Towards the Sun

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Sasuke.

"No way...," said Sasuke quietly, frozen in place. Before him was Uchiha Itachi, floating, like himself, in a sort of dark realm. His Nii-san was just as how Sasuke always remembered him, not in the Akatsuki dresscode, but wearing his usual high-collared black top and grey pants. "I'm dreaming, right? You're just... just a figment of my imagination." The younger Uchiha lowered his gaze to the abysmal depth beneath them, his eyes losing focus. He clenched his fists in frustration. Why was his subconscious so keen on torturing him so?

That's for you to decide, replied Itachi, a casual tone in his voice. However, his words seemed not to come through his moving lips but directly from inside Sasuke's mind. More importantly, look closely around you. This is no normal dream.

Sasuke immediately looked back up at his brother who had crossed his arms above his chest, his own eyes scanning their surroundings. The younger brother followed suit. From his point of view, the omnipresent darkness was... well, it was just dark. The only peculiar detail was that he could clearly see Itachi-nii-san despite the absence of light. After some time, he said uncertainly, "Genjutsu?"

Not just any type of genjutsu, replied the other; his expression had changed to a sad one, as if remembering an old memory. Was it nostalgia in his voice? Only one person used to have this... special ability. And we both knew her. At Sasuke's confused look, he slowly uncrossed his arms and raised a hand to his collar, dragging it down enough to reveal a necklace composed of three evenly spaced silver rings.

"You - you can't mean...! But she died back then, so that'd be impossible. You should know that better than anyone else." The image of a smiling teenage girl passed through Sasuke's mind, her long indigo hair contrasting with her fair complexion. As he pictured her face, something in particular seemed to catch his attention. "Is that the reason why she was always blindfolded?" Upon Itachi's silent nod, he muttered, an eyebrow raised, "Figured that even your love interest would be no one ordinary. Even her name hinted at it." Surprisingly, Itachi cracked a smile at this remark, the corners of his eyes crinkling in amusement. "Huh? What?"

Straight back at you.

"I - I don't see what you're talking about!" came the reply a bit too quickly, backing up the fact that Sasuke's words belied his underlying embarrassment. He desperately willed the subsequent rush of blood away from his face, completely opposed to the idea of exposing this unprecedented vulnerable side of his. "Anyway, let's not digress. So... even if you say that this is her Sharingan's specialty, I still can't cross out the possibility that you might be the culprit disguised as my brother to deceive my trust."

You have a point. Astute as always, my dear foolish little brother.

Said dear foolish little brother clicked his tongue in annoyance, his suspicion faltering upon recognising his brother's ability to get on his nerves (which he had mastered after joining the Akatsuki). Itachi seemed to sense this shift because he then went on as though his credibility had never been doubted.

Her dream genjutsu is unique in the sense that it traps the victim in his subconscious. His memories, ideas, feelings thus become hers to play with. Still, she did admit that the possibility to visualise them depended entirely on the person upon whom the genjutsu was cast.

Sasuke's eyes closed momentarily as he digested all that information and processed his thoughts. This whole situation made no sense. The fact that he was currently conversing with a dead person - his brother whom he had personally seen die in front of him, no less - was proof enough that Sasuke should start worrying about his mental stability, his overall sanity. He sighed. "This just gave me all the more reason not to believe any word you tell me." He narrowed his eyes imperceptibly at Itachi who now had a don't-tell-me-it's-only-now-that-you-realise-this kind of look plastered onto his face. "Don't give me that sly smirk, will you?"