DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS

Yes, it's been a long time. Took a while for this one but I hope all of you enjoy, we're slowly making our way through this one.

Chapter 27 - Questions and Answers

A terminal illness. It all made sense to Sasuke now. How Itachi was always acting so distant, closed off, even after their parents' death. The bloody coughing. The grueling training. Itachi was trying to prepare Sasuke for his death. The young Uchiha buried his head in his hands for the umpteenth time at that thought.

While their relationship had been strained to the breaking point after Itachi killed their parents, Sasuke still knew in his heart that Itachi was the only true family he had left. Sure, Obito had always been there, but he was so emotionally unavailable that he was really only seen as a friend or an uncle or a teacher. He could never be the caring older brother that Itachi was trying to be. And Sasuke wasn't ready for him to leave yet.

"I know what you're thinking."

Sasuke looked up, twisting his head to stare at his best friend in annoyance. "And what's that?"

"That it's somehow your fault for not noticing. But no one noticed, not even big bro Obito, and he notices everything, ya know?" Naruto said with a husky tone borne of exhaustion.

The blonde had awoken perhaps an hour ago. All things considered, he was taking the uselessness of his legs rather well. He hadn't cried or whined about any of it, only taking a quiet few minutes to accept it and internalize it.

"But it is my fault," Sasuke shot back. He rose to his feet and began pacing. "It's all my fault, just like your-"

"Don't make this about my legs," Naruto interrupted before Sasuke could even get the words out. "I made the only choice we had. If you'd stayed, you could be right here next to me."

"I COULD HAVE SAVED YOU!" Sasuke erupted. He had lost all composure at that point. "I could have saved you! I should have saved you! I…I could have."

Naruto frowned at Sasuke's tone towards the end. He sounded more dejected than confident. Briefly, the blonde considered the possibility, but then quickly dismissed it. What's done is done, no going back, he told himself. Naruto watched as Sasuke lowered himself back down into his chair and began to sob. He felt for his friend, and would have gone over to comfort him, if it weren't for the fact that he can't support his own body.

Finally, after some time, Sasuke sat up and wiped his red and puffy eyes, ridding them of the excess moisture. He rose to his feet and moved towards the door. "I'm going to see Itachi," he said in a monotone voice before the door closed behind him.

He made his way down the hall, towards the surgery wing. As he moved through the hospital, he took a vague note of his surroundings. In the hours since the attack ended, night had fallen, but the hospital was no less busy. Hundreds of shinobi and civilians still waited for treatment, as the medical shinobi treated the critically injured first.

Low tones of conversation and moans of pain filled Sasuke's ears as he slipped through the double doors that he shouldn't have been able to get through without permission, but the hospital shinobi were so preoccupied with the hundreds of injured that they didn't even notice.

Twisting his head left and right with each room he passed, he tried to catch a glance of his brother. Having no idea which room they would have placed Itachi in for observation, Sasuke was forced to check each room one by one. He passed doors that hummed with activity behind them, likely a surgery taking place. Then he passed those rooms that were quiet, those patients either having passed away, or had already been stabilized. Occasionally, an orderly would pass Sasuke with a cot bearing a patient, those deemed worthy of movement back to general medicine.

After a while, Sasuke began to wonder if luck wished for him to suffer for as long as possible, because he had checked nearly every room aside from a single small hallway that only had three doors on each side. Sighing as he started down the hall, he didn't breathe in again until he reached the final door on the left side, where he finally glimpsed the side of his brother's unconscious face. Sasuke took a deep breath as he turned the handle, only to be stopped by a voice behind him.

"I should have known you'd find your way back here eventually."

Exhausted from the day's events, as well as the spell of crying that he'd gone through, Sasuke was too tired to even appear alarmed. He simply turned around, taking in Rin with a lazy expression marked by bags under his red, puffy eyes.

Rin thought for a split second that she was looking at a mirror of Obito, but dismissed the thought instantly. "You know you're not supposed to be back here."

Sasuke simply shrugged and pushed the door inwards, a silent dare for Rin to remove him if she wanted to try. Now it was Rin's turn to sigh as she followed the young Uchiha into the room where Itachi slept.

He looked oddly peaceful in this state, Sasuke thought. His usual hard features had softened, giving him a relaxed look, free from the burdens of running a clan. Free from running the Chunin Exams. Free from trying to protect people. It gave Itachi a strangely vulnerable appearance that Sasuke wasn't used to.

"I've never seen him like this," he murmured.

Rin glanced down at him empathetically. "I did the absolute best that I could, believe me. But with his body having to finish the healing process as well as fight the disease, I doubt that he'll wake up any time soon."

She left the 'if ever' part out of her statement.

Obito was grateful that most of the walk went without anyone trying to talk to him, especially the Sandaime. He loved the man to death, but he could lecture like no other. Between him and Guy, Obito would have probably lost his sanity before they even reached the Suna camp. Mostly, the trio seemed to take in the day's events silently. One doesn't simply recover from a day like the one they'd experienced in a matter of hours.

The sun had set as they made their walk, so the three trudged through the darkness, the only evidence of their objective being the fires that lay dotting the landscape ahead, visible even through the trees. Slowly, the low hum of conversation reached their ears from the Suna shinobi seated around each of the fires.

Emerging from the treeline, Hiruzen quickened his pace for a moment, putting himself in the front of their party. With Obito and Guy flanking him, the Sandaime led the way into Suna's camp with his hands behind his back in his usual manner.

The first shinobi they passed looked up at them with tired eyes before completely ignoring them and rolling over onto his side, likely aiming to get some sleep on the small bedroll that he had laid out. Guy glanced at Obito, who only shrugged. They passed more and more shinobi as they walked. It seemed as though the Suna shinobi had either been ordered not to engage any Konoha intruders, or they simply didn't care enough to do so. Most of them had dejected, defeated looks, as though they had no idea why this conflict had occurred in the first place.

When they neared the largest of the fires at the center of the encampment, they were finally halted. "What are you doing here?" spat a shinobi with his left arm in a sling.

"Let them pass," said a voice from behind.

With a respectful nod of his head, Hiruzen lightly brushed past the man with the sling to approach the one who had spoken. Obito recognized his face, even if half of it was covered with that ridiculous cloth that hung out of his hood. Sighing to himself, Obito decided to allow Hiruzen to handle the situation, as anything that he had to say would likely just aggravate the Suna shinobi more than anything else.

The Uchiha lowered himself down to the ground, propping his back against a fallen log and began to absentmindedly watch the fire while Guy remained in his flanking position of Hiruzen. The old man approached the hooded Suna shinobi with a hand raised in greeting. "We come in peace, only here for discussion."

"Peace," the Suna shinobi scoffed. "Here to gloat, more like it. Or to blackmail us for the return of our Kazekage."

"Your name would be?" Hiruzen returned calmly.

"Baki."

"We do not seek to extort you or your people, Baki. We only wish to inquire as to your current plan. I can assume from the lack of guards on your perimeter that you do not aim to continue the siege of our village?"

Baki chuckled, though humor was absent from it. "Continue the siege, he says. With what army? Half of us are wounded, barely able to make the trip back to Suna if we wished. And we cannot leave without our Kazekage or our jinchuriki, Gaara."

Hiruzen nodded in recognition. "I understand. It may comfort you to know that both are alive and in our custody. I will also be transparent with you. I came here to negotiate in good faith, though I have not spoken to our current Hokage, Lord Yondaime. His son was wounded in the battle, so he has been indisposed of late."

Despite the grave tone in Hiruzen's voice, Baki and the surrounding shinobi visibly relaxed at the news of their Kazekage being alive. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry for the boy's injury. But exactly how long do you plan to detain them?"

Hiruzen spread his hands, causing a slight clinking noise as his exposed armor plates made contact with one another. "I do not have that information to give you. The purpose of our visit was to discover your intentions going forward. All we can do at this time is relay your information."

Baki was visibly irritated by this, but seeing as how Konoha had all of the bargaining power at the moment, he had little leverage to negotiate with. Realizing this, he gave a guttural sigh and walked past Hiruzen, directly to the fire. Taking a seat mere feet away from Obito, he grasped a stick that protruded from the fire and began to poke at the wood, stoking the flames.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say that we don't know why this attack occurred. Perhaps it was blind loyalty to our Kazekage, or perhaps we were too angered by the nuggets of dissent that were sewn in our ranks. Whatever the case, our anger was directed towards this village, and we now see that it was misguided," he said at length before tossing the stick on top of the flaming logs. "Go, relay your information. All we can do is wait."

Hiruzen bowed without a word, jerking his head for Obito and Guy to follow him back the way they came.

"Anything?"

"Nothing. It's like he has no memory of any of it. His mind is entirely blank. His last memory was six months ago."

"How is that possible?" A asked gruffly from his position along one of the walls. His arms were crossed, a stern look on his face as usual. His guard, C, sat leaning against the same wall. The pair of them looked exhausted. In fact, every man present looked worse for wear, as not a one of them had slept in nearly 24 hours.

Ibiki, head of the Interrogation unit, thrust his hands into the pockets of his trench coat and glanced over at Minato. "What do you think, boss?"

Minato's lips were pursed in thought as he watched Inoichi, who was hooked up to the mind probe. They had been attempting to comb through the Kazekage Rasa's memories, but had experienced a roadblock in that he had no memory of the last six months.

"Something is at work here that we're not seeing," he said thoughtfully. "Perhaps his son will have some answers."

"You're gonna put a kid under the mind probe?" Ibiki asked incredulously. He was a hard man, but even he had to admit that was cruel.

Minato shook his head. "No, I will speak to him myself. Alone."

The hallways were dark and depressing, no light coming through the windows now that night had fallen. Every fiber of Minato's being wanted t be by Naruto's side right now, but he had a village to keep safe as well.

He came to a stop outside of a cell, the young boy inside looking up at him with what could only be described as bloodlust from behind his eyeliner. Minato crossed his arms as he took in Gaara's appearance. The boy had bags underneath his eyes that would give most elderly men a run for their money. They were dark purple and could almost be mistaken for black eyes, but Minato knew better.

"When was the last time you slept?"

"Before you knocked me out, months."

Minato furrowed his brow. "It's the One Tails within you, isn't it? He keeps you awake because if you sleep, he'll take over your body and go on a rampage, correct?"

Gaara only stared back with that same bloodlust.

"Your seal is terrible," Minato remarked. "It's the only explanation for the hold that he has over you."

Gaara's eyes widened in recognition, confirming Minato's theory. Besides the boy's shoddy seal, it was clear that he had no interest in talking. In fact, he was probably just a weapon that was part of the plan. Nevertheless, Minato had an idea.

"I have a proposition for you."

Gaara showed no signs that he'd heard it other than his eyes narrowing.

"I can seal the One Tails so that you'll finally be able to sleep. But I want information in exchange."

"What kind of information?" Gaara rasped.

"I want you to tell me everything you know about your father's plan to attack this village. I want to know how long he's been planning it, and I want to know how it all began. Do we have a deal?" Minato asked, mentally shaking his head that he was having to resort to negotiating with a child.

"I don't know anything."

Minato scoffed. "You expect me to believe that? Their attack began when you transformed into the One Tails, as if it were a signal. You mean to tell me that wasn't intentional?"

"My father despised me, why would he share his plan with me if he knew I would lose control like I always do?"

Minato paused at that, his features softening momentarily. During this moment, he came to a realization about the Kazekage and his family. Rasa only saw Gaara as a weapon, as a means to secure power for their village. Much like how Kushina had been treated. Minato sighed, knowing the boy was right. Rasa was not naive enough to entrust key details to a child that he saw as little more than a weapon.

"I'll be back, kid," he said, slamming the barred door closed as he headed back to the interrogation room. Everyone was still in the same position as when he left them. "Wake him up."

"Are you crazy, Hokage?! He just attacked your village and you want to threaten their safety again?" A asked in a raised voice.

Minato crossed his arms, an attitude forming in his voice from annoyance. "Precisely why both you and I are here, A. Now wake him up."

"Inoichi had since removed the headpiece for his jutsu, and had moved to stand next to Ibiki. "Yes, sir."

The Yamanaka patriarch stepped forward and placed his hand on the forehead of the Kazekage, eyes closed in concentration. Within a few seconds, Rasa's eyes shot open and he began to struggle against his binds.

"What is the meaning of this?!" he demanded. "I am a Kage, not some petty thief! Undo these shackles this instant!"

"You're a terrorist as far as I'm concerned," Minato said with an unimpressed expression. "Or did you forget the attack you just led on my village?"

Rasa looked visibly confused at that. "What are you talking about? One moment I'm in Suna, the next I wake up and I've been kidnapped by two other Kage. When would I have time to attack Konoha?!"

Minato sighed. "Enough games. I just need answers. Why did you orchestrate this attack on my village? And why ally with Orochimaru of all people?"

"Orochimaru? I would never ally myself with that scum. Now release me at once!" Rasa demanded.

Minato and A shared a look of doubt between them. Up until this point, they had assumed that Rasa and Orochimaru were in league with one another. But Rasa's denial combined with the gaps in his memory would suggest otherwise.

"Are you both deaf? This is an act of war!" Rasa boomed. "Release me!"

"WAR?!" Minato bellowed back at him. "My people lie outside, dead by the hundreds because of your village's alliance with Orochimaru, and you dare to threaten me with war?! It was you who started the war, so forgive me if I finish it you son of a bitch."

Rasa opened his mouth as if he had more to say, then closed it without a word. Confusion was on his face more than any other emotion. "How do I know this isn't some ploy to get me to talk?" he finally managed.

"The Hokage speaks the truth. And you know that I do not vouch for other villages on a whim," A said gruffly, crossing his muscled arms over his chest as he spoke. "Your village did indeed carry out an attack on Konoha. It all began when that son of yours lost control of his tailed beast."

"Gaara?" Rasa raised his eyebrows. "I can't say I'm surprised that he lost control. He never could master Shukaku."

Minato's mouth drew into a hard line. "You speak of your son as if he were simply a weapon to wave about as you please. I'd wager that you've never tried to aid him with his struggle, have you? All it would've taken was a halfway decent Sealing Master and your son would be able to sleep at night. But instead, here we sit, half of my village lying in ruins, many of my people dead, and you have the audacity to sit there with such a pretentious attitude? I think not, Kazekage. You have no power here. You are my prisoner. By rights I should execute you for your crimes against my people. The only thing saving your life is the fact that your mind has no memory of anything in the past several months."

Rasa closed his eyes for a few seconds, then winced, as if the mere act of thinking were painful to him. When he opened them, only anger flashed in his dark orbs. "I fear you both speak the truth."

The Kazekage motioned to his restraints, and the contraption he was strapped into. "I submit to your capture, you both are more than enough to convince me of my escape being futile. So may I ask for the dignity of a cell instead of being put on display like a trophy?"

Minato and A exchanged glances, but sighed anyways. Minato nodded to Ibiki. "Find him a cell, preferably far away from his son. But the cuffs remain."

The creak of a door opening alerted the two Kage to the arrival of Hiruzen, flanked by Obito and Guy. The Sandaime nodded to the pair of them, his armor clinking lightly as he did so. "The Suna shinobi have made camp outside of town. They seem to have surrendered fully, and await word of their Kazekage and jinchuuriki."

Minato dragged a hand across his face. "They're both in custody as of this moment. The Kazekage's memory is either obstructed or nonexistent, because Inoichi could find no trace of the past few months in the man's mind."

Guy began to stroke his chin, pensive thought serving as a stark contrast to his usual bright and energetic self. "Sounds convenient."

"I suspect that would be the work of Orochimaru," Hiruzen grimaced. "He always did have a stomach for distasteful experiments."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Obito said, his sharingan blazing in the dimly lit room. "He has Shisui's eyes, after all."

"A genjutsu?" A's brow furrowed in thought.

Obito shrugged, sliding his hands into his pockets. "It's just a theory, but he did have the Mangekyou, each occurrence is unique. That bastard Kakashi was able to turn Rin against me in seconds. It rendered her emotionless, and her sole purpose seemed to be killing me."

"You're suggesting that Kakashi used this on Rasa as well?" Minato pondered the thought. "It would explain why Rasa went along with Orochimaru's plans. After all, I seriously doubt that any of the Five Kage would consider approaching Orochimaru for an alliance, mush less a fabricated plan on how to attack another village."

Hiruzen shook his head. "I wouldn't be so sure. You may be right, but this bears some looking into at the very least."

"And how would you propose we find proof? The only other that would have knowledge of this deal would be Orochimaru himself, or perhaps Kakashi," Obito shot back. "Shisui's eyes are the only logical explanation that I can see."

"It is truly a dangerous thing that Kakashi has learned how to harness the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan," Guy commented.

"We can theorize all night, but personally, I'm not going to. I have better things to do," Obito rasped. The Uchiha turned and left without a word, a single raised hand his only parting gesture.

A soft knock on the door roused Sasuke from what little sleep he had managed to acquire. He raised his head from where it was resting on the bed next to Itachi's leg to see Sakura slowly inch through the open door.

"I didn't mean to wake you," she said lightly.

"It's fine."

Sakura took a deep breath and closed the door softly before making her way around the bed to sit next to him in the other empty chair in the room. "How are you feeling?"

"Angry."

Sakura fell silent at that. She knew exactly how he was feeling, even if she didn't express it herself. One of her teammates was crippled, and the other was on the verge of losing his brother. She felt helpless to do anything for either of them.

The pair sat in silence for what felt like an hour before the door opened again. This time, they were pleasantly surprised to see Obito, his sharingan taking in the scene before him with a disinterested gaze, though the pair knew better than that. As the Uchiha entered the room, they saw that he was flanked by Rin and some old man with a wild mane of white hair.

"How is he?" Obito asked.

"He's-" Sasuka and Rin both started at the same time, but stopped when they heard the other.

Sasuke dropped his eyes, an invitation for Rin to continue. "He's stable for the moment, but his disease has wrecked his body's ability to heal properly. Couple that with the injury itself, and he's in serious danger."

Obito glanced at Rin out of the corner of his eye. "Can you do anything?"

"I've done everything within my power and skills."

Obito dropped his sharingan and scratched behind his head. "Guess that only leaves one option. Do you still keep tabs on her?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Kid, I never lost her."

"Good," Obito grunted. "Sasuke, get up."

"I need to stay with Itachi."

"I'm not asking, I'm ordering. We have a mission," Obito crossed his arms.

"Fuck your mission," Sasuke spat. "Itachi needs me."

Sakura paled. Never once had she heard anyone speak that way to her sensei. Her fear was well founded, it seemed, because almost quicker than her eyes could follow, Obito had crossed the room, grasped Sasuke by the front of his shirt, and pinned him against the wall next to Itachi's bed, his feet dangling six inches in the air.

"Listen to me," Obito began, his voice sounding sharp enough to cut stone. "Do you know medical ninjutsu? Healing techniques? How to cure diseases? I didn't fucking think so. So in case you haven't noticed, there's nothing that you can do for Itachi right now except sit next to his bed and mope like a kid who just dropped his ice cream cone. So do you want to sit here and be useless, or do you want to help me save your brother's life?"

Sasuke's eyes, wide with surprise and a hint of fear, quickly turned to determination as Obito spoke. The Uchiha heir's features hardened to the point where he put both of his hands on Obito's forearm and pried him off.

"I'll help save his life," Sasuke said in a low voice as his feet hit the floor once again.

Obito straightened himself. "Good, because I was gonna knock your sad ass unconscious anyways."

Jiraiya smirked at that, turning to exit the room. "You know where to find me. "We leave at first light."

Rin, still confused as to where they were going and who they were seeking, decided to ask a better question instead. "What happens if the village gets attacked again while the two of you are away?"

Obito's emotionless sharingan met her eyes. "The village will be safe. The Kazekage and his son the jinchuuriki are in cells. Orochimaru and Kakashi are no match for Guy, Minato-sensei and Lord Sandaime."

Rin glanced over her shoulder at Sakura and Sasuke, then lowered her voice when she spoke again. "What about me?"

"I thought we agreed to talk later," Obito blinked lazily.

"It is later," Rin pointed out.

Obito shrugged. "I don't know when I'll be back."

"All the more reason to do it now," Rin said, almost pleading with her voice.

"I have things to take care of."

Rin barely felt the air shift before she realized he was gone.

Ah, back to the slow burn. Hope to have the next chapter out soon. Until then, take it easy everyone.