4/17/13—if you guys want a really flipping awesome explanation for Itachi's sickness, there's a link on our profile.

Edited version-read A/N at bottom.

Invincible

The day the invincible died started out normal enough, but ended in a way that no one could have ever expected.

In•vin•ci•ble adj. Incapable of being conquered or defeated; unconquerable.

It was a Monday, and it was the beginning of both a new week, and the end of the one life that deserved happiness the most, but got only sorrow and pain. It was Monday, and the day that everything changed.

Deidara woke with a smile on his face. The sun was shining, though he couldn't see it, and Tobi hadn't managed to find this base yet. All was well in the world, and Deidara had no reason to not smile. Well, except for one, but Itachi hadn't crossed his mind yet today, so he didn't really count. Deidara woke up with a smile on his face, and it didn't leave him for another hour yet.

Later, as he walked to breakfast, Deidara had a sudden feeling that something big would happen today, but his stomach growled and it was gone. In all fairness, the blonde was a teenager still, and teenagers never really payed any attention to their instinctual warning signs. So, it was completely natural for the young man to ignore the warning bells telling him to turn back.

When the young bomber reached the kitchen and saw that the object of his hatred was there already, his smile vanished, and was replaced by an ugly scowl. ' Today's the day I wipe that confidant smirk off his face!' As Deidara thought this, he conveniently ignored the fact that in all the time he had known him, the Uchiha had yet to smirk in the exact way Deidara accused him of. Deep in his thoughts of revenge, Deidara never noticed that Itachi was much paler today, and looked almost sickly. That obliviousness was the beginning of the end for everything Deidara had ever known and believed to be true.

As he ate, Deidara just happened to glace up at the man that he was (unfortunately, in his eyes) sitting across from. With a small amount of satisfaction, the blonde noted that since he had sat down, Itachi had grown paler and sicker looking, and now had a barely perceptible look of discomfort on his thin face. However, what Deidara didn't notice was that he could read Itachi much better than most, as a result of his almost obsessive hatred of the Uchiha. The young terrorist went back to his food, and didn't think anything of his observations until much later, just as he was about to leave the table.

The next sign that something was wrong with that day was Itachi's odd lack of appetite; he simply pushed his food around his plate, while he normally ate quite a lot for such a thin man. This went unnoticed by all but an unusually quiet Kisame, who was the first to react to what happened next.

Nobody could have predicted what happened next, and perhaps that was why they all froze when he started coughing. Properly justified, it was the Uchiha Itachi who had just started coughing violently, the coughs tearing through his thin body. No one could have predicted it, and that was why they all froze; that was until he started choking.

Before then, he had only one hand to his mouth, the other leaving marks in the table he was gripping desperately. Now, he brought both hands to his mouth, choking, unable to draw breath through the coughs. When his hands were suddenly stained red, it was like a call to action; about half of them winced, and everyone started talking and moving at once. Kisame jumped up and ran off down one of the various halls; Hidan started whining about wanting to know what was wrong with the 'Uchiha-Fucker' ; Konan got up and began ordering the others around, and everyone else just started yelling. In all this confusion, no one noticed that Deidara hadn't moved, or said anything; he just sat there, shell-shocked.

In the end, Itachi was taken to the rarely-used infirmary, despite his gasped protests that, 'he wasn't worth it'. Pretty much everyone ended up either going with him, or leaving for whatever mission they had planned for the day. In the end, everyone but Kakuzu and Deidara left the kitchen, the latter still sitting in his chair completely shocked, while Kakuzu leaned against the counter and sipped a coffee.

"You never really thought anything could ever touch him, did you?" This was what Kakuzu asked Deidara after a long silence. "He was such a constant-nobody ever really thought he would ever stop being Itachi. He was just there, always there".

" Yeah, I guess I did think that. Even though I fantasied about killing him, I never really thought I would. It's like you said, he was-no, is constant, hmm". They stayed there in silence until Kakuzu got up, saying something about his record books before leaving. And he was right, in a way; nobody thought that anything would ever happen to Itachi, he was just too untouchable, too there.

In and out of the day, Deidara avoided all thought of Itachi, while said Uchiha's condition became steadily worse, to the point where he had to be put on a respirator. That night, long after the sun had set, Deidara finally made his way to the infirmary, where he steeled himself before entering. Nothing, however could have prepared him for the sight of Itachi smiling, barely noticeable, but definitely there. As Deidara approached the bed, Itachi called out to him, surprising the blonde with an unlikely request.

The last wishes of Uchiha Itachi were something that Deidara never expected to hear, so when he was asked a favor by the obviously dying man, he nearly declined. "Deidara-san? Could you do something for me? I know you hate me, but I'm dying, and no one else is here." Itachi said all this in a terribly matter-of fact way, startling the blonde.

"O-of course I-Itachi-san, hmm!"

"Thank you, Deidara-san, for letting me trouble you like this." Quite uncharacteristically for the man, Itachi said this with a smile, a sad, resigned-to-fate smile. "What is it you need, Itachi-san?"

For three long hours after he spoke with Deidara, Itachi clung to life. He was a strong man, but in the end the disease eating away at him won, and he began to slip away. By then most of the Akatsuki, meaning everyone except Pein and Zetsu, were gathered in the infirmary, waiting for the inevitable. Though Itachi, and many of his fellow Akatsuki members didn't know it, nobody in the organization could bring themselves to really hate him. Sure, they could convince themselves and others that they did, but it wasn't a genuine hatred; because he had no visible flaws, and how can you hate someone who seems perfect?

When Uchiha Itachi was close to death, he began to speak, slow, and with shuddering breaths, but still, he began to speak. "You know, I never wanted to be a Shinobi, but as the clan heir, I had to. There was no choice about it, and I suspect that the expectations were higher than most, it was the Uchiha Clan after all..." This brought nothing but silence to the Akatsuki, and Itachi laughed, and told them yet again that they shouldn't be wasting their time on him, that he wasn't worth it. Konan spoke up then, telling Itachi in her quiet, yet powerful voice that they wouldn't leave until he was gone, to which the young Uchiha replied that " I'd better hurry up then, wouldn't want to waste any of your time, you can understand that, can't you, Sasori-san?" Even as Uchiha Itachi died, he insisted that no one bothered themselves with him, but it was in vain, for how could anyone leave someone to die alone after they said something like that? Nobody could, and Itachi knew that, but he still continued insisting that they 'stop wasting their time'.

Several minutes before the end, Itachi's eyes widened suddenly, one hand grasping at his chest, the other tightly clutching the bed sheets, as he writhed in pain. Konan and Sasori, the only two with any significant knowledge of Iryou Ninjutsu, rushed to make heads or tails of what was wrong with the Uchiha, while everyone else murmured in shock, not knowing what was happening. Kakuzu, however, simply shook his head and sighed, he knew a heart attack when he saw one, and what with his current condition, the poor kid wouldn't be able to survive much more than a few more minutes now. The blood flowing from his mouth doubled, and his breathing grew impossibly shallower, and everyone knew that this was it; and he was dying. At that moment, nearly the exact same thought passed through the heads of nearly everyone present, but no one commented on it. 'Poor kid...no matter what he did, nobody deserves a death like this...' In the end, everybody cared, though nobody showed it.

As the young man closed his eyes for the last time, he smiled and murmured something that shocked everyone. Something that no one was expecting, but, when they thought about it, didn't really surprise them, because Itachi was too good for that. "I was manipulated...but who cares...I'm not worth it...and now, I can finally...rest." After the young Uchiha spoke those final words, he let out one last breath, and he seemed almost at peace, but you never can tell. Maybe they had just imagined those last, whispered words, in a voice so raspy that one had trouble distinguishing it from the breath. Yes, that was probably what had happened, and it was the same Itachi they had always known and feared. Just the same.

At precisely 9:57 that night, Uchiha Itachi left the world of the living, blood flowing freely from the corners of his mouth, and cold sweat gathered on his brow. In life he had been near emotionless, and yet now, in death, he was filled with more emotion than anyone could ever remember him showing since he had joined Akatsuki all those years ago. At precisely 9:57 that night, Uchiha Itachi left the world of the living, a beautiful smile on his face.

He was buried in a shallow grave on a peaceful hillside, facing the sunset, with an ancient tree above him. Surprisingly enough, Tobi had showed up the day after his death, oddly quiet, and asking to be left alone with the body to pay his respects. He vanished right after the funeral, literally disappearing into thin air. Not a very surprising act for a ninja, but Tobi was Tobi, and Tobi wasn't seen as a very competent Shinobi. When a bouquet of white lilies turned up on Itachi's grave, Deidara realized that Tobi had somehow known the Uchiha, enough to put flowers on his grave, it seemed.

When the sun set the next day, it saw Deidara at Itachi's grave, fiddling with a kunai while standing in an awkward silence. He sighed, and turned to leave, beginning to speak as he did so. "Kakuzu was right about me, un. I thought you were unbeatable. I guess I was wrong, ne, Itachi-san? No one's invincible."

The day the invincible died started out normal enough, but ended in a way that no one could have ever expected.

Aaaaand, that's a wrap! I am personally pretty proud of this story, even if a bunch if dumbasses out there hated it. Oh well, flames only get me worked up, cause I'm a fucking pyro, un! Burn on, Bitches! ...ehm...off topic...well, this is the edited version, taken out of 20 truths format, because some ass went and reported it. Jerk. Well, hope ya like it! XD

—peace out yall,

Tashika

P.S. - as for the "how can you hate someone who seems perfect?" thing, yeah, it's a little illogical, but the plot bunny demanded it, and it is possible, just not in the way you think. First-there are many reasons for Itachi to be hated, but he acts in such a way that contradicts those reasons enough to make him seem perfect, at least in the eyes of a bunch of criminals. Secondly-he's Itachi, and this is fan fiction. Things don't have to make sense. Bye bye, have a beautiful night!