Disclaimer: The characters of Naruto are not mine. They belong to Kishimoto. Some of scenes here are directly taken from the Naruto Shippuden video game. This includes the characters' lines. Again, if you think you've seen one scene happen before, chances are you have.
She sat up from the futon as soon as she woke up. She frantically looked around, trying to figure out where she was. It took her a moment to realize that she was in her old room back in Yugakure. It was the very room where she first met Konan, the room where she was introduced to the realities of living with the Akatsuki. She rolled out of the futon and stepped out to the main hallway. Everything was still. She could tell that she was alone. Shiori rounded into a corner and stepped out to the backyard. A full moon hung low on the indigo sky casting a soft glow over the surroundings and at the village below. A soft breeze brought with it the smell of sulphur from the hot springs.
There was a weight on her chest and an itch at the back of her mind, like she was forgetting something very important. What was she doing there? More importantly, how did she get there?
"I don't know," she whispered. She ought to know. It was as if someone had snatched the answers and placed them just out of reach. Shiori clutched at her hair. The frustration made her want to scream.
Desperation kicked in and she started running down the pathway leading to the foot of the hill. Her lungs burnt. Her legs grew numb. Yet she didn't stop until she reached the only place left that she could think of where she might be able to make sense of things. It was a clearing in the middle of the forest outside of Yugakure. Scattered around it were knee-high rocks covered in wildflowers and moss. At the farthest end was a small pond with an odd glow at its surface.
'Has it really only been a year since I last saw this place?' she thought to herself. With everything that happened, it seemed like a lifetime ago. She gave herself a minute. Two minutes. Five. Still, nothing came to mind. A weary cry was forming at the back of her throat when a pebble skipped at the surface of the pond. It made the fireflies take flight like a golden wall emerging from the shadows. Despite seeing it before, the scene still took her breath away. It still made her smile even through the agony of not being able to recall how she lost something so precious.
His arms wrapped around her waist. He rested his chin on her shoulder. On instinct, she leaned back against him. Relief flooded her veins, taking the weight from her chest.
"I thought I've lost you," she sighed, tearing up even though she had told herself that she was done with crying.
"Sorry for the trouble," he replied.
"You're here. That's all that matters."
She turned around to face him. He had that unreadable look on his face once again, like he was bursting to tell her something and yet he was desperately holding himself back. And as soon as she saw it, it was gone. In its place was a fond smile. He reached out and brushed away her tears with his thumb.
"It wasn't a mistake."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"The first time we met in Shimogakure. It was one of the best things that happened to me. I just didn't know it at that time."
Shiori didn't bother to mask her confusion. As flattering as it was to hear those words coming from him, Itachi was never the type who wore his heart on his sleeve. Ever the observant one, he read her thoughts and added, "You deserve to hear it."
She nodded slowly, unsure of how to react to this. Then she gave in and flashed the smile that had been tugging at her lips.
"Still, between the two of us, I'm the lucky one don't you think? I haven't forgotten all those times you got me out of a bind." She put her arms over his shoulders, gray eyes meeting his dark ones. "What would I do without you?"
Itachi scooped her into a tight hug. "Remember me. When I can no longer bare my soul to you, remember who I really am. Please."
Shiori closed her eyes as she nodded against his chest, feeling contented as she listened to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.
Lub dub. Lub dub. Lub dub.
Her eyes flew open once again. She froze in his arms.
One of Itachi's biggest flaws was found in his heart. She had heard it too many times to know that this strong, normal heartbeat could never come from him, not from the real him.
The genjutsu version of her koibito could sense her alarm and hugged her even tighter. Shiori's shaking hands clutched at the back of his shirt as memories came flooding back at her. The news of Sasuke killing Orochimaru. The journey to Konoha. Their last big fight. The minutes it took for him to stop crying before the Mangekyo Sharingan manifested right before her eyes. It was the last thing she remembered.
"Oh Itachi. What have you done?"
His reply was a request that she could never find the heart to say no to.
"Don't be in such a hurry to leave me."
One of Itachi's favorite memories was the day Sasuke was born. It was a joyful event for everyone. As for him, it made him understand why people found life so precious. Orochimaru's words about life's lack of meaning had poisoned his young mind once. His otouto's shrill cries had been his remedy.
Perhaps what made it his favorite was the image of his father. Uchiha Fugaku was a reserved man. Blatant displays of affection from him were quick to pass and difficult to catch. That summer afternoon, Fugaku had beamed for hours. He didn't let go of Sasuke until he was due to be fed and even then he stroked the infant's sparse tuft of hair while Mikoto held their son against her chest. He held a look of reverence everytime his gaze landed on his wife. It was almost as if no words could explain how thankful he was to her for giving him another son.
Itachi understood why he felt that way. But he could never fathom the depth of those emotions until now.
A smile lit up his features as he gazed at Shiori sleeping on his bed. He had his doubts in the past. Now, these doubts had come to rest. Now he was truly convinced that for all the unforgivable sins he had committed, he had done at least one thing right. He had to, or else the gods woudn't have given him this gift.
In another life he could have been the happiest man alive.
If only he had been anyone else but Uchiha Itachi.
If only he had been that average builder that him and Shiori had talked about once instead of a shinobi.
If only he could afford to give what she had asked from him.
He rubbed his red-rimmed eyes once again, stopping the tears before they could fall.
"You are amazing," he whispered. He caught a glimpse of Shiori's thoughts inside of the Tsukuyomi he had created. She was convinced that she was luckier than him, that their circumstances had been more in her favor than his. She couldn't have been more wrong.
As far as he could remember, Uchiha Itachi viewed people as different shades of gray. Everyone had a light and a darkness within them. Some had more of one than the other but nobody was purely made of one thing. At one point, even Shiori had been a typical gray. In his eyes, she was a naive girl whose good intentions were fuelled by her own personal agenda. Itachi's biases and paranoia prevented him from acknowledging her as anything more.
It was the first time that he had been wrong about her. It wouldn't be the last.
Shiori helped him see people as more than the conflict of good and evil within them. She made him believe that he was more than black and white and gray. She made him admit to himself that he was colorblind and most importantly, perhaps the part that had been the most difficult for him to accept after the massacre, she made him believe that he was more than the sum of his missions, deserving of love and affection just as much as the next person. She gave him more than he could have asked for. And in return, he was willing to give back to her the world.
Even if it meant that he couldn't be in it.
For the final time, he stroked her hair and kissed her on the forehead.
"Remember I love you," he whispered, a quiet plea of a soldier before heading to war.
A few seconds after he stepped away from the bedside, a knock came from his bedroom door. Kisame stepped inside and stood beside him. His gaze was trained on his partner's ward.
"Don't know what you did to her but she looks better now," the swordsman commented.
"She won't be bothering anyone for a day or two," Itachi replied coolly.
Kisame looked at his partner. "Tsukuyomi, huh? You must be dead serious about keeping her out of the way. Can't say I blame you. She had been pretty determined to stop you."
Itachi turned to face him. If Kisame noticed that he had been crying, he did a good job at keeping it to himself.
"Spar with me, Kisame-san. One round for old times' sake."
The swordsman didn't see that one coming. Nevertheless, he smirked and grabbed the handle of the Samehada on his back.
"That I'm always ready for, Itachi-san."
"Water Style! Four Sharks Shower!"
By pressing his palm against the puddle of water by his feet, Kisame began the final fight between him and his partner. Four jets of water erupted from the puddle and took the form of sharks. The menacing forms took a sharp turn south and sped towards Itachi. The Sharingan wielder casually threw an exploding kunai at each shark head. The explosives detonated, creating countless droplets of water. These droplets also took the form of sharks quickly heading towards him. One caught the sleeve of his Akatsuki cloak ripping a hole through it.
"As good as you are, even you can't dodge all these," Kisame said. With the last row of shark forms as his shield, he swung the Samehada as hard as he could towards Itachi. The latter exploded into a murder of crows.
"I stand corrected," the swordsman murmured. He stood still as he tried to figure out where the younger shinobi had gone. Just at the edge of his peripheral vision, he could see the crows flocking together, taking the form of the Uchiha. Without a second thought, he hauled the sword towards him. Itachi blocked the hit with a kunai. The two exchanged blows. Every attack was met with a counterattack. Itachi was fast but Kisame was stronger when it came to brute strength. With a downward blow, he forced Itachi to defend himself by pushing upwards against the Samehada. His movements became restricted and the skirmish was brought to a standstill.
Kisame roared with laughter. "I always wanted to go head to head with you like this."
Without warning, the Samehada exploded out of its bandages. One sharp tooth was close enough to graze Itachi on the cheek. He bit back a grunt before doing a backflip away from Kisame.
"Even the Samehada is happy!" He momentarily let go of the sword to form a series of hand seals. Itachi knew what the jutsu was before it was uttered. And he already had the perfect counter jutsu for it.
"Water Style! Water Shark Bomb Jutsu!"
"Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"
The two powerful jutsus collided, creating an explosion of heat and steam. Even Fudo, who stood a kilometer away, scurried into the headquarter's interior to avoid the scalding aftermath. Their immediate surroundings were littered with uprooted grass and fallen leaves.
Kisame stood his ground, grinning when he felt a kunai pressed against his back.
"With the Sharingan, you're able to find my shadow from behind and attack even in the mist. Impressive...is what I'd normally say."
Kisame's form dissolved into water, revealing itself to be no more than a water clone. Itachi put his kunai down.
"So you saw through me and used a water clone, huh?"
This time he heard the Samehada growling just over his shoulder. Kisame chuckled from behind. "It's been awhile since I had to do this."
Itachi said nothing. Instead, the tomoe on each eye merged to form the pinwheel of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Heh! So happy to see you using that dojutsu. Never thought you'd be serious enough to use Amaterasu like that. Too bad it uses up too much chakra. Won't that dash your hopes when you're going up against Sasuke after this?" When Kisame didn't recieve a reply, he added, "Why don't we call it a day? Just seeing you like this is satisfying enough for me."
"I didn't want to fight you like this."
Itachi's voice came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. That was when Kisame realized that he was in a genjutsu. The swordsman blinked and found that "Itachi" had vanished in front of his eyes. It had been an illusion. The real him was standing a few yards away.
Kisame declared defeat by replacing the sword on his back.
"Look at you go. I can't remember the last time I sweated this much."
"I want to fight Sasuke one on one," Itachi said from where he stood. "Do me a favor and keep everyone else out of it."
Kisame nodded. "Fair enough." He looked on as Itachi turned his back and started his journey towards the Uchiha compound, to the battle that would end all battles for him.
"But still, it's a little sad parting with you like this after all we've been through together."
Itachi didn't reply. He was focused on someone else, an eavesdropper hidden up in the trees. He had expected him to show up right after he had spoken to Sasuke. And he did so right in the middle of his fight with Kisame. Tobi's timing couldn't have been more perfect. With his and Kisame's chakra signatures wrecking havoc in their surroundings, Tobi would be too distracted to notice the two weak chakra signatures which were currently in his bedroom. He took comfort in the fact that even without his distraction, Shiori's chakra would most likely cover everything up anyway unless somebody took a closer look. Still, when it came to protecting his own, he was more than willing to give it his all.
Writer's Notes: Before anything else, let me give a shoutout to those who recently reviewed in the previous chapters: justacatthatprocrastinatesalot, GetLegsBish-Aiya, ASimpleFanIsAll, xCutePoison, pmann1, The Wolf of Shadows, simplegirl42, Ketsui Tasogare. Thank you guys for giving me these "treats". Honestly, we don't get much for these works so we basically gobble up reviews like chocolate. Thank you for motivating me to continue, even on the weeks/months when I felt like I already hit a deadend and do not have much to give.
For ASimpleFanIsAll who asked if Deidara is younger that Shiori, I say "yes", definitely. Shiori and Itachi are the same age after all.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please do leave a review. Honestly it means a lot.