[He looks back up at that admission. Nineteen years old. So near his own age. The gap between who Sasuke was then, upon his own death, and the young man who stands before him now has lengthened like a shadow in the light. It represented the passage of time he knew he would never witness. The day he left the Uchiha compound was the moment he had accepted removing himself from Sasuke's life forever - never to see him grow, year after year, or take part in all of the milestones he would make and the achievements he would doubtless reach. The times they did cross paths would be a test of ability only. To ensure Sasuke could one day take him down.
He had come to peace with it, or so told himself, nearly a decade ago. What logic was there to wish otherwise? It was impossible. And nothing else could hold him to the living world, after the event of his death, so an end was an end.
... Yet now, studying his brother and all of those minute changes of maturity and age and skill with a fervor hard to suppress within himself, he doesn't know how to proceed. Itachi takes a step closer almost mechanically, then stops.
Less perceptive eyes have adjusted to the shrouded darkness of the cave by now. They fall to Sasuke's side, connecting details to what he saw of earlier's one-handed combat.]
no subject
He had come to peace with it, or so told himself, nearly a decade ago. What logic was there to wish otherwise? It was impossible. And nothing else could hold him to the living world, after the event of his death, so an end was an end.
... Yet now, studying his brother and all of those minute changes of maturity and age and skill with a fervor hard to suppress within himself, he doesn't know how to proceed. Itachi takes a step closer almost mechanically, then stops.
Less perceptive eyes have adjusted to the shrouded darkness of the cave by now. They fall to Sasuke's side, connecting details to what he saw of earlier's one-handed combat.]
What happened?