Hey guys, here's an Itachi short story I created not too long ago. I've decided to do short stories for now as I am doing research on Fullmetal Alchemist (this is the reason why I haven't updated). Please know that I do not own any characters or settings that appear in the Naruto anime or manga. I've decided to finally settle upon a name too (for gamers this is also my PSN) so yes please enjoy and as always feedback is appreciated.
SimplyShiori
You Lack Hatred (*Naruto: Itachi Uchiha*)
His eyes widened in bewilderment as she stood above him and he sat on the ground, arms supporting his weight. He was there at her feet, currently defeated; her dark ginger red hair seemingly to hover from the wind coming from the south as she stared down at him with a mixture of disgust and hate in her eyes. His body trembled at the sight before him, he didn't know if it was from the adrenaline coursing through his veins at a breakneck pace or if it was her change in attitude that excited him, for her once bright cinnamon brown eyes were now a harsh blend of red and black, challenging his own.
"You hate him, for everything he did to you, you think you hate him to your core, well," she chuckled darkly before glaring harshly at the young boy, "not as much as I do and you want to know why Sasuke, because I wasn't spared like you. Unlike you I was supposed to die. He made me sit there and watch the death of my family before he stabbed me seven times and left me for dead, chocking on my own blood. His eyes were void as he slaughtered everything I held dear and they lit up with excitement as he stabbed me repeatedly. You say you left a week ago to gain power to defeat him right, I left that place of pain days after the massacre to grow and seek my vengeance." She lowered herself until she was eye level to him, "You get side-tracked easily." She ran a kunai lightly across the delicate skin of his face, close to his ear, light pink lines began to appear in her knife's trail, "You're resolve was never strong and it's definitely not stronger than mine now and you want to know why," she leaned in closely to his ear and whispered, "It's because you lack hatred."
The youngest Uchiha's throat went dry as his mind raced from the slaughter to his brother to the young woman before him, smirking darkly at his stunned form. She stood and smiled at him malevolently, "He said that to you right, it's true. You're thoughts drift between your vengeance to your friends and home. You lack hatred because you care, you care too damn much and what's the point of caring Sasuke, they won't help you, they'll only hold you back, they'll only slow you down but it's good that you finally realized that, nearly killing that boy in orange, your best friend I assume but you couldn't go through with it and it's because you still care about him deeply. But Sasuke, why become attach and learn to love again if he's still living and willing to hurt you, having the ability to appear and take it all that you have away from you again? Want some advice, next time you're in battle kill them all, your pain, your resolve should be able to push you to kill all who stand in your way and that is the only way you can become stronger, that is the only way to succeed with your plans." Turning from him she began walking away, one more piece of knowledge passing her lips as she left, "If and when I kill him before you do, and I will, you must restore the clan, don't let us all die out because of him and become nothing more than a faded memory, you're the only one who can Sasuke, you're the only one who can have us live on." He watched as she walked away, her figure fading from his sights and merging with the forest.
He knew her, he seen her before, he remembers her face from when he was younger, before the bloodbath came about, she would come to their home often and sometimes he would be the one to open the door. She would smile at him, squat down to his eye level and give him a tight hug; she would place a kiss on his cheek, closer to his ear than most people would, and then ask if Itachi was there. Sasuke would blush at this sign of affection before answering her question; she would thank him, stand up, ruffle his hair, and ask him to lead the way. They would talk as they made their way to Itachi's location, she would question him about school and tease him about the little girls who crushed on him and then, when they came to Itachi, he would tell her goodbye and she would smile at him as he Itachi thanked him for escorting his…the recollection made Sasuke's eyes widen in realization at who he was talking to, that was Mikaru Uchiha, Itachi's former girlfriend, the girl his brother once told him was his wife to-be.
Bringing himself to stand to make his way to the Sound, Sasuke's mind stayed on Mikaru, Itachi was supposed to love her, why did he make her suffer more than everyone else? When everything was going on around him four years ago Sasuke noticed that each body he passed had but a quick death, one with little to no pain, a strike that was done quickly, so if that was the case why would take his time to go through the process of torturing her? His hands shook unconsciously, not in fear but in hate, she was stabbed seven times so she could die and she still lived; now he would have to surpass both Mikaru and Itachi if he wanted his revenge.
"Show yourself, you coward!" Mikaru yelled within the thicket as her hazel eyes changed to instantly reveal her kekkei genkai, three tomoe in each eye as she searched for his form. She didn't have to search for long for a small flock of black crows soon came and molded to make the figure of Itachi Uchiha; her eyes narrowed heavily and her hands balled to fists. "Decided to help my brother even though he strives for the same as you," he commented distantly. She growled, "Shut the hell up you scumbag!" She rushed him, one arm angled for a strike, which he dodged, she spun around and attempted kick his head off but he grabbed her ankle and slung her away from him. Sliding to a stop Mikaru quickly dashed at him again, hand seals forming as she sprinted, "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" From her mouth spurred an enormous ball of fire, which would have fully engulfed Itachi if he didn't jump out of the way. She continued to blow several balls of fire his way but he dodged ever last one of them. Grasping a kunai from her pouch Mikaru jumped into the air as she released another ball of fire, he dodged it by making himself airborne and came straight into the path of her kunai. "Gotcha!" she shouted as she thrust the weapon forward, only to have him catch her by her wrist. A light gasp escaped her lips as she raised her arm to block his oncoming attacks. She continued to block his attacks with one arm until she felt the wrist he was holding onto burn. Using him as a spring board she kicked off him and released his hold. Falling to the ground she threw four kunai knives at him and with thin wire directed each of them individually. The knives twisted around the Akatsuki member, attempting to strike him; he dodged each attack and this made her smirk as she landed on the ground crouching. She yanked her hand back and the wire wounded around him tightly. She sent another fireball at him and this one landed…for a brief moment as Itachi substituted himself with a log before the attack landed, only a small singed of his cloak was the results; Mikaru's speed surprised him.
As soon as his toe came into contact with the ground, Itachi was at Mikaru's side and his fist, aimed for her face, it connected with her own punch. She twisted her arm and grabbed his wrist to flip him over her shoulder; he got out of her grip midway in the air and landed on the ground behind her. She turned around to deliver a kick to his waist but that was blocked and her leg was pushed as a fist connected with the side of her face, she felt a line of blood run down her cheek from her ear. Mikaru rolled forward a number of times before catching herself and slamming her palms to the ground, the Earth opened beneath Itachi's feet and boiling water barreled its way up to him. In the air to dodge once again, his feet being slightly affected by the jutsu, Mikaru was soon by his side trying to land hit after hit over his body. The two fought above the ground, their charka keeping them suspended, as they dodged and blocked each other's punches and kicks. Mikaru gritted her teeth and caught Itachi's upper arm as he tried to strike her in her chest, she pulled him towards her and head-butted his nose, sending him to the ground; he grabbed her burnt wrist and threw her towards a tree as little droplets of blood came from his nose. Maneuvering mid-flight Mikaru contorted her body so she landed against the tree on all fours; she propelled herself from this position, formed hand seals and three clones appeared in air beside her, all headed for the target with glares in their eyes.
Using his Sharingan, Itachi easily blocked and countered their attacks and within minutes he was able to successfully dispose of her clones, but this didn't veer Mikaru in the slightest as she continued to battle him, her style becoming similar to dancing, with two kunai knives swinging madly, strategically. Itachi began having problems with trying to foresee her strikes for her fluid movements seemed to blend together and her muscles were too relaxed to truly predict what she was going to do next and that was how he received a cut across his cheek. He broke apart into crows and backed away, Mikaru took this opportunity, "Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!" Her charka flared around her as not one but two large fire beast came about with the creation of upward movement of air currents rushing around that gave rise to thunderclouds. Itachi stared at her creations, not at all surprise by her ability to make more than one of them at a time.
"Itachi!" she screamed, gaining his attention, "I'm going to watch you suffer as I kill you!" She waved her arm and the two dragons raced towards the older Uchiha who quickly dodged the attacks and performed the Phoenix Sage Fire technique and sent them towards the beast; the two dragons easily ripped through the attack and Mikaru smirked. "C'mon I thought you could do better!" she shouted smugly as the created beasts struck him entirely, each dragon curling around the other to consume him, and majority of the surround area, completely. "Die Itachi, die for making me suffer!" she screamed in a hysterical manner as she watch the body become charred and slowly begin to turn into ashes. She watched the remnants fall to the ground in victory and started to release the technique when she was struck three times by shuriken; one in her right hand, one in her right arm, and the last imbedded itself in her stomach, slicing previous scars. Letting out a small wail of pain Mikaru stumbled backwards as her dragons dissipated, wincing, she ripped the shuriken stars from her body and grunted. How did he escape, she thought to herself as she searched for him.
"Mikaru," his voice came from behind her and she quickly turned and locked eyes with the man despised, he stood only two meters away from her. Her eyes narrowed harshly as she used her right hand to reach into her weapon pouch; before she could even touch a kunai he was there holding her already injured wrist and staring deeply into her Sharingan induced eyes. Noticing the small muscle twitch under his left eye, Mikaru broke eye contact, avoiding his Tsukiyomi, and pushed herself against his body, knocking the both of them of their feet. On the way down she grabbed onto his neck and held tightly, formed hand seals with her left hand, and brought it to her lips; his eyes widened slightly as he watched her bite her thumb and slammed it against his forehead. Their eyes dilated in unison, his body went limp on the ground and her body fell atop of him, wilting like a dying flower.
This isn't a genjutsu, Itachi thought as he looked around the blackened space that seemed to be supporting his weight though there was nothing below him. Images of Mikaru, himself and others ran around him, good and bad, young and grown, private and public, within the village, within the clan, outside the Fire Nation, around the Mist and other villages, and other lands; it was as if her life's journey was running by him like a movie reel. He heard his own voice, words he recalled saying to her, things he mentioned around her, the voice of a younger Sasuke came, of his mother, his father, her family came, as well as her friends, her comrades, the villagers, the Third Hokage, people he didn't know or recognize, their voices surrounded him. "This isn't a genjutsu if that's what you're wondering," Mikaru stated, he turned to his side to see her walking towards his way, "this is a technique, it was used against me in an attempt to end my life." She now stood just a few feet away from him, "This is a forbidden technique performed by blood contact with the mind, it's used for death via self-sacrifice." "Inner Mind Destruction Technique," Itachi said, she nodded. "Yes it is for you see Itachi, I am going to kill you here." "While killing yourself in the process, so this is why you told Sasuke to continue the clan, this was your plan all along, to kill myself along with you, I suppose you think this is a noble sacrifice." Mikaru scoffed, "The plan was to kill you by any means necessary."
"Why?"
The question caught her off guard, her eyes widened before narrowing and her lips flared upward to show her gritted canine teeth. "What the hell do you mean why!?" she barked with hostility. His questioned baffled her; how dare he have the audacity to question her as to why she wanted him dead, the nerve of him. "Because you killed me that's why!" The massacre came from the rushing images around them, the short burst of dark memories fading and blurring into one another before the scene of him killing her came to the very front of them all. It was seen through her eyes, him staring down at her as she pressed her back against the wall, a kunai in hand and tears in her eyes. It felt as if those same tears were running down his cheeks, mimicking her own at the time, he could feel the slick wetness of the droplets as he continue to watch, his face emotionless, blink, and dry.
"I-Itachi, what, what are you doing?" her voice quivered as he took the necessary steps to close the gap between them, closer to her shivering being, he said nothing to her question, not a single word. "Itachi," she said fearfully as he was mere feet from her, "Itachi stop it!" she screamed as she raised the kunai in defense. She moved to block the strike he made for her face and halted as she felt a kunai puncture her stomach deeply. She gasped for air and grasped his wrist as she stared into his eyes, "What's gotten into you?" she questioned with a shaky tone. He pushed the kunai knife deeper and she seized a breath as she stared into his soulless eyes. "You're trying to kill me?" He nodded and her eyes widened with fear, she swiped her hand towards his face and buried her nails deep into his skin causing blood to drip down her arm. She tried to push the kunai out of her waist but to no avail as he took another one and stuck into on her other side. She winced at the pain but concentrated her charka to her hand and set his wrist aflame. He jumped backwards and shook away the small fire, Mikaru grunted as she ripped out the two knives and glared at him. He didn't hesitate to produce another and slash at her body relentlessly; blood poured from her arms as she blocked and attempted to dodge the attacks before he grabbed her by her hair threw her through the nearby wall.
Groaning in pain, Mikaru's eyes opened wide and her body tensed as she felt another kunai knife dig deep into her abdomen. A spurt of crimson liquid jetted from her lips as she felt the kunai being forcefully torn across her abdomen, before it rose and plunged itself into her belly four more times. Once done he stared down at her withering form, through her eyes all he saw was his blood covered feet for a few seconds before he began walking away, once he was out of the house she released the sound that haunted his dreams; a scream clouded in the gurgling sound of blood choking the life out of her.
The memory faded from his view and there stood Mikaru shaking violently with her head down, her fists at her side, her shoulders tense, and her arms locked where they were. "You know there's only one reason why I lived through that," she spurted in spite, "you missed hitting my vital organs and in their place you destroyed my womb that carried the child we created." At this Itachi's eyes widened, Mikaru…she was with child? She raised her head, her eyes flooded with tears she refused to release, "Yes I was carrying your child and now I will avenge its wrongful death by murdering its maker." She walked towards him, grinning wildly as the tears spilled over. He made an indication to take a step back and within a blink of an eye Mikaru gripped both his shoulders and pushed him to the ground with such force one of his arms dislocated from its socket. Straddling him and grasping his neck once more Mikaru brought her other hand to her mouth and bit her thumb, the blood dripped down and landed on his Akatsuki coat, melting through it like a hot knife through butter and came into contact with the skin of his chest. It felt as if he had been exposed to the 24 hours in Tsukiyomi with such intense velocity and strength in that one drop of blood, he held back a scream.
"Hurts like a bitch doesn't it," she verbalized staring into his eyes, currently the same shade of black as years before, his kakkai genkei rendered useless in the environment she created, "I know it does, I dealt with the same feeling of pain when I was in your position but unlike you, I survived my torment and killed my enemy, but you, you will die here." She raised her hand, moved towards his head, and hovered over his face. Her hand trembled uncontrollably as she tried to push herself to bring it upon his forehead; the blood began running down her arm. "I'm going, I'm going to kill you Itachi," she whispered hoarsely. "Then do it." Her eyes widened at his statement; her body began shaking. His tone wasn't mocking or influential, it wasn't a command, and it wasn't said from fear; his tone was low but honest, he wasn't going to fight her, he was going to let her kill him. Mikaru focused on his face once more through blurry vision as her salted tears landed on his cheek and rolled down to his ears.
She collapsed, with her blooded hand burying into his hair, her grip on his neck loosening, and her head coming to rest besides his; Mikaru cried. It was a silent cry, a few sniffles heard as she tried to take her next breath but nothing more than that. Itachi laid beneath her and listened to her tears, feeling her body tremble above him. He was staring upwards, seeing images of the two of them together coming to the front, within this subconscious state it seemed that whatever she was currently thinking was what he watched.
"I don't think we're too young, I mean my parents got together when they were eight, I think so anyways."
"You really love your little brother huh, I wish I had a little brother."
"Itachi let's go train."
"ANBU really!? That's awesome!"
"Don't be modest just take it, it's your birthday so celebrate."
He breathing was deep and unsteady as he held her close, the two sitting in her bed as the horror movie played quietly in the background. "Itachi I — "No," he interrupted, "I'm sorry I shouldn't have, I" — "I'm ready," she said lowly, cutting him off too. He stared down at her as he held her in his arms, he was visibly shaking, "Mikaru if you're not, we don't have to." She smiled to herself and snuggled into his gray shirt, "I'm ready Itachi."
Mikaru and Itachi's relationship promptly began after she graduated the Academy even though he graduated three years earlier than she did (it would have been five if it wasn't for his help), she was eleven and he was twelve when they decided to actually date after a weird series of strange and heart-felt confession. That was over five years ago and the two of them now held each other growing bodies in a loving manner.
He laid her down on the bed carefully, almost fearfully as he slowly ran his fingers down her exposed stomach causing small rises of goose bumps to form on her smooth skin. "Mikaru," he whispered as they locked eyes, she smiled sweetly and placed a finger on his lips. "Itachi I'm ready," she whispered as her finger traveled from his lips to his waistline; she hooked her index finger in a belt loop and gave it a slight tug, a seductive playful smirk on her face. Itachi returned the gesture with a smile before lowering his face to her. Their lips connected and Itachi felt a fire rush through his body, his cheeks flushed slightly, and his tongue rubbed lightly against her bottom lip. Wet appendages now entwined as his hands traveled up her shirt, pushing it out of the way and revealing her bra-cladded chest. His hands had a slight tremble as she arched her back and he unclasped the undergarment. Breaking their kiss Mikaru brought her lips to his ear, "Look at me Itachi." Doing as he was told he moved back timidly as her loosened bra now covered her chest, she smiled at him lovingly, "I love you." He smiled, "I love you too."
He placed his hands on her shoulders and began moving the undergarment away from her body. He grew at the sight before him and leaned down to take one pink nipple into his mouth. She arched her back and took a hold of his shirt, an exasperated gasp passing her lips as she shut her eyes. She tugged at the bottom of his shirt and he responded by moving away from her and removing the particular article of clothing. The two kissed again, as Mikaru's hands made their way to unbuckle his belt and one of Itachi's hands unbuttoned her pants and pull down the zipper. "Mikaru," he whispered in their kiss as her fingers lightly rubbed against the head of his erection and his hands roamed her torso. She rolled and made him lay under her before she stood next to the bed. Slightly out of breath Itachi watch as she slowly brought her shorts down along with her underwear. He loved the way her hair rolled off her body, the way the moonlight shone on her skin giving her an ethereal look, the way she blushed as she smiled and crawled back into back with him.
The skin contact made their hearts race in unison, as they hands roamed the body of one another, timid but lovingly, a little scared but willing. Using one hand Mikaru pulled down a side of his pants and Itachi did the rest, kicking them off onto the floor along with his boxer shorts. They stared into each other's eyes as Itachi was positioned above her. "Are you…" he mumbled, his voice trailing off the end as his breaths were heavy, his arms shook as he continued to support himself. She smiled and placed a hand on his cheek, caressing it softly with her thumb, she nodded. He hugged her, breathing into her ear, and brought her close to him once more. "I love you Mikaru," he said. "I love you Itachi." He entered slowly and listened to her increased breathing and the small whimpers of pain she made, he did his best to ignore her nails digging into his skin, and kissed her cheek, closer to her ear, in comfort. He felt a tear hit the side of his face and stopped moving. "No please continue," she whispered, bringing him closer to her despite the fact that that was nearly impossible. "I love you Itachi." "I love you too Mikaru."
She cried silent tears as she sat in the Konoha hospital, her arms wrapped around her stomach as she wept for the baby that was stripped away from her, stripped away from life by its own father. "Don't worry," she whispered, "I'll avenge you, I'll avenge everyone."
She stared at Sasuke through the window of his bedroom as he tossed and turned in his sleep, nightmares about the murder on the forefront of his mind no doubt as it was only two weeks after the tragedy. She placed her hands against the glass, "I'm sorry to leave you, I want to stay and help you but," she paused in held her head down, ashamed of her own cowardice, "I can't stay, being with you will only make me think of Itachi and the child he and I had."
Battles, screams, and blood, dead bodies pooling at her feet as her Sharingan inflicted eyes helped her defeat all that came her way, the thirst to kill Itachi growing stronger as the days passed but never getting to a point where it was enough to do what she thought needed to be done even though she pushed herself to end all bonds with him.
"I didn't want to," he said in a low mummer; her shaking ceased instantly and she turned her head to look at him from the corner of her eye. "What?" "I didn't want to do that to you." She sat up quickly and glared down at him, "It didn't matter if you wanted to do it or not you still killed everyone, you still killed our child, you still killed me!"
"…"
"Say something you brute!"
"…"
Pushed passed her limits, Mikaru went to slam her thumb down onto Itachi's forehead but he quickly struck out, pushing her hand away from him, shoving her off him, and holding her down with his body weight, reversing their previous position. Mikaru screamed in anger as she struggled underneath him, fighting herself mentally as she fought with him physically. "I didn't kill them in cold blood," he whispered, his head was down, he avoided eye contact with her, this caused Mikaru to look up at his hair falling over his forehead. "I didn't want to kill anyone, I didn't want to hurt them," he lifted his head and stared into her eyes, "I didn't want to hurt you." The images around them froze in place as the faded pictures merged into the sight before her, Itachi Uchiha above her, looking at her with tears teeming in his eyes. "After the Kyuubi attack the village was suspicious of us, all of us, and I knew that this war our clan would cause would turn into another Shinobi World War. Elder Shimura instructed me to slaughter the clan for it was the only way to avert the destruction we would cause. I beg the Elders to differ but they were persistent; I asked him to spare you and Sasuke but he made me choose," he began to tremble and released the eye contact he had with her, "I'm sorry Mikaru." She was speechless at his confession as one of his hands made its way towards her forehead, "Look."
There was the sound of rushing wind in her ears as the images of the conversations and actions that lead up to the Uchiha Massacre played through her mind. She felt his pain as he took down his clan members one by one regardless of the age, he did it to protect the village; it was his mission as an ANBU after all and then it came to the moment where he had to kill her. As he peered down at herself through his eyes through distorted vision, his eyes swelled with tears as he turned from her dying form and as he took a step outside she heard herself scream and felt the tear fall from his eye as he walked away, her mouth moved to mimic his, "Forgive me Mikaru, my love."
She didn't feel the tears come from her eyes as the technique was disrupted and the two of them came back to the real world. She quickly sat up and cried aloud into her palms as she sat upon his pelvis; Itachi said nothing as she cried, he only watched her. Her resolve was broken, her mind in shambles, she wasted her life trying to defeat someone who only loved her, someone who has been hurting more than she for the last four years. She spent all this time training to ultimately kill the man she loved and for what, for what!? What would she do now, what could she do? Silently she removed her frame from Itachi's and stood, with wobbled steps she started walking away from him without a word of farewell. "Mikaru," he said as he too stood, she looked at him from over her shoulder through puffy red eyes that continued to have tears flow from them. "Don't tell Sasuke." Her eyes softened as they gazed at each other and she nodded once, having an understanding as to why he shouldn't know the truth. She turned and began walking once more until he said her name once again, she didn't turn to him this time for she was two stunned by the feeling of arms wrapping around her waist and a head placed on her shoulder. The warm feeling enclosed her as her tears fell in large droplets, landing on his cloak, soon forming puddles in the darkened cloth. She felt his lips against her ear, making her feel so nostalgic, as he whispered, "I love you Mikaru." Before she could turn and see him eye to eye he was gone, she searched the surrounding area but couldn't find him, she fell to knees and brought her hands to her face, she cried. "I love you too Itachi."
"Mikaru," the name came out low and in a whisper, but it wasn't Itachi. She turned around and came to see Sasuke walking towards her from the woodened thicket and instantly she began to tear up again. Poor boy, you have no idea how much he loves you, she thought as she walked over to him silently and threw her arms around him. His cheek pressed against her chest and she stroke his hair lightly, tears sliding from her eyes into his navy-colored hair. "Oh Sasuke forgive me," she whispered, thinking back to how she could have changed his life, saved him from himself, saved her from herself, if only she stayed, if only she stayed there with him. Exposing the truth to him at this point would only ruin anything he had to live for just as it did for her and it would destroy Itachi if it wasn't Sasuke who punishes him for his crimes. Pursuing and killing Itachi was Sasuke's job to do, that honor didn't belong to her, but now what was she to do? She kneeled down, bringing him down with her, hugged him tightly, and kissed his cheek, closer to his ear. "I am sorry Sasuke," she whispered, "I too lack hatred."