Chapter 4: Escape

When you have something precious to protect, you can be truly strong.

It was true. The reason Itachi became strong at all was because he had had Sasuke there in his life. Without him, there was nothing. Nothing at all.

Itachi gently pulled his fingers through his little brother's soft hair, sitting with the sleeping child in his arms.
The younger whined in his sleep and turned around. Itachi cradled him closer to himself, covered him with his cloak. He looked at the dark sky.

The night was falling over Konoha. They were hiding in the furthest parts of the village, after leaving the little hospital he took Sasuke to.
His little brother slowly opened his black, pearly eyes.

"Where am I?" he asked weakly. It pained Itachi to see how weak and emotionally destroyed he was. "Where's mother and father?"

Itachi didn't know what to answer. He wasn't supposed to deal with this, but if he was going to stay with his brother, he would have to learn to. What was I thinking? If I only could go back, and stop myself from tormenting him with Tsukiyomi and forcing him to watch all their deaths…

He sighed inwardly and rose, with Sasuke in his arms. The child looked around, seemed to wake up a bit and the same pained expression returned to his eyes. He wanted to say something, but the words died on his lips.

Nii-

"We have to leave this village soon, I can't stay here…" Itachi said quietly.

"Don't leave me!" Sasuke shouted, helpless and afraid. He gripped his brother's cloak tightly, panic rising in his eyes.

Itachi stayed emotionless. He had already decided to bring Sasuke along. Itachi was just fifteen and already a member of the Akatsuki, he had recently killed his clan, his own parents. But he had decided to walk another path than the one he chose when he was angry and sad, the last weeks before the massacre. Sasuke was the only thing he had left in the world. He couldn't let go of him.

He hugged his little brother against his chest and the child relaxed a bit.

"I'll take you with me, where I'm going. We cannot stay here."

Little Sasuke didn't really care anymore. He didn't know what to do, who to trust. He was hurt, he was lost.
So he did as he always used to do when he was unsecure or afraid – he buried his face in Itachi's cloak and consigned himself completely to his big brother.

xBxuxBxbxExlx9x7x

"Nii-san?"

Itachi struggled to keep his face emotionless. How could Sasuke still call him that?

Sasuke tiredly lifted his head from his brother's shoulder, which he had been leaning it against. Itachi was carrying him on his back as he almost flew through the forest, moving at an incredible speed. They had to get far away from Konoha before they were caught by the Anbu. If that happened, he would be executed (he doubted that he had the strength to defend himself against all of them yet) and Sasuke would be brought back to the same meaningless life as before. Most for Sasuke's sake, he hurried as much as he could.

The whole night had passed, some light from the rising sun shone through the thick branches. Itachi continued, moved like a flash of black and red from each branch.

"How do you feel?" he asked his brother.

He could feel Sasuke tightening his hold around him.

"I'm fine", he said shakily, but Itachi wasn't convinced – Sasuke was still badly hurt from his suicide attempt. They both needed to rest.

He could feel some kind of tension between them – so much was unsaid, unexplained, and Sasuke's confusing emotions was touching him deeply. But he still couldn't promise to explain everything. It was still a sacrifice he made, a sacrifice to protect Sasuke and the village.

Sasuke was tired, hungry, confused and sad. Always confused, mostly sad. But he began to feel a heavy headache and sleep was closing in on him. At dawn, Itachi found a hidden place at a mountain where he stopped. He gently lifted Sasuke from his back and held him in his arms, examined him worriedly.

The child's face was flushed and drops of sweat were running down his forehead – he had a high fever and was barely conscious. He mumbled:

"Kaa-san…mother…"

Itachi flinched.

The one he regretted killing the most, was their mother. She was kind and always wanted to make them happy – but, she was supporting their father to much, she was always on his side. And Danzou would never have let him spare her too. Sasuke's survival was almost too much. Now Itachi really wished that she were here to comfort the both of them and make Sasuke's fever go down. He had no knowledge about medicial treatment, but he had seen her treating both him and his brother when they were sick.

He carried Sasuke down to a little stream that was flowing down the mountainside, sparkling in the light of dawn, and moistened his little brother's warm forehead with the cold water. Sasuke whimpered and reached out his small hand as if to grip his brother's, but let it fall again and finally lost consciousness.

Itachi kneeled at the stream and dampened his face some more and pulled his fingers through his hair to cool him down, hoping that it was comfortable for Sasuke. Then he carried him to a shielded rock cleft and put him down. He looked at his brother's bandaged stomach, and to his relief it wasn't bleeding through the bandages anymore, but he knew the wound was deep.

He winced. How could his baby brother ever get the idea to kill himself? Sasuke had been the world's happiest child...

But… that was what Itachi himself was about to do after witnessing the third great ninja war. He was so young back then, he had seen so much horrible things… but just two years after, Sasuke was born and he decided that nobody was going to bring him down – he would be strong and survive through everything so he could protect his little brother.

Itachi was exhausted by now. Everything else would wait until tomorrow – their tomorrow. The sun was rising, but they were shielded and shadowed among the rocks.
He lay down beside his brother, wrapped his arms tightly around his tiny body and wrapped his cloak around them like a blanket. Just now, when he knew that Sasuke was safe – for the moment – beside him, he could finally exhale.

He nuzzled his face together with Sasuke's, so he could feel the heat from his fever. He was going to suffer it with him, until it was gone. He gently kissed his brother's nose and fell asleep beside him. Some flashes of light found their way through all rocks and shone down upon the two brothers, who was sleeping with their heads close together.

Now dreams and thoughts were floating freely inside their minds.

"Itachi, please"… Mikoto's tearfilled eyes.

Itachi knew he had no more time to lose. He violently brought his katana down, closed his eyes for the short moment it hit his target – went through her neck with a splashing sound and all resistance for the cold metal disappeared. It sliced easily through her pale, soft skin.

"Please, save…"

His mother's blood was splattering on his uniform and bare arms, and his eyes snapped open, watched the red fluid pour from her neck as her body hit the floor with a thud.

"…Sasuke…"

His father was surprisingly calm. Itachi turned around and ended his life in a flash, and his body fell on top of hers.

I'm cutting every bond tonight. I'm stopping a war and saving lifes.

That was the same thought that echoed through Itachi's mind all the time. But couldn't stop the violently flood of tears from his face as he headed away.

.

No words can describe my pain. Of all pains I've felt in my life – during diseases and when I got a Shuriken in my shoulder, and when my family was brutally slaughtered – I know one thing.

The worst kind of pain is the psychological one. It's stronger than anything.

Because it hasn't any cure, no painkillers. No morphine can erase that pain.
You just have to live through it and – if the mental torment is over – wait for the time, for years of suffering, to heal your wounds. But they will never be completely healed.

A piece of your bleeding wound will always remain inside of you.

It doesn't matter if I was killed the most horrible way, I would still prefer that than to be here, knowing my parents will never breathe again.
Never talk to me again. I will never see them again.

But when I met my brother again…
Is it possible, that he can help me to heal? Why do I think so, when he was the one who put me through all of this?

.

Sasuke turned around restlessly. His head was aching and it felt like he was boiled in hot water. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was his older brother's sleeping face.
Itachi was hugging him tightly; his forehead was leaned against his as if he wanted to take some of his fever.

Sasuke knew he should hate him. He knew he should despise him.
But… he was his only safety. He needed somebody, somebody who could understand him, to love him. At the night of the massacre, he had wanted to kill him right away.

He didn't know why, but now he suddenly wanted his presence. But what if... Itachi was going to kill him too? The fever made it hard to think, every thought got stuck in each other.
He wrapped his tiny arms firmly around Itachi's neck and fell asleep again.

xBxuxBxbxExlx9x7x

"Hokage-sama!"

Iruka burst into the Hokage's office, worried. The old man looked up from some papers on his desk.

"What is it, Iruka?" he asked him.

"I need to talk to you! It's an urgent matter! About… about Uchiha Sasuke!"

"What's up with him?" the Hokage asked sedately, successfully hiding his interest in the topic. His promise to Itachi, to protect the only surviving Uchiha, was strong.

"I am…I am really worried, Hokage-sama! Sasuke hasn't been in the academy for a couple of days now, and nobody has heard anything from him! And… in the Uchiha District, in the main household, some chuunins found the floor soaked with blood!"

"Calm down, Iruka." But to tell the truth, Sarutobi was really worried.

Has Danzo defied Itachi's order? he wondered. In that case, it would mean the end of Konoha. Itachi would be so furious if Danzo dared to touch the child, so…
He kept a calm mask on as he talked with the upset teacher. After everything Itachi did to protect our village… it is a true shame if we were to let him down.

"What are we going to do, Hokage-sama?"

"Hokage-sama!" Suddenly, a anbu-uniformed masked man appeared in front of his desk. "We have observed a stranger at Konoha's northen port. We were able to identify him as… Itachi Uchiha."

Iruka gasped. Not even Sarutobi was able to hide his surprise.

"Sasuke's brother?" Iruka asked confused.

"Is he still here?" the Hokage asked, although he sensed what the answer would be.

The man bowed his head. "I'm very sorry, Hokage-sama, but we observed him from a distance and before we could approach him, he'd left. Apparently, he left no destruction or mess behind him. Shall we send out a searching squad?"

"I decide about that!" the Hokage snapped.

Iruka's face was pale. "Is it possible that… Sasuke was kidnapped by Itachi?"

The old man's face was stern. "Both of you – leave. I'll take care of this matter."

"Hai." The anbu member left. But Iruka was upset.

"But – we have to – "

"Go", the Hokage ordered. When he was alone, he put his hands together and thought about it.

So, Itachi had changed his mind and decided to bring Sasuke along. That would be better for both of them right now, and ensure Sasuke's safety. But being with the child would make Itachi worthless as a spy for the village. And later on, they could be vulnerable if they were attacked. But Sarutobi was a kind man and he would let them be together.

But on the other side of the wall, someone else was listening. Somebody who thought about power, not about feelings.

Danzo narrowed his eyes, pleasured with how this was going. Now he could eliminate the both of them, at the same time. Kill two birds with one stone – and all Uchihas would be gone forever.

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