A.N.: Hey everyone! Pretty late update, I know... I am so happy to see so many new followers! We have only but a few chapters left 3 Bear with me ;)
Enjoy!
"It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul."
― William Ernest Henley, Echoes of Life and Death;
1.
Mirai took one calming breath as her thoughts rearranged themselves into order. She looked at his face, pale and dark. He returned her gaze with confident certainty.
"I see" she spoke finally.
He nodded as if he was expecting her to do so. She couldn't condone his actions, no matter the reasoning behind them. She felt a fire in her chest that she didn't pay any attention to at the moment. He had made his bed, he would sleep in it and there was nothing she could do or say that could change his mind. The fire grew hotter and she sighed, shifting her position a little bit.
"Don't tell me that I hurt you" he dared to tease her.
A grin bloomed on her features as she shook her head.
"No".
"What is his name?" He asked abruptly.
"You don't need to know his name, you are as good as a dead man" she replied bitterly before she could hold herself back. The look on his face told her that he was taken aback by her sudden hostility but before she could do anything better she spoke again: "Don't tell me that I hurt you".
His eyes were black as coal. His lips moved, allowing his low voice to form words, even though he was obviously upset.
"Do you think that there is anything mortal or divine that could hurt the dead?" he remarked darkly. "Don't you think that I should at least know his name?"
Mirai felt the fire in her chest subsiding, leaving behind nothing but ruins and burned lands. Her every breath felt like torment. 'Calm down' she thought to herself.
"You should leave. The dawn has arrived." She simply replied.
"Mirai, I give you my word. I will not, ever, harm the boy. You said he is mine-"
"He is mine. Not yours, not anyone's. You have absolutely no power over him." She raged, slamming both of her hands on the table in front of them.
Itachi inhaled deeply. This was not the time and the place to anger her.
"Do you want to humiliate me?" He provoked her, his gaze cold and cruel. "Must I beg to see his face? Know his name? Would this please you?"
"He has enough on his plate already. A dead father is not something he could use right now." She insisted, her expression distant and indifferent.
"I swear on the heavens… I am what I am but what makes you any better, Hyuuga Mirai?" He snapped. "Always talking high and mighty! Like you have no sins, no regrets! I see right through you, I am you, can't you understand? You are a hypocrite and I suppose I was expecting the tiniest bit of honesty after I explained my actions however you are stubborn as an ox."
"I owe no truth to you! Call me anything you want, your opinions mean absolutely nothing to me!" She argued loudly.
Itachi laughed in an ugly manner. "One day he will want to know the truth, Mirai. What are you going to fabricate? Or do you think you can avoid this conversation indefinitely?"
"It is not your place-"
"It's as much my place as yours! Had you told me the truth I-"
"YOU WHAT?" she interrupted him fiercely; "You would have given up your goals and plans to be with him and play house? I sincerely doubt that!"
"You had no right to conceal him from me!" He said in a booming voice that sent shivers down her spine.
It was her turn to laugh, almost hysterically. "Right! Right, I see, I should have told you, who killed all of your relatives in one night! You who associates with the lowest of scum on this land, you who have more bounties on your head than hair! Have you lost your mind?"
"Are you done?" he scoffed.
"Not in a million years" she retorted.
Silence fell and their eyes were blazing as they glared at each other with pressed lips and frowns.
"I-" he begun, trying to compose himself, "I have many regrets when it comes to you. Those regrets… he inherits them".
"What are you talking about?" she wondered, still boiling.
"Please. Let me see him, only once. I give you my word" he repeated, "I am not going to harm him. Please." He insisted, his eyebrows almost touching each other.
She looked at his face searching for any kind of hidden motives and failed to notice any. She sighed.
2.
Ryo woke up from a pounding pain that made his head heavy. He instantly placed his hands on his temples and breathed in and out, trying to push the pressure away.
The room was dark but he could listen to the morning birds and the distant chatters from outside. Some of those voices he could identify but he had no face for them. He couldn't remember how he got into his bed; the last thing he recalled was that he was waiting in his mom's office. Did he fall asleep there? Had she brought him here herself?
He got up and made his bed out of habit. He crawled towards the small bowl with water at the corner of his chamber and washed his face. The door opened with a quiet thud.
His mother entered. He wondered if she was still mad at him and he said nothing as she approached him.
He stared at her figure as she placed some clothes on the stool of his wardrobe. Ryo smiled and approached her happily. Dressing him meant that she wanted to make up.
She spared him a smile as well, Ryo's favorite. It was warm and made her look like the sweetest woman on earth. She started to fix his attire around his body and Ryo raised a small hand and placed it on her cheek. It was soft and smelled like powder. She lifted her pearly gaze and looked at his onyx black eyes.
"Will you forgive me for scaring you last night?" his mom said with a mellow voice.
He nodded, smirking. "I am also to blame. I shouldn't have disobeyed" he apologized. She placed her one soft hand on each side of his neck and stared at his face.
"I know it's hard to always be hidden, my love. I promise you, we will soon be free."
"What do you mean?" he wondered
"Would you like to go away, just the two of us?" she asked while she placed a silky belt around his small waist.
Ryo focused on her face wondering if she was trying to get a specific answer to that question but her expression remained obscure.
"Go where?"
Right then she raised her eyes and met his own as she finished the knot on his attire.
"I was thinking that we could use some fresh air. Come with me." She instructed as she took his hand and led him discreetly out of the room and around the house until they eventually reached the wooden veranda. She then proceeded to kneel by him and while she brought her head near his, she showed him the distant peaks of the mountains that spread at the southern borders of Kusagakure's Territory.
Ryo's eyes wandered in the distance.
"Can we go there?" he asked her half excited, half uncertain.
"If you want to…" she replied as a small smile formed on her lips.
Ryo smiled at her and nodded.
"Then we better make some preparations" she mused, her eyes now fixed towards the forest.
3.
Itachi felt his eyes burning as soon as he left Mirai's home. He was exhausted both physically and mentally. He entered the evergreen forest and stumbled for a few feet until he finally collapsed. He did everything in his power to remain undetected but it was apparent that even these simple jutsu were now too heavy for him. He needed more time but fate has a strange way of reminding to men that they should be humble. A bitter chuckle escaped him as he rolled on the soft grass and watched the blue sky between the maple branches that towered over him.
He closed his eyes in a childlike act of rebellion against his better judgment and concentrated on his hearing. So many things were moving in the forest. Snakes and snails, a few deer, some birds here and there. At a short distance he could hear the soft steps of two small children, probably aged 5, that were walking by the forest. If he focused enough he could make out their words but he didn't. He just enjoyed the music of peace, no matter how fragile.
Her presence reached him effortlessly as she stepped out of her house. His eyes popped open again and he was briefly blinded from the daylight, even though he lay under the shade of the trees. He lifted himself silently and approached the edge of the woods once more.
There she was, kneeling by the side of a small boy, the same boy that he met the night before. His boy.
Itachi observed the child, mystified. He was tall for his age, no doubt. His face was as pale as the moon and his eyes as black as night. On his face he could place his own mother's features. His hair was long and sleek.
The child spoke and Itachi found himself astounded by his soft voice that timidly asked a question. Mirai smiled and the boy smiled back at her. His heart was pounding so loud that he wondered if she heard it as she turned her gaze towards him. Their eyes met as the small boy was examining his mother's face.
Itachi felt tears on his face as his lips parted and he hummed a few words at her. Her expression changed from serious to anguishing right in front of his eyes that were once again dulled. He could no longer see her face in the distance as he couldn't see the child. He stared at their blurred figures for a few moments and then he left the Village Hidden in the Grass, never to return.
4.
(Itachi would wake up early every morning but never earlier than her. It was a matter of pride for Mirai so he would sometimes pretend to sleep if she was still in bed. That morning though, she would be already up indeed, sitting thoughtfully in front of many different robes. She was always so particular about her appearance. Itachi felt that it was completely unnecessary; who could compare to her beauty? What is the perfect fabric to cover perfection? However he was not bothered by her obsession with pretty dresses. He thought of it as an adorable habit. She then would feel his eyes on her naked back and she turned abruptly to face him, her short her flying around her face.
"What are you looking at?" she would inquire.
"I was wondering what does my beautiful wife doing, kneeling naked in front of the closet instead of being in bed, tending to her husband" he would tease her, hugging her pillow.
She then would proceed to raise an eyebrow and grin. She would crawl seductively back to bed and roll under the sheets with him. Her body would be cool and burning at the same time and he would spent a few moments doing nothing but kissing her face hugging her small figure. Right when the situation would begin to escalate, someone would knock at the door.
Itachi would sigh as the melodic voice of his son would demand his presence.
"Daddy, daddy! Wake up, you promised you would teach me how to throw three shuriken at the same time! Daddy!"
Mirai would look at him, her eyes sparkling with tender rage.
"You promised, huh?" she would remark.
He – having completely forgotten about it- would nod apologetically while he would give her a passionate kiss as an apology. She then would push him out of bed and she would get up herself to go and take a bath, hinting that she would finish what he started while he would snort in disapproval for his woman's complete lack of shame.
Itachi, after a few moments of fixing his composure and putting clothes on, would exit their bedchambers and look for their son.
He would find him on the training grounds of his house. The boy would be excitedly chatting with Sasuke who would smile at him.
"Ah, here you are Itachi! You know, nephew, when I was a kid your age my brother would never help me learn anything! He was always busy becoming a great warrior, you see…" Sasuke would mock Itachi.
"Good morning to you too little brother…" Itachi would snicker.
Sasuke would smile and two tiny dimples would appear on his cheeks while the boy would run towards him and throw himself in his father's embrace.
Itachi would then pick up his son and walk towards his brother so they could sit together and teach the child how to deal with this…three shuriken situation.)
However Itachi would walk and walk and never reach his brother. Suddenly his arms would be empty of his baby boy. His room would be abandoned and cold. His heart always miles apart from hers.
He opened his eyes and peered into the large, empty room where he had decided to give his final show. He sat more comfortably on the cold stone throne as he crossed his feet. Sasuke was nearby, he had no more time to dadydream.
His body was aching too much, his vision was almost gone. He swallowed a couple of pills to help him appear stronger than he was. He looked at the painkillers among them and didn't take those. He smiled bitterly.
"Mother… Father…I am keeping my word." He whispered, holding treacherous tears back.
His brother was now closer.
So was his fate.
