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[lostmylight]

He's a wanderer.

Ever since the traumatic day when everything was taken from him, he's been a wanderer. Nothing more, nothing less. A shinobi? Only in the barest terms. A crimson band of cloth covers the ruin of his sockets, hiding the shame from the world; his memories of receiving basic medical care from a civilian village are fogged by the fever that ravaged him during those days.

Ever since then, he's wandered. Slowly learning to survive, slowly adapting, he now moves with some trace of his old grace and confidence, as though he has some perception of the world beyond the reach of his hands. The snakes have taught him, and experience, the slow and bitter sensei, has taught him.

But he will never again be what he once was.

He's entering another village, he knows that; where it is, what its name is, he doesn't know. Doesn't entirely care. Perhaps they'll feed him, perhaps he can trade some manual labor for a few coins, and then move on again. That's all he can hope for anymore.

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[proudofmybaby]

It was a rare day when she had time to get into the village outside of her side missions, but when she did, she never failed to be surprised.

This day was no exception, and she drifted closer to the figure, picking out the familiar chakra signature and noting the face, the details... She hoped she wasn't seeing what she thought she was. Still, too many versions of her son had come here for her to think it would be anyone else.

The blindfold though... that was new.

"Sasuke? Is that you baby?"

[lostmylight]

That voice...!

He froze, turning instinctively toward her, his breath catching in his lungs. No. No, it can't be. You're gone! You're dead!

But maybe he was too. Maybe he'd wandered through the veil between life and death. Maybe he'd died in that nameless civilian village, his wanderings nothing more than the fever-dreams of a dying mind. Maybe it had all been a dream, and Itachi had killed him.

Maybe he was hallucinating. Maybe it was a trick. Too many maybes.

If Mikoto was attentive, she would feel a bare, light flicker of chakra, a ghostly touch tracing the outline of her form, her stance, her features. Tracing her for the blind teen who had once been her baby. A blind touch to tell him her features, to tell him that it was her.

"... Mom...?" A thin, hopeful, disbelieving word.

[proudofmybaby]

...So the blindfold wasn't just for show. The thought made her heart ache, and she was scared to wonder if this version of her baby had lost his eyes with everything else. She'd ask, but not now. For the moment she just had the less than graceful thought of wondering if he'd still been too young when this happened to have already had the blind combat training the Uchiha genin always got.

Shaking it away, she slipped forward and wrapped him a warm, tight hug and nodded against his cheek. "It's good that you're here baby."

[lostmylight]

Baby. He should have objected to that, should have protested, but it didn't matter. He didn't care what she called him. It only mattered that this was his mother, this was the source of safety and love that he knew.

Her arms enfolded him, and he knew. It was her scent surrounding him, the subtle fragrance that awakened the deepest, most primal senses within him, that had been imprinted upon him from the womb as comfort, safety, sustenance, love. His mother.

His fingers curled in her clothing, and he felt a burn behind his sunken lids, mangled ducts trying to give forth the tears that wanted to come. All he knew was how badly he'd needed her, for so long.

[proudofmybaby]

She held him close, swaying a little in reflex to the distress she could practically feel coming off of him, and she sighed softly. Unfortunately, she needed an idea of what to expect before she took him home. Better not to brutally shock him if she could avoid it.

"I died where you're from too, didn't I?"

[lostmylight]

If asked, he would have said there was little left that could shock him... but he had no idea what waited in this village.

The question... that question didn't entirely make sense, to his knowledge. Yes, she was dead... but where you're from? "Yes," he confirmed quietly, his voice thick. "You, Father... everyone..."

[proudofmybaby]

She sighed softly and moved a hand, touching his temple. "...And this?"

[lostmylight]

This.

This.

The loss of his eyes, the cold, cruel taunting words, revealing the truth of the Uchiha to him, revealing the entire purpose of his birth, of his life. There are no only children of the Uchiha. There are always two, so the younger can give his eyes to the elder.

His mother had birthed him, not to have a son, but to have a spare.

He pushed away from her suddenly, his hands hard. "Why?" The word was a sharp bark, a sound of pain. "Why would you pretend? Why would you let me think that I meant anything?" His voice rose through the questions, from a bark to a cry of sheer pain. "You knew what I was for, all along, why would you pretend to care when I was only there to be a spare for him?" Itachi, the son that mattered, the monster. Sasuke, always in the shadow, always unsatisfactory, doomed, hopeless.

[proudofmybaby]

The words made her feel cold inside, and gave her a very good idea of what happened,if not when or how. It seemed that, in at least one place, her elder baby had less than peace in mind. She didn't try to retake the hug.

"Sasuke, you were never a spare. Even in the least complimentary moments you were never that."

[one_without_wings]

Training. He was training... trying to just walk and make this paper stick on his forehead shouldn't be so hard. He can actually hold it there with chakra for the best part of a half-hour, but Sakumo clearly asked for -an hour- and stated he should also be able to do it while going through any activity.

"darn!" came the hiss as the paper unstuck... and then a groan as it flew in the wind... and landed near someone with... a headband hiding his eyes? He went over to retrieve the paper and looked up.

"Hello mister!" came an overly happy chirpy voice.

[lostmylight]

A child; Sasuke's flickering chakra, the faintest brush that a little one probably would not even feel, told him that much, but couldn't tell him much more. He had no way to recognize that it was his own features, baby-round, looking at him; his memory of what he looked like at such an age was not good enough.

He considered ignoring, walking by, but he was disoriented, unsure. So instead, he paused. "Child. What village is this?"

[one_without_wings]

"This here's Michi no Sato" he quipped happily. "I still gotta explore lotsa the village still, but if you want help getting anywhere, I'll try my best!" he always, always did try his very best.

[lostmylight]

Michi no Sato? He had not heard of such a village before. But it didn't seem to be a hidden village, he guessed, by the lack of -gakure in the name, and keeping track of civilian villages had never been a priority.

"Is there anyone who would pay for work, or trade for food and supplies?" That was all he needed, really, and then he would move on. There was nowhere to stop for him, not anymore.

[one_without_wings]

"...hmm..." the youth gave a frowny face as he thought hard. "Ah! Niisan gave me stuff to do, maybe he can give you things you can do too!" he offered a wide smile. "....where's he s'possed to be though? Ah darn!" he stomped at the ground in frustration.

What to do, what to do? "Y'missed the caravans that came by too, maybe they woulda liked tradin..."

[lostmylight]

Caravans? That would have been useful, yes. But he had passed beyond hopes or dreams or what-ifs. There was only now, and this child. Something about his voice... about the way he spoke of his big brother. Maybe it was simply Sasuke's touchiness on that regard, but...

Well. It was a place to start. "Bring me to him, then." A pause, and he added, "...What is your name, child?"

[one_without_wings]

"ah right.. that place was over there, somewhere on th'edge of the village." he stated half to himself. At least he somewhat remembered where the Hokage was. He -had- been told to report there, with his progress among the children here.

"I'm Sasuke~" it truly -was-a happy chirp more than anything. "Uchiha Sasuke or at least.. guess I should say the youngest of'ems.. s'gettin kinda confusin" he groaned lightly.

[lostmylight]

Uchiha Sasuke.

No. It couldn't be. He was Uchiha Sasuke. This child couldn't be...

"What do you mean?" he gritted out of a suddenly-tight throat. "Explain yourself, boy."

I can't help myself. I want to hug him!!!

[itachi_san]

Inside the Uchiha house, there was a door on the first floor that was slightly ajar.

Sasuke may not have been able to see, but the room reeked of sickness cloaked in disinfectant. There was little sound to drown soft wheezes and dripping medicines. The chakra from the man inside was familiar, but so very faint. No doubt about it - It was the oldest Itachi, the one Mikoto had mentioned.

[lostmylight]

The scent told him, more keenly than his flickering chakra, exactly what sort of room he was in. But he was in the Uchiha home, and more importantly, Mikoto had told him exactly who they had that was this ill.

Itachi.

Itachi was in there, an Itachi, and a part of Sasuke wanted to do nothing more than flee, to run far, far away from any incarnation of his tormentor.

But something held him glued, and no doubt, the constant flickers of chakra that he put out, building the shapes of the world around him by jutsu, would be notable to someone as attentive and powerful as Itachi, no matter how subtle Sasuke tried to be.

[itachi_san]

Itachi watched him silently, nervously, until his breath hitched.

This was Sasuke, no doubt about it. But it was a Sasuke that he'd never seen before. With his sharingan active, he could see something strange in his chakra. The pools of chakra that he'd come to recognize as sharingan... something was so very wrong with them. It was like they were... broken... If not missing entirely... And the jutsu he was using...

Itachi's voice was soft, a bit pained. But it was filled with concern for this new incarnation of his little brother.

"Sasuke... What... what on earth... happened to you?"

[lostmylight]

That voice was a million miles from the last tones Sasuke had heard from his brother -- from the mad ranting, the cold, heartless revelation of truths that had torn the guts from his world.

But it was still Itachi, and a ferocious need to either attack or flee gripped Sasuke by the throat, stilling his voice for a long moment before he could make himself speak.

"What do you think?" Harsh words, flung into the medicine-scented room. "It should be obvious, if you look at me." Bitter weight on look, coming from the blind teen.

[itachi_san]

Itachi sat up a little straighter, squinting his eyes. He could make out the muted splash of red against white skin and black hair. At first, he thought it was a headband, but no... it was some sort of blindfold? Or bandage? He couldn't tell.

"... I'm afraid my eyes... aren't what they used to be..." he whispered. Years of using the mangekyo sharingan came at a high cost. And his illness only accelerated and worsened the damage. "Can you... come closer? Please?"

[lostmylight]

Itachi had no way of knowing -- or did he, perhaps, seeing what was missing from Sasuke -- just how poorly those words struck.

"Your eyes?" It was a venomous hiss -- and in anger, Sasuke did indeed take a few steps into the room, but it was with a crackling fury, his chakra flickering through the room more heavily, a tingle like static in the air. "Your eyes? I thought you'd already resolved that little difficulty!"

He'd been told about the differences, but in that moment, confronting Itachi with such a poorly-chosen remark on his lips, he couldn't remember the truth of it -- all that mattered was that this was Itachi, and Itachi had stolen Sasuke's eyes to replace his own. It was all he could know, a haze of tingling anger filling his mind.

[itachi_san]

His eyes... dear god...

"What kind of... of world are you from?" he gasped, wishing he had the strength to stand, to walk even a couple of feet to hold Sasuke and never let him go. "Stealing your eyes... was a lie... an illusion... to make you hate me enough... that you would one day kill me and take mine! Not... not the other way around!"

[lostmylight]

"Does this look like an illusion?" The words were a snap, and under them, agony. What was Itachi saying -- what was he trying to tell Sasuke? That... that he hadn't intended to? Oh no, no, he wasn't going to believe that. Not when those cold, mocking words had surrounded him in his agony of darkness. Apathetic, condescending, mocking everything Sasuke had based his life around...