A/N: terrorofthehighway requested some Anko/Itachi as well as some Sarutobi/Itachi and Bubbel97 and Silverlunamoon requested a dose of brotherly ItaSasu. (Admittedly, most of those requests were over a year ago, but wth why not.) So I just slammed a couple of plunnies together and they produced some pretty good results.
Moments
Chapter Forty-Five
Departure
-x-
"Permission to speak freely, sir?"
"Granted."
"I…don't think I can do this."
Sarutobi watched the boy contemplatively and then sighed.
"I am afraid that you have no choice, my boy. Only through your actions can the Will of Fire continue to burn strong."
Itachi shook his head. "And you think the way to ensure the continued flame is to kill your own innocent villagers? Not all of the Uchiha are ninja! There are smiths and cooks and tailors and friends and families...!" He broke off, clenching his fists where they remained on the ground. His crouch was uncomfortable, but the pain of stiff muscles was infinitesimal compared to the emotional ache. "I know that you command my every action, but I swear to you that if you force me to do this, I will never again glimpse your precious Will within myself!" He looked the sandaime straight in the eye as he whispered his final statement. "And I will never forgive you."
All Hiruzen could do was frown and nod, left to watch as the boy genius flitted away from his sight.
-x-x-x-x-x-
"Aw, honey, what's got you down? You don't get up soon, I'll eat all your dessert~"
Itachi ignored his older companion – annoyance, his reflex-thought inserted before his heart-thought won out with nakama – and the tone of voice that told him that she knew exactly what had 'gotten him down' and that she had absolutely no idea how to 'get him back up'.
He knew she was fishing for a solution, but he knew there wasn't one, couldn't be one and all he could do was shake his head and fall into a slump and he was not crying, he couldn't cry, not when the whole village was unknowingly depending on him and this was too much pressure and-
A huge hug filled with motherly, sisterly, and friendly affection and support was quite what he needed right then, and as miracles would have it, Anko decided to give it.
Stroking his hair and pulling out the tie so she could muss it up in what she hoped was a motherly, sisterly, and friendly way, the sixteen-year-old tried her best to comfort and reassure him.
Itachi didn't move for a long time after her whispered speech, and Anko continued to hold him, stroking his hair every once in a while. The job of reliever was an important one, and she was determined to be there for Itachi for as long as she could. She almost hoped to be asked to go with him-but then she caught hold of herself and her wayward affections and reigned them in, closing off a foreverfornever pipe dream that she shouldn't have entertained in the first place.
When he at last rose from her embrace, she stayed where she was and let him walk away in a mask of adamant.
-x-x-x-x-x-
"Brother, where were you today? You promised to take me to the park after academy practice!"
A reassuring whine letting Itachi know everything was alright was what he was greeted with every night without fail, whether he'd done his brotherly duty or not – of course, according to Sasuke, nothing was ever enough.
But that was okay, because that meant Sasuke still loved him enough to want him there, and to care when he wasn't. His father he wasn't so sure about, but Fugaku (and maybe a little of Madara's influence) was the man that had got him this thrice-be-damned mission in the first place.
"Brooootheeeeer!"
"Yes, Sasuke, I heard you. I was out with Anko-san earlier; it couldn't be helped." He leaned over to pick his little brother up in a gesture of sibiling love that hadn't been taken out of the closet in years. Sasuke's breath hitched as he was lifted up and placed on Itachi's hip and he grinned, unable to help himself.
"I forgive you for staying out with that boring girl," he let his brother know softly, nuzzling into his shoulder sleepily. "But next time it's us, and only us! And you have to push me on the swings. But only when nobody's looking, 'cause the girls would laugh if they saw."
Itachi wanted to smile, he tried, but he could only think of how, in a day's time, Sasuke's mind would be consumed by anger and sorrow and regret and loathing and horrible, horrible vengeance. He could only summon up worries and predictions that Sasuke's world would suddenly become a dark and forbidding place, and as he tucked his little brother into bed, he reached out for one last hug.
"I love you, Sasuke. Don't ever forget that."
The boy was too drowsy to be seriously puzzled by the unusual statement and so he only smiled and closed his eyes, too weary to see a last image of his favorite person walking out of the room on silent feet, leaving his precious brother behind for the last time.
-x-x-x
-x-
822 words, also 1/13/12