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[pogromanate]

Who: Itachi & Raiden
Where: Some little Terra cafe
When: A week after Soifon's disappearance
Summary: I don't know Raiden's going to be bitchy though
Rating: PG - 13

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[pogromanate]

Ultimately, the refusal of the coffee was expected. The other took too much pride to accept simply hostility from his brother, who he deemed as nothing but an ungrateful brother -- and it was the unspoken words that was obvious in actions that Itachi did not deny. He would not set out to prove Raiden otherwise, it was too much effort, and there was no point. Not when his reputation that settled in Raiden’s mind was completely fixated on that opinion, and he only gazed at the rejected coffee cup before the drunk ramblings of the other emerged from his mouth with complete bitterness and loathing. Fingers were once again clasp, returning to his former posture as he thought over the words that were meant and made to convince and convert Itachi to believing that there were any forms of attachment.

-- There was. However subtle it was, however it was displayed as non-existent, his thoughts were his own. Of course when Raiden mentioned the candy that he had kept away for the sake of nostalgia, Itachi felt his limbs tense, and letting out a low exhale. The first thought of the topic was how pathetic the blonde was to cling to former memories, the second was his silent pondering of how old those sweets were. Soon enough shoulders went slack and the balls of his palms against closed eye-sockets. It was true, still. That the Uchiha believed Raiden was a fool amongst fools. His powers and will were limited and breakable. But Itachi had treated him otherwise when they were children.

"My actions, and decisions, are irrelevant to you - as much as they are none of your concern." His words were firm, and still they were soft -- flooded with mental exhaustion as he spoke. They were apathetic, indifferent, and unbalance with the soft breathes that emerged from his parted lips. In some aspects, it would have been better if Raiden had forgotten him, to be ignorant of his existence and presence, to believe that Itachi was nothing but another mass murderer -- and not his brother.

With the talk of his missing wife, Itachi watched Raiden with narrowed eyes, " -- Enough." Was the only word that seeped from his mouth about the subject of Soifon. Her disappearance had affected him, as much as he would deny it - as much as he would pretend it didn’t, but he was not dependent on her, as cruel as they might be to admit, "Her disappearance could not be helped, like that of the Uchiha massacre." Still, the argument justified by that of the Uchiha massacre, Itachi had no doubt that wouldn’t matter to Raiden -- all Raiden had was Madara. And Itachi regretted nothing of blinding the man.

The table inevitable shook as Raiden rose, and Itachi leaned back into the chair, gazing upwards to see bloodshot eyes and skin slick with frustrated sweat with a blank uncaring expression.

[rainreborn]

There was the desire in the back of his head to take the cup of coffee and dump it on Itachi's head. It would be childish and felt more like a reaction out of some bad soap opera, but that was what their life together was like, wasn't it? Raiden had been forced - no, it wasn't forced; it was helping out his adopted father - to murder those Uchiha children. He closed his eyes for a moment as the rage drained out of his face so that he could take his seat once more. Those sort of memories, those sort of thoughts, he had decided to push them as far away from himself as he could. It was pathetic, but he hated to think back during that massacre. His hands still slightly shook to even be reminded of it, and he hated his brother just a little more for having him start to set up his little mental blockades to keep the memories from returning.

Madara had asked him to retrieve eyes from the dead. He remembered having to tear them out of their skulls and - Raiden suddenly felt sick. The churning of his stomach had returned as he had completed the task given to him. Had to be careful. Had to not fail at the task which he father wanted him to do. Why did fresh corpses smell so foul? Would that ever leave his hands? His skin? His memories? His head pressed against the table as he really wished to lean over and strangle Itachi now. Closing his eyes tight, he wondered just what it was that Itachi saw back during that time - why he could so casually mention it while Raiden had to find ways to not think back. While all other memories of his past were fine (with some tweaking and rose-colored glass set in place), he just couldn't stand that one.

What were they talking about? They were talking about something. His head felt like it was swimming, but at least he kept himself from losing what little he had in his stomach. There was still some pride that he held onto and would not relinquish regardless of how many people he believed looked down on him. His shoulders shook a few times as he settled his breathing before finally returning to the drunken ramblings of before. "You didn't answer me. You didn't answer me about what is most important to you … no, it was who. Who is it? Who do you even care about more than anyone else? Is there even anyone?" It was easy to return to these sort of accusations, even if he couldn't quite lift his head from what it was. Easy because it was better than yelling about bringing up such nasty thoughts in his head; easy because he did not want to have to keep reminding himself through yelling at Itachi to stop.

"I feel sorry for Soifon. I feel really sorry for her. You married her and she isn't even the most important person to you." His eyes closed - the tone of his voice no longer had the harsh sound to it as it was actually miserable. Here he had thought that his younger brother had found something to care about, had found something that would make him understand just how Raiden felt about the Uchiha. They were the most important people to him - that included Itachi, which was why he continued to feel such animosity towards the other man's actions and distain for Madara. "You really are the worse. It makes me sad that I would actually die for you if it came up. Might be why Madara didn't take me with him to go and kill you."

[pogromanate]

As far as Itachi was concerned for the Uchiha, he had accepted it. Accepted that he was a mass murdering terrorist, which he had taken the mission with reluctance to ensure the safety of Neo Genesis. War would’ve broken out, and all the Omega needed was a scapegoat. Madara assisted him, and Raiden was beside them both. The faint feeling of regret and guilt was no longer there, there was no point in Itachi dreading over what had been done half a dozen years ago. Their deaths had to happen, and who else could the Omega ask than the most skilled of the Uchiha clan that worked underneath them? If he refused to kill them, then he himself would have been murdered, and the city would have been engulfed in war. It disgusted him to a fault, but the only way to rid one of guilt was to surrender to it.

And, in a sense, it was comforting. To accept that he was a monster and terrorist instead of letting his own being succumb to the stomach-churning and trembling feeling of his own self-disturbance. Once he was taken back to Madara’s base (Have reaping the award of killing the Uchiha -- ) Itachi was in a near-catatonic state. His silence was overwhelming as was his fixation on peace. And this nostalgia that irrationally flooded his mind was pushed back with a low sigh to glance at Raiden, eyes shut tightly, and he only tilted his head. Knowing that displaying emotions were a weakness, his mouth moved by itself but quickly halted of releasing any words, and instead he only took in a sharp inhale of breath to lift the heavy weight on his chest and in his stomach.

-- Then there was that question, and with his red hues swiveling in sockets he directed his attention to the blonde. Eyes narrowed almost dangerously, threatening to the other as he heard the inquiry (One that the Uchiha believed he didn’t have an obligation to answer) and in all truth, in all sincerity, in all his delusional glory he believed Soifon was the most important person to him -- but, but that was only because of their formed unimportant bond of being married. Love was intangible. But these important people were a weakness to Itachi and he was aware of it, to display any concern or consideration was dangerous; they would be at risk if they were involved with him, and so he distanced himself from anyone that he believed he was even marginally attached too.

At the last statement of Raiden risking his own life to save Itachi, the Uchiha let out a soft dry and sardonic amused sound, "It’s not worth it." He mentioned before Madara had turned into a lingering subject, " -- You are foolish to even contemplate that." Eyes closed once again before firmly fixating his gaze on the blonde before direction his line of vision away, adverting his glance from the other to take his wallet from his pocket and removing a note of money, sliding it near the full and now-cold cup of coffee. Within moment he stood and let his frame waver a bit, and without a second glance he gave a small apathetic nod to one of the waitress (Who was seemingly intimated by his drunk brother) and turned to leave the small café.

[rainreborn]

"Your life isn't worth it? Is that what you're saying?" His arm shot out to knock the cup of coffee off of the table, not caring about the mess that he was making for someone else. Raiden was now officially pissed at Itachi. Before, it was more of the usual venom that he felt for the other man. His apathy for everything and everyone was enough to grate on anyone's nerves. He was surprised that the bastard even had people who considered Itachi a friend. It just made him that much madder. The value of his life wasn't for him to decide -- his arms shook a bit as he slowly pushed himself up into a standing position. It was still difficult and the world around him instantly started to spin, but Raiden was not going to allow Itachi to just walk out of this conversation. It wasn't like being on the Network where either of them could just log-off when the talk started getting difficult.

His eyes shut tight as he worked on his sudden vertigo before trying to storm after Itachi -- which was more like a drunken gait before grabbing onto the other man's arm and using him as a balance. "Don't you just leave! We're not done talking yet, dammit!" Raiden let his head drop to the ground as he wished that he had not moved about so much. Everything was wobbling and shaking and he wanted it to stop. Somehow, his rage was helping him sober up just enough to feel the affects of an early hangover. Just great. If he threw up while he was trying to -- actually, the blond would be fine with that if it was on the fucker that he was arguing with right now. Screw pride if it means that he can make Itachi feel as disgusting as his goddamn apathy should.

"You're not the one who gets to decide if your life is worth anything. The only one who can decide that are the people around you." Somehow, this sounded a little backwards to Raiden, but he already said it and couldn't take it back. He continued with even more hate wrapped around each word -- slowly strangling them to where he could hardly get them out. "You don't get to decide what your life is worth. You don't get to! If you think that much about yourself than give your life to someone else! The people who care about you won't have to worry about then, because then ... then ... at least someone will make sure you don't throw it away." No, he wasn't making sense, but he was saying these things for Soifon. She had really liked (no, loved) Itachi. She would have probably died for him, would have done anything for him. And this bastard acted like she didn't matter, like her actions didn't matter, like her love for him didn't matter. If that's how he felt, then he should just give his life up to someone else.

"Because then you're just dead. There's no point of you even coming back or continuing living if that's how you think!" Pushing away from Itachi, the feeling returned of his knuckles turning white, of his rage making his entire body shake. The drunken belief that he could actually take his brother, regardless of the fact that he was indeed drunk, stance unsteady, and carrying through his own attacks half-cocked. He didn't care as he finally swung his arm out just like he had before to try to punch Itachi in the face.