A/N: Written as a Darkest Night 2018 exchange gift for Cerberusia.
There are 4 chapters. Dubious consent themes are mentioned. A later chapter has a fade to black notice for a smut scene. I will provide a link to the uncensored version then.
-()-
The breath of life drawn back into his lungs nearly suffocated him. Thickly, he coughed as the burn of oxygen returned to his lungs. He rolled on dirt, kicking up dust and chakra.
Itachi had forgotten reality's agony.
A hand was held out to him. The unstable chakra above him crackled. The raw energy circulated with unmistakable familiarity.
Itachi wasn't willing to accept the gesture.
"—unfair — tired — ready—" Sasuke's voice was distant in his ears. Come to think of it, he didn't think he was directly speaking to him.
Itachi was alive. What purpose did it serve?
After the resurrection, he was unamused. He had bid his farewells as per his wishes. Anger coursed within him. When Itachi found his bearings he would voice his discontent.
Like most things, he never did.
Feelings of separation weren't that simple.
The things that he pretended to ignore but cared for. The fact he hadn't seen Sasuke in who knows how long. The compulsion Itachi shouldn't discard this chance. There was more to the situation than what first met the eye.
He succumbed to his own devotion.
Instead, he took Sasuke's hand. The enormity of his brother's relief was palpable. Slender yet blistered fingers clasped his wrist.
"Stay together from now on," Sasuke said. His words were rushed. He practically choked on them. The next bit was crystal clear, as much as a promise any. "Us. No one else."
Itachi exhaled. His thumb brushed his pulse point, and Sasuke's heartbeat thrummed.
Yes, Itachi had a traitorous urge to stay alive despite every principle of his original lifetime.
He should remain dead. Once back from the dead was too many times. Life always died no matter what. With reservations, though, he rejected his own harsh lesson from the Third Shinobi World War. It wasn't his selfishness that sealed the deal. Once he felt the plea of loneliness in Sasuke's actions, he forgot how to let go. His voice was honey — it had been forever since he had heard him spit the vitriol of revenge; even then it was well welcome — and the richness of it captured Itachi whole.
-()-
"Be careful," Sasuke warned.
"Look at who's talking after exerting yourself," Itachi remarked dryly. He wished he checked the cold ring to his tone, but circumstances forced him on-edge. The robe Sasuke had offered felt itchy on his skin, and he focused on that constant sensation to calm himself.
Really, they were both ragged, but Sasuke did everything not to show he was ruffled.
Itachi stepped onto the engawa and paused. Sasuke had a determined hold on his arm and carefully directed him to their destination.
The entire time Itachi had known where they were. He had hang-ups. His shortcomings were inextricably rooted, but he had chosen his fate. It was time to face it. Precisely, the ruin of bloodshed and responsibilities he had not laid eyes on since the age of thirteen.
The home he abandoned.
The cherry on top was Sasuke leading him to the door without once stopping, as though he believed Itachi had an honorable right. And he didn't have the will to protest in lieu of the gravity of his feelings. The atmosphere had an eerie scent of ancient chakra and iron and stale arguments that chafed old wounds.
The creak at the doorway gave it all away.
It was like a dream. As soon as they entered the living room, they both passed out from the exhaustion of walking the distance there, falling on the floor. Sasuke recovered before Itachi and arranged him so he was properly sitting in a chair when he woke up. Sasuke had the foresight to set out a pair of clothes at Itachi's feet, and he changed into them. He handed him a cup of tea and he sipped it.
Itachi didn't have to see to know it was dark outside. The cicadas were louder than the daytime. Apparently hours had gone by.
Not being able to see was new for Itachi – he had been near blindness before death. It was awkward to be near Sasuke and recall (what he had imagined to be) their last moments, but he made no mention of it immediately, and having Sasuke there was reassuring.
The tea burned his throat. It felt real. He did, too. He truly had committed himself to this.
"They'll leave us be," Sasuke murmured. There was a shift and a rustle. Again, he didn't sound like he addressed Itachi for answers, but he was the only one there.
Itachi looked over his cup as if to send him the signal to continue, but Sasuke didn't say anything else. He placed the bottom of the cup on his knee and heat burned his skin through the thin, black training pants.
"I want you to be a part of the village."
"No."
And the reasons went unarticulated, but Itachi knew he had not relinquished blame from Konoha's shoulders. He may never.
Sasuke was alone. And the truth he didn't actively reach out to any friends, let alone his previous team, became alarmingly obvious.
"I have what the village doesn't. They won't," Sasuke added. There was a pause, and Itachi was surprised he couldn't read his monotone. "I'll take care of you, nii-san. I always will."
The words were a scratched, bygone record. Itachi had done the same in the worst ways, but Sasuke wasn't cut from the same cloth.
For him, then, Itachi would ghost Konoha's grounds. A lifetime of pain could never be erased. For the time being, it was buried.
Itachi surmised Sasuke was confined to the village. Living on the compound's premises was the leniency allowed to him. Sasuke craved a semi-peaceful life, now. Itachi had himself to blame for their imprisonment.
In the end, Itachi has more to make up for.
At first their schedule was fairly routine. They reconnected. Itachi's doubts about surviving started to dissolve. He didn't have to fight or care about the outside world. Here, he cared about his own family. If he could be a pillar to Sasuke at the time he didn't have anyone, he was eternally grateful to be that person.
How time altered feelings and motivations.
But things changed one day — or, perhaps it wasn't quite so abrupt. Itachi realized he had gravely miscalculated something important.