"This is the house that built me and I'm gonna burn it down. This is the river I crawled from and I refuse to drown here. ... What is a home if not the first place you learn to run from? You've got to bite the hand that starves you, and in doing so, praise the place that birthed you. Birthed you fucked up. Birthed you ugly, and interesting, and ready to scream."— Courtney Love Prays To Oregon, Clementine von Radics
I'm alive? Is the first thing Itachi thinks as he fades back into consciousness after Sasuke's Kirin jutsu. The next thought is, I'm so proud of you.
Even as Itachi feels his heart palpitate wildly within his chest and his arm screams in agony, a surge of affection flows through his broken body, propelling his feet forwards inch by inch toward his brother. It's all he can do not to smile, knowing how strong Sasuke is now. Itachi has almost completed everything that has been planned these past eight years, and now it will finally be fulfilled.
But then he coughs. Once, twice, and then he can't stop coughing, panic gripping his mind even as he forms the seals for Susanoo. He thinks Sasuke yells out something, but his hearing has been shot almost as bad as his eyes at this point. Still, he treks on to his goal, slowly, painfully, he pushes one foot in front of the other as the jutsu cradles him.
Itachi senses more than sees Sasuke activate his curse seal. Yes, Itachi almost croons out. Come out and face me, snake.
As if summoned by his thoughts, Orochimaru does just that, infecting and mutating Sasuke's chakra-deficient body with the lecherous parasite pulsing vividly within Itachi's senses. The feeling it gives off is sickening beyond description. He feels his face shift before the emotion that travels through his body permeates his consciousness.
Wrath.
Deep and vicious wrath wraps around Itachi's brittle heart. He looks up at the sannin who has caused such misery to Sasuke and his plans, the person who has created so much chaos and misery for the sake of their own gain.
Cold satisfaction threads itself within Itachi as he brings up Susanoo's sword. Now, Orochimaru will do no more. Not in this life, or the next.
Itachi's ears lower their acute ringing just enough to hear Orochimaru's screams of fear. It's a beautiful sound, but Itachi ignores it in favour of noticing the remains of Sasuke's chakra. It's faint, but it's there, and relief flows through Itachi at the knowledge that he's safe, Sasuke is safe.
As if mocking him for having the feeling at all, his chakra reaches the proverbial end of the frayed rope and subsequently attempts to stab at his own heart in a horribly cruel imitation of what he has just done to Orochimaru. Itachi goes down hard, but he can barely feel the ache in his knees as he clutches at his sternum to no avail. The chakra exhaustion is so intense he can feel it literally eating away at his organs, taking up company with the disease rotting him from the inside out. Still, Itachi is thankful that it corrodes his senses enough that he can't feel the pain in his lungs he's been experiencing for the past seven years. He won't have to worry about breathing for much longer anyhow.
Itachi forcefully pushes himself up with a cracked knee, feeling the dirt on his skin mix with the salty smell of sweat and blood. He needs to go to Sasuke. He needs to move more than he needs to stop dying.
And as Itachi walks over to his little brother, all he can see is Sasuke asking him for another training session, making Itachi's lips tug up at his bashfulness.
"I'm sorry, Sasuke," He rasps out, "There won't be a next time."
Then Itachi stumbles.
And he falls.
There's an annoying sound next to him, and Itachi half-heartedly bats a hand in its direction, mentally pleading for the demon to spare him a minute of rest he doesn't deserve before being dragged into whatever hell is waiting for him. However, it turns into a sobbing, screeching wail directed right in his ear, and that's more than enough for him to shoot up that same arm lightening-fast, squeezing the demon's throat hard enough he can already feel the bruises forming on its warm skin. He tries opening his eyes to confront his new reality, but the darkness consumes him for another blissful moment, forcing his hand to fall and his head to collapse.
Itachi can't help but let out a small groan as he comes to again, his body feeling like a dizzying blend of cotton and overworked chakra. It would have been too much to ask for the afterlife to take off some of his chronic pain. However, mercifully, the ringing in his ears has stopped, letting only blissful silence surround his senses.
There's something shuffling next to him.
With great reluctance, he peels one of his eyes open, complacent enough at his fate. He has done all he needs to do. No more fighting.
"Niisan!"
Itachi's eyes shoot open, and any pain he feels is surreptitiously ignored.
Sasuke is blabbering something at him, something insignificant when compared to the fact that his brother is right there, unblemished and young. Perfect.
Itachi brings up a clearly-seen hand, ignoring the spatter of blood on it as he has done many times throughout the years, and caresses the soft skin of Sasuke's tear-stained cheek. Sasuke continues to say something, but Itachi is too captivated to take notice. It's only a memory, after all. One last gift before he is taken to be burned in Jigoku. Truly, he has been blessed.
Sasuke is pulling at his clothing now, full-heartedly planting his little feet along the tatami and bringing Itachi up inch by inch. Itachi almost wants to smile at all of his efforts, but his muscles don't seem to conform very well to his will, and he's sure it turns out more like a grimace. But Sasuke doesn't look at him as he starts dragging Itachi along the ground with his clothes clanking along the floor.
Clanking…? Itachi thinks, bemused. And then he sees his parents.
Their blank eyes stare at him as Itachi is continuously dragged along the tatami, gaze unmoving and unaware. Blood stains the back of their clothes as their bodies slump forward into a puddle of their own liquids and Itachi can only stare because he's never seen them like this before. Even after killing them, he moved his head to the side and only trained his eyes upon Sasuke. He's never seen them like this.
He's never seen the work of his own hands.
Itachi turns his head to look down at what he's wearing. It's his ANBU uniform, soaked and bloodied and metal, causing the clanking noise of before. Slowly, he turns his head towards Sasuke's face, his young expression one of determination and fear as fresh bruises form a ring around his neck.
"Sasuke," He starts to say, voice hoarse and cracking. Itachi struggles with his words like never before, unsure of what he is even asking. "Sasuke, what happened?"
Sasuke shoots him a bewildered look before turning away, eyes wildly looking at their surroundings as he continues to drag Itachi by the clasps of his ANBU uniform. "I-I found you next to—," He looks at their parents then, eyes wide and pupils blown. He doesn't finish his sentence. "It's okay Niisan, I'm gonna protect you, it's okay, it's okay—" Sasuke babbles in his high-pitched voice as his legs and arms shake from the strain or from the fear.
Itachi makes himself look around the room that they're in. The vibrant moon is shining her rays through the open shoji of the main room, illuminating the spread of death and decay that lay in the center. However, everything looks exact and imperfect, right down to the dent of the wooden beam on the right-hand corner of the room; courtesy of his and Shisui's childish spars. There is no pure perfection to be found in the scene, no hazy indication of a genjutsu to be found. A remarkable feat.
Itachi twitches the right toe of his foot, checking it for any abnormalities. When he finds none save for a familiar dull ache, he checks the other. His hands clench open and shut as feeling drifts back into each of his limbs, shaking off the shock of beforehand. Before Sasuke has time to turn around to look at his fidgeting, Itachi is grabbing him and running out of the door. Sasuke gasps as he is jerked upwards, but Itachi ignores it just as he ignores the sudden rush of chakra exhaustion pulsing through the previously ignored pain in his limbs.
He grits his teeth and pushes onwards as he runs distressingly slowly through the silent carnage that awaits him. Itachi passes his eyes over the broken bones of his cousin, the blood of his aunt, the open neck of his uncle's grandfather. As if on instinct, he shields Sasuke's eyes from the sight and shifts his small body onto his back.
"Sasuke," Itachi commands, projecting authority onto his voice. "Hold on to me. Keep your face down and do not speak until I say so."
Sasuke does what he's told without question, showing such intense trust in Itachi it almost makes his heart break. However, the mission comes first, so he locks up every troubled emotion he has and packs it into a neat little corner of his mind.
He runs. If he was forced to be honest, he'd say he doesn't even know where he's running to, but Itachi has no choice but to follow his instincts towards the forest, towards a place that is as far away from this cursed village as he can.
I'm alive, Itachi thinks again as he feels the rush of wind on his face, the lack of pain in his underdeveloped lungs and Sasuke's light weight on his back. I'm alive!
The excited bewilderment is short-lived as he runs through the situation. He is either chronically hallucinating or simply in a situation that he cannot fully comprehend at this point in time. What he knows so far is that he is alive and young, Sasuke is young and alive, and everyone else… is not.
All in all, an acceptable situation. If he's lived it once, he can do it again.
Unconsciously, he grips Sasuke's legs closer to his body.
No, not everything will be done again. He will make sure of it.
"My, my, what a surprise," Someone says.
Itachi jumps at least ten feet onto the crunch of fallen leaves, quickly checking on Sasuke, who is still pinned to his back. Itachi's jaw clenches at who he sees, chastising himself for forgetting about such an obvious threat.
The masked man calling himself Madara doesn't move from his spot above them in the tree line, perched upon a branch like a hawk gazing upon his prey. "I was under the impression we were going in alone," He dramatically sighs, loud enough to be heard through the swirling mask. "It's a tight spot, but I will make an exception—"
"I'm going my own way," He rasps out to the liar. The weight of where his weapons would be is frustratingly empty on the side of his hip.
Madara pauses, as if surprised by his answer. Considering the fact that Itachi had all but begged him to enter the Akatsuki in what amounted to a few days ago, it was warranted.
"I see," Is all the man says, his voice betraying nothing of his feelings. "Well, if the famed clan-killer ever changes his mind, we will find you. Well," He pauses, looking at Sasuke curled up on Itachi's back. Itachi tightens his grip. "Almost a clan-killer."
In another existence, that new title would have stung. Now, it's almost as familiar as his own name.
"Then it's agreed," Itachi states, not shifting from his battle stance.
Madara only chuckles at his words and lifts a hand, disappearing in an instant.
Itachi breathes out.
"Sasuke?" He asks. Sasuke doesn't answer him, his face still shoved into Itachi's back.
"What did he mean by 'clan-killer,' Niisan?" A muffled voice softly asks.
Sudden fear grips Itachi's heart. Does he dare tell Sasuke the truth? Does he squander this… gift that has been bestowed upon him?
The answer was made right as Itachi awakened to this new existence.
"He's just trying to get under my skin, Sasuke. Someone else killed them," Itachi flatly replies. "Someone we can't go up against."
Itachi feels Sasuke shift up his back and raise his head. "We need to go back to Konoha and get help—!" He urgently whispers.
"We can't go back," Itachi firmly answers. He sets Sasuke down gently, oh so gently onto the leaves, feeling as if his brother would crumble and leave him from only a strong gust of wind. "There are people in Konoha that want us dead. Dead like Kaa-san and Tou-san," He says, looking his brother right in the eyes. Sasuke flinches, not meeting his gaze, and Itachi knows he has sealed the deal.
He holds out his hand. "I will protect you, Sasuke," He promises, and this time it is not a lie. This time, the vehemence in his voice carries through and claws at his heart to the point where he feels like he could burst from it. He will do anything for Sasuke. He has done everything for Sasuke.
There's a second of silence, a second of doubt; but with a shaking hand, Sasuke grabs his calloused palm, and they walk together into the forest.
For clarification, Sasuke saw Itachi collapsed next to his parents when we walked into the compound and main room, so of course he assumed Itachi was not involved in it.
This was a fun little idea I've had for a while now on the whole time travel thing, but at literally the worst possible time. Unfortunately, I don't have any more ideas to continue this, but if anyone wants to take up the mantle they are more than welcome too!
Twitter: coolestita
Tumblr: bitcheshelp