reigningjustice:

His eyes rove over Itachi’s face, taking in every single detail they can as his fingers twitch a little, wishing to reach out. He smiles, just a little, brokenly. He wonders what Itachi will think about his life know, he wonders if he will be furious at him for allowing these things to happen. He doesn’t bring that up just yet–he can’t. 

“It’s me.” He assures, “It’s me, Aniki.” His voice comes out smaller than he means it to, but the exhaustion, the fury, the everything that he’s been dealing with the past few years is catching up with him.

All he wants is solace, safety, and looking at it–Itachi always was, and always is that for him. It’s no wonder he brings him back. He’s been missing him since he left after the battle with Kabuto, though he doesn’t dare speak that thought aloud. He doesn’t want to make him feel even more guilty for his actions, for leaving.

He is supposed to be safe now. But he isn’t. He is still very much lost without him. And then his mouth opens, almost on it’s own volition and turns those thoughts into words, “I missed you. I don’t want to be alone anymore, so I brought you back.”

Selfish, he knows. Oh, he’s beaten himself up over making this decision for the past week–at least until he actually performs the jutsu and sees Itachi. And then it’s okay.

“A lot has happened.”

Reticent, even with his own brother.

No, it-…

I don’t want to be alone. I brought you back.

Itachi is thrust into the conversation he held with Naruto, who promised to bring Sasuke back, to remain as his friend. Itachi can only guess what happened, left without all the details as it was. Something had gone wrong, he’d failed. 

He takes Sasuke’s hand in his. There’s a brief reach for the left, only to find an empty sleeve greeting him. He lost his arm, as well? What had mutilated Sasuke so thoroughly? 

“I want to know.” What exactly had transpired since Itachi left him? He was so sure he’d finally taken the right course of action, left Sasuke with the right people, with the freedom to make his own choices, without judgement. Only to be greeted by this. 

reigningjustice:

@uchihasavior liked this post for a starter.

Sasuke watched the coffin rise out of the ground, his sharingan dissipating. Would he need it with Itachi? No. He wouldn’t. He had nothing to fear from his beloved brother, nothing to be anxious over..but he was. He was–he was scared, truly, that he would see the change in him…the defeat that lined his shoulders like soft padding, the exhaustion that made him slump.

Most others couldn’t see it, they didn’t want to–he was just “one of the last uchiha” to them, and he needed someone, anyone else to understand who he was, who he was underneath that thin, almost-cracking façade.

“Nii-san.” He croaked, “Aniki–”

His heart’s fluttering. The kind of flutter that comes with emotion, rather than an organ pumping to keep a person alive. Itachi’s last memories are flesh. Watching Sasuke beneath him, thanking him for growing up as his brother.

But as his consciousness tries to adapt to the present, the figure below him speaks. Nii-san, it says, voice a notch deeper than before. Aniki. Something’s wrong with the tone. It is not the pitch, but the hint of something wrong. 

The figure is infront of him. Not below. With two blinks the world is clear, and he only fumbles for a second before regaining his balance; studying his hands, finding the same pallor as the first time he was resurrected. 

“Sasuke?” That was– that was his brother, right? That’s where the voice came from. He looked so different, clearly having surpassed him in age. 

There are questions. How long has it been, and what prompted him to be brought back? 

“I– what’s wrong, Sasuke.” Itachi pushes past the block in his throat, forgoing formalities and instead moving to close the distance between them.