[LOG]
[Who:] Itachi and Sasuke.
[What:] The final exchange between brothers before Itachi's death.
[When:] Sunday very early morning.
[Where:] Itachi's apartment.
[Warnings:] Some drama and angst, maybe fluffiness in a way.
Itachi: He'd hardly had a moment to lie down, or so it had seemed, when he was jostled out of his almost-sleeping state by a loud sound coming from outside. Sitting up, Itachi's eyes immediately went to the open living room window of which overlooked the parking lot for his building, and his brow furrowed slightly.
Would he never get any rest at all?
Pushing himself up from the armchair he'd been sitting in, Itachi carried himself over to the window and pushed up the blinds to peer through the slats. What he seen was not pleasant... A black hooded figure making away from his car. His car... his brother...
"...Sasuke--"
The moments between the time he seen his brother at the window to the time he'd stumbled out his door and down to the parking lot were a blur. Though in his hurry he hadn't forgotten to grab his knife from the table drawer by the doorway incase anyone was still lurking about.
Sasuke: This past week - or how ever long it had been since his capture - made no sense to him at all. One minute he was living a life, that for once, seemed to be incapable of getting any better. And then, that tape with Naruto had come to into his hands, and the next thing he knew was chained before Gin and two others.
And where he was now, Sasuke had no clue. The world was a terrifying blur, made all the worse by the fact that he couldn't seem to pull his thoughts together no matter how hard he tried to focus. Objects would shimmer before him, attempting to pull together into one solid frame, and then the image would shatter. Swirling together, a putrid mix of colors that seemed indistinguishable.
Giving a low moan, he attempted to move his left hand. Managed only to curl his pinky. All of it seemed detached, a movement not truly dictated by him. Like puppet-strings tugging at him, telling him when and how to move. And where he would normally hate this, he couldn't even find himself capable of that.
Itachi: The parking lot was vacant, and as Itachi crossed it he found he couldn't even hear the alarm anymore for... an odd pounding in his chest, in his ears. There was a bitter laughter in the back of his mind, chasing away his securities.
This, said that voice, you really should have seen coming Itachi. Only a fool closes his eyes while walking through a mine field.
He closed the gap between his car and himself quickly, some relief swelling up inside of him as he picked out movements from his brother. Not dead... he's not... This was good. Very good. No, not good at all... It should never have come to this.
"Sasuke...? Sasuke?" Itachi reached out for his brother's figure. He wasn't sure if he should move him, wasn't sure what to do for a moment. Then he touched his brother's shoulder, reached up, carefully pulling him from the roof of his car and down to the ground where he knelt with him. He looked... terrible.
Sasuke: There was only a low moan in response to his name, the words forming in his mind but tangling together until nothing but an incoherent mess was groaned out. He could feel hands upon him again. Only this time they were softer, gentle even. A far cry from the roughness he had experienced at the hands of his captors.
Sasuke attempted to straighten himself up only to find that his muscles screamed in protest. A brief shiver ran through them as they tried to do as his brain commanded. Too tired to comply. Or perhaps simply too weak. Or maybe he just wasn't issuing the correct directions, brain still too foggy, too clouded for clear thinking.
Still, he blinked, trying to focus his world around him once again. It took a minute, but slowly the figure of his brother filtered itself out from the jumble of color. Tongue licked slightly cracked lips. He could do this... he could... "Nii...san...?"
Itachi: Itachi was startled by the raspy voice emitted from Sasuke. If one could so much as call that airy whisper a voice at all. It very nearly sent a shiver through his body, very nearly made him close his eyes and clutch his brother to him. But instead, as was customary of the older Uchiha, he fought and maintained something reasonable in his mind, clung to logic instead of the limp body in his arms. Though that he still held on to.
"Sasuke... quiet." He was careful, especially so as he lifted the boy up and stood. He was terribly weak himself but he couldn't risk taking a fall with his brother, not with him in this condition.
He was slow enough not to jar Sasuke as he made his way back into the building, to the elevator. Slow, but quick enough as well to get him out of sight and away from the chilly night air. And the moment they were back into the apartment he laid the youth down upon the couch in the living room and kneeled down at the side. He looked dehydrated, he looked thin and tired and... He stopped his thoughts from dwelling. Dwelling would do no good.
"I'll get you something to drink, a blanket, just... do not move." He would retrieve other things as well, such as ointments, bandages, a clean cloth and warm water... whatever was required.
Sasuke: He wasn't used to this. Any of this. The only person who he had ever felt capable of beating him to this point was his own brother. And Itachi hadn't done this to him...or had he?
Sasuke couldn't help but recall Gin's words. Tormenting him. Corrupting that image of his brother. A hand settled against the couch, an effort made to pull himself up. To find his brother. And yet nothing could come from it. He managed simply to pull himself up against the pillows, arms shaking as he body sought the resources it needed to function.
Lifting his head, he realized this was not the house. And where here was, he didn't know. He'd never stepped into his brother's apartment before...after he had left the house...left him. Sasuke swallowed hard, and did the only thing he had seemed capable of doing in those last few days trapped at Aizen's - he waited.
Itachi: When Itachi returned with him he brought a pillow which he placed under Sasuke's head, carefully forcing his brother back upon it. The blanket he left to the side for now, folded on the back of the couch as it would not be required until Sasuke's wounds were tended and bandaged, and perhaps something clean from his own wardrobe selected for the youth to wear. No, not perhaps. Definitely. He could not leave his brother to rest in such a condition.
Kneeling on the floor once more after dragging the coffee table over and placing down upon it the first aid kit he kept in his home as well as a bowl of hot water and a clean face cloth and towel, and a tall bottle of water Itachi turned to face Sasuke.
"I'm going to give you some water... can you hold it, or should I?"
Sasuke: That was just going to be insult to injury having to accept someone feeding him. And so Sasuke reached out, despite the slight tremble from his muscles, and opened his hand. He would take the water himself. "I'm fine..."
The typical Uchiha response. Nothing was ever wrong. At least, nothing they couldn't handle. And despite the part of him that took comfort in his brother's presence, he found himself incapable of such affection, such a...lapse. His brother, if Gin was right, had done this to him.
Sasuke attempted to give his brother a hard glare, but his head was pounding, his nose still sore from Grimmjaw's hit and the lack of care given to it. All he managed was a painful look, trapped somewhere between hate and hurt. "Your...fault..."
Itachi: Itachi did not flinch at the strong accusation. He handed carefully the bottle of water to his brother, then looked over Sasuke's face, his arms and wrists, the rest of him. It was his fault. He would not deny it... but he would say nothing. It was not a question, he did not need to answer it.
Turning to the bowl of water once Sasuke had taken the bottle, Itachi dipped the cloth into the steaming liquid and then wrung it out. He turned back to Sasuke and carefully began to dab down the arm nearest to him, bits of coagulated blood coming away. It was a horrible sight to see Sasuke like this, and Itachi hoped Deidara, in the bedroom resting, stayed asleep and did not come out.
"You should stay quiet for now, reserve your energy. Drink."
Sasuke: "No." Again, accusing, but stronger now. Anger had managed to lend him some of its energy, though he knew it would not hold out long. And it was bad enough he could feel the tears collecting among his lashes, the visible sign of his pain, over the information he had been handed during his captivity.
But before he continued, giving the shattered thoughts floating around his mind time to piece together, he did drink from the bottle. Nearly flinched as his brother's cloth touch upon his skin, though he relaxed a moment later. Unconsciously happy to have a caring touch upon him again, to have someone familiar there beside him.
But that couldn't last. Dark eyes focused on his brother again. Far from the hardened look he wanted, it betrayed all the pain he had felt over the past few days, both physical and mental. All that he had swallowed up in the face of his enemies...his brother's enemies. "You lied...again. And they took Naruto..."
Itachi: Itachi's only response was short and simple, to the point. It almost seemed detached. "He is safe now. You are safe." He mentioned nothing of the lying. Sasuke was all that mattered, though Naruto mattered to Sasuke so for that fact Itachi was grateful that the Uzumaki child was no longer in any danger.
He continued with the cleaning of the cuts, careful not to rub them down too harshly, and once in awhile washing off the cloth again in the water. Once it had to be changed, and the second bowl was more than enough to wash down the remainder of his little brother's visible areas.
After that he pushed the bottle back to Sasuke's lips and said, "Keep drinking. Your health is more important now than the direction of your words. Rest." And that he said stolidly but strongly as well.
Sasuke: The truth was Sasuke wanted to fight against his brother's words. Wanted to prove that he could move past that truth and uncovered the lies his brother had yet again woven around him. First their parents and now this...and this, whatever it really was, had led to these marks his brother was washing. To the hunger that was gnawing away at his stomach and the thirst that had dried out his throat.
But worst of it, it had gotten someone outside of their family involved. Naruto. The one person who had never lied to him. Had never betrayed him. The one person who had promised never to leave him... "Why?"
He wanted to know. For once, he wanted his brother to just tell him. Everything. But he was still the dutiful Uchiha, taking the sip his brother had demanded before downed nearly half the bottle. The sudden flood of liquid in his mouth sparked the pangs of hunger again, but he wasn't about to complain. Not until Itachi said something.
Itachi: Whether his otouto complained or not Itachi had eyes enough to see what the boy needed well before he needed answers. First the ointment was applied to the wounds over Sasuke's body, and then some bandages where it was required. He had half a mind to feel about for breaks or sprains but thought perhaps it wasn't necessary, not now. He could see to it the boy had a better examination at the hospital later, once he made sure Sasuke was well enough to be continuously moved about, once the boy was fed, was stable.
To the softly uttered 'why' that Sasuke had let slip from him Itachi only shook his head, repeating his earlier command. "Drink. I will make you something soon to eat to help you recover."
And it was with that he returned to eyeing Sasuke's injuries, brow furrowed deeply in contemplation. He was temporarily forgetting his own exhaustion, his own weakness. He did not matter now, not at all with Sasuke before him. Only his brother... It was not supposed to be like this.
Sasuke: "Nii-san!" Sasuke cried out. And almost instantly regretted it as he felt his body shake with the effort. Too much, too early. He wasn't in any condition to fight this, and yet his pride insisted that he do so. But he knew that his bodily needs would win out over his pride, just as it had started to towards the end of his captivity.
With an exhausted sigh, he sat back. The water bottle was held against his stomach, and for a few moments, he watched as it rose with each breath. It was almost... inspiring... Up and down. How his body continued to pursue life despite the lack of food, the minimal water, the abuse of his brother's image. Not that this past week was all that hard considering what other's lived through daily. But for someone like him, from his background... it had seemed like a slow descent into Hell.
Sasuke shut his eyes, listened to the sound of his breathing. Uneven at times, but strong. His trust had been betrayed again, but he was still alive.
Itachi: Moving forward, his arms slinking gently around Sasuke's body, Itachi pulled the youth into a sound embrace, his eyes closing for a moment but refusing to allow his weariness time to catch up. He shortly whispered into Sasuke's ear, "I'm sorry," before he let go, eased the boy back again, and then stood to his full height.
For all his want to give an explanation there was none that he could give. None that Sasuke would like to hear besides, and none that he was willing to relinquish.
His eyes left Sasuke then and he turned away, feet caring him slowly, steadily into the kitchen. "Drink the rest of that water, I will put on some tea..." Hopefully it would sooth Sasuke's nerves. He would also bring back another bottle of water and something, anything at all for his younger brother to eat. Fruits most likely, something quick and good for the body just so long as Sasuke had something in him.
Sasuke: But he didn't want too. Drink that was. Or anything. He wanted answers. Wanted to sleep, to know that he could and when he would wake up, this would be nothing more than another awful nightmare. His brother would remain that untouchable, untainted person he had always looked up to, and there would be no pain, no exhaustion claiming his body.
And Sasuke knew - better than most others his age - that this could not be. What he felt now was his reality, just as if had been the moment he honestly remembered that his real parents had been murdered. At that thought, a sudden wave of worry swept over him. Suddenly, he felt as if those answers - his brother's actions, his parents' death - would never come. He was going to be denied all truth.
Bringing the bottle to his lips, he sucked down the rest of the water, unable to deny how good it felt going down, how his body desired it. And he hated that...another thing he couldn't deny.
Itachi: Some time had passed before the kettle had boiled and the tea was ready, and in the meantime Itachi had fixed a pleasant snack for Sasuke, a light meal. He couldn't stuff the boy too full without making him sick, so this... this would do for now. He set everything onto a small tray he pulled out from the cupboard; turkey sandwich with tomatoes, a plate of cut up apple slices doused lightly in cinnamon sugar, some onigiri from the fridge, two cups of tea and the second water bottle.
Taking the tray into the living room, setting it down over Sasuke's laps after adjusting the legs upon it, Itachi sat on the corner of the couch. He looked at his brother, then moved his own cup of tea to the coffee table, eyes slipping slowly to the floor. "You must remember. Who...?"
Sasuke: It took awhile before Sasuke moved to answer his brother's question. Not that he was avoiding it out of any sense of fear. Rather, there was the fact that at the sight of food, his mind could only focus on that one thing - Eat.
How many days had it been since his last meal? He didn't know...Only knew that from his condition he hadn't been kept too long in that place, wherever it was. Long enough, however, for hunger to ravage his stomach and poke at his mind. And now that it was set before him, he found he could think of little else.
And yet, he did not reach out. Not at first. But hunger overrode even his own stubborn desire to punish his brother for the lack of answers. Slowly, fingers edged towards the food set out before him, dug out a slice of tomato, and brought it to his mouth where it was rather quickly demolished.
After having cleaned out all evidence of tomato from is plate, Sasuke finally looked at his brother, that same accusing look in his eyes. "Gin...and two others." A sip of water was taken from the new bottle. "I didn't see one of them. Only heard him..."
Itachi: Gin.
It was a sound echo in the back of his mind reverberating around until it was almost the only thing heard. Itachi knew that if Gin was involved it was possible, near likely that Aizen had a hand somehow in things as well. And still, something about Sasuke's words were nagging at him. There was something there, he was sure of it, but he wasn't able yet to pick it out.
Pointing to the plate as he thought, a gesture to show that Sasuke should eat more, the remainder of that which had been made for him, Itachi mulled over that brief sentence in his head again and again, tossing it left and then ride, up and then down, twisting it and turning it until it made no sense anymore.
At last he sighed, his brow still furrowed, forehead creased with blatant concern, red-fringed gray eyes looking distant in the way they stared at nothing, refused to look at Sasuke.
"One you didn't see. And the other? A description, a name, anything. I need to know." His voice was flat. His voice was hollow.
Sasuke: "Big...kind of like that guy you hang out with." His brow furrowed a little at that, and unconsciously, his hand went to his nose, fingertips gliding along the bruised edges of it. Almost afraid to touch it too much when he remembered how badly it had bled after that first hit.
But due to the lighting - that awful red light - he couldn't tell what the guy's hair or eye color had been. Reaching over, Sasuke took one of the apples and carefully consumed the slice. Despite his dislike of sweetness, he found himself craving the sugar-mix his brother had sprinkled over them. Another piece was eaten before he spoke again.
"Dumb brute..." that was the best way Sasuke could describe him. Stupid. Dishonorable. All power and no brain. At least that's how it had appeared to him.
Dark eyes watched his brother attentively now. The food having a small but immediate effect on how he felt. Still tired, but somehow more alert, even if it was just some trick of the mind sparked by the act of eating. Avoiding him...Itachi was avoiding him.
Itachi: Itachi was the last person who would label Kisame as a dumb brute, but he supposed Sasuke was going by what he knew of his closest friend. After all, Sasuke had very rarely spoken to Kisame, very rarely seen him ever throughout the years. So he inclined his head, eyes closing as he thought this over, put together his thoughts. Did he know anyone fitting such a description?
Yes. He did. Grimmjaw. But there was no guarantee it was he. For all he knew it was someone else he didn't know. All that he was sure of was that it wasn't Kisame. But this still nagged at him, or something else unseen did.
Itachi reached for his tea and sipped it, the herbal taste washing over his taste buds as he continued to contemplate, continued to not look at Sasuke. Every glance that moved to his brother only looked upon his bandaged wounds.
"Do you recall anything about where you were?" he asked, mind trying desperately to forget his fatigue still, to formulate a picture of this scene in his head.
Sasuke: By the time Sasuke spoke again, the apple had been finished as had most of the bottled water. Wasn't going to admit he was starving, but it was obvious in the way he ate. Quick, but not sloppy. Even starving, he had amazing control.
"Gin said..." he paused, waiting to see if Itachi would look at him. When his brother failed to make eye contact, he resumed, a hurt look washing over his face. "He said... you poisoned him... lied to me... had another life..."
He desperately wanted his brother to refute those facts, but he knew. Deep down, he knew that everything Gin had rattled on about - how this was payback, how his brother was responsible - was true.
Itachi: "A man can say many things," said Itachi. No, he did not make eye contact. He did not make contact at all, simply pointed to the remainder of that which sat upon the tray. "All of it. Not a crumb left, Sasuke." He needed his strength. Needed it for what was to come. Because his brother's twisted suffering was far from over yet.
Rising from the edge of the sofa with his tea in hand, sipping it lightly as his eyes skimmed over the items he had in his apartment, Itachi said softly, "I am going to get you something clean to wear. Wait here." The teacup was set down and he excused himself, moving away from Sasuke, away from the living room, and disappearing into the hallway on his route to his bedroom. He needed to be quiet. Deidara was asleep in there. Or supposed to be.
Sasuke: Avoiding him. There was no mistaking that fact. Itachi wasn't looking at him, wasn't going to answer his questions. Sasuke sighed as he stared down at his plate. Didn't really want to finish what was there. He was starting to feel sick, though whether that was from the sudden intake of food again or the situation with his brother he wasn't sure. Maybe it was both.
He could only watch as his brother left him there, full of questions and hate and this heavy desire to just be there with him. Didn't want Itachi to go and yet he couldn't stand the thought of being in the same room with him. Wanted to cry, to curl up against his older brother and be comforted, but the tears were roughly shoved aside, locked away and put under guard by his anger.
Staring at the remnants of food still on his plate, Sasuke pushed them around. No, he couldn't eat anymore.
Itachi: Itachi returned as promptly as he had exited a few moments earlier. With him in his arms he was carrying a dark t-shirt and some sweatpants, something comfortable for Sasuke, something not restricting so it wouldn't bother his injuries. They would be a bit large on him, but for now it would have to do.
He set them down on the arm of the sofa, his eyes skimming over his brother, glimpsing Sasuke's downcast eyes a moment before his own dropped again. He had noticed the still mostly untouched plate of food and sighed. He supposed it would be small snacks here and there for the boy then, not small meals. Which worried Itachi. It meant Sasuke's condition was worse than was earlier indicated... worse than Sasuke was letting on.
"Is there anything else that you can tell me, Sasuke?" he asked after some silence, arms folding over his chest. "Anything will be helpful. If not, you're free to go change. Or I will leave the room if you don't feel up to moving that much yet."
Sasuke: "Tch...you're my brother..." Sasuke murmured as he eyed the clothing. It's not like he had to leave, and that statement was probably as close as he was going to get to a Don't leave me at the moment.
With a shaky grip, he moved the tray from his lap and set it on the coffee table. It gave a rather sharp bang as he simply let it drop, too tired to execute the move with any sort of grace. Too tired to care.
He glanced at his brother again. Still nothing it seemed... Resigned, Sasuke began to pull off his bloodied shirt. Stiffly. Let it drop to the floor then reached for the clean one his brother had brought. "I don't remember...Gin nailed me over the head in some alleyway... I woke up in chains with a red light on me..."
Itachi: So Itachi didn't leave, simply looked away. Which he'd been doing most of the night besides, so it was no daunting task. He kept his eyes upon the far wall, upon the door that led off into the kitchen, to the lights he'd left on, the ceiling fan in view that was spinning, spinning, always spinning.
"Gin..." he repeated the name almost without realizing it, then ran one hand back through his hair, fingers pushing his bangs from his face, from his eyes. More than Aizen he presently had a score to settle with Gin. But that was personal business and personal business would be set on the backburner as far as protocol went. At least until Aizen was dealt with, until they, the Akatsuki, knew what they had set out to learn.
"And that third person," Itachi murmured in voiced thought, "what do you recall of him? I know you couldn't see him, so you said, but anything... anything is helpful. You said you heard him. Describe his voice."
Sasuke: "I...I don't know." And that was the truth, as evidenced by the painfully confused look that crossed over his pale features. He had only spoken once to him, and those words were long lost, swallowed by the pounding in the back of his skull. Distorted and unrecognizable. He only knew that it hadn't been Gin nor had it come from their lackey.
Sasuke sat there, quietly contemplating the first few moments of his awakening in that strange place. The information presented to him by Gin, the chains restraining him, leaving him vulnerable to hits. In an effort to erase it all from his mind, he moved awkwardly around to set his feet on the floor, then reached over for the sweatpants.
Itachi: "...That's all right." It was far from all right, but if Sasuke couldn't remember there was no helping it. Itachi would not push his little brother, not in his current condition. He seemed frail despite all of his efforts. His mind was weakened, and to Itachi such a type of frailty was worse than even one of a physical kind.
He waited for Sasuke to dress, waited for him to give word of his new decency. He would not look back otherwise, would not invade that privacy.
Sasuke: After a brief struggle, Sasuke had managed to strip himself down completely and put on his brother's clothes. It felt odd, wearing them. Slightly too big, not quite meant for him. He wasn't sure he liked it, as if he was somehow taking on a part of his brother by wearing them. But there was no way he could remain in those bloodied pieces he'd been lying in for God knows how long.
It was ok this way, right? Wearing his clothes... they were brothers after all. Was that why he couldn't be angry? Or was it sheer exhaustion that was holding his wrath at bay? Because deep down, he hated Itachi for keeping all this information from him, for lying yet again. And yet...he needed him to be there. Without Naruto, he had no one else.
Slowly, he repositioned himself on the couch, eyes fixed firmly on his brother. "Nii-san...what have you done?"
Itachi: Sparing a testing glance over his shoulder towards Sasuke, noting his newly clothed figure, Itachi turned about and at last turned his eyes to Sasuke's. They were grim, cast in shadow from the lamp at his back and the light from the kitchen far away.
That echoing voice, bitter with its laughter, returned to rampage through Itachi's mind. What have you done, Itachi? What have you done? You're only condemning your brother, only condemning yourself. You're condemning everyone...
He resisted the urge to shudder. It came and was gone in the blink of an eye just as did the voice. Only Itachi hadn't the will to stop those echoes this time and feared a quick return.
To avoid hearing those never-there whispers, he said softly to his brother, "What was... required."
Sasuke: "What does that mean?" Sasuke couldn't keep the bitter edge to his voice. After all, what was required had gotten Naruto kidnapped, had led to his capture and torment. And for what? Who required this exactly?
And yet, he was far too tired to argue this point. Despite the bitterness of his words, there was little fire behind them. Not like there usually was when he was angry with Itachi. Feeling exhausted with his efforts, with the battle raging on within him - whether to hate or love his brother's presence - he sat back against the pillows, head resting against the armrest.
He'd wait for an answer. For whatever it was his brother would offer up, but after that...he wasn't sure how far he could pursue this.
Itachi: Moving soundlessly, Itachi drifted to stand over Sasuke, to look down at him. What did it mean? Sometimes he wondered this himself. He tried to regulate his life, to keep it textbook, but so often pages were torn out and he had nothing left to do but to guess. What was required then became feeling in the dark. But this he did not think Sasuke could understand. It was one of the differences between himself and Sasuke. The younger was emotional, warm, made of tender things as their mother. And he... was like Fugaku much to his dismay. Very much like their father. He was made of hard things, cold things, hateful and violent.
But hard things break, and soft things bend... that voice came back, cackling. Itachi shook his head, kneeled, and rested a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. What words could he say? What could he offer? There needed to be something he could leave his brother with, something more than his usual, 'another time' responses.
"Otouto..." His hand lifted, brushed some hair from the younger boy's face. His eyes struggled in remaining upon Sasuke's. He fought for more words, for something to say that could bring some form of closure and yet all he could grasp and hold on to was another variation of his age-old quote. More avoiding. More ignoring. "You need to rest."
Sasuke: He felt as though he stood on the verge of breaking. As if it were some very real place, feet firmly planted on the side that left him in tact, and one step over the line would have the air pulling him apart in a million different directions.
With a shaky breath, he closed his eyes as his brother brushed at his hair. He hated how despite the fact he was being pushed away yet again, he wanted this. The contact. The caring. Just the closeness of them, his brother's touch. It was something he rarely experienced and yet just this small piece of it was about to send him tumbling into tears.
For once, Sasuke wanted to be the young boy he had been. Unafraid to cry to his older brother, to cling desperately to him just to know that he was near, that he was his. Reaching up, he grabbed his brother's hand and pulled it down to his chest, unable to speak.
Couldn't appear so weak, but maybe...maybe that simple action was something he could get away with. He gave his brother on last look before closing his eyes.
Itachi: Dry eyes. They remained dry. But that distant look lessened, and for a moment in the hollow blackness of Itachi's eyes there was a glimpse of familiarity, of warmth. If the void of space could ever be said to be warm.
Or perhaps it could be said. Perhaps, like Kurenai, Sasuke was a sun in his life, something that shed light upon things thought to be lost, memories, feelings, things called personal, things that made someone live. Itachi was only sure of one thing as he watched Sasuke. He loved his brother, and he would die for him. Sasuke might not understand now, he might not ever understand, but so long as he was safe, so long as Naruto kept his promises as he himself never had... well, Itachi believed that Sasuke would begin to heal in time.
A star would be reborn after collapsing.
Leaning forwards, Itachi placed a soft kiss on his brother's forehead. "Rest," he whispered, then very gently slipped his hand away and stood. He took up the blanket from the back of the couch, unfolded it, and then laid it over the younger boy carefully. Then he moved and turned the kitchen lights out, turned off the fan, and turned off the lamp in the living room.
He sat on the floor, back against the base of the couch, his head near Sasuke. He would remain there until the boy was comfortably asleep. And in the hours left before the sun would rise, Itachi would plan his own demise.
[What:] The final exchange between brothers before Itachi's death.
[When:] Sunday very early morning.
[Where:] Itachi's apartment.
[Warnings:] Some drama and angst, maybe fluffiness in a way.
Itachi: He'd hardly had a moment to lie down, or so it had seemed, when he was jostled out of his almost-sleeping state by a loud sound coming from outside. Sitting up, Itachi's eyes immediately went to the open living room window of which overlooked the parking lot for his building, and his brow furrowed slightly.
Would he never get any rest at all?
Pushing himself up from the armchair he'd been sitting in, Itachi carried himself over to the window and pushed up the blinds to peer through the slats. What he seen was not pleasant... A black hooded figure making away from his car. His car... his brother...
"...Sasuke--"
The moments between the time he seen his brother at the window to the time he'd stumbled out his door and down to the parking lot were a blur. Though in his hurry he hadn't forgotten to grab his knife from the table drawer by the doorway incase anyone was still lurking about.
Sasuke: This past week - or how ever long it had been since his capture - made no sense to him at all. One minute he was living a life, that for once, seemed to be incapable of getting any better. And then, that tape with Naruto had come to into his hands, and the next thing he knew was chained before Gin and two others.
And where he was now, Sasuke had no clue. The world was a terrifying blur, made all the worse by the fact that he couldn't seem to pull his thoughts together no matter how hard he tried to focus. Objects would shimmer before him, attempting to pull together into one solid frame, and then the image would shatter. Swirling together, a putrid mix of colors that seemed indistinguishable.
Giving a low moan, he attempted to move his left hand. Managed only to curl his pinky. All of it seemed detached, a movement not truly dictated by him. Like puppet-strings tugging at him, telling him when and how to move. And where he would normally hate this, he couldn't even find himself capable of that.
Itachi: The parking lot was vacant, and as Itachi crossed it he found he couldn't even hear the alarm anymore for... an odd pounding in his chest, in his ears. There was a bitter laughter in the back of his mind, chasing away his securities.
This, said that voice, you really should have seen coming Itachi. Only a fool closes his eyes while walking through a mine field.
He closed the gap between his car and himself quickly, some relief swelling up inside of him as he picked out movements from his brother. Not dead... he's not... This was good. Very good. No, not good at all... It should never have come to this.
"Sasuke...? Sasuke?" Itachi reached out for his brother's figure. He wasn't sure if he should move him, wasn't sure what to do for a moment. Then he touched his brother's shoulder, reached up, carefully pulling him from the roof of his car and down to the ground where he knelt with him. He looked... terrible.
Sasuke: There was only a low moan in response to his name, the words forming in his mind but tangling together until nothing but an incoherent mess was groaned out. He could feel hands upon him again. Only this time they were softer, gentle even. A far cry from the roughness he had experienced at the hands of his captors.
Sasuke attempted to straighten himself up only to find that his muscles screamed in protest. A brief shiver ran through them as they tried to do as his brain commanded. Too tired to comply. Or perhaps simply too weak. Or maybe he just wasn't issuing the correct directions, brain still too foggy, too clouded for clear thinking.
Still, he blinked, trying to focus his world around him once again. It took a minute, but slowly the figure of his brother filtered itself out from the jumble of color. Tongue licked slightly cracked lips. He could do this... he could... "Nii...san...?"
Itachi: Itachi was startled by the raspy voice emitted from Sasuke. If one could so much as call that airy whisper a voice at all. It very nearly sent a shiver through his body, very nearly made him close his eyes and clutch his brother to him. But instead, as was customary of the older Uchiha, he fought and maintained something reasonable in his mind, clung to logic instead of the limp body in his arms. Though that he still held on to.
"Sasuke... quiet." He was careful, especially so as he lifted the boy up and stood. He was terribly weak himself but he couldn't risk taking a fall with his brother, not with him in this condition.
He was slow enough not to jar Sasuke as he made his way back into the building, to the elevator. Slow, but quick enough as well to get him out of sight and away from the chilly night air. And the moment they were back into the apartment he laid the youth down upon the couch in the living room and kneeled down at the side. He looked dehydrated, he looked thin and tired and... He stopped his thoughts from dwelling. Dwelling would do no good.
"I'll get you something to drink, a blanket, just... do not move." He would retrieve other things as well, such as ointments, bandages, a clean cloth and warm water... whatever was required.
Sasuke: He wasn't used to this. Any of this. The only person who he had ever felt capable of beating him to this point was his own brother. And Itachi hadn't done this to him...or had he?
Sasuke couldn't help but recall Gin's words. Tormenting him. Corrupting that image of his brother. A hand settled against the couch, an effort made to pull himself up. To find his brother. And yet nothing could come from it. He managed simply to pull himself up against the pillows, arms shaking as he body sought the resources it needed to function.
Lifting his head, he realized this was not the house. And where here was, he didn't know. He'd never stepped into his brother's apartment before...after he had left the house...left him. Sasuke swallowed hard, and did the only thing he had seemed capable of doing in those last few days trapped at Aizen's - he waited.
Itachi: When Itachi returned with him he brought a pillow which he placed under Sasuke's head, carefully forcing his brother back upon it. The blanket he left to the side for now, folded on the back of the couch as it would not be required until Sasuke's wounds were tended and bandaged, and perhaps something clean from his own wardrobe selected for the youth to wear. No, not perhaps. Definitely. He could not leave his brother to rest in such a condition.
Kneeling on the floor once more after dragging the coffee table over and placing down upon it the first aid kit he kept in his home as well as a bowl of hot water and a clean face cloth and towel, and a tall bottle of water Itachi turned to face Sasuke.
"I'm going to give you some water... can you hold it, or should I?"
Sasuke: That was just going to be insult to injury having to accept someone feeding him. And so Sasuke reached out, despite the slight tremble from his muscles, and opened his hand. He would take the water himself. "I'm fine..."
The typical Uchiha response. Nothing was ever wrong. At least, nothing they couldn't handle. And despite the part of him that took comfort in his brother's presence, he found himself incapable of such affection, such a...lapse. His brother, if Gin was right, had done this to him.
Sasuke attempted to give his brother a hard glare, but his head was pounding, his nose still sore from Grimmjaw's hit and the lack of care given to it. All he managed was a painful look, trapped somewhere between hate and hurt. "Your...fault..."
Itachi: Itachi did not flinch at the strong accusation. He handed carefully the bottle of water to his brother, then looked over Sasuke's face, his arms and wrists, the rest of him. It was his fault. He would not deny it... but he would say nothing. It was not a question, he did not need to answer it.
Turning to the bowl of water once Sasuke had taken the bottle, Itachi dipped the cloth into the steaming liquid and then wrung it out. He turned back to Sasuke and carefully began to dab down the arm nearest to him, bits of coagulated blood coming away. It was a horrible sight to see Sasuke like this, and Itachi hoped Deidara, in the bedroom resting, stayed asleep and did not come out.
"You should stay quiet for now, reserve your energy. Drink."
Sasuke: "No." Again, accusing, but stronger now. Anger had managed to lend him some of its energy, though he knew it would not hold out long. And it was bad enough he could feel the tears collecting among his lashes, the visible sign of his pain, over the information he had been handed during his captivity.
But before he continued, giving the shattered thoughts floating around his mind time to piece together, he did drink from the bottle. Nearly flinched as his brother's cloth touch upon his skin, though he relaxed a moment later. Unconsciously happy to have a caring touch upon him again, to have someone familiar there beside him.
But that couldn't last. Dark eyes focused on his brother again. Far from the hardened look he wanted, it betrayed all the pain he had felt over the past few days, both physical and mental. All that he had swallowed up in the face of his enemies...his brother's enemies. "You lied...again. And they took Naruto..."
Itachi: Itachi's only response was short and simple, to the point. It almost seemed detached. "He is safe now. You are safe." He mentioned nothing of the lying. Sasuke was all that mattered, though Naruto mattered to Sasuke so for that fact Itachi was grateful that the Uzumaki child was no longer in any danger.
He continued with the cleaning of the cuts, careful not to rub them down too harshly, and once in awhile washing off the cloth again in the water. Once it had to be changed, and the second bowl was more than enough to wash down the remainder of his little brother's visible areas.
After that he pushed the bottle back to Sasuke's lips and said, "Keep drinking. Your health is more important now than the direction of your words. Rest." And that he said stolidly but strongly as well.
Sasuke: The truth was Sasuke wanted to fight against his brother's words. Wanted to prove that he could move past that truth and uncovered the lies his brother had yet again woven around him. First their parents and now this...and this, whatever it really was, had led to these marks his brother was washing. To the hunger that was gnawing away at his stomach and the thirst that had dried out his throat.
But worst of it, it had gotten someone outside of their family involved. Naruto. The one person who had never lied to him. Had never betrayed him. The one person who had promised never to leave him... "Why?"
He wanted to know. For once, he wanted his brother to just tell him. Everything. But he was still the dutiful Uchiha, taking the sip his brother had demanded before downed nearly half the bottle. The sudden flood of liquid in his mouth sparked the pangs of hunger again, but he wasn't about to complain. Not until Itachi said something.
Itachi: Whether his otouto complained or not Itachi had eyes enough to see what the boy needed well before he needed answers. First the ointment was applied to the wounds over Sasuke's body, and then some bandages where it was required. He had half a mind to feel about for breaks or sprains but thought perhaps it wasn't necessary, not now. He could see to it the boy had a better examination at the hospital later, once he made sure Sasuke was well enough to be continuously moved about, once the boy was fed, was stable.
To the softly uttered 'why' that Sasuke had let slip from him Itachi only shook his head, repeating his earlier command. "Drink. I will make you something soon to eat to help you recover."
And it was with that he returned to eyeing Sasuke's injuries, brow furrowed deeply in contemplation. He was temporarily forgetting his own exhaustion, his own weakness. He did not matter now, not at all with Sasuke before him. Only his brother... It was not supposed to be like this.
Sasuke: "Nii-san!" Sasuke cried out. And almost instantly regretted it as he felt his body shake with the effort. Too much, too early. He wasn't in any condition to fight this, and yet his pride insisted that he do so. But he knew that his bodily needs would win out over his pride, just as it had started to towards the end of his captivity.
With an exhausted sigh, he sat back. The water bottle was held against his stomach, and for a few moments, he watched as it rose with each breath. It was almost... inspiring... Up and down. How his body continued to pursue life despite the lack of food, the minimal water, the abuse of his brother's image. Not that this past week was all that hard considering what other's lived through daily. But for someone like him, from his background... it had seemed like a slow descent into Hell.
Sasuke shut his eyes, listened to the sound of his breathing. Uneven at times, but strong. His trust had been betrayed again, but he was still alive.
Itachi: Moving forward, his arms slinking gently around Sasuke's body, Itachi pulled the youth into a sound embrace, his eyes closing for a moment but refusing to allow his weariness time to catch up. He shortly whispered into Sasuke's ear, "I'm sorry," before he let go, eased the boy back again, and then stood to his full height.
For all his want to give an explanation there was none that he could give. None that Sasuke would like to hear besides, and none that he was willing to relinquish.
His eyes left Sasuke then and he turned away, feet caring him slowly, steadily into the kitchen. "Drink the rest of that water, I will put on some tea..." Hopefully it would sooth Sasuke's nerves. He would also bring back another bottle of water and something, anything at all for his younger brother to eat. Fruits most likely, something quick and good for the body just so long as Sasuke had something in him.
Sasuke: But he didn't want too. Drink that was. Or anything. He wanted answers. Wanted to sleep, to know that he could and when he would wake up, this would be nothing more than another awful nightmare. His brother would remain that untouchable, untainted person he had always looked up to, and there would be no pain, no exhaustion claiming his body.
And Sasuke knew - better than most others his age - that this could not be. What he felt now was his reality, just as if had been the moment he honestly remembered that his real parents had been murdered. At that thought, a sudden wave of worry swept over him. Suddenly, he felt as if those answers - his brother's actions, his parents' death - would never come. He was going to be denied all truth.
Bringing the bottle to his lips, he sucked down the rest of the water, unable to deny how good it felt going down, how his body desired it. And he hated that...another thing he couldn't deny.
Itachi: Some time had passed before the kettle had boiled and the tea was ready, and in the meantime Itachi had fixed a pleasant snack for Sasuke, a light meal. He couldn't stuff the boy too full without making him sick, so this... this would do for now. He set everything onto a small tray he pulled out from the cupboard; turkey sandwich with tomatoes, a plate of cut up apple slices doused lightly in cinnamon sugar, some onigiri from the fridge, two cups of tea and the second water bottle.
Taking the tray into the living room, setting it down over Sasuke's laps after adjusting the legs upon it, Itachi sat on the corner of the couch. He looked at his brother, then moved his own cup of tea to the coffee table, eyes slipping slowly to the floor. "You must remember. Who...?"
Sasuke: It took awhile before Sasuke moved to answer his brother's question. Not that he was avoiding it out of any sense of fear. Rather, there was the fact that at the sight of food, his mind could only focus on that one thing - Eat.
How many days had it been since his last meal? He didn't know...Only knew that from his condition he hadn't been kept too long in that place, wherever it was. Long enough, however, for hunger to ravage his stomach and poke at his mind. And now that it was set before him, he found he could think of little else.
And yet, he did not reach out. Not at first. But hunger overrode even his own stubborn desire to punish his brother for the lack of answers. Slowly, fingers edged towards the food set out before him, dug out a slice of tomato, and brought it to his mouth where it was rather quickly demolished.
After having cleaned out all evidence of tomato from is plate, Sasuke finally looked at his brother, that same accusing look in his eyes. "Gin...and two others." A sip of water was taken from the new bottle. "I didn't see one of them. Only heard him..."
Itachi: Gin.
It was a sound echo in the back of his mind reverberating around until it was almost the only thing heard. Itachi knew that if Gin was involved it was possible, near likely that Aizen had a hand somehow in things as well. And still, something about Sasuke's words were nagging at him. There was something there, he was sure of it, but he wasn't able yet to pick it out.
Pointing to the plate as he thought, a gesture to show that Sasuke should eat more, the remainder of that which had been made for him, Itachi mulled over that brief sentence in his head again and again, tossing it left and then ride, up and then down, twisting it and turning it until it made no sense anymore.
At last he sighed, his brow still furrowed, forehead creased with blatant concern, red-fringed gray eyes looking distant in the way they stared at nothing, refused to look at Sasuke.
"One you didn't see. And the other? A description, a name, anything. I need to know." His voice was flat. His voice was hollow.
Sasuke: "Big...kind of like that guy you hang out with." His brow furrowed a little at that, and unconsciously, his hand went to his nose, fingertips gliding along the bruised edges of it. Almost afraid to touch it too much when he remembered how badly it had bled after that first hit.
But due to the lighting - that awful red light - he couldn't tell what the guy's hair or eye color had been. Reaching over, Sasuke took one of the apples and carefully consumed the slice. Despite his dislike of sweetness, he found himself craving the sugar-mix his brother had sprinkled over them. Another piece was eaten before he spoke again.
"Dumb brute..." that was the best way Sasuke could describe him. Stupid. Dishonorable. All power and no brain. At least that's how it had appeared to him.
Dark eyes watched his brother attentively now. The food having a small but immediate effect on how he felt. Still tired, but somehow more alert, even if it was just some trick of the mind sparked by the act of eating. Avoiding him...Itachi was avoiding him.
Itachi: Itachi was the last person who would label Kisame as a dumb brute, but he supposed Sasuke was going by what he knew of his closest friend. After all, Sasuke had very rarely spoken to Kisame, very rarely seen him ever throughout the years. So he inclined his head, eyes closing as he thought this over, put together his thoughts. Did he know anyone fitting such a description?
Yes. He did. Grimmjaw. But there was no guarantee it was he. For all he knew it was someone else he didn't know. All that he was sure of was that it wasn't Kisame. But this still nagged at him, or something else unseen did.
Itachi reached for his tea and sipped it, the herbal taste washing over his taste buds as he continued to contemplate, continued to not look at Sasuke. Every glance that moved to his brother only looked upon his bandaged wounds.
"Do you recall anything about where you were?" he asked, mind trying desperately to forget his fatigue still, to formulate a picture of this scene in his head.
Sasuke: By the time Sasuke spoke again, the apple had been finished as had most of the bottled water. Wasn't going to admit he was starving, but it was obvious in the way he ate. Quick, but not sloppy. Even starving, he had amazing control.
"Gin said..." he paused, waiting to see if Itachi would look at him. When his brother failed to make eye contact, he resumed, a hurt look washing over his face. "He said... you poisoned him... lied to me... had another life..."
He desperately wanted his brother to refute those facts, but he knew. Deep down, he knew that everything Gin had rattled on about - how this was payback, how his brother was responsible - was true.
Itachi: "A man can say many things," said Itachi. No, he did not make eye contact. He did not make contact at all, simply pointed to the remainder of that which sat upon the tray. "All of it. Not a crumb left, Sasuke." He needed his strength. Needed it for what was to come. Because his brother's twisted suffering was far from over yet.
Rising from the edge of the sofa with his tea in hand, sipping it lightly as his eyes skimmed over the items he had in his apartment, Itachi said softly, "I am going to get you something clean to wear. Wait here." The teacup was set down and he excused himself, moving away from Sasuke, away from the living room, and disappearing into the hallway on his route to his bedroom. He needed to be quiet. Deidara was asleep in there. Or supposed to be.
Sasuke: Avoiding him. There was no mistaking that fact. Itachi wasn't looking at him, wasn't going to answer his questions. Sasuke sighed as he stared down at his plate. Didn't really want to finish what was there. He was starting to feel sick, though whether that was from the sudden intake of food again or the situation with his brother he wasn't sure. Maybe it was both.
He could only watch as his brother left him there, full of questions and hate and this heavy desire to just be there with him. Didn't want Itachi to go and yet he couldn't stand the thought of being in the same room with him. Wanted to cry, to curl up against his older brother and be comforted, but the tears were roughly shoved aside, locked away and put under guard by his anger.
Staring at the remnants of food still on his plate, Sasuke pushed them around. No, he couldn't eat anymore.
Itachi: Itachi returned as promptly as he had exited a few moments earlier. With him in his arms he was carrying a dark t-shirt and some sweatpants, something comfortable for Sasuke, something not restricting so it wouldn't bother his injuries. They would be a bit large on him, but for now it would have to do.
He set them down on the arm of the sofa, his eyes skimming over his brother, glimpsing Sasuke's downcast eyes a moment before his own dropped again. He had noticed the still mostly untouched plate of food and sighed. He supposed it would be small snacks here and there for the boy then, not small meals. Which worried Itachi. It meant Sasuke's condition was worse than was earlier indicated... worse than Sasuke was letting on.
"Is there anything else that you can tell me, Sasuke?" he asked after some silence, arms folding over his chest. "Anything will be helpful. If not, you're free to go change. Or I will leave the room if you don't feel up to moving that much yet."
Sasuke: "Tch...you're my brother..." Sasuke murmured as he eyed the clothing. It's not like he had to leave, and that statement was probably as close as he was going to get to a Don't leave me at the moment.
With a shaky grip, he moved the tray from his lap and set it on the coffee table. It gave a rather sharp bang as he simply let it drop, too tired to execute the move with any sort of grace. Too tired to care.
He glanced at his brother again. Still nothing it seemed... Resigned, Sasuke began to pull off his bloodied shirt. Stiffly. Let it drop to the floor then reached for the clean one his brother had brought. "I don't remember...Gin nailed me over the head in some alleyway... I woke up in chains with a red light on me..."
Itachi: So Itachi didn't leave, simply looked away. Which he'd been doing most of the night besides, so it was no daunting task. He kept his eyes upon the far wall, upon the door that led off into the kitchen, to the lights he'd left on, the ceiling fan in view that was spinning, spinning, always spinning.
"Gin..." he repeated the name almost without realizing it, then ran one hand back through his hair, fingers pushing his bangs from his face, from his eyes. More than Aizen he presently had a score to settle with Gin. But that was personal business and personal business would be set on the backburner as far as protocol went. At least until Aizen was dealt with, until they, the Akatsuki, knew what they had set out to learn.
"And that third person," Itachi murmured in voiced thought, "what do you recall of him? I know you couldn't see him, so you said, but anything... anything is helpful. You said you heard him. Describe his voice."
Sasuke: "I...I don't know." And that was the truth, as evidenced by the painfully confused look that crossed over his pale features. He had only spoken once to him, and those words were long lost, swallowed by the pounding in the back of his skull. Distorted and unrecognizable. He only knew that it hadn't been Gin nor had it come from their lackey.
Sasuke sat there, quietly contemplating the first few moments of his awakening in that strange place. The information presented to him by Gin, the chains restraining him, leaving him vulnerable to hits. In an effort to erase it all from his mind, he moved awkwardly around to set his feet on the floor, then reached over for the sweatpants.
Itachi: "...That's all right." It was far from all right, but if Sasuke couldn't remember there was no helping it. Itachi would not push his little brother, not in his current condition. He seemed frail despite all of his efforts. His mind was weakened, and to Itachi such a type of frailty was worse than even one of a physical kind.
He waited for Sasuke to dress, waited for him to give word of his new decency. He would not look back otherwise, would not invade that privacy.
Sasuke: After a brief struggle, Sasuke had managed to strip himself down completely and put on his brother's clothes. It felt odd, wearing them. Slightly too big, not quite meant for him. He wasn't sure he liked it, as if he was somehow taking on a part of his brother by wearing them. But there was no way he could remain in those bloodied pieces he'd been lying in for God knows how long.
It was ok this way, right? Wearing his clothes... they were brothers after all. Was that why he couldn't be angry? Or was it sheer exhaustion that was holding his wrath at bay? Because deep down, he hated Itachi for keeping all this information from him, for lying yet again. And yet...he needed him to be there. Without Naruto, he had no one else.
Slowly, he repositioned himself on the couch, eyes fixed firmly on his brother. "Nii-san...what have you done?"
Itachi: Sparing a testing glance over his shoulder towards Sasuke, noting his newly clothed figure, Itachi turned about and at last turned his eyes to Sasuke's. They were grim, cast in shadow from the lamp at his back and the light from the kitchen far away.
That echoing voice, bitter with its laughter, returned to rampage through Itachi's mind. What have you done, Itachi? What have you done? You're only condemning your brother, only condemning yourself. You're condemning everyone...
He resisted the urge to shudder. It came and was gone in the blink of an eye just as did the voice. Only Itachi hadn't the will to stop those echoes this time and feared a quick return.
To avoid hearing those never-there whispers, he said softly to his brother, "What was... required."
Sasuke: "What does that mean?" Sasuke couldn't keep the bitter edge to his voice. After all, what was required had gotten Naruto kidnapped, had led to his capture and torment. And for what? Who required this exactly?
And yet, he was far too tired to argue this point. Despite the bitterness of his words, there was little fire behind them. Not like there usually was when he was angry with Itachi. Feeling exhausted with his efforts, with the battle raging on within him - whether to hate or love his brother's presence - he sat back against the pillows, head resting against the armrest.
He'd wait for an answer. For whatever it was his brother would offer up, but after that...he wasn't sure how far he could pursue this.
Itachi: Moving soundlessly, Itachi drifted to stand over Sasuke, to look down at him. What did it mean? Sometimes he wondered this himself. He tried to regulate his life, to keep it textbook, but so often pages were torn out and he had nothing left to do but to guess. What was required then became feeling in the dark. But this he did not think Sasuke could understand. It was one of the differences between himself and Sasuke. The younger was emotional, warm, made of tender things as their mother. And he... was like Fugaku much to his dismay. Very much like their father. He was made of hard things, cold things, hateful and violent.
But hard things break, and soft things bend... that voice came back, cackling. Itachi shook his head, kneeled, and rested a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. What words could he say? What could he offer? There needed to be something he could leave his brother with, something more than his usual, 'another time' responses.
"Otouto..." His hand lifted, brushed some hair from the younger boy's face. His eyes struggled in remaining upon Sasuke's. He fought for more words, for something to say that could bring some form of closure and yet all he could grasp and hold on to was another variation of his age-old quote. More avoiding. More ignoring. "You need to rest."
Sasuke: He felt as though he stood on the verge of breaking. As if it were some very real place, feet firmly planted on the side that left him in tact, and one step over the line would have the air pulling him apart in a million different directions.
With a shaky breath, he closed his eyes as his brother brushed at his hair. He hated how despite the fact he was being pushed away yet again, he wanted this. The contact. The caring. Just the closeness of them, his brother's touch. It was something he rarely experienced and yet just this small piece of it was about to send him tumbling into tears.
For once, Sasuke wanted to be the young boy he had been. Unafraid to cry to his older brother, to cling desperately to him just to know that he was near, that he was his. Reaching up, he grabbed his brother's hand and pulled it down to his chest, unable to speak.
Couldn't appear so weak, but maybe...maybe that simple action was something he could get away with. He gave his brother on last look before closing his eyes.
Itachi: Dry eyes. They remained dry. But that distant look lessened, and for a moment in the hollow blackness of Itachi's eyes there was a glimpse of familiarity, of warmth. If the void of space could ever be said to be warm.
Or perhaps it could be said. Perhaps, like Kurenai, Sasuke was a sun in his life, something that shed light upon things thought to be lost, memories, feelings, things called personal, things that made someone live. Itachi was only sure of one thing as he watched Sasuke. He loved his brother, and he would die for him. Sasuke might not understand now, he might not ever understand, but so long as he was safe, so long as Naruto kept his promises as he himself never had... well, Itachi believed that Sasuke would begin to heal in time.
A star would be reborn after collapsing.
Leaning forwards, Itachi placed a soft kiss on his brother's forehead. "Rest," he whispered, then very gently slipped his hand away and stood. He took up the blanket from the back of the couch, unfolded it, and then laid it over the younger boy carefully. Then he moved and turned the kitchen lights out, turned off the fan, and turned off the lamp in the living room.
He sat on the floor, back against the base of the couch, his head near Sasuke. He would remain there until the boy was comfortably asleep. And in the hours left before the sun would rise, Itachi would plan his own demise.