Author's Note: Woooow, two stories in two days. I'm on a roll! Well, this one was written on a whim, and is also apart of my 31 stories in 31 days challenge. Read and see whatcha think! Also.. a happy story is coming soon, trust me. All of these depressing ones are starting to deflate me. O.o;
Without Love
There is so much pain on his face.
Sleep reveals the weaknesses in all of us, I'm sure.
For, it is the time when we are at rest.. when the subconscious takes over and exposes our deepest, darkest secrets to the world.
I knew his.
The pain on his face had been caused by me. He was probably dreaming of when I'd completely annihilated his.. our clan. Why he dwelled on such an old memory I will never know. Our clan had been vile, disgusting. I don't know how such a weak group of people could've spawned us. I did them a favor by eradicating them. All except for him, of course. My brother. My beautiful, sweet, innocent younger brother.
He was indeed a jewel. A young diamond in the rough, awaiting it's turn to shine. His only way to shine, however, was to get rid of me, like he so desperately wanted to.
He would give anything for such an opportunity, I'm sure of it.
"Nnn.. I-Itachi.." He whimpered, clutching at the pure white pillow on which his head rested. The moonlight bathed his face with it's eerie glow, illuminating his tears as they streamed freely down his cheeks.
The sight was almost painful for me to watch, but I knew I couldn't look away. He'd cried every night that I'd come to see him, though tonight was definitely the most disheartening for me.
"I'm here, Sasuke-kun, I'm here." I'd never spoken during my visits, but now I couldn't help myself. He was my brother and he needed me. I was all that he had left. Reaching down, I gently caressed away the tears. He whimpered a little more, nuzzling into my cool touch. It was all right for him to have such a moment, he'd been so strong after all. So very, very strong.
But not strong enough. Not for me, anyway.
If his one and only goal in life was to exterminate me, then I wasn't going to make it easy for him. When Sasuke finally did kill me, I wanted for him to know that he did it because of his abilities, not because I felt pity for him.
Which is where his hate for me would play in. So long as that hate ran deep, he would grow infinitely stronger, until he eventually passed me. But.. it pained me to do these things. I wanted to be like normal brothers. That wouldn't happen, I knew. Not after the hell I put him through when he was younger.
Having been lost in old memories, the sound of Sasuke's voice startled me. "I.. I don't w-want.. to.. die.." His whispers were hoarse now, barely audible.
Ah, I remember that line. It was what he'd said to me right before he'd fled. Right before I stole his innocence away. All of this was pure torture for me. Why, why do I do this to myself? I will never regret my decision about what I did to our clan. That absolutely had to be done.
His face was so soft against my hand, so very, very soft. My brother.. I cared for him dearly. Even though this doesn't justify the killing our clan in his eyes, I'd spared him from a lifetime of trying to live up to someone else's expectations, especially someone as pathetic as our father. I could never understand why he envied the relationship that my father and I shared.
The only reason that that man 'loved' me was because of his extreme lust for power. He simply wanted me for what I was capable of, not because he actually cared for me. Something told me that if Sasuke hadn't been born, I probably would've killed everyone a lot sooner than I did. He kept me sane.. if only for a little while.
The time was nearing for me to make my exit. The sun would wait for no one, after all. Perhaps I would visit him and reminisce again the next night. Reaching forward, I ran a slightly calloused finger down Sasuke's cheek. In the blink of an eye, I'd leaned down, brushing my lips against my younger brother's for the briefest of moments.
It'd been something that I'd always wanted to do, but somehow ended up talking myself out of before actually committing the act. As our lips touched, I thought for sure that I felt him press up into it, deepening the taboo kiss. It was a fleeting feeling, and was quite possibly my imagination. It didn't matter, though. I would treasure that moment forever.
If only I'd stayed a few moments longer, I might have witnessed a saddening sight. Sasuke's gorgeous onyx eyes opened, greeting another day with their haunting loneliness.
Owari