"Naruto, dammit!" Sasuke pulled the blonde Jinchuuriki out of the flames' way, never recoiling as the red chakra burnt his skin. "Dammit, wake up! Naruto!"

"Shove off, Sasuke- teme!" This Naruto was feral, dangerous and borderline insane. "Hate, rip, tear, kill ..."

"Wake up!" Sasuke punched his friend in the face. "The Naruto I know doesn't hate like that! Stop putting on the hatred act! Wake up!"

"Sasuke, piss off!" Naruto growled, batting the raven-haired shinobi off, sending his flying towards Itachi. The older Uchiha grabbed him by the shoulders only to drop Sasuke like a rag doll after dislocating both arms. "Foolish Otouto, don't get in the way of adults," Itachi monotonously chided as he walked towards a ferociously growling Naruto pouring red chakra out from all over his body.

"Naruto, wake up! You can't fight like this! You can't fight-" Like you're full of hatred, Sasuke wanted to finish, but found it highly hypocritical. Our situations have reversed, Sasuke realised, not missing the irony. I'm the one persuading him now.

Come to think of it, it feels all wrong.

"You cannot fight me effectively like this, much less hope to defeat me," Itachi stated matter-of-fact as he performed a series of kata that sent the berserker Naruto flying straight into a Sasuke who had completely neglected to move at all.

As Naruto plowed straight into the prone raven-haired shinobi, Sasuke wished: Please, wake up...

If you say so, Omote, a voice laughed. I need to confront Itachi Nii about something now. Sleep...


Die now, die, die...

"Do you really want him to die?" a quiet voice echoed beside Naruto's ear. The blonde's shinobi's eyes snapped wide open and he sat up quickly. Chakra was still pouring off him, he noticed, and it was burning into his friend's skin.

"I'll be fine," Sasuke stated as Naruto, complete with elongated nails and claws, jumped up and was about to start raining down the questions. "But I must ask you again; is that the real you who wishes for Itachi Nii to die, or your hatred?"

"It's..." Naruto found himself unable to answer as he slowly comprehended. "... I don't know, really," he confessed.

"You have helped me to shoulder my hatred once," the raven-haired shinobi stood up, and for the first time, Naruto looked into red eyes that were oddly wide and without Sharingan, his own blue-red eyes widening in shock. "It is my turn to return the favour, Uzumaki San."

"Where's Sasuke?" the maddened Naruto demanded. "Why…why is there-?"

"A stranger looking out of his eyes?" the not-Sasuke sounded almost amused, turning blank red eyes on to him. "Sasuke is asleep for now within his mind. I am the shadow of his mind. You can also call me–"

A blur of motion, and the not-Sasuke had shoved Naruto to the side, blocking Itachi from Naruto's unprotected back.

"... the other Sasuke."


Ten seconds, and already Naruto decided that he hated this part of Sasuke on general principle. Given how the other Sasuke had only been civil in conversation to him, this is very odd.

"Good day, Itachi Nii," the other Sasuke greeted the nuke-nin as their kunais clashed again. "It is nice weather, isn't it?"

To his credit, Itachi took only a moment to answer. "Who are you?"

"I am Uchiha Sasuke, Itachi Nii," the other Sasuke replied, moving to take advantage of an opening. Itachi jumped back. "Didn't you just call me your foolish brother just now?"

"You are not Sasuke," Itachi growled. "Your eyes are not Sasuke's eyes. Where is my brother?"

"Ooo, credit to you," the other Sasuke almost sang out as he dodged a particularly vicious kick, jumping back. "I suppose it's just courteous to answer. I am another part of Uchiha Sasuke, created on a beautiful moonlit night almost five years ago. Or was it six? The passage of time can never be determined well in a mind."

"Five years ago … the massacre?" Itachi asked.

"When omote activated his Sharingan for the first time, and you shattered his mind, I was created," the other Sasuke replied contemplatively, running his left hand over his right hand holding a kunai in a manner that made Naruto recall Orochimaru and shudder. "I suppose I should thank you for creating me, and supplying me with a fresh supply of hatred such that I can gain strength. For almost five years, your actions have allowed me to gain almost enough power to influence omote's conscious actions and perceive his subconscious."

"You are his hatred," Itachi realised.

"So nice of you to point that out," the other Sasuke replied sarcastically. "For five years already I have gained strength. Of course, the Sharingan is beyond my will to activate, but no matter." He began playing with the kunai. "You know, during those five years in the subconscious, this me has been wondering about the truth behind the massacre."

Itachi had stiffened abruptly, as had Naruto in surprise. Nearby, the shinobi and the four blinked.

"Point one: if you were truly mad, why are we still alive?" the other Sasuke lifted one finger. "Our very existence debunks that hypothesis. Even if we were truly unworthy of being killed, there are mountains around Konoha. You could have, oh, say dropped us off a cliff, and it is unlikely a seven-year-old would have survived. An exemplary shinobi like you would have known to kill any and all members of the family to save yourself the future trouble. That would mean that somehow, we was to remain alive. Even if you did stay your hand the first time, any good shinobi would have killed us the second time we met to save yourself future trouble. So, unless you have degenerated as a shinobi entirely in five years, you have deliberately been keeping us alive."

"Point two," Up went another finger. "We must trace this to Fugaku-chichi and his sudden interest in us. He has always favoured you; that he now turned to us is either due to empty-nest syndrome or that we have replaced you in his affections. Knowing Fugaku-chichi, the former is highly unlikely, the latter only moderately so. Therefore, somehow you have done something to lower yourself in his eyes. It cannot be in your work –we have access to your mission files, the Sandaime allowed us at least that– so, it must be within the family.

"Point three, Uchiha Shisui." At Itachi's surprised expression, the other Sasuke half-smiled before his expression returned to normal, holding up three fingers. "The Konoha Military Police really kept very detailed files that omote kept poring over after the massacre. Interestingly, his body was stolen directly after the autopsy, the why or wherefore we don't know. However, from the sheer detail we can prove that there was heavy scrutiny of the case. From this, in five years, I have drawn together some deductions. Would you care to hear them?"

"I suppose that it is only a courtesy to allow a man his last dreams," Itachi coldly remarked, his eyes flicking to the side. "Do regale me with your delusions, before I kill you."

"This body is still that of Uchiha Sasuke, if you kill it, you kill both of us," the other Sasuke pointed out. Itachi's eye twitched. "Now, my deduction was that Fugaku-chichi was planning something. The what, or why escapes us, but from subsequent events, we believe it to be something major and treasonous. From the second point, we can guess that you fell out with Fugaku-chichi, which can only point to a dissention between father and son, an unprecedented event. Itachi Nii, you were in ANBU and you were loyal to our village. This can only mean treason. To merit the massacre of a clan would mean that the Uchiha clan was planning either the destruction or the takeover of Konoha. From our history as descendants of Uchiha Madara, the latter is more likely. However, that still does not explain why we are still alive. So, from there, we would have to jump to far-reached deductions as to why. From the parting words you gave us before leaving, we can only conclude that you wished us to kill you, and in that context, we can only believe that you wanted us to live unknowing of the Uchiha clan's dishonour. This would mean that somewhere, you still love us as your little brother. Am I correct?"

"Delusions," Itachi scoffed. "The dreams of a fool."

The other Sasuke smirked. "Liar."

"You have no proof, these are just the ramblings of fools without concrete evidence," Itachi pointed out. "How do you intend to prove it?"

"I'm glad you asked." the other Sasuke held the kunai to his throat. "Like this. I am going to stab here. Whether or not we survive is up to you."

"Oi, Sasuke!" Naruto began. "Are you mad!"

"Don't worry, Uzumaki San. Just stay there," the other Sasuke told him.

"What do you seek from this?" Itachi had grown to look nervous, well, as much as any Uchiha could. "You will merely die."

"I do not believe your claims," the other Sasuke clearly replied. "You have never met my eyes to openly claim so, as the Sharingan can tell. Just because I cannot activate it does not mean that it is not activated, Itachi Nii, and I can tell that you are lying. You must physically come over and stop me, which would prove that my hypothesis is correct if you truly value Uchiha Sasuke. If it is not, then I will at least spare omote from having to kill his brother. You cannot use the Mangekyo Sharingan to stop me; to fracture omote's mind any more would be to risk my completely taking over him, which would be his death in a sense. Sasuke is in a peaceful, deep sleep, and I can extend that forever." The kunai touched skin. "What will it be?"

"You bastard!" Naruto yelled, but unable to come any closer as the kunai was held to his friend's windpipe. "What are you doing?"

"Bringing a man out of denial," the other Sasuke coolly replied. The kunai dug deep into delicate skin and drew blood. From the side Itachi could see Kakashi and Sai attempting to move closer, restrained by some barrier. The four were watching the brothers' stand-off, two with wide eyes, and two … coolly appraising.

He then looked back to the stranger looking out from his brother's eyes.

"Tsukiyomi?" the other Sasuke suggested.

"How dare you," Itachi coldly replied. "I will get you out even if I have to reach into your mind and drag you out kicking and screaming."

"The most difficult person to stop, short of someone with something to protect, is someone with nothing to lose." Jab. A stream of blood slowly trickled down. "Try me."

"Then die." Itachi replied.

"I intend to." The blade slowly sank into his throat, millimetre by millimetre, slowly severing the carotid artery bit by bit by bit-

"You're serious," Itachi breathed.

"Look into my eyes, Itachi Nii, and see if truly, you can stop this." the not-Sasuke murmured. "If Sasuke dies, I die with him. No one here will help a ninja who wilfully commits suicide, even if said ninja was quite unaware of it." the stranger in the familiar eyes told him. "Only you can save him now."

The red eyes seemed to twinkle at him before they morphed back into black obsidian. Black, stunned obsidian.

"What the-?" Sasuke breathed before he keeled over.

Itachi caught him before he hit the ground.


"Of all the things, we have a suicidal yami on our hands," Yuugi groaned later as the shinobi settled around the camp-fire.

Kakashi, Sai and Naruto were taking turns to stare at an impassive Itachi, who had done nothing but try to resuscitate and treat a Sasuke already weakened –ironically by the Genin's own hand– and on the verge of death. Kakashi and Sai had helped, but their medical knowledge did not truly extend beyond first aid and Naruto certainly did not have any healing skills hidden on him. Yuugi and Ryou were giving each other looks, but were dissuaded by their yamis from doing anything.

"What's a yami?" Naruto voiced, curious.

"A term used to describe the darkness in people's hearts," the other Yuugi answered. "The darkness of our hearts is often dispersed; few are completely light or completely dark. Those who are of light tend to show more empathy and kindness, but little in the way of self-preservation. Those of the dark tend to have no inhibitions and will do anything necessary for their goals. And then there are those who are split."

"Split?" Naruto winced.

Yami and Yuugi shared a look. "The two of us were once one soul," Yuugi took up where his partner left off. "One being, one consciousness, split in two. The purest form of light and dark, separated, never apart, never as one."

Kakashi's initial thought was: Well, that explains the similarity in looks and the touchy-feely.

"Bakura and Ryou are the same," Yami indicated to the two white-haired boys sitting far off. "And we know another pair who was like him."

"Like Sasuke?" Kakashi finally asked.

"Me and Bakura are three thousand years old." Yami reluctantly explained. "Our other halves went through the process of serial reincarnation while we were trapped. Being separated for that long has made it near impossible for us to rejoin together."

The shinobi blinked, except for Itachi, who impassively alternated between staring at the fire and at them. "Wow, that's old."

"Then there are those who develop a form of schizophrenia and end up with a dissociative identity disorder." Yami continued.

"A split personality," Kakashi translated for his blonde student.

"Yes, like the pair we knew. We got rid of it... but then the other half came back," Yami added upon seeing Itachi perk up. "There are methods for both halves to assimilate together again, become one personality, but they have to be specifically tailored and … I am not a psychologist. Maybe if I knew what caused the initial rift to happen I could do something."

"His brother killed his entire clan in front of him when he was seven and tortured him with some insane freaky mind Genjutsu directly after," Naruto quickly volunteered. "He then trained for five years to take revenge, and his brother did the same freaky jutsu again and caused him to land in hospital with a coma."

Kakashi and Sai shared a look that said: Naruto clearly needs to work on his tact. Itachi continued to stare at the fire.

Yuugi's eyes had widened to epic proportions while Yami had raised an eyebrow. "Anything else?"

"You need more?" Naruto incredulously replied.

"Not like that, idiot," Bakura sneered, walking over with Ryou in tow. "He means anything to explain Papa Bear over there." Bakura motioned to the ever impassive Itachi. With Kisame asleep after they changed from the circle to black chains, Kakazu and Hidan piled up next to him – especially Kakazu in barely more than bits and pieces held together by black thread – and Sasuke asleep with his head on Itachi's lap, Itachi's red Sharingan glared back at all of them like that of an avenging spectre.

Kakashi shrugged. Naruto shook his head. Only Sai nodded.

"I have heard from Danzo Sama about how the Uchiha clan tried to lead a coup d'etat." the Root ANBU replied. "They were ultimately dealt with using … drastic measures. Except for Uchiha San. Uchiha Itachi apparently pleaded with the Sandaime for Uchiha Sasuke to be spared." Itachi neither conformed nor denied any words.

Yami pulled out a card from his deck holster. "I need more details. Is there anything else?"

"Nothing that I know of," Sai shook his head. "And nothing else I can safely relay."

"I see," Yami replied, nodding.

"Yami, can we...?" Yuugi asked.

"Of course, aibou." Yuugi immediately took off towards Sasuke. Kneeling down next to the unconscious Genin, Yuugi held his hands over Sasuke's wounds. A faint yellow light shone when he touched it, as injured skin began knotting back together.

There was an uproar at that. "Why didn't you do that sooner!" Naruto yelled.

"Would you have answered our questions if we didn't?" Yami coldly replied.

Naruto would have answered if not for Kakashi's dissuasion. "It seems like we are at an impasse." Kakashi finally stated. "We obviously have untrustworthy parties present." His eyes lingered on the sleeping Kisame and the ever-impassive older Uchiha for a moment. "I have no doubt that you were hiding this skill set from Kisame earlier."

"Actually, keeping Hoshigaki San captive took it out of me for most of the afternoon," Yuugi sheepishly confessed. "And out of us, only me and Ryou can reliably heal others. Ryou doesn't have the control necessary yet, so it's just me."

"Ah," Kakashi non-committally replied. "The point is, we have come for you to retrieve … your property," he decided with another look at the Akatsuki members. "And somehow, it seems that we have taken up some additional baggage. The bodies can be dealt with, but these two..."

"Good point," Bakura pointed out. "Maybe we can just throw them in the Shadow Realm?"

Kakashi inwardly shuddered. "I was thinking of a less extreme option, really. Maybe a truce for now. We are currently in enemy territory and after one of their prized assets. It would be really unwise not to have help after one of our members has been incapacitated."

"But Kakashi Sensei–!" Naruto started.

"Naruto, being a ninja is about compromising to fulfil the mission," Kakashi cut in. "We reach Waterfall tomorrow, a foreign village filled with potentially hostile ninja who will capture us for information about Konoha and our abilities if possible. It's too late to turn back, so we must press on. Okay?"

Naruto sulked just as Yami said: "He will not do anything."

"What!" the shinobi couldn't believe their ears.

"Tomorrow I and Yuugi will enter the village with you, Uzumaki San and Sai San," Yami stated. "We will leave the two famous criminals here with Bakura and Ryou. Kisame I know will try to kill his partner, but he would be trapped by Bakura, so no matter. Either of us four are the only ones capable of resolving the situation caused by the other Sasuke, so Itachi cannot attack any of us and Sasuke should be safe. The fact that he has not tried to kill any of us is already proof that somehow, he wants his brother to live without the other Sasuke hanging around as a possible threat."

"But what about those two?" Sai indicated.

Yami pursed his lips. "I know that the one I dealt with will not be getting up any time soon. As for Bakura's...he might not be getting up ever."

Naruto paled.