Many nights

A/N: I hope you will like it. The title is inspired by Itachi's theme song – "Many nights" by Senya. Big thanks goes to my beta reader anniegirl132 and my friend Andrea-chan.

- I don't own "Naruto", it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto

The sound of dry, deep coughing echoed in the nameless inn surrounded by trees. A black-haired man was clutching his chest while violent coughing shook his thin frame.

"Itachi…have you thought about…visiting a medic-nin about that problem of yours?" Kisame finally asked, afraid he might anger his partner.

Minutes passed, and the shark man didn't receive any answer.

But he didn't dare to ask again. Besides, Kisame knew, it wasn't smart to bother Itachi. If he didn't want to do something, he wouldn't. And Kisame knew it very well.

Itachi's health began to deteriorate a few months ago. It started as an ordinary cough, but was soon becoming longer and with visible effects on him. His once well-built body was becoming thinner from day to day, and his bones were too apparent through a slender layer of skin.

Although he wore a mask of strength and independence in a light of day, Kisame could see that mask broke under the cover of night, when Itachi was trying to silence the screams of his lungs. In one of these moments, Kisame understood one big truth – nobody is what we think they are.

And nobody is perfect.

Itachi's condition was getting worse. His voice cracked then even on the low high and sometimes, at least to Kisame, it sounded like he was crying.

But it was a silly thought, because Itachi was too prideful to let his emotions overcome him.

Shortly after, some basic things were becoming a problem for the cold Uchiha, such as reading.

Itachi used his Sharingan more than ever in order to reduce the shortage of his natural sight, but it took its cost. He was losing his sight more with every passing day.

However, Kisame acted as if nothing unusual was happening. If someone didn't know better, he might say Kisame was cruel. But he wasn't.

(At least not that much).

He respected Itachi, and respect means no interference with one's privacy.

(And he knew Itachi's weaknesses are the main part of his privacy).

In the dawn one morning, Kisame woke up for no particular reason. He lazily rubbed his groggy eyes which went wide open when he saw the sight in front of him.

The dim light streaming through the window shined on the faint silhouette. Itachi was leaning against a washbowl while waves of blood spilled out of his mouth and dripped onto his thinning hair.

He looked spectral then, with hollow cheeks and a too-thin ribcage on which Kisame could see every single rib, looking like they were going to break his skin at any moment.

Itachi's scrawny hands, with all too visible veins, were gripping bed sheets as wild coughing wracked his tired, drained body.

He is dying - Kisame noted, closing his eyes.

Itachi has been absent for quite some time, then. It wasn't long until Kisame heard that his five years long partner died.

The news almost caused a sense of nostalgia within him...almost.

Zetsu informed him that Itachi fought his brother, Sasuke Uchiha. The younger prodigy wasn't nearly as strong as his sibling, but it seems Itachi let him win.

It was strange, why would Itachi do that?

But then again, Itachi was always shrouded in mystery, always so far away. No one probably knew Itachi's true intentions. He was like air, present all the time, but you couldn't see him.

It was the same that time, when Itachi's corpse was lying on the wet ground, no one bothering to remove him.

Kisame slowly approached his deceased partner and wrapped his arms around Itachi's body, ruined by illness and battle.

He took him away to the nearest cave and went into the clearing in the middle of the forest. There he dig a deep hole, where Itachi's body will rest in eternity.

After burying him that night, Kisame put a simple tombstone, without any marks on it.

Itachi was simple, and so will be his grave - Kisame decided. Besides, the shark man knew that Itachi, being an S-class criminal, was hated by many people who would likely desecrate his grave. Itachi was his teammate and although they weren't ordinary partners he will give him the last respect.

It's only been few days from the burial when Sasuke suddenly joined Akatsuki. He told them a truth which shook their beliefs.

Itachi massacred his own clan in order to protect the village and prevent Fourth Shinobi World War. But most of all, he did it to protect the person he cared about the most, me, his younger brother.

When Kisame is thinking now, that explains Itachi's unusual behavior. That explains why Itachi was always polite and respectful toward members of their organization, although they rarely responded him the same way. That explains why he didn't kill when it wasn't needed.

Itachi wasn't one of them (Akatsuki)...he was...better.

Who knows how many nights Itachi spent struggling with not only a serious disease, but also with the huge burden that was placed on his shoulders by no else than his own village. Itachi took away lives of his parents, friends, relatives, superiors and, like it wasn't enough, he was forced to pretend to be something that he wasn't for almost half of his life - Kisame concludes.

All for the sake of the greater good.

Itachi was considered a prodigy, the best of the best, but to Kisame, with these new findings, it was worthless. The power and strength, which this shallow-minded world thinks makes someone valuable, may be a curse.

Like in Itachi's case.

But perhaps he has found peace, wherever he is now, and maybe, just maybe, he is honored for his selflessness.

But the shark man stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago.

With that thought on the mind, Kisame leaves the forest with his back facing the tomb of the unknown hero.

The End