Disclaimer: Naruto does not in any way belong to me, it's the property of Kishimoto, etc.
7 Devils
01
[ rin ]
She's the only you don't have a hand in killing, directly or indirectly.
(Never mind that it was your eye that let Kakashi perfect his Chidori-)
Watching her die, your chest seizes with a sudden pain - worse than when you were crushed by rocks, for all that you know it's a phantom pain.
Never again, you vow. Caring is weakness, and weakness won't help you create a new world. You will never care about anyone ever again.
It's only after you agree to carry out Madara's plan and start slipping into Kirigakure that you first see her.
(She peers around corners and hides under tables and when you do catch sight of her you convince yourself your eye is playing tricks on you.)
02+03
[ minato&kushina ]
They're the first Konoha shinobi that die as a direct result of your actions, but you don't care.
(Just because Minato-se- the Yondaime was more of a father to you than your biological father ever was doesn't mean-
Kushina understood you better than most but would she have even recognized you now-
You don't care.)
Mina- the Yondaime looks so disappointed when he appears only a few hours after he thwarted you.
Kushina, who shows up at the same time, is predictably furious. She shakes her fist at you and her mouths moves rapidly but you don't hear or feel a thing.
All you can do is watch. Well, that's not quite true. You can ignore them, so you do.
Rin clings to Mi- the Yondaime's arm, cowering behind him. Sometimes you catch her peering around the Yondaime's back, but it doesn't matter.
(They aren't real - the real Rin wouldn't be scared of you, but this strange illusion is. The Yondaime sealed himself and a portion of the Kyuubi's chakra in a contract with the Shinigami, so how can this apparition be here?
These inconsistencies tell you that the images are not real.)
04
[ shisui ]
Shisui doesn't appear until after you help Itachi massacre the rest of the clan.
(You would've thought that the whole clan would show up after that, but that would have meant acknowledging that they are restless spirits and that you are being haunted.
But they aren't, and you're not, so really you don't give the matter any thought at all.)
The gaping, bleeding maws of Shisui's eye sockets are always there, though, unerringly pointed towards you whenever you happen to glance in that direction.
You look away, because you are a busy man and the world is not going to fix itself.
(It has nothing to do with very real memories of a smiling, innocent child who just wanted to play with his older cousin, because caring is weakness and you are not weak and they are. Not. Real.)
05
[ itachi ]
You almost think that those four will be the end of it. Years pass and you murder or arrange the murders of countless people. You were never much for arithmetic in the Academy, and casualty lists hold about as much interest for you now.
Itachi engineers his own deaths, meticulous, flawless, as always. And his piece de resistance - his own suicide. Assisted suicide.
You don't particularly care, but it is quite a waste.
Sasuke looks so very devastated. You suppose that having the dream you've been working towards for most of your life get brutally shattered can do that to a person.
You contemplate snapping Sasuke's neck, to posthumously punish Itachi for attempting to kill you. There is nothing Sasuke can accomplish that you could not accomplish yourself, so what point is there in leaving this last Uchiha alive?
A familiar cloak flickers at the edge of your vision. You glance over, wondering which member of Akatsuki dares to intrude.
You're momentarily caught by Shisui's bloody gaze, before you notice Itachi looming beside him.
His eyes are washed out, all crimson and no tomoe or pupil. Blind, finally - he must have used the Mangekyou one too many times in the fight with his younger brother.
But the sightless gaze is locked on to you as surely as Shisui's eyeless one.
Your fingers twitch, aching to wrap around Sasuke's slender neck and squeeze.
The premature lines marring Itachi's face deepen, and despite your heavy cloak you have to fight back a shiver.
(Underground hideouts are bound to be dank.)
You turn back to Sasuke, your hands hanging loosely at your sides, and you start to tell him about the 'true' reasons behind the massacre.
(He is useful as bait for the Kyuubi, you suppose; he will live another day. That Itachi sacrificed so much to ensure that Sasuke survived, that he thrived has absolutely no bearing on your decision.)
06
[ orochimaru ]
Orochimaru appears within days of Itachi. He is always laughing, or smirking, or gazing at you with those condescending eyes.
"What happened to Orochimaru?" you ask Sasuke.
This only serves to make Orochimaru laugh harder. Though they avoid him as much as possible anyway, the other apparitions edge even further away.
Sasuke glances at you, apathetic. "Itachi fought me until I had nothing left, then sealed Orochimaru when he emerged from my cursed seal."
Which doesn't really explain anything, except that it does. There is no rhyme or reason to these images - they're the product of an overworked mind, not manifestations of those you've wronged.
They're not real.
(Orochimaru is the only one who tries to communicate with you, after Kushina's anger bled into resignation; his mouth moves slowly, so that even an idiot could read his lips. Your Sharingan picks out his words without a problem.
Keep telling yourself that, Uchiha-kun, he tells you.)
07
[ danzo ]
"Congratulations," you don't say to Danzo, because the image lurking at the edge of your vision is not real. It's not a hallucination, you aren't crazy but- it's just not real.
"You were right," you don't say.
"The Uchiha were the threat this whole time," remains unvoiced, because you will not be a gloating victor. Your victory will be achieved in such a way that no one will ever know what you have done for them, and the lack of recognition is fine.
You just try not to stare at the Sharingan bleeding out of his right arm. They're all second-rate, the castoffs that you left behind, anyway; the only eye he possessed that you could not have had was Shisui's.
Perhaps Danzo did care about Konoha in his own way; he destroyed Shisui's eye, after all.
Irritating, then, that Shisui's Mangekyou swirls lazily out the right side of Danzo's ghostly head.
(Not ghostly, you tell yourself. They are not ghosts. They are not real. It is the exhaustion playing tricks on you.)
00
[ interlude ]
"I'm going to bring you back!" you shout, gloved fingers curled in your unruly hair. The mask you wear is suddenly too close; you can't get enough breath, it's suffocating-
You tear it off and cast it aside, ignoring the sound of porcelain shattering on the stone floor. "Don't you understand, everyone will be happy."
You look at Rin, and Minato-sensei, and Kushina. "We'll be a team again, a family, and no one will ever die and-"
Rin stares at you, but there is no recognition in her wide, tear-filled eyes. Minato-sensei's face is cold, as if cut from stone. Kushina is the only one who never looks at you; she's always staring towards Konoha (towards her son). She does not even acknowledge your words.
With a snarl of frustration (despair) you turn to Shisui and Itachi. "The clan will be whole again! You won't have to be pushed into the field too young, you won't have to sacrifice yourselves for peace-"
Shisui's lips pull back into a sneer, blood dripping down his cheeks. What, what has become of the laughing little boy who just wanted to play with you? Itachi's unseeing gaze remains impassive, the utter lack of regard somehow worse.
"I would bring your parents back," you tell Orochimaru. He just laughs. Then, slowly, exaggeratedly, he mouths something at you.
(Oh, my dear child, your Sharingan faithfully translates but you ignore it.)
"There would be no need for war," you say to Danzo. Shisui's Mangekyou just spins and spins and spins.
"Tobi?" a Zetsu says, timidly, peering around the otherwise empty cavern.
You incinerate it without a thought and enter Kamui. It is the one place where you can escape them. But you are not running, because it would be weak to flee from something that is not real.
It's fortunate that Madara implanted the Shodai's cells into your body; they keep your Sharingan from deteriorating despite your repeated usage of the Mangekyou. You can see as perfectly as you could the day you first activated your Sharingan.
(But your vision is so crowded by restless ghosts that it is a wonder you can see at all.)
(infinity)
[ kakashi&naruto ]
It's the first time you've met face to face since that disaster of a mission in Grass. You've seen Kakashi plenty of times since then, but he hasn't seen you before, not like this.
"Obito," is the first betrayed, uncomprehending word out of his mouth.
You should have expected as much from the trash that couldn't even keep one simple promise.
Minato and Rin stand at Kakashi's shoulders, Kushina beside Naruto. The others linger in the spaces between, undaunted by the debris flying around the battlefield. You notice that Itachi has returned to Shisui's side; Kabuto must have fallen. Orochimaru has disappeared somewhere, not that you care.
(It's the first time you've heard the ghosts speak.
"Please, Kakashi, don't lose," Rin whispers.
"I know you won't lose, Kakashi," Minato says, fond.
"Not at our son's side!" Kushina adds proudly.
"This is the kid you entrusted Sasuke to?" Shisui asks dubiously.
"Yes," Itachi answers, serene.
"Damn Uchiha!" Danzo snarls.)
You ignore it. They're not real, after all.
"What's wrong, Kakashi?" you say.
"You look like you've seen a ghost."
A/N:Well, the last section was supposed to have the infinity sign but I guess that's not allowed. Hmph.
Inspired by the song Seven Devils by Florence + the Machine.
Also inspired by Akatsuki210's fic, Autumn People! Check it out, folks. It's quite something.