How long I will love you

5. Kitchen Table

I sat with him for hours. I didn't cry. I didn't scream. I just sat next to him, holding his hand. I started talking to him a bit, about how my thought process had been when rejecting him, and how it had now changed. I then found I couldn't stop. I told him about how much I've trained, and how impressed I was by his improvement, and how I would have loved to go one-on-one with him again, to see who was now the strongest. I asked him if he remembered when he called me "Shisui of the Body Flicker" while we kissed. I told him how that had made me go limp with desire. I told him that now I was twenty-four, and he was twenty-one, I felt no limits to what I would do to him. I told him that during all this time, what I had missed most was our conversations, my best friend.

And most of all, I asked him for forgiveness. Over and over again, I said I'm sorry. I said that he didn't need to ask me for forgiveness for killing the clan; that I understood, that hell, I would probably have done the same if I were in his situation.
I continued for hours, keeping the fact that he was dead out of my mind, refusing to accept it.

I was holding his hand quietly now. It was dark and the moon was full, casting a bright light on the battlefield. I realised Sasuke must have already left, or have been fetched, depending on the state of him after the battle. I heard a rustling of leaves, and turned around. It was Obito, clad in a black robe and his orange mask. He must have used his Kamui to transport himself quicker than me.

"I have talked to Sasuke. I have told him the truth." "How did he react?"
"He's heading back to Konoha to tell them the truth." Wow. "I see."

"How long have you been sitting here?"
"I don't know. A while." Obito didn't say anything, so I continued. "I needed to tell him I'm sorry."
"You should be", said Obito, but there was warmth and kindness in his voice.
"Shut up", I said, also with warmth. "Thank you for banging my head in for being so thick. I can't believe it took me eight full years. I just can't..." I suddenly felt tears dripping down my cheeks. "I regret it so much, Obito!" I screamed out over the valley. "I will never, ever forgive myself for this. He was everything to me!"
I felt myself starting to shake and hyperventilate. My chest hurt so much, I thought I was dying of heartbreak. My breath became shorter and more ragged, and I was gasping when trying to breathe in. A small trail of drool traced its way down my chin as I was panicking, and I felt lightheaded and dizzy. And then the screaming. I screamed my lungs out. Then I took a ragged breath in and screamed again. Again and again.
Obito remained quiet and still for a while, silently watching me, not interfering but letting it pass. After a few minutes, I felt myself become calmer and calmer, until I was on all fours, panting, drool dripping onto the ground. When I was back to normal, Obito went to Itachi and kneeled. I watched him as he put his hands over Itachi's chest, a blue glow starting to flow around his hands.

"What... What are you doing?" I panted.
"Remember how I told you I lost the love of my life?" Obito asked. I was silent. "Everything I do has been because of that. I don't want the same for you."
Suddenly, it dawned on me what Obito was doing. "Obito, you don't have to..."
"Quiet! It's too late now, anyway. Take him to the hospital in my village. It is small but I have collected a couple of the best medics there are. Take him there, quickly. Tell them he has been dead... for a few hours... but..." Obito was becoming weaker. "I have... removed his disease... He won't need medications for that... anymore..."
"Obito... Thank you."

The grief of having lost my mentor and comrade mixed with the giddiness of Itachi being alive. I carried him in my arms, using the Body Flicker to transport quickly to the village. I was exhausted halfway there, but kept going. More than once, I stumbled on a tree branch as I couldn't help but look down on him. It was such a long time ago he was this close to me. At first, his body had been cold, but was now growing warmer as life came back to him. His face was still as exquisite. No, that wasn't right. It was even more beautiful, the lines on his cheeks having grown deeper, the features of a man having replaced that of a boy. He was beautiful. "Please stay alive", I begged him. "And please, forgive me"