Chapter Fifteen
He managed to hold it in until they were alone.
With Kakashi and Obito having finally talked about their teammate's death and
Obito's actions, they hadn't really had time to truly process the events of the day. Even after the talks, the rest of the day had been spent negotiating the treaty they'd been meant to the day they'd arrived finally finishing it only moments ago.
It was only now that he and his lover had been able to escape everyone, especially with his family watching his every move, and yet...he couldn't think of anything to say.
Kami's words to Sasuke continued to haunt him, and it was only when a callous hand brushed across his cheek.
"Itachi…"
He couldn't bring himself to meet the eyes of the man in front of him. To see the pain he had unintentionally caused him.
" Please," His husband rumbled, voice gentle in a way that most would think uncharacteristic of him. "Please, look at me, Raven."
He looked up, his heart trapped in his throat, only to swallow thickly as he found himself faced with nothing but love and understanding. Grief darkened the gold and so did his lover's anguish but there was no blame there.
"It's not your fault."
He shuddered, heart aching as the words wound themselves around it. Kisame's arms followed his words, pulling him to the older shinobi's solid frame.
"I killed our son !" He whispered numbly. "How could you forgive me for that?" His husband sighed. "Itachi...nothing I can say will make you feel any less guilty...but he would've died anyway."
The Uchiha heir stiffened, but the older man continued before he could say anything in protest. "You were dying . Your body could barely support the life you were living long enough to keep you alive, it would probably not have been able to keep him alive through the birth. Maybe," He cleared his throat, the anguish gaining a hold over his features, for a flicker of a moment. "Maybe we'll have a chance to try for another in the future."
Itachi nodded solemnly, but the pain in his chest remained, the grief still lingering.
"I...I want to create a memorial for him." He replied and Kisame pulled him closer.
"Sunrise?"
The smaller man hummed. "Yes."
"I'll gather everything we need. Rest. Please."
Leaning down, the shark-like shinobi kissed his husband pushing all of his emotions through the gesture. Itachi kissed back with just as much emotion, letting out a sigh when they separated.
"I love you."
Kisame chuckled, stealing one more kiss from the other man. "I love you too. Now, rest. I know you haven't been sleeping well and we still have to figure out how to stop your clan's madness when we get to Konoha."
Itachi raised an eyebrow at him. "We?"
His husband turned to leave, but not before he saw the smirk that crossed his thin dark lips.
"You didn't think you were going back alone, did you?"
*/*
Shisui's mind was reeling.
So much had happened in the past week and now that it had all wound down, he was finally able to process it. Stepping into the room that he shared with Itachi and Kisame, he found his closest friend fast asleep, one hand fisted over his heart. Beside him lay Hoshigaki, large arms wound around the beautiful teen's lean frame.
It was as he was staring at him, that he realized that he had inadvertently led his pseudo brother to his death. He had, only hours previous watched the other Uchiha die not once, but twice, each with that warm smile on his lips. He had welcomed death in a way he'd never seen, or wanted to see, especially not on the face of his most precious person.
And, just as bad, he had forced his soft-hearted cousin to watch as he, himself, had committed suicide, all to give him the mangekyo sharingan.
He had forced their clan's curse on the pacifist and worse, Itachi had died for it.
He shook his head, placing it in his hands as his heart ached from the memories they'd watched. The suffering his cousin had shouldered to protect Sasuke and his view of the world.
The sacrifices he'd made.
It was enough to make him want to cry, especially as he remembered the way Itachi had shattered upon learning that his son had died with him during his first death.
"You're thinking too loud." Came a gruff, sleep-thick voice and he jolted, finding himself staring into Hoshigaki's cold amber eyes. Itachi stirred slightly in response to his voice, but calmed when the swordsman pulsed his chakra once, and curled closer to the larger ninja.
"I...It's been a long week." Shisui replied and to his shock, the kiri-nin snorted.
"Kid, you just learned that your best friend was from a future where he watched you commit suicide, and the set up his own death using a decade long facade. I get it." He glanced down at the sleeping raven in his arms.
"And if you're anything like him, you're probably blaming yourself for everything."
Shisui looked away, refusing to acknowledge that the man was right. The older shinobi nodded as if he'd just proved him right. Unbidden, he found himself trying to explain himself. After all, Hoshigaki was one of the most important people from Itachi's future. More than that, he was probably the person that knew Itachi the best in their future, especially with him wearing so many facades in that time.
"It feels like it was my fault. I was the person who was supposed to bear the brunt of our clan's betrayal, yet instead I forced that burden onto his shoulders and allift led to was suffering."
The shark like man stared at him then shook his head.
"When Itachi began to trust me, and finally started to open up to me, you were the first person he spoke of. He told me how your clan blamed him for your death and how, at times, it felt like it was his fault. He always spoke of you and your sacrifices with such honor that I was jealous. Then when he told me the full story, I was grateful because even when his parents seemed to forget that he was human, you didn't. You treated him like someone worthy of protecting even when he continued to prove that he didn't need it."
The man shrugged, arms tightening around his husband.
"It meant more than he would probably ever say, and even years after your death, he mourned you. I never told him, but sometimes when his sickness was at its worst, he would cry for you. His aniki. He gave your eye to his most faithful crow and he never regretted it. In fact, if everything he has lived through, the only part he regretted was Sasuke's torment over everything that had happened."
Shisui was silent, his thoughts racing. Then he let out a soft chuckle.
"Thanks, Hoshigaki."
The nuke-nin nodded.
"No problem, kid."
The younger man hummed. "Don't hurt him, Hoshigaki. I almost like you."
Unseen by either man, a single onyx eye cracked open just a peek, and their owner smiled.
*/*
"Itachi." Nagato greeted as the young man entered his office.
He had expected the younger to be with his family, especially after the beautiful memorial he and Kisame had done earlier that morning for their lost son. He'd happened upon them at sunrise, and his heart had ached at the grief in his long-term friends' eyes as they laid him to rest.
"Nagato-sama," The raven replied softly. "I would like to join Akatsuki again if you wouldn't mind."
The Kage smiled warmly pulling the ring that the younger had worn before from his desk. "I plan to change the way of our organization. Naruto-kun's words stay with me even in this life and with Tobi no longer controlling everything, we can work toward true peace."
Itachi nodded, slipping the ring over his finger. "How will we do that?"
That soft smile sharpened into something deadly. "We'll start by weeding out the corruption in the villages. Starting with Konoha. No one will ever be forced to do what you did, not again."
His friend's eyes flashed, and he bowed. "Thank you."
"No problem. Now I believe Kisame will be accompanying you as part of the treaty. After all, we can't separate our newlyweds, can we?"
The Uchiha Heir's eyes widened. "N-nani?"
Nagato chuckled. "To seal the treaty, it was suggested that someone from your village marry an Amegakure shinobi. You're already married to Kisame in our future so we decided to remarry you in this time as well."
A truly happy smile crossed Itachi's lips, his dark eyes lit up.
"Thank you, Nagato-sama."
*/*
This trip had been enlightening.
When he'd first been asked to join the Hokage on this trip, he'd done so in hopes of easing the tension between the Clan and the village. All the while, there had been a slight niggling feeling at the back of his mind that he'd only been invited so that the man could keep an eye on him. After all, without him, the rest of the clan wouldn't dare move against the village. After all he, along with his eldest son and Shisui, was one of the clan's strongest members,and the only one known to have a mangekyo sharingan.
Then, they'd arrived in Ame.
Suddenly there was an Uchiha who should've been dead dragging his family into a village that was a two-weeks run from Konoha. Worse, he knew his sons and was able to make Itachi feel the Hatred of their Clan's Blood. He'd known his son was a pacifist at heart, his gentle nature rebelling at the blood on his hands, but Sasuke would've fallen to their Clan's curse in his brother's shoes.
It had to be Itachi.
Or at least, that had been his thought until watching the memories of his sons' future.
Seeing Itachi shoulder the hatred of not only his home, but also the younger brother he'd given everything to protect, it was humbling. Then Sasuke had killed him.
Sasuke had killed Itachi.
It was something that caused his heart to twist violently in his chest.
He knew that Mikoto thought he played favorites by spending so much time with Itachi, but he wasn't. He'd been trying to give him a reason to live, something to fight for.
Anything to erase the image of his son trying to kill himself at four years old because Fugaku had been foolish enough to drag him onto a battlefield.
It had been a wake-up call. One he should've heeded but hadn't and Itachi had paid the price for it.
He could only hope his boys would forgive him.
He sighed, tensing as he felt a familiar chakra signature approaching him.
"Tou-san."
He turned, finding his youngest son standing behind him, expression unreadable.
"Sasuke," He responded gruffly and the boy glared at him.
"If you don't stop the coup from making nii-san from having to suffer again, I will," his eyes flashed into a beautiful flower pattern similar to Itachi's eternal mangekyo, "and I won't be nice about it."
The Clan head smirked, his own mangekyo flashing in response. "I wouldn't expect you to."
TBC...