Shinobi x Assassin - Naruto fanfiction(COMPLETED)

Chapter 48 : Tough love

Akame P.O.V

We had left the battlefield. Sasuke was still unconscious. I had no medical techniques whatsoever...I just know to apply any given medicine and wrap bandages. Surely Madara was more useful in taking care of his injuries.

Instead, I looked after Itachi. I had just frozen his body into a comatose stage. I couldn't see what I could do for them. The Uchihas sense chakra and I used my Imperial arm and not chakra so they should think he's dead but just why was I doing this?

Obito: Akame?

Akame: Hm?

Obito: It seems Sasuke has woke up.

AKame: I...I see...

You see...Sasuke's mission is complete. True the end was anticlimactic, he sent me to the Akatsuki and I didn't help him but...now that Itachi is 'dead'. What relation do I share with Sasuke?

Friends?

No. We never bothered talking to each other about anything other than the mission.

Comrades?

No...he left 'all' of his comrades back in Konoha.

Ah...

The only option I could see was...

Ex-client

So if he was my ex-client then...doesn't it mean that there are no more ties that connect us. Obito looked at me with a questioning glance. I shook my head and followed him. Sasuke might be my ex-client but...at least I should see how he is doing now.

The room was in a dark and dry corner of the hideout. Sasuke sat on a mat that had been spread on the bare ground. The only light in the room was from the flickering flame of the candle. It lit the room up with an eerie glow.

This terse atmosphere only accentuated the blank, empty look in his eyes. Looking back...I knew this would happen. Sasuke had not been an assassin. He had been an avenger. Revenge was what had moved him all this time and now...he had no reason for living.

No wonder he feels empty all of a sudden.

Obito: You won...although you suffered quite a bit of damage yourself. You should avoid overexerting your body.

Sasuke: ...

Obito went on chattering about how Sasuke and he were on the same side now but...I couldn't help but despair at how unresponsive Sasuke was...as if he was an empty doll...

Obito: I brought you here because there is something I want to talk to you about...it is about Uchiha Itachi.

I saw a flicker of light in Sasuke's empty eyes. But...my mind was...once again full of confusion. Obito...knew about Itachi? then why didn't he tell me about it before?

Sasuke: ...

Obito: That is right. You think you know everything but...in reality you know nothing.

I gave Sasuke a glass of water. He drank it quietly but chocked on it. Now that I was closer to him, I noticed the extent of damage on Sasuke. His shoulder and abdomen were heavily bandaged. When he heard what Obito had said, a flicker of annoyance crossed his eyes.

Obito seemed quite pleased to find that, while Sasuke didn't voice his opinion, he was...at least being responsive.

Obito: But before we get to that story, let me introduce myself. As Akame already knows, I am like you, a living remenant of the Uchiha clan...and I know the truth about Uchiha Itachi.

Suddenly when Sasuke looked at Obito, the pattern of his Sharingan changed and set Obito on fire! It...was the same black flame that I had seen Itachi use during our previous battle when he fought against Jiraiya-sama. It was...Amaterasu!

Obito's body convulsed and he sunk back into the shadows but I bit my lip in irritation when I remembered that Amaterasu is n inestinguishable flame. Even my freezing blade won't affect it!

Sasuke: W...What was that..just know?

Sasuke finally spoke! His voice was cold and empty but he couldn't hide the shock he was feeling now. I had the same question. Just what was happening?

Sasuke was breathing heavily and his right eye was bleeding.

Obito: It was the Amaterasu that Itachi planted in you. Typical Itachi. He amazes me even in death. He's even taken measure for this situation.

Sasuke: What the hell are you talking about?

Obito: He transferred that technique into you to kill me. No...to put it more clearly...it was to keep me away from you. I'm guessing he set it up to activate if you saw my Sharingan... like a trigger. He planned for this amidst his dying breath but...it is a pity he failed.

Sasuke: What the hell are you talking about!

Sasuke's coughs got worse and I numbed his body a bit to ease his pain. I was just quietly listening. This was obviously a very important discussion.

Obito: At the last moment...he did something didn't he?

Sasuke's eyes opened in shock. Is Obito talking about the final poke that Itachi gave? After Obito and I had come upon the scene, we realized that Itachi wasn't dead. He used his Susanoo to force Orchimaru out of Sasuke's curse mark and killed it...or rather sealed it with the Sword of Totsuka. After that...he gave Sasuke a final poke on his head and...collapsed beside him.

Obito: With his final movements, he transferred all of his ocular powers to you.

Sasuke: What do you mean...what the hell are you saying? Why would Itachi do something like that for me?

Obito: You don't get it do you? But...Akame did...quite a while ago actually but...perhaps that is because she had a younger sibling. You know why Itachi did it right?

Akame: I...even though my sister was on the opposite side...all I could do was defeat her...I couldn't bring myself to inflict damage on her...even if I knew I was right! We were young when we separated but...we were still sister! I couldn't face her honestly....wait...you don't mean...Itachi did it all...to protect Sasuke!

Sasuke was quiet. Even though Itachi had hurt him...even though Itachi had tortured him...even though Itachi had shown him nothing but darkness...

Sasuke was unable to convince himself that Obito was wrong. Somewhere deep down...he still remembered his kind, prodigious brother.

If Itachi really was protecting Sasuke from the shadows then...he really did a good job on that. I...didn't notice it at all!

Back when we fought Itachi and Kisame when they came to kidnap Naruto, Itachi had, with ease, snapped Sasuke wrist and broken his ribs. He also tortured him with a genjutsu with a blank look. If Obito was right then...

Was this what people call...

Tough love?