A/N: Since you guys seem to like how I write (I guess) I'll post one of the few one-shots I've written that I actually -like-
You can find the formatted version here.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2876499/1/
Leave a comment. Also, ignore any spelling mistakes/missing words. I was using Open Office at the time that I wrote this and it had a tendency to be...stupid.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...Dead Men Tell No Tales...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The old man sits in front of his grandchild and begins his story. Perhaps, he may notice her dark pink hair, and; perhaps, he may notice the jade glint in her eyes or the rubies that are beginning to grow in them; but if he does, he makes no mention of it.
ôàOnce upon a time, when the Akatsuki still walked the earth and the great Snake Orochimaru sowed terror amongst the Leaf, there was a childàö
Her granddaughter sighs. ôGrandpa, I donÆt want to hear a story. I want to go watch TV.ö
The old man snorts. ôItÆs always about that idiot-box with you Genin these days. I donÆt understand it, I donÆt want to hear it, and if you mention it one more time I wont be responsible for my actionsàö
ôOh for the HokageÆs sake, grandpaàö
ôEnough!ö
His voice makes her startle. He sighs, running his hand through his greying hair. ôI donÆt know what theyÆre teaching you at that Academy anymore. Back when Iruka sensei was still teaching you just didnÆt hear people take that name in vainàö
She rolls her double-colored eyes. ôGrandpa, itÆs just a saying. Everyone says it nowadaysàö
ôOho? So if everyone suddenly decided that it would be a good idea to slaughter their families and run away from the Village, you would too?ö
ôGrandpaàö
He crosses his arms. ôFine, fine. ItÆs just a stupid story. Go watch your MTV and surf your interweb if its so much more important to you than spending time with your familyàWhat do old men know anyway?ö
She scoots closer to him, hugs his legs and tries her best to be generally apologetic. ôGrandpaàGrandpa, IÆm sorryàLook, IÆll listen to your story.ö
The old man looks away, arms still crossed. ôIÆve forgotten it.ö
Her mouth drops. ôOh grandfather donÆt be like that!ö
ôI told you, IÆve forgotten it.ö
ôGrandfather! You havenÆt forgotten it, remember? It starts off: ôOnce upon a timeàö
He finally secedes, patting his grandchild on the head. ôFineàOnce upon a time, when the Akatsuki still walked the earth and the great Snake Orochimaru sowed terror amongst the Leaf, there was a Village Hidden Beneath the Leaves..ö
ôBack then, the Leaf wasnÆt as you see it now. The village was more wood than steel. The forests werenÆt clear-cut. The animals still lived nearer to us than we really cared for; true tigers and wolves coming from the west and the north during winter to devour anything they could get their hands on. In the Fire Country of old, the trees grew taller than the buildings; their thick, scraggly fingertip branches reaching to the sky or to the earth in mock prayer. We were afraid of the forests, every single last one of us, be it during the summer or winter, but we moved through them like shadows and falling leaves and only the stupid would enter the forest and never returnàö
ôFine, fine, I get it, It was a forest, and it was dark, and we shouldnÆt have cut it all do--ö
ôAm I telling the story, or do you want to? You seem so good at it.ö
ôà.Sorry grandfather.ö
The old man smiles. ôàIn the summers it was hotter then Hell and we could barely move without our shoes melting when we walked and in the winters it was cold enough to freeze your piss before it hit the ground. Those of us who were moreàshall we say, human, took it upon themselves to create chaos during these times; using water balloons during the summer of snowballs during the winter toàOh, IÆm rambling, arenÆt I?"
His granddaughter says nothing.
ôWhile the seasons may have been kind to us, nothing else was. Constant wars with the Sound, two Hokage dead from trying to keep the Village together, and everywhere you looked an Akatsuki member trying to tear us to pieces from inside out left the Village with precious few Nin and even less high-paying missions to go around for those who could actually do them, but we held on somehow.ö
ôàEven though we fought off those who would have us dead, there were few true shinobi left, at one point. The Hyuuga had almost died out. The Akimichi were more samurai than ninja, the Aburame werenÆt human anymore, and the Inuzaka didnÆt even try to pass themselves off as nobles. During wartime, the Village depended more and more on its ANBU and its Jounin than on its Chuunin, and Genin teams were being treated more as cannon fodder than humansàö
His grandchildÆs eyes are wide. He canÆt see the hint of ruby clearly now, though he somehow knows its nearer to the iris than it should be, and this makes him both proud and terrified.
ôàThat all changed, in its own fashion. The young manÆs mother and father had been murdered long-ago, and his brother had vanished from the world. Each of them, in their own turn, had left him something to inherit -- his mother leaving behind her dreams, her hope, and his name, Sasuke, and his fatheràö
ôSasuke? But grandfatheràö
ôItÆs a pretty common nameàAnywayàHis father had left him a knife, a title, and a mansion, and the only thing his brother had ever left behind that meant anything to Sasuke was a linked necklace of fangs and beads slightly charred at its edges. There have been worse legacies, in truth, and this was his.ö
ôSasuke was a shinobi. A very good shinobi. He was fast. He was silent. He was deadly. He killed men with fire and lightning and was known as the Crimson Shade.ö
ôThough his childhood was plagued with death, and his teenage years were spent as captive to a destiny he refuted at every step, there was a ray of light in his life, though he was far too blind to see it.ö
His granddaughters eyes go wide. ôWas it a girl?ö
He smiles, perhaps longingly, and ruffles her hair. ôThe dreams of women are very different from the dreams of men. Though Sasuke had a light, and though his light would do anything for him, his life was bathed in darkness. After he was brought back from the Village Hidden In Sound, living to revive his clan seemed to mean nothing to him. Though he had everything a man could either want or need -- a mansion, a knife, a title, a lady in waiting, and enough money to buy his own small island, if he ever wished it, he was dead on the insideö
ôBut I thought Sasuke had everything? I meanàWho doesnÆt even care about having everything they could ever need?ö
The old man smiles. ôTrue value lies only in dreams and prophecies. Material wealth meant nothing to Sasuke when he had lost his dreams; had lost all his goals and his one purpose in life.ö
ôThe war with the Sound was raging and Sasuke changed from a man without a purpose to an excellent soldier. He walked from battle to battle, mission to mission, slaughter to slaughter, as though he were death contained in a human body, and his name changed from the Crimson Shade to the Red Death.ö
ôThe war lasted more than three years before it ended with the destruction of the Sound Nation, and it took its toll on everyone -- moreso Sasuke, who had lost someone who was, perhaps, the only kindred spirit he had ever had in life.ö
ôAt Hatake KakashiÆs funeral, both the child Rokudaime and Uchiha Sasuke placed a broken Tanto, hilt separated from blade, onto the funeral pyre. Haruno Sakura placed two small, cracked bells on top of the weapon. No one knew what it meant, but somewhere, we all knew that the damned pervert was smiling down at us, and that made it alright to cry over the man who never cried his own tears.ö
ôTime passed, seasons changed and went. People died and people were born and missions came and went. Sasuke had just turned twenty-four when he met Orochimaru for the second time.ö
ôOrochimaru! But I thought he died when the Sound fell?ö
The old-man sighs. ôIno, daughter of my daughter, blood-of-my-blood, I am a man of extreme patience, but if you interrupt me one more time IÆm going to use Tsukuyomi on you.ö
ôàSorry grandpa.ö
ôAs I was sayingàThe Demon Snake offered Sasuke the world -- offered him light, and purpose, and strength. He asked Sasuke to help him rebuild the Sound in secret, and in turn, would give Uchiha the exact directions that would lead him to find his brother. The only catch was that when time came, Sasuke would have to betray the Leaf yet again.ö
ôAgainà? But the history books sayàö
ôIno!ö
ôEep! Sorry grandfather!ö
He sighs. ôàYou must learn that men lie, in time... Especially in their written wordsàSasuke knew what Orochimaru offered him was a devilÆs bargain and that he would gain nothing from accepting it, but he wanted, moreso than power, to regain his dreamsàö
ôSasuke asked for seven days. Orochimaru agreed.ö
ôOn the first day, Sasuke drank until he could not see anything, even while the Sharingan was activated.ö
ôOn the second day. Sasuke woke from his stupor, tired and alone, in a mansion he hadnÆt set foot in since he was a child.ö
ôOn the third day, Sasuke trained.ö
ôOne the fourth day, Sasuke told the child Hokage, now a man, that his betrothed was a Bitch in heat who hadnÆt eradicated the Village yet because she hadnÆt had her fill of human cock.ö
ôOn the fifth day, from sun up till sun down, Sasuke battled the Rokudaime on the common grounds of Konoha no Sato. When the stars finally came out into the sky, Sasuke, beaten and tired bruised and broken, stared up at the Rokudaime, and told him, with a smile on his face: ôI love you, you stupid dead-last bastard.ö
ôOn the sixth day, Uchiha Sasuke visited his family. By the night of that same day, flowers lay at Uchiha MikotoÆs feet, both Uchiha Fugaku and ObitoÆs graves lay in ruin, and the entire compound was aflame. ö
ôOn the seventh and final day, Orochimaru came to Sasuke in the Forest of Death and laid Uchiha Itachi at his feet, drugged and blind and helpless. After a fashion, he told Sasuke: Even if you do not accept my offer, Sasuke-kun, I will take your body, and you will still have your revenge.ö
ôWhat happened then, Grandfather?ö
ôàSasuke did not accept the offer, but nonetheless gave Orochimaru exactly what he wanted.ö
ôWhat was that, grandpa?ö
ôHe gave Orochimaru the only gift you could give an immortal -- he gave him death, and the rumors suggest that OrochimaruÆs plan was the most well-thought out suicide in history.ö
ôàWoahàHow do you know all of this, Grandpa?ö
ôBecause I was there, and the story isnÆt over yet, now hush.ö
ôThere came a time, shortly-after, in which the Council of Konoha came at a crossroads...They had the feared Uchiha Itachi, slaughterer of his entire family, chained and blind deep beneath the Village, but they had no idea how to deal with him. Too many of the old generation saw him as valuable breeding stock. Too many of the new generation called for his death or release. ö
ôWhen the time came, the only decision that could be made was to give the outcome of Uchiha ItachiÆs life over to his next of kin, Uchiha Sasukeàö
ôButàWouldnÆt Sasuke killà?ö
ôàThough many believed he would die, Uchiha Sasuke gave his older brother a different kind of freedom, and smuggled him to the outskirts of the Fire Country. An old, sun-dried man with the face of a shark was waiting for them, and helped the blind Uchiha walk. Before they parted ways, SasukeÆs final act towards the man who had killed his entire family was to give Itachi a small, finely crafted knife and a charred-necklace of fangs.
The final words between the brothers were:
æI only did what I had to do to make sure you never ended up like me, SasukeàDo you hate me for it?Æ
æ..You may have taken everything away from me, ItachiàAndàAndàthough IàThough I do hate you brotherà IàI love youàYou took everything I cherished away and even though I hatedàhave never stopped hating you till this very day because of it, you have given me so much more. I blame you for everything that has gone wrong in my life, but I love you, and I cannot bring myself to kill you.Æ
Itachi, for the first time in Uchiha Sasukeæs life, smiles, then and there. æàThen I have not failed, and you have stepped out of my shadow.Æ
ôàAnd Uchiha Itachi was gone, and Uchiha Sasuke returned to Konoha to marry his lady in waiting and live his life as a shinobi until he was too old to walk, too senile to strategize, and the Rokudaime passed on.ö
ôàThatÆs it, huh?ö
ôYep. ThatÆs the whole story.ö
ôItÆs kinda clichÚd.ö
ôIt isnÆt clichÚd at all. Do all stories have to have a dark and mysterious orphan hero without parents or a girl who loves a boy but can't have him?ö
ôMy parents put you up to this, didnÆt they? None of what you said ever happened like that, and youÆre just making all this up! Itachi died! The Rokudaime killed Orochimaru! The moral of this story is that strength shouldnÆt matter when you have friends to fall back on, and this whole thing is about me trying to learn the Mangekyou and be more like Itachi, isnÆt it?ö
The old man sighs. Gets up from his chair and stretches. ôThe story isnÆt about friendship. It isnÆt about strength. It isnÆt even about Sasuke, really. ItÆs about trust. ItÆs about dreams and how they can change. ItÆs about letting go of the things that tie you down and letting others close to you.ö
The old man reaches the door. Opens it.
ôThatÆs bullshit and you know it, grandpaàö
He stands in the doorway. His granddaughter turns on the television.
ôYour parents will be here soon, Ino.ö
ôàWhat, grandpa?ö
The old man turns. His eyes flash dull blood crimson and three spiral wheels spin languorously in the darkness.
ôàI wish you had known your uncle. He was an amazing man who knew the true value of things. He laughed where others cried. He remembered where others forgot. He taught me how to un-eclipse the sun and gave me happiness; but that dead-last bastard never let me forget that he gave me the choice to kill Itachi and I turned it down.ö
ôGrandfather?ö
ôGoodnight.ö
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...But in time, the old will tell their tales for them...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Finis-
You can find the formatted version here.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2876499/1/
Leave a comment. Also, ignore any spelling mistakes/missing words. I was using Open Office at the time that I wrote this and it had a tendency to be...stupid.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...Dead Men Tell No Tales...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The old man sits in front of his grandchild and begins his story. Perhaps, he may notice her dark pink hair, and; perhaps, he may notice the jade glint in her eyes or the rubies that are beginning to grow in them; but if he does, he makes no mention of it.
ôàOnce upon a time, when the Akatsuki still walked the earth and the great Snake Orochimaru sowed terror amongst the Leaf, there was a childàö
Her granddaughter sighs. ôGrandpa, I donÆt want to hear a story. I want to go watch TV.ö
The old man snorts. ôItÆs always about that idiot-box with you Genin these days. I donÆt understand it, I donÆt want to hear it, and if you mention it one more time I wont be responsible for my actionsàö
ôOh for the HokageÆs sake, grandpaàö
ôEnough!ö
His voice makes her startle. He sighs, running his hand through his greying hair. ôI donÆt know what theyÆre teaching you at that Academy anymore. Back when Iruka sensei was still teaching you just didnÆt hear people take that name in vainàö
She rolls her double-colored eyes. ôGrandpa, itÆs just a saying. Everyone says it nowadaysàö
ôOho? So if everyone suddenly decided that it would be a good idea to slaughter their families and run away from the Village, you would too?ö
ôGrandpaàö
He crosses his arms. ôFine, fine. ItÆs just a stupid story. Go watch your MTV and surf your interweb if its so much more important to you than spending time with your familyàWhat do old men know anyway?ö
She scoots closer to him, hugs his legs and tries her best to be generally apologetic. ôGrandpaàGrandpa, IÆm sorryàLook, IÆll listen to your story.ö
The old man looks away, arms still crossed. ôIÆve forgotten it.ö
Her mouth drops. ôOh grandfather donÆt be like that!ö
ôI told you, IÆve forgotten it.ö
ôGrandfather! You havenÆt forgotten it, remember? It starts off: ôOnce upon a timeàö
He finally secedes, patting his grandchild on the head. ôFineàOnce upon a time, when the Akatsuki still walked the earth and the great Snake Orochimaru sowed terror amongst the Leaf, there was a Village Hidden Beneath the Leaves..ö
ôBack then, the Leaf wasnÆt as you see it now. The village was more wood than steel. The forests werenÆt clear-cut. The animals still lived nearer to us than we really cared for; true tigers and wolves coming from the west and the north during winter to devour anything they could get their hands on. In the Fire Country of old, the trees grew taller than the buildings; their thick, scraggly fingertip branches reaching to the sky or to the earth in mock prayer. We were afraid of the forests, every single last one of us, be it during the summer or winter, but we moved through them like shadows and falling leaves and only the stupid would enter the forest and never returnàö
ôFine, fine, I get it, It was a forest, and it was dark, and we shouldnÆt have cut it all do--ö
ôAm I telling the story, or do you want to? You seem so good at it.ö
ôà.Sorry grandfather.ö
The old man smiles. ôàIn the summers it was hotter then Hell and we could barely move without our shoes melting when we walked and in the winters it was cold enough to freeze your piss before it hit the ground. Those of us who were moreàshall we say, human, took it upon themselves to create chaos during these times; using water balloons during the summer of snowballs during the winter toàOh, IÆm rambling, arenÆt I?"
His granddaughter says nothing.
ôWhile the seasons may have been kind to us, nothing else was. Constant wars with the Sound, two Hokage dead from trying to keep the Village together, and everywhere you looked an Akatsuki member trying to tear us to pieces from inside out left the Village with precious few Nin and even less high-paying missions to go around for those who could actually do them, but we held on somehow.ö
ôàEven though we fought off those who would have us dead, there were few true shinobi left, at one point. The Hyuuga had almost died out. The Akimichi were more samurai than ninja, the Aburame werenÆt human anymore, and the Inuzaka didnÆt even try to pass themselves off as nobles. During wartime, the Village depended more and more on its ANBU and its Jounin than on its Chuunin, and Genin teams were being treated more as cannon fodder than humansàö
His grandchildÆs eyes are wide. He canÆt see the hint of ruby clearly now, though he somehow knows its nearer to the iris than it should be, and this makes him both proud and terrified.
ôàThat all changed, in its own fashion. The young manÆs mother and father had been murdered long-ago, and his brother had vanished from the world. Each of them, in their own turn, had left him something to inherit -- his mother leaving behind her dreams, her hope, and his name, Sasuke, and his fatheràö
ôSasuke? But grandfatheràö
ôItÆs a pretty common nameàAnywayàHis father had left him a knife, a title, and a mansion, and the only thing his brother had ever left behind that meant anything to Sasuke was a linked necklace of fangs and beads slightly charred at its edges. There have been worse legacies, in truth, and this was his.ö
ôSasuke was a shinobi. A very good shinobi. He was fast. He was silent. He was deadly. He killed men with fire and lightning and was known as the Crimson Shade.ö
ôThough his childhood was plagued with death, and his teenage years were spent as captive to a destiny he refuted at every step, there was a ray of light in his life, though he was far too blind to see it.ö
His granddaughters eyes go wide. ôWas it a girl?ö
He smiles, perhaps longingly, and ruffles her hair. ôThe dreams of women are very different from the dreams of men. Though Sasuke had a light, and though his light would do anything for him, his life was bathed in darkness. After he was brought back from the Village Hidden In Sound, living to revive his clan seemed to mean nothing to him. Though he had everything a man could either want or need -- a mansion, a knife, a title, a lady in waiting, and enough money to buy his own small island, if he ever wished it, he was dead on the insideö
ôBut I thought Sasuke had everything? I meanàWho doesnÆt even care about having everything they could ever need?ö
The old man smiles. ôTrue value lies only in dreams and prophecies. Material wealth meant nothing to Sasuke when he had lost his dreams; had lost all his goals and his one purpose in life.ö
ôThe war with the Sound was raging and Sasuke changed from a man without a purpose to an excellent soldier. He walked from battle to battle, mission to mission, slaughter to slaughter, as though he were death contained in a human body, and his name changed from the Crimson Shade to the Red Death.ö
ôThe war lasted more than three years before it ended with the destruction of the Sound Nation, and it took its toll on everyone -- moreso Sasuke, who had lost someone who was, perhaps, the only kindred spirit he had ever had in life.ö
ôAt Hatake KakashiÆs funeral, both the child Rokudaime and Uchiha Sasuke placed a broken Tanto, hilt separated from blade, onto the funeral pyre. Haruno Sakura placed two small, cracked bells on top of the weapon. No one knew what it meant, but somewhere, we all knew that the damned pervert was smiling down at us, and that made it alright to cry over the man who never cried his own tears.ö
ôTime passed, seasons changed and went. People died and people were born and missions came and went. Sasuke had just turned twenty-four when he met Orochimaru for the second time.ö
ôOrochimaru! But I thought he died when the Sound fell?ö
The old-man sighs. ôIno, daughter of my daughter, blood-of-my-blood, I am a man of extreme patience, but if you interrupt me one more time IÆm going to use Tsukuyomi on you.ö
ôàSorry grandpa.ö
ôAs I was sayingàThe Demon Snake offered Sasuke the world -- offered him light, and purpose, and strength. He asked Sasuke to help him rebuild the Sound in secret, and in turn, would give Uchiha the exact directions that would lead him to find his brother. The only catch was that when time came, Sasuke would have to betray the Leaf yet again.ö
ôAgainà? But the history books sayàö
ôIno!ö
ôEep! Sorry grandfather!ö
He sighs. ôàYou must learn that men lie, in time... Especially in their written wordsàSasuke knew what Orochimaru offered him was a devilÆs bargain and that he would gain nothing from accepting it, but he wanted, moreso than power, to regain his dreamsàö
ôSasuke asked for seven days. Orochimaru agreed.ö
ôOn the first day, Sasuke drank until he could not see anything, even while the Sharingan was activated.ö
ôOn the second day. Sasuke woke from his stupor, tired and alone, in a mansion he hadnÆt set foot in since he was a child.ö
ôOn the third day, Sasuke trained.ö
ôOne the fourth day, Sasuke told the child Hokage, now a man, that his betrothed was a Bitch in heat who hadnÆt eradicated the Village yet because she hadnÆt had her fill of human cock.ö
ôOn the fifth day, from sun up till sun down, Sasuke battled the Rokudaime on the common grounds of Konoha no Sato. When the stars finally came out into the sky, Sasuke, beaten and tired bruised and broken, stared up at the Rokudaime, and told him, with a smile on his face: ôI love you, you stupid dead-last bastard.ö
ôOn the sixth day, Uchiha Sasuke visited his family. By the night of that same day, flowers lay at Uchiha MikotoÆs feet, both Uchiha Fugaku and ObitoÆs graves lay in ruin, and the entire compound was aflame. ö
ôOn the seventh and final day, Orochimaru came to Sasuke in the Forest of Death and laid Uchiha Itachi at his feet, drugged and blind and helpless. After a fashion, he told Sasuke: Even if you do not accept my offer, Sasuke-kun, I will take your body, and you will still have your revenge.ö
ôWhat happened then, Grandfather?ö
ôàSasuke did not accept the offer, but nonetheless gave Orochimaru exactly what he wanted.ö
ôWhat was that, grandpa?ö
ôHe gave Orochimaru the only gift you could give an immortal -- he gave him death, and the rumors suggest that OrochimaruÆs plan was the most well-thought out suicide in history.ö
ôàWoahàHow do you know all of this, Grandpa?ö
ôBecause I was there, and the story isnÆt over yet, now hush.ö
ôThere came a time, shortly-after, in which the Council of Konoha came at a crossroads...They had the feared Uchiha Itachi, slaughterer of his entire family, chained and blind deep beneath the Village, but they had no idea how to deal with him. Too many of the old generation saw him as valuable breeding stock. Too many of the new generation called for his death or release. ö
ôWhen the time came, the only decision that could be made was to give the outcome of Uchiha ItachiÆs life over to his next of kin, Uchiha Sasukeàö
ôButàWouldnÆt Sasuke killà?ö
ôàThough many believed he would die, Uchiha Sasuke gave his older brother a different kind of freedom, and smuggled him to the outskirts of the Fire Country. An old, sun-dried man with the face of a shark was waiting for them, and helped the blind Uchiha walk. Before they parted ways, SasukeÆs final act towards the man who had killed his entire family was to give Itachi a small, finely crafted knife and a charred-necklace of fangs.
The final words between the brothers were:
æI only did what I had to do to make sure you never ended up like me, SasukeàDo you hate me for it?Æ
æ..You may have taken everything away from me, ItachiàAndàAndàthough IàThough I do hate you brotherà IàI love youàYou took everything I cherished away and even though I hatedàhave never stopped hating you till this very day because of it, you have given me so much more. I blame you for everything that has gone wrong in my life, but I love you, and I cannot bring myself to kill you.Æ
Itachi, for the first time in Uchiha Sasukeæs life, smiles, then and there. æàThen I have not failed, and you have stepped out of my shadow.Æ
ôàAnd Uchiha Itachi was gone, and Uchiha Sasuke returned to Konoha to marry his lady in waiting and live his life as a shinobi until he was too old to walk, too senile to strategize, and the Rokudaime passed on.ö
ôàThatÆs it, huh?ö
ôYep. ThatÆs the whole story.ö
ôItÆs kinda clichÚd.ö
ôIt isnÆt clichÚd at all. Do all stories have to have a dark and mysterious orphan hero without parents or a girl who loves a boy but can't have him?ö
ôMy parents put you up to this, didnÆt they? None of what you said ever happened like that, and youÆre just making all this up! Itachi died! The Rokudaime killed Orochimaru! The moral of this story is that strength shouldnÆt matter when you have friends to fall back on, and this whole thing is about me trying to learn the Mangekyou and be more like Itachi, isnÆt it?ö
The old man sighs. Gets up from his chair and stretches. ôThe story isnÆt about friendship. It isnÆt about strength. It isnÆt even about Sasuke, really. ItÆs about trust. ItÆs about dreams and how they can change. ItÆs about letting go of the things that tie you down and letting others close to you.ö
The old man reaches the door. Opens it.
ôThatÆs bullshit and you know it, grandpaàö
He stands in the doorway. His granddaughter turns on the television.
ôYour parents will be here soon, Ino.ö
ôàWhat, grandpa?ö
The old man turns. His eyes flash dull blood crimson and three spiral wheels spin languorously in the darkness.
ôàI wish you had known your uncle. He was an amazing man who knew the true value of things. He laughed where others cried. He remembered where others forgot. He taught me how to un-eclipse the sun and gave me happiness; but that dead-last bastard never let me forget that he gave me the choice to kill Itachi and I turned it down.ö
ôGrandfather?ö
ôGoodnight.ö
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...But in time, the old will tell their tales for them...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Finis-