Itachi woke the next morning with a headache. He was no stranger to headaches, or pain in general, but he vehemently regretted the cup of sake he'd had last night (and the six beers he'd had after).

It had been all too easy to let himself keep drinking. The way it helped him just not care was so enticing. He should care. He shouldn't be drinking, either.

And the hangover that made his head swim and his body wobble was further proof of that (as if he needed any).

Luckily the inn he was staying in was quiet at this hour. The sun had just begun to peek up over the horizon and a calm stillness permeated the air. Perfect conditions to recuperate from a hangover.

Itachi fished a canteen of water from his pack beside the bed and sucked at it greedily. He knew he should eat some food, too, but he couldn't stomach that at the moment. In fact, he couldn't stomach much of anything. Even the thought of standing up felt like too much.

He wondered if Sakura was able to fix a hangover – if she could eliminate the source of his nausea and his headache with some type of medical ninjutsu.

He cursed himself for not heeding her advice. She had told him to avoid getting sick, which he had done so far, but not intentionally. Letting a prostitute grind on him probably wasn't conducive to remaining healthy.

He had ruined her good work in others way, though. She had stripped him of all his pain, fixed him up until he felt brand new. He wasted that fleeting feeling of being completely pain-free by getting drunk and being hung-over.

He wanted to apologize to her. It was silly, and he knew that. But still, the urge to tell her that he was sorry for wasting the precious gift she had given him rose up in his chest and bloomed until he sat up and sucked in a deep breath.

The heaviness, the pressure that was in his chest died down some, but nausea swept over him and he felt bile inching its way up the back of his throat. He took another sip from his canteen and let his body fall back against his pillow.

If Sakura could see him now she would definitely have something sassy to say.

He wondered if she stayed in contact with Yamato and Sachi or if she found a home for them and then moved on. He wouldn't blame her for doing that – for letting someone else take the reigns. It's not like she was in a position to be raising children. But his heart ached at the thought of Yamato and Sachi in the care of complete strangers.

It was a harrowing thought, because Itachi didn't have any real ties to those kids. He shouldn't have cared about them so much. He shouldn't have cared, even in the minute way that he did, about Sakura either.

He chalked those feelings up to essentially being on his deathbed. And the sooner death came; the sooner he could finally have some peace.

.

Itachi had fallen asleep again, and when he woke a few hours later he felt much better. His headache had dulled and his nausea was gone. His stomach gurgled and he knew he needed to get some food in his system.

He also knew that he needed to be back on the road soon.

With a groan, Itachi pulled himself to his feet and made his way back out into the open air. The fresh air felt nice in his lungs, and he had a better sense of purpose while he was traveling.

He ran at a leisurely pace – not the usual full speed he regularly made with Kisame. He hadn't thought about the shark-nin since they parted after the completion of their mission. It startled him that he actually missed the man. They were friends in the loosest translation of the word. It was hard not to be when they spent so much time together.

Kisame had probably covered for him as long as he could. It wasn't a guarantee, of course. Kisame was a man obsessed with his own agency, in spite of being affiliated with Akatsuki. He wouldn't have put forth any real effort to keep Itachi out of trouble, but he might have used his influence to lessen the severity of whatever his "punishment" might be.

Would anyone come after him? They hadn't been in the middle of any plan as far as Itachi knew. The collection of the biju had been temporarily halted and Itachi had no idea when they would start back up again.

Itachi didn't want any part of that anymore. He never really wanted any part of it in the first place. Naruto was the son of the Yondaime – he didn't want to hurt Naruto any more than he wanted to hurt Sasuke, or anyone else in Konoha. It was his duty, even after defecting, to protect them.

But if any members of Akatsuki came after him, he wasn't so sure that he could handle it. Not alone, anyway. Not while he was waiting for Sasuke.

Itachi ran for two days straight, only stopping briefly to eat and catch his breath. It had been months since his trip to Toyeiki, months since he had seen Yamato and Sachi. He felt so far removed from all of the people he cared about. It had been well over a month since he had last seen Kisame or Sakura (and he didn't quite know why Sakura kept popping into his mind).

He didn't want to think about him, but Shisui also crept his way into Itachi's mind. It had been many years since Shisui's death, yet it still felt so fresh and vivid in his mind.

It was hard not to picture Shisui in his final moments – blood running down his face, both eyes ripped from their sockets. It shouldn't have shocked him – or any Uchiha – an eye-related injury. They were common where doujutsu was concerned. But still, Itachi felt sickened knowing that Danzo had taken his eye – just tore it out of Shisui's head like it was nothing more than a grape on a vine.

But Itachi didn't want to remember Shisui that way. Shisui was a hero and a good man. His part in preventing the potential civil war had been just as significant as Itachi's – maybe even more so because he had literally given up his life for it.

He always remembered the Shisui that would sneak him dango after supper when Fugaku wasn't looking. The Shisui who had given him his very first set of shuriken. The Shisui who taught him everything he knew about what it means to be a shinobi.

Itachi clenched his fists, a burgeoning anger nascent in his chest. Danzo had taken Shisui's eye. It was on Danzo's order that Itachi had massacred his family. Danzo was the man pulling the strings from behind the curtain, not caring about the lives he destroyed, the people he hurt. It was all for the sake of Konoha, he'd said. And that might have been true.

But Danzo didn't possess the will of fire that Hiruzen had. He lacked the compassion that all of the Hokages had. He was too much like Tobirama, whom Itachi had studied enough to know that he hated the Uchihas as much as they fascinated him.

Danzo made a choice – one that Itachi was forced to live with. It was a possibility that he never would have considered. It would be out of the question.

And yet, when the plan was presented to him, Itachi agreed. It was the best option. It was the safest way to protect the village. It was the easiest way to handle the growing threat of rebellion.

Had Danzo been in the wrong to suggest such a thing? Hiruzen would never have suggested something so heinous. Hiruzen had always been on Itachi's side. Hiruzen was soft and warm in all of the places where Danzo was cold and calculating. Maybe that was what made them such a good team.

If only Itachi and Shisui had been as good a team. Maybe they could have saved the Uchiha clan.

The smell of smoke and ash halted Itachi in his tracks. He was far enough north now that he was fairly close to Rain. If there was something unsavory going on, it might have something to do with the Akatsuki, and Itachi couldn't risk being caught. But the smell was strong. It had to be a massive fire.

Itachi came to a stop on a tall tree branch and gazed off in the direction of the smell. In the distance he could see smoke rising up high above the trees. It was definitely a big fire.

He probably shouldn't get involved. He had no idea what was happening or who was involved. It could be Akatsuki. It could be Konoha-nin. Either way, it was a huge risk.

But it could also be Sasuke.

Itachi set off toward the fire before he'd even finished the thought. It could be Sasuke.

He sprinted, careful to mask his chakra, and reached a clearing where the smoke was thickest. It would hide him from sight – not from Sasuke, of course, but from anyone else.

Itachi climbed the tree closest to him until he reached the highest point he could comfortably stand on. The smoke was still incredibly thick, even at this height. He wanted to activate his Sharingan so he could see down into the clearing at whatever was happening, but he didn't want to reveal his presence just yet and he needed to keep his chakra masked.

Instead, he waited and listened. Below him he could hear three distinct voices. And one of them definitely belonged to Sasuke. Itachi's heart jumped in his chest and he found it difficult to breath for a moment. Taking slow, deep breaths, Itachi calmed himself down and listened closer.

"That was cool and all," said a male voice, "But what the hell did you do that for?"

"I wanted to see how much chakra I needed to make a fireball that big," Sasuke said. Itachi squeezed his eyes shut against the pain that constricted in his chest. It had been so long since he'd heard his little brother's voice.

"Planning to use it against your brother, huh?" the first voice asked. Itachi's fingers tightened into the bark of the tree.

"Maybe."

There was a rustle of movement below Itachi. The group had started moving.

"So where are we headed next?" a third voice asked.

"We need a medic," Sasuke answered, "We're going to Konoha."

"Isn't that a little risky?"

"I know just the girl for the job," Sasuke replied, "She would never say no to me. I'll sneak in and ask her to come with me. Then we can get the hell out of here."

He must have been talking about Sakura. There was no other medic. Would Sakura follow him as easily as he said? Itachi didn't like the idea of Sakura fighting against him. He had told her that she was not his enemy – never would be. Could he keep that promise if she joined his brother?

Itachi swallowed hard and followed Sasuke and his group out of the clearing, careful to stay just far enough behind that they wouldn't notice him.

.

For the first time in a very long time, Itachi felt a sickening fear bubble up in his chest. It wasn't like the fear he'd felt when he first saw Sakura. It was all consuming, a suffocating presence that blurred his vision and made his skin cold and clammy.

This wasn't the Sasuke that he knew. This couldn't be his little brother.

He'd followed Sasuke and his makeshift team to Konoha, against Itachi's better judgment. He didn't like being so close to the village – it felt too risky. He didn't want to have to fight any ANBU that might be close – or, God forbid that the Hokage send any teams out to hunt him down should his presence be discovered.

It didn't seem fair that Sasuke would always be welcomed back into Konoha with open arms, in spite of abandoning the village of his own volition. Not that Itachi wasn't happy to know that Sasuke always had a home… But it would be nice if Itachi could call Konoha home again, too.

Itachi had learned the names of Sasuke's teammate – Suigetsu, and of course he already knew who Juugo was. He noticed that Suigetsu had the Executioner's Blade – one he recognized to belong to one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. He'd heard far more about that than he'd been interested in from Kisame. Now he wished he'd listened a little closer.

The other, Juugo, was a wildcard. He could tell nothing about his fighting style based on his appearance alone. He only knew of the curse mark.

The shinobi in him was thrilled at the idea of an interesting fight. He could admit that he was curious about their talents and their abilities. He even wanted to see them work as a team with Sasuke.

When it came down to their final battle, Itachi wasn't interested in taking on an entire team instead of just Sasuke. He would make sure that their fight was just between the two of them. Maybe he would tell him parts of the truth – the ones that wouldn't hurt him so much.

Either way, he knew he would need to take out Suigetsu and Juugo first, so he paid close attention to them as they ran, hoping to observe some of their weaknesses.

As for what was soon to be the fourth member of Sasuke's team, Itachi was unsure. He knew relatively little about Sakura's fighting abilities. He certainly hadn't thought to ask her about them in the time they'd shared together.

She was being brought on as the medic, so she would probably stay back anyway, but Itachi didn't plan on losing to Suigetsu or Juugo. She would likely tend to them while he fought Sasuke. That would be best-case scenario, he decided.

He could incapacitate Sakura if she attacked him. He hoped it wouldn't come to that. He hoped she wouldn't try to attack him.

He tried not to let his thoughts linger on what Sakura might be thinking. Did she feel the same camaraderie with him that he felt with her? Would she be reluctant to fight against him, or would she revel in being a part of the takedown of the infamous Uchiha murderer?

Sakura didn't seem like one to revel in killing, but Itachi didn't know her. Not enough to be able to make such an assertion.

The sun was just beginning to set when Sasuke's team arrived in the clearing that Itachi remembered to be an ANBU rendezvous point. He hoped that no ANBU would show up – it would mean unnecessary lives lost.

"Are we going to wait until dark?" Suigetsu asked.

Itachi sidled up close to the trunk of the tree he was perched in and jumped silently down to the branch below so he could listen closer.

"Yes," Sasuke answered, "I need to get to Sakura while she's alone. She's the Hokage's apprentice – I'm sure she won't be alone during the day."

"Wait," Suigetsu said, casually leaning against the trunk of a tree. Itachi thought he seemed far too nonchalant for a shinobi, especially one who was currently being spied on. "We're kidnapping the Hokage's apprentice? I thought we were trying to lay low."

"We're not kidnapping her," Sasuke insisted, "She'll want to come with us."

"How do you know?"

Through the rustling leaves, Itachi saw Sasuke shoot an irritated look toward to Mist-nin. "She's basically obsessed with me," he answered.

Itachi wondered about the truth of that statement. Sakura clearly loved Sasuke. He had gathered that information easily from her. But was she obsessed? She indicated that she wished Sasuke was more like him. She took issue with his behavior. He wasn't perfect, in her opinion. Could she be obsessed with him?

But then again, Itachi didn't think Sasuke was perfect either, and one could argue that he was obsessed with him – for an entirely different reason, of course.

"So we're just going to wait here until it's dark?" Suigetsu asked.

"That's the plan."

.

Itachi didn't want to stay. He couldn't. He had enough information – he could leave and wait for Sasuke somewhere.

He didn't feel safe so close to Konoha. He didn't want to risk being seen, and he couldn't have Sasuke coming across him while they were still in Fire Country. It would attract too much attention and Konoha might interfere.

Leaving, however, was almost as painful as staying. He had been so close to him. He had been close enough to speak his name and have him turn around. It was sobering knowing that Sasuke was so close, that he was safe, and that the time had almost come for him to get his vengeance.

He fled north, not caring that he was traveling directly through Fire Country. No one was looking for him. If any ANBU teams were making their rounds, they'd have found Sasuke and his team first. Itachi wasn't worried that Sasuke would be discovered – he trusted in his little brother's abilities.

He had thought about going to the Uchiha Hideout. It would have been a fitting place for them to have their final battle. But it was deep in Fire Country. Instead Itachi went straight for Sound. With Orochimaru gone, Sound would be the safest place for them to fight without any interference.

It wouldn't be hard for Sasuke to track Itachi's scent. He purposefully left behind vestiges that would help Sasuke find him quicker. He didn't want to prolong the inevitable.

He also didn't want to admit to himself how much he was looking forward to his own death. It seemed immoral in some way, to be so content with dying. Had Shisui felt that way, too, when he threw himself into the river? Had he been looking forward to dying?

Itachi had always felt that Shisui's death had been avoidable. He didn't need to kill himself to get away from Danzo. He could have gone into hiding. They could have taken Danzo and ROOT together.

Realistically, Itachi knew that Shisui was giving Itachi a gift by dying – the Mangekyou. It seemed cruel to Itachi. He could never have done that to Sasuke. Or maybe he could… He'd done much worse, after all. And he appreciated what his cousin had done for him, even if the method was less than desirable.

For months after Shisui's death, Itachi woke from ghoulish nightmares where Shisui's eyeless face followed him around the Uchiha compound during the massacre. That was not what Shisui would have wanted. If he had still been alive, he would have talked Itachi out of it and Itachi would have listened. Shisui probably could have come up with a better alternative.

But there was no use in thinking about that now. The massacre had happened. Itachi had made his bed. Now was the time for him to pay his penance.

.

Itachi found himself a quiet corner of Sound to rest in. He scouted the area, looking for a suitable location for his upcoming battle. He wanted to find somewhere with ample space, somewhere where no innocent bystander would get hurt. That wasn't a particularly hard request to fill in Sound, where there were no more people and space was everywhere.

It was weird how dark and quiet Sound was – so contrary to its name. It might have been a beautiful place at one time, but Orochimaru seemed to have sucked the very life out of the land.

Within the wasteland that was Sound, Itachi found a suitable clearing. It was wide enough in circumference that the battle would not have to be moved if Itachi chose to use Susanno. There were plenty of trees along the perimeter that could be used for cover if necessary. In the southeastern most corner of the clearing was a large rock formation that hid the mouth of a cave from view.

Itachi settled himself down at the mouth of the cave, resting his back against the stone. The air was a bit chilly, but Itachi preferred it that way. Beneath him, the grass was soft and lush, almost as comfortable as his bed back in Rain. Darkness had settled around him and he could hear the first sounds of night crescendo. Crickets chirped nearby. A flock of birds took flight somewhere behind him.

It was the most at peace he had felt in years. Soon everything would be over. All of the pieces of his plan were falling into place. He did not need to orchestrate anymore. He didn't need to pretend to be something he wasn't. He didn't have to play the villain or hurt anyone else.

He let his head fall back against the cool stone and shut his eyes. The wind blew his hair into his face and he let it, unbothered by the tickling sensation. He drew in a deep breath of the chilly air and held it in for one, two, three seconds before he released it in the same cadence.

He should be meditating, he thought. He should be spending his last moments free of thought, free of emotion. It would make the impending battle easier. It would cut some of the sting out of what he was about to do to Sasuke.

But he couldn't clear his head. In spite of the calmness that had settled around him, Itachi's mind was racing. Itachi never believed that a person's life flashed before their eyes before their death. He was a shinobi – he had been close to death countless times. Never had his life flashed before his eyes. He had even confirmed with Kisame that no such thing had ever occurred for the shark-nin either.

Yet now, all of Itachi's fondest memories came flooding back to him. He remembered eating breakfast with Sasuke before heading out to go on missions. He remembered his mother taking him to the market when he'd been just barely old enough to walk. He remembered Shisui teaching him complicated shuriken jutsus.

He remembered Sakura and her pink hair and the way her chakra felt so cool and soothing as it calmed the inflammation in his heart and lungs. He remembered the way she had gaped at him when he offered to help with her patients, and the shock on her face when he had pulled her into an impromptu hug.

He remembered Yamato and his determination to be a ninja, the way he was constantly twirling that one kunai in his hands. He wondered if Yamato was better at it now that he'd been at the academy for a few months.

And he remembered Sachi and the way she sought comfort from him in a way that no other person had done before. He remembered reading those books to her, and the way she smiled at him so warmly, so unlike any other smile anyone had ever given to him.

The weight of the memories was crushing him, causing his chest to tighten and his breath to become shallow. He wished that Sakura was with him so that she could relieve some of the pain that had returned since their meeting.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the orange pill bottle that she had given him. The pills were long gone. He had taken each one according to her instruction, but after consuming the last one he found himself unable to throw the empty bottle away.

He gripped the bottle in his hand and wondered why his life had flashed before his eyes so far away from his death. Why had those memories come back to suffocate him so long before death would release him from that pain?

Itachi took a shuddering breath and let the pill bottle go. It fell into the grass and rolled a couple of inches away from him. He could stretch his arm out and pick it back up, and he wanted to. But for some reason, he couldn't get his arm to move. His fingers were frozen in place.

He coiled and uncoiled his fingers, testing his ability to make a fist. He interlocked his fingers in front of him and stretched his arms forward.

He reached out for the pill bottle again and his fingers froze, hovering over the translucent plastic. He huffed and scowled because it shouldn't be so hard, and it was just a pill bottle. It didn't mean anything. How could picking it up be any harder than the other atrocities he'd committed?

But in the end he left it there in the grass because it was too hard and he didn't want it to mean anything.