Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, in fact, you probably don't either hmm?

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Chapter 3: Not This Time

There are many things that I would like to say to you,
But I don't know how.
I said maybe,
Your gona be the one that saves me.
-Oasis
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Tatsu looked back up, her eyes sparking in anger. "Now you tell me, Sensei, how did your student get in this condition?" Not waiting for his reply, she picked Sasuke up again and began walking towards the house with him.

Tsunade looked at Kakashi who was staring in silent shock. Sasuke had become a sore spot for the grim jounin, and the newcomer had just blatantly told him the problems of the last year had been his fault. The Hokage turned her attention back to the visitor and her comatose burden. "Would you like some help with him?" It wasn't like she wanted to go back to the office and the endless mountains of paperwork anyway. 'I need to see what kind of person this Kuragari Tsukitatsu is.'

Tatsu paused for a moment, as if considering the offer. "Lunch should be ready if you would like some." She continued on into the house, leaving them to make a decision. 'I can't afford to make them my enemy if I'm going to succeed at my task.'

Kakashi shared a look with Tsunade who shooed him along in front of her. 'Well, at least she seems to want to make peace.' They reached the door and had to wait for Tatsu to come back to the door and let them past the house wards.

"He's back here."

The healer turned Hokage followed their host through the brightly lit kitchen only to pause at the threshold of the dimly lit dining room where the genin was laid on the table.

"I'll go find the bandages if one of you will undress him." Tatsu motioned to the kitchen. "If you need water there are pots under the counter by the sink." She went through the opposite door, leaving the others to care for the boy.

"Kakashi, go warm some water while I see how bad his injuries are." Tsunade moved towards the table, not doubting that the jounin would do as she asked. Though she had seen many of the injuries when Tatsu had ripped his shirt open, Sasuke was in even worse condition than she previously thought. Hearing the third remaining Uchiha come through the door, Tsuande spoke without turning. "He needs to be in the hospital. It would be easier to treat him there."

Tatsu moved to stand beside the Hokage. "As the oldest family member present, my answer is no. His mind is too fragile to deal with strangers, and we can't afford to have everyone find out exactly how deranged he can be." She placed the rolls of bandages and medical tape on the table. "It would be more stabilizing mentally for him to be in a familiar environment besides, isn't that why you let him stay here in the first place?

After they finished cleaning and bandaging the many wounds, Kakashi followed Tatsu up the stairs carrying a Sasuke in his arms. She led him to the second door on the left and slid it open for him. "If you'll hold him a minute I'll get some fresh sheets and a new blanket for his bed."

The other two adults stared in mute shock at the carnage the once star genin had been living in for the past year. "I thought we confiscated all the weapons." Tsunade mentioned in a grim tone, viewing the numerous kunai and shuriken dotting the floor, walls, and ceiling.

Tatsu walked past carrying the new linens for the bed and laughed. "Confiscate all the weapons in the main house maybe, but not on the property. There are so many weapon stores in the various buildings even I wouldn't be able to find them all, and I know the location of quite a few."

Having changed the sheets, she made Sasuke comfortable and then led her guests back towards the kitchen. "I made miso soup and rice for lunch, hope you weren't expecting anything fancy."

Tsunade spoke for both herself and Kakashi when she answered. "That will be fine."

The meal passed in silence broken only by the sounds of eating until everyone finished. Tatsu sighed and pushed her bowls back to the center of the table. "Thank you for looking out for him. I'm sorry if I was rude earlier." She looked across the table specifically at Kakashi. "It couldn't have been easy to deal with him."

Kakashi cleared his throat, accepting her apology. "He had his moments. What do you plan to do with him now? You can't keep him unconscious forever."

Tatsu looked down at the table and idly tapped her fingers in a staccato rhythm against the scratched surface. "True, but because of his weak condition to begin with, he should sleep for two or three days. That should be long enough to study the variation of seal that snake bastard used on him."

Tsunade pondered the statement for a moment, seeming to study the wall across from her seat. "We have already done extensive research on the curse and have tried to seal it multiple times. It cannot be removed until Orochimaru is killed. What makes you think that you might have better luck than us?"

Tatsu smiled, but the gesture didn't reach her eyes making it seem harsh and foreboding. "I have spent my life studying seals, among other things. Jutsus are wondrous things when you think about it. Anyone with enough knowledge can deflect or counter even the most advanced technique, don't you agree?" She stood up suddenly, not meeting their eyes while beginning to gather the lunch dishes from the table. "I might not be able to cure him, but once I identify exactly what was done, I should be able to twist the original intent to work in our favor." She looked up with a fierce expression of determination on her face. "I won't lose what little family I have left, not this time."

Tsunade nodded, taking the clean up as a signal to excuse herself. "I hope you are right, for his sake and that of others." She paused and remembered another boy who had been the most affected by the betrayal of the last Uchiha. "Thank you for the meal. If you would please excuse us." With that she and Kakashi took their leave.

Tatsu finished cleaning up the kitchen and then made her way back to Sasuke's room. She sighed as she gazed at the pale figure lying still in the bed. "I'm sorry it had to come down to this. If I could have spared you I would have." She shook her head, a pained look crossing her features as she closed the door, leaving only a crack. With slumped shoulders she entered the bedroom across the hall that she had taken as her own and collapsed on the bed for a well-earned nap.

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He was dreaming again, and this time he was pretty sure it was a dream. Maybe it was the giant lake of blood that gave it away. After all, it would be pretty hard to find a lake this exact color and viscosity in the real world, right? He pondered his surroundings for a moment. They were familiar, but he couldn't decide if it was a place he had seen while awake, which was a possibility, or a place his unconscious had created, which was more likely. The woods surrounding the lake boasted huge dark trees whose bases hid in deep shadow. It was an unexpected dread of what was hiding in those shadows that kept him at the side of the lake. He pondered how he had ended up here, but the memories were hazy and involved a fight (of course) and someone whose dark obsidian eyes were like his own.

A branch cracked in the stillness of the wood and had him spinning, grabbing for a weapon that wasn't there. He peered into the darkness, trying to assess the threat. Two yellow eyes winked into existence, their centers slit vertically like a snake. His heart jumped into his chest, he had memories of these eyes. Without another conscious thought he twisted, and using all the speed he could, sought to put distance between himself and the eyes. A voice called out behind him, the cold tone hissing in laughter. "You can run as much as you like, but you can't ever leave. You already sold your soul, or have you forgotten Uchiha?"

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This hasn't been beta'd yet, so forgive any errors please.
Thanks to my reviewers, who so far have been very nice!