Cinderella; Once In A Plot Twist

🍡 Chapter 28 🍡

"You certainly could have done better but I am so happy to be the first to taste your special dango." Itachi couldn't lie to Sasuke about how slightly off the dango tasted from adding in too much chamomile leaves and sugar but he was sincere about being incredibly happy that the boy went out of his way to make it for him. To Itachi it was the most delicious thing he had ever eaten.

Sasuke didn't reply him and Itachi was beginning to get worried. That was until he heard a sniff. It was small and intended to be hidden from him but Itachi, ever perceptive as he was, knew what it was. "Sasuke are you... crying?" The question elicited a small hiccup from the normally unemotive boy and from there his pent up emotions let loose in form of tears. Itachi's heart broke for his brother. "Oh Sasuke." He whispered softly as he raised his hand towards his blurry image.

Sasuke moved back, hurriedly wiping the tears and snot from his face. It was futile, the tears still came. Itachi's hand dropped awkwardly on his lap and fisted his blanket. A silent moment passed between the two, broken only by Sasuke's soft sniffs and hiccups. Itachi let him cry. This was a moment for the boy. Sasuke wasn't one for showing his emotions so seeing him breakdown was a bit scary as it was heart wrenching but Itachi knew he needed it. Sasuke had kept his true feelings back for too long, he needed to let them out.

"Why do you have to die?" After a while Sasuke finally broke the silence with a shaky whisper. "Why did you hide the tumor from us when we could have done something about it before it escalated? Why did you pretend that you were okay? Why did you refuse the surgery!? Why do you have to die?! Why?! WHY?! WHY!!" Sasuke's voice rose with every question. They were irrational, he knows. The deed has been done, there's nothing either of them can do about it now. It was clear that sooner or later he was going to come to Itachi's room on a visit and hear the worst news of his life, one that he had been expecting. Still he was pained. Sasuke had always depended on his brother, who would have his back when he was gone?

"Sasuke..." Itachi started but Sasuke was still ranting.

"You're..." The dark haired teen inhaled a watery breath. "You're my role model Itachi. I-I've always admired you and wanted to be like you...I always want to be around you and do things that would make you to approve of me...and... and...I don't want you to leave me!"

"Sasuke." The boy was not listening. "Heavens, Sasuke!" Itachi raised his voice slightly to get Sasuke's attention. He finally had it. This time when he lifted his hand to touch the boy he was allowed. Itachi smiled as he ran his hand through soft, dark tresses. "Hiding my pain was what I thought was the best decision to make back then. I didn't want to worry you or mother and father so I thought keeping things to myself was a good idea. It was foolish of me. I was so scared of hurting you but I ended up doing even more damage to you later on.  I'm sorry Sasuke. I'm so sorry for putting you through this." Tears were also in Itachi's eyes as he spoke.

"You should be." Sasuke whispered and the older chuckled softly. His hand stilled in Sasuke's hair and came to rest on his wet face. He swiped his thumb under Sasuke's eyelid just in time to catch a falling tear.

"Sasuke, I don't want you to be afraid of me dying." Itachi said softly.

"Who says I'm scared?!" Sasuke was indignant but Itachi knew better.

"You are, my foolish little brother. You are scared about the fact that you won't get to see me again. That all you would have left of me are memories. It's okay to be afraid but you shouldn't be." Itachi smiled at his brother. "As long as your memories of me shall live I will always be with you. Everything I did up till now was for you. Everything I acquired was for your benefit. I always have you in mind Sasuke and that wouldn't stop even after I'm dead. I hate to admit this but having me around gave you tunneled vision. You refused to see the efforts that people around you put to getting closer to you and you closed your heart off to them. Heck if that blond boy didn't literally burrow a space in your heart you would be a loner right now Sasuke. You believe that I am the only person you need but that's not true. You need other people too and there are so many people willing to help you not because they want something in return from you but just because you are you. God knows when I will be gone but the people around you? They're here to stay. So expand your horizons. Make friends with people that would respect you as you respect them. Try out new things. Don't stay stuck in one place forever. And know this Sasuke..."

Itachi removed his hand from Sasuke's face and poked his forehead with his index and middle fingers. Sasuke always love-hated when he did that to him as a kid and that didn't change. The boy grunted and made to swipe Itachi's hand away but Itachi was faster. He gently tugged Sasuke's head downwards until their foreheads were touching and he smiled.

"I love you forever, my foolish little brother."

***

It was strange how st peace Sasuke was during Itachi's funeral. His mother was bawling her eyes out as she leaned against his father while Izumi was trying and failing to hold back her tears. They had the ceremony at the Uchiha mansion but Sasuke wasn't downstairs with the rest of the crowd as the chief mourner. He was upstairs going through the stuff they brought back from Itachi's apartment and his hospital room. There weren't much items as his brother had always been a minimalist but one particular box called out to Sasuke. When he opened it he discovered that in it were journals from over the years as Itachi lived. Of course his brother would keep journals, that organized freak. Sasuke chuckled at the thought.

A knock interrupted his thoughts. "Sasuke." Strangely enough it was Naruto. That boy never knocks. Guess bad times really do bring the best out of people. The blond walked in after he got an approval from his friend. "Aunty Mikoto was worried about you so she sent me to find you."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted as Naruto took a seat on the floor next to him. It was so weird seeing him in a formal black suit.

"How are you feeling?" The blond asked.

"Peachy." Sasuke responded sarcastically.

"Teme." Naruto cussed but he was actually relieved that Sasuke's sense of humor was still there. "Hey remember the day we got our hands on transparent nylon wraps?" Naruto started.

"We taped them across open doors so that unsuspecting people would walk into it." Sasuke chuckled a bit.

"Yeah. Everybody noticed the nylon around the door but for some reason Itachi didn't." Naruto started laughing. It was contagious. The memory was too funny to not laugh at.

"I wish we made a video of it. Itachi's dumb face cracks me up every time." Looking back at it, they should have suspected from there that something was wrong with Itachi's eyesight for him to walk into the nylon wrap but heh, it was long gone and the experience was still as funny as ever. Itachi was wary of open doors for a great deal of time before the trauma finally erased.

After their laughing bout ceased Naruto stood up and dusted down his trousers. "Come on Sasuke let's go downstairs. Everyone's worried about ya." He stretched a hand for his friend to take. Sasuke unsurprisingly didn't take it, choosing instead to stand by himself.

"Hn. Let's go dobe."

***
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