It was raining. It had been raining for a long time at this point. Grey washing out what was before such a brightly coloured village. Every sound was engulfed by a torrent of raindrops, just as everything else was. It seemed as if the sky was crying, mourning for a great loss, as if it's all seeing blue witnessed the horror of what had happened. It must have been a terrible loss. The sky had been weeping for over a week now.
Yet, more tears tore from the clouds to kiss the earth in a swift motion, changing the scenery into a cluster of colourless streaks. A figure sat stationary in the downpour, red eyes peering out from under the fringe of his hair. Those eyes of his never missed a drop. Watching the rain made his head spin, the magnitude of movement nauseating. But it kept his mind busy, too busy to think. That was good, considering what had been occupying his thoughts for the past week, even if it did give him a migraine.
Another figure approached, nearly completely obscured by the rain. The person's arrival was, for the large part undetectable. Despite the thin layer of water covering pretty much all of the ground, there were no tell tale ripples that usually followed after footsteps. Even without the noise he wouldn't have made as much as a rustle. Though to come from where ever he previously resided to the sitting person's side he would have to move. That he couldn't miss.
"Still here huh?"
The figure stepped out of the cloak of rain. It was a man, face hidden behind an orange mask. The man stooped to pick up a kunai blade next to the younger man, balancing the tip on his finger.
"You can't stay forever you know." said the masked man in a playful matter of fact voice.
The younger man didn't reply, instead keeping his gaze transfixed on the falling raindrops.
"They'll find you here sooner or later, force you back into Kohona and execute you. Probably put your head on a stick as an example or something…"
No response.
"If it were me I'd separate all the organs in your body and placing the entrails in a ring around the town, smearing the words out with your blood: "This is what happens to those who betray me!". Actually, I think I'd keep a few for keepsake. You know, as proof that I defeated such a powerful shinobi, like maybe make a cloak out of your skin, a chair of your bones, etcetera etcetera…but that's just me."
Still no response.
The masked stranger sighed at the man's lack of conversation. He stared silently into rain for awhile along side the other man, twiddling the kunai between his fingers before throwing it into a nearby tree, impaling a small bird against its trunk.
"I heard your meeting with the hokage went well."
The young man's expression remained unchanged, but a slight twitch in his ears revealed that he was much more conscious of what was being said. Under his mask the other man smirked mischievously.
"You couldn't complete the task after all, should've guessed that much of you Itachi. It seems blood is thicker than water."
At this Itachi furrowed his brow. He tried to keep his face blank and his mind focused on the downpour, but that was becoming progressively harder. The stranger gave a short laugh.
"Didn't think I'd notice Itachi? Or perhaps you didn't think I would care? Well that much is true, for the moment anyway."
The figure that had stayed motionless for so long sprung up to the masked man's eye level. The movement was quick and sudden, quicker than the raindrops. Red eyes stared with a violent glare at the mask. The face behind the mask laughed again.
"I went to see him, your brother, Sasuke was it? Tough little guy, I believe you asked the hokage not to tell him of your orders, of course now he hates your guts. Kind of sweet really, you not telling him of your noble sacrifice, the clan's treachery, all for the sake of letting him live. Secretly looking out for him while the one you love most despises you."
The rain was starting to let up now, rapid barrage of water slowing to a drizzle. The grey backdrop transformed into soft greens, trees and buildings beginning to form from the shapeless mess. A ray of sun shone through clouds, the dulled light seemed to make the the scenery more defined.
"I suppose you could have just kept him for his eyes, he is your spare after all. Or perhaps you actually want him to: "test the depth of your container"? I can tell you now that he will defeat you. His hatred for you will make him strong, more powerful than you, maybe even more than me, if you fight him you will die" said the man in not so much of a grave tone then a bemused one.
"But I think you know that already."
Itachi's glare did not waver, the thin line of his mouth showing his distaste. The other man leaned back onto the bulk of a weathered oak tree.
"When he kills you, murderer of the infamous Uchiha clan he will be free, return to the fire village where he will be celebrated as a hero, find some beautiful woman, fall in love, get married, father three little Uchiha rebels and live happily ever after, spending the rest of his days in peace and harmony, that's what you planned isn't it? Quite a cute little fairytale."
He paused for a while, thinking to himself.
"But, I think I might find him useful. If he turns out as powerful as you and I think he will, he'll make an excellent pawn…"
"Don't." The dark haired Uchiha spoke for the first time during the exchange. His voice was low and venomous, cramming as much murderous intent into the syllable as possible. "If you speak to him, I will kill you."
"We shall see. Of course if he hates you enough I might not even be able to turn him against Kohona."
The rain had almost completely stopped now, the last few raindrops hitting the ground in an irregular staccato. The sky was still overcast, but patches of blue could be seen where the clouds had not completely covered. The masked shinobi, no longer just a figure in the rain, got off of the oak and walked over to the tree he had skewered the bird to. Pulling the blade out of the bark, he let the creature fall into his hand. He stared at it for a while, observing its small corpse, a dove not over a week old. Black fire sprung from his fingertips engulfing its feathered body.
"As fun as it's been, I'd better get going, things to do, villages to massacre." He walked to Itachi's side, facing the forest on the opposite direction. His voice dropped down to a whisper. "If you're planning to die by his hand, then I suggest you make yourself well known. I hear that dawn is getting more powerful."
Itachi turned to face him, seeing a glint of red through the eyehole of the mask before the man disappeared into the shadows. He was alone now, without the constant presence of the rain. Nothing to steer his thoughts away from the visions he had tried to avoid for so long. Eyes closed, he braced himself for the images to come rushing back.
The impact was painful.
Knees weakened by grief gave way, made him collapse into the mud. The horrifying images came back in pristine vision. Cousins tortured by their nightmares come alive, friends he had known all his life chained screaming to crosses killed slowly by a thousand cuts, a black blaze eating away the edges of his uncle's skin before consuming him whole, a little black haired girl sobbing in an alley way, a blade plunging into her stomach, slicing upwards, blood and guts spilling into the dirt, mouth open in a scream that would never sound, someone came by the alleyway, more blood.
He tried to steady himself, gripping the nearby oak tree, palms pushed hard against the bark. Forehead pressed into the tree, clenching his teeth together to keep from crying out in despair, drops spilled from his eyes into the mud.
More images came.
The head of his aunt leaving a trail of red across the floor, ten relatives locked in a house going up in flame pleading to be let out, a mangled corpse, not much more than a bloody pulp on the floor of a nursery, corpses lining every street. More dead bodies, this time his parents, lain side by side, father face down, still clutching a katana, seven blades sticking out of his back glimmering in the moonlight. His mother on her back, eyes staring at the son she could no longer see, face set in a sad expression as if she was disappointed in his choice, a hole cut through her chest bled into the tatami mats. The same blood covered Itachi's hands.
His grip tightened, his forehead pushed even harder against the bark. A stream of blood trickled down the trunk of the tree. It felt like a million needles had been shoved into his heart, then when that was over it was chucked into a fire. The burning continued. Another scream, a man killed by Itachi's illusions, the terror on his brother's face…..
His brother.
As hard as it was to kill any other member of the Uchiha clan he couldn't bring himself to kill his own brother. The one person who had loved Itachi as much as Itachi loved him. He had to keep Sasuke alive, if it was the last good thing he did. If he had to give his life to achieve that, so be it. Under no circumstances could Sasuke know the truth, if he did it would put the peace of Kohona and his life in danger. Only his hatred for Itachi could stop him from learning of it.
Itachi stepped away from the oak, wiping the blood of his hands and head. If his brother had to hate him to be safe, he had to become as cold and impassive as he made himself out to be, enough so that Sasuke wouldn't join Mandara. The few tears that still clung to his cheeks were brushed away by his sleeve. To be like that he couldn't feel remorse or regret, there wasn't much you could feel.
Mandara did give him one good piece of advice though, if he wanted Sasuke to kill him he would have to get some publicity. Locking his emotions away in side of him, he turned to face the east. It was almost dusk now; the hills leading to the water country were covered in shadow. Itachi sighed; this would probably take a while. Walking towards the hills in the east he begun searching for the Akatsuki.
Author: Constructive criticism is much appreciated.