Sasuke let his feet dangle off the pier letting them make ripples on the water.
"What a way to spend my birthday, alone, no mother or father, or... Oh, just forget it!" he thought to himself.
He closed his eyes remembering the past birthdays. Only Itachi would "celebrate" it with him. A tear slipped down his cheek. He whispered the Birthday song to himself.
"Happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear Sasuke... Happy birthday to me..." He sobbed, shivering in sadness. He closed his eyes and let the tears fall down onto his bare chest and slip down onto his shorts. He hasn't even seen his living brother in at least six years, or his friends.
He was now officially six-teen years old, nobody to say happy birthday to him either. He then felt a slight breeze blow in from behind him. He opened his eyes slightly, but didn't move an inch.
A cold hand jolted Sasuke awake from his haunting memories. He jumped and moaned loudly. He gripped the foot of whomever had touched him. He pulled himself closer to the person. Shaking violently, he gasped his brother's name on instinct.
" NII SAN!!" he screamed, tears streaming down his reddened face.
Itachi stared at him with mixed emotions.
"Sasuke..." he hesitated for a moment.
Sasuke gazed up at him. Tears staining his terror, saddened weathered face.
"GOD DAMMIT ITACHI!!" he screamed as loud as his voice would go.
Itachi didn't really know what to say nor do. He was at last without a clue as in what to do with Sasuke this time. He didn't really know how to perceive his emotions towards him. Itachi bent down to him.
"God Dammit Itachi, I hate you, you fucking bastard!" he sobbed, still clinging onto his foot.
Itachi settled his hand on Sasuke's face gently. He rubbed him softly with his thumb.
"Shh, Sasuke shh..." he whispered softly.
Sasuke gazed at him once again and shook uncontrollably. "Why?!, Why?! You... you...help me Nii San.. Help me!!" he whimpered weakly.
"Let's first get you into our house and get you calmed down, this is no way, you should have a really bad sweet six-teen, Otouto.
"Why do you all of a sudden care for me throughout all of these, long, agonizing years, you f - ," he got cut off by Itachi's thumb over his lips. He closed his eyes and let a few last tears slip down his cheeks. Itachi gently wiped them away with his finger.
"Come on Sasuke, let's get you in the house."
Sasuke let go of Itachi's leg and, with help, got up and leaned on his brother weakly.
"Why? Why did you murder our clan?"
Itachi looked at Sasuke, then closed his eyes as if regretting something.
"To Protect you." he replied, looking away from him.
"How in the hell, do you think killing our own parents is protecting me?!"
"Now, Sasuke, listen to me, please," he paused, bringing Sasuke closer to himself.
"To protect you from them, everyone, and from the whole village. It was not just me who killed our clan Otouto, another has helped as well. But, I will tell more of this safely inside the
house.
Sasuke looked at Itachi with disgust and slight happiness of some sort, a few tears still wanting to escape his eyes. He still shook slightly.
"Brother... help me, help me from insanity please... I'm going insane!"
Itachi looked at him with, never before seen, soft eyes.
"I'm not leaving any time soon Sasuke. I will help you back to the real, happier days."
"Those days are long gone! Can't you see that brother!? You murdered all of them! There is no such thing as 'Happier Days!' Can't you see it!?"
"Shh, Sasuke ...Shh.." he gently rubbed his arm.
Sasuke started crying again. "Mother...Father... no...no...no!" he murmured, loud enough for Itachi to hear him.
Itachi didn't know how to calm him down at this point. He was getting really frustrated at him. But, he knew he couldn't go off on Sasuke right now, he was in the worst position he'd known for someone to have. He created it as well. He sighed.
"I'm sorry my Sasuke, please forgive me..." he whispered, looking down on the ground. "I just wanted you to not be compared to me by anyone anymore, I just wanted it to end. I wanted you to become as strong as I and be who you wanted to be, not what they wanted you to be for them.
Sasuke had stopped crying and looked up at Itachi as he was talking to both of them. They had both stopped walking a while ago and had taken a seat in the woods.
Sasuke gazed at Itachi in disbelief and amazement.
"So, you did all that... just for me?" Sasuke asked him.
"No, not all of it for you, but for me as well. To benefit both of us."
"What did you do it for yourself then?"
Itachi looked at Sasuke and sighed.
"Power." was his only word he spoke.
Sasuke furrowed again.
Itachi wrapped his arm around Sasuke's shoulder and patted his hair gently.
Gently petting Sasuke's raven coloured hair, Itachi gazed in his black eyes.
"Please forgive me Sasuke. I did it for you, and to help me, with you."
Sasuke sighed. " I know Nii San, you've told me over and over today. I get the point, but it doesn't help me anymore than it does you."
"Sasuke, I will be right back, I need to get a few things."
Sasuke nodded slowly. "Promise you'll be back." he whispered sadly.
"I promise Sasuke, I promise." he replied, smiling softly.
Sasuke watched him slip out the bedroom doorway. He then looked down. "Please come back Nii-San..." he thought sadly to himself.
Itachi looked around in the hallway closet. He saw a glimmer of the present he had hidden in there. He smiled. He walked out to the kitchen. He looked at the cake Sasuke didn't notice. He got the lighter and lit six-teen candles.
"I hope he likes it all..." Itachi thought to himself. He picked up the cake and the gift for Sasuke.
Walking back into the bedroom Itachi smiled at Sasuke.
Sasuke had the biggest smile Itachi had ever seen on his face.
Itachi set the cake on the night stand beside the bed Sasuke was resting in. He gave the gift to Sasuke.
"Nii... San... you...you... didn't forget about me!"
"I never did Otouto." he said happily. " open it Sasuke."
Sasuke stared st the shiny wrapping paper. "I wonder what it could be!?"he wondered to himself. He took the ribbon off and tore away at the gift wrap. He looked at the long wooden box decorated with Japanese symbols and dragons. He looked at the middle of the box, a sharingan eye was carved on it, then the Uchiha symbol on both sides. He opened the lid. He gasped at what was inside of it. A long Japanese sword, it had engravings of all the stages of the sharingan eyes on the blade. He gaped over it. His eyes were very wide.
Itachi loved his little brother's expression over it.
"I'm glad you like it Sasuke. It used to be mine, before I joined the Akatusuki. It had been sitting in my room for countless years, then I finally decided, you need it more than I did."
Sasuke gazed at him in disbelief again.
"How did you get it?"
"Handed down from family members ever since the founding of our village. One person, who is still living today had it first. Madara Uchiha."
"Who is he?"
"The one who had mastered the final secret to the sharingan eyes."
"The final secret?!"
"Yes. The last, most hardest decision to make. One of which, I am not going to attempt with you."
Sasuke gazed at Itachi with wonder and questions in his eyes.
"I will tell you about his coming."
Then a mist gathered near the doorway. They both stared at it. A figure appeared.
Itachi gazed at him.
"Uchiha Madara." Itachi replied.
"Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha." he answered back.
Sasuke kept glancing back and forth between Itachi and Madara.
"Madara..." Sasuke mouthed.
"I see you have once again passed my rightful sword down to someone. As was expected of you." he nodded once. He walked over to them glancing at the scene in front of him.
"You have fallowed my exact steps Itachi, when I was young, and you, Sasuke, you were to be Itachi's light, but, he cared too much for you, he didn't care for the continuation of fighting for power. I did the exact same thing with my brother, so long ago but, I got past the final secret of the sharingan. I killed him for his eyes, for light, to live on for generations to come."
Sasuke's eyes dilated. "You... killed your bro....brother?" he gasped in astonishment.
"To get the final step, Itachi would have needed your eyes for the last step."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Light, as in this; once you activate your sharingan, you lose the power to actually see, so I got desperate, and tried everything I could to get my sight back, but all failed.. Then I turned to my brother for that light. To be able to see again... and I got it."
"Didn't you... how..?"
"I forgave him before doing so, but we fought, and I was the winner of the battle, and he knew it too. His tears down his cheeks, I could feel on my groping hands. I got so desperate for the light... I just had to, my opportunity was right there, and I took it. After I obtained his eyes, it's been more than one hundred years since I've seen him. I dearly miss him, but, I just can't let sadness ruin my spirit. I tried my best to move on. But, I still forgive him. I pray every night to my friends and family."
Itachi stared at him in complete awe. Sasuke was also in the same state of awe. Sasuke looked back at Itachi with sadness in his eyes.
"You were going to... kill me?" he asked eyes wide as could be.
"Let's just say, my heart won over this one. I had stopped using the sharingan a while ago. Because, I knew deep down in my heart, you didn't deserve to die in that fashion.