Little Black Lies || Itachi x F! Reader

Chapter 1

black lie (n): "callous selfishness" and malevolence or, a "deliberate misrepresentation of facts to deceive."

"Get the hell off the ground." A shadow passes over your swirling vision as you lie on the cold dirt, clutching your head. A hand grabs your hair and lifts you in the air. You scream for the man to let go of you, tears flowing from your eyes.
      
"I said," says a gruff male voice, "Get. The hell. Off. The ground." He throws you back down on the ground and you crumple into a ball. "You're useless if you can't even do this," he spits. You try to get up, but your trembling arms give out and you fall back down..
 
"THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? STAND THE FUCK UP-"

"Now, now." A voice says. You''d never heard this voice before; then again, you didn't know many people apart from the man training you right now. "Tsk, tsk, tskx That's no way to treat a child, is it?" He smiles.

The man slowly turns around. "The hell do you want?" He asks flatly.

The second man chuckles again. "Why so cold? I'm just looking out for the little girl." You turn your head over to the new man. He had pale skin, so pale it looked white to your dimming vision. His eyes were yellow and reminded you of the snakes you sometimes saw in the sand dunes. On either side of his nose and his eyes, there were purple markings. His long black hair fell over his shoulders as the man looked over at you and smiled as he saw your gaze. Your vision dimmed even further. "Speaking of this girl, she's coming with me. Maybe I'll bring her back once she's been... properly trained." He walked over to you and lifted you in his cold arms. Your head fell against his chest and your consciousness slipped away.

Your eyes shoot open and you jolt up in bed. You pull your kunai out from underneath your pillow and jump onto the floor in a fighting stance. Your eyes scan the room. When you don't see or sense anything, you stand up straight . Dream. You realize. It was just a dream. You were in Konoha now, far from the merciless sand dunes you grew up in, and far away from... him. You sit down on the bed and grab the covers to stop your arms from shaking. You breathe deeply and soon, your racing heart rate slows. Sighing, you stand up and walk to the window. You open it and lean on the windowsill, letting the wind blow through your hair. The sun had just started to rise, painting the sky pink and orange.

Another nightmare. They had become less frequent over the years, but every once in a while you would wake up shaking and in a cold sweat. They had almost stopped completely, but got worse again when...

You sigh again and put your face in your hands. You really need to forget the past. You push yourself off the windowsill and walk to your bathroom.

       

You stare in the mirror and yawn. It was still early, and you barely got any sleep. Your eyes were puffy, red and had dark circles under them. But the hot shower had helped a little.

You open your bathroom door and look longingly at your bed. What you'd give to have a normal sleep schedule.

"I should start breakfast," you mumble to yourself. You throw on some clothes and walk through your house to the kitchen.

You tried your best to make some breakfast, but you kept zoning out and it took longer than usual. Once you had made a decent enough meal, you walked back through the hallway to wake up the thing that your closest friend left in your care.

You open the door to Sasuke's room and look at him. He looked so peaceful, you almost didn't want to wake him up. Almost.

Sasuke groaned as you threw open his curtains. "Too bright," he mumbled.

"Come on, time to get up." You walk over to his bed and look at him.

"Hn." Sasuke turned away from you.

"Don't "hn" me. If you don't get out of bed, I'll drag you out."

"Five more minutes," he mumbled into his pillow.

You click your tongue and yank his leg.

He yelped as he hit the floor. His eyes were droopy. "So mean..." he mumbled, sitting up.

"Would you rather be late to the Academy?" You asked. Sasuke pouted and crossed his arms. "I'll let you get ready," you chuckled. "Breakfast is ready in the kitchen." You ruffled his hair and walked out of his room. A few minutes later, a sleepy Sasuke walked out of his room. He picked up a piece of toast and looked at it suspiciously.

You watched him examine the toast. "I didn't poison the toast."

He glanced up at you. "You did burn it, though."

Your eye twitched. "You little-" You get up from your seat and dash behind him, putting him in a headlock before he can run away from you. "Make your own food, then! You wouldn't have time to eat in the morning if I didn't make breakfast." You glance at the toast in his hand. "It's barely even burnt! Just scrape the bad parts off."

"Okay, okay! Just let go of me," he whined, struggling against your arm. You chuckled and let go of him, and you both sit down at the table. You glanced across the table at him. He looks so much older already...

You remember that night so clearly. You were on a mission and got a letter from your private messaging bird. You'd given the bird to Kakashi and told him only to use it in an emergency. In the letter, he told you to come back immediately. You felt ashamed to abandon your mission, but your sense of panic had been much greater. You rushed back as fast as you could. It was the night when Kakashi told you what happened-what Itachi had done. Kakashi told you Sasuke was the only survivor. You ran until you found him, and held him for the rest of the night as he cried. He was so innocent then, so small, and so fragile. You swore to take care of him after that. Had it really been only two years since then?

"Oneesan." Sasuke's voice broke through your thoughts. "Uh... are you okay? I was calling you, but you didn't respond."

You blinked. "Yeah, sorry. I was just spacing out," You smiled.

Sasuke nodded. When he finished his food, he put his dish in the sink and got ready to leave.
You started to wash the dishes until you heard him say, "I'm leaving now."

"Wait," you said, drying your hands. He turned around to look at you. "Have a good day today," you said. You put your hands on his shoulders and leaned down to kiss his forehead.

His cheeks turned pink and he blinked. "I'll be late if you don't let me to go." He turned his pink face to the side and crossed his arms.

You chuckled and gently pushed him towards the door. "Alright, bye."

"Bye." He walked out the door and closed it.

You smiled as he walked out. It was a small one, but you swore he was smiling when he turned his head. You pulled a photo out of your pocket and stared at it. There were two kids in the photo, one girl and one boy. They were laughing and had their arms slung around each other's shoulders. The girl had e/c eyes and her h/l h/c hair was blown to the side from the wind. The boy was smiling at the girl. His long black hair was in a ponytail that fell over his shoulder and he had beautiful, gentle, black eyes.

You looked up at the door, then back to the picture. A bittersweet feeling welled up in you.

"He looks more like you every day, Itachi," you whispered before putting the photo back in your pocket.