1. A single tear

(This is a Naruto fanfic) Haunted by memories darker than his soul, Itachi finds that sleep is not always so pleasant.

Darkness. Blood. There were plenty of both in this world of his. A world where the sky was not blue, but red. The clouds were not white, but black. The sun did not exist, instead a malcolored moon cast a strange, dim light across the landscape. In this illusionary world, he was master. He could do anything that he desired, good or bad, and no one could defy him. Such was his power as the prodigy of the powerful Uchiha clan. 'Itachi' was a fitting name. He was indeed a bad omen.

Sometimes, Itachi's dreams would take the form of this world, and show him the terrors of his past. The crimes he committed, the horrible things he did to others in order to complete the missions he was given. Virtual torture sessions, people twisting in excrutiating pain from his mental touch. A small, sadistic smile would creep onto his face as the vile images flooded his mind. In his dreams he was truly enjoying every moment of it, savoring every scream and plea for mercy. Until the scenery changed, and he was standing outside a familiar house in a familiar village.

The door to the familiar house opened, a small figure appearing just inside. He recognised the figure immediately, and automatically started reaching a hand out towards it. A scream suddenly echoed between the houses, but was cut short by a slashing sound followed by a heavy thump. The small figure disappeared deeper into the house. Itachi whipped around, knowing that noise all too well. People began to magically appear in the streets, wearing familiar faces. Panic spread like wildfire as a shadow darted around, wielding a katana that was easily cutting through the flesh of the people he had known throughout his whole childhood. The screams could not keep up with the swift death that swept by.

He watched the carnage until it ended, until silence ruled once more. Then he watched the shadow-draped killer move towards him, past him, to the house he grew up in. It entered, and he slowly followed. Old memories pushed to the surface, mixed emotions filling him as he walked through the small hallway. He remembered duty, discipline, control of feelings and behavior. Being a machine, a tool, for the sake of the village's interests. But there was also happiness, and warmth. He thought of the small figure he had seen earlier. Even love.

Loud words of anger and confusion pulled Itachi from his thoughts, and he quickly made his way through the house, tracing the voices to one of the back rooms. He entered just in time to get splattered with the blood of the shadow's two newest victims. He stopped abruptly. The weak moonlight shone in through a window on the far side, reflecting off the blade in the assassin's hands. Itachi's eyes widened slightly, staring at the blood dripping from the katana. Then they moved to gaze upon the bodies on the floor. The bodies of his parents.

Even though Itachi knew this would happen, his heart still wavered a little bit. Mostly because of guilt. He listened for the light steps he knew was coming next, and then moved to the side as the small figure from before approached the room. It was a young boy, who gaped in shock at the scene before him. Breath caught in the child's throat, tears began streaming wildly down his cheeks. He screamed as he fell to the floor, demanding to know things as 'who' and 'why'. The shadow-veiled mass murderer turned to face the dim light coming in through the window. The small boy froze completely when the killer's identity was revealed. He could only shiver as disbelief fought its way through his entire body.

Itachi did not need to see the culprit to know who it was. Instead his heart skipped a beat when he looked at the boy, as it always did. This boy's life had just been shattered into a thousand pieces by the one person he thought he loved more than anything else in the world. Standing by the window, clothes and weapon covered in the blood of their clan, was his brother. His older brother Itachi.

Watching himself in third person, filling his little brother with incomprehensible feelings of pure terror and utter betrayal, the raven-haired ninja silently cursed these wicked memories for forcing themselves upon him like this. He hated them because he could not control them. He, who was judged a master of the mind, could not even purge his own of this recurring nightmare. In a different situation such irony might have even threatened to place a crooked smile on his face. He continued to watch as the younger version of himself put away his weapon, the movement causing his little brother to go into a fit of total panic and run out of the room, out of the house. The bloodstained criminal used his skills to move with incredibly high speed, and Itachi followed suit. When his little brother exited the house, they were both already there, waiting for him. The boy almost fell backwards in surprise, his expression one of fear and desperation. Itachi saw himself close in on his little brother.

Stopping only a few steps away, he looked at the child with those dangerous eyes of his, flashing a bright crimson. He then spoke, a slightly mocking tone evident in his dark voice. The words were bound to be etched into the boy's memory for the rest of his life. After the dream version of himself finished talking, his little brother mumbled something incoherent before falling unconscious to the ground. Itachi felt a wave of sadness wash over him, and a single tear rolled down his cheek as he watched his younger self simply turn around and disappear into thin air, leaving his little brother as the sole survivor in a sea of death.

A sudden brightness in the sky forced him to cover his eyes, and he heard a voice calling him from far away. The light grew stronger as the voice came closer. Then it vanished, rendering his world completely dark.

As Itachi woke up, he felt the sun on his skin. It was shining down through the leaves. His eyes adjusted to the light, but he could still not see even nearly as well as he had a few years ago. The price for using his occular powers was blindness, after all.

"Oh, you're finally awake, Itachi-san," Kisame said in a friendly manner. "You almost had me worried there for a moment." Kisame's voice had been the one calling him.

"Hn." Itachi smirked. A cool breeze blew gently through the glade where they had stopped for food and a quick rest before continuing back to the hideout. It was met with gratitude in the warm weather, and brought with it the scent of grass and lilies of the valley. When it had passed, Itachi got up from his position under the tree. Kisame looked rather curiously at him.

"Itachi-san, forgive me for asking, but did you perhaps see your family while you slept?"

"Hm? I did not see anything. Why would you even ask?" Itachi answered in his usual, calm way, controlling his feelings as he had learned already as a child.

"Because there is only one thing I can think of that could possibly make you cry, and that is Sasuke," Kisame said in a careful fashion, not really sure of how Itachi would react.

Itachi looked a bit surprised, and simply stared at Kisame for a few seconds, after which he raised a hand and touched his cheek. And there it was, the not yet dried trail of a single tear.

Itachi stood still for a while, his head lowered to hide the sad look on his face, pondering on the dream. It was always the same, he had seen it countless times. Then he shook the feeling off and started through the forest.

"Let us go," he said rather coldly. Kisame followed quietly. No words were needed.