how did this even happen...

[mooneye]

It wasn't a bad sort of place. Lots of things to do and people to see. Plenty of freedom to dart over the rooftops and down the alleys--or out of the village and into the woods and rocky wild places beyond. Obito liked Michi no Sato.

He had stopped for lunch and was eating at a table outside the restaurant, watching people walk past. The food was good. The cold breeze was nice. Ah, yes. Years and years trapped in a cave with a crazy old man and a bunch of plant monsters--it had left him really able to appreciate the little things.

[ooc: here is an AU Obito in his twenties. Got through the time with Madara, and Rin's death, but didn't go completely evil after all of it...]

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[sparkplug_chan]

She didn't fight it like she could have, knew she could have, but her eyes were wide as he released it, breath faltering as she looked back at him in horrified shock, fingers tightening on him.

[itachi_san]

His left eye throbbed. His vision blurred and he forced it shut to keep what balance he still had.

[sparkplug_chan]

It was different than that day. That was all she could think, and she released his sleeve finally, staring at him for a moment more before lunging forward, wrapping her arms around him as she got a grip on him.

[itachi_san]

As she let go, Itachi sunk to his knees.

He felt her arms around him, completely unexpected. And he froze. Trembling, shaking, he honestly didn't know what to do.

[sparkplug_chan]

She held him to her chest, grip tight but not painful as she pressed her face against his hair. "Damn you Aniki."

The murmur was rough with tears, but no threat at all.

[itachi_san]

Itachi could feel her breath hitch. She... Sasuke was crying...

"I... I killed them, Sasuke... I killed them. I saved you. I left you... I hurt you. I set it all up..." he found himself starting to cry as well. "I... love you..."

[sparkplug_chan]

She gave him a shake, but she didn't want to damage him, aware of the fact that he has been, since she'd gotten here, practically helpless. "Damn you. Damnyoudamnyou. The Idiot wasn't supposed to be -right-."

[itachi_san]

Slowly, hesitantly, he reached his arms around her as well.

"I'm... sorry, Sasuke. I'm sorry..."

[sparkplug_chan]

"You better be." Her voice turned sharper, low and demanding. "How could you leave me behind?"

[itachi_san]

How could he? What choice did he have? He was being exiled from the village. The Akatsuki would have killed Sasuke. Madara would have killed Sasuke himself.

"You were... safe there." he whispered, not letting go.

[sparkplug_chan]

She growled, tightening her hold. "Damn you."

[itachi_san]

"... Look at me..." he pulled her head back, forcing his chakra through his mangekyo again. "Look me in the eyes..."

[sparkplug_chan]

She resisted for a moment, lips pressing tightly together, but finally opened her eyes to look at him.

[itachi_san]

He wasn't sure whether he was convincing her, or convincing himself, that he'd done absolutely everything that he could have done.

Sasuke's mind was filled with even more images - negotiations with the Hokage, threats made to Danzo, time after time that Itachi broke into the Village, risking everything to make sure Sasuke was all right. Akatsuki missions that he failed, purposefully failed, to protect Konoha, to keep the peace, to make sure everyone was safe... Faces blurred by tears. Faces blurred by decaying sharingan. Prayers and pleas. Whispers and hopes.

This time, the images stopped abruptly. And Itachi's eyes faded to a dull black.

"I... I can't show you... anymore..."

[sparkplug_chan]

"Then don't." Her tone as sharp and she hesitated only a moment before picking him up from the ground entirely. He was too light, it shouldn't be this -easy- to get the man off the ground. "Just shut up already."

[itachi_san]

Itachi stumbled on his feet, taken (again) by complete surprise as Sasuke lifted him up with hardly any effort.

His mind flashed back to his one and only goal... For Sasuke to become strong enough to kill him. This one certainly was. Or perhaps, he was really just that weak.

Did it matter?

"I... have nothing more to give, Sasuke..." tears stuck to his cheeks. "If you... still want to kill me... I... can't stop you..."

[sparkplug_chan]

She raised her voice. "Aniki, I said to -shut up-!" She set him on his feet, keeping her hands on him as she checked if his knees would even hold.

[itachi_san]

They held about as well as the rest of him did.

Her harsh words hit him in the face like a fist. But he tried to hold himself up.

[sparkplug_chan]

She glared at him for a moment, then swept him up in a bridal carry. "Stupid. If I was going to kill you I would have smothered you in your sleep while Kabuto was out of the house."

[itachi_san]

Itachi wasn't entirely sure how she managed to get him into her arms so quickly. Using the mangekyo made his head hurt and it made the world spin.

"... So why didn't you?"

[sparkplug_chan]

"Mom said you weren't lying." She shifted him around until she didn't feel like she was at risk of dropping him. Stupid long limbs.

Huffing, she turned to march for home.

[itachi_san]

Itachi fell silent. He couldn't argue with that. He never could.

[sparkplug_chan]

"Naruto said you were probably lying too. After." Her voice was lower when she said that, a murmur.

[itachi_san]

Itachi rested his head against Sasuke.

He didn't know what to say. Naruto was right. His mother was right. Even Obito was probably right. His plan was perfect... and in the end, this was all that it accomplished.

[sparkplug_chan]

Her voice was very low. "I tried to hate you, like you told me to." She tightened her grip on him to a nearly painful degree. "I... Naruto wouldn't let it work. I have a picture, with my other ones, that Naruto must have shoved in my things because it lived on the wall, turned around so we only had to look at it when we wanted to. Probably just grabbed all the pictures we had out and put them in my stuff. Moron."