Chapter 11: Wait for me

やがて幕が閉じる 憂鬱の中で
死ぬんだろう？ 生きるだろう？ 何を捜して
そんな 嘘だろう 真実だろう どうでもいいさ

太陽ニ 殺サレタ
サヨナラヲ 言ウ前ニ

Buck-tick - Taiyou ni korosareta

In two days Orochimaru's underlings traced Itachi and another Akatsuki member into a forest on the Eastern part of Fire country. I had little doubt it was largely due to Katsumi's cunning that they were found so quickly. Or perhaps Orochimaru had always kept track of my brother, just in case? It made no difference.

We were headed to the South when the news reached us, in the direction of the last place the spies had seen the two of them some time ago. Thankfully that meant we hadn't been advancing the opposite way for two days. Yes, it may have been rash to set off without a definite destination, but I couldn't sit back anymore and wait for the minutes to tick by, watching as Orochimaru's body rejected his soul bit by bit. And neither could he.

Weak as he was to travel, he flat refused to stay in bed while I went after our mutual goal, and regardless of Kabuto's ardent objection, he accompanied me along with the medical ninja, the three of us forming a not-so-harmonic team.

"Quit sulking, Kabuto. It's irritating." Orochimaru grumbled, keeping his eyes on the road as we were marching Southeast, after several hours of uncomfortable silence. "You're brooding so spectacularly I can hear your thoughts without a Dokushin Sharingan."

From the corner of my eye, I could see the frown that had been displayed on Kabuto's face for two days by then deepen even more, if it was possible.

"Excuse me, Orochimaru-sama, but you haven't been acting like yourself ever since… ever since Sasuke-kun joined us!"

"You hear this, Sasuke-kun? You are a bad influence on me."

I was on edge, as much as they were, clenching and unclenching my fists restlessly, wishing desperately to break into a run and just get it over and done with. Yet when I opened my mouth to reply, my voice rang surprisingly cool.

"Unfortunately, Kabuto, you should start getting used to this, because I'm not planning on leaving even after I've taken my revenge."

Stunned silence. My eyes flittered to my left.

The look on Kabuto's face was one of pure perplexity, coal black eyes examining me with suspicion from behind his glasses. Was I serious, he must have wondered. What happened to the Sasuke who would reprimand Orochimaru for being late, for putting off the oh-so-important training in favor of a personal errand? Who would make it clear with his language that he did not respect Orochimaru in the least. To that hateful boy whose every waking moment, and every nightmare, was dominated by Itachi and the dark desire to kill him, unable to look to the future any further than his revenge.

How was it possible that I had changed so much?

An intriguing question, indeed. One that I felt I had not the willpower to answer at the moment.

More interestingly though, Orochimaru seemed curiously unconcerned. Showing not the least sign that he'd even heard me, he resumed his walking unperturbed. Head slightly tipped forward, hair obscuring his expression, eyes downcast, all in a manner that I couldn't read his mind.

Was he consciously concealing his thoughts from me?

The only flaw on his perfectly bland mask I discovered after a number of searching glances I cast at him, each one disguised as an effort to scan our environment for safety.

It was barely visible, really, that tiny tilt of one corner of his mouth, but…

It was the meager shade of a smile. It was nothing and everything.

"Putting the question of the future aside for the time being, it's the present I'm actually worried about." Kabuto spoke up again after a few quiet minutes. "For you to exert yourself with this trip is a deadly risk, Orochimaru-sama. The body you are currently occupying might give up any mo-"

"And lying in bed, waiting for Sasuke-kun to return—exhausted and wounded from the battle—would be any better?" the immortal shinobi snapped, his livid retort followed immediately by a series of violent coughs.

The medical ninja's posture tensed, arms instinctively reaching out to help, but Orochimaru raised his own, refusing to be touched. Kabuto's hands then flew to his backpack and he all but ripped it open as he hurriedly pulled out a bottle of rank ten medicine—the third so far that day.

When he was able to swallow at last, Orochimaru emptied the whole container in five quick gulps, gasping wildly for air after he was done.

"In the worst case scenario, you can have my body too." Kabuto muttered as he took the bottle from him and stowed it carefully next to the others in his bag.

My eyes widened at that. What could possibly compel him to go this far for his master? Respect? No, respect in this extreme would be plain stupidity. Did he have an angle? No. He seemed genuine about the offer. Affec- No. The mere idea would have sounded ridiculous. Some kind of debt? Maybe. But what kind of debt equals this?

Not even I would have been so bold as to say something like this. To preserve him by any feasible means, to save his life by taking another, to alter the conditions of my own revenge, yes, I would do that.

But to sacrifice myself so willingly, without a second thought…

Yakushi Kabuto. You are a true mystery to me.

Orochimaru, however, seemed rather unfazed by this unusual offer.

"I want the Sharingan, Kabuto, you know it well." was all he forced out of himself once the coughs ceased.

As his breathing eased, the creases pain had painted on his face smoothed, his wide eyes darted to my face and his sculpted features morphed to mirror icy fury.

"That expression. I don't want to see it on you. I don't need your pity!"

I averted my gaze, doing my best to school my face into indifference. We resumed walking.

"I mean it, Sasuke-kun, or do you want me to wipe off that compassionate look?"

"Stop watching me, idiot!" I growled at him.

"Stop pitying me, kid! I can still change my mind and choose you as my next vessel." he countered.

"Orochimaru-sama, why don't you? Wouldn't it be much less complicated to stick to the original plan?" Kabuto heatedly interjected. I rolled my eyes at his unwanted comment, though some part of me was rather interested as to how Orochimaru would reply.

For a while it appeared the bastard wouldn't deign to answer the question.

Nevertheless, I kept an eye on him, studying his calm features, trying to catch his eyes to see what was going on inside his head. He stubbornly kept his gaze fixed at the sky.

Then, after about ten minutes, maybe even more, in a hushed tone as if he were thinking to himself and only accidentally uttered the words:

"Sasuke-kun stays."

Still fuming about that awful temper of his, cursing myself a hundredfold for ever having decided to come to this man for power, and scolding myself a thousandfold more for that very first peek I'd insisted on taking at his inner world, I felt as gradually and somewhat grudgingly a smirk spread over my lips.

"Sasuke-kun. If you would please continue on by yourself. Itachi-san would prefer that the rest of us wait here."

It was far sooner than we'd anticipated. It should have been at least another day before we managed to catch up with them. And yet the ninja standing in front of us, in a long black cloak with red clouds, with spiky dark hair, blue-grey skin and shark-like features, was Hoshigaki Kisame.

Was Itachi eager to fight me as well? To hurry his own demise?

"No problem. That's how I want it too." I stated calmly, glimpsing to the side to see that both Kabuto and Orochimaru were lowering at me, obviously unhappy with my instant consent.

"You two wait here. I'll be back with his body."

Ignoring the mild confusion of the Kirigakure shinobi, I proceeded to pass him and be on my way.

"Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru called after me, his voice unnaturally tense.

I glanced back at him.

"Soon, Orochimaru. Stay alive until then." I ordered him, drinking in that worry-laden look as though it were the last, when in reality, it was the first he'd ever gazed at me like that, exposing his vulnerability so readily, not giving a damn who saw it.

How I wished I could reciprocate the sentiment, to bare my weakness in exchange for his, to say something that actually mattered instead of the hollow, emotionless phrases that threatened to spill from my mouth, but I couldn't.

Not this time.

I may not have been preparing to slay my brother, but to defeat him required the same hollow and emotionless state of mind. If I let the waves of my sentiments run rampant inside my brain, my heart, I'd certainly die.

I turned my back at them and careened past the shark ninja to…

Because if you weren't the Sasuke I know, you could put it behind you, huddle up somewhere he is unable to touch you, weak and grateful that you have been spared at all. This Sasuke cannot imagine such a thing. It comes from deep within his spirit, his vindictiveness. And he takes what he wants, just like I do.

So what you're saying is that it's in my nature that I would avenge my clan.

It's your very essence. As mine is that I seek to hold everything, unravel all the secrets of existence and thus achieve excellence.

… act upon the desire of my very essence.

It was an enormous hill. An ancient, hidden and quite derelict Uchiha lair, our family crest decorating the walls here and there, the corridors, the central room he was waiting for me in, the worn-out wooden throne he was sitting on.

He hadn't changed one bit over the last two and a half years. The very same Akatsuki garment, the crossed-out Konoha headband, the sharp lines of his face, and those detached, soulless eyes.

"What do you see with your Sharingan?" he asked, feigning boredom through his nonchalant, laid-back pose as I approached him in the dark room.

His boredom was fake, but his coldness wasn't.

"I see you dead." I replied levelly and came to a stop in front of him.

He raised a brow, impassively. "Hmm. Interesting pattern. I've never seen four tomoes before in any Uchiha eyes. How did you acquire it?"

I merely smiled in response, a cryptic, sly smile.

A humorless grin spread over Itachi's lips as well. "So its ability remains a surprise. Good. You see my death you say? Well, then…"

Now.

I trapped him in a genjutsu, and he did the same.

Only, I was faster. In my head I could view what his mind perceived while I unhurriedly walked behind his sitting form.

In a second, he disappeared and reappeared behind me.

"Let's see how good your eyesight is."

My smile widened. I spun around, blocking his kunai-wielding hand with one arm, and unsheathing the Kusanagi no tsurugi with the other, then held it before me in time to halt his immediate second strike.

We froze for a second. He then did a back-flip in the air, pushing my blade out of the way and kicking me in the face subsequently. I kept my balance by taking a step back, and countered with a swift slash in his direction.

Itachi vaulted into the air, over my head and, seizing a handful of my white shirt he hurled my body across the room, which caused my sword to spin out of my clutch.

I landed with a loud groan but turned back to him at once, and formed the necessary seals quickly.

"Chidori!"

I lunged, grabbing my sword as I ran, and as soon as my fingers closed around the hilt, I cried "Chidori nagashi!" creating an electric field, which left him with no choice but to spring into the air.

This was my chance!

I predicted his position precisely and ran him through with my blade in one motion, relishing the dumbfounded look in his eyes. I deliberately aimed at an area that wouldn't be fatal and wouldn't damage his organs too severely.

"You've gotten… much stronger…" he grunted feebly.

"This is the end, Itachi." I murmured, barely able to temper the excitement that was pouring from my voice.

Before I could do anything further, Itachi lifted a hand, pointing with two fingers at the throne he'd been sitting on.

And was still sitting.

The Itachi impaled by my Kusanagi no tsurugi all of a sudden scattered into a dozen black crows.

His genjutsu failed while mine still persisted.

Like I did in the illusion, I stabbed my blade into him, this time, though, from behind.

"A genjutsu…" he groaned as he grasped the situation.

So easy? I didn't even need to use mind reading to get the upper hand?

It felt so wonderful to feel the metal pierce his skin, sink into his flesh with no difficulty, and, as I peeked out from behind the back of the chair, to see his blood ooze from the wound in thick trickles. At this rate he'd be unconscious in moments. Then I'd stop the bleeding, carry him to Kabuto, who'd heal him to a safe degree while I eliminate the other Akatsuki member.

The instant he awakens, I will plunge into his mind, searching the true answers to my questions, and when I'm done, Orochimaru may have his body.

An impeccable plan. But.

I was inordinately eager to have my answers this very instant.

"As I said, this is the end, Itachi. But I want to ask you something first. However…"

I released the hilt, confident that the injury was grave enough to keep him from launching a surprise attack.

"Why ask you when I can look."

I grinned in satisfaction at his blank, uncomprehending expression.

"Dokushin Sharingan."

Itachi gasped, eyes boring incredulously into mine.

This was…no, something was wrong…the Itachi sitting before me had nothing in his head, no emotions, no memories, no thoughts. Which meant…

That I had been trapped in his genjutsu.

The second I realized it, the illusion shattered like a mere dream, and I found myself standing face to face with my brother, at the exact spot I initiated my own genjutsu.

How amusing. We hadn't moved an inch.

"What technique was that?" Itachi narrowed his eyes. "Dokushin Sharingan? A Sharingan that makes you capable of reading my mind?"

"It is something I developed myself. I didn't kill my best friend to obtain it." I noted with a hint of condescension in my voice.

And then I dove in. For real, this time.

Confusion. Astonishment. …Pride?

No, that is impossible.

Yet, he was indisputably proud of me for having invented a new Sharingan jutsu. Was he imitating the feeling to baffle me? No. Genuine and… warm. But it was as if he tried to stamp down on it, because all of a sudden I lost track of it and was engulfed by a much less pleasant emotion.

A prolonged smothering.

Itachi's mind was unlike anything I'd ever encountered during my time with the dozens, maybe even hundreds of training partners Otogakure had provided for me. There was a gaping scar in him, a deeply rooted disturbance splitting his inner self in two, constituting a barrier so bottomless I saw absolutely no way of abolishing, or rather, crossing it.

My brother was severed in two, to put it simply. From the surface layers of his brain that were accessible, all I could decipher was a dull pain permeating everything. But the small cracks on that scar of his let a penetrating ache soak through, one akin to that of Orochimaru's arm in intensity, although it wasn't physical, but solely psychological.

This… this was how my brother felt?

Alright, calm down and concentrate. What is it I need to find first? That night. But that's a memory so old it must be behind that-

"Fascinating. I can sense your presence in my head, scrambling around like a scared mouse. For a moment I thought this was a superior technique, but…" Itachi remarked, face void of any emotion.

"Don't get me wrong, it would be a powerful jutsu in itself, and the fact that you've attained such a profound understanding of how the Sharingan works that you were able to evolve a technique combined with basic mind reading is admirable."

"It was Orochimaru's experiment orignially." I admitted as I inspected the barrier minutely. Too firmly and too deeply wedged to eradicate it as I would an average one. In under a minute, that is.

Itachi blinked. "Ah. I've heard rumors that you have been licking his boots to get him to teach you."

I snarled viciously and set to removing the bandages from my wrists. "Shut up!" I touched the seals on my arms, summoning two handfuls of shurikens and tossed them at him.

He evaded each one effortlessly.

"Your Sharingan may be unique, but it is useless against me. Against my Mangekyou Sharingan. I told you to only come before me when you possess the same eyes as I do."

The pattern in his eyes changed, the three tomoes molding into a shuriken-like shape.

"You've missed your chance to fight on an equal level with me. You are defenseless against the strongest existing genjutsu."

Tsukuyomi. He caught me.

Time seemed to still as he began pacing towards me, eyes promising pain beyond my imagination.

…

No! Not against these eyes.

A flash was all I saw and then Itachi was standing at his original spot, again and still. I managed to dispel his illusion before he could so much as scratch me.

"Hmm. How annoying."

I allowed myself a satisfied smile, then reached to my seals again and summoned a hundred regular shurikens in quick succession, flinging them at him with deadly speed, keeping for last a Kage Shuriken no jutsu imbued with my Chidori. Though none of the small ones hit him—he deflected each with precisely aimed shurikens of his own, as he leaped into the air to parry the two large ones, I pulled the invisibly thin wires attached to the weapons and the blades sprang apart, one of them cleaving itself into his thigh.

He failed to dodge it? How? For the Itachi I saw training when I was little this would have been a simple task with his peerless reflexes.

My smile widened as I took in his rapidly breathing form and stern expression, one hand pressed onto his bleeding left eye, the other onto his freshly injured leg.

"Feeling the backlash of the Tsukuyomi, are you? Good!"

But to lose this advantage would have been foolish. I inhaled deeply and formed the seals.

"Katon, Goukakyuu no jutsu!"

He eluded the giant fireball with a high jump by inches only. However, I was already bolting toward him in the air, a Chidori whirring around my palm, and I let out a furious scream as I struck him.

From the power of my attack, Itachi went flying backwards, though he still managed to retaliate with a fire release of his own. The roof blew open and we both dashed to the top of the concrete building embedded in the artificial hill.

I was forced to temporarily call on the cursed seal to withstand the devastating flames, and in a matter of seconds, half of my body transformed into my winged shape, the thick grey skin providing a suitable shield.

We stood face to face and it was in near-unison that we both cast another fireball: the two jutsus collided in the air between us with virtually equal might, blazing like the sun.

"Katon, Goukakyuu!"

Mine was stronger, I realized with contentment. But not anymore if…

"Amaterasu!"

Dark flames sprang to life and swirled foreboding in the middle of my golden fire, dancing bright until they fully consumed my jutsu. Then, at a mere blink of my brother's eyes, everything vanished as though it had been an illusion. Resting a few moments, his right eye remained closed.

If his next Amaterasu touches me I'm dead, it occurred to me, and I frantically glimpsed around for cover.

There was none.

To go back into the room would have been suicide—the fire would have only burned me to ashes along with the walls.

I gazed into Itachi's one eye, searching for a solution. Despite his cool façade, inside he was as distressed as I was. The use of his extraordinary skills was taking a toll on him—he was running low on chakra and his eyes ached horribly along with the wounds I'd caused.

"Now, the final act!"

The second Itachi's eye opened I started to sprint in a circle around him. With any luck, he would be drained of chakra before I got caught in the black fire, I prayed.

I dashed as fast as my legs would take me, but…

But he was at an obvious advantage, the bastard, having to only glance at me in order to control this horrible weapon. I wasn't fast enough.

I wasn't.

Another moment and…

I caught sight of a swift form jumping up from the ruins of the room below, vaulting in front of me and knocking me back. I went sprawling on the floor, eyes wide with shock. The flames instantly claimed the slender body and he bellowed in pain.

.

.

.

Orochimaru.