for Pathy

[yourhatred]

[Suddenly 13 y/o Itachi and current canon Sasuke on a deserted island. Go.]

Comments

[firewhichrefines]

[It's not a particularly hospitable island, but it's not hostile either -- Sasuke can't feel another chakra signal anywhere near them and there's no sign of human movement at all. The trees are dense enough to provide cover but nowhere near tall enough to allow travel through the branches, nothing even close to the Land of Fire's forests. The climate and foliage are nothing he's familiar with even after travelling with Orochimaru, and in general, he has no idea how he (they?) got here or why.

At least the land appears to be sloping up as they follow the trickle of water, giving way to rockier dirt and scragglier underbrush.

He glances back periodically to make sure that Itachi is still with him and hasn't quietly passed out, and it's weird to have his brother at his back without any sense of threat: but there it is, Itachi too chakra- and strength-depleted to radiate any of his usual subtle danger.]

You haven't stopped since leaving the village? [He pauses, and then -- just to confirm a timeline he already knows in general --] Where were you going?

[forthevillage]

[There's no immediate response because Itachi doesn't realize he's being spoken too. He's focused on following, on keeping one leg in front of the other. Once it does register it takes him another minute or so to get a response out around his breathing.

If Sasuke knows the truth about him, then he should know this answer anyway, but he doesn't have it in him to argue. He might just be making conversation, though there are certainly better times for it.]

...Akatsuki. [That one word is all he needs to get out, thankfully.]

ftr: i know nothing about desert island topography

[firewhichrefines]

[They break free of deep forest onto something resembling rock almost unexpectedly, and ahead of them is a too-convenient cave mouth. Sasuke stops in his tracks, hand back on his sword even though he still feels no other chakra, and takes the confirmation in stride.

He's reached a point by now, all the stories he's heard in the space of a few months tangled into disbelief and belief and unbelief all at once, that it is difficult to be surprised by anything less than world-changing.]

You said you woke here. Then you fell asleep on the way? [Which goes to show about how much awareness Itachi has left, which means --]

Stay here. I'll scout ahead and give the all-clear.

don't think that matters much here!

[forthevillage]

[Had he? He has to have fallen asleep in order to wake up, he supposes.

Right, he remembers. He'd stopped to rest. To nap a couple hours before continuing. He's not sure how much of that he'd actually achieved.

He answers Sasuke with a nod, but almost continues to follow him in before he recalls the command to stay put. He'd prefer to keep moving until he had to stop for good, but he can't put up much of an argument. So Itachi stays standing where he is, just trying to clear his head until his brother comes back.]

[firewhichrefines]

[Itachi looks like he's asleep on his feet by the time Sasuke returns, having swept the cave and found nothing but a few startled rodents, one of which he'd killed against the possibility they might be here long enough to need a meal. Itachi will probably need a meal well before then, even.

The situation is still bizarre to the extreme, but if there's anything dealing with Madara has inured him to, it's turning up in places he doesn't fully recall going to and needing to react to them immediately.

This, still is the weirdest part, because --]

... do you need me to carry you?

[forthevillage]

[The boy practically had been asleep, eyelids drooping most of the way shut only to pry themselves back open when Sasuke returned. His posture had become too relaxed, and he straitened himself up, staggering a little to regain his balance.

At the question, he frowns and shakes his head stubbornly. He'd gotten this far. He could make it a little further inside the cave without help. The image of him being carried by his little brother, rather than the other way around, is also just too much for him at the moment. It's his own fault he's in this current state and he can deal with the consequences.

So he forces himself to move and follow, limbs wanting to betray him at every step. Forcing one's body to go beyond its limits is something most shinobi have to do at some point.]