Brothers
I think... he knew. I think in the end he knew that this was how it would all play out. Because before he died, he poked my forehead, the way the brother I loved always used to do.
And for the longest time, I couldn't believe that it was over. I stared at his corpse in disbelief, and then I closed my eyes, but I could still see it. Still see him.
I thought it was a dream. Surely when I opened my eyes I would see my dark room, be covered in the sweat that usually accompanied these dreams - the dreams where I killed my own flesh and blood.
But when I finally did open my eyes I still saw the shattered battleground. I still saw his bloody body. I still felt his blood on my forehead, dripping down between my eyes.
And then, it all finally sank in. Itachi, my older brother Itachi, was dead.
I thought that this was what I wanted. I thought I wanted to see him dead by my hand, by my doing.
I didn't think that I would fall to my knees and feel tears spring to my eyes for the first time in years.
I didn't think that I would weep over his corpse as the sun fell behind the trees.
But I did. I wept like a child. I wept for my family, I wept for myself, and I wept for the brother I had lost, and would never get back.