A/N: This story isn't intended to force my views of the afterlife on anyone. The afterlife is something that is different across every religion, but since there is no talk of religion in Naruto (Besides Jashin's!) I went with an approach that did not include a visible God. You can interpret what exists beyond the scope of this story on your own. I was inspired by a doujinshi of Tobi talking to a dead Deidara. I'm not sure where that doujinshi came from exactly. I'm trying to create my own doujinshi out of this storyline, and if I ever finish, I will post a link in my profile to it. I'm aware that Itachi might seem a bit ooc, but it's my belief that the stoic side of him was mostly just an act. ;)

Spoilers up to manga chapter 402! You've been warned!

"Uhhhhn." Black eyes opened slowly, almost painfully, adjusting to the new white light that surrounded him blindingly bright. "Where am I?" Itachi said out loud, knowing he was probably only speaking to himself. "Am I dead?"

He lay there for a few more moments, allowing his eyes to adjust to the light that really was too bright. Even his formerly superior eyes couldn't adjust immediately.

"That's right. I shouldn't be able to see anything," he whispered to himself. He knew that the last battle with his brother had drained him of everything he had, including his vision. He had barely been able to see the blurry form of Sasuke as he wobbled towards his younger brother, but even that sight had been fading fast. The last thing he remembered seeing before collapsing was Sasuke's astonished face. Itachi knew that his brother had heard his last words: "I'm sorry, Sasuke. There won't be a next time." Itachi closed his eyes again as he pondered what may have happened after that. He hoped that Sasuke had managed to walk away from that fight before Madara found him, but he knew that wasn't likely. He could only hope that the gift he had bestowed on Sasuke managed to kill Madara. That was also not likely. He frowned. Now that he was dead, he couldn't protect Sasuke anymore. He could only hope that his brother's strength, and strength of will, was enough.

Itachi tried opening his eyes again. This time the light didn't seem so blinding, and he sat up with a groan. A sharp pain shot through his head, and his right hand shot up to cradle his forehead. "Ugh… aren't headaches supposed to go away when you die?" he grumbled. Itachi heard a laugh from behind him and he glanced in that direction, still cradling his head.

"So, the stoic Uchiha can show pain, hmm?" the smirking visage of Deidara appeared. Ah. That's right. Deidara had died before he had. But what was he doing here, with him? "It's ironic that it's only in death though."

Itachi glared sharply at the blond. "Shut it," he mumbled. Deidara only grinned wider.

"So… Itachi…" he started with a devious look on his face. "Your little brother pwned you too huh?" Itachi felt his jaw drop, but he quickly schooled his face again. What the hell was Deidara doing provoking him?

"So maybe I let him. You ever think of that?" he intoned, letting himself show some annoyance.

"Touchy, hmm?" Deidara smiled. "I should be the touchy one. Considering I didn't get to off you myself."

"…What do you want, Deidara?" Itachi spat out.

"Want?" Deidara looked confused. "This isn't about what I want. I'm here because that's my punishment, hmm. To look after you when you get here."

That surprised Itachi. Deidara had to be here? And where was here anyway? Deidara noted his changing expression.

"I can see what you're thinking. No, we aren't in Hell… I don't think there is an actual place called Hell beyond what all the living imagine. But we aren't in Heaven either," Deidara trailed off, letting his eyes grow unfocused. "I'm not even sure what compels me to be here, except for the fact that I knew I had to be." His eyes snapped back towards Itachi's. "I have a feeling I can't find my heaven without finishing this animosity between us. A shame, because I like picking on you." He grinned again.

"So where are we then?" Itachi asked quietly. Deidara's eyes unfocused again. He looked like he was deep in thought.

"Well… I'm not entirely sure, because I haven't met anyone else yet to ask, hmm. All I know is what I get through feelings. But I think this is a halfway point. I have a feeling we need to resolve conflicted emotions before we can move any farther." Deidara trailed off.

"Conflicted emotions?"

"Yeah. For example, I've already worked through some of the stuff that made me a missing-nin in the first place. I'm almost ready to find my heaven, except for the fact that I am still partially earthbound by my resentment for you. So this is one of the things I must do, to help you now when I wouldn't have in life."

Itachi's eyes widened. He didn't expect that. Deidara couldn't move on because of him? He gave a huff of a laugh. He wondered idly why he himself couldn't move on. He wasn't an evil person, not really. His loyalty to Konoha proved that. He gave up everything for them, and was keeping an eye on Akatsuki from the inside for them. But it wasn't really entirely for them, was it? It was also for his brother.

"Sasuke," he said quietly. Yes, that was why he couldn't move on. He could literally feel the strong ties that bound him to his former life, to the only family he had left.

The only family he could not kill.

Deidara looked curiously at Itachi. So… the little brother was the reason the Uchiha was still here, rather than moving on to his heaven?

"Itachi… I know from being here that you weren't who you said you were when we were in Akatsuki," Deidara said softly. "And while that makes me angry that you brought me into that damned organization while not even believing in it yourself, I also know that's not why you haven't moved on. You're here because you're still bound by your brotherly love, hmm?"

Itachi let the corners of his mouth tilt up slightly as he remembered.

"Hmm." He acknowledged. It was true. He had steeled himself against the fact that his life would never be the same once he performed the mission given to him by the elders of Konoha. He hadn't thought too much about it, actually. It had hurt to kill his family, but it had been necessary for the safety of the village he had loved. The only thing that he regretted, though, was the fact that he could not protect his brother from the realities of the world. He had protected his brother from Konoha, from Orochimaru, from Akatsuki. But he could not protect him from the growing darkness of his heart. In fact, he had encouraged it at the time because he had needed Sasuke to kill him, for his place to be assured back in Konoha as a hero. He didn't need anyone finding out about the Uchiha family's almost-rebellion and labeling Sasuke negatively. For his own sake and for Sasuke's, he'd needed the Uchiha family to be revived and restored to its former state of glory. He smiled bitterly. There were a lot of things he would have done differently if he had the chance. But the circumstances hadn't been better, and the relationship between himself and Sasuke had been damaged beyond repair. He kept his eyes trained downwards for a long time, thinking, and when he next looked up his surroundings had changed.

"Is this your old home in Konoha, Itachi?" Deidara asked curiously. Itachi looked surprised. The previous location of endless white void had faded, and now he was standing in a replica of his old home. There was no familiar bustle of many Uchiha, but he credited that to the fact that his family had moved on to their own heavens. He nodded once in answer to Deidara's question. This compound was identical to the one he had left as a young teenager, except for all of the blood and bodies. It was as if the massacre had never happened, as if all the Uchiha had just picked up and left. It was quiet, but he could hear the soft rustling of the wind in the leaves in the surrounding trees. He closed his eyes and let the wind rush over him. It felt good to be back here, and yet… he wished he could see his family. Especially Sasuke and their mother. He wished he could be back in the real compound before all this happened, to feel as innocent as he had once been before all the plots, all the deception.

"Nii-san?" A small childish voice asked in the distance. Itachi's eyes widened before he spun around to face the noise. "It is you. I've been waiting for a long time." A small black blur shot towards Itachi and latched on in a tight hug. It couldn't be. Sasuke wasn't dead yet, and yet why was this younger version of his brother here?

"What's going on?" Itachi looked towards Deidara with a confused expression. Deidara looked equally surprised.

"Hmm. Maybe it's a part of the lesson you need to learn before you can move on," replied the blond, although his eyebrows were still furrowed in confusion.

"It can't really be Sasuke, can it?" Itachi wondered.

"Don't ask me, ask him. Maybe he knows what he is, hmm."

There might be something to that. Itachi returned his gaze to the young boy with a tight grip on him. Sasuke was nuzzling into the front of his shirt, and he looked deliriously happy. Itachi knew this couldn't be the real Sasuke, and yet he couldn't help the warm feeling that swelled his heart. He shot a soft smile down at the young boy. This Sasuke looked like the one he had known just before the massacre. He even had that same sweet, happy personality that he had before the darkness overwhelmed him. Before he knew it, his arms had snaked around his brother's shoulders, returning the embrace.

"Nii-san, I was so lonely! I've been here all alone for a very long time, and I thought you'd never come!" came the petulant voice of the younger Uchiha. Itachi loosened the embrace and knelt down until he was eye level with Sasuke.

"I'm sorry I was late," he whispered back. Sasuke grinned.

"It's all right, nii-san, because you're here now."

Itachi just looked at his younger brother with a soft smile on his face, just drinking in his appearance. So what if this was just some sort of illusion? This is what he wanted, to have his brother look at him with the same love they used to share, at least one more time.

"Listen to me very carefully, Sasuke," Itachi began, as his brother nodded solemnly. "I don't want to frighten you, but I'm dead. I'm dead and you're not. So I'm not sure why I'm seeing you now." There was a long silence, and Itachi almost expected his brother to disappear into thin air after that. Then came a soft chuckle from Sasuke.

"I know that you're dead, nii-san, and I know that I'm dead as well." Itachi was shocked.

"What?"

"Not in the way you think though…" Sasuke looked down at his feet. "The real me is alive… I can feel the rest of my energy out there somewhere. This is… this is the innocent me, the younger brother you used to know before all this happened. This part of me died with the rest of the family."

More silence. Itachi had a pained expression on his face as did Sasuke. Itachi suddenly wished he hadn't said anything, wished that he could have just enjoyed the experience of seeing Sasuke again. He lowered his head as he felt the first pricklings of something he hadn't experienced in a long time. Tears. They filled his eyes and spilled over, leaving wet tracks down his face. Sasuke stayed silent, but he was aware of the emotional turmoil Itachi was going through. Concern filled him as he watched the older Uchiha.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Sasuke." Itachi's broken voice filtered up from behind the hair covering his lowered face. Abruptly, he tugged his brother closer to him and held him in a tight embrace. He never wanted to let go again. Regret filled him, and he swallowed, trying in vain to lessen the painful lump in his throat.

"I-if… if I could change anything, I never would have hurt you, Sasuke," he gasped out, hating the weakness evident in his voice but doing nothing to cover it. Sasuke deserved more from him. "But if this is really part of your soul, and you really are dead, then why didn't you go your heaven with our family?"

Sasuke was still looking down at his feet as he replied.

"Because this is my heaven, nii-san. This is where I feel the closest to you."

Itachi broke down completely.

Deidara watched the pair for a long time, watching as they both received closure. He almost felt the urge to say something petty at Itachi about showing emotions, but something inside of him prevented that. Who's to say he wouldn't act that emotional when he finally met the family he had himself betrayed. His loved ones. He wondered idly when he could go to see them. He was lost in thought for so long that he didn't notice Itachi and Sasuke come up to him, hand in hand. Sasuke was smiling, and Itachi had the ghost of a smile as well. Something in his eyes still looked broken though.

"So, Itachi. Have you resolved what you needed to in order to move on?" Deidara glanced sideways at his old comrade. Itachi replied with a shake of his head.

"I feel like I've resolved part of it. I wish I could have done more to change what happened. Maybe I couldn't have done anything at all. But… I need to be here when the rest of Sasuke's soul dies… I need to be the one to help him reach his heaven. He'll need the help if this part of him no longer exists within him," he said, gesturing at Sasuke. Itachi smiled wider, and this time it reached his eyes. "So I guess… thank you for meeting me here. I'm sorry for whatever pain I've caused you as well, Deidara."

Deidara looked surprised at first, then his trademark wide grin crossed his face, but this time it wasn't a sarcastic smile. It was genuine.

"I'm no saint. I deserved a lot of what I got, hmm. But… I appreciate you saying that." Deidara inwardly winced when he realized he couldn't antagonize Itachi anymore without feeling guilty. But that was the price of salvation, right? His smile was smaller now, but no less genuine as he watched Itachi return his attention to his little brother.

"Come on, Sasuke. Let's go practice. I'll teach you more about throwing kunai."

As they faded away, Deidara's world returned to the white glow of the void he had been in for a long time after his own death. He inwardly felt like he didn't have anything left that was holding him back.

"I hope I can see my family soon. I don't want to feel alone anymore," he whispered quietly to himself. Almost as soon as he said it, from behind him the glowing white light became more intense. He spun around to face it, and his eyes and smile widened as recognition of his loved ones dawned on his face.

"It's time to come home, Deidara."