Chapter 3
" Are you and Sihsui sure both Sasuke are actually Sasuke?" Cat asked.
" Yes. He is my brother...Sishui woukd have noticed if there was something odd about him. And this Sasuke is different, sure, but he looks the same smells similiar and he knows me. Otherwise he wouldn't have gotten those eyes." Itacgi explained, Matter-of-factly.
" Are you sure it isn't...I dunno? An identical twin separated at birth who got told about you or just attached to you quickly?" Sparrow asked.
Itachi shook his head no. " I was there at his birth. And it doesn't work that way. You can't talk about the eyes or flames, they are protected clan-secrets."
All anbu indicated their agreement.
" What about...a doppelganger jutsu? Or kekkai genkai? If something like that exists. Then again, few things don't. " Otter suggested.
Itachi shook his head. " No. People would have noticed if Sasuke got hit by a jutsu. He's the baby of the clan and the second heir, they tend to keep an eye on him most of the time."
" Well...how does he exist then?" Cat murmured.
" What about a jutsu that pulls people from other times or universes?" Sparrow suggested, tilting their head.
After the medic had checked and confirmed that the kid would sleep at least a bit longer, the anbu had abandoned their masks-technically a breach of protocol but they always did so eventually if they were alone on missions at some point. It was almost an expected practice.
" It would make more sense than the other theories." Itachi aknowledged. " Especially because this Sasuke has some different experiences from mine. I mean...he said he was tortured, he has the sharingan and he can't be much older than mine, he is too light and doesn't eat right and he moved like me...Kami I want to hit my version where ever he's from. Because they sure as fire didn't keep him safe."
Itachi downright loathed whatever other Itachi who certainly didn't deserve any brother, no matter a cute and awesome little brother like Sasuke. If he had a choice about it he would never give him back. He'd just have two little siblings now.
" ...It could also be a seal instead of a jutsu. Or a kekkai genkai But I reckon we would have heard about this." Hound aknowledged. " The Uzumaki, for instance, did more seals than he could imagine. Perhaps that Sasuke just stumbled upon them."
" Hnn. It coud make sense." Itachi mumbled.
He was a bit lost in thought on how exactly he would ...talk to whoever was responsible for torturing his baby brother and how he would hurt anyone who failed him ( which ought to be lots of people...after all, the clan was supposed to look put for him if his family somehow failed, and if they all did, the village had to do that too. This wasn't acceptable at all.
And now he could have added to the poor kids trauma. Sasuke had thought he had died. And he had killed people. Because Itachi wasn't fast enough.
" It's not your fault." Itachi swore Sparrow had a sixth sense for this.
" I wasn't fast enough and whatever version of me exists where he is from failed spectacularly at protecting him." Itachi protested.
" There were too many people. It was all of our jobs to protect Sasuke, just like it would have been if he was a client. After all, he is your brother. " Hound chimed in, in a no-nonsense tone.
" And you can hardly be blamed for whatever another version of you did or did not do." Cat chimed in.
" No." Itachi shook his head. " Regardless I will do all I can to protect him now and to get him to Konoha and to let him speak to father." His look was challenging others to dare to say anything against this.
" Obviously." Their captain aknowledged. " We all will. But we will have to keep an extra eye on him- we don't know his capabilities, what he experienced and how he is going to react to having killed someone."
Itachi nodded grimly. " Thank you." He bowed.
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Finding out this Sasuke wasn't his Sasuke- well, originally, Itachi would not give him back now, did ease Itachis worries for his first little brother who was in Konoha. He really needed to spend more time with him and he dearly hoped Sasuke wouldn't mind another brother.
It increased Itachis worries for thjs one tremendously though. Which is why he was sitting next to where Sasuke laid, always keeping an eye on him and had asked their team medic more than once if Sasuke was actually alright. He could tell they were getting irritated and was glad they still obliged him. He'd have to thank them, perhaps with dango or filling in on a mission for them or something.
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Naturally, Itachi was hovering when Sasuke woke up.
He was disoriented still rubbing the sleepiness out of his eyes and looking around but Itachi couldn't wait and began to ask. " Are you dizzy? Are you hungry? Do you want something to drink? Are you feeling alright?"
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When Sasuke woke up, he didn't quite understand what was going on.
He was just sitting up when a myriad of questions came from his side. Itachi.
Huh. Seems like this Itachi was still a worrywart. Sasuke hadn't thought he would ever experience this again. As long as Sasuke could remember, Itachi had been the first and often the only one who ever noticed if he was hurt- wether it was from falling from a tree, playing, weapon practice or practicing with fire- and he always tended to hover and make fixing things his responsibility.
Wait. This Itachi?
Sasuke remembered everything but he still hadn't really processed everything.
They had been attacked. Itachi had almost died protecting him which proved he wasn'tthe monster yet. He had been stabbed. And Sasuke thought he was dead. And then Sasuke had killed people. Exactly like the monster had done.
Was he turning into a monster?
He killed people like it did, he hurt relatives like it did and he lied like it did ( after all, he hadn't ever told the people he was traveling with that he wasn't the Sasuke they assumed him to be. And now his- but- not-really-his-brother had almost died for him. A liar. An Imposter.
Sasukes hands got sweaty, his breathing got weird and he felt a bit like he was floating away.
Not again.
Sasuke couldn't focus anymore, floating in emotions and that wasn't useful right now.
Sasuke had had plenty of panic attacks- he had hated every single one of them and he really couldn't have one right now.
So he did his anti-panic-genjutsu until he felt alright again.
Then he took a deep breath and finally answered his-but-not-really-his-brother.
" I'm fine. And you?"
He very pointedly stared where Itachi had been stabbed. Itachi just gave him a smile.
" I am too. I'm sorry you saw that and I didn't keep you safe." Itachi stated.
Sasuke shook his head. " You literally got stabbed for protecting me. " He protested. " That's more than enough. You...shouldn't get hurt for me. But thank you. For saving me."
Sasuke wasn't really this Itachis brother. He needed to take care of himself. He had far bigger responsibilities than his own life ever since that day. Ever since that day Sasuke was nothing but a thinker, a tool, a messenger; responsible for his whole clan.
Itachi shook his head.
" I am okay. I promise. Do you want to take my hand to feel my pulse? It's just a stab wound and my team medic healed it. I'm absoloutely fine"
Sasuke looked at Itachi, at first hestistating but eventually taking it, gripping Itachis Arm and feeling that he was alive.
It was wrong, maybe, since he was still pretending to be Itachis Sasuke...but Sasuke couldn't deny him that right now. It felt like a lifeline.
Itachi smiled at him.
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" Sasuke?"
" Hnn?" Sasuke asked, absentmindedly, between taking a bite of his tomatoes. He had just needed some comfort for all of this and tomatoes were the one thing he always had.
" I will aim to protect you better. Any of you for that matter. And I will try my best to not get hurt." Itacgi promised.
Sasuke froze.
He still had Itachis Arm hostage and gripped it tightly. Somehow even though it had been a few minutes since Itachi had offered it, none of then had let go.
If his Grip hurt, Itachi didn't day anything.
Itachi knew. Itachi knew he had lied- or well, at least not told the truth. And Itachi had almost died for that lie...and didn't regret it appereantly. This...was both more than Sasuke could have hoped for and a disaster.
Itacgi was a perfectionist. He wouldn't have brought this up unless he was sure- which meant he knew one Sasuke was in Konoha. The only way to know that from here were summons...and Sishui and Itachi shared the crows right? Somehow Sasuke had just forgotten about that.
Still. It didn't really matter if that was how he knew or not. What mattered were the consequences. What would happen to him.
Sasuke had not told anyone he wasn't their Sasuke for various reasons. He couldn't really explain things without explaining things ( which he didn't want to do) because he couldn't trust them ( they were after all literally saving the Hokage who had taken his clansmen bodied and may or may not have made bloodline theft possible, covered it up or done it himself. There was no other reason not to give him the bodies. That man was thick with Danzon too, the creepy man who wanted Uchiha land. And well...Sasuke didn't know if Itachi was a Monster or not.
Another reason was that being the clans heir and having a legal identity in Konoha offered him some sort of protection. It would be hard, for them, to just get rid of him or torture him too hard. There would be a risk of people finding out especially because of Itachi and they might have not taken it.
But now, Sasuke had no such protections anymore.
He gulped and added another layer- and another- of don't panic genjutsu because otherwise he would probably panic now.
" ...What about the others? Will they get me to Konoha to let me talk to Father too? Will they stop at anything to get answers? I don't really care about what happens to me...but delivering my message is my life goal. It's important and could protect lots of people. What will they do?" .
Itachi looked bewildered and worried at Sasukes question and explanation and opened his mouth to talk but was beat to it by his captain.
" We will get you to Konoha so that you can talk to your Father. We won't torture you. And we will keep you alive." He heavily intoned the last word, speaking in a calm commanding, no nonsense tone.
Sasuke gulped. He nodded, then bowed. " Thank you."
After that not much changed. They all sort of still sat in this room, the anbu politely ignoring Sasuke and Itachi whike they sat together and Sasuke ate Tomatoes. After his fifth Tomato, Itachi asked Sasuke about what jutsu he did.
" It dampens emotions , it's pretty useful to keep you functional." Sasuke shrugged.
" And you are at layer what now?" Itachi inquired. " Seven."
" Well...that can't be healthy Neither can eating sp many tomatoes. But I'm glad you found something that works for you." Itachi said.
" Hnn." Sasuke aknowledged." Thanks."
"...You should really eat something else though. You can't just live off Tomatoes. And drink something, too. "
Itachi suggested.
He eventually ended up somehow coaxing Sasuke into at least eating a meal bar and drinking something and not soon after his second little brother fell back to sleep off his chakra Exhaustion.
Itachi tucked him in ( one-armed because neither of the brothers had managed to let themselves go) and eventually settles in next to him.