The Windmill Turns Both Ways

Nobody

"They should be here soon," Kabuto said softly to himself as he padded through the dim lab.

He was very weak from the complete removal of Orochimaru's power from his body. In a way, that power had become a sustaining part of his being. Without it, he was hardly himself anymore.

He was draped in a light-colored robe, body thin enough to easily see the bones underneath his skin. His hair hung in cropped strands around his face. He couldn't remember when he'd started wearing it down.

Was this what dying felt like?

With trembling hands, Kabuto picked up the round glasses that lay on a steel examining table and put them on his face. He pushed them up his nose with one finger.

But really, there was no meaning in thinking he was or was not like himself. That was a superfluous observation at best, when his existence amounted to a great Nothing; nothing but nothing.

A nothing as easily replaced as it was thrown away.

#

"Nii-san!"

It was really him. It had to be him.

"Nii-san, wait!"

Tree branches slapped Sasuke's face and hands as he ran desperately toward the figure up ahead. This was just like one of the reoccurring dreams he'd had as a small child. Itachi right in front of him, but forever out of his reach. He'd always been better and did more at a younger age than him. Those dreams had continued long after the Massacre, taking on a nightmarish, murderous quality.

But this wasn't a dream, was it? Couldn't Itachi hear his brother calling out to him?

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke's eyes melded into the inverted colors of his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. A large violet arm materialized beside him and reached out toward Itachi. But before it could make it all the way, a similar red hand formed and slapped it away. Itachi didn't so much as slow down or look back. Sasuke withdrew the hand with a stunned expression. There was no way it wasn't true. That was Itachi's Susano'o.

"Why?" Sasuke demanded, a shout that came from the depths of the many years he'd wanted to ask that question. "Why won't you stop? Listen to me!"

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. I don't have time to talk right now."

"I know what you're doing," Sasuke said, putting on an extra burst of speed to get closer to his brother. "You're trying to get to Kabuto before he can recover enough to bring you back under his control. Isn't that right?"

Itachi didn't answer at first. Maybe he hadn't expected Sasuke to be so aware about his situation.

Eventually, he spoke up. "If you know that much, then you understand why it's better for you to stay away from me. We can talk later."

"No!" Sasuke slashed his hand through the air angrily. "You can't treat me like when I was a child and say 'some other time, Sasuke'—I'm not going to let you do whatever you want while I'm left in the dark! I need answers, and I'm not leaving until I get them."

Itachi gave a quiet, almost imperceptible sigh. "Then come along, if you must. But I have to take care of things before there will be any time to talk. I hope you understand."

"Tch... fine." That was good enough for now. He didn't know every detail about how the Edo Tensei worked, but he didn't want Itachi to be taken over like all the others. That would only delay him getting answers even more.

They were approaching the lab where Kabuto supposedly was, and Itachi slowed down enough for Sasuke to finally catch up to him. His strides had become more hesitant.