• Ki couldn’t help it. She was crying. She was sitting on the foot of her bed with her face buried in her hands. The tears were streaming out of her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. She was trembling all over. She supposed it was best to let it all out now. Before he came to tell her goodbye. After a long while of crying, Ki heard a knock on her door. Swearing under her breath, she wiped her face with the sleeve of her shirt.

    “E-Enter!” Ki yelled. Her voice cracked, and she swore again.

    It was Suzuko, one of Ki’s beloved students. She was biting her lower lip. She had heard her teacher crying. It hurt her to see her like this. Behind Suzuko stood Itachi. He was looking at the floor, as if he didn’t want to look up and see her with tears in her eyes. Suzuko looked at Ki and seemed to silently ask if she was ok. “Itachi’s here, sensei.”

    Ki nodded. “Thank you, Suzu.” She smiled, trying to tell Suzuko that she would be ok. But Ki knew that it looked forced.

    Suzuko hesitated. Then she sighed, took Itachi’s hand, and squeezed it. He looked down at her, smiling just slightly. The two had developed a bit of a father-daughter relationship over the weeks. Suzuko returned the meek smile, then hurried off. She wanted to give Itachi and Ki this time together.

    Itachi watched her go, then slowly shut the door behind him. He still wasn’t looking at Ki. However, Ki couldn’t stop looking at him. Tears were flowing down her face again. And Itachi couldn’t stand to see her like that. After a few agonizingly long minutes of silence and Ki’s sniffling, Itachi finally raised his head to look at her. The image was like a knife through the heart. Ki still sitting on the bed, staring at him. Her eyes were red and her face was wet. “I hate to see you so upset.”

    Ki shifted her gaze from his face to the floor. She narrowed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself. “It’s not like I can pretend to not care. You’re…” She didn’t finish her sentence. She blinked her eyes as more tears escaped.

    Another knife stabbed through Itachi’s heart. He didn’t care what Sasuke did to him, now. However his brother killed him, it would be nowhere near as painful as this. Nothing could be as painful as seeing the woman he loved, who happened to be one of the strongest shinobi he knew, crying. She knew that after this excruciating farewell, she would never see him again. And seeing her like this made it hit Itachi as well. He’d never see her again.

    Maybe… he thought. Maybe I could just let the illness take me. At least I could stay with her. Even if it was only for a little while longer. But Itachi knew this wasn’t a real option. He knew that they would both rather just cut this clean. Itachi didn’t want to go through the pain that the illness would cause, and Ki didn’t want to see him waste away. It was better like this.

    For both of them.

    “I know, Ki…” Itachi slowly walked to the bed and sat down beside her. He hesitated for a moment, then wrapped his arms around her. He held her close and let out a deep sigh. Then, suddenly, Itachi was angry. Why did he have to get sick?! Why did he have to get this incurable disease?! Before he’d gotten sick, he’d been planning out a nice new life. He would fake his death and then return to Ki and her students. They would leave and build a home somewhere. Somewhere beautiful and secluded. Then he and Ki could start a family and live in peace. Meanwhile Itachi had plans to keep Sasuke safe…but for the most part it would’ve been a simple, happy life. It had been in his grasp. Itachi had begun to have dreams about a house deep in the forest. A house where his future children with Ki would run and play. Suzuko and Katsu would keep an eye on them while he and Ki prepared dinner.

    Then he’d gotten sick.

    “Ki…I’m so sorry…” Itachi murmured. He began running his fingers through her shoulder-length brown hair. “I’m…I’m so sorry…”

    Ki wrapped her arms around him and let her cheek rest on his chest. She could hear his heart beating. She heard each breath he took and couldn’t help but notice how his breathing sounded slightly…off. Ki knew it was his illness…blood was seeping into his lungs. The thought made Ki wince. “It’s not your fault…it’s not anyone’s fault. At this point I can’t be angry with anyone. I’m just happy I have this time with you. I can take this and be content.”

    Itachi kissed the top of her head. “I’ve always loved you…just know that…”

    Ki smiled and closed her eyes. It felt good to be so close to him. To listen to his heart beating in his chest, to feel his warmth. It made her long for the life they would have had. Where she would have had him forever. Ki felt tears sting at her eyes again, but she refused to let them escape her eyes. She should be happy to have this time with him. He could have easily left without saying goodbye. “I’ve always loved you as well…”

    “Even that time you threw the vase at my head?” Itachi asked with a smirk. At first, they had hated each other. Then they began to respect one another. Respect turned to admiration, and admiration turned to friendship. And friendship eventually evolved into love.

    “Well, you were asking for that.” Ki teased. She opened her eyes and slowly let go of him. She wanted to hold on to him forever, but she was afraid that being so close to him would bring about more tears. Itachi let go of her reluctantly, but he said nothing. “I can’t remember what you said to provoke me, but you deserved it.”

    Itachi chuckled lightly. “Whatever you say…”

    Silence fell again. But this silence wasn’t sad or mournful. It was warm. Both had decided to enjoy this time they had together. Finally Ki leaned over and kissed Itachi on the cheek. She took his hand in hers and smiled.

    “Remember the time we first met?” Ki asked.

    Itachi nodded. How could he forget? “That was right after I joined the Akatsuki.”

    “And right after I became a bounty hunter.” Ki recalled. She squeezed his hand and smiled. “You already had a bounty on your head…and we almost killed one another.” Ki looked fondly on the memory, now. It had been the battle of a lifetime for her. She and Itachi had been well-matched…and they still were, she bet. But she wasn’t willing to try to find out.

    Itachi didn’t like to think about that battle. He’d nearly killed Ki in that battle. She’d nearly killed him in turn. But neither one had the energy or strength to deliver the final blow. Itachi had always winced when he thought about his weak efforts to kill her in the final moments of the battle. If he’d been just a little bit stronger he would have killed the best thing that had ever happened to him. “Don’t remind me of that right now…can’t we focus on a time where we didn’t try to kill each other?”

    Ki nodded understandingly. Itachi had never liked fighting. In fact, he hated it. That’s why she’d always wondered why he’d become a shinobi. But when he revealed the truth to her, the answer had become clear. “How about…the first night you stayed over. And when Katsu and Suzuko saw you they freaked out.”

    Itachi laughed. “I remember that…and when you told them I’d stayed the night, Katsu started hyperventilating.”

    Ki giggled. She kissed him again, this time on the lips. The smile faded from her face, and she kissed him again. Suddenly, Itachi pulled her close into another, much longer, kiss. When they finally broke apart, gasping slightly, Ki pulled away hesitantly. She knew where this was going. She looked into Itachi’s eyes. “Itachi…you’re sick…I don’t want you to-”

    “I feel fine. Honestly.” Itachi assured her. He kissed her forehead. “Unless you...”

    Ki silenced him with another kiss.

    xxxx


    Later that night, Ki woke up to the sound of Itachi coughing. Up until that point, she’d been asleep in his arms. When he abruptly pulled away, sat up, and began coughing violently. It took a few moments for Ki to wake up and realize what was going on. When she did, she sat up and set a hand on Itachi’s back. He kept on coughing, so Ki got out of the bed. She grabbed his cloak, wrapped it around herself, and slipped out of the room. It was dark in the house and absolutely silent. But Ki knew her way around the old place, and she poured Itachi a glass of water. She also got him two white pills…these were the medications that were keeping him alive just long enough for him to face Sasuke. Ki sighed a bit and headed back towards her room. Itachi was still coughing when she returned. She waited until the spell had died down before she handed him the glass of water and the pills. Then, she lit a candle and climbed back into the bed.

    “Did I wake you up?” Itachi asked. His voice was hoarse from coughing. He popped the pills into his mouth and took a sip of the water to wash them down. He took another sip of the water before setting it down on the nightstand beside the bed. Itachi looked at Ki apologetically.

    Ki waved her hand, dismissing the issue. Suddenly she noticed something on his hands. Ki took hold of his wrist and stared at it. There were splotches of dark red on his hand…blood. Itachi was coughing up blood now. Ki bit her lower lip. “Oh, Itachi…”

    Itachi pulled his hand away. “Don’t worry about it…it doesn’t matter.”

    Ki sighed and kissed his cheek. He was right. What did it matter? He’d be leaving at dawn. Then it wouldn’t mean a thing. Sasuke would be the thing that would kill him, not the illness. “How do you feel?”

    Itachi didn’t lie to her. There was no point to it. “Lousy…having trouble breathing.”

    Ki sighed again. “The medicine should help, love…try to sleep.”

    Itachi nodded.

    Ki blew out the candle and they both laid back down. Itachi held her close again. He wanted to stay as close to her as possible for as long as he could. She fell asleep first, of course. Itachi listened to her deep, even breathing. Eventually he fell asleep as well. And that night they both dreamt of the life they could have had…

    Of the life they should had.