[AN: This chapter was a bit of a labor of love, but I'm pretty happy with how it came out. As always, thank you so much for the feedback, follows, and favorites! I so appreciate the interest! The usual caveats apply: This content is rated M, and I do not own Naruto.]

Chapter 25: The New Vendetta

Sasuke stood in the dark depths of Oto, the reptilian corpse of his master stretched out before him and his brother's limp body to his left in the doorway, curled onto his side, his long, dark hair obscuring his face. The silence that had come over the cavern following the snake's collapse was eerie, interrupted only by the occasional crackle of the black flames of Amaterasu. Sasuke shivered, a crypt-like chill slowly traveling up his left arm, across his shoulder, and coming to concentrate in the seal on his neck. Was it just his nerves… or was there something more behind this sensation? Perhaps he was imagining things, but it was almost as if some sort of dark shadow, a foreign, evil essence, was nestling itself into the depths of his self-conscious, slipping its way into his body through the mark. Was that even possible? He'd never before encountered this particular aspect of Orochimaru's "gift," and he didn't actually see anything out of the ordinary, even with his Sharingan active. Then again, the seal was Orochimaru's handiwork, and it hadn't exactly come with comprehensive instructions. Not even the Snake Sannin himself had seemed to fully understand every detail.

What was clear was that whatever was coming over him was not a force he could afford to give into. Focusing inward, his vision blurring slightly from the effort, Sasuke steeled himself against the intruder, isolating it to the deepest, most remote section of his mind through sheer strength of will. Yes, there was definitely something there. But now that he had it identified and compartmentalized, he should be able to address it later. For there was far more pressing business at hand. Chiefly, the rather burning question of what he was supposed to do now.

His first thought was to kill off Itachi and flee the scene. By some stroke of good fortune, he was on the precipice of accomplishing everything he'd set out to do at the start of the night's conflict, even though things hadn't gone according to plan by any stretch of the imagination and he'd almost fallen for the Snake's trap. He would have too, if it hadn't been for Itachi. Tch. But that was no matter. If it hadn't been for Itachi, Orochimaru's words wouldn't have had such a debilitating effect on him in the first place. Besides, it might hurt his pride, but the way he achieved his goal was meaningless, really... it was the fact that he had that was truly significant. And now, it was just a matter of finishing the task...

Sasuke's left hand drifted to the sword strapped along his back, blood pounding in his ears as his palms grew uncomfortably sweaty. He seized the hilt, preparing himself to unsheath the blade and drive it firmly through Itachi's wretched neck. He could do this. He must. His eyes drifted over brother's prone form, helpless and spent before him. His own happy childhood… his family… his clan... all brought to a bitter, bloody end by the actions of a madman… this man… his tormenter… his brother...

And yet...

What if Orochimaru was right? What if the reality was far more complicated than Itachi had led him to believe? What if his nii-san had lied to him that night? If this man, Danzo, was the one who was truly to blame for the destruction of their clan? Sasuke found himself remembering Orochimaru's rasped words, the strange fear that had momentarily clouded Itachi's eyes, the driven way that his brother had fought the Sannin, both in the genjutsu realm and in the very room in which he still stood, as if it were his own life at stake. Rewinding further, he recalled past interactions with his brother... the deep, taunting voice that humiliated him when he was twelve, torturing him with Tsukuyomi but letting him live… the night of the Massacre itself... the hardness in his eyes, the emptiness of his tone. Sasuke had always assumed it simple callousness, but now… well…. Had Itachi been steeling himself for what he had to do? And why had his brother spared his life on three separate occasions now? Did he really intend to use Sasuke as a mirror, a test of his abilities, or was it something more? Was he truly Itachi's greatest weakness? It seemed impossible, and yet… a kaleidoscope of memories were dancing through his mind, repressed memory after repressed memory from his youth.… A piggyback ride when he fell and twisted his knee…. Cool, slender fingers tapping his forehead…. Itachi's patient expression as he rambled on about some silly lesson he'd learned at the Academy…. Dinners with their parents.… The ninneko.… Afternoon jaunts through downtown Konoha…. That sad, soft smile and gentle tone of regretful rejection when there wasn't time for training. And, come to think of it, the night of the Massacre… that last glimpse he'd had of Itachi's face. Hadn't there been tears in his eyes?

Just like that, as quickly as it had welled up within him, the blood-lust cooled, his white-knuckled grip on his sword loosening. No. He wanted revenge… craved it more than anything. But not like this. Orochimaru had raised too many questions, too many uncertainties that only his brother could address. He needed Itachi to live. At least for now… until he had his answers. Then, he would truly know what his next move ought to be.

And so, left hand withdrawing from his weapon, Sasuke bent over his elder brother's form, heaving his surprisingly light frame over his right shoulder. A decidedly foreign, not altogether unpleasant shiver coming over him at their quasi-embrace, he rose back up to his feet and quickly traced his way up the unlit back passageway out of Orochimaru's lair, his mind concentrated wholly on getting Itachi out of Oto and someplace where he could undergo treatment for whatever was ailing him.

Passing swiftly through the cave at the top of the tunnel, Sasuke set his brother down against a tree and gazed up at the full, pale moon through the forest now surrounding them. Where to go… where to go...

Itachi needed a medic. His completely unresponsive body, perilously weak chakra network, and ghostly pale complexion made that utterly clear. Unfortunately, having spent the vast majority of the past five years close by Orochimaru's side and thanks to their missing-nin statuses, Sasuke knew of just two options, and neither one was particularly attractive. Kabuto was likely close by… but there was no way in hell that Sasuke was ever going near that bastard again if he could help it, and he rather doubted that the medic would have any interest in helping him free of charge (and being indebted to Kabuto was not something he could afford at the moment). Which, most unfortunately, left Karin. Orochimaru's Southern Hideout was much further than he liked given his brother's state, and he certainly didn't relish the thought of her company, but the woman did have some medical abilities, and the location was secure and remote enough that they wouldn't need to worry about being pursued. What's more, given her infatuation, he could pretty much guarantee that she'd assist him.

Decision made, Sasuke quickly summoned Garuda. Then, slinging his brother rather inelegantly back over his shoulder, he climbed up onto the hawk's broad back, and they took off for the Land of Waves, Sasuke doing everything in his power to keep his mind unburdened of the troubling questions and the slew of memories threatening to completely cloud his thoughts once more. First things first. He would have the answers he craved soon enough.

Itachi woke with a start, head throbbing, heart racing, and eyes blazing, the searing pain of his overextended Sharingan nothing compared with the full-on panic coursing through his body. Where was Sasuke? Was he all right? Unaccosted? Unpossessed? What of Orochimaru? And Tobi? And Sakura? He hadn't been able to contact her before he'd collapsed. What would she think? What would Kakashi do? Or perhaps the question really was what had the rest of his squad done. For it was clear from the late afternoon sunshine bathing the room that he'd been comatose for at least a good fourteen hours. Exactly how long had he been out? And… where was he? And how exactly had he gotten wherever he was?

With a strangled sigh of discomfort, Itachi willed his eyes to return to their passive state - his body was exhausted, and he didn't want to chance falling back into unconsciousness - and examined his surroundings: white walls, an infirmary-like room, and a door across from his bed that appeared firmly latched. Well, he didn't seem to be in any imminent danger. In fact, he appeared to be completely alone, at least for the moment.

One thing was certain: He definitely wasn't in Oto anymore. For the rather scenic view of the ocean outside his open window indicated that he was no longer underground; the hospital bed on which he found himself was much too cushy for anything he'd expect to find in that hellhole; and the smell of salt was on the air, the bright tang filling his nostrils and lungs quite restoratively. Hn… the scent of the sea. The environs also ruled out both Konoha and Ame, for the former couldn't exactly be described as coastal, and the latter, while on a lake, was never this sunny. Moreover, it didn't resemble any of the Akatsuki hideouts he knew of, either.

This information helped, but it left a number of options when it came to sorting out what exactly had happened. Tobi/Madara could have his own seaside getaway that he'd been keeping a secret from the rest of the organization (which was possible, although why he bothered to keep Itachi alive was a mystery). Someone else whom Itachi hadn't anticipated could have intercepted them (also feasible given the desirably of the Sharingan, although he hadn't noticed anyone besides Sakura's crow trailing him, and sweeping into Orochimaru's lair right after he'd collapsed would have been one hell of a coincidence). His Konoha teammates could have come to their rescue and brought them somewhere besides Hidden Leaf (sadly, this seemed less likely given that the road to Konoha was away from the coastline). Sasuke himself could have gotten over enough of his shock to sweep them off to some other, as-yet-undefined location (plausible, although his brother had seemed pretty out of it). Or something else entirely that he hadn't considered could have occurred… without additional intelligence, the possibilities were pretty much endless, most unfortunately.

As if on cue, the door swung open, revealing the lean, powerful body of his otouto, still dressed in the same wide-necked white shirt, purple sash, and dark pants that he'd had on during their previous confrontation. Well, he supposed that that answered the "who" question. Eyes traveling up to his brother's face, Itachi met the man's gaze impassively, noticing with some relief the even, steady expression in those dark eyes, so remarkably like their mother's. In contrast to their last interaction, he seemed calm and, most importantly, fully himself. It appeared that the essence that had crept into Sasuke's body following the death of the white snake hadn't been successful in taking over his consciousness and that enough time had passed for him to process at least some of what Orochimaru had revealed. All of this was seemingly good news... but it would still do to tread carefully.

Sasuke was not alone. Behind him trailed a slender woman of medium height with a hank of long, red hair; a pale face with a slightly pointed chin; and dark-rimmed glasses framing deep, red eyes. Judging from the lavender hue of her jacket and the lack of a distinguishing hitai-ate, Itachi surmised that she was another one of Orochimaru's followers. As he quickly scanned her face, her eyes widened slightly, thin lips curving into a rather simpering smile. Hn, well, this promised to be rather annoying. The woman appeared harmless enough on first glance, and he didn't sense any profound chakra presence. That being said, he really didn't have time for nonsense, and the way her eyes trailed between himself and his brother, as though they were two particularly delectable orders of dango, told him that she was very likely full of it.

The kunoichi spoke first, her breathy, girlish tone confirming all of Itachi's suspicions. "Oooh, Sasuke-kun, look who's decided to join us. You know, your brother's chakra is almost as delicious as your own."

Tch, a sensor. Really, though, what was it with so many shinobi immediately revealing their abilities in conversation these days? Didn't they realize that the element of surprise was one of their greatest weapons? Clearly oblivious to her tactical error, the woman nibbled her pink lip rather hungrily, hovering slightly behind and to the right of Sasuke as he came to stand a few feet from the bed, evenly studying Itachi's face. Seemingly accustomed to the redhead's infatuation, he spared her not even the barest of glances, the only sign that he noticed her presence a slight shift in his stance that brought his right hand out of her reach. "Itachi. How are you feeling?" His otouto's voice was neutral, betraying no sign of his intentions, but the fact that he'd even asked such a question was telling enough. The Snake's words had struck true.

"Such concern for the brother you loathe," Itachi commented darkly, trying to get a rise out of Sasuke. As anticipated, he saw right through the piss-poor attempt, dark eyes fixed rather knowingly on his own. Well, since the deranged murderer act no longer worked, he'd have to take a different approach. What that would be he didn't actually know yet… but, with a bit of reconnaissance work, he would figure it out soon enough.

Itachi sighed. Perhaps, it was time to try Sakura's suggested approach: Reasoning with Sasuke. He seriously doubted that it would work - there was far too much to explain, and his little brother had been living with the ramifications of the Massacre for too long to simply forgive and forget - but what other choice did he have? "I've been better… and worse," he replied truthfully, thinking back to his close shave with death just a week ago in Sakura's apartment. Given the amount of chakra he'd expended traveling to Oto, sparring with Sasuke, and slaughtering Orochimaru, his lungs seemed surprisingly unaffected, come to think of it. A further testament to Sakura's abilities, he mused, a rather painful pang filled his heart as the image of gentle emerald eyes hovering over him swam momentarily through his mind. Instead, it was his eyes causing the brunt of his discomfort this time around. Between forcing himself into the realm of Fushi Tensei and obliterating Orochimaru via Amaterasu, his dojutsu had undergone quite the workout… more than he'd dared to put it through in some time. Not that he'd exactly had a choice. "How long was I out?"

"Five days."

Far longer than expected. That was certainly less than ideal. His Konoha team probably thought him dead… or a double-crosser. And he couldn't exactly blame them, either. Quelling the painful though of how Sakura was coping (for there was nothing he could do about that now), Itachi stretched his neck, eyes never leaving Sasuke's. "And where exactly are we? Water?"

Tactically speaking, he needed to know such mundane details, but there was far more that he wished to broach. Despite his brother's seemingly calm exterior, deep questions remained about Sasuke's current mental state. It was clear from his borderline cozy reception (well, cozy for an Uchiha) that Sasuke no longer held him responsible for the massacre. But what exactly did he believe? What was his next move to be? Was he aware that he'd seemingly absorbed some of his master's essence through the cursed seal? Those were the points he truly cared about. But, of course, with the kunoichi hovering, he didn't dare ask. Flighty as she seemed, as Tobi's buffoonish exterior illustrated, even the dimmest personalities could be a front for something sinister.

Sasuke shrugged. "Waves. One of Orochimaru's old hideouts. I brought you here for treatment. Karin has medical knowledge." Itachi frowned in vague confusion - his illness had kept him slight, but that was quite some distance to lug a full-grown man - and Sasuke added, "I have a contract with hawks." Ah. So he'd contracted with his own summons, then. Not too shabby, otouto.

At the mention of her name, the kunoichi bounced up eagerly onto the balls of her feet, eyes running heatedly over the visible portion of Itachi's body. "Now…. if you'll just remove your shirt, Itachi-kun, I'd love to perform a full examination," she cooed, beginning to creep around Sasuke and closer to the side of the bed. Her palms twitched rather hungrily, smile widening and eyes shining with pleasure.

Over his dead body. Fortunately, Sasuke seemed to be of the same mind, for he frowned slightly and muttered in a decidedly dismissive tone, "Go away, Karin."

The kunoichi pouted hugely, lower lip jutting out in what Itachi assumed was supposed to be an irresistible display of begging. Tch. Hatake's summons were far more convincing, and that was coming from a cat person. "But Sasuke-kun. I'm so worried about Itachi-san. Don't you want me to make sure your only brother is all right?"

Itachi-san. She had no business calling him that. The redhead batted her eyelashes in Sasuke's direction, but he appeared completely unmoved. "Out, Karin."

The second time apparently did the trick, or perhaps it was the accompanying death glare. Turning on her heel, the kunoichi dramatically tossed her mane of hair and flounced towards the door, taking on the role of a woman scorned. "Well. The next time your beautiful brother is at death's door, don't come crawling back, begging me to let him bite me."

With that somewhat shocking pronouncement, Karin flounced away, slamming the door behind her. Charming. Sasuke certainly knew how to pick his female companions.

As the sound of Karin's shinobi boots against the stone floor faded down the hall, Sasuke felt one sort of tension - the almost nauseating disgust of having to deal with a far too clingy woman who wouldn't leave him alone - fade away, replaced by another, far more ominous awareness that he was now one-on-one with a conscious Itachi for the first time as an adult and had some exceedingly important questions to ask him. Questions whose answers were liable to dictate the trajectory of his foreseeable future.

He hadn't really wanted to believe the Snake Sannin by any stretch of the imagination. Hating his brother was so easy, so simple, so familiar a decade into his rage. That being said, after five days of near-constant thinking, Sasuke was virtually convinced that Orochimaru had told him the truth that night in Oto. Initially, he'd tried not to dwell on what had transpired that night at all, vowing to give his mind a break until Itachi awoke from what Karin had questionably diagnosed as a near-lethal bout of chakra exhaustion (five days seemed an awfully long time to be out with that, in his opinion). But it was no use. He'd obsessively run over Orochimaru's retelling and his convoluted relationship with Itachi countless times now. And, on each occasion, his conviction that his brother had been up to far more than "testing his vessel" that night had sharpened.

With Karin gone, Sasuke retreated to the only unoccupied piece of furniture in the room, a small stool near the foot of the bed, considering the man before him. For the past decade, Itachi's eyes had been the source of some of his deepest fears and darkest insecurities. For good reason. After all, the Mangekyo Sharingan could literally torture a man to death, and there had always been a rather perverse part of him that had craved his brilliant nii-san's recognition, even as he thirsted for his blood. But today, in the tiny infirmary of Orochimaru's Southern Hideout, the spell was broken. While still undeniably deadly, his brother's eyes no longer held that same threatening sway, and, for the first time in his life, Sasuke felt that he was almost his brother's equal.

Itachi returned his gaze with vague curiosity, rather bird-like in his intensity, the thin line of his mouth suggesting that it was up to him to decide when and how to begin. Sasuke wet his lips, a sudden wave of nervous emotion coming over him in anticipation of what he was about to learn. "Nii-san" - how strange that word felt - "was what Orochimaru said true?" He already believed that it was... but to be absolutely certain, to banish his creeping doubt once and for all, he needed to hear it in his brother's own voice.

Itachi sat silently for some time, expression stony and dark eyes glittering in the sunlight slanting through the open window. They were like tunnels... drawing him in to their inky blackness. Then, his lips turned up slightly in a sad almost-smile, and he spoke, tone measured, as if he was carefully weighing each word before uttering it. "As I told you in Oto, Sasuke, you saw the truth with your own eyes that night. I killed them... kaa-san, tou-san, my intended. I killed them all. And I chose to, willingly and premeditatively. But the... motives behind my actions were admittedly more complicated than I revealed to you then. Know that it was never my intent to lie, but rather to protect..."

It was true, then. It was all true. "And who is Danzo?" The mystery man whom Orochimaru had claimed was the mastermind behind the Massacre. The man who had left Itachi no choice that night, even if his brother liked to think otherwise. The man whose callous decision to order the slaughtering of them all had made him the new target of Sasuke's vengeance...

Itachi shut his eyes, the dark shadows beneath them making him appear far older than his twenty-three years. Then, with a slight shudder, he met Sasuke's gaze once again and nodded slightly, as if resigning himself to a fate worse than death. "A member of the Konoha High Council."

Strange… how had he never heard the name before? Sasuke's brows knit together, a cold chill running up his spine as he processed Itachi's deceptively simple statement. "The Konoha High Council…" he repeated slowly, palms twitching in his lap with impotent rage as the full implications of his brother's words became clear. "Konoha was behind it?"

Itachi's jaw locked, dark eyes boring into his own. It appeared that his last statement had cut his brother to the depths of his soul, for Sasuke could suddenly feel the full intensity of his usually masked chakra presence in the room, dark, vast, and oppressive as a moonless night. Then, Itachi sighed heavily, as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders, quickly regaining control of whatever emotion had momentarily overwhelmed him. He blinked slowly, and, when his eyes opened once more, the exhaustion in his gaze was palpable, forcing Sasuke's heart to beat painfully in his chest for the suffering his brother had gone through. That their own village had put him through. It was all so unfair… so cruel... so utterly unforgivable...

"Sasuke. Danzo is not Konoha. You must understand that. He is a single man, and he had his reasons. The clan - the Uchiha elders, our father included - was plotting against the village. They sought to overthrow the Sandaime, to seize the mantle of Hokage for themselves. And Danzo, rightly or wrongly, decided that a counteroffensive was necessary. It was not a trivial decision… or an easy one. For anyone involved."

He explained it all so patiently, so gently, as if Sasuke were an idiot or, worse, a child. "Tch, a counteroffensive," he replied dismissively, the familiar fire of his Sharingan rising in his eyes unbidden. He didn't mean to rant at Itachi - this was in no way his fault - but he found himself incapable of quelling the venom in his tone. "A slaughter, you mean. The murder of hundreds… families, children, mothers…. Not to mention that they destroyed your life, nii-san! And mine. All because of an alleged plot that was never even executed? It's… indefensible."

Itachi may have somehow made his peace with what had happened, but his brother was a far better man that he could ever hope to be. Whatever their father and the clan Elders had been plotting was immaterial. Action mattered, and, when it came to determining who had been the aggressor, the blame rested squarely and obviously on Danzo's damnable shoulders. And Konoha's, much as Itachi might not wish him to think it.

He'd never pulled it all together before, but, now that he really thought about it, Sasuke had always known that he wasn't fully welcome in Konoha… that the village was not his village in the way that the rest of his classmates seemed to see it. There had been quite a bit of sympathy for him in the wake of the Massacre, but, by and large, the villagers had always kept their distance, civilians and shinobi alike. It wasn't that he necessarily wished that it had been otherwise , but, still, it was rather strange, wasn't it, that a seven year old whose entire clan had been killed just a few weeks prior had been permitted to check himself out of the hospital, rent an apartment using clan funds, and settle into a solitary life with no adult oversight to speak of? Sure, he was obviously a shinobi, and he realized that that came with certain freedoms, but he'd also been a child, years away from even his Academy graduation. It was almost like no one had actually cared whether he'd lived or died.

And Konoha's seeming wariness of all things Uchiha wasn't just confined to him or to the period after the massacre. While young, he possessed vague memories of the suspicious gazes that seemed to follow him anytime he stepped out of the Uchiha District; could recall a rather odd conversation with his mother back when he'd been five or six about why all of the Uchiha lived in a designated section of the village that happened to be particularly far away from the Hokage tower, the hospital, the Academy, the shopping district, and, well, everything else of interest; had been aware that, as an Uchiha, he had to fight harder than his classmates for recognition and that coveted promotion to jounin status despite the utility of his clan's dojutsu; couldn't help but notice that there didn't seem to be any Uchiha jounin sensei or much representation of his clan in the Sandaime's inner circle. It all made sense now. No wonder their elders had been frustrated! The village had systematically isolated and alienated his clan, and Danzo's decision was just the final nail in their collective coffin...

Sasuke rose to his feet, fists clenched by his side, painfully aware that Itachi was eyeing him with barely disguised alarm. "Sasuke… what's done is done. Revenge will not change ancient history..."

Again with the soft, soothing words. But he wouldn't listen. He couldn't. Not when he'd just learned that his clan had been destroyed for the supposed good of an accursed village that they'd help found. That they'd served loyally in whatever capacity they could, only to be slaughtered like dogs the moment they'd dared to even consider righting some of the wrongs they'd suffered. Yes, Danzo and Konoha would pay for what they'd done. In blood.

That being said, Sasuke also recognized that bringing down an entire village was a bit of a tall order, even with Itachi behind him (for he was fairly certain that he could count on his brother's support, even if his expression right then suggested that he was exceedingly uncomfortable with the course of their conversation). To achieve this new goal, they would likely need assistance, some sort of alliance. Hn...

Sasuke's eyes scanned the room thoughtfully, considering their options. Orochimaru had other followers… Karin, Suigetsu, Juugo, to name a few. But after five years, he'd grown rather tired of the Snake's system, and he wasn't entirely convinced that the flunkies who'd attached themselves to the rogue Sannin had the sort of drive, expertise, or power necessary to go up against the Leaf. He and Itachi could, of course, attempt to ally themselves with another village, as Orochimaru himself had more-or-less done with Suna a half-decade ago, but politics were tricky things, and having personally experienced the way that the Hidden Villages chewed up and spat out their shinobi, he didn't exactly relish the concept.

Sasuke's eyes drifted over Itachi's black-and-red cloud-printed robe, slung over one of the bedposts, a thin smirk spreading across his lips. An independent organization that was, from the little that Orochimaru had said about it, already opposed to the Hidden Village system. And, with his brother, he already had quite the in. Yes, that might just do the trick. "Nii-san. Tell me about the Akatsuki…"