Take Her Home

Chapter 04.2

I T A C H I

I was listening to the ocean, I saw a face in the sand.....

Itachi walked among the shores after he left his home. His heart was in pieces that he wanted to pick up but couldn't. The sounds of waves were singing to him as he kept his eyes on the vast collection of sand. He saw the face of his younger brother that he dearly loved and his heart broke again as if it wasn't already. Placing his hand to his chest, he gripped his ANBU vest and cried again. He needs to release all of his pain before he reach the location he intends to go to.

But when I picked it up, then it vanished away from my hands....

Itachi remembered the weight of his brother behind his back as he carry him throughout the village. He was making promises to him about growing together and his brother expressed how he soon wants his face carved among the cliff of hokages. He reached for his back but it was only greeted with emptiness. The weight wasn't his brother's but his burdens instead.

I saw a piece of heaven, waiting, impatient, for me.....

Itachi stared at the sun that was setting by the horizon. Different shades of hues glimmered its surrounding and he was in awe. Is this heaven?, he thought. Except it wasn't. He took it as a sign that maybe heaven was indeed waiting for him and he'd want Sasuke to bring him there.

And I was running far away, would I run off the world someday? Nobody knows.....

Yes. He was running away from his sin. The sin bigger than anyone could carry. The sin where his parents' blood lies in his hands. He wanted to run where he'd meet his demise to end his suffering earlier but instead he was met with men in cloaks of black.

I felt alive and I can't complain.....

Itachi never thought that being a rogue ninja among with other rogue ninjas could make him feel alive, but.....

But now take me home, take me home where I belong. I can't take it anymore.....

But he was tired. He was alive, yes, but it exhausted him the longer he is. He just wanted to be home but he didn't know where. He doesn't know if home is where his parents are, or if it's where Sasuke is.

I was painting a picture, the picture was a painting of you.....

Every night Itachi tries to trace the lines of Sasuke's face, imagining how it looks like now, how tall he must've gotten and how big he got. He wondered how his skill advanced and hoped he could witness it one day so that he could tell their parents stories about him.

And for a moment I thought you were here, but then again, it wasn't true.....

Everytime he imagined of him, he hoped that once he opened his eyes, his little brother would be there, but instead there was none, only the dark abyss of his place accompanied by the emptiness of his heart. It was then he wanted to do something in the hopes to save himself from drowning further into his monochromatic world.

All this time I have been lying, lying in secret to myself.....

He had heard how Orochimaru marked Sasuke with a curse seal and he knows that sooner or later, Sasuke would seek for the snake man in order to grow stronger. Itachi promised their parents that he would take care of Sasuke and so, he thought of the wildest idea to prevent Sasuke from leaving the village..... and its to take her away.

I've been putting sorrow on the farthest place on my shelf.....

Itachi thought that if he did take her away, Sasuke would be able to learn how to control his curse seal and prevent him from leaving. He imagined that by taking the only girl Sasuke cared for, he'd grow stronger. The idea was a stretch, almost impossible and it could end worse but when he got his hands on her, when he took her away, Sasuke indeed planted himself in the village. And through this way, the sorrows he had for himself for years are put away momentarily because through her, he will show how he loved his brother.

I felt alive and I can't complain.....

He felt alive again when he went through her memories and found out that she loved his brother. The content with knowledge that he was loved despite being left made him assured that he made the right decision to leave him alive. He almost felt regret that he would be taking her memories for a while, but he needed her to stay. He needed her to be stronger so that when he's gone, she and Sasuke could work things out with the love he will leave for them.

But now take me home, take me home where I belong. I got no other place to go.....

He wasn't home. But with Sakura, he somehow felt he is. Her memories played in his head and he used it for his longing to his brother. And although Sasuke wasn't lively anymore, he was still happy to know that he found family through Team 7. Another wild thought entered his busy head and he pondered if it was worth it.

And then he decided. He decided to give her the Sharingan Uchiha Shishui has left to him. It will serve as her protection and his eyes. His eyes to see the future she will hold with his little brother, Uchiha Sasuke. He imbedded in Shisui's Sharingan that once Sasuke's Mangekyo made contact with it, Sasuke will also see his memories of his longing and love for him.

But I kept running for a soft place to fall, and I kept running for a soft place to fall.....

Itachi ran towards him. He ran towards his little brother. So when he was able to face him, he was ecstatic. He was everything he imagined him to be. He was beyond happy to know that his blood will shed from his hands so when he walked his way towards his frightful brother, he poked his forehead for one last time and said his final words.

Take me home where I belong.....

Itachi will finally see his family beyond the ethereal sunset he saw when he left the village. And he can't wait to tell them stories about his painful yet somewhat tolerable life.

Now take her home, take her home where she belongs. She got no other place to go.

"You may now take her home." he said to his little brother.

Itachi can now finally die in peace knowing she's in great hands and so does Sasuke.

For years he spent his life in suffering, but finally, he's no longer on that path.

And finally, Sakura's and Sasuke's happiness will start its course.

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Italicized narrative are from Aurora's song named "Runaway." The line "take me home" is where I got the title for this book.

Take Her Home are Itachi's words for Sasuke to take Sakura home.

Published: 07 May 2021