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?"