Same Old Me Again Today

"I never saw this coming," Kakashi admits. He's leaning his elbows on the balcony railing, a beer bottle hanging from his fingers. "Though I suppose I should have."

"I feel the same," Itachi says. "I cracked his head against the floor – relax, I let the beast heal him before I sealed it off. I suppose that was just the excuse he needed to forget what he couldn't live with." He sighs. "I doubt it'll be permanent."

"Probably," Kakashi mutters. "He's stubborn like that."

"But now," Itachi says, "he can serve God. He's a strong crusader, and we've had too many devils appearing lately."

"Talk to Orochimaru about that," Kakashi says.

"I don't like politics."

Kakashi shrugs. "You're the only one he'll listen to." He stares into the sun until his eye aches. "Do you want to fuck Sasuke? Is that what this is all about?"

"You know I've taken celibacy vows."

"Yeah, and I don't really get that, honestly. Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the Earth… Isn't it your sacred obligation to spread your crusader genes?"

"I've donated sperm, if that's what you're worried about," Itachi points out mildly.

"More than I wanted to know." He stretches his back. "Just tell me you weren't thinking of Sasuke when you did."

"What are you accusing me of?"

"You have to know what it sounds like when you say your love for him was impure and he tempted you into sin." What it looks like, when Sasuke wakes up with no memory and defensive wounds.

"You have a filthy mind."

"Incredibly," Kakashi agrees. "But I can't say incest's ever been one of my turn-ons."

"You grew up with us. You know perfectly well I never touched him that way."

"I do." He shrugs. "That's not what I asked."

"I doubt we shall ever see eye to eye when it comes to Sasuke."

"Now that's something we can agree on." He empties the bottle, wiping foam from his mouth. Cocking his head to the side – is Itachi wearing a hair shirt under his suit? "Are you planning to keep him here?"

"I suppose he can reside in whichever facility he prefers."

"Nakamura has to be done by now," Kakashi says. "Let's go see if there's anything amiss."

"He was fine."

"You did crack his skull hard enough to induce amnesia."

"I'm sure Nakamura-sensei will clear him, but by all means, let's go."

When they return indoors, Nakamura's gone, and so is Sasuke.

"Itachi."

Itachi shakes his head and continues to Mikoto's study. "Mother. Where's Sasuke?"

Mikoto looks up from her computer. "Orochimaru retrieved him."

"Did Nakamura-sensei drug him?" Itachi asks mildly.

"Not at all. Why wouldn't he go with his godfather?" She gives Itachi a look of consternation. "It's better if you're not exposed to him."

"When?" Kakashi snaps.

"Not quite two hours ago."

"Right. Are you coming, Itachi?"

"Perhaps this is for the best," Itachi says.

"Right," Kakashi repeats, and runs.

Why wouldn't Sasuke have gone with Orochimaru, when Kakashi deliberately didn't warn him. In trying to cherish a Sasuke who'd never been betrayed, Kakashi betrayed him.

He runs through the air and on the ground, and then drives very fast.

Two streets away from Orochimaru's compound, he almost runs over Sasuke, hitting the breaks so abruptly the car skids onto the pavement. He throws open the door, gesturing for Sasuke to get in. Sasuke only hesitates for an instant before throwing himself into the passenger seat.

Kakashi reverses quickly, driving away at speed, but can glean no pursuers.

"Are you all right?"

Sasuke nods. Uriel's light burns and erupts under his skin, so whatever happened, he's not sealed. There aren't any new wounds, either, not that the worst damage Orochimaru dealt him was ever really of the physical kind. His shirt's ripped, exposing the new seal and the scarring underneath.

Kakashi cranks up the heat and drives in circles, and eventually the strangling tension bleeds out of Sasuke.

"I don't know if I killed him or if I just crippled him," Sasuke abruptly says.

Kakashi overtakes another car.

"He tried to – I'm not sure if he meant to seal me or – either way I wasn't going to let it happen. So we fought." He breathes out, rests his hand on his leg, close to where the knife sheath is.

Kakashi can imagine it perfectly, and knows all too well that this could never have happened, had Sasuke remembered his past. He'll have gone with Orochimaru, who won't have had to fake having an interest in him or liking him, whose magic and gestures will have made him appear familiar, made him appear Sasuke's kin.

Orochimaru, Kakashi figures, will have been eager to get matters under control before Sasuke remembered to oppose him, and is used to Sasuke being conditioned to consider himself powerless in relation to Orochimaru: to a Sasuke whose magic was last unsealed when he was eight, to a Sasuke who only hours ago stepped in between Orochimaru and a death blow, shielding him with his own body.

But this Sasuke has never learnt to expect, much less accept, violent advances, and has no emotional ties to Orochimaru. Is in full possession of his very considerable magic, and won't have hesitated to use it. Orochimaru will have just been a dirty old man, a powerful but aging stranger who reached for Sasuke's marked shoulder and was dealt with accordingly.

It'll have happened simply and suddenly, without any of the epic trappings expected: he imagines Sasuke and Orochimaru in a kitchen, a messy and direct struggle as angelfire met angelfire, and Orochimaru burnt.

The irony curls in him like a claw, balancing on the very edge of painful and pleasurable.

"Mother suggested I go with him," Sasuke says.

"I gathered."

"I'm not going back to her."

"Of course not."

Sasuke rubs at his forehead under the guise of pushing his fringe away. "I should've made sure if I'd finished the job, but people were coming, and I wasn't sure how they'd take it. So I left. But he was too injured – he'll never be well again. He won't be able to come after me."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. He had it coming."

"Mmh." Sasuke relaxes further, his eyelids rather heavy. It'll have taken a lot out of him, burning Orochimaru. Exorcist fighting exorcist is a pure power struggle, a contest of raw strength where the weaker eventually breaks under the onslaught and starts to burn, and Orochimaru's incredibly powerful. "Where are you planning to take me?"

"To Naruto."

"Naruto?"

"Your….friend, boyfriend…I'm not sure how you think of him these days."

"The shifter I'm bonded to."

"Yes," Kakashi agrees. "You were staying with him before you lost your memory."

"Really? Huh…"

Kakashi shrugs. "I don't know that you had anywhere else to go, but he couldn't have forced you to stay."

"I'm an Uchiha crusader. How could I not have anywhere to go?"

Kakashi doesn't like to tell him this, but if Orochimaru had been only a little less impatient to have his Shinigami-chan back, Kakashi's misguided attempts to protect Sasuke could've ruined him. "It's not the first time your family's given you to Orochimaru."

"Hn." Sasuke's expression is cautious, considering, but fundamentally cold. Their betrayal can't hurt him anymore.

"Go to sleep," Kakashi tells him. "Naruto would die before he let anyone harm you. And I promised I'd look after you."

Sasuke remains wary, but by the time Kakashi parks in front of the Sabaku building, he's fallen asleep. Kakashi hefts him carefully, and Sasuke only wakes up enough to grumble at little, hiding his face in Kakashi's shoulder.

xxxxx

For all Kyuubi's monstrous strength, Minato's never once worried about Naruto going beastmad. Unlike so many inner beasts, Kyuubi has the power to speak to Naruto, to constantly reassert his desires, but Minato's never doubted Naruto's ability to resist, to argue him down or shut him out.

The risk of it is suddenly imminent.

Sickeningly, they've been forced to use the exorcist chain, in addition to the reinforced steel manacles and the drugs already administered. Still Naruto's trashing and howling, far beyond speech. His eyes are red, with nothing human left about them, and looking at Minato they don't see a family member or even a person, just an obstacle to be torn through. Minato can't doubt that Naruto would bring him down and rip open his stomach to feast, should the chains give. Already some of them have broken under Kyuubi's berserker assault.

"Minato." Kakashi's voice, from outside the seven-layer steel door. Kyuubi's ears prick up.

Tsunade called a few days ago, said how Kakashi had been borderline dying and apparently told Naruto he'd slit Yui's throat on Tsunade's instructions.

You must have known, Kushina told him. And there was no surprise, no hint of it, only this dark resignation like sinking into a swamp, so she must've been right.

If he'd been younger, if the wound had been fresher… but principles and even revenge are privileges of the very, very powerful. Even Naruto hasn't severed ties with Kakashi, though possibly Sasuke's got something to do with that.

He stands and unlocks the door, letting Kakashi in. When he turns back around, Naruto's far more aware, sitting up in an approximation of a human position. "Sasuke," he hisses, the word a mangled, feral demand. Minato only understand it because he already knew what Naruto was going to say.

"He's here," Kakashi says. "He's fine."

Kyuubi bleeds out of Naruto's face, struggling and flaring but ultimately defeated by Naruto's relief. "Why isn't he here? I still can't feel him...!"

"He's asleep in your bed," Kakashi says. "Itachi confirmed he sealed the bond, but he hasn't touched Sasuke's magic. Mikoto tried to give him back to Orochimaru – Sasuke's not sure if he killed him or just crippled him, but he is sure he damaged him too badly to be followed."

Minato kneels beside Naruto to undo the chains, and Kakashi unclasps the horrible collar. Naruto rips the last of the restraints off, so filled with impatience, with movement, he seems already to be running.

"Naruto," Kakashi says, when Naruto's already pushing the door open. "He has no memory."

"What?" Minato demands.

Kakashi shrugs. "He woke up a few hours ago in the Council building. He remembers nothing before that."

Naruto runs, skidding corners and almost breaking through walls.

But Kakashi told the truth this time: Naruto opens his door with sweaty hands, and suddenly everything is calm, and normal, and safe. He can breathe again.

He shuts the door behind him, and Sasuke's right here, lying fully dressed on top of the covers, face smushed into Naruto's pillows.

Naruto settles on the floor, resting his arms on the bed and his head on his arms, staring at Sasuke without daring to blink. He smells sharper now, with the bond inactivated, smells more of Uriel.

"Hey, bastard," he mumbles. "I'm so glad you're back. God, I can't lose you. Just the thought of it – I was going mad, actually mad. Sasuke…"

But at least Sasuke wasn't trying to commit suicide. He expected to die, but that wasn't the point of it: he didn't start going nova to kill himself but to kill Itachi, to regain his own worth by finally being able to stand up to Itachi. That's not the action of someone who truly doesn't want to live…

Kyuubi strains and somersaults inside Naruto, and Naruto's so used to this being okay, he doesn't put much force into stopping the tails. One of them winds itself around Sasuke's wrist, and Sasuke sits up abruptly. Light burns under his skin, illuminating up the dark room and incinerating the tail. He stares at Naruto, all haughty demand and no recognition.

"Um, hi," Naruto says, and can feel himself smiling, hopelessly wide and smitten. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. God, I'm so happy to see you."

"You're Naruto."

"Yes."

Sasuke makes an odd face, at once searching and certain. He's bruised up but not too badly: not as much as Naruto would expect after a fight with Orochimaru. "You – feel like mine."

Naruto's whole body heats, his heart rate picking up. "I am. But, um. You probably mean this – can I?"

Sasuke makes an impatient gesture of assent, and Naruto pulls up his shirt, revealing the seal on his stomach.

"Yes," Sasuke agrees, fingers out in the air between them but not quite touching Naruto's skin. "That's mine."

Naruto nods, sitting down on the bedside. "You wanted to be able to exorcise without burning me."

"How well did it work?"

"Pretty well. You took out a couple devils – it hurt a bit, but I was fine." He swallows, smiles this smile so shaky it feels like an earthquake across his face. "I just – Sasuke. I thought I'd lost you, I…!" He erupts forward, catching Sasuke in his arms. Power flares in Sasuke, sharp and deadly, but either some part of him recognises Naruto after all or he's less kill-hungry than he used to be, because Naruto doesn't burn. It just stings a little, as they collapse on the bed, Naruto's arms tight around Sasuke and his face buried in Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke seems… okay. Almost – almost normal. But Naruto remembers what he felt when Sasuke opened up the bond, the raging darkness like he was drowning in the sewers of hell. That's a constitutive part of a person, that doesn't go away with some memories…

"You're getting snot on me," Sasuke eventually complains, pushing at him, and Naruto forces himself to sit up away from him, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"Ugly crying is a touching sign of trust?"

Sasuke snorts. "You don't need help being ugly."

Naruto sticks out his tongue. "Lucky you're such a pretty boy, it balances out." He sobers. "On your shoulder…"

"Mmh." Sasuke's shirt was pulled askew by Naruto's pounce, and Sasuke tugs at the neckline now, revealing a new seal. It doesn't bother Sasuke the way the old one did, there's irritation but no resentment when he looks at it. It burns Naruto's eyes. "Kakashi tells me Itachi sealed off the bond."

"Someone must have," Naruto says. "I can't feel you anymore."

"I don't heal, either."

"You don't? It's not – they're not exorcist wounds?"

Sasuke shakes his head. "Cut myself a few hours ago." He holds up his palm, and the faint red line of the cut is still plainly visible.

"Fuck."

"We should be able to do something about it. I clearly got rid of one seal already."

"You…want the bond unsealed?"

Sasuke shrugs, the same one-shouldered shrug he's had since he was eight. "I'd like to heal."

"It's just… you'll feel me, too. You didn't like – you hated that."

"Huh. I'd assumed – humans don't feel it."

"You did."

"I suppose that makes sense. And if that was terrible for us – "

"No, I – I loved it. I think you just, um – you didn't like me in your head, so you didn't."

"I see." Sasuke has that searching look again. "Why would you tell me that? You want it back, you won't last if it's not unsealed."

Naruto shrugs. "I don't lie to you."

It's better, in a way, than the last time the bond was blocked off, because this time Sasuke didn't do it: didn't mean to shut Naruto away. But he has days to live at most.

Sasuke – smiles at him. It's an expression Naruto hasn't seen in seven years, lopsided and simple. Naruto's in fucking love, so in love it hurts, it feels like someone's set him on fire and he's happy about it. "What happened with Orochimaru?"

The smile disappears, but Sasuke's still – Sasuke's still all right, in a way he hasn't been for so very long. He also still looks like a predator. "He attacked me. Must've underestimated me, because it didn't end well for him."

"He didn't hurt you."

"No," Sasuke says with finality. "I was the one hurting him. He'll never – even if he's alive, he'll never function again."

Naruto breathes out. "About fucking time."

Sasuke makes a sound of what might be agreement. "My mother handed me over to him." He's far more sober now. "Kakashi said I'd been staying with you. Apparently I have a troubled relationship with my family."

Naruto snorts. "That's one way of putting it."

"They can't be pleased about you."

"No. No, um, your mum pretty much said if they hadn't disowned you already… They think I'm like – a beast defiling you. They – they gave you to Orochimaru when you were eight. That's when he sealed you, when you were too little to stop him. They think – Itachi's fucked up in the head, and your mum's not much better, they say it was some greater good bullshit to make sure Orochimaru kept the peace. Also Itachi's a fanatic and can't deal with loving you more than he loves God, so."

"Che. This amnesia seems less and less traumatic."

"I'm on your side."

Sasuke smirks at him. "Isn't that the same as being on the side of your own survival?"

"They…coincide."

Sasuke snorts out a laugh, then yawns.

"You can sleep," Naruto mumbles. "I'll keep watch."

Sasuke lifts an eyebrow but ultimately lies down, kicking off his rather tight jeans and pulling the blanket up instead. "Stop staring at me," he mutters eventually, and Naruto gives an unconvincing laugh and forces himself to turn away. Only until Sasuke's fallen asleep, then he can return to the bedside, staring at him with this helpless, hungry yearning, so God damn in love. He's careful to keep the tails in this time, and Sasuke doesn't wake, sleeping quietly and deeply in a bed that probably still smells familiar, from the last time Sasuke used it.

Naruto spends the night on the floor, staring at Sasuke and dozing off. They're both woken late next morning by Kakashi knocking on and then opening the door. "Morning, boys."

Sasuke's sitting up in bed, rosy and warm with sleep, so lovely it hurts looking at him and Naruto never wants the pain to end. "Morning," he drawls, not without a hint of a smile, and it dawns on Naruto that Sasuke's – happy to see Kakashi. Part of it is presumably that Kakashi's Sasuke's kind, another exorcist. While Sasuke's obviously decided to accept shifter contact in view of his…troubled relationship…with his family, the kindest thing he's ever said about shifters is that they're more useful than humans.

But part of it must be, part of it has always been, that he's happy to see Kakashi, whom he's liked for as long as Naruto can remember.

"I've got Hanabi Hyuuga downstairs," Kakashi says. "She's been to Orochimaru's. We should talk."

"I'll be right there." Sasuke kicks the blanket off, bending for his jeans. Naruto can't tell anymore, now that Sasuke's mind has been washed clean of memory, whether he's unselfconscious or showing off.

"See you downstairs," Kakashi says, wiggling his fingers and walking off.

Sasuke makes a face. "Do you have a tooth brush?"

"In the bathroom," Naruto says. "The blue one's yours. Um. D'you mind if I shower while you…?"

Sasuke lifts an eyebrow.

"I'll take that as no." Naruto rubs at the back of his head. "Sorry. I'm just used to…"

"We were living together. As a – couple."

"Well, yeah."

"You still want that."

"I do. But I get that you don't know me yet." He grabs a fresh shirt from the wardrobe. "I'll wash off somewhere else. You just use whatever – some of the stuff's yours anyway."

Having washed the nights' grime away, he finds Hanabi downstairs having tea with Temari, Kakashi lounging against a counter going through their coffee brands.

"When did this turn into Exorcist HQ?" Kiba grumbles.

"If you'd prefer to stand against the cleansers without any exorcists on your side, then be my guest," Hanabi says.

Sasuke enters before they can escalate, and Kakashi stands up straight. "Let's take this somewhere more private."

"I'm coming too," Naruto insists.

Kakashi shrugs. "Fine."

Naruto leads them into one of the conference rooms, and Hanabi makes herself comfortable at the head of the table. "Your timing is the worst," she tells Sasuke. "Orochimaru's dying – he can probably last a few weeks if nobody offs him, but he's not functional. Which would mean you taking over Oto, but you're hardly in a fit state to claim your inheritance now."

"Who else did you have in mind?" Sasuke asks.

Hanabi sighs. "I doubt if Neji's strong enough to call them to heel, and your mother's built her career on being moderate."

"Tch. Apparently I'm fucking a shifter – they can't be that picky if they'd have me."

"You're Orochimaru's chosen heir," Kakashi points out. "Also you're one of the strongest crusaders of the last millennium, so…"

"In retrospect," Hanabi says, "it's unfortunate that Kimimarou went nova."

"Maa," Kakashi objects lightly. "I do enjoy being alive, you know. Hmm…"

"You, then," Sasuke cuts in, looking at Hanabi. "Michael will bring them to their knees."

Hanabi looks speculative, mouth pursed, before she looks at Kakashi. "It'd have to be a joint effort. I've got the pedigree and the power, but…"

"But not the right connections," Kakashi agrees. "And I'm far too tainted by my shifter association – but I could be a prince consort, I suppose."

Hanabi leans her head back. "Itachi would be ideal."

"He scorns politics," Kakashi says. "But we'll have to see what we can do."

"I could –"

"This will be a very dark business," Kakashi says, looking at her less evaluating than concerned. "We'll be wading through black blood before we've cleaned it up."

"I can get people in line," Sasuke says. "If that's what we're talking about."

"There's a lot of politics in this."

"I'll be reorienting myself on that."

"Like you said," Hanabi says, "a joint venture. If Itachi won't have the fanatics, we might be best off with a triumvirate. Well, I must be going."

"I need to get caught up," Sasuke says. Naruto retrieves a computer from one of the cabinets, deciding to get some breakfast – because he can leave Sasuke alone for five minutes, he can, he really can – while Sasuke goes through the latest news cycles, presumably checking everything he's been told against the media output and hoping to fill in the blanks.

xxxxx

Kakashi returns to the coffee machine with the intention of chasing down his espresso with a latte. Itachi, who's never cowardly except about Sasuke, calls him for the third time this morning. Halfway through his coffee, Kakashi picks up: Hanabi will be cranky if he doesn't start selling Itachi on taking over Oto.

"…it was Sasuke's job," he agrees, when Itachi predictably argues. Itachi might be a genius, but he's never been particularly creative, and he's always been hampered by his God complex. "But now he doesn't remember enough to do it. Yes, because you cracked his head open. Exactly. Take responsibility."

"You can't still be friends with him," Naruto says, chewing defiantly on a piece of bacon, after Kakashi's ended the call.

Kakashi rubs at his face, grinding the heel of his hand into Sasuke's eye. "It's deeper than that." He offers a crooked smirk. "We're family, you see. Like you and Tsunade."

Naruto's face clouds over. "That's not the same. I wouldn't stand by and let her hurt someone."

Kakashi sighs, realising that his coffee's gone cold. "To you Itachi's just this monster. The villain of the story. He was my first friend. He gave me back my place in the world."

"Didn't you tell me one can love a rabid dog and still understand that it needs to be put down?"

"Didn't you tell me you believe in giving people many chances?"

"Sasuke's never going to have a chance if Itachi's not put down."

"To so very many people," Kakashi says lightly, "Sasuke's the monster. Mist Town, New Suna – everyone he's killed and terrorised, and all their loved ones. Hundreds of thousands of people live in fear of him, and rightfully so."

"Pretty much everyone thinks shifters are monsters, too. That doesn't mean they're right."

"No, but the people who resent Sasuke because he's slaughtered their families and would just as easily kill them, for just as little reason – they're not wrong." He shrugs. "Anyway, I owe you an apology. When you said he'd let Kyuubi out, I should've believed you."

"What changed your mind?"

"You wouldn't have massacred Stonehall unless Sasuke was in danger, and he obviously wasn't."

Naruto swallows. "I'm – glad you know that."

"I have been around since you were born."

Naruto makes an uncertain sound of agreement. Then he checks his phone, winces. "Tsunade's back. Let's go."

Kakashi slouches along obediently, but has to lift an eyebrow at the back of Naruto's head. "I have to say, I'm curious that you seem more hostile to her than to me."

Naruto stops, fingers twitching almost into fists. But when he looks over his shoulder he's smiling, that determined brilliant smile that Kakashi remembers so well. "In so far as you're capable of being on anyone's side, you're on his. She's not. So."

"Isn't she on your side?"

"No. She killed my mother. That's not being on my side." He shrugs, which looks odd on him because it's so clearly Sasuke's shrug. "Anyway I've got lots of people on my side. He doesn't."

"Hmm," Kakashi says, taking a long sip of coffee. It could stand to be a bit more Irish, but otherwise it's fine.

In the conference room Sasuke's drawn his legs up underneath him, going through articles and news clips. He seems really very calm for someone who must've found child porn and peace treaties and news of purged cities all starring him.

The bruising isn't the worst Sasuke's had by a long shot, and it's not the worst thing Itachi's done to him by a long shot, but it's still remarkably disturbing. It's not really the bruising of a straightforward beating, Kakashi muses, or of an outright fight…

"Here," Naruto says, handing Sasuke a bowl of rice porridge.

Sasuke smiles, that easy thoughtless smile Kakashi remembers from his childhood summers at the Uchiha residence. It's still a tiny, rather sharp expression, but the simplicity with which it's summoned is remarkable.

"You find what you needed?" Naruto asks.

"I found enough to be glad I ended him," Sasuke mutters around a mouthful of breakfast. He turns to Kakashi, "You might've warned me about my family before Mother tried to give me away."

"Maa," Kakashi says. "I probably should've."

Sasuke nods briskly. Already, one day after this strange re-forging of Sasuke's shattering mind, he trusts Kakashi less. He digs into the porridge with gusto. "I've got a ton of reporters asking me about New Suna."

"You know what happened?" Naruto asks.

"A complete purging. I believe Neji Hyuuga cleaned up the leftovers who'd fled, but I was the primary cleanser."

Naruto picks up the discarded spoon and plays with it. "Would you do that now?"

Sasuke shrugs. "It's part of the job."

"You wouldn't – enjoy it?"

"No?" Sasuke seems faintly surprised. "Where's the challenge in purging humans?" He makes a thoughtful face. "I suppose releasing massive amounts of power is always a good feeling."

"But killing all those people – ?"

Sasuke lifts an eyebrow. "That's kind of psychotic, enjoying that."

"Eh…" Naruto rubs at the back of his head.

Sasuke snorts, glancing at the computer. "With this tragedy porn background, I can see how that would happen." He looks at Naruto, they share one of those looks they've always had, exclusive as a whisper in someone else's ear. "That's not where I am now."