I had always been odd.

I needed reassuring in the oddest ways.

I still do.

"Itachi?" I called out, clutching to him as he read. He looked up at me and his eyes glittered with worry "Yes, Emiko?" I looked up and spoke unsurely, terrified at my question

"Would you hate me if I killed you?" I suppose all these disturbing yet dire questions might make me crazy but I needed the reassurance.

He nodded "No, of course not." I nodded and pursed my lips, making Itachi stare at me. Gods, I loved him, everything about him… it made me crazy.

But it didn't matter… my world evolved around him "You're saying you would love me no matter what? Even if me or even you for the matter did something terrible and inexcusable?"

Itachi's eyes darkened for a brief moment and pressed his lips against my forehead "Yes, I'd love you no matter what you'd do." My eyes watered and I hugged him tighter, pressing my cheek against his "I love you Itachi." "I love you Emiko."

I guess I realize now why I needed the reassurance. I always knew that something would go wrong. There was always a gruesome unwanted thought plaguing the back of my mind.

I always knew something was off… but my world had evolved around him… I knew everything about him. The way he smelled, acted, how his eyes flashed whenever he felt an intense emotion.

But I never really knew him… he had always lived such a tangled existence… caught between the threads of duty and love… caught in the web of fate and destiny… and I never even saw it.

So when he left… I always figured he would come back… that he would once again listen to my sickening yet important questions… that he would answer them with a kiss to my forehead and a sparkle in his eye.

But now… now that he's gone. I realized that I let my soul be devoured by a life of fantasy and ignorance. I purposely ignored the understanding of where the situation would lead and lived for the moment.

The questions came from the part of my mind that realized with disturbing clarity where Itachi was leading… the path that fate had laid out for him.

Itachi realized this too and took my insecurity with humor… I guess a part of him really did care for me.

But now that he's dead and my epiphany has become crystal clear… I have only one more question for him.

Would you still love me in death?