Getting settled

[youngesthokage]

This village was.... interesting. Not in a bad way, exactly, even though it didn't look like home, but this place was better than the last one he'd found himself in. He'd claimed a house a bit up the cliff face, where he could look out over the village, and he was sure eventually he wouldn't be the only inhabitant.

After all, this place seemed as baffling as the last. But, he was sure, he'd still get found by the ones who mattered eventually.

Thus, he settled himself under a tree, back leaned against it, as he nibbled some local dango.

(OOC: Alrighty! Itachi has been here a while and has made a little niche for himself. For those who know him from other places, he will know you too! Sub-note: if you have an AU with him feel free to pick it up here on his post.)

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[itachi_san]

When he had the strength to resist, he pushed the hand away.

"You didn't come back for me... You didn't even come home..."

[youngesthokage]

He didn't let him, holding him closer and using the rejected hand to brush his hair out of his face. "Shhh. I didn't mean to go anywhere. I can't really do what you do, remember? I can't choose to go home from the places that I end up."

[itachi_san]

It was a true statement, yes, but it certainly didn't make the other man feel any better. He'd already lost Sasuke. That said enough right there.

"Then I'm TAKING you back..." he hissed. "What good is choosing to go across dimensions if I can't even choose to leave that house of her's."

[youngesthokage]

"Okay, now shhh." He gathered him tightly to him and kissed his hair, holding him tightly to him. "I wasn't... trying to be cruel."

[itachi_san]

Itachi was shaking.

"There is nothing crueler than being forced to live through your worst nightmares, and then have to replay them back in your head with no relief while the very faces of those whose lives you've destroyed stare back at you and coddle you!"

[youngesthokage]

"Fine, then I was trying to be cruel." He calmed a little as the intensity of the reaction eased some of his fears. "How long have I been gone?"

[itachi_san]

Intensity of a reaction that likely didn't justify itself to anyone's mind but Itachi's...

"I don't know. I... I left Sasuke this morning... Isamu and Minoru... they acted like nothing had happened, so it couldn't have been long... in that world, anyway. In this one... I don't even know how much time has passed."

He looked (and felt) like he'd been wandering for days. Perhaps he had. Perhaps none of that even mattered.

[youngesthokage]

He hugged him to his chest and stroked his back. "You went looking for me, or just walking?"

[itachi_san]

"I've spent the past three days trying to get your brother to let me so much as see you!" he spat. "I've spent the last three days trying to get back to the only thing that I have left..."

[youngesthokage]

"I did stop by, but you were always sleeping..." He sighed and nuzzled his cheek, not sure how to placate him.

[itachi_san]

"I swear he drugged the tea!"

[youngesthokage]

"He probably did." He frowned at him and kissed his temple. "Breathe. This is extreme even for this."

[itachi_san]

"And every time I woke up, all I saw was HER, watching me... like she actually... cares... even though I begged Sasuke to make her stay away!"

[youngesthokage]

Helpless to fix it, he gathered the man closer into his lap and made soothing sounds at him, starting to rock him a bit. "He can't control mother, you know that."

[itachi_san]

His entire body was shaking as he fell into the Hokage.

"I am NEVER going to be able to... to look at her... and not relive EVERYTHING I did... The... the guilt... the pain... And Sasuke..."

[youngesthokage]

"Shh shhh. He's not... He's not." He hugged him close, hesitant for a moment before he spoke, very gently. "I saw him again, since I last saw you." He kissed his hair, rubbing his cheek against him. "Would you like to know what he told me?"

[itachi_san]

"What..."

[youngesthokage]

"He told me he didn't deserve it. I hugged him and that was what he said. That he had to fight every day to hold on to actually having any desire to go after you, because otherwise he'd lose his resolve, and now, he felt he wasn't worth being forgiven, for any of it." He hugged him close.

[itachi_san]

"I'm the one who's not worth being forgiven..." Itachi whispered. "Not him... never him..."

[youngesthokage]

"I know." He rocked him, making a soft shhh noise. "That just means he listened. You know how stubborn he can be. He didn't try to hurt me once, so he's stopped. He might even go home now."