3 Libras
The title 3 Libras is inspired by A Perfect Circle's song that falls under the same name.
Roman numerals (i., ii., iii., etc) indicate flashback scenes. Consequently, each scene is much darker than the last, representing Itachi's state of mind as he nears the day of massacre.
Like a cat in cream; a moth to a flame, so is Itachi to his demise.
Itachi could once say—with eyes cast over in the naïveté of his youth—he was not afraid to die. He could once don the skin of vitality and reach the highest scaffold. He could once exchange pleasantries with knives and dash the blood of his enemy's throat. He could once exclaim (his smile stretching at its seams), "Death is but my treasured friend!"
Here was Itachi now, however. Quavering in the wake of his brother's wrath. There he was in resignation, groveling before the extractor of tolls and the reaper of deeds.
Here I am, and...
My precious outoto...
What do you think of me now?
i.
"Nii-san, what is it like?"
Itachi blinked at the suddenness of Sasuke's question. They were both sitting on the muddy embankment of a large pond, skipping stones of various sizes they had collected onshore. Thankfully, Itachi had brought along his tatami, though he knew it would later require some many thorough washings by a very upset hahaoya.
"What is what like, dear outoto?"
"Well, Father is so praising of you, and it must be nice to have his side all of the time. Even Mother congratulates you with more shrimp dumplings during meals."
"Oh?" Itachi withheld the urge to laugh at his younger brother's indignant expression and instead cracked a teasing smile. "You can have my shrimp dumplings today."
Sasuke huffed. "That's not what I mean, nii-san! You hog up Father's love!" He drew a perfectly oval-shaped stone splotched in purple hues and cast it across the water.
Itachi watched as the stone made a single, pitiful skip and sank. A dragon's egg, he thought. "Father loves you, Sasuke. As does Mother." Itachi felt for a stone with flat sides and a smooth complexion. "One day you will fly with wings of your own, and it will surely please our family. Just remember..." He flung his stone and it skipped once, twice, thrice...
"Tonbi ga taka wo umu."
"What do you think of me now, outoto?" Itachi sputtered. His mouth welled with blood from internal injury. My illness has been aggravated by combat. I've been reduced to bloody garments and this charred forearm.
Sasuke stood atop the crumbling edifice that had once paid homage to Uchiha, his face contorted to something that closely resembled a snarl. "Don't call me that! You're nothing to me!" His voice was a mere shrill over the roar of thunder, but his chakra emanated just as fiercely. "You are nothing!"
"How long do you think to hate me?" How long will you coddle this darkness from which I forcefully had you resort to?
Sasuke ignored the question, drawing his chidori skyward. "Your eulogy will consist of my endless laughter! With your hand, you dealt in the genocide of our people. With my hand, I will deal to the obliteration of your existence!"
Kirin!
ii.
The sky was devoid of a moon, but paper lanterns placed overhead provided a beautiful lightscape to the densely-packed plaza.
Itachi scoped the marketplace in search of oddities or whatever appealed to the whim. Under normal circumstances, he would stay in the Uchiha Prefecture to buy items or run errands, but festivities called for attendance at the annual Konohagakure Bazaar. Sasuke, ever the rambunctious one, followed suit.
Tents displayed products not otherwise found in the village: soothsayers' vials of enchantment, woven jewelry with gem embedment, demonic figurines cast in silver and posed for battle, the occasional taxidermist and his faux beasts, medicinal herbs, scrolls of unknown origin, and etcetera.
"We've been walking forever, nii-san! There is nothing else to do but look at weird things." Sasuke uttered an exceedingly drawn-out groan that Itachi took for the simple effect of melodrama. He gently cuffed his ear, to which Sasuke accepted with the promise of reproach in his eyes.
Itachi smiled. "Silly outoto, this isn't like the Spring Festival. There are no children's games here." He plucked two honeyed chicken skewers from a nearby vendor, handing one to Sasuke, whose eyes grew as wide as saucers.
"Ooh!" Sasuke exclaimed with delight, biting into the sweet meats and grilled vegetables. "Thank you, nii-san!" He eventually said in-between mouthfuls.
"You're welcome."
Basking in the warm glow of the lanterns, Itachi had nearly forgotten the cold that drove its autumnal winds through the layers of his parka. Such is life, he thought. The universe is hostile, so impersonal. Devour to survive. So it is, so it's always been.
The blast came in intervals of intensity, but Susano'o provided a cradle of protection that both absorbed and deflected the impact.
Inside its breast, Itachi lay cushioned by chakra, feeling as if he were but a child locked in his mother's loving embrace. The attack eventually dissipated and Itachi released himself from Susano'o. This is it. He will either drive a spade into my chest or will grant me the indignity of dying a slow, meticulous death.
Ash and debris cleared, revealing the solemn figure of Sasuke who loomed over the battlefield like a bird of prey. "You..."
"Disappointing." Itachi gathered the sagging contortions of his body to a standstill. "You lack prowess." He murmured, casting the bait.
"Bullish words! You're a walking corpse!" Sasuke leapt down, unsheathing his katana.
"I am sorry."
"Sorry?" Sasuke stood before him, incredulity and opposition bridging the distance between them. "You expect that I would salvage your pitiful life? Or what remains of it?"
"I am sorry for what you have become."
"Die!" Sasuke vaulted himself headlong at his brother with blade raised, but Itachi's Susano'o materialized in that instant and trapped Sasuke in its vice grip.
Itachi offered him a sad smile.
iii.
Sasuke.
Itachi stroked his sibling's hair, parting it away from his face as he slept. Sasuke's cheeks were tinged a rosy-pink and his skin clammy from the fever that had taken hold over the course of three days. Itachi furrowed his brows. It is a miracle that he is even sleeping at all.
"Musuko." The figure of his mother materialized in the doorway, her porcelain-white face etched with the lines brought about by worry.
"Hahaoya." Itachi slipped off of the bed, careful to not to wake his brother.
"He is sleeping. That is good."
Itachi nodded. "Rest will aid in his recovery."
"Yes..." His mother appeared comforted by the thought.
"Hahaoya, you must sleep too. I will stay here with Sasuke." Moonlight gleaned off of Itachi's eyes as he spoke, his own weariness enveloped by shadows.
"Ah, you are indeed a kind son."
Sasuke gritted his teeth, coming to terms with the futility of his squirming. "No, this cannot be!"
"You were always such an unbearably rash child..." Itachi rasped, the deep baritone of his voice cracking at the slightest exertion. "You have lived a life of darkness, robbing you of the tender heart you once possessed. Now, you are merely a vessel for your vices and maledictions. What do you hope to accomplish?"
"You spooned me this darkness in infancy! You molded my perception of this world! You robbed me of all those who were precious to me!" Sasuke spat. "I follow beneath the tutelage of hate, and you question the motive behind it? What are you trying to pull here? Kill me now if that was your intent!"
Eyes like plumes of smoke and ember fastened themselves around the raven-haired youth. "Precious outoto..." Itachi managed to say between labored breaths. It is either now or never. "I have loved you with entirety of my being."
"What?"
Susano'o unclenched its fist, freeing Sasuke, who retreated a safe distance away. Itachi could sense the catalyst as it broke his brother's composure, like black pearls secreted from the shattered remains of Pandora's box.
"What are you trying to say?" Sasuke demanded, a rising tone of desperation threatening to choke him. "Is this some kind of fucking ploy?" His stance took on that of an injured animal faced with the inevitability of its death. "Why are you doing this to me?"
iv.
The massive tapirid-like creature came reeling in through the undergrowth, its prehensile snout severing whatever stood in its path.
Unfortunately for it, Itachi was an opportunist, and tailed it for the greater portion of the hunt, arachnid grace granting him easy maneuverability between tree to tree.
She is beginning to tire. It had become apparent to Itachi as the tapir would squeal with magnifying distress and on occasion, pivot to face its marauder, only to whirl about the opposite direction and continue its frantic course.
Coming to a clearing, the tapir slowed and appeared to reconsider its direction of flight, but Itachi seized his chance and was immediately upon it, driving a iron stake through the skin of its nape.
The beast screamed.
Now. Itachi dispatched a volley of arrows, each hitting its individual marker along the length of its body. The tapir could only do so much. Collapsing, its cries rose several octaves before being vanquished by its pain.
Itachi leapt down beside the now subdued animal, brushing his hand against its side. You, it seemed say with a probing eye and venomous regards. A disgrace, it seemed to say as blood seeped from its quavering maw.
"Nii-san, is it..." Sasuke appeared behind his brother, dike in hand.
"She will not harm you."
Sasuke took a tentative step forward, turning to his brother for guidance.
Itachi traced a finger against the pulsating skin between its jaw and ear. "Here."
Sasuke inched himself closer, his hand which clutched the weapon visibly shaking. "I..." His knees swayed like tender saplings caught in a breeze. "I can..." He raised the dike. "I can do..."
The tapir bellowed: MISERABLE HUMANS, MAY THE GODS EXTRACT THE TOLL OF YOUR DOWNFALL—
Then came the blade and the beast gave up its life.
"N-nii..."
Itachi retracted his bloodied katana, his back turned to his brother. "It's okay, outoto. Maybe next time."
Itachi's knees gave way and he crumpled to the floor.
Sasuke looked on warily. "Answer me!"
"You are the product of my selfish decision..." Itachi gasped. "If only I could..."
"Could have what?"
"If only I could have been honest with you..." Itachi slicked back a wayward strand of hair. "I regarded your capabilities with cool indifference—refused you as my trustee, fearing the outcome would be disastrous..."
"Your confidant? In what matters?"
"The knowledge of the Uchiha, of my sacrifice..."
"Sacrifice?" Sasuke started towards him, his voice lacking the cruelty it did before.
Itachi could not answer. He sensed Susano'o ebbing away, as his own consciousness. Between the wax and wane of light and shadow, he could briefly make out his brother's figure standing before him. What will you do?
Outoto...
"It's much too late now, isn't it?"
Itachi felt the warmth of his brother's arms reach around his neck. It's much too late now. Whether it was a display of guilt or forgiveness, Itachi couldn't tell.
It's okay, outoto. Maybe next time.
Thank you for reading!