Unedited.

Jian Ao

"I'm going to do it."

At first Itachi didn't understand. When his cousin's words finally clicked in his mind his grip on the wooden bridge railing tightened.

"It's my mission," Itachi reminded him.

"I don't care," Shisui said. Itachi looked over at him. Shisui's intense gaze was focused on the rushing waters of the Naka River. "I won't let you do it." Anger briefly flashed through Itachi, but he calmed it quickly.

"This mission was entrusted to me and me alone," Itachi stated. He had to handle it. He had to.

"Fuck that," Shisui spat.

"Shisui –"

In the blink of an eye Shisui had grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him away from the bridge railing. His eyes were angry.

"You don't get it," Shisui growled. "I made a promise! A promise I've already broken a million times over!" Itachi remembered a rainy day when ninja ran through the streets yelling about the new treaty, shouting that war was over. That was the day Shisui had held his hands in a firm grip and promised with all the severity he could.

"It's okay," Itachi said. He had known from the beginning, despite being so young, that Shisui's promise was impossible.

"No," Shisui said, voice forceful. His fingers tightened on Itachi's shoulders. "No, it's not okay. I swore I would protect you and I haven't. I've just stood by and watched while this life has slowly destroyed you. I won't do that anymore." Shisui bent his head, resting it in the crook of Itachi's neck.

Itachi stayed silent. After a moment Shisui lifted his head again. "Let me do this," Shisui whispered. Itachi nodded.

"Okay."

Shisui wrapped him in a hug. When he pulled back there was hesitance in his expression. "There's one more thing you would have to do for me," Shisui said. Itachi got the sense he wouldn't like it. "How I'm supposed to live with the fact that I've murdered our entire family I don't know. I don't think I can, actually. You'll have to kill me. It'll even be beneficial, you'll gain the mangekyou." Itachi shoved Shisui away.

"I don't want the mangekyou!" he snapped. Itachi turned away, not wanting his eyes to betray what he was feeling. Shisui had this gift for reading him like and open book with pictures and diagrams and everything. Gently, Shisui turned him back around. The older boy caught a tear sliding down Itachi cheek with a finger. Itachi hadn't even been aware that he was crying.

"It's a horrible thing to ask of you," Shisui said. "I know that. Especially after I spouted all that stuff about protecting you from any more pain. But if you don't kill me I'll slowly waste away in depression. I'd at least like to go out with some dignity. Can you do that for me? Please?"

Itachi refused to look Shisui in the eye. In his heart he could feel that Shisui's words were true. That didn't make them any easier to accept.

"Okay," Itachi murmured.

Shisui pressed his face into the crown of Itachi's head and whispered, "Thank you."

His parents hadn't even asked him why. When he stood in the living room and stared out into the back garden while screams echoed through the compound, the only thing his mother did was hug him and tell him she loved him. The real shocker had been when his father did the same, adding on to the end, "I've never understood you, but I've always been proud of you. Watch over your brother." Then they'd left him alone. He didn't move when Shisui finally reached their house, when he walked passed the living room, when the sound of blood splattering the floors reached his sensitive ears.

Shisui stepped into the living room. Though his feet were silent Itachi could hear the blood dropping from the end of his cousin's katana. Finally, he turned away from the garden.

"Sasuke will be here soon," Shisui stated. Itachi knew what he had to do but his body was frozen. He couldn't move. Shisui had been there his entire life, always a constant. Itachi couldn't imagine life without his best friend.

Instinct was what made him throw his body to the side, avoiding the kunai by inches. Shisui blurred out of existence. Itachi barely had time to dodge the swing of the bloody katana. Shisui continued in a relentless offence. Whenever Itachi thought he had a moment to breathe it was snatched away by the flash of moonlight bouncing off smooth deadly metal. Desperation began to grip him. If he didn't do something soon one of Shisui's precise blows was going to make contact and he would be dead. He couldn't die. He had promised he would look after Sasuke.

Itachi rolled away from another slash of Shisui's katana, toward the kunai he'd dodged earlier. He plucked it easily from where it had stuck in the wood of the back door and flung it. The small weapon scraped along Shisui's hand. Itachi rolled forward, hand outstretched for the katana his cousin had dropped. Time slowed and Itachi refused to think. His hand closed around the hilt. He finished his roll, sprang to his feet, and smoothly thrust the katana between Shisui's ribs, straight into his heart. For a moment time stilled entirely. Then Shisui smiled and his eyes dulled. Itachi released the katana and watched his cousin's body drop to the ground.

The reality of what he had just done overwhelmed him. Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered Sasuke's terrified voice calling for their parents. Tears slid freely down his cheeks. Itachi dropped to his knees, a keening wail escaping from his throat. Then he collapsed upon Shisui's body and began to cry.

"No! No, no, no–"

"–Shisui!"

"Niisan?"

Itachi whipped around to face the door. Sasuke was staring at him from just beyond the threshold. Itachi ignored his brother for a moment, taking stock of his condition. His nightclothes stuck to him with cold sweat and his heart was pounding fiercely in his chest. He became aware that his breaths were short and gasping. Inhaling shakily, Itachi buried his face in his hands.

"I'm fine," he said softly, more to himself. A little louder, "I'm fine."

"Okay," Sasuke said. Itachi listened as his brother closed the door and retreated down the hall to his own room. Then he lay back on his bed and stared at the ceiling, well aware that sleep would not return to him for the rest of the night.

A/N: This is actually the beginning of a longer fic exploring a what if scenario in which Shisui decides to take Itachi's place as the murderer of the Uchiha clan, yet still dies. However, this is all I am currently capable of writing about it, so for the time being it will remain a one shot. Constructive criticism is always welcome or if you want to mention a particular direction you think would be good for this fic (assuming I am able to eventually turn it into a chapter fic as planned) that's welcome as well.

The fic is named for the song Jian Ao (Suffering) by Jess Lee. It's a very powerful song.