"…And no matter what you do from here on out, know this… I will love you always."
Everything felt lighter. But how was that possible? How was he feeling anything?
He should be dead.
That was when he looked down and realized he was in a tiny body. It was his 5 year old self. He looked at his petite hands and moved his fingers around, trying to wrap his head around this situation. None of it made any sense.
It had to be Limbo.
He looked up at that realization to find another little boy standing directly in front of him.
"Itachi."
His eyes widened. How did he know his name? He seemed strangely familiar, and he even felt safe around him. Itachi was a cautious man, so this was unsettling.
"Who are you?"
The boy smiled a little sadly. "I can't believe you don't remember me."
"Are you God?" A stupid question.
The boy giggled. "If I were things would have turned out much differently."
Itachi frowned. "All I remember is that I died.. I remember Sasuke and... a great deal of pain. I can't remember where it's from…"
The boy stepped a little closer. "Are you sure you don't remember anything else? You were never the type to forget things easily."
He started to become wary. He had a feeling that if he got any closer to this boy, he would remember things he wouldn't want to. He felt that this amnesia was some sort of mercy.
"You shouldn't come near me."
"But I love you."
His eyes widened again, this time in utter disbelief. "I'm a horrible person. How can you love me?"
The boy tilted his head playfully. "How can you say you're a horrible person when you don't remember a thing?" He drew closer.
Itachi shook his head. "Don't-" Flashes of corpses and his little brother sobbing hit him all at once, causing him to stumble and nearly fall to his knees. "What-" A major wave of guilt and grief crashed into him, drowning him in so many memories he had tried to suppress.
"Itachi." The boy was about to embrace him when Itachi uttered his name.
"Shisui…" The tears refused to be caged any longer, and despite his efforts, they fell when he felt the boy's arms around him.
He grabbed the back of Shisui's shirt and began to bawl, like a child who's sprained his knee holding onto his older brother. All his years of containing his emotions and waiting to finally be punished for his crimes were over, and he could let it all go now without consequence.
Shisui tugged softly at Itachi's ponytail like he always did back then. "It's over, you don't have to be in pain anymore."
He didn't reply. He physically couldn't, his throat felt too tight from crying that just muttering his name was too painful. All he could do for now was whimper and snivel until he calmed down.
"It must have been so hard…" The boy continued, "I got the easy route, while you had to do the rest all by yourself."
Itachi slowly shook his head with his eyes shut tight, trying to hold back the rest of his tears. They just kept building up. The easy route? Sacrificing your life was the easy route for them? "You helped… a lot. I'm sorry I couldn't save you." It was one of his biggest regrets.
Shisui closed his eyes. "You know it would have been worse if I'd lived that time. I just wish you could have had a life of your own."
A life of his own? That was impossible. Itachi didn't even know what that meant. Even if everything could have been prevented, what did it mean to live his own life?
"And that's the saddest part," He interrupted Itachi's thoughts. "You can't even imagine a scenario where you're happy." He had read his mind.
"I'm sorry." It was all he could muster.
"Don't be sorry!" He held his shoulders and gave him the warmest of all smiles. "You did so good."
Itachi stared at him with misty eyes. "Good…?"
Shisui nodded gleefully and gave him a pat in the back that was a little too rough. "And now we have all the time in the world to live how we want!"
Before he could reply, Shisui took him by the hand and started toward the other direction. "They're all waiting for you…"
A bit of anxiety but another feeling he couldn't described overwhelmed him. Eagerness?
"Are you ready?"
To calm down, Itachi focused on the hand holding his. It was a bit bigger, stronger. Shisui was older, after all. But most of all, it was just pure warmth. Everything about Shisui was just… warm.
Like the sun.
Itachi gave him a faint smile. He had forgotten just how much he missed his best friend, his hero, his everything. He squeezed his hand.
The boy grinned. "I'll take that as a yes."
He wondered where they were going, but if it was the same place as everyone else, he was alright with it. Maybe he was forgiven.
They began towards a soft white light emanating from their direction.
Itachi opened his mouth as they were about to be enveloped by the light. When they were nearly there, he whispered just before they disappeared.
"Shisui… Thank you."