Chapter 28 Truth in the Lies

It was night now. The entire castle was dark with the exception of the moonlight that slipped in through the windows and patched the wooden floors. The sound of a couple of cats fighting outside was the only thing to be heard. It didn't seem possible for the estate to be so quiet when there was so much going on inside of it.

My bare feet made a soft slapping sound as I ran through the hallways, trying my best to reach Ekima's room. Something moved above me and I screeched to a stop. Nobu dropped down from the rafters in front of me. I clicked my tongue sharply and shifted into a offensive position.

"Do you plan on fighting me, Karasu?"

"Well, duh!"

"Your drugged, you can't even throw a proper punch."

"How the hell did you guys drug me in the first place?"

"With tea."

"Oh…hey, wait!" I said. "I saw Shinsuke-san drink the tea too!"

"Shinsuke-sama has built up an immunity to the drug."

"Oh…" I said, a bit embarrassed.

It was true I couldn't fight properly but I couldn't just stand there and do nothing. I charged and swung a fist at him face. Nobu backed away but I still managed to land the blow. Nobu and I both stopped to stare. I smiled.

"Seems the drug is beginning to wear off."

I charged again sending both fist and foot attacks at him. I dropped to the ground and kicked him in the face. As he stumbled back I twisted my body like a top, landing blows from both my feet on his cheek. As he continued to stumble back, I pushed myself back up and reared back a fist. But when I struck, Nobu dropped and kicked my feet out from under me. I caught myself and kicked him in the chin.

He stood up and charged at me but I didn't have enough time to block and I got a fist in the face. Before I could recover, Nobu grabbed my shoulders and dug a knee into my stomach. I buckled and fell to the ground. I waited for another blow but Nobu did nothing. I looked up but he was just standing over me.

"Waiting for something?" I asked.

"I can't kill you and I probably shouldn't beat you up to badly."

"Oh?" I smiled. "That's to bad."

I kicked up but Nobu caught me foot. I twisted my free leg around his arm and threw him forward. He flipped and caught himself. I stood up and brushed off my kimono.

"Man, it's hard to fight in this thing." I complained.

Layer by layer, I quickly pulled off the kimono until I was just in the black nagajuban. I stretched.

"Ah, much better."

Nobu ran at me again and, just like back in the cave, we attacked constantly but did land any blows on the other. This time though, Nobu wasn't holding back.

"I guess I can injure you a bit." Nobu mumbled.

The familiar blade slid out from his sleeve and he attacked me with it. Unfortunately, I had no weapon to defend myself and suffered several shallow cuts. I managed to evade his blade eventually and pivoted till we were back to back. I elbowed Nobu in the lower back, causing him to stumbled forward. I rushed to his front and kicked him in the face. He skidded back and fell. When Nobu opened his eyes I was standing above him, pointing his own blade at his throat. He blinked and looked down at his hand, finally realizing his blade had been taken from him.

"How did you-" He looked up and sighed. "The sharingan. That's right. You're an Uchiha."

"I've killed you before, Izumi-nii-san and I'll do it again."

"I'm not your brother, how many time do I have to tell you?"

"Don't lie to me! You look just like my brother!!"

"Do you want to know?" He said, calmly. "You'll have to delay my death for a bit, though."

"Start explaining!"

"Could you at least put the sword-"

"I said, start explaining!"

Nobu sighed again.

"Orochimaru isn't the only scientist out there who trying to create and uncover truths." He started. "Their's a man named Ishimatsu. Like Orochimaru he's a scientist, but he's not interested in forbidden jutsu or living forever. His goal is to create the world's greatest army, to the point that shinobi will no longer be needed. Ishimatsu had tried several methods but he found one that interested him."

"Stop stalling at spit it out."

"Cloning. Ishimatsu is obsessed with cloning. See where I'm going with this?"

"That's bullshit! No one can clone another person!"

"You may be right, Ishimatsu has never been able to create his perfect clone. You see, Ishimatsu travels around, or has others travel for him, to collect blood samples and pictures of people who have recently passed. One of his assistants had been staying in the village at the time of Izumi's death and hurried to where he had been killed. He collected the blood and some how got his hands on some pictures. That's all Ishimatsu needs, blood."

"Why blood?"

"Because it carries the DNA, the genetic makeup. As I said, Ishimatsu has never been able to create his perfect clone. Well, I was the first but I was too perfect. As I grew older I began to regain the memories of Izumi, not all of them but most. Ishimatsu wanted a clone that was like a mindless tool, he wanted a weapon. I had emotion and memories of a family that wasn't mine, it effected my value and eventually Ishimatsu deemed me useless. I was still pretty young then and Shinsuke and Ishimatsu were doing some trading and through a series of event I still don't fully understand, I ended up in Shinsuke's hands, he took great care of me."

"Then how are you the same age as my brother?"

"Us clones grow faster than normal humans up until puberty, then we slow down. Were kind of age like dogs. It's one of the flaws Ishimatsu is trying to fix but it's impossible to create a fully grown clone. You need a undeveloped fetus."

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Probably a little around eight years old."

I felt the sword slip from my hand.

"Then your not my brother? He really is dead?"

Nobu nodded.

He could be lying, it all sounded rather ridiculous, but Izumi had defiantly died.

I dropped to my knees. I had selfishly hoped that Nobu really was Izumi but in the end it was too good to be true. I had wanted to believe that I hadn't done something so horrible after all.

Nobu sat up and put a hand on my shoulder.

"When I said you killed you brother I was lying."

I looked up. "But I did kill him…I-"

"You blacked out, right? Then when you woke up Izumi was dead."

I nodded.

"I inherited Izumi's last memory. You did black out but you didn't lose to your instinct to survive like many shinobi have done. Izumi couldn't bring himself to kill you."

The hand on my shoulder began to shake and I looked up to see tears streaming down his face.

"…h-he couldn't bring himself to kill his little s-sister, so he took his life instead."

It was then that I realized how much Izumi's memories had affected Nobu. Growing up with no one, these false memories were his moral support, something that made him feel like someone. That and if he had inherited Izumi's memories, then maybe he had received some of his emotion as well. I threw my arms around Nobu's neck and hug him. He returned the gesture, crying into my shoulder. I didn't like crying, I rarely allowed myself too but this time I let a few tears stream down my face.

After Nobu had pulled himself to together, he pulled away, picked up his sword and held it out to me. I looked at him, horrified.

"You mean to-"

"By all means I shouldn't even exists, this is the right thing to do." Nobu said gravely.

"No, I couldn't do that! Come back with us, you won't be a problem."

"All my life I felt like I was carrying some sort of burden, some sort of weight but now I feel relieved." He reached into his pocket and held out his hand. In his palm where my necklaces. "I feel as though my purpose is complete."

I took the necklaces and put them in my nagajuban. "But I can't kill you!"

"Sure you can. I don't think your brother will be at peace unless his copy is disposed of." He said with a laugh.

I hesitated, then took the sword from his hand. We both stood.

"Are you sure…about this?"

Nobu nodded. "Yes."

I tightened my grip on the blade, backed away, then charged. Nobu smiled.

"Thank you." He whispered.

I swung the blade. Metal whistled through the air until it met with Nobu's skin. Their was the sound of flesh being cleanly sliced open followed by the sound of spurting blood. Nobu's body dropped to the ground with a echoing thud. I couldn't even tell I was covered in his blood.

*~~*

Sasuke brought up his blade, blocking a strike from the naginata. Shinsuke pulled back quickly and attacked again. Sasuke parried smoothly. They had been fight for almost four minutes but no one had landed a fatal blow. Sasuke's side throbbed and he grabbed at his wound, only to realize his mistake. Shinsuke took advantage of the moment. He thrust the naginata forward and Sasuke barley managed to deflect it. Even so, the naginata's blade still managed to cut his shoulder pretty good. Sasuke sucked in his breath sharply.

"Should you really be fighting with a wound like that?" Shinsuke asked, amused.

Sasuke glared up at him before charging again. They attacked one another non-stop, only dealing minor wounds. Another minute passed.

"So," Shinsuke began. "If I kill you, does that mean I'll be eliminating Orochimaru as well?"

Sasuke didn't respond.

"Not much of a talker are you?"

Sasuke attempted a strike to the head but Shinsuke blocked. Taking advantage of this, Sasuke kicked out into Shinsuke's stomach. He slid back but managed to keep his balance. Sasuke stuck his sword into the ground, weaved the hand seals and sucked in his breath. Shinsuke's face went from amusement to alarm. Flames shot forth from Sasuke's mouth, igniting the entire arena.

Shinsuke had made it away unscathed but Sasuke noticed the worried look on his face. One of the wooden beams from above, managed to catch fire and fell through the wooden floor. Sasuke turned to see Shinsuke backing away slowly.

"You idiot the generator is-"

Before he could finish there was a large explosion at the opposite end of the room as the ground tore itself open to release fire and plumes of smoke. Sasuke ran behind one of the stone pillars for cover as the explosive heat filled the room and burst through the floors above. Sasuke looked around. Shinsuke was no where in sight. He hesitated then ran across the room and into the hallway where Karasu had disappeared. Sasuke couldn't track her by smell, the smoke was too overpowering, so he dropped and pressed an ear to the ground. There was a muffled thumping sound and Sasuke rushed towards the source of the noise.

Finally he turned a corner and came to a halt. Karasu stood their before him with a body at her feet, both in a puddle of blood. Never had Sasuke seen Karasu look so anemic. She stood with her knees pointing slightly inward and her once tidy hair now falling around her face, untamed. In her hands she held average looking sword but her entire body was splattered with blood. Suddenly the strong willed Karasu Sasuke had known had become frail and fragile. Strangely their was something fascinating about seeing her stained clothes and blood sliding down her shocked face like sweat.

Karasu looked up and saw Sasuke starring. There was a loud clanging sound as metal met wood. Her whole body began to shake.

"Sasuke-sama…" She whimpered. "…I…"

Something exploded and brought Sasuke back to his senses. He rushed forward.

"Look Karasu, we have to go…now!"

Karasu blinked a couple times then nodded as she reverted back to her normal self. Sasuke turned and began to ran back the way he had come. Karasu followed, only stopping to take a quick glance back.

Author notes: Eh? This chapter had some corny moments in it (which I try to avoid) but oh, well, couldn't be helped. Yeah, cloning sounds a little sci-fi but you know lots of weird shit happens in Naruto and it's not like their using modern science and hi-tech computers to do it. You'll find out more about it later.

Yeah, I didn't even realize how the whole brother and sister thing sounded like Sasuke and Itachi till I re-read this. *sigh*