Chapter 10 - Itachi Remembered

Itachi remembered nothing about his week as a child at first. Little flashes would appear to him now and then, but nothing concrete. But he remembered the words he had told Kisame so many years before, words that, at the time, had been merely part of a conversation. Words that now held the truth within them. 'As death comes to embrace you, you will realize what you are. That's what death is, don't you think?'

The more he thought about those words, the more they began to seem familiar. As if he'd heard them once upon a time, many years ago. And that's when he remembered Kisame telling that same thing to him. When he was young...Merely a child. He didn't understand at first, just letting the memories come to him, trying to make sense of them.

'Your big brother is here to protect you, no matter what happens.'

He dodged his brothers attack, hiding behind his last weapon. His most powerful weapon. Susano'o. He was always the protector. Keeping himself safe. Keeping his little brother safe. Keeping his entire village safe. He'd only ever been protected once in his life, and he only remembered that time upon listening to his little brother's words.

'Watch yourself, kid.'

'Hidan-senpai saved me!'

Hidan. The Jashinist had protected him against Orochimaru's men. On a day, so long ago. So many, many years ago. He could see the grinning face in his mind, and somehow it seemed like a distant memory. But how...He had only met Hidan a couple years before. How...

'The people here are just angry at the world, kid. And, to tell you the truth, if they're a part of the Akatsuki, it's because they have a reason to be.'

Kakuzu had told him that. Was he angry? Itachi didn't think so, but the more he let the words enter his mind, the more he realized the truth. He was angry. He was angry at his parents for the way they'd raised him, angry at the village for making him do what he'd done, and even at his little brother, for being so important to him. He'd pushed away the anger, but he knew his moments were nearing their last, and he accepted the truth. He was angry, but as Kakuzu said, he had a reason to be. It was the life given to him, and he'd truly had no way of escaping it. The words were true...But when had he been told this?

'No more arguing.'

Itachi couldn't begin to guess how many times Pein had said this during his stay at the Akatsuki. Yelling, fighting, arguing, it was part of the anger that resided within all of the members. The same anger within his fellow members could be seen in his little brother's eyes as he talked, more like yelled, at him. Itachi fed Sasuke a few more lies about wanting his eyes, letting that anger go as far as possible. He wanted his little brother's love, but he couldn't have it. Sasuke needed to have pride in his clan. Even though Itachi never did. He stepped slowly towards his vulnerable brother. Susano'o was doing its job, and he in turn, was doing his own. Using his acting abilities to fuel the fear in his brother.

'You can call me Konan-Chan!'

He'd never used the suffixe 'chan' in his life. He had no clue where this memory came from. They flashed before his eyes, as he could feel his life disappearing. His strength leaving him. 'Chan'...Is for friends...Was Konan his friend? But he couldn't recall calling her this, or even trying to get to know her in the past few years...Had he dreamt this?

'No problem, kid. Come back whenever you like.'

Zetsu's greenery...He'd always liked that place, although he only remembered going once when Zetsu had insisted. All the different shades of green...It was beautiful. So beautiful. Especially the daisy's.

'What was your favorite flower?'

'The daisy! It's the kind of flower Deidara-senpai gave me! It's really pretty.'

Daisy's were pretty...Daisy...It was the kind of flower he'd found on his bedside table a day a year before. Almost a complete twelve months. He had stared at it for a long time, not knowing where it came from. When he'd asked Kisame, the fishman had just shrugged it off. But now...He was remembering. Deidara had given it to him. A long time ago. But not a long time ago. His eyes widened upon realizing some of the truth. He didn't know how, but there was a week from his memory that had once been gone, that had now returned. The week after going to Orochimaru's to find the ring. He'd been sick, and the next thing he knew, he woke up a week later to everybody acting a bit oddly around him. Acting kinder towards him, almost. Something happened in sound. Something to bring him back to his childhood.

For how else could his fellow Akatsuki members be in the memories of his youth?

'How old are you, Itachi-kun?'

'I'm three, and I'll be four in two months.'

The memories of that week he'd spent as a three year old flooded his mind. The way the others had cared for him, treated him like the child he truly was. And not like the genius people expected of him.

'Why does everyone carry me everywhere?'

'We like carrying you.'

He had been a child, and that's what he'd thought he was for that small amount of time in his past. For that short week, he had been a kid. A kid who'd been allowed to play, laugh, smile, and cry without being reprimanded for doing so. He had been truly normal. Just like everybody else. He had been innocent. For once in his life, truly innocent.

'Innocence is art, yeah!'

The great question, what is art? Itachi agreed with his child-self. Art is beauty. There is no more, no less, to it. No matter, wether it goes on forever, or if it is only momentary, it is still beautiful. The beauty of tomorrow, or the beauty of now...The base is the same. Art is beauty. Beauty is art.

He caughed into his hand, seeing the crimson red blood there. His medication wasn't working anymore. There was nothing any medicine could do for him now. He remembered though...When he woke up Sasori had talked to him about his sickness. He'd been angry with Kisame for a long time, feeling almost betrayed by the other. But now he knew. Sasori had figured it out for himself. The fishman had had nothing to do with it.

'Do I have to?'

'If you want to stay healthy, you have to take them.'

The phrase he'd asked Sasori, in an almost child-like manner upon following their discussion, was now a repeated memory in his mind. He remembered having asked the same thing to the puppetman back in his youth, and receiving the same answer. Every single time he was told to take his medicine he asked if he had to. But he knew he did. He had to. He wanted to die by his brother's hands', and so had to live to get to that point.

'This thing is going to kill me and there's nothing anybody can do about it.'

His childish innocence. Only seeing things black and white. Sasori had given him a way to live, surviving only because of the medicine, but surviving none the less. Sasori had been blunt with him.

'I want you to live through this desease so that you can die like the ninja you are.'

This is what the puppetman had told him after that week. Had it been before, Itachi didn't think Sasori would have cared how he'd die. He would have been wrong, but he wasn't aware of this, even upon his death. He reflected on the words he'd traded with Kisame on that morning, so long ago, yet not long ago, when he'd woken up as sick as he would continue to be for the rest of his life.

'I want to live!'

He had been crying. He had been held by the other, like a child would be held by a parent. He had been allowed to cry. To let everything out for once about the pain of being a sick child. Knowing he was going to die had been a painful weight on his shoulders. Hearing his mother cry though, was the hardest on him.

'You will live, Itachi.'

Kisame had sounded so honest, as if he knew the outcome of his life. And in a way, he did. Kisame knew that he would live until at least the age of twenty. Itachi had quickly figured out that everybody knew about his sickness, although nobody besides Sasori spoke of it. He had been angry with Kisame, but the fishman never got upset. No. He was never offended by anything. Kisame had continued to ask him how he felt, never giving up. Itachi had only glared at him for a very long time, only in the past couple months did he start to unload the pain of the desease upon his partner. He'd needed to unload himself, and Kisame had listened without saying a word.

Because Kisame cared about him. Itachi never understood why, but he was forever grateful to him.

'Moving towards a good world.'

That's what Kisame wanted, Itachi knew without even being told.

'A world with peace?'

That's what everybody wanted. What everybody wants. Peace, even until his dying breath, remained his favorite word. When everybody is in harmony together...That's what peace is. When there is no war, no fighting, no arguing. When everybody can live happily together.

'Yeah, a world with peace.'

Although Kisame had lied, he was still thankful.

He wiped away the blood and continued the short distance between himself and his brother. He thought about his old mentor, about the man that had taught him so much, yet had learnt nothing in return. Madara. The man who was ready to destroy the world to get the peace he desired. But that wasn't peace, and Itachi had tried to tell him so. He had been ignored. But he thought back on his short time spent with the other man during his week as a child. And he grew just a little bit fonder of him.

Madara had been holding the child that had stopped him from destroying Konoha in his arms. If the man had chosen to kill him right then and there, everything would have been different. The Uchiha clan would have had no savior, and he could have done whatever he wanted to it and the village. But Madara hadn't. Instead, he had chosen to continue on the path of life that was ahead of him, instead of changing the one behind him. (1)

'Are you happy?'

No. He hadn't been.

'I want to be happy!'

Was he?

He thought about he future. The war that would probably fall upon the world within the following months. He did what he could to prevent it but...

'War...Is the exception to a lot of rules.'

Yes, it truly is.

He stepped in front of his shaking brother, the fear obvious in his dark eyes, reflecting the ones staring at him. Itachi felt the love for his brother surface, which he had expected. The happiness they'd had together for the few years of their youth. But that's not all there was in his heart. There was a kind of, appreciation, towards his fellow Akatsuki members. A happiness for the time they had spent together. In his mind, alongisde the picture of him giving his baby brother a piggy-back ride, was a picture of the soot-covered Akatsuki members. And he smiled.

'Are you happy?'

Madara's words echoed in his mind.

At that moment, yes, yes he was.

'You all look silly!'

The laugh echoing right alongside his mentor's words. As he poked his brother's forehead for the last time, his smile widened. "I'm sorry Sasuke...It ends with this." He fell to the ground, letting the images of his life flash before his eyes.

'Thank you...My friends.'

AN: Hello, for the last time it seems.

(1) I figure that if Madara had killed young Itachi, he would have died at three which would have resulted in the future changing. (Am I making sense?)

I'm aware that this is really not what anybody was expecting. (I'm afraid there obviously won't be a sequel.) I hope you liked it though, even if it is kind of...Out there as a final chapter. I really wanted to get into Itachi's head and this came to me, I figured I'd give it a shot.

I'd intended to put this out at a later date, but I really wanted to put it out! I really, really enjoyed writting this story and I'm so sad to see it end. I'm so surprised by the positive response I've received from this story and I'd like to thank you all for reviewing, favoriting, and alerting! You're the most amazing readers ever!

This is goodbye I guess! Thank you!
I'd love to know what you all thought of the ending, and wether or not you liked it!

OWARI!
-MewMew