Tears of Regret, a naruto fanfic

Tears of Regret

By alolha123

Edited 8-14-08.

He is dead—

No.

Scratch that.

He is alive—

No.

That doesn't sound right, either.

He is dead—

And alive.

Contrary to theory, Orochimaru's consciousness had simply taken over his body, not his mind. His mind is currently floating in the furthest of the hebi's mind.

Not the most ideal place to be.

He curses under his breath. How could I be so stupid? He wonders.

Of course Orochimaru wasn't going to let me kill Itachi.

He had no intention of ever doing so.

I should've guessed he had a grudge against that man and wanted the revenge for himself.

I have been nothing but a new body for him. Simply a new vessel. Now I have nothing. I am nothing. I am simply a mind taken over by the sannin, just like those many others who 'died.'

Sasuke can hear the sannin's echoing laughter—

And curses again.

Kisame gives a nervous glance at his partner. Though Itachi has never been a talkative person, it is rare for him to be silent for this long.

And another thing—Itachi's eyes are even more distant than usual. They are glazed, and truly it seemed as if the Uchiha is more dead that alive.

But the swordsman knows better than to ask, fearful for his life.

So the pair continues on, Kisame blabbering about whatever he can think of, and Itachi barely paying attention.

Suddenly:

"Kisame?"

"Hai?"

"Shut up."

"…Hai…"

Itachi rubs his neck absentmindedly, and Kisame grins. He knows his partner far too well.

"Thinking about your otouto, Itachi-san?" he teases.

The Uchiha freezes, his gaze darkening. "No," he says finally after a few tense moments, and begins walking again.

Kisame shakes his head in disbelief.

He knows his partner enough to know the ex-ANBU is lying.

Those faces… Those cries…

Sasuke watches silently from Orochimaru's mind.

He can see, but cannot act.

He feels weak.

You are weak, a voice in the back of his head jeers. You are nothing. You have become my slave. You are nothing.

It is a rare feeling for him, this helplessness; Sasuke hasn't felt it since he met Orochimaru for the first time, in the Forest of Death.

Ironic, now that he is finally taken by the hebi, he is feeling it again.

It eats at his soul, his consciousness—

That—

Feeling—

Sasuke hates it.

It is the same feeling he'd felt when… it happened. It's hard to breathe in here; it's as if he's breathing some thick gas and can't get it out of his lungs. It suffocates him; fills his lungs; and wretches at his chest. It hurts so badly - !

Old memories are better left behind doors.

"Please don't hurt me!"

Itachi raises the wakizashi in preparation to kill.

"I can pay you, if you want!"

His Sharingan gleams with cruelty.

"I have family!"

The hand freezes.

His eyes widen.

Silence.

Then, after the longest time, the Sharingan pupils narrow.

"You are truly pitiful, trying to snag mercy through both bribery and emotional appeal. But you should know that true ninja have no emotions." Itachi grips the wakizashi again.

Two decisive slashes across the neck finish the pleading man off. The last victim has been killed.

Itachi and Kisame begin to walk away from the multiple corpses they'd left behind, acting as if they weren't the ones who had done it.

"You know," Kisame starts, "I was beginning to wonder whether you'd kill that man or not."

No reply.

"Guess you do care about the prospect of family, after all?"

Again, no reply—only a tightened expression.

Mentally, the swordsman laughs.

He is right.

It is something out of Sasuke's nightmares.

No, worse.

Something that has evolved out of one of his worst nightmares.

"Sasuke-teme!"

Naruto.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura.

The two other members of Team 7.

Can they see me?

Do they know I'm here?

Once upon a time, Team 7 was formed.

Once upon a time, Team 7 held bonds.

Once upon a time, Team 7 was whole.

But—

Once upon a time, Team 7 was broken.

And chaos followed thereafter.

Sasuke can only watch as Orochimaru fights Sakura and wins, kicking her lifeless body into a ditch. Her naturally pink hair is strewn around, bloody and ragged.

A tear slides down the ghost Sasuke's cheek.

Shinobi Rule 25…

But it is a futile attempt.

Sasuke can only watch as Orochimaru tempts the Kyuubi's power from Naruto, then absorbs the chakra as his own through another horrible process he's completed.

Naruto is doomed, and Sasuke knows it.

He can only watch as Orochimaru thrusts his hand through the dobe's chest, using his jutsu.

Chidori.

The attack that had killed Naruto last time.

Only, there was no Kyuubi to heal the blond this time.

Another tear.

He had really screwed things up, hadn't he?

Sasuke bows his head in shame.

I wonder—

If they knew—

My regret?

How much I wanted to apologize to them?

I wonder if they knew—

How much I wanted Team 7 again.

Drip.

Itachi glances up. He senses something… different. A part of his feels strange; like it has decayed, and is now slowly being torn away. Cold, frigid ice fills its place in his heart, and he can only wonder if that's a good thing.

"Itachi-san?" It is Kisame, that annoying partner of his.

"Go away." For once, emotion leaks out of Itachi's voice as he grits out the command.

A moment of silence, but Kisame does not leave.

"It's about your otouto, Sasuke, isn't it?"

Silence.

And at that point, Kisame knows it is.

"What did he do this time?" Kisame tries to laugh it off, but Itachi does not smile.

Instead, his gaze lowers, and for once, the Sharingan turns off. He knows nothing. Kisame knows nothing. Of course he cannot, because he is an only child, after all. He doesn't know anything of family.

But of course, Itachi isn't the expert on this, either.

Kisame is surprised; Itachi rarely turns his Sharingan of, in case of an ambush. He waits for an explanation.

"My dear otouto," Itachi hesitates slightly—the term feels so foreign to him— "has done something quite unfortunate." He shakes his head for emphasis; Kisame cocks his head at the boy as a prompt. "Apparently Orochimaru has taken hold of my otouto's body," here Kisame's eyes widen in surprise, "and is now using the Sharingan to copy every jutsu he can find." Itachi sounds indifferent, but the swordsman knows better. He knows his partner is deeply affected by Sasuke's "death."

"I'll leave you alone now," Kisame says, softer than his usual tone, then walks out of the room.

Itachi can hear his partner's footsteps echoing down the hallway, and he's thankful for the silence. He has a lot to think about.

Otouto…

His eyes glaze.

He grips the edge of his cloak.

"Surely you wouldn't kill your otouto's body, would you, Itachi-san?" Orochimaru's voice comes out in rough gasps, but his bloodstained lips are curved in a gloating smile. He thinks that Itachi would not kill Sasuke's body.

He is wrong.

Itachi thrusts his wakizashi though Orochimaru's - no, Sasuke's, it had always been Sasuke's - body as the sly smile slides off of the face of the sannin.

Slowly, at the brink of death, Orochimaru's twisted face melts into an almost peaceful expression. Sasuke's expression. "A-aniki - " he whispers, sending another bubble of blood to his lips.

"I'm here," Itachi says, leaning down over his otouto's body. It is the most expressive sentence he's ever said.

Sasuke seems to want to say something, but he can't; his lips will not move. The two last Uchiha remain there, silent. But the silence is all they need.

And there are two, and the rain, ever beating.

And then there is one.

And the rain, ever beating.

-Owari-