Survival is wrong.
Killer Instinct
He just wanted to stay alive, that's all. But Shisui was coming, katana out, and fuck that there wasn't any time to ask why his favorite cousin would lure him out here just to kill him.
So Itachi drew a kunai, stabbing between the ribs. The katana buried itself into the earth next to the crook of his neck.
Shisui chokes on his own blood and dies, pathetically, out in the deserted river valley. He manages to say something, before the end.
Itachi, twelve and terrified, refuses to hear it. It comes anyway.
"Damn, I couldn't do it after all."
End
A/N: Sorry about the crap summary. Comment on tense use, please. It's fucked up right now. (100 words exactly, btw!)
PS: No, this is not a "forgive the lunatic" fic...
EDITED:
A small change thanks to a kind reviewer who pointed out that the sentences didn't mesh together properly. Thanks, HeeroTomoe! I really appreciate it!
Also, in response to someone who wondered if it really ISN'T a justification for Itachi… it's not. I wrote this as a testament to the fact that having killed instinctively doesn't make it ok… and in my opinion Itachi would know that too. He is a killer at heart, because while Shisui couldn't deliver the blow he did it and he did it instinctively.
I wonder if I should clarify the fact that he murdered Shisui, rather than self-defense he went for the heart and lungs.
I was thinking as I wrote this that it would become the defining moment of Itachi's understanding of his own nature. He begins to consider himself as a killer, rather than a person who MUST kill.
Whether it was actually wrong for him to kill or not is another issue…