Dragons and Shinobi Chapter 26: The Lost One's Weeping

Heavy limbs tried to pull the tired body out of from the murky depths that he was stuck in, but he was too weak, two tired. Tears were beginning to form in the corner of his eyes but with a deep breath and a clenching of his jaw, the young Uchiha willed himself to shove the emotions back into their box, which he kept locked in the darkest corner of his heart. Once again, he tried to pull himself free from the muck that was holding his body in place, but the dark cold mud wouldn't let him go. He placed his head down on his arms, allowing an aggravated sigh to escape his thin lips.

"The blood from our clan holds you. I can see you fighting it but your weak resistance to the rage in your heart will turn into a lethal weapon, sharper than any kuani knife, it will destroy you," the voice which road on the thin wind was familiar, yet Sasuke's tired mind couldn't reason out who it was.

"I know you wish that things were different. That we could turn back time, make it so it never happened. But it did Sasuke, they died… and what did you do?" The voice demanded, it's words becoming harsher and harsher.

Sasuke gritted his teeth as he once again attempted to pull himself from the muck, but it sucked him back in, the heavy thick substance crawling up his back. "No," Sasuke whispered, reaching out for the bank that was just ahead of him. "I tried but, my body wouldn't move. I wanted to…I really wanted to stop him." Sasuke could feel the muscles in his arms screaming, the sharp pain running up from his elbow into his shoulder, begging for him to rest, but he continued to stretch. "I will swallow my fear now, though. I will swallow it and I will avenge them, even if it means my own death."

"Can you recall the dreams you used to have? Have they all been rewritten by hate? Could you read the pain in his eyes…in my eyes, as I cut our parents down?" Recognition struck Sasuke cold. His eyes went big and his mouth fell open as the voice of his brother echoed in his ears.

"Itachi, you…you destroyed them! What pain could you possibly be going through?!" Sasuke yelled through the darkness. He could feel his heart pounding. He began to fight the heavy mud that was holding him, but it only continued to slowly engulf him, climbing up to his shoulders and taking over his arms, making them heavier and heavier.

Fear took a hold of Sasuke's heart, causing him to panic. Though the more he fought, the farther it dragged him in. "Please," he couldn't help but whimper, "please, somebody help me."

Sasuke noticed that a pair of black sandaled feet stood before him. He looked up, seeing Kakashi's masked face. "Kakashi," Sasuke's voice cracked as he struggled to remain calm despite the conflicting emotions. His sensei knelt down and looked straight into Sasuke's eyes. "Kakashi, help me," Sasuke said bluntly, trying to maintain his usual stoic persona, but his voice wavered.

"Kakashi? Kakashi no," the jonin said, and then Sasuke saw it, the gold iris glowing on his sensei. Dread washed over Sasuke, leaving him numb and sweeping away any possibility for a rational thought. He just stared at his sensei, watching the lone dull eye.

Kakashi's mindless body reached forward and grabbed Sasuke's shirt, pulling him out of the mud. "You are pathetic and weak, an embarrassment for the Uchiha name." He held Sasuke over the pile of mud, a wicked gleam brightening up the dull dead eyes.

"Kakashi…" Sasuke grabbed onto the jonin's wrist, though he wasn't sure what affect it would actually have.

Another presence stepped behind Kakashi. Bright glowing red eyes stared at Sasuke through the darkness and the familiar voice of his elder brother spoke again, "sink little brother, sink into the blood that is around you, the blood of our clan, the blood of your allies. Don't fight it, just let it happen."

Kakashi dropped Sasuke back down into the mud or at least what Sasuke thought was mud, but as he hit the thick liquid he realized with increasing horror and trepidation, that what he had been submerged in was blood. The thick warm substance began to drag him once again under.

No longer in control of his own emotions or his own cognitive functions, Sasuke began to scream. The sound dissipated into the air, as if it had become a vacuum. He watched through tear filled eyes as Kakashi and Itachi turned to leave. "Please! Please! Kakashi!" Sasuke continued to shriek his vocal chords straining and sending a sharp pain up his throat. He felt his stomach churning and twisting, forcing the strong acidic bile up his throat and into his mouth.

Sasuke's eyes snapped open and he involuntarily twisted to throw up over the side of the bed. His body then was wracked with sobs and large beads of sweat covered his brow, arms, and torso.

Hands reached out to grab him but he fought them off, clawing, punching, anything to get away. Pain shot through his side, up his arms, and rang with an empty echoing through his bones and muscles. "I don't….I tried," he squeaked as strong arms wrapped around his body and brought him into something hard, something sturdy.

"Easy, easy," was the gentle reply of the force holding him. Sasuke felt his body quivering and as hard as he tried, he couldn't gain control. Another hiccup and a sob escaped his body causing another echo of pain to vibrate through him.

"Quick," the voice started up again, addressing a presence that Sasuke couldn't see through the tears. "Get me a cold wet rag."

Swift, soft footsteps faded from the room and then shortly caused a crescendo back into the room. "Here it is, Seto," the voice answered.

Seto? The name was familiar but Sasuke was too shaking up to completely comprehend who it was. He shivered as he felt the cool rag on his forehead, wiping away the sweat. Sasuke took a deep breath, trying to find that sense of balance.

He reached up and wiped his own eyes, taking away the watery veil in front of his eyes. He then saw Mokuba's large grey eyes looking at him with such concern that the emotion would have pushed the eyes out of his socket.

Sasuke then looked down at the arms that held him. Slender but muscular arms which were covered with the soft material of a black cotton shirt were wrapped around his chest, holding him steady. With his senses returning to him, he could finally recall the name Seto and the face.

Embarrassed for his own weakness, Sasuke began to struggle out of Kaiba's arms and the elder Kaiba brother complied, allowing the boy to move from him.

Sasuke could taste the bitter greasy residue of the pizza he had eaten some time earlier from his stomach throwing it back up. Sasuke brought his knees to his chest, feeling vulnerable and angry. All he wanted was for the people staring at him to leave, leave and never speak of this again. Though he knew that wasn't going to happen.

He felt Kaiba shift to his right, getting off from the bed. He heard the click of a radio and then Kaiba's voice, "Roland, send someone to the guest room upstairs to take care of a little accident."

"Yes sir, Mr. Kaiba," the voice replied.

Mokuba's eyes lit up as he reached onto the table behind him, pulling out a water bottle. "Throw up never tastes good, so you need to wash it away with something," he said, handing Sasuke the water bottle.

Sasuke took from him silently in his good hand but his body began to take on that heavy exhausted feeling that he had felt in his dream. Without even asking, Kaiba took the bottle from him and opened it up before handing it back.

Sasuke just stared at it, feeling the tears rushing back up. Stubbornly, he pushed them down as he forced himself to drink. It only caused the bitter taste in his mouth to increase, but he continued to drink until the water did its job at chasing the impurity in his mouth away.

"Better, huh?" Mokuba asked.

"Yeah," Sasuke said so softly that he could barely hear himself.

"Some nightmare," Kaiba said as he moved to the foot of the bed.

"It never ends," Sasuke whispered again, placing his chin on his knees.

Kaiba frowned, and what looked like pity came into the harsh blue eyes. He looked like he was about to say something else, but the door opened and a plump made walked into the room. "Where is the accident, sir?"

Kaiba pointed to the side of the bed where Sasuke had vomited. She waddled herself over there, clearly not bother by the smell of it or by the sight of regurgitated pizza. She must have noticed Sasuke looking at her, for she looked up at him with her large friendly brown eyes and said, "don't worry dear, I have been cleaning up after these two for a long time."

Kaiba rolled his eyes and looked down at his watch, "I have to get some work done. I will be back soon. Mokuba, you can keep an eye on how things are going until I get back, correct?"

Mokuba gave a firm nod and gave his brother a thumbs up. Kaiba smiled to himself as he left the room.

Quietness fell over the room after the door had clicked shut. The only sound that could be heard every now and again was the dipping of the sponge in the wash-bucket that the maid had. Sasuke stared blankly at the wall, trying to keep his thoughts at bay, in fear that the nightmare would come back to him.

Mokuba watched as the maid rose and thanked her as she waddled out of the room. He then turned his attention on Sasuke, who felt himself involuntarily shrink under his gaze. "Thank you, for helping me escape," Mokuba said awkwardly.

Sasuke looked at him slowly, taking in the younger Kaiba's brothers large innocent grey eyes, the head full of pitch black hair that was slightly frizzed, and his blue pajamas. "What happened after," Sasuke paused, realizing with an increasing sense of dread that Kakashi wasn't present.

"After you passed out?" Mokuba offered as he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. "Joey and Tea showed up, and shortly after so did Kabuto. But Kakashi came back to his senses and helped my brother kick his butt. Though, he got away because this creepy character with long black hair and unusually ghostly white skin showed up. Let me tell you, he was not a pretty sight, something must have spooked him because they both left."

A breath of relief passed through Sasuke's lips and he felt another twinge of pain. "Where is Kakashi?" Sasuke questioned, moving to get up. A strong undeniable need to talk to his sensei and make sure everything was okay brought courage back into his heart, steadying his frantic heart. Though every move of his muscles caused his body to ache and his head to swim as he became nauseated.

Mokuba frowned, "Seto thought it would be best if we kept you two separated, until we were sure that he wasn't under Marik's mind control anymore."

The courage and the will to move quickly vanished. Sasuke felt alone. Terribly alone. He felt a cold chill run down his spine causing his to shake. "You shouldn't move so much," Mokuba said quickly rising to stop him, "you are still recovering."

Sasuke didn't need to be told twice as his legs became weak, threatening to drop him.

Another wave of silence fell over them. Mokuba pursed his lips and then slowly tried to meet Sasuke's gaze. "I have a question," the younger Kaiba brother said hesitantly.

Sasuke just looked at him. Mokuba went to open his mouth to ask but something held him back, as if he was afraid to find out the answer. He slowly shut his mouth, looking down at his hands, and then a firmer more decided look came into his grey eyes. "Do you want to play a game of duel monsters?"

The young Uchiha arched an eyebrow. He wasn't expecting that question nor did he know how to answer. Thinking for a moment, he finally conceded to play the game, as the thought of being alone scared him, and being left with his thoughts even more so. "Sure, but you are going to have to teach me again how to play."

(Hello fellow writers and readers on . I wanted to apologize for the various typos that are in my previous chapters that I have submitted. As I am winding up my final semesters in college I am finding that I have less and less time to check over my work. But, I want to give you guys what I have worked on, because this is my way of unwinding and because many have expressed that you enjoy them. If you guys can just bear with my until I get to Summer break, I promise that I will go back and fix the typos, and choppiness so the previous chapters read a lot smoother.

On that note, I hope you guys have enjoyed this latest installment of Dragon's and Shinobi! Keep on the lookout for the next chapter, because Sasuke is finally going to be getting his own deck and learning how to play! Also, we will see what fate has befallen Kakashi!

Oh! And before I forget. For those who have been asking about when Mai and Bakura will show up again, the answer is soon. I have not forgotten about them, I promise! Also, thank you guys for the feedback because it really does help and I always take into consideration what you say!)