AN: Like always, hello everyone and thank you for taking your time to read this! And just like that it took me another eternity to update this chapter... I don't even think I have an excuse, but here it is, Chapter 11. Please enjoy and reviews are welcome!

Chapter 11

It was all said and done now, and Sasuke was trying to just feel the cool night's wind playing with his hair. The smell of the hot summer's air and wet grass was invading every cell of his body and the complete silence engulfed his mind. Their reactions were better than he had expected. Actually, he did not expect anything. He just confided in them, but nothing more, but when Naruto offered his help Sasuke just felt the need to cling to that extended hand. He wanted to try. Of course, this approval was not without Sakura's usual tears and Naruto's grief, but in the end they must have realized it too, that Sasuke was gone already.

He was not sure of what they would do to dispose of his body after he was gone, but now they were trying their best to hide their tracks. Helping someone break out from such a facility was no small feat and if anyone were to find out being in trouble would be an understatement to what would happen to Sakura and Naruto. He felt the burden of other people's lives. Putting himself at risk, the self in this world or another world was something else. All his beings were one, trying to achieve the same goal, thinking and feeling the same, but it was different with other people. Sacrificing them and making them take risks felt funny. He couldn't say he wouldn't have sacrificed them for Itachi's sake, but at the same time he couldn't say that he wouldn't feel a bit of the responsibility that his selfishness would bring about.

As the steps approached him he felt completely content. There was nothing left that could displease him and even if his plan was to fail and he'd end up never seeing his brother again he was happy with it. He had at least tried his best. He opened his eyes and in the darkness of the night he could discern two silhouettes fixating him. He slowly stood up and let the wind flow through his thin clothes. Hospitals didn't pay much attention to wardrobes, therefore his outfit was not something to protect him from the wind, but he didn't mind. It felt refreshing and natural.

"We are done" Sakura said breaking the silence with her still shaking voice. It was surprising for Sasuke to hear her talk but at the same time he smiled. She seemed to be at peace with her decision.

"You can do it whenever you are ready"

He was ready. He could do it right now but something made him realize that was not what they were expecting. They maybe wanted a long talk or some inspiring last words, but sadly he had none. Instead he did the only thing he felt like doing.

"Thank you" he said, and as the words left his mouth he realized he was thanking them for more than just this favor, and then suddenly he felt the weight of another body hitting him , making him lose his balance for a second. Sakura was hugging him and just as he wanted to take her off someone else did the same. He was not between the both of them , in something that seemed like a last hug or something along the lines. It was too much for his tastes, but he let them hug him to their hearts' content nonetheless. This was the least he could do.

When they were done and he was gone, they could feel his absence. It was not just that he was now dead in that world, no. Dead people still linger around, create suffering and try to not perish, but Sasuke was different. He wanted nothing more from that world and now he was gone for good, and not even the body that he had left behind could embody his absent presence.

It wasn't much but Itachi was still hanging on to hope. Hope and the clothes that his younger sibling had left behind after he disappeared. It felt strange, unnatural even, to mourn someone that at the time was in the other room, alive and unscratched, and the feeling was even so more powerful since that person was his brother.

He looked at the clothes he had and pain hit him once more. Was every decision of his life wrong? That question lingered around even though he had promised Sasuke to face the reality that he had created. He swore to fix his mistakes and try to change something, yet here he was now, wondering if he was strong enough. His younger brother grew up strong, competent and reliable, he made decisions of his own and never looked back in his path. He embraced his mistakes and tried to fix them the best he could, but at the same time he did not run away from them nor was he ashamed of them. Was this what he had created? If the path he had chosen led his sibling to become such a man, he at least had one thing to feel happy about, but he did not think he could assume the merits of raising him like that.

He turned around to watch the moon. The window was open and the cold air hit his face, keeping him awake. He should have gone to the other room, talk to a Sasuke that was still alive, fix his mistakes and change, but for now he just felt like mourning what he had lost a little bit more. After all Sasuke was his beloved little brother, someone he had always just wanted to protect and each and every one of his existances was just as precious to Itachi. Just because he was not from this world, it did not make him and less important to him. Had it not been for the living sibling of his that was left here, Itachi could have been just as well dead. He smiled bitterly at the whole confusion and weirdness of the situation. If felt like nothing made sense anymore, not even normal everyday living.

A sound coming from the first floor woke him up from his reverie, a sound that was not caused by Sasuke cleaning up the old house they were in right now. A door opening, a sound powerful enough to reach Itachi in his own small world of thoughts. It was not loud, yet it lit some sort of hope inside of him. He slowly sat up from his chair and with the clothes still firmly gripped in his hand, he headed for the door…