The Guardian (Naruto Fanfiction)

Chapter Twenty-four

Chapter Twenty-four

Now alone, Itachi looked down at his right hand. It was beginning to swell and was a decidedly unpleasant shade of purple. He held it under a stream of water falling from the cracked ceiling to clean the blood from his raw knuckles. He knew he had probably broken the hand punching Obito, but at least the pain provided a small distraction from the pounding in his chest.

Itachi took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He was willing to die if that was what it took to protect the village, but that did not make the prospect of blowing himself up any less nerve-wracking, particularly since he was not entirely sure it would work. He was able to detonate shadow clones by overloading them with chakra, then releasing it all at once. It was what he had done with the shadow clone Obito had captured earlier. In theory, he could do the same thing to his own body, but on a much greater scale. For obvious reasons, however, it was not something he had ever seen in practice. There was also the fact that he would somehow have to prevent Obito from simply phasing through the explosion or it would all be for nothing.

"So, you intend to fight me alone, huh?"

Itachi spun around. Obito now stood just a few feet away, in front of the wall of rubble that had once been the entrance into the large chamber.

"Oh well. I'll just take care of this and find Shisui later. I'll probably need his eyes before long."

"What happened to you?" Itachi asked, trying to stall for as long as possible, "The Obito I knew would never have hurt his little brother."

"I told you; I'm not the Obito you knew. I am no one. As for what happened," he scowled, "I realized I was in hell."

"…I've always believed that we create our own reality. Whatever hell you're in, you built for yourself." Itachi told him, "Shisui and I… we used to look up to you, you know."

Obito scoffed, "You were the only ones. I was nothing back then; a weak, pathetic failure. But not anymore. I finally have the power to fix this broken world and create a perfect reality. Eternal peace. That's what you want, isn't it? Peace?"

"What you're talking about isn't peace; it's an illusion, a lie."

"As far as I'm concerned, this world is the lie! What kind of 'reality' kills the innocent people—the good people—and lets murders and hypocrites rule the world?! That is the lie!" Obito shouted, enraged, "And what in all your seventeen-year-old wisdom is your grand plan for peace? Are you another one who thinks you can achieve peace through fear? Or do you think the entire world will just wake up one day and decide to stop killing each other? Don't delude yourself, Itachi. Humanity will just keep coming up with more excuses and more justifications for war until someone takes control. That person has to be me."

He was slowly making his way along the wall, and Itachi had to keep turning to face him. He was grimly aware that Obito was forcing him into a corner, but there was nothing he could do about it without turning his back to him.

"There is no instant solution. Peace is something we have to fight and bleed for." Itachi said.

"War for peace. Seems to defeat the point doesn't it?"

"It isn't for us. It's for the future generations. It's our price to pay."

"I've paid enough, and I'm tired of waiting." Obito replied.

In an instant, branches shot out from the right side of Obito's body, reaching toward Itachi like skeletal fingers.

"Suiton: Sujinheki no Jutsu."