Lines: Beneath the Eyes
Itachi & Sasuke
I had hunted him for 10 years, left my country, joined my enemy, corrupted by my lust for power, abandoned anyone who ever cared for me, and now here I am with a dagger in his heart, but his arms around me. I thought I would be overjoyed to see him dying and suffering at the end of my blade, yet tears fall from my eyes. They fall from my face onto his where there are lines just below his eyes. Those lines just bleow his eyes...
"Why? Aniki, why do you smile so?" I spoke with such a dark & sad voice.
It was a smile to which I haven't seen for such a long time, not since when we were kids. Back before THAT day. Back when I would idolize him, and strive to be just like him. But after the day he betrayed the clan, and murdered everyone, even our own parents ... I never learned to smile ever again. And on that day, I vowed vengence for everyone, and most importantly vengence for me. But here and now ... I feel happy, yet also sad. And blood came out from his mouth as he tried to speak.
"Little brother ..." Even on his deathbed he still spoke with that calm collected voice. "... in my dying moments, there is something I want you to know."
I don't know why I did what I did next, or why I hadn't just finished him off. But something about what he wanted to say kept me from completely ending his life, something that I would never forget for the rest of my life.
"I know that I can't change the past, and I can't undo the pain and suffering I had caused you. I know I put in you a hate that drove you to cause suffering even to those around you. And that the only thing keeping you alive all these years was vengence, as well as my death." He paused a moment, coughed violently again, but wiped the blood away from his mouth with his arm weakly. "But I want you to know..."
And what he would say next, was something that I will never forget for the rest of my life ...
"... I've never hated you, Sasuke."
He said this with such and honest meaning. Even as I looked at him, those eyes of a cold blooded murderer, I saw that even killers can tell the truth. But by now, I wasn't looking at him as the Uchiha clan slayer, or the man who killed his own parents and left me for dead, now he was being my big brother that I remembered from all those years ago. But why was he telling me this now, was this some sort of a sick joke to torment me? You can't just apologize for such things ...such unforgivable things! Yet, tears still came to my eyes ... I don't know why I was crying, or why those words meant so much to me.
"Hah, you always were the crybaby." He tried to chuckle, but blood came out as well. "But you see, those tears don't make you weak. They make you stronger and human. I can't remember the last time I ever cried, or even if I could cry, but perhaps my blood counts as my tears." He said this as he again wiped the blood away from his face. "I should have told you this a long time ago, but it's only now that I can finally tell you." He paused again to inhale, but it was so hard since blood was filling his lungs. "I acknowledge you as Uchiha Sasuke, my equal. And as of this moment I am proud to call you my brother."
Those words ... perhaps that's why I cry now. Words that I've longed to hear for so many years. Finally true acknowledgement from the one person, I've strived my entire life, even though he is the one that caused my pain. Although I wanted to tell him ... I wanted to tell him everything I felt, but all I could say was ...
"Aniki ... I-I hate you." I spoke with a hoarse voice from my crying. I wanted to stab him even more, but instead my body reacted differently ... I hugged him like the little boy I once used to be. "I HATE YOU!"
Even he was taken back by this, all he could do again was smile.
"I hate you..." I said so weakly now.
"Not a day went by that I didn't regret what I had done back then." He said with this straight face, I was a little confused at it. So he continued. "I know I said that I didn't regret what I did, slaying the entire clan and what I did to you, but I do." And then he looked straight at me. "These lines below my eyes, they're scars. Do you know how I got these lines?"
I wiped my eyes away and shook my head (no).
"You." He said and coughed up blood again. "From smiling so much when we were together, they formed lines below my eyes. No matter what I did, I could never remove them. They were a constant reminder of you, and what I had done. I suppose they were my only ties left to you."
I began to tear at my eyes again, at such representation that my brother had showed me.
"I have to go now. The devil is calling my name, and the gatekeeper is reading my sins." He began to feel cold as I was holding him to me. He was shaking slightly, but he kept his composure out of pure will alone. "For what it's worth, I relieve you of the quest for vengence, as you were the only one was able to stop me. With my death, I hope that this will help the pain and suffering end. But promise me one last thing."
I nodded my head, and he signaled me to move in closer.
"Live, little brother. I may have not been the best role model for you, but live. Live for the both of us. And know that with my death, mother and father, our clan's spirits will be avenged and may move onto the next life. And know that perhaps after my atonement in hell, maybe, I can rejoin you and everyone else, in the next life."
I knew he was already dying from blood loss, as well as blood in his lungs, but at that moment I didn't want him to die.
"Good bye, Uchiha Sasuke." He began to lay back, and his voice was weakening. "My only family ... my only enemy ... my ... brother..."
So ended the life of Uchiha Itachi, he died there in my arms, with my kunai piercing his heart, and a chidori hole in his lung. His eyes were still, neither blinking nor moving, the sharingan faded from his pupils and turned from red to brown. All I could do was yell and cry as I held his lifeless body. SO I put my hand over his eyes to close them, and I realized that ... he was still smiling. And I will never forget those scars, those lines that he will take with him in the next life. I placed him to rest, and gave him a burial mark.
I stood tall and proud now, that I could bury something that after so long of hunting I could now learn to respect.
"I know I won't be able to follow just yet aniki. But I too have lived a wretched life, but I will try to live as best as I could. And perhaps, I, too can atone for my sins. And maybe ... just maybe, I can learn to smile just like you once did for me." I spoke my words and left him, never to look back.
In the end, I had killed a monster ... in order to bring back my brother, my long lost brother.
Love & Hate, both the same, and yet different, both are strongly passionate feelings over places, things, and people.
The End.
A/N: This is probably only the second sasuke fic, I'm gonna write in this lifetime. Although I'm probably gonna end up writing more. Anywho, this fic was inspired by my friend, Chris. The idea of those lines came from him originally, because recently he just noticed that he had these lines just below his eyes where his cheeks rise up. And since he always smiles the cheek muscles left an impression there. So actually he even looks like Itachi at the moment. It's kinda funny because I looked at him, and as soon as he pointed the lines (most likely stretch marks) it immediately reminded me of Itachi. So thus I took him as an example and how Chris (my friend) had gotten those lines over years, then perhaps I could use that as a back story for Itachi. The only tricky part was doing the Sasuke-Itachi angle. Well anywho, please R&R (read & review), and this is only a one-shot type of fic.