He couldn't even deny, and say that he never thought things would get this bad.
Things had grown ever more complex in the realms of the constant fight between the Uchiha clan and Konoha as a village. It was more than he could properly process and here – on the edge of a nameless cliff, overlooking the river that passed by the village, a nameless shinobi had plunged to his death in the hopes that the fight would take a few days longer to come to a catastrophic end.
Until the day he too, died, he would carry the burden of a love they should never have allowed themselves. It was the very same love that had placed a strain on his ability to think straight. The only positive outcome from their friendship turned love affair was that there was no one side to cast the blame for this result. It was his own fault, that he'd allowed himself to accept his feelings for Shisui as his own, that he'd allowed himself to experience the pleasure of being part of a couple that completed one another. It had been a raw, intense, overwhelming thing and he was feeling just how deeply the loss of another could cut.
To place blame on anyone else would be to tip the scale in either organisation's favour and his decision would be made for him.
Right now, here, alone and unable to sense the chakra he'd become so familiar with, he had brief freedom to mourn the death of his best friend, his lover, his other half.
A sob cut through the quiet of the forest around him as he dropped to his knees. The sound prompted a mass exodus of crows from the treetops, each crying out as if they felt the intense pain from the young man as if it were each bird's own.
Tears barely welled before they fell, unrelenting as they dropped down each pale cheek. If the way his fists balled and crushed up against the jagged rocks beneath him caused pain it was nothing in comparison to the ache he felt in all parts of his body. As if every bone had been shattered by a single, devastating blow.
Kneeling, on what felt like the edge of the world, Itachi allowed himself to grieve. As if nature grieved with him, the loss of a man whose sense of duty and love for his clan drove him to such selflessness, the crows above continued their circling. Their chorus refused to subside until the sobs beneath them grew silent.
Eventually he'd bent forward far enough to press freshly grazed palms against his face, as if the simple act could cut out the world which had witnessed his distress. As if by gasping for a breath, deep, long, determined; he could reel it all back in. By wiping the blood and tears from his face he could brush aside the memory of this singular moment.
The cuts, grazing and bruises could be explained by a disagreement with rogue nin.
This was their last resort. This was their answer to the push-pull of power and control that both sides of their beloved struggled for. This was their lone chapter in a book authored by leaders who held the strings of their life.
Shisui, in his last act of self, had shown him the answer. It wasn't the answer either of them sought, but with the pure emotion released from his heart - he could see the way that had been paved for him with as much clarity as he saw the choice he had to make. The route wasn't simple. Overgrown, dark and ragged – with room enough for only one.
Out of love he would keep moving forward.
