One More Chance - Naruto X RWBY

Till I Collapse

The moon continued to rise overhead as Itachi rested on his trip from Vale to Beacon. Despite his rotting organs, burning lungs and shredded muscles, he found sleep much easier than he had in the hospital, now that he had a path in mind.

He could keep going now.

Inside the former Uchiha's mind he stood, in a forest-like dreamscape lit up by the starry sky. A full and non-broken moon hung over him, joined by a fire before him in illuminating his face. The flames were kept at bay by a ring of stones, further surrounded by a few logs for sitting. That is were he found himself now, on a log in a clearing in a forest, all conjured up by his own world of dreams.

He knew it was a dream, obviously. But the peaceful and calming world around him meant that he didn't really mind the lucidity of his fabricated reality. Here, his eyes were clear and undamaged, twin orbs of jet black that refected the flames before him.

He thought about what he was doing, and why. After Izumi's death, he had never thought he would would love again. He had locked away his heart and let the flames of his right eye consume they key. And the end of the rest of his clan only fanned the flames.

The first step to unlocking his heart again had been his death, the feeling of Sasuke's being against his own as he uttered his final words to him, the only thing he could recognize as all other senses failed him. He still remembered it so vividly, the dream of death being frequent and clear. He could remember the feeling of the rain on his face as his body finally failed him, a last cold breath as he died with a smile. He had always said that lives don't end when they die, they end when faith is lost.

He had kept faith until he had dropped dead.

Could he lose faith now?

Next came his rebirth, the discovery of a life beyond the Elemental Nations, beyond the Uchiha, beyond Konoha. A world of love and beauty, disgraced by his presence and his presence alone. The phantom sensations of fleeting kissed and warms hugs from his mother, the ruffling of his hair and proud grind from his father. The gentle hold of his sister's arms on his body as a baby, such sensations still haunted him to this day.

It was then that he had found love, a familiar love. A family that he could call his own. It was at that moment that he had thought that maybe one day he could let his heart free, let it soar in the heavens on puffy white wings.

But life had clipped his wings.

All good things must come to an end, even if some came much sooner than others. Before he really even got to live, his mother had been taken away from him. The proud beacon of hope, love, and justice that he had once idolized was gone, and his once locked away heart now held a gaping hole in the center.

After that, he had never truly recovered, living a life as a means to an end. His entire being was dedicated to stopping Salem, ending a great evil because he had to. He would hate his life so others could love theirs, let his hidden light guide the road ahead for his remaining family. He prayed for a day where he would see them again after it was over, free of the heartache, free of the strings, free of the hold the universe seemed to constantly grip him with.

But he knew he would never get that chance. After he died, the darkest pit of hell would open to swallow him whole. He was a monster, a demon in human skin that deserved to burn. He would be condemned and damned for his sins, forgotten and left to burn forevermore.

When he had been offered a spot in Beacon Academy, he had viewed it as a means to an end. A way to increase is strength faster and get closer to his ultimate goal. But as time had began to pass and the teams were created...things began to change.

He had begun to smile more, feel the crushing weight on his heart supported by new hands. He had made new friends that soon became family, a life he had never thought he would relive. At first the phantom faces of people long dead had clung to their faces, Shisui in Blake and Pyrrha, Izumi in Weiss, Sasuke in Ruby and Yang, Hiruzen in Ozpin...the souls of the dead stained his vision and mind.