A/N: Okay. I just wanted to address some of the comments I've been getting that were less than complimentary, and far from constructive. If you have intolerant leanings, please keep them out of your comments. Constructive criticism is accepted, and encouraged, but if you're pressing the little purple button so that you can vent your angst about yaoi or how you don't like the current pairings, please refrain from doing so. Please keep in mind that as always, pairings, and plot are both left up to the author's discretion. I have no qualms about killing a main character off, let alone turning them into a quivering mass of goo, or making them the epitomy of yaoi fangirl heaven. I have written extensively on this subject in my profile, so for further information, please see that. Thank you. Now, on with my usual warnings.

WARNINGS:

FL--We are going to see the other Sasuke's true character in this chapter, and it isn't pretty. So Foul Language warning!

V--Hinata gets ever so slightly angry with both of the Sasukes in this chapter, and she gets a bit violent. She is Neji's cousin, after all.

C--Oh, and here's another one. I've been trying without success to come up with some way to distinguish the two Sasukes from on another. The 'evil Sasuke' will after some time in the chapter be known as 'the Uchiha', and Sasuke will just be Sasuke. Otherwise, I would have ended up calling the kid Bob.

Legal Stuffiness: I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters therein. Kishimoto Masashi, sole proprietor.

In This World of Make-Believe
Chapter 4: Emerging Evil

--Sharingans and Byakagun--

"What is this all about, Sasuke?" Itachi asked quietly as they walked down the street.

He shoved both Itachi and Hinata into an alleyway, and formed a chakra-masking invisibility genjutsu on the entrance, making it appear that the alley was empty then used the anti-eavesdropping jutsu he'd picked up on his last visit to Kakashi's apartment. Both of them looked utterly alarmed. Well, the only time he'd actually ever seen Itachi alarmed was when he'd activated the Raikiri in his bedroom. That had been a while ago, though. He briefly hashed out the situation to his brother, who simply leaned against the solid wall of the jutsu, looking at him impassively with dark eyes.

He also told them about the note he had just received. Hinata's eyes narrowed, and her usually serene voice lowered to a frighteningly accurate imitation of Neji's angered growl. "Let me see it." Sasuke pulled the tiny folded slip of paper from his pocket, and handed it to her, waiting. Her slender fingers opened the paper and she peered down at it, her pearly eyes widening, then she handed it back to him silently. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply. When she re-opened them, it was as if a violet flame had been ignited there. "Is this real?" Sasuke nodded. "Tell me one thing."

"What?"

"Does he love me? My Sasuke, I mean. Does he actually love me, or am I just another part of the plan for him?" Sasuke stepped back from her, unable to speak, and swallowing hard at the silencing lump in his throat. She was, for all intents and purposes, extremely frightening like this. When he failed to answer her, chakra flared around her hands, and she threw herself at him. Had it not been for Itachi's speed, Sasuke would have found himself bleeding internally. Her voice rose, as close to a scream as he'd ever heard it, "Tell me, damn you! Was I part of a plot? Was I?" In a surprising burst of strength, she ripped herself from Itachi's grasp. Though she did not use the 'gentle fist' on Sasuke, she did still proceed to work him over quite well. The entire time, she was muttering things about lies. Sasuke found himself both unable and unwilling to fight back against her.

Finally, her blows lost their force, and she collapsed against him, in tears. "Hinata-chan, I can't say for sure how he feels about you. I do know that at the moment, none of that matters. We have to deal with him." She raised her head from his chest. "I'm sorry, Hinata. But if your Sasuke is working for Orochimaru, then he will have to be brought to justice." Itachi put a hand on his arm.

"Sasuke, I think we need some help. If we're dealing with Kabuto, and if Sakura is involved, then we need to tell the Hokage." He glared at his brother. If nothing else, he wanted to deal with his other self personally, then Orochimaru.

"How are we going to keep it a secret if we go to the…" his eyes widened as he realized he could find in his own head memories that the Sandaime was still alive. "…the old man." A wave of dizziness hit him, and he felt himself falling. He found himself looking up at the light being refracted off the top of his jutsu. Itachi leaned over him, one eyebrow quirked, and Hinata immediately got to her knees on his right side.

"Not again!" she breathed, and activated the Byakagun.

"This has happened before?" Itachi's voice was low, and held a note of concern. Hinata nodded.

"Just once. His chakra system was fragmented. Now, it's solidified, but it's making a copy of itself. When the copy is complete, it will dislodge itself from his body, and a clone of him will form around it. That's what things indicate." When Itachi asked why they had not taken him to the hospital, Sasuke grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and yanked him down toward his face, in order to be heard.

In a raspy whisper, Sasuke said, "No hospital. Getting rid of Kabuto and…snake bastard…more important. He's responsible…so much death…pain…and –"

"Shut up, idiot. Rest for a moment, then we'll all use the Henge no jutsu to disguise ourselves. And don't forget to mask your chakra." Sasuke's eyes rolled at the suggestion that he might not remember to do something so simple. Again, he looked at Itachi, whose eyes were dark but not dead as he remembered them as a child. They were merely impassive. After giving Sasuke about ten minutes to rest, during which an uncomfortable silence reigned, they all disguised themselves and masked their chakra. When the jutsu were released, they walked back out of the alley, and Sasuke led the way south, to Kakashi's apartment.

--Anger--

Rapping on the door, Sasuke waited. He looked like a fifty-year-old fishmonger, while Hinata resembled a ten-year-old boy, and Itachi had decided to disguise himself as the fishmonger's wife. When Kakashi poked his head out of his door, Itachi released his jutsu, and he shoved Hinata and Sasuke forward as Kakashi opened the door. The jounin immediately closed the door and placed a sealing fuda across the doorjamb. "What is the meaning of this?"

Sasuke handed the note to Kakashi, and waited as the ANBU read it. "I got that by messenger bird. It's from—"

"Kabuto, yes, I recognize the handwriting." He hooked a thumb at Hinata. "What is she doing here?"

"I brought both of them so that we can do two things. First we need to make sure that neither of them are working with Orochimaru—" Sasuke was again interrupted, but this time by Hinata's palm coming into contact with the side of his face at an accelerated velocity. He barely had time to bring his hand up to the still forming red mark before she started to fly off the handle again.

"How dare you say that?" She kicked his legs from under him, and sat on his chest, using her knees to hold his arms down. "Do I look like I would work for that asshole? I hate him. Three of my cousins were used for his experiments. Only one of them survived. Now, he's blind, and can't speak." Hinata was hauled unceremoniously off of him by Kakashi, who held her back from Sasuke as he rose from the floor.

"Hinata," Itachi said, "Please understand. Sasuke can't be too careful. Not where Orochimaru is concerned. If Sakura is also working for him, or will when she is finished being trained, then it would stand to reason that you might, as well. So please calm down." He waited until the curses she had been hissing at Sasuke stopped before reaching out to ruffle her hair. Hinata remained calm, but looked sourly up at Itachi. "Now, that's much better." Kakashi released her.

They all sat in a small circle on the floor, and began to discuss the plan of action. Or, Itachi and Kakashi discussed it. Hinata was still fuming at Sasuke, who kept his mouth shut firmly. He had not been able to defend himself against her. For long moments, he simply stared at her, wondering what in the world could possess anyone to even think of hurting her. And for his part, he certainly wanted a crack at the 'other Sasuke' for all of the wrongs he seemed to have done.

While he realized that it might be somewhat hypocritical to think that way, he also realized that he had found himself driven by the need for revenge. That was what had caused him to go to Orochimaru. It was his hatred for his brother, now evaporated because what his brother had done no longer existed, that had fueled his need for power. Now, he faced another version of himself in his own head, whose thoughts were becoming more defined by the moment, and that person had no such revenge to exact, and no such dire circumstances.

He turned all of his anger at his brother, all of that bloodthirsty rage and dark longing for death toward the other version of himself. "Hinata," She turned angry eyes to look at his face. "Hinata, the other Sasuke has to die. I have to kill him." Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. "No, I have to. He'll only hurt you. I don't want you hurt. Please understand that I only want you to be safe and well. If I had not shown up, who knows what may have happened?" Well, one thing that would have happened would have been that Shikamaru would most likely still be engaged to her, and she would probably be crying still.

When Hinata spoke, her voice was more deadly than even Neji's could hope to be. "Sasuke, if you kill him, I'll never be able to forgive you."

He lowered his eyes. "I know. I'm sorry." After a long moment of staring at the floor in front of him, he heard a shuffling noise, and looked up to see Hinata scooting closer to him. She made a shushing gesture at him, and then formed a jutsu he had never seen before. It resembled the one Kakashi had used to avoid eavesdropping, but was completely opaque white, yet somehow let the light in. It surrounded both of them. "Hinata?"

She sat directly in front of him, looking into his eyes for a long moment. "You know, I knew something was different about you." He started, blinking at her. "The Sasuke I know would never have even spoken to Naruto-san. In fact, he's actually quite…snobbish. You're much kinder. Even if you do sneak into the women's bath house for fun and invent perverted jutsu." He started to protest that it wasn't him that invented it, but gave up quickly at her sarcastic look. "Sasuke, if things were different, I wouldn't mind seeing if things could work out between us. You and I, not the one I know. Does that make any sense?"

"Not really, but I think I get what you're trying to say. I have no idea how I'm going to feel about you once the other Sasuke comes out and is gone from my head completely, but right now, his memories are starting to come back, and I don't like what I see. Especially where you're concerned." She looked at him quizzically. Sasuke took a deep breath and tried to explain it as best he could. "He has several concerns, about you. Caring for you is far from being his primary concern."

"What is his primary concern?"

"Children. That's his part of the plan with snake-bastard. The sick son of a bitch wants the Sharingan, and he wouldn't mind getting the Byakagun either. So, he's going to…how did he put it? Oh, yes. He's going to harvest one of our children." Sasuke didn't even notice the use of the word 'our', which he should have. Hinata noticed this, however, and frowned. She looked at his chakra system with her bloodline limit once again, and sighed in resignation.

"Damn it. It's accelerating. At this rate, the entire process will be finished by tomorrow afternoon!" He gaped at her, and blinked, and could not for the life of him speak a word. "Sasuke?"

"Can you do me a favor, Hinata?"

"Anything. Just tell me what's wrong!" Her eyes were full of fear and anxiety.

"Can you hold me? I think I'm gonna pass out." She put her arms around him, and he proceeded to do exactly that.

Division. Everyone has at least two sides to themselves. What happens when a person has the opportunity to see the bad and good, side by side? For Uchiha Sasuke, it is like an epiphany. But for those around him, it is an earth-shattering event. Those he loves, those who love him…which are which, and who is who? Who is he, for that matter? What does he feel?

These are delicate questions, to say the least. But there are others. There are larger questions that have nothing to do with his emotional state. Evil from without, as well as within, lurks in all corners. There are many poisons in this world, none of which are more deadly than those you inflict upon yourself. Sasuke's poison is his own fear, his own love. Revenge never helps anyone. He has yet to discover this, and one may come to wonder if he ever will.

--Dueling Sasukes--

When he woke up, he found Kakashi leaning over him, and Itachi sitting at his feet. The both of them were employing what little medical knowledge they had, under Hinata's direct supervision.

"Shit." Kakashi cursed under his breath. "I'm running low on chakra. We've been doing this for too long."

Sasuke licked his lips to moisten them before speaking in a very frog-like way. "Get Naruto." The boy was a bottomless pit of chakra, it seemed, and he might be of some use. Hinata smiled nervously and nodded. She then left through the window. He then looked at his former sensei and his brother and said, "What the hell are you doing, anyway?"

"Trying to stabilize your chakra. If we don't, it's going to rip your body apart." Kakashi's voice was rather strained, which made Sasuke worry quite a bit. When he tried to sit back up again, His brother raised an eyebrow at him in threat, and Kakashi snorted. "You're not going anywhere looking like you are."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Kakashi inclined his head so that his forehead protector reflected a somewhat distorted image of Sasuke's face. "Oh, holy fucking shit." He looked like he had a conjoined twin growing out of the left side of his body. Sasuke could almost feel the other part of him wanting to move on its own. This was all happening way too fast. They obviously couldn't stop it, and when the other part of himself was finally separated completely, he wasn't exactly sure that they would be able to contain him. He could remember seeing memories of the other half of himself, and his life, but those were hazy and incomplete.

He then said something that he really didn't want to say. "You guys don't tell me any of the plan until we're completely separated. I don't want that bastard to know what's going on."

"Watch it, kid. You're talking about my brother." Itachi's voice had become vaguely threatening.

"And what the hell am I?" Sasuke asked, his voice rising in irritation.

"I don't know. You're an anomaly. A mutation in the fabric of the universe. Something." Itachi was looking at him with an expression of complete neutrality, as if he were a specimen for study. He was not going to lie down and have people treat him as if he were some kind of freak. There was no way he was going to let Itachi of all people treat him that way.

Sitting up just enough to look his brother in the eyes levelly, he said, "I am a human being, Itachi. Your brother, as you put it, is one, as well, but only technically. He has no reason to do the things he does, other than some idiotic jealousy he holds toward you." That seemed to stun the elder Uchiha quite a bit. For a moment, his mouth hung open. "Oh, do you not believe me? He was just like me when I was a little boy. I worshipped the ground you walked on. I wanted to be just like you. I wanted father to recognize my strength the way he always did yours. Nothing was ever good enough for him, because you were perfect. I couldn't live up to the image you presented, Itachi."

The older men stared at him, unable to believe what they were hearing. He wasn't finished, though. "But for me, I had a damned good reason to go to Orochimaru. I needed the knowledge he gave me. I needed it to kill you. You fucking slaughtered our family to test your power. The entire clan. Every—last—one." He paused for a moment to let that sink in. "Oh, and guess what your wonderful brother has planned."

Itachi's voice had a dead and defeated quality to its harsh whisper. "What?" He obviously did not want to hear the answer to that.

"He's going to do exactly what you did in my reality. He's going to kill everyone. If we let him. I couldn't say that to Hinata. She either wouldn't have believed me, or it would have broken her completely. His plans are worse than anything I could ever have thought a human being to be capable of." Suddenly, Sasuke felt a jolt of pain, and Itachi looked as if he were going to be sick. Then, his brother jumped onto him, restraining…the hand of the other Sasuke. "What the hell is going on!"

"My brother is trying to strangle you."

"Can I return the favor?" Sasuke asked sarcastically, and watched Itachi shake his head.

"No. We'll make sure he's brought to justice. There will be no battle to the death between you two. Is that understood?" Sasuke nodded, and felt a small movement on his left shoulder. From the corner of his eye, he could see another nose. There was another eye looking back at him, blazing dark fire at him. He felt ill.

"Itachi?" The man looked down at him questioningly. "Can you knock me out? If I stay awake for this, I think I'm going to vomit." Just looking at the face that was his, but not his at the same time was giving him a very strange feeling. The other Sasuke emerging from his body was obviously not keen on his survival. His brother shook his head. Apparently, anesthesia of any type, as well as blunt force trauma would be a bad idea. Sasuke may need to defend himself. "Tch. Figures." Turning his head so that he could meet the eyes of the head on his shoulder, he said, "Aniki says I can't kill you."

In a croaking voice, the head said, "Said the same for me."

"Do you listen to him?" Sasuke asked, a challenge embedded in the question.

"Rarely." Then anger flashed in his eyes, and a lingering jealousy. He whispered, "You will all die. Every last one of you. And I will laugh when the Uchiha clan is in ruins." Sasuke's eyes saw red for an instant before another wave of pain wracked him. The head smiled sadistically. "Hurts, doesn't it?" His voice was amused. Apparently, this wasn't anywhere near as painful for the other Uchiha as it was for Sasuke.

"Shut your mouth, bastard. Your plans are not going to work."

"Oh, and how's that? Because you told Hinata that I want to use her for children? Or because you have two ANBU on your side? Honestly, I thought better of you. Hinata will believe anything I tell her. And if she doesn't, no one ever said she had to be a willing participant. It would just make things easier." Sasuke suddenly realized something. The feelings he had been having toward Hinata were not those of the boy he was staring at. The smile on the Uchiha's face said it all. Sasuke was suddenly very confused. If the Uchiha did not love Hinata, was it a farce? Did he love anyone? And was he planning to force himself on Hinata? Suddenly angry, Sasuke's hand twitched toward the Uchiha head on his shoulder, which was now a little further away since that last jolt of pain.

The look of impotent rage on Sasuke's face made the Uchiha laugh. "Oh, are you going to defend your little Hinata's honor? What about Naruto? Now, he is rather lovely, isn't he?" When Sasuke bristled, he continued, prodding at what was obviously a sensitive topic. "Orochimaru might like him. That is, once I'm finished with him."

Sasuke was just about to put his hands around the Uchiha's throat when he felt a hard smack to the side of his head, and he grunted in pain. He was rather satisfied to see that the Uchiha had received one, as well. "Shut the hell up, both of you." Itachi rolled his eyes, which were now the red of the Sharingan. He appeared to be examining the both of them very closely. Not long after this chastising, Hinata arrived with Naruto. The blonde nearly fainted when he saw Sasuke. Hinata looked a bit ill, as well. She ran over to where Sasuke was, and knelt by his head.

"How are you feeling?" She asked this as she activated her Byakagun, just in time to hear Sasuke grunt something along the lines of 'I've been better' and then studied the both of them. After releasing her bloodline limit, she raised an eyebrow at the Uchiha. "And I think we need to have a talk, darling. Things aren't really working out for me."

"You're dumping me for him?" the Uchiha jabbed a finger at Sasuke's face, and Hinata swatted it away. "I thought you had better taste than that. Oh, well. I suppose that my plan to keep you alive once you gave me a son might have to change." Faster than even Itachi could move, her hand flew, and slapped him hard across his left cheek. His face became a thunderhead. "Hinata-chan, you shouldn't have done that."

She leaned down to the Uchiha's face, across Sasuke's body. He could not believe this. It looked almost as if Hinata would do the job for him at the moment. Her voice dropped to that low growl he had heard her use before. "I am not afraid of you, Sasuke. I thought you knew that. It would take no effort at all for me to snap your neck right now, but that's something you would do, and I won't sink to your level." Her head cocked to one side. "You never loved me, did you?"

The Uchiha began to laugh. When he could control his laughter, he looked up at Hinata's annoyed expression and said in a flat tone, "No, darling. I pretended the entire time. I have…different tastes."

Sasuke smirked. So that was why he kissed Naruto…then his smirk turned into a smile. He turned to look at the Uchiha. "So, picked up Orochimaru's bad habits, did you?" The other glared at him and he asked in an amused voice, "Or was it Kabuto's?"

"You son of a bitch!" The Uchiha screamed, his arm pushing Hinata aside in an attempt to get at Sasuke. Hinata was too fast for him, and caught the hand that had been reaching for Sasuke's throat. "How dare you even speak Orochimaru-sama's name!" Well, Sasuke thought, one question answered. He shivered at the thought of Orochimaru's sexual conquests. The Uchiha struggled against Hinata, ranting and squirming. "Let me go, you little whore!" At that, Hinata ignored Itachi's order and allowed her hands to fill themselves with chakra, then drove both of them down onto the joint of his shoulder. The sound of bone shattering and muscles tearing sounded through the room, and the Uchiha howled in pain.

"Watch your mouth when you speak to me, teme." Hinata growled, then raised an eyebrow at Itachi, who had put a hand on her arm. "What are you going to do? You're not defending him, are you?" The hand removed itself from her arm, and she huffed slightly. "I think that at this point, we should call Sandaime. He'll know what to do." She turned to Naruto. "Can you help them, Naruto-kun? They're low on chakra."

"Hai!" He approached Sasuke's body, and Kakashi looked at him doubtfully.

Sasuke said, "Just show him the jutsu, Kakashi. He's much improved." After only four tries, Naruto had the basics of the chakra-stabilizing jutsu mastered, and tried it out on Sasuke. "Don't use too much chakra at once, Naruto. There…that's better." Hinata left to get the Hokage, and Naruto knelt next to Sasuke's head. "Naruto, I need to tell you something, and you're not going to like it."

"Ma, ma. I know. You don't have to tell me." Sasuke was surprised. The boy's face was completely serious, and there was a look of supreme disappointment in his eyes. Was this Naruto smarter than the one he had grown up with? "So, it was the evil bastard, ne?" Sasuke nodded. Naruto said to the Uchiha, "Oi, teme! What did you kiss me for?"

The Uchiha was still nursing his shattered shoulder, but managed to scoff at the blonde. "Because, Naru-chan…I wanted you. And I always get what I want." Naruto bristled, his face contorting in rage, but since he was sustaining the jutsu over Sasuke, he couldn't move to hit him. This seemed to give fuel to the Uchiha. He said in a low voice, "Don't pretend you didn't like it. I seem to remember you enjoying it quite a bit." Naruto was beginning to shake. "If I hadn't been dealing with such a prudish bastard," he gestured with his chin at Sasuke, "I probably would have fucked you."

"That's it. That's fucking it!" Sasuke's shocked face turned to see Itachi, standing over the three of them. "Shut up, Sasuke!" Itachi's voice was low, and more threatening than Sasuke had ever heard it. He was very glad that he was not the one being addressed. "I don't care if you're my brother. As far as I'm concerned, you aren't anymore. You are planning to betray the clan. Under the laws of the Uchiha, and of Konoha, you will not be allowed to live." The Uchiha looked blandly up at Itachi, not frightened at all.

"Aniki, shut the fuck up. You know that I'm going to do whatever I want, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

--Plans Within Plans--

The door burst open, the fudas on the jamb being completely destroyed. Through the smoke walked the Sandaime, who looked around the room before adjusting his hat calmly. "I understand that there's a little problem?" He looked over at where Naruto was stabilizing Sasuke's chakra, which Sasuke was very glad for, since it was lessening the pain. "Nice job, Uzumaki." Naruto was almost startled enough to release the jutsu.

Hinata entered behind the Hokage, followed by six ANBU. She was smiling. Sasuke looked at her confusedly, and she made a sign for him to simply wait. He nodded, then lay back again. By this point, the Uchiha was almost completely separated from his body. They were, at the moment, connected like paper chain dolls. Only their hands and feet were attached to one another. The Uchiha lay naked on the floor, and Sasuke's clothing had partially been cut away as well, to allow him to diverge from his body. "Old man…" The newly re-formed boy said, "My master will kill you, just as you deserve."

The Hokage simply laughed good-naturedly. "You think so?"

"I know he will."

Hinata stepped forward. "Oh, I think you may need to think twice about that." She leaned over him, smiling. "You see, we have both of your accomplices." His eyes widened, and he licked his lips nervously. "Sakura broke first, of course. You know how weak she is. She told us everything she knew, and after that, it was on to Kabuto. Of course, he's a bit worse for wear…" At that, the Uchiha sat up, and looked her in the eye, trying to gauge her for a bluff.

"Tch. You're lying."

"Fine. You don't believe me?" She turned to the ANBU. "Bring them in." Two of the ANBU left, and came back in with Sakura, who was bound hand and foot, crying, and Kabuto, whose face was a mass of blood and bruises. He was bound as well, and Hinata said, "I've cut off his chakra, so he can't use his medical jutsus. I rather think I like him better this way." Her smile was much like Neji's when he was being sadistic. The family resemblance was striking, as always.

The Uchiha's eyes grew wide, and he activated his Sharingan to see if these were Bunshins, and apparently found that they were not. He scrabbled over to Kabuto, yanking Sasuke along. His hands shook as he touched the unconscious boy's face. "Who did this?" One of the ANBU raised a hand. "You…you will die."

"We've heard that song and dance from you already, darling." Hinata said. "I think it's time to change your tune. What is Orochimaru planning?" He refused any answer, but only cradled Kabuto's head in his lap and shook with rage. After a long moment, he snarled a curse and literally ripped his hand free from where it was still attached to Sasuke's, and his foot followed, both nearly spurting blood. He lunged directly at Hinata, and was quite surprised when he found himself lying flat on his back, three katana held at his throat. Hinata's body morphed quickly into another ANBU member, and the Sandaime became Hinata. Sasuke was, by this time, very confused, and extremely fatigued. His bewilderment only increased when one of the ANBU became the Sandaime.

The real Hinata ran forward and bandaged Sasuke's wounds, then helped him up. She made a motion to shush him before he asked any questions. The Sandaime looked at Sasuke before lighting his pipe and turning to the Uchiha on the floor. "The way I see it, we can do this one of two ways. You can tell us what we want to know, or we can make you do it. The first option will allow you a much more comfortable death."

"Suck my cock." The Uchiha said. Sasuke was having a hard time reconciling this person with the one that wrote the journals he'd read. Then again, if he was a venomous little shit, he wouldn't have written all of his evil thoughts down like that. In all likelihood, the books contained some kind of code. He would have to turn them over to the ANBU cryptographers.

One of the ANBU that kept him where he was moved his blade, slicing into the Uchiha's bicep. "Wrong answer, teme." The prisoner's eyes widened in shock and pain. "Just tell us what we want to know, and I'll cut your head off."

"Eat shit."

"My, my. Aren't we testy?" Kakashi had risen from his chair and come forward. "Mind if I try?"

"Not at all, taicho." The ANBU nodded in deference to Kakashi, and the silver-haired man knelt next to the Uchiha's head.

"Cooperate."

"Go to hell."

"Do you know how to do anything other than give orders no one would follow even if they took you seriously?" Kakshi removed his forehead protector, and looked down at the Uchiha, both of his eyes squinting as he smiled.

"Shut up. What the hell do you know?"

Kakashi's smile widened behind his mask. "I know that you're a spoiled child who never felt like he ever had enough of anything. You're also a dickhead."

Itachi made a sound that was halfway between a chuckle and a grunt. "You know, you have a point there." He came to stand next to where Kakashi was kneeling. "Sandaime, let Kakashi and I question him. We don't have time to beat around the bush." He was, in fact, correct. For, what Sasuke had discovered, but what the Uchiha had not was the fact that the two bound prisoners were, in fact ANBU in henge. They still had the meeting with Kabuto to worry about.

Sasuke looked down at his double. "Can I help, too?" He had some personal issues to work out with this person, and it would be nice to get a good hit in on him.

The Sandaime shook his head. "No. In fact, I'm going to have to ask that you leave immediately with Hinata. I've spoken with her about what to do, and she'll tell you everything once you get to the place I've designated. And take Uzumaki with you. He seems as though he may be of some help in this." The old man smiled good-naturedly at Naruto, who blinked in surprise at being included. Sasuke was starting to feel like things were going to work out.

A/N: okay. So here we have Sasuke, who has a larger than life problem. He has an honest-to-goodness doppleganger! If you guys can think of a better name for the "evil Sasuke" than the Uchiha, as I've been calling him, I can replace content and all that jazz, then fix it. But unless we come across something better, then he'll stay 'the Uchiha'.

Oh, and the note at the beginning is in response to someone's actual comments. No names, but just remember that it ain't over until the fat lady sings, and if you stop reading just because you're uncomfortable with something, you might never see the conclusion that might have been worth it!

I apologize if it seemed like a threat, or if I was being preachy. But I do at times get offended when I get comments that illustrate the utter intolerance of some people.