I do not own Naruto~
It was barely noticeable.
The way he had to blink twice to be able to see something right, or how he was constantly narrowing his eyes at things.
It wasn't a big deal.
A civilian wouldn't notice anything was wrong, just figure something got in there eye.
It didn't matter, he could still fight.
Until his eyes started seeing double, and figures were blurred behind recognition.
He was going blind.
And he couldn't stop it, or the virus rampaging through his bloodstream.
But he never tried.
"Leader-sama," Itachi called in his monotone voice. Kisame turned around at the mouth of the cave, waiting for him.
He had hope.
"Itachi-san, we need to book our hotel in the town quickly before it gets taken. If we sleep on the ground tonight, I'm holding a grudge."
He had heard of someone who might be able to fix the darkness creeping in around his field of vision.
"What is it, Itachi?" Pein replied coldly as his projection turned towards him. Itachi hesitated, knowing that if he went blind, he would be a burden to the organization. "You never hesitate. What happened?" he demanded.
"I'm going blind," he stated, low enough so Kisame wouldn't hear. Pein looked shocked for a moment, but quickly concealed it.
He had to get away from Akatsuki first.
"Since when?" he asked.
"Three years ago," Itachi replied in a cool voice.
"What's causing it?" Itachi grit his teeth.
"Mangekyo Sharigan." Pein narrowed his eyes.
"Then stop using it," he ordered.
It's not that simple.
"It's not that simple," Itachi forced out. "I'm already half blind." Pein glared a him.
"Why am I being told this now? And what am I supposed to do about it?"
"I'm sure you'd find it rather difficult to voice when you have a doujutsu," Itachi spoke low so he wouldn't growl out the sentence. "And I'm asking permission to go to the Rice Field Country." Pein rose an eyebrow in disgust.
"To Orochimaru?" he clarified. Itachi didn't bother to mask a grimace.
"There are other medics there other than the ones in Oto," Itachi reminded him in a voice that made him sound like he was talking to a four-year old.
"Watch your mouth," Pein barked.
"Yes, Leader-sama." Itachi nodded his head, his version of a bow, in apology. Pein glared at him.
"You have permission to go," he told him. "And I hope you get it fixed. If you become a burden to this organization, I'll have you disposed of."
Liar.
"Yes, Leader-sama." He nodded his head again and walked away. He heard Pein faze out from behind him.
"Damn, you of all people got Leader to yell at you?" Kisame snickered. "What did you do?"
"I'm going somewhere," Itachi stated. Kisame interpreted that as 'I am travelling far away and you're not coming.'
"Where you going?" he asked. "And what about the kyuubi?"
It didn't matter.
They will never get the kyuubi anyways.
Not with Konoha backing him up.
"I am not obliged to tell you, and we don't need the kyuubi quite yet." He kept his gaze ahead as they made their way to the nearest village to find a hotel. Kisame wisely stayed quiet after that.
Yukiko Chiasa.
She could help him.
"Watch my cloak," Itachi told Kisame as he tossed said object to him. They were lounging in their hotel room."I can't take it with me." Kisame looked down at the red and black cloak and rose an eyebrow up at his teammate.
"You're either going to Oto or infiltrating Konoha," Kisame stated. "We aren't known well enough in other countries for our cloaks to be recognizable. Since the latter is very unlikely, why are you going to Oto?"
"Please mind you're own business," Itachi said, though his words were threatening. Kisame sighed and layed back on his bed, tossing Itachi's cloak to the foot of the bed. Itachi threw on civilian clothes. and threw his weapons into a backpack he had bought earlier. Kisame scoffed, but didn't say anything.
"I'm leaving early," Itachi told him. Kisame heard the unspoken 'So don't try to attack me when you hear something moving at four a.m.'
"Right, right," he waved his hand indifferently. Itachi sat on his bed and took out some scrolls to look over before he went to sleep.
They burn.
He closed his eyelids tightly.
It's blurry.
Opening his eyes, Itachi winced.
It hurts.
He silently got up and shouldered his backpack before walked out of the room.
The streets were quiet, apart from the occasional drunk man stumbling down the road. An idiot even tried to rob Itachi, but he was taken care of easily. He was glad when he passed the village gates, into the forest where it was peaceful. He didn't run, or hurry at all in any way. He was in no rush to get back to Akatsuki, where he would most likely be sent on another killing mission. A scowl fell on his face at the thought.
I hate it.
He unconsciously let a bit of his chakra seep out, most likely scaring off any animal within a mile radius of him.
Those faces.
Frozen in horror and agony as he cut them down.
Why is that when he was going blind, he could remember the face of every person he killed with complete clarity?
Because you're heartless.
No.
He shook his head of the images and sighed before controlling his emotions and setting off again. He was on the northern border of the Fire country and Rain country, and guessed that it would take three days- well, four, if he wasn't going to hurry- to get to the border of Oto. Even then, he had to search through the villages to find the person he was looking for, and do it without attracting the attention of Orochimaru, and that would take an indefinite amount of days.
But he didn't have an indefinite amount of days.
He was dying. He didn't have the time to fix his past mistakes, or dwell on them for that matter.
But how he wished his life was so much simpler.
Okay! This is an experiment, so it's supposed to be short. Should I continue writing it? Review, you know you want to!
And that means YOU, Sempai and Nee-chan!(----Friends of mine)
Happy late Valentines day!