Aniki Loves Otouto Loves Jinchuuriki
AN: Hi everyone! Wow, so I know it's been like… 4 months maybe? Yeah. Let me just tell you, swim team is a bitch when it comes to fanfiction. And you know, sometimes a writer's imagination just doesn't work, okay?
Mmk… well, thank goodness someone gave my imagination back to me, because now its spring break and I'm writing as much as I can!
Anyway, here's the next chapter to the story! I hope you enjoy.
Just as a note, there are going to be different places where the story takes place in this chapter!
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The halls were dimly lit as he walked down to the chamber where his master was waiting. He could hear the water drip from the cold, stone tiles; it still made a chill travel up his spine.
Opening the door gently, he kept his eyes lowered as he bowed in respect.
"You have been informed, I presume?" The snake Lord said in his chilling, soft voice as he sat in the grand chair with scrolls and large books scattered around him.
"Yes, my Lord. I understand." Kabuto said, standing at his Master's feet. Orochimaru had just made a decision to who his next body would be, choosing Sasuke Uchiha—the second Uchiha he had gone after as a container.
"When do you desire the replacement?" Kabuto inquired, pushing up his glasses as a habit.
"The days are counting," Orochimaru said, a slight but still gentle cough following his words. "I will need to switch bodies in about a month if everything goes as it should." His gold eyes bore into Kabuto's showing that everything would go as it should.
"Kill the older Uchiha if you have to. If that becomes necessary, make the change between Sharingan. Itachi's is still stronger."
"Yes, my Lord. Your orders will be carried out as soon as possible." Kabuto said with a low bow and then left to do his master's wishes.
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Sasuke groaned softly as he saw the light shine behind his eyelids and tint them a reddish-pink. It was morning again.
He didn't feel like moving. He wanted to just root himself into this bed and die here. Last night had been a living nightmare in itself. No one should have to go through that…
But for some reason, Sasuke noticed that he felt strangely warm. 'What the…?' He thought to himself, moving a little and then feeling someone's grip on his waist.
"…Itachi?" He said in a small voice, not sure who to expect. It could be anyone, and he figured Itachi had left like always.
"Good morning, Otouto.." Itachi said softly and you could almost hear a loving smile in his voice.
Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction and he stopped trying to move. …He was warm because Itachi had stayed with him all night? He looked down a little and saw that his brother's arm was still securely wrapped around his dwindling waistline.
"O-ohayo.." He said softly, his mind wandering a mile a minute. 'Why did Itachi stay? …Why does it feel like things are different between us now?'
Itachi knew Sasuke was probably confused right now, but he didn't really think he'd understand anything about this situation in the first place.
"…Are you okay?" Itachi said, trying to break through his normal uncaring, cold shell to comfort his little brother.
Sasuke was almost positive he didn't hear him correctly. Did Itachi really just ask him that? He couldn't have…
"Uh…" He stumbled over an answer. No, he wasn't okay. He wasn't okay at all. The bite marks on his wrists hadn't healed much at all, and blood from last night was still smeared on his inner thighs. Then, his brother was acting strangely human with his arms wrapped around him. No... He was not fine in the least.
"I'm okay…" He said in a hushed tone, staring at the wall.
Itachi knew this was the time to explain everything. …But should he?
"Otouto…" He started, finding words for what he wanted to say. "You won't understand this… But I want to tell you anyway, just in case you do value it for some reason."
Sasuke listened to his brother's voice attentively, still not sure why Itachi was doing this.
He began to explain his ideas with a quiet voice. "I brought you here because I missed you… And I wanted to know that you love me. That the feeling you had towards me when you were little hadn't gone away… But I didn't want to have to ask you. I just wanted to know."
At first, Sasuke's mind rejected the explanation. No, he didn't understand that at all. If Itachi loved him, why the hell had he treated him like this?
'I just want to know…' He thought, Itachi's phrase echoing through his mind.
"I… loved you before this." Was all he could bring himself to say. The sappy reunions weren't his thing and he couldn't ever forgive Itachi for destroying the life he had loved so much. 'For destroying Naruto…'
Itachi felt his heart drop. 'Before this? …What about now?'He had to make Sasuke love him again. He just had to…And he knew there was nothing else he could really do but earn back his brother's trust and love. Things would have to be different. He had to forget about the blonde boy that Sasuke loved that make the rage fuel his actions.
"Come on; let's get you into a bath." Itachi said, sitting up a little and scooping Sasuke up from the bed.
"Ah.. P-put me down," He protested, squirming in Itachi's arms. He didn't need to be carried.
"Otouto, calm down.." Itachi said, hugging Sasuke to his chest closer, easily supporting his weight.
The younger Uchiha let out a little unhappy whine and squirmed a little more before giving up. He was still way too tired to do anything.
Itachi walked into the bathroom and gently set Sasuke down on the countertop. Feeling a horrid spike of soreness shoot up his spine, Sasuke let out a yelp of pain and quickly hopped off, standing uneasily on his feet as if he was stepping on pins and needles.
Itachi saw this and immediately put his hands on Sasuke's waist. "Otouto… What exactly happened last night…?"
Sasuke tried to still himself and quit showing that he was in pain. "I— think you know now…" He said, not wanting to put it in words.
"Otouto…" Itachi said, and Sasuke could swear he heard pity in his voice. Itachi never showed pity… He turned around and filled up the bath water. "Strip." The older Uchiha said, adjusting the temperature knobs.
"I'll wait.." Sasuke said, not wanting to show Itachi his body in the condition it was in.
"No, Sasuke. I need to look at you." The younger swallowed nervously and put his thumbs under the waistband of his boxers, sliding them off hesitantly.
Itachi let the water fill and turned around, still sitting on the edge of the tub, motioning his brother forward.
He took a small step, getting embarrassingly closer to his brother. Itachi placed his hand on an un-bruised hip, slowly turning him so he could find all of the injuries.
'A bruised hip, blood from tearing, he's underweight, the bite marks; Sasori should have something for those…'
"Okay, Sasuke. Bathe and try to relax a little. I'll be right back." He said, standing up and stroking Sasuke's cheek softly with his thumb.
Sasuke's eyes rose with his, giving him a confused but soft look. A bath didn't sound too bad at the moment.
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Kiba whispered to Shikamaru as the group flew through the trees. "I don't know why in the world we're trying to find Sasuke. For all we know, he's already dead!"
They were quickly approaching the meeting spot they would find the sensei they would meet.
"Because he's Naruto's world. You know that. And this is a rescue mission into the Akatsuki. We can't just let someone go like that." Tenten answered.
Kiba growled lightly and rolled his eyes, seeing Naruto at the front of the group as always. He was trying so hard—and Sasuke could easily already have been killed. No one survived the Akatsuki except for its members. Everyone knew that.
Finally, they reached a clearing out of the forest and there stood Kakashi, Kurenai, Azuma, Gai, and Anko.
They all acknowledged each other and then Naruto and Shikamaru made it to the head of the group.
"Okay," Shikamaru said. "Here's the plan, everyone. This is the only way we'll get out alive with Sasuke as well." Everyone listened intently to his strategy, hoping to Kami that it would work.
"When we get there, we'll have to station around the base. I know there are several seals at the entrances—plus we don't know Sasuke's location in the hideout. We'll need to split up, and I've brought radio-signaled communicators for each group. We'll be divided into groups of four and five—one Sensei in each group.
"If by any chance—Sasuke has already been… killed," Shikamaru said, knowing it tore Naruto apart, thinking of that possibility. "Then we leave as soon as possible, as unnoticed as we can."
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Sasori heard the quiet knock at his door and got up to answer it grudgingly. He was in the middle of a new puppet design.
"Itachi." He nodded as a greeting. "What do you need?"
"I've decided that it's time to heal Sasuke. I need a few of your poisons." He said, leaning against the doorway.
"What kind of injuries are we talking about?" Sasori said, leaving the door open and walking over to the small desk with shelves upon shelves of different sized vials.
"Cuts and bruises, mostly. Some bite marks, some tearing—though most of these injuries are from a certain unexpected visit he got last night." Itachi said with slight malice apparent in his voice, thinking of the blonde.
He's also underweight, but I can fix that myself." Itachi said and Sasori nodded, starting to take a few vials from the shelves.
"Three drops of this in a glass of water for the bruises, having him drink this straight for the lacerations." He said, handing Itachi two little bottles of dark-colored liquid.
Itachi nodded and gave Sasori a slight bow of thanks, leaving with the poison cocktails in hand and going to the kitchen to get a glass of water as well as something for Sasuke to eat.
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"…Is he gone, un?" Deidara whispered from around the corner in Sasori's room.
Sasori rolled his eyes and looked over at the blonde. "Yes, he's gone, brat. But you can't hide forever. He probably knew you were in here anyway."
Deidara frowned and walked over to the bed, sitting gently on the edge. "I wonder why he wants to heal Sasuke all of the sudden." He thought aloud, looking over to the shelves where the poisons all stood, lined up and organized perfectly.
'That's Sasori-no-Danna, for you..' He thought, a bit amused.
"Maybe he's not as crazy as everyone thinks, Deidara." Sasori said, sitting back down at his desk and beginning to work on the puppet he was designing.
Deidara snorted. "Right, un. And he had orders to kill his entire clan. Mmhm, suuure Danna."
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Sasuke was back in Itachi's room in a clean pair of boxers and black yukata, staring out the window again at the afternoon sun.
Itachi came in quietly with a glass of water, the three drops of healing liquid already mix in and a bowl of rice with eggs and pork.
"Sasuke," he said, letting him know that he was back.
Sasuke drew his eyes away from the window and glanced back at Itachi. He had fixed his hair, though it was still a bit longer than he was used to.
"Drink this." The older said, handing him the water. "It may taste strange, but it will help heal your wounds.
Sasuke nodded, taking the glass and taking a sip. "This tastes horrible…" He said and then swallowed it all as fast as he could with his eyes shut in disgust.
"I brought another glass if you want to drink that after this." He handed him the vial of dark liquid that looked a lot like the poison they had forced him to take when he was captured.
"Why are you trying to knock me out this time?" Sasuke questioned, not taking the vial.
"It's not the same thing. It's for your wounds." Itachi said, putting the vial in his hand. Sasuke looked at it suspiciously and then looked away, pouring it into his mouth and swallowing, a fit of coughing following that.
After a second, his coughing died down. "That… was gross…" He said while gasping for breath, taking the glass of water and trying to drink a little of it to get the taste away.
"Here," Itachi said, offering him the food. "I brought you something to eat. You've lost a lot of weight."
"Oh, you noticed." Sasuke said, shrugging it off a little sarcastically and taking the bowl of food. He still didn't understand why Itachi was treating him like a person again instead of a body.
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The group of Leaf ninja came to a sudden stop as Tenten yelped and lost her balance, falling out of the treetops.
Sakura saw this and dropped down after, racing over to her and finding a kunai embedded deep into her thigh.
"Scatter!!" She yelled. They could be under attack.
Everyone raced to get away, getting into hidden alcoves of the forest and pulling out their weapons as kunai and shuriken shot through the leaves, shrapnel shooting from the tree bark as they embedded themselves in the wood.
Sakura had dragged Tenten over to a groove in the nearest tree, taking her headband and tying it tightly above the wound and then pulling the kunai out, starting to heal it with the green glow of her hands.
Finally as the attacks became even, the enemy showed themselves and it was none other than a large group of Sound ninja.
The shinobi of the leaf village began counter attacks, taking out the slightly inexperienced Sound ninja first. Jutsu fired in both directions, Anko taking the front of the battle because she had the most experience when dealing with Sound. They had the same sensei, after all.
Shikamaru was thinking as he fought a particularly skilled opponent.
'Why Sound ninja? This doesn't seem like a random attack. There's a reason behind their actions… But why? Does this relate any way to our mission? What connection would this have to Sasuke?'
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Sasuke had fallen asleep after he ate and slept until nightfall. Waking up a little, he sat up slightly, expecting pain, but there wasn't any- there wasn't any anywhere on his body.
He stood up slowly, looking down at himself. The bruise was gone and so were the bite marks. He could tell that everything had been healed. 'Itachi wasn't lying…' He thought, slightly surprised.
Just then, the door opened and someone came in, but he couldn't see who it was.
'I wonder…'He thought, trying to activate his Sharingan. His vision of the room lit up in a dim red light as his kekkei genkai began to work. Pride slowly filled him; he had his strength back.
"I see your Sharingan works now…" Kabuto spoke, walking into the room silently.
"Who are you?" Sasuke said, his eyes becoming confused as he took a fighting stance. He knew this person was from Sound, just like the other man that showed up in this bedroom… But why was he here?
"Come on, Sasuke. It's time to leave." Kabuto said with his signature smirk.
"Answer my question; who are you?" Sasuke demanded. He didn't have any type of weapon in sight and didn't know if he had all of his strength back, but if this came to a fight, he wasn't backing down.
A little part of his mind wondered where Itachi was—and the rest of the members? How had no one detected this person entering the hideout?
"Oh, don't be difficult. I don't like when people waste my Lord's time." He said, taking out a kunai threateningly. The cold steel glinted in the moonlight shimmering from the open window.
Sasuke looked around, seeing no alternative. He would have to get around this guy and then get out the door. Throwing a straight round-kick to Kabuto's jaw, he attempted to make a run for it, but didn't feel the kick even connect and then a sharp pain in his leg.
He let out a disheveled scream, feeling as if all of his tendons had been cut, and fell to the floor, squirming and writhing in pain, desperately trying to drag himself to the door of the bedroom.
Kabuto's hand stopped glowing blue and he grabbed Sasuke's wrists, tying them up behind his back with chakra bonds. Picking him up, he opened the window and checked the distance to the ground.
The door burst open and Itachi ran in as well as Kisame, Sasori, and Konan. A lightning-fast flutter of deadly paper shuriken flew toward Kabuto but he quickly dodged the barrage.
Sasuke was squirming desperately against Kabuto's grip. He felt like he'd rather have his leg ripped off than this; his pain tolerance had seriously weakened since he'd been here. He hadn't trained since the day Naruto came over. Struggling against the bonds on his wrists, he tried to get out of Kabuto's grip.
The silver haired ninja knew he would fail if he even tried to take Sasuke now and threw him down, launching himself out of the window, out of their reach.
'Failed attempt..'He thought, his rage for the Akatsuki boiling as he bounded away from the base.
Sasuke's wrists were freed as Kabuto lost concentration of his chakra bonds and Sasuke shakily tried to pull himself to his feet, but yelped and collapsed on the floor again, feeling every little movement cause his leg to burst with pain. He dug his fingernails into the wooden floor, trying to stop himself from screaming in agony.
"Itachi, Kabuto must have used his medical chakra… That would mean all of his tendons are severed." Sasori said, watching Sasuke writhe painfully.
Itachi looked back to him. "Could Kakuzu fix this?"
"He's on a mission with Hidan right now." Konan said, shaking her head.
"I have an idea though." Sasori said, quickly going back to his shelves in his chambers and grabbing another vial of the flesh healing poison.
Getting back to Itachi's room, he took out a kunai. "Hold him down, this is going to hurt like hell—but I don't know what else to do." He said and knelt by Sasuke's leg that wouldn't move, and the rest of them pinned Sasuke to the floor.
Sasori cut a long, deep line from the back of Sasuke's knee down to his ankle, hearing Sasuke's terrified scream in pain and his reflexive attempt to squirm out of the hold the rest of them had him in.
Quickly uncorking the vial, he poured the poison directly into the wound, hearing it start to fizz as it began to work.
"It'll stop hurting in a minute… This has a numbing agent in it… He'll stop screaming soon."
Sasuke's screams did recede and he calmed down a little, groaning and squirming less as the wound began to reconnect itself together.
"I don't know what the hell you put in that stuff.." Kisame said, shaking his head in disbelief. Sasori just smirked at him.
Taking deep breaths, the younger Uchiha let out a small agonizing moan. "Let go of me…"
They slowly released their grips and he pushed himself up a little, getting up and standing on his uninjured foot, a hand on the wall helping his balance.
"Who the hell was that?" He asked though his breath was still ragged, wincing slightly as he felt the skin seem to knit itself back together on his calf.
"That was Kabuto… Orochimaru's right-hand man. I've heard you've already met Orochimaru…" Konan spoke as she turned and slipped out of the room. She had other things to do.
Kisame looked to Itachi and the older Uchiha nodded, letting him know it was okay to leave now.
Kisame and Sasori left together and Itachi looked at him. "I'm starting to think Orochimaru wants you, Sasuke…"
Sasuke looked at him, still leaning against the wall. "Why would he want me? I'm a Leaf ninja." He said, feeling a little spark of pride as well as pain in his emotions as he said that.
"You don't know much about Orochimaru, do you?" Itachi said as Sasuke experimented with putting weight on his leg.
"No, I don't."
"Orochimaru wants you because he seeks immortality. The way he plans to achieve this is by switching bodies once one wears out… He wanted mine when he was in this organization."
Sasuke's eyes widened and he grimaced. "That's sick…"
Itachi nodded. "He's after the Sharingan, really. He knows the power it holds. And I doubt this will be Kabuto's last attempt at capturing you." He said, clenching his jaw in frustration.
All of this was going so wrong…
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AN: Oh no's, Oh no's! Well, Chapter 13 is already typed out and I hope you guys enjoyed this update! Please review?
*SPOILER, sort of* Hehe… Don't you love the irony in what Deidara said about Itachi killing his clan? [Well, for all of those who have updated to that point in the story.]