Edited: 05/03/2022

Chapter 2: Merging

I blinked up at the sky in confusion for half a second before climbing to my feet and looking around suspiciously. I was on a road leading to what looked like a district of traditional Japanese houses. And I was uninjured, there was no blood on my person and the cloths I had worn to work that day were in pristine condition.

I knew that I had died, the injury I had inflicted on myself was far too severe for the paramedics to stabilise me long enough for them to get me into surgery and I had a DNR. They wouldn't have tried restarting my heart. And even if they had by some miracle saved my life, there was no reason for me to be on a road - in Japan by the style of the buildings - without any sign of injury.

Deciding that the only way to figure out what was going on was to follow the road, I set to walking. I had barely stepped foot inside the district when I came across the first body. It looked like he had been stabbed with a blade. The next body had been set on fire. Body after body littered the streets and the houses that I inspected. There was little to no sign of conflict although some of the men I had come across were clearly armed and trained. Even some of the children had been armed and showed physical signs of training, yet the few signs of battle and struggle didn't indicate this. They must have been hit and overwhelmed by vastly superior opponents, yet I saw no signs of modern warfare (bullets, bombs etc.) and there wasn't any signs of an army or platoon passing through. Finally, I came across the biggest house in the district at the very centre. There was a child bound to a post and a man wearing black robes, with red clouds on, was stood before him.

"My brother would never do this, you murderer." The child cried, pulling against his restraints. I frowned slightly; he was definitely speaking Japanese.

"You believe that now, but the mind is such a fragile thing, and I have all the time in the world." The man said with a laugh that I could only label as insane. His face changed so it was no longer hidden by a mask, but instead was a young man of around fourteen years with many physical resemblances to the boy who was restrained.

Suddenly a table appeared beside the man with an array of torture equipment on. The sky remained red, but the area around them became darker and appeared to be covered by fog. I didn't even think before covering the two steps that now separated me from the child and took a defensive stance in front of him. But the man simple grabbed a knife and continued as though I wasn't there – like I was a ghost.

I don't know what made me do what I did next, perhaps some long-forgotten instinct. I turned and wrapped my body around the child's just as the knife cut into his skin after passing through my body without harm. Despite the cut appearing on the kid's skin, I felt the pain. But I wasn't concerned with that, I was far more focused on the sudden knowledge I was gaining about (what I presumed, was) the child I was wrapped protectively around.

Warm arms, a steady heart beat and a calm voice. The eyes were too week to see, but the heart knew that this person loved me unconditionally and fiercely. They held me when I cried, fed me when I was hungry and spoke with me when I was awake.

Big Brother was tired and sad lately, but he still held me in his arms and walked around the compound with me. Every night he would read to me, and play with me. It was my Big Brother who was always there when I needed him the most, there to put me down at night as often a he could or to pick me up in the morning when the sun rose.

The world burned. Itachi held me in his arms, promising to protect me, that he had me, as he ran from the fire, the fear and the hate. Nothing would harm me as long as he was there. A promise that he fought to keep with every breath.

This was our secret. No one was to know that I was a girl, not even mum and dad knew – he took that knowledge from them. He said it's not safe. That I needed to hide and only tell those I trusted completely. I didn't understand why I couldn't be a girl, but if Big Brother said it wasn't safe for others to know, then I wasn't going to say anything.

Itachi was my first word, I don't remember him ever smiling like that before. I promised to make him smile more often, it made him look his own age.

Itachi wasn't around as often as he used to be, but he still made time for me. He taught me how to play games with my fingers, and helped me learn how to read and write. When he came home after being away for several sleeps, I stumbled towards him on shaky legs and he picked me up with a quiet chuckle and pride in his eyes.

Big Brother was sad and I didn't know why. Dad was really proud of him for something, but I could see that Itachi wasn't happy with whatever had happened. I grabbed big brothers' hand and took him out to our secret place so we could sit and watch the stars. I didn't know what to say so I curled up on his lap and hugged him.

When big brother was calmer, he showed me his red eyes and I told him that his eyes may have changed but that doesn't mean he had changed.

"I love you, Otōto." He whispered to me, tears falling from his eyes.

"Love you to, Onīsan."

Since Itachi didn't have as much time as he used to, I started following him to the training grounds and watching from the safety of a tree. Sometimes he would spar against Shisui, our cousin and big brothers' best friend (he was the only other person who knew that I was a girl since he helped Itachi hide me), because Shisui was really fast. Sometimes he would train by himself even though he knew I was there, and sometimes he would explain what he was doing and demonstrate some really simple things for me to copy.

Father started my training. He made me practise my stances, my hand seals and my throwing again and again until I collapsed from exhaustion or I was in so much pain I could barely walk straight. But it was never good enough. Because Itachi had done it earlier or better or faster. I was the prodigy's little brother and I was expected to do everything as well as he did. But I couldn't and I would seek out Itachi when he was home, asking him why their father kept pushing me. Itachi could offer no answers to my questions.

After turning six I was entered into the academy. Despite having the expectations of the clan on my back to be top of the class and to graduate early, being at the academy was freeing. Itachi had encouraged me to make friends, and although I wasn't sure how to do so, I enjoyed the company of Shikamaru who was really smart but slept a lot. And since I spent time with him, I also got to know Choji. I wasn't able to speak with anyone else in the class due to the effect of the Clan name.

Since I was at the academy father decided that I was capable of learning the Great Fireball technique. Itachi had seen this coming, and although he couldn't stop Fugaku from making me learn the technique, he could teach me chakra control exercises to make it easier to do the technique. Despite this, it still took five weeks to successfully cast the Great FireBall and it was weaker than Fugaku wanted it to be. He made me practice, day after day, until I collapsed from chakra depletion.

It wasn't just the great fireball technique that father had taken to teaching me after I entered the academy. Two times a week he would take me out to the training fields and have me spar against him. He didn't hold back very much, beating me into the dirt time after time and expecting me to correct my own mistakes without comment.

Between the first and second years at the academy there was a one-month break as the instructors needed the time for administrative work, to conduct the genin tests and introduce the new intact into the school and determine the best arrangements for the classes. I had been walking home when I was grabbed from off the street.

Father had turned his back on an Uchiha sponsored Shinobi who had faced disciplinary action following his mission conduct. The shinobi had been forced into the Chunin corps and blocked from ever being promoted or being in charge of others. He was furious and decided the best way to get back at Fugaku was to hurt his son.

Since Fugaku refused to tell anyone that his son had been kidnapped no one came after me until Itachi returned from his mission. The moment he learned his 'brother' had been kidnapped he grabbed Shisui and went hunting.

I was held captive by that man for five days.

Having experienced how little Fugaku truly cared for me compared to 'the good of the clan', and how unwilling to fight her husband mother was, I started avoiding them as much as possible. Preferring to spend time with Itachi and, when he was on a mission, Shisui. Both of them were under a lot of pressure and stress, but were willing to let me be with them. Despite their willingness to let me follow them to training, I was grateful for when the academy started up because it gave me somewhere to be when they were both on missions.

I had been training with Fugaku, learning a higher version of the Great Fireball technique, when Itachi interrupted. He noticed the signs of someone suffering chakra depletion and physically carried me away from the training grounds – ignoring Fugaku's criticism.

"Itachi, will you stay with me until I go to sleep?" I requested, feeling very young and insecure. I had gotten very used to the feeling of Charka deleption, of the cold in my body, the fuzziness in my head and the empty feeling in my stomach but I didn't like feeling so vulnerable.

"Of course," Itachi promised. He had to help me get ready for bed since the exhaustion had made my movements clumsy and sluggish.

"Why does father push us so hard at training?" I asked once I had gotten settled in bed, Itachi sat on the edge of the bed.

"Because he wants us to be strong enough to survive." Itachi answered. "It's his way of showing he loves us."

"I love him too, but sometimes he makes me sad." I admitted quietly, as though the words were shameful.

"That's okay. Despite his love, the way he treats you isn't right. But that doesn't mean you can't still love him."

"I miss you when you're away," I changed the subject before yawning.

"I miss you too, but I'm a shinobi of Konoha and the village needs me. I love you, Sasuke. Now get some sleep." He poked me gentle on the forehead. Instead of pouting at the gesture like I normally would, I simple muttered 'I love you' before slipping into an exhausted sleep.

I was woken only a few hours later by a feeling that something wasn't right. I was still exhausted, but I forced my body out of bed and grabbed one of the Kunai I had been given. I checked my parent's bedrooms and Itachi's, but found the rooms empty. Heading down the stairs I checked each room until I came too father's study where I found my parents bodies – both of them had been beheaded. And from the position of their bodies, they had been kneeling when it happened.

I stumbled away from the room and too the front door seeking help. Except when I scrambled outside it was to see dead bodies scattered across the street and a man wearing a black robe with red clouds on stabbing Old Man Garuto through the chest. I looked around frantically for anyone who was still alive but there was no one.

The man threw Garuto's body to the side and turned to face me. I noticed that he was wearing an orange mask before he was suddenly in front of me. He had moved faster than I could track with my eyes. I don't know why he didn't just stab me like he had clearly done with the rest of my family, instead he kicked me into the wall of my house before advancing with his sword raised.

Before he could deliver, what I had no doubt would be, a killing blow Itachi was suddenly between us dressed in his ANUB uniform except for the mask. They fought, and I used the wall to climb to my feet before trying to run – heading for the village. Itachi kept the man from getting to me as best he could, and I noticed that he was flaring his chakra trying to bring attention to the compound. I had barely made it halfway before the man was suddenly in front of me and I was caught in the spinning red of his Sharingan eye and the world shattered around me.

It didn't take long for the memories and knowledge of the child I was holding protectively to assimilate into my mind. What followed was a test of endurance. I had spent five months held captive by enemy soldiers, tortured for the information I held. But within the world of Tsukuyomi time became irrelevant because it was controlled by the man who was torturing them.

He would take breaks between the periods of physical torture to show them the death of the Uchiha clan except he showed them Itachi killing them all.

During it all, I refused to move from my position holding onto Sasuke because it seemed to help him cope with the pain and remember the truth.

The thing about the Tsukuyomi, the controller didn't just manipulate time - they controlled the entire world. They made the laws of physics and nature. So, when the torture led to Sasuke's death, he simple started over. Again, and again.

They had been in the world of Tsukuyomi for years, and were being forced to re-watch the deaths again when something changed. The real Itachi suddenly appeared in the world and there was a blast of furious chakra and the world shattered under the force of Itachi's will. Once the world had oriented again, they were in Sasuke's bedroom.

"I'm sorry, Little Sister. You must be strong now. I release my control onto you." Itachi said sadly before his form and the room faded and they were left in darkness.

At some point in the darkness, they stopped being 'Sasuke' and 'Jane' and just became 'Sasuke'. She still held all the memories, knowledge and heart of Jane but she retained her own personality and character. They were at once the same and different.