How long I will love you

4. Obito's wish

Itachi turned around and saw a silhouette and instantly knew. He stared, mouth agape, an expression of utter chock on his face.

"But... You... Are you?.. How..."

Itachi had never been lost for words. He felt Kisame lay his hand on Samehada in preparation for battle. Itachi couldn't clear his mind enough to tell him to lower his weapon. He took a step closer to the man who he knew was Shisui. How tall he was! Even taller than him, who had grown significantly. He had simple clothes on; a black short-sleeved top and loose, black trousers, both made for movement. His sword was, as always, attached to his back with a brown leather strap. He took another step.

"Don't come closer, Itachi!" Shizui screamed, and Itachi jerked back.
"Shisui..." Itachi cursed the tears he felt in the back of his eyes. He still hadn't processed what Shisui had said, or the implications of it.
"So, this is him..." Kisame said, a crooked smile on his face. Kisame was the only one Itachi had ever told about Shisui since leaving Konoha.
"You broke your promise..." Shisui's voice trembled.
"What..." Itachi stopped, suddenly aware of the situation, wondering why Shisui didn't run forward and embrace him, as he wanted to do himself.
A vicious thought formed in Itachi's mind: 'If Shisui has been alive this whole time, why hasn't he sought you out?'
"I'm sorry, Itachi. Don't seek me out, ever."
And he was gone.

Snake. 

Sheep. 

Monkey. 

Boar. Horse. 

Tiger.

"Itachi-san. No, don't get up. We don't need to hurry. The mission can wait." Kisame. Very unusual of him.
Itachi remembered having laid down on the ground, and then just blacked out his mind. Over him stood Kisame but also a man in orange mask whom he knew as Uchiha Madara, and whom Shisui knew by his true identity, Uchiha Obito, who had helped him wipe out the clan.

"Lay still, Itachi. I will tell you everything."
And Uchiha Madara did.
The rescue of Shisui. The antidote, that Madara hadn't needed because the poison wouldn't have killed Shisui. Shisui's inability to forgive Itachi. How Madara hadn't told Shisui he had helped Itachi because he thought he was the one who had the best shot of helping Shisui, but for that he needed Shisui to not reject him. His move to the cottage in Madara's village. Them training. How Shisui had never accepted Madara's ideas, but had still become a comrade. His missions for the village. How Madara had crossed their paths.
'Shisui detests what I have done', Itachi thought, sadly. 'He detestes me. It's over'
He blacked out his mind again, where he disappeared.

Itachi still had purpose in his life, of course, even if it didn't cause him to feel anything, anymore. Konoha and Sasuke. He loved both dearly, but couldn't muster any emotions towards either of them.
A year after finding out Shisui was still alive, he had started to cough badly. A month after that, the cough had started to contain blood. Kisame made him go to a medic.

"I'm worried about you, Itachi-san. Ever since we met Shisui-san, you've locked yourself in. I won't bring that up again, sorry. But this cough... You need treatment."
The medic gave him one year to live. He needed more, for Sasuke's sake. He took every medication he could get his hands on in order to stay alive for Sasuke. They had horrible side effects that sometimes made him wonder if they wouldn't cause him to die even sooner, but he pushed himself to his limits and kept taking them. Three years passed, he was now twenty- one, and he set up his meeting with Sasuke.

"I need to tell you two things."

I looked at Obito, who stood in my kitchen while I was drying up some dishes. He had landed on the roof a minute ago, his usual way of announcing himself, and I invited him in. His announcement was loud, but he always waited for an invitation; he never took the freedom to just walk into my home.
"Shisui... I found out just now, Itachi is terminally ill."
My head jerked up. I dropped the plate. It shattered into a thousand pieces.
"The second thing is... He's on his way at this moment to meet up Sasuke for their final battle at the Uchiha hideout. He's going to let Sasuke win."
I stared at Obito for what could have been minutes. I felt myself breaking out into a cold sweat. "Look..." Obito sighed, pulled out a chair, and sat down. He had never before taken such a hospitality in my home uninvited. "You... You are one of the most intelligent people in the shinobi world. Why? Why is it so hard for you to understand what Itachi is doing?" I was taken aback. Was Obito defending Itachi? "I don't care about either of your feelings, but seeing you unable to forgive this man for eight years is unbearable. Do you think Itachi killed his clan before thinking of any other way out? Do you think he didn't even consider using the eye you gave him? Shisui, you are intelligent, but Itachi is even more so. He went through every possible scenario in his mind for a better solution, and couldn't find it. And he was right. Based on the information he had, and that was a lot, he made the decision that was most likely to lead to the best outcome!" Obito had started raising his voice. "And the reason he hesitated was because of the promise he made to you! He tried making up for it by letting Sasuke live and have him kill his older brother to become a village hero and so honour the Uchiha name, as you wished, and also becoming an undercover spy for the village he promised you to protect! He thinks I don't know what he's up to, but I know! But I let him be in the Akatsuki despite him leaking information to Konoha because he makes everything with much less collateral damage than any substitute would ever do, so having him gains me more than it costs. There is some pure evil in this world, Shisui. Itachi is not it!"
I just stared at him, mouth agape. Who was this man and why did he care so much?
"I..." he went on, calmer now. "I saw the love of my life die. I don't want the same for you. Despite our differences, I see you as my comrade."

I stood still for a good minute, looking Obito in the eyes, through the mask. Then I went to my front door, putting my sandals on.
"Where are you going?" asked Obito, crossing his legs, having calmed down.
"To Itachi."

The pain in Itachi's lungs was excruciating. During his entire battle with Sasuke, he tried to conceal how hard it was to breathe. Midway through, he had started to cough up blood. He had purposefully tried to take enough damage from Sasuke so that Sasuke would believe the blood was due to the battle and not an underlying disease. It was a relief, Itachi thought, to have a way out of this life. Ever since he believed Shisui died, he hadn't been able to pursue happiness. But as long as he viewed himself as an asset more than a burden to the world, he had continued living. But now, his role was fulfilled.

'This is it, Shisui...' he thought. 'If you truly had been dead, we would finally meet now. But you're alive. Please stay safe, stay happy. Find what you search for in your new home. I will wait for you, wherever I go, forever, for that's how long I will love you.'
The genjutsus. The rigged shurikens. The katon. The Amaterasu. The Kirin. The Susano'o. His lungs burning. His vision almost completely gone due to his extensive use of the Mangekyo Sharingan. Implanting Amaterasu in Sasuke. All was set.

He could die, peacefully.

"Shit..."
The enormous strike of lightning could be seen from a vast distance. I still had about two hours left to run. Could I use the Body Flicker for such a distance? It would exhaust me, but I increased my speed a little at least. I couldn't be late for this. Everything was clear to me now. I had buried myself in a mindset of distrust. Of course Itachi had thought it through. Of course he knew what he was doing. And instead of seeking him out instantly when I was saved by Obito all those years ago, to give him the life I thought he deserved, I lived with my own image of his thought process. I was ashamed of myself and I would do anything to amend things with him and bring him home to me.

I arrived at the mountainside. The entire mountain had been carved out by the battle. I saw clotted blood on the ground mixed with phlegm, letting me know it was blood from the lower respiratory tract.
"Itachi... What in the world did you go through?"

It was then that I saw it. A body lying on the ground. The clothes were burned, revealing slender arms, one of which had the ANBU symbol tattooed on it.
I ran towards it, throwing myself on the ground.
"ITACHI!!"

But he was already dead.