Memory Doors
Everyone has their own memory door, hidden deep in the dark trenches of their minds. Memory doors are there to conceal bad memories so as not to harm the bearer's mind or to keep good memories safe so the bearer can cherish them forever. In the minds of two young men, there are two memory doors, each concealing the same memories (both good and bad).
Their first doors…the happy memories…gleam a glossy silver glow. As they open, a bright but welcoming light calls to you. As you enter into the memories, you can hear the sound of children's laughter and singing birds. When the warm light dies, you find you're standing in a soft, serene field of a great many flowers and Sakura blossom trees. Under a tree, there lay the two boys, Sakura petals raining down on them. The smaller boy, Sasuke, lay curled up against the older boy's side, a look of content on his resting face. The older boy, Itachi, has his arm around Sasuke's shoulder, resting his head on his.
"Don't fall asleep yet Otouto. I still have so much planned for the day," Itachi says, kissing his brother's small forehead and running his hand through his hair.
"I know," Sasuke whispers back half asleep.
"We've already been here an hour. Let's go do other things."
"Okay."
"Great."
Itachi gently slides his arms under Sasuke's back and knees. He stands up carefully and carries his little brother back through the fields. You follow them, invisibly, into another happy memory. A babbling brook twinkles in the sunlight, smoothing the floor full of pebbles. The two boys are there again but a little older than before. Their hands are locked tightly together and they're laughing again. In the river, Sasuke spies an unusual glimmer and stops.
"Aniki?"
"Yes Otouto?"
"What's that?" Sasuke asks and points at the glimmer.
"Let's find out!" Itachi says leading his brother over to the glimmer.
Kneeling down, Itachi spots the familiar pointed shape of an arrowhead. He almost reaches for it himself but stops.
"Take it Otouto."
"What? Why?"
"When you grab it, I'll tell you why."
Confused but curious, Sasuke reaches into the smooth, clear, glimmering water and grasps the object. When his hand reemerges, an arrowhead lays in his palm.
"That's pretty lucky," he hears Itachi say.
"Really? Why?"
"There aren't many arrowheads in the world you know."
"A pretty thing like this? Why?"
Itachi chuckles, "You ask a lot of question. I'll tell you on the way back home. Mom and Dad will be waking up soon."
"Whatever you say Aniki."
Sasuke examines the arrowhead and Itachi explains all the way back home. There aren't many happy memories in this door and the majority of the few are about the Uchiha brothers. Irritated with the lack of happy memories, you make your way back to the way you entered. When you exit you see black smoke on the dark ground. Curious, you track the smoke back to its source. The source is a big, black door, dressed in chains and padlocks of various sizes and rusts. You assume this to be the door of bad memories. You lightly prod it and it surprisingly swings open.
Drawn by the dark abyss inside, you enter and the door creaks closed. The first thing you see is blood, splattered on a wall. The next, are bloody carcasses scattered down a dirt road outside their homes. You can hear the faint sound of a sword slashing into flesh ahead on the path. Feeling daring, you trek ahead towards the sound. Soon, you find yourself standing behind Sasuke, collapsed on the ground, tears drowning his face. Ahead you can see Itachi, dragging a sword from the bloody corpse of a relative. He lets the body fall to the ground and disappears, not even giving his brother a last look.
This is not the same mind, you think to yourself. How could Itachi be so full of hate now but was so caring and serene in the last door?
Unable to stand the bloody sight, you leave but run into another bad memory, this one not as bloody but just as heartbreaking. The brothers are much older now, and with age comes strength and a different body. Their eyes are different too: no longer innocent and laughing…they're now cold and hard…full of hate. Examining your new surroundings you spot two more people: Naruto, Kisame, and Jiraiya. You ignore them though and focus all your sights on the Uchiha brothers.
Sasuke struggles to stand up against a wall, his left arm hanging uselessly at his side. Itachi stands a few feet away in the hallway, cool and unfazed by his brother's strength. Through his eyes he was no stronger than he was six years ago. Sasuke desperately and furiously lunges a fist at Itachi's red-eyed face.
Itachi swiftly catches the punches and mimics what Sasuke would have done. Sasuke wound up where he was before: on the ground and against a wall.
Itachi slowly and menacingly walks over to the panting boy. Sasuke glares up at his nii-san and Itachi just looks back, unfazed and bored. Sasuke jumps up to land a blow at his nii-san's face but before he gets the chance Itachi catches him with a fist at his stomach, Sasuke coughing up some blood. In a handful of rapid movements, Itachi sharply elbows the back of Sasuke's neck, hits him on the chin with his knee and catches him in the stomach once more. Blood trickling out of his mouth, Sasuke collapses to the floor.
"Sasuke!" Naruto screams.
"You show him no mercy, eh?" Kisame says coldly.
Indeed he didn't. Too afraid of what the outcome might be, you run away and out of the bad memory door. Just as you step outside, the dark world begins to quake! The doors slam shut and lock themselves. You begin to panic, unaware of what may be occurring in the physical world. Frantically, you make a hand sign, scream, "Mind Transfer Release!" and disappear. When you next open your eyes, you're crouched behind some bushes watching a tragic battle unfold in a clearing before you. You had used an advanced form of the Mind Transfer Jutsu, curious as to why two brothers would battle so violently. Now you know and watch the battle.
Sasuke is fighting better than last time. He stabs at his once dear brother and kicks at him skillfully. Between dodges, Itachi mimics the movements. The battle lasts for a long time and rain clouds begin to roll in from the horizon. The brothers stop fighting for a moment, bleeding and exhausted. They glare at each other through crimson eyes, panting heavily, legs shaking. It's clear they both want to beat each other in some kind of standing contest. You see Sasuke's sharingan vanish and not long after that he collapses, rain beginning to fall over them.
Panting heavily, rain beginning to drive down, Itachi limps slowly over to his half conscious brother. When he reaches Sasuke, he collapses on his own knees, dropping his weapon. Sasuke weakly manages to glare up at his brother.
"Why?" he growls.
Itachi pants, unable to speak for once. Figuring he won't answer, Sasuke looks away, rain drenching him.
"I had too," Itachi breathes.
"There was no reason for it," Sasuke weakly states.
Itachi gives a small and weak smirk.
"I suppose it was mostly out of greed—"
"Selfishness…hate…"
"Love."
"You don't know what love is!"
"They didn't care about you Otouto—"
"Don't you dare call me that again!"
Sasuke sits up and glowers, to weak to stab at Itachi.
"They barely even knew you existed—"
"Shut up!"
"I knew you existed."
Thunder claps overhead. You barely hear it. All you can see and hear are the brothers. Sasuke tries hard not to listen but he hears what his nii-san says.
"You know it's the truth."
"What does love have to do with my existence?" Sasuke asks, holding back tears, never looking his nii-san in the eye.
"It was because of my love for you that I knew you existed. And I couldn't stand the thought of your own clan hating you. You just had so much potential."
"So you decided to kill them!"
Sasuke's voice shakes but you can't tell if the water on his face is rain or tears. You spot Itachi's hand slide over Sasuke's. Sasuke glares at him through tear-filled eyes. Itachi only smiles back, his crimson eyes a deep onyx like his brother's for once. You then see something familiar. You recognize the eyes of an innocent, caring child from the white door. You glance at Sasuke and through his tears you see the same familiar eyes.
Without warning, Sasuke throws his arms around his brother's shoulders and Itachi embraces him back.
"Aniki, I've missed you," Sasuke whispers.
"I've missed you too…my dear Sasuchan."
A/N: So that's that. I hope it wasn't to confusing or anything.