoning, Sasuke-kun."

"He was ordered to kill the clan; he had no choice and they made his life hell for it! I plan to kill the elders who ordered my clan's murder!" Sasuke said coldly while continuing to give her an impassive glare despite his now activated three-tomoe Sharingan. "I will make Konoha suffer as it has made my family suffer and then I will revive my clan; nothing else is of importance to me."

"I see…" Amaya said with a sad shake of her fire-gold head. "So Madara got to you even with the precautions that your brothers took for you." She sighed as she took a seat, suddenly feeling very dizzy and nauseous, but mostly just plain tired. "Itachi killed the clan because they were in fact planning a coup d'état to overthrow the council and assume control of Konoha. He meant it when he said he had lost all hope for the clan, but he did not include you in that category: he never lost hope for you. I should know that better than anyone, since I kept in regular contact with him until he broke ties with me two months ago to prepare for his fight with you…and his subsequent death. You forget, Sasuke-kun, that Itachi and I were best friends before he killed the clan; such ties are not so easily broken as to be severed by something that I never believed to begin with. Besides, I had Kurai to tell me the part that he played in the clan's annihilation; I'm certain that Madara omitted those crucial details."

"Stop trying to protect them!" Sasuke snapped angrily as he took one threatening step towards Amaya; she gave him a look as if to say 'Just try it and I'll make your whole body hurt for three months.' "And who the hell is this Kurai bastard? No such person ever existed in the Uchiha clan!"

"No, but Takeshi Uchiha did; perhaps you saw his dossier when you read the documents in the Uchiha shrine. If you didn't, then allow me to elaborate!" Amaya caught Sasuke's face in her hand, pressing firmly to keep him from avoiding her gaze. "Takeshi Uchiha was born on June ninth twenty-one years ago, precisely four minutes and thirteen seconds before Itachi was: Takeshi Uchiha was Itachi's elder twin brother and your eldest brother. However, he was seen as a potentially deadly threat to the village by Danzo and the two advisors, so they convinced the rest of the council to overpower the Third and later the Fourth to have the child disposed of before he was even a day old. The Third managed to make a compromise with the council to have the boy locked in a room in the Hokage tower with five ANBU to guard him and care for him at all times until he was six months old. At that age, if he had not presented himself as a threat, he would be given to Orochimaru to raise and train as a shinobi: in the end, he was given to Orochimaru and became that freak's favorite plaything for nearly all of the first two years of his life. On his second birthday, he had made such impossible progress that he had to be hidden from the rest of the village; people were asking too many questions about a two-year-old genin. So, he was given to Danzo and put into Root. He once told me and Itachi these words precisely: 'In Root…you have no name, no feelings, no past, and no future; all that exists is the mission. To forfeit the mission is to forfeit your life, for failure is not forgiven when you are the best at what you do; I am the best and being what I am, the line made up of those after my head is very, very long. The result is that I stopped caring about the clan's acceptance and intentions years ago; they are of no importance to me. I care only for my brothers and for those who I have sworn to protect with my life, for I do not lie nor break my word. My life is nothing without my mission to protect those who are precious to me and mine.' Itachi was always the same way: his brothers weighed more than the village, but the village was still one of his top priorities. Itachi did not kill the clan, Sasuke-kun…he only killed Shisui and your parents, so that you would see him and become stronger so that you could one day kill him. You had never even heard of Kurai, so it would have been useless for you to wish to kill him: you would not have gained Mangekyou from killing someone you had never been close to."

"Are you saying that I have another brother out there somewhere? Because I'm finding that very hard to believe Amaya-onésan; you have no proof. Although this Takeshi is real, I know because like you said, I read the files on him in the shrine, it says he died during the Kyuubi attack." Sasuke said quietly.

"Indeed." Amaya said noncommittally, raising one eyebrow in mock interest. "Well, Danzo certainly covered his tracks well…that just means that the clan was told he died during the Kyuubi attack, not that he was really killed. In fact, I think that was shortly after you were born…he'd sworn to protect you and Itachi no matter what on the day you were born; he told me so himself not but three days ago. Of course, he goes by an alias now, one that Danzo gave him the day after the Kyuubi attack when he was put in charge of caring for Naruto until his third birthday. Now, his name is Kurai Rokue and he is listed as an S-rank criminal and a missing nin in nearly every country; however, he never lost his status as a Jounin of Konoha and he was in regular contact with Jiraiya, since he'd been assigned to monitor Orochimaru on his ninth birthday. He was recruited into Akatsuki when Orochimaru joined two years later: by then he had earned the nickname of 'Black Death' and was well-known for his affinity for lightning attacks. In case you haven't put it together yet, the man that jumped in to save you and Naruto from killing each other is your brother. I won't say anything more, since he'll probably want to talk to you himself. However, he did have Danzo and the elders locked up and made to tell you anything you wish to know; then he plans to either kill them himself or let you have them…he figures that Amaterasu would be a fitting death for them." It was at this point that Tsunade emerged from the emergency ICU and Amaya ignored anything that Sasuke or the others had to say as she rose and quickly went to Tsunade's side, Jiraiya not but a step behind her. "Tsunade-bachan…?" Her silent question was fragile and full of fear.

"His body has stopped healing itself; he has almost no chakra, though he is still producing vast quantities to transfer to that seal he put on you. In other words, he's letting himself suffer in order to make sure that you stay healthy and don't lose that baby." Tsunade agitatedly wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, leaving a small smear of what could be either blood or disinfectant, since both liquids were of similar coloring. "I've given him painkillers and medications, but I can't do much else aside from stitching him up: Rokubi's chakra, what little of it he's maintaining in his body anyway, keeps electrifying anyone who tries to heal him." Amaya nodded slowly, understanding the situation but not wanting to accept it.

"When can I see him?" She asked softly, still ignoring everyone else in the room.

"You can go in anytime, but he isn't responsive…" Tsunade met Jiraiya's eyes and both of them understood each other perfectly. "He's lapsed into a coma, Amaya…and we have no way of telling when he'll wake up."

"You forgot to say 'if', Tsunade-bachan…" Amaya smiled sadly at the much older woman and decided that now would be a good time to demand that Danzo and the advisors tell Sasuke the whole truth. "Well, I think that we should deal with Danzo and the advisors now, since Sasuke is awake: what do you think Tsunade-bachan?" Tsunade nodded and Hatori was sent to fetch them from their places in Konoha's prison. And so it was that when the three were brought into the room, they told Sasuke everything that they knew about Itachi and Kurai, starting at the beginning and working through time right up to the present with Jiraiya giving details about Kurai's time with Akatsuki, when he had severed his connection to Danzo and the advisors, after the Third's death. Amaya remained deathly silent, not saying anything about her relationship with Itachi or the one she was now forming with Kurai. When all was said and done, Sasuke looked like he had just had everything ripped from him only to be replaced with an insane new reality. She felt for him, having been raised with no memory of her real family and identity, from the time she was three to believe that she was someone she wasn't; then, when she regained her memories, she had felt like her whole world was crumbling in around her while she was just trying to get a solid foothold. She knew what it felt like to have lived and believed a lie so completely that when the truth is made clear, you feel like nothing can ever be trusted again: Itachi had helped her to see past that, and she wanted to help Sasuke. However, there were a few other truths yet to be laid bare; truths about Naruto and herself that Team 7 deserved to know. Disregarding the fact that Tsunade would probably disapprove of her methods, Amaya spoke in a commanding and cruel voice to the two Advisors. "Now, Koharu-baba and Homura-jijii; would the two of you be so kind as to give the real name of the Fourth?"

"Preposterous! You cannot seriously intend for us to reveal that information?" Homura snapped at her and her eyes narrowed dangerously at him.

"You will tell me what I want to know; by the blood I bear, it is my right to demand that his name be spoken!" Amaya hissed viciously while taking one dangerous step towards the old man only to have Jiraiya put a staying hand on her arm. The look that he and Tsunade cast them made the advisors realize that this was for real: if they didn't talk, someone else would and they'd be killed quicker.

"The Yondaime Hokage was born as Minato Namikaze, which is where Amaya-hime gets her last name!" Koharu said angrily while glaring at the young fiery-gold haired woman. "Naruto Uzumaki was given his mother's surname since his uncle chose to use his wife's family name of Moritaka and his mother took the Namikaze name, but she retained the use of her family name!" "Amaya glared right back at the two old fools and silently commanded the name of her mother as well. "Minato Namikaze married Kushina Uzumaki of the former Whirlpool Country and shortly afterwards they had a daughter, whom they named Amaya Namikaze. Three years later, Kushina had their firstborn son and they named him Naruto Uzumaki. Mere hours after Naruto's birth, the Kyuubi attacked and Namikaze-san died sealing the demon into his newborn son: Kushina died as well from blood loss and wounds sustained in the attack. Three days after the funeral for the Fourth and his wife, Amaya-hime was diagnosed with disassociate amnesia due to the trauma of watching both of her parents die. So, she was placed under the care of Kushina's sister-in-law, Sumomo Moritaka, and her young son Hatori: Amaya was raised as Sumomo's own daughter and Naruto was given to the Rokubi boy, Kurai, to be observed for his first three years. Neither Naruto nor Amaya-hime were told who their parents were and they were never informed that they were siblings. Laws were passed against speaking of Amaya and Naruto heritage as well as the fact that Naruto was the vessel for Kyuubi. Amaya-hime remembered the three years of memory she'd lost on her own, we don't know when!" Koharu was looking positively harassed, but nobody really cared: Naruto had just been told that he was the Fourth's son, but so had his friends, Hatori, Tsuchino, and Team Eagle. The most concerning part now was Naruto's reaction: he said northing, merely turned and left. When Sakura made to follow after him, Tsuchino gently touched her shoulder and nodded towards Amaya, who spoke so softly that is was hard to hear her.

"Leave him be Sakura…he needs time to himself right now." Amaya watched her brother go and felt part of her heart try to rip itself out and go after him. She could hear Tsunade giving out orders and saying all sorts of things that were probably important, but she tuned it out. With a heavy heart, she turned away from the others and followed the pull of Kurai's chakra within her body until she found herself standing at his bedside: he was hooked up to several machines and all of them had IVs, wires, and other oddities running from them into Kurai. She recognized a few of the medicines listed in the IV drip bag, such as morphine to numb the pain. She also saw a large bottle of iodine sitting on the bedside table, doubtlessly being used to prevent infections and cleanse out his wounds. There was another monitor that was attached to a ventilator: this meant that Kurai was unable to breath on his own and she remembered someone saying something about Zetsu stabbing him in the lung…that had probably been Tsuchino who'd told her that. She felt dizzy again and swayed slightly, realizing that the seal that connected her to Kurai and transferred a lot of his chakra into her body was probably reacting to his injuries: since Kurai was critically injured, the seal was pulling back on the amount of chakra it gave her, giving her back a few of the symptoms that normally came with pregnancy. She had not missed them, but the symptoms weren't exactly unwelcome if it meant Kurai would live. She just didn't want the seal to drain so much that it would make her as ill as she had been in the beginning, but then that could be reasonably well controlled with medication. Having a sudden idea, she decided to tweak with Kurai seal to help him heal better and faster even if it made her sick again: as long as she wasn't puking all over, she could deal with the bed-rest and other limitations. Happy to find that she still had some of the pills Tsunade had given her for emergency nausea, Amaya took the required amount and then she carefully began the process of altering the seal Kurai had set on her. Once she was satisfied with the results, which began to take effect immediately, Amaya stopped messing with the seal and curled up in the large and comfortable chair by Kurai's bed. She would deal with Tsunade being pissy after a long nap…