Ode to Itachi:

I remember when you were young

You basked in your wide-eyed innocence

You idolized me as your older brother

Back then you moved with unlimited finesse

I would train you and help you learn

You wouldn't thank me out loud

But I heard you just the same

And you always made me proud

You were my little brother, my little Sasuke

I kept you safe and dried your tears

It was I to who you turned

To chase away your fears

I made you think you annoyed me

I flicked your forehead everyday

You would pout while I smirked

In a very brotherly display

Then time came when our family planned a coup d'état

I as one loyal to not my clan but my village

Was chosen as the one to kill them all

But you saw the blood spillage

It might have better if I had killed you then

So you wouldn't live with the hurt

But my feelings got in the way

I couldn't kill you; so I caused your subvert

Your too young eyes turned coldly to me

As they lifted from our slaughtered parents

You had seen it all, every stab, every slash

There would be no stopping your descent

I filled you with anger

I lied to you, saying I killed them to test my strength

Told you to fill your heart with vengeance and hate

Told you to go to any length

Selfishly I destroyed your conscience

You would stop at nothing to destroy me

It made me feel better knowing I would atone for my sins

Your life was ruined by my hands cruelly

I made a deal with the Hokage

In return for your life, I had to leave

And so I did

You would turn out fine, that's what I wanted to believe

But I didn't

I knew you were utterly and completely destroyed

And I knew it was my fault

That you were sucked into an endless void

I looked for the next biggest threat to the village

I had to make what was left of my life worth something

So I joined the Akatsuki, infiltrating them from the inside

I resided with them in the heart of Beijing

They were monsters

Every single one

They were not ordered

They just wanted to feel like they had won

They were murderers

And they were my only friends

But I was still haunted

By untied ends

I waited for the day when you my brother

Would come and end my existence

I had done too much wrong to wish otherwise

I prayed you'd remember and travel the distance

And finally, when you were seventeen

And you were strong

You came and ended

What had gone on already too long

Your Katana finally pierced my heart

And I smiled, flicking your forehead for the last time

I fell to my knees

Already covered with bloody grime

My tears of blood drip to the floor

I pled, "Forgive me of my tormented soul,

Free me of my tortured conscience,

I invoked your vengeful goal."

And you cried

And so did I

I comforted you as only I could

Shushing your quite, questioning "Why?"

The life you must have led burned then in my head

You hadn't the chance to celebrate life

When I brought it crashing down

I made you take mine from me with bitter strife

I lay in this puddle of blood on a cold cement floor

"Life for me has ended, but yours will go on

Thank you for this last gift

Please remember me now that I am gone."

And my eyes finally closed

A chorus of "Itachi!" ringing pointlessly in the background

With the sacrifice of my little brother

My peace was found

Luvakatsuki3