So I am sick...in paris! Yay for me. But on a brighter note I have plenty of time to write now. So here it is...chapter 11.
Chapter 11
"How did that feel?" A voice asked Itachi as he lay in darkness.
"Good." He answered, staring into the abyss.
"Do you want to know more?" The voice questioned.
"Yes. I want to know who I am." Itachi said then sat up.
Out of the shadow of this strange black nothingness he found himself in, a tall figure walked out. He looked much like Itachi, the same somber expression, the same dark eyes and hair, but there were certainly differences.
For one he was definitely younger by at least a few years. His hair was slightly lighter than Itachi's and styled in a short, slicked back cut. His eyes had much more hate in them as well. They seemed to be looking through Itachi, as if the hate was directed towards him specifically.
The clothes he wore was especially unique. His white shirt was open in the front, revealing a rather toned chest. Around his waist was a sort of purple rope, tying up a wrap of sorts, and his pants were long and black.
"Who are you?" Itachi asked, finding the young man in front of him oddly familiar.
"As the one before me said, I am a piece of you. Although unlike him, I am not a physical trait. I'm a part of your past, a part that you may not want to remember." The boy explained.
"If you're a part of my past, then why would I not want to remember?" Itachi asked a little irritated.
"If you really want to know, then all you have to do is to listen to your worst feelings," the boy began taking a step forward. "Your worst fears. I am that part of you. I am the part that you've tried so desperately to remember but simply can't because deep down you're afraid your suspicions will be correct."
"I don't understand what you mean. I'm not afraid of knowing who I am." Itachi argued.
The boy continued to slowly approach Itachi, dragging out his point even further. "Look back at the things you've already seen. Your dreams, your thoughts, your hunches even, that is what I am."
"My dreams? You mean the nightmares I have?" Itachi asked still thoroughly confused.
"Oh they're not nightmares, they're memories. Memories that have been suppressed due to the sheer horror of them. I'll ask again, do you want to know more?" The boy said still closing the gap between the two of them.
"Of course I do! Just tell me!" Itachi yelled frustrated.
The boy stopped just a few feet in front of Itachi and grinned wickedly. "Fine then."
In one swift motion the boy moved from a few feet away to being face to face with Itachi. He grabbed him and pressed into him, putting his lips right by Itachi's ear.
The moment the boy had moved Itachi jumped. He had moved so quickly that the next thing he knew he was being grabbed a hold of.
For a few seconds they stood there, their bodies pressed together in an awkward embrace. A chill ran down Itachi's spine as he felt the boy's warm breath hitting his neck. It was something completely unreal. And yet Itachi only wanted to know more. He didn't care what happened. He didn't care if they had to stand like this forever. All that mattered now was figuring out just who this boy was.
Finally he heard the boy take in a deep breath and the soft sounds of him parting his lips preparing to talk.
"Foolish brother…" The boy whispered sharply into Itachi's ear.
Itachi's eyes grew wide with those words. His mind flashed back to that moment in his dream, the moment he saw that frightening looking man saying those words to that poor scared child. He knew right then exactly what it all meant.
"If you want to kill me, hate me, despise me, and live in an unsightly way. Run away and cling to life…" The boy continued.
Itachi closed his eyes, sadness overwhelming his body. He still wasn't sure what he had done, but he knew who this boy was, and that he was the one who tried to kill him.
"Do you remember those words?" The boy hissed out and tightened his grip around Itachi.
"I'm sorry…Sasuke." Itachi whispered, sadness filling his voice.
Sasuke pushed Itachi away, causing him to stagger a bit. "It's too late now, nii-san. You had the opportunity to forget it all, to forget me, your past, your everything, but now that you know who I am you have no choice but to continue on to find the last remaining pieces of your past."
Itachi looked up at the boy dismayed. There was nothing he could say, nothing he could do to take it back now. In a sense he was happy he knew who the little boy was, he was happy that he was getting closer to his past, but he was also afraid that he would not like what else he would find.
"I hated you, nii-san, despised you. And I lived on. And I tried to kill you, and now I will do it again." Sasuke said as he pulled the sword he was carrying on his back out of its sheath.
Itachi wasn't afraid, he didn't even want to run. He stared at him, awaiting the blow to hit.
In one large swing the sword came down on him. Itachi stood there, staring into his little brothers eyes, wondering where all that hate had come from. As the sword struck Itachi frowned and said softly, "Forgive me Sasuke."
With a gasp Itachi awoke from his strange slumber only to find Yori and Kakashi staring down at him. The sun had already gone down and he could hear a fire blazing near him.
"Itachi-san, are you alright?" Yori asked concerned and happy at the same time.
Itachi sat up slowly, his head reeling from everything that had just happened. He wasn't sure what to think about everything.
"Are you recovered enough to move? Shouta is still out pretty cold, but I can carry him if need be." Kakashi asked rather nonchalantly.
Itachi turned his attention to Kakashi, not really sure what was going on. He didn't remember much after his fight began with the sand ninja. But by the tension in the air, he could tell something strange was going on.
"What happened?" He asked groggily.
"You defeated that guy and then you looked like you were going to go after kakashi-san, but then you suddenly collapsed. You've been out for nearly four hours." Yori explained.
"I…I defeated the sand nin…" Itachi said, when suddenly everything flooded back into his mind.
He doubled over, holding his head in his hand. The whole world was spinning. He wasn't sure what to think, or what to do. By the end of that fight he was acting on instinct, getting rid of the threat. He knew Kakashi was his enemy, and he knew he had to do away with him quickly. But now that he thought about it, he wasn't even sure why that was his first instinct.
"You used tsukuyomi. Your body isn't used to it anymore, I'm sure. You probably used too much Chakra too fast." Kakashi explained.
"That ninja was not a sand ninja…you know that right?" Itachi said, as the world came back to a stop.
"I know. He was a missing nin himself, a bounty hunter originally from the sand village. But it doesn't matter now. He's not getting back up." Kakashi told him flatly.
Itachi sighed, not knowing what to think. He didn't want to say anything else, at least not in front of Yori, but he had something important to ask Kakashi.
"I'm going to go for a walk." Itachi finally stated as he carefully stood up.
"I'll go with you!" Yori said worriedly.
"No. Stay here. I need some time to clear my head." Itachi said as gently yet firmly as he could.
Yori was a bit taken aback by his reaction. But she respected it. She was sure this was a lot for him to take in. And she wasn't even sure what all he actually remembered now.
Without another word Itachi walked off into the woods, leaving the three people behind. He had to be alone for now. He had to gather his thoughts.
After walking for a while he leaned himself up against a tree and looked up into the moonlit sky. A familiar dark figure was perched on the tree branch above him.
"Don't trust me to go off by myself?" He asked.
"I didn't feel you were going to run off, but I did get the impression you wanted to talk to me." Kakashi said as he jumped down in front of him.
"Yeah…I did." Itachi answered looking down at the ground.
"Then go ahead, talk." Kakashi said, leaning against an adjacent tree and folding his arms.
"I have to ask you…about Sasuke."