Chapter Text
Sasuke Uchiha fought. He fought for all he was worth. His adrenalin caused his heart to pound, louder and louder. He was pretty sure that Itachi could hear it, even though he was standing on the opposite end of the battlefield. "I hope you're ready to die," Sasuke yelled, his voice tone entirely masking his fear.
"It's good to see you too, Sasuke," Itachi muttered, jumping to the sky and landing squarely in front of Sasuke. With his katana drawn, he rested the blade's edge on the ground, trying to lift some weight from his arm.
Sasuke glared at him, not really sure if he's just being feinted, or if there was actually something wrong with his brother. It's not like Itachi was one to hide how strong he was. Ever. He was as self-confident as they come. So sure in himself that it never crossed his mind to pretend to be weaker.
But then, that's not the case. So, why exactly was he dragging his sword on the ground as if it's too heavy for him?
Why is he slouched like he's tired?
Why is his grip so loose?
"Why are you holding back?" Sasuke yelled, as a substitute for 'are you okay?'
Itachi's shoulders suddenly tensed. His temple throbbed a bit, "….I'm not…." He growled. He pushed the blade into the ground to readjusted his grip. He took in a deep breath, but the exhale came out shaky.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. 'Is he… sick?' he wondered uncomfortably. He focused himself and forced himself to take in account, for the first time in over ten years, how his brother's looking. How deeply etched those frown lines have become in his brother's face. How dark the circles under his eyes had become. How out of breath he really was.
"Come on, Sasuke!" Itachi yelled, breathing harder with each word, "Going to run away again?"
His younger brother scoffed, "No! I'm not," he yelled back, trying to muster up all the remaining energy he had, "and I'm not going to let you get away with it!"
Itachi tilted his head a bit, but didn't reply. He looked like he rested more on his katana now.
"You slaughtered my entire family… you killed our entire clan!" Sasuke screamed, not sure why he hasn't jus attacked his brother yet. He's not sure why it suddenly feels like his brother needs him.
The older man suddenly looked so tired. So defeated. But, with a squaring of the shoulders, his Sharingan finally activated, "And now you're defenceless." He stated, he suddenly flinched as a stitch pulled at his chest, but he kept his composure. Itachi sighed, "I will take your eyes and become invincible."
Sasuke swallowed dryly and holds his ground, but his legs are shaking so badly that he's not sure he can hold it anymore. But, even he knows he's cornered. Cornered and on the verge of death.
Itachi's steps were slow, but not as determined as usual and not nearly as self-assured.
Sasuke didn't brace himself though, even though the fighter inside of him was screaming at him to do so. He didn't put his guard up, for the first time in years. He stood there, almost waiting, as his brother approached him.
And then, almost like sun breaking through a storm, Itachi smiled.
It's not his victorious or sarcastic smile. It's not the smile he relents when his opponents amuse him. It's not the strained smile he forces out whenever he's on the verge of losing his endless patience.
No.
It's the sincere smile that Sasuke hadn't seen in over ten years. The smile the older Uchiha would save for the precious moments he and his brother were together. Saved for the only times he was truly happy.
Itachi then reached up with his hand, the same hands who murdered Sasuke's entire family... he reached forwards.
And, almost in slow motion, the realization of death suddenly sunk into the younger man. The realization that he was still just as weak as he were when he was an adolescent. That none of his training had prepared him. That he was still going to die. He almost burst into hysterical laughter when he thought of how Itachi's hands, that were about to steal his Sharingan, looked like Itachi was about to give him a fore-head poke.
But the truth was, the older man was about to finish the job he should've finished more than a decade ago...
Suddenly, Itachi pitched forwards and Sasuke's body reacted instinctively. The young man caught his brother in a hold, still trying to refocus himself from his previous thoughts.
It's only then when Sasuke noticed the blood running from Itachi's mouth and his strained expression, within the happiness. "Kill me," Itachi said, unemotionally. His eyes were distant, but still fearless.
It never occurred to Sasuke to notice how light Itachi was, or how raspy his voice sounded… but nonetheless this information all collided together to give him an answer to the question he never asked. This guy had to be sick. Itachi was sick. His brother was really sick.
Itachi suddenly reached down and grabbed one of his own kunai along with Sasuke's hand, he wrapped the kunai in Sasuke's hand and positioned the blade perfectly, "Kill me," he said, and sighed as he did, "Please?".
But the smile was still there.
Maybe it was just the concurrence of all the unanswered questions he had over the years; all the facts that just didn't add up; all the memories that seemed just too perfectly arranged to be true. Maybe it was how the Hokage never spoke ill of his brother, merely commendated his image with awe. Maybe it was because Itachi's supposed 'test of power' was limited to the Uchiha clan, and not taken up with the strongest clans in the Leaf Village. Maybe he wants answers for once.
Maybe that's why, instead of using the blade to drench his brother's chest with blood… he tucks the blade into his own belt.
Maybe that's why Sasuke eases both of them to the ground and helps Itachi to lie down, fashioning a cushion from his own gi.
Itachi's eyes close and he seems to drop in and out of consciousness before finally falling asleep on the spot. He seemed so at ease and peaceful. And, for some reason, that just makes this worse. Itachi was never relaxed, even at their own home so many years ago. He was always on guard, always ready for attack, it seemed. It was like was always prepared to take on some invisible evil that seemed to lurk in every corner.
Right now though, Itachi was completely at rest. Even tapping his cheeks did nothing to rouse him. His breathing had evened out to deep lung-full breaths, although there seemed to be a crackling edge to each breath.
After a few moments of hesitation, Sasuke finally rested a hands on his brother's chest and forehead. He concentrated on his brother's chakra, trying to find out just what was happening. It didn't take long for an almost constricting black aura to envelop his vision. Sasuke snapped his eyes open and shuffled back a few steps.
It hits him, how easy it would be just to leave Itachi here. Defenceless and dying. Without a doubt he'd be dead within a day.
It hits him, how long he's waited and trained so hard, for this moment. To kill the person responsible for murdering his entire clan.
It hits him, how uncontested his victory would be.
It hits him, that his brother was lying on the ground in front of him, in full trust, almost as if waiting for his little to tend to him like his little brother had always done.
With a scoff, Sasuke stands up, with full intention of just leaving. Just leaving this entire memory behind him. It's easy. It's so easy on the first step, as if a weight was being lifted off his shoulders. On the second step it's even easier, the feeling of forgetting the past starting to worm its way into his mind. On the third, Sasuke had turned back without even realising it.
Without medicine or any supplies near him, he was forced to carry his brother all the way to the closest clearing, out of sight of any passers-by until Itachi was ready to move on his own. Sasuke fashioned a bed out of some leaves and replaced his gi-top as Itachi's cushion. He used his brother's Akatsuki cloak as a comforter.
From the forest he managed to collect some herbs for the fever, but no matter where he looked he couldn't find any chakra-restoring plants. The sun was setting by the time he returned to camp with a rosetta of leaves –all fashioned into a cup- filled to the brim with water.
Sasuke tears off a piece of fabric from his pants and dowses it in water. He eyed his brother, not with concern –as he was trying to convince himself- no. He was glaring at him, to make sure the older man was not planning anything. Yes. That was definitely it. He frowned, wringed out most of the water from the makeshift washcloth and slapped it on Itachi's forehead with an unnecessary amount of force.
"I see… you haven't changed," Itachi's said, his voice sounding even more hoarse than a few hours ago. He pretends to forget to add in how, even though they were enemies now, Sasuke was still taking care of his older brother. Just taking care of his nii-san as always.
"You're one to talk," Sasuke snapped back, narrowing his eyes.
That same smile from before appeared again on Itachi's face, "You always did take care of me… even though it's my job as the older brother…" he said and closed his eyes, tiredly.
"I thought brothers were supposed to do that for each other," Sasuke spat and retrieved the herbs from his belt. He walked forwards and dropped them on one of the most even-looking rocks around and started stamping them into a paste with another rock, "But I guess I was wrong."
"No," Itachi said, looking around him with an unfocused look on his face until he spotted Sasuke again, "You weren't…. you're never wrong."
"I was... about you," Sasuke said and stamped the herbs into an even finer concoction, "I thought you cared about me."
Itachi sighed, trying to keep his eyes open but too tired to succeed. But he kept talking, his voice sounding much more awake and alert than he felt, "I still do."
Sasuke's pretty sure he hit the rocks together a bit too hard, because it had to be affecting his hearing. He's pretty sure his brother - er... ENEMY just said….
"Itachi?"
But all that came as a reply was a light snore.
The younger Uchiha sighed deeply, internally yelling at himself for succumbing to this situation. Weakness. Damn weakness, that's all.
It doesn't stop him from adding the paste of anti-pyeretic herbs to the water he eventually took to boiling. And it definitely didn't stop him from pushing the tea at his enemy, waiting until the older man had completely finished the tea before allowing the man to rest again.
Damn weakness.
Sasuke shook his head, hating his own thoughts. So many years he's dwelled on this simple fact: he will kill Itachi Uchiha. He knew it since he was a youngster... that's the only goal that kept him going whenever he felt like giving up. The anger consumed him, drove him on. And now? What happened to all of it?
It felt like all of it just... washed away.
It's all that damned Naruto-baka's fault.
Sasuke sighed heavily as he leaned against the tree trunk. He's exhausted after all the adrenaline of the fight worn off. The surge of energy just left him with an almost lethargic feel, a little sleepy and a a degree more than fed up.
What's worse, he doesn't want to fall asleep. Not when his enemy is just four yards away. Four yards between them is less than a second's worth of distance, if his enemy should decide to flip out on him. Not enough.
Then again, his brother was just four yards away, lying in a deep sleep. He was still so exhausted that he hadn't moved or even twitched since he'd fallen asleep. If there was something wrong, it'd take Sasuke just that much longer to notice. The further away he was, the less the chance was that he'd notice a subtle drop or spiking in his brother's fever. Four yards? Not close enough.
Deciding that sleep was not going to happen anytime soon, the younger brother got up and decided to head out. He decided to round up the next batch of herbs for the fever-reducing tea as well as, hopefully, something to eat.
He takes his time browsing through, not really in a rush to finish. Eventually he does gather all the supplies he needed, finally heading back to camp.
When he does, however, get back to camp, Itachi's awake and already active again. Itachi's halfway between sitting and lying down, although he does seem to be too out of it to be really awake. He's holding his head and cursing, as if he's got a migraine.
"So, you're awake," Sasuke said and dropped the herbs and rabbit on the flat rock he used before.
"S-Sasuke?" Itachi mumbles, looking very surprised that Sasuke's standing in front of him.
Sasuke blinked in surprise at his brother's reaction, but quickly decides to ignore him and set off to work. Remixing the herbs again, skinning and getting meat ready for cooking. He didn't want to spend time socializing. Making friends with his enemy. This is all Naruto's fault. Damn dobe!
"What're you … why're you here?" Itachi asks, his voice sounding hoarse and even softer than usual. He was lying down again, but was watching Sasuke with a hawk-eye. His head was definitely not bothering him anymore, although, he was fidgeting like a ferret on a hotplate.
"What kind of question is that?" Sasuke snaps and irritably stokes up the fire again. When he looks over though, he's stuck somewhere between freaking-out and happy-dancing. Because, during the time he's been away, Itachi's fever seemed to have spiked.
Red rimmed teary eyes, flushed forehead and cheeks, the dark insomnia marks seemed even darker. Not a pretty picture. It's not a good sign that Itachi seemed to be completely whacked out of his mind too.
"Why did you throw leaves on my bed, Sasuke?" Itachi asks with a whiny voice, picking up some leaves and tossing them in the air like parade confetti, "D'you know how long this will take to clean up?"
Sasuke sighs internally and swirls make-shift tea in the make-shift cup to strain it faster.
"Hehe…. This is fun…"
The younger man turns to see Itachi still tossing leaves into the air, a soft chuckle following each downpour.
"… Sit up," Sasuke finally says and walks over with the tea, holding it ready for Itachi, "Drink."
"You're so bossy…" Itachi says within a tired yawn and pushes himself up with a grunt. "It tastes like jellyfish marinated in pinecones….sssaucee…" he says after the first slurp, "I like it…"
"How do you know what jellyfish marinated in pinecone-sauce tastes like? Huh?" Sasuke snaps angrily, not appreciating his brother's lack of gratitude.
"What…?" Itachi asks confused, shaking his head. He takes another sip and grimaces, "Thanks for-" he starts to say, but coughs suddenly erupting from him have him doubled over.
Sasuke takes the impromptu cup and chucks it somewhere behind him, giving Itachi a hand with sitting up straighter. "Try to breathe deeper…" he advises softly, lightly pounding his brother on his back, trying to quieten the fear tightening his own throat.
And, Sasuke tries to convince himself that it's not fear that causes him to see dark spots dancing in front of his eyes when Itachi's cough suddenly produces blood. He tries to convince himself that he would use acupressure on any of his opponents to relieve pain. He tries to convince himself that sprinting to the river and back with cold water is something he would do for the person he'd been trying to kill.
Right?
When the cough finally settles, the older Uchiha seemed to be looking better… a little worse for wear, but better.
The flush seemed to have darkened somewhat, but Itachi seemed to be breathing a little less ragged than before. He even seemed more awake…
"You should… go home…" Itachi says, sighing tiredly. He's leaning against his brother's arm so heavily, that if Sasuke did decide to move, he'd surely fall flat.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously. For a minute he's tempted to tell Itachi that it's because of him he had no home anymore. But, seeing Itachi's fragile expression, as well as hearing the crackling of the meat on the improvised stove…. Yeah. Minds change.
The young man sliced the meat in half, first checking to see if it's thoroughly cooked, before skewering each half with a kunai. He walked back to his brother and sat down on the ground next to him, "You should probably eat something… dandelion root isn't meant to be taken on an empty stomach," he says and takes hold of Itachi's hand, curling his brother's fingers around the kunai, "And judging by the looks of things, you really need eat."
A roll of the eyes was all reply Sasuke got.
"Don't be a pain in the ass, if you don't eat it by choice…" Sasuke says and seemed like he was about to roll up his non-existent sleeve, "There're much more effective ways of ingesting it. Like cutting open your damn stomach, for one."
"You always were pretty graphic with your imagination," Itachi says with a drowsy grin, taking a bite of the meat to stop Sasuke from retorting.
The pair finally eats in an almost pleasant silence.
They both missed this, much more than they'd ever admit.