It's so pretty...

[stillpure]

He was dressed up. Where his mother had managed to locate anything to dress him up with on such short notice with he had no idea, but it meant when he took off roaming he was a streak of dark blue and red amid those at the festival as he went here and there, utterly fascinated by the new sights.

He'd been to festivals in Konoha, yes, but those were different. This was -new-.

It also meant he wasn't exactly being the most attentive person ever, and had escaped the people he'd been with. Unintentionally, of course.

Comments

[itachi_san]

He couldn't very well tell the child version of himself that it probably wasn't going to go away... and thankfully, he didn't have to. The dango stand was an apt distraction. And soon, they each had sticks of fresh dango in hand.

[stillpure]

That was fine though, really, as the boy was clearly watching him, curious, but not asking him any questions.

[itachi_san]

"Where would you like to sit?" he asked politely, following the little boy.

[stillpure]

He hummed, then pulled him along to a spot and settled himself, looking over at him. "You're really soft huh? Like mom?"

[itachi_san]

Itachi gave his smaller self a very confused glance as he sat down. Soft was not exactly a word anyone had used to describe him. Usually, it was quite the opposite.

"... soft?"

[stillpure]

"Mmm hmm." He smiled at him and nibbled his dango. "Like mom."

[itachi_san]

"Gentleness, compassion... those aren't qualities I've always been allowed to show... They're certainly not qualities befitting a rogue shinobi." he whispered softly. "I suppose, in a way... I am."

[stillpure]

He smiled at him then. "I'm glad."

[itachi_san]

"... I'm afraid I don't completely understand."

He nibbled on his dango.

[stillpure]

"It means that even though you're sad, you're still me."

[itachi_san]

"... of course I am..." he whispered, weakly putting his hand on the boy's shoulder.

[stillpure]

"Well, after the last me, I wasn't sure. He was... so so unhappy. He wasn't sick, like you, but looked more tired. He tried to scare me but I wasn't scared."

[itachi_san]

"The... last you?" Itachi blinked, almost choking on his dango. "There are... more of us?"

[stillpure]

"Un! You, and me, and the one who ran away from me, and the one with Tenten. She's Neji-san's teammate."

[itachi_san]

Itachi blinked again. There were four Itachis (at least) in this village?

"Are they all... from different points in time?"

[stillpure]

He considered this. "I know there's me, and you, and the other older one who I think died. He was really unhappy to be alive I think. And I never spoke to the other one."

[itachi_san]

"...One of them... died?" Itachi whispered. "Do you know how?"

[stillpure]

He shook his head. "He was the one who ran from me and tried to scare me."

[itachi_san]

"I see..." Itachi looked away. Other people seemed to think he died at Sasuke's hand. So it was possible... it might still be possible... "I'm sorry."

[stillpure]

"No matter how bad it is, you shouldn't wanna die. You can't help anybody if you're dead."

[itachi_san]

He was silent for several minutes as the boy's words played over and over in his mind.

"That isn't... entirely true. Sometimes... you can help one person. And that one person... may be worth dying for."

He scolded himself, of course, for saying that. He wanted this younger version of himself to never have to face such things. He shouldn't be defending them.

[stillpure]

"But... if it doesn't help, then you can't fix it."

[itachi_san]

"... I can only hope I can..." he whispered. "In time..."

[stillpure]

He shifted his stick to one hand, made sure he wasn't sticky, then scooted around to hug him again.

[itachi_san]

Itachi accepted the hug. It was really all he could do at the moment.