Chapter Thirty-Five: A Wayward Brother
AN: This chapter will show my take on how the Mangekyō Sharingan works. I've taken away the blindness caused by its overuse. It's temporary in my fiction. This gives Itachi an immense advantage, something he didn't have in the manga. As you've noticed, I've knocked Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan Sasuke several tiers down, because he's impossibly strong (for this fiction and in canon); I didn't want any Godly characters in my fiction; they don't suit this plot.
You've already seen which form of Susanoo Sasuke uses: it's the fully formed "Ribcage Version" with an arm. He won't be able to use any form above it. I've taken Kagutsuchi away from him, as well—bar his ability to quell the flames. That's the only Amaterasu manipulation ability Itachi had in the manga.
Canon Manga Info: I wanted to show a human vulnerability in Itachi, a throwback to that famous arc in the manga in which Obito stated that Itachi would've "divulged Konoha's secrets" had Sasuke been harmed in any manner by the higher-ups. Itachi admitted that whatever Obito stated about the mission was true.
Mind you, Danzō manipulated Itachi by telling him that his brother will be spared in exchange for the mission.
# # # # # #
The sun was high and the weather cool. Two days without any sleep, and another night with no rest, had left him so irritable and exhausted. He was human, after all. His body was tired. His mind could not work like it normally did. A dull fever gripped him. It burnt like a smouldering coal left overnight in the hearth. There was a glimpse of fever in his eyes, and a tinge of red in his cheeks.
He took long stiff strides to her office. A crowd of shinobis standing in the hall parted away. Many of them shouted honorifics. As always, he showed them nothing but indifference. He opened the door to Tsunade's office, his hard eyes falling on her fair face. He closed the door behind him. The sound of the click made her look up at him.
"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, his voice so deep and heavy. It had a subtle undercurrent of anger that was a little hard to miss. He approached the table, a scroll held tightly in his hand.
Tsunade slowly stood up from her perch, her hands on the large table. Few cushions were put on the chair to give her that much-needed lift. She frowned, and her eyes locked to the shurikens spinning in his dangerous eyes. "Is there any reason for you to use such a tone and grace me with your untimely visit?" she asked and her mouth twisted in irritation, an angry colour rising in her cheeks.
He put the scroll on the table, his eyes heavy on her face. Her eyes yielded before the foreboding, turbid darkness in their depths. Then she lowered her eyes, picked up the scroll, and read it. Anger slipped from her face and was replaced with worry. He could even see a flicker of subtle shame race across her face.
"Is there any reason for this political trick? Now of all the times—" he stopped himself before he could say any more. His waxen face trembled for just a heartbeat with controlled fury. Then that hot anger slipped back to the empty corner from where it had briefly broken out.
Tsunade raised her eyes and anger returned to her face with a sudden swiftness. She did not like his tone. "That's the first I'm hearing of this," she said as she tightened her jaws and lips and rolled up the scroll. A scowl was on her face now. "This order didn't come to my table. He must've gone straight to the Elders for this." She put it back on the table with force and it wobbled.
He crossed his arms and looked at her with a hint of mockery on his face and the ever-latent arrogance in his eyes. "Are you playing the apt role of a woman of secondary value to the higher-ups? I thought them to be beneath you in such affairs? Surprises, you are full of them, are you not, Hokage-Sama?" he said, elongating the word slowly and enticingly to bruise her ego.
Tsunade's eyes sparked with anger, her knuckles shaking. "Itachi," she hissed, and her eyes squinted against the menacing aura that floated to her from his accursed eyes, "how dare you use such a tone with me? Sasuke's immature attitude has rubbed off on you, or do you both take perverse pleasure in the showcase of this disgusting arrogance?" The breath hissed noisily from her mouth. Her nostrils flared. That fair face was deep red and contorted in anger.
A cold smile came to his lips, settling on his face like an eerie mirage. "My honesty should not wound you. How did he give this order without your consent? Or are you in on this, playing a game with me to corner my brother?" he asked, threat dripping from his lips. His mask was slightly broken by anger—but for him to show even this much? It surprised her.
Tsunade's eyes widened, anger still flickering across her face. She looked somewhere between shocked and livid. Her red mouth curled in rage, of which she had yet to let go. "What are you talking about? Don't talk in riddles," she said and gazed intently at that young, haughty face. He really looked just like his brother: if only Nature had fixed those small mistakes, it would have been impossible to tell them apart.
Itachi shook his head in amusement—that frosty smile apparent on his face now. "It is a simple question. It would be better if you did not elude it. Though I wonder," he paused and narrowed his eyes on her face, "how much that precious student of yours will gain from this? Another Uchiha caught by Root. Brilliant, they would say."
Raspy breaths left her lips. The red in his eyes was picking at her sanity, like a crow at a dead-man's rotten-eye. "What does Sakura have to do with this?" she asked, her lips dry. He sounded so cruel . . . so inhuman when he spoke her name as though there was something of a liquid malice swirling in his mouth, and he so desired to spit it down into the gutters.
The corner of his mouth twitched. That mocking look melted into something no less intense. He reached into his pocket, pulled a scroll out, and threw it at the table as if he was playing fetch with a whelp. It bounced off her stomach and landed before her—right between the stacks of scrolls. She stared down, then up, livid.
"This menagerie pays her well for her foolish ways. How well will it end for her if she loses her life in such a petty scheme," he said, his voice coming out in a cold, whispery manner that made her hairs stand on end.
"What are you—" Tsunade stopped; her breaths had gone shallow. She looked terrified of what he was suggesting so freely. Her eyes left his gaze that held hers in an invisible shackle and dropped to the scroll. With trembling hands, she unrolled it, and the details brought a thin film of tears across her eyes.
She slumped back into the chair, and her mouth trembled. She found it difficult to speak. "What is this? Where did you find this? Sakura can't—she'll never—" she fumbled with words and put her hand to her breast, and her heart throbbed painfully.
"She has been working for him for about two years—passing on information concerning my brother. A hopeful lover . . . that is all she is. A scorned woman. Well, I will show her scorn," he said a little disdainfully, looking back at her sorrowful and shocked eyes. The intensity in the red there, in his eyes, was something else. She had never seen it before, and it chilled her to her bones.
Tsunade finally found her wind, her bosom moving with deep breaths. "What does this have anything to do with Danzō asking for an inquiry now?" she asked and rose to her feet. They shook with emotions that stirred in her heart and mind.
Itachi clenched his jaws. A small muscle twitched close to his nose, and he spoke, his tone still so frosty: "Sasuke has left home. He was angry with me. I spent the entire night and all morning looking for him around the borders close to Waves and Rain villages. I do not know where he is—I cannot find him. This came in not long after he left my office in anger. No one knew he would leave home. This miraculously appeared just in the nick of time. But, oh," he paused and took in a long breath, and his mouth showed a sweet curl of contempt, "your student trained to become a Sensor. She so adores to pursue my brother. Distance matters little to her. It all fits so perfectly. Her foolish mind is hardly a puzzle. Who knows what she has in store for you, following the orders of a madman in the shadows."
She hunched her shoulders and circled her arms around herself as if she was cold and tired. Her eyes roamed all over the room. Anxiety was etched in her face. "Danzō must've put her up to this. She would never betray me. She would never hurt Sasuke. She—she adores your brother," she said and looked him in the eye, beseeching him to calm his anger.
"I do not care what she adores, guided by her lust for him and nothing more. That despicable girl is conspiring with Root to trap him in some elaborate scheme. I can easily pluck things out of her head and give her the punishment she deserves. It would be so easy for me," he said, his tone hard and firm. "Your higher-ups claimed half of my kin over an accusation, and now they are after my brother? I put that aside years ago for this village, but my flesh and blood? I will not stand for it."
"Are you blackmailing me? You want time, is that it?" she asked, changing her tone into that of persuasion. She approached him. His cold words resounded in her head, making her steps wobbly, unsteady. When he remained silent, she spoke again: "I'll help you and buy you some time. Just don't hurt Sakura. She's young and naïve. I can't allow you do that, Itachi. I won't! Danzō's must have trapped her somehow. I'll get to the bottom of this without arousing her suspicions. You have my word."
He bent his head down and let her see and feel the sharp glare of his murderous eyes. "You better pray I find him soon, and she is not involved in this mystery. Or I will make her taste her own medicine—let the black flames of her selfish hatred lick at her body till nothing of her remains. If I find that anyone was involved in this, and if something, anything, happens to my brother, I will grant them no quarter. And I will reserve remorse for another eternity. You have not seen my anger yet," he whispered coldly in her face, his eyes tinged mad-red, and he gave the look that he meant what he said. When his hot breath hit her, it stabbed at her skin.
Tsunade raised her hand and parted her lips to speak but nothing came out. He left just as quickly as he had come; and she just stood there silently, sobbing in agony . . .
# # # # # #
The whole afternoon had gone by as he gave chase to his brother. He went from border to border and looked inside dark caves and places he knew from his travels as a Captain—dirty inns and small villages. It was all for nothing. It was as if earth had swallowed him. He had simply vanished. Last time, when Sasuke went away over an argument, he was easy to find. He left small clues, marks of his presence. He wanted Itachi to find him.
Not this time. He was like a ghost now that left nothing behind for Itachi's eyes to see. He really did not want to be found. His crows flew north and south, east and west. They were just as hasty to find him as he was. He had been using his Mangekyō Sharingan for more than twenty hours with no rest. It had taken such a toll on his mind and body.
He felt the rise in mild heat around him, and the sea of fog dispersed. He was a wanderer in its vast ghostly shape—lost and sad. Night was gone, a sober traveller. When he lifted his dimming eyes to the changing sky, dawn set the dusky cover ablaze. A new morn broke out on the dark forest at the outskirts of a village close to the Land of Waves, and Sasuke was still missing. The rays shimmered on the branches left dry and withering by autumn. They had little life in them now.
The fever, it was burning his whole body with such exquisite intensity now. It burnt in his limbs, and his skin tingled under the floating drops of mist. They slid down his shivering arms that were left bare below the elbows, and he hissed with pain. Relying on his Sharingan so much was killing him. Mangekyōs were terrible allies: they took the light away for months and punished the body when called upon for use more than once. It was a price Uchihas had to pay for such an awesome power. His beloved brother was eternally free from such punishments.
Itachi steadied himself beside a tree. His fingers trembled upon the rough bark. His eyes stubbornly looked through his crows. Four of them flew across the borders, and Sasuke was nowhere in sight. Kai and Serizawa stood about sixty feet behind him. Kai had put a few animals under Genjutsu. It was his speciality. He used them for infiltration. They could not be kept under Genjutsu to do his bidding for more than a few hours. Sharingan proved too much for their fragile minds, and they always died so brutally, bleeding to death from their nostrils, eyes, and ears. It was a classic case of brain haemorrhaging.
Serizawa extended his Sharingan's field of vision through Sensing. He could see in one direction for about five kilometres. All Sharingans had an ability to look far off into the distance, but it did not extend beyond a few hundred meters. It was an ability he developed for himself. He was Itachi's assistant like Kai. Both of them were highly skilled, trained ninjas. They were privy to almost everything that went on in the clan and between the brothers. They were the secret keepers of their Clan—trustworthy and infallible to their cores. They were loyal men.
The hypnotized bird in the sky suddenly stalled from a great height and plummeted to a gruesome death some hundred kilometres away. Kai saw the whole thing: the ground grew bigger and bigger, and suddenly, it went dark. He blinked. His heart skipped a beat. It was always ghastly to look through their eyes just before they died. The dimming light and the soul escaping their bodies . . . it always chilled him.
He looked at Serizawa who turned off his Sharingan and shook his head, disappointed. Kai turned his eyes to Itachi. He had his back to them with his hand still upon the tree. His head tilted up as though he was fascinated by the autumn flowers blossoming on the rough barks. A deep frown appeared on Kai's forehead, and he returned his eyes back to Serizawa. "Sasuke's such a handful," he said lowly and crossed his arms.
Serizawa made a tsking sound and shook his head. "Not this again. Can't you let this go?" he said and half-turned to look behind his back at Itachi: he had been standing silently for a whole hour now.
"Let this go? Itachi-Sama will become the Clan's Head soon. The ceremony's not far. Yet he hardly has time for anyone beyond Sasuke's foolish behaviour. This is not the way to behave when he knows his older brother has a responsibility to the Clan," he said, wearing an annoyed look on his face. "He does this all the time. When will this end?"
Serizawa stepped closer. "Why do you even care? It's between them. And I am quite fond of our young cousin. He's just rash and moody. Heck, we all have our faults. It's not a big deal. Let's not pretend you are some Sage incarnate, Kai. Your self-important attitude shocks me sometimes," he said and wiped his face with his hand. Morning mist-drops covered his face and shone in the morning light. He looked like some strange-looking divine creature before Serizawa.
"Oh? You liked it when he hit you with a Chidori? You're too kind to him," he said, his voice stubborn, and his face gave the same impression.
"Like I said, we all have our faults. It was a very low-powered Chidori. It's not like it hurt me. Even the burns were so mild. All it took was a cheap balm from the store to heal them in an hour. He simply knocked me out. And where are you taking this anyway?" he asked and stole a quick glance at Itachi.
"Between you and me," he began and lowered his voice, "I wish Sasuke doesn't come back at all. Then we can finally get past this and move on. I'm tired of this—I'm tired of Sasuke."
"Are you mad?" he hissed in retort and his face became hard. "I really wish you had kept this to yourself. Do you really think Itachi-Sama would be in a right state of mind if something happened to Sasuke? I can't believe you're this foolish."
Kai gave a slight tilt of his head to Itachi. "He'll move on. He knows he has a big responsibility towards his own people. You're not looking at the big picture here," he said and fell silent.
"Are you?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. He looked positively shocked. "Itachi-Sama's a cold-hearted, ruthless man with little compassion. Time's changed him. It changes all of us. It's have made him hard. The only person that keeps him grounded, human is Sasuke. I don't want a leader like that who has a heart made of stone. And if you dropped that foolishness for just a moment, then you'll see value in my words as well."
"Sasuke's not his only family. They still have a grandmother. Surely, you are—"
"You don't understand, do you?" Serizawa cut him off. "I'm willing to pluck my eyes out of my head and spend my life as a blind man if he isn't driven mad by Sasuke's death. He would never survive it. He brought him up as if he was his own child. You grossly underestimate Sasuke's value in his eyes. You always have, and I am shocked you don't see it."
Kai stared at him. He was at loss for words. Their conversation never made it to Itachi's ears. His senses had greatly diminished. His whole body shook and convulsed. "Sasuke, how do I find you? Why don't you come home?" he whispered in a shaky voice. He was distressed and aggrieved beyond measure for his wayward brother. His body was just on the verge of a breakdown.
His vision blurred suddenly and all of his crows disappeared; and before he could steady himself to preserve his dignity, he fell down onto his knees and slumped back against the tree. His eyes were bleeding, and he breathed loudly with his eyes upon the bleeding sky. He was simply staring up with his head tipped back—delirious. Kai and Serizawa shouted his name, but he could hardly hear their voices.
"Sui-Suigetsu—c-call him—" he barely managed and gripped Serizawa's arm tightly as he sat beside him. He curled an arm behind Itachi's back to pull him forward.
"Itachi-Sama, take it easy. You haven't eaten anything or taken a drop of water for almost three days. You're over-using your Mangekyō. Please, get some rest—you need it," Kai said and looked at Serizawa for some support.
"He's right, Itachi-Sama," he broke off, looking from the blood that fell from Itachi's reddened lips to his dimming vision, "get some rest. You don't have to worry. I'm making three Kage-Bunshins to scout out the areas close to Sound village. Kai can cover the borders next to Sand. The birds will cover the areas quickly."
"No, I-I have to—" he stopped to inhale sharply as he tried to get up, "Sasuke, where—where— " He could not quite complete his sentence. He tried to get up, but his head suddenly fell forward, and he could not arouse himself this time.
"Itachi-Sama!" Kai shouted and leant towards him. He looked to Serizawa, his eyes widening.
"It's all right. He's just fainted," he said and put his hand against his forehead. "He's burning. It's no use. We have to take him back to Konoha. Sage knows what will happen to him if he keeps this up. I don't even want to think about it."
Kai looked back at him, his face turning hesitant. "He'll be furious when he wakes up," he said and put Itachi's limp arm over his shoulders.
"Let's just leave our Kage-Bunshins here. I don't want to waste time. Sasuke needs to be found. Sage knows what those snakes want with him and the Clan again," he said and opened the buckles of Itachi's jacket. He pulled it away from his body to let the cold air hit his skin beneath the drenched shirt. "He would move on if Sasuke died, huh, Kai?" he asked, flashing his meaningful eyes to Kai.
Kai averted his eyes and did not say anything . . .
# # # # # #
Sasuke took a few more steps. Then he suddenly stopped and looked back at Karin. "Are you coming?" He seemed irritated. Night was nearly upon them, and they had yet to find the second hideout. The first one turned out to be a waste.
Her pink mouth curled into a leer. "I'd really love to come on your hand and face—all day long," she rasped and licked her lips.
He wiped at his face and pulled the cowl back. His face was rigid. "This is the umpteenth time you've said that—mature," he said with irritation and started walking again.
"Dear Sage, you're so uptight. Hey, wait up!" she called out and broke into a jog. "We'll find it, a'right? You're so mean, Sasuke. The things I do for you and I hardly get anything out of it." She skipped a step and tried to match his long stride. She was not a very tall woman.
"You mean you get paid?" he said without looking at her. His lips elongated into a thin line.
"That's not what I meant and you know it. And look—" she stopped and paused in her steps, "—we just walked around in a circle." She scowled and pursed her lips to look up at him.
He stopped, too, and then walked to the right and sat down on a fallen tree. "I can see that guardian-deity statue. I'm not blind. I needed to double-check if we missed anything," he said and took out the map from a bag hanging from his shoulder.
Karin followed him and stood by the lopsided, withered deity statue just close to his feet. "Sasuke, I'm tired. Look at the sky. It's almost night and it might rain, too. I can hardly sense anything beyond a kilometre. I need to rest and so do you."
"Why are you so irritated? You knew this would be hard. I didn't force you to come with me," he said and shook the map to smooth out the crinkles in the paper.
"Well, sleeping in a guest room in your manor for a whole month and not getting laid would do that to any woman," she scoffed and fingered her glasses.
"If we find that hideout, I can remedy that," he said and looked to her with a smile on his face.
"Hah! That's what you said last time and I don't remember you keeping your promise!" she said in a mean cold voice. "You might find some time for me if you stopped fucking that floozy. Still a damned Genin, isn't she? She's so stupid, honestly. No wonder Hiashi threw her out." She put her hands on her hips in a huff.
A husky chuckle burst from Sasuke's lips, and he rolled up the map. "You're so angry today. I told you, I haven't gone near her since last week. There was no need for me to," he said with a reassuring look on his face. He got to his feet and looked up at the angry clouds. His cloak flapped behind him. The wind was blowing fast and hard now.
Karin snatched the map from his hand and unrolled it. "Look, there's an inn nearby and I'm going," she said with finality and rolled up the scroll.
"Karin, we have to—" he broke off as the rain came pouring down on them.
Karin yelped and jumped under his waterproof cloak. "Come on, please, Sasuke," she pleaded in a childish tone and curled her arms around his waist.
"Damn it—fine," he said with resignation and started walking with Karin clinging to him under his long cloak.
When they made it to the inn, a plump woman at the reception gave him the look. He disregarded her rude expression. "Two rooms," he said and heard a moan of disapproval from Karin behind him.
"No empty rooms, young man. Just one," she spoke with her mouth full. She was chewing on something.
"I'll take it," he said and took the key from her stubby hand. Her nails were painted in the most bizarre colour patterns. The woman, whom he assumed to be a landlady, pointed to a room down the corridor to the left. When he reached the door, he opened the flower-shaped padlock and slid it open. It was a nice room: two futons were placed close to each other upon the wooden floor, and a wooden dresser sat at the other corner—the mirror on it was clean.
Karin laughed and ran into the room. She threw herself on the futon and spread her legs and arms wide like a child. He shook his head a little and threw her a smile and closed the door behind him. She propped her head in her hand and rested her elbow on a pillow.
"Sasuke, when we find him, can we go back? You don't need to stay away from Konoha after that, right?" she asked, looking serious.
"I'm not going back. I'm done with Konoha, with Nii-Sama, with everyone there. Suigetsu and Jūgo will find me soon. I'm not . . . I'm not going back," he said and his mouth looked hard. It was turned down in a look of mild anger.
"Your brother, he—" she stopped, trying to say what she wanted to, "—this isn't fair to him."
"Fair? He has done everything he can to humiliate me and cut my paths. I'm done with him and his games. He can weep now. This is what he wanted, isn't it? He always wanted me gone. I was always a burden to him. Well, he can live happily now—be a Head and all that. I don't give a damn about his ego," he bit out harshly.
"Sasuke," Karin began in shock and sat up straight, "you don't mean that . . . "
Sasuke looked at her with anger on his face. He remained silent and turned his head away.
"This isn't fair to him. He must be worried sick about you. I know what he does isn't fair, but he's trying to protect you in his own way. He doesn't want you to be branded as a traitor. He adores you so much. He would never want that. Sasuke, you . . . you're not being fair to him—or yourself. Just think over it. That's all I'm saying," she said softly and fell silent, her eyes downcast.
Sasuke breathed out a loud sigh, and his hard eyes softened. He took off his cloak and threw it on the floor. Then he climbed onto the futon next to her. He felt Karin throw her arms around his waist, her mouth hard against his throat, but he did not say anything to push her away.
When morning came he could tell that the landlady was not happy. She had this big frown on her fat face, and she kept mumbling about taboos, shame, and horny-customers. Perhaps it was because Karin was uncharacteristically wild and loud, or that he had shouted that there was still a damned zipper on his pants when she got too excited. He gave her the money and left with a chirpy Karin with him. It was easy to lift her spirits and mood.
They made their way to the next hideout: it was located on an island beyond the Land of Waves. Fishermen had abandoned their boats; tides were high and winds strong. They went into the thick forest. The branches swayed, and trees moved back and forth, thrashing like fish caught in a net.
Karin was still Sensing, and he had his Sharingan out. A little rest really did them good. They walked and walked, crossed streams swollen by rains, their steps firm against the wind blowing at them. They went beyond the blanket of storm clouds overhead and came across a vast forest; it was calm under the drizzle.
Sasuke jumped down from a cliff with Karin behind him. When he leapt down, her eyes stretched as if she saw a ghost. "Sasuke, there's someone with a really large chakra running south. He's fast. It could be him!" she said and made a surprised sound when he grabbed her and started running.
He ran so fast with her in his arms. He knew she was too slow to follow him. All she saw was a blur of colours. He closed the vast distance between them in two beats, allowing his Sharingan to track him down. There was no need for her Sensing now. He ran and ran, following him like a hawk, with his keen eyes on the chakra in the large man's body—even his sword.
At last, he jumped into a clearing just behind a group of small, treacherous mountains. But it was not much of any task for his chakra control to create a footing for himself on their slippery surface. A waterfall was behind him, which created a loud gurgling sound that filled his ears. He set Karin down and took out his sword.
In the next moment, a tall—very tall—man appeared from the shadows in the mouth of the cave. His skin had a strange blue colour, and his teeth were small and pointy. He could easily count them all in his broad mischievous smile. He gave Sasuke the impression of a predatory shark. He held a puffer-fish-like large sword in his hand.
He chuckled and sat down on a pile of rocks and leant the sword against his right knee, his small eyes upon him. "Littlest Uchiha, you have grown," he said and there was an unmistakable smile in his rough voice.
"You," Sasuke spoke in the grip of shock and surprise, "you're Kisame . . . "
The man only chuckled in response . . .
# # # # # #
Words: 5,137
Characters: 22,149