I'm sorry it took me a million years to update this one, you shit happens, like chapter 700... bleugh.

Anyway, this chapter could also be called "Sasuke says he's fine a few too many times". Plus it's a mess, just like me lol. But I'm happy I got it out at least! Also, ShiIta is a lot better than listening to Naruto and Sasuke explaining what's going on for the umpteenth time, right? Right.

So much drama on the way...

Chapter 12: Complications

xxx

It was the second time in as many days that they were on the move, but this time around Itachi felt a lot more troubled. Their plan to question Naruto had certainly backfired, not that Itachi had approved of it in the first place. On the other hand, if Obito managed to send them on their merry way today it wouldn't matter. Not that he thought it very likely. While Itachi might not believe that everything in life happened for a reason, this was far too strange to be a mere accident, considering they didn't know themselves how they reached this dimension.

Well, didn't know or didn't tell, but Itachi leaned toward the first option.

Naruto seemed to have recovered just fine though, chatting once again with Kisame. Today they were a little louder in their discussion however, since Kisame kept trying to describe the finer points of man on man sex while Naruto tried to prove him wrong by describing all the supposed research he'd been doing with his version of Jiraiya. To Itachi, he didn't sound incredibly convinced by his own words.

As for Sasuke, he travelled slightly behind them, intent on ignoring everyone. Itachi would have preferred to talk, because it would at least take his mind off things, something Kisame's ramblings did the opposite of.

Thankfully it was a very short trip to the meeting spot, though Itachi landed underneath a large tree with mixed emotions. Obito and Shisui hadn't arrived yet which wasn't strange considering he had hurried there, not allowing Naruto and Sasuke to linger with the few Akatsuki members awake for breakfast. Sasuke had seemed particularly annoyed by Deidara, while Naruto had mostly eyed Kakuzu with slight wariness. Perhaps there was a history there.

"Itachi, can you tell him to stop? I'm not interested!"

"Oh come on, kiddo, I know you don't have any interest in me."

Naruto was giving Kisame angry glares, trying to inch away from him as they stood waiting, but the blue man only followed him around. Sharing a look with Sasuke –which was rather surprising but welcome– Itachi allowed the corners of his lips to curl upwards before grabbing the back of Kisame's cloak as he passed.

"No traumatizing kids, Kisame," he scolded, giving the red-faced blond a look of pity. "You should have just punched him, Naruto."

Making an indignant face, Naruto sat down cross-legged next to Sasuke, tensing up and glaring again when Kisame waggled his eyebrows at him.

"Damned perverts everywhere," he heard Naruto mutter under his breath, and tugged at Kisame's back when he opened his mouth to retort.

"But Itachi, he's so easy to tease," Kisame whined, receiving a dirty look from none other than Sasuke.

Luckily, especially for Kisame considering Sasuke seemed rather short-tempered this morning, he could sense the approaching chakra signatures of Obito and Shisui.

"Behave," he mumbled to his work partner, the large man settling for a displeased snort as he pulled Samehada off his back and dropped it to the ground where it immediately started wriggling impatiently.

"Who's Shisui, by the way?" Naruto asked Sasuke, still cross-legged and pointedly ignoring Kisame as well as Itachi.

"…cousin," Sasuke muttered, which made Naruto's mouth snap shut, an uncomfortable look on his face as he sent Itachi a furtive glance.

Observing the orange-clad ninja, Itachi took note of how he held his knees and waggled his feet slowly, his eyes turned towards the ground so as to hide the expression in them. He was starting to wonder if he wasn't the only one dead in their dimension.

A few minutes of awkward waiting later, during which he'd chatted a little with a bored Kisame, the two ninja they were meeting with dropped from the trees and stood in front of them.

"Itachi," Obito acknowledged calmly, sweeping his eyes over the rest, and Itachi thought he needed to explain why he'd brought them before he came to his own conclusions.

He did not need chaperones to see Shisui.

His cousin had, of course, landed with too little space between them, making it obvious that Itachi was avoiding looking at him.

"Long time no see," Shisui greeted him with, and had the nerve to grin a little.

Itachi sent him a glare, but it quickly faded when he read the look given to him. This was entirely the wrong place to talk. Or do other things.

"I brought those two because we have a special mission directly requested by the Hokage," Itachi chose to say, directing his words towards Obito but nodding slightly at Naruto and Sasuke. "But I think they can explain themselves."

Too late he realized that basically, he'd just told Obito to take care of the other three while he and Shisui could go and… talk. Which wasn't the plan.

The oldest of the Uchiha raised an eyebrow, glancing back at Naruto and Sasuke.

"Great," Shisui said, clapping his hands together with a smile. "Then I'll just quickly borrow Itachi here."

Obito sighed but focused on Kisame instead, doing nothing to prevent Shisui from half dragging, half pushing Itachi until they were just barely out of sight.

"This isn't a good time to talk," he hissed, sending Shisui an irritated look for shoving him against a tree trunk.

"Oh yeah?" Shisui crossed his arms, standing a few steps away from him but effectively trapping him against the tree. "You've been saying that for the past year now."

He averted his eyes, mimicking Shisui's crossed arms and biting his lips. Maybe his supposed lover could get it into his head that the past year had been a bad time.

"I don't get you," Shisui said, heaving a frustrated sigh, his earlier cheerful mask disappearing completely.

"You don't have to."

"Uh, yeah, as your partner I think I do."

Ah, there was that lovely twist in his stomach again. At this point, Itachi wasn't even sure if he was only stubborn about the whole thing, or still upset. When Shisui stepped closer, his familiar scent wafting over to invade Itachi's nostrils, he still had no idea if he wanted to throw a kunai at him or fall into his embrace.

"You know I love you, Itachi," Shisui murmured, close enough now for their noses to bump, one hand coming up to trace affectionate fingers along his jawline.

Closing his eyes he took a deep breath, anticipating the chaste kiss that brushed his lips. Shisui's fingers ran up along his cheek to comb through his hair, most likely messing up the loose ponytail even more. He had missed this, badly.

Just as Shisui's tongue teasingly ran along his lower lip, eliciting a small groan from him, a sudden flare of powerful chakra startled them. Not a second later they heard Naruto shout Sasuke's name in what was definitely not a good way, and both of them rushed back to the clearing.

Naruto was supporting a bent over Sasuke who appeared to be in pain judging by the contorted expression on his face, Obito placing a hand on Sasuke's shoulder in concern.

"What happened?" Obito asked as Itachi sidled up to them, Kisame coming up beside them as well.

"I'm fine," Sasuke insisted, talking mainly to Naruto as he stood up and swatted his hands away.

"Like hell you're fine!" Naruto disagreed, worried eyes flickering between Sasuke's eyes, one of which he kept closed.

"If there's something preventing you from using the Rinnegan-" Obito started, but Sasuke merely glared at him.

"I said I'm fine," he stressed, blinking a few times with a frown.

"Sasuke, someone could have tampered with-"

This time Sasuke directed his glare towards Itachi, shutting him up. Then he straightened up, gritted his teeth and there was another small burst of chakra. Both eyes opening for a second, Itachi had time to glimpse the dark red Mangekyo Sharingan and a purple iris that could only be the Rinnegan. He didn't have much time to be impressed however, seeing as Sasuke was unable to contain an agonized groan as he pressed his palms over his eyes before falling limp into Naruto's arms.

"Sasuke!"

Moving on instinct –this was his little brother as far as his eyes could tell– Itachi placed a hand over Sasuke's chest, checking his heartbeat and breathing. Obito had placed one over Sasuke's head, while Naruto mostly just clutched at his body.

"He's unconscious, but not much more," Obito calmly announced, and Itachi silently agreed.

"Heartbeat is fine," he added, but the worried crease between Naruto's eyebrows didn't disappear.

"What happened? What's stopping him from using it?"

"That's something for the medics to determine," Obito answered Naruto's questions, silencing a few more that were trying to escape Naruto's mouth. "I'll take him there, I'm afraid the rest of you will have to run."

Itachi stepped back to give him some room, but Naruto was reluctant to hand Sasuke over to Obito.

"It'll be fine, Naruto," Itachi reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it, hoping he was correct.

Once Obito had Sasuke in a secure hold, the air in front of him spun and they disappeared into the swirls. Naruto stared at the spot for a moment, before starting to gather up chakra. Itachi dropped his hand in surprise, feeling the sudden amount of it as the tan face held a concentrated look.

"Like I'll run the whole way!" Naruto exclaimed, then disappeared.

"I forgot the kid could teleport as well," Kisame commented, and Itachi sucked in a breath before slowly letting it out.

Lovely. Sasuke was quite possibly hurt, and he was left with Shisui and a colleague who wouldn't know tact if it danced across his nose to run the few hours it took back to Konoha.

"Impressive though, the Rinnegan I mean," Shisui mused, contemplating the patch of earth where the other three had stood.

Kisame shrugged, starting to move towards the direction of the village.

"Can't say I managed to see it," he said. "Alright, are we gonna run or were you planning to get laid first?"

Shisui laughed, but Itachi was going to have a little chat with a certain blue-haired man later.

"That's very considerate of you, but I'd say Sasuke is priority one," his cousin said, looking carefree but sending Itachi a strange glance that had him remember that he didn't know this wasn't actually his brother.

"Let's go," Itachi told them with a sigh, jumping into the trees.

xxx

Naruto ended up in Sasuke's room. He hadn't really been thinking much more than Sasuke and Konoha, so he supposed it made sense that he'd automatically pick this particular seal. Leaping out of the window, he rushed towards the hospital across the rooftops, powering his feet with chakra to move faster. Sure, Sasuke's life energy had seemed fine, and he could feel his steady presence over at the hospital. That didn't mean Sasuke was fine, and Naruto had time to berate himself a hundred times for not stopping him after the first attempt failed.

He skidded in through the hospital entrance, ignoring the looks he got and instead heading straight for Sasuke. He would have used a window on a higher floor, but he'd been told a few too many times by Sakura how important it was to not disturb the medics at work so he didn't want to risk interrupting some surgery by accident.

He found Obito walking quickly through a corridor on the fourth floor. Damn it, this was why he needed to put a seal on Sasuke! He just hadn't dared ask yet, thinking Sasuke wouldn't want to let him in case he decided to leave the village, and well… after they came here he just hadn't found a good opportunity.

Obito was following a nurse, but just as he reached him a door opened by the end of the corridor and none other than Orochimaru stepped out.

"I thought I'd told you to stop damaging your students," he hissed, and Naruto did a double-take.

Not only did Orochimaru look a lot older and less creepy than he remembered from their own dimension, he was also clad in non-descript medic nin clothes with a purple sash around his waist. There were gray strands in his black hair, and wrinkles in the corners of his eyes. Still, he was just as pale and his eyes were the same mustard yellow with slits for pupils.

He gaped, because Obito had looked basically the same minus mask, and Shisui he had no idea about but he looked Uchiha enough and Sasuke hadn't reacted. Orochimaru, however, had a completely different aura around him.

"This one happens to not be my student," Obito responded, sounding far too much like he was making jokes and too little like he was concerned over Sasuke's health.

Naruto sprinted to his side, having stopped in his tracks as he saw Orochimaru.

"Who cares, just heal him!" he shouted, narrowing his eyes at two sets of dark eyebrows being raised on his expense.

"Calm down, Naruto. He simply fainted," Obito told him, but Naruto didn't care.

If Sasuke was hurt at all, then he'd beat anyone's ass for not taking it seriously. He was just about to voice that thought when Orochimaru held up a hand and walked over to Sasuke. Placing the same, elegant hand on Sasuke's chest, chakra glowing faintly green, he moved it slowly down along his vest. Then he traced back up and over his face, tilting his head back to rest against Obito's arm.

"Let's bring him into the examination room, Obito," he concluded, but when Naruto made a move to follow he stopped him with a hand on his chest. "You wait out here."

"What?! No way, I-"

"Naruto, you'll just be in the way with your worrying. I'll be right back after explaining the situation."

Naruto stared after them, feeling helpless.

He's not dying, he head Kurama's amused voice inside his mind.

Oh shut up! he snapped back, balling his fists and starting to pace up and down the corridor. It took about thirty laps before Obito returned, and Naruto immediately dashed over to search his face for any clues as to Sasuke's condition.

As if you can't feel it on your own, Kurama muttered, but he ignored the fox. What did he know, anyway? If Sasuke had some dangerous disease he doubted he could feel it, just like that.

"Let's sit down," Obito suggested, quickly adding "He's fine," when Naruto glared at him.

"He better be fine," he threatened quietly, and Obito gave a faint smile at that.

So far the Uchiha had been acting very reserved, resembling Obito while controlled by Madara more than the real deal. Though, his outfit was slightly different. He wore an open, dark blue robe with the Uchiha symbol on the back. Underneath it he wore a thin, white long-sleeved shirt over black standard ninja pants. The robe kind of reminded him of the Akatsuki cloaks, but much more form-fitting. His face didn't have the lines on the right side that he was used to see.

"Well?" he asked as they sat, sitting on his hands to stay still.

"Orochimaru is checking over him, and they'll run a few tests to see if there are any seals that might activate whenever he attempts to use the Rinnegan, or Sharingan for that matter."

"Wait, you think there was something that made him collapse when he tried it?"

"It's possible."

Obito stared at him contemplatively, and it struck Naruto that he had two perfectly normal-looking eyes.

"Didn't you give one eye to Kakashi?" he asked, thinking he'd like to distract himself from thoughts of Sasuke being in danger.

The other man looked slightly surprised at the question, then leaned back against the wall with a bemused expression.

"You certainly know a lot," he said. "But perhaps it's because it's the same as in your world?"

"Ah, well, yeah," Naruto replied, scratching at his neck but then reminded himself to sit on his hands again.

His entire body was just itching to run into the examination room and check on Sasuke.

"Not everything's the same though," he added, wondering if what happened between Kakashi and Obito was different here, but not sure if it was too personal to ask.

"Well, this one's made of glass," Obito told him, tapping his left cheek right underneath the eye. "Now then, why don't you fill me in on the details you skipped earlier in the forest?"

xxx

When he was finally allowed to enter Sasuke's room, Naruto's eyes immediately flew to his unmoving form on the hospital bed.

"He should wake up soon enough," Orochimaru assured him, hovering behind him in the doorway. "Please inform me when he does."

Naruto nodded, not really listening. Orochimaru didn't say anything else, merely closing the door behind himself as he quietly left. He stood for a moment, taking in Sasuke's pale face and his slowly sinking and rising chest underneath a thin blanket. All the pacing he'd done before, Obito unable to stop him after an hour or so had passed, and now he barely managed to breathe. They'd assured him Sasuke was fine, but how could he trust them when Sasuke was unconscious? He desperately wanted Sasuke's eyes to open, and look at him with that small crease between his brows, telling him he looked stupid for standing frozen by the door like that…

Taking a deep breath he clenched his fists and walked over to the bed, sitting down next to Sasuke's hip after a brief moment of hesitation. He looked so peaceful, not reacting when Naruto stretched a hand out to run a finger along his cheek. His finger continued inwards, and he held the backside of his hand in front of Sasuke's nose to feel warm air against it. Of course, he could feel Sasuke's chakra, as well as his life force, the connection between them as strong as ever. Even so he still wanted physical evidence, therefore putting his palm over Sasuke's chest to feel his heartbeat.

It was steady, the same pace as when he slept, and Naruto swallowed harshly against the relief welling up his throat. Exhausted from worrying, even if it had only been an hour and a half or so since they'd arrived at the hospital, Naruto allowed his limbs to weaken and his forehead to connect lightly with Sasuke's chest. The position was uncomfortable, bending his body in a bad way, but Sasuke's scent and warmth finally succeeded in calming him down.

Though, that only meant his thought process slowed down enough for him to actually notice how messed up he felt. And Sasuke had only fainted! He rested his right hand on Sasuke's arm, the fabric of his dark blue standard shirt smooth underneath his bare fingertips, the vest nowhere to be seen. His head followed the movement of Sasuke's breathing, and closing his eyes he matched his lungs to Sasuke's rhythm, ignoring the lump in his throat. Sasuke was okay. Everything was fine.

He felt Sasuke draw a deeper breath, stirring a little, and he opened his eyes again to meet dark ones contemplating him. This was probably when he was supposed to sit up, but Naruto couldn't find the strength in him.

"How long was I out?"

"Just two hours or so."

Sasuke reached behind himself and moved the pillow so he wasn't lying flat anymore, but rather half sitting against it. This also meant he scooted up a little, Naruto letting out an involuntary noise of complaint when he had to shift in order to stay moderately comfortable.

"I feel perfectly fine," Sasuke said, frowning as he took in their surroundings. "There's just a heavy weight on my stomach."

When he received a pointed look, Naruto flushed and sat up, letting go of Sasuke's arm as well and rubbing his hands along his thighs instead.

"Really?" he asked, narrowing his eyes to make sure Sasuke wasn't making light of his condition.

Instead of replying, Sasuke gave him another long stare, probably analyzing what had happened that caused him to end up in bed.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke suddenly said, and Naruto spent several long moments trying to figure out why, out of all things, he would say that.

"For what?" he asked, settling for confusion.

"If I can't use the Rinnegan, then I can't take you home."

Silence stretched out between them, and Naruto's brain was blank for all of three seconds before throwing itself into chaos. Go home? Take him home? Didn't Sasuke want to go home too? Or was Sasuke thinking Naruto would get angry at him? Had Sasuke been worried about this the whole time because now he sure looked like he had no idea what to say or do and he wasn't even looking at Naruto anymore. Not to mention Naruto had been much too wrapped up in Sasuke's sudden collapse to even think about getting back home.

He opened his mouth, but he really had no idea of what to say, so he shut it again and bit the inside of his cheek. His chest was hurting, and he wondered if it was caused by the angry expression on Sasuke's downcast face.

There was a knock on the door, and he turned his head in time to see Mikoto peeking in. When she saw Sasuke was awake she entered, concern on her face as she walked over to sit on the other side of the bed.

"Oh honey, are you okay?" she asked, stroking his cheek as she examined his face. "You look a little pale, are you sure you should be sitting up?"

"I'm fine," Sasuke told her, voice monotonous and all emotion disappearing from his face.

She didn't look convinced, and brought the bag she had with her onto her lap, rummaging through it before presenting him with a bottle of juice.

"Here, drink this," she told him, leaving no room for argument. "I'll go tell Orochimaru-san that you're awake."

If Sasuke reacted to the name he didn't show it, merely opening the bottle and obediently starting to drink. Once Mikoto had left he put it down, looking at it for a second before offering it to Naruto.

"I'm good," he said, and Sasuke shrugged. "Besides, you're the one who needs it."

Sasuke scowled at him, but drank some more all the same. Still not sure what to say, Naruto fiddled with this fingers and scraped at the floor with a shoe.

"Just spit it out," Sasuke sighed when he'd had enough of his squirming, leaning back against the pillow after placing the bottle on a small table next to the bed.

Again, he opened his mouth to talk, but nothing came out. Frustrated, he kicked at one of the metal legs belonging to the bed.

"We'll figure something out," Sasuke continued, and Naruto sent him a sharp look.

Wasn't it Naruto who was supposed to reassure Sasuke in this situation? But Sasuke appeared to have recovered from his initial pessimism, his gaze steady as it met Naruto's. Something fluttered inside his belly, but he hardly noticed. It wasn't the first time that happened, anyway. What he did notice, however, was how messy Sasuke's bangs were. He carefully reached out to smooth them down, so that they framed Sasuke's eyes like usual. They were still staring at each other, and Naruto was relieved that his best friend didn't seem to need an answer.

Still, he managed a small nod before Mikoto returned with Orochimaru in tow. Her voice had sounded slightly upset, but whatever she'd been saying, she dropped the conversation before Naruto could guess the topic. Her eyes zoned in on the half-empty juice bottle, then rose to Sasuke. Letting out a disagreeing noise, Sasuke still reached for the bottle and drank a bit more, earning himself a satisfied smile. Naruto couldn't help but smile a little as well at the sight.

"Now then, Sasuke," Orochimaru started, placing his hands on his hips and staring down at him. "Your body is perfectly fine, we couldn't find any seals or anything else that could possibly hinder you from using your techniques, but…"

Naruto held his breath, gripping at the sides of his pants.

"That said, I'm sure you're aware of your deteriorating eyesight due to overuse of the Uchiha clan's bloodline limit."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"It's not supposed to deteriorate," he calmly responded, which in turn caused Orochimaru to raise a brow.

"No? Then I suppose you can see the details on the bricks in the building over there perfectly clear."

Sasuke glanced out the windows, his eyebrow dropping to its normal level.

"Well, you seem to know that better than me," he deadpanned.

Orochimaru actually smirked at that, turning to a displeased Mikoto.

"I'm very sorry, Mikoto-san, but I must say I like this Sasuke slightly better than your son."

She smiled, but it was a very strained one, and Orochimaru quickly dropped the subject.

Naruto, on the other hand, sat frozen. He'd been told by Sasuke that his eyes were fine since they were Itachi's, not his own, and he'd never had any problems before. Not even after the fight with Kaguya, and Sakura had made really thorough checks. Was Orochimaru telling the truth? He frowned, waiting to see if Sasuke would say anything else.

He didn't. Instead, he calmly faced forwards, waiting just like Naruto.

"I'll have Tsunade check it over later, but you're free to leave for now."

Sasuke nodded, and Naruto tuned out the conversation that started between Mikoto and Orochimaru regarding whether or not Sasuke was really fine enough to leave his bed.

"Sasuke?" he asked quietly, poking at his arm when he didn't respond at first.

"I'm fine," Sasuke repeated, as if on autopilot, causing Naruto to grit his teeth.

"Like hell you're fine if-"

One look from Sasuke silenced him, and he clicked his tongue but didn't say anything else. Fine, they could talk later, but oh, were they going to talk.