Itachi sat in the half-light, his gaze fixed upon a photograph of Akina, in which she appeared to be a teenager. At that moment, his heart tightened with memories. He knew very well that this sweet girl, once filled with light and laughter, was now caught up in a dangerous game, in a far more complex and cold world, where everyone was faced with a single task: kill or be killed. This was the unspoken law that resonated through the pages of their lives. Munekage had sent Akina to Konoha to watch over him and Shisui, and his own path crossed with hers only in the whirlwind of subsequent events. The realization that every one of her movements was being monitored by the watchful eye of Danzo stirred a wave of longing and anxiety in Itachi. It was no surprise that Danzo decided to make a bold move by sending him to keep an eye on Akina herself, thus condemning their fates to an inevitable clash. This time, the game took on an even more brutal shape. Danzo, like a demon, stubbornly dictated his terms: “If Akina begins to act—kill her without hesitation.” Itachi was tormented by internal contradictions, unable to comprehend why an innocent girl should perish as a result of a political conflict between villages. The past weighed heavily upon him: he still remembered how they would eat dango and talk about various things. For Itachi, Akina remained that little girl who needed to be protected, not destroyed. Every time he looked at her photograph, the hope that they could put an end to this dreadful mission and return to those happy days flickered like a faint light of hope, one he feared to extinguish with his own decision.
theartofmadeline
yousharknotpass
amandla