Kairos |An Itachi Uchiha Story|

xxxi. no matter how silly

"Will you die if Danzo knew that we were communicating our missions?"

His low mutter questioned out loud. The question that rang in both of their heads as they tried so hard to stave away the Uchiha betrayal that brewed quietly in the background of their village. The question the two had kept silent about because speaking the danger out loud made it real.

"Where does your loyalty lie, Itachi? In the village? In my life? Or in your clan?"

Her voice questioned with little to no emotion. He hated when she did this. His thoughts were never changed and had little to no effort behind them. Itachi always knew what he believed in and never questioned his intentions. He buried his feelings before they could ever stop him from doing what he thought was right.

But with Aiko, he questioned everything he did. It was not the first time her presence and what it brought tested his faith. Tested what he understood was right.

"You are avoiding my question." He sighed knowing he was doing the same. He sighed because it was all he could do to push down the ache in his heart.

He knew what she was doing and it was because much like him, she had no self worth. She has been risking her life all these months working with him to prevent the uprise of his clan. Working with him to buy as much time as possible.

Crouching in the bushes at this very moment, they both knew they were running out of straws to pull. The end was approaching very quickly and this may be their last stop.

"Silly Itachi." A hushed laugh left her lips and the ache in his chest grew heavier. "I care far more of your desires than my own."

Her admission weighed in his mind. Thoughts of how often she was risking her life for him to have more time of whatever normalcy he had left. More time in his home that was slowly dissolving at the seams. Risking her life because she somehow cared more about his time than her own being. He could not process it but deep down he knew he should have expected it. At the heart of it all, Aiko was immensely sad and haunted. He was aware of what hid beneath her layers and the amount of self loathing that coursed deeper in her sheets. The same that filled him and allowed him to move silently against his clan, sacrificing himself for the village of his own.

"Know that I do not hate you Aiko. I would gladly die for you if it came to it because it is such a fate I will deserve."

He was aware just how similar the two were and moments like this reminded him just how closely intwined they were.

"You don't know me..." She whispered and she heard him scoff at his hand on her head grew a bit more sturdy.

"I know you as much as I know myself."

"I told you so long ago, I am sure to die young. Why not make it a cause of someone I care deeply for? It sounds fulfilling enough to me." She gave a bright grin but Itachi could see the ache that bled through Aiko's existence.That damned fools grin with broken eyes making a reappearance on Aiko's face. So fitting but so disheartening to the Uchiha who had grown to care for her far more than he would want to admit.

He knew out loud he could never care for Aiko the way he felt. But internalizing the butterflies and heart swelling she gave him was something he felt in his own time.

And you, weasel butt, you're worth giving it up for because I could see your scars even if I was blind.

So willing to give their lives for each other because they found importance in one another. Importance they could not even see in their own lives.

"I know love is a foreign concept in our worlds right now but when this is all over, I want you to know the first time I ever felt it was with you. If I die, I want you to carry whatever this feeling we share with you." Aiko had not lost her grin but her eyes grew more and more sad with her admission. She wanted to grow older and watch over Sasuke, but with the growing danger to their lives she feared the inability to.