Okay. I'm not dead. You can all stop mourning now... (Just lemme delude myself a little, kay?)
This idea has been bugging me (much like Itoko was) and therefore, I am posting the result. This does have the potential to be continued, if you're curious about spoiler grins
Oh, that reminds me. For those of you who aren't up-to-date on the manga, and don't wanna be spoiled (even a little, cos they're tiny spoilers that aren't really spoilers... more like hints of spoilers), don't read this -- although I'd love it if you would :P
I'm trying to figure out some kinks in Itoko, so I haven't updated just yet - but I'm on a writing kick at the moment, so if you don't bug me too much, I will update :P (Again with the deluding).
Title: Thank You
Summary: An Uchiha girl's last moments and final words to her executioner. OC, obviously. Spoilers if you squint.
Warnings: Mild Spoilers... I think that's it? Oh, and an OC.
Pairings/Characters: Er... no pairings really. Itachi, mentions of Sasuke, but if focuses on my OC -- yeah, bad habit... so what? I like OCs!
Word Count: 1100 words
She would be lying if she said that she wasn't shaking, she would be lying if she said she wasn't sobbing with fear, and she would be lying if she said she wasn't just a little grateful. Sure, she wasn't particularly happy that he was killing her entire family – his entire family – but at least she didn't have to choose anymore.
Konoha was her home, she had been born and raised there, after all, she loved the village and its people – but the Uchiha Clan was her family. She had their blood thrumming in her veins, flowing quickly with her fear. She had the potential to unlock the famed Sharingan, though not the desire. She was, despite being only ten years old, privy to secrets she probably shouldn't be. She knew, through the knowledge gained from being a shopkeeper's daughter – and often his assistant – that everything was not sweet smells, bunny rabbits and roses between Konoha and the Uchiha.
She was old enough to notice and question the lingering, unreadable looks she got sometimes – the looks the older villagers gave her when she laughed and dragged her friends around the streets during festivals. She was old enough to notice the murmurs passing between her customers, the whispers of a plot she wanted no part in.
Yet, by merely hearing those words, she was a part of it. She was torn between loyalty to the village that, despite its mistrust of her clan, had nurtured and protected her. She was torn between the smiling old man who had paused in the street to offer her a trinket at one of those festivals and the mother who swept her into a hug when she was sad, the father who gave her a few coins to buy sweets, the cousins who played with her.
But she knew what she was going to say when it was her turn, when he pressed the blade to her throat – or would it be a shuriken? A kunai, perhaps? Would he even bother to come in close and use that sharp, terrible blade on her as he had their kinsmen? – she knew exactly what she'd say.
She had a million questions to ask – why? Why are you doing this? Why are you betraying your clan? Why can't it be different? Why do we pay for their power-hungry mistakes? Why? – but what she intended to say wouldn't be a question.
Would he even give her time to speak, or would her blood stain the floor around her, as her parents' had done back in her humble little house, before she had the chance? Would she see his face? Would she be able to read his eyes, see the face of her executor before she saw nothing more?
She didn't even hear him, she just saw him. He was bathed in moonlight, the Sharingan her Clan prized so much whirring and stony. His face was young, drawn tightly – God, he looked so young. He looked so... cold – the premature lines that framed his eyes at just thirteen created an interesting contrast in the light.
He was covered in blood already – she wondered if he knew how many lives he'd taken so far, how many he still had to take before he was the only one with the Uchiha blood in his veins – but it didn't suit him. It didn't suit the boy who had come into her shop and bought a pack of bubblegum because his baby-faced little brother was crying. It didn't suit the smiling, peaceable boy she'd seen walking hand-in-hand with one of their cousins.
It didn't suit the boy who had shown her the way home when she got lost that one time, looking for something she couldn't even remember now; who patted her on the head and smiled a bare hint of a smile when she started sniffling.
He was slow about it, when he saw that she met his gaze head-on. He strode forwards like a man approaching a skittish beast – unsure if it would flee or simply watch warily. She wanted to run, but it was pointless.
And she had something to tell him before... before she joined her family forever.
The blade glistened a sickening red, the silver-white of the moon almost mocked by it, yet he didn't slice it through flesh, listen to her organs squelch and her last chokes and gasps. He didn't slash it mercifully through her throat, cutting off the hysterical sobs and watch her eyes glaze over.
He just stared a moment, and she stared back, wondering how she could hold his eyes so calmly when every part of her was screaming to run, her chest was heaving with sobs and her limbs trembled.
She stood up, shaking still, and nearly lost the battle against running. Her eyes never left his.
She smoothed her hair out of her face – she had always been rather paradoxical about her hair. She was self conscious (no-one else in the clan had such light brown hair, they were known for their charcoal hair and eyes), but she was also proud. It made her unique in a way that was not ninja skill or power or wealth – and swiped at her tears.
She sniffled one more time – and oh Gods she wished he would smile and pat her head, that silent 'you're okay.' hanging unsaid – and steadied her voice. He seemed to acknowledge that she wanted to say something – why else would he not just get it over with? Surely he wasn't enjoying watching her sob like a four-year-old?
However, she seemed to have waited too long, because he vanished in a flicker, and she felt him behind her only a moment later. She wasn't sure that her words even reached his ears, they were spoken so softly.
"Thank you."
He hesitated a mere moment, as though shocked by what she had said, but it was only a moment – a bare fraction of a second. From his lips – the same lips she'd seen curved into that unique, rare smile. The same lips she'd seen pressed against his girlfriend's cheek in farewell. The same lips that had demonstrated how to blow a bubble for his brother – words she did not comprehend fell. Words that only had meaning as a starburst of pain shocked her, and darkness was flooding her vision, stealing her senses.
And then she was gone.
Ah-ha! Now, for those of you who are curious about what Itachi said to her, and how on earth I could continue this (although it's kinda obvious where I could go with it) leave a review asking me to do so.