A collection of ITASASU One-Shots
Summary: Digitally created, Itachi has to find understanding of the different stages in his creators life. How he finds love, grows old, has children, and ends his life. Itachi thinks he knows what love is, but soon realizes he is nothing than a programmed creation. Then Sasuke is born, and things change for him because he begins to wish.
Pairings: Fugaku X Mikoto :: Izumi X Shisui :: Itachi X Sasuke
Genre: Scifi Romance
True Crime:
Story One: Look Only At Me
Uchiha Fugaku had been a strange boy in his youth.
Nonetheless, he was a straightforward kind of person. He'd been born into a prestigious family of law enforcers. A genius in his own right and excelled beyond every expectation that his family had for him. At the young age of eighteen he had been nominated for Lieutenant of the Konoha military police force.
His efforts had gained the epithet of Wicked Eyed Fugaku.
Despite his fame, and popularity within the police force, there was nothing he liked better than technology. Whatever money he gained from training rookies or cases that he solved, he quickly bought himself computer parts to use in his inventions.
It sparked a light in his eyes, something that caught the eye of one of his female companions. He had not been sure how it happened, but soon she was his girl. Despite having a beautiful girlfriend that he liked spending time with and doting on, Fugaku would still find a little personal time for himself.
That time was often spent locked away in his bedroom experimenting, and tearing through boxes of boxes of shipped equipment.
Life, he thought, couldn't get any better than this.
He was young, had an incredible job, an amazing girl at his side who he was planning to marry. That reality quickly shattered away in front of his very eyes the moment he found out that his girlfriend had aborted his child.
Fugaku had been devastated.
Having a family had been one of his goals in life and to learn that the child, who would have been his first born, would never get to live…Fugaku lost it. He dumped the woman he had been dating and threw himself in his other passion, which was his technology.
To the point that it seemed obsessive and worried his parents.
He swore that he would never let anyone get that close to him ever again. He wasn't going to allow anyone to have the chance to hurt him. Everyone had been worried about him but he placed their worries aside by pretending to be just fine.
The truth was that he was simply looking to create, thoughts of what might have been his son. Thoughts of what could have been his daughter…everything in his mind was in turmoil until there was nothing left.
His efforts shaped themselves in the form of communicative/assistant device that he called the Weasel. He adored it from the very moment that it had spoken back to him, a voice so distinct and lost in static, but the first ever of its kind.
Fugaku knew then and there that he had taken the first steps to making his dreams come true.
His family on the other hand, had been shocked when he had decided to market himself with this new device and dropped out of the police force. They quickly disapproved, and the idea was quickly bought away from him as he felt discouraged. A part of him had wanted it to flourish, to not be forgotten as he got back into the police force.
What came of his idea left him feeling lost and empty.
His idea was manufactured into mainstream every day phones. It became nothing more than a monotone assistant that helped the users in using their phones to the best of its capabilities. Fugaku watched helplessly as his idea was turned robotic, cold, and completely not what he had in mind when he had been creating it.
Even if the idea had been now sold, he still kept the original of his inventions, the very first- and he decided to still invest in it. To create something better with it, despite what his parents thought.
He was doing what he was passionate about, loved, and cared for.
"It's just you and me against this world now, Weasel." He had whispered that day.
Since then he had gone from highs and lows.
Fugaku worked hard in his position at the police force, made a bigger name for himself by solving high profile cases, and felt the pressures of being the most sought out detective. The demands of people, the sorrow, the hate and having to take the good with the bad- Because of this, he stopped sleeping properly.
His only free time came at night, insomnia clear under his eyes.
At the age of twenty two he had officially moved out of his parents' mansion, and to his own home.
A shoddy place, of considerable size, but plenty of space for what he had in mind!
"What the heck is this place?" his close friend had questioned when he dropped by for a visit, "Looks like some sort of lab than a home,"
"It's not," Fugaku quickly defended, "It's a house, look, it has bedrooms, and bathrooms." He gestured for the doors that were upstairs.
"Where's the kitchen,"
Fugaku grabbed his arm, "Come this way, it's really cool," he had claimed. After his friend sort of decided his new home was alright, his parents came by to see it. They had been shocked to say the least, and often tried to change his mind about where he should live.
"I'm happy," he told his mother one day, and then she stopped pushing.
"That's all I want for you Fugaku, my baby boy." She had smiled, and hugged him so tight. Fugaku for once felt a connection to his mother that he had never felt before. For that moment, she wasn't some grand crime solving sleuthed that the world had swallowed, and he wasn't some high profiled lieutenant with heavy cases under his belt.
At the age of twenty four, Fugaku had finally accomplished it.
He had brought technology to a new level, vastly unimagined, and Weasel now had a digitized body, a learning hard drive, but it wasn't enough. He wanted to give him a more realistic voice. he wanted to expand Weasel's capabilities, his appearance, his style- his personality.
"You have a new email," The robotic voice called, blank eyes staring back at him through the screen. For one reason or the other, it made him feel depressed.
"Hey, Weasel, what do you feel?"
"I don't know what you mean, should I do a web search on it?" The voice resounded back and Fugaku dropped his head.
"Feelings are something that you should be able to just…feel yourself- your state of being!"
"Do you want me to do research on it?"
Fugaku frowned. How could one give a computer a personality?
"No." he finally said. "Most of the stuff online is bullshit anyways," standing up, he left. "Ugh, I can't help but feel like he is someone. That he is real, that he exists…maybe in my mind?" Fugaku whispered to himself. "Who are you though…Why do I want to create you?"
Always asking himself the same thing, Fugaku decided to keep working hard, for the sake of his creation.
He just knew he would find the answer.
By the age of Twenty six, his life faced a small detour, even though Weasel continued to improve every few months, his attention was even more divided now.
It had been a hot afternoon, and Fugaku got off a cab, sweating bullets with the biggest grin on his face. He breathed hard, clutching his chest as he twirled around to his front door, and stepped inside.
He had gone to his parent's home even though he had been against attending the party, he was now glad that he did.
Fugaku hummed as he approached the main room of the house, now covered from head to toe in glowing tech, wires, tubes, and everything. It looked like a modern scientific lab, just like in his dreams.
"Fugaku? How was the party?" A voice, a male one asked. It made Fugaku feel pride. It was a hard voice to describe in just one word, it sounded playful, sweet, with a deepness to it that was so soft and kind, just a tone that could make anyone smile.
It was simply Weasel's voice.
"It was the best, Weasel!" He goofily said, walking over to the large screen, and placing his fingers over the sliding pads, turning the main screen on.
"That's great, see scared for nothing," Weasel teased as he appeared on the screen before him. A young man with long raven hair, two bangs that framed his handsome face, and pitch black eyes stared back at him with a lot more life. His body now more realistic, he was like a real person already.
Fugaku blushed, finally letting his tired body rest against his cool leather chair. "Maybe, but…" he buried his face in his arms. "I think I just fell in love,"
"Love?" Weasel questioned, but the digital simulation never got a response. He simply watched, curious, as the man that had created him seemed to get lost in thought.
What is love?
"Gawd, the last time I felt like this was when I was in high school…but somehow the feeling is different from that time, I don't know how to explain it," Fugaku murmured, dreamily.
"Feelings?"
Fugaku blinked, and turned to Weasel. "Do you remember when I asked you before, what do you feel, can you tell me now?"
Weasel was unresponsive for several seconds, "How…" he finally asked. Although he could describe feelings he was sure that Fugaku wasn't asking him to do that. He couldn't understand then what the man wanted.
"What do you think about me?" Fugaku ventured.
Weasel blinked, what did he think? "I…" he paused, looking at Fugaku up and down, before shaking his head. "You're my creator, Uchiha Fugaku the son of="
"Stop, no," Fugaku sighed, "we still have a lot more work to do on you," he said, and got to his feet. "I'm going to go take a shower!" the man rushed off to do just that.
Weasel watched him go, and then he started to ask questions of his own, what were showers, Fugaku always took one.
What were feelings—what was love?
He knew that Fugaku had once said that the internet was all useless information, but for Weasel that was the only place he knew that he could have quick access to information about the outside world. The world that Fugaku seemed to live on seemed livelier, fuller, than his world on the other side, a lonesome one.
The moment that he noticed that Fugaku wasn't going to pay any attention to him that day, as he seemed to be looking at the device that he called a cell phone, Weasel made his first conscious decision. He went online and started to search up different topics, reading different things, filling his own database with all the information of the world.
What he got in his efforts was the heavy weight that burdened the world. What was right, what was wrong.
No matter what he learned everything to him was useless, useless information about what humans were like, the cruelty, the feelings- and especially this crazy obsession with love.
It made no sense, even when he was able to pick up definitions to words. They were all meaningless when he couldn't even put a perspective behind them.
Why humans wasted so much time hurting, as they claimed, why humans wasted so much time searching love and belonging.
What was even more confusing was that love was such a multifaceted word- there wasn't any just one reason to it, or just one tie to it.
For days, on his own, Weasel processed and compressed information away from what he decided wasn't needed. A month of Fugaku telling him about someone named Mikoto or Baby Girl. He couldn't tell if it was one or two different people, Fugaku finally one day said that he would meet her.
"Who?" he asked.
"Mikoto,"
"Then who is Baby Girl?"
"It's the same person," Fugaku sighed, "I don't know what to do anymore though, we haven't worked on your programming much lately," Fugaku said. "I feel like I have run out of ideas on how to help you learn more,"
"I've learned a lot from you though," Weasel said, smiling, "Like what is food, and what your mom means to you, and that you have a crush on Mikoto Baby Girl,"
"Yes, I know, but, It's like you know it, and parrot it, but you don't fully understand it," Fugaku said, unable to fix the right words to what he was trying to express. Because he knew that Weasel didn't know much about what those things were to him. Weasel didn't feel them, and he didn't comprehend them.
He could see, and mimic, but it was meaningless. Could he make Weasel learn to feel and distinguish?
For once, Fugaku didn't think that technology could adapt to that.
"You do well at teaching me what you can," Weasel responded, completely missing the point as well, and Fugaku's worries. Yet, Fugaku couldn't help but smile endearingly at him. Weasel, despite everything always came off as sweet and innocent, but again, those were words even Weasel would have a hard time understanding.
He thought sweet was a type of taste, and innocent would be childlike. Weasel probably didn't know what taste or a child was.
Fugaku's cell phone suddenly went on, signaling that he just got a message. Weasel watched as the man's face changed as he read it. Somehow, things were slowly clicking the more he studied Fugaku. The first expression, like in pictures, showed stress, frustration, and then the other one…what was it, fascination? Fear? No, Joy? He couldn't tell.
"She's here,"
"Mikoto Baby Girl" Weasel said.
Fugaku blushed in embarrassment now, "Her name is Mikoto! Just Mikoto!" he urged as he left the room to go answer the door. Weasel wanted to follow and see where he was going, but he was limited to that one room.
What's out there? Is it like the pictures on the internet?
When Fugaku returned, there was a woman with him. Weasel was amazed to say the least. This was the first time that he was seeing another, real live human being that was just like his creator.
The feminine gender of what his creator was.
She looked different, smaller, compared to Fugaku. The woman had dark long raven hair, and seemed to be able to make his creator turn an interesting shade of red, while grinning from ear to ear.
"This is my creation, Weasel, the one that I was telling you about?" Fugaku introduced.
Mikoto looked at Weasel with complete interest and awe as she asked for permission to fiddle with the connections. "May I?" she asked, placing her pink jacket and backpack down on the desk chair.
Fugaku shrugged, and turned to Weasel, "Do you mind?" he asked, smiling up at the simulation.
Weasel blinked, "Mind what?" he asked, looking from one human to the other.
"He interacts?" Mikoto asked, completely impressed now.
"I built him to learn! But there is still so much he doesn't know or understand," Fugaku said, pride swelling in his chest. "There is still a lot of work to be done on him,"
Mikoto nodded, smiling at Fugaku, before she turned back to Weasel. "May I have a look at your data base?"
Weasel didn't know if it was wise or not, but Fugaku seemed to trust this woman. So, he nodded his head, and said "You may," giving his consent.
Then he simply watched as Mikoto pulled out his data, and got administrative control over him. Fugaku was right there with her, explaining the code that he had used to program him, what he used to build things around him, and how he was created.
Since that day, Mikoto kept returning, at least three times a week and both her and Fugaku would sit around, just working, and working on the code that made up his unique makeup. Weasel went through the process of having his hair changed to multiple colors, having clothes designed for him, as well as different platforms.
A year later, Weasel found himself simulated into an unconventional 3D space, as well as being able to change his own style at will. Mikoto had said that perhaps being able to create his own style would give him more independent will and development at a personality, especially when sensation and smell had been able to be programmed into him.
"Why are you so happy?" Weasel asked one day in February, the day that was usually decorated in hearts and represented by chocolates.
"I asked Mikoto out to a special dinner,"
"So what, you always asks her to join you during a special dinner, this time of the year," Weasel said, pulling out a calendar that always had that date marked.
Fugaku pursed his lips, "That's not it, it's even more special this time," then he moved about the room, having a hard time deciding what he wanted to wear. Weasel followed him through the different, new, set screens that allowed him to move from room to room around the house. He watched as Fugaku went into a closet, and started to toss clothes around.
"Special how?"
"I'm going to propose to her," Fugaku yelled from inside the closet. Weasel scrunched up his eyebrows as he got a thoughtful look on his face. Ever since Mikoto started working on him, putting definitions together and a picture became easy.
"So, you are getting married?" he asked.
"No," Fugaku walked out, buttoning a crisp white shirt, "Engaged," he said sitting back on the bed so he could pull on new socks.
"Oh," Weasel said, "So you want to marry her,"
"Yes, now, how do I look?" Fugaku asked, throwing his arms out.
"Like you are missing shoes," Weasel muttered, crossing his arms. Fugaku groaned, and quickly moved to search for his shoes. He had to be ready soon. He needed to go pick Mikoto up and their reservation time was nearing.
"You're no fun Weasel, you still don't get anything about fashion," Fugaku said as he stood once more, and waited for his simulation to tell him what he thought.
Scowling, Weasel uncrossed his arms and placed his hands on his hips, "You look fine! And you could use a mirror instead of relying on me, if I'm such a novice,"
"I need you to learn Weasel, and that means more interaction, especially with other humans. We are going to be holding a huge celebration on March 19th, a lot of important scientists are going to be around for a charity, and I want to show you off," Fugaku sprayed himself with some cologne, and combed through his hair, fixing his cufflinks before turning to Weasel again. "It's part of a new era museum of education, for the future of the children,"
"Oh," Weasel immediately searched it up, before he had multiple advertisements on the screen before him. Fugaku smiled, and poked the screen with his index finger, dismissing several of the smaller screens.
"Relax," Fugaku softly said, but before he could say more, his phone went off and he scrambled to get it. "I've got to go now! I'll see you later tonight," he said, rushing out the door. Weasel was perplexed, his eyes moving to the wallet and keys that his creator had left on the nightstand table, before sighing.
"He probably also forgot to lock the door on his way out," Weasel whispered to himself and moved to the living room, where the front door stood. He then took a seat on his created couch, and sat there, looking at the door as he waited for his creator to return.
His mind briefly went back to what marriage meant, and engagement, and all of that, but he just couldn't bring himself to search for it.
He just knew that it made Fugaku smile, and that could only mean that his creator was happy with the outcome.
March 15th found Weasel blacking out early in the morning, only to be boosted back up to life on March 19th, late in the afternoon.
It didn't feel like there was any lost time, between the time he had been shut down, to the time that he found himself surrounded by golden floors, and walls. In the center there was a crisp, marbled water fountain, and wow, the room was just so spacious and big- a ceiling made of complete ceramic glass, colored in reds, greens, and blues.
The surroundings were so new, and a bit out of his element for Weasel that for a moment he nearly panicked and locked himself and his data away. That all stopped though, when Fugaku jumped in front of the screen before him, a grin on his face.
"Hey Weasel! Guess what, there are multiple screens set in the whole building, it took some time to set you up to them, but you can go and explore every room!" Fugaku proudly said. "Make sure you learn a lot!"
"Where am I?" Weasel asked.
"At the museum, remember?"
Weasel shook his head. Fugaku sighed, and brought Weasel up to date with everything that was going on. "Who is that?" he asked when he spotted a new human being, "and that," he turned around, for a moment surprised, he could see all around, "and that,"
"Those area security guards, and look at this," he said pointing to a velvety line that seemed to surround a glass box that was around him and he had failed to notice before, "This is so no one can come close or try to harm you, go crazy and explore, okay,"
Weasel nodded his head, not knowing what to think at the moment. He started to look around, that when he turned to face Fugaku again, he was startled to find Mikoto standing there as well.
"Where did you come from?" he asked, moving even closer to his creator and the woman that Fugaku was now engaged to.
"Just now," Mikoto chuckled, "You seem shy all of a sudden,"
"It's his first time out," Fugaku crossed his arms, giving his fiancée a proud grin.
"I know," Mikoto turned back to Weasel, "You'll find all the information that you need to know on the data folders about the museum, I set them all in your database so you know how to move around, and what room you are in, and everything,"
"And I also added a guest list, and face recognition so you don't get scared about everyone that will come," Fugaku said, "Mikoto said that I was babying you too much by doing that, but I figured how else would you learn and interact,"
Weasel quickly searched for the folders that he was promised, and easily allowed all the information to run though him. "Okay," he said.
"That's it?" Fugaku asked. "Just okay?" Mikoto sighed, shaking her head in disbelief of her fiancée.
Weasel smiled, "what else do you want me to say?"
"Crack a joke or something, I don't know!"
"Well, why didn't you say so, knock-knock?"
"That's not what I meant!"
"Brilliant, what a strange and uncooperative thing you have built, Mr. Uchiha." Everyone turned to face Danzo, whom was mockingly looking at Weasel. The simulation blinked, tilting his head to the side, and scrunching up his lovely face.
"What an ugly human," he observed, causing Mikoto and Fugaku to panic and Danzo's face to twist in anger and slight embarrassment.
"What was that?" Danzo asked.
"He's still learning, that was an insult, be more respectful, this is Mr. Danzo. The creator of the new High Intel computers that have overtaken others by surprise," Fugaku said. Weasel shifted his hand, allowing information about Danzo that he could quickly find from the net to stream.
"I see," was all he was able to say.
"That, on the other hand is impressive," Danzo said. Before Fugaku could say something, Danzo turned to the simulation, "What is your name?" he asked.
"I'm called Weasel,"
"No personal name," Danzo now turned to Fugaku, "Why Mr. Uchiha, technology that is one of its kind deserves a more personal name, don't you think?"
"I suppose," Fugaku started, but Danzo was already looking at Weasel again. The man was relentless, pushing for answers right out of Weasel. Even pushing the limit to have an intellectual conversation with him- and even having the gall to ask Weasel to explore the museum with him.
Fugaku nearly bowled the man over and hit him for hitting on his baby like that, but Weasel agreed, and Mikoto held him back.
"That man is trying to seduce my baby!" Fugaku roared as he watched the man walk away and Weasel follow through the screens set around the room.
"Babe, Weasel is just a simulation,"
"One we perfected, and can know feelings, and can feel pride, and and…"
"And he can rationalize and know when someone is trying to swindle him for his data, which we both know he values and protects above anything else," Mikoto finished for him. Fugaku sighed, and nodded his head. But even as the celebration began, his mind just couldn't relax at the thought of Danzo getting any influence on Weasel.
At the height of the night, he couldn't help but feel like he hadn't seen Weasel in hours.
"Mikoto, have you seen Weasel?" he asked the moment that he reconnected with his fiancée. Mikoto smiled as she turned to him.
"Fugaku, meet Namikaze Minato, he's one of the directors here," Mikoto said, nodding towards a blond haired man, whom smiled at him. Fugaku reached for his hand. "Minato, this is my fiancée, Uchiha Fugaku,"
"Nice to meet you Minato," Fugaku politely said.
"Same here," Minato shook his hand, "Mikoto was telling me that you were the creator of Weasel, he's such a fascination, I've never seen the children so rapt in anything like this before," the man praised with delight.
Fugaku blinked, confused. "What is Weasel doing?" he asked.
"He's in the nursery, reading a book to kids, and he's doing such a good job at it, he's been offered a job here," Mikoto winked. Fugaku immediately shook his head.
"No,"
"That's what Weasel said," Minato warily smiled, "He said today has been fun, but he rather get home as soon as possible,"
"What happened to Mr. Danzo?" Fugaku asked.
"He's in there as well, it seems the influence of the children had him fascinated that he decided to join in on listening to story time," Minato explained.
"I've got to see this," Fugaku grinned, and walked into the room. Mikoto and Minato followed behind him.
The image that Fugaku witnessed warmed his heart. That was something that he himself was never going to be able to teach Weasel on his own—and that was the innocence, and bright spirit of what being a child meant. "…that's my boy," he whispered proudly to himself.
That was when he decided that it was time to give Weasel a special name of his own- and on the way home, he discussed it with Mikoto.
The both of them set Weasel back on, and the simulation was delighted to be home again, going from room to room as he recalled home.
"Every time a new child is born, a name is given to them by their parents," Fugaku started as he and Mikoto sat down for dinner. Weasel had created simulated food on his time and space to join them in their eating, but the truth was that he didn't eat, and it was just an excuse so he wouldn't be left alone. Weasel was truly seeming more human as time passed- and they were both proud. "And I think in a way, Mikoto and I are a lot like parents,"
"Parents?" Weasel immediately drew up images, definitions, and even recalled things that the children he had met told him. Moms, dads—they were parents. They gave birth to children.
"Yes, and as your parents," Fugaku continued, not minding that Weasel was once again using the internet to educate himself, "we decided to give you a name of your own, like a real person," Weasel now looked at Fugaku, completely attentive. "Because Weasel is the model name of when I first built you, and I think now that you are more developed, you deserve more,"
"What Fugaku is trying to say is that from now on your name is Itachi,"
"I was about to say it!" Fugaku grumbled in dismay, "Anyways, we also decided to give you a birth date, since you first came online on July 9th, we thought that would be the perfect day,"
A real name, and a real birth date- something to be truly called by personally, and a day to celebrate his birth- the day he was first created!
Weasel was speechless, no Itachi was speechless. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, and for the first time, even if Mikoto and Fugaku didn't notice it at the time, something warm sprouted deep in Itachi's chest.
It was something he couldn't remember ever being aware of, it was strange to describe.
"Thank you," he finally spoke, making both Fugaku and Mikoto look at him with pride, "thank you," because he meant it, "I love them," he said, because he meant it. But Fugaku and Mikoto didn't know the extent that Itachi meant those words, other than he had just learned this from one of his internet escapades again- and it was just part of his personalized personality.
But ever since that day, Itachi's warmth grew, tightening itself in his chest with something he had come to learn to describe as longing. Because he was trapped in a digitized world all alone, unable to ever have a body of his own, to be like a human, breathe, and live. He was nothing but data that could be changed at any second- could be corrupted by virus or other malware.
Yet he watched as Fugaku and Mikoto prepared for their marriage, being a happy couple—love was a multi-faceted word- but it always looked so tender when it was between his two parents.
From the one that created him, to the one that further extended his education- like that parent that helped you drive a bike for the first time, or supported your battles.
As time went on, Itachi interacted with several small children every Wednesday, as he did take a small job at the museum. He was no longer limited to just the computers at home. Itachi had learned how to transport himself around through the many networks that seemed to cover the world.
It was all thanks to Minato whom had talked with Fugaku about his creation, and decided to create the extensions- causing the world technology to rise to a new level.
He was able to witness the wedding between Mikoto and Fugaku- their vows, and the ceremony was completely different from what he had seen in films, and read in articles, e-books, or any literature- there was nothing compared to the real thing.
Then Mikoto moved in, and nothing was ever the same from that moment on.
Pregnant- Itachi wasted no time doing research- a person that was carrying a child and would do so until birth. Nine months seemed to have come and gone in a frenzy of preparing and before Itachi knew it, a little girl was being held in Fugaku and Mikoto's arms.
Time flies, Itachi realized, and even though inside his bubble where he was all data and moments and time was limitless, it wasn't so in the human world.
"We're going to be growing old together," Fugaku had been telling him one day, holding little Izumi in his lap while the small baby girl drank her milk bottle, her eyes fixed on Itachi. "Before you know it, I will be an old person, wrinkled and boring," he teased at himself, and glanced up at Itachi. "Your birthday is coming up, are you looking forward to any gift?" he asked.
By gift he meant digitized new created material or accessories for him.
Itachi shrugged his shoulders. At this point he would mostly stuck to his first appearance. Long raven hair that framed his face, deep dark eyes, and two set of stress lines over on each side of his nose. "I haven't thought about anything this year," he said, his eyes fixed on Izumi, and he made a face.
The baby giggled around her bottle, spitting up milk.
"You should look into the new more dimensional technology, Mikoto and I think it would be cool to have you walking around like a hologram," Fugaku grinned, lifting the bottle away from the baby, and turned her to gently coax her to burp.
Itachi got thoughtful at that, but even if that was possible, he doubted technology could ever extend for even a hologram to feel like a part of the human world.
"I'll research it," he said either way, but with creators like Fugaku and Mikoto, he had no doubt that it would be worth giving it a shot to hope, and believe that they could.
"Good, I'm going to set Izumi down for her nap, do you mind monitoring her while I make lunch?" he asked.
Itachi smiled, "You know I never mind," he said, following to the baby's room.
Once there, Fugaku set Izumi down, making sure any toys or constricting blankets were out of the way. Itachi had already set the temperature around the house for warmth that wasn't too hot or too cold, and very comfortable. Fugaku moved to leave the room, and Itachi watched Izumi sleep.
He fondly hummed at the small child, wishing he could also hold her, comfort her- be part of that world.
Fugaku had not been lying.
With the years, he and Mikoto grew older. They didn't necessarily have wrinkles yet, but they were older, and Izumi was also growing older—a lot more visibly than her parents. She was now five years old, and it was the first day she had to attend school.
Fugaku had been reluctant in letting her go, but it wasn't that much of a bad first day. Yet for Itachi- the house was becoming lonely once more, and the older that Izumi became the less time she had at home.
When she turned eighteen, she had made the decision of following in her grandmother's footsteps, and she was left for University.
Itachi had been confused.
He thought school was school and she would still stay home, but it seemed that he still had some learning to do. Fugaku missed Izumi a lot as well, and often called her, asking how she was, and if she was eating properly. He warned her against boys, and told her that he would murder any boy she brought home.
Itachi was expecting a slaughter when Izumi, at twenty three returned with a boy by the name of Shisui.
But learning that the boy was deep in technology and loved the craft, it got Fugaku and Mikoto talking to him, and even sharing ideas. They loved the new fresh ideas that a young mind could come up with and when Shisui met Itachi for the first time, he immediately fell in awe with the simulation of him.
Working on the Hologram for him was a bit more difficult than expected, projection had to be set around the house and Itachi could walk as if he was a solid person—well as solid as when someone was walking through you. Shisui had been helping with it as well, and it helped that the world around them wasn't stagnant in the whole technology era.
Models of Itachi's caliber were now in demand, but nothing fancy, although interactive, they were more robotic and limited than Itachi. The world soon had holograms walking down the very streets, traveling, and moving about the world like shadows, or ghosts- it was a new stepping stone into their millennium.
One that Minato was happy to be a part of, and often worked privately with Itachi on making holograms that more integrated into society.
"Mom! Dad!" Izumi came home one day, screaming, a large grin on her face, "He proposed." And just like that she was engaged to Shisui.
In Itachi's opinion, that was what set off a chain reaction.
From that day on, it seemed as though the human world was falling, and it really didn't make sense to him until his creator, Fugaku fell ill. Itachi started research, trying to save the man's life, even though hospitals were saying that there was nothing they could do.
Fugaku wasn't the only one though, several people fell ill- and there was no cure- just preventions from many more falling.
Fugaku had been right.
Whatever was on the internet was limited and useless, because it sure as hell wasn't doing its job now! He couldn't figure out what was wrong with his creator, and Itachi hated feeling this useless, this limited in his knowledge.
But, he could never have any more knowledge than what he was given, and what was offered out there in the world. One thing that he did know though, the whole world was crying and praying for Fugaku.
That was when Itachi really learned about the power of prayer, hope—and he had to wonder-
"I want to see you get married before I die," Fugaku told Izumi whom had been so worried about him from the very moment that he collapsed.
"Okay dad," she had whispered.
But what was truly heart breaking to watch was Mikoto.
"I'm not ready to say goodbye, I don't want you to go. Please, don't leave me alone here," Mikoto begged, tightening her hold on Fugaku's hand, never leaving his side.
"I feel I'm at my end," he tried to chuckle, but ended up coughing instead. Fugaku swallowed hard, "I'm sorry, my love," because he was trying darn hard not to cry.
"I've been working with Itachi to create a new model, to digitize the human mind into data, so you can live on," Mikoto whispered, pursing her lips to contain her own tears.
"That would be nice," Fugaku coughed a laugh, tightening his own hold on Mikoto's hand, "I believe in you, love," Fugaku knew that it might be impossible, that was technology way out of their reach still. But it would be incredible, to finally meet Itachi in a plane of data, and be able to interact with his family, and watch his baby girl grow further to having her own family. He was going to miss so much now- and the tears wouldn't stop. He wanted to live so badly. "Don't give up!"
"I won't, you just focus on getting better, please," Mikoto leaned over, kissing Fugaku's feverish forehead, before standing up and leaving back to the lab.
It was like an obsession at this point.
Mikoto worked diligently every day, and slept beside Fugaku every night. Their daughter's wedding came and went, Fugaku made the effort to move himself off the bed and go—no one in the world, not even the damned sickness was going to keep him from his daughter's happiness.
Then Fugaku was better.
For three glorious months, Fugaku moved around well, he was like back to his old self, and even helped Mikoto in his creation to digitize the mind. He graced the world with solving a case that exposed a trafficking organization and brought them all to justice.
Sadly, Fugaku passed away three days later, after learning that his daughter was pregnant with her first child.
That night, Itachi had sensed Fugaku get up from the bed that he shared with Mikoto. He had urged him to go back to bed, but Fugaku had laughed, and collapsed in front of the main monitor, his eyes shining with something Itachi couldn't explain.
"When I learned that I had lost a baby I would never meet, all I wanted to do was to create you. Then I wished for you to feel like everyone else, to be like us, but I don't think" Fugaku paused to cough, blood landing over the floor and screen in front of him. "I don't think it worked. Still, I love you Itachi, I love you so much." The man chocked on his own saliva and tears, "I don't want to die, I want to continue living with my wife, continue watching my daughter live…I want to meet my grandson…I don't want to…" and the man fell forward, his last breath escaping him.
Itachi felt his data tremble, and something inside of him shook, almost like there was something at that moment that sliced through the warmth that had built in his chest. He had called for medical services to come and get Fugaku- and then the whole family knew that Fugaku was gone.
His eyes pricked, and he just turned away.
The family cried so hard, and Itachi himself, even as he was called to make arrangement, hid his own tears- because they weren't the same, they were just data that he didn't know he owned. What he needed to do was help the family get back on track.
Izumi gave up on her career of being a police officer as soon as she was eight month pregnant, not wanting to deal with people judging her body. She wanted to instead continue her parent's works, seeing as her mother had fallen into a depression after the death of her dad. She wanted to also be supportive to Shisui whom had now inherited her parent's work- and legacy that was Itachi.
"Life is so hard out here," Izumi had said one lonely night as she was working with Itachi. She gasped, and felt her water suddenly break. "Life must be so pleasant where you are, no pain, no knowing any of this," she hissed.
"Is the baby coming?" Itachi asked, ignoring everything she had just said.
"Yes!" she screamed, and dropped herself to the floor.
"I'll call Shisui,"
"No…" she hyperventilated, and then laughed really hard. "I told him and mom to leave for the convention in the USA remember, I have this feeling they will learn a lot more about technology there and bring something incredible back, but I didn't think my son would come this soon,"
"I'll guide you through it for now," the hologram moved close towards her. She couldn't feel him, touch him, but she could see him, and in a way sense the warm presence that Itachi always seemed to have. She thought she had imagined it as a child, but here and now It was a comfort. A feeling that she had grown to rely on ever since she was a baby and she would be scared of sleeping through the night if Itachi was not there, "I've already alerted an ambulance, and should be here soon."
She calmed herself down- and waited.
The sirens outside, the knock at the door, Itachi, the paramedics, everything was just a blur to the moment that she was in a hospital bed, waking up to a white ceiling.
"Where am I?" she asked, and finally turned her head to see Itachi cooing at the small child placed on a fancy basinet beside her. A smile spread her face as she watched how it looked like Itachi was really caressing the chubby cheek of the babe sleeping there, and she allowed herself to be claimed by sleep once more.
As long as Itachi was there, everything was okay.
The next time she woke, Shisui was there, but Itachi was nowhere to be seen. Not that it mattered right now, she was more interested in getting to know her son- and finally hold him.
"I should have been here to see the birth of our child!" Shisui was so mad at himself. Izumi rolled her eyes as she tried to follow the nurses instructions on how to breastfeed her child.
"Calm down, Itachi helped me out," she said, "where is he anyways,"
"Your mom and I found some cool things, and she said she had a few ideas and employed Itachi's help to it,"
Izumi scoffed, "You nerds, but I'm glad," she then smirked.
Shisui sighed, and smiled at her.
At least both were safe. "What have you decided to name him?" he asked. The both of them had been fighting over names, and now that the boy was two days old and still nameless, it was about time for a name.
"Sasuke," she finally said. "Uchiha Sasuke," She whispered, holding the baby closer to herself as while the tiny baby successfully breastfed.
Shisui smiled. "That's perfect,"
Uchiha Sasuke was an adorable and very active baby.
He was also very picky and selective with what he liked, and whom he allowed near him. He especially liked being around Itachi. The baby wasn't afraid to vocalize himself, even if he yet couldn't speak, his arms would punch around, and his small legs would kick. Itachi would be left to baby sit him when he refused to take naps and the simulation would tell him stories, on and on without getting tired of doing it.
Itachi would change his appearance as well, different hair colors, and lengths just to amuse him. Sasuke would cry though if Itachi didn't go back to his usual form.
Itachi liked Sasuke a lot- that when the boy turned five and started school he was the one to not want to let him go. The attachment surprised him, because he hadn't had that with Izumi.
"It gives us more time to focus now," Izumi had said, a smile on her face. "Sasuke will be fine, just help us here," she called.
Itachi had been active in helping them in any way that he could, but they seemed to only want to work on it mostly themselves. The ability to digitize a person's mind into the world and plane that Itachi lived in seemed so beyond their reach. More of a dream than something that would ever be reality
"What do you want me to do?" he asked.
"Mrs. Uchiha wants to be digitized," Mikoto said, helping the elderly now retired officer to sit into the coup they had created. Itachi blinked, looking at it from every angle. He'd seen it built, but he just could never figure how it would work.
"This is so exciting!" Fugaku's mother squealed, "It would be like living forever young," she winked, and lay back when prompted. Itachi pursed his lips. He knew that out of all of the family members from Fugaku's past, she had been the most supportive. Still, he couldn't fathom why the woman was doing this now. It wasn't like it saved her son to begin with. But, Itachi decided to keep his mouth shut as he watched Mikoto gently place receptors across her head, and then the protective helmet.
"Now we start the computer," Izumi said.
Shisui nodded, working already on getting the machine started and in gear, starting the new program.
Itachi felt it engage, and narrowed his eyes as the coup's glass door closed down. The woman was now incased, and ready to try for the transferring.
"How are the gears running?" Mikoto called.
"The CPU is doing great, everything is going perfect," Shisui answered.
"Itachi, the rest is up to you," Izumi called as she pulled the lever.
Itachi had to start collecting what he dubbed 'matter data,' that meant that he should be able to pick up things from the outside world- specifically what was connected to him. He could feel a pull now, slow, yet it was coming, controlling the speed of how fast the data was being collected, and what data was being collected soon became difficult.
Mrs. Uchiha began to scream and beg to be let out, and Itachi's screen started to flash ERROR, large and red. The need to stop it was so great, that Itachi was shut off, and Mrs. Uchia had to be rushed to a hospital.
Overall, she was alright, but found that some of her memories had been lost, especially the ones of Fugaku.
A day later, Itachi was rebooted again. The simulation was unresponsive, frozen in its space. Mikoto felt worry wash over her as she did her best to try and get Itachi moving again. Mikoto was surprised that they had to defragment large chunks of Itachi. When Itachi started moving again, he seemed a bit slower.
"Itachi," a small hand touched the large touch screen.
Mikoto thought that perhaps she was going to have to uninstall Itachi at this point, and re-install him when the simulation finally seemed to snap of whatever it was that was slowing him down.
"Sasuke," Itachi whispered, his eyes looking more focused now as he looked at the young boy, whom was smiling up at him. It was such an inviting sight for him to experience.
"I think that was too much data for Itachi to process, we might have to increase the memory span," Shisui said immediately after making sure that Itachi was alright. Mikoto nodded as well.
Like usual, everyone had move on, ignoring him as they decided what was best for him. Itachi felt put out. He felt like he was nothing other than an object for their needs, but remained silent.
"I missed you;" he looked down at the small boy again, surprised by the words. "Grandma was saying you were sick, I'm glad you are back," Sasuke smiled sweetly at him, looking at him.
Looking at Itachi and not the simulation that he was.
Not for the money nor the innovation that he could bring to humanity in their pursuit to lengthen their lives….
The warmth inside Itachi seemed to flare, and he crouched down to Sasuke's level. "I'm all better now. You don't have to worry,"
"Really?" Sasuke's eyes lit up with pure joy, "Will you come, and read a book with me?" he asked. Itachi looked up at the others who were already working on the main system, ignoring everything else around them, and nodded his head.
"Sure, let's go,"
"Okay," Sasuke's hand was still pressed against the screen. In his own small mind, he wanted to be able to grab Itachi's hand, but that was impossible, with that screen always in the way. Itachi noted this, and reached his hand on the screen as well, imagining that he could touch Sasuke as well.
Both of them then headed to Sasuke's bedroom. There, Itachi read him his favorite story, even making a show of it, before Sasuke was tired and falling asleep. The small boy curled around his pillow as he softly called, "I love you Itachi, goodnight."
Itachi felt something in him snap at that moment.
Sasuke loved him.
For whatever reason, he wanted to hold on to those words—and much, much, more, he wanted to hold on to Sasuke.
The years didn't just seem to drag on anymore.
He had Sasuke around him constantly. Even when the boy went to school, the first thing he did was run to Itachi. It had always been like that, but it wasn't until now that it actually meant something to Itachi.
He loved hearing stories of how Sasuke interacted with his friends, what his teachers had him do, and what new thing he ate for lunch. They would talk forever.
He loved sharing the holidays with him, valentines, white day, Halloween, and Christmas- the ones that seemed to matter to Sasuke.
And the best part, always was, when Sasuke told him that he loved him.
But things don't last forever the way Itachi would hope them to.
Sasuke eventually got a crush on a girl, and that was when Itachi realized that he had missed a few points in the human life.
There was a point in life when a child started to distinguish between both sexes. There was a point in life when a child would start to like, and not feel repulsed or embarrassed by the other sex. There was a point in life where puberty hit, and when potential couples started being built.
Sasuke was no different, and he wasn't immune.
At thirteen he brought a girl home with him, and told Itachi in confidence that he wanted her to be his girlfriend. "Really?" Itachi asked, his voice almost breaking as he felt choked up at the fact that his Sasuke was growing up—and completely away from him. He started to panic, wanting to know how to hold on, but he came up with nothing at the very end, because no research in the world could tell you that.
"Yes," Sasuke had smiled.
Itachi had to wonder then and there, if pain could exist anywhere in his data, because he felt a sharp feeling the moment that Sasuke presented the girl to him and kissed her. Sasuke was bold, and shameless- and Itachi wasn't sure how to handle the situation.
In human terms, his feelings could be easily summed up as jealousy, envy, anger…and many other words to the point that Itachi had no name for it. Because, at the end of the day, there was just no way that he could be feeling those things.
He was just a simulation!
He was in no way regarded as a human and everything that he did, was just what he had learned.
He had to clear his head and focus on what was important. That was supporting and watching over Sasuke so he too would have a successful and fulfilling life. His opinions didn't matter, only Sasuke did. Sasuke was everything to him.
"She broke up with me,"
"Huh," Itachi looked up from going over Sasuke's homework assignments.
"She said that she didn't want to be my girlfriend, and that she liked another guy. A better looking one, who wasn't mean" Sasuke's voice caught in his throat and he hiccupped. He was crying.
That girl had made his Sasuke cry!
Itachi terribly wanted to be able to reach out and hold him! Comfort him! He wanted to so badly, but when his hand reached for him, it went through—once again, reminded that he was nothing but a simulation.
"Don't cry, love, things happen like that sometimes."
"But it hurts!" Sasuke cried, "Right here," he pressed his hand to his chest, just where Itachi felt his own sharp pull. "It feels like I'm being stabbed by a knife or something, it's just…" Sasuke shook his head, unable to complete what he was feeling with mere words.
"She's dumb for wanting to leave you!" Itachi tried this time, "You are incredible, and have so many talents! She is a fool for not seeing it."
Sasuke dried his tears and looked towards Itachi silently. For whatever reason, Itachi's warm words made him feel better. He felt relaxed, and smiled. Itachi's opinion had always mattered a great deal to him. Sasuke stared at Itachi for what felt like hours.
"You are wearing the necklace again," Sasuke whispered, his mind focusing on small details that Itachi changed every now and then. Itachi blinked at the sudden change of topic. "I like it,"
"You do?" Itachi could feel his face heating up. Was there something wrong with the CPU, he wondered.
The data analysis came back with nothing.
He was running just fine.
Even though their conversation ended there that night, Itachi could see that Sasuke was still bothered by something. He couldn't quite understand it until Izumi told him that Sasuke had decided to go into the new early Enforcement Academy and start training.
"Why," Itachi had asked.
She had smiled, "In the human world, image means a lot. Sasuke wants to be at the top of his game- he'll never get there unless he takes things seriously,"
"But I thought he said he wanted to work with computers," Itachi voiced. Izumi shrugged her shoulders.
"He changed his mind. Although I think it's dangerous that he's aiming to lieutenant like my dad, this is what he wants and I'll support him," she turned shinning eyes to him, "Thank you for always looking out for him," Itachi nodded once. "Ready to try this again?" she asked.
Itachi nodded his head again.
This time Mikoto was going to try and see if her mind could be digitized. She was growing old and she seemed desperate to accomplish this- but at the same time she was unwilling to harm anyone else in the progress of this. Mrs. Uchiha had already had some effects of memory loss- and Itachi had admitted that he held those memories.
He had replayed them for her once, and she had cried in disbelief that she could ever forget the birth of her own child, the feel of holding him for the first time- everything that mattered.
"We're all strapped in here," Shisui called, giving Mikoto a worried glance. Mikoto nodded her head, and the glass door to her pod started to close. She had wire connections pressed against her skin. Their new computer was designed once more to read matter, and transfer through energy the very thing that was the mind into the computer world.
"Okay, we're all set to begin. Itachi, once more please," Izumi said, and smiled assuring at him when she saw the worry in his eyes for Mikoto. Itachi gave the affirmative, and started to search for the 'matter data,' that the receptors around Mikoto should be able to pick up.
He could feel it coming, in thick waves, but more controlled this time. Itachi bit his lower lip, images around him flashing- odd weird 'feelings' ran across his very system.
Thoughts of missing Sasuke.
Thoughts of not wanting to harm the woman he considered his mother.
What was this heavy feeling?
Itachi couldn't seem to comprehend it.
It overwhelmed him.
He suddenly just stopped- and his entire program shut down- Into complete darkness.
"Is he back online?" A familiar, male voice asked.
Itachi's eyes opened, and he gasped as bright light filtered all around him. He looked all around him- not knowing where he was anymore. The last thing that he remembered was trying to collect 'Data Matter' from Mikoto- but now.
"Welcome back Itachi,"
He looked forward. "Where am I?" he asked, for a second he felt lost. "Where's Mikoto!" he demanded.
"My mother is now dead, Itachi," an older woman said, smiling sadly at him. "She's been gone for so long. It's good to have you back Itachi." She added. That woman, that man, it took him a moment for him to realize that Izumi and Shisui had both aged.
"Di-did I hurt her?" he asked.
Izumi smiled, a hand pressed to her lips. "No, the only one hurt that day was you,"
"I'm glad," Itachi admitted. Happy to hear that he had not hurt his mother. Izumi whipped tears from her eyes, happy to have Itachi back.
As the seconds passed the urge to ask if Sasuke was around bubbled to the surface, but instead he just quietly took in how everything around him had changed.
It seemed that the world around him suddenly looked so different from what he last recalled, and he found himself able to move about the room with so much ease. The computer was also under his control, he could search up everything that had happened, from the date he had been shut off, to now.
It had been twenty years.
"What…what happened, did Mikoto ever figure things out?" Itachi suddenly asked. The realization that Mikoto was dead hitting him for the first time since he had been reactivated- his last creator, his sort of mother, was now also gone. "How did she…" he whispered, looking at them for the answers.
"She didn't figure out what she wanted, we haven't either. After everything that happened, we just decided to let that project go, and we enjoyed life. She decided to enjoy life and not worry. Like I said, she was fine that day- you on the other hand, didn't seem to work anymore." Izumi said. "Your program was nearly lost in the results, but finally, we were able to reactivate you,"
It's just that easy, Itachi thought to himself, for me to be erased from this world and no one would miss me.
"Sasuke missed you," Izumi suddenly added.
Itachi blinked, "What?"
"Sasuke, remember? We thought that you were gone, but he said that we had to keep trying. We pushed him to go to school and accomplish his goals, and he said he would if we could bring you back," Izumi giggled, remembering how her son had fought tooth and nail with his demands to bring Itachi back. "I bet he'd be so psyched to see you!"
Sasuke…missed me…that was all Itachi could think as he looked around. There were several young people running around in white uniforms, and working around the computer bases.
"A lot has happened since you were gone," Shisui proudly said, "we decided to expand our technology and it brought in great result for entertainment and making the world more efficient, and helpful," he turned to Itachi again, "Mikoto and Fugaku both created such a goldmine with how advance their features in technology were, especially you, you are at the center of it all."
"It's thanks to you that virtual reality can be integrated with reality" Izumi said.
Itachi just stared at them, not saying anything. He was at the center? What could that possibly mean…that he was the catalyst of all this?
"If you want, explore around! You can go anywhere in the world that you want to go. And you can see for yourself how life has changed," Shisui encouraged.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"Oh, right, we moved and left behind our old home, so we can grow into a company," Izumi explained.
Itachi nodded his head. After hearing everything, there was only one place that he wanted to go to, and that was to Sasuke. The simple thought or data that projected that took him to a concert venue.
There Itachi could see how things had changed. Holograms of people no longer just walked amongst people, they interacted with each other. There were holographic trees, no gardens of plants, and pets, and humans walked around it as well.
It was incredible.
"Why am I at a concert venue," he softly asked himself. He jolted when an information screen popped in front of him. It was like a flyer, actor/singer Uchiha Sasuke was going to be performing tonight, at his debut on stage of his fourth album.
Uchiha Sasuke, his Sasuke.
He never saw Sasuke turning away from the police force to pursue something so completely different from what the rest of his family did. Although, Sasuke had always been different from them all.
Itachi immediately started to call for research, reading, anything he could find, quickly absorbing films, dramas, or any commercials Sasuke had been a part of. The companies, managers, and the love scandals- he knew it all in a matter of seconds.
Whether you are alive or dead, in a coma or anything else, no matter how things hold still for you in your own path—time never stopped. Time never stopped causing change, and it never held back for anyone. Time—that was one thing holding him back from Sasuke- and reality—the fact that he was simply created with no regard had him feeling so overwhelmed with this new world.
Because even if now Holograms could interact, and be part of it, they were nothing but shadows- creations just like he that had no place in the human world than being a tool. He was so alone, confused- and he didn't know what to do anymore.
Maybe his time to die had come a long time ago.
He should have perished, just like Fugaku. Just like Mikoto.
Placing himself inside the concert venue was simple.
There was a sound check going on, and several people were cheering at getting to see their favorite artists prepare.
Itachi's eyes searched, but he couldn't find Sasuke.
Eventually he gave up, and settled himself in a closet inside one of the dressing rooms. He wasn't sure if this was what hiding was all about, but he passed his time composing himself, looking over his data banks. He was in the middle of asserting himself when all of a sudden a red light flashed and halted everything- there was an error in his system.
A folder that was hazardous and could cause him harm- he opened it. Inside he found several other folders, all titled with some sort of feeling- but the very first one was the one that caught his attention.
Digitizing files
He opened it, and found files that were in unreadable forms- Itachi couldn't assess them. No matter what he did, they wouldn't open. No matter what file he tried- and he was about to give up when he noticed that the final file was of a different color.
What he found there was the locked research data that easily opened up to him. Inside he found documents, notes, about how to digitize. Everything that Mikoto and Fugaku had worked so hard in. He could understand how he was created, how he was here, and how Mikoto was trying to digitize a mind to come here- there was just something that was missing that Itachi could easily understand.
It was possible after all, he thought to himself.
If he would have focused a bit more, he would have been able to help Mikoto figure it out. But it still wouldn't have been done on time to save Fugaku.
Itachi wasn't sure what to think anymore.
From that moment on, Itachi took life in as it was.
He watched people before Sasuke's concert. One thing for sure had not changed, humans still paired off in twos. When he came to meet Sasuke again, he had instantly recognized him- he could never forget his eyes. Those eyes, Itachi tried to reach for that handsome face, but of course his hand just went through. He was nothing but a hologram after all.
Something tingled down his very being the moment that he heard his voice- so manly, deeper now in age, but still harmonious as was his Sasuke. Itachi's data particles trembled excitedly.
"Sasuke," he whispered. His Sasuke was all grown up, and he had missed it all.
"Welcome back Itachi,"
But the biggest news of all was when Sasuke presented him his girlfriend, Haruno Sakura. She was a beautiful, sweet girl, and she was engaged to Sasuke. The both of them looked so happy together, but something seemed to snap inside of Itachi- something familiar from before- but now it seemed to scramble his data.
He smiled, "Congratulations," what more could he say?
Three days later, Itachi dared asked Sasuke, "Do you love me?"
Sasuke had been looking over a new script that he had to memorize by next week. He was shooting a new film. "Of course I love you," Sasuke smiled, "You've always been like a brother to me Itachi, I have missed you so much. I was so surprise to see you again" Sasuke chocked up, "I thought for a moment that I was never going to see you again," he was crying now, but he hid it from Itachi.
After all he was a great actor now.
But you don't love me—Itachi thought to himself.
Love- love is a multi-faceted word.
Even though Itachi thought that he might feel love for Sasuke, he wasn't quite sure though if what he had for him was love. "I'm glad to be back," he said, and faked another smile. Another part of himself pulled inside, something begging to be released. – Why don't you love me!
Look only at me!
Like you used to.
Sasuke was busy.
He had started shooting his movie. He is an incredible actor and loved by so many. His eyes always set on the actress or other actors in front of him. His smiles were for the people that were his audience. His jokes, his charades- that fun personality that Itachi had loved when Sasuke was a child was still there.
Yet he now belonged to the world.
Itachi would often go and see Sasuke record. He would stand in the dark corner, just watching, hoping that by looking at him he would turn and look at him. It was said that if you stare at another person they can feel it. They know and eventually they turn, it was an instinct humans possessed!
But he couldn't feel him staring.
Look only at me!
He started to dress himself in what was considered the latest fashion, making sure that he appeared dangerous and interesting when he felt that he needed to compete with Sakura. But she was something that he couldn't be, sweet, small, and adorable—and she always stole Sasuke's gaze away from him.
He tried smiling more often.
He tried being funny.
He tried being flirty.
And above all else he tried saying Sasuke's name as often as possible because at least that seemed to have some kind of effect. That was why he was never going to stop calling him.
"Sasuke," it was the dead of night, but Sasuke could hear Itachi soothingly whispering to him. He knew the simulation was in his room, and he hid a smile. Knowing Itachi was back, brought a comfort to him that he had missed. Ever since his deactivation, Sasuke begged his parents to bring Itachi back.
He had worked hard.
He had accomplished and made something of himself.
Had even started planning a future..
Everything he did, he did it just to have Itachi back in his life.
He hadn't been able to admit it to them- or to anyone- since loving a hologram had become an obscene thing in the world—that he loved Itachi more than was appropriate. He hadn't lied. He loved Itachi at first like he was his brother. But as he grew older and better understood his feelings- he knew that it wasn't the case.
He missed Itachi terribly. At one point he noticed that he obsessed with thoughts about Itachi.
But in this world, where pain and malice existed, he had to pretend to play his role. Just like when he was acting for a film. Except in reality, his role was to become successful, have a beautiful wife, a nice big home, and kids.
But at least now, he will also have Itachi around- and that was what mattered. Besides, it was true. A Human and a hologram couldn't be together, the two were so different, and not even of the same world or species. No matter the ache to be able to hug, or simply touch Itachi would never happen.
Closing his eyes, Sasuke was resigned.
Look only at me!
The date for the wedding was finally decided. Sasuke and Sakura were going to get married at the end of the month. Izumi and Sakura both spent time making Sasuke go places, pay for things, do things that even had Itachi cringing.
The Hologram wanted to help Sasuke out of this, but he could barely even get any words in edgewise.
He was once again pushed to the background, and left on his own.
Expect now Itachi could think, with all the time in the world, he could decide things. He was no longer limited the way he had been in the past. He controlled several computers, and it was efficient when some of those computers were also robots. Learning to control, or hack, into things had been an easy task for Itachi.
And for once in his life, he went back to his own roots.
"Don't marry her," Itachi said the night before the wedding.
Sasuke whom had been talking about how things were going to change was startled by the sudden cut of his words, and turned to the hologram. Itachi was looking at him, with expression filled eyes- and for a moment it almost felt like he was able to touch him.
"Wh-what?"
"Don't marry Sakura!" Itachi whispered, he himself wanting to touch Sasuke. He reached his hand to his cheeks, imagining what his skin would feel like- what would it be like to feel? "Be with me, forever, and ever," he looked down, "Just me,"
Sasuke chuckled, fondly looking at Itachi, "That's impossible, my life would be ended as I age," he sighed, "Nothing is forever,"
Age, that thing that had stolen Fugaku's youth and beauty- that thing that took Mikoto from him- and time- Time and age-
"It's not impossible, I know of a way that it can just be the two of us, but you have to trust me,"
Sasuke paused, looking at Itachi thoughtfully, his heart fluttering deeply in his chest, filling with warm hope. "Since I was small I looked up to you, admired you, and trusted you Itachi. Why wouldn't I trust you now?" Sasuke asked, his voice a timber of a whisper in the quiet room. Itachi smiled, pleased with Sasuke's response and nodded his head—because it hurt.
There is somewhere I need you to go, do you remember it? It was our childhood home. I'm going to need you to do a couple of things, but it won't take too much time. Before long, it will just be the two of us! I guarantee it.
Sasuke, Please look only at me…
The day for the wedding had arrived.
Sakura was rushing to the venue of her wedding, already fearing that she was going to be late. "Can you please not do that!" Ino, one of her friends snapped when she noted the sticky bun that she was munching on.
Sakura pouted, looking at the pastry being tossed out the car window.
"I'm hungry," she whined, and glared.
"You're just nervous," Ino told her.
"Are we almost there?" Sakura asked, her head now eagerly glancing outside. She couldn't wait to get married, but at the same time, she was feeling so nervous about it all.
"We're here!" Another of her friends called from the front. The doors of the black limousine she had ridden in opened. She met her parents within the venue, and in her own mind, she couldn't help but grin widely when the doors opened to the altar.
It was breathtaking, beautiful, and everyone stood as she entered and the music began.
She couldn't believe it!
She was getting married to Sai.
It was strange, watching his own body lying in a capsule, lifeless.
Of course, he missed the feel of his body- but the thought was quickly placed away when a hand landed on his shoulder, squeezing it. He turned his head, dark eyes, meeting even darker ones. Itachi- he was standing right there, and he could feel him.
"It's just the two of us," Itachi said, smiling softly at him. For the first time ever, Sasuke was looking at him, just at him, at the same level, and plane.
He was happy.
Sasuke simply stared, trying to allow his mind to realize what had happened. He had been completely digitized into the world of data, right along with Itachi. He had lost his human body.
All for Itachi.
"Won't my parents notice I'm gone?" he asked.
"I've made them forget!" Itachi cheerfully said. "Come, Sasuke, I've got lots of things to show you!" Itachi pulled on Sasuke's hand. Sasuke was startled. Trying to come to terms with it, until he finally just let go of all rational thought, and rushed forward with Itachi.
He didn't know what was happening, what would happen, or if it would matter- but he did know that being with Itachi was something he truly wanted—so he'd follow him anywhere.
Forever