Chapter 11

The sight of his brother made Sasuke pause on a tree branch watching the figure disappear further into the forest. Could it be him? Or was it just a trick of the eye? Only an illusion? But illusion or not he had to know rushing after him.

"Wait!" the teen shouted, having caught up. "Is that you, Itachi?"

There was no answer, irritating the rogue.

"I said wait!"

Susanoo encased his form as an arm reached out in order to grab the Akatsuki member from behind. Suddenly, another appeared knocking away the attack and sending it crashing into the surrounding timberland. Only one other person was capable of such a thing, causing Sasuke's brows to narrow as the young man glanced over a shoulder.

"You are Itachi."

"Incredible," he mused. "I didn't know you could do it too."

But the praise was ignored. "What are you doing here? I thought you were dead."

"This is Kabuto's jutsuI'm here because of the Edo Tensei. A reanimated shinobi back from the dead."

Edo... the name sounded familiar before realizing it had been Orochimaru who'd once mentioned it in the past. A Resurrection Jutsu to bring back the dead. But from Kabuto? When had he become a part of this war? And when had the former assistant started working with Madara?

"I cannot stop now. I have important things to do."

"I don't care!" Sasuke shouted. "You're here. And I have questions!"

"Even if I tell you to leave it for later, you would not listen to me," Itachi said.

"You're as obstinate as ever, you'll never find your patience."

"Do you remember what you said to me? 'When you have the same eyes as me, come to me'! So why are you running away? Do you feel guilty because you lied to me? Or you don't have the courage to tell me the truth? I know everything about you! That's why I will destroy Konoha!"

"When we fought, I told you we each live deep inside our own fantasy, remember? Your reality might be an illusion. But my truth is real."

"I no longer live inside a fantasy!" the teen snapped. "I can see through your Genjutsu! These are your eyes!"

"That part of you is still the same. But I've heard about what's happened to you. I know how you've changed." And that disappointed him a bit.

"No! You changed my world, long ago! I was supposed to die. You were supposed to kill me along with our parents. Why am I different from our father and mother? Why did I survive? And what about Mai? She wasn't even an Uchiha! Why was she worthy like me?"

"Because you two didn't know anything," Itachi said. "You didn't understand what the Uchiha Clan had done. You were both just children. You think I did it just for you? I wanted you to grow up and judge me. I deserved to be dealt with only by another Uchiha! The only thing I did was give hatred to you and made you flee the Village. That's why I failed. I turned you into a criminal. I wished that you would walk the right path and yet... from the moment I died you followed the wrong path. I wanted to rewrite the indication on your path with my lies and efforts."

"You wanted me to walk on that path while I was ignorant about the truth? I don't wish to walk on such path! Even if you rewrite the indications, I can see through those changes already!"

Itachi chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing," the older Uchiha said. "Not just indications guide you on the path you walk..." he mused, thinking of Naruto.

And more importantly Mai. She had managed to remain on the right path by staying in Konoha. Though the revenge was there she was willing to listen, process the situation, react, and take a road that didn't lead to complete hatred and darkness. It wasn't perfect though, Itachi knew that much, however the Be Fong pressed through it and became a respected ninja amongst her peers.

He blamed himself for the teen's lack of emotion because that carefree, happy, gentle side of her that was always present when they were younger went away after the night of the massacre. Mai's revenge became focused on growing stronger so not to be hurt ever again. There had been opportunities when the ninja could have followed after her childhood friend. Many in the Leaf predicated that would be the case when spying on the higher ups. It was only with Tsunade's insistence that they allow her to participate as a ninja and continue to attend every exam.

"If we keep her locked away then she will desert, I guarantee it."

In a way Itachi respected her for that. And Belva. The former Chakra String Master of the Be Fong Clan had encouraged Mai in every way possible.

"When you were alive you always poked my forehead!" Sasuke shouted, breaking the corpse from his thoughts. "You could not look after me and then you ran away! Are you going to run away now?"

"It is not like I'm running away. I told you that there are more important things that I have to do."

A flock of ravens suddenly appeared out of the leaves obscuring the teen's path and causing his movements to falter.

"You stay here."

With a loud blast the young man broke through and invisible wall ahead revealing the hidden cavern. Along with the puppeteer of Edo Tensei inside.

Kabuto smirked. He didn't look like his old self, now holding a similar appearance to a snake with scaly skin, and dark facial markings around the eyes. He almost looked like replica of Orochimaru.

"Impressive, you passed through my barrier," the former assistant said. "Seems you know quite a bit about it. I hope you can keep something in your mind. The jutsu of Edo Tensei wouldn't stop even if I was killed." He laughed manically at the thought. "So my luck has finally turned!"

Itachi sighed, "Things are not always as we wish them to be."

The sound of approaching footsteps drew Kabuto's attention. Sasuke entered. The teen was startled to find the former assistant to Orochimaru before his brows narrowed,

"What are you doing here, Kabuto?"

"It's a bit complex, but I'll try to make it simple."

"Feel free to explain," Itachi said. "I'll stop your Edo Tensei in the meanwhile."

"This jutsu has no weakness and there are no risks," the snake-like individual stated in a matter-of-fact manner. His eyes then turn to the younger Uchiha. "You want to defeat Itachi again because he murdered the Uchiha Clan and because I happened to revive him. In other words, Itachi is currently a nuisance for the both of us. Why don't we join forces together? We have the same power of the snake and the same master."

That was a tempting offer. But that was the past. He had already fulfilled his dream of revenge against his brother.

"I'm not going to call him, 'master'," Sasuke said. "And I don't think you get the point. I followed Itachi because I wanted to talk to him." Now all he sought were answers.

"Tell me then, what side are you on?"

Without warning the younger Uchiha let loose a barrage of shuriken aiming straight for the puppeteer. However, Itachi's own suddenly deflected them confusing the teen as to why the corpse had protected the snake.

"Why?" Sasuke shouted. "He's the same as Orochimaru! Which also makes him my enemy! And it's your enemy as well!"

"... Fine, I'll talk to you later," the young man reasoned. "In exchange for that let's defeat him, but don't kill him."

Startled by that promise, Sasuke silently agreed.

"Kill him and the jutsu will continue forever. I will use Tsukuyomi on him to understand how to stop it. While he's still under the effect, I'll control him and stop the jutsu."

"You explained very well how to defeat me," Kabuto stated. But he didn't appear nervous to be facing off against two Sharingan users. "I hope it works as perfectly as it sounds. But it is as I said before there is nothing that can stop this."

"You are wrong," the Akatsuki criminal declared. "Every jutsu has a weakness and risk. And this one is me."

Sasuke shook his head, coming to stand directly beside his brother. "Feh, you always used to tell me, 'Later, later,' and in the end it was just lies. At least this one time keep your promise."

"Your nature stays the same until you die. But I did die once. I will keep it."

And Sasuke believed him.