Chapter 119 - Frozen Hell
Sasuke was sitting at the end of the dock on his lake, fuming, his thoughts tangled up into wire-hot anger.
Great, now not only did his family think he was incompetent, so did Naruto. And probably everyone else, at this point. After all, Karin and Suigetsu hated him, that freak of a "son" of hers as well, and somehow he doubted that Sakura's opinion of him had improved much lately, much less after this whole business.
Though, in the end, he didn't care so much about those people's opinions. Naruto's, however…
Freaking Naruto. Who would pull for him in any situation, who always believed in him, no matter how idiotic it made either of them look. Who didn't trust him enough to take care of himself, who didn't even care enough to visit him personally—he'd only sent a shadow clone to check on him! And beyond that, Naruto was taking over for him, practically—after all, wasn't it Sasuke's responsibility as clan head to take care of his clan? That was his chief responsibility.
He wrestled with options and thoughts for what felt like hours. Part of him wanted to go to the hospital or wherever Naruto wanted him—his family was there, weren't they?—and take back control there. Which mostly meant speaking, however briefly, with Ino, and keeping watch until the "threat" was over.
And what was the threat, anyways? Someone that wanted to hurt his family? Who hated him enough to go after his children?
His thoughts paused, for a while, recalling something that Naruto had said.
About Takeru.
But he crumpled them up, tossed them aside. Whatever had happened to that boy was not important right now.
(Though some part of him groaned, like overstressed metal, that if he were a better clan head, he'd have been able to protect Takeru.)
(No part of him, however, felt fear or worry over the strength of the opponent. In his eyes, Takeru could have been able to take care of anything that came his way. What happened was otherwise Takeru's fault, of course.)
Anyone that would go after a man's family to get to the man was obviously a coward. Someone that wanted to butter up, to weaken their opponent before even trying to land a blow.
This planted a sneer on Sasuke's face, as he looked out over the waters. He'd be able to deal with someone like that.
He continued tearing down this invisible opponent, if only for the distraction, the mild entertainment. If they wanted to attack the Uchiha clan, much less him, then they were bound to be stupid. One simply did not try to attack the Uchiha clan. It was too powerful.
(…maybe not in its current incarnation. And that was Sasuke's fault. He wasn't firm, didn't exert his rightful control enough.)
(But after this, he would.)
And beyond that, they probably had an equally idiotic reason for wanting to antagonize the Uchiha clan. After all, what had Sasuke done lately to piss anyone off that he hadn't dealt with afterward?
The whole thing felt increasingly absurd, just a waste of his time, and the city's resources.
Who could possibly be causing this much trouble while remaining this foolish?
"Sa-Sasuke-san…?"
His heart plummeted.
That voice…!
"Yakata…?"
He turned around, getting up as he did so, and indeed, the boy was there. He was standing on the shore by the dock, his hands tangled into each other against his chest, head down, eyes closed.
"Yakata, what are you doing here…?" Sasuke said, quietly, beginning to approach the boy. "Weren't you supposed to be home?"
"I, I, I had to come back," Yakata replied, his shoulders rising. "I, I couldn't go back there. Not, not, not after everything that happened here."
"Well, what… what happened, Yakata?" Sasuke said. He had reached the boy, and his hands were raised to touch his shoulders, but didn't. "Was there trouble back home? Tell me, come on."
His heart raced; the boy's clothes were filthy, and his feet and ankles were caked in smeared blood and dirt.
"Oh, it was… it was awful, just awful…" Yakata said, shaking his head. "So awful, Sasuke-san…"
"Yakata, I…" And Sasuke swallowed. "Come on, let's get back to my house, we can talk there. All right?"
But Yakata, of all things, began to laugh.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but I can't keep this up," he giggled. "I have to interrupt here, because—Sasuke, really, you want to bring him to your house, and not, say, the hospital? Or Naruto? Since he did order the boy home…"
Sasuke took a step back. "Yakata…?"
"Your selfishness has always struck me as childish, Sasuke-kun, but you're positively bordering on idiocy here!" Yakata continued. "Shame on you, putting personal attachments over the safety of an innocent child."
Sasuke could see his own chest heaving in his peripheral vision. "Yakata, what's wrong with you?"
Yakata's giggles transformed into throaty, loud laughter. "And, as usual, you're utterly clueless when it matters most! Oh, I almost missed you."
And once his laughter and his smile had lessened, he opened his eyes.
"It really has been too long, Sasuke-kun."
Sasuke took another step back. "Orochimaru…?"
"What, you're surprised to see me?" Orochimaru replied. "Dear oh dear, how disappointing."
"What have you done with Yakata?" Sasuke said, halfway to a yell.
"The same thing I'd planned on doing to you, of course," Orochimaru said, raising his hands, as if this were a most obvious answer. "Luckily, this child's will was far weaker than yours, despite being an Uchiha. The integration is truly going quite smoothly!"
Sasuke couldn't say anything. His throat was going dry.
"Of course, even if I hadn't found this beautiful child," Orochimaru continued, "I don't really think I'd have attempted the same to you again. You haven't exactly gone to seed, my dear, but… Well, you're just not my type any more." He giggled again. "Don't feel hurt, darling, but I really do prefer youth and grace to muscle and age."
"H-How did you find him…?" Sasuke's voice, almost a cough, was quaking.
"What, Yakata-kun? Pure chance, really. And the gods must be smiling upon me, because I have made such discoveries since taking up residence in his darling little mind," Orochimaru said. "I would never have expected, not in a million years, to find Uchiha Itachi, revived as a child, in my grasp. And to also find that he'd been living with you for a while? Well, well!"
"And you know this… how?"
"Come now, you really expect me to explain everything?" Orochimaru replied, rolling his eyes. "I have complete access to the child's memories. I went through quite a bit of yours as well when I was sleeping inside of you, actually, Sasuke-kun. Wonderfully enlightening entertainment."
A squirming sensation flicked subliminally between Sasuke's ears, and he grimaced. This only made Orochimaru smile more.
"Yakata-kun's memories especially. Oh, the things I've seen from him, Sasuke, Sasuke, we must have a talk." He began walking forward. "And I'm not even going to touch your treatment of Yakata-kun for now, no, I think it's far more important to address how you've been raising your family. My goodness, Sasuke, do you have any idea how much those children despise you?"
There were words caught in Sasuke's throat—"Don't come near me!"—frozen by the young voice's harshness.
"Even seeing it through Yakata's eyes, I could see how much utter contempt they had for you. Absolutely no respect at all." He closed his eyes thoughtfully, folding his hands behind his back. "And you repay it all with terror, do you? That's no way to maintain control, my dear. That's how you end up gutted alive by the very people you seek to keep in line. I'm beginning to regret not teaching you that…"
Orochimaru was very nearly within arm's reach of Sasuke, now.
"No, no, what you should have done was shown them at least some affection, so that they have something to look back to, something that will get them thinking, 'Oh, it's all right, things aren't always this bad!' But no, you treat your own children like you don't even want to be around them. No wonder they hate you."
And Orochimaru shook his head, and opened his eyes again. His head only came up to Sasuke's chest; his chin was slightly raised as he stared Sasuke down.
"You're really not just a horrible father, you're an utterly inept clan leader, aren't you? You can't manage anything on your own." He giggled again. "Somehow, though? I'm not surprised. You always were such an impulsive student. All action, no plan, and worst of all, no respect for anyone else…"
Sasuke's knees felt weak.
"The more I think about it, really, the more I think of it as mercy that I plan on killing your family. Not only to free them from having to live with you, but from keeping your utter incompetence from spreading. I've already done the honors with that absolute monster of a child of yours—what's his name, Takeru?"
Orochimaru was beginning to circle him where he stood, on the dock.
"I really can see why you adore him; he's so much like you… though you never took such pleasure in the suffering of others like he obviously does. Poor, poor Yakata-kun, whose only mistake was stealing attention from you." Orochimaru tilted his chin, drawing his face into a pout. "Really, the world will be much better off without Takeru. Trust me."
Sasuke focused on his breathing. Orochimaru noticed.
"…what, no passionate outburst over the loss of your favorite son? Where is that rage of yours, Sasuke? I thought you would never run out." He stopped, resting a finger on his mouth, which twisted into a delighted smile. "Am I scaring you?" His laugh, following, was even more crazed than the mouth it came out of. "I am, aren't I? Ha! I'm outdoing myself today! Wonderful!"
"I'm not scared of you," Sasuke managed.
"Oh, sweet child, you should be," Orochimaru replied, dampening his tone. "Especially now."
"Why."
His smile widened, thinly. "For one, I know for a fact that you can't harm this body. After all, how could you bring yourself to hurt your precious, beloved brother? And for two? I have a friend. Oh, Riverman, darling?"
The man emerged from the ground near the shore in a slow ooze of sand; his hair was white, and his eyes were black and fixed on Sasuke, despite his thin head lolling to the side, as if he couldn't remember how to set it upright.
"Even if you managed to get over your emotional attachments to this body and attack me, you'll have my Riverman to deal with. And he doesn't particularly like Uchihas," Orochimaru said.
"Uchihas…!" the Riverman wheezed; one of his eyes began turning pink from his iris squeezing inward. "Master, when do I, kill Uchihas…?!"
"Soon, my pet, soon," Orochimaru said, over his shoulder. "So, Sasuke-kun, you see we are at something of an impasse."
The weak feeling in Sasuke's knees increased.
(Because he knew, underneath all of the middling anger that was struggling for supremacy in his consciousness, that Orochimaru was right.)
(He couldn't harm Itachi.)
"You're not only a hopeless, useless excuse of a person, you're completely helpless. …though, Sasuke-kun, you did do one thing right."
And Orochimaru went up to him, chest-to-chest, and reached up to stroke his face.
"Without your help, none of this would have happened." He retracted his hand to giggle. "That's right! You set me free from that awful seal of your brother's. And because of that, I've been able to achieve so much!"
It was at this moment that Sasuke wanted, the most, to scream in response, but he couldn't.
All of this was his fault…?
Actions began unraveling to their roots in his mind.
"I finally got a young, Uchiha body of my very, very own…"
Orochimaru was here, in Yakata's body, causing all of this chaos, killing his children, because he'd gone and undone the Totsuka seal, to ease his paranoia, his irrationality, his craving for understanding and control…
"…I met Riverman, and was able to go on such adventures, and cause so much blessed destruction to Konoha…"
And his family was gone because of his actions. Ino had cheated on him for a reason, and she'd taken the family for a reason too, and that reason was…
"…I even learned that I had a clone! Whom I shall most certainly be taking home with me…"
And even before that, his own children hated him, and acted against him because…!
"…and in regards to your family, I shall be doing the world a whole heap of favors in eradicating you, won't I?"
Slowly, Sasuke fell to his knees, staring at the ground.
"Oh, Sasuke, don't feel bad," Orochimaru purred, leaning in toward him. His breath was warm on his cheek. "I really am incredibly indebted to you. If I were in a more charitable mood, I'd perhaps spare your family—minus Takeru, of course—after all, it's not their fault that they've been stuck with you for goodness knows how long."
And he licked Sasuke, tenderly, sliding Yakata's tongue from his chin to his cheekbone.
"…however, the most charity I am going to show you, you wretched child, is the suggestion that you not fight back, as it will make things less painful for all of us."
Sasuke didn't say anything, his chin drooping. The saliva on his face turned cool in the breeze.
"…that's my boy," Orochimaru said, almost fondly. "Well, Riverman? Perform your duty."
"Gladly, Master," the Riverman replied. Sasuke could hear the blood-smile in his voice.
But he didn't do anything.
There was nobody to blame but himself for this.
The first punch hit him like a firecracker, the Riverman's knuckles colliding against his eye socket and cheekbone. Pepper-white pain filled his head.
But he didn't scream. He remained on the dock, kneeling, as the Riverman grabbed him by the neck and threw him. When he landed, which was painful enough by itself, the Riverman landed shortly afterward. On his chest.
"Uchiha, scum…!" he growled. "I'll, teach you respect!"
One after another, his fists collided with Sasuke's face. Left, right, left, right, smashing every conceivable inch of skin and bone with his enormous hands. There was blood, and involuntary, reflexive tears.
Sasuke did not withstand it. He merely accepted it.
When the Riverman tired of his face—which was turning a deep red, and would surely swell—he grabbed one of Sasuke's legs, and began to swing.
Sasuke's body fluttered through the air like a ragdoll, slamming deeper and deeper into the dry earth. He felt ice-like bursts of pain with each impact, which exploded into fire-aches in between each strike, and only spread. His head was ringing; blood was leaking out of his nose and his mouth and his ears.
After a while, the ringing and the impacts felt like the only sounds. Sasuke's eyes had winced shut.
Every now and then, there was high-pitched laughter, laughter that should not have belonged to a child's voice. A gorilla-like imitation from above, always louder, would follow.
Sasuke had to struggle to breathe. But after a point, he didn't want to; his ribs hurt too much.
(And concentrating on anything but the pain seemed… wrong.)
(This, all of this, was his fault…)
(The blamed misfortunes of his family, the wanton destruction of the city, and Yakata, most of all Yakata, who was perfect, who deserved this misery the least…)
There was dirt and blood in his mouth. One of his legs—the one that Riverman favored when smashing him against the ground by the ankle—felt broken, or close to it.
Time stretched on for forever.
Sasuke waited for it to cease, for them to finally finish him off, or leave him alone to die.
But instead, out of the white-hot inferno of his pain, came another voice:
"Hey, Ugly! Get away from my dad!"
That was Karai's voice.
Sasuke felt the Riverman let go of him, and he tumbled to the ground and onto his stomach. He creaked an eye open to find that Karai had gotten on his tormentor's back and was aggressively punching him in the jaw and ear. Riverman stumbled and waved his arms around, roaring, trying to get the girl off of him.
No, this couldn't…!
"Nobody! Hurts! My! Dad!" Each word accompanied a punch, and even with the chest-rumble loudness of the Riverman's voice, Sasuke could hear her as clearly as if she were right next to him.
"K-Karai, no…" Sasuke groaned, trying to get to at least his knees. But his limbs felt like they were made of paper, and nearly useless.
A mint green-and-black blur zoomed behind the both of them, and Sasuke followed it with his eyes to see…
…no, it couldn't have been… The gathered hair, the feathery-sharp face and features—just an illusion.
(Like everything else in his life.)
It wasn't him, but Nadeshiko, and she was trying to grab Orochimaru, to grab Yakata.
For a moment, she succeeded, wrapping her arms under his arms, her hands on his shoulders. But Orochimaru flipped and squirmed and kicked, screaming. "Let go of me! RIVERMAN!"
The monster sped forward like a released rubber band, Karai still on his back, clinging to his shoulder for dear life, her legs flying out behind her.
Orochimaru wrenched himself out of Nadeshiko's arms by letting his legs go out from under him and using the momentum to swing, kicking backwards at her kneecaps on the way back. Nadeshiko tried to jump back, with him, but he slipped out of her arms and leaped, instead, up onto one of the Riverman's shoulders, nearly face-to-face with Karai.
"Get away from my property, girl," Orochimaru said, and dug his fingers into the Riverman's fur collar for balance as he swung and kicked Karai in the face with flexed feet, so that his hard, bare ankles hit her in the ear.
Karai landed near Sasuke; Nadeshiko flew towards the Riverman in the absence of her attack, and was making attempts at getting on his back.
"Hey, Dad, you okay…?" Karai managed to smile a little as she propped herself up.
"Why are you here…?" Sasuke moaned, in reply.
Karai was sitting up, now, and brushing the dirt off her shorts. "We're here to get you to safety, Dad, duh!"
"No, you shouldn't be here…" Sasuke said.
"Karai, what the heck are you doing?" Sasuke could hear Inou behind him. "Get back out there, I'll take care of Dad!"
Karai nodded, standing. "Gotcha, bro." And she leaped up into the air, flipping around to avoid a swipe by the Riverman as she got near him. After landing, she ran up to the guilty arm and clung to it with mad tenacity.
Inou got down on one knee and worked his hand under Sasuke's shoulder, to get him on his back. "Can you sit up?" he asked.
"You need to get out of here…" Sasuke groaned.
"We're not leaving, Dad. Can you sit up?" Inou said again.
"These people are… dangerous, you shouldn't be here…" Sasuke continued, his voice tumbling out of him like sand. "I can't let you—augh…" He moaned after that, because Inou had tired of his talk and was gently pushing him into a sitting position.
"What, does that hurt? Dad, seriously…" Inou said, laying him back down.
"Just leave me alone, this isn't about you…" Sasuke's eyes were closed tightly, partially from pain, partially from shame.
(His own son, his weakest son, seeing him in such a state…?)
"Right, like I'm gonna leave you alone…" Inou sighed deeply. "Look, help's on the way; Nadeshiko and Karai are keeping those two distracted until we can get you out of here while Uncle Itachi takes care of them."
Sasuke's eyes opened slightly. "Itachi…?"
(At this point, Karai had managed to get on the Riverman's shoulder again, and was dodging the giant's attempts at grabbing her as he reached backward, his arms seeming to dislocate at the shoulder with his effort; Orochimaru was crawling, spider-like, across his back and onto his chest, to avoid Karai's own reach.)
"Yes, he's-"
"Sis, cover Dad and Inou!" Karai shouted, shortly before the Riverman grabbed her by the fabric of her shirt and ripped her off his back. "Whoa!"
Nadeshiko was already nearby, but she flew into place a few steps away from her father and brother, her stance wide, hands clenched into tight fists.
(And when she looked over her shoulder at them, something like worry or heartbreak on her face, Sasuke saw a gleam of red in her eyes.)
"Get them!" Orochimaru ordered, returning to Riverman's back, ascending his shoulders like a saddle.
The Riverman charged forward, nearly plowing into Nadeshiko. She, however, jumped towards and away from him, hooking an elbow around his arm and taking him backward with her.
(Chakra-strengthened limbs. Her old techniques.)
Sasuke tried to sit up, to better see the impossibilities before him.
"No! Dad, lie down, you're injured," Inou said, pressing on one of his shoulders, forcing him back to the ground.
"That… that can't be Nadeshiko, who is that fighting…?"
The force of her hook-arm had sent the Riverman skidding through the ground for several feet. Orochimaru had leaped off of his back before the impact and was stumbling, regaining his balance from the clumsy departure.
And Nadeshiko was going straight for him.
"That is Nadeshiko, Dad," Inou said, "and yeah, she's fighting."
Karai, seeing this, was making another go at the Riverman, to give her sister a better chance.
"But that's not…" He tried sitting up again, managing to get upright, but doubling over from the explosion of pain in his chest and back that resulted.
"Dad, take it easy!" But Inou's head whipped up not a moment later, because, "Karai, look out!"
The Riverman burst forth from the impact crater with far more speed than expected, both arms raised above him, fingers like claws; he clasped his hands around Karai's shoulders as they collided, and with the furious intensity of a destructive toddler, raised her above his head and threw her to the ground.
"GET AWAY, FROM MY, MASTER!" His irises had tightened to near-impossible pin-points, and it was with a primal, inhumanly fast lunge forward that he grabbed Nadeshiko back from her charge towards Orochimaru; around the waist with one arm, around the neck with the other.
"NOBODY, TOUCHES HIM…!" he roared, his teeth still clenched. "NOBODY…!"
He kept his arm around her waist, her arms pinned to her sides—and she struggled, but his rage-fueled strength was too great for even her—but he released his hold on her neck to grab the gathered bundle of her hair. He pulled, easing a low cry out of her.
"Pull off your, head, break, your neck," he muttered, tugging harder with each pause between his words. His head then snapped toward the lake, as if it had called for his attention. "Or, drown you, drown the, forest-burners, Uchiha girl, drown, yes, good…!"
He began to drag Nadeshiko to the lake shore by her hair, her toes trailing in the dirt, past Karai's body.
(Karai wasn't moving.)
Inou got to his feet, standing in front of his father, a square-sign prepared and aiming.
"No, d-don't!"
Orochimaru had spoken.
"Don't, don't, don't h-harm that girl!"
His words sounded like they were being pulled, with great effort, from out of his mouth.
The Riverman turned to face him, his lips distorted with confusion.
Orochimaru was already shaking his head, quickly, with his eyes closed, like a shiver caught from a chill. And his eyes were still yellow when he opened them again.
(But Nadeshiko had seen, for the briefest of moments, that they had been black when he'd spoken.)
"I see that she has a Sharingan, and might prove useful to me," Orochimaru continued with artificial smoothness, as if the outburst had been planned. "Just… incapacitate her, so we can take her with us. All right, my dearest?"
(An inferno of hope blazed with green fire in Nadeshiko's chest.)
"Yes, Master, useful, she…"
(She felt the Riverman's arm drooping; in her laser-clear peripheral vision, the tendons and muscles under his paper-paste skin relaxed from the order.)
(And with it, the unbearable pain across her scalp lessened, and she knew to act.)
"I'm coming, Yakata."
With one swift, smooth motion, she reached into the pouch on her hip and chose a kunai, and tore it through her hair, and ran to the boy.
"Stop her!" Orochimaru was fleeing, trying at once to get away from Nadeshiko and nearer to Riverman.
But the Riverman was dazed, still holding the bundle of her hair in his fist, the two girl-related orders mixing and muddying in his already chaotic mind.
And Nadeshiko got to him, pulling the boy's body into a stronger hold—arms around the neck and waist, perfectly mimicked.
"Get out of this child's body. NOW."
Her voice was so full of anger that it hardly sounded like her own.
"Riverman! Help me!" he cried, in reply.
"But, the girl, she's useful, what, how can I, Master…?!" The black bundle of Nadeshiko's hair fell out of his hand as he stumbled forward, his rage gone.
"Kill the wretch, I don't care any more!" Orochimaru screamed, his voice tightening from Nadeshiko's arm around his neck.
"No, don't…"
Sasuke, one arm wrapped around his burn-aching chest, was reaching out with his other hand.
"Don't kill her, please… Do whatever you want to me, just leave my family alone…!"
(Inou had never heard such suffering nor such desperation in his father's voice.)
(And Karai still had yet to move.)
"Dad, I'm gonna go check on Karai," he said, and darted away before Sasuke could say anything.
(Though, in a way, it was exactly what he wanted.)
"Move, you worthless heap!" Orochimaru's voice was squeezed to its tightest limits, before his yellow eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he fell, limp, into Nadeshiko's arms. She cradled him, gently, holding him close to her chest with one arm, and poising her kunai with the other.
"This boy is not your master. Now LEAVE."
There was fierce, protective anger in her voice, in her ruby-stained eyes. Her cut hair hung in uneven rags against her cheeks.
And Sasuke saw his brother in her face, and he saw his brother in her arms.
His stamina was diminishing rapidly, from the cold pain in his heart, from his injuries, and he slumped over onto his side.
As Inou tried to rouse his younger sister.
As Nadeshiko leaned back into a defensive stance, the Riverman roaring towards her, maddened by her actions.
All Sasuke wanted was to have the strength to get up, to get between them, to have the punishment directed towards someone deserving.
To protect them, like he was supposed to.
As their clan leader.
As their father.
And from the heavens there came a stream of hot, orange fire, drawing a burning line between Nadeshiko and the Riverman.
And as the Riverman reared back, shrieking like a wounded seal, a figure in purple landed beside Nadeshiko.
"For your sake, you will listen to my niece and get away from my family."
It was Murasaki.
But Sasuke knew who it really was.
"Nadeshiko, you have the boy?" Itachi said, glancing over his shoulder.
She had to pause, catching her breath, or her disbelief. "…yes, he's unconscious," she replied.
"Don't let go of him."
Her grip around his back tightened. "I won't."
The Riverman was beginning to summon his namesake, pulling it forward from the lake, dousing the fires, soaking the land.
"Inou, grab your sister and get out of the way!" Itachi commanded; the bark of his voice was achingly familiar to Sasuke, even through Murasaki's soft throat.
Water was beginning to rise up to Inou's knees. He hefted Karai by the arm over his shoulder and made a feeble series of leaps away from the conflict, nearer to Sasuke.
"Nadeshiko, you do the same. You've done enough here," Itachi continued, while weaving signs with Murasaki's hands at a dizzying speed.
Nadeshiko gathered her other arm, still clutching the kunai, under Yakata's legs, and went to join the rest of her family.
"Uncle, are you alone?" Inou called out, over the whisper-roar of the water, over the lion-like rumble of Itachi's fireball, evaporating the waters into oppressive, thick steam.
The Riverman screamed back, his voice low and syrup-thick.
Itachi landed near them after the fireball; Murasaki's sleeves were darkening with dampness where they weren't yet singed. "You called, and I came. If nobody else comes, then I will do all I can to deal with this threat."
"But Kisame-san said you were getting help!" Inou began.
"Kisame puts too much trust in me," Itachi replied, his voice lessening. "Try and get back further," he continued, more strongly. "I'm going to draw him away from you."
"Uncle!" Inou called, but Itachi had leaped away again.
"Inou, trust him, he's doing all he can." Nadeshiko was still holding onto Yakata, though she was bending near the ground with him now, as if to set him down. "And he also has me, if that's what it comes to…"
"None of you… are going to fight…" Sasuke groaned. He was struggling to get up again, even though his body was as useless and as heavy as stone to him.
"Dad—stop!" Inou said. He laid Karai on the ground beside their father and started trying to turn him over onto his back again.
Sasuke put all of his effort into pushing Inou's hands away with one of his hands. "This is… my fault, I deserve this, get… away while you can…" His hand stopped obeying him, there, and dropped to the earth. His breath dripped out of his mouth in the effort to breathe.
"Father, stay with us, stay awake."
Behind Nadeshiko's voice, Itachi blew another fireball, provoking another inhuman roar.
"Dad, c'mon…!"
Inou, so volatile and loose with his own emotions, had tears in this throat.
Through his half-closed eyes, Sasuke saw, in the cloudy near-distance, his brother's fire illuminated for seconds at a time, the silhouette of what was now his body flitting like the shadow of an insect across a lamp.
"Leave. Be… with your mother." His eyes closed and closed. "Stay alive. Leave me."
Karai was stirring; he felt and heard her small body beside him as it crawled back into consciousness and half-standing.
"Uncle Itachi, help!" Inou cried.
Itachi was preoccupied.
Luckily, his thought-failed assistance wasn't.
Out of the ground burst a single arm-like tendril of roots and branches and vines and leaves, chaotic and singular, dissipating the steam, eradicating fire and water both. It stretched high into the air before bending, twisting downward, seeking out a target: the Riverman.
"…what is that…?" Karai said, clearing the dirt from her eye with her palm.
The Riverman was pummeled to the ground by the arm-vine with such force that chunks of earth were sent skyward and rained down in every direction; he tumbled backward from the impact and into the lake.
Itachi, distancing himself from the new development, landed near them. The front of Murasaki's robe was torn from a failed grab, exposing her brown under-shirt, and her hair was lank with wetness.
"So it seems she made her decision," he said, quietly.
Before Inou or anyone could ask who "she" was, she appeared.
She was a great, brown woman, with broad shoulders and earth-black hair that reached well to her calves, waving behind her like a war flag; she wore the clothes of a peasant, brick-red gathered kimono and white pants. She made her entrance on another cluster of vines and roots, bursting forth from the entrance of the Uchiha compound, pushing her body along so effortlessly it appeared as if she were flying.
But she landed before them, her miraculous assistance disappearing into the ground, and was quick with her apologies. Her voice was very deep. "I hope I'm not too late, Itachi-san. I see now that my intervention is truly needed…"
"Not at all, my lady," Itachi replied, a dry smile on his face. "You're right on time."
"I do hope you're right," the woman replied, her face creasing with worry. She leaned over slightly. "Your family seems rather worse for wear."
"Uh… Uncle, who is this…?"
The woman blinked twice, her eyes settling on Inou, mouth drawing with familiarity, but soon settling into a smile of her own. "If I said I was the Woman of the Woods, young man, would you believe me?"
"…seriously?" Karai sounded halfway between awe and disbelief.
Nadeshiko was ignoring this, for the most part, getting on her knees to check on Sasuke, murmuring urgently. She cradled Yakata with one arm, touching Sasuke's face with the other.
This seemed to preoccupy the Woman more than Karai's response. "Itachi-san, you should stay with your family for the time being and tend to your brother. I will tend to mine."
"I'm sure you could use my assistance-" Itachi began, but the Woman raised an enormous, rough hand to pause him.
"Stay. This is now my conflict," she said, before turning to the lakeshore. "Tobirama, brother, come out!"
"…wait, did she just say-"
Karai's wonder was interrupted by the lake's surface beginning to bubble and rise like a fountain jet left under too much water.
And the Riverman reappeared. "Brother…!"
"Stop this destruction, Tobirama! You're undoing everything we worked for!" The Woman was rising, lifted up by a host of tangled trunks.
"But the Uchihas…! They, they're ruining everything, you, you wouldn't, know, you, traitor!"
Two pillars of water rose out of the lake and toward the Woman, but they splashed harmlessly against the growing wall of vines and wood she summoned to protect her.
"I made a compact with the Uchiha clan to protect them, and I will not see them die out like our family!"
And she sent out two pillars of her own, directing them like a phantom puppet-master, enormous shadows of her arms.
The duel began, moving swiftly across the surface of the lake, and into other reaches of the Uchiha compound. The very earth was shaking.
"Uncle." Nadeshiko tugged on Murasaki's sleeve. "We need to get Father away soon. His injuries are severe and he's losing consciousness."
Trees were sprouting at excessive speed, following the trail of the battle, collateral ammunition in the struggle.
"Your father will be fine; I'm more concerned about the boy," Itachi said. "If he wakes up, will you be able to put him to sleep again?"
"…yes," Nadeshiko said, lowering her eyes.
"And are you all right, Karai?" Itachi continued.
"M'fine," Karai replied, shrugging. "I just got knocked out for a bit."
Itachi nodded. "Sit if you need to. We'll move when I'm certain it's safe, and no sooner."
There was a great crack in the distance, a tree being snapped in half at the trunk.
"When will it be safe, though…?" Inou said.
"When that monster is kept from doing any more harm," Itachi replied. "And that woman will surely succeed where I couldn't have."
"You're sure about that…?" Inou's voice was getting clearer, as his tears of anxiety dried.
The woman in question tumbled out of the growing forest-battleground, wrestling with the Riverman, her hands wrapped into his clothes.
He ended up on top, however, not attacking, but shouting with almost sob-like intensity. "YOU DON'T, UNDERSTAND, YOU WERE NEVER, AS, SPECIAL TO HIM!"
"He was just using us!" She flung him off of her body and followed up her attack with another series of arm-vines. "We were nothing but pawns to him!"
"NOT, HIM. HE WAS, REAL!" He countered with his own whips of water, surging forward out of his palms in pressurized jets. "MADARA, NEVER CARED."
"Leave Madara-sama out of this, Zaku!" She looked over her shoulder as she raised another wall of trees between her and him, her face seeming to gain a strange physical softness shortly afterward. "I'm sorry, Itachi-san, but it's very hard to keep him out of the way! You and your family should get to the hospital. I can take care of this."
"I'm not leaving until this is over," Itachi said.
"Uncle, please, listen to her," Nadeshiko said, from the ground, from Sasuke's still body.
"I need to see this completed," Itachi replied, sharply. "If you're truly that worried, then leave on your own."
"Itachi-san, stay with them." The wall of trees was creaking from the force of the Riverman slamming his body repeatedly against them. "Don't leave your family alone. This will be over soon."
She then ran, shoulder first, into the wall, which parted for her and allowed her to tackle the Riverman, driving him further away from the family.
"Well, I'm stayin' too," Karai said, in the loud silence that followed. "F'that guy hurts any more people I'm gonna be real upset."
This brought another dry smirk to Itachi's face, though Nadeshiko just returned to Sasuke, to make sure he was still breathing.
The Woman was true to her word. Not long after her dive back into the battle with the Riverman, the ambient rumble from her struggle faded off, and she emerged from the forest with a weary expression.
"It's over," she said.
"How did you manage it?" Itachi said, stepping forward.
"I sealed him into a tree," she replied. "He's asleep, now, and will remain so unless I do something about it."
"Can we see?" Karai said.
"No, I'm takin' you all to the hospital now. Itachi-san, surely you agree with me here," she said, her voice gaining a sudden, rural casualness. "My brother's not gonna be hurting anyone any more, and I don't wanna see more harm done from neglect, now."
Itachi sighed, deeply. "You're right. Nadeshiko, you carry the boy. Karai, can you walk?" Karai nodded. "All right. My lady, could you take care of my brother? I'm at my limit and don't think I could manage."
"Gladly, Itachi-san," she replied, and bent down, picking up Sasuke as if he were a sleeping child. She chuckled shortly after, as they began making their way forward. "You really don't have to call me 'My Lady,' though, just call me Hashiki. I suppose that's proper, given I'm not tryin' to be a secret any more."
"But seriously, though, are you really the Woman of the Woods?" Karai jumped in.
"After seein' all that, do you still have to ask?" Hashiki replied, laughing. "S'what most people seem to call me, anyways. But, please, my given name is Hashiki. Okay?" Karai shrugged, figuring she had to agree.
With the exception of the artificial lake, where the fight had begun, the Uchiha compound had turned, for all intents and purposes, into a forest, and Karai gawked a little as they went along. "So, that Riverman guy…" she said, once they'd gotten out onto the street. "He's your brother, Hashiki-san?"
"In one sense of the word, yes," she replied. "He's a part of my life that I thought I'd lost a long time ago."
"Huh, okay," Karai said. "So, uh, who are you guys, exactly?"
"Itachi…?" Sasuke, it seemed, had recovered enough to start speaking again.
Everyone stopped walking. Except Itachi.
"Brother, talk to me, please…"
Itachi looked over his shoulder, nothing but ice in his voice or face. "This isn't the time or the place, Sasuke. But even if it were, the last thing I want is to talk to you."
And he continued on.
(Something in Sasuke's body seemed to loosen, and he nestled miserably deeper into the arms of the strange woman that was carrying him.)
(He accepted the words like a knife to the gut, and shame ran out of him like blood.)