Title: Koumajutsu
Author: Tsubasa Kya
Disclaimer: I do not own "Naruto" or "Inuyasha". This will be Canon Naruto and Alternate Universe Inuyasha. The main pairing is decided; all others are still being worked out.

Chapter 25: Saturday Truths

His mind flew over all the things he'd written down in his notebook regarding the Uchiha Massacre, and all he could remember of Itachi.

Truthfully nothing fit. His anger started surfacing, and he couldn't tell if he was angry at Itachi or at his confusion. Kyuubi's words resurfaced in his mind. …If you were to see Itachi, you'd probably just blindly swing at him like always, never thinking, and pretend you know everything…

He forced the anger down. Emotions did not control him and if Itachi had come for him, he would stand a better chance surviving if he kept his head. But did he want to destroy his only chance to return to Konoha by fighting? Did he want to risk it?

Itachi's voice broke through the estranged reverie of the younger boy. "Hello, little brother," Itachi didn't sound very pleased, but neither did he sound angry or cold. He didn't move. He stayed leaning against the rail of the bridge, his hands dangling in the open air.

It was then that Sasuke noticed something odd about his brother. While he knew without a doubt that the person on the bridge was Itachi, his brother looked like Kakashi. There was something vaguely wrong with that idea.

"I'm surprised," Itachi said, turning to look at Sasuke.

"For what?" Sasuke bit out. "Surprised that I haven't attacked you? Surprised that I haven't gone to meet my death by your hand just like the rest of our clan?" His hatred for his brother was confused by all the discrepancies he had thought up at the beginning of the week and there was not as much venom in his voice as there could have been.

"Something like that," Itachi shrugged. "What's holding you back?" He took out a kunai from his nin-kit and the visible black eye flashed red with the Sharingan. Twirling the kunai by the eye on one finger, Itachi said, "Fear? Uncertainty? Lack of weaponry? What is it?" He tossed the kunai across the distance and Sasuke caught it easily.

Sasuke forced himself to move onto the bridge, walking until he was standing just a few feet in front of his brother. He set the kunai on the rail, since holding it only made him edgier and pushed forward his intent to kill. "What day of the week did the massacre happen on?" he asked when he was sure he could speak without giving away his nerves.

Itachi turned and looked back at the river. A shallow mist had risen from it in the early morning, making it a bit damp above the river on the bridge. "Sunday," he said finally. Sasuke never took his eyes off his brother-turned-Kakashi. He knew who was beneath that disguise, though he didn't know why his brother looked like Kakashi. "I killed them all on a Sunday. I don't regret it one bit. How's Kabuto doing?"

"So he is one of your spies." Sasuke breathed, finding his conversation strange. It had the feel of a 'How's the weather' conversation.

Itachi shrugged again. "I haven't heard from him in weeks."

"He's probably dead. He tried to kill me and kicked me into the Abyss. In a month or so, Orochimaru will need to transfer bodies again, and I won't be there because of Kabuto." Sasuke found himself brimming with questions he desired answers to, but none of them would come forward.

"Shame. I liked Kabuto. But he wasn't one of my spies. He was a good acquaintance, perhaps. The Third had Kabuto spying on Orochimaru, and after Orochimaru killed the Third, there was no one to vouch for Kabuto's return. Kabuto achieved Black Book status because the Third left no record of Kabuto's spy work. Thoughtful, eh?" Itachi relaxed against the rail.

"The Third?" Sasuke asked. "Kabuto worked for Akatsuki; he told me himself."

"Kabuto did a lot of things. Doesn't make him my spy though."

Sasuke finally managed to blurt out a question. "Why Naruto? Why him, and not me?" he demanded. He knew Itachi understood; it was screamed in his body language.

Instead of answering directly, Itachi returned with a question. "Who does Akatsuki answer to?" Sasuke did not know the answer to that but Itachi didn't wait for any guesses. "Akatsuki is, or was, a group of the ten most skilled members of the Yobidasu clan. We were made of the five most skilled Summoners, and the five most skilled Summon Exterminators."

"What…" he stopped, not knowing what question to ask first.

"If you ask," Itachi said, "I will give you an answer, whether or not you like it."

"Why did you do it? It couldn't have been a curiosity."

Itachi looked at him, startled. "A curiosity?" he snorted. "Is that what they're calling it? No, that memory is false; I've tried to show you the truth of what happened. I can do it again if you like."

Sasuke knew the offer, but shook his head. "The Sharingan won't work on me anymore. I prepared myself against its use." Itachi seemed curious but didn't mention it. "I'll have to take your word for it," he told his brother.

Itachi began, "Do you know what I am, little brother?"

"What do you mean, what you are?"

"I can tell you what I am not. I am not mortal like you anymore. Several months after you were born, Tsuke attacked and with her came all ninety-seven of her Summon Creatures, all of them already Summoned. Level Four Summoning is a form of koumajutsu, of the Summoning Demons technique, that is forbidden because it uses a live human sacrifice. You were given to me, and I was told to run. Tsuke found me hiding beneath this very bridge with you and performed that on both of us. Yondaime Hokage-sama found us in time to stop the Summoning from being completed, but there was still a chance for the Summoning to continue."

Itachi pulled a small jewel from his pocket. It was blood red and heart shaped. Sasuke remained quiet but Itachi continued without prompting. "This is a heart—yours, in fact. It's your mortal heart. With this, I can hurt you without lifting a finger against you."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi squeezed the jewel and Sasuke felt something constricting his heart in his chest, painfully. It had been so long since he felt pain, he almost fainted. He had to lean on the rail to keep upright, but before long, Itachi stopped squeezing and the pain stopped. "If the jewel is squeezed enough to break, the Summoning will continue and you would transform irreparably into a Summon Creature like myself… like what the rest of our clan became with no one there to stop their Summoning."

Itachi put the jewel back in his pocket and Sasuke felt nervous knowing his brother had that power over him. However, since for the most part this meeting was peaceful, he didn't mention it. "Our clan became Summon Creatures?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi nodded. "Level Four Summon Creatures can't reproduce, as our clan found out. You were the last one who would ever be born to the possibility of the Sharingan, at least until you or I was old enough to have children." Itachi continued, quieter than before, "Then, a few months after the Kyuubi Incident, I had the opportunity to join the Yobidasu. Technically the Yobidasu had been exiled, but it took years to get rid of them all. I was trained here, in Konoha, by one of them."

"How did I not know?" Sasuke asked.

"The Yobidasu recruited in silence; it was a hard time for them since they were blamed for the Kyuubi Incident, though it was the blame of one Summoner alone. Well, that and you were just a baby when I joined."

"So… I'm a, a Summon Creature?" Sasuke felt human, but then again, he supposed he never had any other memories of feeling different since it happened when he was a baby.

Itachi shook his head and the rising sun reflected off the silver hair he was disguised in. "You're a mortal and will remain that way unless your heart breaks." Itachi continued with his first point. "Years before I killed everyone, Fugaku," Sasuke interrupted to correct his brother.

"Father."

"Whatever," Itachi said. "Years after my trainer decided I had learned all I could from her, I heard the Council of Elders talking to Fugaku." That time, Sasuke didn't bother correcting his brother, too curious to talk. This was what Kyuubi mentioned, wasn't it? "They had devised a way to make the dormant Sharingan active in our clan members, and they were to use it to destroy the Yobidasu. Since all our clansmen had already lost everything, their lives and the ability to procreate, they jumped on the chance for revenge."

"And you… you killed everyone for that?" Sasuke asked, somewhat incredulously.

"You need to understand the Yobidasu clan. At any given time, there were at most ten Summoners, and thirty Summon Exterminators. Five Summoners and five Exterminators are assigned to Akatsuki. Akatsuki goes around the world, basically becoming the Yobidasu merchants, selling and buying what is needed that can't be gotten in our own soil. However, the entire clan was huge. We numbered closer to five hundred people. Cooks, doctors, nurses, bakers, singers, writers… Since Akatsuki were our traveling merchants that meant at any given time one-fourth of our fighters would be gone, leaving thirty people to protect almost five hundred people by themselves. We're good fighters, but if you were to pit us against an entire clan of over one-hundred Sharingan users, then five hundred people who had nothing to do with the Kyuubi Incident would be killed."

"But… if what you say is true, that means technically you didn't kill everyone. They died in the Kyuubi Incident, right?" Itachi just shrugged. "So they were dead already. And you and me are the only ones alive."

"No, if you want to look at it that way, you are the only one alive." Itachi told Sasuke. "Fugaku broke my heart right before I plunged his own sword in his gut. As I said, I am not mortal anymore." He stood up straight and stretched his arms above his head. "You knew I was going to do it. You were playing in your toy room when I came to you that Sunday morning. I unlocked the door and told you to go visit Uzumaki-sama. I told you to stay there until I came to get you, and not to talk to anyone. I killed everyone then, but you came back. You saw me kill Fugaku. You saw him bust my heart before he died. You kicked his dead body over and over until I grabbed you and held you."

Sasuke did not remember any of this. He remembered going home from school, finding everyone dead, and then torture. He remembered his brother telling him he had done it because he was 'curious'.

"I told you, 'Go back to Uzumaki-sama's apartment and wait for me there,' and you went. I had to finish up. I couldn't let the Sharingan clan live to be used against the Yobidasu. One Sharingan-user could effectively destroy the clan, pretty much alone. I killed the rest, but then the ANBU bore down on me. I could have killed them, but the Council of Elders claimed to have you and said if I didn't leave Konoha, they would kill you. I left to spare you. When I managed to return a month later, you had holed up in the mansion, and you hated me."

Itachi picked up the kunai, but Sasuke saw nothing threatening in the move. He hefted the blade for a moment before replacing it in his nin-kit. "That is why I did it. One thing I don't miss is the torture Fugaku put me through, or listening to you cry in pain whenever someone accidentally touched your back."

Sasuke still had so many questions, but only one seemed important at the moment. "Why do you look like Kakashi?"

Itachi shrugged. "I owed Hatake a favor."

"What did he do for you? And why does he want you to impersonate him?"

"I asked him to train you for the Chunin exam."

Sasuke noticed that Itachi didn't appear to want to answer his second question, but he was surprised by the first question's answer. "He trained me because you asked him to?"

Itachi nodded. "He wanted to train Uzumaki-sama."

Sasuke paused and tried absorbing all the information. It was a lot to handle at once, but he knew he could do it. That time the day before, if he had thought he would have a conversation that wasn't spoken through death threats with his brother, he would have laughed. Itachi's story made so much more sense than what Sasuke remembered that it was almost frightening. Sasuke used to hate his father with a passion rivaled only by a woman and chocolate.

"Why do you call him Uzumaki-sama?" he asked suddenly of his brother.

Itachi shrugged. "He deserves the respect. He's an honest kid, trying to survive in a world that despises him. Against all odds, he's surviving, living. He has a reason to live, and fights for that reason. He's like you used to be…when you thought you existed only to kill me. Now, you don't care. Anyone can see you just exist. But you don't appear to want to fight for your life, since you have nothing to fight for. Uzumaki-sama's goal is to be recognized by the people who hate him. Do you have one?"

It made a lot of sense. Almost too much sense. Sasuke was beginning to understand a lot of things. Itachi began walking away from the bridge, leaving Sasuke behind. Sasuke asked abruptly, "When you came after Naruto, why did you nearly kill me?"

"You came at me first," Itachi pointed out. "I was pretty pissed off." Itachi left Sasuke behind with more things to think about than he almost felt comfortable with. It all made a lot of sense, somehow, to have it that way. He had conflicting memories in his mind. He knew he always looked up to Itachi, and Itachi never raised a hand at Sasuke in anger, unlike their father who made great use of his belt.

He could remember times when Itachi would come to him with bandages after a beating and he would patch him up. But then he had memories of asking Itachi to train with him but the older sibling continuously ditched him and he never understood why. He would always get his hopes up the next day though and ask again.

Even his Aunt and Uncle had days when they would just be furious and they would scream and yell and make a big fuss. He'd once seen his uncle beat Naruto with a broom until the blond ran away.

Itachi had always, for as long as Sasuke could remember, called Naruto by his surname with a formality added on. "What's going on?" he demanded of nobody, leaning on the rail with his head in his hands. Everything suddenly began to lead back to Naruto, almost as though every event was attached to him by an invisible string.

It didn't seem as surprising that he had just seen his brother in Konohagakure. For years there had been times when he would be walking home from the academy and he could have sworn he'd seen his brother just ahead of him in the crowd, or turning a corner, or sitting on a bench—all ordinary things that ordinary people could be found doing on ordinary days—but when he would blink, his brother would be gone.

This time his brother remained and they talked; perhaps because Sasuke had not been aggressive first. If he looked back at the time Itachi had gone after Naruto three years previous, he noticed his brother hadn't attacked him first. If he had kept his head at that time, what would have happened?

He supposed it may have gone like this meeting—only sooner.

Sasuke mulled over the new information, wanting to believe his brother wasn't lying to him. Despite the fact that he had come to hate his brother after years and years of stewing over his clan's destruction, he wanted to cling to what little he had left. The Uchiha district was gone now, and all that remained was a storage shed filled with probably useless junk, and the two children of the main house.

You surprised me, Kyuubi whispered in Sasuke's mind. I thought for sure you would act irrationally. You handled yourself better than many adults in your situation would have done. Well done, boy.

Sasuke ignored Kyuubi's praise to favor asking the fox a question he probably would never get from anyone else. Sure, if he asked someone, he might get an answer, but he would never know if it were true or not. At least with Kyuubi he would know the truth, because the fox didn't have a reason to lie.

"Is it true?" Sasuke asked of the creature. It was already eight AM and teachers were beginning to make their way across the academy district bridge to begin their weekend errands. "Did that really happen—that Level Four Summoning thing? And all the rest of it? Is he telling me the truth?"

Kyuubi sighed heavily. Children are such high maintenance, Kyuubi told Sasuke with a knowing certainty. They always want answers. It's always 'tell me this' or 'tell me that'. Why should I say yes or no? What have you done for me to deserve those answers?

Sasuke thought about that for a moment. It didn't sound like Kyuubi wouldn't answer him, just that he saw no reason to without a payment. It was how Sasuke would have been if he had an answer to someone else's question. What purpose did it serve another to answer someone else's questions?

"Is there something you want?" he asked softly, noticing how some teachers looked at him as though questioning his sanity. At least he knew someone else was hearing him. He ignored the looks the minute he noticed them, too tired to really care.

I want sunlight, but you cannot give me that.

"Then what can I give you?" he asked the fox.

I suppose I will think of something eventually. Just know you owe me a favor, and a youkai always gets what is owed. Sasuke wasn't about to complain at that moment, though it was highly likely that in the future he would feel very put off by the fox's desired favor. It is true; when a Summoner loses their mind, the first thing they do is begin mass summoning youkai using mortal sacrifices. That is what happened to the Uchiha clan. As this is going on, the youkai who bond to the Summoner will kill anything and anyone it comes across. The Summoner can then use the corpses in a necromancy summoning, no matter how bad the body is torn apart.

Sasuke shuddered slightly. That was disgusting. More than ever, he wanted to make sure Orochimaru never got his hands on the Summoning Demons technique. "What about the Uchiha massacre? Did he lie about that?"

You owe me two favors if I answer, Kyuubi said.

"Fine, just tell me," Sasuke whispered.

He did not lie to you. It was of his own free will that he killed the rest of your clan, and because he had the advanced Sharingan that none of them could kill him before he got to them. As Fugaku was bleeding to death, he crushed the jewel that kept Itachi mortal. You walked in just in time to watch your brother be devoured by the rip.

"The rip?"

Oh, I'm just going to get all sorts of favors out of you, aren't I? Kyuubi laughed but he continued without waiting for a response. The rip is created when the fabric connecting my world and yours is cut. It has been called other things, like a 'void' or sometimes even a 'door'. When the rip opens, youkai have access to this world, and mortals have access to our world on the other side. The rip my Summoner created was tied rather crudely by the mortal who sealed me so the fabric became crystallized into the jewel you saw. When Fugaku broke the jewel, the fabric inside there was able to separate and the Summoning commenced once more, turning your brother into something very much like myself, only a thousand times weaker.

"Tied?" Sasuke felt really dumb to keep asking questions that seemed like he should understand already but it seemed so weird. It sounded like a string or a shoe lace.

Think of it this way. Between my world and yours hangs a massive sheet woven of very fine thread, like a wall. Every so often, one small bit of thread starts to come loose from the sheet and certain mortals, or powerful youkai like myself, can see those loose threads. If the thread is cut, the rip opens. However, if the thread is not repaired properly, the rip will reopen. Summoners can see the threads to form the rip, then cut the rip, and finally repair the rip. It's not the cutting part that's hard, but the repairing part.

Sasuke stood up straight as he asked, "Can I see it? The threads, I mean."

Maybe. He could almost feel Kyuubi's smirk. But probably not. Only one in a million mortals can see it, and Naruto can.

"How do you know he can? What if he really can't?" Sasuke knew it was useless to ask. The fox probably knew a great deal that Sasuke didn't, and he was probably right. If he said Naruto could see it, then Naruto probably could.

He's carried my Maryoku around inside his flesh for over fifteen years. It would be a one in a million chance for him not to be able to see it. And when he decides to start Summoning and I am released, I am going to rip out the lying tongues of Fire's Council.

Sasuke could ask no more. He knew Kyuubi had left him there because his departure seemed to leave an empty space in his mind, though it was quickly filled with his tumbling thoughts. Kyuubi didn't seem very pleased near the end. Instead, he sounded incredibly vengeful; like something a mortal should never try to mess with.

He didn't want to really know more at that point. His day had already been trying enough. He'd spent the day at work and the afternoon at a seamstress's parlor. He'd barely had time for supper before heading off to Iruka's dorm and then speaking with Naruto. After that he spent all night being hounded by women (what did they want with him anyway?), and then he met his brother on the academy bridge and had a lengthy conversation with his brother and then Kyuubi.

Now, all he wanted was sleep and while falling asleep in the middle of the road seemed like a good idea at first, he decided to head back to Iruka's dorm and curl up there instead. When he got back, it was already after nine AM. He was surprised Naruto was still sleeping. Iruka was up and dressed, mostly, but he sat on his bed staring down at Naruto.

Iruka looked up as Sasuke entered as quietly as he could. "Good morning, Sasuke." Iruka greeted him in a cheerful whisper.

Sasuke nodded a brief greeting in return. "You don't have to whisper," he pointed out in his normal tone of voice. "The guy won't wake up if you smash a gong on his head; I doubt your voice will wake him."

Iruka chuckled ruefully. "I know, but I guess it's just a habit I have." He paused, looking at Sasuke closely. "Are you sick, Sasuke?" Sasuke shook his head. "You look pale. Well, paler than your usual color. Did something happen?" Again, Sasuke shook his head. "Are you sure? Sometimes when bad things happen, or even good things, it helps to talk about it. As you voice your thoughts, sometimes things become clearer."

Sasuke didn't respond. He simply stared at the older man, still standing halfway in the doorway. Iruka sighed and picked his hair tie from his wrist, pulling his hair back quickly. "Well, if you need an ear, I hope you know I'm always willing to listen." Iruka stood up and for a long moment, his eyes locked with Sasuke's. Then the moment passed and Iruka pulled on his shoes. "I'm going to be busy all day. Naruto doesn't have to meet with Kakashi today, so try not to pick a fight with him while he's sleeping so he can get some rest. Hokage-sama wants to see you at two o'clock today, but she didn't say what for so it might be useful to be early."

Iruka smiled then and stepped the couple feet to the door. Sasuke moved out of the way so the man could walk by. How was it that the brunette felt more fatherly than Sasuke's own father had truly seemed? "Yes, sir," Sasuke said, but only because he felt like saying it. He wondered if he felt like saying it because he respected Iruka, and he decided that he had come to respect Iruka in the past few weeks.

"I saw Sakura-chan yesterday evening," Iruka continued softly. "She and the others have plans to celebrate Hyuuga, Neiji's birthday with a surprise party. They're having the party next week on the third, if Neiji's team gets back from their mission. You and Naruto are invited, but she said if you two have trouble thinking of a proper gift, she would go shopping for you."

Sasuke nodded his understanding. "I will inform Naruto," he assured the older man, wanting only to lie down. He was so tired, his brain felt like a pile of goo between his ears and he was sure that if it were possible, it would start oozing out of his head. But even though he was so tired, he wondered if he would even be able to sleep. All that he had just learned would keep his mind occupied for hours.

"I guess that's it then," Iruka said. "You boys have a good day, and keep in mind I would like a bed to come home to, so try to keep your fights verbal." He left and Sasuke couldn't help smiling. Yes, Iruka was tolerable.

Did Iruka know Itachi was in town? Did Tsunade? Did Naruto…? Did anyone but Sasuke realize that Kakashi was a fake? He didn't want to think anymore. It was starting to hurt, however illogical that was to him. He didn't understand anything anymore. He couldn't feel pain, but he could feel touch and emotions. Was there a point when touch crossed the line? He didn't know what to believe: Itachi and a demon who killed thousands, or the memories that had no reason to lie. He was embarrassed and disgusted with himself for enjoying himself with Mariemi.

Closing the door to Iruka's dorm, Sasuke stepped over to the spot at the end of the bed he had been curling up at night. For a few minutes, he stared at the orange lump that was Naruto in his blankets and then he curled up into a ball, pillowing his head on hands. Though he closed his eyes, he wasn't sure if he slept.

Thanks for the reviews everyone! KibaSin (This isn't a SasukeMariemi, much as I'd get a kick out of that), Ichihime, supersillee06 (welcome back! Since I wouldn't want to be cruel and leave you hanging, the guy on the bridge is Itachi!), nightshadow04, Natsumi Tsuchi-Ookami (I suppose I shall have to humorously dangle Kakashi's pairing in front of you then! Oooh, who will he be paired with?), Tashio, ST Nickolian (I have other plans for fan-girl Mariemi!), and of course, to everyone else who reviewed chapter 24 after I posted chapter 25.

ANSWER: Thanks for making this story so popular everyone!

My dad is unnerved by my music, so um, no lyrics this time... Please review! (...so I'll sing to the mule if you'll show she won't think that I am just a fool serenading a mule...)