Kaleidoscope by Santeira
Summary: Shisui summons Itachi to the bridge of Nakano River.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
***
"This is a time, where you must choose your side."
Shunshin no Shisui was standing on the Bridge of Nakano River, resting his back and supporting both elbows against the guardrail. He was tall and built, his short wavy hair was fluttering in the wind.
"This can still be prevented, Shisui-san. We don't have to comply with what the clan wants us to do. There's still hope," Itachi's voice was silky and deep, it reminded Shisui of the water that was coursing under them.
"Hope? "
Shisui chuckled bleakly.
"Naïve, little Itachi. And they told me you were the genius of the clan."
"You said that as if you detested it," Itachi replied, there was a faint hint of sadness in his eyes, and Shisui saw it.
"Whether I detest it or not does not matter," he retorted, resolving, "I care about you. You're the closest to a brother I've ever had. But if you're going to side with Konoha…I'm telling you… I won't hesitate severing our bond."
The words were lost in the airy space between them, as the younger man looked up at the crows that were flying above them before looking back at his senior.
"Shisui-san. I'll tell you the truth too. The Assasination Squad issued me an order—"
"To kill me…I presume?"
The silence was getting stronger between the two. Shisui never turned his eyes from the younger man, curious of what he would do.
"I don't want to do it," Itachi admitted, and Shisui smiled faintly.
"I'm surprised you don't want to…considering what Uchiha Madara told you…" Shisui raised his elbows from the guardrail, and walked two steps past Itachi.
"Don't think I don't know…Itachi…who your instructor is…." He added, watching, as the brimming spring waters swirled against the rocks, escaping into the valleys beyond the mountain.
"I knew you've been following me…"
"You can't blame me for being curious. You spent too much of your time in the forest and near the river. Anyone would have wondered…" Shisui paused, as if contemplating his words, "anyway, the police—our kinsmen—asked me to keep tabs on you. I know pretty well what you've been doing, who you've met…"
"Leave her out of it."
"Hey, there's no need to snap. I'll get straight to the point. I called you here to ask you to come back to the clan. Do what you're supposed to do, and aid our clan in claiming what is rightfully ours."
Itachi's thoughts raced in his mind, but he did not respond, until a full minute.
"Is that all, Shisui-san?"
"It depends…"
Shisui's voice was too calm for comfort.
"I believe an understanding can be achieved, between Konoha and our clan," the young man said calmly, only the barest indication of stubbornness in his voice.
"You really believe that, huh?"
"I believe this conversation has reached a conclusion."
It was at this point that Shisui's body flickered in front of Itachi, and the man stabbed a Kunai into latter's chest. The ANBU captain looked up at Shisui's unreadable face.
"It's not over, Itachi. It isn't just the conversation," Shisui said, as he grinded the Kunai deeper, eliciting more and more blood.
"You wanted to kill me from the start," Itachi said, his voice was weirdly composed, when the red liquid also pooled inside his mouth and dripped out to mar his chin.
"I don't want to do it too," he replied, and Itachi could almost see the pain in his eyes, "but that scripture…"
"I see, Shisui-san," Itachi said, as he tried to inhale, it was becoming clear to him, "you want the Mangekyou Sharingan…"
"So I can aid the clan, Itachi. Everything I do…is only for the clan. "
The clan, the word rang in Itachi's head, branding on his skin and etching in his brain.
"I'm sorry," Shisui said, pushing Itachi to the edge of the bridge, and watched as the younger man fall over the guardrail into the Nakano River with a splash.
The dusk was calm. Crows were cawing beyond the trees beside the river, and he was alone on the bridge.
The normality of the situation was strangely unusual.
Coldness.
Shisui began to feel it--water entering his mouth and his lung.
'This…can't be…' he choked, as he fell on his knees on the wooden bridge.
This calmness, and battle with himself: it could only mean one thing.
"Itachi…." he gasped the boy's name in an illusion. He tried to swim in the unseen water around him to no avail, and ended up placing his palm against his chest in a vain attempt to soothe the agony.
His lungs were breaking, bloating--he knew it. Was this pain what he wanted to inflict on Itachi mere seconds before?
Brother.
He coughed.
Best friend.
He curled himself on the bridge. It was only too late when Shisui found himself sinking inside the water of Nakano River--his face lightly slapped by the liquid like soft hands--his sight filtering through the glossy surface above him. Itachi's shadow—like a phantom--towered beside the guardrail of the Nakano River's bridge, and the sky was strikingly golden beyond his figure.
Shisui admired what he saw.
His field of vision was becoming unclear and he was coughing blood in the water, but in the middle of Itachi's ruby-red eyes--Shisui thought he saw the three Tomoe enlarge to the shape of Kaleidoscope.
***
END